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I grabbed his wrist, halting the progress. “Wait!”

“What?” He looked genuinely annoyed.

I pushed him off, creating some much-needed space between the two of us. Not that that was much, given the confines of the small cubicle, but it was better than nothing. “I’ve only just met you. I’m sure you’re a really nice guy, but—”

He shot a scathing look my way. “So, you’re just a cock tease?”

A cock tease! What the hell! Was he for real? “When have I…what did I?” Realizing, it would be stupid to get drawn into his bullshit, I gathered my wits together. “Can you move aside? You’re blocking the door.”

He complied, which would have been good if it wasn’t for the fact it was done with a slight smirk on his face. “You’ve been making eyes at me all night. You can deny it if you want, but it doesn’t make it not true. It’s obvious why you were hanging about in here so long. You were waiting for me to come and find you.”

Refusing to stay and argue, I unlocked the door, and got the hell out of there. There was no way I had any intention of spending the rest of the evening with him. I’d be too worried that anything I said or did would add to his arrogant assumption that I was apparently interested in him. Instead of heading back to the table, I just kept walking. I’d been counting on Georgia not noticing, then I would have called her with an explanation on the way home. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. She caught up with me at the door, grabbing my arm. “Dean, where are you going?”

I tugged her gently outside onto the street, unwilling to explain in front of her boyfriend or his creep of a friend, assuming he’d left the bathroom just after I had. “I’m going home, Georgia.”

Her brow furrowed. “Why? I got you another drink. I thought we were going to make a night of it. And Simon really likes you.”

The mention of his name triggered an unfortunate recall of his hands roaming all over my body while he shoved his tongue down my throat. I suppressed a shudder. “Well, the feeling’s not mutual.”

“Why?” Her eyes narrowed. “Hang on. He went to the bathroom when you did. What happened? Did he do something?”

“It’s not a big deal. He just came on a bit strong, that’s all. He seemed to think I was up for a quickie in there, and I wasn’t…and never will be. Not with him.” I decided to leave out the bit where he called me a cock tease. No doubt she’d feel the need to defend my honor, and her whole evening would be ruined. She still looked less than convinced. I dragged her in for a hug, mumbling into her hair. “Listen, you go back in and have a great time. I’ll see you tomorrow. You can tell me all about it.” I kissed her on the forehead and gave her a gentle push back into the bar. She frowned but acquiesced without any further argument.

Chapter Six

The last three visits had all followed a similar pattern to the first two: a terse instruction to undress; the directive to either lie face down or face up; the slow caress of hands all over my body; either a prolonged focus on my nipples or fingering my ass; the culmination of being slowly fucked to orgasm, and the expectation to leave straight away afterward.

I hadn’t discovered anything new about the mystery man and I also hadn’t managed to pull him into anything remotely conversational. It should have been getting boring. Should, unfortunately being the operative word. Instead, I looked forward to Tuesday nights. I told myself it was just about the sexual release…and the money, of course. But deep down, even I knew that was a lie. Georgia was getting increasingly worried the longer it went on. She kept trying to steer me toward dating and had even offered to set up a profile on Grindr.

The fact the visits hadn’t offered any real surprises, made it all the more shocking when I felt the first touch of lips against my stomach. I tensed, struggling to process the unexpected sensation. They traveled down slowly, moving over my abdomen and heading toward my cock. I held my breath, scared I’d do or say something that would change his mind. As his lips slid down over my hard cock, I let out a loud groan, spreading my thighs eagerly to welcome the lubed finger prying between my ass cheeks. It slipped easily in, the dual combination of wet suction and a finger rubbing against my prostate bringing me to the brink in no time. Unthinking, I reached out, trying to communicate that he needed to stop before I came. For a brief moment, my hand closed around an arm, touching skin. Then all hell broke loose.

The bed creaked, the man scrambling off it at the speed of light. I lay stunned, trying to work out what had happened. Finally, it struck me: I’d committed the cardinal sin of touching. I sat up, peering into the darkness. “Shit! I’m sorry. I got carried away.” Silence met my apology. I tried again. “I’m really, really sorry. I just…forgot. You were using your mouth…you’ve never done that before…and it felt so good…and I was going to come…and I knew you’d want to fuck me, because you always have every time before…and I just didn’t think…and I really am sorry. You can come back here…and—”

“No.”

At least he’d spoken. However, it was difficult to know what to do with the one word that had been virtually spat at me. “Okay, so—”

“Go.”

The word felt like a body blow. “But, you haven’t…”

“I don’t want to. Not anymore.”

“Okay. Sorry.” Christ, I was going to break the world record for the number of apologies given in the space of one minute. I swung my legs off of the bed and headed for the door, my erection rapidly shrinking. Clothes held in my arms, I hesitated, feeling like there should be something else I could say. But apart from providing yet another apology, nothing came to mind.

Actions weighing on me, I went through the usual routine: carrying my clothes downstairs and dressing in the dim light of the lamp. At the feel of the envelope in my pocket, I hesitated, before removing it from my pocket and placing it back on the table where it had originally started. With a quick glance of regret toward the room at the top of the stairs, I left.

* * * *

Georgia slid herself under my duvet. “Are you ever getting up today? It’s nearly eleven.” I rolled my head sideways on the pillow, giving a baleful look before rolling it back to center to resume my careful scrutiny of the ceiling. The dog was looking particularly dog-like today. Something to do with the light, I assumed. “I screwed up, Georgia.”

There was a long hesitation. I had enough time to trace completely around the outline of the dog, twice, with my eyes before she finally answered.

“If this is something to do with your mystery man, then I’m not sure I want to know.”

I knew her views on the subject. She’d made them abundantly clear over the last few weeks. “Fine. Get the hell out of my bed then and leave me to wallow in peace.”

She wriggled closer, close enough I could feel her breath on my neck when she spoke. “What happened?”