“That’s just the problem.” He finally turned around and faced me. “It isn’t nothing anymore, August.”
“I don’t understand.”
His chest rose and fell, his eyes full of confusion. “When I started calling you Sir, I did it because I knew what effect it had on you. I always knew how to get what I want, and I wanted you. That pushed you over the edge every time. I loved having that control over you, even though it felt like you had the upper hand.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that now when I call you Sir, it’s not just to manipulate you into fucking me the way I want. I say it deliberately. I want you to be my Sir for real.”
This was better than anything I could’ve ever asked for, but I wasn’t fond of the timing.
“You’re just reacting this way because you saw me with Jackie.”
His eyes narrowed. “No, it just made me stop lying to myself.” He heavily sat down on the edge of the bed. “It’s no longer just sex.”
I walked over to him, put my hands on his shoulders, and cupped the strong column of his neck. “Why’s that a bad thing?”
“Because it’s going to complicate everything, August.” His eyes flew up to mine. “I can’t fall in love with you. You can’t fall in love with me.”
“I can’t promise you that.”
“August—”
“No.” I placed a hand on his lips. “Don’t fall back on the same excuses about it being complicated. I’m in this too. You think I’m not also worried about how Declan and Dad will react? But it will never change the way I feel about you. You’ll probably need more time, and I’m patient. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”
Charles’s hands came up and clutched my wrists. “I have nothing to offer you.”
I leaned forward and rested my forehead on his. “You underestimate yourself, Charles.”
He made the move, as I so often allowed him to do, kissing me and falling back against the bed with me on top of him. I took both his hands and held them above his head, kissing him back hard, sweeping inside his mouth with my tongue. I traced his lips, nibbled on the lower one, my groans mingling with his.
When it got too heavy, I pulled away and stared into his eyes, lids partially closed.
“Ask me any question you want to know, within reason, about Jackie so we can get past this.”
His cheeks turned ruddy. “We can talk about them later. We should get back down there before they realize we’re together.”
“They probably still wouldn’t think anything of it.”
“I can’t risk that happening.”
I got off him and helped him to sit up. We both got to our feet and fixed our clothes. I stopped and stared at Charles smoothing a wrinkle out of his shirt.
“What?” he asked.
“You just look like I’ve kissed the hell out of you.”
He grinned at me. “You kinda did.”
“I know, but it’s not doing anything for my erection.”
I groaned and nodded to the door. “Go on ahead of me. I’ll be down as soon as I get a handle on this.”
Charles walked right up to me, dropped his hand to my crotch, and squeezed my cock. Waves of pleasure rolled up and down my spine. I made a croaking sound at him, and he only grinned.
“I’ll get a handle on it for you later.” His eyes turned hesitant. “I’ll see you later, won’t I?”
“Yes.” I leaned forward and kissed his nose, grinning when he scowled up at me. “If you’re not there on time, I’ll be showing up at your home.”
“I’ll be there.”
I watched him walk away from me, groaning. It wasn’t doing anything at all to ease my erection. The opposite, in fact.
I needed a distraction if I was going to spend the time around Charles without being able to tease him, touch him, kiss him. Especially after he’d all but confessed, he had feelings for me.
Chapter Eight
Auggie
It was nineteen minutes after seven when the doorbell rang. I’d just glanced at the time on my phone not even a second before, debating whether or not to text Charles, asking him where he was.
Almost an hour and a half ago, he’d sent me a voicemail that he would be late as Declan wanted to talk business before he left. I’d been disappointed but hadn’t complained. I knew how much his growing relationship with his son meant to him. And I was happy for them.
After we returned from the bedroom upstairs, we’d practically spent all evening at Declan’s house with his neighbors. Everyone had been friendly, even Charles toward Jackie. We still had a lot left unsaid between us, but the exchange we’d had seemed to have relaxed him.
Charles and I deserved Academy Awards for best-performing actors in an affair. No one suspected a thing. I’d caught the way Charles looked at me a few times, just as I’d followed him around with my eyes until Jackie whispered that I should stop being so obvious. Charles and Jackie had even managed a civil conversation by the time I left to take Jackie home.
The day had been good for me. It had brought a breath of fresh air, a palate cleanser after my session with Heath. Jackie was also coming into their own, loosening up a bit and letting their guard down and allowing friends in. How lucky and grateful I was to be a part of such an open and diverse queer family.
Now I was waiting for Charles. When the doorbell rang, I paused the television—I was finally watching The Greatest Showman—and walked to the door. Charles had changed out of the outfit he had on earlier. No wonder it had taken him so long to get here. But I had to say it was worth it. He looked edible.
“I was about to send out a search party.” I took a step back and let him in, then closed the door. “Why did you change?”
“When you’re trying to get laid, you strive to make an impression.”
I smirked at him as I led the way back to the living room.
“You don’t need fancy clothes to make an impression on me.”
“Then why aren’t you kissing me right now?”
“Because I want to do it this way.”
I returned to my perch on the carpeted floor of the living room and pulled him down with me. I’d brought pillows from upstairs and a blanket to spread on the carpet. He lay beside me on the floor, his face full of anticipation, but I didn’t immediately kiss him.
“It was hell not to touch you today,” I said, tracing his finely plucked eyebrows with my finger.
“You get to touch me all you want now.”
I did, didn’t I? Only in private. I leaned sideways and pressed my mouth to his. A sigh escaped him, echoing the feeling in my chest.
The feeling of coming home.
He might’ve arrived with the sole intention of having sex, but once our lips touched, he was in no hurry to move things along. I lost track of time as I kissed Charles breathless until his lips curved into a smile.
“What?” His smile was infectious, and I needed to know what was going through his head.
I’d somehow gotten him on his back on the floor and hovered over him, nibbling at the corner of his lips. One of his legs was hooked around mine, and neither of us seemed ready to move just yet.