Alluring Attraction

by Zoelle, A. F.

Pleased at the turn of events, Hunter rewarded Ryder by fondling his ass, which earned him a gasp that echoed in the shower in the most pleasing of ways. Needing more, Hunter lowly murmured in Ryder’s ear, “I won’t break.”

  The feeling of Hunter’s hands kneading his ass and the sound of his voice so close to his ear momentarily distracted Ryder. He applied more pressure as he started to speed up his movements. Hunter bucked into the touch with a groan, kissing Ryder’s neck as he let his fingers stray to the tempting cleft of his ass. The thought of turning Ryder around and pounding into him from behind was so tempting, but Hunter allowed himself to be satisfied with the attention he was receiving.

  Ryder was startled by the fingers running over his entrance and he tried to move away from the touch, causing Hunter to stop kissing his neck and look down at him with amusement. “No?” Hunter asked, his fingers retreating with a reassuring squeeze of Ryder’s ass.

  “No,” Ryder gasped, wondering if he had always been that sensitive there or if it was new.

  “Maybe next time,” Hunter murmured with a knowing smirk.

  “Next time?” Ryder repeated, his green eyes going wide in shock.

  Laughing at the reaction, Hunter claimed Ryder’s lips in a kiss instead of answering with words. Ryder found himself giving in even as he continued his ministrations on Hunter. The kiss broke apart when Hunter came with a low moan, spilling his seed all over Ryder’s fist and stomach, which was quickly washed away.

  Neither of them said anything, but their bodies were still pressed closely together, sharing the warmth of the water. Eventually Hunter reminded Ryder, “You should probably get going soon.”

  “But we didn’t actually—” Ryder started to protest before he abruptly stopped talking and flushed a deep scarlet.

  Satisfied that Ryder was properly cleaned, Hunter reached behind him and turned off the water. “Did you want to?” Hunter asked, his voice quietly echoing in the confines of the now-silent shower.

  “I—what? No, I—I mean, I should probably—you’re right, I should probably go,” Ryder stuttered as he detangled himself from Hunter’s grasp to exit the shower.

  Frowning at the awkward reaction, Hunter followed Ryder and grabbed two towels, handing one over and using the other on himself. Ryder accepted it and started to dry himself, grateful for something to do with his hands. He made an effort to thoroughly dry his hair in the hopes that Jake wouldn’t question it why it was wet, before finally wrapping the towel securely around his waist.

  When Ryder finally dared to look up, Hunter bluntly questioned, “Do you regret it?”

  “Y-no, I…it’s—shit, I don’t know,” Ryder muttered, sighing in frustration. “It’s…”

  “It’s…?” Hunter prompted.

  “This doesn’t bother you?” Ryder asked, his expression hardening as he searched Hunter’s for an answer.

  Evenly meeting Ryder’s questioning gaze, Hunter answered, “The only thing that bothers me is the thought of you acting like this changes anything between us.”

  “But it does!” Ryder insisted, embarrassed by his own emphatic tone.

  Standing close to Ryder once more and caressing his cheek, Hunter clarified, “Fine, acting like this negatively changes anything between us.”

  Resisting the urge to lean into the touch, Ryder had to question, “You don’t think it has?”

  “That depends entirely on you, doesn’t it?” Hunter replied, moving his hand away from temptation.

  For the briefest moment, Ryder almost thought he saw a flash of sadness in those blue depths, but that couldn’t possibly be right. Still, Ryder felt something tug at him in an almost painful manner and he started to whisper, “Hun—”

  Hunter interrupted Ryder with an abrupt kiss, which softened from its initial roughness as it progressed. Ryder entangled his fingers in still-damp hair, sighing into the kiss as Hunter’s fingers lightly trailed down his back. The simple touch made Ryder feel a stirring of desire they didn’t have time for now. “I guess that’s better than biting me,” Ryder teased, self-consciously moving his hand away from Hunter’s hair.

  Nipping lightly at Ryder’s lower lip to prove a point, Hunter retorted, “Considering how much you keep trying to moan my name, it seems that I’ll have to think of some other alternatives.”

