Conquest (7 page)
Jesse lifted his eyes to Evan’s. His breath stopped at the way Evan looked at him. People often admired him with the desire to have him, but Evan’s gaze held a heated carnality like he’d never seen in anyone before. His eyes, so intense, spoke a silent secret that made Jesse’s heart drum a beat of attraction in harmony to the pulsing rhythm in his groin. A light breeze lifted, bringing the scent of Evan’s cologne to him.
Without thinking, he blurted out, “What kind of cologne do you wear?”
Evan shifted closer to him. He stretched his right arm out, bracing it on the tailgate near Jesse’s head. “Platinum Egoist by Chanel. Do you like it?”
Evan’s nearness enveloped Jesse in his scent. His heartbeat reached a more rapid pace, fueling the supply of blood rushing to his cock. All night he had fought against the organ, commanding it to stay calm every time Evan neared, only to have it defy him. Now he knew he had fully lost the battle.
“Yeah,” Jesse said, his voice soft. He glanced to his left at Evan’s hand resting so close to him. His eyes fell on the eagle ring, and he found himself captivated by the blood-red ruby. “That ring, it’s really cool.”
“It’s dear to me. It belonged to my father.”
Evan pulled his hand away from the truck and held it toward Jesse. Realizing Evan was offering to let him have a better look at the ring, Jesse gently placed his hand under Evan’s so their palms rested over each other and lifted Evan’s hand closer to his eyes.
Evan’s gaze moved over Jesse’s face. “So now that your equipment is loaded, where would you like to go?”
Jesse looked up from the ring. “Wherever you want. If you’re hungry, I know a couple all night places, but it’s greasy food, so you might not like it. Or we could go to a club, or—”
“How about my place?”
Jesse felt an inward start at the suggestion. “Your place?”
“Yeah. It’s kind of a drive, but it’s not too bad.” His eyes locked on Evan’s, Jesse nodded. “Okay.”
The sound of a cell phone chiming interrupted them. Jesse allowed a burst of relief to pass through him that it wasn’t his since he had Evan’s ballad, “One More Time,” set as his ring tone. He imagined if Evan heard it, his opinion could change of him
not
being a rabid fanboy.
“It’s fine.” Still softly cupping Evan’s right hand, Jesse slowly dropped his hand away. Evan’s hand followed, his fingertips brushed across Jesse’s palm before drawing all the way back and he turned his attention to his phone.
Jesse paced away to give Evan privacy and himself a moment to gather his emotions. Being wishful had nothing to do with it. Evan wanted him. The looks, the comments, the smiles, that touch, his senses weren’t so desire laden he couldn’t see the obvious. A net of nervousness tightened around his heart. He was going to Evan’s home. He would be completely, totally, absolutely, alone with him. Elation filled his chest to the point where it almost broke through his nervousness. Only his worry held it in place that with someone like Evan, older, undoubtedly more experienced, who had to have countless lovers, probably male and female, where would he fit in when morning came? For all he knew, Evan could be on the phone at that very moment with one of his lovers.
From the moment he met Evan’s eyes, something inside of him had started to awaken, and with each moment he shared with Evan, that roused part of himself became more alert and whispered to his heart, mind, and body, one night wouldn’t be enough. Neither would two, or a week, or a month. Jesse looked over his shoulder at Evan, still on his phone. His mind forced a thought how he should just be grateful for the chance to be with Evan and not be greedy about wanting it all. But the newly stirred part of himself countered, when had he ever settled for anything less than it all?
Evan snapped his cell phone closed. Greg. He claimed to be calling because he forgot to ask him to come over to his house for dinner the following week, but he knew damn well what Greg’s real reason for calling was he wanted to see if he could hear Jesse’s voice in the background. Part of him understood Greg’s concern. Most of him wished he’d mind his own business.
He turned to look for Jesse and saw him leaning back on the driver’s side door of his truck. The streetlight shone over Jesse and gave the illusion of him being surrounded by an aura of gentle golden light. During his music career and time on the road, more beautiful men than he could remember had crossed his path, many making their way into his bed, yet he could honestly say he had never seen anyone who compared to Jesse.
