Guarding His Heart Read online

  Mark didn’t make him wait. He slid another finger inside, and moved both of them. He loved watching how Christian went to pieces. How the calm, laid back young man could get so desperate once pleasure was involved.

  His gorgeous little hedonist.

  Even with two fingers, it wasn’t long until Christian was moaning for more. It was like he was made for this, made for Mark’s touch. Mark had no intention of disappointing him.

  “Are you ready?” he asked, gazing into Christian’s eyes.

  “Yeah,” Christian said, and there wasn’t even the faintest hint of hesitation in his eyes. “Yeah, I’m ready. I need you.”

  That was clear. Nice and clear. Not to mention an incredible relief for Mark, who never could have allowed himself to do this if Christian didn’t truly want it.

  Mark had never been the sort of person to be overly picky about which men he took to his bed, as long as the attraction was there on both sides. Well, and as long as it would be appropriate to do so. So maybe he was a little picky.

  In any case, he’d definitely never taken a virgin before. And, as perfectionistic as he was, there was no way he was going to be happy unless Christian was having the best time possible.

  It seemed that was what was happening, so Mark pulled his fingers out of Christian, leaving him whimpering on the bed, his cock throbbing against his stomach. Mark took a second to just appreciate the way that the gorgeous man looked all stretched out for him, body aroused, skin beautifully flushed.

  As he watched, he slid a condom onto himself and then thoroughly wet his cock with the lube, making it nice and slippery. He’d stretched him out with his fingers a fair bit, and that would help, but he wanted to make it as painless as he could.

  “Mark, come on! I’m ready,” Christian insisted, and Mark shook his head. How was this not a wet dream come true? He had a gorgeous, naked, man who had never been with another man before, and that man was practically begging for Mark to take him.

  This wasn’t the sort of thing that happened in real life. At least not in Mark’s real life. If he pinched himself, he was half afraid that he would wake up and ruin all of this.

  Before he could, though, he was going to have Christian. Even if this was a dream, it would be worth it. He groaned softly as he eased on top of the other man, pushing Christian’s long legs aside so that he could position himself right at the tight, hot entrance to his body.

  “Oh God,” Christian moaned, and his arms wrapped around Mark’s shoulders, holding on to him tightly. “Now, Mark, baby, now!”

  That was all Mark needed. More than he needed, actually. He growled softly as he let himself start to slip inside, just a little bit at a time.

  Or that was the idea, anyway. As it turned out, Christian had plans that were just a little bit different from that.

  Moving very suddenly, the younger man suddenly pushed his hips up, and all at once, Mark’s dick slid inside him until he bottomed out. Just like that, he was buried as deeply as he could be inside Christian, his pelvis right against the younger man and his balls pressed tight to Christian’s, and it was, by far, the most intense experience of his life.

  Mark watched Christian’s face, making sure that he could handle all of this. Now that he was inside him, he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to hold back before starting to move. Before doing his best to make this beautiful man his, if only for the moment.

  Christian gave him a smile, and there was some intense sensation going on in Christian’s body, Mark could tell that much. But he could also tell that Christian was feeling no pain, or at least, not enough to make him not want this.

  “Move,” Christian directed, and Mark shook his head. This kid was bossy. Luckily for them both, moving was exactly what Mark wanted to do.

  Mark leaned down to kiss him, to still those lips, to stop them from speaking, for just a moment. At the same time, he reached in with a hand that was still slick with lube, and he wrapped his fingers around the other man and started to stroke him.

  Only then did he move. Deliberately pushing his cock against the other man’s prostate, he thrust inside him, and he felt the young man’s strong arms and even his legs as they wrapped around him.

  “Mark,” Christian whispered, and hearing his own name said in such a highly erotic, pleasured way, it just drove Mark crazy.

  “Yeah, baby,” Mark purred, and that spurred him on, made him move quicker, and far too soon, Mark felt that familiar heat as it started to build, his balls tightening with impending pleasure.

  “Mark! I’m gonna …” Christian cried out, and Mark groaned with relief. Good. He wasn’t going to completely embarrass himself by coming first.

  “Good. Me too.” He squeezed Christian’s cock tightly. “Together?”

  And that’s what they did. Christian’s ass clenched even tighter around him, and Mark drove against his prostate, and Christian’s cock gushed come all over Mark’s hand as Mark pumped the condom full of his own come.

  As Mark gave a soft sigh and pulled out of the younger man, as he silently dealt with the condom, he had to admit something, if only to himself. That was the best sex of his life.

  He really hoped Christian had gotten this out of his system, because he wasn’t at all convinced that he had. He wasn’t sure that, if given the chance, he wouldn’t run right back into bed with this gorgeous, seductive, beautiful young man.

  * * *

  The next day, they left on tour.

  Which was actually sort of nice for Mark, who got a whole new challenge. Not only did he have to protect Christian on the road, where there were far more chances for someone to attack him, steal from him, even kidnap him, but on top of that, he’d been told that he was the head of security for the team of guys who would be coming to guard the rest of the group.

