“The fire alarm was not a problem for the show. It turned out great.”
“So the sex?”
“The sex was great as well.”
“Then you gotta help me out here.”
“It’s not you. It’s me.”
Royce huffed out a laugh and strolled over to the painting. He turned and leaned his shoulder against the wall next to it so that he could look at Marc. “There are the most hated five words in the English language.”
Marc smirked. “And here I thought it was, ‘I think the condom broke.’ ”
Royce gave an exaggerated wince before chuckling. “Yeah, that’s up there.”
And just that quickly, some of the tension that had tightened his shoulders evaporated. It wasn’t supposed to be this easy being around someone.
“My brain knows that it was just sex, and that we were having some fun, but the past week…everything else…it feels real, even when I intellectually know it’s not. I need some time to sort it all out. To remind myself that it’s not real. That I’m just a client, and you’re doing a job.” He looked up at Royce and forced a smile, trying to find a way to continue their joking, but he wanted to be honest with Royce. He spent so much time censoring and picking words that wouldn’t make other people feel uncomfortable. He didn’t want to do that with Royce.
“Marc…” Royce said on a sigh.
Jumping out of his chair, Marc shook his head. “If you’re going to say something about seeing me as a friend or that I’m a nice guy, I might just say fuck the whole thing and punch you.”
Royce closed the distance between them in two quick steps. Grabbing Marc behind the neck, he pulled him down until their noses brushed. “I was going to say that we’ve blurred a lot of fucking lines in the past week. You’re not the only one who’s struggling to keep things separate, especially when this feels so good.” Royce paused and brushed his lips slowly across Marc’s, but the second Marc tried to deepen the kiss, Royce pulled back, staying just out of reach.
“Do we have to keep it separate?” Marc tried to push closer again, deepen the kiss his whole body was aching for now. But Royce tightened his hold, staying just out of reach, even though he could feel Royce’s lips brush against his as they stretched into a smile. Oh God, he was so close…
“It would be smart.”
“Soooo tired of smart.”
Royce laughed. The hot puff of breath brushed against Marc’s face before Royce’s smile disappeared. “My past…my life…it’s not pretty. There are a lot of things…we’re not a good match. You’ve got this whole life that’s so different.”
“Maybe we should just continue as we have been, before we decide that our lives are just too different. It’s not like we don’t have to worry about me staying alive first.”
“And the sex?”
“We just see what happens.”
Royce pulled back from Marc, a smile full across his lips and dancing in his eyes. Fuck, he had a killer smile. Still too rare, but killer. “Yeah, I see so much restraint on our parts.”
Marc snorted. “I’m the king of restraint.”
Royce jerked Marc back to him and kissed him deeply, plunging his tongue into his mouth like he owned him. And Marc melted against him in an instant. He didn’t give a damn. Fuck restraint. Fuck the job and his would-be killer. He just wanted Royce.
Wrapping his arms around Royce, he slowly trailed his hands down his back, following the wonderful contours of the muscles down to cup his ass. He needed time to memorize all those muscles. To memorize the smell and taste of him. Fuck restraint.
The sound of heels clomping across the floor pulled Royce’s lips from his, but Marc didn’t release him, his hands still full of Royce’s ass.
“Having fun?” Royce drawled.
“You have no idea.”
Royce just raised one eyebrow. Well, he likely had some idea since Marc’s hard-on was pressed against his hip.
Darla cleared her throat. “Marc, your next appointment just arrived.”
“Tell Christian that I’ll be down in just a minute,” Marc called, without looking at her.
“No problem.” There was no missing the amusement in her voice, but he still held Royce until he heard her retreating footsteps.
Royce shook his head, his smile dimming. “This is a bad idea, and you know it.”
“Maybe, but I think it’s worth a shot.” He just hoped that they both didn’t come to regret it.Chapter NineRoyce stood in the bedroom doorway with a cup of coffee in his hand, admiring the strong line of Marc’s back and the enticing hint of the curve of one cotton-covered ass cheek peeking out from under the twisted down duvet. His arms were shoved up under the pillows, and his face was smashed against the mattress.
Marc was an incredibly restless sleeper. Throughout the night, Royce could hear him twitching, shifting, flipping over again and again. By morning, half the pillows were on the floor, and the blankets were a tangled mess. It was as if he fought all his demons while he slept.