Chapter 13
Hands. Firm, strong hands sliding down his body. Stroking his nipples, palming his chest and stomach, before wrapping around his cock.
Gadiel moaned, spreading his thighs to accommodate the wide shoulders of his lover as the older man moved down to take his cock into his mouth. His hips bucked, fucking up into the wet heat. A firm hand gripped his hip hard. The mouth pulled off. “Such a spoiled boy,” a low, fond voice scolded him.
Gadiel whined—
And woke up.
He groaned into his pillow before finally registering what the buzzing sound was.His phone. That was what had woken him up.
Scowling at such a disappointing ending to his hot dream, Gadiel reached for his phone blindly and unlocked it.
It was a message from Scott.
I had fun the other day. I wanna see you again, but I’m out of ideas, don’t know where we can go without making it obvious that we’re on a date.
Gadiel squinted at the message, still half-asleep. Typing seemed like too much work right now, so he sent a voice message. “Me too.Don’t worry, I’ll think of something.”
He dropped his phone on the nightstand and, sighing, rolled off the bed reluctantly.He trudged into the living room, his eyes half-closed. Coffee. He needed caffeine to wake up.
He collided with something firm and warm, his nose pressing against something fuzzy. Mmm, it smelled so good. Will , his brain identified the nice scent before his eyes slipped shut again. Safe-strong-nice-his .
“Morning,” said a very dry voice.
Gadiel hummed noncommittally. Such a nice dream. He never wanted to wake up.
“Gadiel.”
“Huh?” So comfy.
“Gadiel, wake up. You’re sleeping on your feet. Or rather, on me. Gadiel?” A hand buried in his hair and tugged.
Gadiel gasped, his toes curling in pleasure, and he swallowed a high-pitched whine when Will removed his hand. He was suddenly wide awake—and apparently, he was all over his bodyguard. His half-naked, unshaven bodyguard.
Oh.
“Huh,” he said faintly, his eyes roaming over the expanse of Will’s firm, muscular chest and strong arms corded with veins. “You have chest hair,” he noted dumbly, blinking at it. It wasn’t something he normally liked in men, but now he felt oddly fascinated by the sparse dark hair between Will’s pecs.
“Your powers of observation are astounding,” Will said wryly. “You usually don’t get up so early. Are you even awake? You still look sleep dumb.”He put a hand on Gadiel’s chin and tipped his face up to study it.
Gadiel nodded mutely, unable to speak. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone touched him so gently, and he found himself leaning into the touch greedily. God, Will smelled so good. He was unshaven, so it couldn’t be his aftershave; it was something about his skin. It was such a nice, earthy scent that made Gadiel think about safety, comfort and something purely male— the scent of a virile male in his prime who could take care of him and keep him safe; at least that was what his hindbrain insisted on. It wanted him to go back to bed and take Will with him, so that he could sleep surrounded by that scent.
His hindbrain was fucking crazy.
Clearing his throat a little, Gadiel pulled back. “Good morning,” he said, not looking at his half-naked bodyguard. Some ogling of straight men was fairly harmless, but at some point it became... a cause for concern.He needed to focus on what was important—which was Scott. The man who was perfect for him in every sense. The gay man. Not this very straight man who wasn’t interested in him in the slightest. Will was just his bodyguard. Scott was his endgame.
“Scott wants another date,” Gadiel said, clearing his throat again. “But he doesn’t know where to go, so it’s up to me. What do you think? I have no idea.”Unfortunately, there was a very limited number of romantic things two men could do together in Dubai without making it obvious that it was a date.
Will hummed thoughtfully.“I guess you could hire a private yacht tour with dinner service, show off Dubai’s landmarks at night. It’s romantic enough but it’s a pretty normal cruise tourists go for. No one will think much of it if you do it for a friend.”
Gadiel grinned. “You’re a genius!” He threw his arms around Will’s neck and kissed him on the scruffy cheek.
They both froze.
Um.
He probably shouldn’t make a habit of kissing his bodyguard. But. It was an innocent kiss on the cheek. There was nothing wrong with it.
“Hardly,” Will said after a few seconds of silence, his body firm and warm against him. “It’s a pretty obvious choice for a tourist.”
“Yes, and that’s why it didn’t occur to me,” Gadiel said, blushing. Pull away, idiot, he told himself sternly, but his body didn’t obey him, utterly content to be where it was—which was all over his bodyguard’s personal space. He felt boneless and terribly needy, wanting Will’s arms around him, wanting to be held tightly against Will’s firm chest. Ugh, it was so damn pathetic. It was his touch deprivation. As soon as he and Scott got together, the problem would be gone and he’d stop feeling so touchy-feely with men he had no business being touchy-feely with.
