Joel stared at the digital numbers on the elevator. Damon lived on the eleventh floor. Still a long way up, and wait a second...
“I never said they were of the erotic kind,” Joel pointed out.
Heat crawled up his neck and face. Who talked about this sort of thing in public? Damon obviously didn’t care. While Joel wasn’t inexperienced in the dating game, his thudding heart and the excitement running through his veins felt like a new kind of high.
“What other kind are kind fantasies are there?” Damon gave him a wolfish smile. “Feel free to correct me if I’ve made the wrong assumption, and I’ll apologize.”
How could he, after Damon just pointed out Joel’s honesty was what Damon loved about him? Besides, Joel despised liars. The only way to live life was to live it honestly without pretension.
Damon casually leaned against one side of the lift, arms crossed, sole attention on Joel. He kept a polite few inches of distance between them, but the steel box they were in kept growing smaller, The tension between them tightened, or was that simply the invisible magnetic force pulling them together?
“The typical office variety erotic daydream,” Joel answered, suddenly feeling hot in his tux. “I’m bringing you your usual morning coffee and I accidentally spill some over some important documents...”
Damon absentmindedly reached for his arm, and tugging Joel to him. Joel didn’t bother resisting. Their bodies touched, grinding against each other greedily. Joel shuddered when Damon nipped at his left earlobe.
“Tell me,” Damon urged.
Damon’s mouth felt like a hot suction of heat down Joel’s throat, sending signals right to his chest and hardening cock.
“Would you apologize profusely after? Offer to make amends?” Damon asked.
Joel leaned closer, ready to be burned, and Damon took it as acquiescence. Willingness. Damon nipped at Joel’s bottom lip and Joel moaned into his mouth. It was the next part of the daydream Joel wasn’t sure he had the courage to tell, but he did it anyway.
“Yes. Then you’ll wear this sexy little smirk. Walk to your door, lock it, and pull down the blinds, but no matter. Your floor-to-ceiling glass walls will leave us exposed to prying eyes from the other office executives from the building across the street.”
God. Before Damon, Joel’s sexual fantasies had never taken on such a sharp and wanton edge. Joel didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing, but it ceased to matter now. Joel would examine that line of thought later. Now, he had Damon’s intense gaze on him, daring Joel to continue.
“Then you’ll say, ‘I’ll overlook your errors, but we’ll have to play a punishment game.’ After that, you’d tell me the rules,” Joel said.
Joel’s throat tightened, but Damon didn’t pull away or tell Joel he was sick for harboring dirty thoughts at work. He halted, suddenly unable to continue as Damon suddenly put his hands and mouth to work.
Damon grinned. “Let me guess. I’ll command you to strip piece-by-piece until you’re finally only in your boxers. Then I’ll yank that too, to expose your tight ass.”
Joel stilled. It was almost exactly as Damon described, but Damon wasn’t done. “Then I’d palm that ass, envision the best way to mark it, before I start spanking you. You’re going to squirm, buckle, and even shed a couple of tears. I’ll stop and ask midway how long you can hold from coming, and your answer will be...?”
“Yes.” How strange the admission weakened and liberated Joel at the same time.
“Do you like hearing the sound of my voice, giving you orders, Joel? A man who would dictate commands to you in the bedroom, a man capable of bringing your body to new and undiscovered heights?”
“A man like that doesn’t exist,” Joel said uncertainly.
“Try me. Come find out, pet.” Damon pushed Joel against the wall, and was it wrong Joel liked the feeling of being trapped?
“Don’t move,” Damon warned. “Any relationship with me requires trust, Joel. Complete surrender. Are you willing to put yours to the test for this night alone?”
Joel knew Damon would let him go if Joel asked. Still, the unflinching surety of Damon’s actions, and the uncanny way Damon knew what Joel needed left Joel breathless. Damon brushed his knuckles against Joel’s chest, ribs, abs and stomach. The motion, a sweet torment. He then slipped his hand lower, to hold Joel’s straining erection captive. Jesus Christ.
Were there security cameras in the lift? What did it say about Joel that the thought of someone watching them excited him further?
Joel knew one thing for certain. If Damon’s hand managed to free his shaft from his trouser, Joel would lose control in a public lift. Not good. He needed to wait until they were inside Damon’s apartment.
“I need an answer, Joel,” Damon said.
“You’ve known the answer from the start,” Joel accused.
“I like hearing your name on my lips.”
The bell chimed. Thank God. Joel breathed a sigh of relief as the doors opened because he had a feeling he could combust in that tiny space. Stuck in a small metal box with nothing but cables and Damon holding him down—damn it. It was Damon’s fault for putting Joel’s imagination on overdrive.
Damon easily parted from him, and they ignored the wide-eyed elderly couple waiting to get in.
