“King wants me there, but he sent me here.”
“Is this about your father? He cares, Hunter. You’re safe here. Ya weren’t there.” I squeezed him tight.
He glanced up, and we stayed that way, captured by each other for a bit. “How do you know he cares?”
It had me hurting on his behalf that he even thought to ask such a thing. “Because I do, too, that’s how. It’s easy to understand.” I caressed my thumb over his cheek. “You’re very lovable.”
He leaned his forehead against my shoulder, and time went by as I ran my hand up and down his spine. We were both still hard, but neither of us was pushing things forward. I loved every second of having him in my home and life.
“You’re sure he sent me away because he cares? Not because I’m too much trouble to deal with?”
“This ’cause ya bounced round foster homes? Those people say shite like that to ya?” Anger for him had me holding him closer. He didn’t move from his comfortable spot, only shrugged. “Ya think him sending ya here was because ya were a problem?”
He shrugged again, and then I felt the barest hint of a nod, and I hugged him as hard as I could.
“No,” I whispered. “Ya don’t really think that?”
He didn’t move.
“Why do ya think I want ya here?”
He gave me a halfhearted kiss to the side of my neck. “You like my dick.”
I smacked his arse. “Aye, I do. That ain’t it, though. I could have a hole or a cock at the Virtue for a decent price.”
He stiffened in my arms. “You aren’t going there when you’re in the city, are you?”
The hellfire in the question had me unreasonably happy. Chuckling, I gave him a squeeze. “I like ya, dummy. You’re trouble, but not the bad sort, and patience and strength and softness. You’re everything rolled up into one man. Ya keep me guessing, and ya aren’t boring, even ifyaare bored.”
He pushed himself up again and smiled at me. My heart soared. “Yeah?”
“Absolutely.”
“I wish….” He sighed and dropped his head. “I wish I’d talked to you sooner. I have trouble saying these things.”
Leaning up, I captured his mouth in a kiss, and he was only too happy to take over, pushing me back to the ground. The pool filter hummed to life and reminded me we weren’t anyplace private, but I soon forgot about that as he pulled my shirt out of my trousers and lifted it up enough to skate his fingers along my belly.
“I’m going to fuck you tonight,” he whispered in my ear. He punctuated his words with another thrust of his hips against mine, and I nodded quickly.
“Excellent plan.” We both laughed at my mildly amusing joke, and I assumed he was as fired up as I was with the adrenaline of seeing him come to life after weeks of drifting like a wraith through my home.
He pushed at my suit jacket and then helped me escape my shirt and tie with determined fingers, until I was indeed on my back for him. He dragged a pillow off the chair he’d been relaxing on earlier and slipped it under my head, and when he did, lube clattered to the ground, which he snatched up and waved at me with an eyebrow waggle.
“Ya planned to seduce me? You’re not a devil, you’re an incubus.”
He hung his head and grinned but didn’t discount my observation as he unbuckled my belt and then popped open the button on my trousers.
The next morning, my alarm went off bright and early at five on the dot. Hunter murmured where he was cuddled up against my chest, and I reached over to turn on the light.
“Why?” Hunter held up a hand and groaned.
“Ya said ya wanted to go to work with me, didn’t ya?”
He sat up fast at that, smiling. “You mean it?”
“I don’t know. You’re pretty cute, and I need a man to look mean and hold a gun. Can ya do that? Are ya qualified?”
He threw his arms around me and hung on, and I held him close, my chest swelling so much with seeing him excited again that it felt like it might burst. “Can I wear my regular clothes? I don’t have any suits.”
