Unlike Joe and Ethan, falling in love was something Cam never intended to do. He would never make himself that vulnerable for another person again. Not since he’d walked into the bathroom of the trailer where he had been born and found his mother dying on the floor in her own vomit.
Although she had been far from perfect, she was the only relative he had had in the world and the only person who had ever showed him any love, however scarce those moments had been. The day his mother cruelly abandoned him was the day Cam swore he would never allow himself to care for another person so deeply for as long as he lived.
The age-old pain stabbed through him as he relived the moment of her death once more, the horrible sense of betrayal he had suffered that day threatening to drag him down into an abyss of bitter memories. Despite the success he had achieved and the wealth he had accumulated since he fled the children’s home and decided to carve out a future that would never see him having to beg for food ever again, he didn’t need a psych report to concede that the scars of his past had still not healed.
Cam took another sip of his drink and pushed away the dark thoughts clouding his mind, determined not to let them ruin his night. A commotion ahead and to the right drew his gaze, distracting him.
A man was making his way toward the bar, his passage marked by swiveling heads and stares. Cam caught glimpses of a dark head and a navy blue suit, the outfit hugging a toned build and long legs. He frowned into his drink and swirled the amber liquid around before swallowing another mouthful.
He wasn’t interested in a bed partner tonight.
Cam glanced at his watch and was wondering how much longer Joe would be, when a throaty male laugh reached his ears. The sound raised the hairs on his nape and sent a hot prickle straight to his groin. Cam looked up just as a gap appeared in the crowd and finally saw him.
The tension that had slipped away in the past quarter of an hour returned tenfold. Cam’s whole body tightened, his cock hardening in a matter of seconds.
The guy sitting at the bar talking to Ethan was the most stunningly sexy thing he had ever seen in his life. Cam’s heart stuttered as he hungrily took in every single detail of the stranger through the breach in the throng of men milling the club and the mirror opposite the bar.
Tall, lean, with straight dark hair and an arresting ice-blue gaze, the guy wore an easy smile, the laughter lines at the corners of his eyes wrinkling slightly as he responded to the bartender’s light banter. Though he seemed relaxed, Cam could tell he was tense from the rigid lines of his shoulders.
He found his gaze following the contours of the stranger’s body, from the elegant way he held himself on the barstool to the sensuous line of his spine and his sweet, firm backside. All thoughts of spending the night chilling out with Joe fled Cam’s mind. A shudder raced through him when he glimpsed the taut muscles moving sensuously beneath the fabric of the stranger’s trousers as the latter shifted position on the barstool. Cam wondered how those thighs would feel wrapped around his waist while he fucked that impossibly fine-looking ass.
Would he scream or would he moan?
Cam couldn’t wait to find out. And he knew he would. That this man would be writhing in pleasure beneath him at some point in the coming hours was an undeniable truth. No one had ever refused him.
He forced himself to stay put and watched curiously as several of the club’s regulars approached the guy he intended to bed, only to be politely and resolutely rejected by him with Ethan’s amused assistance. Cam caught the eye of a waiter and waved him over.
“What’s he having?” He tilted his head toward the bar.
The waiter, a newbie, glanced nervously to where he indicated.
“Scotch on the rocks,” he mumbled, ears flushing and eyes nervously taking in Cam’s intimidating presence.
Cam’s gaze locked on the blue-eyed man once more, his arousal straining uncomfortably against his pants.
“Make it a double,” he ordered.
The waiter nodded and disappeared in the crowd.
The man at the bar reached up and rubbed the spot on the back of his neck Cam had been boring into for the last ten minutes. He stilled, his entire body freezing in the next instant. His head rose and he stared straight at Cam through the mirror. The ice-blue gaze flared. Awareness flashed across his gorgeous face as they gazed at one another for a timeless moment.
Cam’s pulse accelerated, blood flooding his already rigid hard-on.
The man suddenly broke eye contact, a scowl darkening his features.