Truthfully, he was moving faster than he meant to. He only intended to bring Greg to see Jesse, knowing Greg would want him for the label. Then he planned on stopping by occasionally when Jesse was in the studio to build some comfort between them and see what happened from there. But being close to Jesse made him drop all ideas of waiting to be with him.
He saw the clear signals of attraction Jesse put out, but he also felt an underlying nervousness coming from Jesse that made him tread cautiously. He knew all too well the influence his celebrity had on other people, and it made him wonder, was Jesse being compliant because he truly wanted to go home with him, or was Jesse hoping to win his way into the music business through his bed? There was another thought that Jesse could be nervous because he might not be very experienced, but he disregarded it. With as gorgeous as he was, Jesse must have a different guy for every day of the month. A jolt of possessiveness shocked Evan’s chest, and he moved toward him.
“Ready?” he asked.
Jesse smiled and nodded. “Yeah.”
Evan pointed up the street. “My car’s parked that way in a
garage. You want to give me a lift to it?”
“Sure.”
Jesse jumped in his truck and reached to unlock the passenger door for Evan. After Evan got in, he put the key in the ignition and turned it. The truck let out a discontented rev. Jesse stared down at the key. This couldn’t be happening. He had the beautiful rock star Evan Arden in his truck, was getting ready to go to his home, and the stupid thing had decided this was the perfect time to break down again. He turned the key a second time. Same response.
Evan propped his head on his fist with his elbow resting on the door, watching him with an amused grin.
Jesse cranked the key again, willing with his mind for the engine to turn over. The truck grumbled, then burst to life. He nearly yelled out in joy at his victory over his mechanical adversary.
Jesse laughed as he wrenched the shifter into gear. “I won’t deny it’s a piece of shit, but it’s good for hauling our gear. I’d like to get a Honda S2000 someday and trick it out.” Out the corner of his eye, he saw Evan smirking, and took his eyes off the road to look at him. “What’s so funny?”
Jesse returned Evan’s smirk with one of his own. “I’d expect someone your age to say something like that. I mean, how old are you anyway, like thirty-four, thirty-five?”
Evan gasped in mock offense at Jesse repeating his earlier joke. “I’m twenty-six! I’ll be twenty-seven next month!” He shoved Jesse playfully on the shoulder. “You’re a funny little spud, you know that?”
a little spud
?”
Jesse swung into the parking garage. His gaze fell on a sleek black Ferrari backed into a parking space with the garage security guard standing watch over it from his truck.
Jesse pulled near the Ferrari, though not too close for fear that even the reflection of his decrepit Ranger in the glossy paint would mar its beauty. His eyes moved over the flawless lines of the vehicles. “It’s beautiful.” He turned to Evan with a grin. “Now I’ll admit that what I’d really love to have someday is a Ferrari F430, dark blue.”
“That’s more like it.” Evan jumped out of the truck and waved to the security guard to let him know all was good. He turned back to Jesse. “You can look at it up close, if you want.”
Jesse sprang from his truck and followed Evan to the driver’s side of the Ferrari. Evan disarmed the car alarm and opened the door for him. As Jesse bent forward at the waist to peer inside, Evan battled back the compulsion to slide his fingers around the perfect curve of Jesse’s ass.
Jesse gazed at the interior, the bucket seats so low they seemed only inches from the ground, the black dash accented with brushed aluminum, same as the knobs and dials for the CD player, other controls, and the brake and throttle. His eyes drifted up to the black leather steering wheel with controls for the car at Evan’s fingertips and the yellow Ferrari logo featuring the black prancing stallion in the center.
“It tops out at around two hundred or so.”
“Have you ever had it up that fast?”
“How do you think I know where it cuts off?” Evan moved around Jesse and got in. The car roared to life at his command, and he looked up at him. “I hope you’ll be able to keep up. I tend to be a bit of a speed demon, but I’ll try to go slow with you.”
Jesse’s sudden speechlessness brought Evan’s earlier doubts to the surface once again. “That is, if you still feel like coming over.”
Jesse presented him with his brightest smile. “Of course I do. It’s not even close to my bedtime.”
