Table of Contents

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
About the Author
Also from Anna Marie May
Copyright

Chapter One

Chapter One

Family

was supposed to love you, right? It shouldn’t matter how

you chose to live your life, whether you were a doctor, pole dancer, or
a dancing bear. Your family was supposed to love you regardless of it
all.

It was what everything was based on; it was the foundation of

things, because if your own family couldn’t love you, then who would?

Instead of showering Jayden with all his love after his mother’s

tragic death, his father had turned on his only son, beating him for the
smallest of infractions. Love was supposed to be pure, right? And
wasn’t a parent supposed to love the child?

Jayden shivered, pulling his sweater tighter around his lithe frame.

He knew he wasn’t going to get any warmer by doing it, but it made
him feel better.

The night was cold, and the light smog of the city prevented him

from seeing any stars, but in fanciful moments he still tilted his head
skyward and pretended to see the glistening firmament.

His imagination was sometimes the only thing that kept him warm,

and thankfully, he had plenty of it.

Tonight he was grateful for the slight chill in the air, because thanks

to that, it wasn’t raining. Standing in his usual spot while the heavens
opened up on him wouldn’t help him earn enough to make the next
rent payment.

Danny, his roommate, wouldn’t kick him out; he was a good guy.

But Jayden needed to earn his own keep, even if it wasn’t by any
means he was proud of.

Staying alive was all that mattered; he didn’t have the luxury of

frowning on what he was doing, because keeping himself clothed,
fed, and sheltered took precedence over anything else.

He had dreams, though; one day he would be able to leave this life

behind, and he would make something of himself. He didn’t aim for
much; he just wanted to live a decent life in a town far from here,
where no one knew him or the things he had done, and then he
would be content.

“Hey you,” a man called out to him, stopping Jayden in his tracks.

A sleek, expensive-looking car pulled over to the sidewalk. The

window rolled down and a red-faced man looked out.

Some of his customers had been handsome enough to make

Jayden wonder why they simply didn’t go to a bar and pick someone
up. Maybe paying someone for sex was easier, even though it wasn’t
legal? Or maybe they liked being in control, getting exactly what they
wanted without having to be nice about it.

There were a few lines, though, he would never cross. He had no

illusions about who he was or how much trouble he would be in
should he get caught. But being aware of the risks of his profession
didn’t mean he had to throw common sense or pride out the window.

He didn’t do anything without protection, because if he wanted to kill

himself, all he had to do was fling himself off the nearest bridge; he
didn’t have to make himself suffer for it.

And he never let anyone try any kinks on him. He didn’t go for being

tied up, and he didn’t role-play, either.

“How much for a few hours?” the man asked, no pleasantries

needed.

Jayden named his price, and before getting into the car, he quickly

added, “Nothing without a condom, and no funny stuff either.”

The beady eyes narrowed, but when the man nodded, saying, “Of

course,” Jayden got into the car.

One secret of the trade was to always prepare yourself before

heading out for the night. He couldn’t count on some random stranger
to take the time and the care needed to stretch him open properly,
and frankly he wasn’t one of those people who enjoyed pain. One day
he might find out what sex between people who at least cared for
each other was like, but he wasn’t lying awake at night dreaming
about such a moment. He wasn’t a teenage girl, for crying out loud,
with mist in her eyes clouding her perception of reality.

He had Danny, his one and only friend, to thank for this insight too.

Without his friend telling him what to do and what to avoid, he
might’ve gotten hurt pretty bad. The first time he had touched himself
back there, stretching his hole, it had been awkward, and it had really
brought home to him what he was about to do.

But Jayden was nothing but practical, and by now it was as normal

for him as putting on a suit and tie in the morning was for some men.

It didn’t mean he liked it; it was just the way things were.

There were lots of cheap motels in the area, and while some boys

kept a room for the night, Jayden had never bothered. He figured if
someone wanted to fuck him in a bed, then the man might just as
well pay the room rate for it. If not, Jayden wasn’t averse to bending
over in a dark alley and doing it there. Modesty was a luxury he had
thrown out of the window a long time ago.

He had survived years of hell at home, hiding what happened in the

confines of the house, and no one had ever thought anything was
wrong. He was good at wearing masks, and if his childhood had
been good for anything, it was for teaching him that no one could be

trusted, even those who said they loved you. His life had also taught
him that staying alive was all that mattered in the end, and if he didn’t
see to it, then no one else would.

So he kept himself sane by drawing and painting, hiding in his art,

and while he fancied himself to be quite good at it, he didn’t harbor
any hopes or dreams of one day becoming famous. Such things
didn’t happen to people like him, and he needed to set his
expectations accordingly. Having his head in the clouds, dreaming of
a life forever out of his reach, wasn’t going to do him any good. On the
contrary, it would only set him up for a nasty fall, and since no one
would be there to pick up the pieces when he shattered, he had to
keep his own hopes and expectations at a reasonable level.

But a good life, a decent life, was all he really wanted: a small

house or apartment in a good community, a job that paid enough to
allow him some comforts, and maybe a few good friends.

Surely that wasn’t too much to ask for, right?

Sometimes he couldn’t help but wonder if giving up wouldn’t be

easier, but maybe there was something wrong with him deep down,
because he seemed to be unable to simply roll over and give up.
Sometimes Jayden thought his father’s goal in life had been to try and
beat him into submission. Must be a fundamental flaw on Jayden’s
part, then, that his teachings had never taken….

The car had a certain smell Jayden had come to associate with old

guy even though if asked, he wouldn’t be able to tell anyone exactly
what the smell actually was. It was heavy, hanging in the air, and
normally he would run the other way, because it was a scent that had
his nostrils flaring and his throat constricting.

The deodorant the man was wearing wasn’t much helping matters,

either, but after taking a few collected breaths, Jayden was able to
steady himself and not gag outright. It wouldn’t be good for business

to offend his customer, and it was the nature of things that the men
who came calling on him weren’t the type of men he would pick up if
he had a choice.

The upholstery felt good underneath him, and he allowed his

fingers to slowly caress the edge of his seat. He was mindful not to
show his appreciation, because there was no way of knowing what
would set off a customer and what wouldn’t. He had become careful
with what he did and what he said, and his caution had served him
well so far.

He hardly ever got into any trouble, and getting roughed up a little bit

here and there was part of the risk he had accepted when he had
started down this path. However, he was all about keeping those
risks as low as possible, unlike some guys he knew who practically
invited danger because it made them feel alive.

There was no small talk in the car, and minutes later, the man

parked in front of a motel. As Jayden got out of the car, the man
instructed, “Wait there.”

Jayden nodded and did as he was told.

The man was maybe in his late forties and had a strong build, but

he didn’t seem to have taken particular care of his body. His facial
structure hinted that at one time in his life he might have been
considered handsome, and his pale-blue eyes might have only
added to the appeal. Now, though, there was no warmth in those
eyes, as if they had seen too much and it had jaded him beyond
repair.

This was yet another reason why Jayden worked so hard to save

up enough money to get out of this life. He didn’t want to up end up
like that. He didn’t want to turn forty and discover he had wasted his
life away. His goals might be modest, but he didn’t need to be filthy
rich to be happy.

Jayden stuffed his cold hands into his pockets, rocking back and

forth on his heels, wanting to lean back on the parked car but knowing
better than to actually follow through. Some rich guys could be funny
about these things, and Jayden didn’t want to anger the man, not
when they were about to get intimate.

And the guy’s wealth wasn’t something he doubted for a single

second. The car was of good quality, the clothes the man wore were
of excellent taste, and his whole manner spoke of someone who
didn’t worry about money at all. There was a certain carelessness in
the way he had agreed to the amount Jayden had demanded with a
flick of his hands, as if he couldn’t have cared less what Jayden
asked for.

There were some customers who tried to negotiate, and even

though there was a small part of him that felt bad for those guys, he
never backed down. This was his life, after all, and if they couldn’t
afford to pay for sex, then maybe they should go home to their wives
and sleep with them!

Tonight’s customer came back from acquiring a room, and his

jingling the door key was Jayden’s cue to follow him.

He watched his client open the door, and something about the

man’s stance had the tiny hairs at the back of his neck standing up.
The glint in his eyes was different from what Jayden had expected.
There was no dent in the man’s jeans, no heavy breathing, and he
was looking at Jayden, licking his lips in a way that had him almost
taking a step back.

He blinked, narrowed his eyes, and shuffled his feet before he

opened his lips, intending to say he wasn’t interested anymore. Keep
your money. Have a nice life. He rarely walked away from a customer;
he couldn’t afford to be picky, but every nerve ending in his body was
screaming at him, telling him something wasn’t right here, and he

knew better than to ignore his instincts.

But he didn’t get further than opening his mouth before a dark figure

shoved him from behind, sending him stumbling toward the man in
the doorway.

“What the—” he exclaimed, trying to catch his balance, but strong

hands grabbed him from behind, securing his hands behind his
back, and then he was once again forcefully shoved into the room.

He stumbled on the atrocious carpet, and it was just thanks to his

quick feet that he managed to use his momentum to spin around and
duck out from under a sudden swing the new guy had been taking at
him.

This wasn’t about sex at all, this was about bashing a guy, and he

had walked right into it!

He had heard about this happening, about guys being picked up

and brought to a motel room under the pretense of sex, and then
instead of getting down with it, the guy ended up getting beaten to a
pulp.

And, his helpful brain supplied readily, one guy had even died!

He wasn’t strong and he most certainly was no fighter, but neither

of these facts meant he was going to go down without putting up a
fight. He hadn’t overcome this much in his life to simply roll over and
take the punches coming his way.

He was quick, nimble on his feet, and he managed to duck and

evade yet another punch. But two against one in a small motel room
wasn’t fair by any standard, and even as he tried to get past the first
guy, a hand managed to grab his arm, pulling him backward until he
was in a strong hold, his back pressed to the guy’s front, unable to
move.

“What do you want?” he forced out between ragged gasps, his

heart beating rapidly.

Fear coursed through his veins. Even when his own father had

beaten him bloody, he had never felt the urge to pass out cold from
sheer dread. His father might have hurt him, unleashed whatever
anger he had onto him, but Jayden had always known he wouldn’t
end up dead. Hurt, yes, but dead? No, his father had never tried to kill
him.

With these guys, anything could happen, and what brought the fear

home was the fact there would be no help coming for him.

Hearing someone like him screaming in a motel room that was

rented out by the hour wouldn’t cause anyone any alarm. It was a
frequent occurrence. But knowing how dire the situation actually was
had the blood in his veins turning to ice.

He needed to keep a cool head; he needed to stay focused, but that

was easier said than done!

No answer to his question was forthcoming. Instead, the man in

front of him—who was considerably shorter than the man who had
picked him up but thinner and baldheaded—smiled evilly. The man
reached behind him, pulling a weapon that gleamed in the barely lit
motel room, and with wide, fearful eyes, Jayden watched as the blade
slowly moved toward him.

They were going to slice him open!

For a moment he was frozen; no muscle in his body was

responding to any of his commands. His brain was too jumbled with
fear—which was kind of mind-numbing on its own—to choose
between the need to run and the desire to launch himself at the man
and rip him to shreds. There were too many conflicting demands

running through his head, so no actual command managed to reach
his limbs. “Frozen to the spot” had never been anything but an
expression to Jayden, and he didn’t relish learning how it actually felt
now. This was one experience he would’ve gladly done without.

Never before had a nightmare seemed so real. Kind of like the one

where he had been rooted to the spot, butt naked, while everyone
laughed at him. Back then, although he had struggled with all he had,
he hadn’t managed to break the hold of the dream. Sadly, even in his
terror, he had known he was in a dream. This, unfortunately, was
stark reality.

Time seemed to slow down—yet another phrase he was getting

intimately acquainted with. Who the hell had said knowledge was
power? Ignorance was bliss! Could he please have his innocence
back? Right now? The knife was moving toward him in slow motion,
cutting through the air. His fierce wish to stay alive, to see his dreams
come true, hurled him into motion, breaking the spell he had been
under.

“No!” he shouted, putting his entire weight, which wasn’t much, into

flinging himself backward. The back of his head connected with the
guy’s jaw; there was a satisfying grunt of pain, and the grip on his
arms lessened.

The knife was still coming toward him, but the little bit of freedom

he had gained from his actions allowed him to throw himself
sideways, changing the place where the knife would cut into his body.
He couldn’t avoid getting cut, but instead of ending up gutted, he
would only get sliced. Still not the preferable outcome, of course, but
way better than being dead.

White-hot pain flared in his side, and the scream leaving his lips

could have been described as a cross between a gurgle and the
screech of a dying cat. He fell out of the man’s grip, but the pain was
so intense that his knees gave way, and when the carpet moved

toward him, all he could do was turn sideways and avoid hitting his
face on it.

He rolled, clutching at his side, and with an almost lazy

detachment, he stared at his fingers. Blood, a vivid bloody red on his
fingers. The color was so pretty, so unlike the reds he had worked
with so far. His fingers twitched; he wanted to use the color, not let it
go to waste. Maybe he could run his fingers along the wall, leave a
wide, vibrant red line behind? Kind of like leaving his mark in the
world, one final testament. I have walked these shores, bear witness.
A snort tore itself free from his throat; he couldn’t believe the stupid
path his own thoughts had taken.

The vibrant red lost its appeal, his eyes slowly glazing over. The

world was falling away one dark dot at a time. His brain, however,
was gearing up again. He couldn’t go to sleep; there was something
he still had to do!

His forehead creased and a frown marred his pretty face.

Shouts rang through the air, but he barely noticed the commotion

around him.

Blond hair drifted into his vision, followed by vivid blue. Blue?

Jayden blinked, trying very hard to focus. Yes, blue eyes peered down
at him, and for a moment, his lips moved, tugging into a soft smile.

“You’ve got a cute nose,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper,

and it was true. The guy was like a blond angel with the cutest nose
he had ever seen.

When the blond stranger came closer, the dark dots dancing in

Jayden’s vision finally succeeded in claiming world domination.
When they took over, darkness was the only thing left. Deep down,
though, in the furthest reaches of Jayden’s mind, a puzzle piece that
had been missing slotted into place.

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Sunny

warmth on his face, gently stroking his skin… he

hummed, stretching languidly, body and mind slowly rising from the
darkness of sleep.

His forehead wrinkled, and even only half conscious, he knew

something wasn’t quite right. A thought was nagging him, poking at
the back of his mind. Where was he? Surely he hadn’t fallen asleep
after his last customer. He carefully moved, still halfway asleep, his
fingertips grazing the bed sheets. Soft, silken… not his sheets, then,
because never in his lifetime would he be able to afford sheets like
this.

He couldn’t focus on the thought, though, since the unexpected

sunrays kept warming his face, stroking his nose.

And was it daylight already? What was going on?

He shifted again, his body moving carefully, as if in his

semiconscious state he was still aware of needing to pay attention to
something. But what? His forehead creased, confusion flittering
through his mind while he slowly rose even further from the recesses
of sleep. He usually slept deeply, and waking up was a chore for him,
which was why working at nights wasn’t such a hardship. He
stretched his legs, back starting to arch because every morning he
liked to pull his body taut like a well-coiled spring before going lax
again when he was finally ready to embrace the day.

But not today. Why?

He aborted his movements midarch, body tensing anxiously as he

waited for… pain?

Why would he…?

He had gotten stabbed!

The events from the night before crashed over him like a tidal wave.

His eyes flew open and then he practically leaped off the bed, totally
forgetting about his injury in his nearly mindless panic.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” a strong voice replied from nearby, and

suddenly someone was pushing him back down and the light was
fading once more, darkness descending yet again.

He idly noted, though, that the reason why it had been so bright,

why he had been able to feel so much warmth on his face, was
because night had already passed, giving way to the next day.
Judging from how high the fiery ball was hanging in the sky, it must
be close to midmorning.

He managed a confused sort of sound before passing out again.

When his mind struggled once more to break free from the chains

of sleep, he was already aware of quite a few things, making his
second awakening in a strange place way less confusing and scary.

Still, his unease remained.

He wasn’t ready yet to open his eyes, though, so he quietly twitched

in the bed, noting how the silken sheets were rustling, feeling both
cool and warm against his naked skin.

In all his life he had never come across something this sensual,

this pleasurable, against his bare skin, and he finally understood
what all the big fuss about silk was about.

He hummed in contentment, a soft smile on his face, moving

slightly so the soft fabric slid against his bare body once more. He
was just about to roll sideways to try and curl up into a tiny ball when
strong arms came out of nowhere, restraining him, locking his hands

to his sides and keeping him on his back.

Danger, danger, his mind helpfully supplied, and he started

struggling, trying to get out of the secure grip that had him pinned to
the bed.

Suddenly, the way the smooth cloth moved against his body wasn’t

alluring and sensual anymore, it was terrifying, and his struggle only
intensified when a sharp grunt above him told him whoever had a
hold on him meant business.

“Please don’t hurt me,” Jayden whispered.

“Open your eyes,” the stranger commanded, and just as they had

been ordered to, Jayden’s eyes snapped open. Terror surely danced
in them, and he slowly focused on a blond man with amazing blue
eyes, sitting on the bed next to him, holding him down.

The man looked familiar. For a moment nothing happened, and

then the events from last night slotted into place and he made the
connection.

The man… Jayden stopped midthought.

Gods, what should he call him? Couldn’t keep calling him the man

in his head over and over again, and there were only so many
references to the stranger he could get away with before his head
started to ache. He eyed him, gaze getting caught on the sun-kissed
blond hair. Blondie—yes, Blondie would work!

His aborted train of thought continued where it had broken off

before.

Blondie had rescued him last night. After getting lured to what

would’ve probably been his death, this blond avenging angel had
appeared seemingly out of nowhere, beating away the dark forces

threatening his life.

Yes, Jayden was aware of how dramatic he sounded, but frankly,

he didn’t care.

A stab of pain coming from down below reminded him of yet

another important fact: his injury. His eyes widened even further, and
he tried to twist his neck so he could see where he had been hurt.

The silk sheets, though, pooled around his waist, and only a tiny tip

of a bandage on his left side was visible.

“Stop moving,” the guy insisted. “The stitches are all fairly new. I

don’t want you tearing them open.”

Jayden blinked, and then he nodded, his body going limp

underneath the guy’s grip, and eventually, after a few tense moments,
Blondie moved away, removing his hands from Jayden’s body.

Jayden wanted to get up; he wanted to run his hands down his

body, reassuring himself everything else was where it should be. He
closed his eyes for a brief moment, sending feelers out through his
mind, checking to see if he could move all his toes, if his arms and
legs were working like they should, if there was any other pain lurking
about, waiting for him to stumble across it when he least expected it.

Most importantly, though? He wanted to go home and put last

night’s events behind him.

Home might not be much, but it was all he had, and those four

walls made him feel safe. And besides, Danny would be there, and
Danny, with his mischievous smile and sometimes-crazy comments,
always made him feel safe.

He tore his gaze away from the blond god and surveyed the room,

fully expecting to still be in the motel room even though the silken

sheets should’ve been an indication he was in a different place. His
brain was still trying to catch up with what had happened, so it really
wasn’t surprising that he was scrambling to keep up.

“Where am I?” he asked slowly, taking in the wide windows, which

seemed to be overlooking a vast garden. He strained his ears. Were
those birds he heard singing? The place he and Danny had been
calling home for a while was in the middle of a really awful part of
town, and honestly, Jayden couldn’t recall the last time he had heard
birds chirping in the sun. How could he have forgotten what a
pleasant sound it was? Distantly, he noted huge trees, probably quite
old to have grown into their current size, and for a moment, he stared
at them in wonder. Trees… real live healthy trees. His fingers itched.
He wanted to reach out, capture their unique colors and commit them
to canvas for the whole world to see.

The room was fully furnished, but it appeared as if no one was

actually using it, because there were no personal items to speak of.
On the nearby shelves, only emptiness stared back at him, and it
appeared that the easy chair by the window had never been used.

Even without having a look inside the wardrobe, he decided there

probably weren’t any clothes in there either. It was made of dark
wood, and he was no expert, but it looked sturdy and expensive
enough for it to be an antique piece.

The floor was tiled and sparkling and his bed was large and

comfortable, big enough to allow room for at least two people to
sprawl out in it, should they so desire.

Jayden blinked away some moisture around his eyes, cursing his

tendency to let his emotions to run away with him. It wasn’t manly to
cry easily—at least that was what his father had delighted in telling
him—but no amount of his special kind of persuasion to get Jayden
to stop had done any good.

The blond man was staring intensely at him. Jayden knew if he

allowed his tears to fall freely, it would paint him in a bad light, and for
some reason he couldn’t figure out, he wanted Blondie to like him
and to respect him. His mind supplied him with the image of a small
puppy eagerly wagging its tail, and he immediately squashed the
ridiculous notion, because he wasn’t pathetic enough to fall for
someone just because they had shown him some kindness.

Wait a minute, Jayden thought, fear slowly crystallizing in the pit of

his stomach, giving him the feeling that he had swallowed a stone.
Why wasn’t he in a hospital? He had gotten stabbed, for crying out
loud! Why had this guy taken him home instead? What did he want?

A strand of dark hair dislodged itself, falling over Jayden’s eyes,

and before he could brush it away, a strong hand reached out, doing it
for him. This time Jayden blinked in confusion, and when the slender
but still strong fingers came back, gently caressing his face before
running through his hair, all he could do was look dumbly at the man
sitting at his bedside.

“You’re in my home,” he finally answered Jayden’s question, “and I

need your help.”

Jayden’s eyes widened, because what kind of help could he

possibly want from someone like him?

“The way I see it,” Blondie continued, his voice rumbling through

Jayden, sending shivers down his spine. This was just odd, because
Jayden had never reacted to a man like this before. As a matter of fact,
he had never reacted to anyone in this manner, and it sort of threw
him for a loop.

He stared at the blue eyes of his rescuer. He hadn’t been

delusional before; the color was really pretty indeed.

Huh, was he perchance dosed up on the good stuff? He blinked,

trying to gauge if he was on any medication. But despite the pretty
eyes, there was something about the guy that had the tiny hairs at the
back of Jayden’s neck standing up. He wasn’t given to flights of fancy,
but in his short life he had learned a few things. Maybe this made him
cynical or world-weary, as some might call it, but he knew a pretty
package could hide a mean and downright evil spirit underneath the
good-looking mask. And there was something else in those pretty
blue eyes: a coldness that didn’t quite match the handsome face.

Maybe it was a buried sixth sense all humans had when faced with

predators. With a slight shake of his head, Jayden dismissed those
thoughts as crazy talk. He couldn’t deny that being around his father
had always made him feel wary, and even though so far the stranger
had done nothing but rescue him, the alarm bells in his head were
still going off.

He didn’t like to think of himself as a rabbit and the stranger as the

dog chasing him, but if the shoe fit…. Because this was exactly what
he felt like: like a small hapless rabbit staring up at a dog that was
getting ready to pounce.

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Maybe he had a

concussion? That would surely explain why he was acting like a
lunatic.

So with a huff, Jayden narrowed his eyes, willing Blondie to keep on

going.

“You owe me,” Blondie continued. “I rescued you. You’re in my

debt.”

Jayden couldn’t deny being in his debt, but he also resented the

calculating way he was talking about having saved his life. Was this a
setup of some sort? Had his rescuer been planning the whole thing
all along?

He discarded the idea almost instantly, but he still didn’t like the

way this stranger was claiming the favor Jayden owed him.

What happened to a simple thank you? he wondered.

He owed Blondie his life, so yes, he was going to help him, but this

was no way to go about it. It simply wasn’t polite, and he resented
how Blondie assumed he would get his way without even being
courteous about it.

“I apologize,” the stranger continued, his voice slightly stilted, but

the deep rumble still did funny things to Jayden’s stomach, causing it
to quiver and somersault. The pleasure and attraction from before
were taking a back seat in the face of his rising anger. Who did he
think he was?

