Chapter 2
TWO
Conrad
“Everyone’s got a way to hurt someone, don’t they?”
His words yanked at a thread in my soul, and I cut it off before any more could unravel.
The elevator doors opened, and we stepped out into the foyer in front of my door. I entered another code to unlock my door. The light inside flickered on automatically, sensing our entrance.
I held out my hand for his jacket, which he slid off his shoulders and handed to me. I hung his up alongside mine in the hallway closet and then beckoned him to follow me.
My foyer was tiled in large black and white travertine tiles, the same checkered pattern extending down the hallway.
It was a little cold, a little sterile. But the coldness was more soothing to me than a warm-toned wooden floor.
The kitchen was black and silver, with a royal blue tiled backsplash.
I took down two glasses and filled them with ice water from the fridge dispenser, sipping one as I handed the other to Tav.
I only had sex sober, and that was one of my rules, that my partner was too. “How much did you have to drink at the club?”
Tav’s water was already halfway gone. “One shot.”
I nodded, content with that. His huge body had probably already metabolized that one shot.
I wanted him naked so badly, my hands shook with it, the ice rattling in my glass.
A voice in my head, a very small, yet forceful voice told me that if I wanted to keep my simple, uncomplicated life, I’d send Tav home now.
But those eyes were locked on mine, and I couldn’t look away, eager to see what happened to all those colors in his irises once I was inside of him.
I held out my hand for his empty glass, which he handed to me.
As I placed both glasses in the sink, his head turned, peering outside the wall of windows which overlooked the twinkling lights of downtown Detroit.
“You can stand closer, if you’d like,” I told him, pleased that even in his curiosity, he hadn’t moved without my permission.
His eyes flicked to mine, then he moved to one of the windows.
He looked out, bracing a hand on one of the steel frames.
I stepped closer, admiring the veins in his forearm, the bunched muscles in his back.
“Take off your shirt,” I said softly, needing to see his body, wanting to know what he looked like when he stood at the window, as if he was king of the city.
He lowered his hand at his side and slid his eyes over his shoulder where I stood behind him. Then he faced the window and grasped the hem of his shirt, drawing it up and over his head in one smooth motion.
A weight descended on my chest, constricting my breathing.
Shirtless, he looked even more massive, each muscle standing out in stark relief under his skin.
He held his shirt in one balled fist, his arms tense.
A large angel in flight was inked in black and gray across his back, her wings stretching from one of his shoulders to the other.
One knee was drawn up, the other leg straight, as if she had just leaped off the ground.
Her arms were outstretched on either side of her head, reaching up toward Tav’s neck.
Her long hair and dress billowed around her.
I stroked her wings with a fingertip, tracing the outline.
Tav’s muscles jumped and shifted under his skin as I made my way across the artwork on his back.
Letting my hand trail along his bicep, I walked around him to see his front.
It didn’t escape my notice that he had a lot of scars here and there.
Some were old, some were new, and they were all varied.
I hadn’t been mistaken when I assumed he was a physical man.
I lifted my gaze and met his. He watched me as I studied his pecs and as I squeezed the muscle slightly, which brought out a grunt in him.
I ran the back of my hand over the ridges of his abs and traced the V-cut muscle along his hip.
His tattoo was a work of art, but so was his body.
Each scar told a story that I was dying to hear but knew it wasn’t my right to know.
He’d promised me his body for a night, not his life story.
All I could promise was that I wouldn’t add to his scars.
I’d take care of him, give him what he needed, and then I’d send him back to where he came from.
I cupped the back of his head and lowered his face to mine. Nipping his lips, gently, I said, “You’re gorgeous.”
He didn’t answer, but his eyes fluttered, his long dark lashes brushing my cheeks.
I released him and motioned for him to follow me down the hallway to my right.
His booted footsteps were loud behind me as the checkered pattern gave way to all back tiles as we made our way down the hallway.
I opened the last door on the end, which was my bedroom.
My California King bed was in the center.
I used all white bedding, the rest of my room decorated in soft browns and tans.
I didn’t bother turning on a light, instead letting the lights from the city filter in through the large, uncovered window running along one side of the room.