“Then follow me,” Evan said, closing the car door.
Jesse walked back to his truck. He waited for Evan to pull out of the parking space, then taking a deep breath, hit the throttle to follow him.
His eyes on the taillights of the black 612 ahead, Jesse didn’t remember much of the drive to Evanston, his mind was occupied with the single thought that he was going to Evan Arden’s home. He had only been up to Evanston a couple times before, once when Brandon scored football tickets to see the Boilermakers versus the Wildcats, and another time when he took a campus tour of Northwestern, but he liked the town, and now with the warm early May weather, the trees lining the streets burst with green blossoms.
He glanced at his cell phone on the passenger seat. He should call Brandon. He always called him after a show and if he didn’t, then Brandon would start ringing him like a spaz. He was surprised Brandon hadn’t called already, then remembered he was going to make his move that night on a stagehand he’d been eyeballing. He could bet as soon as Brandon finished with him, his phone would be lighting up.
But what would he tell him? He couldn’t lie and tell him he was home. For one thing, his and Brandon’s relationship didn’t involve such deceit. For another, he couldn’t lie to save his life. If he admitted he had met someone and was going to his house, Brandon would demand to know who, and if he told him, he’d never believe him. That really seemed the only way to go, though. If he was lucky he could just leave a message.
Jesse grabbed his cell phone and hit the number two to speed dial Brandon’s cell, muttering to himself, “Don’t pick up. Please be pounding Joe Stagehand through your bed. Don’t pick—”
“Hey, this is Brandon. You missed me, sorry ‘bout your luck. But don’t be too sad. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you eventually.”
Jesse breathed a sigh of relief and lit into his message. “Hey, it’s me. I just wanted to let you know my gig’s over. Mike and Ben quit, I’ll fill you in on that later. I’m not home right now because, you’re seriously not going to believe this but, Evan Arden was at my show and he invited me over to his house, so that’s where I’m going. I’ll call you when I get home. Later.”
Jesse hung up, chuckling to himself. Brandon would be so pissed when he got that message thinking he was mocking him for being overprotective. He’d figure out some way to convince Brandon he hadn’t been messing with him. Maybe he could introduce him to Evan. Then again, maybe not. Brandon adored Evan’s music and looks, he’d freak out if he was within touch range. Jesse’d worry about it later. Right now, he had more important things to stress over, like what was going to happen once he and Evan were alone together.
He knew what he wanted to happen. He wanted Evan to take his body for his own, to master it, possess it. He wanted to feel Evan’s weight on top of him. He wanted to taste Evan’s tongue, his skin, his ecstasy. But the thought of the coming morning continued to haunt him, and for the first time in his life, his emotions began to win over his physical desire.
He wondered if he felt this way because Evan’s celebrity status had always put him at the level of unattainable. Yet even if Evan were a garbage man instead of a superstar singer, he’d still feel this way. It was how Evan looked, how he moved, how he laughed, his personality, that captured him. As a man, not the famed singer, Evan was inherently sexy. Now if only he knew how many other people in Evan’s life he would have to battle if he wanted to stretch this night toward the unreachable horizon.
Jesse focused his attention on the Ferrari as it glided down the empty streets to the secluded outskirts of town. It went down a quiet road that worked its way toward the lake. The right blinker flashed, and Evan turned onto a private road blocked by a set of ten-foot high steel gates. Two tall, white brick pillars rose on either side of the gates, each mounted with a security camera. Private Property and No Trespassing signs warned against unwanted visitors. When the gates opened at Evan’s approach, Jesse assumed they must be on a remote control. The Ferrari rolled through, and Jesse tapped the throttle to follow. As he looked in his rearview mirror and saw the gates closing behind him, he felt like he had just left the world he knew behind.
The private road wound through a thick copse of oaks and maples, then broke free to open space. Fields stretched out on both sides, and to his right, Jesse could see Lake Michigan dark with the night as if it were a second sky. He rolled his window down. Only the chirping of crickets and the waves sloshing in the distance came to his ears. He could smell the water of the lake, feel the cool moisture of it in the air. He absorbed the peaceful atmosphere. The most nature he ever got was when he went running in Grant Park.