For some reason, Blondie aborted the sentence, but the somewhat

loaded silence didn’t last for long. When he spoke again, his voice
vibrated through Jayden’s entire body, sending little jolts of pleasure
mixed with anger through his veins, making him quite uncomfortable.
Maybe sitting in bed in his birthday suit while Blondie was dressed in
neat jeans and a shirt had something to do with it as well. He wasn’t
ashamed of his body—he couldn’t well afford such funny notions, not
when he was selling what little goods he had—but he hated feeling
inferior because of it.

“I apologize for my uncle and his strange sense of fun. You can be

assured I have dealt with him.” After a short pause, and in a more
menacing tone of voice—one that had Jayden shivering slightly—he
added, “And I took care of his friend as well.”

Jayden blinked; this information needed a moment to be

processed. The attacker wasn’t just some random man? He was the
blond man’s uncle? He gulped. What if the uncle was the same man
who had been attacking other young men in the area? He had no
proof, of course, but thinking back and comparing what little he had

heard through the grapevine and read in the papers, it did seem as if
the attack on him had been similar to all the others.

And the cold way his rescuer was talking about it made him

uneasy.

“Are you in any pain?” Blondie changed the topic, and Jayden shook

his head before nodding slowly. He wasn’t in as much pain as he
thought getting stabbed would warrant, but he was in some
discomfort, and somehow lying to the scary man by his side didn’t
seem like such a good idea.

“I’ve had my doctor look you over,” he continued in his sexy voice.

Jayden’s toes curled as tiny sparks of pleasure erupted from his

groin. It wasn’t fair! Lamenting inside his head wasn’t something he
usually did, but somehow he couldn’t seem to help himself. How did
this guy manage to have him tingling all over simply by talking? If he
ever truly touched him, Jayden’s world would probably shatter on
impact. How could one man have that much power? A soft whine
escaped his lips, but he managed to abort the sound before Blondie
could pick up on it.

Of course the object of Jayden’s lust wasn’t even aware what was

happening, so while Jayden was fighting with himself, he simply kept
on talking.

“Thankfully you were only grazed. There might not even be a scar

later on. You’ve got a few stitches, though, to avoid you accidentally
tearing it further open. They should dissolve in a few days.”

There was something fundamentally wrong when discussing

nearly getting sliced in half only merited a casual tone, no hint of any
kind of panic anywhere. What kind of family was this?

The uncle thought cutting people open was a good way to spend

his time, and his nephew had a doctor on call who apparently had no
qualms about looking after a complete stranger, no questions asked.
What had he gotten himself into?

The thought alone was nearly enough to have him scrambling out

of bed, running for the hills, but then his self-preservation instinct
kicked in. So he stayed put, deciding to play this by the ears. Still, he
couldn’t help himself; the wariness in his eyes was there for everyone
to see. Despite his lax posture, his shoulders were throbbing, knotted
tightly with tension, and if he had thought he could do it without being
detected, his fingers would have been drumming a nervous rhythm
on the mattress.

“There’s some good pain meds on the nightstand. Take one every

few hours but no more than four,” Blondie instructed, eyes never
leaving Jayden’s face until he nodded.

Showing weakness before a predator was a sure way to end up

eaten, and while the reference to Animal Planet was probably flawed,
Jayden was still convinced the analogy was sound. Even when his
father had proceeded to beat the prettiness out of him, Jayden had
always held his head high, refusing to let how much he was hurting
on the inside show. He couldn’t be sure, of course, but there was
something about Blondie’s mannerisms that told him to tread
cautiously.

His fingers twitched while he risked a quick glance toward the pills.

He would love one right now, but even though he had never learned
how to get used to pain, he had gotten good at pushing it aside until
he could afford to curl up in a tight ball, bemoaning his existence. With
all of that in mind, Jayden controlled his impulses, keeping a level eye
on Blondie’s, not breaking contact at all.

Blue eyes stared back at him, and Jayden was once again

confounded by how someone could look so nice, so harmless, even,
while his entire demeanor clearly screamed danger.

“You’re probably used to getting hurt,” the smooth voice continued,

“but I still want to apologize again for my uncle’s actions.”

“Uhm,” was Jayden’s only answer, while he narrowed his eyes to

stare at the man.

Contrary to popular belief, not every customer beat up the guy he

was using to have a good time. It was an awkward although usually
mutually beneficial arrangement, and while yes, there were times
when it could get violent, it wasn’t as if that was the norm. And Jayden
resented the casual way the man was talking about it, as if this had
been a strange career choice of sorts!

The former stirring in his loins was replaced by a heat of different

kind. He opened his mouth to give Blondie a piece of his mind when
suddenly a finger was placed over his lips to shush him.

The gesture, something you would do with an errant child, had him

reeling with anger, but instead of biting the offending digit, his tongue
darted out, licking it. Jayden froze midlick and the world seemed to
stop.

He ducked, expecting to be hit over the head when Blondie took his

finger back, but nothing happened. He peeked up through lowered
lashes. Apparently his crazy actions hadn’t been noted at all!

While his own heart was hammering inside his chest, Blondie

seemed to be totally unmoved, as if nothing untoward had happened
at all.

Jayden sniffed, feeling slightly insulted. He might not be much to

look at, but surely having one’s finger licked deserved some kind of
reaction.

His eyes widened a fraction as he realized how crazy he sounded.

One moment he was lusting after the guy, then he was in the throes
of nearly mind-numbing anger, and then he was offended when he
wasn’t noticed at all.

Make up your mind, Jayden!

“Now, focus, please.” Blondie was back to being demanding.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Jayden,” Jayden stuttered, voice strangely weak. “Jayden Collins.”

“Well, Jayden,” the still nameless man drawled, “It’s a pleasure.”

Pleasure?

Pleasure? Jayden was practically shrieking the word inside his

head, because while this had certainly been interesting and eventful,
he wouldn’t call it a pleasure!

“I’m Matt Archer, and you’re going to be my boyfriend for the next few

weeks.”

Jayden’s mouth fell open. He slowly started inching backward,

looking for a way to escape. Maybe Matt was nuts?

“Come again?” he asked instead, stopping all his movements

when he realized he probably wouldn’t get very far if he ran screaming
and butt naked out of the room. Caution, yes—he needed to proceed
with caution.

Matt, Blondie’s name was Matt, and what a relief it was to finally

have a name to go with the gorgeous face. The last name did ring a
bell as well, sounding oddly familiar, but before Jayden could follow
his thoughts, Matt interrupted him by answering his question.

“For the next few weeks I’ll need you to pretend to be my boyfriend,”

Matt said in the same tone of voice someone would use to comment
on the weather. Oh what a lovely day we have today. Don’t you think
so? Same flat intonation, same expression on his face. Surely the
man couldn’t have just asked him to play his partner for the new few
weeks. Things like that only happened in the movies or to other
people and most certainly not to him.

The silence grew as Jayden simply stared at Matt as if he had

grown two heads or sprouted horns.

“I’ll sweeten the deal,” Matt continued. “I don’t expect you to stay

without just because you owe me….” His voice trailed off for a
moment before he got to the point. “My uncle told me how much you
were charging him, so I’ll pay you the same amount on a hourly basis
for as long as your services will be required.”

Jayden’s mouth dropped open as the world shook before falling

back into place. He gulped; had he heard right?

“Do I need to repeat myself?”

“Uhm,” Jayden hedged, offering up a weak, “no?”

“Do you accept the offer, then?”

When Jayden remained speechless, Matt’s tone turned even

frostier, and he demanded, “I’ll need a clear yes or no from you.”

“Of course.” Jayden cleared his throat, throwing caution to the wind.

Who needed to play it safe anyway when faced with this much
money? And weeks… the man was talking about weeks! The money
he would make would make all of Jayden’s dreams come true and
finally enable him to leave the city behind and start anew. Hell yes, he
was doing this! “The answer is yes, I’ll do it.”

A somewhat more relaxed look settled over Matt once Jayden had

given him his answer. “All right then.” Matt slowly got up. “You better
spend the rest of the day resting. I’ll get someone to send you up your
meals. Tomorrow I want you to be ready at eight sharp. I’ll take you
shopping.”

Shopping—that reminded Jayden of one fundamental fact. Where

were his clothes? “Uhm… Matt?” he asked carefully. “Where are my
clothes?”

“I burnt them,” was his answer. “They were completely destroyed.”

Jayden’s gaze flickered to his naked chest, and he worried his

lower lip before he looked up again, catching Matt’s hungry gaze on
him.

“Right….” Matt drew out the world, scratching his chin, clearly

recognizing the problem they were facing. “I’ll get you some of my old
clothes. We’re not the same size, but they’ll do in a pinch.”

“Sure,” Jayden agreed easily, not seeing any other solution since

the blasted man had destroyed his clothes. Probably getting rid of the
evidence, he thought suspiciously.

“All right,” Matt said almost hastily, making a beeline for the door.

Apparently now that they had settled their little arrangement, he
couldn’t wait to leave.

Just before his hand reached for the doorknob, Matt turned again,

his blue gaze settling on Jayden. For a short moment the two stared
at each other, caught in each other’s stare, before Matt forcefully broke
the connection, hurrying out of the room.

All the tension ebbed out of Jayden’s body; he was finally alone. His

mind swirled over what had just happened, and the aborted thought
from before rose back to the surface.

Archer, Matt Archer.

Jayden repeated the name over and over in his head.

Why was the bloody name so familiar?

Then it came to him like a new dawn on a clear morning. The name

was so familiar because the Archers were what people liked to call
old money. Jayden wasn’t one to follow the gossip rags—he had
more important things to do with his life and his money—but he
couldn’t help but notice the headlines here and there, and Matt Archer
was a much-visited topic.

Supposedly Matt was a spoiled rich kid, always out having fun

showing off his latest sports car and throwing money in the wind as if
it grew on trees. The public image, though, didn’t quite match up with
the man Jayden had met. Public Matt seemed to be carefree, without
any thought in head, while Actual Matt had hidden layers. Despite his
angelic appearance, what with the baby-blue eyes, blond hair, and
nearly perfect body, there was a hint of violence shimmering
underneath the surface, waiting for the right moment to break free.
Honestly, Jayden didn’t want to be in the vicinity when Volcano Matt
finally erupted.

Well, in any case, Jayden concluded, Mr. Rich, Handsome, and

Slightly Unhinged was going to pay him well for next to nothing,
because pretending to be Matt’s boyfriend wasn’t going to be any
hardship. Hell, if he wanted to take things literally and ask for Jayden
to service him, then for once, he would actually fall gladly on his
knees. Still, a little bit of caution was a good idea.

Having settled the issue in his mind, Jayden closed his eyes.

Getting some rest would probably do wonders for him.

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

When

Jayden woke up again, it was early afternoon, and just as

Matt had promised, someone had brought some sweats and a T-shirt
for him to wear. There were also some jeans and a long-sleeved
shirt, and after a closer inspection, he found his own boots under the
chair.

His boots might not be good or up to Matt’s standards, but they

were comfortable, and Jayden was glad they hadn’t been thrown out
as well. It was hard breaking in new shoes, especially comfortable
ones.

There was a tray with food sitting on the nearby table, and that was

the only reason why he slowly rose, rolling to his side and sitting up.
He put a hand on the stitches on his side, but there wasn’t much
pain. He could feel them pulling every time he moved or breathed too
deeply, and yes, there was some discomfort there, but the pain
wasn’t enough to warrant any special consideration.

His toes landed on the plush carpet, and he experimentally wiggled

them a little bit. Carpets in his experience were usually dirty and best
not to be stepped on with bare feet, but this one looked clean enough,
so he was willing to risk life and limb. He hadn’t known a carpet could
be this cozy, and after smiling at it for a few seconds, he slowly got up.

He pulled on the sweats and ignored the T-shirt.

The tray held a few sandwiches, bottled water, and some tea that

had gone cold. He wasn’t too fond of tea anyway, so he wasn’t too
bothered by it. He curled up in the easy chair, taking quick bites, and
after a few minutes, the first sandwich was gone.

He was halfway done with the second one when he saw the phone

on the nightstand.

He chewed his lower lip with worry, and then he looked left and

right, almost expecting someone to dart out of thin air and tell him he
wasn’t allowed to make a phone call.

He rubbed his forehead, brushing some dark strands of hair out of

his face. Well, if Matt didn’t want him to use the phone, then he should
have disconnected it. With that in mind, he got up and quickly dialed
Danny’s number.

Jayden didn’t own a phone himself because it was a luxury he

couldn’t afford, and frankly, there wasn’t anyone who would call him or
whom he should stay in contact with anyway. He didn’t have anyone.
Well, Danny, maybe.

Danny, though, owned a phone, and Jayden had made sure he

memorized his number for emergencies. Having found a job that paid
well wasn’t an emergency per se, but Danny would be worried if
Jayden didn’t show up.

“Yes?” Danny’s gruff answer made Jayden smile.

“It’s me,” he said, and after a moment of rolling his eyes at himself,

he added, “Jayden.”

“Jay!” Danny’s voice changed; he sounded happy now, with a hint of

worry mixed in. “I got worried, man, when you didn’t come home this
morning.”

“Danny….”

And before he could continue, Danny started, “Word on the street is

someone got offed last night in a motel. There was a shitload of
blood, and the cops are everywhere.”

“I know,” Jayden said quietly, flashing back to the two men

cornering him, attacking him, and for a moment, pain flared up in his

side, reminding him vividly of the events. If Matt hadn’t shown up like
some sort of dark angel, the rumors about someone dying would
definitely be true.

He did have the traits of an angel, Jayden mused, blond and pale.

The only thing missing was a halo, but if Jayden spun this further,
Matt could be a fallen angel, and then obviously he wouldn’t have a
halo any more. He snorted at his own folly.

“Are you hurt?” Danny’s voice took on an edge, and Jayden quickly

started talking, filling his friend in on what had happened.

After he was done, there was a moment of silence before Danny

spoke again. “You sure you want to do this?” he said slowly, and
Jayden nodded before he could stop himself.

Since Danny couldn’t see him, he added for his friend’s benefit,

“You know I need the money, Danny. And he is offering a lot of it.”

“I know,” his friend said quietly. Danny was aware of Jayden’s

plans, and he had been nothing but supportive of him. Jayden had
never understood why someone like Danny wouldn’t want to get out of
this life, but every time he had brought it up, his friend had simply said
it was too late for him. Jayden had no idea what he meant by that, but
he had gotten the hint and not pressed any further.

“It’s just,” Danny continued, “if an offer sounds this good—”

“I know,” Jayden cut him off. “I’m not stupid, but I owe him my life. I

can’t walk away from this.”

“Be careful, then.” Danny went into mother hen mode, making the

switch from friend to protector with practiced ease. “And if anything
funny happens, and I mean anything,” he said, putting extra
emphasis on the word, “you call me and I’ll come get you out.”

“Yes, Danny,” Jayden said simply—there wasn’t anything else left

for him to say. His heart warmed, though, at the thought that there
was at least one person out there who was worried about him, even
if, by most definitions, Danny was street scum and not worth a penny.

The line disconnected abruptly. Danny wasn’t one for pleasantries,

and while some might have considered hanging up to be simply
rude, Jayden only smiled. He was used to Danny and his sometimes
crass manners. Underneath his gruff comments and his I don’t give a
shit attitude, there was a heart of gold, and Danny’s worry about him
was all the proof he needed. If others couldn’t see the goodness
underneath Danny’s abrasive behavior, well, that was their loss and
not Jayden’s problem.

The rest of the day was spent lying in the chair or in bed, watching

TV and napping.

He only took a quick shower, mindful of the stitches, and he was

glad for the en suite bathroom, because he wasn’t ready to meet
anyone else who lived in this house just yet. Tomorrow would come
soon enough, and then he would be ready to face reality once more.

But this day was his alone, to hide and pretend he had no worries,

and frankly, it wasn’t hard, considering how pleasant the room was.
Some might have called his ability to live inside his head avoiding
reality, but to him, it was a sanctuary. Staring out into the lush garden
provided him with ample sport for his mind, giving him the chance to
catalog lots of varying colors, shapes, and sizes for future use. He
was an artist; drawing was in his blood, and even when he didn’t
bring life to the canvas, he was still at it in his head. Most of his
pictures would never see the light of day because making art actually
required money—canvas, ink, etc. weren’t cheap—but lost in his
mind, he could do whatever he wanted. Eventually he moved from the
chair back to the bed, snuggling into the exquisite cover before falling
asleep. Who cared if he took his orders to rest up quite seriously?

Morning dawned way too quickly, but despite his aversion to being

up at that ungodly hour, he was ready to go as ordered at eight sharp.
Somewhere in the house a grandfather clock chimed, and a few
seconds later, there was a knock on his door.

“Come in.”

“Great.” Matt didn’t waste any time with pleasantries, but the

pleased look on his face did wonders for Jayden’s grumpy morning
mood. “Let’s get going, then.” He ushered his new fake boyfriend out
of the room, down a dark hallway, and down an impressive flight of
stairs. Jayden barely had the time to look around before Matt more or
less shoved him out the main door. For a moment the sunlight was
blinding. He raised a hand as shield, blinking rapidly. When he was
able to see clearly again, Matt was already standing next to the huge
black limousine, holding open a door.

The soft rays of the sun made Matt’s hair gleam golden, taking

Jayden’s breath away. He forced his mouth shut, checked if he was
drooling, and only then did he walk down the remaining few steps.

“Thank you,” he said to Matt when he got into the car. His mother

might have died young, but she had still raised him right. And despite
Matt’s boorish tendencies, Jayden was convinced he appreciated his
efforts at manners.

With a soft rumble, the car started, and Jayden comfortably leaned

back into his leather seat. No one said a word during the drive, but the
silence wasn’t awkward at all. Normally only people who had known
each other for years managed to sit quietly together without any
tension at all, but for some reason, Matt and Jayden were able to do it.

“We’re here.”

Matt’s words startled Jayden out of his thoughts. He quickly

scrambled after his fake boyfriend, not wanting to be left behind.

Whenever he needed clothes, Jayden either got them secondhand

or in one of the cheap shops close to his and Danny’s place. He had
been in this neighborhood before, but all the shops here had always
been out of his league.

Jayden had only taken one step onto the sidewalk when Matt

surprised him by taking his hand, holding it tight. He sent a
reassuring smile toward Jayden, which he somewhat shakily
returned. He normally wouldn’t say he had self-esteem issues, but in
this place, he had to resist the urge to find a hole and hide. He didn’t
belong here and he never would.

Once Matt had chosen a store, he flagged down a shop assistant,

and moments later they were ushered away from the well-dressed
crowd into a private area.

“Wait here,” Matt ordered the moment he had pushed Jayden into a

plush chair, gesturing for the assistant to follow. And since she was a
smart woman, she followed the money.

A good while later, Matt returned with several men and women,

each of whom was carrying a mountain of clothes.

“I want you to try them all on.”

“All of them?” Jayden gasped, staring at the clothes as if he couldn’t

fathom managing such a task.

“All of them,” Matt confirmed. “Go on,” he insisted, making a

shooing gesture with his hands.

Jayden’s answer was to blink once, twice, before grabbing the first

few pieces and heading toward the dressing room.

A good few hours passed before Jayden had modeled everything to

Matt’s satisfaction. He drew the line, though, at one thing.

“No,” he said stubbornly, repeating what he had just said.

“No?”

“Is there an echo in the room?” Jayden asked cheekily, tilting his

head sideways.

“I’m paying for all of this, right?” Matt countered, and of course

Jayden could only nod. “There you have it,” he continued smugly. “I
want to see you in the underwear. Now.”

Jayden grumbled under his breath, but he did as he was told,

snatching up the garments and hurrying back to the dressing room.

When he was done, he left his clothes in a heap on the floor and

stepped out into the light on bare feet. “Satisfied now?” he
challenged, holding his head high, making eye contact to show he
wasn’t intimidated at all.

“Oh yes,” Matt drawled, leaning back in his chair, making a show of

adjusting his clothes before giving him a big leer.

“Oh for the love of…,” Jayden grumbled before he headed back

inside to change once more.

This pattern repeated quite a few times until Jayden had gone

through every single pair of potential new underwear, and when he
was done, his cock was straining and passion was singing in his
veins. From the way Matt’s posture had changed from casual to tense
over the last few minutes, he knew he wasn’t alone. Their attraction
was clearly mutual, and maybe soon, Matt would act on it.

Jayden would be willing, of course, but not because he had been

paid for. For once, he actually wanted to have sex with a man, and if

Matt asked, he would gladly fall on his knees.

Eventually, though, they were finally done and the hellish morning

was over. Dressed in designer jeans, new boots, and a way-too-
clingy shirt, Jayden followed Matt to the till. He hummed, blocking his
ears with his hands when the sum was mentioned, because he
honestly didn’t want to know what kind of fortune Matt was leaving
behind in this place.

“You can keep the clothes when we’re done,” Matt offered out of the

blue after giving out his address for the delivery. Of course the store
would deliver to the house because someone like Matt couldn’t
possibly be asked to walk out with actual shopping bags.

“What?” Jayden asked, not believing his ears.

“I said,” Matt repeated, voice slightly strained because apparently

he didn’t like to say the same things twice, “when we’re done, you can
keep the clothes.”

“Thank you!”

“You’re welcome.”

“Let’s get some lunch, shall we?” Matt asked quite cheerfully,

causing Jayden to smile wildly in return.

“I could eat,” he confessed, ducking his head shyly for a moment.

A hand came out of nowhere, ruffling his dark hair, and for the first

time, when Jayden looked up, he found Matt returning his smile.

“You look good,” Matt simply said.

Jayden spluttered, unsure what to say, so he merely sent him a

smile as an answer. His dimples were showing, and for a moment,

the heat in Matt’s blue eyes could have set a flame alight, if such a
thing were possible. There might or might not have been a
possessive growl coming from Matt, but Jayden paid it no heed. Right
now Matt had every right to be possessive, because as far as the
world was concerned, they were in love.

A thank-you was on Jayden’s lips, but the words caught in his throat

when Matt placed a quick kiss on his lips. Of their own volition, his
fingers rose, touching his tingling lips. Had that just happened?

When he came back to himself, Matt was already heading outside

toward their waiting limo. Jayden hurried after him, rushing into the
car and taking his seat next to Matt. The leather welcomed him back
like a long-lost lover. A sigh escaped his lips, and his eyes
momentarily closed. No wonder rich people were so spoiled.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“There’s this new trendy place over at Harrison Boulevard,” Matt

answered.

“Ah,” Jayden agreed as if he knew what Matt was talking about. A

thought occurred to him. “How are we going to explain my sudden
appearance in your life?”

“Keep it simple,” Matt answered. “Don’t offer any explanation. Just

present people with the facts.”

The plan was so simple it might actually work. Still, he would feel

better if something with a little bit more backbone were in play, but
then again, was it really his problem? If Matt was fine with this
skeleton of a plan, then so was he.

Eventually, they pulled into a parking lot. Jayden was thankful it was

a nice sunny day as it gave him the excuse to put on his brand-new
shades. His eyes could give away too much, and he figured staring

like a wide-eyed country bumpkin at everything wouldn’t help him play
his role convincingly at all.

The other cars in the parking lot were shiny and probably expensive

too. When they walked up to the front door of Marina’s Heaven, Matt’s
chosen lunch place, a hostess greeted them with a big smile.

Matt only nodded in greeting, and Jayden followed his lead.

Matt’s demeanor was pleasant, friendly even, but even though they

had just met, Jayden could tell the smile never reached his eyes. Matt
was guarded all the time, and maybe it took someone like Jayden,
someone who had faced abuse and pain up close, to recognize
coping mechanisms when he saw them. Something dark and ugly
was twisting Matt up inside, and maybe, if the blond let him, Jayden
could offer some help. Or maybe not.

What made Jayden think Matt was going to open up to him of all

people? Surely the man had friends and family who would be much
better suited to this task than a random stranger.

How no one else had spotted the pain lurking beneath the laughing

face was beyond him, but then maybe Matt was just good at
pretending not to have a care in the world. Or, a more sobering
thought, maybe Matt actually didn’t have anyone in his life who cared
enough to try and look beneath the pretty surface.

