Billion Dollar Love: Manlove Edition

by 6 Author Anthology

“You’re going to be the death of me, kid.”

  “At least you’ll die happy?”

  “Little shit,” Zach laughed as he hung up and shut down his computer.

  ****

  The food arrived shortly after Zach got in the door, and Carson was right behind the food, carrying a grocery bag as well as the overnight bag Zach had told him to bring.

  “Dessert,” he said in answer to Zach’s questioning look, with a decidedly mischievous grin on his face.

  “Have you been a good boy today? Because only good boys get to have dessert.”

  “Oh, daddy, I’ve been the best boy today,” Carson breathed, plastering himself to the front of Zach’s body.

  “Hmm, I don’t know.”

  “I’ll show you how good I can be.” He started to slide down, as if to give Zach a blowjob, but Zach stopped him with a hand tight in his hair, holding him up.

  “As enticing as that may be, I really do want to eat first. And I’d like to change my clothes.”

  Carson’s eyes went wide, a touch of panic flaring in them.

  “But you said, you promised, that when I got here—”

  Zach kissed him gently, soothing him.

  “Shh, I know, baby, I know. I’m sorry. That’s my fault, I worked too late and wasn’t home on time. You’ll have to wait a little bit longer. I’m sorry. But you’re so good for me, you can do it, right? My sweet boy,” he cooed, pressing soft kisses to Carson’s face and neck. “So good for daddy,” he added, and the sound that came from Carson was worth saying the words. Carson mewled and went boneless in his arms, drawing a soft chuckle from Zach.

  “The food is on the counter in the kitchen. Get dinner and drinks together for us, while I go change, okay, sweetheart? I’ll be right back.”

  Zach took his time, and when he finally returned, he was freshened up and relaxed in a simple t-shirt and lounge pants. He paused out of sight, watching Carson, the sound of his approach muffled by his sock-covered feet, with his cell phone in his hand and a smirk on his face.

  “Goddamn you!” Carson cried, gasping as Zach turned the vibrator on again.

  “Something wrong, sweetheart?” he asked as he entered the kitchen, slipping his phone into his pocket, his hand still on it.

  Carson stood, bent over the counter, white-knuckled fingers wrapped around the edge and holding tightly.

  Zach slid his thumb across the screen, lowering the intensity to the lightest setting.

  Carson looked up at him, wide-eyed.

  “Please,” he begged.

  Zach stepped up to him, pulled him close for a kiss. Carson ground against him and wrapped his arms around Zach, holding tightly.

  “My poor boy,” he said, hand gripping Carson’s ass firmly. “Dinner will get cold.”

  “It’s fucking pizza, Zach. You let me think we were having fancy food and you fucking ordered a goddamn pizza. I lived on cold pizza and beer in college. Believe me, it can wait.”

  Zach reached down and lifted Carson, staggering slightly under the extra weight as Carson wrapped his legs around Zach’s waist.

  “You think I don’t know that?” he asked, turning to deposit Carson on the table a few steps away.

  “You jerk. You complete jerk. I thought you—ung.” Zach cut Carson’s words off with a not-so-gentle push on his chest, forcing him to lie back on the table.

  “That’s your fault for thinking, kid,” Zach shot back, tugging down Carson’s jeans. “I can’t believe you actually wore these,” he laughed, snapping the band of the underwear.

  “I had to fucking buy them this morning, you asshole.”

  Zach palmed Carson’s cock over the fabric.

  “I thought you said you wanted dinner first?” Carson asked.

  “No, I said I wanted to eat first. And what I want to taste right now is your cum on my tongue.”

  “Fuck,” Carson hissed, and his head thunked loudly on the table as he dropped it back.

  Zach grinned and pulled the ridiculous underwear off. He set his phone on the table next to Carson’s hip, and made a show of studying the settings before he picked one. Carson whimpered as his cock jumped.

