Risk Assessment

by Parker St John

  Fortunately, Elliot had come armed with an excuse. He strapped on the armor of professionalism, took a deep breath, and said, “I came to see if you could use any part-time helpers.”

  One eyebrow disappeared into Lucas’s hairline. “Who? You?”

  “God, no!” He sounded so appalled that Lucas laughed. “One of my clients, Julio Gonzalez, has recently been paroled and needs work.” Elliot pressed on despite the way Lucas’s mouth tightened. “He’s a good kid. He was a passenger out joyriding in a stolen car, picked up as a juvenile and charged as an adult for a first offense.”

  Lucas cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. “Let me get this straight. You want me to employ a car thief at an auto shop? Do you even see the problem with that behind those rose colored glasses? Or do you not care as long as you get to go home tonight patting yourself on the back?”

  “It looks bad on paper,” Elliot admitted, ignoring the dig, “but it’s not like any of your customers will ever know. I’m quite certain he won’t steal again. He’s just a kid.”

  “Kids do plenty of fucked up shit, Clark Kent.”

  “Julio won’t,” Elliot said firmly. “He was only in that car in the first place because he loves them so much. He’s a brilliant mechanic from — well, admittedly from my limited knowledge — but I’m sure if you just met him…”

  Lucas stopped him dead with one palm up. “No.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “I said no. Peddle your bleeding heart somewhere else. Put him in one of your bullshit rehab programs. Make him watch Red Pavement and write an essay.”

  “He’s a smart kid. Too smart, really. He needs someone who understands the challenges he’s facing or he’ll walk.”

  “One lowlife to another, huh?” Lucas’s smile was nothing like the friendly, lighthearted version Elliot had been treated to thus far. This smile was remarkably bitter.

  “He’s not a lowlife,” Elliot snapped. He couldn’t begin to think what had driven him to ignore the derision this man had treated him with from the moment he’d learned he was a lawyer. “I was hoping for someone with strength enough to show him there’s another way. With your record—”

  The change in Lucas’s expression was alarming. One moment, he watched Elliot with an expression of grim amusement; the next, his face had become a mask of fury. He was on him in three strides, right in his face, and the fact that he wasn’t touching Elliot was somehow more frightening than if he had. It was as if he didn’t trust himself to touch him. There was an incredible tension singing through his frame, as if it took everything he had to restrain himself from getting physical.

  “What exactly do you know about my record?” he whispered.

  Elliot squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. Fuck me, he thought, and fuck the way every brain cell goes straight to my dick in front of this man. Nothing else to do but meet his error head on.

  He looked Lucas dead in the eye. “I pulled your record. And yes, it was a huge invasion of privacy.”

  It really was. He’d been able to convince himself it wasn’t out of line. It was public record, after all. Harmless, like scouting a potential date’s Facebook profile. But all it took was witnessing the humiliation that was so clear beneath his anger for Elliot to feel like the lowest slug on the planet.

  Elliot’s overdeveloped sense of fair play kicked in. That was his only explanation for they way he proceeded to embarrass himself by admitting, “I could pretend it was only to be certain you’d be an appropriate mentor for Julio… but it wouldn’t be true.” He took a shaky breath. “I wanted to know more about you. I thought… I thought you were perhaps interested in me and wanted to… well, I wanted to know why that changed when you discovered what I do for a living.”

  Lucas took an involuntary step backward. He stared at Elliot warily, as if he’d lost his mind. Maybe he had, because he continued on desperately. “I’m old and I’m boring. Men like you don’t look at me like I’m something they might want. I was hoping…” He trailed off.

  Whatever he’d been hoping for was an absurd fantasy. Reality was staring him coldly in the face. Lucas Kelly was sex on two legs, and he was a flirt. He could have any man he wanted. They had no connection beyond the one Elliot had dreamed up in his lonely imaginings. He swallowed hard. “At any rate, Julio really does need the job. Please don’t penalize a kid over the mistakes of his dumbass attorney.”

  7

  Lucas

  Lucas stared incredulously at the sexy asshole standing in front of him with that dumb, earnest look on his face.

