Chapter Four
Rhodes hadn’t stopped thinking about Cairo’s confession all day.
He liked feeling like a big boy. There was a sick feeling deep in his gut.
He didn’t know how to prove his theory. But the clothes Cairo chose and the toys he wanted had something just on the edge of his brain, waiting to become a horrible revelation.
All Rhodes could do was keep pushing forward.
After climbing out of the shower and drying off, he helped Cairo out of the tub and scrubbed him dry with a towel. “After we left the mall, I happened to think we didn’t get you anything to relax in or sleep. Fletch volunteered to go back and grab a few more things.”
Cairo looked as if he bit back the temptation to argue. It was obvious he really didn’t like Rhodes buying him things. Cairo would have to suck it up. This was his new life. “He didn’t have to do that. I don’t need anything.”
Rhodes ignored Cairo’s objections. He led Cairo to the bed where a selection of freshly laundered pajama options waited. “Everything has already been washed. It’s not like we can take anything back.”
He watched Cairo openly fight with himself. “I guess that makes sense. There’s no sense in letting anything go to waste.”
“Exactly.” Cairo would never win this argument. It was Rhodes’ money. He would do as he pleased. “He didn’t know what you liked, so he bought a bunch of different stuff.”
Rhodes held his breath as he watched Cairo gingerly pick through each outfit.
There were two pairs of onesies, two pairs of pajama sets with fire trucks and dinosaurs, and then there were three pairs of adult pajama pants along with some simple white t-shirts.
Cairo rubbed the adult pants between his fingers, testing the softness.
Rhodes realized he did that a lot. He seemed to be a tactile person.
“Those would look really good on you. They’re the same color as your eyes.”
A smile exploded across Cairo’s face. “I don’t have gray eyes, silly.
They’re blue. That’s what Hugh ordered.” Cairo made the claim so casually.
Rhodes wasn’t even sure if Cairo realized how much he exposed with that one statement.
Rhodes had a hard time keeping his rage in check.
He needed to stay calm and nonchalant. Otherwise, Cairo would withdraw.
“How old were you when you went to live with Hugh?”
Cairo shrugged. “I was too young to remember.” He brushed the pants across his cheek. “Do you really think I could wear these?”
Rhodes could barely breathe or think. “Absolutely.” Who was that calm person answering questions? Rhodes wasn’t the least bit serene. He needed to kill someone. Unfortunately, he couldn’t tonight, and he needed to help Cairo find himself. “Try them on.”
Cairo dropped his towel. He was all excited smiles as he pulled the pants on. Rhodes handed him a shirt. Once Cairo was dressed, Rhodes took his hand and led him to a nearby full-length mirror. “Look at you. All grown up.”
Cairo twisted the hem of the shirt at Rhodes’ words.
Rhodes didn’t give up. He took a step back and raked Cairo’s body with a hungry gaze. Damn, he had a great ass. He met Cairo’s gaze in the mirror. “Sexy as fuck.”
Cairo’s expression shifted. He transformed into the adult Rhodes now realized he wanted to be. “Does that mean you still want me like this?” There was the grown man Cairo actually was. He wasn’t hiding now.
“I’d want you if you were in a burlap sack or a three-piece suit.” He molded against Cairo’s back and skimmed his lips across the spot beneath Cairo’s ear. “I have a confession to make.”
Cairo shifted from foot to foot.
Rhodes ran his hand down Cairo’s body. “Last night, you tempted the fuck out of me. You found me in just the right headspace to take advantage of you. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“I—”
Rhodes kept talking, refusing to hear Cairo lose confidence. “You deserved for me to get to know you. I can’t change that, but I want to know you. If that’s dressed like this or however you want, you’re still the person who saved me while I silently spiraled.”
Cairo turned in his arms. “Are you saying you don’t want to touch me again because you don’t know me?” He looked like he was on the edge of tears.
A sad smile tugged at Rhodes’ lips. “I’m saying I want you to choose me because you actually want me.
The real you that no one else sees. I can’t know you’re only in my bed because you feel like that’s the price you have to pay.
” Rhodes swallowed. It hurt. His voice exposed his pain. “I’m not Hugh.”
It was likely the wrong thing to say, judging by the instant rage that flashed in Cairo’s eyes. “So you think I’m a whore. Got it.”
