Page 43 of Leather and Longing
“Okay, let’s make it Wednesday. If your plans change, let me know, all right?”
“Fine. Where d’you want to pick us up?”
“It’ll have to be Ventnor. It’s too tricky negotiating Steephill these days, even for the RIB.”
Paul could do that. They could travel to Ventnor in his car, and park near the jetty. “You’re a good mate.”
They spoke for a minute longer, sorting out times, after which Paul thanked Eric and disconnected.
Paul puffed out a breath. Arranging this whole rigmarole was the easy part.
Getting Adam to agree to it was gonna be tough.
“What is this?” Adam poked at his dinner with his fork, scowling.
“Chicken sauté. It’s chicken breast cooked in stock with onions, garlic and rosemary.”
Adam caught Paul’s sigh. “If you’ve got something to say, come out and say it.”
A clatter of cutlery hitting a plate. “It doesn’t matter. If you don’t want it, say so, and I’ll make you something different.” Paul sounded weary.
He ignored Paul’s offer. “What do you mean, it doesn’t matter?”
“I mean that it doesn’t matter what I say, you’re still going to find some reason to bite my head off. After all, why stop now? You’ve been doing it all day.” Paul’s chair scraped across the kitchen floor. “I’ll heat up some of the soup I made. At least I know you like that, unless you’ve changed your mind since Friday.”
“Don’t bother, I’ve lost my appetite.” Adam pushed back his chair, grabbed his cane and escaped from the kitchen. He entered the library, slamming the door behind him, making the windows rattle. Adam sank onto the couch and stretched out, his head on a cushion.
Why did I have to fuck him? Why couldn’t I have left well enough alone?
In spite of how bloody good the sex had been, Adam couldn’t ignore the insistent voice in his head that kept telling him it wasn’t the done thing to go around fucking one’s employees. Industrial tribunals tended to take a dim view of employers who crossed that particular line. What made it worse?
Adam wanted to cross that line again.
Never mind his previous thoughts about forgoing sex: abstinence was the last thing on his mind when he awoke with a raging hard-on.
Damn him for making me want him again.
Yeah, it was all Paul’s fault.
And then there was Paul’s reaction to Adam’s BDSM gear. If he hadn’t have aroused Adam’s interest, Adam wouldn’t havedemanded the boxes be brought down from the attic. They wouldn’t have stirred up his memories, making him long for a life he could never have again. Reminding him exactly how much he’d lost.
Damn that fucking boy.
All his muscles were tense. His jaw ached from grinding his teeth. Every time he’d been around Paul that day, he’d struggled to keep his tone controlled, his breathing steady, but he knew he’d failed miserably.
Of course, it didn’t help that Adam knew he was taking all his rage out on the wrong person. If he were honest, none of this was Paul’s fault. And yeah, Adam had been an asshole, pure and simple.
Never mind trying to get him to leave the way I did. If I carry on like this, he’ll leave of his own volition.
That made him stop and think. In spite of all his ranting and raving about not wanting a companion, wanting to be left alone, his attempts to drive Paul away….
How would I feel if he reallydidgo?
Adam wasn’t sure he had an answer for that one.
Chapter Eighteen
The house was quiet,save for the sea. The waves pushed and pulled against the shore beyond his window, their rhythm steady, indifferent. Adam lay on his back, staring into the dark that never changed.
