“How’s Mr. Hale holding up?” the Captain asked, changing the subject without answering my question.
“He’s settling in,” I replied, staring over at the lump under the sheets.
“Excellent. Stay put and try not to worry, Candy.”
I cringed, biting my tongue and trying not to give the Captain my what-for. He knew what he was doing. I could practically see the sneer on this face, could practically hear him biting back a chortle in his tone. This was going to be a long day…
“Morning, sweetheart.”
I jumped two feet into the air, smacking my head squarely on the slowly rotating ceiling fan that hung perilously low in the shitty little living room. My head thrummed with pain as it came down into the half-wall, half-counter that separated the efficiency, and my vision dwindled into a tunnel as I hit the floor.
Click… Click… Click…
The sound was aggravating. It wouldn’t stop, just an incessant noise that was keeping me from enjoying this moment of rest. I blinked, staring through hazy eyes at the ceiling, the rotating blades spinning round with a lopsided motion and causing the metal chain that operated the fan to smack against the lighted glass dome.
Click… Click… Click…
“Are you okay?” Nathan asked softly. His face appeared above me, a look of concern painted across it.
The fog was still lifting from my freshly-concussed brain, but already I was identifying things that were wrong with my current situation. For one, I was laying on the dirty-ass floor. For two, my eyes were locked on a rather enormous and exceptionally erect penis. It had been awhile since I’d stopped my little visits to Mr. Hale, and even longer since I’d been with a man. For a brief moment, I considered doing something about that.
“How many fingers am I holding up?” he asked, his balls jiggling as he moved.
“Oh, for God’s sakes, put some clothes on!” I shouted, sitting up and rubbing my head. “Were you…? What the hell were you doing over there?” I said, inadvertently glancing back at his erection.
“I… uh…”
“What, you can’t even make it one day? It’s bad enough I have to share a space with you. You’d think you could at least keep your hand off your dick while I’m around!”
My brain was sorting everything out, the cloud lifting as I stared at this man. It didn’t matter that I was practically drooling—that was probably thanks to the brain injury I’d just experienced. The icing on the cake came as he started to laugh.
“No, you don’t get to laugh at this. I’m in here trying to keep you alive. You don’t call me ‘sweetheart,’ and you don’t scare me like that!”
“I’m sorry. It’s not like you haven’t seen it before…”
“You’re sorry? What exactly are you sorry about? Are you sorry about last night? Are you sorry about the men outside, or the way you’re risking this whole operation by telling every private security firm in the region where you’re hiding?”
I was fuming now. I could hear my mother’s voice pouring out of my lips as I chastised this entitled asshole.
“I trust those guys. I’ve used them in the past. Besides, do you think the cops your captain posted in this building would stop the Paddies? Maybe you weren’t paying attention last time Wallace went on trial.”
He still made no attempt to cover himself, his cock swinging side to side as he talked, drawing my eyes again and again like the mechanized sweeping of a metronome.
“Trust me,” he whispered, a grin spreading on his face.
He was doing this on purpose. I wrenched my eyes away from his genuinely delicious-looking body and tried to calm my breathing. “Clothes on. Now. No more secrets from here on out. If you intend to do anything to change the nature of our living arrangement or our security, you need to inform me immediately. And… no doing that,” I said, waving at the God-given gift between his thighs.
“I thought we were only supposed to be pretending? You’re starting to sound like a nagging wife,” Nathan laughed. I hissed, hackles rising as I realized the only way he’d take any of this seriously was if the threat to his livelihood seemed real.
I stood up, crossing the space and wrapping a hand around his most sensitive exposed parts.
“Let me make this perfectly clear, Nathan,” I said, clamping down harder and listening to him yelp. “In here, you’re going to do what I say, or I’m going to throw you to the wolves. Now, put your pants on.”
I released him, turning away and trying desperately to ignore the burning desire inside me. I’d just touched his cock, and even though I’d meant every word of my threat, all I could think about was how the smooth, supple skin of his dick had felt so right in my grasp. The pleasurable pulsations kissing him had inspired in me last night returned with a vengeance, and I grimaced, trying my best to once again ignore them.