Goddess of Song Pt. 01

Author's Note: I am immensely grateful for my editor John who went above and beyond in helping me whip this story into shape!

Chronologically, this story happens after "Lost & Found". However, you do not need to read that first to enjoy this one. As always, comments and feedback welcome!

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Chapter 1

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Damien sat under a beach cabana at the Marriot Resort on Marco Island, Florida. He had spent most of the day in his swimming trunks, trying to avoid the heat of the sun. Sipping a beer, he watched what seemed to be an endless stream of girls strolling up and down the beach. As the latest pair passed, they waved, giggling with each other, and Damien waved back. He smiled to himself, knowing that they enjoyed the view as much as he did.

Damien considered hitting the bar that night. He was single again. His parents were disappointed when he had told them that he had recently broken up with his girlfriend Miranda. Both his parents and Miranda had thought that he was ready to settle down since he got out of the Marine Corps over a year ago; they were wrong.

He noticed the sun was beginning to set and checked his watch, wondering where Bryan was. He and Bryan ran a security team based out of LA, and they had just completed a one-week security detail for an EU commissioner visiting Washington, DC. After weeks of back to back gigs, they took some time off in Florida. Bryan had spent the time with his wife and kids at Disney World and Universal Studios, and then was to drive to Marco Island to meet up with Damien.

Damien waved when he saw Bryan walking towards him. After their traditional fist bump and hug, Damien asked, "How was the land of enchantment?"

Bryan replied, "Next time, I'll pay someone else to go to Disney Land with my kids."

Damien chuckled, "Well, you're here just in time for happy hour. I could sure use you as my wingman when I hit the bar tonight."

Bryan smirked, "You can thank your parents for your genes. Unlike us mere mortals, all you to do is smile and remember to ask for consent, and the ladies' legs will part."

Damien laughed. "It's not that easy. I don't have your glib tongue nor gift of gab to charm the ladies."

Bryan replied, "We'll have fun tonight, but I have booked us a flight back to LA first thing in the morning tomorrow."

Damien was surprised Bryan had cut their vacation short, "You got a new job lined up for us already?"

"Hey, it's a fantastic job! Once in a lifetime, in fact."

Damien raised an eyebrow. The amount of excitement Bryan was exuding was unusual. "Are we guarding the Princess of Monaco or something?"

Bryan smirked like a teenage boy as he revealed his big secret, "Loretta Atkinson. The 'Loretta'."

Damien's face paled as he muttered a "fuck" under his breath. Turning to Bryan, he asked, "How did you pull that off?"

Bryan, too exuberant to notice Damien's somber look, answered, "Connections! Remember the security detail I did for that celebrity accountant in Hollywood? Well, their daughter, Jeanne, is now Loretta's manager. She gave me a call while I was at Disneyworld."

Damien gulped down his beer. "How long is this gig supposed to be? I thought we don't take long term contracts."

The two of them only did short term contracts, and mostly for politicians and foreign diplomats. Bryan did not want to be away from his family for extended periods of time. Plus, neither of them liked shooing away paparazzi or crazy fans. They preferred security work where anyone who would approach their client would have an appointment, and if they did not, the response was to shoot.

"It depends. Jeanne says Loretta is involved with a Dubai businessman named Lufti Atwan and she might be in trouble. She won't elaborate, but at the very least, she wants us to accompany them to Loretta's rendezvous with Atwan next month."

Damien's mood was dark, "Does Loretta already know about us? I mean, has she seen our bio?"

"Jeanne already knows me! And I told her you are the best of the best."

Damien took another sip of his beer. He was certain that his name had not been dropped to Loretta. If it had, he was certain Loretta would have outright refused to interview them.

Damien was conflicted about telling Bryan that there was a good chance Loretta would kick him in the balls at the first sight of him. He couldn't be sure, though. It had been a long time since they last saw each other.

It felt like yesterday when she growled at him with tears in her eyes, "Don't you ever dare show up in my life again!"

He stared at his empty bottle. "I'm going to go grab another beer."