  “Zach, please, oh God, yes.” Carson’s breathless voice serenaded him, his cries and whimpers and little hitches wiping away all of Zach’s stress as he lost himself in the feel of Carson squirming beneath him. A hand threaded through his hair and he hummed as he dragged his teeth lightly along the shaft before sliding back down, pushing through his gag reflex. “Babe, I’m gonna, fuck, Zach, Zach!” Carson’s hand tightened and Zach felt the swelling of his cock as his orgasm hit, and Zach swallowed, savoring every drop, licking Carson clean as he came down from the high.

  “Off, off!” he cried, batting at Zach’s phone.

  “Sorry, baby,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to Carson’s hip as he rose and turned the vibe off. Zach pulled a condom and small bottle of lube from his pocket before shucking his own pants. Carson sucked in a ragged breath and lifted one leg, propping his foot on the edge of the table to open himself up for Zach.

  “Such a good boy,” he murmured, as he slipped his fingers under the end of the plug. “You want me to take this out, baby?”

  “Please,” Carson begged. “I need you,” he added. “Want you inside me.”

  Zach closed his eyes and steadied himself as the words punched through him.

  “Christ, kid, what have you done to me?” Zach whispered as he pulled the plug from Carson’s swollen hole.

  Carson made a noise of confusion that quickly changed to a moan of pleasure when Zach slicked him up with more lube and drove himself in.

  “Fuck, yes, that’s it, God, you feel so good, thank you!”

  Zach wanted this to last, but he couldn’t hold himself back, couldn’t maintain a slow pace, and he fucked into Carson relentlessly, wanting to mark him, claim him, keep him, and it scared the life out of Zach. He came with a groan and fell forward, head on Carson’s chest as he fought to catch his breath.

  “I’ve got you, babe. I’ve got you,” Carson soothed, and Zach couldn’t figure out how this situation had gotten so spun around, but he didn’t even care as one of Carson’s hands combed through his hair and the other wrapped protectively around his back. After a few moments, Zach came back to himself.

  “You okay, sweetheart? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  “I’m good, babe. Don’t worry ‘bout me.” Carson’s lips pressed against the top of his head, and Zach released a contented sigh.

  “I needed that.”

  “Bad day?”

  “Mmm,” Zach intoned, noncommittally. “Honestly not sure yet. I’ll find out next week.” He lifted his head and gave Carson a soft kiss. “Ready for dinner?”

  Carson laughed and deepened the kiss.

  “Anything you want, daddy.”

  Chapter Six

  Carson stood in the doorway, staring into the room, holding the frame as if it was the only thing keeping him standing. His heart roared in his ears, blocking out any other sounds. His breath came fast and shallow, and he knew he was in danger of hyperventilating.

  McAllister stood with his back to the door, leaning over the table and fidgeting with the wires connecting to his laptop.

  Carson would know that ass anywhere.

  He’d helped dress it.

  Hell, he’d had his face buried in it not even twelve hours earlier.

  “Carson, you coming in or what? Carson?”

  Distantly he heard Meg’s voice as he watched the body before him unfold, standing tall and rigid, tense, and perfectly Dorito-shaped, topped by a head of thick auburn hair, gelled into place by his own fingers early that morning.

  In what felt like slow-motion, the man turned to look at Carson, and he found himself staring into the all-too-familiar ice blue eyes of one Zachary McAllister.

  “Oh shit,” Carson whispered.

  Zach’s jaw tightened, and his eyes filled with rage, but not before Carson saw the hurt in them.

/>   “Mister Carson. May I see you in my office please? Now.” Zach’s tone was cold and terse, and did nothing to hide the anger behind the words. It was somehow worse than if Zach had growled and yelled and dragged him down the hall like a misbehaving child. Instead it was like being sent to the principal’s office and having to do the walk of shame.

  “What’s happening?” Carson heard Meg ask.

  “We’ll just be a moment,” Zach replied, and there was the growl, and Carson knew he should be ashamed for the flush on his cheeks, but he couldn’t help it if Zach was so hot on the very edge of his control. He followed Zach—Mr. McAllister, I can’t call him Zach at work—down the hall, keeping his eyes glued to the floor and definitely not on Zach’s ass.

