Lace-Covered Compromise

by Silvia Violet

  “If we aren’t going to talk business then—”

  “Then we can simply have dinner?” If he left, I’d have to go back to my apartment and spend the evening utterly alone. That didn’t sound as appealing as it used to.

  Nate started to say something else, but stopped when the waiter appeared with our food. Once everything was on the table, Nate refilled our wine glasses. “A toast?” he asked when the waiter had walked away.

  That was not what I’d been expecting, but I dutifully held up my glass.

  “To finding a solution,” Nate said.

  I clinked my glass with his.

  Our gazes locked as we each took a sip. There was no mistaking the heat that passed between us. No matter how anxious it made me, I wasn’t going to deny myself the feel of his arms around me again.

  We got through dinner without me dragging him out of there. We talked, but not about Kingston or anything else important. I think getting along felt too new to both of us.

  “Would you care for dessert?” The waiter asked.

  I shook my head.

  “No, thank you,” Nate said.

  “Shall I bring the check?”

  Nate nodded. “Yes, please.”

  He was so fucking polite and it seemed completely natural. He really was a better person than me. It fucking sucked to admit that.

  You could always learn from him.

  No, I’m too set in my ways.

  “Are you too full for dessert?” Nate asked as we left.

  “You can’t still be hungry. You’re the one who said I was ordering too much food.”

  “No, but I thought we could walk a bit and then get some ice cream.”

  Was it possible Nate didn’t want the evening to end any more than I did? If he wanted me in bed again, he didn’t need to seduce me with ice cream and walks. Sucking my cock had worked well before, although I would love to watch him lick a cone of ice cream.

  “How about a drink instead?” I asked.

  Nate was silent for a moment as if considering. Then he nodded. “Okay.”

  “I know a great place just down the block.”

  We stepped through the door a few moments later. The bar was modeled after an old-fashioned gentleman’s club: dark wood, dim lighting, club chairs, gold floor lamps next to them, waiters in tuxes.

  “Mmmm. Very masculine décor. Trying to take me some place where I won’t order a girly cocktail?” Nate asked.

  I sniffed. “Not at all.” A week ago I would’ve challenged Nate to shots of whiskey, so we could see who could hold out the longest. But now . . . “I don’t give a fuck what you order. They’ll make you anything you want and even put an umbrella in it if I tell them to.”

  Nate smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  A waiter approached us, one who knew me and my generous wallet. I might be a bastard but I tipped well when I got good service.

  “What can I get for you, gentlemen?”

  “I’ll have a Manhattan,” Nate said. Apparently he was only outrageous when it came to lingerie and what he could do with his hips.

  “A Scotch for you, sir?”

  I nodded. Then as he turned to go, I added, “Yes, please.”

  The waiter’s smile gave away his interest. He was cute. I might’ve followed up on what that smile said if Nate hadn’t been sitting there making me hard just from the way he was watching me.

  Our drinks arrived a few moments later. Nate took a sip and smiled at me. “This is so your kind of bar.”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “It’s completely different from how it first appears, just like you.”

  I frowned. “What do you mean?” I thought I knew, but I wanted to make him put it into words.

  “The bar appears to be for rich men, a place you go to pretend you can still live like it’s the nineteenth century. Then you look around and see women, both straight and lesbian, gay men, young, old, different races. And it feels welcoming.”

  “I wasn’t going to take you to a place where you’d feel uncomfortable.”

  Nate nodded. “I’ve learned that recently. A few weeks ago you—”

  I laid my hand on his arm. “No. I might say shitty things, but I would never have taken you somewhere you’d feel ridiculed. Not even at my worst.” I loved the way he studied me as I spoke, seeming to listen intently to everything I said.

  “You’re such a contradiction. You seem hard and selfish, but you do care. You just show it in different ways than I do, because you don’t like for anyone to know how you feel.”

