The Pet Stylist and the Playboy Read online

  Another knock, louder this time, got the dogs in an uproar. Banjo came racing down the steps and yapped excitedly, spinning in circles like a maniac.

  I opened the door, and my breath caught. Dante leaned against the doorframe.

  “Hey. I didn’t hear your bike.” I looked past his shoulder to the empty driveway.

  “I drove my father’s car. It’s parked at Gus’s. Can I come in?”

  I stepped back. “Morgan’s here.”

  Dante hesitated, but a distant roar announced Zeke was coming up the drive, so he stepped into the house. Banjo immediately sniffed at his jeans.

  “Good timing.” Morgan walked to the door. “How are you, Dante?”

  “Doing okay. You?”

  “Great, thanks.”

  Morgan hugged me and walked out onto the porch. Zeke climbed off his bike and removed his helmet. He ran a hand through his blond hair to smooth it out.

  “Hey,” he said to Dante. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

  Looking preoccupied, Dante only gave Zeke a curt nod.

  After kissing his boyfriend in greeting, Morgan took the extra helmet from the cargo net attached to the pillion seat and put it on.

  “We in a hurry or something?” Zeke asked.

  “Yeah,” Morgan said. “I want some ice cream.”

  Zeke grinned and shook his head as he swung his leg over his bike.

  When they’d roared off down the drive, I turned to Dante.

  “What’s—”

  Dante cut me off with a kiss that was nothing like the last one, sending all thoughts of him thinking of me as a brother out the window. I nearly lost my footing, and my mind zoned out, concentrating only on Dante’s soft, warm lips and wet tongue. His arms wrapped tightly around me, and when one hand moved so close to my ass, I gasped into his mouth, but he kept his palm at the small of my back.

  Why was Dante here, and why was he kissing me?

  Who the fuck cared? My arms wrapped around his neck, and I slid my hands into his soft hair. Was Banjo whining, or was that me? My face got hot.

  When Dante finally pulled away with a nip to my lower lip, I stared dazedly at him for a few long seconds.

  “W-what was that for?”

  Dante let me go and stepped back, and I would have sagged to the floor if the wall hadn’t been nearby to lean against. I wanted to be in his arms again.

  Dante bent and patted Banjo on the head, and the dog immediately lifted a leg and peed on the floor.

  “God,” I said before going to fetch a towel. Secretly, I was glad for a moment to clear my head. My lips still tingled, and my cock was harder than brick.

  “I’m sorry for attacking you like that,” Dante said when I crouched to clean up the puddle.

  Great, he finally kisses me, then he apologizes.

  “Why did you?” I asked, mopping up the floor with the rag, glad I had something to do.

  “I’ve been wanting to do it for a while now.”

  I paused and looked up. “You have?”

  “Are you really that surprised?”

  “Yeah. I am. You’ve never been attracted to me.”

  Dante sighed and ran a hand over his face. “That’s not true. I just tried hard not to be.”

  “But...why? I don’t understand.”

  Dante shook his head. “I don’t even understand it myself.”

  I got to my feet. “So, you come over here late at night and just lay one on me? Is this about you seeing me with Hugh the other night?”

  Dante walked through the archway to gaze out the living room window.

  “Maybe.”

  Anger kindled in me, but when Dante turned tormented eyes my way, my ire melted away.

  I walked over to him and put my hands on his chest. His heart beat hard beneath my palm.

  “What’s wrong, D?” The nickname I rarely used with him fell from my lips. I hated to see him looking like that. “Don’t push me away anymore.”

  We were standing so close, I could feel his breath on my cheek.

  “Things are so fucked up, Swish.” He reached for me. “Isaac. I’ve been wanting to call you that since I found out it was your name.”

  “So, why didn’t you?”

  “I wanted you to ask me to do it.”

  I smiled at his weird mood. “Call me Isaac, Dante.”

  Dante bowed his head. His hair was streaked with blond from hours working in the sun and smelled of lemons. The girl he’d been with flashed in my mind, and my gut clenched when I wondered if he’d used her shampoo.