Damien went to the bar and grabbed two more bottles of beer. His mood had been completely destroyed. He sat at the bar and stared blankly at the TV screen. As luck would have it, Loretta's latest hit came on. In a quick succession of bustling New York street scenes, she power-walked towards the camera. In one scene, she wore a skin-colored cat suit covered in crystals. In another, she wore a black-laced tank top with ultra-short jeans and her hair was up in a ponytail. She danced to the camera and her bright pink lips sent out powerful messages of feminine independence. Her body was smoking hot and she knew it.

Damien withdrew his gaze and cursed. Tomorrow was going to be tough day.

They arrived at Loretta's mansion in Beverly Hills the next day. Damien paid little attention to the house, while Bryan was already making notes about the placement of security cameras.

Bryan's friend and Loretta's manager Jeanne answered the door, "Hey Bryan, nice to see you again! Loretta is waiting for you."

Bryan introduced Damien. Jeanne looked at the latter, "You're awfully good looking for a bodyguard! Ever thought about modeling?"

Bryan chuckled, "Damn, Jeanne, still brutally honest, aren't you?"

"Hey, that's why Loretta likes me! What goes on here...," Jeanne pointed at her head, then at her mouth, "Comes out right here. No filter whatsoever."

Jeanne led them into the house. Loretta was sitting in the living room. The singer was dressed in a casual T-shirt and jeans but looking just as beautiful in flesh and blood.

The smile left the singer's face when she saw Damien walk into the room. Before Jeanne could talk, she snapped, "Why is he here?!"

Jeanne and Bryan were stunned. Damien did not flinch from Loretta's searing gaze.

"Hi, Ettie, it's been a while."

Jeanne's eyes were wide, "You guys know each other?!"

Loretta stared at him like he was her mortal enemy, "We went to the same high school."

"You never told me that, you asshole!" Bryan whispered in a low voice to Damien.

Jeanne reacted quickly. "Loretta, you want me to ask these guys to leave?" Her demeanor made it clear that all it would take was one word and she'd kick the men out the door.

Jeanne's protectionism calmed Loretta down, "No, I'd like to hear what your friend Bryan has to offer."

Bryan decided to ignore whatever was going on between his partner and his potential client. He leaned forward and cut to the chase, "Jeanne tells me you want better security. Does it have something to do with Mr. Atwan?"

Loretta nodded. Bryan continued to ask, "Could you describe the incidents that have caused you to think you may be in danger?"

"All I have is a hunch." Loretta said, "But just enough things are slightly off. For example, Jeanne noticed that the past few weeks, she has seen the same car pass by us in the mornings. It could be just coincidence, of course. But the most serious incident was someone breaking into this house a week ago when I was away. Nothing was stolen, but my laptop was accessed."

"How could you tell?"

"I checked my system log. I know how to use a Terminal on my MacOS." Loretta narrowed her eyes, "You thought I just had a good body and knew how to sing, didn't you?"

Bryan laughed uncomfortably, "I'm going to say that would be most people's guess. OK, so your laptop was accessed... do you know if any information was stolen?"

"I don't think so. I checked everything else, it didn't seem like the intruder knew my laptop password. I changed all my passwords immediately, of course. Like I said, we don't have any evidence anything is wrong. I have always had crazy fans and paparazzi coming after me. This may just all be Jeanne and me being paranoid. Regardless, I don't like how my current security team is handling this. They looked at the security cam footage and could not see anyone entering my house during the time my laptop was accessed. They also didn't want to follow up on Jeanne seeing the same car repeatedly."

She looked at Bryan, "Jeanne says you used to work for her family and later, you did even more high-profile security?"

Bryan leaned forward. This was time for self-promotion, "Yes, after I worked for Jeanne's family, I did security for senator Thompson when he was running for election. If you remember, he received bomb threats and his office was attacked more than once. That's when my team and I were called in. After we were there, there were no more incidents until the election was over. Since then, we have been primarily doing security work for foreign politicians when they visit the US."

Loretta nodded, "Tell me what you think needs to happen to make my life safer."

"Well, to start off, I would want to set up security cameras differently." Bryan listed a few more issues he had noticed from the mere thirty second tour he had of the house, "Also, if I may ask, where is your current security team? Why aren't they here?"