Even though the restaurant was clearly busy, the hostess didn’t

even blink an eye when Matt requested a table on the veranda, and
moments later they were led outside. Jayden kept his head low,
wondering if the hostess had displaced other people in order to get
them a table. Matt’s callous attitude was grating, but then again,
money talked, and maybe he simply didn’t know any better.

The sunshine was welcome after the rainy days of recent weeks,

but when they sat down, Jayden was glad for the sunscreens that

allowed for some shade.

“We’ll have two beers and the cheeseburger with extra fries.” Matt’s

voice broke through his lazy thoughts.

Jayden pushed his glasses down, peeking over the rim and staring

at the man.

Matt simply smiled at him, as if he hadn’t just ordered Jayden’s

meal without consulting him first, and he had to bite his tongue to
stop himself from telling him off. He might have been poor, but he
most certainly was able to order for himself! The audacity of the man
to assume he knew what Jayden wanted! That Jayden had actually
wanted to order the same thing was of no consequence at all.
Principle was at stake here!

“And bring us some extra onions,” Matt added, “on the side.”

Matt put the menu down and nodded when the waitress took it

away. “You like burgers, right?”

Now he asked?

Jayden glared, his eyes showing over the rim of his glasses, but

with a huff, he pushed his glasses back up his nose.

Matt snorted. So, the man wasn’t as oblivious as he liked to

pretend.

Jayden reached out to pour himself some water when a sudden

sharp pain in his side had him hissing. His hand snapped back and
he gently held his side, as if putting his fingers on it would magically
make the pain go away.

“Here,” Matt said, pulling something out his pocket. “I’ve got some

painkillers for you”

Jayden eyed them, feeling tempted, but then he shook his head.

“Nah,” he said slowly, with an easy drawl. “I just forgot to move
carefully. I’ll be fine in a second.”

Matt gave him a long, lingering look, but in the end he pocketed the

pills. “If you change your mind…,” he offered.

Jayden sent him a soft smile. “Thanks.”

He couldn’t recall the last person, apart from Danny, who had taken

a moment to consider Jayden’s welfare, and even though they were
only pretend boyfriends, it still warmed his heart to know that Matt
cared just a little bit.

The waitress returned, and with a flirty smile directed at Matt, she

placed the two beers on the table. “If you need anything else, just let
me know. The food should be with you shortly.”

She didn’t wait for an answer, and she had been right in doing so,

since Matt only grunted in response, lifting the beer up to his lips
almost instantly.

Jayden congratulated himself on not having taken the pills,

because while you were sitting in the sun, nothing tasted better than a
cold beer, and if he had taken those meds, he would’ve had to let the
drink go to waste. He knew some people didn’t mind mixing alcohol
with pills, but he liked to be cautious. If a warning label cautioned you
about something, then there was probably a good reason for it.

Even though they had already discussed the topic, Jayden felt it

necessary to bringing it up again. “You sure you don’t want to agree
on some backstory?” His voice was wary, since he was mindful of
angering the blond, but he was convinced they couldn’t just move
ahead with nothing. Maybe he should drop the subject because this
was Matt’s problem and not his, but he couldn’t quite ignore the

nagging feeling in the back of his mind. He couldn’t let it rest. So he
brought it up again.

“Just smile like you do, flutter your eyelashes, and play stupid; I’m

sure you can manage,” Matt answered.

This time, Jayden reacted before his common sense could

intervene. He shoved the beer away, liquid sloshing over the table,
and his sunglasses hit the table with a loud thump. “I’m not some
idiot who you can order around,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “I
owe you my life, but that doesn’t give you the right to treat me like shit.”

Matt blinked, his body moving away slightly, as though he were

surprised by Jayden’s outburst. “I do pay you…,” he said tentatively,
almost unsure how Jayden was going to react next.

A thrill of something foreign jolted through Jayden. Could it be he

liked keeping Matt on his toes? Jayden’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
“Paying me doesn’t give you the right to insult me.”

Thankfully, he had been aware enough to keep his voice low, and

when Matt leaned forward, blue eyes sparkling for once instead of
shining ice-cold, Jayden almost scooted backward, shocked by the
sudden change.

“You’re feisty,” Matt drawled. He definitely seemed to appreciate

Jayden’s outburst. “I like it. It’s good you have a temper. No one would
believe I would fall in love with someone who has no backbone.”

The comment left Jayden staring, unsure how to respond. Had he

just gotten insulted or complimented?

“Look,” Matt surprised him by saying, “I’m sorry if I was out of line. If

it makes you happy, we can say something like this.”

Jayden actually eagerly leaned forward, and after giving him a funny

look, Matt did the same.

“We could say we met a few months ago at some random party. We

kept in touch and I invited you to visit. We fell in love, the end.”

“Not very romantic, is it?” Jayden complained, but he did it with a

smile, which Matt returned.

“Most stories aren’t romantic; I leave such nonsense to fairy tales.”

Matt had a point there, so Jayden simply nodded, agreeing with

him. Most fairy tales tended to give him nightmares anyway. Just
consider the one where a wolf ate the grandma to get to the little girl!
Or the one where some poor princess was locked in a tower! Or
where… well, the list went on, and despite their reputation, fairy tales
were grimmer than some modern horror stories Jayden had come
across.

Matt was still a conceited ass used to getting what he wanted, but

this short moment had proved he wasn’t totally a lost cause.
Apparently, some decent human behavior and compassion had to be
beaten into him, and with a sigh, Jayden wondered why this task
seemed to have fallen on him—the fake boyfriend.

Jayden took a long sip of his beer again because, really, what else

could he do? Matt was so hard to read; one moment he appeared to
be nice and easygoing, and the next there was this dangerous glint in
his eyes telling Jayden he was no stranger to violence and that he
was used to getting his way.

And there was the other side of him, the one that seemed to always

shimmer underneath the calm, smiling exterior. Jayden was pretty
sure this hidden part wasn’t something his overactive imagination
had cooked up. He wondered what other sides there were to Matt
Archer and if there was anyone out there who knew them all.

After the casual meal, which, despite the strained beginning,

Jayden had actually enjoyed, they went for a walk, and even though
they hardly talked about anything, it was nice to be able to share a
comfortable silence with someone who, for the moment, wanted
nothing but his presence.

When they got back to the mansion, Jayden excused himself and

went back to his room. There had been no grand announcement of
any sort, but since no one had said any differently, he figured the
room he had woken up in would be the one he was going to be using
for the duration of his stay.

At first glance, nothing seemed to be different, apart from the fact

that someone had actually turned down the bed and put some
chocolates on his pillow. Did people really live like this? Well,
apparently they did!

He bit his lower lip, wondering if his new clothes had already

arrived. He wanted to change into something more comfortable for
the night, and while he didn’t object to sleeping in the nude, for some
reason he didn’t feel at ease doing so right now.

He caught sight of something peeking out of a drawer, so he made

his way over, and when he opened it, his mouth fell open. He opened
another, and then he opened the doors to the closet, and the picture
never changed: someone had already unpacked and sorted all his
new belongings!

He rifled through them until he found some new underwear and

loose sweatpants, and he bundled them up, took a towel from the
rack, and headed into his bathroom.

Having a bathroom all to himself was new, and having such a

grand place was even better.

There was a tub, a separate shower stall, and so many fluffy towels

he could completely wrap himself up in them if he wanted to. Soap,
shower gels, and shampoo were all lined up for him, and someone
had even brought him a toothbrush!

He smiled, eagerly looking at everything. He didn’t allow any dark

thoughts to surface, like acknowledging that this hadn’t been done
specifically for him; this had been someone’s job, but did it really
matter? It made him feel welcome, it made him smile, and he made a
point of taking his pleasures where he could find them, because
most of his life, he rarely had a chance to.

Telling himself there were always people who had it worse than

him helped on some days, but it didn’t change the reality of what he
did and where he lived.

He shed his clothes, letting them fall to the floor, and on naked feet

he padded over to the shower. He was just about to enter when his
eyes flickered to the tub. A considering look flashed across his face.

Shower or bath… hmm….

He was torn; on one hand, he enjoyed a good shower, but on the

other, he couldn’t remember the last time he had been able to take a
hot bath, and with this thought in his mind, the decision was made.

Who knew what tomorrow would bring?

He quickly turned on the faucet, checking the temperature, and then

he settled in to wait until the tub was filled. He impatiently tapped his
foot until the water was high enough for him to sink into it.

Sighing, he slowly submerged himself. Only then did it occur to him

that maybe bathing with his stitches was a bad idea.

He paused, debating whether he should get up again, but then he

shook his head, deciding the damage had already been done, so he

might just as well stay put and enjoy it. He refrained from adding
some bath salts, though, because he didn’t know if they would do
more harm than good.

Jayden closed his eyes, willing himself to relax, and while at first it

took a conscious effort, soon his arms and legs went limp with
pleasure. The hot water was soothing his muscles, calming aches
and pains he hadn’t even been aware of having. Slowly, he let his
fingers trail over his chest, running them lower until he reached his
cock.

Masturbating was something every guy did on a regular basis, but it

had been a while since he had been able to fully enjoy it. In the
shower at home, he had always been in a hurry because there was
always the chance of someone walking in on him. Yes, it might sound
odd for someone like him to be ashamed of jerking off, but he
couldn’t help drawing a line between being naked professionally and
being naked in private. One thing he did for money, to survive; the
other was for his own enjoyment.

He wrapped his slender fingers around his cock, allowing the water

to lubricate the slide of his hand. His cock slowly rose to the
occasion, and even though he wanted to fuck his hand, he was still
too self-conscious to go for it. His side wasn’t aching at the moment,
but maybe thrusting upward at an odd angle might not be a good
thing.

It didn’t matter; he got enough friction by simply pulling at his cock,

his fingers scraping over the head while his other hand was digging
lower, gently touching his balls. His ass got enough action most days
that he hardly ever felt the need to go there, and it was the same
today.

The flutters in his stomach got more intense, his breathing turned

ragged, and the steam rising from the water felt extra hot, at least in
his mind. The lust currently coursing through his body was surely
enough to set anything on fire.

“Argh!” he groaned, somewhere between a hoarse scream and a

yelp, and he came seconds later. He pumped his cock until he was
spent, and when he slumped backward, he slowly slid down, only
realizing what was happening when he swallowed some water.

He spluttered, laughing at himself, and steadied himself on the

side, slowly rising to his feet. Water was cascading down his body,
rivulets were pooling in places before continuing their descent, and
he laughed freely as he shook his head like a wet dog. Dark strands
slapped across his face and water was spraying left and right, but he
didn’t care. He chuckled happily. He had one foot on the tiled floor
when a voice came out of nowhere.

“I wanted to ask you if you were up to watching the game.”
Visions of splitting his head open flashed through his mind, but

thankfully, a strong hand grabbed his wrist before they could become
reality. Jolts of electricity shot through him and his mind, unhelpfully,
was saying, “You’ve come home.”

He gasped, swallowing hard, and this time his rapidly beating heart

wasn’t due to arousal but more to a mix of fear and being startled.

“You sure are beautiful.” Matt’s voice wasn’t more than a whisper,

and Jayden was still standing there, his hand caught in Matt’s strong
grip, when the man reached out, allowing his fingers to trail in a
leisurely fashion down Jayden’s smooth chest.

Jayden blinked, all thoughts fleeing his brain, and his mouth hung

open, waiting for a kiss that never came.

Matt suddenly pulled back as if he had been bitten, putting a few

meters of safe distance between them. His blue eyes were averted,
and Jayden frowned. Was there a faint blush on the man’s face?

“So?” Matt said again, “The game? Do you want to watch it?”
Jayden wasn’t able to provide an answer just now, so Matt nodded

to himself, retreating further. “Well, I’ll just wait… in the… uhm…
bedroom. Take your time….”

The bathroom door closed behind him, and Jayden couldn’t help

but wonder what had just happened.

He hadn’t imagined the desire in Matt’s eyes, or the longing, and he

was even within his rights to take what he wanted! It would’ve been
good between them, Jayden was sure of it, but despite what they both
wanted, the infuriating man had retreated!

It made no sense. Jayden shivered, a clear reminder of his still very

wet state. Maybe he should see about getting dry, right? Unraveling
the mystery that was Matt Archer could wait a bit.

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

“

The

game sounds lovely,” Jayden said when he exited the

bathroom, steam following him out. He was glad he had taken the
sweatpants in with him, because at least now he was only partially
naked.

Matt, too, had dressed down. He wore jeans with holes in them, a

simple white T-shirt, and had bare feet. He looked artlessly sexy,
especially with the tousled blond hair still gleaming from the shower.

Jayden even noticed a few droplets of water trailing down the white

T-shirt, and he unconsciously licked his lips, wondering what it would
be like to get a taste.

“I need to check your stitches first,” Matt said, his blue eyes

focusing on Jayden. “You shouldn’t have taken a bath, not yet, at
least.”

And after a shy glance, Jayden nodded, because Matt was right.

“I’m sorry,” Jayden answered, but he couldn’t find it within himself to
actually b e sorry. Apart from the fact that he’d lost a few years of his
life when Matt had scared him, the bath had been one of the best
moments for him in recent history, and he wasn’t going to be
regretting what happened any time soon.

Matt gestured for Jayden to lie down on the bed. Lots of naughty

thoughts flew through Jayden’s head, but he didn’t act on any of them.
He imagined spreading his legs, pulling his pants down to expose
himself, and Matt looking at him before settling down between
Jayden’s legs and taking his cock in his mouth.

Yes, he would definitely like that!

Instead, Matt pulled a first aid kit out of the nightstand, and if Jayden

looked a bit wide-eyed at how skillfully Matt handled everything,

including checking on his stitches, he never commented on it. How a
supposedly spoiled rich boy like Matt could possibly have gotten any
experience looking after this kind of injury was beyond him, but he
couldn’t deny what he was seeing with his very own eyes.

A few grunts of pain escaped him, but no actual words were

exchanged during the entire process.

At the end, Matt put self-sticking gauze over the stitches, and when

he nodded to himself, Jayden finally asked, “So, is everything alright?”

He might have been casual about his wound before, and he still

didn’t regret the bath he had taken, but at the same time, he didn’t
want to get an infection. The knife wound hadn’t been deep, so it
would heal quickly, and there were only a few stitches to worry about,
but even he knew it didn’t take a serious wound for someone to get
complications from a nasty infection. Sometimes even a cut on the
finger could lead to unexpected consequences.

“You’re fine,” Matt said, still not looking at him while he put the

contents of the first aid kit back into the box. “Sooooo,” Matt asked,
drawing out the word, “are you still interested in watching the game?”

Jayden nodded eagerly because he couldn’t imagine a better way

to spend the evening than curled up on a good sofa with a cold beer
in his hand while watching a good game.

“Great.” There was a brief flash of an earnest, eager-to-go smile,

and Jayden returned it before Matt schooled his features once more.
“Come on, then….”

As with everything in Matt’s home, the flat screen TV was

impressive. Jayden had no clue what game they were actually going
to watch, but he didn’t say no to the popcorn or to the beer. Naturally
they made a mess of things, but Jayden wouldn’t have traded the
experience for anything else.

“Oh come on,” he whined, throwing some popcorn at the screen.

The fluffy yellow-white corn made it halfway to the TV before crashing
to the ground.

“Boooo.” Matt echoed his very sentiment, throwing some corn of his

own, and of course he had way better aim, because his flying
projectile actually reached the screen, bouncing off it before joining
Jayden’s on the ground.

Jayden pouted; this wasn’t fair. He’d like to hit the screen too!

“Don’t worry.” Matt tried to sooth his bruised ego, but he didn’t quite

manage. “Not everyone can have perfect aim like me.”

“Oh please,” Jayden huffed, turning slightly to throw some popcorn

at Matt for a change.

“Hey!” the other man protested, retaliating by emptying his entire

box, or what was left of it, over Jayden’s head.

“You… you….” Jayden was searching for the perfect word to insult

Matt with, but his brain chose that very moment to desert him,
because nothing came forward.

“Yes?” Matt prompted, clearly enjoying Jayden’s difficulty.

“You idiot,” he finally said.

“That all you can come up with?”

Jayden settled for glaring; clearly words weren’t his thing, and the

three bottles of beer he had emptied might have had something to do
with his current brain freeze.

Eventually the game ended. Jayden stretched lazily, yawning,

exposing a tantalizing strip of his smooth stomach, and when he
opened his eyes again, he found Matt’s blue orbs had zoomed in on
his face. Matt was staring at him as if he were the last morsel
standing between him and certain starvation.

It was a heady feeling to be the recipient of such a lustful stare, and

for a few seconds Jayden lost all ability to speak. His mouth hung
open, and then Matt reached for him, a hand settled at the back of his
neck, and Jayden was hauled forward into a deep kiss.

There wasn’t anything gentle or timid about it. Matt apparently liked

to do things head-on, giving them all he had, and the moment Jayden
opened his lips, Matt’s tongue slid into his hot mouth, playing,
tantalizing him, and with a grunt, Jayden returned the favor.

He tasted beer and some remnant of the nachos they had enjoyed

earlier on, as well as something uniquely Matt. In his opinion, every
person had a certain taste, a flavor, if you like, and even though he
couldn’t put a name to it, he liked Matt’s taste.

Jayden grunted, shifting closer to the man, moving his legs so he

was now straddling the still-sitting Matt. He was just about to sit down
fully, to press his rising erection into Matt’s body, when he found
himself gently shoved backward.

Jayden emitted a keening sound of protest, leaning further toward

Matt, but the push he received this time was far from gentle. He
toppled backward, and it was only by sheer luck he managed to catch
himself before he fell off the sofa. His stitches pulled uncomfortably at
his side, and this time, the grunt escaping his lips was mostly from
being in pain.

“We can’t do this,” Matt whispered, his voice hoarse, and there was

pain there too. Judging from the rather impressive dent in his jeans,
Jayden figured he must also be feeling quite uncomfortable right
about now. He could offer to take care of it for him—he didn’t mind—

but the steely gaze in Matt’s eyes stopped him.

So instead of protesting, he simply nodded. He unfolded himself

from the awkward position on the sofa and straightened his clothes. It
was a defensive tactic more than anything, and he kept his head
lowered while he nodded to Matt. “Good night, then.”

He tried to keep the hurt out of his voice, but since he was usually

quite transparent, he wasn’t so sure if he succeeded.

Matt surprised him, though, by reaching out and grabbing his hand.

“Later…,” the man said slowly, hidden meanings in his words Jayden
couldn’t translate because he lacked the necessary information. “Not
now, it isn’t time yet.”

Jayden nodded again, not sure what it meant, but did it really

matter? Matt had rejected him, and when he quickly left the room to
head back to his own, Jayden thought it was probably for his own
good that they hadn’t gotten any further. For some strange reason he
had a hard time keeping his distance from Matt. The man pulled at
him, made him feel things he hadn’t felt in years, which was
dangerous because when it came down to it, Matt didn’t actually care
about him. He doubted Matt wanted to see him come to any harm, but
this was a far cry from actual friendship or plain old love.

And Matt, despite his flaws and unpredictable nature, was

someone Jayden could fall in love with. He might even be halfway
there already, which would only spell disaster for him! There was no
point in denying there was something about Matt Archer that kept
calling to him, tugging at his very soul, and it was going to be really
hard to resist the haze that always seemed to take over his mind
whenever the man was near.

He needed to focus on a few things if he wanted to survive this job

with his sanity intact: he was here to do a job, and any signs of
affection he received from Matt were because both of them were

playing their parts.

There had been no witnesses tonight, no need for Matt to keep

pretending he cared, so why had he acted like he had before putting
the brakes on? Matt didn’t have to invite him to watch the game; they
didn’t have to laugh together, and there had been no reason for Matt
to push him aside since he was paying for Jayden’s time and body.

Jayden had been willing, eager even, and for some reason Matt

had pushed him aside. Why? The one thought kept looping around in
his head, driving him to distraction. The only good thing about this
loop was it was better than counting sheep, because in no time at all,
Jayden was fast asleep.

His steely reserve not to let Matt get to him was slowly crumbling,

and even though he knew nothing good could come of it, he probably
was already too far gone to do anything about it. Was he really so
love-starved as to fall for the first guy showing him signs of affection?

The next few days were spent in a similar fashion. Jayden woke up

early every day and there would be breakfast laid out for him in the
parlor. The next few hours he usually either walked the extensive
gardens or spent sitting in a comfortable chair on the veranda, staring
at nothing in particular. It was relaxing, and the scary thing was he
could totally get used to this kind of lifestyle. Really, who wouldn’t?

He had no idea what Matt did with his mornings, but when he came

to pick Jayden up for lunch, the guy always looked exhausted.

Days passed in a by now familiar routine until Matt announced that

there was to be a garden party later that night. In order to let the
caterers set up in peace, Matt offered to take Jayden for stroll
downtown, touring a few shops and generally just passing the time.

They were walking along yet another busy road when Jayden

suddenly stopped, his eyes glued to a small teddy bear sitting on a

shelf in one of the many children’s stores situated on this particular
street. Yearning so intense it nearly had his knees buckling overtook
him, and he managed to rescue himself from falling over by putting
his hands on the window.

He flashed back to his favorite teddy bear, the one his mother had

given him. He clearly remembered always carrying it around with him,
hugging it, and when she had passed away, he had even taken it to
the funeral with him. Thinking back, he knew he had been holding
onto it because it was the only reminder he had left of his mother, but
back then, he hadn’t realized it.

He clearly remembered the love he had felt for the animal, how he

had talked to it and how he had groomed it; taking care of it had
distracted him from the pain in his heart.

Then one day, his father had snatched the poor thing out of his

small hands, stomped on it, and thrown it out. Jayden had cried, he
had run after his father, he had even gone so far as to fall into the
trash bin in his efforts to retrieve it, but it had been in vain. All it had
gotten him was a thorough beating and a broken heart.

And now, this teddy bear looking back at him was an almost exact

copy of the one he had lost. He was years older now, nineteen years
of age, but there was still a small child inside him, and he wanted that
bear!

His gaze was fixed on the window, not wavering at all. Bombs

could’ve been dropped left and right and he wouldn’t have noticed.
Time passed until….

“Here,” Matt’s gruff voice finally managed to get his attention.

Jayden turned his head only to come face to face with his bear.

Jayden stared at the little thing, reaching for it, holding it up as if he

were afraid it was going to turn into smoke and disappear, but when

he found that after a few blinks it was still there, he carefully lifted his
head to look at Matt.

Matt looked sheepish and totally uncomfortable, but there was a

shy smile tugging at the edges of his mouth, and with a little shriek,
Jayden threw himself at Matt, hugging him as if he had just met Santa
Claus. He knew he was acting like a lunatic, but he couldn’t help it.
This was the nicest thing anyone had done for him in a long time,
probably ever, and it meant so much to him he momentarily lost all
his words.

Matt had gone completely stiff underneath him, but eventually he

relaxed marginally. Still, he didn’t return the hug, and when Jayden
pulled away, it was Matt for once who looked uncomfortable and out of
his element.

“Thank you,” Jayden said simply, and because he felt he needed to

offer some sort of explanation, he added, “It looks just like the teddy
bear my mother gave me before she died.” His voice faltered a bit
before he said again, “Thank you.”

“Uhm…,” was all Matt said, awkwardly patting him on his back

before continuing their walk as if nothing had happened at all.

But something had happened. Matt had done something for him

out of the kindness of his heart. This wasn’t a gesture Jayden could
easily brush off. There was more to Matt Archer than the man allowed
to be seen, and Jayden would have loved to spend more time
unraveling the mystery, peeling away layer after layer until he got to
the core of Matt Archer’s soul.

He wasn’t deluding himself with ideas of Matt having suddenly

fallen in love with him or that maybe their sham relationship could
turn real. Regardless of what his heart wanted, his head was firmly
planted in real life, and there was no way someone as handsome
and rich as Matt would fall in love with someone like him.

But if Matt would come to care for him just a little bit, then Jayden

would be able to walk away from this with fond memories and the
knowledge that there was someone out there who, at least for a brief
moment in time, had cared if he lived or died. It would sustain him in
those moments when the loneliness got too heavy, bearing down to
crush him. He could use it like a beacon, and maybe that made him
pathetic, but Jayden had learned early on to make the most out of the
things given to him.

