“Oh, I see.” Kael finally caught on.
“I’ve been holding off. Partly because of that whole, not dating people you work with thing, and partly because I’m just not sure about him.”
Mattie was asking his advice about dating, like he was her dad or something. She was only about seven years younger than him, but still, the weight of it settled over him. This was something to be taken very seriously, and he felt the gravity of it. “I can see how not dating people in your office would be good advice, but you both work in the field for the most part. Security, undercover surveillance.” Neither of them worked in his capacity as an assassin, and Mattie would not know what he did most of the time for SIS. “You could try a date or two with him. He strikes me as responsible and respectful.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
“He’ll never be asked to be on the cover of GQ.”
With a nod and a serious look, Mattie said, “I know he’s not good-looking. He’s got that huge nose, but he’s a hell of a good laugh. He’s really fun company.”
Always conscious of his own appearance and attractiveness, Mattie’s response made him feel rather shallow. “Personality is more important than looks,” he said at once. “I’ve never been able to make people laugh.”
“You don’t have to, sir. All you have to do is stand there looking gorgeous.”
Now he felt annoyed, like he was a piece of meat or something. But no one had ever asked him for everyday advice until he had Angel in his life. Angel asked him for advice all the time, and now Mattie was doing it too. It made him feel quite human. “Hotchkiss doesn’t set off any alarm bells for me. Give him a try.”
“All right, I will. Thanks, sir.”
“And if he does anything he shouldn’t, you tell me, and I’ll rip his balls off.”
“Awww, sir, that’s really sweet.” The soft roundness of her smiling young face made him feel all warm and fuzzy despite her remark about his looks. “And it was great to work with you again.”
“Go home and sleep, Mattie.” Kael watched her descend into the Westminster tube station, her blonde ponytail blowing in the wind.
Now if only he could get Romodanovsky out of his head.
Chapter Four
Lady Gaga blasted Kael the minute he got out of the lift. It could only be coming from his flat. It was after five, and Angel was definitely home. At least there was no Mrs. Chalmers to complain anymore. Inside the flat, the music was so loud it made his sensitive eardrums vibrate, but Angel did not come to the door as he usually did when Kael arrived home. He must not have heard him come in with that racket going on. He hung his jacket in the hall cupboard and wandered through the flat, looking for his boy.
In the bedroom with his back to the door, dancing completely naked, was Angel. Entirely unselfconscious, he danced like he danced when Kael took him to the clubs. Graceful and yet wild at the same time. So cool. His thick blond hair bouncing as he shook his shoulders.
Throwing his shirt on the floor, Kael unzipped his fly and pulled out his already lengthening cock, his eyes never leaving Angel’s back, watching for any sign that the boy knew he was there. Stealthily he came up behind him and, with his right hand, grabbed Angel’s right wrist, twisting his arm up his back. Kael knew exactly how to do it without hurting him or breaking the bones. And he knew how to do the opposite. With his left arm, he caught Angel around the chest. Standing solidly on his right leg, Kael wrapped his left around Angel’s ankles, knocking the boy’s feet from under him.
Every movement was accomplished smoothly and swiftly. In two seconds, Angel was on his belly, pinned to the floor with Kael on top of him. A piercing cry of fear tore from the boy’s throat. For a moment, he fought to free himself, but taken by surprise, he was overwhelmed by Kael’s greater weight and size—and his much greater strength.
Releasing Angel’s right wrist, Kael used his hand to spread the boy’s buttocks and position his cock at the arsehole. Precum offered some small lubrication, but the dryness was still evident, making Angel cry out again as Kael thrust deep inside him in one movement.
With Angel’s face turned away from his, Kael was careful to give no indication that it was him. He did not speak or make a sound, though he wanted to grunt out his pleasure loudly. For long minutes, he thrust. At some point, Angel’s slender, pale body gave up the fight and lay limp beneath him, allowing himself to be reamed.
With a last hard thrust, Kael pumped his fluids up Angel’s arse and collapsed on top of him. As his breathing slowed and steadied, he dropped all his weight onto Angel’s back.
“Hi, Daddy.” Angel’s voice was quiet, perfectly serene.
Kael rolled off onto his back, his trousers shoved down around his thighs and his cock lying limp against one thigh. “When did you know it was me?”
Propping himself up on his elbows, Angel smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “Almost right away. I smelled you.”
“What? I smell?”
