Rules to Live By Read online

  Marquis tracked Navin’s long fingers as he reached down and loosened the cage that was already opening with the swelling of Marquis’s cock. He had been wearing it for nearly a week, unable to touch himself. Just the idea that Navin would touch him soon was almost overwhelming. The reality was even more so.

  The cage clattered somewhere on the floor, and Navin pushed Marquis’s legs apart to get between them as he sucked Marquis in. Marquis opened up for him willingly. Navin stroked back behind his balls and between his ass cheeks, as though claiming everything for himself. Navin’s other hand was braced on Marquis’s chest, controlling him.

  Marquis shuddered, breath coming fast already. Navin was so good at sucking cock, and now it felt like even more of a gift to be in his mouth this way. Navin’s gentle lips and tongue soothed away all the pain of the cage and set him free. After a long moment, Navin pulled off and leaned up, kissing Marquis on the mouth.

  “I missed sex with you this week. I think we’ll take the evening without the cage.” Navin kissed him once more. “Sound good?”

  “Yes. God, yes.” It sounded so good. He tipped his head up, begging wordlessly.

  Navin gave him the kiss he was asking for, then another. His long fingers played over Marquis’s cock and balls, teasing gently. “I want to make you come.” He squeezed Marquis’s balls lightly, and Marquis shuddered. “Do you want me to make you come?”

  “I want everything. Please.”

  “I like hearing you beg.” Navin shed his robe gracefully as he straddled Marquis’s hips again. “And I love your cock.” The firelight danced over his bare body. “Tell me you want to be inside me.”

  “God, Navin . . .” Marquis reached for him, hands settling on Navin’s hips. He had to touch, couldn’t not. “I want that so much. Please, Navin. I’ve been thinking about you all week . . .”

  Navin’s smile was slow, victorious. He set a condom on Marquis’s chest, then picked up the lube. “Put that on. And then you can get me ready.”

  Marquis’s hands shook as he opened the packet and rolled the condom on. He hadn’t been touched in days. He hadn’t gone that long without at least jerking off since . . . He couldn’t remember when.

  “I love that look on your face,” Navin murmured, leaning in for a kiss. “Don’t be nervous, though. I know you’re trying to be good, no matter what happens. That’s all I want . . . and I want you inside me.”

  The kiss soothed, and Marquis got his fingers slick. He teased them along the crease of Navin’s ass.

  “Perfect.” Navin bit his lip as he arched into the touch. Marquis slid a finger in, watching his lover’s face, watching for the beginnings of that familiar pleasure.

  Navin’s eyes fluttered shut as Marquis slipped a second finger in alongside the first. “I want you to fuck me now,” Navin said breathlessly. “I want you to come and know I gave that to you.”

  Marquis didn’t wait any longer, not with Navin demanding it so perfectly. He gripped his cock in one hand, Navin’s hip in the other, and drew Navin down onto him. Pushing into his body, feeling him open up for him, laid Marquis bare. When Navin’s ass was flush with his hips, Marquis fell back gasping, trying desperately not to come just from the tight heat surrounding him.

  “Nothing better than that,” Navin managed to say. He kept still for a long moment, then rocked gently, eyes closed. Little shivers ran through him as he stroked his cock to hardness.

  “You feel so good like this.” Marquis wasn’t sure if he said the words or only thought them, but they were loud in his head. He arched, nudging deeper each time Navin rocked above him.

  “Does it feel different, waiting for it?” Navin braced his hands on Marquis’s shoulders and leaned over him. “Knowing I could take it away from you?”

  “God, yes.” Marquis sat up as much as he could, begging. “It feels amazing.”

  “It does.” Navin gave Marquis the kiss he wanted and made it last, his mouth hungry on Marquis’s. “I want you to fuck me now. Hard. Take me and enjoy it while it lasts.”

  “Yes, sir.” Marquis held tight to Navin’s hips and rolled before he knew he was going to do it. Navin had said to let himself go, so that’s what he did.