It would’ve

been an easy thing for him to try and calm his fluttering

nerves by helping himself to one of the many cocktails served at the
party, but Jayden resisted the temptation, choosing to have a clear
head instead.

He looked the part of rich boyfriend; dressed in thin black cotton

trousers and a sleeveless shirt, he matched everyone else when it
came to looking elegant and effortlessly rich. On the inside, though,
he was quaking. What if someone discovered he was a fraud?

“Nothing to worry about,” he mumbled to himself. “You aren’t

breaking any laws here….”

The words of comfort aimed at easing his worry didn’t quite work,

and eventually, with a huge, fake smile plastered to his face, Jayden
retreated to a corner, staying there. Maybe all those wallflowers really
had it right! Better to stay out of sight and away from grabby hands
and curious questions than to suffer the hell of constant attention.

Eventually the night finally came to an end, and by then, he felt

slightly delirious with all the smiling he had done. Since no one had
stopped and accused him of not belonging, he figured he must’ve
done something right. In the sanctuary of his room, he allowed the

silence to engulf him, massaging his abused ears. The music on its
own hadn’t been too loud, but when combined with the constant
chatter of countless people, it had created a level of noise that had
bordered on being painful.

He was hopping on his feet while trying to get rid of his shoes when

the door opened and closed behind him. He didn’t turn around
because he knew there was only one person who could possibly be
standing behind him, and when a strong hand settled on his
shoulders, he wasn’t disappointed or surprised.

He threw off his last shoe, and on bare feet he leaned backward,

allowing Matt to pull him toward his body. His back connected with the
man’s bare chest, presumably because he had already unbuttoned
his shirt. His heart fluttered and sped up while little butterflies started
waking up in his stomach.

A gentle hand ran over his side, pressing Jayden closer to Matt’s

body, and all he did was lean backward until his head rested on
Matt’s shoulder. The man was taller than him, maybe not by much,
but their size difference was just enough to make this embrace feel
natural rather than awkward and forced.

A thumb went underneath his undershirt, touching bare skin, and

Jayden hissed while his eyes fluttered shut.

His dress shirt was already lying crumpled on the floor, and when

Matt lifted his undershirt further, Jayden’s hands rose without needing
any further invitation. The shirt was pulled over his head, and then
Jayden turned, his own hands rising up to draw Matt down for a
heated kiss.

There were no tongues involved because they didn’t have time for

them to come out and play. Strong, calloused fingers were
massaging the thin strip of skin over the hem of Jayden’s trousers
before his zipper was slowly lowered. Then the hand snaked inside,
palming him through the fabric before, in one swift move, his trousers
and his underwear were pooling at his ankles.

A knowing smile played across Jayden’s face, and he shrugged off

the remaining clothes, stepping away from Matt in the process. He
was completely naked now, and when Matt’s blue eyes freely roamed
his body, heat spread over his face, coloring his cheeks. He crooked

a finger in the universal come-hither gesture before languidly moving
toward the bed.

Matt’s hungry look never left his face while with efficient, sharp

moves he undressed at record speed.

For the first time, Jayden got to see Matt’s body, and his mouth

watered at the tanned skin displayed before him.

Matt’s blond hair and blue eyes tended to make people think he

had fair skin, but apparently, this was further proof of how
expectations could be wrong, because when he took off his shirt, his
body was tanned, his muscles were taut, and Jayden’s fingers
practically ached from the need to touch them. The fine blond hairs on
his arms were barely visible, and his chest was almost completely
smooth.

Matt hadn’t worn any shoes, and the dress pants pooled at his feet

along with his underwear just moments later.

There wasn’t an ounce of fat on his body, but what surprised

Jayden were the faint scars littered across Matt’s beautiful body. They
were barely visible, but they were still there. There was a jagged one
running along his right thigh, and there was another one on the left-
hand side of his stomach. They looked nasty, and Jayden wondered
how someone like Matt could’ve ended up with them.

Questions shone in his eyes, but Matt ignored them, crawling on all

fours up the bed until Jayden spread his legs to accommodate him.

His fingers trailed along the prominent scar on Matt’s thigh,

memorizing the edgy contours and hard skin. As his fingers
continued their journey over bare skin, the hard muscle underneath
his touch twitched and flexed, sending shock waves of raw want
through Jayden’s body, penetrating his core.

“How…?” he mumbled, but Matt confidently bypassed the question

by leaning in and kissing Jayden passionately on his mouth.

Jayden groaned, retuning the kiss with equal heat, matching his

lover’s strokes and nibbles until a full-on body shudder had him
shivering and gasping. His legs parted further while, like a cat in heat,
he rubbed his body against Matt’s, desperately looking for some
friction.

“Hmm,” Matt hummed, slowly pulling away to catch his breath. His

blue eyes were stormy as the winter sea, but there was no trace of
anger present; instead, they shone with hunger, and Jayden couldn’t
help but shiver thinking that the emotions swirling in those blue orbs
were all due to him.

It was a heady feeling, and when Matt slowly coaxed him to lie on

his side, spooning him, he obliged without a second thought. He
raised one leg, allowing Matt to slip in between them, and he
shuddered when his ass connected with Matt’s cock.

“Easy there….” Matt’s hot breath was ghosting over his sensitive

neck, and Jayden closed his eyes, allowing his head to fall sideways,
exposing even more of his slender neck. “That’s more like it,” Matt
growled in approval, and the ghost of a smile played across Jayden’s
features: he liked the way Matt’s voice sounded when he was pleased
and aroused.

There was some shifting and some curses and then the familiar

sound of foil tearing.

“Let me.” Jayden opened his eyes, getting ready to rise up to put the

protection onto Matt’s cock. Quite frankly, it was something he really
wanted to do.

“Go for it, then.” Matt lay back, his proud cock jutting upward,

slapping his stomach when Matt stroked it, waiting for Jayden to get
ready.

Jayden licked his lips, wanting to taste the rigid organ, but what he

wanted even more was for it to be buried deeply inside him. He filed
the other option away for later.

His fingers were shaking slightly, and when Matt’s fingers ghosted

over his, he twitched, stopping and smiling at the man for a moment.
The brief touch was enough for Jayden to find his equilibrium, and
moments later he expertly rolled the condom onto Matt’s shaft. He
couldn’t help it, though; he had to tease a little bit, running his fingers
over the bare cock before pulling the condom all the way down.

Matt growled in what Jayden thought was mock anger, and then,

when he was done, the man flipped him sideways as if he were a
feather.

The guy was stronger than he looked, because despite Jayden’s

slight build, he was still a man and thus not the easiest person to flip

over. Matt, though, had managed this easily, clearly drawing from
some experience of his own. Briefly, Jayden wondered how many
lovers Matt had under his belt, but when fingers probed at his ass, the
thought no longer held any appeal. The only thing left to dwell on was
how soon Matt would get his cock up his ass. Anything else either
could wait or was of no importance anyway.

Priorities, it was all about priorities!
“I can’t wait, I want to be inside so badly. You’re mine,” Matt

grumbled, and Jayden smiled.

“Go for it, then,” he said, meaning every word. He was used to

some rough play; he wasn’t going to break if he wasn’t stretched fully,
and he figured a little pain might even spice things up a bit.

“Don’t want to hurt you, though,” Matt kept on mumbling, and how

was this man even still coherent enough to formulate all those
sentences?

Jayden flexed his muscles, clenching around the two fingers

currently stretching him, rubbing along his channel, and when a third
one entered him, he started pushing back, fucking himself on Matt’s
fingers.

“Ahhhh!” he screamed when Matt found his sweet spot, fingertips

ghosting over it again and again, making him see stars.

The world started to go white, and when the fingers left him, he felt

bereft. That wasn’t right; he was supposed to be filled, and the
keening sound escaping his lips was one of protest.

He didn’t have to wait long, though; Matt lined himself up, and when

Jayden felt the tip of the man’s cock nudging at his entrance, he
pushed back, not willing to wait any longer.

Matt grunted, taken by surprise, but Jayden was experienced, and

he managed to wiggle himself onto Matt’s cock before the man could
tell him to slow down.

Once the shaft was buried all the way inside, Jayden let out a

breath he hadn’t been aware he had been holding. He felt almost
stretched to his limits, his tight hole clenching around Matt’s not-so-
small cock, and when strong fingers grabbed his hips, he slumped
backward into Matt’s body.

“Yes, yes,” he repeated over and over again once Matt started

thrusting forward, and he matched his lover’s speed, pushing back
against him. He clenched and unclenched his ass as often as he
could, knowing it must feel like heaven for Matt to have Jayden’s tight
channel close in even further.

Matt had finally lost all ability of speech, because there were no

more sentences coming from the man; instead, there were grunts
and groans (and a growl?), and Jayden couldn’t stop smiling. His
eyes were closed, his body tuned in to the cock shoving in and out,
his nerve endings flaring to life.

His body was so sensitive; even the brush of air over his naked

arms and legs felt like someone was caressing him, and when he
was close, he shouted a warning. At least he thought he did, but he
couldn’t be sure, and when his balls tightened and the all-too-familiar
fluttery feeling in his stomach turned into a tsunami, his own cock
erupted into white spurts, streaking his stomach and the bedspread.

Matt wasn’t done yet, so while Jayden’s body shuddered and

twitched as his ass clenched even tighter than before, Matt kept on
going, pounding away. From the way Matt’s hands were gripping his
hips, Jayden knew there would be bruises tomorrow morning, but he
found he didn’t really care one way or the other.

When Matt came, Jayden was already close to passing out. The

world seemed so far removed. He felt Matt’s body shuddering; there
was one more deep thrust followed by a growl more resembling a
wild animal’s than a man’s, and then there was nothing else to be
heard apart from harsh breathing. When the cock was removed from
his ass, Jayden flinched and rolled onto his stomach.

He had managed to brush off most of the drying flakes of come, so

he figured he would be good until the morning as long as he stayed
out of the wet spot.

He heard Matt mumble, and then a warm body settled in beside

him, pulling him close but allowing him to lie on his stomach.

Jayden liked cuddling, but right now, he was too sensitive to stand

touching; thankfully, Matt must have felt the same. It was nice, though,
to know the man was close, and he was looking forward to rolling
over in the night and snuggling up to him.

His breathing evened out and just before he drifted into a deep

sleep. Matt’s hot breath ghosted over his ear as he mumbled,
“Couldn’t do this before. Wouldn’t have been right. Had to take care of
something….”

Could he be any more vague?
There might have been more words said, but Jayden no longer

heard them.

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Rriiiiinnnngggggg

.

The loud, shrill sound of a cell phone going off close to Jayden’s

head was nearly enough to give him a coronary. He flailed around,
arms and legs twitching uncontrollably as his dream-heavy mind
raced to get up to speed. Eventually, the sound stopped.

Jayden breathed a sigh of relief, flopping back under the covers,

eyes closing again.

Beside him, Matt was shifting, getting up. “You’re here?” he

whispered into the phone, but regardless of how quiet he tried to be,
the edge in his tone was still more than obvious.

“Give me a few moments, I’ll come down,” he barked into the

phone, and the mattress bounced a little bit when Matt’s weight was
removed.

Jayden heard the shuffling of clothes, and then the streaming

sunlight was obstructed by Matt crouching down next to where
Jayden’s head was resting.

He slowly opened his eyes, blinking away his sleep to find his lover

looking down at him. There was a slow, lazy smile playing across his
face, but there was also a distance in his look that sent chills down
Jayden’s spine. He offered up a weak smile in return, translating the
message without needing any words. Last night was great, but now I
want you out of my bed.

He swallowed hard, reality crashing around him once more. For a

few blissful hours, he had forgotten about the arrangement, basking
in the afterglow, but now it was time to plant his feet firmly on the
ground once more. A sigh escaped his lips before he could prevent it,
though.

“Jayden?” Matt quietly said his name, and Jayden did his best to

focus on him, to give him all of his attention.

“Please come down for breakfast when you are ready.” It sounded

like a request, like an invitation of sorts, but Jayden wasn’t fooled. Matt
usually left him alone in the mornings, and if the man was asking for
his presence at breakfast, then he damn well expected Jayden to
jump out of bed and get ready.

How was it possible for Matt to look all composed and put together

even though he was wearing the same clothes he had on last night?
He must have some wicked skills!

Jayden self-consciously raised a hand to brush hair out of his face,

because he was sure he looked just as frazzled as he felt. “Just give
me a few minutes.” His voice sounded hoarse, thick with sleep, even
to his own ears, and he closed his eyes briefly, trying to find the
energy to get up. It wasn’t ridiculously early by any standard, but it was
still way too early for Jayden to be awake.

When Jayden felt ready to get up, Matt was already gone, and the

room seemed somewhat empty without his presence. He collected
his clothes from last night, sniffed them, and decided they didn’t need
to be washed yet. He then decided to have a quick shower, because
nothing cleared his head better than sticking his head under semi-
cold water. Normally he liked his comforts, but when all else failed,
drastic measures had to be taken for him to wake up fully. And
something told him that he couldn’t afford to be anything less than
awake when he met up with Matt.

He usually liked to linger in the shower, but today he broke his own

record. He was in and out within a few minutes, and got dressed just
as quickly in some faded jeans, boots, and a simple shirt.

He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to tame it, but of course,

nothing worked. Eventually he decided he was ready to face the world.
Curiosity nibbled at him, his thoughts racing ahead, leaving him
behind.

Who had Matt rushed off to meet? And why had Matt demanded his

presence?

They usually never spent the mornings together, so why was Matt

now breaking with habit?

By now Jayden could navigate his way to the parlor in his sleep,

and long before he reached the doors, he could hear hearty laughter
coming from the other side.

Matt… laughing.

The man was usually more prone to disapproving facial

expressions, and now he was roaring with laughter?

Jayden’s heart constricted as he felt a stab of pain before rolling his

eyes at himself. Of course Matt had friends; he was allowed to laugh,
and there was no logical reason for Jayden to feel hurt or upset
because for once Matt wasn’t smiling at him.

Still, why hadn’t he managed to get Matt to make those sounds?

He couldn’t possibly be jealous, right? Was the green-eyed

monster rearing its head?

Dread made him stop, because that couldn’t be right. He was a

professional. He might not take pride in what he did, but he knew
better than to let real feelings get associated with a customer. And yet,
Jayden couldn’t deny any longer that he did have feelings for a certain
blond.

This was a disaster!

He didn’t trust easily for a reason. He couldn’t let Matt past his

defenses because he would surely trample all over him.

The worst part was that he couldn’t even blame Matt for any of it.

Matt had been nothing but honest and upfront about their relationship,
and at no point in time had he proclaimed Jayden was or could be
anything more than a fake boyfriend.

No, this was all on him, but unfortunately, knowing it didn’t make

him feel any better at all.

He rubbed tiredly at his forehead, resigning himself to future

heartache. Maybe he was a glutton for punishment; maybe his father
had been right all along when he had tried to beat some sense into
him. Maybe Jayden really was too stupid to live.

With the resolution not to let his emotions get the better of him, he

finally pushed the doors open, entering the parlor. To say his nerves
were fluttering like a nest of crazy birds would’ve been an
understatement.

The two men were sitting close together with plates of breakfast

before them. Their bodies were angled toward each other, giving
away a familiarity that could only be achieved with time.

The newcomer had messy brown hair and what could only be

called a smiling face. There were people in the world who walked
around with a perpetual frown, and then there were those who always
seemed to smile. This man seemed to belong to the latter group.

Jayden’s eyes ran appreciatively over the bulkier frame of Matt’s

friend. He liked what he saw. Maybe it was true, he mused. Pretty
people tended to stick together. The silly thought almost had him
giggling.

“Jay!” Matt called out, a smile on his face. “This is Scott.”

Jayden returned the smile and nodded at the man. “How are you?”

“Fine, thank you,” Scott politely answered. Instead of smiling,

though, he eyed Jayden with barely veiled curiosity as if he were a
rare, precious diamond.

Jayden adjusted his clothes, feeling a bit uncomfortable under the

scrutiny.

“Come, join us…,” Matt invited him, and Jayden didn’t need to be

asked twice.

He quickly grabbed some food from the buffet, taking his seat at the

table. He held the coffee mug in his hands, letting the warm liquid
give him some comfort before he raised the cup, drinking deeply.

He didn’t want to stare—that would’ve been rude, after all—but he

was only human, so he couldn’t resist listening with half an ear.
Besides, if they had really wanted to keep their conversation private,
they shouldn’t have talked right next to him.

What fascinated him the most, though, was their body language.

He was by no means an expert, but he was still able to draw a few
conclusions from his observations.

Matt’s arm was casually flung across the back of Scott’s chair, so

clearly they didn’t have any qualms about being in each other’s
space. Men, in Jayden’s opinion, tended to always keep their
distance, unlike women, who were much more likely to hug complete
strangers.

Scott wasn’t inching away, either, but leaning toward Matt, talking

animatedly with his hands.

They were good friends, at least, maybe even lovers.

Rope wrapped itself around his heart, squeezing tightly. He quickly

distracted himself by taking a huge bite of his toast, and he must’ve
been quite successful in blocking them out, because he nearly
jumped out of his skin when Matt suddenly appeared by his side,
casually leaning against his table. Matt placed his hand on Jayden’s
arm; the touch was fleeting, just a way to get his attention, but it still
sizzled and burnt like fire.

Jayden looked up, dropping his piece of bread onto the plate.

“I’ve got us theater tickets for tonight,” Matt informed him.

“You… what?” Jayden stuttered because he hadn’t expected Matt to

take him to the theater. Wasn’t that for cultured people? And Matt
seemed more like someone who would enjoy a good party or sitting
for hours at a bar. He didn’t strike him as someone who went to the
theater, but then again, what did Jayden know, right?

“Theater tickets,” Matt repeated. “Have you ever been before?

“Uhm…,” Jayden hedged, quickly breaking eye contact, fiddling with

the napkin. “No?”

“Would you like to go, then?”

A wide smile broke out on Jayden’s face, and he nodded eagerly.

“All right, then.” This time Matt squeezed his shoulder, pushing

himself up from the table. “I’ll pick you up at seven, then.”

“Of course. I’ll be ready.”

He watched as Matt and Scott left together, how they casually fell

into an easy step. Only when the door closed behind the two men did

Jayden allow himself a little huff of displeasure.

He stabbed at the bacon on his plate as if it was offending him.

“Get a grip,” he mumbled. “This is a job. Nothing more.”

He passed the day in his usual fashion, and when it was time to

get ready for the night’s entertainment, he dressed with extra care.
With only a few minutes to spare, he headed downstairs to wait by the
door. He had no clue if Matt was home or not, but his question was
answered when he passed the parlor.

Voices drifted through the small opening in the door, and at first

Jayden had no intention of stopping or even listening. He came to halt
when he heard his name being mentioned. It might be bad form to
listen to other people’s conversations, but in the end, curiosity won
out.

“Jayden seems nice.” Scott’s voice drifted out into the hallway.

“He is,” Matt answered.

The tiny spark of love blossoming inside Jayden’s chest grew a

little bit more, spreading outward like a tree spreading its roots.

“You sure you want to go out tonight?”

“Yes.” There was no hesitation when Matt answered. “Everything

should be over soon anyway. Better to get a move on things. Don’t you
agree?”

“True,” Scott agreed even though he didn’t actually sound

convinced. “If it were only you and me, I would be totally on board with
this—”

“Everything will be fine,” Matt quickly interrupted him, obviously not

in the mood to hear a contrary opinion. “Oh, and Scott?” Matt’s voice
sounded different, and while Jayden wondered why, he continued, “I
don’t want you to leave the house. It isn’t safe for you to even be here.
Use your head for once.”

“I can take of myself,” Scott bit out, annoyed.

“I know you can.” Now Matt sounded condescending, and Jayden

wondered why Scott wasn’t slugging his friend yet for his
unbelievable attitude. “Please?”

“Fine.” Clearly Scott was agreeing to this against his better

judgment, but the please uttered by Matt had apparently changed his
mind.

“Just stay put. Twenty-four more hours won’t kill you.”

When Jayden finally figured out why the volume of Matt’s voice had

been changing, he dashed down the corridor at breakneck speed just
in time to take a corner before Matt entered the hallway. There was no
time for him to stop, so he continued down the hall until he
descended the stairs. Once he was in the foyer, he braced himself,
taking a few deep breaths before forcing himself to pace the floor as if
he had already been waiting for a few minutes.

When Matt walked down the steps, Jayden stopped, enjoying

watching him move. The dark fabric of his dress pants was hanging
loosely on Matt’s trim frame, but combined with the dark-green shirt
and a jacket easily flung over his right shoulder, he was the picture of
rich, handsome, and breathtakingly beautiful. He didn’t miss a beat
as he took one step after the other, moving gracefully and as fluidly as
Jayden imagined a dancer would move. There simply was something
about him that spoke to him, awakening a primal need inside him.
Maybe he should make like a cat and rub his scent all over him,
marking him. His nose twitched as he barely contained his laughter.

Matt gave him a funny look as he finally stopped before him. “You’re

ready,” he observed for no good reason at all. He removed his jacket
from his shoulder, searching for something in the front pocket, and
with a little aha, he held out a box toward Jayden.

“What’s this?” Jayden asked, carefully balancing the object on his

palm.

“This is for you,” Matt explained. “I want you to wear this tonight.”

Jayden flipped the box open, his breath taken away momentarily. A

silver ring was contained within. He gingerly removed it, mindful of the
expensive object. Matt’s eyes were on him as he pushed the ring onto
his finger.

“A promise ring,” Matt explained. “Well, of sorts, anyway. Don’t lose

it.”

“Of course,” Jayden quickly replied, swallowing hard. His eyes kept

straining toward the ring, how prefect it seemed on his finger, and for
a moment, he allowed himself to indulge in a fantasy where the ring
was real and so was the meaning behind it.

Then he lifted his shoulders, rotating his head before stating, “I’m

ready. We can go.”

This time it wasn’t a limo waiting for them outside but a sports car.

The really impressive kind with sleek red doors, only two seats, and
an engine that practically purred the moment Matt turned the key.

By the time they finally arrived at the Golden Stage, the theater Matt

had picked out for them, Jayden was vibrating with unfulfilled need.
He didn’t know what it was, but feeling all that barely contained
horsepower between his legs had him hardening, yearning for
release.

Judging from how stiffly Matt extracted himself from the car, Jayden

wasn’t alone in his plight. He watched his lover hand the keys over to
an attendant before stepping around, holding out his hand toward
him. Jayden took it, squeezing slightly.

Many people were mingling outside because it was a relatively

warm night, and if the light smog from the city hadn’t obscured the
view, the stars would have been twinkling merrily down on them and
their little adventure.

Matt, though, wasn’t inclined to linger, because he guided Jayden

up the front steps, showing off their tickets before proceeding inside.

“Do you want anything to drink?” Matt asked, pointing toward a bar

near the end of the impressive hall.

“No, thank you,” Jayden declined the offer.

“Shall we find out seats, then?”

Jayden’s answer was a simple nod. Once again Matt took the lead,

but this time Jayden was walking behind him, pushing past many
other people also on the search for their assigned places.

“What are we watching, anyway?” he asked as Matt pushed open

the door to a box, ushering him inside.

Of course Matt Archer wouldn’t have common theater tickets that

would force him to sit with the ordinary folks. He had a private box,
which, judging from the available seats, could contain at least a party
of five.

“Impressive,” Jayden commented, and he took the offered seat

when Matt pointed toward it.

“Thanks,” Matt said. “My family always keeps a box every season. I

don’t use it all that often myself, but it does come in handy.”

“I see,” Jayden answered. Frankly, he didn’t quite see. Why waste

all this money on a private box when it was hardly used? Clearly the
ways of filthy rich people were beyond his understanding.

