If It Fornicates (Market Garden, #4)(21)

Nick’s shoulders may have been relaxed, but something knotted in his gut. “Well, now you’ve piqued my curiosity. What’s up?”

Spencer was quiet for a moment. Judging by the slower and slightly less focused motions of his hands, he was distracted. Thinking. Perhaps trying to form the words. Finally, “I was thinking about our conversation the other night. About things I want us to do together.”

“Mm-hmm?”

The motions were a little steadier and more confident now. “I guess it just got me thinking, and—” Words and hands both paused. Hands started again. Words still hung in suspended animation.

“You can ask for anything, Spencer,” Nick said softly. “There’s no rule against telling me what you like or what you think you might like.”

“It’s just your decision whether or not it happens?”

“Exactly.”

“Okay.” Silence fell again, and Spencer kept rubbing Nick’s shoulder. “Do you ever let other men f*ck you?”

Nick cleared his throat. “Are you asking if I let my clients f*ck me? Or are you asking if I’ll let you?”

“Both, I guess.”

“Which answer do you want more?”

The silence lasted awhile this time. Possibly a full minute or more, though Nick lost track of time as he tried to stay conscious while Spencer’s hands turned his bones to liquid. God in heaven, this man needed to change careers.

Spencer drew a deep breath. “Would you let me?”

There was no way Spencer missed the full-body shudder. Or the goose bumps prickling Nick’s scalp and all the way down to his feet. Especially the ones on the skin Spencer was still massaging.

“Is that what you want?” Nick asked.

“I’ve thought about it a lot.”

“That wasn’t my question.”

“Yes,” Spencer said without hesitation this time. “I want to.”

Nick swallowed. “To answer your other question, no, I don’t let my clients f*ck me. And I’ve only ever let a few guys do it. Three I can think of.”

Spencer’s hands slowed, then resumed their perfect speed. “Oh.”

“And with those three,” Nick whispered, “I had to think about it for a long time. Psych myself up for it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s not something I volunteer for without a lot of forethought.” He craned his neck a little, ignoring the vague strain it put on his sore muscles because he wanted to be able to see Spencer. “But the second you asked? The answer was yes.”

And I don’t know what to make of that.

Spencer looked surprised, then pleased, then happy. Adorable. Fucking adorable, that smile. There was nothing threatening about Spencer, nothing violent, nothing even inconsiderate. No macho posturing. Nick was even convinced that the massage hadn’t been the set-up to topping. Spencer had wanted to fix his shoulder more urgently than he had wanted Nick flat on his belly and receptive to the idea of a cock up his arse.

“I’d never hurt you, Nick.”

No way he could be more adorable. “I’d rip your balls off if you did.” Nick smiled. “Can’t promise I’d make bottoming a habit, either. I get a bigger kick out of topping. It’s no comparison.”

“But you . . . it’s fun for you, too?”

“Can be,” Nick replied cautiously.

Spencer leaned down again and kissed the side of Nick’s neck. “And vanilla sex. Do you ever do that?”

“It’s, well, vanilla. The flavour everybody likes and that’s a bit bland.” Nick shrugged, then rolled his shoulders. Sore, but different sore, which was a good sign. “Though I guess I could add some chili. Tying you up, handcuffs, that kind of thing.”

Spencer inhaled sharply. “I’d like that.”

“I know.” Nick chuckled. “Any more questions?”

“Have you ever been the sub?”

“No. Freaks me out. I dislike pain, humiliation turns me into a raging beast, and restraints are a shortcut to a nervous breakdown. I can’t cope.”

“Wow.” Spencer’s hands were sliding, but the movements now felt more like caresses than anything purposeful. “Then how did you learn domming? Is that something you can pick up from a book?”

“Oh, I’ve picked up a thing or two from books.” He tilted his head forward, arching his neck a bit, and Spencer took the invitation. Nick groaned as Spencer carefully kneaded his neck. Then he found his breath and remembered he’d been speaking. “A few books. That’s where I learned about the psychology of it. And a few—” He exhaled as Spencer’s fingertips trailed down the sides of his neck, the touch as erotic as it was relaxing. “Fuck, mate. You are seriously in the wrong line of work.”

Spencer laughed. He slid his fingers up into Nick’s hair, and Nick didn’t care if he had massage oil in his hair now, because bloody hell, that touch was amazing. More goose bumps, another shudder; it was a good thing Spencer had asked him earlier about being a sub, because when he had his hands on Nick like this, he could probably get Nick to do anything.

Then Spencer’s hands drifted back to Nick’s shoulders, and just rested there, a slightly heavy and pleasantly warm presence on muscles that felt nothing like they had earlier. “You were saying? About books and stuff?”