  “I have obligations to my family, and I’ll be moving back to East Hampton soon.”

  “You’re moving out of the club house?”

  Dante nodded. “I just didn’t want to leave things the way they were between us. I didn’t want you to think I didn’t care. Hell, I wanted to kiss you just one fucking time.”

  “You kissed me when you left,” I pointed out.

  Dante’s eyes met mine. “Not like I wanted to kiss you.”

  An undeniable cord vibrated between us, keeping me tethered to the spot. I grabbed Dante’s hand and squeezed it before raising it to my lips and kissing the soft place between thumb and forefinger. In the glow of the lamp on the table, Dante’s eyes were the bluest I’d ever seen them.

  He pulled me into his arms and took my mouth again, harder and deeper this time.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered between hungry explorations.

  I grabbed his jaw and held him still, searching his eyes. I had to know what this was about. And catch my breath. “Sorry for what?”

  Dante’s brow furrowed. “For making you think I didn’t care. Or that you were like all the others.”

  “If I was like all the others, you would have fucked me by now.” I was aiming for humor and was relieved when Dante huffed out a laugh.

  “I’ve wanted to ever since you moved out,” Dante muttered into the crook of my neck.

  “What changed after I left?”

  Dante raised his head and looked past me, and it was like I could see the thoughts flitting through his eyes. “I think I just realized how much you mean to me, and that you’re not the kid brother I tried to make you out to be. You’re different. Isaac.”

  Hearing my real name from his lips sent chills down my spine, and I was having a difficult time concentrating. Fuck, my heart bled all over the floor with love for the man, while at the same time, I knew who Dante was. What he was like. I’d witnessed it over and over again. He didn’t stick with any one person.

  “What do you mean, I’m different?”

  Dante shook his head like he didn’t know how to explain.

  I pressed my palms to his stubbled cheeks, making him look at me. “I know you care about me. But I really thought you didn’t want me that way.”

  Dante swallowed. “I don’t want to hurt you. Isaac.” Again, his concerted effort to call me by my real name did something to me inside.

  Heart brimming, I surged forward and attacked Dante’s lips with my own. He immediately opened his mouth and let me take what I wanted. He wanted me. Dante wanted me.

  Crazy with the power of being able to touch him that way, I ran my hands under his shirt to feel the solid planes of his back. He groaned, pushing the hardness in his jeans against me, and my cock answered with an eager, wet twitch.

  “Please,” I murmured. “Come upstairs with me.” I raised my eyes to meet his.

  “Fuck.” Dante took a deep breath. “It’s not a good idea. Things are complicated right now.”

  I grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the steps. “I don’t care.” I had to have him, and the fact he seemed reluctant made me crazy. On my way up the stairs, I realized he wasn’t following me. I turned to look down at him, hurt and anger rising in my chest.

  “What’s the matter, Dante? You can fuck the entire population of New York City but not me?”

  Pain and something more flashed in Dante’s eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said agai
n.

  “Well, you are hurting me. I’m hurt that you announced you were finished working here and left. I’m hurt that after ignoring me for so long, you suddenly kiss me like that. And I’m hurt you say you want me and have for a long time, but you won’t take me to bed.” I clenched my teeth. “Just go.”

  Furious, I turned and stomped up the stairs.

  I expected to hear the front door open and shut. Instead, feet pounded after me, and the next thing I knew, Dante swung me around, and his mouth landed on mine. Fire flared low in my groin, and I moaned into the kiss, fingers digging into his broad shoulders. I couldn’t get enough of his mouth and body. Need overcame anger, and I knew I wouldn’t think clearly until I’d had my fill of him. Fuck the consequences. Fuck everything—I wanted him.

  When Dante’s fingers slipped down the back of my jeans, I wanted to cry, I was so happy. He stilled when he touched the silk of the panties I wore.

  I’d started wearing the panties regularly again. After Clint, I’d stowed them away, not wanting to be reminded of the past, but after putting on the thong for Dante, I’d remembered how much I loved the feel of silk and lace against my skin. I liked how I felt when I had them on.

