Page 62 of Sycopation
“You’re a fine friend, Ray. I like you the way you are. I was thinking more along the lines of me taking control for a time.” He watched Ray’s expression shift from confusion to understanding and back to confusion. “If that’s something you’re interested in.”
Ray wavered on the path, looking past Zavier, then focusing on him like a laser beam. “You—I—” He licked his lips. “You’re talking sex. With me.”
“Yes. But I’m also asking you to trust me and listen to me and obey me, for a little while.”
Ray shivered. But he’d also straightened, and the weight that had pressed him down wasn’t evident anymore. “I—are you sure?” Shock there.
Zavier chuckled. “Oh, Ray. I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t.”
His shoulders relaxed. And after a few swallows, he whispered two words. “Yes, please.”
Desire, need, and elation chased through Zavier. He shoved his hands in his pockets, lest he put Ray on his knees right there, out in the open. “Why don’t you go to the bus and wait for me,and I’ll tell the others you’ve hit the wall and are crashing. We’ll have a few hours to ourselves.”
Ray shuffled his feet. “What about you?”
“What about me, what?”
“What are you gonna tell them?” Ray rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, and Zavier bet if the light were better, he’d see a nice blush on Ray’s neck and cheeks.
Ah, yes. “Well, I warned them I wasn’t that into movies and, quite honestly, I need some downtime, too.”
“Downtime,” Ray murmured. “Fucking me.”
Zavier closed the gap between them, but didn’t touch him. “We’ll see about the fucking once we see about the obeying.”
Ray’s normally light eyes were as dark as the night sky above them. “Okay.” His voice had shifted from heartbroken to gravelly with lust.
Good. Zavier’d lift a little bit of the stress Ray carried. “You should go get on the bus and wait for me, Ray.”
“Okay—I—yes.” He nodded once.
Zavier turned and let him pass, then followed him down the path back to the lot. Once they hit tarmac, their paths diverged. He found Mish talking with one of the crew members, a fine-looking woman with dark brown skin and short, curly hair. God, he hated to interrupt them.
Thankfully, Mish looked up. “Hey, was that Ray?”
“Yeah. He’s crashing. Hit the wall.”
She grunted. “Similar to other concerts?”
Mish wasn’t a fool, and Zavier bet she was just as observant as he was. He nodded. “You know how it goes.”
“You gonna watch over him?”
Something about the glint in her smile made that question not so innocent. “Was thinking about that. Movie nights aren’t my thing.”
The crew member—he racked his memory until he pulled out Sasha as her name—grinned. “You seem more of a people person than a watch-people person.”
That, strangely, did sum him up well. He liked to watch, sure. But hands-on was so much better, and he had a willing Ray waiting for him in the bus. He chuckled. “I also need a little quiet. Even with ear protection—it gets a bit much in the kit.”
Mish patted him on the shoulder. “Go take care of Ray. We’ll see you guys in a couple hours.”
He nodded, and detangled himself from the crowd around one of the buses to board the other. He waved at the driver, then passed behind the privacy screen.
Ray looked up from the couch, all nerves and beauty. The stress still hung on him like an ill-fitting shirt. “I didn’t know what to do, so I waited.”
Perfect. “That’s exactly what I told you to do.” He gestured toward the back of the bus. “Let’s go have a chat where it’s a little quieter, before the buses start moving.”
It was also far more private back there. No chance they’d be overheard by the driver.
