“Want you. Need you.” Mac whimpered as Russel raised his head, although he kept using his hand in the absence of his mouth.
“Babe, you have me.”
“Need you in me.” He arched his back and bit his lip as Russel’s finger waggled inside him. “Fuck!” The word came out as a desperate, breathy moan. “You know what I mean!”
“I do.”
God, Mac loved the cocky lilt to Russel’s voice. Russel’s lips crashed against his, deliciously moist and salty. Their tongues caressed one another. Fire ignited in Mac’s body, and he lost control of the orgasm he’d been desperately holding back. He gasped through it as it rocked his body in comforting waves. Russel’s lips didn’t leave his until he lay still and panting.
“I didn’t mean… Fuck, I’m sorry.”
Russel chuckled. “Don’t be. I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.” He settled down on the sofa beside Mac. “You know, I keep breaking my no sex on the sofa rules for you.”
“Is it worth it?”
“Well, that’s a stupid question.” Russel sighed contentedly. “Very worth it.” He snuggled against Mac’s body, resting his head in the crook of the bigger man’s neck. “Take a few minutes to recover. Then I’ll fuck you.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good boy.”
22 Russel
After taking a deep breath, Russel hit the send button. His phone made a whooshing sound, letting him know the email he’d carefully crafted had been sent. “There’s no going back now.”
In the chair beside him, Mac exhaled and shifted. “I guess not.”
Russel put his phone away before leaning across to put his hand on Mac’s thigh. “You okay, babe?”
Mac nodded stiffly. “Yeah. I mean… Remy deserves this. Right?”
“I’d say so.” Russel pursed his lips. “It’s a bit late for second thoughts.”
“I know.”
Russel sighed. “I’m sorry if I dragged you into my crusade. I know you’d have been happy to walk away from the whole sordid affair.”
Mac placed his hand over Russel’s. “I’m not sure ‘happy’ is the right word. I could have walked away, but I’d have known that spoilt bastard would just find another couple to fuck with.” He kept his voice low, which was probably a good thing, considering they were sitting in an upmarket French restaurant, waiting for Edward and Michael. “We needed to take him down a peg or two.” Mac’s tone was decisive.
“Let’s hope daddy dearest actually does something about his wayward son.” Honestly, Russel was not holding his breath that Remy’s father would do a damn thing. But at least they’d done something.
Mac nudged Russel’s arm and pointed towards the door. “They’re here.”
Two handsome men, obviously a couple, were talking to the waiter. Russel recognised them both from the club, although they had a lot more clothing on. They both had pretty decent taste in fashion, Russel noted. As glad as he was of the diversion from sending the incriminating recording to Remy’s dad, nerves hit him like a truck.
“Do I look okay?” He messed with the scarf he was wearing. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach, making him feel a little queasy. His tongue-in-cheek words about the opinions of friends being more important than family returned to haunt him. “Oh, God, what if they hate me?”
“What? Don’t be stupid. You always look great.” Mac leant over and kissed Russel’s cheek. “And they’ll adore you.”
Russel debated a quip that would resonate with false bravado—it was what he normally did after all—but he was working on not being fake. Mac seemed to like him for who he was. Hopefully, the big guy’s friends would too.
He stood when Mac did. Normally, he’d put on his brightest smile, but instead, he allowed a nervous one to tug at his lips.
“You remember Russel from the club?” Mac said.
Edward and Michael both smiled and nodded.
“Of course.” Edward extended his hand for Russel to shake. His dark, curly hair was simply to die for.
“You look very different in tasteful clothes,” Russel said, accepting Edward’s hand. “You both do.” He was relieved when the two men laughed.
“So, are we celebrating?” Mac asked as they took their seats, his voice holding a note of worry.
Edward and Michael exchanged a cheerful glance.
“Yes,” Edward confirmed. “There’s the legal side of things to finalise, but if everything goes well, the club will be ours in a matter of weeks.”
