A faint smile touched Armi’s lips. “You’re saying it, but I don’t believe it.”
“You think it’s always like this?” Hayden’s fingers continued their teasing, and despite being completely wrung out, Armi’s nerves leaped to life. “If you do, you’re dead wrong. Even now, when I can’t think of moving because you wrecked me, I want you again. Being inside you is the home I never had. Holding you is having my arms around the world.”
Afraid he would become too emotional, Armi trembled and turned away from Hayden.
Hayden sighed. “I’m sorry.”
He blinked hard to see through the hot tears. “Why? What for?”
“I said the wrong thing, didn’t I? Too much?”
“No, the exact opposite. You said everything right. I just have to figure out why me. The one no one’s ever been interested in before.”
“Maybe they didn’t look hard enough to see who you really are. Gorgeous, sweet, and so fucking sexy.” Hayden smoothed the hair from his face. “Their loss is my gain. You were so busy hiding in your flowers because they couldn’t hurt you by talking back. But you can have both. The rosesandbe the owner of the Kings.”
“And you?” he dared to ask.
Hayden’s smile threatened to overtake his face. “You’ve already got me. There’s no other place I’d rather be than next to you.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Hayden couldn’t sleep. Armi lay beside him, snuggled into his shoulder. Every instinct in him screamed to not let this go further, that it could only end with him getting hurt.
What he’d said was the truth—no one had ever touched him like the man beside him. Whether it was that special, gentle sweetness that cracked Hayden’s tough shell or that sexy, newly discovered confidence, Armi Winters had encircled his heart and held it in his hand. But Hayden had no illusions. What did he have to offer a man like Armi? A bank account that grew modestly every two weeks? A past to worry about? No matter what Armi said, Hayden knew the truth.
He rubbed his stinging eyes. This was what he’d feared from the first. Before Armi, there’d never been a problem. Sex hadn’t been anything other thanthat was funandsee youas he walked away. But not with Armi. Each time left Hayden craving more. Addicting kisses, soft skin he couldn’t help but touch, and eyes like the bluest ocean, leaving him drowning in their depths.
He shouldn’t have given in to the desire licking through his blood that had him hungering for one more time. Because hecould no more walk away from Armi now than he could stop breathing.
“What’s wrong?” Eyes blurry with sleep, Armi yawned and rubbed his face. “It’s three a.m. Why are you awake?”
“Why are you?” He liked Armi rumpled and rough-voiced next to him in bed.
“Really? We’re going to play Twenty Questions in the middle of the night?” Blinking, Armi sat up. “What’s on your mind?”
“You.” He pushed a hand through his hair. “And what’s happening between us.”
“Which is what?”
“If I knew, I’d be sleeping.” He chuckled, but Armi didn’t fall for it. Damn the man, he was too smart.
“Maybe you don’t want to think about it.”
“You sound like you know.”
This time Armi did smile at him. “Well, I was sleeping. And having a nice dream, too.”
“You’re mixing me up.” Frustrated, Hayden glared at Armi, who annoyingly remained unperturbed. “It’s not supposed to be like this. We were only going to have a good time.”
“We did.” Armi shifted closer. “The best time.”
That husky tone undid him, and before he knew it, Hayden’s hands were in Armi’s hair and he was kissing him until he swooned. Armi moaned under him, his rigid dick pushing into Hayden’s stomach.
“Can’t get enough of you.” Hayden panted, his fingers already teasing Armi.
“Me either. Hurry,” Armi urged. “Now.”
Hayden grabbed the lube and a condom, sheathing himself and slicking up in record time. Inch by glorious inch he easedinside Armi, burying himself fully, but instead of thrusting, he rested and leaned down, capturing Armi’s lips in a heart-stopping kiss. The thought of leaving Armi and going back to seeing him date some loser ate away at Hayden’s guts. Did he have a right to feel this way? Armi was his boss—and so far out of his league, they were in different solar systems. But Armi’s lips were soft, and his sighs of pleasure echoed in the silent room. Hayden couldn’t resist asking.
