An Unlocked Heart(Collars & Cuffs Stories) (12 page)

Alex had had enough. Indignation rose within him, and suddenly he found his voice—and his courage. “
Enterprising
?” His voice rang out, no trace of nerves now. “My brother resorts to blackmail and you call it
enterprising
?”

His mother had recovered from her shock. She glared at Alex reproachfully. Unsurprisingly, the first words out of her mouth had nothing to do with Rob’s misdemeanor. “I don’t know what to say, Alex,” she said finally. “I can’t say I’m happy about this. I mean, I know you’ve never had a girlfriend, but this was the last thing I expected to hear.” Alex winced at the disappointed tone in her voice. Now,
there
was a fucking surprise. She shifted her gaze to Leo and stared at him accusingly. “Did you have something to do with this? How old are you anyway? Thirty-nine? Forty? Don’t you think you’re a little too old to be dating my son?” Her eyes narrowed. “Are you some kind of pedophile?”

“Mum!” Alex leaped to his feet, hands clenched by his sides. His nostrils flared. “I’m twenty-two. And I’ve known I was gay for a while now.” He glanced at Leo, who was looking at him with a look of such fierce pride, it warmed him inside. It also spurred him on to stand up for himself, and for Leo. “Me being gay has nothing to do with Leo. Don’t you
dare
accuse him of such a thing.” He glared at his mother, his head held high.

Leo stood up and took his hand. Alex didn’t even give it a second’s thought. Suddenly, it felt as natural as breathing to feel Leo’s hand around his. “Mrs. Daniels, Mr. Daniels, I am very proud to be dating your son.” Alex’s heart swelled. “He is a wonderful young man. You should be proud of having raised such a fine son.” He squeezed Alex’s hand tightly before giving his parents his full attention. “I’m glad we’ve finally met. I’m sure there are lots of things you would like to know, and I’ll come round another time to have a more lengthy chat with you. But right now I need to take Alex to dinner. He’s had quite a day. And please don’t wait up for him. Alex will be spending the night at my apartment.” He smiled at Alex, who stared back in surprise. “Do you need to collect some things from your room?”

For a second, Alex didn’t know how to respond. Leo’s announcement had completely taken the wind out of his sails. Leo squeezed his hand encouragingly. “Yeah,” Alex said, giving Leo a shy smile. “I’ll just be a minute.” Leo released his hand, and Alex moved toward the door, pausing briefly to take in the scene. His parents were gazing at Leo with frank astonishment, and Rob was standing in the middle of the room, quietly seething. Alex shook his head, left the lounge, and dashed up the stairs to his room.

He flew around the room in a fever, hurriedly pushing toiletry items and clothing into his duffel bag. His heart was hammering. He was going to spend the night with Leo. The full force of that thought suddenly hit him, and he stopped dead in the middle of his bedroom floor. Oh God…. Would Leo want to fuck him? Alex began to shake. He wasn’t ready.
So
not ready. He fervently hoped Leo would understand. Leo sucking him off was one thing. Anything else…. He took a moment to calm himself, unwilling to face his parents in such a state of nerves. Alex caught sight of himself in the mirror on his wardrobe door. Christ, he was still in his work clothes. Hurriedly, he stripped off, reached for his jeans and a black T-shirt, and stuffed a clean shirt into the duffel bag as an afterthought.

His bag finally packed, Alex ran downstairs and into the lounge. The atmosphere in the room was a little less tense. Rob was glaring at Leo with ill-concealed resentment, whereas his father was discussing the upcoming general election with Leo, the two men deep in conversation. His mother sat watching the pair of them, her face still bearing a look of shock.

“Ready,” Alex announced breathlessly, giving Leo another shy smile.

Leo stood up. “Then let’s go.” He held out his hand, and Alex took it, acutely aware of his mother’s slight gasp. He saw nothing but Leo, however.

“Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Daniels.” Leo gave his parents a brief nod before glancing at Rob, saying nothing but gazing at him intently for a moment. Rob’s face paled.

It suddenly occurred to Alex that, for all his bluster and hateful stares, Rob was afraid of Leo. Alex regarded his boyfriend with interest. Leo was standing very still, all his attention focused on Rob. There was a moment or two of silence.