“Congrats!” Mac beamed at them both.
“That’s wonderful,” Russel agreed. “But please tell me you’re going to change those awful little outfits the dancers wear?”
Michael chuckled. “There’re tons of things we want to change.”
“Like cleaning the floors?”
“Yes!” Edward laughed loudly. “That’s definitely at the top of our list.”
“Russel wants to be a fashion reporter,” Mac said, looking at Russel with an oddly soppy expression on his face.
Edward’s eyebrows lifted. “Really? Maybe we should talk to you about new outfits for the dancers.”
Russel felt his face grow red. “I don’t think so.”
“Why not?” Mac’s stare had changed from soppy to disbelieving. “You’re great at that sort of stuff.”
Russel gestured to himself. “Putting my own outfits together is different than dressing other people.”
“You picked some great clothes for me.” Mac squeezed Russel’s hand. There was an unspoken question in his eyes.
Russel guessed the big guy was probably wondering where this fit of insecurity was coming from. Really, it had always been there, that feeling of not being quite good enough for anyone. Hell, he hadn’t been a good enough reporter to get even one article published. He shifted and looked down at the table. And now he’d probably been blacklisted from every magazine or newspaper in the region. So much for wanting to be a reporter. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do.
“I’d like to hear your ideas,” Michael said. “I don’t exactly have an eye for that sort of thing.”
“If you want to know the truth, we hadn’t even discussed the possibility of changing the outfits,” Edward confirmed. “We were going to leave them as they are for the time being.”
Russel stared at them both. He couldn’t tell if they were being genuine or trying to buoy him up. Either way, he appreciated the fact that they wanted to know his opinion. “Oh, please. Those outfits are terrible. They’re too tacky to be sexy.” He quickly changed the subject. “Are you changing the name of the club? I hope we can all agree that Horns is an awful name.”
“We were definitely planning on changing the name of the club.” Edward’s mouth twitched into a grimace. “But we haven’t agreed on anything yet.”
“Although we were thinking of expanding the business to get more money in,” Michael said.
“Expanding it?” Mac leant forward a little. “How?”
“Pole-fit classes,” Michael explained. “Right now, the club is empty and locked up during the day. We could hold a few classes a week to bring some extra money in.”
Mac nodded thoughtfully. “You’ll need more poles.”
“We want to put more poles in anyway,” Edward said. “So we can have more than one dancer on the stage at a time. Barry runs Horns on a skeleton staff, but we want to do better than that.”
“We’ll put some practise poles in the changing room too,” Michael went one. “So dancers can come in early and work on routines. We can take those through to the main room for the classes during the day.”
“I like it!” Russel couldn’t help but admire the two guys sitting across the table from him. They’d clearly thought this whole thing through, and the excitement on their faces and in their voices was absolutely contagious. He found himself getting psyched up by their plan, even though it had nothing to do with him. “So at night it’s going to be a den of iniquity, but during the day health-conscious people ar
e going to come and work up a sweat?”
Edward nodded.
Michael’s eyes lit up, and he practically bounced in his seat. “Heaven and Hell!”
Edward’s jaw dropped as he stared at his partner. He grabbed Michael’s shoulders and pulled him close for a lip-smacking kiss. “I love it!”
“That is a great name,” Mac agreed.
Russel grinned at them all. “Then you need outfits that are suitable for your devilish dancers.” He half closed his eyes, imagining Mac on the stage, bathed in red light and— “Oh! Red leather hot pants.” He could see it clearly now; the way Mac’s tight arse would look in those hot pants. He’d have a G-string on underneath, of course, so he had more layers to strip off when he did private dances. “And cropped waistcoats.” His voice came out dreamy, but he didn’t care if they guessed he was fantasising about Mac; in fact, he was pretty happy for Mac to make that leap. “And collars studded with black diamantés. It’ll look simply stunning under red lighting.”
