Just a Bit Shameless (Straight Guys 8)

Minutes dragged.

He kept an eye on the shibari performance. It was nearing its end. They had been informed that there would be a striptease after that, but there was no telling if the lights would be turned on between the performances. Dammit. He should have watched the security footage of previous shows while he’d scoped out the room in the afternoon.

Dominic pursed his lips at the thought.

He would have checked the security footage if he hadn’t been anxious to return to Sammy, his skin crawling with unease after seeing the way Brylsko had devoured the boy with his eyes. Men like Brylsko were used to always getting what they wanted and Dominic hadn’t wanted to leave Sammy alone longer than necessary.

It had been the first time since the auction that he and Sammy had been apart for more than a few minutes and Dominic hadn’t been able to shake off the thought that something would go wrong in his absence. He had learned to trust his instincts a long time ago, but this time he wondered if he was just getting paranoid. Nothing had happened to the boy while Dominic had been away. He had found Sammy in the shower, perfectly healthy and safe. The relief that he’d felt at the sight had been… disconcerting. The urge to touch Sammy and make sure he was okay had been more than just disconcerting. Christ, talk about overreacting. This overprotectiveness was starting to creep him out. There was being protective and then there was the need to protect and provide that he felt around that kid.

Not to mention that he shouldn’t have touched Sammy the way he had touched him in the shower—not when Sammy had a giant crush on him.

Remembering Sammy’s flushed, embarrassed face almost made Dominic smile. It shouldn’t have been endearing, but it was, and it was such a foreign feeling that it threw him off every time he caught himself feeling fond.

He didn’t do fond.

And yet here he was.

The boy’s obvious crush didn’t even bother him. Nor did it particularly bother him that he might have to fuck Sammy if Brylsko got too suspicious. Dominic would prefer not to—mostly because he didn’t want to mess with Sammy’s head when the kid already had a crush on him—but the idea of sex with Sammy wasn’t… it didn’t exactly gross him out. It didn’t make him feel the resigned detachment or mild revulsion that he’d felt on the rare occasions he’d had to fuck a male mark. While he didn’t want to fuck Sammy, he wasn’t put off by the idea of touching him that way, either. He touched him all the time already. It was easy to touch him. Maybe too easy. He didn’t have to force any gestures of affection. Most of the time, he found himself kissing Sammy on the nose or on the forehead because he wanted to. He touched Sammy because he wanted to.

He wanted to.

It wasn’t sexual. Dominic had never been attracted to men and Sammy was no exception. The boy just pushed all the right buttons in him, buttons he hadn’t even known he’d had. He felt a weird pull towards the boy, a base need to have him that wasn’t sexual. Sammy had a unique ability to make him feel fond, amused, fiercely protective—and possessive.

Dominic grimaced at the memory of his overreaction to Brylsko ogling Sammy in the gym. Sam had been right: he had been completely irrational. He couldn’t believe he’d nearly ruined the mission just because he didn’t like the way the mark was eye-fucking his partner.

A light touch to his shoulder brought him back to the present, his muscles tensing for a moment before he recognized that touch.

Sammy.

Dominic felt the tension in his body bleed out.

“It’s done,” Sammy whispered, straddling Dominic’s lap, where he had been sitting at the beginning of the show.

Dominic tightened his arms around the boy. “Did the program work?” he murmured into Sammy’s ear.

“It had better,” Sammy said quietly, unbuttoning Dominic’s shirt. “I’m not doing it again. I nearly got caught. Good thing the guy seems to drop all his guard whenever he gets his prick wet.” He giggled and Dominic smiled indulgently, recognizing the signs of adrenaline rush.

“Get my hair messy, too,” Dominic said, raking his hand through Sammy’s hair. They needed to look disheveled. “The ultrabook?”

“I hid it behind those unused tables at the corner,” Sammy said, threading his fingers through Dominic’s hair. “I put the flash drive on his seat, by his thigh. He should find it without problem. Hopefully he’ll just think he or his girl broke the chain in a fit of passion.” He giggled again, burying his face in Dominic’s chest. “Fuck, this was fun.”

“For you, maybe,” Dominic said, slipping his hand between them and popping the button of Sam’s fly.