Bitter Bonds by Lex Valentine Page A

as he wondered just how Jake would react to Doms paying attention to him at Darkness. And he wondered what he would do if Jake just didn’t care. Eight – Jake
    Jake slipped from his bed and pulled on a pair of sweats, his gaze automatically going to the slender young man who lay sleeping peacefully beneath the covers. In the pale, late winter moonlight, Finn looked exactly like the anime elf Jake’s friends had nicknamed him for, the one that hung over the bed Finn currently slept in. But it was Finn’s personality and sexuality that would haunt Jake long after the boy’s appearance no longer matched that of the Japanese cartoon. Jake had never met a man who matched him so perfectly. Even though he’d deliberately kept kink out of their relationship, their natural dominance and submission still crept into everything they did. Finn occasionally called him sir instead of Jake and more often than not neither of them noticed. Jake’s dominance reared its head with every order he issued even though none of the orders were kinky. He’d never been so content.
    Unable to sleep, he gave his lover one last lingering look before he headed down to the studio. Bare feet silent on the wood floor Finn kept polished to a high gloss, Jake went into the big studio and turned on a digital recorder in the control room. Then he settled himself in a chair in the live room, adjusting a microphone near his face and cradling his Martin acoustic guitar to his bare chest. Before his father had become ill, he’d spent many nights in the studio with the recorder running, playing whatever came to him. In the last few years, he hadn’t been able to enjoy making music in such a spontaneous manner. He’d felt guilty about the amount of time he’d spent away from his submissives and guilt stifled creativity. With Finn, Jake didn’t feel guilty leaving their bed to pick up a guitar. He knew Finn would understand.
    He sat facing the control room window, his back to the door. Bits of an old song he’d never finished came back to him, reminding him that he hadn’t had any creative inspiration in a long time. He began to play, humming the melody and trying to remember if he’d actually written words to the song. With a shrug, he figured if he had, they were long gone and new words were bursting to come out of him. He cleared his throat and began to sing.
    My Daddy made me promise Not to throw my life away He told me to work hard at life And count my blessings every day.
    “Don’t ever give up on love, son,” Was his advice to me The heart that never knows love Is bound and cannot see.
    Jake hummed his way through a third verse that he hadn’t found the words for yet and went from an equally wordless chorus to the bridge. As he did so, he heard the plaintive melody echoed in the soft notes of the grand piano behind him. He twisted on his stool and looked over his shoulder at a half naked Finn seated at the glossy black instrument. Eyes closed, swaying gently with the music that flowed through him to his fingertips, Finn instinctively added depth to Jake’s original melody. When the submissive softly sang the bridge, the words he added cut straight to Jake’s soul.
    It doesn’t matter if you never loved me Doesn’t matter that you didn’t stay You made me happy while you were here And that memory won’t ever go away
    Jake stopped playing, unable to play another note. Finn didn’t have a trained voice. The soft, husky notes were in tune and passable but not notable in anyway. However, the way he knew exactly what to play to enhance what Jake played blew him away. And the words that poured from the submissive’s mouth fit Jake’s song so perfectly that he wondered how the kid had gotten inside his head.
    When Finn fell silent, Jake stood up and set his guitar on a stand. He padded over to the piano and found Finn’s face turned away, his shoulders set tensely. Before he could touch his lover, Finn’s hoarse voice broke the