him from destroying his fantasy. Chad didn’t kiss back, but he didn’t push Romeo away either. His eyes slid shut, his lips parted, accepting the kiss, but not returning it. Romeo pushed forward with his chest, trying to get Chad back into his apartment, over the threshold of the doorway so he wasn’t so exposed in the corridor. Chad didn’t move, he stood firm, not letting Romeo inside.
Romeo breathed against Chad’s lips. “Let me in.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
Romeo leaned back in time to see Chad’s face scrunch. “I can’t… I need to call the police. You need to be locked up. This is wrong.”
“But it always felt right.”
Chad pushed Romeo’s chest, but it was weak, unsure, a case of him reacting how he thought he should rather than how he wanted to.
“Didn’t it?” Romeo pressed.
Chad stopped pushing against him. “Yes, we did.”
“Then let me in.”
Chad pulled a pained expression, shaking his head.
“Fine.” Romeo took hold of Chad’s wrists, tugging him into the corridor. “I’ll have you out here.”
“Here?”
“Yeah,” Romeo said, nipping Chad’s ear. “Right here. This is mutual territory.”
The corridor was no man’s land as far as Romeo was concerned. No monster. No detective, only Romeo and Chad.
Romeo resumed their touch of mouths, slower and more sensual, it won Chad over, made him pant and plead, then kiss back hard.
The next thing Romeo knew, they were on the floor, legs tangled, fighting off clothes. Kissing and touching with no hesitation. No care of who could walk into the corridor, no care for tomorrow. The monster and the detective gone, leaving Chad and Romeo and their need.
“I’ve missed you.” Chad gasped.
Romeo nodded, resuming their kiss and pushing an echo of the words back into Chad’s mouth. He missed this, this level of intimacy, this exposure and acceptance.
They were both naked, clothes gone, the air around them perfumed with the smell of sex and sweat. Their bodies shimmered, their hair stuck flat on their foreheads, and every inch of each other had been touched.
Chad sunk his teeth into Romeo’s lip, and he jerked in surprise. There was a time for gentle, usually after sex, but right then Chad was grinding against him, begging Romeo to have him. He entered Chad’s body with his fingers, curling and twisting, each motion mimicked by his tongue in Chad’s mouth. He was wet, lubed, and stretched as if he’d been waiting for Romeo to knock on his door every night. The thought made him groan and he almost startled himself out of the fantasy.
Romeo couldn’t wait any longer.
He hauled Chad onto his knees, got him in position, then guided his cock forward. With no resistance, he found his way home.
Romeo fucked him with wild abandonment, spearing Chad’s hole hot and fast while pressing down on the back of Chad’s neck, keeping him pinned to the carpet.
It didn’t take long for him to come, and when he did, he opened his eyes, finding Chad beside him on the wall, his hand wet in his boxers, and his cock still pulsing.
The fantasy served its purpose, but afterwards he was left feeling cold.
“How am I gonna get out of here?” He asked Chad, then he swallowed the unsure lump in his throat. “Would you even want me to?”
Part of Chad would, he knew that, but he wasn’t sure it would be the dominant part.
****
Saturday, showdown with Stevenson day. Romeo’s mind games had bred something ugly in her, something bordering on dangerous.
Romeo sat down opposite, and before she had a chance to speak, he leaned over the table.
“Leave Chad alone.”
“What?”
“Following him, confronting him in the carpark…”
“Someone has to call him out on his actions. Chad’s not good for you.”
“You don’t know what’s good for me, and what’s not.”
“I was looking out for you.”
“Don’t.”
“Romeo—”
Romeo fixed her with the most menacing stare he could muster. “Make a note of this. Stay the fuck away from Chad.”
“Okay—”
“I’m not answering any of your questions until you write that down.”
Holly huffed, then wrote down Romeo’s words at the top of her page. “Done.”
“Good.”
“I was doing it for you. You can forgive me, right?”
“I’m nothing towards you. I feel nothing.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You’ll believe what you want to.” Romeo sighed, then jutted his chin towards the papers on her desk. “Let’s get on with it…”
“I’ve got a publication date now.”
“Maybe this time you’ll stick to it, not push it back.”
Holly looked down, nodding. “There’s a few bits…”
“There always is, and always will be.”
She went on like he hadn’t spoken. “I wanted to ask why random people?”
“What