  “No, I don’t.” I’d pretended Nate didn’t understand me earlier that day, but the truth was, no one besides Valerie had ever been able to read me like Nate. Of course, he’d seen me in the midst of a breakdown, and when we fucked, I’d let my mask come off entirely.

  Nate glanced down at my hand, which I’d never moved. I slid my finger along his arm. His eyes widened and I smiled.

  “Maybe we should go,” I said, anticipation making me antsy. Would he take that to mean the night was over, or that we should go fuck?

  “Let’s go to my place. It’s closer.”

  Sleeping with him was stupid and risky. Too much was at stake with Kingston for me to fuck up our relationship even more, but it was what we both wanted, and if there was ever a time in my life when I ought to forgive a few bad decisions, this was it.

  I signaled the waiter.

  “Shall I put this on your tab, sir?” he asked when he reached the table.

  “Yes, please.”

  “Have a great evening.”

  “We will,” Nate said and the waiter grinned.

  Nate led the way as we exited. I moved beside him once we were on the sidewalk, wishing I could touch him immediately instead of waiting until we were in private. “You don’t live in a hovel out of righteous indignation for people who have less than you, do you?”

  Nate laughed. “No. I don’t have a penthouse but it’s a very nice apartment, and it’s only a few blocks away.”

  “You could easily become a regular at Imperial.” I wished he would.

  “Are you there often?”

  “Often enough.”

  He grinned. “Then I just might.”

  Oh fuck. My chest tightened and I felt cold and hot at the same time. My fight or flight reflex was in constant use these days, and it was hard to hide how bad my anxiety had gotten. I considered chickening out, saying I had to go home, but I wanted what he could give me. I couldn’t pretend it was just fucking. That was what I’d done with other people. With Nate it was soul-wrenching and soothing at the same time.

  Nate punched in the code to open the door to his building. It was a nice one, not as nice as mine of course but it felt friendlier.

  We shared the elevator with an elderly couple. I wondered if Nate was as eager for us to get our hands on each other as I was. When the couple exited, I consider hitting stop and begging him to fuck me right there, but I managed to exercise patience.

  When we reached his floor, he glanced back at me before stepping through the doors. Yes, he was just as worked up as I was. I could tell by the hunger in his gaze.

  He opened his door and gestured for me to step inside. I wasn’t sure what I’d imagined his home would be like. I hadn’t really thought he’d have some hippie pad straight out of a 1960s movie, but I hadn’t expected the beautiful yet cozy space I’d stepped into either. The apartment had a sunken living area that called to a person to curl up and watch a movie. Nate had decorated with bold colors and while things were clean, they weren’t perfectly neat. His home looked lived in. Was that why it felt so satisfying, so unlike my place, which might as well be a hotel room? I was certain he, not a decorator, had chosen the art on his walls. Probably local artists had made it, maybe even ones he knew. What would it be like to live in a space like this, one that he’d made truly his instead of just somewhere to sleep?

  “So what do you think?” Nate asked. “Too déclassé for you?”

/>   I shook my head. “Not at all. I like it.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes. My place is luxurious, but yours is relaxing. It suits you.”

  “You think you could be comfortable here? Maybe enough to spend the night?”

  Spend the night with Nate? The entire night? My feelings for Nate seemed to be intensifying every day. Could I risk giving him that much of myself?

  “Good, then we don’t have to rush.”

  “Wait, I . . .”

  Nate smiled. He was torturing me on purpose. “Make yourself at home while I—”

  “Slip into something more comfortable?”

  Nate laughed. “It’s been a long day. I’m in need of a shower.”

  “So you’re going to leave me here to explore.”

  “You’ve already figured out my secrets.”

  “You mean there aren’t any more? Because I’d been hoping . . .”

  Nate laughed. “Other than the fact that I like you, that your arrogant officiousness turns me on? No, not really.”

  He shut the door to his bedroom before I could respond to that, not that I had any response except to stare at the door with my mouth open like a complete idiot.

