Secretly Dating the Lionman

by Sue Brown

  “You’ll do fine. Just listen to us, and you’ll be okay, Cris,” Gideon said.

  Cris stared at him, startled. “You know my name?”

  “I just like hearing you huff every time I yell out Lionman.”

  “One day I’m gonna kill you,” Cris muttered under his breath, but obviously not low enough, because Gideon smirked.

  “I’m your boss, remember?”

  “You think that’s gonna stop me?”

  Dan burst out laughing. “You’ll fit in just fine, Cris. And if you have any issues, you can come to me. I know how to handle the big boss.” He waggled his eyebrows at Gideon.

  “And what happens if I have a problem with you?” Cris asked.

  “You don’t,” Gideon said flatly. “No one has a problem with Dan and lives to tell the tale.” He exchanged a heated look with Dan.

  “What the hell am I doing?” Cris asked to the room at large.

  Dan pushed over a shot glass and filled it with bourbon. “Drink up, man. You’ll need this. You’ve got a long day ahead of you. Gideon’s taking you to the club for a few hours before your shift here tonight.”

  “My laundry—”

  “You’ve got five minutes,” Gideon growled, “and that includes making a phone call to your boyfriend. Then we’ll collect your laundry.”

  Cris was pulling out his phone even as Gideon spoke. “On it, boss.”

  “As I said, you’ll do just fine,” Gideon purred.

  Chapter 20

  CRIS WENT into a corner of Cowboys and Angels and called Bennett. After three rings Bennett answered and Cris broke the news to him.

  “That’s great,” Bennett enthused.

  Cris blinked. Bennett sounded very laid-back. Maybe he hadn’t heard him. That could have been due to the volume of noise at Bennett’s end from shouting and large machinery, but Cris had to check.

  “Did you hear what I said?” Cris asked.

  “Yes. Gideon’s bought Forbidden Nightz and made you the manager.”

  “And you don’t mind?”

  “Why should I mind?” Bennett sounded genuinely confused.

  “Bennett, this is a big deal. He’s made me manager—”

  “Wait a minute.” Suddenly the noise was muted, and Bennett sighed in relief. “Sorry, I was halfway across the site when you called. Now, where were we?”

  “Club. Manager—”

  “Oh yeah. You’re freaking out.”

  “I am not freaking out,” Cris objected.

  “Uh-huh.” Bennett couldn’t have projected a more disbelieving tone if he tried.

  “Okay, I’m freaking out. But this is huge, and I’m going to be working all hours. This affects us.”

  “Yeah, I know. But it’s not like I can’t join you at the club when you’re working, and part of being a good manager is to delegate. You’ll need an assistant manager. What about Raymond?”

  “You think so?” Cris hadn’t thought about that.

  “We’re getting ahead of ourselves here, but I’m used to running a team. I can help. I’m sure Gideon is going to stick his nose in, and you’ve got several weeks before it opens.”

  Cris took a deep breath. Bennett was right. No point running before he could walk. They would sort out the hours, and it wasn’t as though Bennett didn’t work… wait. “You already knew about this, didn’t you?”

  “I—”

  “Don’t you dare lie to me, Bennett Petrovski. How did you know?”

  “It’s not some great big conspiracy, Cris. Gideon talked to Tata, who told Mikey, who told me. Only yesterday. I didn’t know he was going to offer you the job.”

  “But you didn’t tell me.”

  “I was distracted. You distracted me. Your dick distracted me.”

  Cris huffed loudly at Bennett’s feeble protest. “My dick ain’t that powerful. Gideon buys my former club and fires the manager, and you don’t tell me?”

  “Well—”

  “Yes?” Cris snapped.

  “Okay, I thought there might be a chance Gideon would offer you your old job, and I wanted it to be a surprise. I never thought he’d offer you the manager’s job.”

  “He’s agreed to refurbish the club—new stage, new structures, everything.”

  “His idea?”

  “Uh… I suggested it. Along with new guys and new routines.”

  “You see? He made the right choice.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Cris was suddenly insecure, and he needed Bennett’s reassurance—he needed his boyfriend’s reassurance.