“To answer your question,” Matt continued, “it’s a musical. Not quite

sure what kind….” His voice trailed off as he searched for some sort
of guide. When his search proved to be fruitless, he shrugged.
“Guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

Jayden hummed in agreement.

he spent the next hour or so alternating between laughing like mad

and stopping himself from crying. He couldn’t recall the last time he
had had such good fun. The dancers on the stage were all incredibly
talented, and the music… well, the music was to die for.

When the first act ended, Matt rose, pushing at Jayden to do the

same.

“I’m glad you liked it so far—”

“What’s not to like!” Jayden gushed, launching into a quick recap of

what they had seen so far while Matt graced him with a fond smile,
listening to every word he said.

“Do you need to use the restroom?”

“What?”

“The restroom,” Matt repeated.

Jayden frowned, glancing up quickly, and when he noted the leer on

Matt’s face, understanding finally dawned.

“Oh,” he said, stretching his back, pushing closer to Matt, giving him

what he hoped was an enchanting smile. “I could use a break, yes.”

Without any further comment, Matt led the way into a bathroom away

from the crowd. Once they were through the door, Jayden quickly
found himself pushed into a toilet stall with Matt locking the door
behind him.

Toilet stalls were barely big enough to contain one person, but with

two crammed into one of them, space was an issue. Thankfully they
didn’t want to be apart anyway, so Jayden balanced himself on the
toilet seat, spreading his legs so Matt could step between them. Then
he hauled him into a passionate kiss, teeth clashing.

He moaned, his hands coming to rest on Matt’s hips, guiding the

man even closer. Matt answered by grinding against him, his erection
rubbing teasingly against Jayden’s own. Jayden opened his lips,
inviting him in.

In the meantime, Matt pushed his fingers underneath Jayden’s

shirt, pushing the fabric out of the way until he found bare skin. Then
he let his fingers roam freely, sending jolts of pleasure up and down
Jayden’s spine.

All Jayden could do was cling, hanging on for dear life as Matt

devoured his mouth, laying claim to his soul.

He didn’t like being idle, though, so the first chance he got, he

playfully nibbled at Matt’s lower lip, eliciting the most impressive
sounds from the blond man.

Eventually they had to pull apart when oxygen became an issue.

Matt, though, hovered close, his breath warming Jayden’s nose.

“I love tasting you,” Matt’s voice was soft, almost a whimper. “You

taste like strawberries and sunshine.”

“How can anyone taste like sunshine?” Jayden inquired, eyebrows

rising.

“You do,” Matt insisted, proceeding to tilt Jayden’s head to the side

so he could nibble at his throat.

“Ohhhh,” Jayden moaned, eyes fluttering shut as his hips surged

forward as if they had a mind of their own. If Matt kept this up, he
wasn’t going to last long.

A gong sounded out of nowhere, startling him.

“Matt?” he whispered. “What was that?”

“Hmm…” was all the answer he got.

His organ strained against its confines, but it wasn’t imprisoned for

long, because Matt’s nimble fingers had made quick work of the
button and the zipper, pulling Jayden free. He took the cock in his
hand, holding it for a moment while Jayden’s head fell forward,
coming to rest on Matt’s shoulder.

His body was vibrating with need, and if Matt didn’t move his hand

soon… if he didn’t… well, he couldn’t be held responsible for what
drastic measure he would take!

Matt seemed to sense the danger he was in, because he started

moving his hand, massaging the hard shaft until Jayden’s bones
were almost turned into gel. His knees threatened to give out, and the
only reason he didn’t sink to the ground was because the place was
so small and the toilet seat would stop his descent.

Loud voices broke through Jayden’s lust-filled mind, and he almost

forgot how to breathe when Matt’s other hand covered his mouth.

“Shh,” Matt whispered, but instead of panic, he found the other man

smiling at him, clearing enjoying the danger of potentially being
discovered.

When Jayden slowly nodded, the hand was removed, and with a

wicked gleam, the fingers were back on his cock, slowly stroking him.

Jayden’s whimpers joined in with Matt’s groans, and despite his

best efforts, he simply couldn’t stay silent.

There was some rustling of fabric, and oh heavens!

Moments later, Matt’s cock rubbed against Jayden’s, and the man

had now taken them both into his hands, working hard to bring them
both to completion.

Another loud gong sounded, but this time Jayden barely heard the

sound. His mind was awash with need, blocking out everything else
while his blood rushed through his veins like it was trying to break a
speed record.

“I’m gonna…,” Jayden mumbled, eyes squeezing shut as his

orgasm hit him with full force.

His body shuddered as liquid erupted all over Matt’s hands, but the

man didn’t lose focus. He kept on stroking until Jayden was
completely finished.

He sank forward into Matt’s body, barley noticing how the hard body

underneath him shuddered with his own release.

“That was… that was…,” Jayden stuttered, looking for words but

coming up empty.

“I know,” Matt quickly agreed, slowly extracting himself from Jayden

the octopus.

They cleaned themselves as much as they could, using toilet paper

as a makeshift towel. When they were done, all tucked in, Matt
reached behind him, unlocking the door, stumbling backward on his
way out.

Jayden followed, freezing like he had been caught in a spell when

he saw someone washing hands at the sink.

The stranger sent them a knowing smirk before drying his hands

on his clothes, walking out.

“I like that about you.” Matt’s soft voice brought Jayden back to

reality.

“What do you like?” he asked, voice holding a little bit of need and

curiosity.

“You can still blush.” And to prove his point, a thumb softly stroked

his cheek, causing Jayden’s face to heat up even further.

Matt had the audacity to laugh at him before turning around, quickly

washing his hands.

Jayden followed, but he wasn’t given the time to dry his hands

before Matt practically shoved him out of the restroom.

“The gongs were the signals for everyone to return to their seat,” he

explained when they encountered a nearly empty hallway.

Jayden sped up, not wanting to miss anything, and he could hear

Matt’s amused laughter following his retreating form.

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Unlike

most people, when the show was over, Jayden and Matt

went to one of the side entrances, where a valet was waiting for them.
Matt nodded to the man, giving him the information he needed, and
then all they had to do was wait at the side for their car to be brought
around.

Apparently, if you had enough money, the theater offered a valet

service, and frankly, considering how expensive the cars Matt owned
were, Jayden figured it was probably a good thing theirs had been
parked somewhere with tons of security to keep it from getting
liberated.

This was a reputable part of town, but there was always the chance

of the car being stolen anywhere, because thieves, of course, tended
to go where the loot was. Then again, it wasn’t as if Matt would mourn
the loss of his car. He had more than enough to go around.

The screeching tires were the first sign of trouble, and Jayden had

just lifted his head to find out what was going on when a dark van
pulled up in front of them.

Suddenly, men wearing masks leaped out of the van, and Jayden

simply stood there for a moment, wondering if he had been caught up
in some sort of spy movie, before reality reasserted itself and he
started kicking and screaming.

It didn’t do him any good since moments later, he was shoved into

the back of the van, and when the door closed after him, he knew all
was lost.

He didn’t stop fighting, though, because it wasn’t in his nature. He

kicked and was rewarded with a few grunts of pain before he was
pushed headfirst onto the floor, his hands held behind his back.

Then his head was yanked backward, and Jayden screamed

because of the pain coming from his protesting neck. He strained his
lungs to get some much-needed air, and unfortunately, this was the
moment when a foul-smelling cloth was put over his mouth and
nose.

His brain screamed at him to stop breathing, not to inhale the

fumes, and he was still struggling when he began to feel the world
falling away. Colors slowly faded from sight, sounds turned more
distant with each passing heartbeat, and eventually, his body went
completely limp, sinking into the ground as if he were being
swallowed by the looming darkness.

His return to consciousness wasn’t quick by any means. A spark lit

up inside of him, growing brighter and brighter, and then, as if he was
bursting through some kind of invisible barrier, he woke up.

Something wasn’t right….

His eyelids might’ve quivered, he couldn’t be sure, but he was

fighting valiantly against the torrent trying to drag him under. And
eventually he won, bursting through the waves of darkness, coming
wide awake and gasping for air.

Like a slowly approaching dawn, the gears in his mind started

turning again, and everything came rushing back like yet another flood
attempting to drag him under. This time it was fear that was trying to
paralyze him, and for some reason, he idly thought it was no wonder
rabbits were always twitching, because weren’t they always afraid of
everything?

Had he gone blind?

His eyes were wide open, he was sure, but there was nothing but

darkness. He squashed yet another spark of dread. If he gave in to
those emotions then he would simply roll over and play dead.

Eventually he would probably be dead, and wouldn’t that be a
shame?

His lips parted, his lungs filled with air, and his vocal cords were

straining to let out a piercing scream of terror, but some calm part of
his brain made him close his mouth with a click that echoed through
the otherwise silent room.

Don’t draw any attention to yourself, he thought, squeezing his eyes

shut for yet another moment before slowly opening them again. This
time he was more prepared for the darkness around him, but his
heart still hammered inside his chest, threatening to stop altogether.

He took a few measured, deep breaths, and eventually his heart

calmed down to a somewhat normal level. Rational thought clicked
in, and relief flooded his body and soul. He hadn’t gone blind; there
simply was next to no light in the room, and since his eyes had now
gotten somewhat used to the darkness, he could at least make out
some shapes and things in the darkness. There was a light on the
ceiling that gave off a few sparks of illumination, flickering on and off,
and even when it seemed to be working on full power, it was barely
bright enough to be able to see a hand in front of his face.

He craned his neck, looking left and right, trying to see if there was

a window or some other source of light, but there was nothing, and for
a second, panic tried to overpower him again.

Like a whirlwind threatening to suck up anything in its path, his

panic tried to take control, but he sat tight, refusing to give in. If he did,
then he would end up curling up in a corner, shaking like a leaf,
waiting for someone to rescue him. His experience had taught him
already not to expect a knight in shining armor. Those were romantic
fictional stories, not real life.

He took yet another few measured sets of breaths, and the flurry of

thoughts subsided somewhat. He clenched and unclenched his

fingers, trying to get himself to settle down. No one was coming to his
rescue; he had to accept that fact and move on. If he wanted to come
out of this alive, he would have to do something, and while he wasn’t
necessarily brimming with confidence in his abilities to set himself
free, he refused to have come this far in life only to give up now.

He nurtured the stubborn streak flaring to life, knowing he would

need it to see him through this.

Denial might be a comforting thought, trying to lure him away to

where he was safe and life was all peaches and roses, but he wasn’t
the sort of person to walk away from difficulties. He might try to avoid
them—he wasn’t brave by any means—but he hadn’t yet learned how
to stay down after getting kicked repeatedly. Much to the chagrin of his
father, of course!

Being tied to a chair was a novel experience, and hopefully, soon it

would be nothing but a bad memory to fuel his nightmares.

He flexed his fingers, testing the restraints. They were

uncomfortable, and he had no idea how long he had been slumped
over before he had woken up. The strain on his shoulders was
horrible; he yearned to be able to flex them and alleviate some of the
pain. He moved them, twisting and turning within the ropes, and while
it didn’t do much, it at least lessened the agony somewhat.

He shivered, his whole body shaking, and he had to swallow hard

to get himself under control again. The air in the room was damp and
cold, making him shiver, goose bumps breaking out all over his skin.

“Hello?” he said tentatively, remembering having heard somewhere

that you could tell quite a lot about an enclosed space from how the
echo sounded.

Ello? His echo returned, somewhat distorted.

Small room, he guessed, nothing much in it in the way of furniture,

because only a nearly empty space provided that kind of sound.

He moved his feet, rubbing the soles of his shoes against the

ground, checking to see if the floor was even, smooth or rugged.
Something crunched under his movements. Not a clean floor, then.
Maybe neglected?

Basement, maybe, or an old, abandoned house. Judging from the

lack of windows and from the lack of any natural light, he was fairly
confident in going with basement.

Now what?

Debris, dust, neglect… his breath hitched as his mind reached yet

another terrifying conclusion. What did abandoned spaces always
have in common? Spiders, lots of them.

This was kind of prime real estate for them, and this time he

couldn’t suppress the shudder rolling through his body. Spiders in
any shape or form terrified him, and just the thought of being helpless
while they crawled all over him was almost unbearable.

Long legs scrambling along, a fat, wide body in the middle… it took

all of his willpower to stop himself from retching out of horror.

There are no spiders, he told himself, and eventually he had

himself back under some sort of control.

The door suddenly opened, connecting with the wall with a loud

thud. Somewhere a light switch must have been flipped. The sudden
bright light had him wincing in pain, squeezing his eyes shut.

He was frozen in place, terrified to move. In his mind, any

movement could set the man off, and then he would be dead.

And he didn’t want to be dead!

His life might suck, but he still had plans! Places to go, people to

meet, and surely his number couldn’t be up yet!

He relaxed marginally when he realized the man was wearing a

mask. Wasn’t it true that if he couldn’t see their faces, they would let
him live? Hope sprung eternal, and his chances just of getting out of
this alive had just gone up a notch.

“You’re awake, then,” the man drawled, casually stroking the gun

strapped to his side, and Jayden couldn’t help it—his eyes were
transfixed by it.

“Don’t worry, once your boyfriend pays up, you’ll be returned to him.”

The leer was audible in his voice even though Jayden couldn’t

make out any facial expressions through the mask. He shivered, not
liking the innuendo at all. Revulsion was kind of new for him, and he
only allowed himself to take a deep breath of relief once the door was
firmly closed again.

Only then did the news finally settle in.

Matt was supposed to pay a ransom for him!

He gasped, struggling to breathe as he fought off yet another panic

attack. Matt might like him, at least he hoped so, but there was no way
the man would cough up an obscene amount of money to get him
released! He was so doomed!

He allowed himself another moment of panic before he closed his

eyes, firmly focusing on breathing in and out evenly. It was up to him,
then; if he wanted to get out of this alive, he would have to somehow
find a way to escape this cellar, and while he had no idea how to go
about achieving such an incredible feat, he decided to take it one step

at a time.

First: get out of the chair and lose the rope along the way. As long

as he was tied up, he wouldn’t be going anywhere.

Then… well, then he would pray hard and hope he was able to

escape without anyone being the wiser.

But how to get out of the rope? He was no escape artist. Maybe he

should be thankful for small favors, because he would know even
less about how to pick a lock. His chances of getting free from the
rope were better than if they had used cuffs.

Carefully he twisted, rolling his wrists, testing to see if there was

any room to wiggle free. He had small hands, so maybe, if he got
really lucky, he would be able to slide free. Sadly, his kidnappers had
made the bonds tight enough for him not to be able to get loose.

Gnawing at his lower lip, he pondered the situation for a moment.

What other options were there?

An idea came to him. Crazy, maybe, but what did he have to lose?

He shifted his weight to the right, then to the left until he was

rocking the chair sideways, and then, just as he had hoped, part of
the chair came free. Of course this plan had been a long shot, but
apparently banking on his kidnappers not keeping the place in mint
condition had paid off.

All the air escaped his lungs as he landed hard on the floor, the

splintered pieces of the chair underneath him. Shaking his hands
and legs like a wet dog, he finally managed to untangle himself from
the mess. He raised his hands, staring at the blood oozing from a few
minor cuts.

Oh well; if this was payment required to get out of here, then he

would gladly pay in full.

He slowly got up, testing his legs before putting his full weight on

them. Pins and needles assaulted him almost immediately, but soon
enough, the pain ebbed away. Thankfully when the kidnapper had left,
he hadn’t turned off the light, so Jayden was able to gauge whether
he had done any damage to his stitches. He lifted the hem of his
shirt, risking a peek, but as far as he could tell, everything appeared to
be in order.

He let out a whoosh of air, relief washing over him.

He wasn’t completely free of the chair’s remains yet, so he

continued to pull at the remaining rope on his legs. He had just
managed to tear off the last bit when the door was opened again.

Jayden acted without thinking about it, giving him the element of

surprise.

He snatched a broken chair leg from the ground, and when the

door opened all the way, revealing a masked man, Jayden was
already there, wielding the broken piece of furniture like a baseball
bat, bringing it down on the man’s head with all the force he could
muster.

Without any further sound, he crumpled to the floor.

For a moment, Jayden had to stop. He braced himself on his

thighs, torso leaning forward while he fought hard to get his lungs
filled with air. His heart was beating rapidly, getting ready to achieve
liftoff, but he wasn’t done yet.

He had completed step two, which had been to get out of the room,

but he was far from safe yet, and if he got captured again, there was
no chance in hell he would get another opportunity like this.

He stuck his head out of the room, peeking left and right, and

thankfully no one else was there. He had been right; he was indeed in
a cellar. There was only a small staircase leading upstairs, nothing
else.

He hoped there would be no guard posted upstairs, but just in

case, he brought his lucky stick with him. It had served him well so
far, and it might come in handy again.

He slowly put a foot onto the first stair. When he was convinced it

wasn’t going to start creaking, he took another step. Terror coursed
through his body while all his senses seemed to sharpen, becoming
almost raw. Would the next step spell his doom? Would it creak and
draw attention to his escape?

By the time he reached the top of the stairs, he was panting almost

as if he had run a marathon. Sweat was pooling at the small of his
back, and he had to raise an arm to wipe some of it off his brows.

It seemed to take hours for him to climb upstairs, even if maybe

only a minute or two had passed. He paused at the door, taking a
deep breath before pushing it open.

Inching forward one painfully slow step at a time, he left the dingy

basement behind. His eyes quickly darted left and right, but no one
was in sight.

The house seemed old or at least neglected, because upstairs the

place didn’t appear to be in any better shape than the cellar was, and
since he had no idea which way to go for the main door, he simply
headed toward the window at the end of the hallway.

Normally, he would never consider a window to be his way out, but

he wasn’t about to run around looking for a door if it could mean
being captured again.

It was because his eyes were trained on his goal that he didn’t hear

a man approaching him from behind, and when a sharp pain in his
forearm caused him to drop his lucky stick, it was already too late to
make a run for it.

He yelped in pain as he was grabbed by strong arms that dragged

his hands behind his back, pulling him into a secure hold. Cold,
unyielding steel was pressed against his throat. He ceased to
struggle, going limp.

“You’ve got spirit.” The man’s voice had him shuddering. It carried

an appreciative tone, promising things to come he surely wouldn’t
like. “I can see why your boyfriend would want you back. You must be
excellent in the sack.”

“But he isn’t my real boyfriend” was on the tip of Jayden’s tongue.

How he managed not to blurt out the words, sentencing himself to
doom, he didn’t know. If it became known he was no one to Matt, then
his life would be forfeit. At this point, staying alive was the only thing
that mattered. Blood trickled down his throat from his savaged lip, but
he didn’t stop. The pain got him to stay focused on something apart
from the nearly mind-numbing terror threatening to paralyze his body
once more.

Suddenly, the window he had been running toward exploded into

tiny pieces and the room filled with smoke. He coughed, resuming
his struggles to get free, and maybe he got in a lucky kick or maybe
there was another reason for it, but the man who had been holding
the knife to his throat let go of him. Jayden took his chance, dashing
to the right.

Something loud and sharp whizzed past him, and when his brain

finally connected the dots, he nearly fainted out of fear. He was caught
up in a real-life gun battle. He needed to find a place to hide, and he
needed to find it yesterday. While staying as low as he could, he

crawled on all fours along the hallway.

He lost all track of time; screams and more gunfire were all around

him, and it felt as if he had been dropped in a war zone, so when he
managed to get through the front door, he more or less fell down the
steps.

He blinked in surprise before scrambling to his feet. He was getting

ready to make a mad dash for freedom when he collided with a firm
body.

“Quiet, get down—”

Jayden went limp, allowing himself to be dragged forward. He

would recognize Matt’s voice anywhere, even if common sense told
him he couldn’t be here. Had he started to imagine things? Was his
mind finally boggling under the strain of constant fear? A familiar
scent assaulted his nostrils, and when he dared to actually look, his
breath hitched and he nearly forgot to breathe altogether. Matt was
here. He had come for him! But how had the blond playboy managed
to find him? Why was he carrying a gun?

Nothing made any sense, but Jayden was too exhausted to worry

about any of it for too long. If Matt had told him to play dead, he
would’ve probably done it.

Suddenly the guns went quiet, and Jayden allowed himself to be

pulled into a strong hug as Matt rubbed soothing circles down his
back. His eyes fell shut as he rested his head on Matt’s shoulder.

“Is it over?” he finally managed to get out.

“Yes,” Matt answered, hot puffs of breath trickling over Jayden’s

exposed skin. “You’re safe now. Don’t you worry.”

If Jayden’s body could’ve gone any limper, he would’ve melted like

ice cream tended to do if left out in the open too long.

He didn’t resist when Matt gently guided him toward a car and away

from the house.

Good. He wanted to be as far away from this place as humanly

possible.

When he was sitting somewhat comfortably in the backseat of the

car, a woman materialized out of nowhere, cooing over his damaged
wrists, putting disinfectant and some bandages on them. When
everything was done, all Jayden did was simply stare ahead. Lost in
the vast expanse of nothing, he didn’t even notice Matt climbing in,
sitting down next to him.

“Come here,” he said, and still he didn’t react.

Matt finally took matters into his own hands, pulling Jayden close

until their bodies touched. When Jayden finally gave in to his instinct
to curl up and cry, Matt simply held on tight, making shushing noises
at the same time.

“Shhh….” Matt tried to calm him down. “You’re safe now, don’t

worry. I’ll take care of you. No one is ever going to hurt you again, I
promise.”

A warm feeling started in the pit of his stomach, slowly spreading

into his limbs, until he was sure his body was glowing with
happiness. No one had ever offered to take care of him before, and
hearing Matt offer that kind of assurance meant the world to him.

Being settled now in Matt’s strong embrace with his body pressed

close allowed Jayden to finally find some peace. Only when his fear
slowly slipped away did other questions materialize. Like how had
Matt known where he was? Why was this supposed playboy so good
at handling a gun? And who were those people with him? They had

moved like a well-trained unit, like he would suppose a SWAT team
would operate on missions, but neither one of those things added up
to what he knew of Matt Archer.

What was going on here?

One thing Jayden knew for certain, though: those men coming to

his rescue weren’t the police.

The car finally stopped, and on the way into the mansion, Jayden

stumbled a few times, relying on Matt to steady him.

“I think a stiff drink would do you good.” Matt wasn’t asking, and

Jayden agreed wholeheartedly. If a situation had ever called for a
strong drink, this one surely qualified!

Jayden found himself in a comfortable chair with his knees pulled

up to his chest when a glass was pressed into his hands. He didn’t
know what it was, but he didn’t care. The liquid burnt in his chest, but
despite the fact that it was entirely unpleasant, warmth started to
spread from his stomach outward. Well, that was kind of nice. He
quickly emptied the whole glass, and he wouldn’t have said no to
more.

“Matt!”

Jayden recognized Scott’s voice calling for his friend, so he wasn’t

surprised when the man barged into the room.

“Why didn’t you call me? Why did you run off half-cocked?” the man

shouted at Matt, who slowly got up, arms at his side, glaring back at
his friend.

Scott didn’t acknowledge Jayden’s presence. Maybe he didn’t see

him, Jayden thought, because his gaze was trained solely on Matt.

Jayden watched as Matt raised an eyebrow in a wordless

challenge. “Have you forgotten the plan?” he asked in a semi-
amused tone, but annoyance was also clearly present. “This was to
flush out the kidnappers and keep you out of danger.”

“You know I can handle myself!”

“Are we going to have the same discussion all over again?” Matt bit

back with heat.

The empty glass Jayden had been holding slipped out of his

fingers, crashing to the floor with a sound close to a bomb going off.
The noise vibrated through the room, startling everyone, while every
single puzzle piece slowly slotted into place. Everything was so much
clearer now!

Matt hadn’t come to rescue him, he had come for the kidnappers.

“Wait a minute,” Jayden said, voice eerily calm like the center of a

storm. “Dumb this down for me.”

Both men stared at him as if he were a ghost that had popped out

of nowhere. It didn’t do any good to Jayden’s already dented ego that
they had forgotten he was even there.

When no one rushed to answer, Jayden drew his own conclusions.

“You hired a fake boyfriend to keep your real boyfriend safe?” he
asked, voice rising slightly with each word.

