Page 49 of Hard Bargain

Suddenly he needed to know. Needed proof this wasn’t just in his head. That whatever twisted, impossible thing had taken hold of him wasn’t his alone. So he let his eyes flick down, and there it was: Knox, just as hard.

They stared, the truth laid bare between them. Both of them were too far gone to take a step back. His mind screamed no, no, no, not possible—but his body had already decided.

He tried to breathe, to cling to the certainty he always carried, but it shattered under the weight of Knox’s nearness. None of this was supposed to happen. The confusion hit hard, loud and disorienting. He wasn’t supposed to want this; he was straight. He’d always been straight.

Instead of examining the crack splitting through his certainty, he did what came most naturally. He reached for control. If the ground was shifting beneath him, he’d make the rules.

Knox’s breathing had gone shallow, his chest rising and falling too fast. Dominic held his gaze for another beat, then delivered the command with unmistakable authority. “On your knees.”

Knox’s breath hitched. For a moment, Dominic thought he’d pushed too far. He was sure Knox would snap, tell him exactly where to shove his orders, walk away and leave Dominic alone with the wreckage of whatever this was.

Instead, Knox moved.

Slowly.

Never breaking eye contact.

He lowered himself inch by inch until his knees touched the floor between them.

The sight damn near broke him. Something fierce and possessive surged through him. This was reckless. He knew that. But knowing didn’t make the feeling disappear. If anything, it only fed it.

Knox tilted his head back to look up at him, jaw clenched tight, eyes blazing with pride, fury, and humiliation—along with something that looked far too much like want.

Then, because he’d already gone too far to stop now, he finished in a voice so low it barely sounded like his own. “Good boy. Now prove it. Make me come.”

In that breathless moment, nothing in the world existed except that order, and the boy on his knees who’d chosen to obey.

Chapter 14

Knox

Make me come.

The words lodged somewhere in Knox’s chest and refused to move.

He was on his knees. Actually on his fucking knees. For him.

His lungs felt too tight, not pulling in enough air. His heart was pounding so violently he thought it might crack a rib. He didn’t know how he’d gotten here. Five minutes ago, he’d been ready to tear Dominic apart. Now he was kneeling in front of him with an aching cock and hands that wouldn’t stop shaking.

This was insane.

He should get up right now, tell Dominic to go to hell, and walk out. He didn’t do any of those things. He stayed exactly where he was. And the worst part—the part that sat in his stomach like a stone—was that he wasn’t staying because he had to. He didn’t want to leave. It was that simple and that damning.

His life had been numb for so long he’d started to think that was all there was. But tonight the world had split wide open. He’d watched men die and helped decide who deserved it. And now he was kneeling in front of a dangerous man he was supposed to hate—a man he did hate. He was almost sure he did.

He was losing control of his own life, and some sick part of him didn’t even care. He’d never felt this alive. Every nerve in his body screamed awake, like he’d been holding his breath for years and had finally exhaled.

He could feel Dominic’s stare like pressure against his skin. He could barely think past the ache between his legs and the way his whole body seemed to be humming.

He forced himself to look up. Dominic stared back, jaw rigid, shoulders tight with the effort of looking unmoved. But his breathing was wrong. Knox had spent enough time watching this man to know what control looked like on him, and this wasn’t it.

Knox bit down on his lip and reached for the buckle with clumsy fingers. His hands weren’t cooperating, nerves making everything slow and graceless. He expected Dominic to say something, to mock him, to stop him. But Dominic only watched, eyes glued to every move.

When the buckle finally came loose, he paused, breath caught somewhere high in his chest.

Dominic’s voice came low and even. “Keep going.”

It sent a shiver down Knox’s spine. He forced himself to breathe before working the button open, then the zipper. The sound of teeth dragging down felt almost obscene in the quiet.