by G. R. Lyons
He hunched over his desk with intense focus as he finished Dirk's gift. All the tooling and design work was done, so the only thing left was the final assembly. It took him almost two hours instead of the one he'd estimated, being extra picky about wanting it just right. When it was done, Spencer couldn't help smiling with pride. The whole thing was perfect.
Except for one detail.
He turned the watch over and laid it out flat. The back of the watch itself had the manufacturer's name etched in an arc along the edge, leaving all the rest of the space smooth and blank. Digging through a drawer, Spencer found a rubber stamp he'd made years ago, shaped in a stylized S, something like the wax stamps that were used to seal letters a thousand years ago. He touched the stamp to a black ink pad, then carefully lined it up in the center of the watch back and held it down, infusing it with magic so that the design would be permanently embedded in the gold.
Pulling the stamp away, Spencer couldn't help grinning at the sight of his initial added to the piece. Maybe it was too much hubris, but he couldn't resist, knowing that it would touch Dirk's skin.
Spencer slowly uncurled himself, his body protesting the two hours of poor posture, then cleaned up his workspace and put away his tools. He arranged the watch in a gift box he'd bought for it a long time ago, then sat there for a long moment, tracing his fingers over the band, a bittersweet smile on his face as he thought of Dirk wearing it.
Finally, he let out a sigh, closed the lid, and set the box next to his messenger bag. He grabbed his laptop and did his usual nightly research, remotely logged in to the magazine's server. Spencer went over a few reports and low-priority emails he hadn't gotten to during the day, then checked up on market news, keeping daily tabs on the fashion industry as a whole as well as textiles, photography, popular clothing brands, and other related things. He ran across some speculation that one designer had some internal drama going on, which could spell upheaval there. Spencer made a metal note to tell Dirk about it first thing in the morning.
It was well past midnight when he crawled into bed, but he got up with his alarm and went about his routine, adding an extra pinch of stimulant to his coffee to get him ready for the day.
He left the box on the corner of his desk when he headed off to work, knowing he could just transport it to the office by magic whenever Jayden arrived. A part of him was still reluctant to hand it over even though he was dying to see it on Dirk's wrist.
Assuming Dirk liked it enough to wear it. Father's love! What if Dirk didn't like it?
His thoughts tumbled back and forth all day until he saw Jayden arrive, just minutes before Dirk usually left for the day. Spencer took a deep, bracing breath. He'd have to turn away and hunch over one of his drawers to transport the box there without Jayden seeing the trick, and he was just about to do so when he noticed the look of fury and determination on the younger man's face.
“Is he busy?” Jayden demanded as he got closer to Spencer's desk. “Actually, scratch that. I don't care.” Without pausing, Jayden threw open Dirk's door and stormed right into his office.
“Hey, Jay–” Dirk began.
“Seriously, you have got to stop pushing me on this,” Jayden demanded.
“What are you–”
“Pestering me with texts all day long is not going to suddenly make me more responsible.”
“You're the one who offered to sign up for business school if I signed up for an art course–”
“And you haven't held up your end of the bargain either,” Jayden yelled, “but I haven't been nagging at you on a daily basis, have I?”
Spencer winced, then looked up when he noticed movement from down the hall. People were peeking out of their offices and murmuring to one another, clearly wondering what all the yelling was about.
“I'm a busy man!” Dirk countered. “I've got a magazine to run. What have you got to do all day?”
“Oh, so I am just the worthless trust fund brat, is that it?”
“I never said that. I just want you to apply yourself, that's all. You keep saying you want this thing so bad, but you never actually show any initiative–”
“I just don't see why I can't stick to designing and let someone else handle the business stuff for me–”
“Fucking hells, Jay, we've already been over this–”
More people started gathering at the end of the hallway, some even starting to creep closer so as to better hear. Just what the office needed. Gossip about the boss.
Spencer shot out of his chair. He was going to put a stop to this.
