Page 37 of By His Side

Faced with nothing but passivity, the anger drained from me quickly. “I’m sorry.”

Darien lifted his gaze to mine. “I’m not your enemy. I’m the furthest thing from it.”

“I know that.”

“Do you?”

His gaze was intense enough that I rearranged the food on my plate until he looked away. “The rational part of me knows that.”

“And the irrational part of you?”

It was the right question to ask. “The irrational part of me is a snarling dog who’ll bite everyone from the postman to a nun. You’ve encountered it more than once… the day we first met… the first time anything happened between us. It’s the barrier I formed in prison, the tough outer shell that makes it look like I don’t give a damn and I’m far more confident than I am. On a good day, the savage dog is on a tight leash, but on a bad day…” I took a moment to think about the words I’d just said, surprised by my honesty.

“On a bad day?” Darien prompted, apparently determined to extract every iota of truth from me he could while I was willing to offer it.

“On a bad day, someone should have me put down. For my sake and for the sake of everyone around me.”

Darien hid a smile behind the rim of his glass and I resented not being able to see his dimples. “I’ll get hold of the number for the local vet tomorrow. Have him on standby for when I need him.”

“You should.”

And just like that, the tension dissipated to leave us both smiling at each other. Darien’s dimples were on full display this time, my fingersitching to reach out and trace their contours. I didn’t know what this was, but I was going to make the most of it and treasure every moment.

Chapter Sixteen

Darien

The weekend came and went without me mentioning Felix finding somewhere else to stay. And before I knew it, he’d been here a week. And then ten days. The truth was—as hard as it was to admit to myself—I liked him being here. I got to come home from work to someone rather than an empty house; he cooked dinner—the culinary delights of that first night, apparently not a fluke—and I got to share my love of bizarre documentaries with someone, even if Felix teased me mercilessly for it. And last but not least, were the nights.

Keeping our sexual escapades in the spare room had lasted all of two nights, my willpower as weak as my flesh. Ever since then Felix had slept in my bed, his things gradually finding their way in there as well until there were zero reasons he even needed to return to the spare room. Now, we fucked and then curled up together, my fall from grace a spectacular one.

There were several cliches I could use about mine and Felix’s relationship, but the one that kept coming to mind was, that if this was wrong, I never wanted to be right. Because, when it came down to it, I was happy. Especially when, with every passing day, Felix softened. The snarling dog he’d once described as being part of his personality was either sleeping, or it had run off one day when he’d stepped outside the door.

The sofa gave as Felix plonked himself next to me. Clad only in black shorts which showed off his muscular thighs, and a sleeveless white T-shirt, he was the epitome of male beauty, my heart rate picking up and my cock stirring. He scooted along the sofa until our shoulders touched. “So… what are we watching tonight? My decade living as a horse? My torrid weekend with Bigfoot? The man with a penis as long as a snake?”

I treated him to my best glare. “None of those are real.”

“If they were, you’d watch them.”

I couldn’t maintain my serious expression any longer, a laugh bubbling up. “I would. Especially the last one. Although, I imagine it would be an angsty one. A tale of people looking but not touching, and sex being extremely difficult if not impossible.”

Felix smirked. “You’re not up for taking a penis as long as a snake? Where’s your sense of adventure? Where’s your willingness to sacrifice yourself for the greater good?” He let out a dramatic sigh. “I guess you’ll have to make do with mine, then. You take that one beautifully with zero complaints, and with a lot of moaning.”

Oh hell! Now I was as hard as a rock, Felix’s smile turning smug. He did an impression of a moan that I assumed was meant to be me, but that only inflamed me more because all my brain computed was that he was moaning, and I wanted to hear it again. I leaned forward to kisshim, his mouth opening under mine, the two of us proving once again how sexually compatible we were.

When my phone rang, I moaned for a different reason as I tore my mouth from Felix’s. “Ignore it,” he said, his voice having taken on that timbre that made me go weak at the knees.

I struggled upright, the two of us in our passion having sunk sideways on the sofa. “It might be important.”

“You’re off the clock.”

“It might be a client who needs me.”

Felix reached for me. “I’m a client who needs you.”

“Very funny.”

“Who’s joking?”

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