by Emma Jaye
Ezra held up his hands in a ‘don’t shoot me’ gesture. “Friends having dinner and a little business, nothing more, I promise. Is tomorrow ok? I could pick you up at seven?”
“All right.” Finn couldn’t believe he was agreeing. But it couldn’t hurt, could it?
Ezra pushed his thumbs into the top of his black jeans, immediately drawing Finn’s eyes to the sizable bulge. He hastily looked up at Ezra’s face as his own heated. He’d been caught looking. Again.
“You live with Pixie, right? And don’t worry, I never go where I’m not wanted.” Ezra’s smile wasn’t reassuring, because Finn... wanted.
“Thanks for the offer but I really shouldn’t, I–” He looked up as Ezra reached out a hand and stroked a knuckled down Finn’s cheek.
“Come on Finn, you know you want to. Just dinner, I promise.”
Pulling his mind out of the gutter, Finn asked, “Jeans or smart?”
“Oh, I’m always smart, little Finn. There’ll be table cloths, cutlery, the whole shebang.”
Unable to trust his voice, Finn nodded then did his best to make a dignified exit. Not easy to do from a sex shop, one where he’d just accepted a date and a load of free toys from its shit hot proprietor.
What the hell has gotten into me?
“YOU’VE REDEEMED YOURSELF. This one’s definitely a cut above the ordinary. I can’t put my finger on it but he’s a bit different. Bit flighty though, but that makes it all the more fun. I haven’t had to work that hard for a while,” Ezra said into his phone.
His flirty, carefree demeanour had vanished. An icy tone entered his voice after he paused to listen to the other person.
“Of course I used a compulsion; he was going to make a run for it And anyway, who’s going to tell the council? Don’t forget who owns you, fae. They’d string you up by your pubes just like they would me. Besides, since when did you care if I glamour a human? If you ever want your marker back, just do what you’re told.”
Smiling to himself, Ezra reached out a finger to stroke the prostate massager that had made his prey’s eyeballs almost fall out. “You never know, if Finn turns out to be as good as he seems, I might just release you. A cute twink on the team might bring in a lot of business, especially in this town. Plus, I can feed from him, unlike you.
“Start earning your keep and tell me about this tight-arsed boyfriend. How serious is this relationship and how long has my boy been wearing that bloody chain?”
CHAPTER 3
Chewing on his lip, Finn assessed the menu. Ezra had said ‘smart’ but this restaurant was seriously expensive. He’d heard of it, Brighton wasn’t a big town, but had never been here.
His charcoal ‘weddings, funerals and interviews’ suit looked woefully out of place but it was the only one he had. Every table was occupied, but they were spaced far enough apart to allow private conversations.
The menu boasted ‘classic English cuisine with a twist,’ in a fancy gold font. The twist was clearly the prices. Twenty-five quid for a chicken salad was extortionate, even if the bird lived in its own little mansion and got a daily massage like a Kobe beef cow.
The table was dressed in cream linen, with crystal glasses, and gold rimmed plates. A small dance floor nestled at the back of the intimate dining room area, while a male pianist in a tuxedo tickled the ivories of a black grand piano.
Grudgingly, he admitted that the place looked the part, as did Ezra. Charlie would feel right at home. The only thing that doesn’t fit, is me. So why the fuck am I still here?
When Ezra called his name, Finn lifted his eyes from the menu and forgot all about it. God Almighty, he’s like a Greek love god. No wonder he uses the name Erotes.
The other man’s knowing half smile sent Finn’s stomach into backflips. He didn’t even want to think about certain other areas of his body in case he disgraced himself.
“Dinner’s on me. Relax.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
Ezra’s chest shook with a chuckle and his eyes twinkled.
“I’ve heard you say that before, and my answer is the same. Sure, you can. Besides, I invited you. My choice of venue, so it’s my bill.”