Leo gave his parents a final smile and then led Alex from the room and the house, pausing to pull the front door closed behind them. “We’re going to have dinner at the apartment,” Leo said. He grinned at Alex. “Let’s get you home.”

“Home” sounded rather good right now. Certainly more of a home than the one he’d just left.

L
EO
could hardly keep still. His heart had almost burst with pride when Alex stood up to his mother. He’d hoped Alex would say something, and it had justified his faith in the boy when he’d reacted so fervently. Unfortunately, Alex taking on his mother had had an unexpected side effect. Right now his cock was so hard, it could cut glass. He just wanted to get the boy home and kiss his gorgeous mouth until Alex’s lips were swollen. Before kissing him elsewhere….

Alex sat silently beside him in the car, his eyes on the road. Leo could only guess at what was going on in his mind. Alex had taken a huge step, and Leo was only sorry Rob had forced the issue. Well, maybe
he’d
forced it too, but his boy had done him proud.
His boy
….

“You all right, Alex?” he asked, not looking in his direction.

Alex half turned his head toward Leo. Leo heard the soft escape of breath as he sighed heavily. “Yeah,” he said, his voice hushed. “Just can’t quite take it in. Their reactions.” He paused. “Fuck knows what it’ll be like when I go home tomorrow.” He gave a bitter laugh. “Talk about having to face the music.”

Leo snorted. Actually, it had gone better than he’d anticipated. Alex’s father seemed very laid-back. But his mother…. A thought occurred to Leo. “Do you regret telling them?”

There was a moment’s silence. Leo waited anxiously. Had he pushed Alex too fast?

“No,” Alex said at last. Leo heaved an internal sigh of relief. “You were right, of course. I couldn’t let Rob get away with it, could I? He’d have made my life intolerable.” A cool hand crept onto his thigh, and Leo fought hard to contain his delight. Alex had reached for him. He made an effort to concentrate on the road ahead, but that slight hand was definitely a distraction.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

Alex shook his head. “Not really. Suppose I will be in a while.”

“Good,” declared Leo emphatically. “Because I have plans for you once we get into the apartment.” He felt the shudder that ran through Alex.
Good
….

“What… what kind of plans?” Alex sounded nervous, and yet there was an edge to his voice that spoke to Leo. Alex was hungry for something other than food.

“How does making out on the sofa sound?” All the way to the apartment, Leo imagined stretching out on the sofa with Alex in his lap, the two of them kissing for hours. He wanted Alex nude, wanted to feel his soft, warm skin under his fingertips, as he drove the boy out of his mind.

“That sounds… that sounds very good.” There it was again. A tremor rippled through Alex, a tremor that spoke to Leo in no uncertain terms. Oh, he was going to make Alex come again and again before they finally succumbed to sleep. And didn’t
that
thought cause Leo a shiver or two? Tonight he would share his bed for the first time in a long, long while. The thought of curling up around Alex, holding him in his arms, listening to his breathing change as he fell asleep….

Leo suddenly wanted to be home right now.

Ten

A
LEX
looked around the lounge of Leo’s apartment. It was the first time he’d had the opportunity, as his first visit he’d been rather… preoccupied. The apartment was situated on the top floor of a modern block on the outskirts of the city center. A large expanse of glass looked out over a park, affording a picturesque view of the treetops, and beyond them the skyline of the city, already bright with lights against the darkening sky. Alex liked the fact that he could see so much. The sun had set a few hours ago, and the sky was tinged with shades of purple at the horizon. It was a view that made him feel restful.

“Admiring my panorama?” Leo was standing behind him, two glasses of white wine in hand. He offered one to Alex, who took it gratefully, eagerly taking a long drink. Leo chuckled. “Easy there, Alex. You know what you’re like with alcohol, and on an empty stomach too.”

Alex grinned. The wine was delicious, not too dry—perfect, in fact. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “Guess I needed a drink right now.”

Leo gave him a warm smile. “Understandable, in the circumstances.”

