Just a Bit Bossy by Alessandra Hazard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 16

 

 

By the time Nate returned from his walk along the lakeshore, he was resolved to act like last night’s embarrassing incident hadn’t happened. Nate had been relieved to find Ferrara gone when he woke up in the morning, but now it felt like the longer he put their confrontation off, the worse it would be. It was time to man up and face the music. He could hardly avoid his boss all day long, every day. Besides, he was kind of curious how the talks were going.

It was easy to find where everyone was—he only had to follow the noise.

Around fifteen people were lounging by the pool in various state of undress, mostly men but a few women too. They all were clearly buzzed, laughing and chattering, their eyes a little glassy. Apparently, “business negotiations in an informal setting” involved lots of booze and weed and not much business.

Nate’s gaze was immediately drawn to his boss.

Ferrara was stretched out in a lounge chair, his big body seemingly relaxed, but his dark eyes were as alert and sharp as ever as he nursed his beer. His white shirt was unbuttoned, but otherwise he was mostly dressed. The nearest lounge chair was occupied by Roman Demidov, who had Luke in his lap. Luke was laughing about something and gesticulating animatedly while Demidov looked at Luke with a small, indulgent smile on his face. He was the only one besides Ferrara who seemed completely sober.

Ferrara’s gaze found Nate’s, his expression unreadable, before he motioned with his head slightly. Come here.

Nate hesitated, wondering what he expected him to do, exactly. All the chairs were occupied. Was he supposed to stand there awkwardly while Ferrara lounged in his chair?

The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became. If Ferrara hadn’t insinuated that they were together, he wouldn’t feel so awkward and out of his comfort zone now. It pissed him off that the asshole looked so relaxed and arrogant while Nate was anything but.

Maybe it was time to push Ferrara out of his comfort zone for once.

Glancing back at Luke, who was half-sprawled on top of Demidov, Nate smiled. Maybe it was a crazy idea, but what the hell, wasn’t that what Ferrara had brought him here for?

With new determination, Nate strode toward his boss, smiling. His smile probably looked a little deranged, judging by the sudden wariness that appeared in Ferrara’s body language.

Yep, he was so doing it.

Nate plopped down onto Ferrara’s lap and looped his arms around his neck. “Hey there, handsome.” So he had totally stolen the line from Ferrara’s booty calls; sue him.

Ferrara stared at him blankly, his body tense under him.

Nate smiled wider. “I missed you,” he said, loudly enough for Demidov and Luke to hear. “What have you been up to?” Without waiting for a response, he pressed his mouth against Ferrara’s firm lips, barely suppressing a laugh. Fuck, this was hilarious. Why hadn’t he thought of this sooner?

He felt the other man stiffen even further before an arm suddenly wrapped around him and pulled him closer.

And then Ferrara was kissing him.

Kissing him. For real.

Nate’s mind went utterly blank, unable to comprehend what was happening. The kiss was thought-annihilating, it was debilitating—Nate felt like he was in free fall. He’d never been kissed like that, with such control and forcefulness. It made him feel shaky and unsure, out of control and off balance. Ferrara’s mouth was so damn confident, he even kissed with arrogance, the dick, his tongue pushing into Nate’s mouth as if he owned it. It pissed Nate off—it pissed him off that he was allowing it, meekly accepting the kisses and just gasping, overwhelmed and confused, as his Satan of a boss plundered his mouth with domineering, bruising kisses.

When Ferrara finally let his mouth go, Nate could only blink owlishly at him, out of breath, his thoughts in chaos. He licked his lips. They felt sensitive and tender—his whole chin did from Ferrara’s stubble.

The asshole smiled and said, “I missed you, too, bello.”

Nate glared at him.

 

***

 

So. That was apparently a thing now. A new game they had been playing the whole afternoon.

Nate wondered glumly how they had come to this. This being the fact that he was sprawled in Ferrara’s lap, eating strawberries out of his boss’s hands.

But he was determined not to lose, no matter how weirded out he was by the entire situation.

Nate smiled at Ferrara and licked his fingers as he accepted the strawberry into his mouth. Ferrara’s dark eyes watched it—watched his mouth—a little too fixatedly for that to be just an act. The asshole was probably imagining stuffing his cock into his mouth. Nate was aware that Ferrara was aroused—it would have been hard to miss, considering that Nate was in his goddamn lap—but the bastard was always somewhat horny, so Nate didn’t take it personally.

