Against all his expectations when he’d first decided to make the offer, Kane found himself looking forward to exchanging something other than cross words with the raven. His shaft pressed against the inside of his fly just as firmly as Everet’s did.
Chapter Six
“Well?” Kane demanded, before Everet had even had a chance to close the apartment door behind them.
Everet took a deep breath.
“I did the damn housework, what do I get in exchange?” Kane asked.
“The nest will pay for your food and lodging here, and you’ll be given a salary at the end of the month.” Everet decided it was best not to mention that, as Kane’s master, the salary would be paid to him. There was no need to invite another temper tantrum when Everet knew he’d pass on every penny to Kane anyway.
Everet pushed his hand through his hair as he walked deeper into the apartment, for once he was unable to stop himself fidgeting in an effort to expel some of the energy that coursed through his veins.
“You know that’s not what I’m talking about,” Kane snapped.
“Sex shouldn’t be about exchanging anything other than pleasure,” Everet said. “You don’t
earn
sex any more than you sell it—not anymore.”
Kane scowled across the room at him. “You said we could have sex.”
“No,” Everet corrected. “I didn’t.” He’d been very careful about that. He hadn’t promised anything. He hadn’t guaranteed what would happen between them that night.
No matter how many times he turned the matter over in his head, he was damned if he could work out what decision he’d make if he really wanted to do the best by Kane.
Give in, and everything could fall apart. Kane might think he was the same as every other man who’d used him that way.
Avoid sex entirely, and it would always be the issue hanging over them. Kane would always think he’d be able to get around him if he just flirted enough.
Everet ran his hand down his face.
“We might not even get that much pleasure from it.” The words were part of the conversation he had with himself, intended to be heard by no one else. But they were out of Everet’s mouth before he could stop them. The worst of it was, the words were true. Fantasy was one thing, reality something else, for both of them.
“If you don’t have the balls to follow through, just say it,” Kane ordered. “Don’t lie. We have enough chemistry to start a damn lab and you know it.”
Everet huffed. If only that was all they needed. “You think I bossed you around a lot when you were dusting tables? You have no idea how much control I like to have over my lovers.”
Kane leaned against the back of Everet’s sofa. Everet wasn’t sure why he should be surprised at that. The little sod had found a million different things to bend over during the day. God, but his arse looked amazing from every conceivable angle.
“Ravens have a reputation for being kinky,” Kane said, as if it were no big deal.
“But magpies don’t,” Everet countered.
Kane shrugged. Pushing himself away from the sofa, he slowly walked around it, until he stood directly in front of Everet, his hands hooked into the beltloops on his jeans, his crotch thrust forward and his erection clearly visible against the fabric of his pants. “Think you can come up with anything I haven’t tried before?”
“Tried when payment wasn’t involved?” Everet asked. “Yes.” He had no doubt about that.
Kane glared up at him, anger suddenly burning brightly in his expression.
Everet didn’t flinch from it. Hell, he welcomed it. “We’re talking about pleasure, not payment,” he repeated, in the vague hope it would help the idea sink into Kane’s mind. “You’re not going to get anything out of this except a good time—and if you’re not into my kind of sex, you probably won’t even get that from me.”
Kane turned and walked away from him, his steps slow and lazy. On the other side of the room, he glanced over his shoulder. “You’d best tell me what you’re into then.”
“I like to be in control.”
Kane’s eyes opened wide as he looked over his other shoulder and favored Everet with another glimpse of his face. “I’m shocked.”
“I like to play rough,” Everet added. If he wanted the truth from Kane, he had no option but to offer it in return.
“How rough?” There was nothing coy about that question. Kane turned to face him head on.
“The kind of rough that doesn’t leave bruises,” Everet said. “The kind both guys can enjoy.”
For once, Kane didn’t rush to interrupt. He let Everet continue in peace.
“I like to pin a man down, but only when I know he enjoys the game as much as I do. I’ve reddened a few arses, but only when they’ve belonged to guys who begged for more.” Everet forced himself not to close the gap between them, but it was the hardest thing he’d ever done. “I like to feel a man squirm beneath me, but only when I know he’s just testing my control over him, not when he’s actually trying to get away.”
Kane’s lips twisted into a smile. “I think I’ll survive.”
“We’re not talking about survival anymore.”
Kane was suddenly six inches away from Everet’s face. “You want permission to pin me down? You’ve got it. But, you know, if you want me to play hard to get just so you can have the pleasure of catching me, you don’t need to try and press my buttons. I’m more than happy to run away if that’s what turns you on.”
And suddenly, Kane was in the bedroom. The door slammed shut in his wake. Pure predatory instinct kicked in. No raven would have been able to stand still.
Every thought of the nice civilized discussions he’d intended to have before they so much as brushed against each other fled from Everet’s mind. He lurched forward. Before his brain had caught up with his body, he was through the bedroom door.
