For the first time he could ever remember, Adam did not want to go to work that night, even though he knew that the routine and the distraction was probably exactly what he needed. He spent the rest of the morning and that afternoon trying to erase any traces of Kris from his life. He took a long shower and covered up the bruise, changed the bed, swept the floor…like that’s going to help…laundered his clothes and sheets…got to get rid of his scent…he even burned some incense to mask the smell of sex and Kris. In doing all of this, he completely avoided going near the small table next to the door, but threw glances at it every so often. Why did he leave that here…oh god why? Just go get it and throw it away. But he didn’t.
Around 2:00 he felt satisfied that his apartment was Kris-free. Except for that damned necklace. Whatever. He had three hours before he had to start his usual preparations for that night. He knew he needed to stay busy to keep his mind off of Kris, but the effort to do so was exhausting. After thirty minutes of trying to work in his studio with no success, he finally gave in and threw himself on the bed. Where did I go wrong with him? He laughed bitterly. Everywhere. You went wrong at every turn, Lambert. Where to even start? Oh let’s see, picking up a guy in a department store, huh, yeah, that was really clever, really fucking genius. Taking him out to coffee? Asking personal information about him? Brilliant. God, I’m such an idiot. Let’s see what else? I let him get the upper hand during that fantastic blowjob and then I let him bite me. The more he thought about it, the more he realized just how many exceptions he’d made for Kris. Oh and let’s not forget the biggest one…I fucking let him into my fucking apartment! FUCK! He was so angry with himself.
He laid there, chest heaving with emotion. You liked it. His breath caught in his throat. Oh my god. It was true. It was killing him to admit it, but he’d been completely turned on by the combination of submission, trust and aggression from Kris. Fucking mind-blowing. And that kissing afterwards, passionate, mutual…fucking scary. And he’s a musician. Fucking fuck! I need to call Alisan.
There were many people who knew some things about Adam Lambert, but only one person who knew almost all of them. The club owner was more than happy to rent out an exclusive back room to him, because the 27 year old with a voice like an angel kept the people and the money flowing in. Men in West Hollywood knew that in addition to being a talented singer, Adam never gave head and never bottomed, and he was still the hottest fuck around. They also knew that he was never with the same man more than once and that if you wanted him, you played it his way or not at all.
If you were male, not a family member, not interested in sex and could be considered his peer by virtue of age, then you knew nothing about Adam at all other his singing and hearsay, since the only people he was ever seen socializing with were female or a man known to be his brother.
There were a handful of doctors in LA who’d known Adam as a 17-year-old boy that they had nursed back to physical health. A therapist by the name of Sheila Greer had counseled him through nightmares, flashbacks and severe depression for the better part of two years and understood him to have a kind and trusting nature that had been partially damaged by trauma.
Then there was his family, who knew the Adam before it had happened: loving, funny, creative, smart, childlike, dramatic and deeply faithful to his friends. None of these qualities had changed in Adam; the only difference now was that there were significantly fewer people who were lucky enough to see them. Of course, they all knew about his “issues” with trust and men and had heard rumors about his nights at the club, but they loved him unconditionally and tried to persuade him to date. Of his family only his brother Neil, who occasionally went to the club to see Adam perform, suspected that he was using sex like some kind of drug to feel powerful. Neil didn’t judge.
And Alisan. Alisan was one of the people in his life that he trusted the most and who knew him the best. She had been his friend since middle school, had supported him and defended him. Through all the shitty times in high school and after his trauma, Alisan had never once been anything but the most loyal and trustworthy friend he’d ever had. He talked to her about everything except the more explicit details of his sexual encounters and felt safer with her than anyone he could think of except his mother.
Please pick up...please be there...
“Hey puppy!” Alisan had given him this nickname in 8th grade after he had whined at her for two hours non-stop because he didn’t think that the boy who sat next to him in Math knew he existed.
“Thank god you’re home!” Adam cried, relief clear in his voice.
“I’m not home, I just got to the grocery store. What’s going on…Adam you sound…are you okay hun?”
“I let a man into my bed.” Adam heard her gasp.
“I’ll be right there.”
Fifteen minutes later she was at his door with a huge tub of French Silk ice cream and a box of Kleenex. “What is that?” she asked suspiciously, glancing down at the small table by the door.”
Adam looked at the ground, feeling ashamed of his weakness. Why didn’t I just throw it away? “A necklace?”
“I can see that. It’s his isn’t it? And you’re apartment is unnaturally clean,” she said with worry as she walked into the kitchen. She put the ice cream away and turned to look at him. His face was a mass of jumbled emotions. “Oh my god baby, tell me everything.”
They sat on the bed together, leaning side by side against the headboard. Alisan held Adam’s hand and he let his head drop to the side to rest on top of hers.
“I saw him at Macy’s on Monday and --”
“Macy’s! Honey what on earth were you even doing there?”