  When I’d snapped out of whatever trance his words had put me in, I looked more closely at the art on his walls. Normally, my first instinct would have been to start digging around, because surely he did have other secrets. Usually I wanted to uncover everything I could about people, learn all their weaknesses, but with Nate I didn’t need to go through drawers or hack my way into his computer. Now that I’d admitted—to myself at least—that I didn’t hate Nate, I had no desire to ruin him. I wanted to find a way to help him succeed, because I liked him, not just for what he did in bed, but for the way he sipped a cocktail, the way he listened so intently, the way he decorated his apartment, and so much more.

  I stuck my head into the guest bedroom. It also had an en suite bathroom. There were towels and soap. Maybe I should take a shower too, get all cleaned up before he got me messy. But as soon as I was out of the shower, we were going to fuck. Nate might be able to make me a little less cold and unfeeling, but he wasn’t going to make me patient. No one had the power to do that.

  I dried myself and wrapped a towel around my waist. When I stepped out of the guest room, Nate was reclined on the couch wearing bright blue panties that were designed to hold his cock and balls in a little pouch of lace. They were obscene and I was hard in seconds. His lips were red this time. “Not blue to match?” I gestured toward Nate’s mouth.

  “Would you like that?”

  “I . . . Fuck, yeah.” I wasn’t going to deny it.

  “Another time then.”

  “How many colors of panties do you have?”

  “Every color of the rainbow. Eventually, you could see all of them.”

  “So you don’t want to pretend we’re not going to do this again?” Why did I ask that? I never asked shit like that.

  “Do you?”

  “I . . . Let’s see how tonight goes.”

  “Tonight is going to go very well.” Nate squared his shoulders, widened his stance, and gave me a haughty smile as he slowly looked me over. I shuddered. Before I tracked him down the other night, I’d only seen his aggressive side when I’d pissed him off in a meeting. It was hot as fuck.

  “Is that so?” I asked, needing to challenge him.

  “Yes. Drop the towel.”

  I started to protest, but what was the point? I wanted this and if he wanted to take charge for a while, that was okay. At Kingston I had to be in control, but here, I could let go a little, right? I let the towel hit the floor.

  “Now suck me.” He shifted so he was sitting up with his legs spread. A smirk on his bright red lips.

  I glared at him, and he just laughed.

  “You like when I tell you what to do. That’s one of your secrets.”

  “Would you believe me if I told you I’ve never liked it before?”

  “I might because you don’t trust easily, and a person needs trust to enjoy this.”

  “Why should I trust you?”

  “You’ve known me a long time even if you didn’t like what I stood for or the way your father interacted with me. You know I’m trustworthy. If you really want me to stop, I will.”

  He was right, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of saying it. I sank to my knees between his legs. My cock was more than ready for some attention, but I could play his game awhile longer.

  I nuzzled the side of his cock and he groaned. As much as I wanted to taste him, part of me hated to unwrap him from the gorgeous blue lace. I looked up and realized that seeing him watching me, eyes dark with lust, was almost as good as watching his pink lips slide along my cock.

  Slowly, I peeled the panties down and tucked them under his balls, loving how the fabric framed him for me. I laid my hands on his thighs to steady myself as I ran my tongue over his balls. His thigh muscles went rock hard under my fingers. I kept up the attention until I could hear his short raspy breaths. “Needy?” I asked.

  “Fuck, yes.”

  I smiled at him and gripped the base of his cock, pulling it to my mouth and then sliding my tongue under his head, swirling it back and forth.

  He sucked in his breath. “Adam.”

  Loving the desperation in his voice, I pushed my tongue into the slit.

  “Fucking. Fuck.”

  I smiled up at him and his eyes widened. Then I pulled him deeper and sucked, needing it almost as much as he did. He gripped the side of my head, but I could feel him holding back, which was completely unnecessary. I wanted it rough and dirty.

  I gripped his wrists and pulled back.

