Keys to Love (21 page)

“Was it awesome or what?”

“It was incredible.” Evan handed him a damp towel.

Jesse wiped his face and the back of his neck as he walked toward the dressing rooms. “Considering the earlier fiasco, hell yeah it was! Did you get a chance to look at the piano?”

“Yeah. Let’s go look at it before you get changed.”

Julian felt his heart clench to the point where it didn’t seem possible it could beat. “Can’t it wait? I’d really like to get out of these sweaty clothes.”

Evan glanced at him. “It won’t take long.”

Julian’s mind raced for ways to help Morgan as he trailed after them. Despite his desperation, no explanations or ideas came to his mind. They rounded a corner to two guards standing by the black grand. He couldn’t believe Evan really had put guards on the thing. It spoke to how serious a situation Evan must think it was. But even if Morgan had messed up, it still seemed blown out of proportion.

With the piano’s lid up, Evan leaned over the side. He reached into the chamber and held up a loose string. “Look at this.”

Jesse stood at his side. “I guess it did break. But the question is, when did it happen? I want to know who sound checked it before the show, if it was checked at all.”

Evan shook his head. “No, look more closely.” He rubbed his thumb over the string’s end. “It’s smooth, not jagged like it Keys to Love
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would be if it snapped. And when I first looked in at it, it was lying perfectly flat inside. If it snapped, it would’ve recoiled from the tension.”

Jesse’s countenance sobered. “It was cut.”

“That’s what I’m thinking.”

Julian moved closer to them. “But who would do that?”

Evan folded his arms on the edge of the chamber. “I was hoping you might have an idea. Have you had any disagreements with the tech in charge of your instruments?”

“No. He’s an absolute professional and exceptional at caring for my instruments.”

Brad jumped into the conversation. “Then why didn’t he notice it was busted?”

“Maybe it was cut after the sound check,” Jesse said.

Julian nodded quickly. “That must be it.”

Jesse let out a snort. “Well then, that narrows it down to countless other people. Have you pissed off anyone lately, Jules?”

“Who says it has to be someone Julian’s pissed off?” Kenny broke in. “You play the piano during shows, too. Maybe it’s someone you got on the bad side of.”

Jesse gave him a doubtful look. “First off, how is it possible for me to be on anyone’s bad side?” At Kenny’s flat expression, he added. “Don’t answer that. But second, I’ve been a very good boy and haven’t yelled at anyone all tour. Okay, I’ve given orders, but that’s not the same as yelling.”

“Man, there’s no way we’re going to find out who did this,”

Brad said.

Evan looked at him. “I don’t know about that. It might be tough this time, but if someone’s holding bad feelings against Julian, Jesse, or any of you for that matter since it could be someone who wanted to see the whole band embarrassed, then they’ll try something like this again. What we need to do is be vigilant. As part of that, I don’t want any of you going anywhere
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without at least one guard on your ass.”

Jesse rolled his eyes. “Ev—”

Evan poked Jesse’s shoulder with his index finger. “You especially won’t argue with me about this.”

Jesse sighed. “Fine.”

Evan threw a glance at all of them. “I mean it, guys. If someone was malicious enough to do this,” he held up the piano string, “who knows what their behavior could escalate to.”

Julian started to nod in agreement, then froze at the sight of Morgan striding toward them. He caught Morgan’s gaze and once again tried to warn him back, but Morgan looked away from him, setting his gaze on Jesse and Evan. Julian watched, helpless, as he stopped in front of them, looking directly into Jesse’s eyes.

“Jesse, I’m not entirely certain what happened tonight, but from the gossip going around and the quick change of the pianos, I’ve figured out something was wrong with this one.” Morgan laid his hand on the grand. “It’s my job to make sure it plays perfectly and I take full responsibility for any malfunction with it.

I did thoroughly sound check it, and it was fine right before the show, but clearly I must’ve missed something.”

Jesse nodded thoughtfully. “I appreciate that…what was your name again?”

“Morgan.”

“Right, Morgan. I remember we met before the tour started.

Accountability and responsibility are two things I’ve discovered people rarely own up to. It takes a lot of character and strength, and I’m glad to have someone who possesses both on my staff, even if he isn’t accountable or responsible for what happened tonight.”

