Page 71 of Inferno

Sighing, I swallow thickly. “Or man,” I say, looking pointedly at Danny, before I turn and face Oz again.

“Fine, you wait till you find your man or woman, then you can decide if you still think I’m being a caveman,” Oz says without blinking at the suggestion that I might be interested in finding a man.

“And if it was a man?” I ask, needing to make sure he understands what I’m saying.

“Then it was a man,” he says with a shrug. “You’ll still be a caveman over him, just you wait.”

“Have you spoken to Henry?” Danny asks me with a smirk.

“Who’s Henry?” Oz asks, looking at me expectantly.

“He’s a temp working in the office at the garage,” Danny tells him before I can answer.

It dawns on me that I haven’t actually told anyone about Henry and me being together. Danny knows that he’s mine, so do Penn and Beau, but I haven’t introduced him to my friends as my boy. I haven’t walked down the street holding his hand and showing the world that he’s taken. So far, I’ve kept our relationship hidden from the people who are important to me, and I don’t know why.

“He yours?” Oz asks me bluntly, and I form the word yes, but instead I tell him about the age gap and the reasons why we shouldn’t be together. I don’t say that he’s mine, and I don’t tell them that we’ve spent the last two nights sleeping cuddled in each other’s arms. I don’t say a word.

Once Danny has gotten dressed, we pile into my car and head down into town and to a new brunch place that’s recently opened. Guilt burns and festers in my gut as I internally question myself over and over again about why I haven’t told my brothers that Henry is my man. But no matter which way I look at it, I can’t find a good answer.

I’ve fallen for him. No, I’ve fallen in love with him. I see a future that’s full of him, yet I’m too much of a pussy to even admit that he’s mine. What the fuck is wrong with me?

Once we’ve eaten and paid the bill, instead of heading back up the mountain, I drive us to the garage, waiting until Oz and Danny are distracted with Parker to slip through the workshop and into the office.

Entering quietly, I silently close the door behind me and lock it, taking a moment to watch my boy hard at work. His fingers are flying over his keyboard, typing quickly as he flicks between papers on the desk in front of him, all of his attention fixed on his computer.

Stepping forward, I cross to the door that leads out onto the street and flick the lock, turning to face him once I’m sure we’re alone and can’t be disturbed.

“Anders,” Henry says breathily.

“Hello, Boy,” I say, my voice rough with guilt. I want to confess to him, to tell him that I love him and want the entire world to know it. But something keeps me quiet, and I’m not sure what it is.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, his gaze soft and pleased to see me.

“Did you miss me?”

“I’ve been busy.”

“But did you miss me?” I ask again, desperate for an answer.

“So much,” he confesses bravely.

“Good, I missed you too. A part of me wants to make you give up your job, move in with me, and rely on me fully for everything,” I confess brokenly.

I don’t know why I’m telling him this. I shouldn’t be, it’ll scare him off, show him the depth of my control issues, and maybe that’s why I said it. Because he needs to know, he needs to understand.

“I don’t think I can do that,” he admits after a long moment, his voice thick, his expression heartbroken.

“Good,” I say, trying to mean it, even though I don’t. Because the truth is, deep down I want that. I want complete, total power exchange, and that makes me a fucking monster.

Unable to resist, I go to him, lift him out of his chair, then sit back down in it, placing him in my lap. Cupping his cheek with one hand, I collar his throat with the other, watching as his pupils dilate, then fill with lust.

Leaning forward, I capture his lips with mine, kissing him like it’s the last time I’ll ever do it, and maybe it is. I woke up this morning in love, sexually sated, and happier than I can ever remember being. But now I feel hollow and broken.

Henry is mine. I know that down to my core, but although I might have claimed him in private, I’m too much of a pussy to claim him in public, and it’s taken me until now to understand why. It’s because if I tell my friends, my family, that this boy is mine and then I treat him the way I treated Gabe, I’ll lose everything. I’ll lose my brothers’ respect, I’ll lose my home and my new family, but more than that. Bigger than everything else combined, I’ll lose Henry.

He’s young and impressionable and innocent and so, so malleable. He’s already started to allow me to mold him into the kitten, the boy I want, but that’s not fair. He’s not a toy to be programmed. He’s a man. He’s the perfect man. But he won’t stay that way if I get my hands on him.

It’s only been a few days, and he’s already under my control, going where I say, doing as I say, wearing the things I’ve bought him. I hate him going to work. I know I’ll hate him giving anyone but me attention. I want all of him. Mine, for me and me only. I’m a Dom, but he’s not a sub. He was a virgin until yesterday. He has no idea that every time I show him what I like, I’m actually conditioning him to act a certain way.

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