“Convince me,” he rasped, throwing Jace’s earlier taunt back at him.
Jace made a rough sound in the back of his throat and he pushed off the bar, sliding his hand around the back of Callahan’s neck and hauling their bodies together. His chest hurt in the places that Jace’s camera pushed against his ribs, but it was nothing, a blip on the radar in comparison to the way Jace’s attention made him feel.
Their noses brushed together, lips barely inches apart, and Callahan could feel the cold sweat on Jace’s palm against his skin. He asked for permission with his eyes, and Callahan answered with a quick nod that he didn’t even get to finish because Jace kissed him hard.
He pressed their mouths together, his tongue sliding across the slit of Callahan’s lips, asking for entry. Callahan yielded and Jace’s tongue dipped inside, pressing against his before exploring the backs of his teeth and the deepest parts of his mouth. It was sexy and it was intimate, and more than anything else, the kiss was…for lack of a better word, thorough. Jace’s mouth had Callahan’s cock hard, thickening against his leg and pressing obviously against Jace’s hip.
Jace smiled into their kiss, and when they broke apart for air, Rhys had gone.
As soon as Jace realized it was just the two of them again, he reached up, wiping some saliva from the corner of his mouth with his knuckle, and he eased backward, putting space between them. Callahan’s cock tented his pants and he tried to adjust himself inconspicuously but failed.
“Do you want to go upstairs and you can show me your pictures?” he asked.
Jace studied his face, his eyes flashing like a thunderstorm. “You don’t need to pretend. He’s gone away. He’s with Sebastian now.”
Callahan’s chest ached, like a bone had snapped. He didn’t think getting the brushoff had ever hurt him the way Jace’s casual dismissal had, and he reminded himself it was fine, it was better. This was fake and that made Jace safe.Jace needed to remain safe.
“Right,” he agreed.
“We should go back to the room, though,” Jace said. “I need to shower off this sweat if dinner is at six.”
“Oh.” He worried his lower lip and took another step away, but Jace reached for him, stealing Callahan’s hand and brushing a kiss against his fingertips.
“He’s watching,” Jace said as explanation, batting his lashes down at Callahan in a way that almost didn’t feel staged. “We should head up.”
“Right.” Callahan let Jace hold his hand and guide him toward the elevators. “We should head up.”
Chapter Ten
Jace Has a Disappointing Shower
Nearly half an hour had passed and Jace could still taste Callahan in his mouth. The sugary hint of soda laced with vodka coated his tongue and he pressed his lips together to stop from licking them.
They returned to the room in silence, and Callahan had watched him tuck his camera back into his bag without saying a word or making a move. Jace collected his clothes and dropped them back into the suitcase, then rolled the thing into the bedroom. He lifted the suitcase onto the provided stand, then set to hanging all of his clothes up. He really shouldn’t have left them in a pile, but he’d needed to get away from Callahan before he lost his mind.
Callahan hovered in the doorway, shifting his weight around while his eyes tracked every movement Jace made. The attention made him nervous, but he didn’t know what to say. He’d had a tolerably nice afternoon, taking pictures of things around the city, but the sun had worn him out so he’d decided to return to the hotel for a drink. Rhys cornered him as soon as he reached the bar, saying things that would have made any man or woman blush.
It had taken every ounce of his willpower to not pop Rhys in the mouth once he started talking, and with floors between them now, Jace squeezed his eyes closed, leaning over his suitcase to try and block the insinuations out of his mind.
“Was that okay?” Callahan finally spoke.
“Was what okay?”
“Kissing you.”
“I kissed you,” he answered, returning his attention to his clothes. The suit he’d bought with Carmen’s money had held up well, and he appreciated that Remington had encouraged him to spend a little bit extra on the fancier, wrinkle-free, material.
That reminded him.
He turned his back on Callahan and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He’d been so caught up in the city that he’d forgotten to call Remington and tell him about Callahan.
“Was it okay?” Callahan asked again.
“It was fine. It’s what I’m here for.” He didn’t dare look back at Callahan still in the doorway, worried his face would betray just howfineit really had been. Then he heard Callahan open his mouth like he was going to speak, so Jace cut him off. “I need to get ready for dinner.”
He fled toward the bathroom, locking the door behind him before Callahan could join him. Not like Callahan would, he reminded himself. Even though the night they’d met had been in a bathroom, Jace had been the one dragging Callahan in behind him and Jace had been the one initiating their kiss on the dance floor. Their relationship had been short, but it had always been Jace, and he needed to be done.
Jace would smile and fake it through the weekend and then go back to his normal, boring life, jacking off about the kind of man he could never have. He turned on the water to the shower, then sat on the lid of the closed toilet and called Remington.