That was one thing off Finn’s mind. Explaining to Charlie why he had a debit on his account from a high-end restaurant would be awkward to say the least. Charlie would ask who Finn had gone with, and, knowing his luck, he’d blush like a tomato. Charlie certainly wouldn’t believe the ‘only business’ explanation. Finn had his doubts too. Pixie had confirmed that Ezra was bi, and they hadn’t slept together. She had also declared that this was the perfect opportunity for Finn to ‘have some fun’ although her declaration had seemed a little false. Maybe she thought their nights out would stop if he hooked up with a local bloke.
Curious about his mysterious companion he said, “The adult shop business must be more lucrative than I gave it credit for.”
Ezra leaned forward, the open top buttons of his shirt giving Finn a glimpse of a well-muscled, bronze, and lightly haired chest. “What makes you think that?”
Finn tore his eyes away from the enticing view. “The suit, the car, the way the staff know your name as if you’re a regular here.”
Instead of being annoyed, that sexy smile returned as Ezra leaned back in his seat. “Observant little thing, aren’t you?”
Finn shrugged, uncomfortable under Ezra’s knowing gaze. “Most people don’t consider five foot eight ‘little’. Besides, I want to be a social worker; I pick up on social things.”
“You’re little compared to me. I bet I could bench press you without breaking a sweat. I’m curious, what else have you picked up about me?” Ezra’s questions were halted by the arrival of the wine waiter.
As Finn watched, the pair went through the ancient and frankly ridiculous wine sampling ritual before the waiter filled Ezra’s glass with the deep red wine and moved to fill Finn’s.
“No, thank you. I’ll have an orange juice.”
Ezra’s eyebrows rose. “I told you it’s on me. I can afford it; stop worrying.”
“It’s not that. I don’t drink when I’ve got lectures the next day or an assignment to do. Not typical student behaviour, I know, but I need to keep my mind clear for studying, for being... observant,” he said to dampen any offence his refusal might cause.
“Hmm, a man of principles. Not sure I approve,” Ezra said with a wicked grin that heated Finn’s blood.
“The rack of lamb is particularly good tonight,” the waiter recommended. They both went back to studying the menus.
“I’ll have the chicken salad; I don’t eat red meat,” Finn said even though the thought of a juicy hunk of meat made his mouth water.
It was irrational to obey Charlie’s diet recommendations while he was with another guy, but it made this feel a little less like cheating. But I am, just by being here. The urge to call Charlie, to confess and get some instructions on how to get out of this, made his hand twitch toward the phone in his pocket.
Ezra scanned the menu, then leaned forward on his elbows. Holding Finn’s gaze, he gave that wicked half smile and instructed the waiter, “Give us a few more minutes, will you?”
All thoughts of Charlie left Finn’s mind as he became acutely aware of his rapidly swelling cock. Picturing everyone pointing and laughing at a damp patch on the front of his trousers dealt with that issue far slower than it normally did, but it didn’t help Finn deal with the man opposite. Ezra looked as if he could see right into his soul. Or at least inside his underwear.
“Comfortable?”
“Yeah, you?” Finn felt a brief surge of elation at batting back a comment that had been designed to unsettle him.
“Why don’t you eat red meat?”
“I’m in training; I’m on the university track team.” He hoped his comment would send the conversation off in a safer direction.
“And it’s expensive.”
If Finn didn’t know better, Ezra appeared to be taking exactly the opposite viewpoint
to Charlie on everything. Except both older men wanted to tell him what was best for him.
Charlie, he owed. Ezra, he didn’t. Not really. That made it safer to push boundaries, to experiment a little. Especially as Ezra clearly found him attractive.
Putting his elbow on the table, Finn rested his chin on his palm and returned Ezra’s appraising look.
“I can’t imagine one little back street shop makes enough money to pay for all this, but you don’t strike me as a born into money type.”
“Forthright, aren’t you? I like that. And for your information, it doesn’t and I’m not.” Ezra’s eyes twinkled. He was clearly enjoying this game, with Finn positioned as both adversary and prize.
If this was what Pixie had meant when she said, ‘have fun’, she was right. It didn’t mean Finn had any intention of losing.
“My turn to ask questions,” Ezra said. “Do you ever do anything that’s not good for you?”