  “Yeah, yeah, very funny,” Ryder muttered, hurrying out of the bathroom before he embarrassed himself any further.

  “Who said anything about funny?” Hunter asked as he followed Ryder into the bedroom. “It’s the truth.”

  Rolling his eyes at that, Ryder collected his clothes from where they had been strewn about, tossing Hunter’s to him as well. Hunter caught them, despite being distracted by the sight of Ryder bent over in a towel and all of the perverse thoughts that went along with that. Dropping his things onto the bed, Hunter opted to stay in his towel as he watched Ryder change back into his clothes.

  Shoving his hands into his pockets when he was finished, Ryder’s shoulders were hunched forward as he mumbled, “So, um…now…?”

  Glancing at the clock on the nightstand out of the corner of his eye, Hunter saw that they had only a few minutes left before Ryder’s time was over. “You leave,” Hunter told him, the words harsh, although his tone wasn’t unkind.

  “Right,” Ryder said with a heavy sigh, “yeah…”

  Disliking the awkwardness of the moment, Hunter reprimanded, “Don’t start that.” His flash of indignation was almost reassuring in some ways. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Okay,” Ryder replied, averting his gaze to the floor as he tried to compose himself.

  Weakening in his resolve, Hunter approached Ryder and tilted his rival’s head back to allow for eye contact. “It’ll be fine,” Hunter promised, reassuring himself as much as Ryder.

  A knock on the door signaled the end of their time. Hunter impulsively stole one more kiss before stepping away. There was something almost desperate about the action, which puzzled Ryder.

  “Good night,” Ryder softly said, feeling too foolish to settle for a good-bye.

  “Night,” Hunter returned, never taking his eyes off of Ryder as his rival opened the door and exited without looking back.

  Left alone, Hunter reveled in finally having had a taste of Ryder. Things had suddenly become a lot more complicated, but Hunter couldn’t find it within him to care.

  Tomorrow should be interesting, Hunter thought to himself in amusement as he readied himself for his next client.

  Ryder meant to use the elevator trip to try and prepare what he needed to say to Jake, but his mind was too preoccupied by everything that had happened to think clearly. Sincerely hoping that his friend was going to be so excited about his own experience that he wouldn’t want to talk about Hunter, Ryder exited the elevator and forced himself to smile when he saw that Jake was waiting for him.

  The Japanese woman remained in the elevator and Ryder wondered if she was going back up to Hunter to check on him. The thought left Ryder with a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wasn’t given long to dwell on it, because Jake excitedly rushed up to him and exclaimed, “This was seriously the best idea I’ve ever had! Damn, we should have done this ages ago!”

  Making a noncommittal noise in response, Ryder didn’t resist as Jake put an arm around his shoulders as they left Cole Corporation. He was grateful that the position didn’t allow Jake to see him wince when he asked, “So was it him or not?”

  Trying to avoid the question, Ryder countered, “I still don’t understand what your fascination with it is. Even if it was, it’s not like you’re going to be able to use it against him without consequences.”

  Language had never been Jake’s strong suit, which was even more apparent after the satisfying sex that was still muddling his mind. “Whatever, Secretary Jenna was fucking amazing!” Jake bragged, unwilling to think about Hunter after the kind of night he was having. “Seriously, she has the most incredible tits ever.”

  Not knowing what e
lse to say, Ryder settled for a bland “I’m glad you had fun.”

  “Fun doesn’t even begin to cover it,” Jake told Ryder, finally releasing his grip on his friend. “Hey, who did you end up switching to?”

  “What makes you think I switched?” Ryder asked, purposely keeping his tone light and teasing. He would never outright lie to his friend, but he wasn’t above deception when it came to something as delicate as what had happened with Hunter.

  Jake’s first reaction was shock before he busted out into raucous laughter. Playfully punching Ryder on the arm, Jake said, “You’re too damn funny sometimes, you know that?”

  “So I’ve been told,” Ryder replied, grateful that it seemed like he had successfully dodged the question for the moment.

