Private Dicks (12 page)

Jade's studio was near the business section of downtown. He could have easily afforded something in the ritzier part of town, just as he also could have afforded a mansion in the hills rather than choosing to live with me in my small two-bedroom condo. But he insisted he liked to be near me when he worked or relaxed. He had simple tastes for a millionaire rockstar, only indulging in the things he truly wanted and what was most important to him: his SUV, his guitars, his recording equipment, his band mates, and strangely enough, me.

He bolted from the car without a word and I paused a moment to count to ten in my head. The difficult side of Jade rarely appeared, but when it did, it was a force to be reckoned with. I concentrated on the wiggle of his butt in his tighter-than-fuck jeans, strategically ripped in all the right and wrong places. He always told me I obsessed too much over his ass, but I imagine anyone else who got to see it naked would become obsessed too.

He held the door open for me with an impatient grunt and I found myself regretting letting him help me on the case. I didn't know what had him so riled up, but he hadn't even acted this way when I told him he was accused of knocking up a sixteen year old. He led the way through the tight hallway to the section at the back that he rented for his studio and darkroom. What the building lacked in upkeep and beauty on the outside, Jade had made up for in his suite.

We went to the studio first, or at least, the lounge part of the studio that Jade had insisted on creating. The room was decorated in rich earth tones, the walls, couches, and accents all varying shades of brown, green, and cayenne. He'd designed and picked out every aspect of the room, making it his home away from home during long working sessions. There was even a small daybed in the corner with a beautiful patchwork quilt my mom had made specifically for Jade. He adored it and her, and she doted on him far more than she did me.

Kicking off his tennis shoes, Jade padded barefoot across the room, bypassing the room he used as his actual studio, where all his top-of-the-line recording equipment was set up. He opened the door furthest from the entrance , flicked on the outer light switch, and a warm glow of light emitted from the doorway.

"Want me to help?" I asked. I already knew the answer, though, so I settled myself on the rich brown leather sofa.

"I can do them faster without interruption. No offense."

I wasn't offended in the least and was happy as punch to get a tiny smile out of him. "Fine with me. Think I'll just have a nap. Wake me when you're done."

I kicked off my shoes, swung my feet up on the couch, then leaned back and closed my eyes. I didn't have to have my eyes open to know he was still looking at me. I could feel his gaze and practically read his thoughts at that very moment. It came as no surprise when I felt him hover over me and a soft kiss was pressed to my mouth.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I love you."

I sighed and knew all was right between us.

*~*~*

I awoke to the soft sounds of the acoustic guitar, one of Iron Wolf's softer ballads, to be exact. Jade's melodic voice floated into my brain next, words I'd heard time and time again but never tired of. He always claimed Eyes on You wasn't a love song and wasn't about me, but one evening of over-indulgent Tequila shots had finally brought out the truth.

Watching and waiting for the light in your eyes

To change, to transform, to finally realize.

You push and I pull,

I admit and you deny

We turn in opposite directions

While our hearts still fly.

I'll always be patient,

Always wait for your sign

Through the darkness and light

Letting harsh times pass by

You're all that I've wanted,

All my heart belongs to you

So keep up your hiding

Cuz my eyes are on you.

When the single came out, it had precipitated a riot of screaming fans insisting on confirmation that their biggest wet dream had been ripped from their arms. There were tears and suicidal rants until Jade, or to be more exact, Iron Balls had done an interview reassuring everyone that the sappy love song had been written about and for all his fans, and he was still most definitely on the market. Luckily, they believed him, otherwise there might have been bigger fish to fry than a few teary women. I never believed it myself, not when it was written and quickly released as a single at a pace unheard of in the business. There was also the little fact Jade always managed to forget—pretended to forget: we had been broken up at that time, my over-thinking mind having decided Jade was too young and had too much potential to be tied down to a low level P.I. Thankfully, he'd changed my mind.

