Page 8 of A Life Imagined
Rayan’s eyes flew open, his expression a mixture of surprise and frustration.But Mathias was already pulling out and rolling him onto his side, using a knee to stack Rayan’s legs as he slid down lower on the mattress.Mathias wrapped an arm around Rayan’s waist and pressed him to his chest before easing back in from behind.As Mathias began to thrust, he lowered his other hand between Rayan’s thighs and teased the man’s cock through his fist.Rayan raised his hips for more contact, but Mathias loosened his grip, keeping him wanting.
On his side, he had the benefit of stamina and could edge Rayan until he broke.Mathias took his time coring him, drawing his hand up and down Rayan’s shaft, squeezing and releasing.Rayan pressed his face into the mattress,stifling the ragged sounds of his pleasure.
Mathias couldn’t look away.He swallowed a groan and attempted to rein in the surge of lust that threatened to overwhelm him.He kissed the back of Rayan’s neck then brought his teeth to the soft flesh of his earlobe and bit down.Rayan shuddered, and his hand shot out to grip Mathias’s wrist, yanking it in quick, tight jerks along his cock.
“I’m going to…” he panted in a strangled whisper.“Harder… don’t fucking stop—”
No longer restrained, Mathias began to slam against the man, hard and furious.Rayan’s body stiffened, and he clenched around Mathias with an open-throated growl.Mathias felt the muscles in his thighs tense, and a coil of pleasure rose from his toes to the base of his spine.He tightened his grip around Rayan as he came, the world contracting to a single point—a hot, blinding dissolution.
When his breath returned, Mathias eased himself out yet remained pressed against Rayan’s back, his face buried in his hair, blissfully content.He was about to drift off when Rayan spoke, his voice husky.
“I’d like to come.”
“You just did.”
Rayan turned to shoot Mathias a look, unable to hide his grin.“To Paris, to see the Louvre.”
“Suit yourself.”Mathias peeled away and reached down to the floor for his jacket.He pulled out his cigarettes.“But don’t say I didn’t warn you about Dumont.She will talk your ear off if you let her.”
Rayan’s expression grew thoughtful.“Earlier tonight, she seemed off somehow.”
It hadn’t escaped Mathias either.She’d been bent out of shape about the shipment, which was to be expected, but there was something else.He’d noticed it on occasion—the way she sometimes fell silent, staring into space or anxiously picking at her cuticles.She constantly referenced her old job at the museum and reminisced about her time there with a glowing nostalgia.
So why did she leave it to come and work for me?His offer had been generous enough, but Elise had never struck him as the kind to be swayed by money.
Mathias tapped the pack and pulled out a smoke.“You couldn’t pay me to get in that girl’s head.”
Rayan gave him a knowing smile.“You like her, though.She wouldn’t have stayed this long if you didn’t.”
Likewas a strong word.He could appreciate Elise’s expansive knowledge and her passion for the task.She shared his cynicism of the world, and he’d observed a familiar wariness in her—the knowledge that not everything was as it seemed.
“And she likes you,” Rayan continued, looking at him archly.
Mathias smirked.“Does that intimidate you?”
Rayan gave a quiet laugh.“Not in the slightest.I know what you like, and she can’t give it to you.”
“Is that so?”Mathias tossed the unlit cigarette to the floor and moved so he was above Rayan on the bed.He wrapped a hand around Rayan’s throat, and the man’s breath hitched.“Isn’t that lucky, then?”
Chapter Four
Rayan stared out at the crowds gathered around the Grand Bassin Rond with a look of barely concealed awe.“Never thought I’d walk through the Tuileries.”
Beside him, Mathias lit a cigarette and masked his smile.So far, there wasn’t much about Paris that didn’t impress Rayan.They’d left the car at the hotel and headed out on foot at Rayan’s insistence.Elise had gone on ahead to catch up with her former colleague and would meet them at the Louvre in time for their appointment.
While the capital was only a three-hour drive away, this was the first time Rayan had left Calais since they’d arrived in France.It hadn’t occurred to Mathias that the man would want to see the places he traveled for business.Rayan had seemed content with his routine and the responsibilities that tied him to his work.And jetting off on a whim wasn’t part of his programming.Rayan’s world had shrunk early on, and over the years, he’d become conditioned to it.But that didn’t mean he wasn’t hungry for more.And Mathias had never thought to ask.For once, Elise’s interfering had proven useful.
“A sight nicer than what you’re used to.”
“Right.The camp doesn’t have a fountain,” Rayan said wryly.
Mathias took in the stores that lined the surrounding streets and the well-dressed people dining on outdoor terraces.A whimsical veneer.One only needed to step away from the main tourist thoroughfares to discover sidewalks piled with trash that stank of piss.Nothing had changed there.
He didn’t have many fond memories of Paris, or France for that matter.He’d accompanied his mother to the city several times as a child, but she would leave him at the hotel while she made social calls.Then there were the years he’d spent living here while attending Université PSL.
He remembered arriving, newly liberated from the clutches of Montreal, determined not to be seen as some wide-eyed country bumpkin.He’d wasted no time in using the city to further his education, more outside the classroom than in.Student life didn’t suit him, so he quickly determined what was needed to obtain his degree and skated by on the bare minimum.Dumb, eager kids wanting to join the family were a dime a dozen.He figured his time at university would give him some credibility and help him stand out when he returned to Canada.As it turned out, he hadn’t needed any more reasons to stand out.The disgrace of his origin had been more than enough.
Mathias viewed his time in Paris as a temporary detour on the way to his real life.For three years, he’d left it all behind—the baggage he’d been saddled with at birth and the drive to reclaim what was stolen from him.He always knew he would return to the plan he’d designed, but he also relished the taste of freedom.And in the space it created, he went looking for what he’d denied himself since the desire had first crawled, unwelcome, into his thoughts.