“I knooowwwwww. But I had to drop off a check from my mom for Uncle Rob. Anyway, I saw him on my way out and…and…”
Alisan just rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand in a reassuring way.
“…and shit Ali, you should have seen him…just standing there fucking folding sweaters and looking all sexy as hell…” Kris’ beautiful face loomed before his eyes and he groaned. “…brown eyes that could drown a man, unbelievably fuckable ass, cute, crooked smile, and that bottom lip…” he shivered, remembering the way Kris’ lips had looked around his cock.
“Go on, tell me what happened.”
And then he told her about the notes and his brilliant plan to get Kris to the club. “Stop looking at me like that, I know it was stupid, I shouldn’t have…I didn’t…” his voice was rising in anger as he mentally kicked himself some more.
“Oh Adam,” she said, sitting up and turning her body to face him. “I’m not judging you, you know that. And it wasn’t stupid to feel attracted to him, to want him. Shit, he probably turned out to be a hell of a lot nicer than the regular idiots who fawn over you at the club. And he had no idea about you, did he?”
“No.” Adam was having a hard time sorting through his emotions. Under his pulsing anger, he was starting to feel bad for manipulating Kris like that. He had felt a touch of that at Macy’s on that first day, but this, this was much worse. It made him feel like more of a shit than usual. The men at the club knew what they were getting into, but Kris… “Shit, Ali, I messed everything up! I took him to a Starbucks for god’s sake to try to make him feel more relaxed so he would come to the club with me. I…I asked him where he was from and oh my god Ali, he’s a musician! Why did I talk to him at all…why did I even let myself….” he put his head in his hands and she heard him mumble, “fuck.”
Alisan knew that there was never any real talking involved with Adam’s men, knew that it would only tempt him into seeing them as people rather than a fix.
“Adam.” She took his hands away from his head and held them in hers. “Look at me.” She waited until she could see his eyes. “This is a good thing.”
“What! No, no, no Ali, how can this be a good thing! I let him into my bed, I let him fucking mark me!” He snatched is hands away from hers and rubbed viciously at the makeup to show her, to make her understand.
She sighed. “How many times have we been over this? How many times have I said that not everyone is going to hurt you like they did, that it’s okay to --”
“It’s not okay!” he yelled, starting to shake. “Ali, what am I going to do! He made me feel so, so…” tears started to fall steadily down his anguished face.
“Ssshhhhh, puppy. Come here.” She pulled him down until his head rested in her lap and stroked his hair. His body began to heave and shudder with sobs and he clutched her tightly. “Oh my sweet Adam, it’s okay baby,” she said soothingly. He hadn’t cried like this in years, not since he had tried to date again after the incident, not since he had put all those walls in place to protect himself. They sat that way for a good ten minutes until Adam’s crying faded away into hiccups and eventually just sniffles. “I got snot all over you,” he said, sitting up and wiping his nose.
She laughed softly and handed him some tissue. “Proof of how much I love you.” His eyes were red and puffy now and for a moment, he looked exactly as he had all those many years ago.
He blew his nose, “God, I’m such a --”
“You are not a baby, Adam, you’re human, and the fact that this is happening is a sign of healing, not weakness.” She thought for a moment. “You know, we should probably call Sheila.”
“No, I don’t want to go back to therapy. I just want to erase the last week of my life and have things be like they were.”
“Do you really? Do you really want that to be your life?” she asked tentatively.
“What’s wrong with my life? I have a great job, a great apartment and I’m two songs away from finishing the album, which, by the way is gonna be sick…”
“Of course it will, because you’re mad talented, and some recording company is going to pick it up and you’ll be a superstar and buy your best friend all the shoes she could ever want…” Adam chuckled weakly. “But honey…what about love? Don’t you want that in your life?
“I…I…well, I love you Ali,” he smiled, but she knew he was trying to avoid the subject.
“And I love you too, puppy, but the last time I checked I was dickless.”
Adam fell silent, thinking. After a while, he got up and started to pace the room. “He trusted me. The sex, it was…insanely hot and I wanted him so bad…I wasn’t gentle with him.”
“Are you ever?”
“That’s not fair!” he snapped, but Alisan held her ground. “Fine,” he finally relented, “you know I’m not, but this was different, this was…” he came to a stop, ran a hand through his hair and looked at Alisan. “Why would he trust me like that?”
“Because, Adam, you wouldn’t really hurt a fly.”
“But how could he know that, Ali? How? For all he knew I could have been some kind of psycho. Most guys are at least a little scared.” Adam could see it on their faces mixed in with the intense desire and it always gave him a thrill. But Kris…Kris had excited him beyond his wildest imagination.
“Sweetie, there is only one way to fix --” she said quickly, knowing that he would interrupt her.
“I know what you’re going to say and I’m not doing it,” he stared at her in total disbelief, “how can you even suggest that…look at what happened!”