  The door closed behind him and in the blink of an eye Zach had him pinned against it, strong fingers—those were inside me at four-thirty this morning—gripping Carson’s jaw tightly.

  “You have three seconds to tell me why I shouldn’t fire you right this instant. Because it’s pretty damned convenient that we met in Detroit after you’d gotten a new job that you had to relocate for, and now you’re here. Is this how you’ve been working your way up the ladder, then? Sleeping your way to the top? Because it’s not going to work with me.”

  “I love you,” he blurted, which was definitely not at all what he’d meant to say, and his chest heaved as he now absolutely fought hyperventilation.

  “And I’m supposed to believe that?” Zach asked, after a moment’s pause to consider the words.

  “I swear I didn’t know who you were. I didn’t. Zach, please,” Carson begged, wanting to touch him but afraid of what the reaction might be.

  “Did Rollins put you up to this? Is that what this is? He's been after my software for years.”

  “Please, think about it. How could I have known who you were in Detroit? You didn’t tell me your name. If you had, I would have stopped everything before it even started. I’m not stupid enough to shit where I sleep.”

  “Right, because you were so forthcoming with your information. Carson.” Zach all but hissed his name at him.

  “Oh sure, because I’m going to go around using Vlad. You know what that name is good for? One thing: becoming a porn star and calling myself ‘Vlad the Impaler.’ So, thanks but no. I had enough of being picked on about it as a kid. Especially in group homes and going from school to school and foster family to foster family.”

  “‘Vlad the Impaler’? Seriously? You’re making jokes right now?” Zach’s eyes bored into him, as Carson’s words appeared to only enrage him further.

  “You’re one to talk about nicknames, Ziggy. Besides, it’s not like you’d planned to stick around long enough to find out my real name. I was just another notch on the bedpost for you anyway. Because that’s what you do, right? Just sleep around, McAllister the bachelor, different man or woman on his arm each time he goes out? So why should I think I’m something special? I just wish I had known who you were before I fucking went and caught feelings for someone who has none.”

  Zach cracked at that, and a pained look came over his face.

  “That was a low blow.”

  “Shouldn’t hurt if it isn’t the truth.”

  Zach stepped away and ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

  “Every logical part of my brain is screaming at me to throw you out of the building right now. That I can’t trust you. So tell me, what am I supposed to do with you now, kid?”

  Carson swallowed, closed his eyes, and steeled himself. Fine. It’s fine. I’m used to being discarded.

  “It’s okay,” he said, voice steady, hiding the way his insides were crumbling to dust. “I understand. I’ll go pack up my stuff. I’ll even hand in my resignation so you don’t have to look like the bad guy. And I’ll be out of the company housing in a few days, as soon as I can get a storage unit and get my stuff moved. I’ll survive, I always do. I don’t need anyone. I—I’ve got enough to tide me over for a while,” he said, and his voice finally betrayed him as it broke, and his breath hitched. This is why I should have said “no” in the gym. Fuck I’m so stupid.

  Before Zach could say anything else, Carson wrenched the door open and walked back to his desk, head held high.

  ****

  Zach watched Carson go, damn near biting his tongue in half to keep himself from yelling after him.

  It has to be this way. This is for the best.

  Not that his heart was listening.

  He took a minute to compose himself and returned to the conference room he’d stormed out of.

  “Where?” Meg looked as though she were afraid to actually voice the question.

  “He’s leaving the company. His decision. I apologize for that interruption. Let’s get started, shall we?”

  Zach began reading off the information about the new contract, talking parameters and timelines and giving out assignments for the team to get started even as his brain refused to drop the sight of Carson’s face. He’d thought he was hiding it, but Zach had seen the heartbreak in his eyes. Two hours later Zach sent his team on their way, and he returned to his office, where he sat with his head in his hands.

  “Sir?” Sharon, his assistant, knocked on his door, her voice hesitant.

  “What is it?”

  “Um, Mr. Carson brought this by for you. He said you were expecting it.”

  Zach’s brows drew together as he extended an arm and took the envelope she held.

