by M. A. Innes
I just sighed and leaned back in the chair to rest my head on it. Closing my eyes, I shook my head. “Not yet; let’s still focus on finding someone local and open it up at the end of next week if we have to.”
The area around the warehouse was starting to improve economically, and I wanted to try to hire someone local first. The position paid really well, and it would give someone a big boost financially. Unfortunately, we were having a hard time finding qualified candidates. With the amount of paperwork and federal regulations that had to be abided by, not just anyone would be able to handle the job.
“I’ll let HR know.” His voice was too even.
“That’s what you already told them, wasn’t it? They’ve already got it posted, don’t they?”
Wes cleared his throat. “Yes. It was the most logical option, and one you agreed might become necessary when we discussed the previous applicants.”
Little shit.
“Fine.” Before I could say anything else, Wes cleared his throat again.
“You said to remind you that you need to leave the office at five today because of a...previous engagement.” It was as close to date as Wes was willing to say.
He’d made it exceptionally clear when he’d first applied for the position that he would not be my social secretary, and my personal life was my business. He’d left his previous job suddenly and without any kind of recommendation. The only thing he would say was that some people couldn’t respect boundaries.
I probably wouldn’t have hired him, but there’d been a few times in the interview where he’d seemed wounded and a little war-torn. Whatever had happened was enough for him to put up firm walls that he wasn’t going to take down. I’d managed to worm my way around them just by sheer stubbornness, but some things he wasn’t willing to budge on.
I’d made it a policy never to ask about his personal life. However, oversharing about mine was becoming second nature. I didn’t tell him everything, just enough to make him nuts. “I have a date with my angel tonight.”
“That’s nice.” It was almost a personal comment. I was touched.
“You do care.” There was a smirk on my face as I straightened and started to rise. “Is there anything else that can’t wait until I come in tomorrow?”
Wes got a pinched expression, and I knew he wasn’t pleased about how many hours I’d been working. But between my regular responsibilities and handling most of the warehouse manager duties, there was nothing that could be done about it.
The guys at the warehouse had been helping as much as they could, but they had other responsibilities, and most had families that needed them as well. Hopefully, we’d get someone in there soon, and my life could go back to normal.
“Nothing that can’t wait.” His voice was smooth and confident. “I’ll put detailed notes on your desk before I leave, and I’ll make sure everything looks correct with the job posting as well.”
“Thank you.” Gathering up a few papers and shoving them into my briefcase, it didn’t take me long to start shutting down my computer. “I’ll go over the contracts for the new southern route this weekend.”
“Very well. I’ll get that organized next week as soon as I have your notes.”
“Thanks.” Wagging my finger at him, I frowned. “Don’t stay too late.”
He’d been almost as bad as me lately. I knew I was going to owe him a hell of a Christmas bonus. He didn’t think I noticed, but he’d been doing as much of the daily, monotonous part of my job as he could since I’d started handling the problems at the warehouse. Wes was staying late, and from the time stamps I’d seen on a few emails, was working remotely from home as well.
As much as I wanted to tell him to stop so he could have a life, I needed the help. There weren’t enough hours in the day for me to possibly do everything, and that grated on me. Going down to BJ’s the other night had been the earliest I’d been able to get out the door in almost two weeks.
“I’m gone. Email me if anything comes up, but everything should be fine at the warehouse, so I’m not expecting any issues.”
“Of course. I still think you should call—”
“Nope. It’s my responsibility. He’s golfing and getting ready for that big party they throw every fall. My mother even said something about going down to the beach house early this year. I’m not going to bring him in. We’ve got it handled, and as soon as we get someone in the warehouse manager position, it will all settle down. Who knows, this time next week everything could be fine.”
My normally unflappable admin snorted and shook his head. “You’re an idiot.”
“But I’m the idiot who signs the paychecks, so you have to pretend to support my decisions.”
“Since when?”
“New rule.” I got a look that said just how many ways he was plotting my torture. Deciding not to push my luck by egging him on even more, I headed out the door.
Getting off early gave me enough time for a desperately needed nap, a shower, and copious amounts of caffeine. I’d arrived early and worked through lunch to make sure everything would be on track for me to leave the office at a reasonable time. So, except for a sandwich Wes had shoved at me around two, I hadn’t eaten much. I was starving.
My free time since Thursday had been taken up with texting Randall. He just wasn’t Randy to me, although when I was teasing him, Randy was going to work as well. Something about the nickname made him feel younger or less manly or just embarrassed in general, because he’d start tripping over his words, and I could almost see his blush through the phone.
I’d promised myself I wouldn’t push things too far on our date. He wasn’t comfortable with sharing, but when he got tired or just incredibly turned on, little things slipped out. I’d already guessed he wasn’t that experienced, but knowing I was his first kiss had been incredible. However, hearing how poorly some of his dates had treated him, and how conflicted he was about his desires, was disturbing.
As far as kinks went, wanting to be teased and shown off wasn’t that bad. Even tossing in the exhibitionism and his pain slut tendencies, he wasn’t the most unique guy I’d ever dated. Hell, I’d met more out-there people in line at the grocery store.
