Ace’s fears started to morph into anger — anger at always having to be the patient one, anger at being fooled by yet another closeted guy. Most of all, anger at letting himself fall in love with Paul, who was so quick to run out on him without letting him explain.
By the time Paul had closed his office door, Ace was ready to explode.
“Mr. Gillen, please take off your shirt,” Paul said disinterestedly.
Fine. He wants to play pretend? Let’s play.
Ace whipped his T-shirt over his head. “So, your secretary’s name is Nicole, huh?” he said tightly. “She’s cute. Nice set of tits she was pushing out there. Said some interesting things about you when she was on the phone.”
Paul, who had been avoiding eye contact and scribbling something on a clipboard, paused briefly and looked up, but not at Ace. “Oh?”
“Not very professional of both of you, Dr. Z.”
This time Paul did look at him. “Excuse me?”
“Well, if you’re going to fuck your secretary, you both should have the decency to be a little more discreet. In front of patients, I mean.”
“You think I’m fucking Nicole?” Paul barked. “That’s what you think of me?”
“Well, what the hell am I supposed to think?” Ace spat. “Like it’s unheard of for a deeply closeted fag to try to convert himself.”
That broke the dam. They both started shouting at each other, right in each other’s face.
“You hypocritical asshole!”
“I’m hypocritical? You ran out without a backward glance! Had your fill of my ass, is that it?”
“Oh, that’s just rich coming from you! How often have you fucked that little beefcake Tanner?
“Christ! Why do I even bother?”
“Are you ever not fucking somebody?”
“We both know you were always going to be the one who did the leaving here. Same old fucking story!”
They both stopped abruptly, panting for breath from their release of anger. Their faces were inches apart, sharing their hot breath, not breaking eye contact.
Paul broke first, lunging at Ace’s mouth with his own. They both moaned at the first touch of skin on skin, of teeth clacking together.
Ace met him in passion, tongues clashing battling for dominance. One strong man facing another, until one submitted to the claiming.
He knew his lips were going to be puffy and even bruised when this was all over, but he didn’t care. Part of him was so grateful to be touching Paul again, but he still needed to explain himself. He wrenched his mouth away from Paul.
“Wait, wait,” Ace said breathlessly. “I need to tell you things. I want to — need to explain what you saw.”
Paul’s roaming, hungry hands reached for Ace’s face again. “I don’t care,” he growled. “I need you so fucking much.”
Ace moaned into Paul’s open mouth, briefly losing himself in another kiss.
With herculean effort, Ace tore himself away. He didn’t want this to be about just sex anymore. Maybe it started that way, as a way for a mutual itch to be scratched, but it hasn’t been that way for some time now. For either of them. He needed Paul to know how he felt — before anything more happened.
“Please stop,” he panted. “I need to tell you this. Tanner was a one-time thing before I met you, nothing more at all. He kept trying to make it more. I should have done more to stop him, but –” Ace stopped himself. This wasn’t a time for excuses. It was time for begging.
He searched Paul’s eyes for understanding, willing him to believe in him. “I don’t know how to prove that to you,” he said, feeling helplessness creep into his voice.
For a terrible moment, Ace thought that Paul ultimately wouldn’t believe him, that his mind was made up. After all, wouldn’t a guilty man say the same things he had? How could he make him believe? He could drag Tanner over to Paul’s house to make him confess, but he didn’t trust that little fucker anywhere near his man.
Ace took Paul’s face in his hands. “Please, please believe me,” he begged. “There is nobody for me but you. Not since the moment I met you. I should have told you that weeks ago,” he said, his voice rough with sadness.
Paul stared back at him with eyes still darkened by lust and a wild look, hungry and conflicted.
What if he couldn’t accept this? Ace knew he could never walk away like he told himself earlier. He needed this man too much.
The seconds dragged on, and Ace’s breath kept coming as harsh panting — not from exertion this time, but from growing panic.
Maybe Paul needed more time — to process, to miss him, anything. It would ache to be away from him again, but whatever it took, he was willing to do.
Ace gave up and started to pull away, his head bowed and tears pricking his eyes.
Paul caught him back in his arms and tugged him sharply to his chest.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he said, low and rumbling. “You giving up on me so soon?”
Ace’s heart leapt. Did that mean?
“I’m sorry,” Paul said softly.
And Ace’s heart took a nosedive, the abrupt u-turn making him dizzy. “Sorry for what?” he asked carefully.
“For wasting this whole week,” Paul murmured, his mouth hovering over Ace’s. “One whole week when I haven’t been touching you, tasting you.” He briefly licked his tongue into Ace’s mouth, then pulled back. “Loving you,” he whispered.
Tears swum in Ace’s eyes. He could hardly believe what he was hearing, not after everything that had happened this awful week.
“Oh God, me too,” he moaned. “Me too everything. Fuck, I’ve missed you.”
Paul growled into a possessive kiss, and Ace felt himself harden swiftly, almost painfully. A week of frustrating dreams, of an empty bed and a heart squeezed to the breaking point — he wasn’t going to last very long. He needed Paul inside him, needed to feel turned inside out again, needed their sweat to mingle on each other’s skin.
Paul’s hands groped everywhere, like he was afraid Ace would disappear before he could have him. Ace knew the feeling.
Their bodies would be covered with little finger-shaped bruises come morning, and Ace welcomed them. Welcomed every bit of evidence that Paul was touching him.
“I should tell you,” Ace said breathlessly, struggling with Paul’s buttons, “there’s nothing wrong with my back, Dr. Z.”
“Better check your backside just in case, Mr. Gillen,” Paul smirked.
He flipped Ace around to bend him over the desk, roughly pulling the jeans down his legs.
“As I suspected,” he gasped. “Looks like your backside does need a doctor’s attention.”
Paul pressed his full body against Ace and bit into his neck, pulling a low moan from Ace.
“Can you be quiet during my examination?” Paul whispered, his voice filled with unspilled laughter. “Don’t want Nicole to think there’s something wrong.”
“Please,” Ace scoffed. “You’re the one who likes to talk dirty and comes like a bear.”
Paul growled as if to prove Ace right and dropped to his knees. He pressed hungry kisses along the smooth flesh of Ace’s ass, and Ace melted further at the rasp and scratch of Paul’s close-cropped beard. Paul teased his fingers against Ace’s opening with one hand and reached around the take Ace’s aching length with the other.
“God, I need you,” Paul breathed. He stood abruptly and backed away. “Don’t move.”
Ace nearly cried out in frustration, but he stayed where he was, panting and dripping, bent over Paul’s desk.
Paul returned with a bottle of KY jelly.
“You keep lube in your office?” Ace asked, incredulous. “Now who’s the Boy Scout?”
Paul merely chuckled, then took Ace’s head in his hands and wrenched his face around to claim another bruising kiss.
He coated his fingers with the lubricant and sank into Ace’s hole. Paul was hot and forceful, wringing pleasure out of Ace like he knew all his secrets — which, Ace, figured, wasn’t half wrong. Paul knew all he had to do was curve his finger toward Ace’s prostate and just tickle it while he sucked on the pulse point under Ace’s ear and he’d-
“Wait, wait!” Ace gasped. “Not yet — need you in me! Give me your cock.”