Chapter 12
twelve
. . .
Intimacy changed us. Maybe it was because we’d finally stopped pretending the attraction between us could be ignored.
Or maybe it was because, after giving each other every vulnerable piece we’d been holding back, everything else suddenly came easy.
We laughed and teased each other more. Even the silences felt different because the pressure to impress disappeared.
We simply existed together, and somehow that became my favorite part of the trip.
Today, like the others, I thought the plan was simple: pool, music, and nothing too productive.
I just knew it was set in stone once he begged me to put on this pink swimsuit.
But no, Kier had disappeared to “check one email” almost an hour ago, leaving me stretched across one of the loungers all alone.
I glanced toward the house again before giving up on waiting.
“Five minutes,” I mumbled to myself. “He’s a five minute lie.”
Barefoot, I wandered back inside. The house was quiet enough that I could hear the air conditioning and my own footsteps against the floors. I checked the kitchen first, then the living room. He was nowhere to be found.
“Kier?” I called, but still no answer.
A melody drifted from somewhere farther down the hallway. Curious, I followed it until I reached a door that had been closed every other time I’d walked past it. I never questioned what was behind it. The door stood cracked open now. I eased it open another inch.
Kier sat alone in front of an enormous mixing console, one elbow resting on the arm of his chair while the other hand navigated between buttons and knobs with an ease that told me he’d done this thousands of times before.
The room was darker than the rest of the house, illuminated mostly by computer screens and thin strips of recessed lighting tucked into the ceiling.
Studio monitors lined the walls. Framed platinum records and photographs hung throughout the room, but somehow they weren’t what caught my attention.
I was in complete awe of him.
His head bobbed with the rhythm while one finger tapped against the armrest. Every few seconds, he’d stop the record, back it up a few measures, adjust something truly too small for me to notice, then listen again from the exact same spot.
It fascinated me that he could hear the difference when everything sounded perfect to me.
He was focused, and the music completely consumed him. It was indescribable how attractive he became when he forgot the rest of the world existed.
“You gon’ stand there all day?”
I gasped, laughing under my breath. “You knew I was here?”
“You’ve been staring at me for at least three minutes.”
“So you ignored me?”
“I was seeing how long you’d last.”
I walked into the room, pretending to be offended. “I came to rescue you. But now I’m intrigued.”
My eyes wandered around the room again, taking in details I’d missed from the doorway. There were notebooks filled with handwritten lyrics, a keyboard worn smooth from years of use, and headphones resting beside the console.
“I’ve seen your suite in Vegas, your house in Malibu, and the studio there.” I smiled to myself. “But somehow... this room tells me more about you than any of them.”
“Say more.”
“It doesn’t feel staged.” I shrugged. “Everything else is beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but this...” I looked around once more. “This feels lived in. Like if you left for a month, I’d still know you spent your days in here.”
A grin spread across his face. “Word.”
“I know what I know.”
He turned his chair toward me completely this time. “Come here.” He tapped his lap, and I followed his command, sitting on it.
“What you working on?”
“A record.”
“I figured that much, Kier.”
He laughed. Without another word, he picked up the headphones and placed them over my ears, taking his time adjusting them until they fit comfortably.
“Let me teach you something. Close your eyes.”
“I can’t learn with my eyes closed.”
“You trust me?” I nodded. “Then close ’em.”
The beat engulfed me instantly. This wasn’t how music sounded in a car or through my phone.
Tiny sounds I’d never noticed before suddenly had their own place.
Even hidden beats behind a bigger bass stood out.
Those little details somehow changed everything.
When the track ended, I slipped the headphones off slowly.
“Well?” he asked.
“I don’t even know how to explain it.”
“Try. What you say doesn’t have to be perfect.”
“It feels unfinished but beautiful.”
His smile widened. “You hear the beauty.”
“You don’t?”
“Nah.” His attention drifted back toward the screen. “I hear everything that’s missing.”
“That has to be exhausting.”
“What?” He asked, looking over to me.
“Never letting yourself enjoy something before trying to make it better.”
He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he turned back to the console, replayed the same section one more time, then stopped it before the chorus.
“I never thought about it like that.”
“Maybe you should.” I smiled. “Some of the best decisions I’ve ever made started with uncertainty.”
“Like what?”
Like you, I almost said to him. The words sat right on the tip of my tongue. Instead, I smiled to myself.
“We can talk about that later.” I slipped off his lap and started backing toward the door. “I’ll let you finish. I don’t want to distract you.”
“You know what’s distracting?”
“What?”
“That bikini.” He bit his lip.
