Page 75 of Devil's Kiss

DEREK WAS EXHAUSTED. He’d been at work since six that morning and it was just now coming up on eight in the evening.

He still couldn’t believe he’d done what Jordan had asked, but he had. He’d shut down the gym half an hour ago and was halfway through closing out the books when there was a knock on his office door.

The sun had now set, and the only lights that could be seen outside his office windows were the lamps lining the path that ran along the beach. There were couples out for evening strolls, and joggers taking advantage of the sun’s absence to get in a few miles without the risk of heat stroke. The calmness the night brought was peaceful and relaxing, and it was a welcome feeling after the hectic day he’d put in.

He knew the knocker had to be Jordan. He’d told him to come around the back and he would see a light on. But before Derek got a chance to tell him to come in, the door opened and Jordan stepped inside, dressed for a night at the gym. Red gym shorts and a black tank suited Jordan’s toned body to perfection.

Long, lean, and limber, Jordan had proven many times over that just because he didn’t have the bulk and height that Derek possessed, he could still keep up with him for hours at a time in bed. His chestnut-colored hair was all the fuck over the place, and his eyes held a fire that sparked a kindred flame within Derek.

He looked ramped up, and Derek knew the feeling. He was on edge with his own unfulfilled desire. Not that he was about to let Jordan know that. Instead, he leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands over his stomach.

Play it cool,he told himself.Play. It. Cool.

“Evening, Devaney.”

Jordan ran his eyes over him, and when the corner of his lips tugged into an arrogant smirk, Derek felt his dick come to life.Fucking traitor.

“Devaney tonight, am I? You haven’t used that for a while. If I remember correctly,” Jordan said as he placed his gym bag on the ground and walked toward the desk, “you used to call me that to keep me neatly tucked away in the professor box. Did you not?”

Derek got to his feet and rounded the desk until he was towering over Jordan, but as always, the guy didn’t back up or budge. Instead, he faced off with him in a way that never failed to get Derek hot and really fucking bothered.

“I did.”

Jordan ran his tongue along his top teeth, then flashed the most provocative grin Derek had seen in his life.

“How’s that working for you tonight?”

Yeah,it wasn’t, and Jordan knew it. He was playing to every single weakness he knew Derek had.

Bossy. Daring. And seductive as hell. He was in full-on sex pistol mode, and Derek knew he would be doing whatever the guy wanted by the end of this conversation.

While he tried to locate his tongue, Derek decided it would be wise to put a little distance between them, and sat back down behind his desk. He rolled his chair under it, but if he thought for one second that would stop the man stalking him—he was sorely mistaken.

Jordan’s fingertips trailed the top of the wood as he walked around the edge of the desk and stopped beside it. He then hitched himself up onto it and leaned back to kick his leg in an impressive arc over Derek’s head, before sliding directly between his legs.

“Are you running away from me?” he asked.

“No.”

Jordan raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

Derek grinned at that shameless man eyeing him like his favorite meal, and shook his head. “No.”

“Finally. An honest answer.” Jordan ran a finger down his jaw to his chin, and when Derek caught his wrist, halting any further touching, he pouted. “Is that any way to treat your date? By manhandling him?”

“You wish.” Derek chuckled, and by the way Jordan’s eyes darkened, he knew he was right on the money.

Before this went any further, though, before he willingly capitulated, there was something he needed to say, and it had to be now before he lost the ability to speak at all. “Don’t do this to me if you’re just here to fuck around.”

Jordan sucked his lower lip behind his teeth, and when it jutted back out, shiny and wet, Derek had a sudden urge to taste that mouth on his, consequences be damned.

“Oh, I mean it,” Jordan said. “You see, I had kind of an epiphany of sorts.”

“Did you?”

“Yes, I did.”

“And what was that?”