I knew Dare wouldn’t let my actions slide without comment either. For the first time in many years, I was nervous. I didn’t know what excuse I was going to give Dare for my behavior, and I didn’t know how much longer I could resist him. Christ, I’d never met a guy I wanted more. What was it about him that drove me wild? My pulse was hammering in my neck by the time Dare pushed the door open so fast it hit the wall.
“Why?” Dare asked. “How did you even know where I worked? I never told you?”
“I’ve always known where you worked.”
“You didn’t learn about my second job until we talked about it at the salon,” Dare argued, his long legs gobbling up the space between us. He kept coming until he was less than a foot from me.
“No, I asked why you worked a second job, not where you worked,” I clarified. “You were the one who made up the bullshit about working as a go-go boy.”
“I could totally pull that off,” Dare said. His swift change of topic left me reeling. “I could put on little shorty shorts and dance around.”
This was not how I expected the conversation to go. “Of course, you could.”
“Don’t patronize me, Wren Davison.” Dare poked my chest with his index finger. “I need some answers and I want them now.” He held up one finger. “How did you know where I worked?” A second finger went up. “Why did you take it upon yourself to approach the O’Dells?” A third finger joined the party. “Why do you do heroic things then get pissed when I acknowledge them?”
I snorted. “I’m nobody’s hero.”
“You don’t get to decide how others define a hero, Wren.” Dare placed his hand over my heart and I knew he could feel it racing for him. “Start talking.”
“I saw you once at O’Dell’s,” I confessed.
“No way,” Dare said, shaking his head. “I would’ve felt your presence.” Fuck, he needed to stop saying shit like that.
“It was before we even met,” I told him.
“Doesn’t matter, I would’ve felt your pull.” I could tell he would need proof before Dare believed me.
“Dare, you wore a pair of pressed gray slacks that emphasized the curve of your ass and a light-purple shirt with a tie in a darker color. You were so engrossed with your client that you didn’t notice I entered the store. She was a tiny little thing and wore a big hat you’d expect to see on Queen Elizabeth.”
“Mrs. Getty,” Dare said softly, all traces of the anger that propelled him up the stairs was gone. “You like those gray slacks, huh?”
“I like what’s beneath the slacks.” My confession earned me the first genuine smile I’d seen on him all day. “To be honest, I don’t know why I stopped there on my way to get my first load of stuff. I hadn’t planned on it, and I think I’m as stunned as you are by my actions. I’m not sorry though.”
Dare took the last step that separated us. Even through his coat, I could feel the heat radiating from him. “I should be mad at you for interfering, Wren. I meant what I said earlier. I’m not a helpless guy, but I do appreciate that you care.”
“How’d it go?” I asked, pretending like I wasn’t aware of the way his body reacted to mine and mine to his.
“They apologized for Ethan’s behavior and handed me a check for the hours I would’ve worked over the next two weeks.”
“That’s the least they could do,” I told him. “I have a real tough time believing they didn’t know about his comments to you either. They turned a blind eye to his behavior rather than looking out for their employees. You mark my words, it’s going to come back to bite them hard on the ass someday. A few weeks of wages will look like chump change if they ever find themselves on the wrong side of a lawsuit.”
“Consider them marked.” Dare’s long index finger circled the place on my neck where he’d marked me. I knew where we were headed, and we wouldn’t have a salon full of people to stop us. “I’m going to need you to answer one more question, Wren.” He stared into my eyes while he continued to tease my neck.
“Yes.”
“It wasn’t a yes or no kind of question,” Dare teased. “It makes a man want to take advantage of the situation.”
“I was agreeing to answer one more question.”
“Ah,” Dare said. “In that case, tell me how you smell so fucking good? I’ve smelled every cologne at the mall, but nothing smells like you do.”
I slid my hands around to cup his pert ass. “How do I smell, Dare?”