  Ryder inattentively listened as Jake continued his inane chatter about how he needed to either get a girlfriend or a part-time job so he could afford to come to Cole Corporation more often. He was too distracted by the incident with Hunter to focus on his friend, but Jake didn’t seem to notice as they made their way home.

  Ryder tried to seem as casual as possible while waiting for his industrial psychology class to start. He was overly aware of Hunter’s presence in the back of the room, although nothing was out of the ordinary in that sense. Hunter was on his phone as per usual, ignoring the world around him.

  It was almost enough to make Ryder think that the whole thing at Cole Corporation had been a really bizarre dream. Though the fact that Jake kept casting furtive glances over his shoulder went a long way to disprove that theory. Resisting the urge to tell Jake to knock it off, Ryder tensely waited as the minutes passed.

  “Derrick, next time you’re totally coming!” Jake declared, punching his friend’s arm for emphasis. “None of these pathetic excuses that you have to babysit, got it?”

  Derrick snapped, “It wasn’t an excuse! Besides, maybe I was too busy with your sister to—”

  Derrick’s words were interrupted by Jake’s roughhousing and the rest of the group groaned at the predictable turn of events. Emily and Kyle immediately started to break it up, but Ryder stayed out of the fray. He used the distraction to glance at Hunter out of the corner of his eye and was shocked to find those piercing blue eyes intently focused on him. It made Ryder blush and he looked away before he saw the knowing smirk on Hunter’s lips.

  “Yo, tell him, Ryder!” Jake called out, interrupting Ryder’s train of thought.

  “What?” Ryder asked, having completely missed whatever turn the argument had taken.

  The sound of a quiet chuckle set Jake’s nerves on edge and instead of addressing his friend, he yelled at Hunter, “Why do you always have something to say, asshole?”

  “Why do you always care so much about what I think, mutt?” Hunter smoothly challenged, his eyes flickering over to Ryder’s for the briefest of moments.

  Anxious that the conversation could easily take a turn for the worst, Ryder tried to intervene with a placating, “Come on, it’s not—”

  “No!” Jake all but shouted, refusing to let the issue go. “I’m tired of this stuck-up prick always thinking that he’s god or something. Besides, you wouldn’t be acting so high and mighty if everyone knew that—”

  “Jake, that’s enough!” Ryder sharply reprimanded his friend, causing both Jake and Hunter to widen their eyes.

  Jake looked at Ryder suspiciously, trying to figure out if something else was going on because of what had happened last night. “Are you defending him?” Jake demanded in a serious tone.

  “As if I need to be defended,” Hunter scoffed, earning him a pointed look from Ryder that clearly implied he wasn’t helping. “Especially against someone like you.”

  Derrick took careful stock of the situation and realized something larger was going on, but he wasn’t quite sure what. Sighing to himself and bracing himself for the reaction he knew he would get, Derrick asked loudly in an attempt to distract Jake, “So is that a yes about me nailing your sister?”

  Hunter was immediately forgotten as Jake’s protective streak toward his younger sister kicked in and he whipped around to go off on his friend.

  Ryder once again looked back to Hunter with a silent warning, and the smirk he received sent a chill through him.

  Any further arguments were cut off by the appearance of their professor, who immediately started trying to restore order over the class. It was a welcome reprieve for Ryder, who could feel Hunter watching his every movement.

  When class was over, Jake angrily stormed out of the room, the rest of the group in tow. Ryder internally groaned, knowing that their group dinner later that night would probably going to be a disaster after such an explosive class. If it wasn’t so cowardly, he might have fabricated a reason for skipping out on the event.

  That was a problem that could wait until later, though. The more immediate issue was waiting for him by the door, looking smug as ever. Ryder approached with his own air of arrogant ease, but inside his heart was nervously hammering. “Subtle,” Hunter sarcastically complimented as he pushed himself off of the wall when Ryder neared.

  “Oh, shut up,” Ryder growled, still on edge. “You really don’t help the situation any.”

  “I wasn’t aware that I was supposed to be helping,” Hunter said with feigned innocence as he led the way to their next class.

  “You know what I mean,” Ryder snapped as he tightened his grip on his book bag strap out of irritation.