Ferrara leaned in and captured his mouth again. Ugh, not again. Nate’s eyelids slipped shut, no matter how hard he fought to keep them open. Fuck, it was unbearable, being kissed by this man—overwhelming, wrong, and just too much. It left Nate feeling shaky and meek, like a stranger. No matter how many times he told himself that he’d take control over the kiss, he could never quite do it, just opening his mouth passively and letting himself be kissed within an inch of his life.

A sound slipped out of his throat when Ferrara pulled away. It wasn’t a whine. He hated Ferrara and he hated his horrible kisses that made him feel like a different person altogether.

“You kiss terribly,” Ferrara murmured before gripping his chin harder and kissing him again.

“You kiss terribly, too,” Nate said when he was allowed to breathe again. He hated how shaky his voice sounded, how hard it was to concentrate on anything but Ferrara’s face. He wasn’t even sure if the other people were watching them—if they were still even there. The rest of the world just seemed fuzzy around the edges, distant and bizarre, Ferrara’s sun-bronzed face the only thing in focus, those black, intense eyes holding him in some weird spell.

Someone coughed slightly.

Nate blinked and dragged his eyes away from Ferrara. It took him a moment to focus his gaze on Luke, who was looking at them with a knowing little smile.

“The dinner is ready,” Luke said. “Everyone is already hanging out at the beach patio. Let’s go. Or do you need a moment?”

Realizing what he was implying, Nate flushed and scrambled off Ferrara’s lap. No, they definitely didn’t need a moment, thank you very much.

He felt more than saw Ferrara get up and follow them. Nate walked faster, catching up to Luke and walking side by side with him. His body felt too warm, his nape prickling with awareness. His lips were tingling and sore from all the kissing, and he pursed them, trying to get rid of the feeling of Ferrara’s mouth on them. It didn’t work.

“So,” Luke said, breaking the silence. “How long have you been together? Not too long, right?”

Nate looked at the guy, unsure what to say. Ferrara was on the phone, speaking in a low voice behind them, so he was no help.

“What makes you think so?” he said evasively, hoping to avoid a direct answer. He didn’t want to contradict whatever Ferrara had told them while Nate was on a walk.

Luke grinned, looking so damn pretty and youthful that Nate had an uncomfortable thought that he might be jailbait. But surely Demidov wouldn’t date someone underage, right?

“It’s just obvious that you’re still at the ‘Does he or doesn’t he?’ stage, when everything is still new and exciting and a little weird.” Luke’s expression turned wistful. “I remember that—I remember getting shivery and tingly from Roman’s every touch.”

“And now you don’t?” Nate said, trying to shift the conversation to a less uncomfortable topic.

Luke smiled a little. “Oh, I absolutely do. But now it feels weird when he isn’t touching me. I’ve just moved on from the infatuation phase to the ‘he’s my home’ phase. You’ll get there, too.”

Nate almost laughed at that. Luke was horrible at reading people.

“So you’ve been together for a while?” Nate said, steering the conversation back toward Luke. “You aren’t… You aren’t actually all that young, then?”

Chuckling, Luke shook his head. “I’m pretty sure I’m older than you are, mate. Don’t let my baby face fool you. Roman and I have been together for years.”

Before Nate could say anything, they reached the beautiful patio on the lakefront. Dinner was being served there, and the other guests were already helping themselves to the delicious food.

Nate’s stomach growled, very loudly—he hadn’t eaten anything besides a few strawberries since the morning. He flushed in embarrassment, but Luke gave him an understanding look. “I know, I could eat a horse right now.”

Demidov smiled, pulling his lover into the seat next to him. “I’ve tried horse meat in Uzbekistan. It was surprisingly tasty. You should try it sometime.”

“Don’t be gross, Roma,” Luke said, pulling a face, which only made Demidov laugh.

After a moment’s hesitation, Nate sat down too and started filling his plate. He studiously ignored it when he felt Ferrara take the empty seat beside him.

“Pass me the salt,” Ferrara said.

Nate passed him the salt without looking at him.

He stabbed a piece of chicken on his plate and put it in his mouth. Chewed. Ferrara shifted beside him. Nate poured himself some juice. Drank it.

Ferrara sighed. “Stop being ridiculous,” he said quietly, just for Nate’s ears.

“I’m not doing anything,” Nate said, still not looking at him.

