by Ashley John
Ezra jumped out of the car to be greeted by a valet who knew him by name, leaving Joshua to sit in the car. He watched as Ezra swaggered towards the entrance, seemingly unbothered if Joshua was there or not.
“Sir?” the valet leaned into the car, “Is everything okay?”
Joshua gulped, clenching his hand around the door handle, “Everything’s fine.”
Running his hands awkwardly through his hair, he quickly caught up with Ezra.
I fucking hate this guy.
Ezra didn’t need to look over his shoulder to know that it was Joshua who was running towards him. It wasn’t because the sound of his tennis shoes were squeaking across the polished marble tiles, it was because he knew Joshua wouldn’t be able to resist following him down the rabbit hole.
He’s followed me this far and there’s no turning back now.
“If you’re trying to impress me with this place, you’re not,” Joshua mumbled into his ear as he joined his side, “My dad used to have a permanent suite here.”
“He must be almost as rich as me,” Ezra straightened up his jacket as he made his way to the reception desk, “Hi Sally. The usual room please.”
“Good to see you again, Mr. Steele,” she smiled, already booking him in without needing to ask any questions.
She quickly glanced over Ezra’s shoulder to Joshua, giving him a quick smile. When Ezra really wanted to show off to his fucks, he brought them to The Dorchester. He didn’t know why he’d driven there because he didn’t feel the need to show off to Joshua in that way. They could have gone to another bar but he knew there was a chance Joshua would vanish on him and he didn’t want that to happen.
Sally handed him the key card, leaving them to head to the lift. Joshua stayed two steps behind until they were trapped in the grand lift together.
“Why are we here?”
“Why not?” Ezra checked out his reflection in the mirror, noticing how the open shirt was showing off his broad and smooth chest, “There’s nothing wrong with a little luxury every now and then.”
The suite of his choice was around the £2,000 a night mark but that was just a drop in the ocean of the money Bill had left him. It wouldn’t even dent the edges.
“You’re crazy,” Joshua clenched his jaw.
“Thanks,” the lift slowed to a halt, “it’s one of my best qualities.”
The doors slowly opened on the Regency style hallway. Stepping to the side, Ezra held his hand out for Joshua to exit first. After a suspicious glare, he stepped out of the lift, leaving Ezra to watch his backside. His tight white vest dipped into the small of his back, letting the bulky shorts push out and hang off his pert cheeks. Just from the light hair on the backs of Joshua’s thighs, he knew it would be covered in the same blonde fuzz.
Joshua cautiously walked forwards, scratching the back of his head. Taking over, Ezra bypassed the other rooms, leading him to the single door at the end of the hall.
After using his key card, he swung the door open and stepped to the side, letting Joshua in first. It was an old habit so he could watch the reaction of whomever he was about to fuck. Joshua didn’t react.
“Is it just going to be you and me?” Joshua marched confidently into the suite.
“Not if you don’t want. I can get some girls, or some boys, if you want. Just say the word.”
Joshua sat himself on one of the luxurious sofas, kicking his shoes off as he did. The regency theme continued from the hallway through the suite. The huge living space was filled with classic furniture and antiques. A separate bedroom housed the four-poster bed and there was a huge bathroom with a Jacuzzi bath.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been in a hotel this nice,” Joshua looked around the room, “it’s usually hostels when we’re on the road. We try to get the nice ones but some corners of the world haven’t discovered luxury yet.”
Ezra found himself wanting to get to know the blonde better. In the space of an hour they had gone from arguing at the bar to being in a hotel room with each other. Even by my standards, that’s a fast turnaround.
“You travel?” Ezra plugged his phone into the speaker dock and pressed ‘shuffle’.
“That’s all I do,” he sighed, “I’m only back in London for my cousin’s wedding. I hate this place.”
That explained so much. It explained why Ezra had never seen him before, explained why the guy had never heard of him and it explained the tan, the hair and the clothes. Hearing that he was only in town for a couple of weeks made Ezra’s stomach knot in a way he didn’t recognise.