  The guy was clueless. He drove a Prius, for God’s sake, as if that wasn’t reason enough to toss him out on his ear. The fact that he’d immediately gone snooping into Lucas’s past was exactly the kind of high-handed arrogance he’d expect from a lawyer. It made him want to crack the jerk right in the jaw. But beneath his anger was the same intense craving he’d felt since the moment he set eyes on him.

  Elliot Smith hit every single one of Lucas’s buttons, and he hit them hard. He had a look about him that was part lanky librarian and part mature Clark Kent. Lucas just knew that beneath that suit was a tight and eager body waiting to be explored. But it wasn’t just his looks that had grabbed Lucas by the throat and refused to let go. He was classy, intelligent, and well bred. He probably came from more money than Lucas had seen in his life.

  Lucas wanted nothing more than to put his rough, grease stained hands all over Elliot’s pale skin. He wanted to leave his mark on him. And then, when that was done, he wanted the satisfaction of telling himself ‘I told you so’ when Elliot tired of slumming and realized a man in Lucas’s demographic was good for pity, but not much else.

  There were plenty of hot guys ready to climb on Lucas’s dick, but as his experience at the club had taught him, he didn’t want any of them. He wanted Elliot. He was the only one who pulled at Lucas like a force of nature.

  He thought of Arnold and remembered what he’d said about taking that last step toward The Good Life. He needed to stop screwing around with shit that was bad for him. Elliot Smith looked so damned good, but he was definitely bad for him.

  None of that seemed to matter when Lucas weighed it against the tug of need in his gut.

  Fuck, this was such a bad idea.

  “If I hire him,” he scratched his chin musingly, “what do I get out of it?”

  “A good employee,” Elliot replied with such absolute sincerity that Lucas wanted to laugh. He couldn’t have made it so far in life being this naïve.

  He shook his head. “Not good enough.”

  “What do you want?”

  He looked straight into those soft, dark eyes when he answered, “You. On your knees.”

  Elliot sucked in an audible breath, and Lucas didn’t think he let it back out again. His eyes went so impossibly dark that they looked black, and a bit of color crawled up his throat above his tie.

  The silence stretched. Elliot appeared frozen in place, so Lucas decided to give him a little nudge. He stepped close, and then he leaned in and put his mouth right up against Elliot’s ear. He breathed in the scent of his cedar aftershave and murmured, “We both know that’s the reason you came here.”

  Elliot shuddered. He pulled back just enough to take in Lucas’s expression. When he spoke, his voice got all tangled up in his throat. “I thought perhaps… dinner. Like… we discussed.”

  The words sounded good, all prim and proper like they should, but pure need throbbed off him like the bass of a jacked up stereo.

  Lucas grinned and placed a hand on Elliot’s shoulder. He very gently applied downward pressure, just a suggestion really, but Elliot took the hint beautifully and sank down to his knees right there on the concrete floor. Just the sight of it had Lucas swallowing hard.

  He reached out and drew his fingertips over Elliot’s beautiful pink mouth. Those lips were going to be so soft wrapped around him.

  “This is dinner,” he rasped. “Open up.”

  Elliot op
ened his mouth and immediately sucked in two of Lucas’s fingers. The hot slick of his tongue lapping at his work roughened skin had Lucas panting in seconds, and they hadn’t even gotten started.

  “God, you’re sexy.” He didn’t even realize he’d said the words until he saw the responsive way Elliot’s lashes fluttered. He looked so pleased. Something clicked in the back of Lucas’s brain. He realized what Elliot was looking for, what he needed, perhaps just as much as the peculiar brand of validation that Lucas himself was seeking.

  “Look at me,” he said softly.

  Elliot’s lashes swept up.

  “Tell me what you want.”

  It was gratifying, the look of regret on Elliot’s face as he allowed Lucas’s wet digits to slip from between his lips.

  “You,” he replied.

  “Uh-uh.” He stroked the sharp line of Elliot’s jaw, enjoying the rasp of his five o’clock shadow, before trailing his fingers down to his chin and gripping it tight. “Be honest. Tell me. What do you want?”

  There was a tense moment when Elliot appeared to struggle with himself, and Lucas feared he might have read him wrong. Then Elliot heaved a quaking sigh and whispered, “I want to suck your cock. And… I want you to use my mouth while I do it.”