“Adam, don’t do this.” She got up from the bed and put her hands on his shoulders. “Don’t pass up an opportunity to have a real relationship for once in your life. This could be really, really good for you, and I know you understand that somewhere in that lovely skull of yours.”
She’s right, damn her, why does she always have to be right? “I’m scared, Ali.” He looked exactly like a 5 year old who had just lost his momma in the store. “What if…what if he doesn’t want me, what if he doesn’t like who I am, what if…what if it all goes wrong and…”
“You’re scared he will hurt you?”
“Not physically, no, but…”
“Oh honey, I know your heart could get broken, but it’s the risk you have to take for the possibility of finding someone special. And there would be something seriously wrong with him if he didn’t like who you are.” She reached up and ruffled his hair. “At least think about it…okay, puppy…okay?”
“Okay. God, you’re so annoying,” he said, rolling his eyes and hugged her so hard that she struggled to get loose. Grinning mischievously, he pretended to let her go but then dug his fingers into her side and tickled her until she couldn’t breathe.
“Gah! Adam, I swear,” she panted through her laughter, “if you don’t stop I’m throwing away all the ice cream I brought for you!”
“Oh you play dirty!” he laughed, stopped his attack immediately and put on his best puppy face, “Pleeeeeeassseee can I have it now?”
Four hours later Adam was on stage in the middle of his set, transformed once again into the calm, collected man everyone here knew him to be. As was his habit, he searched the audience for men who looked like they met his criteria: timid with a bit of spirit. But his eyes kept landing on short men with brown hair, and each time one of them recognized that Adam was considering them, a look of hope crossed their face. He tried to concentrate on doing business as usual, but he was finding it extremely difficult. Ever the performer, however, nobody noticed that anything was out of the ordinary.
When his set was done, he bowed and ignored the papers on the stage as usual. His pace was a bit quicker than normal as he crossed the room; he had seen a man, a brown-eyed, brown-haired man who had been looking at him all night with an intensity that was exhilarating. The man saw him approaching and looked suitably worried and turned on. Adam grabbed his hand without a word and headed to the room in the back. Once inside, Adam started kissing him furiously and was pleased to hear groaning and whimpering in return. He pulled back, smirked, and had just finished undoing the last button on the man’s shirt when he caught sight of the desk in the corner of the room and there, still fastened around the broken window frame, was the other half of the tie.
Shit! I totally forgot that was here! Oh my god… Just looking at it and remembering Kris’ naked body all tied up made his dick throb more than the kissing he had just done. The man before him looked excited, obviously thinking that sudden heat in Adam’s eyes was for him. “You want me.” Adam snapped his attention back to the present and transferred his searing, lust-filled eyes to the man who only remotely resembled Kris. “No,” he said, “but I’ll have you.”
The sex was nowhere near as satisfying as it had been with Kris. Adam imagined that it was his feisty little rabbit who was bent nearly double on his back with his feet over his head, crying out Adam’s name; replacing brown-hair guy’s face with Kris’ made the fucking a little better than usual. When he was done, he led the man out of the room, “tell them I’m not taking anyone else tonight,” and then locked himself back inside.
He walked to the desk in the corner and jumped up onto it, reached out, and stopped his hand inches from the torn cloth. What am I doing? But he undid the knot and took it down despite his better judgment. He sat down on the desk and let the memories of last night flood his brain as he played with the tie. Already he could feel wetness seeping into the front of his pants; he pushed them off completely and sat on the edge of the desk with his legs hanging down.
The tie felt fantastic on his over-sensitive skin. Thinking about their mutual jerk off session in his bed upstairs, Adam wrapped it around his shaft several times and then moved his hand slowly and repeatedly over the fabric. Kris’ hand, frenzied and attentive at the same time, textured fingers rubbing over the head and slit of his cock…he must play the guitar…his own pre-cum mixed with Kris’ spit in that callused hand, sliding up and down along his length… Adam tightened his grip and moved his hand faster over the tie; he started to pant…his hand on Kris’ gorgeous cock, squeezing it slightly as he pumped…the feel of smooth skin under his fingers… And then his mind went into overdrive, imagining his lips encircling it, his tongue swirling around it, swallowing it down, Kris’ hot cum sliding down his throat…fuck… “KRIS!!” the name ripped from his lungs and reverberated around the room. He wiped his hand on his shirt and laid back on the desk, gasping for breath. Whoa. Didn’t expect that last part now, did you?
Time went by, and soon word got out that Adam Lambert had become more selective in his choice of men and would only take one man back to the room per night. No one knew what he did in there by himself afterwards, but people said they could hear him shout out a name sometimes…Kris. Two weeks and a day after his night with Kris, Adam looked out over the sea of short men with brown hair and brown eyes as he was singing…damn it, I have got to do something about this.
Chapter 7