He opened his eyes to find everyone at the table staring at him. He smiled nervously. “Sorry, I got a little carried away. Ignore my silly suggestions.”
“They weren’t silly.” Michael sounded almost awestruck.
“I love it,” Edward agreed. “I don’t suppose you’d be interested in finding us a sample outfit? We’d pay you, of course.”
Russel gaped at him. “Seriously?”
“Yes.”
His self-doubt went up in a puff of smoke. This was definitely something he could enjoy doing and do well. “Well, all right, then. I’d love to.” He doubted it would be much money, but it would help bridge the gap between jobs.
Mac leant over to him. “Maybe you should think about a career in fashion rather than writing about it.”
“Maybe.” Russel was suddenly filled with giddy excitement. He wasn’t sure he could design clothes—he had the drawing ability of a brick—but he could be a buyer or a personal shopper or maybe even a style consultant. Research was most definitely needed.
“Are you any good with interior decorating?” Edward asked.
Russel pointed to himself. “Me?”
“He’s great at it,” Mac said.
Russel stared at him.
“I’ve spent plenty of time in your flat recently, so I’m definitely qualified to make the statement.” Mac winked at him.
Russel laughed. “That’s fair. And it’s our flat now.”
“Not quite yet.” Mac laughed. “I’ve still got to move out of my place.”
“You’re still planning on moving in together?” Michael asked.
Mac squeezed Russel’s hand. “Absolutely.”
“Let us know if you need help moving your things,” Michael said.
“Will do.”
Russel let out a sigh of relief. It was good to have their approval on their decision to move in together. Things were happening fast between him and Mac, so he wouldn’t have blamed them for being cautious on behalf of Mac. Russel knew he didn’t need their permission to be with Mac or live with Mac, but knowing he had it helped him relax a little.
“Tell us more about your plans for the club,” Russel said, genuinely interested.
“Horns is very seedy,” Edward replied. “And while Heaven and Hell will still be a strip joint, we want it to be a place people actually want to come to.”
“You need a look that’s classy and seductive,” Russel mused.
Edward nodded enthusiastically. “But we don’t know where to start. Could you help?”
This time, Russel wasn’t going to let any kind of worries stop him. Michael and Edward were just the cutest and despite only really knowing them for a few minutes, he wanted them to succeed. Earning some money was definitely good too. “I would love to.”
“We can discuss your fee later,” Edward said. “We’ve probably talked enough business for one meal.”
“Damn right,” Mac said, his tone too light to be admonishing. “Some of us are getting bored and hungry here.”
“Once we’ve taken over, you’ll dance for us, won’t you, Mac?” Michael asked.
Mac snorted. “Like you even need to ask.”
Edward grabbed the wine menu as he waved to a passing waiter. He placed an order for a bottle of champagne that sounded expensive.
They exchanged small talk for a few minutes while they waited for the waiter to return. Michael and Edward were easy to talk to, and it was blatantly obvious that they were very much in love with one another. Whenever their gazes met, their eyes became soft, and small, contented smiles tugged at their lips. They were in constant contact, but each touch and gesture looked completely subconscious. It was adorable. Russel glanced at Mac, wondering if they’d end up with that kind of symbiotic relationship one day. He mentally slapped himself. It was way too soon to be thinking like that. Still, it was good to know that he could imagine himself being that loved by someone.
When the champagne arrived, Edward poured each of them a drink. He lifted his glass, prompting them all to follow suit. “To the success of Heaven and Hell.”
Russel grinned as, in chorus with the others, they responded to Edward’s toast. “To Heaven and Hell!” Secretly, in his head, he was toasting to him and Mac as well.
23 Mac
Mac stood staring at the boxes that contained his life. Despite the messy state his flat had been in, his belongings had been reduced down to very few boxes. It was probably a good thing. Russel’s flat, although lighter and airier, was only marginally bigger than his own. Living with someone else was going to be one hell of an adjustment for them both.
