Part 3 (1/2)

For the first time, he thought about what would be required of him having a male mate. He'd always loved having his c.o.c.k sucked but now, it would be Garret sucking it, not a woman. He'd always loved having a.n.a.l s.e.x, but now he would f.u.c.k Garret's a.s.s, not a woman's. When he slid his c.o.c.k deep inside the tight ring of a.n.a.l muscles, it would be Garret's c.o.c.k his fingers would seek, not the wet swollen nub of a woman's c.l.i.t. A frisson of fear went down his spine and he finished the bottle of water in one long swallow. This might not be easy at all, he thought as he headed to his room to get his racket.

When he returned, he found Garret near the door, waiting patiently with a hooded expression. He figured his thoughts were bleeding out again.

”I'm not ready to talk s.e.x yet,” he said stiffly as he opened the door. ”Maybe tonight. Today, let's just get to know each other. A game of tennis, some breakfast, and then Sean's group activity for the day. After that, we can grab some lunch and get into the strategy session Sean wants.”

”Then maybe a swim before dinner?” Garret suggested.

Holden nodded. ”Sounds good to me.”

The tennis courts were indeed empty at that hour. Garret turned out to be a good player, although not in Holden's league, but he held his own pretty well which pleased Holden. At breakfast, they discovered they both liked their bagels with b.u.t.ter, not cream cheese, and preferred bacon over sausage. They both had a love of good strong coffee, but where Garret doused his with cream and sugar, Holden liked his black. When Holden asked Garret about drinking tea, the Englishman made a face, saying that not all Brits liked tea.

They both disliked politics, but the state of the economy interested both of them albeit for different reasons. Garret kept his fingers on the pulse of the stock market, which meant that he was intensely interested in the economy and current trends. Holden stayed abreast of economic trends because he and Declan were always on the lookout for businesses they could buy to increase Antaeus Internationals profits and net worth.

After breakfast, they returned to their suite to shower and dress for the seminar Sean had planned. As he stood in the shower, Holden got an image of Garret in his shower, stroking his c.o.c.k. He s.h.i.+vered, knowing that if Garret was masturbating, the man had to be fantasizing about him. The thought aroused him, but he still wasn't at the point where he could fantasize about being with Garret s.e.xually. s.e.x with a man, even when the man was Garret, still seemed completely alien to him.

They met in the main room of the suite before heading down to the seminar. Garret was dressed in dark slacks and a pale yellow polo s.h.i.+rt. Holden wore dark jeans and a plain white b.u.t.ton down s.h.i.+rt. He eyed Garret's s.h.i.+ny loafers then flicked a glance at his own beat up runners. Of course, Garret was new to the company and still dressing to impress. As one of the owners of the company, Holden could dress as he pleased. Still, it amused him a little that the bean counter looked all s.h.i.+ny and spiffy.

”I'm not a bean counter,” Garret protested in a low growl as they headed down to the lodge's conference room in the elevator.

Holden made a rude sound. ”You're a finance whiz kid. That means you're a bean counter,”

he teased.

Garret's emerald eyes flashed. ”You'll pay for that later, Holden.”

”Really?” Holden held open the door to the conference room. ”I'm all agog to know how.”

A sly smile curved Garret's mobile mouth. ”No, you aren't. You're not ready to go there yet.

But I'm hopeful that you will be soon.”

Heat flashed through Holden's body as he had a sudden vision of Garret kneeling between his thighs reaching for his c.o.c.k. His eyes met Garret's and he realized the other man had sent him the thought. Before he could reply, Emily appeared and took Garret by the arm dragging him across the room.

Biting back a sigh, Holden looked for his brothers and found Declan with Vahid in a corner of the room. Sean was nowhere in sight. As he walked up to Declan, he heard Vahid hiss, ”I'm not Emily's keeper. I can't stop her from drinking!”

Holden's brows rose a little and his eyes met his older brother's. Vahid never got angry. Even when their sister Eden had dumped him, Vahid hadn't shown anger. His palpable annoyance made Holden wonder what the h.e.l.l Emily had done to him. He decided to help Vahid out a little.

”He's right, Declan. Let him be. Emily's responsible for her own behavior. Just because Vahid always makes everything perfect for Sean doesn't mean he can control all of us,” Holden teased with a wink.

Vahid's smile was patently false but he nodded at Holden's words and used the distraction to slip away. Holden snagged his older brother's gaze. ”Picking on Vahid? Are you p.i.s.sed at Sean?”

he said with a wry smile.

Declan let out a weary sigh. ”No. But usually Vahid makes sure everything runs smoothly.

Last night, he sat back and let Emily make a fool of herself. He would not have done that with any other executive in the company,” he explained. ”He would have told the bartender to water their drinks or not serve them anymore. I don't know why he picked on her last night. I asked him if they'd had a fight over the budget or something and he wouldn't answer.”

Holden shook his head in surprise. ”That is unusual for Vahid. She must have done something to put his panties in a twist.” Declan nodded his agreement. ”And how about you? Yesterday you were all bent out of shape about being paired with Wonderboy and today you show up almost arm in arm. What gives?”

Holden shrugged as they moved toward their seats at the conference table. ”We played tennis this morning. He's good.”

A laugh escaped Declan. ”I get it. You're just happy to have someone to play with again. The noob doesn't realize he has no chance of ever winning against you.”

