Conquest (25 page)

“Yeah. I remember you telling me how hot you always thought I was done up and how fine my ass looked in leather pants. Do I still look good dressed like this?”

Jesse pushed his hips toward him. “Everyone’s left us for a moment. Let’s lock the door and I’ll show you how good I think you look.”

Evan grazed his lips over Jesse’s. “Your first day in the studio and you already want to do naughty things here. How about we drive to lunch separate from the others and I make sure we hit all the red lights so we can play a little bit along the way?”

Jesse looked at him with a pouting expression. “I guess that will tide me over.”

Evan laughed softly. “Horny little brat.” He slipped his fingertips under the black leather chords of the sun choker around Jesse’s neck, gently touching his throat. “You sounded incredible.”

“Would you expect anything less?” Jesse snickered.

Evan tousled Jesse’s hair and handed him the bottle of water, then slipped his arm around his waist and led him toward the chill-out room. They walked in to a discussion of what to have for lunch. Jesse tensed when he saw Tim, knowing his and Evan’s relationship was now fully revealed, but Tim kept his back to them and his mouth shut.

Kenny left the group to stand by them and rolled his eyes. “I suggested Uno’s, but apparently no one wants to listen to the Chicago native on restaurant ideas.”

“Maybe tonight the three of us can go,” Jesse said. “Oh, and Carrie, if you want to invite her.”

 

Kenny shook his head. “We can go, but since I broke up with her two days ago, I doubt she’d want to come.”

“That’s awesome!” Jesse blurted out, then quickly softened his voice and forced some sympathy into it. “I’m sorry, man.”
Kenny laughed and shoved him. “No you’re not! You couldn’t stand her.”

“Yeah, but you seemed to like her, for some inexplicable reason. Why’d you break up with her?”

“Ever since I told her about the contract, all she could talk about was money this and money that. She kept pestering me to buy her a new outfit, asking when I was going to get a new car, and crap like that. And I thought, damn, if she’s grubbing for cash this bad now, what’s she gonna be like when we hit it really big? Not to mention, why the hell would I want to tie myself down to one girl when there’s gonna be hundreds,
thousands
, of so much hotter ones to sleep with?”

“Very logical reasoning,” Evan said. “And at least you’re lucky that you don’t have to compete with a hot lead singer for the ladies.”

Kenny looked at Evan, his eyes slowly widening as his words sank in. “You’re right. That’s never even hit me. And Julian’s gay too, so I wouldn’t have to compete with him, either. And Trish seems like a really straight chick since she was looking pretty hot for Jess when we all met.”

Evan aimed a sharp look at Jesse.

 

Jesse forced out a chuckle and waved his hand at Kenny’s words. “She was not.”

Lost in his fantasy, Kenny continued, “I’ll be the only straight guy in the band, so all the women will be mine. All the models, actresses, fan girls, big boobs, little boobs, long legs, blondes, brunettes, younger, older, all races, all colors, they’ll all be mine.” He grabbed Jesse’s shoulders, shouting his elation. “They’ll all be mine!”

“Yeah, freak!” Jesse laughed. “They’ll all be yours, and everyone here knows it.”

Kenny glanced over his shoulder at the others, who from the entertained expressions seemed to have caught a fair bit of the conversation. He let go of Jesse and shifted his weight from one foot to the other in his embarrassment.

Evan flicked his head toward the door. “You guys decided on Lawry’s, right? Let’s go, I’m starving.”

Kenny gave Evan a grateful smile for taking the attention off him and sped for the door. Evan kept his arm around Jesse’s waist and followed Kenny’s lead out of the studio.

Greg caught Evan’s shoulder as he stepped outside. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Yeah, sure.” Evan dug in his front pocket for his car keys and handed them to Jesse. “I drove the Cayenne here. Let’s take that instead of the Enzo.”

Jesse started across the street. “Don’t keep me waiting.” “Don’t worry, gorgeous. I’ll be coming soon.”

Greg waited until Jesse disappeared into the parking garage, then leaned toward Evan, his voice just above a hiss. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Going to lunch,” Evan said, putting on his sunglasses. “Prime rib sounds really good, don’t you think?”

“Don’t pull your little question dodging bullshit with me. I guess now I know the real reason you canceled coming over to have dinner at my house last week. Are you insane? Have you completely lost it? Why don’t you go to the tabloids and pose with your tongue down his throat and end both your careers right now!”

