Page 61 of Leather and Longing
Adam nodded. “No hurry. It can wait until you bring some coffee through.” He smiled and left Paul to it.
Paul paused and stared at the open doorway.
What now?
He hoped to God Adam wasn’t about to say something to spoil the way he was feeling right then. Because at that moment, Paul really liked his boss. Post-depression Adam was shaping up to be a nice guy. Someone who sent Paul’s heartbeat racing and his cock filling.
Someone who made him feel good about himself.
Relax. You said it yourself. He’s in a good mood. So that means no surprises.
He poured out two mugs of coffee and took them into the library. Adam was stretched out on the couch, relaxed, his glasses off, eyes closed. The cantata was coming to an end, and as the last notes rang out, he smiled. “That was lovely.” He sat upright and held out his hand for the coffee. “Come sit down. I need to talk to you.”
Paul joined him on the couch, acutely aware of the empty feeling in the pit of his stomach, in spite of having eaten less than an hour previously. “Am I in trouble?”
Adam shook his head. “No, not at all. I felt we needed to set some things straight.” He adjusted his position so he was facing Paul. “You and I are going to talk about sex.” He spoke as if they were going to discuss the weather, or something as mundane as a shopping list. Paul wasn’t sure how to react, but he got the idea Adam had given this a lot of thought. He waited for him to continue.
“I like sex. Actually, that’s something of an understatement. I like a lot of it, and Ialsolike to think I’m good at it.”
Paul chuckled. “I have no argument with that last statement whatsoever.”
Adam grinned. “Well, that’s good to know.” He paused. “So if I were to assume you’re happy for us tocontinuehaving sex…” His words trailed off.
Paul tried not to splutter his coffee everywhere. “Uh, yes, that’s a fair assumption.”
Adam smiled. “Good. I wanted to make sure we were on the same page. I know as your employer, this might be seen as unprofessional?—”
Paul snorted. “Like it doesn’t happen.”
“Exactly.” Adam beamed. “But I had to put it out there. The last thing I want is for there to be any misunderstanding, say, for example, a few months down the line for you to claim you were coerced, or that you agreed to this out of fear of losing your job.”
What the fuck?
“As if I’d do that.” Paul couldn’t believe he was hearing this.
Adam’s hand sought his, and he laced their fingers. “Please, I’m not suggesting for a second you would,” Adam assured him. “This is for my own peace of mind.” He paused to take a drink of coffee. After a moment he raised his chin. “I’ve offended you.”
The expression of utter mortification on Adam’s face went more to pacifying Paul than Adam’s words. “No, I get it.” He paused. “I just wasn’t expecting to have ‘the sex talk’. Go on.” Now Adam had got started, Paul was intrigued to hear where this was going.
“I’m going to be honest here. I’ve missed sex. If it were up to me, we’d be fucking every day,” Adam said bluntly. “So this next bit is important. If I’m horny and you’re not, you say so, okay? And vice versa, of course. I will never force you.”
Paul couldn’t have imagined this conversation taking place a week before.
Adam had indeed come a long way.
“Can I remind you of my age?” Paul said with a smile. “Do you think menotbeing horny is a likely situation?”
Adam laughed. “I wasn’t going to judge, but now you mention it…” They both chuckled. Paul liked that Adam still had hold of his hand. “I’m going to make another assumption now, based on our conversation of this afternoon.”
“Okay.” Paul knew what was coming.
“Do you want me to help you explore some of the elements you witnessed at that club? Maybe to replay those scenes you liked?”
Silence.
Paul swallowed past the stone that seemed to have lodged itself in his throat. “Yes.” It was more of a croak than anything else.
Adam nodded slowly. “I thought that might be the case. That’s fine, Paul. I would be happy to do that.”