The vision of Garret sucking his c.o.c.k flashed through Holden's mind again and his lips twitched into a smile. ”Oh, I wouldn't say that. He's got some moves neither of us ever antic.i.p.ated.”

Declan looked at him with a puzzled frown, but Holden just smiled and opened his portfolio as Sean came into the room with the day's speaker.

Chapter Four.

Garret's hopes for a private lunch with Holden were dashed when Vahid and Sean decided to join them. Similarly, their strategy session ended up including Emily and Declan. Garret tried not to be disappointed because business was business after all, yet he couldn't help but feel a little impatient that his time alone with Holden had been invaded.

He'd been hugely relieved that his actions the night before hadn't spoiled the promise of a relations.h.i.+p with Holden. In fact, they seemed to have spurred his new mate into some hard thoughts about mating and the future. Anything that served to open Holden's mind to the truth and the possibilities was fine by Garret.

The kiss they'd shared on the balcony had been the hottest kiss of Garret's life. His senses were becoming tuned to Holden's and he'd known right when things had started to s.h.i.+ft toward out of control. He'd already decided that he needed to take things slowly with Holden. His new mate was freaked by the thought of s.e.x with a man. Garret knew he had to back off in spite of the fact Holden had been on the verge of kissing him back. At least Holden hadn't been afraid of Garret's erection this time. Pressing his c.o.c.k against Holden's crotch and feeling the man's own c.o.c.k respond had sent s.h.i.+vers of delight and l.u.s.t through Garret. He couldn't wait to touch Holden's naked body. Touch and taste it.

The strategy session didn't drag as Garret had thought it would. He discovered that Holden and Declan Antaeus worked together like a well-oiled machine. Declan excelled at choosing a target company to take over. Holden excelled at knowing the legal issues they faced. Coupled with Emily's brilliance when it came to knowing the value and worth of a company, the three of them managed a takeover or buyout with a smooth professionalism that awed Garret.

It dawned on him that he'd joined a company run by a group of supremely intelligent and professional executives. None of these people rested on their laurels or let their underlings do all the work. They were dedicated and brilliant at what they did. It made him glad he'd decided to take Sean's offer. A company like this gave him something he could sink his teeth into.

When the strategy session finished, Declan and Holden headed for the business center of the lodge intent on faxing yet another sheaf of doc.u.ments to Australia. Garret stood watching them walk away, both tall, dark-haired, and athletic, although Declan stood a good three inches taller than Holden. Still, they were attractive men and obviously related. As they disappeared from view, Garret wondered what it would be like to be part of the Antaeus family.

”Don't let them eat you alive,” Emily advised with a lift of her perfectly plucked eyebrows. ”I can see how much their business ac.u.men turns you on. Just don't let them use you, Garret.”

”I won't,” he responded easily, giving her a rea.s.suring smile.

She patted his arm. ”Good. I'll see you tomorrow.”

Garret looked at her in surprise. ”You're not coming down to dinner?”

”It's not a group dinner night. I'm going to visit the spa and call room service. If I don't spoil me, no one will,” she told him, her voice tinged with bitterness again. ”You have a good night.”

Garret stared after Emily's elegant form. Her bitterness was obviously not new. The cool control he'd observed in her up until now must have undergone some ma.s.sive meltdown. He couldn't imagine what would make an accomplished executive like Emily Carrington crack. He headed up to his suite and changed for the swim that he and Holden had planned.

Standing in front of the full length closet mirror, he eyed himself critically. For a hundred and twenty-year-old dragon, he looked pretty good. No gray in his dark hair yet, nor wrinkles, although he did have a crinkle between his brows from frowning. He looked like a human male in his early thirties until one noticed the dragon clan mark that twisted across his lower back.

The black swirling lines were often mistaken for a tattoo and he'd been teased about having a ”tramp stamp.” The single black dragon with an emerald in its mouth had etched itself on his skin when he'd come of age s.e.xually. The emerald was the only part of the mark that wasn't black.

As he stared in the mirror at his clan mark, he remembered seeing Holden's clan mark the night before. When he'd turned and slammed his door, Garret had gotten a glimpse of lines running down his spine between his shoulder blades.

Garret knew his looks didn't even compare to Holden's. His chestnut brown hair and green eyes were not as dramatic as Holden's ink black hair and bright amber eyes. Even their physiques weren't comparable. Holden had a sleek hairless chest while Garret had his little fur patch and a trail of hair down his abdomen. Regardless of the fact that he had a lean, taut swimmer's body with defined muscles, Garret knew he looked nothing like the beautiful golden skinned Holden with his perfect athlete's body, bulging with sleek muscle in his biceps, shoulders, pecs, and thighs. He wasn't overly muscular like a body builder, but he wasn't as lean as Garret either.

The clan mark on Garret's lower back p.r.i.c.kled. He turned away from the mirror, closing the closet as the sound of the suite's outer door reached his ears. He'd only taken a couple of steps toward his door when Holden appeared. Their gazes met.

”I was afraid you'd forgotten our swim,” Holden said in a low voice as his attention flickered over Garret's nearly naked body in a pair of green swim shorts.

Garret's heart thundered in his chest, hoping that Holden didn't think he looked like a pasty faced Englishman, even though that description did fit him.