  “Thanks. Can you cancel my afternoon meeting and reschedule it for later in the week?”

  “Of course, sir. Anything else?”

  “No, thank you.”

  Zach turned the plain envelope over, looking at it as though he could discern the contents without opening it. An object about the size and shape of a flash drive slid around inside. With a sigh, he broke the seal and peered in. There was indeed a flash drive within the envelope, in addition to two pieces of paper. One began with “To Whom It May Concern,” and he promptly ignored that one after a cursory glance revealed the word “resignation” in the opening paragraph.

  The second page was hand-written and far more interesting.

  I finished my assignment first. Just in case you wanted to take a look. Thought you might be interested in what I found. I assume this was what you were doing yesterday from home for so long? (I checked the timestamps of the latest updates to the program before I added my notes.)

  ~C

  Zach sighed. Carson had spent the entire weekend with him, filling the house with life and laughter. Then there had been a security breach on one of the accounts that had sent the ZIM Tech staff scrambling, to the point where they’d had to call Zach. He’d logged in from home and corrected the programming on the fly, stopped the digital bleeding enough that he could leave it ‘til the morning. He’d immediately assigned it to Vladislav for review when he’d arrived. Based on what Zach had seen of his work, he wanted to see what Vladislav would make of the problem that had arisen and how he’d fix it.

  Whoever had broken into the system should not have been able to bypass Zach’s AI, and Zach had been livid, a walking ball of anger and stress by the time he’d finished. Carson had been there waiting, though, even after nearly three hours, with a glass of scotch and a wicked mouth, to resume Zach’s good mood.

  He popped the flash drive into his computer, opened up the file, and began reading.

  Zach’s jaw hit the floor.

  “Holy shit!” he cried, slapping a hand over his mouth in shock.

  Carson had fixed the program.

  Better and more elegant than anything Zach would have come up with.

  Most importantly, he’d caught a hole that Zach had missed when he’d written the original program, a spot of possible exploitation beyond what had been revealed in the attack the day before.

  In a hurry, Zach removed the drive and ran from his office, rushing down the two flights of stairs to the floor Carson worked on.

  “Where is he?” he asked, b
reathless.

  “He’s gone, sir. About an hour ago.”

  “Fuck!”

  Everyone in the room had turned their attention to him the moment he’d burst through the door, and now their eyes went wide at the sound of him cursing.

  “Clint, stop whatever you’re doing right now and take this,” he said, tossing the drive at the man closest to him. “Get that coding uploaded into the SummerIsle system immediately.”

  Zach’s eyes zeroed in on the desk at the end, neat and clean and empty of any personal effects save one.

  His feet were already moving, and he stood before the desk, heart in his throat as he lifted the little duck, cradling it gently. Beneath it was another envelope, this one smaller, with Zach written on it. He swallowed past the tightness in his chest and picked up the envelope before he silently made his way to the elevator, head down as he did nothing but stare at the rectangle of white in his hand as if it were a bomb.

  Back in his office, the duck he’d given Carson and the letter Carson had left him sat in the middle of his desk, silently accusing.

  Zach,

  Thanks for the memories. I don’t regret any moment I spent with you. You have been the best thing to happen to my life, despite the short amount of time we were together. I will miss you terribly, and I’m sorry things had to end this way. I can only hope that one day you will see that I never set out to deceive you, and all my actions were genuine. Not sure where I’m going from here, but maybe I’ll see you around again.

  Or something.

  Love always,

  Carson

  He lost all track of time as he stared, unseeing, at the words. The idea of never seeing Carson again hurt in ways that Zach wouldn’t have thought possible. His brain raced as he considered all the ramifications of what he wanted to do. In the end, he decided it didn’t matter.

  Or something. His eyes focused on those two words. Or something. Chance and fate. Something had brought Carson into his life. Zach jumped up from his desk.

  “Sharon!” he cried as he flung his door open. “I need to know Carson’s address. Which apartment did we put him in?” He shoved his arms into his coat and stared at her impatiently as he waited for the elevator.