Just a Bit Ruthless (Straight Guys 6)

“What way?”

“Like I’m a goddamn hero,” Roman gritted out before shoving his tongue down Luke’s throat.

Luke sighed happily and stopped thinking.

Minutes later, when Roman pulled back and he could think again, Luke found himself curled in the older man’s lap, his hand under Roman’s shirt, his lips well-kissed and swollen. He smiled at Roman, not particularly bothered by the grim, pinched look on Roman’s face.

“I’ll give you a few bodyguards and you’ll take them with you wherever you go,” Roman said, his hands holding Luke’s waist, thumbs stroking his belly and causing delicious goosebumps run across his skin. “It won’t be permanent,” Roman said. “Only until I’m done dealing with the mess Whitford left.”

And then what? Luke nearly asked before berating himself. Of course he knew what would come next: Roman would leave.

Dropping his gaze, Luke nodded.

“Okay, if that’s all…” he said, letting his hand drag down Roman’s warm, muscular chest. He looked through his eyelashes at Roman and licked his lips. “Are you coming up with me?”

Roman stared at him, his jaw set. He looked so pissed off Luke thought he would say “no” for sure.

He was wrong.

Chapter 26

Two months later

“Nice,” the woman said, looking around the spacious suite appreciatively.

Roman shrugged, casting a disinterested glance over the room. Paris, Milan, London, now New York…There came a point when all the luxury hotels started looking the same.

Unhurriedly, he took his tie off.

“Let me,” she said with a flirtatious smile, pushing his hand away and starting to unbutton his shirt.

Roman let his eyes follow the curves of her half-naked body, trying to muster up interest in it. He should have been more than interested. It had been a while since he’d had a woman. Almost half a year. For him it was unheard of. For him it was unheard of to stay monogamous for a week, let alone half a year. The most peculiar thing was, no one forced him to stay monogamous. Luke knew better than to request it aloud, though his eyes told a different story. The boy had been increasingly affectionate and needy, greeting him with a sunny smile whenever Roman returned to London between his trips.

This had been the last trip he’d undertaken on Luke’s behalf. It had taken him almost two months to deal with the mess Whitford had left after himself, but now it was over. He had no reason to keep returning to London.

“Am I boring you?” the woman said with a playful pout, brushing her fingers against his crotch through his trousers. Her American accent seemed strange after months of hearing a British one.

“I’m not a teenager, sweetheart,” Roman said. “I’m not going to get worked up just from seeing a half-naked woman, no matter how pretty she is.” He determinedly didn’t think about the fact that he had no problem getting hard just from looking at the curve of a certain English boy’s lips.

A sense of unease settled in the pit of his stomach. Irritated, Roman dragged her close and kissed her roughly, making a conscious effort to focus on the softness of her lips and breasts. But the shape of her lips was all wrong, her mouth wasn’t sweet enough, and her hair was too straight and not soft enough—

Roman broke the kiss and turned his back to her. “I’ve changed my mind. Get out.” His words were clipped and tight with anger, and he wasn’t surprised when she left without saying a word.

As soon as the door clicked shut after her, Roman shrugged his shirt off, balled it in his fist and tossed it across the room. Goddammit.

So much for his attempt to prove he wasn’t fixated on Luke Whitford.

He was fixated, all right.

More than fixated.

Heaving a sigh, Roman sat on the bed and ran a hand over his face.

He was thirty-two years old. Not exactly an age to wallow in denial. Perhaps it was time to call a spade a spade, no matter how inconvenient for him the truth was.

And the truth was, he wanted only his curly-haired English boy.

He wanted to own him. He wanted to keep him. Hell, he would keep him in his pocket if he could, to have 24/7 access to him. He wanted to be able to bury his face in Luke’s soft curls and suck marks into his skin whenever he wished. He wanted to have the right to do it.

The question was whether he should do anything about it.

Roman wasn’t used to denying himself anything, alcohol and drugs being the only exceptions. But wanting Luke…it wasn’t a simple matter of taking what he wanted. It wasn’t even Luke’s gender that made him hesitate: Roman was long past that point. He didn’t care that Luke had a cock instead of a vagina. He was pretty much in love with the boy’s nice little body and wouldn’t change a thing about it.