“I think you’re overacting. These people would have to know about our relationship if they’re going to be in a band with him.”

“No they wouldn’t. No one who played for you ever knew about your sexuality except for JJ and Brad Delfini. Not to mention, these are people I’m not yet one hundred percent certain can be trusted with this information. It’s not like you to be so reckless. But besides that, how the hell can you be sleeping with that kid?”

“He’s not a kid and lighten up.” Evan moved to walk away, but Greg yanked him back by his shoulder.
“I should’ve known better than to think you were interested in his career because of his talent. I know you don’t give a damn about your own career, but don’t go screwing up his just because you want to have a fling.”

Evan slapped Greg’s hand off him and stabbed his index finger into Greg’s chest. “I care for you greatly, but if you ever say something like that to me again, I will lay you the fuck out. What I do in
my
personal life is
my
business.”

“If only you could keep it your business.” When the last word left his mouth, Greg thought Evan really was going to hit him. He saw Evan’s arm twitch, his fingers balled into a fist, but somehow, Evan restrained himself at the last second. He had seen Evan’s temper unleash at less provocation than what he just gave him, and felt a pang of guilt that Evan’s words had been true about caring for him.

Greg softened his voice. “I’m only trying to protect you. Both of you. And after what I saw of Jesse today, I’m not sure I’ll be able to.”

Evan shook his head slightly. “What do you mean?”

“He announced being gay to a room full of strangers with such brash and basically told everyone they had no choice but to accept it.”

Evan laughed under his breath. “He’s a confident little thing, isn’t he?”
“This isn’t funny, Evan. I’m not sure he’ll be able to hide it when he hits the public eye.”

“Who says he has to?”

Greg frowned at him. “You know firsthand how these things work. It’s not that there aren’t gay or bi performers out there, but most of them only come out after they’ve been around for a few years, and let’s face it, in this country it’s safer to start out pretending to be a straight entertainer to build up your fan base. With Jesse, I could almost believe his talent would carry him past the prejudices, but add him singing to the world that he’s Evan Arden’s lover and it’d be a disaster. You may not have released new material in a while, but you’re still one of the most loved singers in the world, and for this new singer to come out saying you’re a couple, can you even begin to imagine the consequences?” He paused, and spoke his next words cautiously. “That is, if you’re genuinely serious about him.”

“I’m real serious about him.” Evan sighed and turned to walk across the street toward the parking garage, talking more to himself than to Greg. “It’d figure I’d fall in love with someone who wanted a life in the spotlight.”

Greg stopped walking when he heard Evan’s words.

Evan reached the sidewalk on the other side of the street and turned around. “I know this is a surprising revelation, but you should probably get out of the road before you get run over.”

Greg blinked his shock away and hurried across the street. He walked beside him into the parking garage and put his arm around Evan’s shoulders. “You’re going to be the death of me, I know it. The next thing you’re going to tell me is you want to start recording again.”

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that.”
Greg stopped, his arm dropped off Evan’s shoulders.

Evan faced him. “How long would it take you to get me a band? I’ve got some new material I want to lay down.”

 

C
HAPTER
E
IGHTEEN

Jesse stood behind Evan, waiting for him to unlock the access door to the house, unable to move his eyes away from his black leather clad ass. All afternoon he had been tortured by the sight of it, tormented by the need to grab and grope it, so much so he nearly bowed out of having dinner with Kenny to get Evan to himself. But after hearing Trish and Julian play, he and Kenny decided they needed them in the band and taking them out to dinner was the right thing to do, despite it leaving him unbearably hot for Evan a few hours longer.

Evan opened the door and stepped in. “How’s your throat feeling? I know you said it was still bothering you at dinner.”

Jesse leaped up the steps and kicked off his shoes by the door. “It still feels a little scratchy. I really don’t think it was necessary for Greg to be so damn hard assed today. I’ve never sang so much in one day in my life.”

Evan headed into the family room. “He was testing you to see what you’re capable of, but I agree, I thought he was pushing you too hard. I almost stepped in, but I thought you might get upset.”

Jesse flopped down on the couch and sprawled out. “I wouldn’t have.”
“I’ll remember that for next time. The last thing you need is to get nodules on your cords.” Evan turned toward the kitchen. “I’ll make you some green tea. It’ll make your throat feel better.”

