Sitting down at his desk, Ryland ran his hand through his hair.Dropping to his knees the moment a man walked into his office shouldn’t make him feel less like a whore, but it in some way, it did.He’d done everything that day for no other reason than he’d wanted to give.He’d done exactly what Arslan said a man who wanted to join his pride would do.Ryland nodded to himself.
He’d made a little bit of progress.He felt a little bit better about the world.For the first time since he was eighteen, it felt possible for him to be the person someone he cared about wanted him to be.And that was worth anything.
Saturday.Five days.He looked at the pile of marking he’d picked up.It would earn him a pittance compared to the money he needed to return to the man who’d arranged for him to be thrown to the lions the first time around.
Spending all the hours God sent tutoring undergraduates probably wasn’t going to scratch the surface either.He already confirmed that he couldn’t get the tuition fees back from the university.He’d exhausted every kind of bank loan long before he even considered being thrown to the lions.He couldn’t earn the money legally.And he sure as hell couldn’t crawl back to his parents and borrow the money from them.There really was only one option left open.
Ryland didn’t give himself any more time to think.He rushed out of the office before he could remind himself exactly why he had chosen to be thrown to the lions rather than borrow money from Jason Burrows in the first place.
Chapter Four
“What do you want?”
Ryland took a deep breath.They guy who’d answered Jason Burrows’s door had obviously seen way too many bad mafia movies.He was wearing sunglasses indoors.It wasn’t even sunnyoutside.For some reason, it was that stupid little detail that brought it all home to Ryland.He was effectively doing business with the kind of men who thought that guys who put dead horses’ heads in people’s beds were role models.
The man at the door parted his lips, but Ryland didn’t give him a chance to repeat the question, or to tell him to sod off and stop wasting anyone’s time either.“Two thousand pounds.”
The guy stared at Ryland as if he’d lost his mind.
“I’m here to borrow two thousand pounds off Jason,” Ryland rephrased, desperately trying not to sound as freaked out by that fact as he actually was.
The doorman stepped back and let him in.A few seconds later, Ryland was standing in front of Jason Burrows.He’d seen him around the university.Politics, Philosophy and Economics.He was supposed to be a genius in all three subjects—on those occasions when he had his mind on his studies rather than his side-line occupation of lending money to all the other students.And of making sure he got the money back, of course.Rumour had it that was the part of the business Jason really got off on.
Right then, Jason seemed to have things other than money on his mind, things like the man who was kneeling in front of Jason’s chair with his mouth wrapped around Jason’s cock.
Ryland wasn’t sure what expression passed across his face as he realised exactly what he was walking in on, but it made Jason laugh.Taking a sip of his beer, Jason rested his head against the deeply cushioned back of his leather armchair, obviously enjoying Ryland’s discomfort.
Ryland automatically took a step back.He jerked and spun around as he reversed into the huge guy who’d answered the door.
“Wants to borrow money,” the doorman grunted.
Ryland swallowed down his nerves.Pulling himself together a little, he forced himself to meet Jason’s eyes and ignore what was going on lower down Jason’s body.Technically, he knew that Jason and the other guy weren’t doing anything he hadn’t done back in his office with Arslan.He was also aware, in a strictly theoretical way, that what they were doing wasn’t any more public than what he’d done with the professor in front of a fireplace not so long ago.
The comparison didn’t help—it just reminded him that he was as far away as any man could get from how he felt when he was with Arslan.
“Two thousand,” Ryland repeated.“I need to borrow two thousand pounds, please.”
“On what terms?”
Ryland couldn’t help but look down then, but he dragged his gaze back up and made himself look Jason square in the eye.“Whatever percentage financial interest you usually charge someone who can only pay back a little at a time?”he suggested.
There was a brief pause in the negotiations while Jason’s hands clenched around the arms of his chair and he came into the mouth of the man kneeling at his feet.Ryland quickly turned his attention to the carpet and didn’t look up again until Jason spoke.
“Come here.”
To Ryland’s intense relief, Jason had straightened up his clothes before he called him forward.Ryland stepped closer but stopped a few feet from Jason’s chair.
A huge hand landed on his shoulder and pushed him down onto his knees right in front of Jason.Ryland immediately struggled to clamber back to his feet, but it took him less than a second for him to realise there was no way in hell he was going to shake off the doorman’s grip on his shoulder.
Jason leaned forward, caught hold of Ryland’s chin and held his face still.
Ryland froze.
“Pretty enough,” Jason observed.
Ryland stared back at him, trapped where he was kneeling, not even able to drag enough breath into his lungs to hyperventilate properly.
“You can have your loan.”Jason dropped his hand from his face, but the doorman kept Ryland kneeling where he was.