“You’re the one who told me to put it on.”
“I did.” He stood, towering over me in two strides. “But I only wanted to admire it for a few minutes.”
“Oh?”
“Mhm.” His eyes drifted over me before finding mine again. “Problem is, Si,” a crooked smile appeared. “I’ve had an hour to think about taking it off.”
I couldn’t help laughing. “An hour?”
“You left me here with nothing but a record and my imagination.”
“You were supposed to be working.”
“I finished thinking about the music twenty minutes ago.”
Heat rushed through me before he even touched me. He reached for one of the strings resting against my hip, letting it slip slowly between his fingers.
“The pool can wait.”
I stopped him, placing my hand over his and taking inventory of our surroundings. “In your workspace baby?”
Instead of answering, he glanced around the room as if seeing it through my eyes for the first time.
“You scared?” he quipped, cocky as hell.
His mouth found mine before I could think of another smart remark, and somewhere behind us, the unfinished record continued looping through the studio speakers.
I was scared. Kier had been knocking my walls down left and right, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to contain myself in here—especially if he was in control.
Instead, I reached into his shorts, challenging him and stroking his rod while he tongued me fiercely.
I pushed his shorts and boxers so they’d drop to his feet. He sat in the chair, and his eyes never left me. “Sibley,” he pinned me with his gaze. “You owe me a dance.”
“Do I?” I asked as I swayed my hips to the beat of his music. Kier relaxed in his chair further, while I toyed with the string of my bikini. The low studio lights and the sound of the music he created gave me confidence while I performed for him.
“Sexy ass.”
I giggled as I turned around, bending completely over to give him a full view of my body. Kier stroked his dick slowly, turning me on further. Rolling up, I tugged at the strings of my top, allowing it to fall to the floor. After walking toward him, I straddled him.
“Want a taste?” I asked, allowing him to take my nipple into his mouth. Kier sucked my breasts, gently nibbling on them, and I felt myself slowly but surely dripping with passion.
Standing, I removed myself from him. He reached out to me, and I smacked his hand away.
“Damn Si, why you teasing a nigga?” he smirked,
“Not teasing,” I added, getting on my knees. “Tasting.”
Stroking him, I placed kisses on his balls where I could before taking him into my mouth completely. Kier gripped my hair while I wrapped my lips around him, slurping and swirling my tongue, making sure I tasted every inch of him.
I bobbed slowly until I found the pace he wanted.
I sucked passionately until I provided the intensity he wanted.
I stroked his balls until his moan gave the satisfaction I wanted.
Kier groaned, guiding me down further, triggering my gag reflexes. He pumped into my mouth, and it felt like his dick grew right along with his nut.
“Ohhhh, FUCK!”
“Mmhhhh.” I moaned with a mouth full of his seed, as he released.
Kier’s breathing hadn’t quite settled by the time I tied the strings of my bathing suit back together. The studio was quieter now, and I smiled to myself.
“Okay,” I said, clapping my hands together once. “Let’s go.”
“Si... what?” He let out a tired laugh. “You done stole the soul out a nigga. Give me a minute.”
“You can have your minute in the pool.” I pointed toward the door. “Chop chop.”
He shook his head, laughing under his breath before giving my cheeks a playful smack as I walked past.
“Bossy.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
Still smiling, he turned back toward the console to save his session and power everything down. Once the last monitor went dark, he reached for my hand.
“C’mon, man.”
Together, we left the studio behind and headed for the pool.
Scottsdale was interesting, considering what I had experienced with him so far.
We barely left the house, and it wasn’t because there wasn’t anything to do.
We just didn’t feel the need to. The only time we stepped out was for the tour through the Grand Canyon and Sedona, and even that felt more like something we shared, rather than something we did.
The rest of the time, we stayed in, and somehow that said more than any big plans could have.
There was no pressure or outside noise. We weren’t bum-rushed by paparazzi watching us or trying to figure out where I fit.
It was just us, and that forced me to see things for what they really were.
Kier didn’t make me feel like I had to keep up with him or prove anything.
He made space for me without making it obvious.
He paid attention in ways that were natural, like he actually saw me and proceeded accordingly.
I wasn’t second-guessing everything I said or replaying conversations in my head after the fact.
And that was the part that got me. Somewhere in between the quiet mornings and the long nights, we navigated around each other like we had known each other for a while.
I stopped trying to keep my distance. I let my guard down in ways I hadn’t planned to.
I got used to him. Used to how he made me feel when it was just us.
And whether I wanted to admit it or not, I had fallen for him.
Completely.