“Like sex and dark promises,” he replied. “Neck-biting, back-clawing sex that goes on for hours until your body is limp, and your sheets are soaked. I want to smell you on my skin, my sheets…everywhere. I want to press my nose against your body and find out where the magnificent smell is the strongest.” I clung to my control but acknowledged I was at the tipping point. “Although I’m pretty sure I know where.” Dare slid his hand down and boldly cupped my cock and balls. “The juncture at your thigh. I want to smell you there. Let me, Wren. Just this and nothing more.”
“Yes,” I hissed between my teeth.
Dare never took his eyes off mine when he dropped to his knees and reached for my belt. He didn’t look away until after he deftly had me unbuckled and unbuttoned. Dare swallowed hard when he saw the way my cock strained against my gray briefs. His tongue darted out to moisten his lips like he was preparing to suck me into his mouth.
Cupping his jaw, I pressed my thumb against his lips. Dare parted them and sucked my digit into his mouth down to the second knuckle. Then he pulled back and circled the tip with his tongue before drawing it back inside his hot mouth. My dick throbbed jealously, and my tenuous control slipped another notch until I was barely hanging on by a thread. I removed my thumb from his mouth and shoved my jeans down to expose my underwear and upper thighs.
Dare leaned closer, his nose not even an inch from my underwear, and inhaled deeply. I wasn’t the only one fighting control either. I saw how badly he wanted to touch my dick, but that wasn’t our agreement. Dare cupped the back of my thighs and pressed his nose to the juncture where my leg met my pelvis. His hot breath made me shiver as he ran his nose along the edge of my underwear at the crease of my thigh. I clenched my fists when the bridge of his nose bumped into my throbbing cock. Without thinking about the consequences, I cupped his head and pressed his mouth to my inner thigh.
Dare’s fingers dug into the back of my legs as he parted his lips and sucked the sensitive skin into his mouth. He alternated between sucking and licking the flesh before stopping to check out his handiwork. Dare hummed in the back of his throat then put his mouth back on me. His tongue grew bolder and slipped beneath the leg of my briefs to tease my balls then licked a path until he found the head of my leaking cock.
“Dare,” I said gutturally, my hands tightening in his hair.
He pulled his tongue out of my underwear and pressed his nose back to my thigh, breathing deep like he wanted to memorize the smell for eternity. One last kiss and he dropped his hands from my thighs and stood up.
“Thank you for that,” Dare said softly. Lust had turned his blue eyes a darker hue, and his face was flushed with the raging desire we both felt. My thigh smarted from where he marked me, but I planned on reliving that moment with my cock in my fist as soon as possible. “Well, I must go masturbate now.”
I wanted to stop him and suggest we do it together. I wanted to watch, hell I wanted to jerk us both off at the same time, but I hesitated too long to make a move, and Dare left without another word. What the hell had I just let happen? I stood in the apartment with my pants down around my knees and a dick hard enough to drill through ice. Why did I keep denying myself the pleasure he offered me?
I jerked my pants up and went after Dare, catching him before he made it out of the garage. He turned when he heard me running down the stairs. I slammed my mouth against his and removed his coat to get to his hot body. I broke our kiss long enough for us to whip our shirts over our head. The garage wasn’t nearly as warm as my apartment, b
ut I loved the way his nipples hardened into two sexy points I wanted to suck into my mouth.
Dare moaned and slid his hands over my abs, my pecs, and around my back to scrape my skin while I kissed him breathless. He nipped my bottom lip when I brushed the back of my hand over his erection.
Dare pulled his hands back to the front of my body and slid them down to the waistband of my underwear. “Can I touch you?” he asked.
“Fuck yes.”
Dare slid both hands inside my underwear to cup my balls and learn my cock at the same time. Fuck, I’m going to shoot fast. I needed to be inside him. That’s when I realized how out of practice I truly was. “I don’t have anything on me, Dare.”
“Me either,” he admitted. “I don’t get many opportunities.” His greedy hands never stopped tormenting me.
“We’ll have to improvise.” I undid his pants and shoved them down to mid-thigh and then pushed my underwear and jeans down too.
