Remove the Empty Spaces (8 page)

“I want to talk to Ion about this situation, and trust me when I say I don’t want to hurt Ion in any way.” Adrien strolled over to where Patrick stood then leaned close to him. “I like him, Patrick. Probably more than I should for just having truly met him.”

Patrick’s eyes lit up, and Adrien had a feeling that he’d gained a supporter in his suddenly thought up plan to woo Ion.

“All right. I guess I’ll have to trust you for now, but know this. You better not treat him like you’re ashamed to be seen with him. He’s just as good as you are, even without your money.” Patrick glared.

“I know that, and I won’t ever be embarrassed by Ion or his family. I’m more likely going to be by my own family.” Adrien shook his head. “Now, just go and talk to Ion for me. I have to discuss some things with Miss Bronson.”

Patrick nodded then left. Adrien inhaled sharply, having the sudden thought that maybe having a relationship with someone who worked for him wasn’t the best idea in the world. Yet he couldn’t get rid of the feeling that Ion was going to end up meaning more to him than any other man Adrien had ever dated. That scared him a little because Ion wasn’t Adrien’s usual type.

Adrien always dated men who were either in the same social circle as he was, or he dated younger men looking for sugar daddies. Too many times he’d found out his lover dated him because of his name and fortune. Adrien hadn’t had to pay for sex since he’d started having it. Being good looking and rich made getting a person into bed really easy.

Yet something about Ion told Adrien his money didn’t impress the younger man, and for the first time, Adrien might be judged by the kind of man he was, and not the amount in his bank account.

He grabbed the files he needed, then headed to meet with his eleven o’clock about the company her family wanted to purchase from Bellamy International.

* * * *

“Mr Bellamy, the newest troubleshooter is here to meet you.”

Ion rolled his eyes at Patrick, not liking his best friend’s smirk.

“Send him in, Patrick, and remember your job depends on you keeping secrets.”

“Yes, sir.” Patrick grinned at Ion. “You can go in now.”

“Thanks,” Ion said as he passed Patrick’s desk.

Patrick reached out to catch his hand, stopping him. “Congratulations, Ion. Not only on the job. I knew you were right for each other. You just had to get a chance to see it.”

Ion gave Patrick a quick hug. “I really do thank you, Patrick, and don’t worry, you’ll get your chance.”

Patrick patted his back, then Ion entered Adrien’s office. His lover stood in front of his desk, arms crossed as he waited for Ion to approach him.

“What are you thinking right now?” Ion asked, noticing the sudden gleam in Adrien’s eye.

His lover leered. “I’m thinking how gorgeous you look in that suit, and how hot it would be to bend you over this desk and fuck you here in the office.”

Ion’s cock grew hard, and he swallowed his groan of need. God, what he would give to have that happen. He stepped closer to Adrien, resting his hand on Adrien’s chest.

“While I’d love nothing more than to have you do that, we both know it won’t be happening any time soon.”

Adrien pouted. “Why not? As long as we lock the door, no one will know.”

Ion gave Adrien an incredulous stare. “Seriously? The way you shout and grunt when we have sex? I doubt very much they’d be able to ignore that.”

“Honey, I can be quiet given the right incentive,” Adrien informed him.

Ion chuckled. “I’m sure you can, but not here and not now. While we both know you promoted me before we ever even kissed, there would be others in this company who’d accuse me of sleeping my way to this position.”

“Is that why you want to keep our relationship a secret? Because you’re afraid of what people might think?”

Ion couldn’t tell how Adrien thought about that. There wasn’t any inflection in his voice. After reaching up to touch Adrien’s face, Ion trailed his fingers over Adrien’s cheekbones.

“I am worried, but not for myself. I don’t ever want you to get the reputation that you could be influenced by personal connections to make business decisions.” Ion smiled. “You’ve never done it before.”

“Do you ever plan on telling anyone?” Adrien asked.

Nodding, Ion pushed up on his toes to brush a kiss over Adrien’s lips. “One day soon, I’ll be shouting it from the rooftops. I’m not ashamed to be dating you, Adrien. Not one little bit. I’d just like to wait a while longer, and make sure we’re going to last before making a public announcement.”

He stared at Adrien, hoping he understood what he was trying to say. Finally Adrien sighed.

“All right, but even though we’re keeping it a secret, you’re not allowed to see other men.”

Like that would happen.
Adrien’s command caused a tidal wave of happiness to rush over Ion. While he’d known Adrien cared for him, he’d been afraid Adrien would want to see other people to maintain their cover.

He wrapped Adrien in a tight embrace before whispering, “My body is reserved for you. It’s a secret I’ll find very difficult to keep.”