  All in all, there should be a lot for him to do. Too much for him to continue to think about Christian, or, at least, he very much hoped that was the case.

  And actually, for the first day on the road, that was true. There was just so much to do, what with getting the other security guys up to speed. They all accepted his authority without question, but compared to the level of training that he’d gotten, they just didn’t measure up.

  But they were competent enough, he supposed. That was something. His job was to make them more than competent. He’d worked with other people before and he figured he was up to the task.

  The most difficult part was when he was just sitting on the tour bus, and he had to watch as Christian laughed and joked with his friends. Like nothing had happened. The young man didn’t so much as look at Mark.

  Well, that was a good thing, right? That was exactly what Mark had been hoping for, that Christian would want to end things because Mark sure the hell didn’t. This was ideal.

  Funny how it felt like having a knife plunged into his stomach. No one said doing the right thing would be easy, though.

  As long as Christian was content to ignore him, things would be fine. Well, Mark would be miserable. That much was becoming very clear. But he would deal with that by pulling his professionalism around himself like a cloak and hiding in it.

  Hell, he’d done it before.

  Still, when Briana grinned at some joke that Christian made, Mark had to restrain himself. Briana could have him, and he couldn’t, and somehow, that seemed grossly unfair.

  It was a relief when Briana went off to start harassing Nick, who gave her a dirty look and harassed her right back.

  He was going to have to get himself together. He knew it. He couldn’t go around being jealous of anyone Christian spoke to. It wasn’t normal or healthy and he knew it. He had no claim on Christian.

  It was almost a relief when his phone rang, and while he didn’t, of course, take his eyes off of Christian, he could at least take a little bit of the insane amount of attention that he was paying him and focus it on the call. He had really been staring more than was even needed for his job.

  The phone call quickly
absorbed even more of his attention, and he had to remember to keep his voice down. The bus was big and luxurious, for a bus, but it was still a confined space and the last thing he wanted to do was have everyone panicking.

  “When?” was all he asked, and even then, his voice was sharp enough that he saw Christian’s blond head perk up, he finally saw those beautiful eyes look at him. But he also saw worry there, and that wasn’t good. Bodyguards were supposed to help keep worrying from happening.

  “I see. Thank you.” Mark hung up the phone, and then sighed softly. Great. Just what he needed.

  What made it even worse was when Christian came over, walking smoothly despite the bouncing of the bus as it drove. He fell into the seat beside Mark, and even with everything on his mind, Mark was just a little pleased when he saw the younger man wince as he sat down again.

  “Feeling a little sore today?” Mark asked, his voice so low that only Christian had even the slightest chance of hearing him. It would probably be better if even Christian didn’t hear that, because it was more than a little flirtatious.

  “Yeah,” Christian said, and then shot him a devastating grin. “But it was worth it. So what’s up?”

  Mark frowned thoughtfully. He supposed that the other man should know, actually. It would help him be a bit more cautious. Mark hoped. If Christian even had a cautious bone in his body.

  “It’s Allen.” Mark saw that Christian didn’t know who he was talking about. “Allen Neilsen.” There was still no look of comprehension on that pretty face. “The man who broke into your house and stalked you?”

  Finally, Christian seemed to get it, and he frowned a little.

  “What about him?” he asked, and Mark sighed.

  “He’s out on bail.”

  Chapter Eight

  Christian

  Maybe that wasn’t the best news ever. Maybe Christian should be more worried about that. But when he was sitting next to the huge, warm, gorgeous body of his bodyguard, his strong, competent, bodyguard, the man who was here just to protect him, he found it hard to even think about it for more than a few seconds.

  He remembered the night that he woke up, only to hear noises in the bathroom. Of course he did. It had been terrifying at the time, but he’d gotten up to see what was going on. Probably one of his friends, playing a trick on him.

  But the guy who had been in his bathroom had been completely unfamiliar. He’d been going through Christian’s dirty laundry hamper, and had already clearly been through his toiletries. That’s what had woken Christian up, made him run back to grab his phone and call the cops.

  The guy had just sat there the whole time, watching as Christian got the police on the line. He hadn’t seemed to care, or be worried, and he hadn’t tried to get away.

  Christian shook his head.

  “It’s fine. The dude wasn’t anything to be scared about. He just started talking about how he was my biggest fan and stuff. No big deal.” He shrugged. “I’m sure that he’s freaked out by being in jail.”

  Mark nodded, but it was just a little bit doubtful.

  “Maybe.”

  Regardless, Christian felt safe, because he knew that Mark would be there, watching him. Mark could do the worrying for both of them. Christian was used to looking out for himself, but he didn’t have to anymore. It was kind of comforting, especially considering the strange new world of fame and fortune that Christian was taking his first steps into.

  The silence between them was getting just a little bit too comfortable. Christian found himself thinking about the previous night, and how perfect it had been. He’d never imagined having sex with another man before, but apparently, he’d really been missing out.

