Doren was born with a powerful gift -- a gift he's managed to use to put him well on his way to becoming a star. But there is more to that gift than just musical talent, and as careful as Doren is to hide that fact, there are some who know of the power behind the sound, and all the ways they could abuse it.<br><br>August's goal in life is simple: make an impact in the music industry. An opportunity to work as the personal assistant to Doren seems to be exactly the kind of break he needs to accomplish that goal.<br><br>But all too often in life, simple becomes just another complication, especially when there are people whose goal is even simpler: destroy and dominate.

The Gift

He held up the nine-hundred-dollar crushed velvet jacket and said, “Do you think Anton would notice if we bought this too?”


August laughed. “Do you care if he does?”


“August!” Doren feigned shock. “Is that anyway to talk about the boss?”


August shook a finger at him, his other hand still buried in the rack, sliding hanger after hanger aside. “Uh, uh. Your boss, not mine.”


Doren slid in behind August and wrapped himself around August’s waist. “Oh yeah?” he said, voice slippery and smoky at the same time. “Who is your boss then?”


August laughed and tried to ignore him. “Forget it, no way are you getting me to say that.”


He held August with one arm, reaching playfully up the back of August’s top with the other. “Come on, Auggie…say it.” The sensation of August wiggling against him was thrilling. He drew his fingers around August’s ribcage, down over the front of his pants, and palmed August’s through them. “Tell me who your boss is or I won’t let you go.”


Chapter 42