Taken in Hand (24 page)

smooth move, Adam pulled the sound straight up and out,

while pressing down hard on his prostate. Chad screamed

and came so hard he almost passed out. Adam wrapped his

hand around Chad’s cock, so empty now, and milked him

though his orgasm until he came to a shuddering stop, his

breath coming in short gasps.

Chad was numbly aware of Adam untying the ropes,

freeing him, and gathering him up in his arms to hold him

tenderly.

“That was…that was…”

Adam held Chad to his chest, crooning to him and

letting him recover. “Shh, catch your breath, babe. Don’t try

to talk yet.”

“I-I love you, Adam. Love you.”

“I know, sweet boy, I know.” He pulled back and gazed

down at Chad. “You’re flying a little, huh? Just relax. I’ve got

you.”

Adam sat beside him, holding him for a long time

before supporting him over to the bed and putting him down

on his back. He lay down beside him, fully clothed. “Rest for

a minute, baby, then tell me how you felt.”

“I-I’m okay. Really. It burned, but felt incredible at the

same time. Knowing that you were doing it to me…I could

see your face and see it turning you on.”

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Adam smiled and shook his head. “Not at your pain,

baby, but your excitement. I could see how it was making

you feel, and I controlled that excitement. I was the one

bringing that to you and bringing you pleasure. It’s a heady

feeling, I admit.”

Chad turned toward him and buried his face against

his neck, loving the warm feel of him.

Adam held him quietly for a few moments longer and

then gently cleared his throat. “Uh…what you said at the

end…you said…”

“I said I love you,” Chad murmured against his throat.

He raised his head and stared into Adam’s eyes. “Never

thought I’d say that to another man, but it’s true. I love you,

Adam.”

Adam’s eyes glowed softly as he stared down into

Chad’s. “This is just the after-glow talking, baby. You don’t

have to say this.”

“You think I’m drunk off the feelings, huh? No, I’m not.

I think I felt this way for a while now, but I couldn’t say it,

couldn’t believe it was possible.”

“Chad…”

“No, hear me out.” Chad put his fingertips over Adam’s

lips. “I’m not trying to freak you out or anything. I don’t

expect you to say it back or return my feelings. Really. I just

wanted to say it, wanted you to know.”

Adam moved Chad’s fingers gently aside and smiled at

him. “But that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I-I have

feelings for you too. I…um…shit, why is this so hard to say?

I love you too. I didn’t expect to, and it’s thrown me for a

loop.” He searched Chad’s face carefully. “I was thinking of

asking you to move in with me, to see if you like it, to see if

we can make it work.”

Chad’s mouth opened in surprise, and Adam rushed

on. “Not like a sub or anything. I don’t think you’d be

comfortable that way. But if you think it’s something you’d

like to do—living here with me—then we could work out the

details as we went along. I know this is fast, but…”

“Yeah,” Chad said. “It is, but it feels right. I don’t

know. Can I think about it? I’m not even out to my family

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yet, and I need to take care of that as soon as I can. I still

wouldn’t be comfortable at work, yet. Could you live with

that?”

Adam nodded. “You have to move at your own pace,

sweetheart. Take it one step at a time. But what if you

couldn’t work it out with the people at the station? If it got to

be too hard?”

Adam rubbed little circles on his back. Feeling safe

and warm in the cradle of Adam’s arms, Chad never wanted

to move. “If they acted like the assholes they are, you mean?

I don’t know. There are other jobs, I guess. Other

departments. What I do in my private life shouldn’t matter.”

“It shouldn’t, babe, but in real life, it still happens. We

live in the Bible Belt south, too, honey. You have to know

that as cosmopolitan as the University can be, we’re still in a

small, southern town.”

Chad laughed softly against his neck. “Are you trying

to talk me into this or out of it?”

“Neither. I want you to know what you’re getting into,

though. Really understand that people can be so vicious.

Like those boys in our group at church. How could a parent

turn their back on their own child like that? Yet it happens

all the time.”

Chad nodded. “Not to mention this sick bastard doing

the killings. I want to stop him so bad. See him pay for what

he’s done.”

“I know, baby. Me too.”

“So you’ll agree to do the scene? In the club? It could

be that he’s a member there, and we can draw him off

Benjamin and Paul.”

“Chad, doing this here, with just the two of us, is still

so totally different than doing it in the club, with everyone

watching. I don’t know if you’re ready for that.”

“If I’m not, then I can safeword, right? You said, no

one would think anything bad about me doing that, right?”

“Of course not, but Chad, I don’t want to scare you to

death or traumatize you in any way.”

“Look, I know this is moving way fast, and you’d never

allow it otherwise. What’s important is this could be a

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chance to draw the killer out, and I’ve proven I can do this,

right?”

Adam chuckled. “Stop punctuating every sentence

with
right
. You’re not going to make me say it. No, I still don’t

like it.” At Chad’s exasperated sigh, he held up a hand. “But

I will do this. We’ll say we want to do a scene, and I’ll have

Benjamin helping.” At Chad’s horrified look, he smiled. “He

won’t touch you, I promise. I’ll clue him in to what we’re

doing, and even if he can be a bit of an asshole, he’s an

experienced and very good Dom. Once we get started in the

scene, you pretend to panic and you safeword.”