“I didn’t think a few kisses would finally shut you up.”

A few kisses? More like dozens of kisses.

“Oh what, you would have done it months ago?” Nate said snidely.

“Here you are,” Ferrara said, sounding satisfied, the prick. It confirmed Nate’s old suspicion that Ferrara found his bitching entertaining and it was the only reason he tolerated it.

“It was your idea,” Ferrara murmured.

Yeah, don’t remind me. He hated that it always turned out that way: Nate always thought he could finally outplay his boss, get the upper hand, but Ferrara always managed to adapt superbly and turn the tables. Even now he looked completely at ease already, as if Nate hadn’t stunned him with his kiss.

Nate scowled and focused on his food, resolved to ignore his insufferable boss.

But fuck, it was impossible. His senses were hyperaware of everything Ferrara did, his ears straining to hear his conversation with the woman to his right. They were conversing in low tones, the woman smiling widely and playing with her hair as she looked Ferrara in the eyes.

Nate pursed his lips, a little annoyed. Of course he and Ferrara weren’t actually a real couple, but the woman didn’t know that. Why the hell was she flirting with a supposedly taken man while Nate was right there? It was utterly shameless. And it was utterly shameless the way her dark eyes kept roaming over Ferrara’s muscular chest—the asshole hadn’t bothered to button his shirt up. Show-off. It wasn’t that hot in the evening, the weather was perfectly pleasant.

Well, Nate should probably take issue with their flirting, right? If they were a real couple, he wouldn’t have let someone else flirt with his partner so shamelessly. In fact, it would probably be weird if he didn’t put an end to this.

“Raffaele,” Nate said. He paused, the name feeling weird on his tongue. He’d never called his boss that even in his thoughts. Never allowed himself.

Ferrara turned his head, something like surprise flickering in his eyes. Maybe he was as startled by the use of his first name as Nate was. “Yes?” he said.

Nate brushed his fingers over the other man’s chest before slowly buttoning up his shirt. “You’re being rude, babe,” he said sharply, trying to sound jealous. It was easy. Much easier than he’d expected. Maybe his acting skills were better than he’d thought. “You should have told this very nice woman that you’re taken before she could get her hopes up.”

The black eyes just gazed at him for a moment before Ferrara’s lips curled a little. “There’s no need to be jealous,” he said, leaning in and kissing him on the lips.

It was a chaste, brief kiss, perfectly appropriate for an informal dinner outdoors. But Nate’s mind went utterly empty with that horrible dizziness-submissiveness again. He parted his lips, his hands gripping Ferrara’s shirt. Please don’t. Please don’t stop. He was chasing Ferrara’s mouth with his own, Nate realized with a sinking feeling, but he couldn’t stop. He needed—he needed—

He whined when Ferrara pulled back. Fucking whined. It was mortifying.

Ferrara studied him, his gaze so very dark. Bottomless. Nate had never known what it meant to drown in someone’s eyes until that moment. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. Nate couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. He could only look at him helplessly, dazed and lost.

Ferrara grabbed Nate’s arm and practically dragged him away from the table.

Nate let him, his mind hazy and his knees weak.

There was a small building nearby, some kind of kitchen used by the staff.

Ferrara dragged him behind it.

He let go of Nate’s arm and looked at Nate with his black, demonic eyes.

The moment stretched, the tension unbearable.

“Kneel,” he said, voice deep and low.

As if in a dream, Nate dropped to his knees.

He sucked him off right there, not giving a damn that they were just a few feet away from other people. All he wanted was this cock in his mouth, the heady, musky taste of it, the feel of it, the thickness stretching his lips. Fuck, it felt so good, the hands in his hair, bossy and demanding, the cock moving in his mouth. It felt just right. But he wanted more.

As though hearing his thoughts, Ferrara started thrusting, fucking his mouth in earnest. Nate moaned around the cock and fumbled with his own fly. Pulling out his own erection, he stroked it, hard and fast, while his boss used his mouth.

“Look at you,” Ferrara said huskily. “You’re the biggest cock slut I’ve ever seen.”

The filthy words caused a horrible mix of arousal and humiliation, and Nate came, moaning around the cock in him. Ferrara groaned and slammed his cock against his throat a few times before spilling deep into it. Nate swallowed greedily, every single drop.

And he wanted more.

Jesus.

What had this man turned him into?