“London’s not so bad,” Ezra pulled a bottle of champagne from the mini bar, “it has its perks.”
He popped the cork across the length of the room and let the foam spray over the patterned carpet.
“Let me guess,” Joshua narrowed his eyes, “lawyer.”
“Do I look like a lawyer?” he pulled open his jacket.
Ignoring the rest of the chairs and sofas, Ezra pushed Joshua’s feet off the tiny sofa and crammed himself next to him. Drinking from the bottle, he chugged the smooth champagne before offering it to Joshua. He accepted it gladly.
“Not really,” Joshua wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before passing the bottle back, “you look like a dickhead.”
“Is that your way of telling me you think I’m handsome?”
Ezra snatched the champagne bottle back, enjoying the sudden awkwardness in Joshua’s eyes.
“You know you’re good looking, that’s why you’re so annoying,” he snatched the bottle back, “you think you’re the dog’s bollocks.”
Somewhere in there, there was a compliment. Leaning his arm against the back of the sofa, Ezra gazed at Joshua as he drank the champagne. If he was still as drunk as he’d been in the bar, he was hiding it well.
“Why do you hate London?”
Joshua stopped drinking to lower the bottle into his lap. He stared at the ground for a moment before tossing his head back to stare at the ceiling. The soft light from the glass chandelier made his tanned skin glow in a way that made Ezra want to reach out and touch it.
“London is full of ghosts,” he said, “memories I’d rather forget. What about you?”
“I don’t hate London,” Ezra said quickly, “it’s my home.”
“No, but you hate something,” he dropped his head, “I can sense it.”
“Look at you, getting all deep,” Ezra shifted uncomfortably, “let’s not go there.”
Joshua’s blue eyes connected with Ezra’s for the first time since they had left the bathroom. He sipped the champagne as he stared and Ezra could feel him trying to figure him out. Ezra hated it when people did that. I’ve built my walls too high for this.
“Okay,” Joshua nodded, “I get that.”
Ezra took the bottle back and jammed it in his mouth. Knowing that Joshua’s lips had just been around it made something stir deep within. Part of him wanted to bend Joshua over the nearest piece of furniture but another part of him wanted to leave and go straight home.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a conversation with somebody in the suite. They were usually naked before the door had even been closed.
The song faded out and another started.
“Nickleback?” Joshua laughed as ‘Rockstar’ started to play, “God, I used to love this song.”
“I still do.”
They sat listening as the song kicked in. Joshua closed his eyes and his head started to bob as his hands formed into an air guitar.
Damn, he’s so cute.
“You have good taste,” he peeked through one eye.
“A real compliment,” Ezra was taken aback, “I was beginning to think you didn’t like me.”
“I don’t,” he peeked again, “you’re a dickhead, remember?”
Joshua dropped the air guitar as the song faded out. He snatched the champagne bottle back from Ezra but there was a difference. This time, he had a smile on his face.
“Say ‘dick�
� again,” Ezra whispered.
“Fuck off.”
“I love it when you talk dirty.”
Joshua laughed again, clearly taking it as intended.
“What’s your deal?” Joshua stood up and walked over to the window.
Ezra stayed on the sofa, knowing the view by memory. He’d fucked enough guys against that window to know at this time of night you could see the London Eye slowly turning in the distance.
“My deal?”
“Are you gay?” Joshua said with his back to him.
“Is that a problem?”
There was a long and stuffy silence as Joshua thought of his reply. The conversation was heading in the direction Ezra wanted it to. It had been so long since he’d pulled a straight guy, he’d almost forgotten how stubborn and confused they could be.
“If it was a problem, I wouldn’t be here,” he finally broke the silence, “I had an idea.”
Ezra screwed up his face, almost offended. He wasn’t ashamed of being gay but he had enough straight girls hit on him to know that it wasn’t so obvious.
“Have you got a super gaydar?”
“A what?” Joshua spun around.
“Gaydar. It’s like a radar for picking up gays.”