It wasn’t a huge room. There wasn’t far for Kane to run. He stood on the opposite side of the room, eyes sparkling with mischief.
Alive.
He looked so damn alive. Just a few days before, Everet had been so sure the only version of the man he’d ever see in that room would be deathly pale, his breathing unreliable, his temperature sky high.
A man would have had to be a complete bastard to want to screw the magpie who’d lain in the sick bed, but
this
version of Kane. He was perfect, strong and bratty, and he wouldn’t let anyone do anything to him that he didn’t want—not for free.
As Everet admired this new version of Kane, he stepped forward, closing the gap in careful, measured paces.
Kane grinned. There was no hint of fear in him, no sign of any kind of weakness. He was cornered, but he didn’t seem to know it. There was no way he could possibly escape while Everet stood—
Without any warning, Kane was gone.
Jumping up onto the mattress, he tapped into the energy in the springs and leaped onto the floor at the other side of the bed. Damn, but he was quick. Everet spun around to face him again.
“Too slow, sweetheart,” Kane chided.
Yes, he was exactly that—slow. Everet remained slow as he rounded the bed. He didn’t rush, didn’t leap, every step he took was very deliberate now that he had his prey in his sights.
Kane managed to remain motionless as he studied Everet in return, but only for a few seconds. He didn’t have Everet’s patience. He was all about movement. His feet shuffled against the bedroom carpet as he fought against that instinct for all of a millisecond. He leapt again.
This time Everet was ready. His slow progress meant he hadn’t even moved past the bottom corner of the bed. He dived, just a split second after Kane. His arms wrapped around the magpie’s torso. His weight carried them forward until they crashed onto the mattress.
The chase morphed seamlessly into a wrestle for supremacy.
Everet grappled for Kane’s wrists. Light, contagious laughter filled the air as Kane managed to squirm around and trap his hands beneath his own stomach, hiding them from Everet.
Their bodies lined up perfectly as Everet straddled the backs of Kane’s thighs and reached around him. His crotch rubbed against Kane’s arse again and again as he tried to worm his hands beneath the smaller man’s torso.
Success. He finally caught hold of one wrist, then the other. Sitting back on the other man’s calves, Everet revealed his prize to the world as he pulled Kane up off the mattress to kneel in front of him, as if they were spooning against each other.
Breathless, mostly from their tussle, but more than a little from laughter too, Kane cheerfully collapsed back against him.
“Screw me.” It was a demand, not an invitation.
All at once, neither of them was laughing.
“I thought I was supposed to be the bossy one,” Everet growled in Kane’s ear.
“You want to be boss of this bed. Prove you can take the title from me.”
In less than two seconds, Everet had rolled Kane onto his back and straddled him again. Shock filled Kane’s eyes for a second then he was back in form. He parted his lips, no doubt to utter something insulting.
Everet put his hand over the other man’s mouth, testing the way forward. Every cell in his body reacted to Kane and his challenges. His desire to take control of another avian had never been so strong. His need to make sure the man in his care was well treated had never seemed so desperate.
“There’s only one word you’re allowed to say from now on,” Everet said.
Kane nipped at the soft part of Everet’s hand where the skin at the base of his thumb curved up toward his index finger. Everet ignored the stab of pain.
“No.”
Kane’s eyes narrowed, obviously furious at hearing the word directed at him in any circumstances.
“That’s the only word you’re allowed to say,” Everet explained. “You want this to stop, say no.”
He frowned. For a moment he was as silent as Kane, even without the help of a gagging hand.
“Actually, scratch that last bit.
Whatever
you say, that’s what’s going to happen,” Everet decided. “No more smart remarks, no more coy flirty little bits of nonsense. Either you want this or you don’t. If you don’t, say something, anything at all. If you do want it, you have to stay completely silent. Not one word.”
Kane stared up at him, his eyes as calculating as ever, but Everet saw no way in which Kane could manipulate the order.
He held Kane’s gaze as he went on, determined that the other man should see how serious he was about this. “You can speak up at any time. I won’t be angry. You won’t be punished.” Everet kept his hand over Kane’s mouth for several more seconds, making sure the magpie had time to think about what he’d said, if he wanted to speak or not.
“You understand your options?” Everet checked, one last time.
Every fiber and sinew in him prayed Kane wouldn’t back off now, but he somehow kept his expression neutral. “Nod if you do.”
Kane nodded, taking the opportunity to simultaneously dig his teeth a little farther into Everet’s hand. He might as well have saved himself the bother. Everet was so focused on the importance of the moment, he didn’t even feel the bite.
Lifting his hand away from Kane’s mouth, Everet straightened, shifting his weight back. “Give me your answer.”
Kane didn’t say a word. Not one single blessed syllable left his mouth.
A wave of relief rushed through Everet. He knew how hard it was for Kane to remain silent at any time. If he made the effort and kept quiet, it was because he
really
wanted this.