Scott glanced around the counter for a pot, but there wasn’t one.
“Which cupboard?”
“I…I…” Anthony ran a hand through his thinning hair.
“Found it,” Scott said, after trying a few. “It’s right here.”
“Actually,” Anthony cut in. “Can we…can you just go upstairs?”
Scott frowned. “You want me to go upstairs?”
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
“For now. The open door at the end of the landing. Could you… Could you strip, all except the necklace, and wait for me on the bed? I just…need a minute alone.”
This had happened once before, and while Scott was upstairs getting naked, his client decided to swallow a Viagra pill.
It had been one of Scott’s most exhausting nights and a lesson for both of them. A permanently hard dick wasn’t necessarily a happy one, and Scott had tried his best to be gentle and used two bottles of lube, but the dick got sore spots and was still erect when Scott left ten hours later. He’d called a few days after the incident, happy to hear his client was back to normal.
“We don’t have to be intimate at all,” Scott said. “We can go into the living room, put a movie on and snuggl –”
“No.” Anthony pressed his palm to the table. “Upstairs. The bed at the end of the hallway, it's ready for you, remove all your clothes.”
“Except for the necklace, I remember.” Scott touched it around his throat. “Do you want me to make you a coffee first?”
“No, thank you.”
“And you’re not about to pop a performance pill while I’m out of view?”
Anthony recoiled. “What?”
“Good,” Scott said, leaving the kitchen. “I’ll meet you upstairs, if and when you’re ready.”
Upstairs, all the other doors were shut except the one at the end. Soft light filled that room. Two lamps were positioned on either side of the king-size bed. The sheets were of a luxurious silk that Scott couldn’t help but caress. He slipped out of his sequin jacket and hung it over a chair in the corner. The doorto the en suite had been left open too, and he flicked the switch before nodding his approval at the Jacuzzi-style bath.
Even without sex, Scott would give Anthony a good night. He would run him a bath, massage shampoo into his hair and moisturise his skin afterwards, and if that got a reaction out of him, Scott would ask whether Anthony wanted his mouth to fully relax him.
But first, he’d try it Anthony’s way and get naked for him. Scott unbuttoned his shirt, staring at himself in the mirror. He kept himself well defined, needed to, and he ran his fingers over his stomach muscles, looking down. The tilt of his head sent a twinge of pain through his neck, and he grimaced, rubbing the necklace. When he looked in the mirror, he could see the red mark it had left on his skin.
The weight of it had only felt more insufferable as the day had gone on.
Scott listened for footsteps on the stairs, but Anthony hadn’t left the kitchen as far as he could tell. He reached for the clasp at the back, struggling with it before finally undoing the necklace and slumping at the sudden freedom. He cracked his neck left to right, then ran a finger across the faint red mark at his throat.
Anthony had been calling it a necklace, but it looked more like a collar to Scott. He studied it in his hands, frowning at the small silver circles dotted along the gold and wondering whether he’d been wearing it wrong all day and Anthony just hadn’t had the heart to tell him.
“No,” he murmured. “The stone was facing the right way…”
Scott shook his head and reasoned the circles were probably to add comfort to the wearer so they weren’t constantly nipped by the gold weave. He placed the necklace on the small shelf by the sink, then checked his teeth. Condoms and lube were both vital, but so were toothpicks in Scott’s opinion.
Nothing killed the mood like spinach or crêpe in your teeth.
Scott tipped his chin up, checking his nose too; that was equally a mood killer.
He turned his head, sighing as he spotted a black sequin stuck on his neck.
His brow furrowed as he picked it off and stared at it on the end of his forefinger.