He rarely played the song in concert, brushing off the requests by insisting it just didn't suit him and the band anymore. His explanation to me was that he regretted sharing it with anyone but me in the first place. Did I mention Jade had the heart of a 1950s hopeless romantic living in a hot rockstar body? He shrugged it off by saying it was too personal to be played night after night in front of faceless crowds or even in private. He only played it when he was deep in contemplation or trying to sway my heart to his point of view.

I guessed his thoughts were rambling around in his head, considering we hadn't had an actual disagreement to speak of. Shaking the drowsiness from my limbs, I lifted myself from the sofa before crossing the room to where he sat cross-legged on the floor. His back was to me and his favorite acoustic was snugged tight in his hands. He'd shed the hat and his hair hung in partially braided ropes down his back, the strands interlaced here and there with magenta and ruby highlights. I settled myself behind him, legs spread wide so I captured his body between mine. He leaned back into me, fingers still working their magic on the strings as I slid my hands down his thighs.

"Trouble?" Considering we were generally in perfect synch, I knew he'd understand my question with no more explanation.

His fingers stilled on the strings before he reached forward, snatching something off the floor in front of him. "Look for yourself." He handed me the photos he'd been working on.

I let my upper body fall to recline to the floor, knees bent but still pressed to Jade's sides. The pictures were fabulously clear and perfectly developed. Shahara was in the foreground, her back completely naked and her bra dangling from her fingertips. The man was partially hidden behind her, nothing visible but a bare arm sporting some sort of colorful tattoo.

I tightened my knees around Jade as his fingers returned to strumming sweet notes on his guitar. "I don't know what..."

"Look at the rest," he said without missing a beat.

I flipped to the next photo, the man becoming clearer despite the long scraggly hair hanging over his face. The tattoo was more recognizable in this one: a canine with large fangs dripping blood. Shahara was closer to the bed, jeans shed and only tiny bikini bottoms providing any sort of coverage.

The next picture showed a completely naked Shahara huddled between the man's legs, her head dropped down over his crotch, one hand holding back her hair. It wasn't as graphic as it could have been, but the implication of what she was doing was clearly there in black and white. The man's head was tilted back, his eyes closed and lips slightly parted. I knew right away it was a picture I would never hand over to her father. As I peered closer, I realized the man looked somewhat familiar, but I couldn't quite place him.

It was as if Jade could read my thoughts. "It's Griz."He shifted the guitar from his lap, carefully laying it on the floor. His hands threaded through his hair, dislodging the braids and smoothing them away.

"Isn't that the name of ..."

"Yep, that's him."

"But didn't he disappear?"

"I thought so."

"Then why ..."

"I dunno."

Grizwald Lancaster, or Griz for short, had been the original singer and founder of Iron Wolf. He was roughly my age and had been quite popular when the band first appeared on the scene some eight years ago. He'd been known for his hard-drinking, hard-drugging lifestyle, something the fans ate up until it started affecting his shows. Lateness, drunkenness, public nudity, and cancellations had bred rampant in the second year of his front man status, and the other three original members of the band had fired his ass after many warnings.

Jade had been one of eight singers they'd auditioned, also the youngest and least experienced one at that. The boys in the band had stopped the try-outs as soon as they heard Jade's first song—his powerful range, cocky attitude, and ethnic good looks selling them immediately on him. There'd been some trouble with Griz at first: equipment damaged, tour bus covered in graffiti, even an incident of the psycho rushing the stage and tackling Jade to the ground. He'd promptly been arrested but had been released. The last the band had heard of him was when he'd been the next time he was arrested. His offense that time had been providing alcohol to a minor. As far as I knew, Griz hadn't been heard from in almost four years. I couldn't imagine what common thread linked him to Shahara. Just how did a scummy down-and-out ex-rocker go about meeting a sixteen-year-old girl, and wasn't the whole situation just a little too coincidental?

I reached up and dragged Jade back so he rested on top of me. I was uncomfortably aware of his shoulders making painful yet pleasurable contact with my inner thighs and groin. It wasn't the time to be thinking or feeling what I was feeling, but in my defense, Jade had only been home for twenty-four hours. "Tell me what you're thinking," I encouraged, running my fingers through his magnificent mane.