“Thanks.” Jesse closed his eyes to recharge his body and be ready for the physical actualizations of the fantasies he’d had about Evan throughout the day. His mind drifted to Julian and Trish.

When Julian took to the piano, he sat beside him, awestruck by his ability as he watched Julian’s graceful fingers work the keys in Chopin’s Polonaise No. 6. Not to be upstaged, he felt it necessary to combat Julian’s artful style with his own by playing the Rondo alla Turca from Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 11. When he finished in triumph, he glanced at everyone’s stunned expressions, except for Evan and Kenny, who both knew his classical capabilities. Julian had laughed and flung up his hands, asking what the hell he needed him for, and he knew then that Julian would be a perfect addition to Conquest, especially after hearing him play “Shattered” without a single misstep and seeing him handle the synth and keyboard with masterful skill.

Trish was without a doubt the best drummer he had ever played with, despite a couple errors during his song “Vanish,” but he didn’t hold that against her considering how heavy and fast the rhythms had to be and it was only her first time playing them. It nagged at him that his first impression of her flirtatiousness was accurate since Kenny picked up on it, too. He imagined her hope of anything with him got pretty well squashed with his declaration of his sexuality and Evan’s appearance.

Even with Evan’s footfalls silent on the carpet, Jesse didn’t need to open his eyes to know he had entered the family room. He was so tuned to Evan’s presence, he no longer needed sight and sound to detect him.

Evan stopped in front of him and held out a warm mug. “Here you go.”

Jesse opened his eyes and sat forward to accept it. He blew away the tendril of steam rising from the liquid and took a sip. He let it trickle down his throat, the heat of the tea comforting the scratchiness he felt. He took a longer drink, then set the mug down on the coffee table. He smiled and looked at him. “Thanks for coming to the studio today. I was really surprised when I saw you standing in the control room.”

“Why? You asked me to come down there, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but it was when we were at the museum, and you didn’t answer. You just walked off to go look at that funky prehistoric turtle.”

Evan stroked his fingers through Jesse’s hair. “Whenever you ask me to do something for you, you should know the

 

C
ONQUEST
213
answer will always be yes, even if I don’t say it. I would never deny any request you ask of me.”

Jesse’s smile brightened further. He wrapped his arms around Evan’s waist and laid his head against Evan’s firm abdomen.

Evan continued to softly stroke his hair. “Is your throat feeling better?”
“A lot.” Jesse nosed under Evan’s shirt. “But I know what’ll make me feel even better.” Near the button of Evan’s leather pants, he took the top fold in his teeth, gave it a sharp tug, and freed the button. “That little appetizer you gave me on our way to the restaurant wasn’t nearly enough.” He stood, sliding his body up Evan’s, and with both hands, grabbed Evan’s ass in a squeezing grip. “I’ve been dying to do that all day, and you’ve been such a tease strutting around in these things. It borders on cruel.”
Evan laughed softly. “Sorry. I won’t wear leather pants ever again.”
“Don’t you dare make a threat like that.” Jesse dug his fingers into Evan’s ass cheeks and jerked him forward.

Evan sucked in a sharp breath, his head fell back slightly.

Jesse licked a line up Evan’s exposed throat and nipped lightly under his jaw. “It looks like the sadist is in a bit of a masochistic mood tonight.”

Evan grinned, his head fell back further to give more of his throat to Jesse. “Maybe a little.”
Jesse moved his hands under Evan’s shirt. He rubbed his chest and squeezed against the strength in Evan’s pectorals, then circled his nipples with his thumbs.
Evan laid his hands over Jesse’s, halting his motions. “Before we get carried away, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
Jesse halted his affections and took a half step back, looking at Evan in concern. “What is it? Is everything okay?”
Evan took Jesse’s hand and led him to the couch, guiding him to sit beside him. “Everything’s great, but I have something important I want to tell you.” He sat quiet for a moment, his eyes focused on the floor rather than on Jesse. He filled his lungs with a deep breath and turned on the couch to face him. “I’ve been thinking a lot about all the things we’ve talked about and I’ve decided to hit the studio and record a new album.”
Jesse stared at him. He blinked a couple times, then stammered out, “Are…are you serious?”
“Yeah.”