Sweet Obsession (Nights Series #4)(3)
He didn’t deserve to lay a single finger on Ash Colby. Not after what he had done. Not even if he’d loved him since the day he was born and been in love with him for over half a decade.
“Care to tell me why the hell you had me flown halfway across the world?” Ash said without preamble.
Luke winced internally. He deserved that. He took a deep breath and assumed the cold demeanor he usually displayed when he was with Ash, steeling himself for what was about to go down. It was a carefully cultivated facade, one he had adopted to create and maintain the distance between them.
It was the only way Luke could protect Ash from his carnal urges.
“As of right now, you are no longer a graduate student at Stanford. I’ve enrolled you in the architectural design program at the university here, in Singapore. You’ll also be living with me.”
Ash blinked. His heart started an erratic pounding in his chest as deathly silence descended on the room. He stared at Luke, hoping and waiting for the Fooled you!
The man opposite him studied him coolly, golden eyes unblinking. That was when Ash realized Luke wasn’t joking. Ash froze for a dizzying moment, disbelief warring with rage inside him. Rage won. Ash jumped to his feet and stormed to the desk.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?!” he barked.
“My mind has never been any clearer,” Luke replied steadily. “Your personal items are being packed as we speak and will be flown to our home here in the next twenty-four hours.” He paused. “Your Stanford supervisor was obviously sad to see you go but understood your sudden change in circumstances. He gave you a glowing recommendation. And I’m selling your condo in Los Altos.”
Blood roared in Ash’s ears as he glared at the man opposite him, too stunned to speak. Hatred surged through him, the feeling so visceral he couldn’t help but dig his nails into his palms. He found his voice a moment later.
“Why are you doing this?” Ash asked hoarsely.
Something flashed in Luke’s eyes then. Something Ash had seen only once before in his life. Fury. A rage so deep, it seemed to turn the man before him to stone.
Ash’s stomach twisted, the pain knifing through him so great he wanted to throw up.
Oh God! He really hates me, doesn’t he?
Ash swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat, wondering for the thousandth time what he had done to deserve Luke’s anger.
“You owe me an answer, Luke. You can’t just ignore me for five years, then barge back into my life and pretend you want to play house.”
Luke propped his elbows on the armrests of his leather executive chair and dropped his chin on the back of his interlocked hands.
“What if I told you this was for your own good?” he said quietly.
Chapter 3
Luke sensed the second Ash lost it. The steel-blue eyes that haunted his dreams flared before darkening to the color of a stormy sea.
Ash marched around the desk and grabbed the front of Luke’s shirt.
“How old do you think I am?” he snarled. “I’m not a child, Luke, so if you’ve got something to say, say it goddamn it!”
Luke’s gaze dropped from the gorgeous, angry face hovering less than a foot from his to the fingers grasping his shirt, his pulse drumming a wild beat in his veins.
Ash was too close. Way too close.
“Let go,” Luke said stiffly.
Ash blinked, self-awareness dawning in his eyes for a second. It was replaced by incandescent fury in the next instant.
“I won’t,” he grated out. “Not until you tell me what this is really—”
Luke moved so fast, Ash could only gasp. He shot to his feet and crowded Ash against the desk, one powerful knee roughly parting Ash’s legs. Luke stepped inside the cradle of Ash’s thighs and used his brawny frame to force Ash backward over the desk.
Ash instinctively gripped Luke’s hips with his knees as he lost his balance. His elbows hit the white laminate surface behind him, sending stationary scattering to the floor. Luke leaned down and braced his hands on either side of Ash’s head, his stance intimidating, his face a scant few inches from Ash’s. They both froze, amber gaze locked on blue, their breathing loud and ragged in the sudden stillness.
Heat flooded Ash’s cheeks when he registered their intimate position. Despite the anger simmering inside his heart, he couldn’t stop the thrill of desire that coursed through him.
Jesus, he smells good!
The feel of Luke’s muscular frame against him, the scalding hotness of his body through his thousand-dollar suit, the warmth of his breath as it washed over Ash’s skin, the golden flecks in the eyes above him—Ash absorbed it all, knowing he would never get this close to the man he loved ever again.
Something shifted in Luke’s eyes. Ash stared, his heart racing against his ribs, not quite sure what he was reading in Luke’s darkening expression. Heat flamed Ash’s ears in the next moment when he felt Luke’s erection press against his thigh.
Ash’s dick twitched. His gaze dropped to Luke’s mouth before he let out a shaky breath.
Shit.
The breathy little sound Ash had just made shot straight to Luke’s groin and sent his pulse spiking.
Ash licked his lips nervously and stared at Luke’s mouth. Luke swallowed a curse. He wanted nothing more right now than to press his own lips to Ash’s delicious Cupid’s bow. To part Ash’s plump curves and dip inside. To explore Ash’s cocky tongue with his own and taste him in the most intimate way.