Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 161257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 806(@200wpm)___ 645(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 161257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 806(@200wpm)___ 645(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
Abruptly, Max’s eyes flashed, his features tightening, as if saying, You’re fucking pushing it.
Sean stopped with a smile. His boundary had been located.
Max rumbled dark but softly. “Smart boy.”
Sean sighed and shifted again in Max’s lap, wincing when his ass protested.
“Want some lotion for that?” Max murmured.
“If I wasn’t so comfortable I’d definitely say yes, but your lap’s way too awesome, so no.”
Max chuckled again. “Is it now.”
“Yes. It Is. Gonna make some guy really happy one day.”
Max’s smile faded again. He glanced toward the door. Like he suddenly wanted to use it or something. Why did relationships make him so twitchy? Make that glimmer in his eyes turn sad? Sean suddenly wanted to hug him but knew better than to try. Instead, he slid his hand to Max’s back and palmed the base of his spine. Max stiffened a little, as if Sean’s touch made him wary.
Sean tried not to frown. Just nuzzled his arm. “I think you’d enjoy one,” he mumbled softly.
“One what,” Max muttered.
“A boyfriend.”
“No thanks.”
“Because of your job?”
“Yeah. That.”
“Well, then a full-time sub. Someone who understands the business. Who’d fuck only you and no one else.”
A sad-looking shadow settled over Max’s face. “I told you. Hard limit.”
“I think it should be a soft one.”
Max looked at Sean. Smirked. “Not gonna happen.”
Sean grinned and nudged Max’s back. “Come on. I did it. Made a hard one a softy.”
Max chuckled. “That’s different.”
“No, it’s not,” Sean laughed. “And now I’m really glad that I did.”
Max slid his hand down and squeezed Sean’s ass. “Damn straight you are,” he growled. “And you’re welcome.”
Sean bit his lip, smile widening. God, he wanted this so bad. To be Max’s full-time sub and lover. Hell, to be his full-time freaking anything. Because if Max were to try it, to give it a go, he’d definitely want to do it with Sean. Sean knew Max would. Could just fucking feel it. Max said Sean was his favorite. His treasure.
Man, to spend back-to-back days with the guy instead of just once a week… Sean’s stomach lit up with electric goo. He’d make Max smile every single day.
Feeling optimistic, Sean clutched Max’s hip. “Don’t you want somebody to love and call your own? Give it a try, Max. Be brave. With me. Just like you told me to be with you.”
Max froze at Sean’s words. Then his whole demeanor shifted. Warm and friendly to rock-solid ice. His jaw clenched. His eyes hardened. His hands left Sean’s body. Then he leveled Sean with a very not happy look.
“It’s not about being brave, Sean. I’m fucking brave. Brave enough for every goddamn person who needs me to be. It’s about not wanting it, someone to “love and call my own.” To be quite fucking frank, the thought sickens me.”
Sean’s mouth fell open. Holy shit. He’d struck a nerve. And not just a little one. The Titanic. He swallowed and shook his head, back-peddling fast. Maybe it wasn’t too late for damage control. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. I just thought it’d make you happy. I just wanted to make you ha—”
“I am happy, Sean. Completely fucking happy.”
Bullshit. Sean glanced away. “Guess our definitions of happy are different.”
“Sean.”
Sean looked at him.
“Don’t bring this up again.”
“But—”
“No.”
“But—”
“Not ever.”
“Max…”
Max nudged him stiffly. “Get up.”
Sean scowled and gingerly eased off Max’s lap. “I just wanted to—”
“Don’t care. Time to go home… And one more thing.”
Sean turned back around, frowning inside and out.
“I’m Sir to you, sub. Don’t forget it.”
NINE
“Someone to love and call my own,” Max muttered. “What fucking fantasy world does he live in?”
Shutting the front door with a bit too much force, he watched Sean amble down the driveway. Hands in his pockets. Beanie on his head. Ass moving beautifully in those jeans… Max scowled. He wasn’t lingering in the foyer to ogle the kid. He was merely making sure Sean was still steady. Not that Max hadn’t double and triple checked him already. Each time he’d been lucid. Totally coherent. So why in the fuck was Max still standing there?
Glowering at his own stupidity, he turned and headed back to the stairwell. He was starting to notice a pattern. Quite possibly a pattern that’d been there all along, but was just becoming harder to ignore. Where, at the end of each session with Sean, Max always seemed to wind up on edge.
He didn’t want to analyze the specifics of why, but honestly, he already knew. Because Sean did something, or tried something, or merely fucking said something, that always managed to get under his skin. None of his other subs did that shit. None of them had that effect. Which Max supposed made sense. He didn’t have the connection with them that he had with Sean. Something that clearly made him susceptible to Sean in ways he’d never been with anyone before. Because Sean made him want things he hadn’t wanted in ages. Things that Sean was all too willing to give. Not that some of his other subs wouldn’t be eager to give it, too, but again, he didn’t want those things with them.