Page 23 of Riding Pine
“How did you get here so fast?” Lukas turns his head, and the street lighting catches his profile. “Shit, Lukas, are you okay?”
The skin around his eye is purple and swollen, and I reach to touch it but pull my hand back.
“Oh yeah. Just another day at the office.” He laughs, but I don’t think it’s funny.
“Um…come on in. I have something that might help.”
He remains quiet but follows me into the studio. After I disarm the security system, I flip on the light. Lukas winces, and I immediately turn it off and lead him to the office, where I flick on a lamp instead.
“I thought we were going for hot dogs.”
“We were until you showed up looking like you just fought with the heavyweight champion.” I turn to the mini-fridge tucked in the corner and remove a bag of oats I keep chilled for when I hurt myself. “I use this when I get a nasty bruise with routines. It’s better than an ice pack.”
Lukas doesn’t move to take it from my hands. Instead, he widens his legs after sitting on the chair, allowing me to step between them. Gently, I place the bag against his bruised face, and he puffs a quick breath. “Thank you.”
He sounds…surprised. Maybe I’m just projecting my feelings onto him, but I’m surprised, too. If he were a fellow circus performer, I’d toss them the bag and go about my day while they tended to themselves. Why I didn’t just shove the bag into his hand isn’t something I want to pick apart right now, either.
“We can still get the hot dog, you know. It’s just a bruise.” Lukas’s hands land on my hips, and my heart rate quickens.
“I can order something in here if you’re not up to it.”
He lifts his gaze to mine, and it’s such a puppy-dog look I want to curl in his lap and assure him everything is okay. Which is…different. I’m not a big nurturer, like, at all, and yet I want to make Lukas feel better.
His lips tilt in a soft smile. “Be careful, Ben. Sounds like you like me.”
“Am I not allowed to care if you’re hurt? If you want to go to the cart, we need—”
Lukas’s hand covers my mouth. “I’m fine. This isn’t the first time I’ve had a black eye. I appreciate your concern, but in full honesty…I accepted your invitation because I wanted to see you. No other reason.”
He removes his hand and runs a finger from my collarbone to my belly button.
“Wanted to see me naked, you mean?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “Well…if you’re offering. You had a meeting to get to last time.” Lukas’s gaze meets mine, and even with the bruising on his face, lust burns in his hazel eyes. “I really liked the private show.”
Am I hungry? Yes.
Am I ready to strip for this man and have his hands all over me until we come so hard we can’t see? Also yes.
Lukas takes the cold pack from his face and tosses it aside while spreading his legs farther apart. In the dim light, his scar and bruises don’t glare, and he emits a soft danger. Like he’s a man you don’t want to cross, but he will absolutely stop at the store on his way home just because you mentioned you were in the mood for ice cream.
He doesn’t need to be erect for me to notice the bulge in his pants either.
With a step backwards, I glance around my small office. With Lukas sitting I can totally make this work.
“Okay. Private show it is.”
His answering smile is both joyful and sinister, and I swear to god, I might self-combust with the heat in his gaze as he licks his lips and adjusts himself in the chair.
Scrolling through my playlist, I find a track I love that’s perfect for a slow yoga routine that’s about to get sexed up.
“You said you wanted to take a yoga class, right?”
“Yeah.” He swallows hard, and my gaze lands on his throat. It’s a sexy throat. The whole man is pure sex, and I have to remindmyself to stop thinking about licking his neck and get to the show he requested.
“Well, this is about to get X-rated, so prepare yourself.”
He sucks in a breath as I remove my clothes until only my tight boy-short underwear remain.