  Navin landed on his back, eyes wide, and for an instant Marquis worried he’d done the wrong thing. But then Navin’s hands settled on his shoulders again and the instinct to shove himself into Navin’s body—to rut and fuck and come—took over. With a week of pent-up longing burning through him, it wasn’t long before he was panting, on the verge of coming. Navin’s eyes closed, and he dropped one hand to his cock, stroking himself to orgasm.

  “God, that’s good,” Navin said. “Damn it, Marquis.”

  Navin writhed when Marquis pushed into him again, then started to come. Orgasm crashed over Marquis, tearing Navin’s name out of him and making his body bow as he shook. It lasted too long and not long enough at once. He was wrung out and dizzy when it ended.

  Navin touched him gently, fingertips on his cheek. “I want a few more of those before Monday,” he whispered. “For both of us.”

  Marquis tilted his head into the touch. The contact was like a drug in his post-orgasm haze. “Anything you want.” Anything.

  Monday was never an easy day. With Amrit’s work as well as his own waiting, Navin hadn’t had time to get breakfast, and it wasn’t looking good for lunch, either. He’d taken too much time on the weekend with Marquis but couldn’t really bring himself to regret it.

  Skipping lunch today would buy him a whole extra hour of work time, hopefully uninterrupted. Working through noon hour was practically family tradition—dinner was something else entirely; no one missed that. Maybe that was why it bothered him so much when Marquis was late, that expectation. Navin shoved the last of yesterday’s cold tandoori into his mouth and washed it down with cold coffee. The tandoori paneer held up better than the coffee. It wasn’t much, but it’d last him until he made it to the vending machine or sent someone to get him a sandwich.

  Amrit had handed off a new request from an old client, and Navin had almost missed it in the jumbled files. The client wanted functionality in their application that the company didn’t usually provide. Amrit shouldn’t have agreed to it, or at least he should have arranged to outsource it.

  This was Navin’s thing, though—code, processes, accounts—and the truth was, he didn’t want to let someone else do it.

  Damn it, he was tired of not getting to do what he was good at doing. So he was just going to do it—add a whole new service to the company offerings, because he could and because there was a market for it. He started typing. If he was in charge of this project, then he was going to act like it.

  By the end of lunch hour, Navin had a package put together for Dev that included everything from a projected timeline to the financial breakdown. Navin felt guilty about the cost of the licenses and equipment—mostly because he’d been wanting to play with all of it for years. It had taken him this long to get up the nerve to requisition it.

  It was okay for him to get what he wanted, Navin reminded himself. In work and in life. He and Marquis, they both got what they wanted and it worked out perfectly. Navin just wasn’t used to things ending this way. For the better.

  He tapped the key under his shirt, where it lay against his chest. Already, it was his talisman that said he was stronger than he thought. He could assert himself, and it was good when he did. The reminder got him through putting things together and walking over to deliver it himself.

  “Hey.” Navin tapped on Dev’s open door, printed package in hand, nice and neat like a school project. For a moment, he felt as though he was actually back in school. Old habits died hard.

  “Navi.” Dev wiped his mouth with a napkin, then gestured for him to come in. “You doing okay?”

  “Sure, why?”

  “You’ve been doing your work and that project of Amrit’s—I wanted to know if you needed help.” Dev took a sip of coffee and made a face as he put the cup on the de
sk next to a box of leftover shawarma.

  “Well, that’s part of what’s in this.” Navin held up the portfolio, then crossed the room to offer it to Dev. “I’m going to be busy. I need some resources. Amrit agreed to add functionality to a product that we don’t provide right now—but we could provide it if I take the time to build it in. In-line purchasing. It’s popular in games now; everyone wants to be able to buy on the fly, apparently.”

  “I’m impressed.” Dev picked up the proposal and wiggled it at Navin. “I haven’t read this yet, but I know I will be. I’ve been impressed by everything else so far. You’re practically doing my job on some of this.”