  Though he was actually confused about that, because thinking of another guy fucking him, that wasn’t appealing. It was just Mark. But he couldn’t have Mark, they’d both been very clear on that, so Christian needed to get over it.

  It seemed to him that Mark already had, though, to be fair, it was hard to tell with him. There had been moments where Mark had been looking at him, and there had been just the faintest hint of something. Desire, maybe? Something that made shivers go through Christian’s body.

  In that moment, Christian wanted to beg Mark to take him somewhere, anywhere, private. Or not private. He almost didn’t care.

  But then he looked over at the rest of his band, and he sighed and shook his head. His own reputation, well, that was his business, but did he have the right to ruin this for the rest of them? He didn’t think so. So he shook his head, gave Mark an apologetic look, and got up to go back where he belonged, with his friends.

  * * *

  The time passed slowly. Even though Christian practiced with his guitar until his fingers tingled and threatened to cramp, even though he laughed and joked with his friends, teasing them just as much as they teased him, he was far, far too aware of Mark, sitting such a short distance away.

  But it might as well have been the moon, for all the good Mark was to him.

  Not that that was fair. Mark was working, after all, constantly, just to make sure that Christian was safe. But Christian selfishly wanted more than that, even though he himself couldn’t give that to Mark, even if Mark didn’t want it.

  They were headed up through Northern California first, and then up into Oregon. It was going to be a jam packed schedule, they were playing six venues in seven days.

  The moment the bus pulled up at the hotel where they would be staying for the night, Mark was off. There were other security guards there, of course, and Christian just waited. He knew the drill from his last tour.

  It wasn’t long until Mark was back, having done whatever security stuff he needed to do. He really was very professional, and Christian had to admire him for that.

  But there was not time to think much. His stuff was packed away into his room, and he just had time to change before he had to leave to play his very first show of his very first national tour.

  * * *

  It wasn’t the first time that he’d been on tour. He’d been on several local tours, and before that, Eternity had been the opening act for a bunch of other tours. But this was his first time as the headliner, and the experience was completely different.

  Christian had always fed on attention. He’d always wanted to be the one everyone was looking at, and it gave him energy when that was happening. He loved to entertain, he loved to delight.

  Those needs, he’d definitely gotten them met before. Even as a YouTube star, he’d been happy with how much attention he’d gotten. But being in front of a huge crowd of thousands for the very first time, all of them here to see him, it was a whole new level.

  In that moment, looking out into the blurred sea of faces, their open mouths singing his songs, Christian felt like it was worth it.

  Yes, he was going to have to sacrifice his thing with Mark to have this, but this was the job he’d been made for. This was exactly what he needed. He loved these people, and they loved him, and that was enough.

  That feeling lasted until he walked into the backstage area and the first person he there was Mark.

  Damn it! If only he could have both. But even if he were willing to admit to being into another man, he had seen no sign from Mark that he even wanted that. Christian knew Mark had already relaxed his rigid rules about relations between himself and a client, and he couldn’t ask for more.

  All very good reasons, none of which kept him from wanting Mark like nothing else every time he saw him.

  It was desire that had him whispering to his bodyguard as the whole band, plus Mark, were all directed out of the venue and into the limo that was waiting for them to take everyone back to the hotel.

  “Sleep in my hotel room tonight?”

  There was no excuse for it. It was a terrible idea, and he was a bad person for even suggesting it to Mark, for even putting Mark in that situation.

  Mark didn’t respond, or if he did, Christian was swept away from him as they all settled into the l
imo and he didn’t hear it.

  Hopefully, Mark would be too smart to fall for that. Hopefully.

  It had been less than twenty four hours since Christian had held Mark in his arms, though, and already, he felt like he needed him.

  * * *

  There was a party that night.

  Normally, Christian would be the first one to get excited about a party. The rest of his band were clearly high on the success of their first major concert, and Christian would have assumed that he would be right there with them.

  But when a slightly drunk Briana climbed onto Nick’s lap and whispered something in his ear that actually made him blush, Christian wanted nothing more than to be able to do the same to Mark.

  As everyone was distracted by Briana and Nick, who had started to kiss rather passionately, Christian took his chance to work his way over to Mark, who was there watching. Of course. He pretty much always was.

  “Please?” he asked. And then inspiration struck him. “Because of that guy. Allen or whatever. I’d feel safer if you were in the room with me.”

  It wasn’t even entirely untrue. No, Christian didn’t think that the strange little man who had broken into his house was much of a threat, but he couldn’t know for sure, right? Better to be safe.

  Could he actually order Mark to stay? Was that even something that he, as the man’s client, was allowed to do? Christian had never thought about that much before, but he supposed he was sort of the other man’s boss.

  Not that he’d hired him. Maybe only Christian’s agent Larry could do that. It was almost worth testing, only Christian wasn’t sure he could abuse his power like that. No matter how tempting the thought was.

  It really just wasn’t his style to order people around, anyway.

  Christian could swear that he could see Mark struggling with himself in his mind. He tried not to hold his breath. It would be better if Mark said no, he reminded himself firmly. Far better.