Chapter Four
Bryce suppresseda frustrated groan when Jesse slipped away to unlock the door. Every moment they were close to fitting together, Jesse pulled back. Bryce wanted to push, but Jesse seemed to enjoy teasing him. Now he was taking control. There was no mistaking the command in his voice when he ordered Bryce to watch out for boxes. Hell, he walked into the apartment without checking to see if Bryce was following.
Normally, Bryce topped. He wasn’t exactly sure when the last time he’d bottomed was. Maybe some time back while he was still in the Air Force, around a decade ago. He took the lead in sexual situations. Everyone from hookups to long-term boyfriends seemed to expect him to.
Apparently not Jesse, judging by his shift in demeanor. Bryce couldn’t figure out if he was curious or annoyed.
“Door can’t stay open all night. Get in here or shut it,” Jesse said. There was that note of authority again.
Curiosity won out. Bryce entered the apartment and shut the door.
Jesse hadn’t lied when he said his place was a mess. Stacks of boxes cluttered the living room and kitchen. A recycling bin was filled with plastic bottles. Squeezed between an empty bookcase and the wall was a desk covered in manila file folders and dominated by a desktop computer. The room smelled of musty cardboard.
Jesse plugged his phone into a charger on the kitchen counter and then headed for the short hallway leading toward his bedroom. His gait shifted subtly. His shoulders were straighter, even as he took off his sweater. “This way.”
“Didn’t figure you’d be bossy,” Bryce said as he continued following.
Contrary to the living room and kitchen, the bedroom was orderly. The bed was made, dirty clothes were in a hamper off to the side, and there wasn’t a speck of dust in sight.
Jesse dropped his sweater into the hamper. He was muscular and had a hint of a six-pack. Blond hair dusted his chest and darkened as it made a line down his abdomen. “You need me to be.”
“Is that so?” Bryce lifted his chin. “I think you read me wrong.”
Jesse took off his watch and placed it on top of the dresser. He flicked his gaze over Bryce, head to toe and back. Intelligence darkened his storm-cloud eyes, and his expression was thoughtful. Then he grinned cockily. “Naw. I’ve got you pegged.”
“You’ve known me for less than an hour.” Bryce put his hands on his hips, squaring his shoulders. A tiny urge pleaded with him to stay quiet, to see where Jesse wanted to go with this, but he was a rock. His last relationship ended because he was unreadable. Jesse couldn’t have figured him out.
But what if he saw something Bryce couldn’t? Impossible. Bryce knew himself inside and out. He was the fortress, the alpha. The leader because no one else had the stamina. In a few minutes, Jesse would be putty in his hands.
Jesse stepped closer. He ran his hands up Bryce’s chest, and unbuttoned the first two shirt buttons. Then he brushed his thumb across the newly exposed skin, toying along Bryce’s collarbone. When Bryce reached for him, Jesse shook his head. “Ah, ah, ah. No touching.”
Bryce groaned. “I’m not into bondage.”
“Restraints take a lot more conversation first,” Jesse said. “Well, in the bedroom anyway. This isn’t that.”
“Then what is it?” Bryce demanded.
Jesse tilted his head, his smile hovering between a smirk and seriousness. “You need someone to take charge.”
The idea was so ridiculous Bryce laughed. He didn’t need anyone to issue orders, much less to have a partner boss him around the bedroom, and Jesse’s insistence was darling, but inaccurate. “Okay, you’ve got that wrong. I’m the one who leads.”
Jesse unbuttoned Bryce’s shirt slowly. “And how happy has that made you lately?”
“I do all right,” Bryce teased, but there was a catch in his throat. He couldn’t quite pin down the last time he would’ve called himself happy. There were fleeting moments between work and more work, surely. At some point. Just not recently.
Jesse met his gaze, and there was a fierce power in his gray eyes. Then he kissed Bryce chastely, routinely comforting somehow, and murmured, “Trust me and we’ll do better than all right.”
Fantasies raced through Bryce’s mind as Jesse continued unbuttoning his shirt and then reached for his belt. He stilled, and his throat dried out. Not knowing where a night was going wasn’t unusual, but typically those were the nights Bryce hunted aliens through the streets or spent long hours researching. Work was an uncontrollable thing, so he held everything else in order. His team. Alex. His dating life. He never left a dirty dish in the sink or an expired milk jug in the fridge. Giving an inch meant giving a mile. He couldn’t protect anyone once control slipped away.
But he didn’t have to stay on guard. He wasn’t neck-deep in monsters. And fuck if he didn’t want to see what Jesse had in mind. Staying with him had to be better than going home lonely.
Jesse took his time undressing Bryce, and he refused to let Bryce help beyond shifting position enough to give him access. He brushed his fingers against sensitive areas in quick, explorative sweeps. Each little motion was a tease, and occasionally he kissed Bryce. Their lips never met for very long. Any time Bryce tried to deepen the kiss, Jesse ended it and concentrated on clothing instead. Rather than being frustrated, Bryce was more turned on than he’d expected. He was hungry for another kiss.
Once he was finally stripped naked, he reached for the button of Jesse’s pants. Only, Jesse stepped away. “On the bed. On your stomach.”
Bryce grinned at him, and then took his time crawling onto the bed. He glanced over his shoulder. Jesse watched him closely, and his erection caused a bulge in his jeans. In the same slow, methodical way, Jesse undid his jeans and pushed them down. His boxer briefs trapped his erection, but he kept his underwear on.
“Any allergies?” Jesse asked, and his voice was thicker.