“Jayden,” Matt tried to say while Scott said at the same time, “Look

—”

“No,” Jayden forcefully said, “I don’t care. You lied to me.” He

crossed the distance, poking his finger at Matt’s chest to emphasize
his point. “You put my life in danger and you didn’t even have the
decency to warn me. What were you thinking?”

At that moment, Jayden had to move away, because if he came into

any bodily contact with the thoughtless idiot, he would’ve done him
bodily harm. And he had sworn to himself he would never, ever, turn
into his father.

“Scott….” Matt, of course, managed to say exactly the wrong thing,

incensing Jayden even further.

“Scott?” he screamed, arms flailing because he had to channel the

need to hit Matt’s face into some sort of body movement. Otherwise
he would simply explode. “I don’t care about Scott,” he shouted,
sending one swift glare toward the silent real boyfriend. He took a
deep breath. His voice was a little bit more even, less distressed,
when he continued. “Look,” he said, rubbing his jaw, “I can appreciate
the fact that you wanted to keep your boyfriend safe. A noble
sentiment, really.”

Matt had the decency to flinch, but Jayden didn’t notice.

“The point remains, though, you didn’t tell me I was going to be in

danger. You lied.”

Quite simple, really.

“We’re done here,” he concluded. “I guess you won’t be needing my

services anymore,” Jayden added, words flying out of his mouth while
he struggled to keep his emotions in check. Anger was the emotion
he was trying to focus on, pushing hurt as far away as he could
manage.

“Good luck to you.” He nodded politely to Matt and to Scott before he

gathered all his strength to walk out of the room with his head held
high.

“Jay… Jayden, wait!” Matt shouted after him, but Jayden didn’t stop.

When he was already halfway up the stairs, he risked a moment to
look back to check if Matt was still trailing after him, but someone had
intervened, cornering him. Relief washed over him; however, Jayden
didn’t allow himself to wallow in it, knowing he only had a small
window of time to get out of the house before Matt managed to extract
himself and come after him. Right now he thought that if he never laid
eyes on Matt again, he would be the happiest person on the planet!

When he reached his room, he wanted to do nothing more than curl

up on the plush bed, burying his head in the pillow and crying his
heart out, but now wasn’t the time to fall apart. He needed to get out of
there. He needed to get away, and only then could he allow himself to
break down.

He had the money Matt had promised him; his pay had been wired

into his bank account on a daily basis, and because Jayden didn’t
trust easily, he had double-checked it every day. He knew better, after
all, than to demand his payment in cold hard cash. Not for that kind of
sum.

His eyes landed on the bed again. He heard its siren song trying to

lull him, and really, why shouldn’t he give in?

There was no danger coming from Matt, and he was frankly

exhausted. His body hurt in places he hadn’t thought possible while
his emotions were so raw he was actually expecting to crash and
burn any minute now. Why should he put himself through the ordeal
of leaving, finding a bus, and going back home? Danny would ask
questions, questions Jayden didn’t yet have any answers to, and
besides, Matt owed him at least one more comfortable night, right?

He turned around, eyeing the door, noting the small lock. With

almost lightning speed, he crossed the distance and locked himself
in. There, he sighed in relief.

Falling asleep was hard, nearly impossible. Flashes of being

shoved into the van, of being tied up and then held at gunpoint, kept
warring for dominance in his mind. How could he give in to the
quietness of sleep and rest with those memories so vivid in mind?

He squeezed his eyes shut, willing his breathing to slow down and

hoping his skin would stop crawling with imaginary ants trying to
burrow their way out of him. The need to scratch his skin bloody was
almost overwhelming, but he tried his best to stay still.

When he finally succumbed to sleep, dark memories kept chasing

him until the morning.

His eyes snapped open when, somewhere in the house, a door

banged shut, and he was crouching on the floor, hiding behind the
bed with his head barely peeking over the edge, expecting someone
to take shots at him at any moment. His breathing was coming in
ragged huffs, the short gasps echoing through the otherwise silent
room while his eyes furtively darted left and right, looking for any sign
of danger.

Eventually his brain caught up with him and he let out a whoosh of

air. Relief had his bones sagging as he almost crumpled to the
ground. He mentally slapped himself twice, ordering himself to stop
acting like an idiot.

He forced himself to get up on unsteady legs, a hand coming to

rest on the bed to steady himself. After a few more breaths, he quickly
collected a few things, leaving most of what Matt had bought behind.
There was no way it would fit into the small duffel bag he was using,
and besides, what use would he have for fancy clothes anyway?

He ran his hands yearningly over a cozy sweater, wishing he could

take it with him, but then he decided against it, stuffing it back into the
closet.

Maybe one day he would be able to afford nice things on his own,

and then they would hold even more meaning because he would’ve
paid for them with his own money. Until then, he would make do
without. If he took the sweater, then he would take the cargo pants,
too, followed by the nice shoes, and in the end he would need a lot
more space than he had.

His eyes fell on the small teddy bear that lay on the bed, half of its

furry body buried in the covers while only the tiny head poked out, as if
it were looking out at the world with curious eyes.

Jayden only hesitated for a moment before snatching it up and

stuffing it into his bag. He was going to take the bear because it was
the first real present he had received in a long time and because
when Matt had bought it, he had genuinely wanted to make Jayden
smile.

It would serve as a memory of the good times he had shared with

the man and maybe as a warning as well. If something was too good
to be true, then it usually was. He would do well to remember that
saying and how he had come to really understand its meaning.

He had just finished packing when Matt entered the room. Jayden

didn’t turn around, but his presence in the room was unmistakable.

“You’re leaving, then?” Matt finally broke the silence.

Jayden’s back was to the door, so he quickly zipped up his duffel

before flinging it over his shoulder. He slowly turned, steeling himself
before his eyes settled on Matt’s handsome face.

There was faint stubble on his jaw, making him look rugged and

even more charming than the man had any right to be.

“Without saying a word? You can just walk away like this?” Matt

continued, his blue eyes looking accusingly at Jayden, whose mouth
hung slightly open at Matt’s cheek. Where did the man get the balls to

look hurt when it had been him who had put Jayden’s life in danger?

But instead of speaking his mind, Jayden simply straightened up

with his eyes fixed in front of him. He was fully prepared to simply
walk past the man and out into a new life. When he tried to brush past
him, Matt stopped him by grabbing him in a nearly bruising hold. His
eyes locked with Matt’s, and for once, he didn’t back down. On the
inside, he cowered in fear, but none of it showed on the outside.

“So it’s like that, then?” Matt’s voice was slowly cooling down.

Jayden got the impression he was watching land being swallowed up
by ice. Matt’s face slowly got less and less expressive, and any hint of
warmth gradually faded away until a carefully schooled mask hid
away any feeling that could have shown before.

Jayden was torn between being in awe of Matt’s control and

frightened by it. In the end, he settled on because the first: he was
tired of always being afraid. Surely there was a way to live his life
without constantly watching out for his shadow.

“Yes, I’m leaving,” Jayden ground out, stating the obvious just in

case Matt hadn’t caught on. “My job’s done, isn’t it?” he added for
good measure. A small tendril of confusion started to unfold deep
inside him. Had he missed something?

“I should’ve known better,” Matt said, letting go of Jayden’s arm as if

he had gotten burnt.

Jayden resisted the urge to run his fingers soothingly over the

newly formed bruise, not wanting to give Matt the satisfaction of
knowing he had managed to get to him after all. He might not be able
to pull off the stoic mask with the same aplomb, but he could sure as
hell try to save as much face as he could!

“You’re right,” Matt spat out, “your job’s done. And that was all this

ever was.”

The cold words washed over Jayden, dousing him in ice, but

thankfully his defenses were still running strong and allowed no tears
to materialize his face. He narrowed his eyes at the man, giving him a
curt nod before saying, “Have a nice life.”

When Matt didn’t move, he added, “Excuse me,” and only then did

Matt take a few steps to the side, letting Jayden pass him.

“So you lied to me?” Matt hurled the words at him with a force that

was totally uncalled for.

Jayden stopped halfway through the door, momentarily frozen,

before whirling around so fast the room actually swam before his
eyes. “I’m not the one who lied here!” he shouted, for once raising his
voice. “You put my life on the line without bothering to tell me! Who do
you think you are?”

He had never given in to his anger before because nothing good

could ever come out of trying to settle an argument with fists, but this
was a truly horrible moment, and Jayden totally forgot about his vow
never to raise a hand to another person. He balled his fingers into a
tight fist, readying himself to take a swing at Matt’s taunting face. But
he couldn’t go through with it. No, he thought, he wouldn’t let Matt take
this away from him too.

He straightened his back, letting all tension go out of his arms and

fingers. He wasn’t his father. He didn’t resolve his problems with his
fists. He was a better man. He took a step back, though, just in case.
The red slowly bled out of his vision, leaving a few more clear
thoughts behind.

In a much calmer voice, he added, “You should’ve told me the truth,

let me decide for myself if I wanted to take the risk or not. But I can’t
blame you for me falling in love with you. That’s all on me.” The last
sentence was whispered, words barely audible, but from the way

Matt’s eyes widened, there was no doubt in Jayden’s mind that Matt
had heard him.

Maybe if he hadn’t been so caught up in his own thoughts, he

would’ve noticed the gobsmacked look on Matt’s face. Maybe if he
hadn’t already been so damaged, Jayden would’ve had the patience
to sit down and talk, but no one could escape his past. So instead of
waiting for Matt to catch his bearings, Jayden turned on his heels,
marching straight out the door and allowing it to fall shut behind him.

Rushing through the house was easy, and he only allowed himself

to pause for a moment when he was out on the street. Should he call
a cab? He itched with the need to get as far away from here as he
could, but in the end, he decided against wasting his hard-earned
money.

There was nothing wrong with his feet, after all. He would walk until

he found a bus stop. He would get off at the central bus station, buy a
ticket for the next bus leaving town without caring where he was
going. It was time to trust in fate, hoping she wouldn’t steer him
wrong.

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

A few

weeks later, Jayden was sitting by the window of his new

home, nursing a hot coffee and staring into space.

He hadn’t moved far, but in a way it seemed as if he had entered a

whole new world.

The moment the tiny square with the benches and the adjacent

park had come into view, Jayden knew he had come home.

By taking one corner too quickly, he had quite literally run into his

salvation.

Carrie was a fiery redhead with a temper hot enough to melt the

arctic ice, but she had a heart of gold. Apparently, he must have
looked as forlorn as the stray cats and dogs she liked to feed,
because she had steered him into a coffee shop and then she had
tried to kill him with excellent coffee and muffins.

In a fortunate twist of fate, she turned out to be the shop’s owner,

and she offered to hire Jayden on the spot.

“I don’t know anything about making coffee,” Jayden recalled

saying.

“Doesn’t matter.” Carrie had smiled at him, waving her hand

dismissively. “You’ll learn.”

Jayden might be many things, but he had never considered stupid

among them, so of course he accepted the offer with a smile. She
wasn’t able to pay him much, but who cared? He now had a steady
income and he was no longer required to sell his body, which was all
he had ever wanted.

She even gave him a room above the shop, and for the first time

since his mother had died, he thought he had found a home again.
There were times, though, when he woke up screaming, sweating as
if it were a hundred degrees outside. At those times of weakness, he
missed Danny dearly. He would’ve been able to share the horror of
his memories with his friend, because Danny was more jaded than
Jayden was. Good-hearted Carrie, though, wasn’t cut from the same
cloth, and there was no way he would ever confide in her. He didn’t
want her goodness tainted with what he had done. It was bad enough
he would always carry his past around with him; he didn’t have to
spread his darkness on top of everything.

Despite the nightmares, he loved his new life. Carrie had become

his new family, always encouraging him to go after his dreams.

“What have you got there?” she asked, sitting down on the edge of

the sofa, peering at the sketch Jayden was balancing on his knees.

“Uhm,” he hedged, feeling terribly self-conscious about his

attempts at art. “Nothing,” he hurriedly added, trying to pull away, but
Carrie was quicker, snatching his book out of his hands.

“Hey,” he protested, trying to take it back, but she held it above his

head where he couldn’t reach. He huffed, deciding against getting up
and chasing after it. Maybe he could salvage some dignity.

“This is really good,” she eventually said, giving him back the

paper.

“I don’t know,” he said. He honestly wasn’t fishing for compliments.

His art was a huge part of him, kind of like an extra limb, but just
because he liked to lose himself in his drawings didn’t mean he was
any good.

“No, I mean it,” she said with conviction. “You should see about

getting some classes, about getting your work out there. You really
are good.”

He had always toyed with the idea of going to art school, but up until

now, it had been nothing but a dream. With a steady job and a roof
over his head, things were looking up, so maybe he could finally allow
his dreams to take root too.

“Maybe,” he conceded, adding “pursuing my dream” to his list of

things to do.

And

then one day, Matt, calm as a clam, walked into the coffee shop,

ordering a latte as if nothing had happened at all, and his carefully
constructed new life came crashing down around him.

All the air left Jayden’s lungs, and his knees buckled. If the counter

hadn’t been between him and the floor, he would have fallen to his
knees. His mouth hung open while he blinked rapidly.

Maybe he was seeing things?

He pinched his arm, trying to figure out whether he was asleep or

not, and he nearly howled in pain when he discovered that of course
he was wide awake.

No amount of blinking or wishing differently made Matt go away,

leaving only the possibility that he was really there. Since Jayden
didn’t believe in coincidences of any kind, especially not of this
magnitude, there was only one explanation left: Matt, for some unholy
reason, had come after him.

All the color drained out of his face. What if Matt wanted his money

back?

“Uhm…,” Jayden managed to stutter, putting the mug down with

milk sloshing over the edges. “I’m going to pop out for a minute,” he
mumbled to Carrie, and he caught a confused and worried look
before he dashed from the coffee shop and out onto the street.

How had Matt found him? He hadn’t left any obvious traces behind,

and while he still regularly checked in with Danny, he hadn’t given him
any address either. So how was this possible?

Lady luck wasn’t smiling on him, though, because he had just

turned a corner when a car pulled up beside him, and because it
caught him off guard, he stopped to take a look at the model. If he had
just walked on, he would’ve probably been able to avoid getting
snatched up like some wayward kitten. The door beside him
suddenly opened, and before he could react, he was yanked forward
and pulled into the backseat of the vehicle. The door slammed shut
after him, the sound echoing through the inside of the car like a bell of
doom.

He scrambled out of the grip trying to hold him down, twisting and

turning so he could get out on the other side. A car had two doors,
after all. The sound of engaging locks stopped him midmotion, but he
still desperately tried the door handle, just to be sure.

He swallowed hard while he gathered his strength around him.

Matt wouldn’t hurt him; there was no reason for his heart to pound so
hard….

Slowly he turned around, shifting yet again until he was sitting

almost comfortably on the leather seat. He caught Matt smiling
smugly at him, clearly pleased with what he had done.

Jayden’s eyes narrowed. What was the idiot playing at?

“What do you think you’re doing? How did you find me?” Jayden

demanded. All pretense of being easygoing had vanished from Matt,

leaving only raw danger behind. Jayden gulped, raising his chin,
refusing to appear intimidated.

The partition came up without anyone asking for it, and Jayden

didn’t even notice it. The limo was a standard model, and while
normally he might have been impressed by the expensive leather and
elegant seats, all his focus was on one smug, smirking playboy who
had no right whatsoever to grab him and stuff him in the back of a car
as if he was his property or pet.

“I need to talk to you,” Matt said calmly, his blue eyes staring, raking

over his body, and even though Jayden fought against it, he felt a
blush staining his cheeks.

“You’ve gained weight,” Matt observed casually. “It looks good on

you. You were too skinny before….”

Jayden’s mouth hung open, because seriously? Had Matt come all

this way to comment on his eating habits? “Let me out,” he
demanded, heart hammering in his chest. He didn’t think Matt meant
him any harm, but then again, who would lock someone in the back of
a limousine just to talk to them? Couldn’t he have approached him in
the coffee shop like a normal person?

A little nagging feeling like guilt nipped at his mind, because hadn’t

he bolted like a scared animal before Matt even had a chance to talk
to him? Had he set these events in motion? Still, he refused to be
held responsible for Matt hauling him into the car like some lost
baggage.

Some of his thoughts must’ve shown on his face, because Matt

had the audacity to chuckle, answering Jayden’s question without him
having to utter a single word.

“Would you have given me the time of day if I had simply said I

wanted to talk to you?” he asked, and Jayden shifted uncomfortably,

the lie leaving his lips without him having to think about it.

“Sure.”

“Riiiight.” Matt drew out the word, clearly catching Jayden’s fib.

“What do you want, then?” Jayden prompted, folding his arms

protectively across his chest. Obviously he wasn’t going to be let out
of the car until Matt had said what he had come here to say, so the
sooner he got it over with, the better.

“I want to…,” Matt started; then he paused. “I mean….” His voice

faltered, and Jayden raised an eyebrow, silently asking the man to get
on with it.

“Look.” Matt tiredly rubbed his jaw and started talking again. “I

wanted to apologize for putting your life in danger without telling you.
That wasn’t right.”

Jayden hummed in agreement.

“I should’ve told you why I was hiring you, and then you could’ve

made a decision knowing all the facts.”

Silence hung between them. Matt was probably expecting Jayden to

have something to say, but nothing could be farther from the truth. He
couldn’t offer up any forgiveness because right now he didn’t know if
he had it in him.

He had a few questions, though, which had never been properly put

to rest.

Why, for example, had Matt gone through this elaborate scheme

instead of addressing the issue with the police?

“I didn’t set out to hire someone like you to pose as my boyfriend,”

Matt continued after a few moments. “I had plans to hire a private
detective for the job, but then I stumbled over you and I offered it to you
instead.”

“Why?” Jayden found himself asking, forehead creasing in a frown.

“Why pick me?”

Matt looked shifty for a moment, and Jayden narrowed his eyes

because he had the niggling feeling in the back of his mind that Matt
was about to tell him some sort of half-truth. How he knew he couldn’t
fathom, but he didn’t doubt it for a minute.

“There was just something about you,” Matt answered, shrugging

casually, but Jayden got the impression he was feeling anything but
casual about this. “I felt like you were….” Matt faltered, but “mine” hung
in the air. He didn’t speak the word out loud, though, leaving the
unfinished sentence hanging in the air. Instead Matt said, “You
needed my help, and it all just seemed to fit.”

“To have me pretend to be your boyfriend while neglecting to tell me

what your ‘good deed’ entailed wasn’t really helpful after all. You do
know that, right?” Jayden thought about the quotation marks on “good
deed,” and the way Matt cringed made it clear the man had caught on
to his sarcasm.

“I’m sorry,” Matt repeated, deflating a bit.

His skin was pale and there were dark circles under his eyes, and

for a fleeting moment, Jayden was tempted to ask him if he was all
right. He bit down on his tongue to stop himself from giving away the
fact that he still cared, and eventually the moment passed.

“I wasn’t sure if you liked me as well or if you were simply playing

along,” Matt offered, “but when I gave you the teddy bear, your eyes lit
up, so I thought you might have some feelings for me after all. And
frankly, the sex was fantastic.”

Jayden snorted; he didn’t want to be vain, but it would be a shame if

after all the sex he had had in his life he didn’t know his way around a
cock or a vagina. It might be crude, and he wasn’t going to say it out
loud, but in this case he had to agree with the saying “practice makes
perfect.”

And Matt wasn’t wrong; Jayden did care for him. But why was he

here now?

“Look,” Jayden said slowly, “I do appreciate the apology and all”—

he made a hand-waving gesture to emphasize what he had just said
—“but why are you here?”

Matt twitched, fidgeting with the hem of his jeans, a clear sign that

even though he tried to appear calm and in control, he was actually far
from it.

Jayden considered this, watching the man he had come to care

about deeply, until eventually Matt found the courage to say what he
had come here to say.

“I am in love with you.”

Jayden blinked. “Come again?” he said, and then he leaned

forward, pinching Matt’s arm, because the only explanation he could
come up with was that he was dreaming.

Or should he maybe have pinched himself?

“Somewhere between you pretending to be my boyfriend and you

leaving, I fell in love with you.”

“Huh….”

“I still care about Scott,” Matt quickly added, his blue eyes hooded,

and it was obvious this was important to him, so Jayden wouldn’t
have been able to look away even if he had wanted to. “I’ve known him
for so long. He is a part of my life, but we both agreed we’ve always
been more like friends with benefits than actual lovers.”

“But—” Jayden tried to object. The change from boyfriend to friend

was happening far too quickly for him to believe it.

“We started out as friends long before we fell into bed,” Matt

explained, and the edge to his voice told Jayden that regardless of
how outlandish and unbelievable this sounded, Matt wasn’t lying.
“And we were good together, but it wasn’t because we were in love.
We’re good friends and we always will be.”

Jayden opened his mouth, then closed it again because he had

nothing to offer. “You love me?” he asked eventually, his eyes
widening further because he couldn’t believe it. “Why?”

The question got him a chuckle from Matt. Then Matt shifted on his

seat so he was facing Jayden fully. “The first thing I noticed about you
was your fighting spirit,” the man started to say, and Jayden had to roll
his eyes. “Fighting spirit?” Was the man delusional? He was a
coward; he ran away from danger, not toward it, and he had a
tendency to avoid conflict at all costs, since it never ended well for
him.

If he were braver, he would’ve stood up to his father, he would’ve

found a way to do more with his life, and while he was still proud to
have come this far, he was more than aware he had no education.
Someone with a bit more brains and backbone would’ve found a
different way to get out of his former life.

“And I would be lying if I were to say I didn’t find you pleasing to look

at.” Matt followed the statement with a leer.

Seriously? The man was incorrigible. But Jayden would be lying if

he didn’t admit to liking that about Matt.

“I could probably make you a list, but nothing changes the fact I’ve

fallen in love with you, and I would like to give us a try.”

The offer silenced Jayden. All thoughts flew out the window, leaving

him drawing a blank. “I care for you too,” he said slowly, wanting to
give something back to Matt, because it couldn’t have been easy for
him to come out with his declaration.

“Then come away with me,” Matt suddenly interrupted him, not

letting Jayden think too long about what the confession could mean
for the life he had built here in this new town.

“Come away with you?” he repeated. “Where to?”

Instead of giving him a direct answer, Matt said, “My family has tons

of places, and I’d like to spend some time with you. Just the two of us.
A holiday of sorts to get to know each other better.”

“What about after our holiday?”

“I don’t know,” Matt confessed. “You’ve got a new life here.” He

waved around, gesturing toward the coffee shop. “I want you to come
back with me, but I understand you might not want to give all of this
up.”

“Thank you,” Jayden said, meaning it with all his heart. Learning

that Matt wanted him back meant a lot to him. For once he wasn’t
demanding to get his way; he was asking instead. Jayden had always
suspected Matt wasn’t nearly as spoiled as he liked to pretend to be,
but it was like balm on his soul to be presented with proof.

Jayden’s and Matt’s childhoods couldn’t have been any different.

The chasm separating them, though, wasn’t uncrossable. Jayden
liked to deflect, to glide through life, making as few waves as

possible, while Matt prowled through everything like an elephant in a
shop.

Should he really give up everything he had built just for a chance

with Matt? He didn’t really want to say this out loud, but would the risk
be worth it?

A compromise was needed, because no, he didn’t want to walk

away from Matt either, but he also wasn’t ready to leave his new life
behind.

“How about we take it one step at a time?” he offered instead.

Matt paused to consider for a moment, then nodded approvingly.

“Sure, we can do that.”

“I’ll need to talk to Carrie first, though,” Jayden suddenly

remembered, “to make sure she’s covered while I’m gone….”

He was sure she wouldn’t mind him taking off on short notice, but

then again, she was still his boss. She would understand as a friend,
but she also needed his help in her shop.

Before he could think any further, a hand on his thigh distracted

him. His eyes focused again on Matt, who smiled at him. “Don’t worry
your pretty head.”

“Hey!” Jayden protested. He wasn’t pretty, and if he wanted to worry,

then he damn well would!

“I’ll cover any expenses she might have.”