When I slept, I usually drew the curtains closed, because the light from the hotel sign nearby brightened my room at night.
Tav stood at the windows again, looking out at the city. I smiled slightly at how he was drawn to the windows in every room. He still held his shirt in his fist.
“Tav,” I said.
He turned around, face guarded. Wary.
“Take off your clothes.”
The wariness dropped away, and he obeyed immediately, which confirmed my earlier observation. He needed to be kept busy. Tasks and orders prevented his mind from wandering, from questioning. I needed to remember that.
“Place your clothes on the chair in the corner and lay on the bed on your stomach, head on the pillow in the center.”
I left my shirt unbuttoned, my chest bare, and took off my belt, leaving it on the nightstand. Tav’s eyes flickered to it as he pulled off his boots. I sensed no concern in his expression, maybe a little excitement if anything.
When he dropped his pants, he turned away from me to place his clothes on the chair as I’d instructed.
His ass was everything I’d dreamed of. Full, high, and muscular.
I wanted to cheer for it, celebrate its perfection.
I didn’t think karma owed me anything, in fact, I was pretty sure karma had a lot to fuck me over for, but I must have done something right to stumble upon this beautiful man.
He walked to the bed, naked, his erect cock protruding from the thatch of dark hair.
The muscles in his calves were high and bulging, like a dancer’s, in a way, and veins marbled the thick muscles of his thighs.
While muscular, I also noted he was lean, maybe a little too lean.
His head was down, the hair on top dipping into his eyes.
He slid onto the bed on his stomach, his arms under the pillow, his head turned toward me as he settled on top.
His eyes didn’t leave me as I pulled my shirt down my arms and dropped it in the wicker hamper along the wall. I unbuttoned my pants to give my aching cock some room, then I walked to the side of the bed, staring down at Tav.
Those eyes were still on me. The wariness was gone, although he was nervous, the muscles in his back tense.
“Spread your legs more,” I said.
He shifted a fraction and spread them enough so I could see his balls resting on the white sheet. His muscular globes meant his cleft was so deep, I couldn’t quite see his hole.
I touched the top of his head, threading my fingers through his hair. I tugged a little, and he moaned, closing his eyes. They popped back open as soon as I let go, trailing my fingers down his neck, over his back, and then stopped when I reached the dip of his spine above his ass.
I waited, interested to see what he’d do, but he didn’t move, not a muscle, so I went lower, grabbing a cheek and squeezing before moving on to the other one. I took one cheek in each hand and rolled them, massaging. Tav’s feet twitched, but otherwise, he didn’t move.
“You have the most beautiful ass I’ve ever seen, Tav.”
His shoulders bunched and then relaxed.
I stood up and walked to my nightstand, pulling open the bottom drawer and rummaging around.
I dropped lube on the bed beside Tav’s head, then dug around until I found my favorite plug.
It was clear glass, with a large knob and a flared base.
It was large but not one of the largest I had.
I placed it on the bed next to the lube, in Tav’s line of sight.
His only response was a slight parting of his lips.
“I’m going to plug you, and then you’ll suck me.”
He didn’t respond, but his breath quickened. I could practically hear his heartbeat pound into the mattress.
“Say yes if that’s okay.”
“Yes,” he rasped, without hesitation. I ran a hand through his dark hair, watching as his eyelashes fluttered. “Good, Tav,” I whispered. A shudder vibrated his head under my hand. He liked that, a hand on his head, words of praise in his ear. He was fucking perfect.
I walked to the edge of the bed and grabbed his ankles, separating his legs wider and then pushing so he bent his knees.
His hole came into view now, a dark pucker behind his balls.
I poured some lube on my hands and massaged the globes of his ass, every once in a while passing over the wrinkled entrance to his body.
When his muscles were pliant beneath my hands, I concentrated on his hole, rubbing it, pressing lightly until the first ring of muscles gave way and my thumb popped inside.
He swore under his breath, an unintelligible curse, and shifted. I rubbed his side beneath his ribs, shushing him, and he settled like a saddled mustang.