Painted On My Heart

They had made progress tonight. He still had his bedroom to do. That was going to be hard to put back together. Every time he went in there, he found something else missing. And of course the bathrooms had to be thoroughly cleaned, but the rest was coming together nicely. He traveled slowly toward the waiting car as other thoughts began to dominate. So many emotions pulled at his insides: excitement, need, uncertainty, fear, hope.

Would he let Arik bottom?

He didn’t know, but from the tightness growing in his jeans, just the mental image that formed from the thought had his dick one hundred and ten percent on board with the idea.

Chapter 16

While Kellus showered, Arik took the time to check email. Determination set in. He never wanted to see that look of humiliation in Kellus’s eyes again. He quickly approved all of the recommendations his security team had suggested for Kellus’s house and studio. He also authorized the funds to have regular twenty-four-hour surveillance on the house.

No doubt, Kellus wouldn’t be happy with his highhandedness, so while he was on a roll, he called to have a car delivered to Kellus’s house in the morning. Arik had no problem driving Kellus to his studio before heading into the office, but Kellus also needed something more than his old work van. He left the make and model open to the dealer. His only request—he wanted the best antitheft on the market. Kellus could pick whatever car he wanted once they were off John’s radar. Until then, he needed reliable transportation and that meant something that wouldn’t allow John to break in so easily.

Not only was he skating on thin ice, Kellus had him doing backflips and triple jumps where the man was concerned, so he went ahead and bit the final bullet, sending two more emails. He sent one to his head of housekeeping at the resort, asking for anyone who might want extra work. He’d pay well, but they needed to be armed with every cleaning supply and protection device his resort had to offer. He gave the address, instructions to be there as early as possible, and his cell phone number if Kellus didn’t answer the front door.

Last, he sent an email to Gage and Trent, asking them to meet him tomorrow night with tool belt in hand. Honestly, he still wasn’t over what a baby Gage had been at the opening, but he’d let him make that up by having Trent fix the torn out electrical in Kellus’s house. He decided on meeting them at seven o’clock tomorrow night. That would give him and Kellus a couple of hours at the end of their workday to buy new ceiling fans and light fixtures.

In his heart, he knew Kellus wouldn’t be happy with what he’d done. That was okay, he’d get over it and ultimately keep his own worry at bay so maybe he’d get some actual work done while at the office tomorrow. Right then, he decided to live by his motto: it’s better to beg forgiveness, than ask permission. Surely, Kellus wouldn’t turn away a cleaning crew standing at his front door ready to do the work.

After Arik showered, he grabbed a towel to dry himself before running a brush through his wet hair. Enough thinking about all that, right now; he needed Kellus like he needed oxygen. He left the bathroom, and as expected, his stubborn guy wasn’t waiting for him on his comfortable Vera Wang.

With condoms and lube in hand, Arik padded through the darkened penthouse dressed in only his towel, looking for Kellus. When he rounded the corner into the living room and saw Kellus sitting on the couch, remote control in hand, he knew his sexy boyfriend had been overthinking things again and more than likely planned to back out of fucking him tonight, trying to be honorable and protective. He knew the score and wasn’t the least bit concerned. He wanted to be fucked hard, certain that Kellus had it in him to do that very thing, and that was exactly what was going to happen. At least he hoped.

Kellus watched him when he walked into the room, all the way until he stood directly in front of him. Those blue eyes widened in shock. “People are here.”

“No, they aren’t. I’m not that much of a diva.” Arik chuckled, toying with the towel at his waist, enjoying watching his guy begin to squirm.

“Arik, are you sure?” Like he’d expected, Kellus started to shake his head no.

“One hundred percent.” Arik tossed the bottle of lube and condoms on the sofa, reached for the remote still in Kellus’s hand, turned off the television, then angled the device toward the sound system. He pushed power, lowered the volume a couple of notches, and tossed the remote on the table. Arik grinned down at Kellus, let the towel at his waist drop, then stepped forward, nudging Kellus’s legs apart as he wedged himself in between Kellus’s thighs and began stroking his hard dick. “I hoped you would join me in the shower.”