Page 64 of Carver’s Craving

“I wasn’t going to try to convince you to abandon your scruples. By the time I was old enough, you were still putting out don’t get too close vibes. I had other options. So I admired from afar and moved on with my life.”

Okay. So now you have to be honest. “I noticed you—”

“I figured.” With his trademark cheeky grin.

“—but you’re right I wasn’t going near you. Hell, I still shouldn’t. I’m way older than you—”

“Bullshit. Fourteen years is nothing. Hell, Simeon and Ryan have a significant age gap as well—you wouldn’t advise them to be apart.”

“They’re already together.”

Styx rolled his eyes. “But you wouldn’t have advised them—at the beginning—to stay away from each other.”

I considered. “Not without knowing them. Now it’s clear they were made for each other. A couple of years ago? I have no idea. That’s just a hypothetical.”

He chuckled. “And you’re trying to make certain we remain a hypothetical? I hate to tell you this—that possibility went out the window when you fucked me Friday night. There’s no going back, Carver.”

“We don’t have to act on this.” I gestured between the two of us. “Whatever this is.”

Another knowing smile. “If you tell me no, or if you kick me out, then sure, we don’t have to act on this. Or—” He waggled his eyebrows. “—we act on this and see where it takes us. I don’t know what’s going to happen when Baxter turns up. What I have been told—repeatedly—is that Mission City is very close to Vancouver. So if I somehow managed to get gigs in Vancouver, or anywhere else, I’d be able to get there and back easily. Now, that means Baxter driving me. Or me getting my own car. All things to sort out once Baxter reappears.”

“You’re certain he will.” I held his gaze.

“He has to. I can’t lose anyone else. Including you.”

At the most inopportune moment, I yawned.

Styx eyed me. “It’s time for you to head to bed. This dilemma will still be here tomorrow.”

“We’re not finished talking.” Sex. I want to know what we’re going to do about sex. Because, as tired as I was, I wanted more. I needed more.

He rose and moved toward me. Slowly he sank to a crouch before me.

I opened my thighs.

His fingers trailed up and down those thighs. Just high enough to make my cock very interested. “Look, Carver. I want you. There’s nothing I’d love more than to crawl into a bed, any bed, and have you fuck me all night long. We can’t. I hate to be the grownup in the room…but we can’t. You have work tomorrow and, from everything you’ve told me, you need to be sharp. I’m not going to risk sending you off as anything less than your best.”

“I can call in sick.”

“No, you can’t. And you won’t. That’s not who you are. Especially not for a night of hot sex. And trust me—it’d be very hot.”

I rubbed my face.

He patted my thigh and then rose. “I’ll give you a goodnight kiss and then you’re off to bed.”

Fuck. Just…fuck. “Okay.” I disentangled myself from Poppin and Walter. After giving each a kiss, I rose.

Styx pulled me into his arms.

Our faces were an inch apart.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close.

He obliged.

Our mouths met. No preliminaries this time. We opened up and welcomed each other in. This time, he dominated the kiss—thrusting his tongue into my mouth. He demanded entrance and kept me revved up as he ran his hands up and down my back.

I pressed myself against him.