Morgan shook his head in confusion. “What?”

“The wire was cut,” Evan said, and filled him in on what he’d discovered.

As Evan finished, Morgan aimed a concerned glance at Julian.

“I don’t understand why someone would do something like that.”

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“That’s what we’re trying to figure out, too,” Julian said.

“Evan believes one of us may have gotten on the bad side of a staff member.”

Morgan snapped his gaze toward Evan. “Something has to be done. If there’s a lunatic running around here who’ll damage the instruments, possessions that are intimate and important to the people who play them, and in this case Julian, something has to be done to protect him. Why aren’t the cops here? This needs to be reported!”

Evan held up a hand as if to slow Morgan’s growing panic. “I agree, something needs to be done, but calling the cops isn’t it.

We’ll be gone tomorrow, and the person who did this most likely will be with us. So what good could local cops do? We’re better off with our own security and running a private investigation.

These guys won’t even be walking into a restroom without a guard waiting outside.”

“That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?” Jesse said.

Evan turned to him. “No, I don’t, and you already agreed to not argue with me.”

Jesse grumbled in consent.

Evan brought his attention back to Morgan. “So I’ll amend what I said and have it everyone will be as well protected as they’ll allow themselves to be. But also, no one knows what we’ve uncovered except for the people here, so keep it on the down low. If the jackass who did this thinks they got away with it, they might feel safe enough to let their guard down.”

Morgan nodded slowly, throwing another glance at Julian.

Jesse smiled at Evan. “And on that note, Inspector Ev, let’s get ready to head back to the hotel.”

Evan laid a light slap on Jesse’s leather clad ass. “Inspector Ev, I like the sound of that. Maybe we can bust out the handcuffs tonight, and I’ll give you a thorough interrogation.”

Jesse laughed and slid his arm around Evan’s waist. “I’m all for it.”

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Julian took a seat at the piano. “I’ll follow you guys in a moment.”

Jesse glanced back at him. “Don’t worry, we’ll have it fixed and sounding perfect before the next show.”

“I know,” Julian said softly. When everyone had left except the two guards, he looked up at Morgan. “I don’t even know what to make of any of this.”

“I don’t either, but you need to listen to Evan and do what he says with security.”

“That could be problematic.”

“It would be more problematic if something happened to you.”

Julian lowered his gaze.

Morgan bent over the piano as if looking into the chamber and whispered, “We’ll talk tonight.”

Julian mustered a weak smile and nodded once. He stood, his shoulders sagging. “Until later, then.”

He walked away, his entire body feeling weighted with worry as he wondered how he and Morgan were going to manage with even more of their few moments together taken away.

Julian slid out of the limo. Just a couple of hours before, the arena he stood outside was bursting with life and noise. Now with the fans gone, it was hard to tell a concert had been performed at all. As he walked toward a back entrance, he glanced down to make certain his leather duster was buttoned completely shut. A smirk touched his lips. With how the coat covered him down to his ankles, no one would be the wiser, least of all Morgan.

He saw a handful of roadies wheeling crates onto a truck.

They glanced up at him and gave confused greetings. Julian could understand why. Once a show was done, he and the guys never returned to an arena unless they were playing back-to-back at the same venue the next day. Either way, they certainly didn’t return at one o’clock in the morning. But he had a purpose for being there, a mission.

Julian nodded to the roadies and headed inside. As he walked down the halls, he saw most of the staff was gone other than the few he saw, making him all the more irritated the Morgan was forced to work. He decided after they returned from the week off, he’d talk to Kurt about it. This couldn’t go on. And yes, part of it was his own selfishness.

Two nights ago when Morgan crashed on him, he had been understanding about it. When Morgan came to him late again the night before and the same thing happened, he couldn’t deny being a little irritated. Especially after what happened with the piano, he wanted to be with him. Morgan held him close and snuggled him as they fell asleep, which was great, but things were shaping up for it to happen the same way tonight, and there was no way he wasn’t going to get laid three nights in a row when he had a boyfriend.

Julian rounded a corner and saw Morgan locking a crate.

Morgan glanced up, his eyes widened in surprise. “Jules, what are—”

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Julian continued past him, beckoning to follow as he walked away.

