Anger flashed through me and then disappeared, almost like it hadn’t been there to begin with. “You can do whatever you want. I owe you, not the other way around. You don’t even owe me an explanation.” I hated the facts of our situation, but there was no changing them. I had nothing to offer, and the second Stormy was done with me, I’d be out on my ass.
It wasscary.
Right now I couldn’t even find a shitty job. The worst part was that I was much more upset by the idea of not seeing Stormy again than impending homelessness. I’d land on my feet eventually because I always did, but I liked being here with him.
I didn’t want this to be over so soon.
Stormy pursed his pretty pink lips and let my cock go to slide his hands slowly up and down my sides. “Have I ever lied to you? When you were still mayor and I had a client booked after you, I was never one of those professionals who pretended you were my one and only, was I? I told you every time someone else had scheduled in to fuck me—directly after you dropped me off. Maybe even within fifteen minutes of me kissing you goodbye.”
“You did, and I got it. I never kept you over my time.” I braced for impact. Here it came. He was going to tell me he was bored and we were done. “Yeah, you’ve always been honest with me. I can’t complain about anything you’ve ever done, really. I’ve always understood.”
Stormy squeezed me around the middle. “My point is, did I ever once lie?”
“No. And I know you’ll go back to that, or want other people. We’re not—” I huffed out a breath. “Fuck it, I made dinner.”
The sad sound Stormy made as he cupped my soft cock had me feeling twice as awful as I already did. When had that gone down? I’d disappointed him. He eased his arms up and around my neck and pressed his hard body to mine. The scent of a workout and his dying cologne swirled into my nose, but I loved it. Salty and musky and masculine. It made me want to bury my face in his armpit. I stared over his shoulder at the wall. Would he just tell me to get out when he was done? Was that his point?
He laughed and snagged my chin, dragging me back to face him. His eyes gleamed with amusement. “Damn it, Ross. Do you need to do this right this second? Put some sort of name on what we’re doing? Label it with a nice big tag for everyone to see?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m happy with you here. I… you’re my Mister. I guess I’m worried about you being gone. I mean, me being gone. You’d stay. I’d go. But I know the drill already. This is what it is.”
Stormy pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth. “You don’t want a label, you want assurances. You know, if I say you’re my boyfriend, I can still walk right into the Courtesan and take clients anyway. It won’t change a fucking thing.”
My gut dropped. “Yeah.”
He studied my face, and I wasn’t sure what he saw, but he hesitated and then leaned in to kiss me. “Pookie, I didn’t expect to be happy doing this. What do you need to hear? You’re bonerific. I expected to want to fuck you because yes, I love your ass. Your chest.” He groped my pecs and then tweaked my nipples, and I grunted. “You flip my switches. I’m having a good time. I didn’t expect….” He kissed me again. “I don’t want to stop this. I like you. I like knowing you’re here waiting for me, thinking about me and only me.”
Hope buoyed me up and my gut flip-flopped like I was cresting the wave of a tsunami. “I love being here and knowing you’ll come back. I wish I had something I was doing to make this equal—”
“That, I don’t care about at all.” He pecked my lips with his again. “You’re doing exactly what I want you to be doing.”
My cheeks flared hot and the rest of my body flashed warm. “Do I make you happy?”
Stormy’s smile grew. “Ross, never would Ieverhave thought I’d see you this way. Hung up?”
I shrugged.
“The picnic I walked by looked damned scrumptious.” He grinned and winked like an asshole.
“I know I can only be an embarrassment to you long-term. I’m sorry.”
His eyelashes fluttered and he took my hands. “Ross, I was a literal whore. You’re not an embarrassment. In fact, I wish you’d told me you were thinking things like this. The only reason we’ve been staying in so much is because I like having you naked and all to myself. Let’s go out. I’ll be exhausted after work tomorrow because Kellan’s putting us through the drills we’re going to use with the team, but the next night?”
“For real? You want to be seen in public with me?”
He squeezed my hands. “Wouldn’t have offered otherwise. I want to go to the Korean barbecue place. I can’t cook Asian food for anything. Then I want to do stupid couple stuff. Walk along the lakeshore. Maybe egg a police cruiser.” He knocked his hip against mine, and I drew him closer into a hug.
“No trouble for me again for at least another six months, or you’ll be applying for conjugal visits to get at my ass.”
He winced but his smile didn’t fade. “Fine. Maybe instead of pissing off cops we can go grind on each other at Sinful?” He bit at the corner of his lip. “Maybe even find a dark corner and see if we can cream our shorts?”
“I’d love that.” I buried my face against his neck and shivered.
“What is it with you and getting off in public? I reallywasn’toff fucking or romancing another man, my jealous little Pookie pants.” He sucked hard on my neck, and I moaned at the almost painful pulse of sensation that skittered around in my chest and shot south.
Now that I was feeling better, I was alarmed for an entirely different reason. The food I’d made Stormy was probably stone-cold by now. I dragged us in the direction of the living room while his lips were still latched onto my neck, and he laughed as he let go.
“I made your favorite, Mister.”
