An erotic excerpt from Lord and Master

The lazy Friday lunchtime atmosphere was suddenly gone. Steven was focused on him, obviously aware that this wasn't a casual conversation. "Go on."

"The whole 'are they, aren't they' thing."

"It's not getting too much for you, is it? I know it's been annoying at times, but I thought you were coping well." Steven reached out a hand, then pulled back. "God knows I've been enjoying watching it, but I hired you to do a job, and if this is getting in the way, we can discourage it."

"There are days when it pisses me off, but it's not too much of a problem that way." He'd rehearsed different speeches in his mind, but none of them seemed the right thing to say now. "But there's something I want you to know, even if I don't care what other people think. The only thing I regret about what happened last week is that we could have fucked up our professional relationship. I didn't do it because you're my boss. I did it in spite of you being my boss, and if I hadn't been trying so bloody hard to keep things on a professional level, I'd have done it a lot sooner. And I want to do it again."

"Mark..."

Steven didn't sound very happy, but it was too late to back out now. Mark sat and waited for his fate.

"I'm twenty years older than you. Do you really expect me to believe..." Steven trailed off and stared at him.

"That I don't have an ulterior motive?" That was what was worrying him, what he was trying to make Steven understand. Steven started to speak again, but Mark overrode him with, "Just hear me out, please? I like older men. I'm sure an amateur psychologist could have fun speculating why, but I don't care. I know that's what I like, and I'm not going to pretend that I don't, any more than I'm going to pretend about being gay. I've wanted you from the day I walked in here for my interview and shook your hand. You're older, you're good-looking, and you're strong without being a bully. You hit every one of my buttons, and I could have killed Sanjay for not warning me." He shifted uneasily, aware that this time sitting on the desk put him looking down at Steven rather than up, which wasn't the sort of body language he wanted to be conveying. But standing up would make it even worse. "I ignored it because I knew I could if I had to, and the job's more important to me. But the attraction's real, and people are likely to notice sooner or later. I don't care what other people think, but I do care what you think."

Steven sighed. "I remember that. You hid it so fast I thought I'd imagined it. Then when you said you were gay, I knew I hadn't. But I thought it was just the usual see someone, fancy him for a moment. It wasn't, was it?"

"I thought I could handle it, or I wouldn't have taken the job. I was handling it, until the night we came back from that meeting." The night he'd been too tired to care anymore, and Steven had sat too close to him for him to ignore it. Closer than they were even now.

Steven stood up, moved in close, looked down at him. "And now? You've said nothing all week."

"I can keep it just a professional relationship. But I want you to know that you didn't take advantage. And that I still want you." Wanted him badly enough that he was desperate to reach out and grab, to hold and be held.

Then Steven grabbed him. Hands bunched in his shirt, bodily dragging him off the desk to stand in front of Steven, close enough to feel the warmth of Steven's body. He stared into Steven's eyes and saw what had never been directed at him before.

Predator.

"I'm not one of those men who gets relief from the pressure of the job by being submissive in the bedroom," Steven said softly. "If that's what you're looking for, you'll be disappointed."

"If that's what you were, I wouldn't be interested." Mark was scared now, but he fought it down, as over the last few weeks he'd fought down arousal. He was scared, but he still wanted Steven, and if he let his fear show, Steven would back off.

Then Steven dragged him closer still, close enough to kiss him.

Still holding him by his shirt, but hard pressure on his mouth. He opened up willingly, letting Steven in. Put his arms around Steven, now that he was secure in the knowledge that Steven wouldn't push him away. Steven let go of his shirt and hugged him in turn.

They were pressed together, Steven's cock hard against his. He tried to thrust before he even realised what he was doing. Steven pushed him back against the desk and ground their cocks together. He could come from that alone, but it wasn't what he wanted. He pulled his head back, broke free of the kiss. "I'll come right now if you keep doing that."

At least Steven looked amused rather than annoyed. "I knew there was another good reason to keep my hands off you. Young men have no self-control." He eased off the pressure, moving back just enough to let Mark think again. "What do you want, Mark?"


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