Ben was surprised that Nikolas didn’t spend the rest of the meal enlightening him about the differences between tax deductible and free, but as Nikolas always paid for everything, he reckonedhisview of their arrangement was more accurate—for him anyway. Nikolas didn’t seem to allow himself many pleasures—despite the freedom his release from the department had given him—but watchinghimeat, amazingly, appeared to be one of the few. That and the other activity they indulged in for the rest of the day.
Despite Nikolas’s admonition not to eat too much, Ben had, and he was consequently sleepy and in a good humour, for once willing to be played with and petted. What did it say about their relationship that Nikolas paid for him in restaurants and treated him like a plaything in bed? But as Nikolas appeared to have so few pleasures, Ben decided he wasowedthese indulgences. So, although Nikolas never spoke whilst he stroked and held, kissed and played, Ben knew he was delighting in the enjoyment ofhisbody. Nikolas mapped Ben’s scars with his tongue, trailing it slowly from one to the other, joining the dots of Ben’s hard life.
Sometimes, Ben would deliberately turn his wide-set green eyes to Nikolas, knowing the effect his beauty had on this silent man. Ben wasn’t vain about anything except his physical prowess, but he couldn’t help but notice the impact his face had on people. Had he not witnessed it only that afternoon in the longing glances of a beautiful young woman in a restaurant? Besides his startling, almost exotic green eyes, he was blessed with a perfect physique, tousled black hair, high cheekbones, and smooth, tanned skin. So, although Ben was hard pressed to recall a single compliment Nikolas had ever given him, Ben knew; his beauty transfixed Nikolas, was his talisman and the sanctuary to which he would always return.
Reserved as he was, Nikolas had never told Ben how or why he’d made all the recent changes to his life. It was obvious, just watching him as he pretended to find the morning newspapers enthralling, that he missed his old one—his position, his authority, perhaps even his house and his wife. Hell, Ben suspected Nikolas even missed the endless access to top-of-the-range vehicles he’d enjoyed using as the head of a government department. Having to buy his own Range Rover recently had clearly been something of an ordeal for Nikolas. But Nikolashadmade all these changes, and it appeared that he’d made them forhim. So if Ben indulged Nikolas and occasionally let him treat him almost as a dependent child, then who was going to call them on it? And here, in their bed, Nikolas chuckling and indulging himself with Ben’s pliant and accommodating body, Ben felt he possessed the real Nikolas at last.
There were no masks between them, no lies.
§§§
Exhausted from Nikolas’s pleasures, Ben was almost asleep, lying debauched and wrecked on his stomach across the bed. Nikolas was trailing his finger repetitively up and down Ben’s strong back from his hairline to where touch made Ben flinch. Rain had begun to wash across the window, a depressing London downpour that took away the glamour of the city. If Nikolas also missed watching Devon rain trailing down mullioned windows in a large study with a fire and house staff bringing him whisky, he never mentioned this either. But a heartfelt sigh brought Ben back from the edge of sleep and he asked softly, “What are you thinking about?”
Nikolas looked down into Ben’s green eyes and replied without any hesitation, “You.”
Ben was sceptical. “That’s not like you.”
“No, it is not like you to ever ask what I am thinking. I actually think about you a great deal.”
“Awesome.”
Nikolas huffed. “Most people would take that as a cue to say…”
Ben caught Nikolas’s arm and pulled him down, tugging the covers over them both. “Yeah. Yeah. I don’t need to say it.”
Nikolas resisted Ben’s attempt to get him properly into bed. “We have work to do.”
“Jesus, you are a hard taskmaster.”
Nikolas gave him an incredulous look. “You have done nothing but sleep, eat, and amuse yourself for three weeks, Benjamin.”
“But it’s raining. I can’t work in the rain.”
“Did you actually know we have an office that is inside?”
“I know! I do my fair share of office work.”
“Ben. There is only one chair in the office, mine.”
“Oh. Well, I have other skills. You’ve never complained about them.”
“I have been thinking about that, actually. I believe that if we are going to make this work, we should take on someone with more computer knowledge than I have.”
“Or me.”
“Yes, I rather took that for granted.”
Ben gave this considerable thought. “But they’d be here all day—with us.”
Nikolas frowned. “I’m not sure how to respond to that. I assumed they would, as they are real and would work here.”
“You know what I mean. I like it when it’s just us here. So we can…”
“Ah. You like it when we do not actually work but stay in bed having sex all day.”
Ben cupped his face and began to kiss softly around Nikolas’s smiling lips, across the stubble and into the hairline. “Shall I stop? Because I am the only one who wants to do this…apparently.”
Parts of Nikolas had already given a reply. Ben knew Nikolas rarely contradicted his cock. He shook his head ruefully at the slight trickle of anticipation oozing from the tip and switched to kissing that instead. When it was over and he’d proved his point, he thought he’d hear no more about getting back to work from his boss. He was slightly annoyed, therefore, when Nikolas continued as if he’d never been interrupted, “I think maybe we should separate where we live and where we work.”