“You okay, babe?” Russel wrapped his arms around Mac’s waist and pressed his cheek against the bigger man’s back. “It’s okay if you’re having second thoughts.”
Mac’s chest clenched. “Are you?”
Russel let out a soft chuckle. “I probably should be, considering how fast everything is moving, but I’m not.” He let out a contented sigh. “I am more than happy to be swirling around in this loved-up whirlwind with you.”
Mac wriggled free of Russel’s grip, turned, and pulled him into a fierce kiss.
Russel hummed. “Possessive. I like it.”
“I thought—” Mac’s cheeks felt hot. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Babe, just because I prefer to be the one in charge doesn’t mean I don’t like the tables being turned once in a while. I’ve already told you I’d let you take charge and fuck me if you wanted to. Or had you forgotten?”
Mac swallowed and shook his head. “I remember.”
Russel smiled. “Plus, you’re not like the other guys I’ve dated. You’re not pushing me around or lording your strength over me. If you want to act like a caveman, I know it’s because you respect me.” He chuckled softly. “And because you’re horny as hell for my gorgeous arse.” He brushed the back of his hand over Mac’s cheek. “Besides, I know you’ll get down on your knees if I ask.”
Mac swallowed and nodded. “I’d do anything you ask, Sir.” He felt his knees quivering, almost begging for those words to slip out of Russel’s mouth in a command.
“Anyway, that was a long-winded way of telling you that if you want to take charge, just let me know. I trust you to do it right.”
Mac claimed Russel’s lips with his own again, holding him tightly, roughly almost. As much as he loved being ordered around by Russel, some part of him also wanted to feel Russel melt in his arms. His phone started to ring, but it wasn’t enough to make him want to come up for air. Whoever was calling could wait. He lifted Russel, and the smaller man responded by wrapping his legs around Mac’s waist. Mac cupped Russel’s arse in his hands and carried him towards the sofa. He still had a few more hours before he had to get his stuff out of the flat, which was plenty of time for them to have their way with each other.
His breath caught in his throat as he wondered what it was he wanted to do with Russel. It had been a crazy long time since he’d been even half inclined to try top
ping a guy, but now that thought entered his mind. He laid Russel on the sofa and climbed on top of him, half pinning him down.
“This good?” He breathed out the words between the hot kisses that he pressed to Russel’s jaw and neck.
“Very good.” Russel’s voice was practically a purr, which was what made it so confusing when Russel put his palm on Mac’s chest to still him. “I don’t need you to be dominant.”
Mac’s eyebrows twitched together.
“I like who you are,” Russel went on, his voice soft. “You don’t have to go all caveman on me if you don’t want to.”
“Who says I don’t want to?”
Russel shrugged. “You’ve made it pretty clear you don’t like guys who expect you to give them a good pounding.”
Mac kissed Russel’s lips lightly. “I know you don’t expect it from me.”
“I just… don’t want you to feel like you need to do something you don’t enjoy. I’m good with how things are between us in the bedroom.”
Mac stared into Russel’s pale blue eyes. Was this a rebuttal or…? “But if I wanted to fuck you…”
A smile flickered across Russel’s lips. “I’ve already told you I’d be happy for you to. If it’s what you really want.”
“I think it is.” Mac was aware that his voice had dropped to a husky tone. “Maybe not all the time…”
“I’m with you on that one! I enjoy fucking you far too much.”
Mac grinned and nuzzled Russel’s jaw. “You’re fucking amazing at it too.”
“I can’t help being amazing in bed.” Russel fluttered his eyelashes. “Babe, if you want to turn into a caveman and pound the living fuck out of me, go right ahead.”
Mac felt a little light-headed as the blood rushed straight to his cock. Put like that, he realised he did want to, more than anything. Even if it was just a one-off, he wanted to know what it felt like to be inside the man he loved. His lips crashed against Russel’s again, demanding and commanding. Which was the perfect bloody time for his phone to ring. Again.
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