Cam blinked, stunned by an unexpected feeling of loss. Irritation darted through him with his next breath. His ire rose when he caught Ethan staring at him pointedly from behind the counter, his “keep-yourself-and-your-dick-away-from-my-new-buddy” expression plain to see. He poured Cam’s order nonetheless and pushed the glass toward the stranger.
The man looked at it blankly before staring at Ethan. The bartender leaned over and murmured something. The stranger stiffened. He glanced at Cam over his shoulder, an incredulous expression on his face.
That’s it.
Cam swallowed his displeasure, raised his glass in a mocking toast, and flashed a bold smile at the man at the bar before downing his drink. He adjusted his suit jacket to hide his arousal, rose, and headed across the floor.
Chapter 3
Gabe saw the crowd parting behind him in the mirror, bodies moving aside hastily to make way for a formidable figure. Hairs rose on the back of his neck.
The gray-eyed king was walking leisurely toward him, his dark hair catching the light.
He stopped on Gabe’s left and cocked an eyebrow at the man occupying the adjacent barstool. The latter mumbled something before slinking away into the crowd, face flushed.
Gabe wondered wildly if the newcomer had that effect on everyone.
The king propped himself on the seat.
“Double Scotch,” he said, his laser stare on Ethan.
His voice was low, throaty. It danced down Gabe’s spine, bringing a flash of torrid, filthy images to his mind.
It was a voice made for the bedroom. For hot, dirty-as-fuck sex.
The air between them swirled and thickened, making it hard to breathe. Gabe inhaled shakily, startled by the feverish sensations flooding his chest as he stared at the man beside him through the mirror.
He had not expected this when he came to Saron tonight. Not expected his body to react in such a primal way to a man he had never met before, a complete stranger who had just bought him a drink, making his intentions all too clear.
Gabe steeled himself before turning his head and meeting the gray stare head-on, wondering if this man could give him what he so desperately wanted, if he could heal the wounds of that ungodly night eight years ago. Wondering whether he would return to his condo in Meguro a man able to have sex again or remain the empty, broken shell he had been for as long as he could remember.
All it took was one look into the gunmetal gaze watching him from a foot away for Gabe’s fate to be sealed. He swallowed, his cock stirring.
Oh, fuck.
“I’m Cam. Cameron Sorvino,” the man said. He offered his hand.
Gabe hesitated before shaking it, his heart drumming against his ribs. He wondered if the man next to him would hear the sound and detect the fine tremor in his fingers.
Cam’s grip was firm and warm, his touch casual before he let go.
“Gabe Anderson,” Gabe murmured. His hand burned from the brief contact, as if it’d been branded.
Cam’s mouth lifted at the corner, his lips stretching in a devastatingly sexy smile that made Gabe’s pulse jump even higher and sent blood surging toward his groin.
I am SO screwed.
“Is that short for Gabriel?”
“No. Just plain old Gabe.” Gabe winced inwardly. Christ, I sound like a complete moron.
Amusement flashed in Cam’s eyes, as if he’d read Gabe’s mind. “Can I take a sip?” He indicated the drink he’d ordered for Gabe be
fore glancing across the mahogany counter. “The help is slow tonight.”
Gabe dipped his chin in acquiescence.
“Yeah, well, that’s ’cause the help is worried about the asshole preying on his new buddy,” Ethan muttered.
“Says the guy who wanted me to bed him the moment he laid eyes on me,” Cam tut-tutted. He took a mouthful of Gabe’s scotch before sliding it back toward him.
Gabe found his gaze dropping to Cam’s wet, full lips. He swallowed a groan and reached for the tumbler, gulping half of its contents as need speared through him. Embarrassment brought a flash of heat to his ears when he realized they’d just shared an indirect kiss.
“As if,” Ethan scoffed. He handed Cam a fresh glass of scotch, a frown marring his brow. “My butthole would shut down in shock if your dick ever got close to it. I’d probably die from constipation.”
Gabe choked, glad he’d already swallowed most of his drink.