Giggling, Angel said, “You smell like you. Clean and manly and daddyish. I know your scent like you know mine.” Kael’s sense of smell rivaled an animal’s, and it seemed Angel’s was advanced too.
“As long as it’s a good smell.”
“It’s wicked good.” Angel leaned over and licked Kael’s face. “And you taste wicked good too. All over. At first my heart was pounding so hard I thought I was having a heart attack, and then I smelled you and the fear went away.”
“Did you come?” Kael asked.
“I couldn’t stop myself, Daddy. As soon as I knew it was you, I got hard. You know I love it when you hold me down.”
“I need to wash my cock. I didn’t use a condom. I didn’t want to spoil the moment.” He laughed. “I didn’t want to give you a second to know it was me before I pinned you down.”
Neither of them moved at once. Angel closed his mouth over Kael’s, probing deeply with his tongue. Kael had never had a relationship before Angel, only one-night-stand subs, and he never kissed them. Angel loved to kiss, and Kael had begun to find it arousing. His cock thickened again. Gently he pushed Angel away and got up to finish undressing.
With a spring to his step, Angel skipped into the bathroom. By the time Kael walked in naked, the water was at the perfect temperature. Stepping under the rushing shower, he waited while Angel poured shower gel onto the loofah sponge and began to scrub Kael’s chest, and then he raised his arms while his armpits were scrubbed.
“How was the job, Daddy?”
“Fine. It was easy, just security.”
“Not dangerous?”
The memory of Romodanovsky kissing him and inviting him to bed filled his head again. The man was definitely dangerous. “It was fairly innocuous.”
“Maybe you could take me on the next job, if it’s just routine and not dangerous.”
“Don’t ask,” Kael said firmly.
“Yes, Sir.” Angel accepted the reprimand and poured more gel onto the loofah. “Let me do your back.” After scrubbing Kael all the way down his back and legs, he put down the loofah and poured gel into his hands. Standing in front of Kael, looking directly into his eyes, Angel massaged it into Kael’s cock and balls, his slippery hands creating a wonderful, silky friction. Angel rubbed until all the gel was rinsed away.
With one hand, Kael grabbed the back of Angel’s head, pulling him closer. He closed his mouth over Angel’s, shoving his tongue deep inside. The sweetness and softness of Angel’s mouth added to his intense arousal. The hands gliding over his cock and balls shot thick pulses of pleasure through his groin and around his hips to his buttocks.
Grabbing Angel’s upper arms, Kael shoved the boy’s back against the wall and ground his mouth harder against Angel’s as his pleasure rose. When his orgasm flooded his body, he tore his mouth away, pressing his forehead against the wall, gasping.
Gushing hot water poured over their bodies as Kael recovered. Then taking the loofah, he poured gel onto it and began to scrub Angel’s chest and back. Grinning up at him, the boy said, “This is nice, Daddy. You don’t usually wash me.”
“No, that’s right. You’re the slave, and you have to wait on me hand and foot.” Angel took a step back and bowed at the waist, making Kael laugh.
They finished bathing and dressed only in underwear. In the kitchen, Angel made dinner while Kael took his laptop and sat at the counter, watching him work. “What are you making?”
“Chicken stir-fry, Daddy.”
“That sounds good. Give me a Stella.”
Angel took a beer from the fridge and a glass from the cupboard. Holding the glass up to the light, he eyeballed it to make sure it was perfectly clean. Carefully so as not to get too big a head on it, he tilted the glass and poured. Only when he was satisfied that it was perfect did he slide the glass over to Kael. Every job Angel did he took seriously and performed it to the best of his ability. It was an excellent trait, not just in a slave but in a human being.
Thirsty, Kael took a long pull on his beer before opening his in-box. “There’s an e-mail from the school.”
“What? About me?” Angel asked, setting the table.
“Uh-huh.” Kael began to read. “‘Dear Mr. Saunders, please choose a time from those listed below to come in to the school to discuss your ward Angel Gabriel Button’s future plans. Applications for university must be made in the next few weeks. Redmond Independent College expects the best of its students, and we are happy to send letters of recommendation to the universities Angel plans to apply to. Yours faithfully, Philip Staynton, Headmaster.’”
Angel had stopped what he was doing to listen, his arms crossed over his narrow chest. He was taller but had not filled out significantly and was as long and slender as ever. What concerned Kael was the worried look on his boy’s face.
