Alluring Attraction

by Zoelle, A. F.

  “He can wait,” Jake decided, not taking his eyes off of Hunter.

  Disregarding Jake, Hunter dismissively said, “Do what you want. I have better things to do.”

  Ryder’s mind immediately started providing ideas of what else Hunter could be doing, all of it perverted in nature.

  Jake accused Hunter, “Running away?”

  “No, I simply see no reason to continue wasting my time with you,” Hunter countered, ignoring the barrage of insults his comment triggered. Instead, he focused his attention on Ryder, giving him a sultry look. “As for you, I’ll see you later.”

  Trying not to read too much into the phrase, Ryder mechanically confirmed, “Yeah.” He had to ignore the heat that flared to life inside of him at the potential of future trips to the brothel.

  “This isn’t over, asshole,” Jake called out after Hunter walked away, standing out because of his height among the thinning crowd of departing students. Only when Hunter turned the corner did Jake look back to Ryder. “Okay, that was fucking weird.”

  “Only because the two of you always blow things out of proportion and have a huge fight over nothing,” Ryder said as they started to walk in the opposite direction, in search of Derrick.

  “He said that he would see you later,” Jake argued, still deeply suspicious.

  “We have two classes together,” Ryder logically explained, hoping that Jake would leave it at that. “Of course he’ll see me later.”

  Frowning at the explanation, Jake muttered, “It felt like more than that, man.”

  “You’re reading too much into it,” Ryder dismissively said, trying to get off the topic that was causing his heart to hammer.

  Realizing that he was getting nowhere, Jake irritably ruffled his own dark blond hair as he questioned, “Doesn’t it bother you?”

  “That you two always argue? Yeah, it does,” Ryder answered, sensing an opportunity to guide the conversation in another direction.

  Glancing over at his friend with a frown, Jake couldn’t tell if Ryder was being serious or deliberately obtuse. “I meant how he was acting,” Jake clarified.

  “He shouldn’t have antagonized you,” Ryder conceded, carefully dodging the real issue, “but you didn’t have to take his bait, either.”

  “What else was I supposed to do?” Jake demanded. “Just let him keep doing whatever the hell he was doing to you?”

  Flushing lightly at the unintended implication, Ryder denied, “He wasn’t doing anything to me, Jake.”

  “It sure as hell didn’t look that way,” Jake muttered as they turned the corner, still not completely convinced.

  “It’s fine,” Ryder reassured him, relieved when they finally found Derrick waiting on the corner for them.

  For once, Jake let the subject drop as they neared their friend. “Yo, Derrick! You ready?”

  “Yeah,” Derrick answered, glad they had finally arrived.

  “Good, hurry up,” Jake encouraged. “We’ve got stuff to talk about.”

  Derrick asked, “We do?”

  “Yeah, man! Big plans are in the works,” Jake informed his friend.

  “They are?” Ryder questioned, a feeling of dread forming in the pit of his stomach. “That’s news to me.”

  Grinning roguishly, Jake answered, “Oh, I think you already know.”

  Careful that his expression didn’t give away his growing anxiety, Ryder desperately wished he was wrong.

  “Yo, I don’t know why you’re in such a bad mood,” Jake commented to Ryder as they walked to Cole Corporation.

  Gritting his teeth as he clamped down on his irritation, which was laced with an undercurrent of nervousness, Ryder forced himself to sound as normal as possible as he explained, “I’m not in a bad mood.”

  “Even if you are, you won’t be by the time you’re finished tonight,” Derrick joked as they shared a laugh.

  “See? That’s the spirit!” Jake triumphantly exclaimed as he wrapped his arm around Derrick’s neck and playfully nudged him. “Even this idiot could figure that out, Ryder.”

