Page 72 of Carver’s Craving

Walking to my room took a bit longer than normal because I was taking in the enormity of what I was doing. As I placed Walter in his spot in the corner of my bed, he gazed at me. Almost as if he knew. I blew out a breath. “I’m just going to be in the next room. Like just a few feet away. If you bark, I’ll hear you.”

Poppin jumped on the bed. As if sensing the moment, she made a beeline for my pillow. She turned three times and flopped on it.

I ruffled the fur behind her ears. “Take care of Walter?”

Swear to God, the dog rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I rose. Okay, so now what? Do I just saunter in naked? Pajamas? Oh, how about pajama bottoms and bare chest? I made my way over to the full-length mirror I never used. First, I removed my shirt. Decent muscles, good definition. Like a guy who took care of himself and worked with his body. Or worked out, but that certainly wasn’t me. Quickly, I removed my jeans and underwear. Not a huge amount of body hair—but I didn’t manscape. Nope, Styx was just going to get what he got.

That examination complete, I grabbed my pajama bottoms and pulled them on. Still looking good. No grays. No real sign of the fourteen-year age gap. Perhaps the issue really was all in my mind. Obviously Styx didn’t care…so why was I still obsessing about it? Jailbait. He hadn’t been wrong about my initial reaction. He certainly wasn’t the same teenager I’d met years ago.

I inspected my pooches. Both were snoring lightly. Okay. I’d leave my door open and, undoubtedly, they’d either come find me or bark their little heads off. They didn’t have a problem expressing their displeasure. Which made me happy. If something was wrong, they gave me the opportunity to make it right. Brush your teeth and get into that gorgeous man’s bed. Yeah, that I could do. So I tiptoed into the bathroom. I laughed to myself as I remembered that I’d chosen not to have onion rings because I assumed I’d be consumed by passion and want to take Styx before I had time to brush my teeth.

Having two kids assured me that nothing overly passionate happened until the kids were fed and settled. I hadn’t brushed their teeth tonight, but they’d survive.

Finally, I opened the cabinet to grab—

I blinked. Okay. I know I put the lube and condom box in there last Friday night when I got home. Christ, was that really only a week ago? I’d skipped the pub night for some random hookup that wound up being not so random at all. Put on your big boy pants, so to speak, and get into the man’s bedroom. So after pissing and brushing my teeth, I did exactly that.

Styx’s door was slightly open. I knocked, and he laughed. “Oh God, Carver. This is your house.”

I entered. “Yeah, but it’s your bedroom. I gave you this for privacy and protection.” I tried not to gawk—but that proved impossible.

Mostly because he lay against a mountain of pillows, in the middle of the bed, buck naked. And stroking his very erect cock.

I swallowed. “Starting without me?”

He grinned. “I’ve been listening to you move around this place and just imaging what you’re going to do to me.” His expression turned thoughtful. “The pooches?”

“Sleeping soundly. I’ll open the door when we’re done. I doubt they’re going to leap on the bed in the middle, you know…” Heat crept into my cheeks.

“Coitus interruptus?”

“Yeah, something like that.” God, earth, whatever…swallow me up.

He extended his hand. An invitation. “Even if they do jump up, I won’t be upset. If what you’ve told me is true—”

I cocked my head.

“—about you never bringing someone here.”

I nodded.

“Then this will be new for them. I don’t want them to be scared. Or to think they can’t get to you if they need you.”

That he understood meant everything. “They sleep through the night.”

“Fine. And if they don’t, then that’s okay too.”

With that, I moved so I could grasp his hand.

He gestured to my pajama bottoms. “They’re cute…but they’d look better on my floor.”

I rolled my eyes.

He squeezed my hand. Then let it go.

I removed the bottoms and then crawled onto the bed. “I assume you’re the one who liberated my bathroom of both lube and condoms?”