Rhodes held on to Cairo so he wouldn’t run, even though he looked more likely to punch Rhodes. “For fuck’s sake. I’m trying to say this is real. I want you for real.”
Cairo’s features softened. He shuffled closer.
Suddenly, he looked vulnerable but not weak.
“Do you have any idea how many powerful men walk through the door at The PlayPen? I know you do. But do you know how many of them offered to outright buy me? Most knew I belonged to Hugh. Worse, they knew how I came to belong to Hugh in the first place. You never approached me. In fact, you always looked right through me. You didn’t see me until I sat in front of you.
It was obvious you had no idea who I was.
There’s no way you don’t know my head is a ten-car pileup with maximum casualties with little hope for survivors.
But you don’t look at me like you see any of that.
” Cairo’s hands smoothed up Rhodes’ chest before linking behind Rhodes’ neck.
He shuffled even closer, making it harder for Rhodes to breathe properly.
“You have no idea how that makes me feel. I’ve never had anyone want me for me.
No one has ever looked at me as human at all.
I see you trying, and you’ll never understand how much that means to me.
” He swiped his lips across Rhodes’ mouth.
“It’s sexy and makes me warm all over. So, yeah, it’s you I want. ”
Despite his best efforts to not attack Cairo like it was the job that paid him, he took the kiss he wanted. Cairo didn’t hold back either. His hands moved back to Rhodes’ chest. He toyed with Rhodes’ nipples.
Rhodes tore his mouth away and bit a path down the side of Cairo’s neck. Something had been unleashed. A realization had formed that changed the trajectory of his life.
He pushed one side of Cairo’s pants down one hip. Heat radiated between them. “Is it okay if we set the Little games aside for a while?”
Cairo’s shaky breath assaulted Rhodes’ ears. He sounded so aroused, Rhodes fought the urge to take him right there. “Please? I want that.”
There it was. The answer he already knew in his heart. Cairo wanted to be allowed to be an adult. Thank God.
Cairo was turned on, nervous as hell, and flying free all at once.
Rhodes didn’t want to play games. Cairo couldn’t even begin to express how badly he wanted that too.
He didn’t know if he felt safe enough to embrace a full-time adult role in life.
Maybe Rhodes didn’t want someone who couldn’t be a boy sometimes.
Cairo was still terrified of everything around him.
But when Rhodes and he were alone, Cairo had never felt more grown in his life.
The problem was, Cairo had no idea how to behave if he wasn’t just someone’s boy.
Judging by the way Rhodes tore at his clothes, he must be doing something right.
Something inside him got bigger. It felt a hell of a lot like courage.
He tore the towel from Rhodes’ waist. His fingers encircled Rhodes’ erection. That was for him. Cairo wasn’t playacting, and Rhodes still wanted him. There was no faking his hard cock.
“I want you inside me.” Cairo shoved Rhodes toward the bed.
Fuck… Rhodes' face. His expression. The hunger. Goddamn. Power rose inside him as Rhodes walked backward to the bed. His intense gaze never wavered. Cairo fought his way out of the clothes already hanging off him. They came together violently as they fell into bed. Cairo had no idea who dominated whom. He didn’t care as long as Rhodes fucked him hard.
In their fight to be closer, Cairo ended up on top, taking what he wanted exactly the way he wanted the dick.
He didn’t care how he looked. Cairo was desperate for something Rhodes gave him.
This new power likely had a name. Maybe it was something he wasn’t ready to look at too closely.
But Cairo was in charge, and he set the pace.
In fact, Cairo didn’t even know if Rhodes enjoyed himself at all.
The only thing that mattered was taking his orgasm.
No rules. No games. Just pleasure. Rhodes cried out beneath him.
Cairo dropped his chin and savored the sight.
Rhodes was muscular and strong. Cairo had him in his palm at the moment.
The pleasure won, holding his entire focus.
Cum shot through the air before painting Rhodes' chest. It was the hottest sight Cairo had ever witnessed. As the last wave hit, only the sound of heavy breathing filled the air. Cairo couldn’t stop looking into Rhodes’ eyes as a slow realization formed.
He wanted a real, loving relationship with Rhodes, and that looked unlike anything he expected.