Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
T he boy in his lap was temptation personified.
Bull couldn’t help kissing back, dipping his tongue inside that warm mouth he was already addicted to.
Malcolm was plastered all down his front, a tiny, needy lapful of gorgeousness, and he was making the sexiest little whimpering sounds as he clung to Bull, fingers grasping at the back of his head and neck.
But Bull kept his hands to himself, laying his arms on the back of the couch and gripping the cushions.
His cock was throbbing with a heartbeat of its own, but he forced himself to break their mouths apart. “I thought—” Malcolm chased after him, forcing the rest of his sentence to come out muffled against his lips. “—you wanted to talk?”
Malcolm sucked on his lower lip. “I do, yeah. We… we should do that.”
“Baby boy, you are sending mixed messages,” he mumbled, then gently bit him.
Gasping, Malcolm sat back a little, touching his lip. “You bit me.”
“Just a tiny nip,” Bull said, staring at his damp mouth. Fuck, he wanted more, wanted to get that mouth on his dick again, wanted to lick every inch of Malcolm’s body.
He just… wanted.
He took a deep breath and met Malcolm’s eyes, which were a little hazy, pupils dilated. Not a lot less distracting. “We should finish the conversation we were having outside.”
Malcolm sat back fully, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, you’re right. I didn’t just come to apologize. I thought… Well, you see I… The thing is…”
Bull started chuckling; he couldn’t help himself. The annoyed frown he got in response was adorable. “Sorry, go ahead.”
Except… Malcolm just slumped and shook his head. “I don’t know where to start.”
His instincts were screaming at him to help, to comfort, and he decided to listen to them, praying they wouldn’t steer him wrong or scare off the sweet boy in his lap.
Slowly, he cupped Malcolm’s cheek, giving him plenty of time to tell him to stop or move back.
He didn’t. Instead, he let out a quiet breath and leaned into the touch, eyes falling shut.
“Can you tell me what parts you enjoyed last night?”
“All of it.”
Bull grinned, his ego loving that answer. “How about what you liked best?”
Dark blue eyes peeked a look at him. “The way you talked to me,” he whispered, cheeks turning a lovely shade of pink. “And, um, knowing it was me that was turning you on.”
Bull traced beneath his lower lip. “I liked talking to you that way too. I could tell how much you liked hearing what a good job you were doing. Praising you is easy, baby. And you never have to worry about turning me on.”
Malcolm furrowed his brows in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“I mean you turn me on just by existing. You can smile at a customer, and I’ll start to get hard.
When you laugh, I have to leave the room until I can calm myself down.
” At Malcolm’s disbelieving look, Bull shrugged.
“It’s true. I’m aware of you whenever you’re near me, and I have to work not to stare at you the whole time. ”
Squirming a little, Malcolm admitted, “I caught you once last night at the clubhouse.”
“Only once?” Bull grinned.
“I liked that too,” he said, playing with the hem of Bull’s shirt. “I liked that you were looking after me even though you were with your friends. It made me feel important.”
“You are important,” Bull said fiercely, tipping his face up to meet his eyes.
“You are important. Never doubt that. And even if you decide not to explore this—” He gestured between the two of them.
“—you can always count on me to keep an eye on you if I’m around.
That won’t change, no matter what you decide. ”
Malcolm sucked in a hitching breath. “You say these things… Before yesterday, you barely spoke to me! Now you’re seducing the pants off me without seeming to try.”
He snorted, ignoring how his blood heated at the idea of Malcolm losing his pants or the fact his cock hadn’t deflated at all where it pressed against the underside of his ass despite being trapped in his jeans.
“Before yesterday, I didn’t know how to talk to you without making it obvious I was attracted to you. ”
Eyes flicking down for a second, Malcolm quietly asked, “Are you just attracted to me? Or is it… more?”
Fuck. How was he even sexier when he was shy like this?
“It’s more for me,” Bull said, like that was an easy thing to confess. His heart was racing though. He was laying his shit all the way out there and would get burned if Malcolm decided he wasn’t really interested. “It’s been more for a while. Even though I tried to fight it.”
Malcolm grimaced. “Oh, okay.”
Bull palmed the other side of his face, making sure he heard him clearly. “I don’t know what just went through your head, but I can guarantee it’s wrong. I fought my feelings for you because I knew they would only end with me getting hurt.”
“Why?” Malcolm whispered, eyes wide.
He raised his brows. “Because I thought you were straight, baby.”
“Oh, right.” Malcolm squeezed his eyes shut, so Bull released him, letting him tuck his head and hide. “Duh.”