  Sighing softly to himself, Ryder muttered, “It’s not about that.” What he was concerned about and what Jake thought he was worrying over were two very separate things. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

  “About who to pick this time?” Jake guessed, nodding to himself in confirmation that he must be correct. “I’m totally with you on that one, man. I can’t figure out if I want to go with Secretary Jenna again or try someone new. She was so damn good, but then again, I’m sure they all are, so…”

  Making a noncommittal noise, Ryder ignored Jake filling Derrick in on what girls were worthy of their perverse desires. He didn’t want to be anywhere near Cole Corporation, especially not so soon after his encounter with Hunter, but Ryder didn’t want to risk Jake’s curiosity causing a major incident. His fears weren’t that far off base, since Jake launched into a conversation with Derrick saying, “And you’re never going to believe how much this fucker looks like that asshole in class!”

  Sounding harsher than he meant to, Ryder groaned, “Will you stop with that already?” That was the real reason he had accompanied his friends. There was something in Ryder that felt an inexplicable urge to protect Hunter, even if he didn’t fully understand why.

  Jake merely laughed it off and stage-whispered to Derrick, “He’s embarrassed because he went to see for himself if it was that bastard—”

  “Damn it, Jake! Shut the hell up!” Ryder growled, shooting his friend a fierce look that made Jake gulp nervously. His friend was normally mild-mannered, but Jake had seen enough to know that Ryder was a force to be reckoned with if pushed too far.

  “I’m just teasing, sheesh,” Jake reassured him, although he wisely dropped the matter. “No need to get all worked up about it. You know I’m playing.”

  “Fine,” Ryder tersely conceded.

  “Besides, we’re almost there,” Jake continued, trying to revive the jubilant spirit he had accidentally destroyed.

  Derrick and Jake resumed their conversation, but Ryder irritably kept quiet as he tried to calm himself. He knew that he was blowing things out of proportion because of his nerves, which wasn’t fair to his friends. However, he couldn’t settle his emotions or his doubts. Part of him almost wanted to seek out someone new just to prove a point, but Ryder couldn’t stand the thought of it. It was rapidly becoming apparent to him that he wasn’t really interested in anyone other than Hunter. Pushing those thoughts aside, Ryder chose to focus on how best to handle the situation, which was no doubt going to be awkward once they got inside the brothel.

  Glumly staring at the book before him, Ryder tried to pretend to be interested in the other employees of Cole Corporation, as his friends excitedly pointed out women to each other. It was with a conscious effort that Ryder skipped Hunter’s page, not wanting to accidentally trigger Jake.

  The whole situation was proving to be more stressful than it was worth, especially because Ryder’s mind couldn’t stop questioning why Jake hadn’t been awarded any extra time for his return patronage. Is that what Hunter meant by rewarding me? Did he have something to do with that extra hour? Ryder wondered, unaware of the way he was vacantly staring at the page in his distraction.

  “So Accountant Andrew caught your eye this time?” Jake questioned, interrupting Ryder’s complicated thoughts about Hunter.

  “Huh?” Ryder inarticulately responded, causing both of his friends to laugh at him.

  “I can’t blame you,” Jake commented as he flipped to the man’s picture in his own book, to show Derrick, who had already finished filling out his initial paperwork. “He’s got a decent face. If that’s your thing, more power to you.”

  Trying not to show his frustration, Ryder ignored his friend’s commentary. It was enough to make Ryder actually look at the man’s picture, but he did nothing to stir his passions. Andrew was merely handsome, in an overprocessed sort of way. To Ryder, the most interesting thing about Andrew was the fact that he wa
s available for an orgy with the rest of the accounting department. Do people really go for that? Ryder idly wondered.

  A quiet knock on the door interrupted the flow of conversation and Jake nudged Derrick with a knowing wink. The three women entered the room, all with their trademark smiles, offering a melodious, “Have you reached your decision, sirs?”

  Ryder refrained from immediately replying, instead catching the attention of the Japanese woman, Ishi, whom he had always interacted with on previous visits. She gave him an acknowledging nod and a knowing smile that made Ryder raise an eyebrow in response, curious about her reaction. Nothing further was exchanged between them as one of the other women asked Derrick, “Who would you like me to introduce you to?”

  “Is Nurse Laila available?” he asked, sounding far more polite than his previous commentary would have suggested.

  Even as the woman confirmed the availability, Jake was interrupting to ask, “I thought you were going with CFO Ashley?”