"I asked them to take the afternoon off, so I could meet you guys. It would have been awkward for them to be here during this interview."

Bryan smiled wryly, "True. The fact that they are willing to just leave you alone means they have already failed their job."

Loretta smiled and thanked Bryan for coming. She then told Jeanne to send them out the door and left the room herself. She had not spoken a single word to Damien.

Bryan waited until they got out of driveway before exploding, "OK, care to explain what the FUCK just happened in there?!"

Bryan was livid. Damien had broken Bryan's only rule for their brotherhood - never keep a secret from him when it affects their jobs.

"I'm sorry. I should have explained to you that I knew Loretta."

"No shit! You guys were from the same high school? What the fuck did you do to her?" Bryan scowled, "Did you bully her or something? Cause she looked like she was going to eat you alive!"

"We...dated. Sort of."

Bryan kept his eyes on the road, but his voice remained harsh, "Sort of?! You sort of dated Loretta Atkinson in high school? What the fuck does that even mean?"

Damien grit his teeth, "We were kids back then, OK? I'm not proud of how I treated her back then...I was reckless, and I hurt her."

Bryan was silent for a while, "You cheated, didn't you?"

"...Yeah."

"You fucker." Bryan was almost delighted, "Not in a million years would I imagine knowing someone who fucked the hottest singer on the planet and then cheated on her. What the hell were you thinking?"

"I just told you, I was 18 and an idiot."

"No shit! My wife isn't half as hot as Loretta and I never cheated." Bryan was practically giggling, "Well, man, I forgive you for not telling me yesterday, 'cause this shit is fucking crazy and I would not have believed you. We may not get this job, but at least I'll have a hell of a good time giving you shit about it from now on!"

Now that he was no longer angry, Bryan got curious, "Hey, what was she like in high school?"

Damien's mind wandered back to the past.

"Nothing like she is now."

Before she was Loretta, the Grammy-winning 'Sexiest woman of the year' with platinum record sales and millions of fans, she was just Loretta Atkinson of the North Haven High School Computer Club.

No one, not even Damien, would have ever predicted her transformation.

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Chapter 2

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The idea to date Loretta came to Damien when his swimming teammate told him one day,

"Hey, I think Loretta likes you."

They were both 18 and in their senior year in high school. Damien was on the competitive swim team. The teammate had seen Damien and Loretta working on their computer lab project together and thought Loretta was attracted to him.

Damien, for his part, had not paid attention to Loretta. He had his eyes set on Hayley, the school's hottest cheerleader, who had recently broken up with her boyfriend. Damien had jumped at the opportunity and gone out with her a few times. She even promised to be his prom date.

Damien had high hopes that he would have sex with Hayley on prom night. The only problem was that he was a virgin and Hayley was not. Hayley's ex had made sure everyone knew he took her virginity and that she was "on fire in bed". Damien was worried that he would underperform as a virgin and Hayley would mock him. He'd done all the "studying" he could to familiarize himself with ways to please a girl, but there was only so much he could do in terms of preparedness.

When Damien thought over his teammate's words that day, he came up with a plan that would take advantage of Loretta's feelings, and at the same time would satisfy his need to lose his virginity and become sexually experienced.

Loretta Atkinson was a nerd, and dressed like it. She always wore hoodies, jeans, and flats. She wore glasses and little makeup. She was tall for a girl, at 5'7", and because she wasn't skinny, she looked large next to the skinny dancers and curvy cheerleaders. She wasn't Hayley-hot, but he found her to be appealing to look at. She had a symmetrical face with almond-shaped eyes, long lashes, rosy cheeks, and full lips. The fact that Loretta was the smartest girl - heck, the smartest student - eclipsed the rest of her physical features.

When Damien first asked her out, the shy Loretta was so over the moon that she nearly ran out of the room. For the next two weeks, he planned "dates" with Loretta. He never explicitly said they were dates and was careful to avoid letting other people at school notice him and Loretta hanging out after school. He hinted to Loretta that even though Hayley had promised to go to prom with him, she could back out at any minute. He implied Loretta would be his next choice.

On their first date to the movie theater, he put his hand on her during the movie and she didn't flinch. When he drove her home that night, they had their first kiss. Her lips were sweet, and he found himself enjoying the kiss more than he thought he would.

