“Do you trust me?” Royce repeated.
Marc took a breath to reply, but it caught in his throat. This was more than trusting Royce to keep him safe from some phantom killer. This was deeper, more dangerous. But even after only a heartbeat of reflection, he knew that he did trust Royce, and it shook him down to his core. It was freeing and at the same time terrifying.
“Yes,” he exhaled, hating how his voice trembled.
That painful admission won him a devouring kiss. Royce tightened his hold on the back of Marc’s neck and pulled him the last couple of inches forward so that Royce could consume his mouth, thrusting his tongue deep inside. Marc immediately melted against him, opening under the onslaught. He shook with how badly he wanted this man.
Royce bit down on Marc’s lower lip, sucking on it for a second, before pulling free. When he looked down at Royce’s eyes again, they were darker, desire stealing Marc’s breath. Blood rushed south to his cock, leaving him lightheaded and aching all at once. He shifted his hips, rubbing his hard-on against Royce’s hip for relief.
“I need…”
Royce’s husky chuckle sent wonderful prickles down his flesh. He nuzzled Marc’s neck, scratching his beard against tender flesh. “I know what you need. And I’m going to give it to you, but you’re going to do everything I say.” Running his free hand slowly down Marc’s chest, he slipped beneath the loose waistband of the sleep pants and boxers. Strong fingers wrapped around his hard cock and stroked him once. “Everything.”
“Yes!” Marc cried out on a gasp. “Oh, fuck yes! Everything you say.”
Releasing his cock, Royce slid his hand free of his pants. “Perfect.” Marc didn’t know if he was commenting on Marc’s complete willingness to follow directions or the feel of his cock. He didn’t care. When Royce spoke again, his deep voice had hardened, sending a spark of excitement along nerve endings. “Go to your bedroom. Take off all your clothes and get on your knees in the center of the room.”
Marc couldn’t hide the shiver that ran the length of his body. He wanted to ask Royce…something…say something…but the words were caught behind a lump in his throat. Old fears and insecurities were rising, threatening to choke him.
Royce wasn’t like the others. He kept repeating that refrain over and over again in his head as he left the room and quickly thumped down the winding stairs to the first floor. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest; he could practically taste it on the back of his tongue.
His gaze didn’t stray to the dining room or the warmly lit courtyard in the center of his house. By the time he crossed the kitchen to the hall leading to his bedroom, he could feel the anxiety that had consumed him just minutes ago slipping away.
As he stepped onto the soft thick carpet in the bedroom, all his plans of stealing a painting and Royce’s dilemma had faded to faint white noise in the back of his brain. With Royce demanding control, he could let everything slip away for a few minutes and just feel. Oh God, he just needed to let go. Everything in his life was about control. It all needed to stay balanced on the tips of his fingers. Family. Galleries. Artists. Clients. They all needed his attention. A smile and the right words.
But it was different with Royce. He didn’t need to figure out the right words or the right gesture. The right touch. He didn’t have to guess at being perfect because Royce was going to tell him exactly the right thing to do.
In the bedroom, he found that Royce had flipped on one of the bedside lamps so that its soft light beat back the heavy darkness. Standing in the center of the room, he pulled off both his boxers and pants in one motion and tossed them aside with a relieved sigh. He dropped to his knees and closed his eyes. Excited energy still buzzed through his body, and his cock still ached, but there was an extra layer of calm settling over him.
Royce’s footsteps echoed down the hall, and then there was only the muffled whisper of his jeans rubbing as he moved around the room. Marc opened his eyes but didn’t twist around to see what he was doing behind him as he opened drawers and dug around in what sounded like bags. Each second that ticked by had his heart rate increasing, goose bumps breaking out across his arms in anticipation of that first touch, that first kiss, the first deeply rumbled command.
He didn’t have to wait long. Fingers threaded gently through his hair from behind in a caress…like Royce was drawn to his hair again and again. A sigh slipped from Marc’s lips.