“We’ll go in tomorrow after school. Five o’clock is available.” Kael typed a quick reply, reread his answer, and then hit Send.
“Dinner’s ready, Daddy,” Angel said quietly.
“Good, I’m starving.” Bringing his beer to the table, Kael sat down, waiting while Angel served him. “What the matter?” he asked when Angel sat opposite him.
Angel forked up a piece of chicken and looked at it. “Mr. Conran told me I could go straight from Redmond into SIS. He said they would start me training in surveillance because of my exceptional eyesight and my ability with firearms. He says I could go into intelligence gathering.”
Barely able to suppress his anger at Conran for interfering with his supervision of his boy, Kael kept his voice low when he said, “I’ll teach that wanker not to get involved in my business.”
“Daddy, he’s a nice man. And I want to work with you.”
“You can’t work with me. I’ve got eleven years of training and experience behind me. My work is for an elite few. Aside from that, I was twenty-two when I went to train at SIS, and I had a university degree. Also you have to be aged twenty-one or over to work for MI6. It says that right on the Web site, which I’ve seen you looking at.”
“Daddy, Mr. Conran said he would make an exception for me on the age limit.”
“That’s enough! What you do with your life is my decision, not Conran’s.”
“What about what I want?”
“Who’s your master?”
Angel lowered his eyes and said quietly, “You, Sir.”
“Exactly.” Kael drained his glass, consciously trying to calm down. He was happy to be home, and he didn’t want to spoil the evening. “Eat up. This is good.”
“Yes, Sir. Do you want another beer?”
“Yes, please.”
“I love you, Daddy,” Angel said and kissed Kael’s ear when he put the beer in front of him.
For the remainder of the meal, Angel was quiet. Kael had made his decision about what he wanted for his boy, and he was not going to change his mind. He was tired from no sleep for thirty-six hours, and he was starting to get bad-tempered so it would be best for both of them to stay away from subjects they didn’t agree on.
Kael left Angel clearing the dishes and went with his laptop to lie on the bed. He wouldn’t sleep yet, but he needed to rest. Though he had done it numerous times over the last couple of months, he Googled the University of Cambridge, remembering his years there. About ten minutes later, Angel joined him.
“Daddy, do you want your whisky?”
“No, the beer was enough. Come here and look at the university grounds. They’re beautiful.”
Barely glancing at the screen, Angel sat beside him cross-legged. “What if I don’t get in, Daddy?”
“Stop being so negative.”
Angel suddenly smiled. “Daddy, can I get a tattoo?”
“I thought we’d been through this. The answer is no.”
“But you would look gorgeous with tattoos.” The boy was deliberately ignoring looking at the Web site, and Kael closed the laptop and put it on the bedside table. “Something really sexy on your back, and maybe a sleeve.”
“A sleeve?” Kael asked.
“Yeah, you know, one of those really cool ones that covers the whole arm.”
He must be getting old or maybe he had always been old-fashioned, but tattoos had never been on his agenda. He wasn’t even sure he liked them. “No easily identifiable marks in my job.”
“Daddy, your whole body is an easily identifiable mark,” Angel said. “You’re six feet five and built like a superhero.”
Lying back with his hands behind his head, Kael said, “That’s me. A superhero.”
“You’re my hero, Daddy,” Angel said softly.
When Angel said things like that, it always made his throat constrict for a moment as the weight of his responsibility settled over him. Angel was his, body and soul. He had to ensure that he was a good role model and that he expected the best of Angel without being unreasonable. There was no point in setting goals for his boy that were impossible to attain, but Cambridge was certainly possible for him. “No tattoos.”
“Yes, Sir. But I always wanted ‘Daddy’s Boy’ tattooed on my tailbone.”
“What about just ‘slave’?” Kael asked.
“That would be cool too.”
“I can put slave on your arse.”
Scrunching his face in question, Angel asked, “You mean you can tattoo it?”
“Come on, boy. I’ll show you.”
Tired but wanting to make his boy happy, Kael rose, and Angel followed him into the dungeon. Usually he locked the dungeon door and put the key out of Angel’s reach. The fact that he would stop if Angel asked him to was irrelevant. Locking the door added to the solemnity and atmosphere of the dungeon. But today it didn’t matter. Kael strode over to the wall where the paddles and whips were hung and the various instruments of pleasure were laid out.