I let him do his thing and lead me to the elevator, where he positioned himself in front of the door so that I couldn’t even see past him when the doors opened on our floor. Even though there was a guard posted outside of our rooms, Steel still took a moment to assess things before stepping off and escorting me down the hall to my door. The only thing left for me to do was fish out my key card and open it.
Inside, we both paused just inside the door after it clicked shut behind us. I waited for Steel to throw the lock and latch the way he usually did while I untied my boots, but tonight, he just stared down at me as I knelt and started tugging at the knot.
“I can go if you’re no longer in the mood for company,” he said, giving me the out I’d thought I’d wanted when he shut me down in the car.
“Debating,” I admitted, hoping honesty would buy me the time to figure it out.
“In that case, I’ll go, and you can text me when you figure it out,” he replied and turned back towards the door.
Dammit, that so wasn’t what I wanted.
“I didn’t say you had to go,” I snapped.
“You didn’t say you wanted me to stay, either, so I’m giving you the space to figure it out.”
“Why does everything have to be so black and white and absolute with you?” I asked.
“Because some things are just that way,” he replied, turning back towards me. "Your health and safety being one of them. They are non-negotiable to me.”
Groaning, I finished untying my boots and loosened the laces, stood, and toed them off. “I get it, okay? I just thought that it would feel different to finally hit that pinnacle of success we’d been striving for this past decade. Instead, it’s starting to feel likea jail sentence. It sucks that I can’t just cut loose with a guy I’m into instead of being told to rein it in.”
“Were you really in that big of a hurry to give the driver a show?” He asked. “His eyes belong on the road, where I doubt they’d have stayed if I’d given in and let you do what you were trying to do.”
Throwing my hands in the air, I stalked out of the entryway, hoping he’d follow, though at this point, the sound of the door opening as he left wouldn’t have come as a shock either. I wasn’t his principal, but he was still a guard, so I knew he didn’t get what it was like to come down off that stage with a rush of adrenaline and sheer, unadulterated need surging through me. Those cheers were like an aphrodisiac, so when I’d asked if he was off duty, I’d taken his "yes" to mean we could indulge to our hearts' content. I got why he’d shut me down, and after talking to the driver, I even agreed with it. But it didn’t erase the sting.
“It wasn’t about the driver!” I snapped. “It was about you. Wanting you! If I’d wanted to put on a show, I’d have gone to the after-party with Dash and Ozzy. Doubt anyone there would have turned me down.”
“I didn’t turn you down; I told you to wait, which more people need to learn how to do so that maybe you get over some of this reckless impatience of yours,” he replied, his tone calm and even in the face of my frustrated rant.
At least he didn’t leave. Instead, he secured the door and took several steps into the room where I was scanning surfaces for the remote, unable to remember if I’d left it tangled up in the sheets or tossed on top of something.
“That’s not what it felt like,” I replied.
I could have tried for cocky. Hell, indifference was my usual go-to in situations where people made me start to doubt myself. Deep down, I knew it said something about how I was starting to feel for him, which was usually when the warning bells went off. Tonight, there was just disappointment running through my head on a level I wasn’t exactly used to feeling.
He closed the distance between us in three long strides, andbefore I could decide whether to step back or lean closer to seek out a physical connection with him, he caught my hair in his fist and tugged me into a kiss. Light spots erupted like fireworks behind my eyes as a groan tore its way up my throat. My fingers found the bottom of his t-shirt and hitched it up so I could feel skin and heated muscle as his free hand landed with a sound smack against my ass before he yanked me closer. What doubt was left in my head about whether he was interested in sticking around for the night fled as he rocked our bodies together, letting me feel the growing thickness behind his zipper. I knew what every inch of it felt and tasted like, and I was desperate to experience it again.
When we finally broke the kiss, there was heat in his gaze that was way better than the reproach I usually saw in them when he looked at me.
“Still have any doubts about whether or not I’m turning you down?" he asked in between harsh pants and labored breaths that made his words rumble.
His voice wasn’t the only one raspy with need. I barely choked out "No" before slamming our lips back together.
I’m not exactly a small guy, more like average-sized and toned from the exertion that came from playing hard up on the stage, but I felt downright small when he carried me to the bed and pinned me beneath his bulk.
“I wanted you in that car,” he growled the next time we came up for air. “Took everything in me to tell you no when you started unzipping me with your teeth. So we’re going to get these clothes off so you can suck me, then I’m going to fuck you until you’re wrung out and plastered to the sheets, so that the next time I tell you to wait, there will be no doubts left in your mind about whether or not you’re going to get what you need from me. Is that understood?"
“I-I,” the intensity in his gaze made the words stick in my throat.
“The correct answer isyes, sir.”
Holy shit.
A shudder tore up my spine as I pressed my head against the pillow and rolled my hips, seeking friction. “Yes, sir.”
It came out like a garbled groan, but the spark in his eyes was proof positive that it was good enough for him. The moment he drew back enough for me to sit up, I did, yanking my t-shirt off over my head and flinging it to the far recesses of the room. In the frenzy that followed, a sock landed on a lampshade, and my boxers got caught on the edge of a picture frame. I’d take a picture of them in the morning and laugh about it every time I scrolled through my camera roll.
For now, I just wanted to feel and enjoy every ounce of pleasure Steel chose to give me.