Page 34 of By His Side

Even with his cock shrinking, withdrawal pulled a gasp from my lips, Felix offering me a look of apology before getting out of bed to get rid of the condom. He was back within seconds, sweat still glistening on his skin as he passed over a wad of tissues. I wiped my stomach before moving over, our impromptu tumble on the bed having landed us right in the middle of it.

Common sense said that I should return to my room, but as Felix climbed back into bed and wrapped a possessive arm around my waist to pull me against him, common sense didn’t get a look in. There was no harm in a nap first.

Chapter Fifteen

Felix

I awoke to an empty bed, the sunlight streaming in through a gap in the curtains where I hadn’t drawn them properly, telling me Darien had probably left for work some time ago. Had he stayed here for the entire night? I remembered waking in the early hours to find him still there, but I couldn’t have said what happened after that, whether he’d woken and returned to his own bed, or just figured that a bed was a bed, whether or not it had me in it.

Rolling onto my back, I contemplated the events of the previous night. I’d been honest when I’d said I wanted to go to him, but had decided that any sexual overtures on my part would come across as payment for him putting a roof over my head. And then, lo-and-behold, there he’d been outside the room, the creak of the floorboard giving him away. I’d moved fast, almost throwing myself across the room to yank open the door before he could change his mind.

I thought more about it while I showered, the dedication I gave to recalling exactly how passionate we’d gotten requiring me to deal with the resultant hard cock until I spilled all over Darien’s shower floor. It was a poor substitute for his arse, but it was better than nothing. I dressed before going downstairs, my assumption that he’d already left for work proved correct when all the rooms were empty.

As promised, he’d left me a key on the kitchen table, the piece of paper it sat on containing his name and nothing else. I pocketed the key and then helped myself to tea and toast, sitting at the kitchen table and contemplating how to spend the rest of the day while I ate. On impulse, I sent a text to my mum, apologizing for what had happened the previous day and asking if she was okay. Thirty minutes passed with no response. A lack of surprise at the result didn’t stop it from hurting.She’s busy. She’ll respond later.Yeah, right? And I’d grow wings and fly round London.

Apparently, a sucker for punishment, I typed a text to Darien, agonizing for far longer than the result deserved over what to say.

Felix:I hope you have a good day at work.

Simple. To the point. Not antagonistic. He wouldn’t reply. There was no reason to when I hadn’t asked a question. Less than five minutes later, my phone vibrated.

Darien:So do I. I’m pretty tired, though. I wonder why.

Smiling, I picked up my phone.

Felix:As long as you’re just tired and not sore.

Darien:If you’re angling for a compliment about the size of your c*ck, then you’ll be waiting a long time.

Felix:You didn’t have any complaints last night.

Darien:No comment.

I was smiling so much now that my cheeks were hurting. Darien wasn’t only replying to my texts instead of ignoring them, but he hadn’t pretended that the previous night hadn’t happened. It felt like the sunshine had come out from behind the clouds. I knew what I was going to do with my day now. I was going to come up with something nice for Darien to come home to—a proper thank you that had absolutely nothing to do with my cock. Or his.

I’d convinced myself that I wasn’t nervous. That only held until I heard the key in the front door and then I was in full panic mode: heart beating in my throat and my palms sweaty. What if I’d gotten this really wrong, and I was about to make an absolute fool of myself? Well then, so be it, because it was too late to change.

There was the sound of a bag being dropped onto the floor, the noise somehow embodying the spirit of weariness. A pause, and then, “Felix?”

“In the kitchen.”

Footsteps came closer until Darien filled the doorway. “Hi.” He caught sight of the table and frowned. “What’s this?”

Rather than poking around in Darien’s house, which seemed something of an invasion of privacy, I’d used my mother’s money to buy a few things. I’d covered the kitchen table with a crisp whitetablecloth and picked up a flowered centerpiece of red roses and baby breath, figuring it was a little less obvious than candles. Now, though, with Darien frowning at it, it didn’t seem any less clichéd than candlelight. It had been a mistake to go for red roses when red roses were the color of romance. The choice had been red or white though, and I’d wanted them to contrast with the tablecloth. Red did, whereas white would have blended in.

“I thought it might be nice for you to come home to a cooked meal, and…” I affected a shrug. “Well, I had little else to do today. You’ve probably already eaten.”

Darien blinked. “No. No, I haven’t. I normally call by my brother’s restaurant on the way home and get something, but I didn’t tonight. I must be psychic.”

I pulled the chair out for him, and he sat. “This is…”

I deliberately stalled the end of his sentence, not sure whether I wanted to hear it, by pulling the fridge open and brandishing the twin bottles of wine I’d picked up. “I didn’t know whether you drank red or white, so I got both. This is where you’ll probably tell me you don’t drink either, that you’re more of a beer man.”

“No, I do. Given the choice, I’ll take the red.” I opened the bottle, poured him a glass and passed it over, Darien still looking somewhat bemused.

Pouring myself a glass, I took a sip. “You were probably going to drop me off somewhere as soon as you got home and I’ve ruined your plans.”

To give Darien his due, there was no hesitation before he shook his head. “Not tonight.”

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