“You can’t just go and buy people!” Jayden protested.

Matt calmed him down by saying, “I’m not offering to buy her but

simply to cover any costs she might have while you’re gone.”

“But,” Jayden objected, but at this stage it was almost on autopilot.

“I’ve got more money than I could ever spend,” Matt continued, eyes

earnest. “It’s no hardship at all to spend it on something worthwhile.
And getting you to agree to come away with me is totally worth it.”

Jayden swallowed, letting the words sink in.

Matt really wanted to spend some time with him. He might not like

how Matt went about things because throwing money at people
simply wasn’t right, regardless of the motivation, but should Jayden
really shoot himself in the foot by declining this incredible offer?

Of course not.

“Still, let me talk to her first before you go and make your offer,” he

eventually said.

“Sure,” Matt agreed easily.

There was more to the pretty blond blue-eyed man than what he let

people see, and even though Jayden found some mystery to be
exciting, he hoped he wouldn’t regret getting involved with him again.
His not-so-helpful brain supplied a number of not-quite-exciting
worst-case scenarios from ending up broken-hearted to being found
dead, but surely this was only his overly active imagination running
away with him again!

Maybe he should give up on art and start writing romantic novels

instead, since apparently he seemed to be thinking along the same
lines of eternal doom and star-crossed lovers!

“How about we take some time for this before you go back inside?”

The man was back to leering.

Jayden frowned, not getting the innuendo until Matt reached out and

grabbed him by the back of his neck, hauling him toward himself into
a kiss that rapidly turned from just saying “hello” to screaming “I want
you!”

Jayden shifted his body, moving closer to Matt, closing the distance

between them while his eyes closed. He opened his mouth, thrusting
his own tongue toward Matt’s , and for a few moments they were at
war, nibbling and twisting, tongues fighting with each other. Jayden
was already half hard by the time Matt pulled away for some much-
needed air.

The heated look on Matt’s face told Jayden loud and clear where

this was going, and he was pretty sure his own look was a perfect
mirror of Matt’s desire. No further words were needed. It was a
shame the limo was really too small for a good fuck. He might be
bendy, but he was no acrobat. Besides, there were other things they
could do, leaving the best for later. It would give them something to
look forward to, which was never a bad thing.

Matt reached for him again, but with a swift move, Jayden deposited

himself in Matt’s lap. Nimble fingers reached for the zipper, and it was
loud in the silence of the car when he pushed it down, pulling at the
fabric until he was able to free the thick shaft.

There was already some pre-come leaking out at the top, but

Jayden bent forward, licking it and taking the head into his mouth.
Matt’s gasp echoed through the car, bouncing off the walls. It was
music to Jayden’s ears.

Jayden struggled with getting his own jeans undone. Once he was

free as well and moving so he could align himself with Matt’s cock,
his hands were shoved away, allowing Matt’s bigger hands to wrap
around them both.

Breathlessly, Jayden slumped against Matt’s bigger frame, hips

jerking forward in rapid motions, fucking Matt’s hand. Heaven—there
was no other word to describe what Matt was doing to him.

Their shafts, slick with their pre-come, rubbed against each other,

stimulating the already tingling nerve endings further until Jayden
thought he would lose it.

What pulled him over the edge was both brilliant and simple in

nature: Matt’s hand slid down his back, long fingers teasing his crack
before digging lower, brushing past his hole. That slight movement
had his sphincter clenching with need, and then everything went white
while he exploded in Matt’s expert hand.

His scream echoed through the confines of the car, and he didn’t

care who heard him. He was too far gone to care.

When he was all spent, he slumped against his lover, nuzzling at

his neck.

“Hmmm.” A content hum tore free from his throat, and he heard Matt

mimic the tone in a resounding echo.

Matt, though, hadn’t come yet, so Jayden quickly shifted, snaking

his hand between their bodies, lending a helping hand. He only
needed to touch Matt’s hot shaft before the man underneath him
buckled, letting out a scream of his own.

Silence descended once more, with both men panting harshly,

slowly coming down from the heights they had soared to.

“Is there…?” Jayden was going to ask for some water to clean

himself up when Matt mumbled, “Boxes, over there…,” accompanying
it with a hand wave, and Jayden reluctantly rolled off the man, coming
to sit back down.

He scrambled over to check, and yes, there was a compartment

filled with wet tissues. He wondered if Matt had done this before, but
the thought came and went quickly. Of Course a limo like this had
been used for sex! It was almost mandatory, and a man like Matt
would always come prepared.

Jayden cleaned himself up and threw the tissue box over to Matt

when he was done.

He leaned back, tucking himself in, and with hooded eyes he

watched Matt clean himself, handling his now limp cock before
putting his clothes in order.

“Do you think the driver heard us?” Jayden wondered, glancing

around nervously.

Matt paid him no heed, moving to unlock the door. “He’s paid well

enough not to care,” he assured Jayden. “Don’t you worry.”

And in his former profession Jayden wouldn’t have worried, but he

was starting a new chapter of his life, and he wanted to do it right. He
didn’t want to give anyone a bad impression of him, not if he could
help it!

On slightly shaky legs, he got out of the car and sent a small smile

toward Matt, who was getting out of the car as well, eyes trained on
Jayden as if he wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to vanish in a
puff of smoke. Before going back into the shop, Jayden paused,
glancing backward. He stared at Matt, love dancing in his eyes as he
watched the blond man leaning against the car. He couldn’t recall the
last time he had seen Matt this calm, seemingly content with the
world. A soft wind ruffled his golden-blond hair, taking Jayden’s
breath away.

He looked like a picture from a magazine, something men and

women would pin up on their walls and drool at every glance. And this
man wanted to be his boyfriend! Jayden’s heart skipped a beat, and

after taking a deep breath, he hurried into the shop.

The moment he entered the shop, Carrie hurried his way, shoving

her brother out of her path. Mike was a fixture in the shop, much like
her, and despite their somewhat less than enthusiastic meeting,
Jayden had learned to like him.

She paused midstep, turning to grab her brother only to shove him

toward the till. “Take care of the customers,” she ordered, leaving a
gaping man behind.

Jayden had come to appreciate Mike’s crazy stories and his overly

friendly attitude, but despite being harmless, he had a way of scaring
people. Not the best thing if you wanted to get your customers to buy
your products and come back. Jayden had been an eyewitness to a
few events where Mike had managed to singlehandedly empty the
shop, leaving a speechless older sister behind.

Regular customers usually eyed Mike warily, as if they expected

him to sprout horns at any minute, but they tolerated his presence
because he was a whiz when it came to actually making the coffee.

Today, apparently, Cassie was making an exception, and since she

was the boss, Jayden refrained from commenting.

She herded Jayden into her office. It wasn’t much more than a

converted storage room, but it would give them some privacy from
prying eyes.

“What’s going on?” she demanded, hands on her hips, glaring at

him to let him know he’d better tell her right this minute.

Jayden hesitated for a moment, unsure what to say. He hadn’t

really told anyone about what he had done before getting there, and
while he had told them he was nursing a broken heart, he hadn’t told
them why.

“Is he the guy who broke your heart?” she asked out of the blue,

and Jayden nodded, an idea taking root.

There was no point in lying; he wasn’t very good at it, and he would

only end up caught anyway. But it wasn’t really lying if he simply
omitted some bits here and there, right?

“Yes,” he admitted, lowering his eyes for a moment before he

continued, “I was the other man for a while….”

When Carrie’s expression turned furious, he quickly added, “I didn’t

know at the time.” Her expression softened a bit. “Turns out he broke
up with his boyfriend and he wants to take me on a holiday so we can
get to know each other better.”

Carrie’s eyes narrowed and her spine straightened. “Can’t he just

take you on a date?” she asked in an incredulous voice, and Jayden
had to admit that if he hadn’t known Matt never did anything halfway,
then yes, he would have probably been wondering the very same
thing.

“I would like to give it a try,” he said softly. “Money isn’t an issue for

him, and he offered to help you out while I’m gone.”

Carrie pursed her lips; her eyes narrowed even further, to the point

that Jayden wondered if she was still able to see him. “I don’t need
his money,” she spat out, and it was then that Jayden realized it was a
matter of pride for Carrie. Maybe rejecting the money was not a smart
thing to do, but he could totally relate to it.

Still, he wasn’t going to be able to go away if he didn’t know Carrie

was covered.

“What if he paid someone to fill in for me while I’m gone?”

Carrie opened her mouth to object, but Jayden didn’t let her get a

word in; he continued in a hurry, “Please.” He wasn’t above pleading
with her if it meant she was going to be taken care of, leaving him with
a clear conscience at the same time. “I would feel better if I didn’t
have to worry about you alone here while I am gone.”

Carrie deflated a bit, and while it was clear she still didn’t like it, in

the end she nodded in defeat. “All right. I don’t like it, but I’ll do it for
you.”

“Thank you,” Jayden said, quickly planting a soft kiss on her cheek.

When he pulled away, he caught her looking at him fondly, which
made him smile some more.

“I’ll go pack a few things, then,” he said, smiling at her while he ran

out of the room.

On the way back downstairs, he ran into Mike, who had to wrap him

up in a hug to keep them both from toppling down the stairs. Or
maybe Mike would’ve hugged him anyway, because the guy seemed
to like being all over everyone. There wasn’t anything sexual about it;
he simply seemed to thrive on body contact like some sort of hug
vampire.

Such a stupid thought had him almost laughing out loud, but by the

time he had untangled himself from Mike, the urge had passed.

Mike wasn’t smiling; his usual cheery nature was notably absent.

His dark eyes held unspoken questions. The uncharacteristically
serious expression on his friend’s face threw Jayden for a loop.

“Is the guy you’re running away with the same guy who hurt you

before?” Mike asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jayden deflected, but Mike

shook his head, serious brown eyes holding him in place.

“You’ve got a scar right there,” Mike said, pointing toward where

Jayden had gotten stabbed, “and I’ve seen you jump at loud noises.
And then there are you nightmares….”

“How do you know?”

Mike smiled ruefully at him. “I might come off as flighty, but I’ve got

eyes in my head. You don’t want to talk about it,” he continued. “I can
respect that, but I want you to know I’m here for you should you ever
need my help.”

Jayden blinked, unsure what to do with such a heartfelt speech,

even though it warmed him to know Mike really cared about him.
“Thanks,” he settled on saying, smiling sweetly at the man.

“And if he hurts you again…,” Mike threatened, letting his voice trail

off at the end, leaving Jayden to fill in the blanks.

He had heard the speech often enough in movies where the good

friend threatened the new boyfriend, but he never thought he would
ever have someone in his life who would look out for him that way.

It meant a lot, even though he couldn’t really put his feelings into

words. So he reached out and patted Mike on the shoulder to convey
the sentiment.

The man must have understood, because he finally stepped aside.

“Have fun!” he shouted, and when Jayden took a quick look back over
his shoulder, he caught Mike wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at
him.

That was more like the Mike he had come to know, so he grinned,

flipping him off before hurrying outside to his waiting lover.

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Take

care. We’ll miss you.

Carrie’s words were echoing in Jayden’s mind as he bounced

outside toward the limo and his boyfriend.

He smiled weakly at Matt as he slid into the seat next to him, and he

had barely sat down when the engine started. Obviously, Matt wasn’t
going to take any chances on him maybe changing his mind, but
Jayden wasn’t the type of person who didn’t honor his commitments.

This didn’t mean that he wasn’t afraid. The blood was pumping in

his veins so quickly he could practically hear an ocean roaring inside
his ears, but being slightly intimidated wasn’t going to make him
throw in the towel. He had come this far; he was going to see it
through.

Common sense was urging him to be cautious, to tread lightly

here, but if he had never dared to put himself out there, then he would
still be living at home with his abusive father. No, some risks, despite
his fear, were worth being taken.

“A penny for your thoughts.” Matt leaned in, surprising Jayden by

kissing him sweetly on the nose.

His nose twitched from the unexpected gesture, and he couldn’t

resist raising a finger, gently touching the spot where Matt’s lips had
been moments before. “Just wondering where we’re going, is all,” he
said lazily, but something in Matt’s blue eyes told him the man wasn’t
fooled.

“I’ve got a beach house not too far from here,” Matt answered. “Just

sit back and relax. We should be there in under two hours.”

“The beach?” Jayden said faintly, barely contained excitement

flickering over his face. He had never been to the beach and had
always wanted to go there and to see the sea, and, well, to say he
was happy and excited now that it was really going to happen would
have been an understatement.

“You’ll like it,” Matt went on. “It’s in a quiet and secluded space, so

we’re going to have all the privacy we want.”

“Sounds great,” Jayden said enthusiastically, a bright smile on his

handsome face.

He sent Matt a quick glance when the man reached out for his

hand, entwining their fingers, and his only response was to shift
closer, pressing his body against him.

Contrary to how the day had started out—rushed sex in the car—the

remaining two hours were spent in comfortable silence with Matt
clicking away on his iPhone while Jayden alternated between
admiring the passing landscape and shutting his eyes, allowing his
emotions to settle.

Eventually, they pulled off the main road onto an unpaved one, and

for a short while, their ride was slightly bumpy. Obviously a car made
for rough driving would’ve been much better for navigating a road like
this.

Soon a small house perched on top of a low hill came into view.

It only showed how much Jayden had become accustomed to

Matt’s standards, as only by his criteria could the house be
considered small. It was perfect in its own way, with a picket fence
and friendly flowers and trees in the garden.

When the car stopped, Jayden jumped out almost immediately, and

the first thing he noticed was the difference in the air.

Even before moving to the city and into his new life, he had grown

up inland. He had never experienced the salty fresh air that existed
close to the seaside.

He tasted a slight tinge on his tongue and sniffed the air like some

sort of dog, a wide smile gracing his face.

Jayden could hear the waves crashing ashore nearby. Without any

prompting, Matt’s hands landed gently on his shoulders, slowly
turning him around until he could see past the house and out toward
the ocean.

Glistening blue was the first thing he noticed, followed by a feeling

of bone-deep awe. The ocean went on forever, no end in sight. Being
close to something this ancient had his knees buckling and his
imagination roaring to life.

“You all right?” Matt’s breath ghosted over Jayden’s neck, and he

slowly nodded, tilting his head so Matt could claim his lips in a hot
kiss.

The kiss didn’t last long, but it promised more sweetness to come.

With a chuckle, Matt pulled away, grabbing Jayden’s hand once more
before dragging him toward the house.

“Come on!” he shouted, smiling freely for the first time Jayden could

remember. Jayden quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind.

The front door led into the living room, and Jayden’s eyes were

immediately drawn to the huge veranda doors that led out onto a
porch with a perfect view over the beach and the ocean.

There were beige-colored carpets draped over the clay tiles, and

even though the furniture was sparse, it still showed impeccable
taste.

The kitchen was separated from the living room by sliding doors,

and it, too, held a huge window that overlooked the beach.

“The bedroom is down the hall,” Matt said, leering at him and

pointing his head toward the other door.

Jayden blushed while his lips quirked upward into an almost-

smile. “You’ve got a one track mind on you,” he teased as Matt simply
gave him an appreciative grin.

“When it comes to you, yes,” he confirmed, causing Jayden to

redden even more.

If he didn’t watch out, his face was going to freeze in a smile. For

the last few hours, his expression had been stuck in one smile or
another. He wasn’t complaining; it was just something new for him to
get used to.

“How about we christen this place?” The innuendo in Matt’s tone

could’ve been understood by a deaf old lady, and with a chuckle,
Jayden brushed past his lover, giving him a coy look over his
shoulder.

He raised a finger, making a “come here” gesture before crossing

the threshold.

He barely had enough time to note the expensive white décor

before he found himself pushed face-first onto the huge bed.

Before he could do anything—like spread his legs or even attempt

to get rid of his shirt—he was spun around. Their eyes met, and
neither one of them was able to look away.

“Kiss me,” Jayden demanded, lifting his head close to Matt’s face,

and for once Matt did as he was told. He bent down, claiming
Jayden’s mouth for his own, conquering him.

“You’re mine,” Matt managed to squeeze in between kisses,

leaving Jayden trembling with need. One day the roles would be
reversed; one day Jayden would do the claiming, but for now, he was
happy to be on the receiving end of Matt’s intense worship. Matt then
followed up his previous statement by saying, “Need you naked, right
now.”

Jayden blinked, nodding furiously because yes, he was on board

with the idea. He obliged when Matt tugged at his shirt, lifting his
arms up so Matt could slide it easily off his body. When the offending
shirt was gone, Jayden pulled and tugged until Matt, too, was naked
from the waist up.

Their jeans quickly followed until there was no further barrier

between them, just like nature had intended all along.

Jayden felt laughter bubbling inside him, and only Matt’s intense

look kept it at bay. Maybe Matt would take it the wrong way if he burst
out into uncontrollable giggles, and he quite frankly didn’t want
anything to get into the way of their lovemaking.

“Have you ever used a dildo?”

The question came out of nowhere, and Jayden’s already slightly

lust-addled brain needed a moment to supply the meaning. “Uhm,
no?” he offered, unsure where this was going.

“Do you want to?”

He honestly wasn’t too sold on the idea, but seeing Matt’s hopeful

look had him agreeing anyway.

Matt smiled at him, leaning sideways to open the bedside drawer,

and before Jayden could wonder what else he kept hidden in there,
the man pulled out a rather impressive-looking device.

Jayden knew, of course, what a dildo was and what to do with it, but

he had never used one before, and he wasn’t too sure it would fit.

He probably should have been more worried about being eaten

alive than about the dildo, because the hungry look on Matt’s
handsome face was slightly alarming. If he had been a juicy steak, he
would have rated his chances of survival as slim to none.

“If I do something you don’t like, just say stop at any time… all

right?” Matt offered.

Jayden just nodded. The imploring look on Matt’s face wouldn’t

allow him to do anything else.

“I want to see you,” Matt mumbled, his tongue sticking out, his

intense gaze focused on where Jayden had spread his legs, pulling
them up so his hole was exposed to Matt’s hungry eyes.

Jayden watched the man lube up the device before smearing the

cream onto his fingers, and when a blunt thumb was teasingly
pressed into him, his hips pushed back almost on autopilot.

“Patience, Jay, we’re not in a hurry here.”

Jayden’s only answer was a grunt. He wasn’t used to being teased

and wasn’t sure he would like it.

The thumb stroked across his entrance a few times while Matt’s

other hand was firmly planted on one of Jayden’s thighs, forcing him
to keep them apart.

Finally, the infuriating man pressed into him, adding another finger

to roughly and quickly stretch him open. Next, Jayden began to feel
the blunt pressure of the dildo trying to get inside him.

It was weird but not totally different from any of the other cocks he

had taken into his body before.

What was different now was the feeling of being taken care of,

almost as if he were being worshiped, and that was a feeling he
could get used to very easily.

The dildo was slowly pressed deeper inside him, and as usual,

after the first few moments of resistance, his hole gave way,
accepting the dildo as if it belonged there.

When it was finally all the way in, Jayden wiggled his ass,

wondering if he was supposed to be feeling something, when
suddenly the object started to buzz, hitting his prostate with every
vibration.

“Oh…!” Jayden screamed, back arching off the bed. Now he knew

what all the fuss was about, and yes, he was totally on board with
doing this more often!

The chuckle he could barely hear over the rush of his blood surely

belonged to Matt, but Jayden felt as if the ocean were crashing over
his head and through his body, drowning out the world around him
until his sole focus was on his ass and the buzzing thing slowly
driving him insane.

He hadn’t thought it could possibly get any worse, but then Matt

proved him wrong—suddenly, Jayden’s aching dick was engulfed in a
hot, warm, sucking cavity, and the scream leaving his throat at that
moment was a sound he had never thought he was capable of
producing.

He knew without a shred of doubt this was going to be over

embarrassingly quickly, but since he was currently suffering from lust
overload, he couldn’t find it within himself to care. His male pride
could be nursed back to health later on.

“Yes, just like that!” he encouraged as Matt nibbled on the head of

his cock, licking him as if he were a lollipop and making smacking
noises. He surely must have driven people wild when he was
younger if he had ever employed the technique he was using now on
innocent candy.

Jayden’s balls tightened, his hips arched skyward, and then a

scream tore free from deep within, nearly shattering the windows with
its intensity.

His seed shot down into Matt’s throat while the man just kept on

sucking, swallowing as much as he could, milking him until nothing
was left, and Jayden didn’t even notice the dildo being removed
because he was already passing out, slipping into a lust-induced
coma.

What a way to go.

When he came to, he found himself snuggled firmly against a very

male chest, feeling numb in almost every part of his body. He was
sated, his limbs were loose, and his brain was only very slowly firing
up again.

That was an orgasm he would remember for the rest of his life, and

he hoped he had barely scratched the surface of what else was to
come during this short holiday.

Sex clearly wasn’t going to be a problem between him and Matt,

and surely the rest would fall into place.

He became aware of Matt ruffling his hair, playing with a few loose

strands, and eventually he managed to form a few words. “I didn’t do
anything for you.”

“Don’t worry.” Matt’s voice could only be described as purring when

he answered. “I came from simply watching you.”

“Really?”

“Yes.” Matt chuckled while he kept on playing with Jayden’s hair.

Jayden couldn’t understand Matt’s fascination with his head, but the

motion felt good, so who was he to grumble about being petted?

“You’re beautiful to watch, you know.”

Jayden snorted. Seriously? If Matt thought he was the pretty one in

their relationship, then the man desperately needed to get himself
some glasses.

“Wait!” Jayden’s eyes snapped open as he recalled how amazing

Matt’s mouth had felt on his dick and realized they hadn’t used any
protection. “We forgot the condom!” he exclaimed. When he tried to
move, he found that for all his gentleness, Matt’s hold on him was
firm; he couldn’t move at all.

“Don’t worry,” Matt said soothingly, continuing to stroke Jayden’s

hair. “I’m clean and I know you are too, so we’re all good.”

Of course Jayden made a point to get tested regularly, but he also

made a point of never doing anything without protection, because one
time was all it took to be screwed for life. He opened his mouth again
to protest, but no words came to his lips when Matt pulled his head
back, angling it just right so he could kiss his breath away.

“Don’t worry, trust me,” the man repeated, and with a sigh, Jayden

let it go.

He was going to pay better attention the next time, but in a way, Matt

had a point. What was done was done; no use in crying about it now.
Matt probably got tested regularly, and so did Jayden. Still, he wasn’t

going to allow himself to be carried away a second time. He wasn’t
about to start gambling with his health regardless of the good sex on
offer.

The question caught him off guard. How had they gone from sex

without protection to Matt calling him beautiful?

“Uhm,” Jayden hedged, unsure what to say.

“I came from simply watching you surrender to my touch. Do you

think I’m usually this easily pleased?”

“Uhm… no?” Jayden offered. Watching someone else in the throes

of passion could be quite a turn-on, but it usually wasn’t enough, at
least in his experience, to send someone over the edge.

“I think you need to be taught a lesson,” Jayden could hear Matt

grumble while he valiantly tried to recover the pleasant sensation of
having someone ruffling his hair. He moved his head upward and
then sideways, looking for the elusive hand to resume stroking, as if
he were a cat leaning into the touch. He might even attempt purring if
Matt would just start playing with his hair again.

Instead, he found himself roughly shoved out of the bed and then

dragged over to a big, tall mirror. It was one of those ancient pieces
that could’ve been taken right out of some gothic romance novel. The
mirror itself was oval-shaped and tall enough to be bigger than
anyone standing in front of it. It also had ornaments all around it,
which gave it a delicate look despite its size.

It was pretty, but Jayden wondered what it was doing in a bedroom

Matt liked to use, because the guy didn’t seem the type to go for
delicate. Then again, maybe a former girlfriend had bought it, and
Jayden was pretty certain Matt was the kind of guy who was too lazy to

throw things out if they didn’t bother him.

When he was standing naked in front of the mirror, all he wanted to

do was turn around and ogle Matt’s equally naked body, because of
the two of them, he was the one built like a Greek god.

Jayden knew what he looked like, after all; he was nothing special,

but Matt was a blond god with smooth, muscular limbs and a body to
die for. Why wouldn’t he want to take every chance he got to stare?