Chad started to protest again, and Adam shook his

head. “I insist. You use your safeword, and I’ll pretend I’m

reluctant to stop. Benjamin will insist and make a little

scene about it. You act terrified, and that will get the

dungeon masters involved if they’re not already. It’ll cause a

commotion, and that’s what we want.” He smiled down at

Chad. “
Right
?”

Chad grinned back at him. “Sounds good, but that

would hurt your reputation, wouldn’t it?”

Adam shrugged. “Maybe—I don’t know. This is more

important than my reputation, and eventually what we’ve

been doing will all come out in the open. I don’t think I’ll be

attending the club so much in the future anyway if you

accept my invitation. What do you say?”

Chad leaned up and took his lips in a searing kiss that

left them both breathless. “I say, you’re on, Mister, but for

now, I think one of us is wearing way too many clothes.

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“Nervous?” Adam asked, reaching over to squeeze

Chad’s hand. They were on the outskirts of Atlanta and

would reach the club soon. Chad smiled back at him and

shook his head.

“Not really. A little nervous about taking off my clothes

for the scene, but that’s about it.”

Adam nodded. “I understand, but I’ll be with you every

second, baby. Keep your eyes focused on me and ignore

everyone else.”

“I’ll try. Sir…” He smiled over at Adam and got a smile

in return. Chad was jittery and determined to hide most of it

from Adam.

In the past couple of days, Chad’s nervousness had

grown by leaps and bounds. He’d explained to Johansen

what they planned to do, and he seemed greatly relieved and

talked it over with the chief. Both agreed it could work, but

cautioned Chad to only do this if he felt comfortable and

trusted the professor to take care of him.

Johansen had been very frank with him. “Like I told

you, you’re a better man than I am to even think about this

thing. If you think this professor might double cross you—

like go ahead and do what he wants to once he has you…you

know…tied down, then don’t even think about this thing.”

“I trust him with my life. He’d never do that to me or

anyone else.”

A long silence followed, and Chad swallowed hard.

Maybe he’d said too much and was relieved when Johansen

cleared his throat to ease the situation. “Okay, well good.

Good that you feel that way. I’d still feel better if I was in the

audience. How would you feel about that?”

Chad shifted nervously. “I-I guess so. Just…don’t look

at me, you know?”

“Well, hell, Chad, I have to look at you to make sure

everything is okay. But…I understand what you’re saying. I’ll

keep my focus on the professor.
Believe
me.”

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Chad laughed nervously. “Okay, then. I’ll talk to Adam

about getting you in. Our plan now is to be there around

seven o’clock. Before it gets really crowded and wound up.

Wear something that doesn’t scream cop, okay?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know…do you have any leather pants? Or

some tight jeans?”

“Well, hell no.”

Chad laughed. “Buy some. Maybe take off your shirt. I

don’t know.”

“Oh, no, not going to happen. I’ll see what I can do,

but don’t expect much. I’m not looking to go home with

anybody
.”

“Are you sure?” Chad teased. “I can totally see you as

a bear. Want me to see if Adam can find you a date?”

“Oh very funny. Let me know how to get in and I’ll be

there.”

“Okay,” Chad said, laughing as he hung up.

That had been a couple of days ago, and he wasn’t

laughing anymore, dreading the idea of Johansen looking at

his ass. He wouldn’t though, would he?

Chad groaned, and Adam glanced over at him. “Second

thoughts? We can call this off.”

“No, I’m good. Just thinking about Johansen being

there and seeing me naked.”

“You won’t take anything off until we start the scene.

Once we begin, I’ll be role playing. Treating you like my sub.

Do you trust me, baby?”

“You know I do,” Chad said warmly and put a hand on

Adam’s thigh.

“Good. I’d never harm you. Remember that. No matter

what else happens.”

“I know.”

They reached the club, and Chad scanned the parking

lot. Johansen’s car was parked near the entrance, but it was

empty. He’d apparently already gone inside as a guest, using

Adam’s name, the way they’d arranged.

Chad got out of the car, leaving his jacket inside as

Adam locked the door. He was wearing the soft, satiny shirt

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Adam bought for him, buttoned over tight jeans that rubbed

him a little. He wasn’t wearing any underwear, figuring it

would be less trouble when it came time to disrobe.

They went inside, and Chad was hit with the blast of

music and smoke that filled the room. As a private club, they

allowed smoking, and the smell of it made Chad’s stomach

roll a little. Adam dropped his hand from Chad’s back and

strode toward his usual table, already occupied by Benjamin

and Paul, along with another couple Chad didn’t recognize.

He walked carefully at Adam’s heel, remembering to keep his

gaze down, even though he felt the heat of an occasional

appraising glance at him as he passed. When they reached

the table, Adam sat down, tossing a cushion from the chair

down on the floor beside him. Chad sank down gratefully

and leaned against Adam’s leg, glad to be below eye level for

a little while.

Adam had already spoken to Benjamin about the

scene, explaining to him what they were doing, though

Benjamin had no idea Chad was a cop. He knew his role in

the scene, though, and agreed to do whatever he could to

entice the killer and bring him to justice. The department

had increased his surveillance for a couple of days as well,

just in case. They couldn’t be sure the killer hadn’t decided,

after Phillips’ death, that the element of surprise was gone.

The profilers thought he would move on to someone else—

hopefully, Adam and Chad.

Adam’s leg almost vibrated with tension, and Chad

laid his cheek against it, trying to soothe him. Immediately,