Page 21 of Just a Bit Captivated

Aiden felt a rush of adrenaline. God, it was absurd. Why did a simplelookfrom this man make him excited and jittery in his skin?

“If I weren’t so cooperative, I wouldn’t be sitting here but would be halfway across Dubai already.”

Raising his eyebrows, Zain said, “You wouldn’t escape from me that easily. And you wouldn’t like your punishment.”

Aiden pursed his lips tightly, hating the way his stomach was fluttering and the way he felt flushed and out of breath. Fuck, this was bad. How could he be so turned on by a man who was irredeemably horrible? Was he an idiot? He was quite possibly an idiot.

Gadiel cleared his throat.“Eh, there’s no need to punish him for attempting to escape, Zain. I get it, really. It’ll take him some time to—”

“You aren’tthe one who gets to decide whether topunish him or not,” Zain cut him off, flicking a cold look at Gadiel before returning it to Aiden.“Only me.”

Aiden licked his dry lips and had a wild, insane thought:I wanna suck your cock.

His face warm, he tried to push the thought out of his mind, but it refused to go away.

The humiliating, bewildering, horrifying truth was, if this man said the word, he’d drop to his knees right there and slobber all over his cock, any witnesses be damned. Something about this man pushed buttons he hadn’t even been aware of.

“Yeah,” Aiden said, looking into those dark eyes, his voice hoarser than it normally was.“God forbid you go a few minutes without reminding me who owns me.”

Zain stared at him, transfixed, and the weight of his attention was like a physical touch, pressing onto him,intohim, robbing him of breath.

Aiden breathed raggedly, his cock so hard in his borrowed pants he could barely think. The mere fact that his cock was pressed to fabric that had once hosted Zain’s cock was even more of a turn-on.

The waiter’s sudden appearance by their table made Zain remove his gaze from him, and Aiden almost whined in disappointment. He glared at the waiter for taking Zain’s attention away, hating him and hating himself for feeling that way. Christ, he needed to get his head checked for real.

“Eat,” Zain commanded as a dish was put in front of Aiden.

Aiden ate. He could barely taste the food, no matter how delicious it was. If someone asked him later what he had been eating, he wouldn’t be able to reply, he was so distracted.

Zain and Gadiel conversed in Arabic a little, but the conversation seemed rather stilted. Zain looked cold and faintly disapproving; Gadiel sounded defensive and sullen.

At last, Zain glanced at his watch and said,“Well, that was an absolute waste of time.” Wiping his lips with a napkin, he got to his feet and looked at Aiden.

Aiden sprang to his feet as well, feeling shaky, uncertain, and more than a little freaked out by his sudden spike of anxiety at the thought of Zain leaving him with Gadiel. Christ, was this what Stockholm syndrome felt like?

“Let’s go,” Zain said and strode toward the doors without even bothering to check that Aiden was following him. Arrogant dick.

At least his Stockholm syndrome didn’t suddenly make him think that Zain was less of an asshole than he was.

Thank god for small mercies.

Chapter Nine

The helicopter ride back to the island was quiet.

Zain seemed in a pensive mood, staring out the window. Aiden was in a self-kicking mood, trying to eliminate his stupid attraction.

Unfortunately, it was easier said than done.

As they walked toward the house, his eyes kept straying to Zain, lingering on his chiseled cheekbones, strong profile, and the mouthwatering Adam’s apple on his stubbled throat. Aiden wanted to put his mouth there andsuck. Fuck, if he had any doubts left about his attraction to men, they were gone now. He definitely was attracted to men. Or at least to this man.

“I hope you realize that I didn’t buy you to suck my cock.”

Aiden paled, flushed, and stared at Zain.“W-what?” he stammered. But part of him wasn’t even surprised that Zain had noticed his stupid attraction to him. This man was too intelligent and observant to have missed anything.

Zain opened the front door and preceded him into the house. Taking his shoes off, he headed toward his office.

Numbly, Aiden took his shoes off as well and followed him, feeling like a man sentenced to death.

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