By their second date, they didn't even bother watching the movie. They made out the entire time. Damien liked how Loretta experimented with different ways of probing his tongue with hers. It was like the nerdy girl in her treated this like a scientific experiment. When he dropped her off, as they kissed goodnight, bravely caressed her breasts. She did not object and teased him about being in a hurry.

Beyond the making out and groping, Damien also learned a lot more about Loretta. Her singing talents were already blossoming at that time. Using her computer skills, she had made YouTube videos of her songs that were getting thousands of hits a day.

"Who knows, maybe I'll be a singer one day!" He remembered her joking.

He also found out that her family nickname was Ettie. When Damien asked her if he could call her Ettie, too, she practically melted.

It took a few more "dates" for them to get intimate with each other. Finally, one weekend, when his parents were out of town, Damien invited Loretta to come over.

He remembered being nervous as hell. Flirting and kissing were one thing, having sex was the real deal. Loretta arrived wearing a black cotton dress that hugged her figure, and made her look very pretty. She wasn't thin like Hayley.

They began by moving to the couch, kissing, as Damien removed Loretta's clothes. He was already so aroused by just feeling a girl's warm soft body under. He recalled taking a good look at her naked body, admiring how she was curvy, had smooth skin, and smelled good.

It was the first time for both and their inexperience made for humorous moments. The most memorable one was when he realized he had left the condom in his bedroom, yet they were both already naked on the couch ready to go. They ended up walking to his room together, him with his erection and her with her bare tits. It would be years later before he learned to use his athleticism to fuck his way to the bedroom from anywhere else inside a house.

For that first time, he could not even put on the condom without losing an erection. Loretta had to perform her first hand job on him to get him back up. The hand job almost made him cum immediately. When he finally got between her legs, he couldn't find the damn hole until Loretta helped him get there. Eventually, though, he made the plunge and broke her virginity. She took the pain like a champ and tolerated his rookie pounding until he came, which didn't last long anyway. "Awkward," doesn't begin to describe the situation.

A week later, they hosted their second afternoon delight at her place. Damien once again left his condom in the car and Loretta had to steal her brother's. It was also Loretta's first attempt at a blow job. She did fine, considering it was her first. He came easily from the blow job anyway after seeing her look up at him while sucking his dick from that quintessential porn angle. They watched a movie after he came and he regained his erection before the movie ended. This time, she didn't hurt and was much more wet. She was also much louder. It turned him on. He even tried to spank her and pull her hair, like he had seen in porn. Loretta told him later she really liked it when he got a little rough.

They had sex once more before Damien "broke up" with her. It was a week before prom. He told Loretta straight up that Hayley was still going to his prom date. When Loretta asked him if this was a break up, his response would haunt him for years, "We aren't even dating. I never said you are my girlfriend."

Loretta had looked at him with so much hatred in her eyes, that if looks could kill, he would have died a thousand times on the spot.

"Don't you dare show up in my life again!" Were her final words to him.

They never spoke to each other after that. Summer passed, and he bid his parents goodbye and went to start his college life at UCSD in San Diego, California.

But wait, what about Haley and the prom night?

Ironically, Damien had very little memory of that night. He got so drunk after prom that the only thing he remembered was he brought a condom and Hayley was loud but not as good at moving her hips as Loretta was.

In fact, Damien thought sex with Hayley was lackluster enough, that after prom night, he did not go out with Hayley. Instead, he spent the rest of his high school months and summer leading up to college having sex with a lot of other girls. He wasn't a talkative person, so he used his physical appearance to his advantage. He just tried to be himself, give straight honest responses, and the girls would find his dorkiness cute and go home with him.

College life was exciting, and for the first year he enjoyed every bit of it. He even had a real girlfriend for the first time in his life. Occasionally, after a particularly steamy bedroom session, he would remember Loretta. At first, he didn't think much about it.

Then, gradually, it hit him. With every relationship fight he had with his girlfriend, he realized a bit more what an asshole he was. As he looked back on his life, he realized in horror the mistakes he had made, particularly those pertaining to the last months of his high school life.