Page 16 of Hold Back
Heat punched low in his gut, sharp and instant.
His brain supplied images he absolutely did not need — what those rings would feel like under his fingers, against his tongue, the weight of Kit gasping under his hands.
Red locked his jaw so hard it hurt.
He was a professional.
Kit was a client. Off-limits.
He’d demand the contract tomorrow. The one that told him never to touch a client.
Red turned slightly, like he was checking the window instead, scanning the tree line, the perimeter, anything but the naked menace standing five feet away trying to crawl under his skin.
Because that’s what this was.
A game. Power. Kit pushing and testing. Seeing how far he could go before Red snapped.
Red had seen it before. Boys who mistook control for safety, who flirted with danger because they didn’t know how to ask for comfort any other way. Davie had been one. Red was used to it. Still didn’t make it easier.
“You know where the bathroom is,” Red said evenly, like his pulse wasn’t thundering. “Don’t leave your crap on the floor.”
Kit huffed a laugh. “You’re no fun.”
Red didn’t rise to it.
Been there. Done that.
Who exactly he was refusing, he wasn’t even sure anymore. CDR. The club. Tony. Fate. Kit himself.
Maybe all of them.
They demanded something from him. A line crossed. They wanted the Daddy stepping in and claiming what was being served up on a glittery plate. Maybe not Tony, but the rest of them.
But he wasn’t going to play their game.
They needed a Daddy.
And he wasn’t the one.
Even if every damn instinct in his body screamed otherwise.
Chapter Four
KIT
Kit wanted to scream.He stood in the middle of his bedroom bare-assed naked, and nothing. Zip. Nada. Not even an embarrassed glance to the side.
Dammit, he’d given the man a striptease and Red stared at him as if he were a five-year-old having a tantrum. Which, to be honest, Kit was ready to have. Maybe flinging himself on the floor and screaming and shouting would make him feel better, because at the moment he felt like crap.
His whole world had been yanked out from under his feet and everyone around him didn’t care. He was tired and scared and just wanted to lay his head on Red’s broad chest andhowl.
From the bored way Red looked at him, Kit would have more chance being comforted by a grizzly bear. He sniveled. Red didn’t react. Kit would take the bear hug.
“Clean your teeth, shower, whatever you need to do.”
“I’ve already showered.” Kit stalked into his bathroom and kicked the door behind him, but he didn’t lock it. Dammit, was he losing his touch with guys already?
But in the bathroom, he lost his bravado as he stared at himself in the mirror.
