Page 54 of Leather and Longing
Adam caught his breath, inwardly cursing his ability to fuck up a situation simply by opening his mouth. After a moment, he sighed. “There’s something you need to know about me.”
“Oh?” Still that hesitant note.
“Yeah. I’m an arsehole.”
Paul gasped, and seconds later he snickered. “Really. I’d never have guessed. I mean, you hide it so well.”
Adam guffawed.Thiswas the Paul he knew, the one with backbone. “Okay, I deserve that. Do you know why I agreed to come out with you today? Because I felt I owed it to you, to make up for me being such an asshole. Only, things didn’t turn out the way I’d expected.”
“Go on.” No hesitancy, only warmth in Paul’s voice.
“It took today to show me that you deserve my respect. You’ve gone out of your way to do things to improve my situation, you stood up for yourself in the face of all my bullshit. Even when I treated you like shit, you didn’t give up on me.” He took a deep breath. “So this is me, apologizing. I willneverspeak to you like that again, I promise. I don’t expect you to believe me, not after all the crap I’ve put you through. But I hope my actions will speak for me from now on.” He fell silent.
It was up to Paul now.
Chapter Twenty-One
Paul’s head was spinning,trying to deal with the one-eighty Adam had pulled on him.
If he really means it….
He gave himself a mental shake. Adam’s track record was bad enough for him to doubt his words.
That doesn’t mean I should carry on doubting him.
He gazed at Adam’s furrowed brow, his hunched shoulders. Paul cleared his throat.
“Apology accepted. I have an idea. Shall we start again?”
Adam smiled and visibly relaxed. “I like that idea. And I mentioned Saturday night because after overhearing your phone conversation, I wanted to know more about you. I liked what I heard.” His lips twisted into a smirk. “As if you couldn’t tell.”
Paul didn’t know what to say to that. The sex had been fantastic, but Adam’s behaviour the following morning had taken all the shine off it.
Adam’s face fell. “And about that… I didn’t mean what I said.”
“Which part?” Paul fired back at him. “Because you said a lot of things, as I recall.” He scrubbed his hand across his face witha sigh. “I’m sorry. That was wrong of me, especially after you’ve apologized.”
“No, no, you’re entitled to be pissed off. Like I said, I put you through so much shit.” He raised his chin to give the impression he was staring straight at Paul. “The sex wasn’t okay, all right? It was really good. At least it was from whereIwas sitting.”
Paul’s face heated up. “Oh.” His voice cracked. “Okay.” His cheeks weren’t the only part of his anatomy that were hot.Down, boy.This was neither the time nor the place. That didn’t stop the thought from crossing his mind.
Does this mean we get to do it again?
Detente or not, he wasn’t about to ask.
Adam, the swine, was grinning. “I love how you can go from dropping your trousers and offering up your arse to be spanked one minute, to that adorable squeak I heard just now.” He coughed. “And speaking of spanking…”
Paul’s heartbeat sped up.
“How long have you been interested in the dark side?”
Paul wassoglad he wasn’t drinking anything at that point. “Dark side?” Not that he didn’t know exactly what Adam meant. His pulse raced.
“I have an excellent memory,” Adam informed him. “And I quote, ‘I’m a kinky little shit.’ Care to explain that one?”
Paul snorted. “I could ask you the same question, having seen what’s contained in those boxes in the dining room.”
Adam raised his hand. “Fair point. So in the spirit in which I mean to continue, I’ll go first, shall I?”