  Nate blinked as if coming out a trance. “Sorry, I—”

  “No. That’s not why I stopped. I want you to fuck my mouth. I can take it.”

  “Oh shit.”

  I slid my hand under the edge of his panties, gripping his ass and jerking him toward me.

  He gasped. “You really mean it?”

  “Do I look like I’m kidding?”

  “Fuck no.”

  “Okay then.”

  He took hold of his cock and rubbed it over my lips. “Open up.”

  I did, tilting my head back so he had a perfect angle.

  He thrust into me, almost deep enough to make me gag, before he pulled out and teased me again. I’d never come from being on my knees for a guy before, but Nate just might have made me do it. I liked giving blowjobs, liked seeing how fast I could make a man lose control, but the fact that I was about to lose control myself was completely new and so much better than any sex I’d experienced before.

  I rubbed his ass as he worked my mouth, mainly to feel the lace against my hands.

  “Look at me,” he commanded.

  I did, right into his eyes as he drove into my mouth, cock pressing against the back of my throat over and over, and knew I was lost and things were never going to be the same.

  Without warning, he stopped and took a step back. His cock was slick with my spit, red and needy, and his hands were actually shaking. I loved how deeply I could affect him, and I wanted more.

  “Don’t stop.”

  He shook his head. “Can’t go anymore. I . . .”

  “Don’t you want to come in my mouth?”

  He licked his lips. “Oh, God, do I. But not tonight. I’m going to fuck your ass until I have you whimpering and begging, and then I’m going to come buried deep inside you.”

  His filthy words made my cock jump. “Yeah, that . . . um . . . that sounds good too.”

  “I know it does.”

  He shoved his panties down his legs and kicked them off as he pulled me into a kiss that felt like his tongue was fucking my mouth. Our cocks rubbed together and I couldn’t keep from thrusting against him.

  “Fuck, that’s good.” He murmured between kisses to my neck. As he licked and bit his way to my collarbone, I imagined the lipstick he was smearing on my throat
, and the thought made me even harder. I wrapped a hand around the two of us, but Nate circled my wrist, gripping me hard. “No, I’m too close.”

  “Scared you can’t hold out?”

  He glared at me. “I’ll make you regret that.”

  “Try me.”

  “Oh, I will.”

  He took my arm and dragged me into his bedroom as he kept kissing me. “Fuck!” He ran into the doorframe and yelped.

  “That’s what you get for acting like a barbarian.”

  “You fucking love it.”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “Get on the bed.”

  I did, positioning myself on all fours. I looked over my shoulder at him. “Do your worst.”

  “Don’t move.”

  He got the lube and a condom from a dresser drawer, and then he climbed onto the bed. I held my breath in anticipation. This time I wasn’t going to fight it. I’d given in to what I needed. I’d let him open me up and push deep inside.

  He didn’t open the lube like I expected. Instead he pulled my cheeks apart and I felt his hot breath on my ass.

  Was he—

  He circled my hole with his tongue.

  “Holy fuck!”

  He laughed and then pushed his tongue into me a little. If he kept it up, I’d come. I wouldn’t even need a hand on my cock. I was struggling to believe Nate was actually rimming me. I’d only had one man do that to me before. It had felt good but not—he pushed in again—this oh-my-God amazing.

  He held me open for his attentions, groaning like he wanted to tongue my ass as badly as I wanted him to.

  A few moments later, I’d had all I could take. “Enough. Please!”

  “What’s wrong?” He sounded so concerned.

  “Nothing.” I had to gasp for breath to get any words out. “Nothing’s wrong. I . . .”

  “You’re about to come?”

  I nodded frantically.

  “Is it hard to hold out? How could that be? The great Adam Kingston can’t conquer everything?”

  “Bastard.”

  He wrapped a hand around my cock and balls and squeezed tight, holding back my impending orgasm, and then went back to fucking me with his tongue.

  When he stopped several moments later, I felt empty and needy in a way I couldn’t ever remember feeling.