  Completely unfazed, Hunter continued, “Besides, how much help do you really need with someone who is too dense to make the connection?”

  Ryder’s jaw dropped in disbelief at how casually Hunter had mentioned such a private thing. Looking around to make sure none of his friends were close enough to overhear, Ryder asked as they started up the stairs together, “What makes you think he didn’t?”

  “So you convinced him otherwise?” Hunter guessed, looking smug with a victory that Ryder refused to give him. “Covering your own ass, I suppose.”

  “No,” Ryder angrily denied, irritated by the accusation.

  As they neared the top, Ryder was startled when Hunter grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him to the side, out of the flow of students onto the next floor. No one paid them anything more than a cursory glance, too focused on getting to class.

  Ryder’s breathing quickened as he was easily pinned against the wall and he felt an almost feverish chill run through him when Hunter pressed close and asked, “Would he even still be friends with you if he knew what we did last night?”

  Heat flooded through Ryder’s veins and he struggled against the memories of what had transpired between himself and Hunter the previous night at Cole Corporation. “Why are you doing this?” Ryder demanded, annoyed with how breathless he sounded.

  “You didn’t answer my question,” Hunter pointed out with a smug expression.

  “You didn’t answer mine,” Ryder countered.

  Hunter didn’t immediately respond. Instead, he continued staring down at Ryder with increasing interest. The silent appraisal flustered Ryder and it was becoming more difficult to hide that fact. How many times had they cornered each other like this without it being an issue? Why was it only now that Ryder couldn’t stop thinking about how it felt to be pressed so intimately close to Hunter? It bothered Ryder immensely and he accidentally whispered, “What have you done to me?”

  Leaning forward and subtly shifting his hips against Ryder’s, Hunter let the moment drag out between them. “Nothing,” Hunter murmured in his rival’s ear, before impishly adding, “yet.”

  The perverse promise made Ryder inhale sharply and Hunter pulled away with an overly pleased chuckle. Acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened, Hunter pulled away as he reminded Ryder, “We’re going to be late at this rate.”

  Resolutely pushing himself away from the wall, Ryder ordered himself to get control as he followed Hunter out of the stairwell. Ryder’s mind was muddled by it all and he had to ignore the memories that were clam
oring to be relived.

  Easily catching up with Hunter and unwilling to let him have the last word, Ryder warned, “You can’t keep provoking him, especially not on that topic.”

  “Worried he’s going to say something stupid?” Hunter asked with a harsh laugh.

  As much as Ryder hated to badmouth his friend, it was an undeniable fact. Trying to be tactful, Ryder said, “He doesn’t think before he speaks when he gets worked up like that and—”

  “That implies he thinks at all,” Hunter interjected, further incensing Ryder.

  “Hunter!” Ryder angrily growled, his emerald eyes filled with ire.

  Turning to face Ryder when they were outside of their classroom, Hunter quietly teased, “And here I thought I broke you of the habit of saying my name.”

  Flushing a deep scarlet against his will, Ryder muttered, “That was there.” His voice gained strength as he continued. “And that’s not the point! The point is—“

  “The point is, I can take care of myself,” Hunter quietly interrupted. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think that you were genuinely concerned for me.”

  “How could I not be? I mean, you’re in a place like that and—”

  For the first time that morning, Hunter showed actual surprise, but he wasn’t given the chance to pursue it further since the professor interrupted, “Well, well. It almost seems like you’re having a civilized discussion for once, instead of an all-out war. There’s hope for a peace accord yet.”

  “Something like that,” Hunter replied with a false smile, humoring the clueless professor.

  Feeling out of his element with the rapid change in mood, Ryder sighed before entering the classroom after the professor. He was grateful that international business was one of his stronger subjects, because he sincerely doubted he would be focusing on the lesson after that conversation with Hunter.

  As Ryder skulked into Cole Corporation under the cover of night, four days after his first visit, he felt an overwhelming sense of shame as the doors opened automatically to grant him entrance. Ryder had tried to stay away, had tried to put the whole incident behind him, but nothing could distract him from the embarrassing questions he needed to ask and the humiliating desires he was suffering from.