Page 20 of Guarding the Shadows
In the few hours since I’d been around Beth again, I’d had three full erections and two semis. And while my dick behavedlike a school boy in heat due to the lack of any recent action, I had been desperately trying to ignore it. That was, until Beth had appeared in front of me in a tight-fitting dress and asked me to help with her zipper.
Let’s just say my dick’s determination won out, then the only thing I could do was own the raging erection in my pants, that Beth had clearly noticed. From that moment on, it wasn’t only my dick’s behavior that went south. I partially caved to my desires when I crossed the line between my professional duties and my more physically pleasurable desires.
Somehow, after a couple of mild transgressions that could easily have developed into more, my conscience won and I managed to restrain myself. Then I blindly finished the zipper task with my eyes closed to prevent me running my tongue down her deliciously tempting spine.
The ride to the venue was mostly in silence as we both collected ourselves, and by the time we arrived, Benny had set up Beth’s stage backdrop and he was busy loading two guitars, one electric and one acoustic, onto their guitar stands. “Hey, Beth, if you could just check the tuning on these while I set your mixing board up,” he suggested as he diligently untangled wires and ran them across the stage to small amplifiers on each side.
I felt relieved when Beth climbed up onto the four-foot high stage, then lifted her guitars one at a time to tune them up. She played the intro to “Hotel California” by the Eagles deftly and when she was satisfied they were perfect, she replaced each of them back.
She then wandered over to the microphone stand and dropped her head close to the mic. “One-two, one-two,” she muttered in a sexy, gruff tone. She tucked her long dark hair behind her ears, drawing my attention to her heart-shaped face and her jawline. Satisfied there was no feedback, Beth picked up her acoustic guitar again and lifted the strap over her shoulder.
Folding my arms, I stood watching her fluid movements and felt my dick stir again. It hadn’t even been a thing since Gwen, but seeing Beth with her guitar, made me imagine how she’d look naked, playing a solo gig for me.
As if she knew I was fantasizing about her, she glanced up and a flush reddened her face. “Raff, do you think you could stop staring at me like that. I’d hate to guess what you’re thinking right now, with that dark smile on your face. You’re making me nervous.”
I had a mind then and there to tell her my impure thoughts, and maybe if Benny hadn’t been in earshot, I might well have said that I liked what I saw. However, Benny glanced toward me when he heard Beth’s comment, and this snapped my focus back to my duties. It did me good to remember that neither Beth nor I could afford any distractions because that’s when mistakes got made.
“Just thinking that guitar suits you,” I said, tamping my fantasy down. “Maybe you’ll play me a tune on our own one day. I’d like to hear how you sound without all this around,” I said, circling my arm in the air to mean the venue and all the props.And how you scream when I make you come.
“You never know your luck,” she shot back in a sassy remark, then she winked.
“Did you just wink at me?” I asked, frowning and holding back a grin, despite my resolve to keep myself on task.
“Something in my eye,” she replied, biting back a grin of her own. “Here’s one you might know,” she suggested. She began toplay “Dirty Little Secret” by The All-American Rejects, and my mind instantly went to the gutter.She wants me.
I’d never really taken much notice of how talented Beth was, but as I watched her shake her ass and get lost in the strong lyrics of the song that carried a hidden message for me, I didn’t doubt she would make it someday. I loved that she wasn’t shy either, as she rolled her hips and shook her ass as if to say, ‘Look what you’re missing.’ I felt my jaw go slack the more I watched, completely turned on by her kick-ass performance for my benefit.
The sexy confidence she displayed was a contradiction to the calm, intelligent girl I’d gotten to know off stage. It struck me that Beth wasn’t just stunning to look at. Just like her brother, Levi, she had a certain kind of magnetism that was enthralling and difficult to ignore.
As I stood there listening, I wondered if Beth was worth the huge risk I’d be taking in crossing the professional line to see if what we had was more than a pent-up attraction borne from being thrown together.
Many years in a faithful relationship had gotten me nowhere, and I had little left to lose, apart from my job. But risk was my profession and if I wasn’t willing to take a chance on myself, who would? That thought immediately sparked a song choice of my own. It was one that fit the situation perfectly, because if anything happened between us, it had to be Beth who made the first move.
I bit back a smile as I found the tune online that I wanted to send her, one that would let her know we were on the same page. But with my job at risk, the ball had to be in her court. I couldn’t defend myself to her brother if I was the one who made the first move, so I copied, then pasted the link to the song, and sent it to Beth while I prayed that she wasn’t just singing that song to tease me.
18
Beth
It usually only took around ten minutes to do a sound check to ensure my instruments were tuned up before a gig. But since I had a sexy, brooding, alpha male in front of me, I figured I’d put on a show. After the tour I couldn’t tell Raff how I felt, and it had crushed my heart when I’d watched him walk away. This time, I was damned if I’d waste my second chance to show him what he was missing.
“I’m ready to go backstage now,” I called out to Raff. Moving swiftly, he came in front of me, placed his hands flat on the stage and smoothly lifted himself up beside me.
“I’m impressed,” I said, reaching out and plumping one of his biceps in my grip.
Raff glanced down at where we were skin-on-skin. “It’s all sweat and tears, no steroids involved,” he boasted, grinning. “Now, if you’re finished copping a feel, maybe we could get you safely situated in your dressing room before the venue doors open?”
“Lead the way,” I suggested, gesturing to the side of the stage.
My heart fluttered when Raff unexpectedly reached down and took my hand. He gestured toward them. “The corridor’sdark, I’d hate to lose you,” he teased, smiling. “Seriously, I’d prefer to keep in contact with you when we’re moving from place to place in here. I don’t want to scare you, but we have no idea how the guy that followed you got in last night.”
My heart skipped a beat when the reality of my situation hit home. “Where will you be when I perform?”
“Right in front of the stage on your lefthand side.”
“That’s where he was,” I disclosed, frowning.
“Then he was watching who was watching him. That position is the clearest view of the stage, the audience and two of the entrances to the auditorium. There’s also two fire doors at the back. My guess is he entered through one of those.”
