Page 32 of Sapphire Storm

He grunted and nodded, and Roman responded by grinding oneclenched fist into the outside of Ethan’s bent thigh, driving into his IT bandhard enough to cause a painful amount of pressure, then dragging that pressureslowly up the length of Ethan’s leg. It was the kind of pain that suggested aneasing, ahealing, was close at hand. It was the kind of pain youcould learn to crave.

Roman finished off by twisting the lower part of Ethan’sbent leg until it was parallel with his body and then bringing his chest downonto Ethan’s knee to stretch out the glute on that side. Then it was on to theother leg. Which resisted harder. “Little imbalance here,” Roman said softly.“Perfectly natural, though. We’ve all got one.” There was warmth in his tone,warmth and professionalism, and together they made Ethan smile before he couldstop himself.

“What?” Roman asked.

“You’re good at this.”

“Better be. It’s my job,” Roman said in close to a whisper.

This Roman, he thought, the one who worked with muscles andjoints andintimately connectedparts of the body, had more confidenceand focus than the one who’d fallen apart at his table the night before. Therewere two Romans, it seemed.No, that’s bullshit,he told himself.They’reall part of the same Roman. You’ve just seen every side of him in a very shortamount of time.

Silence fell, silence accompanied by a stirring in Ethan’sgut. He was about to start up with some silent, lust-slaying mantras when Romansaid, “Face down, please.”

Relieved, Ethan slowly rolled over. If a boner burst throughhis mental controls, now he’d be able to hide it against the rug. There were nostabs this time when he moved, just little jerking spasms that suggested themuscles there were smoldering but no longer ablaze. Roman’s work on his legsmight have addressed the source of the pain, but Ethan wasn’t about to say so.

Weight pressed down on him from behind. Was Roman about tomassage his ass? Then, with a jolt, he realized the guy was sitting astridehim. The weight was Roman’s bulge—still clad in Ethan’s briefs. The next thinghe knew, his shirt was being pushed up over his lower back, and Roman’s hands,still warm from the shower, were kneading the flesh there.

“Is this okay?” Roman asked quietly.

“You’re the professional.”

“How’s it feel?”

Hotter than any sex act I’ve ever experienced in my longlife of sex acts,Ethan thought. “I think you’re getting it,” he said.

“The leg work probably did it. I’m not feeling a bunch ofcrazy tension here.”

Ethan grunted in the affirmative, then fell silent.

And the silence deepened.

And still Roman’s hands worked. Ethan’s mind searched forany sign that the kneading and the pressure were turning into somethinghungrier, less professional. Any lingering designed to arouse rather than torelieve. A slip of the fingers that felt like a caress.

After a while, he started to wonder if Roman had realizedwhat he’d just realized. That there was no evident tension left in Ethan’slower back and still the man was working on it diligently and thoroughly.

Apparently, he didn’t want to stop.

“And there it is,” Ethan finally whispered.

“There what is?” Roman asked softly.

“All that weight you’re feeling down there, I figured that’swhy BeachBoy24 gave me the boot.”

“I told you. BeachBoy24 was a part I played. You shouldunderstand.”

Roman’s hands kept working. Ethan was achingly, painfullyhard against the rug.

“So Roman Walker is less judgmental, huh?” Ethan asked, evenas he told himself not to.

“Roman Walker likes men. The more man, the better.”

Ethan laughed gently into the rug. “Can’t tell from his TikToks,I hear.”

“Roman Walker looks the way he does ’cause it sells, not’cause he thinks it’s hot.”

“Oh, really? How would he look if he didn’t have to have abody that sells?”

“Lean, probably. ’Cause I love cardio more than anythingelse and I have to force myself to do strength training. Even then, myintervals are probably too high intensity for the kind of bulking I try for. Soif I just did what I wanted, I’d probably end up looking lean.”

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