Joshua arched a brow, a childlike grin on his tanned and slim face. It was the same kind of grin teenagers got when they talked about sex.
“Maybe I do,” he stuffed his hands into his pockets, amused.
“They only usually install them in gays,” Ezra leaned back into the corner of the sofa, opening his arms across the back and crossing his left leg over his right knee.
Joshua’s eyes darted straight down to Ezra’s cock and even though it was flaccid, Ezra could feel how big it looked through his trousers.
“Are you gay, Joshua?”
“No.”
So why did you just check me out?
“Sexuality is overrated,” Ezra smirked, half closing his eyes, “it’s just sex. I don’t see why people have to make such a big deal about it.”
Joshua turned around and leaned against the window frame. Ezra could sense how uncomfortable he was feeling, which only turned him on more.
“I’ve seen it all,” Joshua said, “you don’t see the world and not do things.”
“Have you kissed a guy?”
Joshua’s silence said it all.
“Have you fucked a guy?” Ezra pushed it.
“No.”
“Have you let a guy fuck you?”
“No!”
“But you’ve kissed one?”
Silence.
“Have you sucked a dick?”
“Fuck off,” he bit, “do I look like I’ve sucked a dick?”
“I don’t know. I can only see the back of your head, which is what I usually see when a guy is sucking my dick.”
Joshua turned around to face him again, his jaw clenched. He stared at Ezra from the window as he crossed his arms. A twitch in Joshua’s shorts made Ezra’s eyes dart down there, which in turn, made Joshua yank his shirt over it.
“Where’s the toilet?” Joshua coughed and stretched out, as if trying to prove how masculine he was.
“Over there,” Ezra jerked his head to the door next to the fireplace, “on the other side of the bedroom.”
Without saying another word he dropped his head and hair, hurrying off to the bedroom door. Ezra laughed to himself, unsure of where things were going. He could usually tell if he was going to fuck somebody but Joshua had been confusing him since he’d met him in the bar.
He’s the perfect distraction.
After a couple of minutes of sipping champagne and listening to a song by The Arctic Monkeys, Ezra heard the toilet flush. He stared at the bedroom door, expecting Joshua to remerge any second. After a couple of minutes and another song change, he walked over to the bedroom.
The bathroom door was still closed.
He was about to leave him to it but he heard a banging on the other side of the door, “Joshua, are you okay?”
He heard Joshua grunt and sigh before calling out, “This bastard door is stuck. It won’t unlock.”
Ezra tried the handle and the door was still locked.
“You’ve got to twist it,” Ezra pressed his face against the wood as he tried the handle.
“What do you think I’m doing!” he cried, as the door rattled, “It won’t budge! I’ve been trying for five minutes.”
“And you didn’t think to call me?”
Joshua cried out and Ezra heard a fist colliding with the wood. It wasn’t the first time that day that he’d been on the other side of a door with an angry person behind it.
“Stand back,” Ezra stepped back himself, “I’ll bust it open.”
He knew he should have called reception but he was paying enough money to break some wood. It was probably the half a bottle of champagne he’d drank but he was sure he could get through it.
He strode back before launching himself at the door with his shoulder. Just before he collided with it, the door disappeared and light poured into the dark bedroom. It was too late to stop. When his shoulder smashed into Joshua’s chest, he felt him fall back before either of them could stop it happening. Tumbling to the ground, Ezra collapsed on top of Joshua so they were face to face.
“Ow!” Joshua opened his eyes wide as he stared into Ezra’s, “Are you a secret rugby player? Fuck, Ezra, you’ve knocked the wind out of me.”
Panting for breath, Ezra stared down at Joshua and flicked from his pale blue eyes to his dry lips. They stared in silence for a second before they both smiled at the same time.
“I thought the lock was stuck?”
“Must have un-stuck,” Joshua shrugged.
“You were twisting it the wrong way, weren’t you?”
“Yeah,” he screwed up his face, “If you think about it, you’re the one whose been plying me with champagne all night so technically, it’s your fault.”