  “I’m more than sure,” Bennett said soothingly. “Where are you now?”

  “At the bar. I’ve got to go. Gideon’s anxious to get to the club.”

  Gideon had been sitting by the bar, jacket across his lap, waiting patiently for Cris to finish his call. Now his jacket was on, and he stared at Cris.

  “I’ll talk to you later. Tell me how it goes.”

  “I will.” Cris mumbled a “love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  Cris would never get over hearing that from Bennett. He slipped his phone in his pocket and joined Gideon at the bar. “I’m ready.”

  “Bennett okay about it?” Gideon asked.

  Cris nodded. “Turns out he knew about the sale of the club. I wonder how he knew that?” He turned his best wide-eyed innocent stare on Gideon, who just shrugged.

  “You want something to get around you tell one of the Petrovskis. I thought he’d tell you.”

  “Not a word.”

  “I’ll remember that in future. Let’s go.”

  “Be back by five,” Dan called from the other end of the bar, where he had been frowning at his laptop for the last fifteen minutes.

  “He works for me now,” Gideon pointed out in a far too mild tone.

  “Tough,” Dan snapped. “I need him until I get a replacement.”

  Cris sighed. “I can work for both of you, at least for a while.” His art would have to wait.

  “Boy, if you work for me, you’re not gonna have time to scratch your pert butt,” Gideon boomed.

  Dan fixed his husband with a hard stare. “You think Cris has a pert butt?”

  Gideon looked like a deer trapped in headlights.

  “It’s time to go,” Cris said and hustled Gideon out of the door. Cris looked over to see Dan smirking at them, so he smirked back. It was good to see Gideon shut up. Cris had a feeling that didn’t happen nearly enough.

  FORBIDDEN NIGHTZ was empty. Gideon had the key to the entrance in the alley, and he held the door open to let Cris through.

  “I’ve gotten keys for you in the office.”

  “I can’t believe you fired Marlon,” Cris murmured as they walked through to the tiny office and their footsteps echoed in the silence of the club. That was odd in itself. Marlon had always had the radio on during the daytime. The place smelled different too, its usual heavy scent of women’s perfumes and male sweat a distant memory. Cris shook himself. The club had been closed for one day, for heaven’s sake.

  Gideon grunted. “He was useless. I was going to give him a chance, but he had no ideas for the club. He was more interested in how to bed the strippers than how to improve business.”

  Cris had been on the receiving end of Marlon’s charms when he first started at the club, but it hadn’t taken him too long to realize the manager just wanted to fuck him. Cris said no. That’s why Marlon always fucked with his schedule and no one else’s, but Cris could never prove it.

  “He offered me the choice of whoever I wanted.” Gideon grimaced, obviously disgusted. “He even offered your ass for sale.”

  “And what did you say to that?”

  “That if he said one more word I’d make him sorry.” His face and voice were grim, and Cris knew he meant every word.

  “I turned him down,” Cris said.

  Gideon rolled his eyes. “I think that was obvious. Let’s get started. Dan’ll kill me if I get you back late.”

  Cri
s nodded and pointed to the stage. “Let’s start over there, and I’ll tell you my plans.”

  “This is going to bankrupt me, isn’t it?”

  “I hope so,” Cris said cheerfully as he took Gideon to the main stage.

  He had plans—big plans—and unlike Marlon, he knew exactly how to make them happen. When they dropped his bag of clean clothes at his apartment, Cris had picked up his camera and a lined pad and pencils so he could approach the remodel like one of his paintings. He flipped open the pad and picked up a pencil.

  “Gideon, you make the coffee, and I’ll show you what I have in mind for the stage,” he ordered. He didn’t register the fact that he was ordering his new boss around until Gideon had vanished into the staff kitchen area.

  By the time Gideon returned with two steaming mugs of coffee, Cris had sketched out the main stage, the new structures, and where the audience would sit.

  Gideon handed him a mug and studied the drawings. “Have you seen this before?”

  “Yep, and it works really well. The audience likes it too.”

  “I’ve got something similar in another club of mine. The plans are in my office.”