“But you’re not, right?” Bull asked tentatively, not wanting to press but needing at least a little reassurance before he completely lost his heart to this man. “Is that what Dahlia was helping you with this morning?”
Malcolm nodded, still not lifting his eyes. “Yeah. Well, no. I guess not really. I’d already come to that conclusion around the time you, um, were in my mouth, and I was enjoying it, not just doing it as a thank-you.”
“Fuck,” Bull hissed, shifting as his cock throbbed at the words in my mouth like that was a damn invitation. Instead, he tried to focus on the rest of what Malcolm said. “Is that why you did it? You thought you owed me a thank-you?”
That got him to jerk his head up, eyes narrowing. “No, I didn’t think I owed you a thank-you. I wanted to thank you. There’s a difference. I felt like you deserved something nice after everything you’d done for me and how you’re always so kind and generous.”
It was Bull’s turn to blush, his cheeks heating at the praise.
“But it became more than that really quickly,” Malcolm added, voice thick. His eyes trailed down Bull’s chest and stomach. “So yeah, I already knew before I talked to her that I wasn’t one hundred percent straight.”
Bull swallowed. “Good to know.”
“But she did help me figure out I wasn’t just… attracted to you,” Malcolm whispered, meeting his gaze again. “Somehow, without me even realizing it, I’ve developed feelings for you.”
There was a buzzing in Bull’s head as time seemed to slow.
There was no way Malcolm had just said what it sounded like.
Was there?
No…
But it had sounded like…
“Bull? Did you hear what I said?”
His focus zeroed in hard on Malcolm’s worried face and pinched brows. “Yeah, yes, I’m sorry.” He shook his head, trying to clear out the lingering disbelief. “Baby boy, you have no idea what it does to me to hear you say that.”
That shy smile reappeared, punching Bull in his gut. Or his feelings. His feelings’ guts.
Malcolm glanced down at Bull’s groin, cheeks pinkening. “I have a little bit of an idea.”
Bull snorted, dropping his arms to his sides and letting his fingers barely brush against Malcolm’s jean-covered knees where they pressed into the cushions near his hips.
“That’s not what I meant. I meant…” He swallowed, words swirling inside his head.
He wanted to get this right. This moment couldn’t have higher stakes.
If he didn’t adequately express how he felt, Malcolm might disappear as fast and unexpectedly as he’d shown up.
But words, heartfelt words anyway, weren’t exactly his strength. Dirty praise was easy. He could tell Malcolm how sexy he was every minute of every day. But explain how his heart felt full at the mere idea of Malcolm having honest-to-god feelings for him?
Fuck him running.
A grin began to spread over Malcolm’s face, his hands landing on Bull’s chest. Could he feel his heart pounding as his anxiety grew? “You meant…?”
Running his tongue over his lips, he carefully said, “I meant that hearing you say you’re developing feelings for me makes me very happy.” Very happy ? Jesus, he could do better than that. “And I… My heart… When I hear that…”
“Oh my god,” Malcolm said, trying and failing to stifle a laugh. “You’re so bad at this.”
Bull’s face heated. “Shit, I’m sorry, baby.
I just… I don’t know how to tell you I’ve been fantasizing about hearing you say things like that to me for months.
That it makes my heart feel like it’s exploding, but in a good way.
That yeah, you make my dick hard, of course, but you also make me want to protect you from every asshole who’s ever made you feel bad about yourself because you are fucking precious to me. ”
Neither of them said anything for a long moment, just staring at each other in shock, breaths a little heavier than they should be. Then Malcolm muttered, “Yeah, definitely not straight,” and fell forward once again, arms going around Bull’s neck and lips landing on his panting mouth.
Bull groaned and kissed back, losing himself in the moment and taste.
He kept his hands at Malcolm’s knees, not wanting to startle him again, and kept his focus on how Malcolm was squirming on his lap, moaning into his mouth, and Bull was pretty sure he was going to come in his pants if he kept it up.
But he couldn’t stop. He wasn’t sure he’d ever have enough of the feel and taste of this sweet boy.
“Bull,” Malcolm groaned, pressing his face against the side of Bull’s and panting. “Why aren’t you touching me?”
He sucked in a few deep breaths in an attempt to clear the lust from his brain. “I don’t want to go too fast for you. You’re setting the pace, baby boy.”
Making a soft sound, Malcolm tucked himself down into Bull’s throat and mumbled something. His arms were wedged under Bull’s, and his hands gripped the back of his shoulders like he was holding on for dear life.
“What was that?”