“Hi,” Eli said nervously.
My body was already reacting to being so physically close to the younger man, but it was my insides that were churning with excitement.
“Hi.”
We both stood there in a tangle of awkward silence until I finally said, “Did you need something?”
“Um…yeah, can I talk to you about something?”
Eli was still clearly afraid of me, but since it was the most he’d ever spoken to me, I was very curious to hear what he had to say. “Sure,” I said and I began walking down the stairs. Eli fell in step next to me, but he didn’t actually speak and I figured he was trying to work up the nerve. It wasn’t until I pushed the door open leading to the floor where my Harley was parked that Eli finally opened his mouth.
“I was wondering…do you know how to fight?”
“Fight?” I asked as I approached my Harley. I noticed that Eli’s car was parked right next to my bike and I wondered if he’d figured it was mine and parked there intentionally. We were parked in the farthest corner of the garage so there was little foot traffic.
“Yeah…I mean, like do you know self-defense stuff?”
My body tensed up at that and I turned to face him. “Did something happen?” I asked.
Eli began chewing on his lower lip and before I could even think about what I was doing, I reached up with my fingers to free his tender flesh from the hold his teeth had on it. Eli stilled at my touch and then closed his eyes like he was in pain. But I knew it wasn’t pain that he was feeling.
Fuck, why couldn’t I get a grip around this guy?
I dropped my hand and took a step back so there would be more room between us. Maybe then I wouldn’t fucking reach for him again.
“So do you?” Eli asked, ignoring my question.
“Yes,” I finally said. “I know some self-defense moves.” I knew a lot more than some, but I didn’t say that.
“Would you teach me?” Eli asked in a rush.
“Eli, if that guy is still bothering you-”
“Please, Mav, can you teach me or not?” Eli interrupted. The desperation coming off of him was palpable. “I…I can pay you.”
I studied him long and hard before finally saying, “I don’t want your money.” If teaching him some moves was the only way to get him to trust me, then I’d do it in a heartbeat. Because he was clearly still in trouble.
I expected my statement about not wanting his money would have relaxed him somewhat, but it just made him more tense. That lasted only for a few seconds before there was such a profound shift in him that I was momentarily speechless. His fear disappeared just like that and his whole body went lax. And then he scanned the garage before reaching for my hand.
I was so caught off guard by him initiating the contact, that I barely noticed as he led me past his car. “Eli-” I managed to say, but then he was maneuvering me behind a foundation column next to his car and he released my hand. There was a light hanging a few feet over, but it wasn’t working correctly because it would flicker now and then, but otherwise left the spot we were standing in bathed in shadows.
I was about to ask what the hell was going on when Eli’s hand stroked over my groin. I bit back a curse as his fingers brushed over my growing erection and when he gripped me through my pants, I actually did moan and dropped my head back against the pillar behind me. Eli’s hand held me for several long seconds before sliding down to search out my balls. His touch was driving me insane with need so when I felt the button on my pants open a moment later, I didn’t protest. The zipper sounded obscenely loud in the garage, but my groan as Eli’s hand snaked into my pants to play with me had to be a thousand times louder.
“Fuck,” I growled when Eli pulled my cock out of my pants and began stroking me. His eyes were on my rigid shaft so I dropped my hand to his head and threaded my fingers through his hair. He let me maneuver his head so that he was looking up at me, but all my desire was snuffed out when I saw his eyes.
Because there was nothing there. Not one goddamn thing. Not desire, not pleasure, not fear…nothing.
What the fuck was going on?
My insides went cold as Eli tugged free of my hold and dropped to his knees. While my cock was still responding to the young man at my feet, the rest of me was still trying to process what was happening. I managed to come to my senses just as Eli leaned forward to take me in his mouth and I bent down and grabbed him by both of his upper arms and pulled him to his feet.