I reclaimed his lips and kissed him hungrily as I knocked his hands away so that I could grip both our cocks in my hand. Our groans echoed through the space when our hot flesh met for the first time. Dare reached up and released my hair from the elastic band then tangled his hand in it, while his other hand circled and teased my hard nipple. As for me, I jacked us with one hand while teasing the crack of his ass with the other. Dare whimpered into my mouth every time the pad of my finger rubbed over his pucker.
Right then and there, I stopped fighting everything he made me feel and acknowledged that someday I was going to sink my dick as deep as it would go inside his tight ass. The friction of his cock against mine was out of this world and it only took a few tugs until I was ready to come. I needed him with me, so I slipped just the tip of my finger in his ass and we both shot all over my stomach.
I continued to kiss him until we both came down off our high. Pulling back, I looked into his sated eyes and wanted to drag him back up to that apartment and lay him down and… Never mind, that carpet was too sketchy for sex.
“There’s the sparkle I’ve been missing today,” I said gruffly.
“I don’t think I have any sparkle left after that.” Dare looked around the garage. “Let me find you something to clean up with.”
“I see shop towels over there,” I told him, nodding toward one of the tool benches.
Dare tugged up his pants and retrieved a handful of them. I tried to take one from him, but he seemed to enjoy cleaning me up. My muscles bunched and tensed beneath his simple touch. Dare dropped the dirty towels to the garage floor and gently pulled my pants and underwear up over my sensitive cock while sucking and nibbling on my pecs. Damn, I was already starting to respond again to his mouth on my body.
I pulled his head up to look into his eyes. “Next time there will be a soft surface and supplies so I can fuck you proper.”
“Next time, huh?” he asked.
“Definitely.”
“What if I want to fuck you proper too?”
Did he think to shock me? He would have to try harder. “Definitely.”
“Wren, I’m not asking you for a commitment or any promises, okay?”
For the first time ever, I wanted someone to demand commitment and promises from me. It was enough to scare me shitless, but that didn’t make it less true.
“We’ll just see how this plays out, okay? No weirdness at work and no obligation for you to fuck me up in that apartment every single night after my grandpa falls asleep. Okay?”
“Sounds perfect,” I told him. It sounded fucking horrible. “How about every other night?”
Dare whimpered in his throat then stepped back to retrieve his shirt and coat off the garage floor. “I won’t hold you to it.”
I pulled him to me for one last kiss after he was dressed again. “Go check on your grandpa. I’ll clean up our mess.”
“Okay,” Dare said, sounding sleepy.
“See you tomorrow, Sparkles.”
“Sparkles?”
“It’s better than Go-Go.”
“True. See you tomorrow.”
I watched out the window until he was inside the house then picked up the shop towels and threw them in the trash can. I went back up to my new apartment and turned the lights off and locked up.
I hadn’t come so hard in ages and was ready to grab a bite to eat and crash for the night. I felt a little more alert after hitting the McDonald’s drive-thru in Goodville, so I got a little more packing done before I went to bed. Instead of taking a shower, I climbed between my sheets still smelling like Dare. I was just as obsessed with his smell as he was mine. Dare smelled like sunshine, hope, and happiness. I wanted—scratch that—I needed it in my life.
I just didn’t want to take something good and beautiful and ruin it like I seemed to do with everything else I touched. I was good at styling hair and rebuilding cars and bikes, but neither of those skills came in handy with relationships. Darren McCoy deserved to be more than someone’s fuck buddy, but I didn’t have anything to offer him besides my cock and friendship.
The next morning, I reluctantly used the soap with the scent that he admired so much to wash him off my skin. I smiled as I held the bar of soap to my nose and inhaled. I wasn’t the hearts and flowers kind of guy like Dr. Dipshit, but I could do something for him that I knew he would really like. I couldn’t promise Dare anything beyond sex, but I could totally make his neck-biting, back-clawing, limp bodies, and sweaty-cum-sheet dreams a reality.
Until then, I had a little something that could tide him over. I whistled as I got dressed and made a cup of coffee for my commute. My first client wouldn’t be there until ten o’clock, but I had an extra stop to make on my way.