  The blue of Dante’s eyes deepened.

  “God,” he groaned. “You didn’t show them to him, did you?”

  Confused, it took me a minute to realize he was talking about Hugh. I wanted to laugh.

  “We haven’t even kissed.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question.”

  “No. Hugh has not seen my panties.”

  Dante groaned again before attacking my mouth, tongue delving so deep, I couldn’t breathe. His palm went to the back of my neck, controlling the movement of my head as he kissed me silly, while the fingers of his other hand stroked the silk covering my ass.

  I reached between us for the button of my jeans and opened them. Still kissing me, Dante pushed them down before pulling back to look. The panties were red with little rosebuds along the top of the front. A wet spot on the silk plainly showed how much I wanted him.

  “Holy shit,” Dante whispered before falling to his knees in front of me.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Dante

  My mouth watered at the sight of that scrap of silk next to Swish’s—Isaac’s—soft skin. Fuck, it was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. I loved having him in my arms and being able to call him by his real name. I wanted to say it while buried deep inside him.

  I nuzzled Isaac’s crotch, breathing in the tang of pre-cum through the silk.

  “God,” he whimpered above me, clutching my hair with both hands. I nudged him backward until he sprawled onto the bed, dark eyes watching my every move. Fuck, that turned me on. I licked at the slippery red material, slowly making my way upward to suck at the tip of his cock. My dick lurched in my jeans, and I unzipped them and took it out.

  Isaac pulled his shirt off and fell onto his back. “Please...” he begged, as though in pain.

  “I got you, baby.” I’d called a lot of people babe in my life, but never baby. Not intentionally, anyway, and definitely not with any meaning behind it like I’d just done. Anxiety at what I was getting myself into plucked at my core, and I paused, laying my cheek on Isaac’s thigh.

  “What’s wrong?” He sounded so unsure, and I didn’t want him to feel that way about anything.

  “I can’t just—just do things with you and then leave. And I have to leave.”

  “I don’t care,” Isaac said.

  I turned and pressed a kiss to his skin before licking it. Isaac’s gasp made me harder, as did the way he trembled.

  “Don’t treat me like glass, Dante. I won’t break.”

  I thought about what I was doing—the mixed signals I was sending by showing up at his house and kissing him. Following him to his bedroom only to pull away. I couldn’t blame him for being angry. I raised my head and looked him in the eyes. His dark pupils blended into the brown irises, and his lips were parted, plump from my kisses. The soft, tanned planes of his chest rose and fell with desire.

  “I want you,” he said. “Even if it’s just this once.”

  I was weak; I knew it. Weak and selfish to the core, because I wanted him so badly in that moment I couldn’t stop to think about what it might do to him. I got to my feet, and while I slowly removed my boots and clothes, Isaac watched every move, hair loose around his shoulders, and cock tenting the front of the red panties.

  Naked, I hovered over Isaac on the bed. The way his breathing picked up when I got closer and his fingers twitched as though longing to touch me brought a groan from my lips as, slowly, I leaned in and pressed tiny kisses along his lips, taking my time. When he opened his mouth, I delicately traced inside with my tongue while lowering my body onto him, pressing him into the bed. His hands found my skin, cautiously moving over me as though he couldn’t believe I was really there. As our kisses became more heated, his caution turned to abandon, and he arched his back, pushing his stiff cock against mine. All thoughts flew from my head as I ground against him.

  For long moments, the only sounds were the creaking of the bed springs, our mingled moans, and the occasional noise from the dogs. Isaac bent his knee, and the softness of his inner thigh slid against my bare ass.

  “I want you inside me.”

  Like I could ever stop now.

  I reached between us and rubbed his cock under the silk.

  “God, Dante. Please.”

  I licked his little nipples, my day-old beard scraping at the sensitive skin around them. Isaac groaned, and I latched onto his skin, sucking up to his neck and along his jaw while running my hands down the ripples of his ribs.