Alex took another drink, this time a sip, as he looked around the room. The first thing he noticed was the bookcases. There were a great many of them, full to bursting with books. He wandered over, looking along the shelves. Travel books, autobiographies, a lot of detective fiction… and a section that caught Alex’s eye immediately. He stopped in front of a shelf, running his finger along the spines of the paperbacks.
What were the odds…?

“You and I seem to have a similar taste in fiction,” he said at last. “When we talked about our reading habits, though, you didn’t mention these.” His cheeks heated up.

Leo was suddenly behind him. He’d moved so silently Alex hadn’t felt him approach. He leaned forward, his breath warm on Alex’s ear. “You have some of these?” he asked quietly.

Alex could feel heat radiating from Leo, his body close behind him, not quite touching. Alex nodded slowly, deliberately keeping his eyes on the books before him. They were by authors whose books were already on Alex’s Kindle—Chris Owen, H.C. Brown, Sean Michael, SJD Peterson, Anna Martin—and they all had a theme in common: BDSM.

About six months ago, Alex had come across a book by Chris Owen that had affected him greatly. It had been the story of a Dom, Tobias, who takes on a new submissive, Noah, and it had plunged Alex into a world he never knew existed, a world that resonated deeply within him. He’d been unable to put the book down, reading long into the night. It had aroused him to such an extent, he’d had to stop reading to relieve himself. His cock had been so hard, it ached. Once he’d finished the book, he’d searched for the others in the series, and then books on the same theme.

“Which ones are your favorites?” Leo asked, slipping his hand around Alex’s waist and pulling him back against Leo’s firm body.

Alex shivered. He pointed to the books by Chris Owen, and then trailed his finger along until it rested on a book by Anna Martin. This had been a recent acquisition, but he’d loved it. He couldn’t begin to describe the effect the book had had on him.

“Why did you like that one?”

Now
there
was a question. Alex thought hard for a moment before answering. “I liked that Jesse and Will weren’t just sub and Master, they were lovers too.”

Leo’s hand tightened and then relaxed. “Have you read the sequel?” His breath tickled Alex’s ear.

Alex shook his head. “It’s on my Kindle, but it’s in my ‘to be read’ pile.” He took another long swallow of wine, trying to cool the blush in his cheeks. Leo reached around, took the glass from him, and placed it on the coffee table behind them. Leo turned Alex slowly to face him. Alex fixed his eyes on Leo’s broad chest, his nipples visible through the thin, silky fabric of his pale blue shirt, which was already pulled free of his tight jeans.

“No more book talk,” Leo whispered, and then he took Alex’s mouth in an impassioned kiss, his hands suddenly at Alex’s nape. Leo roughly pulled Alex toward him, exploring his mouth with his tongue.

Alex groaned, the kiss exactly what he needed. He let out a low moan as Leo drifted a hand down his spine to the swell of his ass and cupped him, pulling him firmly against Leo’s groin. “Oh yeah,” Alex murmured into Leo’s mouth, the sound swallowed by his urgent kisses.

Leo’s groan reverberated through him. “Can you feel how hard you make me, boy?”

His breath suddenly left his body as Leo grabbed his ass and lifted him. Alex threw his arms around Leo’s neck, holding on tightly as he was carried easily through the apartment to the bedroom, his legs wrapped around Leo’s waist, Leo not ceasing kissing him for an instant. Leo lowered him onto the bed and switched on the bedside lamp, which cast a warm glow around the room. He returned to Alex, his eyes ablaze with lust, before stretching out on top of him, spreading Alex’s legs wide and lying between his thighs, his cock now pressing firmly against Alex’s shaft, which hardened even more inside his jeans.

Alex’s eyes closed as Leo’s mouth took his once more, devouring him eagerly. Oh
fuck
, this was heaven.

Leo moved against Alex in an increasingly urgent rhythm. Leo broke the kiss to murmur into his ear. “Does that feel good?” Leo’s voice was husky. He propped himself up on his hands, rotating his hips sinuously, grinding his cock against Alex’s shaft, which pressed painfully into the zipper of his jeans. “Fuck, you make me hard, Alex.” Leo knelt up over him, the outline of his cock clearly visible.