EIGHT
Even though Brad knew he was making a mistake, even though he had known it from the moment that he hadforgottento slip the contract Aaron had requested into his briefcase, it was still something that Brad felt powerless to control. In truth, he had expected Aaron to notice the long contract, had, in fact, sort of counted on it, and even if it made him a bad person, he had to face some pretty uncomfortable truths.
He wanted Aaron. Wanted to be alone with him, couldn’t stop thinking about him, and from the moment he had deliberately left the contract behind, he’d had to look at himself very openly and admit that he was actually stooping to the level of trying to lure Aaron back to his house.
This wasn’t his style, and part of him felt horrible about it. But then, he had always been the sort of man to go after what he wanted. It was just that the things that he had wanted hadn’t been people, but rather career advancement.
It wasn’t too late to call all of this off, he knew. Aaron looked nervous as they stood together outside of the front door of Brad’s condo building, and Brad had the distinct idea that he hadn’t managed to put anything over on the perceptive young man.
So why not face Aaron, and admit to him that this was a bad idea? They were standing on the brink of something that Brad, at least, wasn’t sure that he could step away from, and once he gave in to it, the chances of escape seemed even slimmer. If Aaron wanted to, though, maybe he would be able to resist. To simply let Aaron get into his car and drive off into the night.
And then never, ever be alone with him again. But that would mean giving up on getting Aaron to sign up for a solo career, too. Brad usually knew what to do, he was usually pretty sure of himself, but in this case, his mind was spinning and whirling as though someone had taken his head and given it a good shake.
What was the right thing to do? The best thing, for himself and for Aaron, too? In the low, velvety darkness, Brad stared at Aaron, trying to force himself to see past his stunning beauty.
There had been beautiful men before, and Brad had always been able to take them, or not, and move on. Why was Aaron so different?
Aaron tilted his head to the side, looking evenly back at Brad, and finally, he raised an eyebrow at him, the faintest hint of a smirk on his face. People seemed to think that Aaron had no emotions, but Brad thought otherwise. The signs were there, but Aaron seemed to do his best to hide them.
“Are we going inside or what?”
With that, Aaron sealed his fate, and Brad even thought that the young man knew exactly what he was doing, that he had done it on purpose. Possessively, Brad rested his hand on the small of Aaron’s back, just above the sweet, tempting curve of his lovely little ass, and ushered him into the building.
Once they were in the elevator, they were on each other, like they had both just been waiting for the privacy. Aaron’s body was hot, his hands seeming to burn Brad even through the layers of his suit, pushing Brad’s jacket aside, tracing over the shape of his nipples through the thin layer of his clean white dress shirt.
Unfeeling? Cold? Brad wanted to snort, and maybe he would have if Aaron hadn’t been busy plunging his tongue into Brad’s mouth. Would anyone that knew Aaron believe it if they saw him here, pressing against Brad, pushing him against the wall until he was pretty much trapped there?
Aaron was anything but remote now, with his mouth panting against Brad’s, his hands all over him, and his hips tilting forward to rock against him. Intense, yes, Aaron was and always would be that, but cold? Unfeeling? Uncaring?
That, Brad didn’t fall for nearly as much as he had the idea that most people did.
Every second, Brad expected Aaron to pull back, to call this off, to give in to some semblance of sanity. Or should Brad be the one to do that? This was, after all, his building, and someone could see them, which might be awkward.
But he couldn’t make himself stop, and it seemed that Aaron was the same way. Aaron’s slender, eager fingers slid down, rubbing over the front of Brad’s pants, which were tented with desire.
No one got him hard like this man did.
The elevator ride seemed to pass too quickly, while at the same time far too slowly, with Aaron’s hand groping Brad’s dick until he wondered dimly, through a haze of white-hot desire, if he could actually shoot right off in his pants like some teenaged kid with no control over their bodies.
Funny that Brad usually prided himself on having so much control. Aaron threatened that in so many ways, so why was Brad so willing to be here? Why couldn’t he make himself care enough about his precious control to push Aaron away?
With a softding, the elevator doors slid smoothly open, and Brad put Aaron gently away from himself and straightened his tie in some sort of mostly futile effort to feel like he wasn’t going to lose it.
Only the way that Aaron was looking at him, the sheer, burning hot passion in them, almost undid Brad completely. How had he ever thought that he could resist this man? Especially when Aaron seemed to want Brad, maybe even as much as Brad felt like he needed him?
Then Aaron was on him again, and any doubt that Brad had had simply vanished, like dew unable to persist against the full, burning heat of the summer sun. His worry about what the neighbors would see didn’t matter, whether this was right or wrong didn’t matter, nothing mattered but the pressure of Aaron’s body against his own.
And then Aaron started to strip him, right there in the hallway, and it was probably good that it was late enough at night that no one would be likely to step out their door and see them. Aaron’s hands were tugging, prodding, pulling Brad’s suit jacket right off of him and then starting to fuss with his tie.
Well, if you couldn’t beat them …
Aaron wore a casual button up shirt in a shade of purple that only made his unusual eyes pop more than ever, quite the striking effect, but that didn’t stop Brad from starting to undo those buttons. Using just his body, Brad crowded against Aaron, herding him toward the door that led to his condo.
By the time they had reached it, Brad’s tie had been loosened, his jacket barely hanging on to his body, and Aaron was the next thing to shirtless. Fumbling with his key, Brad finally managed to slot it into place, managed to keep his hands to himself long enough to open the door before they both went tumbling through it.
Never before had Brad gotten so swept away in desire for someone that he had cared as little about his clothing as he did. He and Aaron stripped each other, skin tantalizingly being revealed piece by piece, and the more he saw of Aaron, the more he needed him.
There was no talking, and there didn’t seem to be a need for it. Their clothing both got tossed on the ground, landing carelessly there as he and Aaron struggled to get closer, to rub newly bared skin against the other, and somehow, though Brad would never be completely sure how, he managed to keep it together enough to steer Aaron, naked now, toward the bedroom.
