Page 28 of The Last One to Let You Down

“Punish me?” Tom’s cock twitched, and his skin suddenly felt flush. “For, for what?”

“For being such a very,verybad boy.”

“A bad boy?” Tom scoffed.

“For disrupting my place of business,” Cypress said, clasping his arms behind his back and slowly stalking into Tom’s space.

“How about a punishment for you since you stole all my money?” Tom demanded, backing away before Cypress could get too close.

“Mm, you mean that money you got by illegally selling formaldehyde?”

“Yes, that money.” Tom huffed. “I was gonna call you, but I didn’t even get your number last night because I was all come-stupid—”

“Come-stupid?” Cypress laughed.

“You know. Because of what we did. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“Mmm, come-stupid. Well, I haven’t heard that one before.” Cypress kept advancing until Tom was forced to back up against the counter. “I like it.”

“Y-yeah?” Tom braced himself on the edge of the counter, completely trapped as Cypress pressed close. He felt so small with Cypress looming over him, and it was hard for him to pinpoint exactly why.

Cypress was at least a head taller than he was and twice as broad, his entire body basically one giant thick hunk of muscle, but it was more than their physical size. After all, Tom had been with bigger guys before, and not one had ever made him feel like this.

It was something else, something intangible, and it made Tom want to drop right back down to his knees again.

“Guess I was feeling a little come-stupid myself.” Cypress winked. “Because I forgot, too.”

Everything Tom had planned to say right now and the fear he’d tried to wrangle to his advantage were all melting away as he got lost in Cypress’s eyes. They were the most beautiful brown eyes he’d ever seen. The sheer power he felt from Cypress was coming off his body in thick waves, drowning out any rational thought until all he could think about was how much he wanted to taste him again.

“I like you,” Cypress suddenly confessed. “You keep managing to surprise me.”

“I… I do?”

“You act so shy and weak, but you were willing to suck my dick to buy my silence.”

“Hey! I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t do that under normal circumstances—!” Tom tried to argue, gasping as Cypress’s strong hand grabbed his chin.

“I steal your money,” Cypress went on, leaning in to teasingly brush their lips together, “and you come marching right up in here, demanding it back and looking for a fight.”

“I wasn’t… I mean…” Tom blinked rapidly. “I have to get it back. You don’t understand.”

“What I understand is when you’re put in stressful situations, you have the power to surprise even yourself with what you’re capable of,” Cypress cut in, his posture relaxing as he leaned down to kiss Tom.

Unable to resist, Tom gave in and kissed back, sagging against the counter. Cypress felt so very good, so strong, and he had missed those hot lips. He was having trouble fully understanding what Cypress was trying to tell him, but for now, he was going with it.

The power to surprise himself? Really? What power? He didn’t even have the power to get himself out of the mess he was stuck in with Junior right now.

“You just wanted to see what I would do?” Tom asked when they parted, grabbing onto Cypress’s thick arms to steady himself from the rush. “That’s why you took it?”

“In part,” Cypress replied honestly. “Also, to figure out how much shit you’re in.”

“It’s a lot.” Tom grimaced.

“I figured. That’s not a small chunk of change, you know. You wanna talk yet?”

“This is going to be the last time,” Tom said, unsure who he was trying to convince, himself or Cypress. “After I pay him that money today—”

“Him who?”