He stormed into Dirk's office, startling both men into silence. Spencer looked from Dirk to Jayden and back—the former standing in front of the couch, a bunch of reports spread out on the coffee table before him, while the latter stood in the middle of the room—then shut the door. “Would you two stop?” he demanded. “Everyone can hear you.”
Both Dirk and Jayden started talking over one another, pointing fingers, each man trying to get Spencer on his side.
“Enough!” Spencer barked. “Dirk, sit down.”
Dirk immediately sat, dropping right onto the couch and then looking up with wide eyes as though surprised at how readily he'd obeyed.
A heady feeling washed through Spencer as he looked at the man, but he couldn't stop there. Drawing himself up, he looked at Jayden and jabbed a finger in Dirk's direction.
“Jayden, go lie down and put your head in Dirk's lap.”
Jayden blinked, his eyes flashing with heat as he rushed to obey, settling down on his back and resting his head on Dirk's thigh.
Fuck. Spencer felt his cock twitch, but he had to ignore it. These men needed to be calmed down so that they wouldn't have a falling out and so Dirk could get back to work, so Spencer had to give them what they needed to make that happen. He walked over and sat down at Dirk's side, getting as close as he dared.
“Dirk,” he said, still keeping the full weight of authority in his tone while lowering his voice to a murmur, “put your hand on his chest. Feel the buttons on his shirt. The stitching. The fabric.”
Dirk immediately complied, his fingers gently tracing the line of buttons down the front of Jayden's shirt. Spencer saw the furrows melt away from Dirk's brow. The man had always been such a tactile creature, giving Spencer endless fantasies about having Dirk's hands all over him for a change.
Spencer blew out a breath. He needed to focus.
“Jayden,” he murmured, and the boy looked up at him, a thinly veiled eagerness in his eyes. Spencer paused. He knew Jayden had an oral fetish—he'd overheard Dirk mention it while on the phone with Jayden, and he'd seen hints of it for himself—but he wasn't sure if what he had in mind might be crossing a line. A weird temptation won out, and Spencer reached over, tracing his fingers along Jayden's jaw before brushing his thumb across Jayden's lips. “Open,” he ordered.
Jayden moaned, immediately latching onto Spencer's thumb, gently sucking on it the way a child might with a pacifier.
Spencer shifted closer and tucked Dirk's head under his chin, stroking the man's hair with his free hand. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “My good boys,” he whispered. “My very good boys.”
He regretted the words the moment they were out of his mouth. Gods! What the hells had even possessed him to say such a thing?
Dirk slowly pulled away and straightened, and Spencer tensed. Fuck. He'd definitely crossed a line. An apology was ready on his lips until Dirk slowly turned to look at him, his gaze not confused and angry but full of heat and wonder.
Spencer swallowed hard. He had to be dreaming. There was no way in all seven hells Dirk was actually looking at him that way.
Dirk's gaze flicked down to Spencer's mouth, eyes flashing as he licked his lips.
Oh gods. Spencer's heart raced as Dirk slowly leaned in, Dirk's eyes practically begging for permission before he moved that last inch and pressed their lips together.
Spencer inhaled sharply through his nose, and he couldn't stop t
he moan that escaped him as he parted his lips and kissed Dirk back. He had to be dreaming. This couldn't be real. Dirk was kissing him! Six years of want were finally becoming real.
And it was so much better than he'd imagined.
Until he heard Jayden gasp. Spencer broke the kiss and jerked back, eyes wide as he looked down at Dirk's boyfriend. Jayden released Spencer's thumb, eyes wide and darting between Spencer and Dirk as he pushed himself up and twisted around to face them.
Spencer froze, waiting for the accusations of betrayal, but all he saw on Jayden's face was heat. Want. Need.
Jayden glanced at Dirk as he leaned past the man and got closer to Spencer, seeming to gauge Dirk's reaction. Before Spencer could say anything, Jayden reached up, grabbed Spencer around the back of the neck, and hauled him in for a kiss.
Spencer gasped, then moaned again. It should have felt all kinds of wrong to be kissing Dirk's boyfriend—literally right in front of him—but something about it felt so right, like it had unlocked a need he didn't even know he had.