  “Good. Then we won’t be starting from scratch. What do you think of the backstage area? This one’s only rough.” He handed Gideon another plan.

  “I think I picked the right person for the job.”

  Cris looked up and smiled at Gideon. “Thank you for giving me the chance.”

  He took photo after photo of the club from every angle and he sent Gideon out to get a tape measure too, ignoring Gideon’s pointed “Today was to get ideas, not finalize details.”

  Gideon shut up when Cris growled that this was how he worked, and if Gideon didn’t like it, he could find someone else to do the job. Finally, when he had all the information he needed, he took pity on Gideon and they drove back to Cowboys and Angels.

  As they parked outside the club, Cris turned to Gideon. “When do we start?”

  Gideon looked confused. “I thought we already had.”

  Cris shook his head. “No, I mean when do I start as manager?”

  “You already have.”

  “Then we need to discuss salary, and I can’t keep working at the bar. This is gonna take me time to design.”

  “I have people who do that,” Gideon pointed out, although Cris could see a smile playing around his lips.

  “I do it, or you find someone else to be manager.”

  “How did I end up with two of you?” Gideon complained.

  “Huh?” Cris stared at him, confused.

  “You and Dan. You’re both the same.”

  “You’re a very lucky man, Gideon. Now, are you gonna tell Dan you’ve just swiped his new bartender or am I?”

  “Do tonight’s shift, and I’ll tell him.”

  “Done.” Cris had planned to do that anyway. He wouldn’t leave Dan in the lurch.

  “He’s not going to be happy,” Gideon grumbled as he slid out of the car.

  Cris winced as the first icy snowflakes stung his cheeks. “Tell him it’s his fault. It was his suggestion.”

  Gideon brightened. “I can’t wait to see his face when I tell him that.”

  “Just make sure I’m somewhere else.”

  “Coward.”

  “I like my skin intact.”

  “Speaking of… do you think you’ll want to carry on as Lionman?”

  Cris thought about for a moment. “Maybe to teach the new guys, or if we’re desperate for an act. But I think maybe Marlon was right—it’s time to let the new guys in.”

  “You’re only twenty-five,” Gideon pointed out. “Raymond is older than you.”

  “I know, and I love Lionman. But you’re giving me the chance to do something new. As long as Bennett deals with the hours and I can still paint, I’ll be happy.” He scuffed a star into the falling snow on the sidewalk. “The money’s not such an issue now.”

  “Are you moving in with Bennett?”

  Cris rolled his eyes. “You’re giving me a salary, remember?”

  “Oh yeah. We’d better go talk about that.”

  Cris followed Gideon into the bar. Gideon was about to discover his new manager was no slouch in the negotiating department either.

  BENNETT WAS asleep in his bed when Cris arrived home. That was a welcome surprise. Bennett had a key but the fact that he was there, in his bed, even though Cris was working late, made their relationship seem more real.

  Bennett was also in the middle of the bed again. Cris contemplated sleeping on the sofa, but he was tired and cold, and he wanted to sleep around his boyfriend. So he stripped down to his briefs, edged under the covers, and gently nudged Bennett over to one side. Bennett grumbled, but he moved and let Cris wrap around him.

  “You’re freezing,” he complained.

  “You should feel my feet.”

  Cris slid them down Bennett’s legs, and Bennett yelped, but he didn’t shove Cris away.

  “I hate you.”

  “No, you don’t.” Cris kissed the warm, slightly sweaty nape of Bennett’s neck.

  “No, I don’t,” Bennett mumbled, and he was asleep on the next snore.

  Cris smiled, pressed his cold cheek against Bennett’s shoulder, and let the warmth lull him into a deep sleep.

  The next time he woke, Cris was alone in the bed, apart from a pale pink rose on the next pillow. He picked up the rose and sniffed it. Then he sat up and saw the note the rose had been resting on. The writing was hard to read.

  “You write like a spider hurled over the page,” Cris muttered, but his smile was tender.

  I didn’t want to wake you.

  I’ll call you later.

  I love you. The rose is to keep you company until I return.