I just couldn’t see how someone had misunderstood his needs so badly.
He was so sweet and innocent-looking, I could understand how someone would be surprised. But the inside of the package didn’t have to match the outside. We learned that as kids. Some adults just seemed to have forgotten that lesson.
My goal for the evening was to show him that I wanted to get to know him, and not just sexually. I wasn’t sure where things were going, but I didn’t want him to feel like a one-night stand or some kind of kinky booty call where I only talked to him at the bar.
I wasn’t going to take things in a completely vanilla direction, because honestly, our time at the bar had been incredible. But I wanted him to understand that I could see him as a man and as a slut. They weren’t mutually exclusive, and he needed to accept that.
As I drove over to the university, I had to grin. I’d known he was young, but I hadn’t expected him to still be living in the dorms. Finding out he was finishing up his master’s degree made me feel a little less like I was robbing the cradle, but it gave new realism to the naughty student and wicked professor role-playing that came to mind as I drove through the campus.
Following the directions he’d given me, I easily found his dorm. As I parked and started heading up to the door, I saw him already waiting outside for me, pacing around nervously. He’d said he was out of the closet, but early evening on a Friday night had the area packed, so I did my best to behave.
It was difficult.
We’d decided on a casual restaurant not too far from the campus, so the dark jeans and button-down shirt he was wearing were sexy and appropriate. I was just missing his tight pants, because the ones he had on didn’t fit anywhere near as well as the jeans he’d worn to work.
“Hello, Angel. Did you get everyth
ing done you needed to?” Randall hadn’t been out of his study group for long, so I wasn’t sure if he was actually ready to go or if he needed a few more minutes.
“Yes.” I got a smile, and a faint blush tinted his cheeks. My naughty boy was having wicked thoughts, but there were too many people around us for me to call him out on it.
“I’m parked over there.” I pointed toward the end of the parking lot. “Are you still okay with me driving?”
Not pushing things too fast sexually was completely different than not pushing him past his comfort zone on safety issues. One rule I was bound to fail at keeping, the other was one I wasn’t going to forget. Any relationship that had a lifestyle component needed to be based on trust, first and foremost. I wanted him to know I would take that seriously.
“Yes.” He looked down at the ground, then around at the parking lot. “I talked to Andrew the other night, and he made sure to let me know you could be trusted.”
“Knowing Andrew, it was more colorful than that.” I slipped one hand behind Randall and let it rest on his back. Leading him down the walkway, I tried to take my cues from his body language, but he was sending mixed signals again.
Randall would lean into my arm and brush his shoulder against mine, but then he’d pull back and look around. I’d get a flash of heat from his eyes, but when he realized what he’d done, he seemed to mentally push the need away. And he was holding his body so stiffly I thought he’d break.
I’d hoped we’d finally started to move past some of the doubts, but we seemed to have taken a few steps backward. Tackling some of it head-on was probably the best decision, so I was blunt. At the very least, I would shock him out of his nervousness. “When do you work again? I have a punishment to dish out.”
He tripped slightly but caught himself before he fell. Randall coughed, and a blush heated up his face. “I, um...I—I’ll be working next week. Saturday night. Late shift again.”
It felt like he was doing his best not to ramble and stutter, but the stilted words only made him seem more nervous. I started running my hand up and down his back as we continued to walk. I wanted him to see there was nothing wrong with what he wanted. Hopefully, addressing it head-on and discussing it reasonably would help him see that. “Good. Then I won’t have to wait too long to punish you.”
Immediately changing things up, I switched topics before he could get over his shock. If I could keep him slightly off-balance, he’d have a harder time censoring what he really wanted to say and respond honestly. “Have you been to the restaurant before? I don’t remember if you said how long you’ve been in the area.”
Randall didn’t seem to know what to say. It was obvious thoughts about the punishment were running through his head, but the more mundane question seemed to throw him. “I...um...I’ve been here all my life. I haven’t gone there before, though. I...um...don’t date much.”
That seemed to be an understatement.
A boy as sweet, and clearly smart if the school reputation was any indication, as Randall should have been asked out a dozen times a week. Maybe I was a bit biased, but we weren’t in such a conservative area that finding other gay students to date would be hard.
“Well, I plan on remedying that. Their loss is my gain.” I brought my hand up and ran my hand over his head and down his back again. “There are lots of restaurants in the area and other places we can explore. It will just depend on our moods.”
I dropped my voice and let the desire that was always humming just under the surface whenever I thought about him peek out as I was talking. His body started to relax little by little, and his confidence was slowly returning.
As we reached the car, I took his hand. “I have a rental because my car is in the shop. One of my neighbor’s kids backed into mine, and it’s taking a while to get fixed.”
That was the less bitter way to describe a spoiled eighteen-year-old who was doing sixty in a thirty-five and lost control of his new sports car, crashing into my Mercedes. I was just a little upset. It wasn’t really about the cost of the repairs or about the brat’s driving, although it was reckless.