Gathering all his willpower, Gadiel stepped back a little. “I’m not a tourist, so I was really overthinking it. I’m glad I have you—to tell me when I’m missing the obvious answer.”
“Glad I could help,” Will said, rather stiffly. “Have fun.”
Gadiel frowned.“But you’ll be there too.” Obviously. It seemed unthinkable that Will wouldn’t be there. Gadiel needed him there. Needed him with him.
“Why would I be there?”
Gadiel opened his mouth and closed it before finally saying, “It would look a tad suspicious if it’s just me and Scott. You have to be there too.”
A grimace distorted Will’s face. “I don’t particularly want to be the third wheel on a dinner date.”
“Pretty please?” Gadiel said, giving him his best puppy dog eyes. “Come on, Will! You have to help me!”
“Gadiel—”
“I need you. There’s no one else I trust.”
Will went very still. He stared at Gadiel with a strange expression before heaving a sigh. “All right, I can’t do this,” he said, running a hand over his face. “I can’t keep lying to you.”
Gadiel’s brows furrowed. Lying?
“What are you talking about?”
Will raked a hand through his hair. “I’m Scott’s cousin.”
Gadiel looked at him blankly. “What?”
Sighing, Will pulled a face. “Scott talked me into becoming your bodyguard so that he could have access to you. He’s embarrassed by it—he didn’t want to be seen as desperate, so he didn’t want me to tell you about it.”
Gadiel closed his mouth, unsure what to think. Unsure what to feel. He supposed in a way it was flattering that Scott had gone to such lengths to be able to see him, but...
“Don’t be mad at him,” Will said. “It was poorly thought out, but it wasn’t malicious. Scott doesn’t have a malicious bone in his body. I’d know—we grew up together.”
For the first time, Gadiel noticed how similar Will’s eyes were to Scott’s—at least in shape and color. He hadn’t noticed that before, maybe because their expression was completely different. Scott’s eyes were kind and flirtatious. Will’s were steady and guarded, except for the sardonic, amused twinkle that sometimes appeared in them.
Gadiel liked Scott’s eyes very much. Will’s eyes... their gaze on him always made Gadiel feel odd. Squirmy. Agitated. He could never sit still when Will looked at him intently; he wanted—he always wanted to act, do something.
But it was irrelevant.
What was relevant was the fact that Will had been lying to him.
“All right,” Gadiel said. “I guess I get it. I’m not mad at him. But I’m very mad at you.”
Will’s eyebrows drew together. “Me? Why?”
“I barely know him. He doesn’t owe me honesty. But you—you aren’t supposed to lie to me. You’re my bodyguard.”
“Me being your bodyguard doesn’t mean I owe you honesty.”
“Not your honesty!” Gadiel said, frustrated by his inability to express himself better. “Your protection. Your loyalty. You’re like, mine. My—my person.”
Will stared at him. “I don’t think bodyguard means what you think it means,” he said slowly.
Gadiel scowled, knowing that he was probably right, but... “I’m very cross with you,” he said again.
Will had the nerve to look amused. “You’re adorable, kid.”
“Don’t call me kid. I am angry, dammit!” He was. He was very angry. Probably angrier than the situation called for, but he could do nothing about the hurt, betrayed feeling that twisted his insides into something tight and uncomfortable. Huffing, Gadiel turned his back to Will.
“Gadiel,” Will said after a moment, his voice almost hesitant, at least by his standards.
“Don’t talk to me,” Gadiel said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Will put his hand on his back, his fingers touching Gadiel’s bare neck.
Gadiel shivered, hating the needy, touch-starved creature in him that wanted to lean into the touch, despite everything. He was angry, dammit.
“Come on, don’t be a baby,” Will said, his voice low. “This is ridiculous. You can’t be not angry with Scott but be angry with me.”
“I can and I am,” Gadiel said. “I don’t care that Scott lied—he just wanted to save face and all that macho bullshit. It can be excused. But you—it’s different with you!”
“Why?” Will said, frustration creeping into his normally calm voice.
“Because—because—ugh!” Growling, Gadiel stalked out of the room, hating his inability to explain the reason for his anger—at least find an explanation that would be more coherent than the ridiculous your loyalty was supposed to be to me. Me, me, me.
He slammed his bedroom door shut and threw himself into his bed.
God, he was so damn angry.
He hated Will, he hated him so much!