“I’m starting to, but don’t know enough yet.”
“Or you won’t tell me.”
Clay’s eyes narrowed, his upper lip curling up in a small snarl. “So we kiss and now I’m supposed to just open up about everything? Is that it?”
Dane’s mouth fell open. “What? No, that’s not it at all! But I think I deserve some kind of explanation because I could have been killed along with you all tonight.”
“I don’t think—”
“You know good and well if they’d caught us, I’d be hurt along with you. Or even dead.”
“It wouldn’t have gone that far. I wouldn’t have let that happen.” Clay kept his eyes on some distant point on the floor as if he could no longer meet Dane’s gaze.
“So, you aren’t going to tell me what you know?”
Clay stood there, his lips pressing into a tight line.
Fury closed Dane’s hands into fists. “You need to leave.”
Clay’s shoulder’s slumped. “Don’t be like that, Dane.”
“I’m not saying leave the house—only my apartment. It’s obvious Flo and Jo want you here for some reason. I’m just some stupid handyman here to fix shit and keep you amused when you’re bored.”
“Dane—”
“No.” Dane held up his hand. “I don’t know what the hell happened, but those people were trying to kill you. Kill us! And you’re going to stand there and not tell me what you know? Fuck that!”
“I can’t tell you!” Clay said, his temper finally snapping. “Not yet. Don’t you think I want to? I’d fucking love to tell you, but if I blurt out the tiny bit I know, you’ll run. What if you’re right, and they come after you? I won’t be there to protect you, and-and I can’t deal with the idea of you getting hurt. What’s going on? It’s not illegal, I swear. We’re not hurting anyone, but we are protecting ourselves from those fucks. I promise, when I understand more myself, I will tell you. You’re going to have to trust me.”
“Trust you?” Dane said, making a scoffing noise in the back of his throat. Clay’s impassioned speech left him wavering a tiny bit. He didn’t want to be touched by Clay’s concern for his well-being. “I barely know you.”
“Felt like you wanted to get to know me earlier.”
“Oh, my God, make up your damn mind! Did the kiss mean something or not?”
Clay sighed again. “It did.”
“Did the kiss with Grey mean something, too? Is it normal for you to go from one man to another so fast?”
“That was us trying to cause a distraction. I didn’t feel even a tenth of what I felt when you kissed me. It felt…” Clay paused and shuddered. “Creepy. But with you, it was heaven.”
That shut Dane up. Mostly because he’d felt it, too. They had some kind of connection, and he didn’t know if it was pheromones or what, but it was damn strong.
Back at the bar, before hell broke loose, he’d felt a full return of his libido and he’d been reveling in it. Reveling in this man.
But Clay’s reticence in sharing what he knew made Dane’s blood boil. Damn it, he liked the man. Liked him enough to take things further.
He turned and paced away but couldn’t go far in the small room. When he faced Clay again, the man had moved closer to him. Clay put his hand on Dane’s shoulder.
“Dane, I really can’t talk about what’s happening until I know more. But I promise I’ll explain when I can.” He tightened his fingers.
Dane grabbed Clay’s shirt, shoved him into the wall, and stepped in close. He shook his head. “I don’t know how to take you. Don’t know what to do with you.”
“I have a few suggestions.” Clay’s words were heavy with lust.
He looked down Clay’s body, his desire rising again so fast and hard, he was dizzy with it. He pressed into him, anger snapping through him like strikes of lightning along with a heady demand he couldn’t deny any longer.
“Dammit, Clay, I don’t understand what you do to me.”
“If what you’re feeling is need, you do the same to me.”
Need was a perfect description for the feeling surging through him. He needed Clay’s hands on his body.
Needed to touch Clay.
He raised his hands and placed his palms on Clay’s chest. His heartbeat thrummed through the thin material of the shirt. Heat. So much heat. Clay stared at him, and he felt the strength of his desire. Dane groaned and kissed him hard with the fury still churning through his system.
Yes, Clay was lying to him, but it didn’t seem to matter in that moment as longing coursed through him. It was better to give in to this than fall into his cold bed with only his anger to keep him company.
Clay opened his lips, and Dane sent his tongue surging into his mouth. Fuck, he tasted fantastic. He liked the thick stubble against his cheeks and chin, liked the heat of his mouth, liked the way he smelled, spicy and masculine.