Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 91507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
He had no doubt his three coupled friends had major bedroom plans with their significant others. Hop had plans too. But he wasn’t sure if they’d make it to the bedroom.
Snatching his shoe from Ansel’s covetous grip, he continued dressing.
“I’m out, see you all tomorrow at Ansel’s.” Tam waved from the door.
“You need a ride? Fitch is picking me up.”
“Nah, Driver’s meeting me at the station.”
“K, be safe.” Ansel turned to the rest of them. “How about you guys? Anyone need a ride?”
“No, thanks,” Jae said, pulling on his leather backpack and lifting the hood of his coat. It was so big it dwarfed his head and left his face in shadows.
“Connelly texted, he’s outside.” Z grabbed his tote and headed for the door. “Bye, bitches.”
“Hop? Last one standing.”
“I’m gonna stick around and get my dance on.” It wasn’t the first time he’d stayed afterhours at the club to enjoy the ambiance. There was no reason Ansel would find it odd, but his friend’s blond head tipped to the side and his eyes narrowed.
“If there’s something going on in your life, we’d love to know about it. We’d celebrate the good with you and hold you through the bad. It’s what we do. We’re here if you want to talk.”
“I’m good.” Better than good.
“You seem, kind of, I don’t know, tranquil.”
“Must be the yoga I’m doing each morning.” Or, maybe, the sex each night?
“Yeah, sure. Yoga,” Ansel said, with a disbelieving tone. “Whatever it is, it looks good on you. I hope it lasts.” And with that, he nodded his goodbye.
I hope it lasts.
Like there was a high probability it wouldn’t. And like, maybe Hop was fooling himself.
I hope it lasts.
Ansel nailed Hop’s secret fear and desire with four little words. The problem was, it wouldn’t last.
This fling with Rafe would only ever be casual. Except there was nothing casual about the way his heart beat as he pulled on his shiny heels. Nothing casual about the thundering of his pulse as he left the dressing room and made his way through the crowded club. Absolutely nothing casual about the excitement that had his fingers trembling when he finally knocked on Rafe’s office door.
Now things were different.
Every moment in Rafe’s company, under his control, gave Hop a strength he’d never find anywhere else.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Rafe thought about the tie he’d received that morning with Hop’s come staining the silk and smiled. Perverted? Maybe, but his kink reached new heights since he’d started playing with Hop. Something about his sugarcoated gender-bending pet inspired Rafe’s darker side. This past week, he’d dreamed of a dozen different scenarios—and jerked off to all of them, because...fuck.
The tie covered with Hop’s come was Rafe’s reward for showing restraint.
It’d sucked nails having to wait but he had a club to run. As much as he wanted to spend every night devouring Hop in as many ways as his deviant mind could conjure, he couldn’t justify taking that much time away from work.
They had a huge party to plan, bills to pay, permits to renew, and vendors to contact. Rafe needed to be a hundred steps ahead of his competition if he wanted his plan to go off like clockwork. Any moment, he expected a wrench to be thrown. The longer it took them to sign, the likelier it was for information to be leaked. To some, that constant and persistent caution might seem like paranoia.
To Rafe it was just good business sense.
He knew who his opponent was, not the mask shown to the world—the real, manipulative man who had turned what was supposed to be a generous gift into a leash so tight it choked.
For these reasons, he should be in a permanent state of work-delirium. Except now he had something—someone—more, what? Interesting?
Or, important?
Maybe both. Rafe wouldn’t label his feelings. All he knew was that Hop demanded attention and Rafe was powerless against such need.
As much as he tried to keep it together, the reality was he’d been preoccupied enough that people were starting to notice, most notably Mark. Add that to the list of things he didn’t give a shit about at the moment.
Hop was at the door, nothing else would penetrate his mind. Not when something so sweet and enticing waited for him. Finally, his night could begin.
Rafe didn’t stay behind his desk this time. He was too impatient to get started. Hop seemed surprised when Rafe opened the door. He made this adorable “Oh” face.
“Hi,” Rafe said, his eyes already feasting on the sight of Hop covered in sparkles like ice cream topped with rainbow sprinkles.
Rafe had always loved sprinkles as a kid.
Shades of flashy metallic from head to toe, Hop could be mistaken for a life-size holographic Barbie—if Barbie was an R-rated gay fantasy come to life. He wore a pair of rainbow fish-scale leggings and an oversize cropped sweatshirt with Mermaid painted on it. The way it hung off his shoulders revealed the place Rafe had left his mark days ago. If he looked closely he could still make out a faint trace.