“Are they your neighbors?” Joel asked as Damon opened the door to the unit just beside the elevators.
“Don’t worry about them.” Damon gave Joel a reassuring smile.
Joel followed Damon in. Damon flicked the lights on, illuminating a spacious and polished contemporary interior with minimalist, but comfortable-looking furnishings.
“I’d like that drink you mentioned earlier?” Joel found his voice, glad it still sounded calm and like his usual self.
“Of course, do you have a preference?” Damon turned on some soft music and the sound poured through the entire room from speakers Joel couldn’t see. Every inch of the apartment looked smooth and elegant, like its owner.
“I’ll have whatever you’re having,” Joel answered.
This was good. They hadn’t fallen on each other like a couple of sex-starved horny teenagers or rutting animals. But there was no denying the tension about to erupt. Joel needed his wits about him. He didn’t want Damon to see him like some sort of sex-starved addict who was no different from the other random men and women who’d fallen at Damon’s feet.
“Breathe, Joel. Relax,” Damon murmured. He handed Joel a bottle of some fancy imported foreign beer Joel hadn’t heard of. Joel took a gulp, surprised by the taste of the cold and smooth liquid ambrosia.
“Good?” Damon inquired.
He nodded.
“Let me show you the rest of the house,” Damon offered.
He showed Joel the closet he converted to a self-built cellar, and the rest of the house. While Damon chatted, Joel relaxed. Like Joel suspected, despite his status, Damon was down to earth and easy to talk to. Joel listened with interest as Damon talked about spearheading the major renovation portions of the apartment space.
Who knew the CEO of Raines Advertising liked doing work with his hands? Joel felt it after all, in the hard calluses lining Damon palms and fingers. Damon knew the value of hard work, which made Joel warm up to him even more.
“Where did you learn carpentry?” Joel asked when Damon showed him the dining table Damon made.
Joel ran his hand against the smooth grain of wood in wonder—soft like a woman’s skin...or a man’s shaft. He pulled his head from such thoughts.
“My dad used to own a small construction company back home,” Damon explained. “During summer breaks, I worked on some houses for extra money.”
“Used to?” Joel regretted asking the question when a shadow passed over Damon’s face.
“He passed away a couple of years ago, but he and his crew taught me a lot about houses,” Damon said fondly. Then his dark eyes looked amused. “Not what you’d expect from your boss?”
Joel shook his head. “I’ve always known you weren’t cut from the typical rich-boy-who-inherited-his-father’s-business model. It’s one of the reasons I was attracted to you.”
“Points for me then.” Damon placed his bottle down on the table. “Now that you’ve seen the house, did I pass the serial killer test?”
Joel laughed. “I’ve never thought of you that way.”
Speaking of serial killers and kidnappers, the thought of Damon tying him up did cross his mind...
“What are you thinking about?” Damon asked, smiling.
Joel frowned. “What are you, a mind reader?”
“Not exactly. Would you like to know how I came close to guessing about your fantasies, Joel?” Damon’s gaze captured his, dark and intense. “I live what some call the unconventional lifestyle. I can’t do it any other way. Good dominants always know when to anticipate and accommodate their partner’s needs.”
Joel didn’t know what to say to that. “So you’re a little kinky, but I’ve always suspected that.”
Damon looked surprised for a moment, and then a familiar predatory smile settled on his generously tempting and talented lips. “So I take it the evening isn’t over?”
“Hell, no.”
“Excellent answer. Shall we take this to the bedroom?” Damon extended his hand and Joel took it. His pulse leaped when Damon tightened his fingers around them and pulled Joel to his bedroom.
Then Damon impatiently took Joel’s lips, while his careful fingers slowly unbuttoned his shirt. Eager to see more of him, Joel retaliated by doing the same. Joel unveiled the firm hard lines of Damon’s pectorals and his tight six-pack abs. By the time they reached their destination, both of them were down to their boxers.
Dancing with Damon both in and out of the bedroom felt like playing with a sleek and dangerous predator. Damon easily lifted Joel by his waist so Joel’s feet no longer touched the carpeted floor. Every muscle in Damon’s rock hard biceps and triceps bunched at the movement.
Damon lowered Joel to the bed, draping Joel’s lean frame with his contrasting hard muscles. Joel reached out for Damon, eager to touch that expense of tanned skin, but Damon gripped both his hands, stealing the very breath out of Joel.
“Do you trust me for this night alone, Joel?” Damon asked, voice rough, but his breathing was even. “I’ll go over the rules with you. You can say stop anytime you want, and I will. But I require your trust.”
“The last thing I want to do is talk,” Joel muttered. Damon tilted his chin up so Joel looked right at him.
“I know, but tying someone up and trusting them completely with their bodies is not something to be taken lightly,” Damon explained gently, kissing Joel’s forehead.
