Page 45 of Doubting Hearts

Chapter Thirteen

TOBY

I WAITED with trepidation for Rain to get to my place. I’d been so sure he wouldn’t mind me volunteering him for the festival, but it seemed like I didn’t know him as well as I’d thought. I mooched around my room gloomily until I heard the knock at the door. I opened it to see him standing there, hands in his pockets, black hair mussed, and looking very tasty in his green checked shirt and Levi’s. He brushed past me into my room. I closed the door, turning to apologize to him, and he grabbed me by my shirtfront and kissed me. It wasn’t the reaction I’d expected, so I simply stood there, mouth wide open while he explored it with his usual thoroughness.

Finally, he let me go, then wandered over to the fridge, leaving me both horny and gobsmacked. “Fancy a beer?” he asked as he rummaged in the meager contents of my refrigerator.

I nodded numbly. “So, you’re not mad at me for the whole fair thing, then?” I finally managed to say as he handed me an open bottle of Peroni.

He looked at me with a glint in his eye. “You took me by surprise,” he remarked as he kicked off his shoes, lying back on my bed with a sigh of satisfaction. “It’s not every day you get told your boyfriend has told everyone else you’ll take your clothes off for them.”

“It’s not a full strip, Rain,” I said hopefully, wondering if he was now going to do it after all. “I don’t want everyone seeing all of what’s mine. Just the top bit, really, it’s more a bit of fun than a serious striptease.” I plonked myself on the bed next to him as I sipped my beer. “So, does this mean you’ll do it, then?”

He watched me with a look, one I knew well. That look meant I was in for a hard time—both figuratively and literally. My insides melted toward my groin, and my heart started to beat faster at the promise of what was in his eyes. One look at his groin, and I knew exactly where this night was going. He was already quite turned on, from the bulge I saw.

“I suppose. But I think you need to be taught a lesson.” He leaned over, took the bottle from my hand, and placed it on the side table next to him. “As my manager, you shouldn’t arrange something without bouncing it off me first. We artistes have our egos, and we like to be consulted. You can’t just take liberties like that.” My cock was definitely enjoying the idea of this new role play he was devising. Manager/artiste had a good ring to it.

He started pulling my tee shirt over my head, and I lifted my arms in supplication, my breath quickening.

He tossed my shirt to one side, leaning forward, taking one of my nipples in his teeth and biting it. I hissed at the sudden nip.

“So, I feel the need to make you pay for your little transgression,” he murmured as he moved to the other nipple and did the same thing. He ran his hand over my crotch, and I swallowed as he caressed me. “You’ve been a very naughty boy.”

I nodded. I definitely wasn’t going to argue about that. I rather liked being punished by Rain. So, when he started to unzip my jeans and reached in to clasp my extremely ready and aching hard-on, I simply closed my eyes and went with the flow.

* * *

AN HOUR and a half later we lay drowsily together in bed, having expended most of our energy in a bout of sexual calisthenics that even had me feeling a little sore. My limbs were suppler than Rain’s, but they’d been bent every which way, and my whole body now ached. Not to mention the plethora of nips and bites, including a rather tender one between my arse cheeks. One of his “punishments” had been to rim me within an inch of my sanity, and he certainly knew how to use that tongue of his to best effect. He lay snuggled under my arm, his dark hair tickling my chest. Since I’d cuddled him that day at his house when we’d had our first big argument, he seemed to have developed a taste for it. I stroked the top of his head as his fingers slowly trailed their way across my stomach and up and down the line of hair that led to my groin. He was half asleep, but I wanted to make sure we were on the same page.

“Rain, did you mean it when you said you’d do the whole strip thing?” He nodded, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. I’ll speak to Dave, and we’ll start organizing the tickets. He has a mate in town who’s going to print a whole load of them and take them around and hawk them for us. They’re only two quid each—”

Rain shot up and looked at me in aggrievement. “Two pounds to watch me pole dance and strip? Hell, you’re giving me away like a cheap tart.”

I chuckled. “I’d rather sell quantity. That way we get more people here, and they’re more likely to part with their cash at the fair and boost the town’s coffers. They may as well get something out of this too.”

He huffed as he lay back down. “Still, I’m worth more than that.”

I kissed the top of his head. “Indeed you are. So much more. Like millions.”

His lips shifted in a smile against my stomach, and I thought not for the first time how lucky I’d been to find this man.

“I’ve actually managed to get over five hundred in sponsorships from some of the hotel suppliers too,” I said proudly. “That should help the family reach their goal. People have been pretty good.”

Rain smiled, his expression tender as he stroked my cheek. “You’re a good man, Charlie Brown,” he murmured, and a warm glow of satisfaction drifted through my body. My mobile chirped from my bedside table, and I picked it up. When I saw who it was, my heart sank.

How the hell did Neil get hold of this number? I’ve changed it twice already.

I slammed the phone down, not wanting to read yet another message about what a fag I was and how he was going to duff me up one day.

“You okay, Toby?” Rain looked up with sleepy eyes.

I smiled at him. “Yeah. Just one of those silly network messages. I don’t know why they insist on sending them through when people are trying to sleep.”

My boyfriend nodded. “I hate that too. Maybe you should switch it off.”

I did just that, watching the phone power down but still feeling that sense of unease. Everyone seemed to think that the harassing phone calls from Neil had stopped. I let them think that, but the truth was they hadn’t. I could change my mobile number, but the calls to my direct line at the hotel I couldn’t do much about. I was scared someone would pick up the phone and be subject to a torrent of abuse from Neil. I’d decided to go see him and talk to him. I knew my friends and Rain would try and talk me out of it, so I didn’t intend mentioning it at all.

I snuggled down into the blankets with Rain, hoping that for Neil the novelty would wear off soon. As I closed my eyes to sleep, I had the niggly feeling I was being too optimistic.