AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Telling Dara might have been a mistake, and he hoped he wouldn’t come to regret it. After a quick detour via his office to close down his work laptop for the day, he decided what he needed was a bath and dinner. Maybe a glass of wine. Yes, that sounded perfect.
One of the many things he liked about Crofton Hall were his rooms, and he’d felt at home right from the start. He’d set out his books and various knickknacks and the area with the TV had been transformed into a cosy nook with a throw his mum had made and a couple of cushions he couldn’t remember buying but somehow owned. The bed was another island of solace, but the situation with Dorian made him think that he’d never asked the rules on house guests, sort of assuming if he ever had the need he’d go to the other person’s place.
Shaking the thought from his mind, he ran a bath, adding a generous scoop of bath salts which should help with some of the stiffness from sitting at a desk for too long. He poured himself a glass of red wine and placed it with his phone on the side of the bath before undressing and sorting his clothes into the correct laundry piles.
As much as he loved wearing a suit, there was something wonderfully freeing about taking one off and he sank into the warm water with a happy sigh. He closed his eyes for a moment and let himself relax. Working at Crofton Hall was nowhere near as stressful as his previous jobs and he did wonder if at some point he would miss the thrill of the chase, but that was hard to believe when it felt so perfect in his own private bathroom.
He sat up a little and realised he’d left his book on his bedside table, and he was far too comfortable to get out. Instead, he wiped his hands on a towel and grabbed his phone. Dara’s words about watching Dorian’s films crept into his mind. Maybe a seeing one wouldn’t hurt if he could get it on a streaming app. He pulled up his favourite app and typed in Dorian’s name. Bloody hell there were a lot of them, and most were in a similar vein of buff hero and pretty and smart heroine fighting the big baddie. Alex wasn’t sure he could bring himself to watch those but he scrolled through and sawThe Escort, which looked a little different. The cover was a shot of a man’s back, he was stripped to the waist and Alex assumed it was Dorian. The taglineAnything is available for a price… didn’t need much explanation.
Despite his better judgement, he started the film and within the first few minutes Dorian was already rolling atop a mattress while a beautiful blonde woman made enthusiastic noises that reminded him a little of a howler monkey—which he doubted was what the director was aiming for. There was no denying that Dorian was fucking hot. Alex bit his lip as screen Dorian reduced his partner to a gasping mess and had Alex reaching for his cock. He was hard and it had been a while since he’d been laid. He’d never been one for porn, but this display was more than enough to have him tugging at his erection.
He balanced his phone on the side of the bath and set to work chasing his own release as screen Dorian thrust magnificently in a hypnotic rhythm. The mix of the warm water and visual stimulus was too much and he came with a whimper near enough at the same time as the blonde on his phone. While the bath water would wash away the evidence, he was going to have trouble looking Dorian in the eye the next time they met.
CHAPTER20
“Alex?”
He pivoted on his heel. He was on his way out of the hall to visit the post office when Dorian called across the entrance. “Yes?”
“I thought we could grab a coffee and chat about our first date.”
He held up the stack of letters. “Sorry, I’m heading out to post these.”
“I’ve nothing planned, I’ll come with you.”
Dorian reminded him of an eager puppy who wanted taking for a walk. “I going into the nearest town. There will be people, people who might recognise you.”
He put on his sunglasses and pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head. “No problem.”
“I’m sure that’ll fool everybody. Come on then.”
Dorian fell into step beside him as they walked to the carpark. “I could do with picking up a few things. I’ve got a hankering for cheese and onion crisps.”
“Surely you could have asked Karl for those.”
“I thought I’d also get Ben and Ashley something to say thanks for putting me up at the hall. Perhaps you can help.”
His short trip was rapidly expanding, but he didn’t have much more to do that afternoon and spending some time with Dorian would probably help their first date this weekend. “I would think you know them better than I do.”
“True, but I don’t know the area. And as much as they’d like a Fabergé egg I doubt I can pick one up at the local Tesco.”
“Given Davy will soon get to the age where he’ll want to start putting everything into his mouth, I’m not convinced jewel-encrusted ornaments are the way to go.”
Alex got into his car and waited for Dorian to do the same and put on his seat belt, then found the handle to allow him to push the seat back to give himself more leg room. He looked ridiculous squeezed into the front seat of Alex’s Fiat Panda. “I’m not sure the last time I got in a car this small.”
“You invited yourself along, you can get out if you want.”
“No, I’m good. Sorry, I’m a lanky fucker.”
“We all have flaws in life.”
Dorian was a chatty passenger and Alex wondered if he just missed someone to talk to. “So you only moved here for your job, liking the area so far?”
“It’s not so different from where I grew up—apart from the sea. I enjoyed living in London but I am liking the quieter pace of life.”
“I love the sea. I might try and get a place on the coast in the UK, once I’m settled into somewhere. Need to figure the rest out before I do the extras.”
“Why? If you know what you want, you don’t have to wait.”