Cam and Ethan stared at him, their expressions warming when he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and laughed out loud.
“I’m sorry. That mental image is just—”
“Here, you missed a spot.” Cam reached over and ran his thumb across the corner of Gabe’s mouth, abruptly interrupting his train of thought.
Fire licked Gabe’s skin. His breath hitched in his throat as he locked eyes with Cam. It took all his willpower to resist the urge to flick out his tongue and taste the man touching him.
The vivid picture the sudden impulse evoked struck Gabe like a bucket of ice-cold water. He turned from Cam, mortified by his wanton desire for the stranger next to him. His gaze dropped to his drink.
Maybe they were right. The men from that night. Maybe I’m as indecent as they thought I was.
His gut twisted, shame and remorse filling him in equal measure, cooling his arousal.
Cam lowered his hand and casually took a sip of his drink, the pad of his thumb burning. He was stunned by the strength of the emotions swirling through him after touching Gabe.
He saw Gabe’s knuckles whiten around his own glass and detected the faint color tainting his sculptured cheekbones in the mirror opposite the counter. He knew instinctively it wasn’t just lust that had made this man flush. Though the sparks of attraction between them were so vivid he thought they would ignite the very air in the club, Cam sensed more than desire from the stranger sitting a foot from him. It was becoming clear to Cam that Gabe hadn’t come to Saron to just pick up a bed partner for the night. Instead, he seemed to be a man conflicted, doubt darkening his beautiful face while his blue eyes expressed curiosity and sexual interest.
A flash of intuition darted through Cam then. Gabe had secrets of his own, dark ones by the looks of things.
This realization would normally have had Cam running a mile in the opposite direction. He didn’t do emotional baggage. Yet he found himself rooted to the barstool, unable to distance himself from the alluring, mysterious man beside him. He wanted to know more.
“Are you visiting or do you live here?” Cam said, his tone light.
Gabe hesitated. “I moved here a couple of months back,” he murmured.
“For work?”
Gabe nodded, his shoulders dropping slightly as he started to relax.
“Hey, what’s with the twenty questions?” Ethan hissed. The bartender had returned from serving a couple of patrons further along the bar.
Cam cocked an eyebrow.
“It’s called making conversation. Besides, this guy’s a sitting target. If either of us leaves his side, he’s gonna get attacked by half the assholes in this club.”
Ethan grimaced. “That’s true. They can smell fresh meat from half a mile away.” He narrowed his eyes. “Never mind that the biggest asshole in here is sitting next to him right now.”
Gabe frowned. “Will you stop calling me that? And I’m a guy. I can protect myself.”
“I don’t think so, cupcake,” Ethan drawled. “If I hadn’t intervened earlier, that yakuza guy would be pounding your sweet ass somewhere in a back alley right now.”
Delight filled Cam when Gabe soundlessly opened and closed his mouth, ears flushing even redder. He wondered if it was the “pounding” or the “sweet ass” making him blush so fiercely.
“What kind of crass bullshit are you spouting now?” someone said behind them.
Gabe startled. He turned to look at the intimidating man with dark hair and stubbled jaw who stopped next to Cam.
“Joe,” Cam said, his tone relaxed and his lips curving into a welcoming smile.
Ethan eyed the newcomer up and down. His gaze turned accusing as it roamed the undone top buttons of the man’s shirt and his expensive, casual gray-blue suit.
“Did you go to that place again?” the bartender said stiffly.
The stranger’s hazel eyes narrowed. “That’s none of your business.”
A flush of color stained Ethan’s cheeks. He poured another scotch on ice, slammed the glass on the counter, and strode away.
“Did he just flounce?” Cam muttered.
The stranger sighed. He picked up the drink, his gaze shifting from Ethan’s disappearing back to Gabe.
“I apologize if my staff have been rude to you. I’m Joe Cavendish, the owner of Saron.”
“Not at all,” Gabe murmured, aware of the stares they were drawing.