  Product development. Navin didn’t want to step on Dev’s toes, but . . . “I know what we can do, and sometimes we could get a bigger client, or more of their business, if we can stretch our systems to meet a new need. Mummy’s been sending me to seminars so often I’m starting to think she just wants me out of the way—it’s time for some of that investment to pay off.”

  “It’s good to see you taking initiative. Lets some of the pressure off me, too.” Dev grinned at him. “I might even go to lunch one of these days just to eat—without Mummy.”

  “Hey.” Navin pointed at him and mock scowled. “Don’t get crazy now.”

  “I wouldn’t dare. But if you wanted to take over Tuesday lunch meetings with Mummy, I’d pay you extra for it. She keeps asking me why she’s not a grandmother. She can’t do that to you.” Dev leaned back in his chair and paged through the proposal. “This isn’t my wheelhouse; I’m going to have to trust you on this. It’s a lot of money and a lot of people, Navin, but I don’t want to turn it down just because I haven’t had time to keep up with this end of things.” He looked up at Navin. “Should I? Trust you?”

  “Yeah, I’m good.” Navin couldn’t imagine those words coming out of his mouth a week or two ago. “I can handle it.”

  “Okay, then.” Dev tossed the portfolio onto his desk and reached for his fork instead. “I’ll just go over your numbers later today, sign off on that. But consider it done.”

  “Devinder.” Mummy nearly ran Navin down as he turned toward the door. “Oh, Navin, what are you doing in your brother’s office?” She smacked his arm with her purse.

  “He’s making my life easier and making us money, is what he’s doing,” Dev said around a mouthful of shawarma. “Your little boy is all grown up.”

  “Devinder! You’re eating,” Mummy said with dismay, smacking Navin again since Dev was on the other side of the room, safely behind his desk.

  “Shit. Is today Tuesday?” Dev wiped his mouth with his hand, then grabbed his napkin as Mummy glared.

  “No, Monday, Devinder. You are supposed to take me to a client lunch today and you’re eating . . . Is that take-out shawarma?” Dev had the grace to look guilty. “From that terrible sandwich shop downstairs?” Mummy turned to Navin, despair written all over her face. “At least I have one good son left, even if he hasn’t got any prospects.”

  “I have a boyfriend, Mummy. And I have time to take you to that lunch.” Navin offered her his arm. “I haven’t eaten properly yet.”

  “I haven’t seen him, so he doesn’t exist.” Mummy gestured dismissively, but took Navin’s arm. “You look nice today, I suppose you can come. Devinder, you have sauce on your shirt,” she said loftily as she steered Navin out the door. “Change it before anyone sees you.”

  “Marquis helped me pick out this suit,” Navin said, once they were in the elevator.

  “He has expensive taste.” Mummy sniffed a little as she pushed the button for the ground floor before Navin could get to it.

  “He wants the best for me. He knows clients judge appearances.” Navin was feeling too good these days to get defensive. “He’s coming to Dev’s birthday party.”

  “He’s a nice boy, is he?” Mummy gave Navin a sideways look. “You’re too kind, Navin. You don’t have Dev’s fire or Amrit’s spirit. I don’t want a boy who walks all over you.”

  “I can take care of myself, Mummy. But don’t worry, Marquis takes good care of me.” Navin put an arm around her and hugged her until she smacked him with her purse again.

  “I’ll be the judge of that when I see him at Dev’s party,” she said, leading the way off the elevator. “He’d better be on his best behavior.”

  “He will be.” Navin was sure of that.

  “Marquis.” Silvia leaned around the corner and poked her head into his workspace.

  “What’s up?” Marquis pushed his tablet aside and turned around to face her. “You got those electrical specs this morning, right?”

  “I did, they’re perf.” She made that I need something you might not like face. “You know the client meeting we have in ten minutes?”

  “Is something wrong?” Just when Marquis had thought he was going to make it through the week without someone needing his help on a project that wasn’t his. At least he’d gotten as far as Thursday—he was getting better at saying no to taking on extra work and minding his own business. Fewer distractions meant he was done on time in the evening. For Navin. For them.