Jayden broke the kiss and sucked in a ragged breath. “Fuck.”
Spencer's gaze darted from Jayden to Dirk and back. Their pupils were totally blown, both men panting and flushed as they looked at one another.
Then both men were kissing Spencer again as their hands roamed all over him, loosening his tie and fumbling with the buttons on his clothes.
“Wait!” Spencer gasped. He batted their hands away, shot to his feet, and jumped back a step, holding out his hands while he sucked in lungfuls of air.
Dirk and Jayden both looked at him with wide, hungry eyes, their bodies seeming to gravitate toward him even while they obeyed his silent command to stay put.
Spencer stood there for a moment, frozen with need and guilt and panic, his heart racing and his cock throbbing in his pants.
But this was wrong. This was so, so wrong.
He scrambled to fix his tie and refasten his buttons. “We can't–” he began. His voice broke, so he cleared his throat, trying to regain the sense of authority he'd felt a few minutes ago. “I think we all need to take a step back. Calm down.”
Both men looked like they might protest, but Spencer held up a hand, silencing them before either of them could speak. He blew out a breath and straightened up, trying to regain as much dignity as he could muster. “It's been a long day, and it's time to go home for the night.” He smoothed a hand down his tie, making sure it was straight. “If that's alright with you, Mr. Cameron.”
Dirk still looked like he might protest, but after a moment's hesitation, he gave a slow nod.
Spencer gave a sharp nod in return. “Right.” He paused. “I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight, sir.” He turned away and strode out of the office, a murmured and uncertain goodnight following him out the door.
After shoving his things into his bag, Spencer switched off his computer and strode down the hall toward the elevators, not allowing himself a moment to look back, needing to put as much distance between him and those two men as quickly as he could manage it.
He cursed himself as the elevator doors shut. A transportation spell would have been much more effective, but he couldn't cast one in a moving elevator. It would cause the lift's electronics to go haywire. Spencer fidgeted until the car finally came to a stop, and he rushed out of it the moment the doors opened wide enough.
Hurrying out onto the street, Spencer slipped around behind the building, ducked into the shadowy alcove, and cast the spell that transported him home.
He arrived right in his bedroom, and he immediately shut the door, not wanting Rey to know he was home yet. Dropping his bag by his desk, Spencer loosened his tie and paced his room, gasping for breath as the past several minutes ran on a loop through his mind.
Father's love. What the hells had he done?
He'd kissed his boss! And his boss's boyfriend! What if he'd destroyed their relationship? What if he'd just cost himself his job? What if Dirk hated him? Never wanted to see him again?
A tormenting mixture of guilt and temptation warred through him all evening and late into the night, keeping him from sleep. In the early hours of morning, he got up, went to his desk, and wrote out a letter of resignation. It was the only right thing to do. He hated the thought of leaving Dirk—loathed it with every fiber of his being—but his conscience wouldn't allow anything else.
With that done, Spencer finally tried to find sleep. At least he had the next day off to mentally brace himself for whatever the new week might bring.
Chapter 5
DIRK FELT stuck in a daze the whole way home. He was somehow both hyper-aware and completely oblivious to Jayden sitting beside him, the two of them staring out opposite windows as Dirk's driver took them to Dirk's apartment. That whole incident in Dirk's office felt like a dream and a nightmare wrapped up in one.
He'd kissed Spencer! Six years of pent-up need had finally resulted in the most incredible bliss imaginable. But then Jayden had kissed Spencer, too. Dirk thought he should feel annoyed. Or betrayed.
But all he could think was how fucking hot it was to watch them kissing right in front of him.
What did Spencer think of it all? And Jayden, for that matter? Neither Dirk nor Jayden had said a word after Spencer had walked out. At least, nothing beyond Dirk asking if Jayden wanted to get out of there and Jayden giving an enthusiastic yes in reply. They hadn't even discussed Jayden coming home with him. It just happened.
Dirk managed to come out of his funk long enough to thank his driver and wish the man a good night before trudging into his building with Jayden right on his heels. They rode the elevator in silence, shuffled into the apartment, and let out matching sighs as the door clicked shut behind them.