  “Okay.” Lucas unsnapped his pants one handed. That was all Elliot needed before he was diving in, nuzzling the exposed skin of Lucas’s lower belly while peeling his jeans down his hips and releasing his erection.

  Lucas gasped as soon as the cool air of the garage struck his hot flesh. But the sound quickly morphed into a moan as Elliot ran his cheek against his cock, like a kitten nuzzling up against a favorite toy. The rasp of his beard growth against the ultra sensitive flesh made Lucas bite down on his tongue to keep from whimpering like an idiot.

  “Kiss the tip,” he choked, eyes fastened on the beautiful man at his feet.

  Elliot looked him dead in the eyes as he obeyed, pressing a soft kiss to the damp tip of his cock, then poking out the end of his tongue and licking a long stripe over the rounded head.

  “Yessss.” Lucas fought the urge to close his eyes. The vision in front of him was too gorgeous to miss. “Suck on it, Elliot. Take my cock in your mouth and suck.”

  Sweet Jesus, the man was good at taking orders. Lucas’s cock was instantly enveloped in the hottest, silkiest mouth he’d ever felt. Everything about it was perfect, right down to the taut slide of Elliot’s tongue beneath his sensitive tip. Beyond that, Elliot appeared to be waiting for further instructions, and Lucas was only too happy to oblige.

  “Go down on it now. God, yeah, that’s perfect. Nice and slow. Back up… that’s right. Use your tongue some more.” He couldn’t recall ever being much of a talker during blowjobs before. They were usually almost perfunctory. But he had never been so turned on by getting his dick sucked before. With every harsh command and bit of praise, Elliot relaxed at his feet, sinking deep into some headspace only he knew.

  Elliot began working his cock in earnest, moving in a perfect rhythm of slide and suction. Lucas’s hands were in his hair. It was free of product and much softer than he’d imagined. He didn’t guide his movement or force him to take more than he was ready for. He just wanted to feel the way his head bobbed up, then down, then up…

  He gasped when Elliot took him all the way to the root on his next descent. And stayed there. “Jesus!”

  Lucas was honest enough to admit he was average sized, but he’d had enough dicks in his mouth to know that even an average sized cock was a lot to fit down a throat for more than a couple seconds. Elliot seemed content to keep him there all damned day.

  “So good, baby. Your throat is so tight. God, you’re beautiful like this…”

  He was only vaguely aware that he’d lost the thread of his filthy talk and had begun to babble. He threw his head back as he struggled not to come down Elliot’s throat that very second. But it rapidly became clear that was a losing proposition.

  His eyes flashed open. When had he closed them? “Pull your cock out,” he commanded urgently. “Do it. I’m not going to last long enough…”

  He watched as the beautiful man at his feet scrabbled at his buckle and fumbled with the button of his slacks. It was as if he’d been waiting for permission. Maybe he had. That thought caused his dick to twitch inside Elliot’s mouth. Elliot thrust a hand inside his boxers and pulled out a gorgeously long cock that had gone dark and painfully hard.

  Lucas’s mouth watered at the flushed, glossy head, but he knew he would be in no shape to reciprocate once he came. He would be lucky if he survived the explosion. He briefly contemplated rearranging them so they could sixty-nine, but the prospect of pulling out of the sloppy heat of Elliot’s perfect mouth for even a second made him want to cry. Besides, the man just looked too amazing kneeling before him.

  But he didn’t want to be an asshole. He didn’t.

  “Is this okay?” he grated out. “Can you get off like this? I need to come so bad… I want to finish in your mouth. Can I?”

  There was no answer. Not in words, anyway. But Lucas felt a soft rumble vibrating up his shot nerve endings. At first, he thought Elliot was humming. It was a pretty common tactic to get a partner off faster at the finish line. But he realized an instant later that it wasn’t humming at all. Elliot was fucking purring. And the look on his face… Lucas had never seen anyone so drunk on cock.

  “You want me to come down your throat, baby?” he whispered.

  Elliot moaned around his mouthful. His hand squeezed his own cock brutally tight.

