“Watch bad TV, mostly. Cook some. Been sleepin’ like whoa until soon.” He’d just in the last few weeks started feeling like a real person. “You know how this goes, huh? You been hurt before. Hell, you hurt now.”
Neil reached up to touch his face, his mouth flattening into a hard line. “I do. It was a rough day yesterday.”
“I’m sorry. Can I help? I mean, if there’s something I can do, I’ll do it.”
“Well, I want to just get to know you some. And I admit, I need to let it go for a day. Just—Let the cop go for a few hours. So you can definitely help me with that.”
Oh now, that flirting was back in a heartbeat, those hazel eyes twinkling.
“Do you now? Is this the negotiating part of the business, Chou? Is there rules Master Doctor Man got for you? For me?” He didn’t know how it worked, not in a non-business way.
“I can’t speak for Isaac that way. But I bet he will have rules once you and I have a talk.” Neil leaned close, almost nose to nose. “I could come up with some rules, though. For you and me. You’re inspiring.”
“I could like that. I know how to say no, huh?”
“Safe words?”
“Red and yellow. Green means go. No worrying about what means what, huh, Chou?” He wasn’t big on complicated, when it came right down to it.
“Sounds good. I like easy to remember. As much as I almost get shot, my brains get addled.”
He wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t. That was scary, now. He’d known a bunch of folks that got shot. One guy tried to shoot himself and missed, blew part of his damn face off. Everyone called him Hot Shot after that. Craziness.
So he just nodded. “I’m always wandering off and telling myself stories, eh? So I keep it easy.”
“Do you need help focusing?”
Did he need help focusing? That was what all that listening with Master Cyrus was for, he thought.
Neil brought up a hand to stroke his cheek, and his eyes crossed, thoughts shattering like that hot man had whacked his soul with a blessed hammer.
“What was the question, Chou?”
Neil’s laughter was soft and, he thought, sweet. Not making fun of him. “Oh, we’re going to have a ball, you and me.”
“Yes, Sir.” Oh, if he was lucky, Chou was gonna turn him inside out.
“I’ll teach you to focus on me, kitten.” Neil was touching him again, which was just like fire on his skin.
Chou made this raw sound push out of him and didn’t that make Neil grin like a shark. “Are you purring for me, kitten?”
“I guess I might be, yes, Sir.”
“I like that. I also like to cuddle in front of the TV. What are your thoughts on that?” Neil drew him closer, which tipped him right into the man’s lap.
He might have made a not-entirely-macho squeal, which he reckoned tickled the shit out of Chou, because he started chuckling, all deep and low.
“Mmm. You smell good. I do love the scent of coffee, even if I don’t get to drink much.” Neil nosed along his neck, then touched his tongue to Alain’s skin.
Lightning shot through him, and he groaned. “Do you now? You like it lots?”
Neil popped him on the butt. “I do, kitten.”
He hummed, because this he understood, deep down. Playing. Sexy times. Nothing scary or threatening. Neil was the protect and serve type, that was sure.
“You are a pretty little bundle of wanting, aren’t you, kitten?”
Was he? He sure thought he could be, yessir. In fact, it was a shock, how alive and awake he felt right now, right here. Not that Master Cyrus made him feel dead or nothing, for sure. He liked the learning. He just needed this more.