Adrian didn’t let him finish. He crushed their lips together again and pumped into Sterling’s hand as hard as he could. When he closed his eyes and suspended his disbelief, it was easy to imagine that he was pounding Sterling’s ass mercilessly while Sterling gasped andcriedout.
Andfuck, did that turnhimon.
The desperate, hateful lust between them stretched on. Adrian wasn’t sure how long it lasted, but right as his breath hitched and orgasm gripped his balls and made him ache to shoot, Sterling pulled back from their kiss and released Adrian’s cock. The sound of the slap rang through the room before Adrian felt it—Sterling hadspankedhim.
Adrian’s cock pulsed. His cheeksreddened.
“Get into the master bedroom,” Sterling uttered. His voice was deepened with lust, and when Adrian ground down against his lap, he found that lust manifested in the massive, erect cock Sterling’s pants hidfromhim.
“You want to fuck me?” Adrian asked, surprised to find his voice just as husky. His cock missed the tightness of Sterling’s palm, and his hips marked its absence by moving in slow, needy thrusts that kept Adrian scorching hot. “You want to plow me into your mattress? You want to hear me squealforyou?”
“Don’t make me repeatmyself.”
It was Adrian’s turn to smirk. He tilted his head so they were lip to lip, then spoke. “What happens if I don’tlisten?”
He had his answer seconds later. Sterling pushed him off the chair, and as Adrian struggled to find his footing, Sterling grabbed him and pinned him against the nearest wall as their lips crushed together again. Head spinning, Adrian grabbed at Sterling’s shirt in order to brace himself, but it was no use. Sterling grabbed him and pulled him from the wall. They stumbled a few feet, lips clumsily locked, until their trajectory brought them crashing back against the wall, a few feet from where they’d beenbefore.
It was a short trip down the hallway, made long by the intensity of their desire. Sterling pinned him to the wall fiercely, stoking flames that were already far too hot until Adrian couldn’t take it anymore and pushed him away. Breathless, Adrian took control from him and slammed Sterling into the wall in turn, kissing him all over again. Scorching kisses and staggered steps marked their passage, and by the time the bedroom door was shut and Adrian’s thighs met the side of the mattress, his jaw ached and he tasted blood from a nick on the inside ofhislip.
He was readyformore.
Tonight, he would not submit—Sterling hadn’t earned that privilege. Not yet, and maybe not ever. But that didn’t mean that Adrian couldn’t enjoy himself in the way he wanted to, and dominating Sterling? Working out his anger on the man who made hisbloodboil?
That sounded like one hell of agoodtime.
7
Sterling
Sterling’s belthit the floor before Adrian hit the mattress, and he was in the middle of fumbling with his fly when Adrian seized his wrist and tugged him roughly onto the bed. It wasn’t often that Sterling was caught off guard, but the sweltering arousal he harbored for Adrian shut down the cautious measures he took to maintain control at all times, and he found himself colliding with the bed—and Adrian’s body—before he was ready. Sterling’s knees hit the mattress, but his palms never got the same chance. Adrian’s hold tightened, and with surprising strength, he flipped Sterling over so Sterling was onhisback.
For seventeen long years, Sterling had run The Shepherd. On its dance floor and at its bar, he’d met people from all walks of life whose preferences and desires were all unique. But never once had he met an omega with such fire inhissoul.
Before Sterling could process what was happening, something thick hit his wrist. It took a second to recognize what the pliant but sturdy object was—one of the wrist cuffs he’d left out forAdrian.
A sharp tug tightened the strap around his wrist, binding his suit jacket in place. Sterling tried to lift his arm only to find he couldn’t—Adrian had already discovered the clips he kept hooked to the headboard. He’d attached the cuff when Sterling wasn’t looking, leaving Sterling bound tothebed.
Arousal ripped through Sterling’s gut like a tornado down a busy street. He tugged at the cuff again, but it was a futile attempt. The clip held firm, and the cuff had been wellsecured.
Adrian wasn’tplaying.
He straddled Sterling’s chest, every inch of his nude skin radiant. Sterling drank him in. From the stiffened, bobbing cock that fought to touch Adrian’s stomach to the tight, toned planes of Adrian’s chest, he was beautiful. A refined face with delicate features and eyes that pierced Sterling whenever they looked his way only added to his splendor. But it wasn’t Adrian’s physique that made Sterling want more—it was his spirit. The sharp, lashing words he spoke and the arrogant way he conducted himself were a direct challenge, one Sterling was ready to face head-on. He wanted Adrian to submit to him. He wanted to see the proud, boastful omega hit subspace so fast and so hard that he never camebackdown.
But right now, all Sterling wanted was to make Adrian his, and by the way Adrian assumed control of their coupling, it looked like he felt the same way. The only hint that there was something off was the underlying hatred that arced through Adrian’s eyes and turned his expression stony. It was that fury that brought Sterling to lookcloser.
What he sawrattledhim.
Behind Adrian’s resilience and rage was something Sterling hadn’t expected to find—sorrow. Or at least, some manifestation of doubt and negativity. It pooled in Adrian’s eyes like tears, leaving them glossy. If Sterling hadn’t known better, he would have said that Adrian lookedforlorn.
Eyes like those had no more hope, no matter what the sparks of energy and bursts of emotion on their surface said. Those weren’t the eyes of a young man looking to prove himself as a Dominant—they were the eyes of someone who was lost and desperately seeking anoutlet.
“Adrian?” Sterling asked hesitantly. His erection strained against his unopened fly, but he didn’t let his dick dictate the way he lived his life. If there was something wrong, Sterling wanted to make it right. “Areyouokay?”
“Of course I’m okay.” The reply came a little too quickly, and was just a touch too sharp. Adrian shifted, and as he did, Sterling lifted his free hand to touch the side of Adrian’s face. In that moment, Adrian’s whole body went stiff. Fear clouded his eyes, but parted quickly as he made a sudden grab for Sterling’s hand. He latched onto Sterling’s wrist and pinned it to the pillows, the crescents of his fingernails digging intoSterling’sskin.
Adrian glared at him but didn’t move. Chemistry, vibrant and so thick it choked each breath Sterling took, simmered in the air between them. There was no doubt that something was wrong with Adrian, but it was hard to stay focused when Adrian made himfeelso…
Sterling couldn’t bring himself to finish the thought. He had no idea how he would have concluded it if hecould.
