Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Greer’s bed was extraordinarily comfortable.
Much more so than any bed Penny had ever slept in.
Not that he’d had much opportunity in his life to pick and choose when it came to the quality of mattress stuffing or the cleanliness of sheets.
The sort of life he’d lived meant that any bed, no matter how lumpy or filthy, was a treat.
It was heaven to wake with fresh, inviting scents all around him, the soap he could still smell on Greer’s pillow and the rich, masculine scent of Greer’s body.
He smelled of sweat from their exertions in Mayfair and musk from their activities after.
Some people might have turned up their nose at such basic human scents, but Penny breathed them in, so glad to be alive.
More than just alive, as he stretched and tested the soreness in various parts of his body, he was glad he wasn’t alone.
Greer spooned him from behind, his larger body pressed against Penny’s back, one thick arm draped over Penny’s side.
He was still asleep, and his warm, humid breath brushed against the back of Penny’s neck now and then, filling him with a deep sense of contentment.
What bliss it would be to wake up every morning with Greer’s solid form holding him!
The happy sigh that followed that thought stopped suddenly, and Penny opened his eyes.
Where had that thought come from? Greer was his flirtatious adversary, a man who owed him nothing and to whom nothing was owed. Greer had made it clear from the start he worked alone. The housebreak in Mayfair, as much of a lark as it had been, had been foisted onto him, not agreed to willingly.
But it had been fun.
Penny closed his eyes and settled, wriggling back against Greer and making a point of rubbing his arse against Greer’s half-hard cock.
The housebreak had been harrowing in moments, yes.
Hiding behind curtains in the dark was not something Penny ever wanted to repeat.
He didn’t need Greer to tell him they’d been damn lucky not to be spotted at half a dozen points throughout the night.
It was a miracle they’d made it out of the house.
But despite all that, even if Greer awoke, tossed him out of his bed, and demanded never to see him again, Penny had learned valuable skills that could prove profitable going forward.
His lazy smile faded again. He hated the idea of Greer sending him on his way once the light of day pierced his brain and made him see what they’d done the night before was a mistake.
It wasn’t a mistake as far as Penny was concerned.
They’d been dancing around each other’s cocks for months.
They would have found a way to fuck eventually.
There was something lovely about fucking in Greer’s own bed after a night that was, more or less, a victory for them, though.
Penny told himself not to think about it too deeply, just to enjoy the increasing rigidity of Greer’s morning wood as it fit neatly into the cleft of his arse.
He would enjoy the sensation of Greer’s arms around him, cradling him like everything would be alright and they would both protect each other, come what may.
Even if it was only for a few moments, he could pretend that the two of them had a future together, that the feeling of camaraderie they’d experienced in Mayfair would last until the end of their days, and that neither of them would ever feel like they needed to shoulder the weight of the world alone ever again.
Once more, Penny tensed, held his breath, and snapped his eyes open as his mind conjured up too sweet a future, one he knew was impossible. How could thoughts like that tease and tempt him in the first place? He knew they were a fool’s dream.
“What in God’s name has you jerking and starting like you’re being bitten by fleas?
” Greer asked groggily, his deep voice sending shivers through Penny that landed in his groin.
Greer sucked in a breath a moment later and pushed himself up on one arm to look down at Penny.
“It’s not fleas, is it?” he asked. “I swear to you, there are no fleas in my building.”
“Your building?” Penny asked, latching onto the one thing that would distract from the storm of unfamiliar, conflicting emotions currently running riot in his gut.
Greer grinned cockily. “I do not just break into houses,” he said. “I own this one, too.”
“You do?” Penny’s face lit into a delighted smile, and he flipped to his back so he could look up at Greer.
He ignored the pulse of excitement in his gut and lower at the position his little twist landed them in. He was a cleverer than average man with responsibilities and potential. He refused to feel any sort of shiver of contentment at being trapped under an older, larger man’s naked body.
Greer chuckled deep in his throat, the sound hot and wicked, like he knew precisely what Penny was thinking.
“What?” he asked, raking his fingertips down Penny’s chest from his collarbone to his pelvis.