“Is looking after your health ever a bad thing?”
“Oh, I’m not arguing with you.” Ezra waved his hand at the diners around them. “Red meat, alcohol, not enough exercise, and all sorts of other things are bad for you in excess, but would you do something for me?”
Ezra seemed to be working hard to prevent himself from smirking as he held his glass up.
“Just smell it for me, see what you’re missing. It’s a very good vintage.”
To show he wasn’t chicken, Finn took the glass and took a quick sniff.
“Properly, Finn.”
The commanding tone made Finn scowl, because he liked it and he shouldn’t. This wasn’t Charlie. But a sniff wouldn’t hurt. It smelt like blackberries, rich and smooth.
“Now take a sip.”
Carefully, Finn returned the glass to the table. He wasn’t that much of a pushover.
“I’ve got lectures tomorrow, I don’t–”
“Is it lecture days? Or days when your sensible, gloriously healthy boyfriend will be around to catch you cheating?”
With Ezra’s eyes focused on his mouth, Finn took a sip of his orange juice, then slowly licked his lips. Take that, you cocky bastard. Yes, Charlie was an uptight arse, but he was Finn’s uptight arse.
“I don’t know where you got the impression that I’m a doormat, but I’m not. My diet is my choice. I have to concentrate on my studies and training. I don’t have the luxuries or back-up you obviously do.”
“Ouch,” Ezra said. The look on his face showed he wasn’t offended; rather, he was enjoying the game. A game Ezra clearly knew far more about than Finn.
“I’m not trying to get you drunk. I just want you to have a taste so I can enjoy the pleasure on your face. A sip of wine in return for walking out of my place with an armful of toys. Come on, Finn, what’s the harm? Dare to live a little, like you did when you walked into my shop, and got into my car tonight.”
Ezra’s sinful, dark eyes captured his, and Finn admitted to himself he was sick of being responsible, of being what Charlie wanted. Of lying to this gorgeous guy about being a doormat.
Holding the other man’s gaze, he picked up the wine glass and tilted it to his lips.
“That’s it.” Ezra’s voice was barely audible, his eyes bright with anticipation. “Hold it in your mouth, let it swirl over your tongue, coat your taste buds. Experience everything it has to give before you swallow and take it into yourself.”
Obeying the order, he was aware that Ezra was almost panting with expectancy. A wicked urge gripped him, the desire to make Ezra uncomfortable for a change. Keeping his eyes fixed on the black ones across the table, he swallowed, then licked his lips slowly. Charlie often said how sexy his lips were, especially when they were wrapped around his cock.
“I always swallow, Mr Erotes. There’s no point otherwise.”
Ezra’s mouth twitched as he eased back in his seat, adjusting his trousers. A woman on another table laughed, the sound bringing Finn to his senses as he broke eye contact.
The flirting had made him feel powerful, but it was all an illusion. This wasn’t him and he shouldn’t be playing with fire. He didn’t know this man at all. Charlie would be appalled.
“What do you think?” Ezra asked.
Finn kept his eyes on his half-empty glass of orange juice. He hadn’t ordered yet, so he could leave.
“It tastes way out of my league, just like this place. I think I’d better–”
Ezra lost his smile. “For someone so young, you worry too much. You should let yourself feel sometimes. And for your information, this place suits you. You look like you belong amongst all this finery.” He paused, then started to stand. “Let’s dance.”
Finn stayed firmly in his seat, not believing what he was hearing. Brighton was an LGBT friendly town, but there were limits. Charlie knew far more about homophobia than he did, and never displayed affection in public because of it.
“That’s not a good idea. Two left feet.”
“Why do I find that hard to believe coming from a self-confessed athlete?? You wouldn’t be telling me fibs, would you, little Finn?”
“I have a boyfriend.”
Ezra sat down again and waved away the waiter hovering to take their order. “I know that. You seem to feel the need to keep reminding me. Or are you reminding yourself? Did you show him the toys I gave you last night?”
The silence was deafening. The text messages from the night before came flooding back.