“I don't know about you,” Jayden murmured, “but I need a fucking drink.”
“Make it two,” Dirk agreed, dropping his briefcase on the floor right there in the entryway and heading straight for the kitchen.
He pulled two beers out of the fridge, wrenched off the caps, and handed a bottle to Jayden before tipping back his own, guzzling down half the contents in one go.
Jayden cocked an eyebrow as he watched him, then followed suit, nearly emptying his own bottle and then gasping for breath.
They finished their beers, grabbed two more, and shuffled out to the living room. Dirk paused there for a moment, taking a sip of his beer, then turned and headed for his washroom instead. Maybe a shower would help clear his mind. It was always a good place to think or reset after a long day. Seemed like the best place for him to make sense of it all.
Jayden silently followed, and they both got undressed, not quite looking at one another as they did so. Dirk turned on the hot water and directed it to all the sprays in the massive shower, giving them the option to wash without coming into contact if they wanted to.
Dirk brought his beer with him, taking another sip and setting it on a shelf before he reached for a bar of soap and started to scrub himself down. He washed himself twice over, staring blankly at the wall the whole time. Still, the shower didn't work its magic. He was no closer to getting his head to clear than he had been when he started.
Setting the soap aside, Dirk turned around and let the spray hit the back of his neck, then glanced at Jayden. The young man was also staring at the wall, languidly soaping himself while he frowned in thought. Jayden's cock was rock-hard, but he made no move to touch it other than to mechanically wash.
Dirk was hard, too. But he couldn't quite bring himself to start something and he wasn't sure why.
Jayden lathered soap between his hands and turned away to scrub his face under the spray, putting his back to Dirk so his perfect ass was right there within reach.
Fuck. Dirk grabbed the base of his cock and squeezed, pressing his lips together so that he wouldn't make a noise. Despite his efforts, a moan escaped him.
Jayden turned, eyebrows slightly raised as he looked at Dirk's face, then his glance flicked down to Dirk's cock. His eyes flashed, and he
sucked in his bottom lip as he stood there for a long moment, hesitant, until he darted across the shower and threw himself at Dirk, his hands going everywhere, desperate and indecisive.
“Dirk,” he whined. “I need–” He broke off and looked up at Dirk with heavy depths of helplessness and pleading in his eyes.
Dirk cursed, certain that he felt exactly the way Jayden looked. He grabbed the young man and crushed their mouths together in a brutal kiss, hands clawing and groping as they tried to get closer, almost like they were trying to climb inside one another. They thrust erratically, hands getting tangled up as they each tried to grab their own dicks, one another's, and both at the same time.
Jayden muttered a curse and grabbed Dirk's head with both hands, controlling their kiss, demanding, while he thrust frantically against Dirk's hip.
Dirk growled, slamming Jayden back against the wall. Jayden gasped, then let out a moan and threw his arms around Dirk's neck while Dirk reached around, grabbed Jayden's ass with both hands, and lifted. At the same moment, Jayden hopped up, wrapping his legs around Dirk's hips. Dirk thrust against him, trapping him between his body and the wall, while Jayden wriggled one hand down between them, aligning their cocks in his grip while Dirk continued to move.
Jayden stretched forward, chasing Dirk's lips. Dirk growled and kissed him again, legs trembling as his thrusts turned frantic. He broke the kiss, gasping for breath, and slammed against Jayden even harder, his heart beating desperately against his ribs.
But he couldn't quite reach the edge.
“Dirk,” Jayden whined. He had his eyes squeezed shut, his face twisted into a grimace of frustration. Exactly how Dirk felt.
Dirk slowed his thrusts and took in a ragged breath. “Let's go to the bedroom. I need to fuck you.”
Jayden rapidly nodded. Dirk let him down, and they shut off the water as they both jumped out of the shower, snatching up towels and rapidly drying themselves on the way to the bedroom. They were both still partially wet when Dirk cast their towels on the floor and shoved Jayden onto the bed.