“Did you think that being the greatest housebreaker in England left me destitute and groveling on the street?”
Penny blinked, then a slow, teasing smile spread across his face.
“You’re a man after my own heart, you are,” he said, matching the burnt honey sweetness of Greer’s tone.
Greer’s breath hitched, which might have had more to do with Penny reaching between them to cup the man’s balls.
“Some men fall to crime and vice when their ordinary lives fail,” he went on, tugging at Greer’s sack and inching his fingers along the skin under his balls, “but you’ve cheated and thieved your way into a respectable life. ”
“Not entirely respectable,” Greer purred, then dipped down to press his lips to Penny’s.
It was a tender kiss at first, something that shocked Penny with its intimacy and left his mind reeling.
Just as his heart began to flutter and emotions that were entirely inconvenient for the reality of their lives started to seep their way through his veins into every part of him, Greer’s kiss turned hotter and more punishing.
Penny moaned under the force of it, warring within himself. He shouldn’t let Greer have his way with him. It would open gates he didn’t want left swinging. But it felt so good to be ravished by the man he’d singled out above any other of his acquaintance as his potential lifelong equal.
A deep, scintillating laugh rumbled up from Greer’s chest, driving Penny even closer to madness. “Most decidedly not respectable,” Greer said, then reached quickly for the open jar from the night before beside the bed.
Penny barely had time to register what Greer intended. His first thought was for his slightly sore hole and the risk of an even greater mess than they’d dealt with the night before.
Greer had entirely different intentions, however, and Penny was in no way ready for them.
Once his fingers were slick, he grasped Penny’s cock and worked it insistently.
Penny was already half hard and carried away by the closeness between the two of them, but the raw insistence of the way Greer touched him had him spinning out of control in no time.
“Greer, I can’t—I’m close,” he panted, attempting to arch or pull away from his touch.
Greer’s eyes were dark with lust and command as he straddled Penny’s legs to keep him still and planted one hand squarely on his chest to stop him from moving. His hand on Penny’s cock worked harder, and with a gasp and wide eyes, Penny figured out what he was doing.
Seconds later, with very little control or moderation on his part, Greer forced an orgasm out of him.
Penny would have come in minutes anyhow, but the control Greer asserted over him was sharp and definitive.
The orgasm belonged to him, had been taken from Penny whether he wanted it or not.
The fiery satisfaction in Greer’s eyes as he watched Penny spend seemed to say, “And don’t forget it. ”
Penny’s mind reeled as his body turned to jelly post-climax.
Greer seemed to love that, too. He pushed himself up and grasped his own cock, pumping it furiously, face red and gaze locked on Penny.
It took him no time to grunt his own release, painting Penny’s belly and chest with his spend, before growling and curling over Penny once more to kiss the air from his lungs.
Never in his life had Penny felt so claimed.
He shouldn’t have liked it as much as he did.
The moment passed, and Greer dropped to Penny’s side. For a few minutes, the two of them lay there, hot and boneless, coming back into themselves. Penny closed his eyes, draped an arm over his head, and smiled at the whirl of guilty and satisfied feelings within him.
Bliss, thy name was Greer.
He might have dozed for a bit, because when he was fully aware again, Greer had climbed off the bed.
“Come along,” he said, his cocky, pleased grin still in place as he gazed down at Penny’s naked body, which he’d had the audacity to uncover when Penny had been snoozing so he could get an eyeful.
“We need to clean up and deliver our prizes to The Zagreus Den.”
The last of Penny’s indulgent feelings puffed away, and he sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
The time for enjoying wickedness with a man he should have known better than to give his heart to was over.
He had to think of Helen now. Because that’s what the mission for The Zagreus Den was all about.
He needed a secure place for his sister while he was off earning enough money to provide a safe place for them both for the rest of their lives.
Cleaning up was easy enough. Greer had more than enough clean water and soap in his rather comfortable rooms. The two of them smirked and flirted with each other all through the process of scrubbing away dried and half-dried spunk and while dressing, Penny in his clothes from the night before.