  You snore!

  “You old romantic, you.”

  Cris held the rose as he scurried out of his bedroom and into the kitchen. Bennett had obviously cranked up the space heater because the apartment was warmer than he usually kept it. As he was only dressed in briefs, Cris appreciated Bennett’s thoughtfulness. He placed the rose in a large glass and filled it with water. Cris had never received flowers before, and he didn’t have a suitable vase.

  Then he looked at the time. Ten thirty. He wasn’t due in until the evening. After a heated discussion with Dan, he and Gideon agreed Cris would finish his week at Cowboys and Angels, and after that, he was free to take up his new role as manager of Forbidden Nightz. Cris was going to change the name of the club. He didn’t know to what yet, but it was going to happen.

  Cris stroked one of the pale pink petals. “You constantly surprise me, Bennett Petrovski. I never took you for a romantic.”

  He had a lot to learn about his boyfriend, and he looked forward to finding out every last detail.

  BENNETT GROANED and threw his head back. Only Cris’s quick reflexes saved him from being hit in the face. He’d pinned Bennett, face against the wall and wrists above his head as soon as he walked through the door.

  “Sorry,” Bennett gasped out.

  “Tell me what you want.” Cris’s breath caressed the shell of Bennett’s ear.

  Bennett pushed back against Cris’s groin. “Fuck me.”

  “Where?”

  “Here. Now.”

  “Keep your hands where they are,” Cris ordered.

  Bennett moaned again, but he obeyed and stayed in position as Cris reached around to undo the button of Bennett’s jeans and push them and his briefs down to his knees. Cris’s mouth went dry as Bennett’s taut, fuzzy butt was exposed. He pushed up Bennett’s shirt, ran his hand down his spine, and cupped one asscheek.

  “You feel so good,” Cris moaned. Bennett tried to thrust back, but Cris kept him in place with one hand between his shoulder blades. “I’m doing the driving.”

  “You’re going to drive me insane,” Bennett muttered.

  “Good.”

  Cris fumbled in his pants pocket for a condom and lube, and Bennett gave a bark of laughter whe
n he heard the snick of the cap on the lube.

  “I do like a man who’s prepared.”

  “I’m always prepared.”

  Tight heat gripped his fingers as Cris pushed into Bennett’s hole, and Bennett groaned loudly. Cris had quickly learned that Bennett was a noisy lover, which was fine because just listening to him moan made Cris hard. He wished he was prepared enough to push his jeans down first, because his dick was trying to drill a hole through his zipper.

  It didn’t take long to make Bennett good and ready for him. He keened as Cris withdrew his fingers, wiped them on his jeans, and made soothing noises as he shoved his jeans down and gloved his shaft as quickly as he could with shaking fingers.

  “Hurry up,” Bennett ordered. “You have to hurry up.”

  “Almost there, baby, almost there.”

  He hoped Bennett was so far gone that he’d missed the endearment, but Bennett growled in the back of his throat. “Not your baby.”

  Cris lined up behind Bennett, palmed his ass because he loved the feel of the flexing muscle under his hands, and pushed in. He was gloriously familiar with Bennett’s body now, and he knew when to push and when to hold, when to wait for sweat to break between Bennett’s shoulder blades and trickle down his back ready for Cris to lick the trail back up his spine.

  They were both panting hard by the time Cris was ready to move. He wanted to reach around to feel the hardness of Bennett’s shaft, feel it leak over his fingers, but his control was slipping.

  “You’re gonna have to jack off, because I’m so close,” he said.

  “Don’t need to,” Bennett bit out.

  The jeans still hampered them, and the angle wasn’t quite right, but Cris tugged on Bennett’s hips. Then Bennett stuck his ass out more, and Cris thrust home with a shout of relief. The next couple of minutes was a blur of pushing and grunting, slapping of body on body. Cris’s head filled with the sheer need to climax, his orgasm coiling and ready to strike. He wanted to wait for Bennett to come first, but his body won out, and he slammed into Bennett’s welcoming greedy ass with a shout of relief. He pumped come into the condom and wished there was nothing between them.