"I think I'd like you to fuck me."

A strangled gasp, and maybe even a whimper, slipped from my lips. "That's not exactly what I ..."

He flipped effortlessly to his stomach, managing not to injure my rapidly growing arousal. His dark, needy eyes gazed up at me from beneath long, fluttery lashes. He maintained the gaze while lowering his head to mouth my dick through my jeans. Moist heat hurried the hardening process in my pants and my hips involuntarily rocked up to get closer to his mouth. He added a hand to the mix, his fingers and palm rubbing and caressing over my erection and down between my legs. I watched, transfixed, as he shaped his mouth around the outline of my shaft and sucked wet patterns into my already-damp jeans. I've been described as uber-quick with regards to expelling my pre-come, and the words leaky faucet have been thrown my way many times. I used to find it embarrassing with other men, but with Jade, it was simply a natural reaction to the unfettered lust and undeniable love I felt for him. Plus, he made me leak faster and harder than any other man I'd ever been with.

"Can we take these off?" he purred up at me, fingers already popping open the button and working the zipper of my jeans. He had to slide off me to pull my pants down and my dick was instantly cold and lonely for his touch. He yanked and tugged, managing to get them down past my knees before realizing he'd neglected to take off my boots. Huffing with frustration, he grabbed one of my boots but paused and shot me a mischievous grin before dropping the boot and diving down on my dick.

I couldn't muffle my gasp this time. An uninhibited whimper and the clenching of all my muscles accompanied it when he swallowed me to the root and gave me a hard suck. Fingers dug into my left thigh and I spread my legs a little wider, hindered by the pants holding my calves hostage and the pinning press of Jade's arm against my thighs. He slid his mouth up and licked a long stripe from the back of my balls to the tip of my crown, his tongue flattening and curving around the sensitive underside. My belly fluttered and flipped, my skin crawling with arousal and lust. I could hardly keep myself from thrusting into his mouth when his lips slid down my shaft again.

My balls tightened and hardened as Jade rolled them between his fingers. He bobbed his head, his whole body moving and responding to every suck and lick he adorned on me. When my cockhead hit the back of his throat and he constricted his muscles. I knew it was now or never. Twisting my fingers in his hair, I tugged gently at first then harder when his lips and tongue simply continued to bring me closer and dangerously closer to orgasm.

"Jade," I hissed through lips flapping like a fish gulping air. "If you want me to … ohhh, fuck you … gotta stop. Make a decision."

His vibrating chuckle against my cock almost rendered the decision null for the both of us, but he finally pulled off. He lapped more pre-come from my tip before sliding up my body and immediately capturing my mouth in a brutal, teeth-clicking kiss. He sucked all the breath from my lungs just as he'd almost sucked the seed from my dick moments before.

When he ripped his mouth from mine, my lips burned and throbbed from the friction but, goddamn, I wanted more. He sucked and nipped at my mouth, my chin, my jaw, while his clothed erection rubbed and ground against my thigh.

"You taste so good," he growled into my mouth. "Could suck you all day and all night and never get enough."

I moaned and bucked my hips, my cock painfully hard and ready to burst. "You're gonna make me shoot like a teenager." I hissed through my teeth and closed my eyes as he latched on to the flesh of my earlobe.

His response was to suck harder and change position, one hand slipping around my wrist to hold it over my head while he moved his body flush on top of mine. His hard length rubbed over my leaking shaft, and he proceeded to grind against me. When I let out a louder whimper and dug my fingers into his back, he kissed me again, soft but determined, his tongue caressing mine when it slipped inside.

I saw stars when my orgasm hit and suddenly I was flying. My legs bent, feet pressing flat into the floor while my body writhed and shuddered beneath Jade. He rocked me harder into the floor, our breath mingling and huffing between our open mouths while he whispered and talked me through my climax. His words mere noises to the buzzing in my ears. My cock was raw and burning by the time I was milked dry, the roughness of Jade's pants not the perfect choice for frottage, but I certainly wasn't complaining.