“I’m sorry, Marcus. I didn’t mean to push.”
Zach’s soft, apologetic voice squeezed at Marcus’s already bruised heart. How many more people was he destined to hurt today? At least he could still repair his friendship with Zach. Knowing how sensitive Zach was, he couldn’t have it on his conscience to hurt the sweetest person he’d ever known.
“No. Don’t apologize. I’m the one who’s sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”
“I know. And I know why you did it too.”
“Oh yeah. I didn’t want Sam to punch me again.”
“You can’t fool me. You’re dodging the issue.”
Zach’s sharp scrutiny unnerved Marcus, and though he tried to foist Zach off with a laugh, it died in his throat.
“Come on, Zach; don’t make a big deal out of it. I helped the guy out ’cause he was in trouble. Now he’s all better, and I can get back to normal.”
“Normal meaning what, Marc? Screwing every stranger you see? When are you going to wake up already and see you’re too good for that?”
Obviously waiting for the right moment to jump in, Julian let loose. “You’re worth more than a quickie fuck from some random who cares nothing about you except where you can take him to see and be seen.”
Those words rang in his head all the way home and as he dressed for the club that night. He wasn’t sure if Julian was correct. If Marcus was worth it, wouldn’t his mother have cared and put her child’s needs first, before his father’s? He was her flesh and blood. If his own family didn’t care, why should a stranger?
Angry at himself for doubting who he was, and even angrier at Tyler for leaving him, Marcus pocketed his wallet and keys. Out of habit now, he glanced over to the living room where Ty used to lie stretched out on the sofa with Lillie snuggled on his lap, watching some God-awful schlocky kiddie movie. Now it sat bare and dark; the silence suffocated him until he couldn’t bear to be there any longer, and he left for Sparks.
When he arrived at the club he was shocked to see not only Julian and Nick, but Zach and Sam hanging out at the bar. He approached them warily.
“What is this, an ambush?” He gestured to Antonio who presented him with his glass of scotch. He’d need the whole bottle to spend the evening fending off his friends sniffing around his private life. Then the lights flashed, and the noise in the club died down until nothing could be heard save for the pounding beat of the music.
Marcus froze as Tyler, chest gleaming and golden shorts molded to his ass and cock, outlining every fucking perfect inch of him, stood in the center of the now cleared dance floor, his hips swaying to the beat of the Nine Inch Nails song “Closer.”
“Shit,” he heard Julian exclaim behind him. “What the hell is this about?”
Ignoring his friends and striding past his employees who all stood staring in shock, Marcus walked toward the center of the club, the crowd of people giving way before him like he was Moses parting the waters of the Dead Sea. Swaying in place, his eyes shut and a dreamy smile on his face, Tyler was everything Marcus never knew he wanted until that moment.
Marcus stood admiring his face. And though the music filled up every corner of the club with its pulsating, erotic beat, Marcus suspected Tyler listened for his footsteps and knew he was there.
He refrained from speaking, preferring to remain gazing at the beautiful symmetry of Tyler’s form. Muscles flexed beneath the surface of his smooth naked skin, and beads of sweat formed on his temple and the hollow of his neck between his collarbones, glittering where the strobe lights hit.
Marcus discarded his jacket, tossing it with careless abandon to a familiar face in the crowd, and continued to watch Tyler dance. That mysterious smile continued to rest on the corners of Tyler’s lips, as if he hugged a secret only he could unlock. Tyler opened his eyes, lifted his arms, and twined them over Marcus’s shoulders, his fingers sliding through Marcus’s hair until they twisted in the waves resting at the nape of his neck.
“Marcus.” His quiet voice caressed Marcus’s ear, and he shivered at the soft touch of Tyler’s lips to his skin. The music faded in the background, leaving behind only the achingly sensuous beat thrumming through his veins. Passion bloomed through his bloodstream, warming him from within, as if having lain dormant for so long, it now sought to take root in what was once the wasteland of his soul.
The music pounded on, and Tyler danced, twining his body around Marcus’s torso like a boa. His nimble fingers unbuttoned the top button of Marcus’s shirt, and at the touch of Tyler’s hands, his body lit on fire.
Marcus sought to grasp Tyler around the waist but Tyler eluded him, slipping through his hands. With a wicked smile curving his lips, Tyler slowly rolled his hips in a sensuous striptease, then reached over and finished unbuttoning his shirt, his fingers teasing against Marcus’s chest. He pulled the shirt off, then danced away again, waving it like a victory flag above his head, before tossing it to the cheering crowd. This must be a joke, Marcus thought, until Tyler pressed himself up flush against Marcus’s naked back and bit him on the shoulder, then licked away the sting.
The crowd went wild, but Marcus was too far gone in a haze of lust so heavy, he could barely keep his eyes open. He turned and managed to grab Tyler and kiss him, heedless of the catcalls from the crowd which faded to nothing as he fell into the perfection of Tyler’s tongue owning his mouth. Velvet stroked velvet; their mouths fused together as his hips thrust into Tyler’s groin and for a moment Tyler relented, holding him close. He cupped Marcus’s ass, their erections nestling together, giving him that friction and pressure he craved, and he bucked into Tyler’s hips.
Then Tyler spun away, curling himself around Marcus, burrowing into the curve between his neck and shoulder, while his hands continued to play havoc with Marcus’s nipples. This couldn’t continue, or he’d end up taking Tyler on the floor in front of everyone.
“Ty, what’re you up to?” he murmured directly into Tyler’s ear, seeking to pull him closer. Elusive and teasing, Tyler twisted around and slipped out of his grasp.
“Come with me.”
He opened his eyes then, and the raw hunger blazing in Tyler’s gaze ignited a corresponding flash within Marcus. As if in a somnambulant state, Marcus allowed himself to be led to the back, oblivious to the whistles and raunchy outbursts from the crowd.
The ache of suppressed desire curled low and deep in his belly; the need to touch and be touched by Tyler rose hot and thick, like warm honey sliding over his bones. It drenched Marcus in its sticky sweetness and for one brief moment panic seized him, as if his body and mind had finally awakened and realized what had happened.
He stopped short; Tyler turned to him with a questioning glance, and Marcus remained rooted to the spot, simply staring at this man who’d upended his life without him even knowing it had happened. Marcus struggled with the fear of giving in to the complete and utter safety of Tyler’s arms around him. Then, at Tyler’s smile, a terrifying kind of happiness rolled through him, and all thought of protecting his heart vanished. Tyler tugged him close and kissed him until his mind spun, their breaths merged, and nothing mattered anymore but Tyler’s tongue in his mouth and his hands moving with purpose and strength over his body.
