“Oh.” Tobias’s head lolled forward and his eyes opened wide, the lusty cast vanishing behind some other emotion.
“Oh?” Soren wasn’t sure how to read the tone. Surprised? Amused? Intimidated?
“It’s… You’re…”
“A little bigger than average, but nothing crazy. Is that a problem?”
“No,” Tobias assured him quickly, his unmoving fingers still fanned over Soren’s crotch.
Something had shifted, but Soren wasn’t sure what. He took a step back, and when Tobias didn’t try to drag him in close again, he took another and glanced around the filthy room before meeting the doctor’s eyes and searching them intently. There wasn’t much to see, though, just a flinty flatness, like a curtain drawn across his thoughts. It matched the drab hue of the curtains in the room.
“We should probably get out of here,” Soren ventured. He didn’t want to get out of there, necessarily; he wanted to fuck Tobias against a wall. But the moment seemed to have passed and Soren couldn’t figure out how to get it back.
Tobias licked his lips, then cleared his throat and nodded. “Excellent idea.”
“We do a little looking around, make sure we’re not leaving behind any sort of easy evidence before we go. Sound good?”
* * *
The driveback to Tobias’s house was uncommonly silent, but Soren didn’t interrupt it, even if he did have a few things he’d love to discuss. He figured Tobias was probably mentally engaged in some sort of psychological self-reflection about the murder.Murder.
That got Soren thinking again, but he shoved those thoughts aside for later as well. “How about we go inside and discuss some things?” he said as they pulled into Tobias’s driveway. He was reluctant to just walk to his car and drive away, even if he did trust the strength of Tobias’s mind not to collapse under the weight of guilt. Was aftercare for murder a thing? He would’ve chuckled aloud if Tobias’s solemn expression hadn’t stopped him.
“What’s there to discuss?” Tobias lifted a brow.
Soren’s lips split in a grin. “That’s a bit ironic, isn’t it, coming from a shrink?”
“Pejorative term,” Tobias swiftly countered, though his lips quirked at the corner. “Fine. It’s a bit ironic, yes. I need to shower, though.”
“Great, I love showers.” Soren winked, and Tobias stared at him for a long moment before shaking his head.
He instructed Soren to remain in the kitchen while he took a quick shower, but Soren imagined they both knew he wouldn’t stay put.
He roamed the house with Mantis, whom he stopped to pet occasionally, on his heels. He squatted down, running a big hand over her silky head. He’d always wanted a pet but had never had one and it didn’t make sense for his lifestyle now. Tobias must have been quite attached, though, considering Madigan and Az had essentially held Mantis for ransom until he’d agreed to help them months back when they were taking out a high-level target related to the trafficking ring. The doctor didn’t seem to hold the same regard for people as he did his little dog, that much was for certain.
Every room in Tobias’s house was unremarkable, though chic and updated to current trends. Soren couldn’t get a sense of the man from it, though. Even Madigan’s and Jonah’s personalities bled into where they lived.
Soren considered the rentals he stayed in when he was island-hopping or moving from country to country. He didn’t keep an apartment anymore, just a storage unit in a facility in NYC. It contained a couple of boxes of clothes, and only Madigan had the key along with instructions on disposing of the items in the case of his death. Even then, there was nothing personal in those boxes.
Because you keep it all in your head. And now, you’re fraternizing with a man who unpacks headcases for a living.
Now, there was some genuine irony.
Mantis cocked her tiny head as Soren chuckled. He reached down to give her another pet. “It’s not you, girl. It’s me.” When she nuzzled into his palm, he scooped her up under his arm. “Let’s go see what your daddy’s hiding. I’m starting to get the idea it’s not a sex dungeon.” He cocked his head at the sound of running water from down the hall where the bedroom door was cracked. “Don’t know about you, but that looks like an invitation to me,” he told Mantis, giving her head a scratch before setting her down.
She lingered at the doorway to the master as Soren opened it wider, then she trotted off.
Soren roamed the neatly arranged room, unsurprised to find it also spare, if tasteful. Clothes organized neatly in drawers, bed made, throw pillows perfectly arranged. The most interesting discovery was a tube of hand cream in the nightstand, but even that could’ve been used for its intended purpose. There were no sex toys, no lube, no condoms.
No condoms.
They could be in the bathroom, but Soren’s gut said they weren’t.
He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned forward on his knees, dick going half hard when he heard the water shut off and imagined all those droplets of water running down Tobias’s sleek obstinate body.
“You a virgin, Glasses?”
Tobias didn’t startle, but his hand flew to the knot in the towel wrapped around his waist as he strolled into the bedroom. “Remember when we talked about boundaries?”
