Tight jeans that hugged his thighs. A fitted shirt beneath a sweater that had ridden up his flat stomach. Pretty flushed cheeks a charming shadeofpink…
Cedric was takenbyhim.
He offered his hand to Gabriel, and after a moment’s hesitation, Gabriel acquiesced. The touch of his palm against Cedric’s as he accepted Cedric’s help shot sparks down his arm and weakened his grip, and Cedric squeezed a little tighter than he needed to in a bid to combat it. The touch startled him, and as soon as Gabriel was on his feet, he broke the contact between them and pushed his hands into the back pockets of his pants. His right hand—the one he’d used to help Gabriel up—found his wallet, and he played with the corner of the thin, softleather.
It was okay to feel this way. It wasn’t like attraction to someone new was abadthing. There were plenty of men who’d caught his eye, and plenty of women, too, butGabriel?
There was something differentabouthim.
Something different in the way he moved, even if that movement was just to climb to his feet or angle his head downward to dip his gaze and broadcast his subservience. Grace. Elegance.Something.Cedric couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there it was, refusing to stare him in the face, just an arm’slengthaway.
And itwashis.
Allhis.
He’d be damned if he backedoutnow.
“I see you two are already acquainted.” Sterling stepped around Cedric and came to stand by Adrian, who’d just skidded around the corner and come to a sudden stop in the hall. Sterling set a hand on the small of Adrian’s back and guided Adrian to his side. The fear in Adrian’s eyes was obvious to Cedric even in his peripheral vision—whatever had happened to send Gabriel running for the door hadrattledhim.
And it had rattledGabriel,too.
Cedric saw it in the startling ocean blues of Gabriel’s eyes as clearly as he saw it drain the color from his face. The wonder that had once blown Gabriel’s pupils wide and lifted his brows while he lay stunned on the floor simmered into nothing, but Cedric remembered the look. His heart wouldn’t let him forget. Golden-brown hair, long enough to tug, framed Gabriel’s face. It was just messy enough that it was adorable. The cut of his jaw was delicate, and the bridge of his nose was refined, but his face lacked the severity that Adrian’s boasted. The gentleness he embodied, from his feminine face to the slender, willowy build of his frame, was almost too perfect tobereal.
If Cedric wasn’t careful, he knew that a boy like this would undo him. Piece by piece, he’d dismantle the carefully established boundaries Cedric had put in place and leave him flayed open like a frog on a dissection table, all of his vulnerabilities exposed. He’d lose himself to those eyes, distract himself with the fullness of Gabriel’s lips,andthen—
“Gabriel?” Sterling asked. His voice tore Cedric from his thoughts so suddenly that Cedric nearly jumped. “Do you know whothisis?”
Gabriel didn’t lift his head, but his gaze did flicker upward, as if he was curious. He looked at Cedric nervously from beneath his lashes, then glanced back down before he spoke. His shoulders pinched closer to his neck. “Yes.That’s…Sir.”
Fuck.
Cedric’s cock started to stiffen, and he pushed his hands forward in a bid to bunch the fabric by his fly to hide his erection. A short distance away, Adrian’s brows knitted together. The panic in his eyes was sharpened by irritation. It looked like he was about to cut loose with a scathing remark, but before he could speak, Sterling tugged him closer. “That’s right. He’s yours for now, if you like him, at least until we figure out what our next step is. Right,Adrian?”
There was a dynamic at play between Sterling and Adrian that Cedric didn’t understand, but he let it go. With Gabriel standing in front of him, he couldn’t keep focused on much else for all that long, anyway. How could he? Gabriel wouldn’t meet his eyes, but it only made Cedric want toknowmore.
He was already so submissive. What else could Sterling and Adrian wantfromhim?
“Gabriel knows Cedric from high school,” Adrian said stiffly. The conflicted look on his face remained. “Cedric and I hung out with the same crowd. You remember him, don’t you, Gabriel? CedricLangston?”
Gabriel looked up again, only just enough so he could look at Cedric from beneath his eyelashes. For a second, Gabriel watched him. A second was all it took. Cedric swallowed the lump rising in his throat and tried to ignore the way his heartfluttered.
Sex was sex, but emotion? He didn’t get emotionally attached to his clients. No pretty faces had ever made his heart skip a beat likeGabrieldid.
Gabriel nuzzled against his own shoulder, bunched up so tightly from his nerves that he was stick-skinny. It looked like he badly wanted to be touched, to be held, and to be directed—and the urge to step in and fill that role for him wasoverwhelming.
Fuck.
“I remember,” Gabrielwhispered.
“Then you know that there’s nothing to worry about.” Adrian locked eyes with Cedric. “Because if he doesanythingto you that you don’t want him to do, then he’ll have to answertome.”
Gabriel folded his arms over his chest protectively, his hands braced on either arm. Cedric remained where he was, studying, learning, and trying his hardest to get over the knee-jerk reaction to step in and make thingsright.
“We wanted to let you take some time to get to know Cedric in a safe setting,” Sterling said. “He’s hereforyou.”
Gabriel wouldn’t look up anymore. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, his slender hips swaying slightly. Cedric bit down on his lip as he watched. Whatever witchcraft Gabriel was using, it was working like a charm. He fidgeted with the sleeve of his sweater and rubbed the heel of one foot nervously against the other. “Idon’t…”
“You don’t what?” Adrian asked, keeping his tone soft andlight.