My car was even old by neighborhood standards. It was just the first car I’d purchased on my own, without any help from my family, and my attachment was very sentimental. It was going to be good as new soon, and I vowed to never park it on the street again.
“That’s terrible.” Randall seemed to have lost some of his hesitation, because the words came out with more confidence. “Was anyone hurt?”
“No. I’m hoping he learned a lesson about being more careful, but I’m not sure he’s that smart. Some people have more luck than brains.” Leaning against the small four-door sedan, I pulled Randall into my embrace.
He’d said he wasn’t hiding the fact that he was gay, and we were far enough back in the parking lot that we finally had some privacy, so I wasn’t going to overthink it. “Unlike some people, who seem to be very smart.”
I glanced over toward the school and then back at my shy boy. “I seemed to have hit the relationship lottery...smart, cute, and kinky. And incredibly sexy when he’s turned on and needy.”
Chapter 6
Randall
“Relationship?” He’d said it so casually it almost got lost in his description of me. Cute? Sexy? So, kinky I could get, but the sincerity in his voice when he talked about me took my breath away. I’d never had anyone in my life who didn’t think I was at least a little flawed, if not broken. Did he really think of whatever we were doing as a relationship?
“Yes.” His arms tightened around me, and he pulled me flush against his hard body. “I know we’re still getting to know each other, but you’re not a one-night stand for me, and this isn’t casual.”
A hand came up and started caressing up my neck and around my ear, making me shiver. His voice seemed to drop lower, and I had to fight the urge to press even tighter against him because the possessive way he was holding me and the semi-public location was, embarrassingly enough, pushing my desire even higher.
“Is that alright with you?” His touch, and everything else running through my head, made it difficult to think.
I finally forced out one word. “Yes.”
I wasn’t under any delusion that he would stay around. I was too weird and came with too much baggage for most guys to want to take on. Hell, just my family alone would chase them off. But the idea that he wanted something serious and was willing to call it a relationship was special.
His smile widened and then turned wicked. I wasn’t sure what had passed through his mind, but it was something naughty because the hand on my back dipped lower and cupped my ass tightly before moving back up. “Do you know what I’ve been thinking about, Angel?”
I could hear his deep voice in my head, explaining that I was his dirty angel. Just the memory had my cock hardening. It brought back everything else about that night, and I knew what he was thinking. It was the same thing I’d been obsessing over for days.
“My...my punishment?”
“Yes.” That wicked hand turned so he could tease my crack with his fingers. It probably looked completely innocent from a distance, but it felt dirty and perfect. “Why are you going to be punished?”
My cock jerked, and I felt precum start to leak out of it. Nothing had ever turned me on faster. I was going to have a wet spot on my jeans if I couldn’t get control of myself. But that was the furthest thing from my mind. I wanted to lose control completely, not rein it in. “I—I...”
I took a deep breath and tried to focus on the words. I hadn’t stuttered since I was a kid, but as I’d gotten older, I’d realized that when I was really turned on and flustered, it would come back. Hudson didn’t seem to mind, and the way he accepted my nervousness just made me feel even more special. “I was naughty.”
That devilish grin flared back to life. His whole body seemed to hum with arousal as he watched me. “How were you naughty, Angel?”
It was clear that hearing me talk about it turn
ed him on. It was incredible. He didn’t seem to second-guess it, and hiding it clearly wasn’t anything he’d considered. I’d never met anyone who was that honest about their desires. There was still a frightened voice in the back of my head that kept telling me to shut up and not show him how much of a freak I was, but something pulled at me, making that impossible. I didn’t want to hide from him.
“I came without permission.”
Hottest. Sentence. Ever.
One finger caressed the top of my crack, hinting at where he wanted to be touching, and a low moan escaped that I couldn’t hold back. Just thinking about what he might do to me was frying my brain.
“That’s right, Angel. And what is going to happen because you were a naughty boy?” The husky sound of his voice made me whimper. I desperately wanted to be his naughty boy.
“I’m going to be punished when I’m at work next week.” I probably should have been scared about what would happen, or at the very least, worried, but heart-stopping desire was the only thing that rushed through me whenever I thought about it.
“And I’m going to enjoy every moment of it.” His sexy voice was deep, and arousal seemed to drip from every word.
He really was going to enjoy it.
The idea was still mind-boggling. Not that something would turn him on. All kinds of crazy things did it for me, but just the fact that he would honestly admit it was impossible to process. “I—I...”
Hell if I knew what I was going to say, but he smiled, and the hand that had been teasing at my ear came up to cup my face. “I’m not going to hide anything from you, Angel. The idea of punishing you and doing wicked things to you makes me so hard I hurt. There’s no reason for me to lie about it. You like that it turns me on, don’t you? You like the idea that I might spank you, don’t you?”
All I could do was nod like an idiot. My higher functions were completely gone. He was going to spank me?
“Stop that, Angel. You don’t have permission to come yet.” His voice was stern and did amazing things to my body, but when his hands moved to hold my hips, I realized I’d been rubbing my cock against his. “No, I don’t want you to be embarrassed. I like knowing I turned you on. You are just going to have to wait before you can come again.”