They both laughed and Ezra was sure he felt Joshua’s cock pulse against him. Before he could stop it, Ezra’s cock responded and the surprise in Joshua’s eyes let him know that he’d felt it too.
“You’re kind of squashing me,” Joshua’s voice was barely above a whisper.
Ezra was a lot broader and muscled than Joshua’s slim and toned frame.
“Sorry,” his cock pulsed again.
He felt Joshua’s respond, this time harder and thicker. Ezra froze, his hands on the cold tiles next to Joshua’s face. It would be so easy to lean in and kiss him but Ezra couldn’t seem to move.
“No, seriously,” Joshua winced, “I can’t breathe.”
Ezra pulled himself away from Joshua, who stayed on the ground. Joshua propped himself up on his elbows, his vest curling up his stomach to reveal a faint path down into his shorts. It didn’t take Ezra long to notice the obvious semi in Joshua’s trousers.
“Shit,” Joshua pulled his hand away from the back of his head.
It was speckled in blood.
Standing up, he tried to twist around in the silver-framed mirror above the sink.
“Let me,” Ezra twisted Joshua around with his shoulders, “keep still.”
He did as he was told and he let Ezra part his messy, blonde hair, “Ouch!”
“Do you ever comb this?”
“Nope.”
Ezra squinted at the tiny cut. It was the size of a small coin but it didn’t look serious enough for stitches. Pulling the white towel from the rail, he screwed it up and soaked it under the tap. When he pressed it against the cut, Joshua winced and ducked out of the way, making Ezra yank him straight back.
“Is that a Jacuzzi bath?” Joshua mumbled through the pain as Ezra cleaned the cut.
You’re choosing to notice that now?
“Yeah,” he tossed the blood soaked towel in the sink and twisted Joshua around by his waist, “the doctor thinks you’ll be fine but it was touch and go for a moment.”
Joshua laughed, almost embarrassed. He either didn’
t notice that Ezra’s fingers were still clutching his hips, or he didn’t mind. He let his thumbs rest against the edge of the deep V, which was carved out under Joshua’s shirt.
“My head is pounding,” Joshua scrunched up his eyes, “I can’t tell if it’s the champagne or the fall.”
“Either way, the diagnosis is the same,” Ezra whispered, tightening his grip, “drink more champagne and you’ll feel fine in no time.”
“You’re a medical expert as well now?” Joshua cocked his head to the side, his hair flopping with him.
“I could be,” he took a brave step forward, “I never did tell you what I did.”
Joshua suddenly noticed what was going on because his eyes shot open, showing Ezra his whites. To Ezra’s surprise, he didn’t move out of the way.
“You didn’t,” he shook his head and gulped deeply.
“It doesn’t matter,” Ezra shrugged as he took another baby step towards Joshua.
He could practically taste the champagne on Joshua’s breath as AC/DC roared in the other room. As an uncharacteristic nervousness spread through him, Ezra craved to kiss Joshua but he didn’t know if he should.
“I think it was the fall,” Joshua pulled his hands up to his head, removing Ezra’s at the same time, “I think I need to lie down for a minute.”
He stepped around Ezra and headed for the bedroom, leaving him to stare at his reflection in the mirror. You’re Ezra Steele, why aren’t you fucking this guy yet?
Quickly ruffling his hair and putting it back into place again, he stared into his own eyes, practically daring himself to grow a pair of balls. Looking down at the specks of blood on the thick towel, he wondered how Joshua had managed to bring out that side of him.
He turned off the bathroom light and headed through to the bedroom, where Joshua was already on the bed. The music was still roaring in the other room, so Ezra closed the door to the living area, cutting off the light supply. The curtains were open, leaving the lights of the city to cast shadows across the grand room.
“Are you there?” Joshua whispered into the dark.
“I’m here,” Ezra walked towards the bed, sitting on the edge.
When his eyes adjusted to the dark he could see Joshua staring up at him as his head sunk into the deep pillow.