Page 9 of Duped

Portland hugged him tightly, trying to keep him warm through the shock. He had never seen sub drop from such vanilla sex, but he would recognize it anywhere.

Portland kissed Tarek’s cheek and gently shushed him. “It’s okay. Give it a second. It’ll pass. It’s just your body adjusting to the sudden surge of powerful emotions. I’ve got you.”

After a moment, the shaking subsided, and Tarek took a ragged breath. “That’s never happened to me before. I’m sorry. I didn’t see that coming.”

Portland kissed his neck and smiled against his skin. “Stop apologizing. I obviously did my job.” And he planned to do it again. Now that he knew exactly how to handle Tarek’s body, Portland had no intentions of ever giving up his new toy.

Chapter Four

Thedaypassedwiththem lounging in bed, talking and stealing sweet kisses. It was the best day of Tarek’s life. He wanted to be embarrassed by how quickly he had blown, and his panic attack afterward, but Portland’s constant praise made it impossible. Tarek couldn’t say he had been disappointed.

“Do you have any big dreams for yourself, or have you always had a passion for poker?”

Tarek rolled his eyes and laughed.

Portland squeezed him. “I’m serious. What do you want to be when you grow up?”

A huff burst from Tarek. “Sir, are you insinuating I’m not grown?”

“You know better. Why are you avoiding the question?”

Tarek bit his bottom lip.

Their feet brushed beneath the covers.

Portland leaned away a hair and studied Tarek’s face. “You’re embarrassed. Why are you embarrassed?”

Tarek shrugged. “Okay, but you can’t laugh.”

“I won’t.” His smile said otherwise, but Tarek decided to let it go.

Tarek took a deep breath. “Okay, so. When I was like thirteen fourteen—somewhere around there—I was in this DND club. I wrote all our campaigns.” Despite himself, Tarek couldn’t help but smile. “It was pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. Everything was perfectly organized. I had everything in PDF form and printed out for each session.” Tarek shrugged again. He checked Portland’s expression to see if he was ready to laugh yet. Portland merely looked interested. Tarek kept going. “Anyhow, this led me to start writing bigger worlds. From there, whole stories spawned. Once I had about five or six, I realized they could be enjoyed as a serial or broken up into campaigns. So, like always, I had everything all organized and a single copy printed into a hardback. I still write and just kind of play with the same world, but I guess that one book is sort of my dream board in a way. That’s what I want for real. I want someone to magically see my work, print them exactly like that one, and for them to end up in clubs all over the world for players to enjoy. I want people enjoying my campaigns and getting lost in my worlds. It’s a stupid and impossible dream, but that’s the only future I ever fantasize about. It certainly isn’t poker. But a game is a game, right?” Tarek chuckled. Even he heard the discomfort in it.

“Have you ever researched how to achieve that dream?”

Heat crawled up Tarek’s face. He cleared his throat. “Achieving that dream would mean people actually reading what I wrote, and that sounds terrifying. I’m a candy ass. I can’t handle criticism.” Another uncomfortable laugh escaped him. He couldn’t stop. They needed to stop talking about him. “What about you? Did you always dream of being the CEO of the largest bank on the east coast, or do you also have a humiliating story?”

Portland didn’t laugh the way he’d hoped. His humor wasn’t saving him today. “It takes a lot of talent to write. I had to write a ton of essays in college. It sucked. People don’t realize how hard it is to string thousands of words together in an interesting way. You should be proud.”

Secretly, he was, but there was no future in his writing. “Can we talk about you? I don’t need you thinking I’m a nerd.”

A sexy laugh rumbled from Portland. “Baby, you have a D20 tattooed on your back.”

Tarek felt his blush return. “You know what a D20 is, so there’s that, I guess.”

“I don’t live under a rock.”

Portland’s smile was everything. He was so incredibly handsome, and more than Tarek expected. Tarek flattened his palm against Portland’s chest and gently rolled him onto his back. He touched his lips to the corner of Portland’s mouth as he straddled Portland’s body. Tarek teased Portland’s lips apart. Their tongues brushed before Tarek pulled away again and went back to toying with his lips. His bottom lip was the perfect amount of plump for Tarek to nibble. Portland’s nipples were hard. Tarek stroked one, enjoying the way it felt beneath his fingertips. Portland’s hands ran up his back. Tarek almost hissed at the way his body immediately responded. He kissed a path to Portland’s ear, lightly biting his earlobe.

“I’ve never been this happy.” Tarek wondered if the confession was a mistake. Maybe someone like Portland would want someone a little less needy. Someone who led him on a chase. Tarek couldn’t help it. He felt more than he wanted.

“That’s good. I plan to keep you that way.”

Tarek smiled against Portland’s neck as he kissed him. Portland sounded breathless. Tarek planned to keep him that way. He bit, kissed, and sucked his way down Portland’s torso. The shaky way Portland breathed was music to Tarek’s ears. He palmed Portland’s erection and stroked.

“I’m not as young as you.”

Tarek swallowed Portland’s cock, putting a stop to all the nonsense. He didn’t expect anything in return. Tarek had surpassed the need to blow. He needed an outlet for the fucking happiness that choked him. When Salem had named possible candidates for Tarek to seduce, Tarek had been less than enthusiastic about this adventure. He was sick of being alone, but Salem insisted he find a wealthy man. No sense in wasting his youth on love when security meant so much more, according to Salem. Tarek assumed he knew. After all, Salem was now free to enjoy whomever he pleased with no worries about his future. Tarek didn’t imagine that kind of lightning struck twice. He wasn’t likely to be in the same boat. So Tarek had secretly hoped for love and money. It was possible he was on his way to both. A boy had to eat.

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