  “I changed my mind,” Derrick explained before grinning impetuously. “Besides, Nurse Laila reminds me of your sister, so—”

  “Oh, you are so dead when we’re done here! Then you’re going to need a real nurse, asshole!” Jake threatened, but Derrick merely laughed it off as he got up to leave with the woman who would escort him to his room.

  Another woman stepped forward and smiled beautifully at Jake. “And where shall I escort you, sir?”

  “Since he didn’t go with CFO Ashley, I think I’ll try her tonight,” Jake decided, determined to brag to Derrick about what a great time he had missed by changing his mind at the last minute.

  “I’m sorry, sir, but she is not available at the moment,” the woman apologetically informed him. “Would you like to wait for an hour and a half until she is free or choose someone else?”

  “Is Secretary Jenna free?” Jake asked, although he sounded a little disappointed.

  “Yes, if you so desire,” the woman replied.

  Jake joked, “There’s not a man alive who would turn her down, right?”

  The woman politely laughed and Jake followed her out of the room with a final wave over his shoulder at Ryder. Once Ryder was alone with Ishi, she softly stated, “President Dragon is free to see you, sir.”

  “And what makes you so certain that he’s the one I’m here to see tonight?” Ryder asked. “Sorry, I guess that’s a stupid question.”

  “Forgive me for making such an assumption,” the woman apologized with a formal bow, although her tone was still light with amusement.

  Waving it away as he stood, Ryder said, “Don’t worry about it, I’m being ridiculous.” He walked over to her and they exited for the elevators together, waiting for one to come to their level. “Are you allowed to tell me your name?”

  “Ishi,” she replied with a smile before they entered the elevator.

  “That’s such a pretty name,” Ryder complimented, even though he was questioning whether that was her given name or her assumed one at the brothel.

  “Thank you,” she replied as she pushed the button for the top floor.

  Unsure of what else to say, Ryder couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that he hadn’t been granted extra time again. He was embarrassed by the realization that he wanted an excuse to spend more time with Hunter. Lost in his thoughts, he was surprised when the doors opened on the top floor, which was becoming a little too familiar for Ryder’s tastes.

  Ishi announced, “President Dragon’s the third door on the left tonight, sir.”

  Thanking her with a shy smile, Ryder quickly composed himself before knocking on the door and entering the room, wondering what he would be in store for this time. He had not been expecting to walk into a perfectly replicate of a classroom, with straight rows of desks that were all unoccupied, save for one in the back of the room. Sitting in the same place as he normally did in class, Hunter was reading a book, seemingly disinterested in his visitor. The only noticeable change was that instead of his normal clothes, Hunter was wearing a navy blue blazer and black pants like a prep school suit uniform, making him look younger than his years.

  Closing the door behind him, Ryder took a few steps into the room and waited for Hunter to acknowledge him. He wasn’t kept waiting for long, because Hunter commented without looking up, “When I said, ‘See you later,’ I had assumed it would be Monday in class, not tonight.”

  “Would you rather me not be here?” Ryder challenged, crossing his arms over his chest and feeling oddly out of place in his regular clothes.

  Finally setting his book down, Hunter looked up at Ryder in a way that immediately set his nerves on fire. “No,” Hunter denied as he stood up and started to slowly walk over to Ryder, “but somehow I’m not surprised that you’re here.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Ryder demanded, his cheeks already starting to heat with the first flush of embarrassment.

  Sounding particularly arrogant, Hunter closed the distance between them while goading, “Admit it, you want me.” Roughly wrapping an arm around Ryder to pull him closer, Hunter dominated with an aggressive kiss while sensuously grinding against Ryder to illustrate his next point. “Admit that you want this.”

  “I will do no such thing!” Ryder snapped, trying to hold his own against Hunter.

  Nipping lightly at Ryder’s ear and chuckling at the resulting gasp, Hunter reminded him, “The first step in overcoming a problem is admitting that you have one.”

  “My only problem is that I keep coming here,” Ryder muttered, even as he instinctively tilted his head to allow Hunter’s downward-trailing kisses on his neck.

