Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 84085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“You look like you could really use a good night’s sleep, Doc Will. Take the bed.” Charlie’s voice had dipped low and felt like a pair of strong arms wrapping around his soul. He wanted to lean into that and let go of everything for a while. Forget the rest of the world for five or six hours. That was all he needed.
But the price of leaning on Charlie was far too high. He’d never be able to rebound from that.
Charlie crowded close, and Will swallowed hard. He was trapped between the queen-sized bed and his former lover with no way of escape unless he was willing to run across the mattress. Not the most graceful exit, but he was considering it if it meant keeping the remains of his heart intact.
“Besides,” Charlie continued in that same low, soothing voice, “if I let you take the couch, I won’t be able to do this.”
A metallic click echoed through the room, jolting Will from the spell Charlie was weaving. He glanced down to see that Charlie had snapped a handcuff on his right wrist.
“What the—” he started but didn’t get the rest out as Charlie jerked the other handcuff over to the headboard and closed it around one of the wooden spindles, effectively locking him to the fucking bed.
“This way, we can all sleep in peace without worrying about you escaping and doing something stupid,” Charlie said, his tone hardening.
“You fucking asshole! You can’t do this! You can’t keep me prisoner here!” Will shouted at the top of his lungs. He jerked on the handcuff several times, but it just loudly rattled against the wooden frame, not budging an inch.
“You have no idea how much of an asshole I can be,” Charlie threatened. He leaned forward so that the tips of their noses were nearly touching. His breathing burst between his parted lips in rough pants as if he’d recently returned from a run.
“Trust me, you gave me an excellent crash course in how selfish and cold you can be.”
Charlie’s expression twisted up in a bitter smile and he lifted one hand to cup Will’s jaw. Will flinched at the incredibly gentle contact, demanding his body not react to the heat and blissful familiarity of his touch. Everything about Charlie called back to memories of happier times. He wanted to pull away and run, but Charlie had him trapped.
“What does it say about you?” Charlie whispered. “As much as you hate me right now, we both know that I can make you melt in my arms.” Charlie’s large thumb moved across his chin and swept along the bottom edge of his lip. Will clenched his teeth to keep his mouth shut. “I know all the ways to make you shout my name. To make you mine.”
It was true. As angry as he was at Charlie, he could feel a hundred little fires lighting across his body while his blood rushed to his cock, steadily filling it with a throbbing ache. Too much time had passed since he’d last been with someone and with just a touch from Charlie, the deep, smooth voice sliding into his ear worked to knock through his carefully erected defenses. His former lover knew his body better than anyone else. Charlie could deliver on all his promises and more.
Will swallowed hard and forced his eyes up to Charlie’s liquid dark-brown ones. “Congrats. You know how to make me hate myself even more where you’re concerned. Is that a natural gift or something you learned as an IT Team Lead?”
Pain flashed across Charlie’s face in an instant, and then it was gone. He dropped his hand from Will’s face and took a couple of steps away, giving them both the breathing room they needed.
“Get some sleep, Doc,” Charlie bit out before leaving the room.
Only when the door was closed behind Charlie did Will collapse on the edge of the bed. His entire body was trembling while his neglected dick ached. Charlie was right. If the man had kissed him, he’d have caved completely. He would have let Charlie turn him inside out to escape from the horror and pain of the past few months.
But he’d wake up the next day and regret everything.
He needed to get as far away from Charlie as soon as possible. He couldn’t let Charlie break him again.
5
CHARLIE SANDS
Charlie managed to get two steps away from the bedroom before he had to stop and brace one hand against the wall for support.
What the hell was he doing?
Every emotion was boiling up and swirling together in his chest to become a toxic concoction threatening to poison him and Will.
He was completely out of control. Every word out of his mouth was designed to either piss Will off or hurt him. Why? What was the point?
He’d defused plenty of hostile situations without a single casualty. He’d run into way too many men he’d slept with who were pissed that he wouldn’t stretch their one-night stand into something more. Each and every one of those he’d managed to defuse with relative ease.