  “I want you to come first,” Lucas decided. He couldn’t take his eyes off the flushed length of Elliot’s tortured dick flashing in his sliding fist. “I want to see you come all over yourself and that fancy suit… and then… oh, fuck!”

  Elliot was swallowing him down to the root, moaning, shuddering, and Lucas saw the creamy spurts of come that began to coat his trembling fingers.

  He cried out, tightened his grip on Elliot’s hair, and thrust deep. Once, twice. Molten lava raced up his spine and throbbed out of him as he came hard in that perfect, perfect mouth.

  He’d never come so hard in his life. His knees shook and his legs gave out.

  Elliot had one sticky hand still wrapped around his dick, and he was leaning forward on his free hand. His eyes were closed, and he was panting, drenched with sweat and rocked by fine tremors. He looked shaken, like a man who had just survived a hurricane. Lucas couldn’t do anything with a look like that except kiss him.

  So he did.

  Elliot’s heart was beating so fast that Lucas could see it in his throat. He pressed his fingers gently against the hammering pulse. When he kissed him, Elliot returned it wholeheartedly.

  Eventually, he blinked open his dreamy, dark eyes and said in a wrecked voice, “Thank you.”

  Lucas’s eyes popped wide. “What are you thanking me for? You’re the one who tried to hoover my soul out the end of my dick.”

  Elliot laughed and, after a moment, Lucas joined him. They leaned against each other and chuckled into each other’s damp necks.

  “You know what I’m thanking you for,” Elliot said simply, once he had calmed. “I needed that. I didn’t even realize how badly I needed that. But you did, didn’t you?”

  Lucas nodded. He reached up to stroke a dark lock of hair from Elliot’s forehead. “You were screaming for it, Mr. Smith.”

  Elliot nodded. “Yes. So thank you.”

  Lucas grinned at him, feeling unaccountably lighthearted as Elliot tucked himself back into his pants and stood on wobbly legs. He held his clean hand out to Lucas and hauled him to his feet. But when Lucas tried to pull away, he held on tight.

  “So. Dinner?” he asked, pulling him close and pressing his lush lips against Lucas’s mouth.

  Lucas tugged gently on his hand, and Elliot released him. He bought himself some space by spending an inordinately long time righting his clothes, and then he gestured for Elliot to join him at the industrial sink agains
t the wall. He waited until they were lathering up with dusty smelling pink soap before replying, “Are you sure you want that with someone like me?”

  Elliot watched the suds foaming up between his palms as he considered his question. “Someone handsome, capable and generous?”

  Lucas snorted.

  “Someone who can get me to come all over my only decent suit?”

  “You looked me up,” Lucas said, folding his arms across his chest. “My record.”

  Elliot dried his hands on a sheaf of paper towels and met his gaze head on. Lucas liked that about him. He was as sexy and eager to please as any soft little twink, but there was a strength to him. Lucas had enjoyed his show of pride the other day when he’d argued about his bill. He wasn’t a pushover. He was simply… gentle.

  “I did,” Elliot acknowledged. “I shouldn’t have, but I did. I apologize. But in my line of work, can you imagine I would judge you for your past?”

  Lucas shrugged and looked away. “The lawyers in court with me when I got my sentence judged me pretty hard.”

  “Ah.” Elliot blinked, and Lucas ground his teeth against a wave of humiliation. After some thought, Elliot said carefully, “I tried my hand at prosecuting right out of school. It didn’t agree with me. I’d rather believe in people. I spend my days on cases like Julio, trying to help people get their lives back together. You served your time, and you moved on. You appear to have done well for yourself. You’ve never given me a reason to doubt your integrity.”

  Lucas wasn’t sure what he felt. Relief? Anger? All he knew was he felt uncomfortable as hell. He looked down at his boots and scrambled for a response.

  Elliot seemed to read his discomfort. He let him off the hook by flippantly adding, “Besides, we both know you don’t want to steal my car.”

  Despite himself, Lucas chuckled.

  Elliot winked. “So can I take you out to dinner like you promised yesterday?”

  He scrubbed a rough hand over his mouth, but he couldn’t quite erase his smile. “After this evening, how about we take each other out and call it even?”