I woke the next morning with an extra pep in my step or sway to my hips. I almost expected birds and squirrels to help me dress and lead me downstairs to the coffee pot. It was kind of a letdown that it didn’t happen, but I still whistled while I made my coffee and our breakfast. I didn’t wake up expecting to find myself in an enchanted world where Wren was suddenly in love with me after one amazing hand job. If I closed my eyes and thought hard enough, I could still feel his calloused hand stroking our cocks together and taste his kisses on my tongue. Anyway, nothing had really changed, except it had. Every time I would look at him, I’d remember the way he sounded when he shot his load.
“I miss coffee,” Grandpa groused when he shuffled into the kitchen in the pajamas, robe, and slippers I bought him for Christmas. “Just this once?” he asked hopefully.
He startled me so bad I nearly dropped my cup. I really had to get my mind off Wren. “No, sir. The doctor said it makes your acid reflux worse.” I realized then what a rude ass I’d been for drinking coffee in front of him. I started to pour it down the drain, but his harsh tone of voice stopped me.
“Don’t you dare,” Grandpa said, then giggled at his unintended pun. “Let me live vicariously through you.”
“I don’t know, Grandpa. It seems cruel.” Then I tipped my head to the side. “I’m also concerned that you’ll sneak a cup for yourself before Maren gets here.”
“I wouldn’t do such a thing,” Grandpa blustered. “If that’s the source of my misery lately then I need to give it up. You’ll just have to be patient with me because it’s only been a week and it takes a while to kick a habit.”
That I knew too damned well. I’d known Wren for longer than a year, and I couldn’t kick my addiction to him. It didn’t matter if we were arguing, kissing, or coming; I just wanted to be near him. Fuck me! I had it bad. I shook off the thoughts and focused on the most important person in my life.
“Do you promise me, Grandpa?”
“Have I ever lied to you, Dare?”
“Other than the existence of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, unicorns, and the Tooth Fairy, you mean?”
“Hey, your parents told those lies. I just went along with it.”
“Lies by omission,” I told him ruefully.
“Have I lied to you about anything important?” Grand
pa countered.
I thought back to all the serious conversations that I had with him on the front porch over the years. Grandpa was the first person I told about my crush on another boy. He wasn’t surprised, no one was really, but it meant the world to me that he didn’t look at me differently or love me less. He had been honest with me from the very beginning. He warned me that some people would have a problem with the fact that I liked boys, but it was their problem. They would get over it or they wouldn’t, but I wasn’t to take any crap from anyone. Ever. There was no doubt where my feistiness came from.
“No, sir.”
Grandpa gave me a short nod. “Sit down then and let’s eat breakfast before you rush off to work. Smells like you made my favorites.” I filled a plate and set it in front of him. “Mmmm. Sausage links, scrambled eggs, and toast.”
“I have a little something special too.” I turned my body so he couldn’t see what I poured into a bowl for him. I knew the other aromas overwhelmed the smell of his favorite food in the world.
Grandpa’s eyes lit up when I set the bowl on the table. His brow creased into a deep V when he frowned. “Grits! Did I forget my birthday?” Grandpa chuckled nervously to cover his fear. It was true that he was starting to get a little forgetful.
“No, sir. I’m celebrating the fact that I got a promotion at the salon and quit my night job. Plus, it’s nice to have found someone who wanted to rent the garage apartment from you. Maybe you can put that money toward a senior cruise or something fun.” I smiled when he snorted. I couldn’t very well tell him that the money he got from Wren would go toward his medication and his companion. I felt like I was the one being dishonest with him, but I only wanted to protect his pride and keep him in his home for as long as it was safe.
After breakfast, I helped Grandpa get dressed and situated in his recliner before I finished getting ready for work. I glanced out my bedroom window and realized that I would be able to look into Wren’s bedroom window, which could either be a lot of fun or my greatest heartbreak. He wasn’t my boyfriend and we didn’t have any sort of arrangement, which meant he could bring anyone home he wanted and do whatever he pleased with them. It would gut me to see Wren with someone else, but there wouldn’t be anything I could do about it except cry.
Nobody's Prince Charming Page 4