  “The senior partner showed up. You know, the fussy one? Johnson’s supposed to be presenting on the solar collection system, but he’s busy praying to the porcelain gods. Forgot his lunch and ate the burritos from last month’s staff meeting instead.” Silvia looked despairing. Johnson was a genius in the classical sense—brilliant at what he did best, a disaster at everything from using the microwave to tying his shoes. “Can you take his segment?”

  Marquis hadn’t so much as glanced at that project in more than a week. Vaguely, he remembered Johnson rambling on about thermoplastic elastomers during a coffee break, but other than that, he was completely in the dark.

  “I can switch your part with mine in the lineup,” Silvia offered when he hesitated. “That gives you almost a half hour to get it all straight.”

  Marquis couldn’t say no, not with Silvia doing the asking. If there was anyone he needed to impress to do well at the company, it was her. “Let me close up here. Are Johnson’s files on the server?”

  “You have access,” Silvia said brightly. “We’re heading down in five. I’ll see you at the elevators.”

  Five minutes to get set up, and Marquis needed a better tie, and maybe his spare shirt if he was going to present. Not half enough time. Shit.

  He should have been ready for this—even if he couldn’t have known this would happen, he always made a point of knowing how everyone else’s projects were going. Just in case. All he wanted right now was to text Navin and have Navin tell him—remind him—that he’d been doing the right thing by putting their relationship first.

  No time for that, though. Not even enough time to take a piss.

  Silvia met him by the elevators as promised with an intern and two architects even more junior than Marquis. That made him the second most senior person on the project, at least as far as the client was concerned—which had never happened to him before, not even on his own projects. Of course, one of the partners would be there, but not presenting, just sitting in.

  “You looked fine before, Marq,” Silvia said, nudging him with her elbow as they waited for the elevators. “Though I understand not wearing your superhero cape to a presentation. That might have been pretentious.”

  Marquis wasn’t feeling particularly heroic at the moment. “I’m sorry I wasn’t up-to-date on this already.”

  “You can’t be on top of everything. That’s my job, as lovely as it is to have backup at all times. You’ll be fine, you always are. You’re young and pretty, you present well.” Silvia shook her head. “I’m the one who’s got to tell them we’re going to end up over budget.”

  “We . . .” Marquis hadn’t even looked at the numbers yet. Of course the elevator arrived as he was trying to open his computer. “We are?”

  “You’ll just have to convince them it’s worth it.” Silvia shrugged as she stepped into the elevator ahead of him. “You’re m
y hero, don’t forget that.”

  Usually that would have made his day. Now he was so woefully underprepared he didn’t know what to do with himself. All he could do was put one foot in front of the other and read up on Johnson’s work as fast as he could while looking as though he was paying attention to what was going on. He could do this. It felt like the elevator was trying to catch up to his stomach, already ten floors below and dropping.

  As it turned out, it wasn’t a complete disaster—just a partial one. Marquis made some of it look pretty good, but he’d been uncertain on the numbers, and Silvia’d had to rescue him at the last minute. She didn’t seem to mind—she even apologized for putting him on the spot—but that had never happened to him before. Then Marquis had to sit through the rest of the meeting, and hold up his end of answering questions throughout, while wondering whether or not the firm’s senior partner was glaring at him, the clock, or the ficus behind him. By the time it was over, he was a wreck under a thin veneer of habituated manners and a practiced smile.

  As soon as they were done, Marquis escaped to the bathroom—only half because he had to take a piss. He needed an escape from himself. It hadn’t been that bad, he kept telling himself, but telling himself didn’t make it any more true. He had no idea how he was going to make this work, being with Navin and not letting things slide at the office. It didn’t matter what room he was in, the walls felt too close. Stepping into the bathroom didn’t help.

  Marquis was halfway to the urinals, tugging at his fly, when the zipper grated against the cage through his underwear. He froze, staring at the backs of three other architects standing at the urinals. He’d been so careful up until now. He turned sharply and ducked into a stall, dropped his pants, sat down, and put his face in his hands.