“You haven’t shown him, have you? Are they your kinky little secrets, Finn? Am I? because I quite like that idea,” Ezra whispered, slowly moving his fingers up and down the stem of his wine glass. Finn instantly thought of those strong fingers manipulating his shaft rather than the crystal.
Finn answered without thinking. “He lives in London. I sent him a photo.”
“Of you using them?”
Finn thought the restaurant could save some money by grilling steak on his face, it was certainly hot enough. “Just the packets.”
“Shame, I would’ve asked for a copy. So why isn’t he here, using them on you? Teasing you until you think you’re going to spontaneously combust as you writhe and beg for release?”
Finn flicked a glance at the other diners, but no one else appeared to have heard. A picture of himself handcuffed to a bed while Ezra mercilessly edged him flooded his mind. God help me, I want it. Remembering Charlie’s text reply brought him crashing back to reality.
Finn’s voice was barely above a whisper when he replied. “He thought they were Pixie’s. He wants me to move out because she’s a bad influence.”
Ezra’s lip-curling disgust lasted only a fraction of a second before morphing back into his usual mildly amused expression.
“This bloke of yours must have a screw loose. I haven’t stopped thinking about you using those... items, ever since you walked out my door. Did it hurt, pushing that shaft inside yourself? How soon before it felt good? Did you bite your lip to stop yourself shouting out when you came all over yourself?”
Ezra’s whispered words turned Finn on so much he thought he was going to come in his trousers. Charlie would never put him in such a humiliating position, because he cared about him.
His boyfriend might be boring when it came to sex, but he’d travelled all over the world. Charlie had made it possible for Finn to be at university... to be in this restaurant with another man who was talking dirty to him and trying to get in his trousers. Was a probable one-time fantastic sexual experience worth throwing away his relationship with Charlie? No was his emphatic answer.
“Charlie’s a good man. He’s got to concentrate on his career as a stockbroker. That’s what I want to do too. If we both work hard, he’ll be made a partner in the firm and I’ll qualify as a social worker. Both secure jobs.” Why the hell am I justifying myself and Charlie to the owner of a sex shop who only wants a quick fuck?
Disgust flashed across Ezra’s face again. “I agree that financial security is important, although living a grey existence isn’t compulsor
y to get it. There’s more to life than climbing the corporate ladder. If you were mine, I’d be concentrating on you day and night. You wouldn’t be able to move because you’d come so much. I’d take you every way humanly possible, and then that aren’t.”
The line, and the way Ezra reached across the table and stroked the back of Finn’s hand with his thumb, almost melted him into a puddle of libidinous goo at Ezra’s feet. Almost.
With herculean effort, Finn moved his hand out of reach. I’m not so shallow that I’m overcome with lust by the attention of a sexy man. The inner pep talk worked, as long as he avoided Ezra’s eyes and hands.
Keeping his gaze firmly fixed on the third button on Ezra’s shirt and his hands in his lap, Finn said, “I would have thought you’d have too many ‘friends’ to concentrate on any one particular partner.”
Ezra didn’t twitch at the accusation. He gave another slow, sexy smile.
“I’ve got a lot of passion to give, Finn, but that’s enough about me.”
Would confessing to Charlie straight away be better or should I keep quiet about this one-off slip? Fuck, I’m a crap liar. It’ll be worse if he wheedles it out of...
“Look at me,” Ezra growled.
Finn’s head jerked obediently upward and his gaze
was captured by a pair of bottomless dark eyes. “If this man of yours doesn’t like spending every minute he can with you, and doesn’t do it for you in bed when you are together, what does he do to earn such loyalty?”
Finn opened and shut his mouth, trying to think of something that didn’t sound predictable, boring or involved financial assistance. He couldn’t. Pixie’s image saying, ‘told you so’ appeared in his mind. Her phantom eye roll and comment of ‘grab some condoms and go fuck each other’s brains out,’ didn’t help.
“Come.”
Ezra dropped a fifty pound note on the table and Finn found himself being towed by the hand out of the restaurant. He didn’t even object when Ezra pulled him into the alleyway at the side of the establishment.