Joe and Cam made for an impressive sight where they lounged at the bar. Compared to them, Gabe felt like an awkward, ugly duckling.
He chided himself for that cynical thought and indicated the club’s interior with a tilt of his glass.
“I like the style of the place. Who designed it?”
Joe blinked, surprise flashing across his face for a moment.
“Damon & Tucker.”
Pleasure and pride coursed through Gabe. He smiled faintly as he gazed around the club.
“I didn’t know we took on projects like this.”
Cam arched an eyebrow.
“You work for them?”
Gabe dipped his chin wordlessly. A wave of shyness washed over him at the respect and admiration dawning on the faces of the two men staring at him.
“You’re right,” Joe said after a moment’s hesitation. “They don’t normally do clubs.”
Gabe blinked at his guarded tone.
Cam eyed Joe shrewdly before clinking his glass against the latter’s and raising it in a toast at Gabe.
“Here’s to a job well done.”
Gabe swallowed and acknowledged the praise with a tilt of his head. He felt Cam’s gaze boring into him as he took a sip of his drink. Gabe’s chest tightened, heat flooding his body at the feel of those gray eyes caressing his skin.
They made him feel exposed. Vulnerable. As if he were naked, the club empty but for the two of them, the distance between their bodies shrinking with every beat of their hearts.
He gulped down his drink and climbed off the barstool, panic making his body stiff.
“Excuse me.”
Chapter 4
Gabe splashed cold water on his face before gripping the edge of the black marble countertop. He stared in the mirror, the tension tightening his skin and threading through his body making it hard to breathe.
He barely recognized the wild-eyed, flushed stranger looking back at him.
I don’t think I’m ready for this.
A man came out of one of the stalls. He hesitated when he saw Gabe, but then proceeded to hastily wash his hands and leave the restroom, the door swinging shut behind him.
Gabe dropped his head and closed his eyes. Coming to Saron had been a mistake after all. Though he was loathed to admit it, he needed more time before he could follow through with the insane idea he’d come up with tonight.
A sigh left his lips. He’d been in the restroom long enough. It was time to leave while he still had a modicum of pride left. He only hoped there was a back door he could slink out of to avoid the man waiting for him at the bar.
Hinges squeaked behind him. T
he door opened and closed once more.
Gabe stiffened when he felt a presence at his back. A shiver ran down his spine. He didn’t have to open his eyes to know who was standing there. He steeled himself before raising his head and meeting Cam’s gaze in the mirror.
Stormy gray locked on blue.
Gabe’s mouth went dry at the expression in the gunmetal depths boring into him.
“What are you doing here?” he rasped.
“You were taking too long,” Cam replied.
Gabe’s pulse jumped. He turned and backed up against the counter as Cam stepped toward him.
Cam stopped a couple of inches away, his commanding presence all the more overwhelming in the confines of the club’s restroom.
“What are you running from, Gabe?” he said softly.
Gabe blinked at the blunt question.
“I’m not running from anything,” he blurted.
The words rang false even to his ears.
Cam cocked his head slightly to the side and fixed Gabe with a heated stare, curiosity clashing with desire in his molten gaze.
“I’ll make this simple. I want you.” He raised his right hand and stroked Gabe’s lower lip with his thumb, his eyes darkening as they arrowed in on Gabe’s mouth. “And I know you want me.”
Gabe shivered at Cam’s electrifying touch. SO fucking screwed. He licked his lips unconsciously.
Cam froze, his pupils dilating as Gabe’s tongue darted out and flicked his thumb. His breath stilled for a moment before shuddering out of his chest. He moved, one leg parting Gabe’s thighs so he could press his body against his, his hand moving from Gabe’s face to the back of his neck to angle his head.
Gabe’s eyes widened when Cam swooped in and took his mouth.
They stared at each other for a timeless moment, hot breaths mingling as Cam sensuously molded his lips to Gabe’s, learning the contours of each other’s mouths. He bit down gently on Gabe’s lower lip and tugged.
One Night (Nights Series Book 1) Page 2