Joel’s entire body hummed in anticipation, but Joel reeled in his confusing mess of emotions. “I understand. You asked me to put my faith in you and I do. So go on ahead and hit me with the rules.”
“You never fail to surprise me, Joel. You’re a constant delight.” Damon murmured.
Joel understood Damon was giving him safeguards. Assurance that Damon completely knew what he was doing and Joel knew he was in the right hands. Joel also meant what he said. The thought he would give himself entirely to Damon for the night, filled him with quiet pleasure.
* * * *
One searing look from Damon’s dark hooded eyes turned Joel’s insides molten. It was a look that told Joel Damon was a man who saw what he wanted, and took what he wanted. That was how Joel ended up like this. Tied to Damon Raines’ bed, reliving the fantasies Joel told Damon about.
“Are you with me, Joel?” Damon’s voice cut through the air like the sharp crack of a whip.
His boss tilted Joel’s face upwards to him, pinning Joel down with his unnerving gaze. Helpless, Joel could do nothing but unravel under the spell Damon cast. Damon thumbed his cheek, pressed down on Joel’s bottom lip until Joel’s breathing increased.
Joel’s fingers clutched at the leather cuffs lashing his wrists to Damon’s bedpost and his toes curled. He suddenly felt conscious. Joel’s heart beat so hard in his chest it could almost burst. Joel’s body was bound, stretched to their limits, bared and completely open to Damon’s access.
“I’m with you, Damon,” Joel answered, surprised his voice sounded calm and confident.
Damon pinched his tip, sending a delicious ache right through his chest and thickening shaft.
“I want your attention on me at all times, Joel. Do we understand each other?” Damon asked. His tone indicated it was a command, not a question.
“Yes,” Joel murmured.
“Yes, what, Joel?”
Joel wrapped his tongue around the syllables, never imagining he would be saying those words to his boss. “Yes, Sir,” he answered, breath hitching.
“Very good, pet. Seeing you like this far exceeds my imagination,” Damon said in approval. “You can’t imagine how perfect you look, like sinful temptation, and it’s all for me.”
Oh God. Damon’s voice always sounded like dark honey, capable of turning Joel into mush. He became intently aware of how Damon remained calm and completely in control, like a dangerous predatory cat assessing his prey. Meanwhile, Joel remained restrained and completely nude, a willing sexual sacrifice to some dark god.
Joel twitched in his restraints, and became aware the effort was futile. The heady knowledge Joel was completely helpless to whatever Damon wanted to do to Joel’s eager body sent a stab of excitement down his spine.
“Do you know how long I’ve wanted you like this, pet? Spread and tied down on my bed for my use?” Damon nipped at the side of his neck, sending another shot of fire right to Joel’s dick.
Damon kissed his way up Joel’s collarbone, his neck, bit down hard on his bottom lip until Joel let out a needy moan. Jesus, the way this man elicited response in his body continued to amaze Joel. Each time Damon touched him was like a lick of fire.
All of the previous men Joel dated looked like pale shadows compared to Damon.
None had ever coaxed or tamed Joel’s body like this though, and take complete possession of it like Damon did.
“I’ve wanted you for a long time too,” Joel murmured, slight color flushing his cheeks.
Damon chuckled, the sound addictive and rich. Joel raked his eyes over every sinful, perfect inch of Damon—the rough and chiseled angles of Damon’s face, and his lethal, darker-than-black eyes that could read his like an open book. Lastly, Joel’s gaze lingered on his broad-shouldered frame, the slight dust of hair leading to the visible bulge of his boxers.
“Very good, pet. Never lie about what you’re feeling to me. Communication is an essential part in any relationship.”
Joel let out a groan when Damon palmed Joel’s ribs, his flat stomach, but Damon stopped right to his straining member. Joel pressed his dick against Damon’s hand in need, but stopped when Damon gave Joel a stern and merciless look.
“Remember, pet. No coming without my permission. Your pleasure is mine to give, take, and deny. Tonight, I’m going to strip you completely bare. Make your body mine and strip that armor over your heart.”
Joel trembled at those words. Part of Joel understood Damon was giving him one final chance to back off. To voice his doubts, but whatever qualms Joel had harbored earlier that evening had disappeared. Joel needed to stop thinking and worrying, and let desire and lust take over.
“Are you ready to surrender yourself completely to me, Joel? Remember, once you say yes, there is no turning back,” Damon reminded Joel of the terms they negotiated before, his black eyes dark and heavy with desire. That one look made Joel want Damon so much more, because all Damon had done so far was tease and torment his body.
Joel took a deep breath. He wanted this so much and he really did trust Damon to catch him if he fell. “Yes Damon, I’m ready.”