  “You’d have a bigger problem if you stopped coming here,” Hunter pointed out before stripping Ryder of his shirt.

  “Oh, shut up,” Ryder groaned as Hunter started lightly trailing his fingers along his exposed torso. It felt too good for the simple contact that it was. Not letting it distract him, Ryder started to undo the buttons on Hunter’s navy uniform jacket. “And why does this look like a private school uniform?”

  “Because the guy who runs this place is a pervert,” Hunter conspiratorially whispered in Ryder’s ear, causing him to shiver at the proximity of his warm breath. “But that’s hardly your concern right now, is it?”

  Ryder’s fingers faltered on the buttons he was trying to undo when Hunter firmly groped his ass. “No,” Ryder breathlessly agreed, resuming his desperate actions to strip them both of their clothes.

  Hunter obliged Ryder for the time being as they hurriedly removed each other’s clothing, all while trying to decide which would be better. They could fuck on one of the student desks, but balancing could be precarious in a heated moment. The teacher’s desk at the front of the room would give Ryder a focal point to remember on Monday morning, as well as every day thereafter. Hunter suddenly regretted not sitting in a place where he could see Ryder’s expressions during class. Deciding that the teacher’s desk was ideal, Hunter started to maneuver them closer to it, the action completely unnoticed by an engrossed Ryder.

  When they were both completely naked, Ryder softly sighed at the feeling of full body contact, unable to accept his dark secret: that he was addicted to Hunter. All thoughts of Jake, Derrick, and the sure-to-be-awkward meeting afterward were banished from Ryder’s mind with Hunter’s touch. He was losing himself further in every kiss that he received.

  An unintentional protest escaped from Ryder’s lips when Hunter parted from him to situate himself on top of the teacher’s desk, but he quickly followed and stood between Hunter’s legs. He ran his hands up Hunter’s strong thighs, hardening further as he remembered the way those long legs had wrapped around him the previous night.

  Hunter was amused by Ryder’s distraction. He subtly reached over to open the top drawer for a condom, eager to get on with it. They didn’t have a lot of time since they were restricted to a mere hour this time, and Hunter would be damned if he’d waste a single minute of it. As he had the previous time, Hunter skipped any po
ssible objections by putting the condom on Ryder before spreading his legs further in silent invitation.

  Hormones made it hard to object, with each encounter making it harder for Ryder to remember the reasons why he should be objecting. Kissing Hunter as he slowly lowered him back into a horizontal position, Ryder lined himself up at his entrance. Groaning with the effort, Ryder didn’t stop until he was completely sheathed inside of Hunter, loving the tight feeling of muscles embracing him on the most intimate of levels.

  When Ryder started to move, Hunter was pleased with the show of initiative and the decreasing protests. The pace was a bit harder and faster than last time, which suited Hunter just fine. As they continued, the wooden desk creaked in protest at their actions. Ryder eventually picked up the pace until he was thrusting hard enough into Hunter to earn the most sinful of sighs and whispered fragments of pleasure.

  Recognizing that it would be over too soon if he kept up the same rate, Ryder gradually began to slow down, shocked when it earned him a groan of displeasure from Hunter. “And here I thought you were a quick study,” Hunter muttered as he tried to entice Ryder into resuming his previous pace.

  Slowly withdrawing to the tip before thrusting hard until he was fully sheathed once more, Ryder pressed himself as close to Hunter as possible to sexily murmur against his neck, “I’d rather not be a quick finisher.”

  Hunter’s eyes took on almost predatory gleam as he forced Ryder’s head up to engage him in a hungry kiss, genuinely surprised and aroused by that side of his rival. “Can’t have that, now, can we?” Hunter replied, arching up with a gasp when Ryder shifted positions to hit a new place within him.

  “It would be unacceptable,” Ryder agreed, adding more strength to his actions. He was amazed how easily Hunter’s body yielded to him, yielded in ways that his rival never would otherwise. It was rare for Hunter to vocalize anything more than his cynicism and critiques, so to hear him making such beautiful sounds of need was an amazing experience for Ryder, all the more so because he knew that he was responsible for them. “Fuck, it should not feel this good.…”