Morgan checked for other workers, then hastened after Julian, trailing behind him down the dimly lit hall. Julian swung into a dressing room. Morgan went in after him, turning to him. “What are you doing here? And why are you here alone? Why don’t you have guards—”

Having closed the door, Julian faced him and shoved him hard on the chest.

Morgan flew back a couple steps before catching himself.

“Jules!”

Julian walked forward and pushed him again, sending him back another step toward the couch. “Morgan, darling, you know I love to talk to you, but right now I’m in the mood to do one thing, and answering your questions isn’t it. So sit your ass down and take off whatever clothes you want. I really don’t care what you have on so long as your cock is out and hard.”

Morgan’s mouth dropped open with a shocked cough. He remained standing in front of the couch.

Julian placed one hand on his hip, tapping an impatient beat with his index finger as he waited for Morgan to recover from his shock. Five seconds ticked by, far too long in his opinion, so he decided he’d just have to take what he wanted.

He gave Morgan another shove. The backs of Morgan’s knees hit the couch’s edge and buckled. He fell into a sitting position.

Julian stepped forward, straddling Morgan’s legs as he stood over him, shaking his head as he started to unbutton his coat. “I see now that my student hasn’t been learning his lessons properly.

You’re supposed to react much faster to what I want.”

“It’s just you’ve caught your student by surprise…” Morgan’s voice trailed off as Julian’s coat opened down to mid-chest, revealing bare skin beneath. He stared, captivated as each button revealed more of Julian’s fair skin. As the coat fell open to show Julian nude beneath, Morgan’s breath left him.

Julian smirked at him. “You’re being a bad student again.

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Aren’t you forgetting something I asked you to do?”

Morgan stared at him, continuing to drink in Julian’s nakedness barely concealed by the coat, his brown snakeskin boots still on.

His hands went to his jeans, his fingers working quickly to get them open. Morgan turned on the couch, lying on his back as he edged his jeans and his underwear down. They barely reached the middle of his thighs when Julian climbed onto the couch with him, flicking the bottom of the coat behind him.

Julian went to his hands and knees over him. He lowered his head to put his lips close to Morgan’s. “I think you’re learning now.”

Morgan lifted his head, pressing his lips to Julian’s in a rough kiss, his tongue thrusting deep into Julian’s mouth with starved passion. Julian returned the kiss with equal hunger, gripping a fistful of Morgan’s hair at the same moment. Morgan slipped one hand under the coat and caressed down Julian’s back to his ass. His fingers traced along Julian’s crack, and as they reached his hole, he paused at feeling something hard and plastic.

Morgan broke the kiss, licking his lips before he spoke.

“You’ve got in a plug?”

“I didn’t want to waste time on preparation. This way, I’m already stretched and ready for you.” He lightly nipped Morgan’s bottom lip. “Do you want to take it out for me?”

“As if you have to ask.”

Morgan gripped the plug’s base and gently pulled back, keeping his gaze on Julian’s face. Julian’s eyes closed, his lips parted as a soft groan left him. When the plug was halfway out, Morgan eased it almost all the way in again, then drew it back once more.

Julian moaned louder. He dropped down to his elbows, keeping his ass raised high. “Keep fucking me with that and I won’t need your cock tonight after all.”

“I have a feeling you’d still be good for more, but I’m hitting the point of being ready to be greedy.” Morgan slowly pulled the plug fully out.

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Julian pushed himself up, kneeling tall over him as he retrieved lube and a condom from his coat pocket. He ripped open a condom, covered Morgan’s cock, then fisted a palmful of lube over it. Keeping it in his hand, he positioned his body over it and lowered down onto the hard rod. Placing his other hand on Morgan’s chest, he felt the broad cock head stretch his rim, inching deeper. Julian moaned deep and low, his fingers digging into Morgan’s peck.

Morgan gripped Julian’s hips. Only half in, Morgan couldn’t stop his own hips from jerking up, pushing deeper. Julian held still for a moment, savoring Morgan’s quick thrusts in and out, but needed more than Morgan was giving him. He pushed off Morgan’s chest as he sank down on his cock, taking all of him hard and fast. His body slammed down on Morgan’s, evoking a rough groan from him.