Page 23 of Love By Design

“You know I think it was amazing,” I murmured, leaning forward to bring our bodies closer together. “What were you after last night?”

“A good time.”

“Wrong answer.”

“I’m not sure the technology is there yet to purify graywater in the way we need it for future development and use,” he croaked.

“What do you need, Silas?”

“But there’s some guys in Europe who are making a lot of progress with the tech.”

“Silas.”

“We’re probably a few years away from that kind of advancement here,” he whispered.

I could hear the way his exhales trembled in the space between us.

“Did you get what you wanted last night?”

His body swayed forward, and he blinked long and hard. “I…”

He licked his lips, and I watched. Iwatched.

“My research was really inspired by integration with nature that you see in buildings like the Pabellon de la Reserva.”

“Silas.”

It was obvious my thought pattern around Silas Ayres had shifted irrevocably when I walked in and found him with his pants down and his ass up, but that had no bearing on the opinion I’d had of him before last night. He was smart, capable, extremely forward-thinking, if not burdened by the narrowmindedness of his father. He had the makings of beinga groundbreaking architect, but he needed the freedom to design his own ideas, not someone else’s. He’d always been Stanley’s son, and obviously that hadn’t changed, but I had. He was the son of my former friend, my business rival.

He had no place in my home with his shoes off, with his pulse hammering against his throat so hard I could see it. Holding him in my arms at Rapture had awoken something in me that had been long dormant. Having him in my house now, with my food in his belly and his hands only inches away from mine only served to stoke a fire that I’d never meant to start.

“No,” he whispered, so soft I barely heard it over the beating of my own heart.

“If this is a no, you can leave.” I tried to make myself lean away from him, but it was impossible.

“No, I meant…no, I didn’t get what I wanted last night.”

Heat raced between my legs, blood thickening my cock to a girth it had no right being, all things considered. Silas was here because I’d asked him over, demanded it maybe, but only because he’d suffered a trauma and I wanted to make sure he was processing it and not avoiding it. My brain and my body were on different wavelengths, though, and I needed to control myself so the wrong one didn’t win out.

I forced myself to lean away from him just long enough to breathe and ask, “What did you want?”

“A spanking,” he murmured.

I exhaled through my mouth, cheeks puffing out like a squirrel, and I reached forward, gently pressing my fingers against Silas’s chest. His eyes went wide, and I gave him a gentle push backward. He’d leaned in so close during the exchange he was barely on the seat, and I knew he needed the fresh air as much as I did. His back hit the cushions, and he blinked rapidly, then covered his cheeks with his hands and turned away from me.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

“What for?”

He shrugged awkwardly and let his hands fall into his lap, fingers tangled.

“Next time you want a spanking, I’ll give you a spanking.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I stood. Gathering the plates from the table, I carried everything into the kitchen and dropped it on the counter with enough force I was shocked when the porcelain didn’t shatter on impact. Bracing myself against the edge of the counter, I bowed forward and let my chin hang against my chest while I caught my breath. It was easier to breathe when Silas wasn’t in the room, but then he was.

I felt him behind me before I heard him, the nervous but sure energy rolling off of him like waves crashing against the shore. Squaring my shoulders, I stood up straight but didn’t turn toward him because I couldn’t be responsible for what happened next if I did.

“I want a spanking,” he said.