Instead, Matt wouldn’t let him turn around or even shift in his grip.

He was standing right behind him, using his big paws to keep Jayden
in place. With a long-suffering sigh, Jayden resigned himself to
seeing this play out. Maybe if Matt was quick about it, they could go
back to bed and resume more interesting activities.

The slight twitch in his cock signaled that a certain part of his body

wholeheartedly agreed with his idea.

“This is what I see,” Matt said slowly, his voice dropping low.

Jayden couldn’t quite suppress the shiver wracking through his body
as the deep sound washed over him.

“You hair is neither black nor dark brown; it has a shade of its own

that is uniquely you.”

Jayden couldn’t help but snort, because really? Had Matt been

sniffing glue while he was sleeping? Or was he trying to audition as
the new voice for Hallmark greeting cards?

Either way, his hair was dark brown, thank you very much, and it

definitely didn’t have a shade of its own. There was nothing even
remotely remarkable about it. He was about to voice his concern for
Matt’s rapidly slipping sanity when the man continued.

“It is also soft to touch, like velvet,” Matt crooned and proceeded to

prove his point by lazily running a hand through Jayden’s thick locks.

Without having any control over it, Jayden leaned into the touch,

allowing his eyes to slowly fall shut. Hmm… this was pure bliss!
There might have been a purring sound of sorts leaving his lips, but
he would never admit to it.

“Your eyes are this deep shade of green that reminds me of jade.”

Matt’s deep voice kept on rumbling, and even though Jayden didn’t
want to open his eyes, he found himself compelled to do so.

Jayden tried to see the man Matt was describing, but for the life of

him, he couldn’t. All he saw was an unassuming man being held by
his new lover. But then, didn’t they say beauty was in the eye of the
beholder?

“Your slanted eyes also give you a cat-like look, which is very

appealing and very exotic in a way.”

Exotic… appealing….

This was getting better and better with every passing second. Was

Matt pulling his leg? He couldn’t honestly be serious about this, right?

“And as if your face wasn’t beautiful enough on its own, you’re just

the right size. You fit perfectly in my arms.”

No sound left Jayden’s lips then: he was too startled to do anything

but stare wide-eyed at the mirror. Was this some declaration of love?

“You’re lean and you could probably use a little bit more fat, but

what really caught my interest was the grace with which you move.
You don’t even know how you light up any room you walk into. You
touch everyone you meet, and what makes your allure even more
compelling is the fact that you’re unaware of it.”

“I think you need to get yourself a doctor,” Jayden managed to say,

torn between blushing fiercely red at the compliments and worrying
for Matt’s sanity. “As soon as possible.”

Matt laughed, but instead of moving away, the man moved even

closer, leaning forward to nuzzle Jayden’s neck.

Hmm…. Having someone nuzzling his neck was a weakness of

his, and of course Matt would latch onto his chance of making
Jayden’s knees weak, driving him to the brink but not quite going far
enough. Evil, evil man.

“This is how I see you,” Matt mumbled into Jayden’s ear, his hot

breath ghosting over his skin, causing goose bumps to travel up and
down his body. “You’re beautiful to me.”

Jayden could’ve argued the point, but there was no reason for him

to. Should he really complain because someone thought he was
beautiful? Eventually, Matt would change his mind and see the real
him, but until then they would have a great time, and he would walk
away from this with memories lasting a lifetime.

There was no doubt in his mind that Matt wasn’t in this for the long

haul. A man like him would never commit to someone like Jayden
unless it was for fun. He didn’t doubt Matt was serious about him; he
wasn’t lying or stringing him along with empty promises. But Jayden
had finally managed to get one lesson through his thick skull, thanks
mostly to Matt: if something seemed too good to be true, it usually
was. Eventually this fairy tale would come to end. But until then, there
was no rule against enjoying every waking moment, and Jayden fully
intended to live life to the fullest while he could.

It didn’t even occur to him to wonder why, in all his thoughts about a

future without Matt, it was always the other man leaving. He never saw
himself walking away, as if deep down he had already accepted that
Matt was it for him. He still didn’t believe in the concept of soul mates,

as he was simply too jaded to believe love could last a lifetime. Deep
down, though, he was romantic at heart, and sometimes the heart
and the brain didn’t quite agree on a topic.

Matt’s half-hard cock was poking his backside, and while Jayden’s

eyes remained closed, a smirk spread across his face. He pushed
back, wiggling a little bit until the shaft was pressed comfortably
between his cheeks.

“You up for another round?” he said with a smile.

He could hear the smile in Matt’s voice when the man answered,

“Oh, I’m up, all right.”

Jayden snorted, pushing back into Matt, and he would’ve sworn he

could feel the man’s pack twitch as it hardened even more.

Jayden wouldn’t say he was timid or submissive by nature, but

frankly, his sexual experience had sort of conditioned him to always
do what the other person wanted him to do. Still, when the sudden
need to shove Matt on the bed and take control overtook him, he
simply went with it.

He turned around, and this time Matt’s strong arms gave way.

Obviously, he no longer saw any need to restrain Jayden.

With a wide smile, Jayden faced his lover and took a moment to run

his own appreciative gaze over the man’s body. Fair was fair, after all;
he had spent a fair few minutes describing how he saw Jayden, and
the young man saw no reason to deny himself the pleasure of taking
his fill as well.

His gaze wandered over sleep-tousled blond hair to startling sky-

blue eyes and a nose that might be slightly crooked, but instead of
looking odd in his otherwise perfect face, it gave him the little bit extra
that, in Jayden’s opinion, elevated Matt from gorgeous to being a god.

Matt was a little bit taller than he was, and at a first glance his body

seemed lithe and lean, but there was a hidden strength there. If
anyone bothered to look twice, it would be hard to miss. His ripped
chest and flat stomach, followed by muscled, strong thighs, had
Jayden licking his lips appreciatively, signaling that he couldn’t wait to
taste what he was seeing.

His mouth watered in anticipation of what was to come. Matt then

crawled all the way up the bed until his back rested against the
headboard, his eyes still trained on Jayden as if he didn’t want to
miss a minute of what was to come. Blink and it will be gone….

Matt then had the audacity to pat the bed, taking ahold of his cock,

which had now hardened fully, and winking at Jayden.

When Jayden growled, the sound took even him by surprise. He

then slowly started crawling toward his lover, savoring the moment.

He didn’t know if he could pull off seductive, but it seemed to be

working, and when he finally came to Matt’s cock, his pink tongue
darted out and he took a quick lick.

Matt’s whole body shuddered, and Jayden felt torn between taking

the man into his mouth or sinking down onto him, riding him.

In the end he decided he could always suck his cock later on.

He fumbled with the nightstand, opening the drawer and depositing

a condom and lube next to him.

“We don’t need—” Matt was trying to say, but Jayden was ignoring

him. He wasn’t going to take the risk. In the heat of the moment, they
had already had unprotected sex once, and while he would have
loved to feel Matt’s cock filling him up, he wasn’t going to risk his life
for it. One mistake was fine; repeating said mistake could only be

called lunacy, and he hadn’t come this far to slip up now.

It might feel good in the moment, but it seriously wasn’t worth it.

Frankly, it was slightly disturbing how Matt didn’t seem to care, but
this was a conversation they were going to have later on.

He reached behind him, balancing himself on his knees while he

used enough lube to quickly slide a few fingers into his own body. He
was still open enough from the last time, so it didn’t take long for him
to deem himself ready again. Besides, a little pain had never killed
anyone, and he honestly wouldn’t mind feeling the echoes of Matt’s
cock for a few days to come. He would cherish that feeling, just like
Matt would appreciate his tightness. It was win-win.

He rolled the condom onto Matt’s cock with experienced fingers

while gently stroking the base, teasing him a little bit before taking
him into a firm grip.

He shifted, adjusting his position so Matt’s cock was beneath him,

and then he slowly lowered himself onto it. The initial breach always
felt foreign, regardless of how often he had done this or how well
prepared he was.

Then his body gave way, letting the intruding cock slide past his

tight ring of muscle. After taking a deep breath, Jayden sank all the
way down until he could feel Matt’s pubic hair tickling his ass.

He huffed, leaning forward, and Matt met him halfway, his strong

hands grabbing Jayden by the neck and pulling him into a heated
kiss.

“Move, damn it,” the man demanded.

Jayden chuckled, managing to say, “Your wish is my command.”

He closed his eyes, drawing inward to feel the cock inside his body
piercing him like a lance, only much friendlier and with less deadly

consequences.

He rocked up and pushed down again, going as slowly as he

could, but then Matt’s hands grabbed his hips in a bruising grip,
changing the tempo into a much faster one.

Matt’s hips bucked upward, and he shoved his thick shaft deeper

and deeper with each thrust, and Jayden mewled with appreciation.
He was riding Matt’s cock with such a wanton look on his face that if
he had been able to catch a glimpse of himself, he would’ve blushed
red all over.

Jayden used Matt’s hold on his hips to direct his movements, not

caring about anything but the long shaft sliding up his ass. There
would be bruises come morning, but he didn’t find the strength within
him to care. They were moving as one, and then… there… there was
the familiar feeling of the world narrowing down to one part of his
body while everything else fell away.

His own prick swelled even further, and when with one more thrust,

the head of Matt’s cock hit his sweet spot, he came with an almost
blinding intensity.

If his eyes had been open, his vision would’ve whited out, but

instead, darkness was all he saw. His body sagged, his bones
turning to liquid while Matt pushed up twice more before screaming
his name and coming as well.

Matt was no longer holding him up, so Jayden allowed gravity to

win. He rolled forward, finding strong arms encircling him while Matt’s
spent cock pulled out of his body.

The drying come on his stomach was already starting to itch, and

even though he knew once he was conscious again it would feel
quite unpleasant, he couldn’t find it within himself to move.

A snuffing sound escaped his mouth as he was slowly positioned

sideways, and when his hands found a pillow, he happily hugged it,
getting ready to fall into an orgasm-induced sleep.

He felt the bed dip, and then he heard movement, but before he

could register what it meant, the bed dipped again and a wet cloth
was pressed to his stomach, cleaning him up.

“Uhm,” he managed to offer as a thank-you, and eventually he felt

Matt move in behind him, pulling Jayden’s body toward his so he was
resting in Matt’s arms.

He could get used to being held; he really could.

Before he drifted off to sleep, he could’ve sworn Matt mumbled

something like, “If I ever hurt you, you have to tell me.”

Then a gentle hand was ghosting over his hips, and for a moment

Jayden tensed because yes, that was where Matt’s bruising grip had
been not too long ago.

“Sure…,” he managed to mumble, his mind not quite tracking, for

who could really follow a conversation while in post-coital bliss?

“Good….”

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Jayden

woke to faint sunlight filtering in through the windows, and for

a moment, he wasn’t sure where he was.

The bed felt strange: not like the bed back in the city at the tiny place

he had shared with Danny, not like the bed he had become used to
above Carrie’s shop, and most certainly it didn’t feel like the bed he
had slept in for eighteen years while he had lived at home.

It took his still-lazy mind a few more seconds to catch up with

yesterday’s events. From Matt showing up at his place of work, to
agreeing to going away with him, to making awesome love amidst
sheets too expensive for him ever to be able to afford.

He shifted slightly, marveling at how the soft cotton caressed his

body, and he smiled softly to himself when he felt his cock twitch
simply from the softness he was cocooned in.

Matt’s ego would probably never recover if Jayden were to come by

simply wiggling in the sheets, but for a moment he felt tempted.

However, an orgasm would be so much better if it was shared.

Images of Matt’s lips on his cock, of him returning the favor, played
out in his mind as he rolled around, arm outstretched, expecting to
find Matt behind him.

Only there was no one behind him.

He frowned, waking up further. One quick glance at the nearby clock

confirmed it was a ridiculous time in the morning, a time when no
sane person should be up and about.

Maybe Matt had gone to the bathroom?

His mind helpfully provided a few different scenarios, such as him

on his knees licking Matt’s cock while water cascaded around them,
or him being pressed face-first into the mirror, ass out in the air as
Matt slowly fucked him from behind.

He hummed in a leisurely way, liking all those ideas, none of which

were really a stretch for him. He quickly rolled out of bed. He had no
idea where their bags had gone to, and he didn’t bother with clothes,
because what would have been the point? Once he found Matt,
clothes would only provide an obstacle to getting sweaty and busy,
and his modesty clearly would withstand walking around the house
buck naked. It wasn’t as if he were shy or something.

Well, at least not about sex, anyway.

Jayden ducked into the bathroom, expecting to find Matt there, but

once again he came up empty-handed. He wasn’t quite ready to
throw in the metaphorical towel yet, so he walked around the house
for a bit, searching for his missing lover. Eventually, though, it became
clear he wasn’t going to get his morning wish. Damn, what a shame.

He was just about to holler out the man’s name when he heard

faint voices coming from somewhere nearby. Of course he went to
investigate. He wasn’t trying to be quiet, but apparently he made little
to no sound, since the two men didn’t notice him come to a halt
outside the half-open door.

It had taken Jayden a few seconds to figure out that hearing

“voices” clearly meant more than one person was talking, and he was
only half-surprised when he saw Matt’s companion was no one but
Scott.

What was he doing here now?

Listening to a private conversation wasn’t behavior he was proud

of, but no force in the world would’ve been able to pry him away from
his spot right now.

“You can’t just keep him.” Scott’s voice sounded reasonable even

though his words were odd.

“Why not?” Matt countered, and even without being able to see them

clearly, Jayden could picture perfectly the stubborn look on the man’s
handsome face.

Conflicting emotions raced through him, his heart wavering

between the love he was starting to feel for Matt and his newfound
worry that Scott was here to talk some sense into his ex-lover, getting
him to leave him before they had gotten their chance.

“He’s not one of us. He doesn’t know what he is getting himself

into,” Scott said in his most logical voice.

That had Jayden rolling his eyes. This was about money?

“I love him.”

“Matt,” Scott implored, “he isn’t like us. Do you really want to do

this?” There was enough emphasis on the word “us” to have
Jayden’s forehead crinkling in thought; he was aware he was
missing something significant, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure
out what.

Jayden was slowly getting the impression they were actually talking

about more than just wealth, because if his lack of funds were the
reason for this conversation, then it didn’t quite add up. He might not
understand the subtext in the room, but he could practically feel the air
vibrating with it.

He frowned, leaning closer as if reducing the distance was going to

enable him to understand by osmosis what was going on.

“This can’t work out. Please, Matt, if you love the guy, think about it

for a minute. You’ve got to let him go.”

Jayden blinked, feeling his life tilting on its head, because

seriously?

“This isn’t up for debate,” was Matt’s reply, and Jayden couldn’t

stand it any longer. He barged into the room, forgetting the fact he
was as naked as the day he was born. His hands found their way
onto his hips, and he was staring down at Matt with an intensity that
surely would’ve set the room on fire if such a thing were possible.

“What are you talking about?” he demanded, question forced out

through clenched teeth. He was panting as if he had run a mile, and
his eyes were narrowed to slits. Hadn’t Matt said only last night that
he liked his slanted, cat-like eyes? Well, how would he like it if his
kitten actually used his claws?

For a few moments, silence reigned in the room; both men looked

as if their sweet little cat had morphed into a tiger out of nowhere.

“Uhm, excuse me,” Scott hurried to say, retreating out of the room

while Matt took a few steps forward.

He was bare-chested, clad only in loose-fitting sweatpants, and his

naked feet were making almost no sound as he walked across the
tiled kitchen floor.

“Scott was trying to look out for you,” Matt pointed out.

Jayden huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, because from

where he had been standing, it had sounded more like Scott had
been trying to get Matt to dump him. How was that looking out for
him?

Matt tilted his head, his eyes slightly narrowed. Jayden had to

swallow hard when his intense gaze held his for a few seconds

before the man rubbed his jaw as if thinking things through.

Jayden’s eyes flickered over to where Scott had disappeared, and

for a moment, the flare of jealousy flashing through him was startling
enough to leave his mouth hanging open. He blinked, closing his lips
as quickly as he could. It wouldn’t do to be standing around like some
slack-jawed idiot. It was bad enough he was buck naked while trying
to have a discussion about their relationship. Talk about awkward!

“You sure you love me?” Matt asked, totally out of the blue, and if

possible at all, Jayden’s slanted eyes narrowed even further. Matt
was his, and he wasn’t going to back away just because they might
encounter some difficulties. Matt, though, only crooked an eyebrow at
him, clearly amused. “Answer me,” he demanded.

Heat flared up in Jayden’s heart and body, and without realizing it,

his hands balled into fists. “I love you; what more do you want me to
say?” He shrugged his bony shoulders, sending a slightly crooked
smile toward the other man.

A door banged somewhere in the house, and Jayden sighed. He

sincerely hoped Scott was going away, because he wasn’t ready to
run into Matt’s ex yet again. He knew Matt was still friends with him
and always would be. He had been very clear on his feelings for the
man. But Jayden still felt very insecure about his own place in Matt’s
heart. Until he got that figured out, he would always see Scott as
competition, and he never fared well when it came to that. He always
got tied up in knots, and unlike some people, being challenged didn’t
make him live up to his potential—it made him want to run and hide.

His father had trained him well to bow down and submit instead of

standing up for himself. For years his old man had always been
stronger than Jayden was, and this form of behavior had become
ingrained. He knew it was cowardly, but if given a choice—and if his
life didn’t depend on it—he would always walk away from conflict
rather than fight. He wasn’t proud of it, and he was working on it, but

he didn’t hold out much hope that the personality trait would change
any time soon.

“How am I…?” Matt’s voice faltered, and for a moment it showed

how young he still was. Jayden often forgot because Matt always
seemed to be in control of everything, but he knew regardless of what
image the man presented to the world that deep down he was just as
messed up as Jayden was.

The man had scars on his body, scars that shouldn’t be there, and

he had a temper and sometimes a wild, dangerous side that couldn’t
possibly be the result of a normal, spoiled upbringing.

“Well, I can’t tell you everything….” Matt cleared his throat, and then

he lifted his gaze, blue eyes fixating all their intensity on Jayden, who
felt like prey about to be devoured.

“First,” Matt implored, “promise me to take my word for it and to

leave things alone.”

Jayden blinked. This he hadn’t expected. But if he had ever held any

notion about making fun of Matt for his serious words, it left his mind
immediately, because there was no trace of humor on Matt’s face.
Only anxiety and dead seriousness showed, so Jayden quietly
nodded.

What had he gotten himself into?

“Our family business sometimes involves things that might not be

considered a hundred percent legal, but it is all for a good cause.”

“Huh?”

“You’re not a part of it and you never will be. This is not negotiable,”

Matt went on, and this part Jayden didn’t doubt for one second,
because the steely gaze directed toward him wasn’t going to accept

any sort of challenge. “I want you to promise me you aren’t going to
stick your nose where it doesn’t belong. For your own good.”

“You know,” Jayden pointed out, rubbing his faint stubble, “you

haven’t actually told me anything.”

“Don’t play games with me, Jay,” Matt implored, his eyes shining

with intensity, and any jokes Jayden might’ve had on the tip of his
tongue flew out the window there and then. How could he resist a
sincere-looking Matt? “It is for your own safety. I’ve already said more
than I should have. I’ve got skills you wouldn’t expect someone of my
upbringing to have. You are aware of this. So please, leave it be. Don’t
go asking any questions.”

Jayden needed a moment to process this. Of course he hadn’t

expected Matt to bare his soul. Everyone had secrets, and if anyone
said differently, they were lying! Anyway, the point was, would he be
able to live with him knowing there were things he wasn’t aware of?
Things he might never know?

Once the genie was out of the bottle, she couldn’t be put back.

Jayden’s curiosity was growing with every single word Matt uttered,
and while maybe before, he wouldn’t have come looking for answers,
would he be able to simply step back now and let things go? He had
never considered himself to be particularly nosy, but this was like
dangling a carrot in front of a horse!

Was Matt a spy?

Was he a criminal?

And had he called it “family business”?

What it all boiled down to in the end, though, was a simple

question: Could he imagine his life without Matt? Did he trust him
enough to give their love a shot, regardless of these secrets the two

couldn’t share?

The answer might not be a resounding “yes,” but it was more

positive than negative.

Life with Matt was probably never going to be perfect; the man was

just as screwed up as Jayden was. But at least he was probably
never going to get bored.

And maybe it was time, for once, to stop being a coward and take a

risk.

“Do I have your promise?”

Oh, Matt was still waiting for an answer.

“Is Scott a part of this secret side of your life?” Jayden was

sidestepping the question, because before he promised not to ask
anything further, he wanted to be clear on this.

“Yes, Scott is a part of this. But Jayden,” Matt said, closing the

distance between them and taking Jayden’s hands into his own, “my
heart belongs to you.”

Jayden couldn’t quite suppress a snicker at hearing those

uncharacteristically flowery words, but Matt’s gaze held firm, and
eventually Jayden nodded, understanding Matt was dead serious
about this.

“I’m in,” Jayden said simply, a wide smile gracing his face. When

Matt leaned forward, planting a sweet kiss on the tip of his nose, he
actually feared his face might break, because he was grinning like a
loon. Who knew happiness could be this powerful an emotion? Right
now he could move mountains, make rain, and probably reach out
and touch the moon. Anything was possible.

“You won’t regret it, I swear,” Matt promised, and Jayden was about

to say he shouldn’t make any promises he wasn’t going to be able to
keep, but he bit his tongue and settled for smiling instead.

Why ruin a perfectly good mood with his sour outlook on life?

“I want you to move in with me. I want you there, but for now I’ll settle

for you giving me a chance.” Matt rushed those words, a clear
indication he was far from composed or calm about any of this.

Jayden was shaking his head. Not because he was saying “no,”

but because he needed to do something, and the grip on his wrist
increased, as if Matt were afraid he would bolt.

Honestly, Jayden had no clue where to go from here, so he fell back

on instinct. “I love you,” he said slowly, eyes downcast, because he
couldn’t look at the man, not right now. “I can’t make you any
promises, but I want to try. I’ll move in with you. I’ll give this a shot.”

“Thank you,” Matt said sincerely, and this time Jayden looked up.

He meant what he had said. The only way this relationship had a

possibility of working out was for Jayden to accept that Matt had a
secret life of some sort he was not ready to share. It wouldn’t be easy,
but Jayden thought that as long as there was no pretence between
them about the terms of their relationship, maybe this time they could
make it work. At least, for the first time, they were both on the same
page.

They both had issues, were damaged in their own ways, and

maybe instead of those things keeping them apart, they would
actually help them in making this relationship stronger and steadier
over time.

“I love you,” Matt said once more, and then he bounced, showering

Jayden with kisses. Jayden laughed so hard tears of joy streamed

down his face.

This was a new start, their new beginning, and despite the

obstacles they would surely face, as long as they could laugh and find
shelter in each other’s arms, they would make it.

He was sure of it.

About the Author

It all started at the tender age of twelve for

Anna Marie May

, when

she decided that she didn’t like how her then-favorite book ended.
She re-wrote it for her own pleasure and has been writing ever since.

She lives in beautiful Ireland, where stormy seas and unpredictable
weather help her get into the right mood to create her stories.

If she isn’t writing, she is traveling, working, or studying—and hoping
that one day somewhere she will find the perfect cat.

Visit her website at

http://anna-marie-may.livejournal.com

. You can

contact her at [e-mail].

Also from Anna Marie May

Also from Anna Marie May

Copyright

Love for Hire ©Copyright Anna Marie May, 2011

Published by

Dreamspinner Press

382 NE 191st Street #88329

Miami, FL 33179-3899, USA

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the

product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is

entirely coincidental.

Cover Art by Reese Dante

http://www.reesedante.com

This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution

via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject

to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. This

eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be

shared or reproduced without the express permission of the Publisher. To request

permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press at: 382 NE 191st

Street #88329, Miami, FL 33179-3899, USA

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

Released in the United States of America

October 2011

eBook Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-61372-118-6

Table of Contents

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
About the Author
Also from Anna Marie May
Copyright