  Isaac’s hand moved down my hip and slid between us. When he took hold of my cock, I made a choked sound. Always, always, I was in charge in sexual situations, but right then I knew I wasn’t in charge at all. Isaac held me in the grip of his eyes and the touch of his fingers as he stroked me, bringing me higher until I dipped my head and took his mouth, our tongues tangling. Isaac brought up his other knee, cradling me between his legs, and we began to move, sliding against each other. Every swipe of his cock with only the silk between us was fucking torture.

  I was close, so I rose onto my knees and looked down at him. His lips were red and wet from my kisses and his neck and chest were covered with my love bites. I had to admit, I liked the look.

  “You sure you want to do this?” I forced myself to ask. I knew I was at the end of my control, and I had to make sure.

  Isaac arched his back and reached down to remove the last barrier between us. The silk panties went sailing past my head.

  I thought about Zeke’s wise-crack months ago about hoping I was tested frequently. I wanted more than anything to enter Isaac bare, something I’d never done with any lover, but I wasn’t taking that chance with him. Reluctantly, I eased away and fumbled for my wallet in the pocket of my discarded jeans.

  “Drawer.” Isaac pointed to the nightstand.

  I wanted to ask him what the fuck he was doing with condoms in his bedside drawer but stopped myself. It wasn’t my business, and with my track record, I had no room to judge. Thing was, I fucking hated the thought of anyone with his hands all over Isaac. Hadn’t the sight of him with Hugh tortured me until I’d shown up on his doorstep?

  When I’d suited up, I turned to find him with a tube of lubricant in one hand and stretching himself open with the other. I squeezed my tingling cock and eased back onto the bed. I sucked kisses along the soft inside of his thighs, making my way to his tightening balls. I pulled each into my mouth in turn, their tender softness heavy against my tongue.

  Isaac let out a string of curse words, and I released his nut with a wet pop and wandered downward. He tensed and tried to move back, but I stilled his legs with my hands.

  “Let me at that ass,” I said, desire and need making my voice rough.

  “But...”

  “Isaac. Let me have it.”

  He slowly relaxed
onto the bed, big brown eyes focused on me as I slid my hands under his round cheeks and lifted him to my mouth.

  “Holy fuck!” Isaac shouted when I flicked my tongue against his furl. I squeezed his ass cheeks and made a contented sound low in my throat. Isaac quivered and dug his toes into the sheets as I swirled my tongue around his opening again and again. I wondered if I was the first to taste him there. He acted as though I was, blushing and occasionally protesting as I sucked and nipped, loving the clean taste and soapy scent of him. The lube he’d used was fruit-flavored, though fuck if I could tell which fruit, and his little hole clamped onto my tongue like it wanted to keep me there forever. He was fucking delicious.

  Isaac panted and squirmed as I licked him open, hard cock weeping onto his stomach. It wasn’t long before he lost all inhibition and pushed his hips forward, pulling at my hair with one hand while trying to get my tongue deeper into him with the other. I couldn’t remember ever wanting someone so bad.

  “Now, Dante,” Isaac panted. “Fuck me, please. Oh, God, I can’t stand it.”

  Rising, I curled my arms under Isaac’s knees and yanked him toward me before taking one of the pillows and pushing it under his ass. Looking at him laid open and ready for me, I had to take a moment to calm down, or I knew I’d spill as soon as my dick was in, and that never happened. I grabbed hold of the base of my cock and squeezed, staving off the impending explosion. When I had myself more or less under control, I opened my eyes and looked at Isaac.

  Dark hair cascading around his face, matching eyes soft and full of want, he was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. “God, you’re gorgeous.” Sappy, I know, but I couldn’t wish the words away when they produced that smile on his face. I wondered if anyone had ever said anything like that to Isaac before.

  I was shaky as I positioned myself, having lost whatever suave control I’d once had in the bedroom. Isaac had demolished it. When the wide head of my cock breached Isaac’s tight opening, I let out a groan that sounded like it had been ripped from my soul. Isaac clutched at my ass, trying to push me farther in until my balls pressed against his ass. Squeezing my eyes shut, I sagged against him, trying to center myself in the maelstrom of sensation. Isaac wrapped his legs around my back, holding me in place as he stroked my hair.