The very air between them seemed to tingle and throb with excitement, and for a moment, Justin actually forgot what they were even talking about.
“Yeah,” he murmured absently, taking a step closer to Ken, who was also moving toward Justin. His mind sharpened, though, as he remembered Jade. “She wanted to meet you.”
More than anything, Justin wanted to keep his voice light and airy, but his voice just didn’t pull that off very well. The last thing he wanted was to put pressure on Ken, for Ken to think that he had to do this, or that Justin was going to push him into something too fast.
“Yeah?” Ken asked, the back of his hand sliding smoothly over Justin’s cheek. Such a light,little touch, but it made Justin melt against him as he slid his own hands down to grip Ken’s impossibly beautiful firm, round ass, groping him openly. After all, no one could see in here.
“Yeah. You don’t have to,” Justin promised. Just because Justin and Jade might be ready to take that step, it didn’t mean Ken had to. “She just wanted to …”
His voice trailed off as Ken leaned down and pressed his lips against Justin’s, both of them holding each other, embracing, as their lips parted and their tongues swept into each other’s mouths.
“Shut up,” Ken murmured, and the words might have been harsh, but the tone was affectionate. “I’d love to meet her if you’re cool with it.”
Once more, Justin thought about it, because this was his last chance to back out if he wanted to. When he examined himself thoroughly, even poking into the corners of his mind that he rarely looked at, he had to admit that he did want to. For the first time in Jade’s whole life, he wanted someone to meet her.
Ken was important, that was what it came down to, and Jade was, too. They should know each other. It made him nervous to think about, but it was also right.
“Yeah.” Justin breathed the word and was rewarded by Ken’s grin of pleasure. The guy was thrilled, clearly, and that made Justin even more sure that he was making the right choice.
“Good. Okay.” Ken grinned at him and then tilted his head to the side. “So did you want to talk about the song or was that just an excuse to get me in private so you can have your wicked way with me again?”
Justin laughed, shaking his head as he did. That was part of Ken’s magic for him that he could make Justin not only smile but actually laugh out loud. That was what made Ken so irresistible to him, if not downright dangerous.
“It can be both, can’t it?” Justin murmured, and through Ken’s jeans, he pressed his fingers into the sweet, hot cleft between his ass cheeks. The denim kept him from getting very far, but Ken still moaned and tilted his hips toward Justin.
“Both is good. So talk.” Ken walked backward toward a chair, drawing Justin along with him. Eagerly, he let himself be pulled down onto Ken’s lap as the bigger man sat down, because, whether he would admit it to himself before or not, he had wanted this for a very long time. Had had fantasies that had gone a lot like what was going on now.
“This song, it was supposed to be unrequited, right?” Justin murmured, his fingers getting lost in Ken’s shaggy dark hair as Ken lowered his head and brushed his lips along the column of Justin’s neck. Somehow, though Justin might never know how, he managed to keep his thoughts about him, though it was a close thing. Very close.
“Yeah,” Ken murmured, kissing up to Justin’s ear, sucking his earlobe between his teeth and lightly grazing the sensitive flesh. Just like that, Justin was hard and ready to go. He’d already been hardening, just from their stolen kisses, but this was a whole new level.
“I don’t think I can do it like that anymore,” Justin admitted, and there was some shame in the words. He was a professional. He wrote the songs that he needed to write, and if he had to feign emotion, well, he could do that. Or he had always been able to before.
“What do you mean?” Ken finally stopped tormenting Justin, straightening up to gaze down at him with curious eyes. It was probably a good thing that he could think straight, though actually, he wasn’t quite sure about that. Justin forced himself to breathe in a deep, shaky breath, trying to put his feelings to words without saying too much.
I can’t pretend that it’s unrequited because I don’t think it is. Oh and by the way, I think I’m falling in love with you, sorry about your luck. You’re probably pretty screwed because when I fall in love, I have a hell of a time letting go.
Yeah. That would go over well.
“I mean, when I write the song it comes off a bit different.” With trembling fingers, Justin reached into his pocket and pulled out his battered notebook. Nervous, but sure that this was what needed to happen, he read off some of the lyrics there, the ones that just came out whenever he tried to write. The ones that spoke far too clearly about his own growing, changing feelings for Ken.
“… Wow,” Ken commented, but he didn’t seem upset, so that was something. “Okay. So you’re thinking, what, maybe more like a love song? Something that could never happen before, only it’s somehow happening?”
Justin’s tense shoulders relaxed as relief swept over him, making it impossible, for just a second, for Justin to even speak. Instead, he just nodded, and by some miracle Ken seemed to understand.
“Okay. Let’s do that.” Ken’s voice was very sure, very definite, no trace of hesitation, and Justin tried not to read too much into that. Tried, and failed. He leaned in, kissing Ken again, this time to shut off the words that he so badly wanted to say but knew that it was too soon for.
“Then I think the song is almost done. Just give me a few more days to polish it up,” Justin managed, once the hot, lingering kiss had finally broken. He found himself caught in Ken’s eyes, utterly swept away, to the point where he didn’t even notice that anyone else had entered the room until it was too late.
“So this is how you’re spending the studio time that I’m providing for you,” Lester’s voice was cold and intense, and it felt an awful lot like a bucket of ice water thrown right over Justin’s head, droplets of pure dread slipping down his spine.
They’d been caught, and by probably the worst possible person to catch them. By the person who already seemed to have it out for Justin, and who was looking for an excuse to get rid of him.