Ion kissed Adrien, and as it deepened, he couldn’t help smiling inside. Who would’ve thought find a solution to a plant closing and saving jobs would lead him to the possible love of his life?

When Adrien slid his hands around Ion’s waist, Ion stepped back and shook his head. “We really can’t be doing any of that in the office.”

“No one will care,” Adrien said.

“We’ve already discussed it. You might think they won’t care, but I guarantee you, the ones who wanted my job will care, and they’ll gossip about how I got the job.” Ion took another step back, trying to remove the temptation of Adrien’s body and lips. “I should get back to my new office.”

Adrien didn’t look happy. “I guess so. What time do you get home from class?”

“Ten.” Ion reached the door, then turned to look at Adrien. “Why?”

“I thought I’d come over, and spend some time with you. Is that okay?”

Ion smiled at the hesitant tone in Adrien’s question. He probably never felt nervous about anything in his life, yet he was worried Ion might say no about him stopping by later.

“If you come around ten-thirty, I should have my notes written up by then. We can make out on the couch.” Ion winked, then left.

“You shouldn’t tease the boss man,” Patrick said.

“I think he needs to be teased, at least when we’re alone together. I wouldn’t dream of doing it here while we’re at work. He’s the boss, and deserves my respect.” Ion grinned. “Oh, can we meet for dinner tomorrow? I have class tonight, then someone’s coming over.”

Patrick’s eyebrows shot up, and his gaze shot over to where Adrien left his office. “Oh, right. Sure. We’ll meet up for food tomorrow, and you’re going to spill your guts about this whole thing.”

Adrien nodded at them both, but showing no more interest in either of them than he would’ve any other day. Ion forced himself not to stare at Adrien’s ass as he strolled down the hall towards Sidney’s office.

“You need to get back to work,” Patrick reminded him.

“Right. There’s a lot of stuff backed up that I need to look at.” Ion headed towards the elevators. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“You most certainly will.”

* * * *

Later on, Ion stumbled out of the elevator to shuffle to his apartment door. He juggled his messenger bag, mail and the take-out Chinese he’d grabbed at the corner restaurant while trying to get his key out of his jacket pocket.

“How about I take something for you?”

He jumped and almost dropped everything when Adrien spoke from just behind him. Ion turned to see Adrien smile, then reach to take the Chinese from his hands.

“I would’ve brought food if I had known you’d be hungry,” Adrien commented as Ion managed to get his door unlocked.

“I left work late, and didn’t have time to pick up anything to eat before class. I thought I’d have time to eat it before you got here.” After shoving the door open, he gestured for Adrien to go in. “It’s not much, but it’s mine and I can pay the rent on it without panicking every month about it.”

“You should be able to find a bigger place in a better neighbourhood now that you got a promotion and raise.” Adrien strolled into the apartment like he owned it, and Ion rolled his eyes at the man’s inherent arrogance.

“No, I won’t.” Ion let his bag drop on the floor next to the small table in the hallway. He set his keys and wallet in the misshapen bowl that sat in the middle of a white lace doily.

Adrien had gone into Ion’s kitchen, then glanced back around the edge of the doorway. “Why not? I’m sure this place is nice and all, but wouldn’t you want something bigger and more modern?”

After stripping off his jacket, Ion hung it up in the closet. He chuckled. “What would I do with more space? There’s only me here. Sure the neighbourhood isn’t the best, but I’m all right with that. The extra money I get from my raise is going towards paying off my student loans and helping my parents with some of their bills.”

Ion wandered in to see Adrien dishing out the food. The man seemed very at home in Ion’s kitchen.

“Right.” Adrien picked up the plates before turning to look at Ion. “You should grab the drinks. I brought a bottle of wine, which isn’t supposed to be drunk with take-out Chinese, but I won’t tell anyone if you won’t.”

Ion snatched up the bottle, glasses and the corkscrew, then followed Adrien out to his dining table. It wasn’t that big, and Adrien had to shove some of Ion’s books out of the way. After setting the plates down, Adrien took the wine from Ion, then opened it.

Ion sat, too hungry to argue with Adrien about his high-handedness. He took his first bite of General Tso’ Chicken, and moaned. Adrien laughed as he pushed a glass of wine over to Ion.

“If you like this, just wait until I take you to China, and you can have authentic Chinese food. It’s really not the same as what we get here.” Adrien took a careful bite of his. He chewed, then after swallowing, he commented, “It’s not bad.”

“When you take me to China? Are there any business trips I should know about?” Ion took a sip and had to admit it was some of the best tasting he’d ever had. Of course, Adrien had probably spent hundreds of dollars on it while the most Ion ever spent on a bottle was twenty dollars, if he wanted the good stuff at the grocery store.

“Not yet anyway.” Adrien looked at him with a slight smile. “I was talking out of hand, I guess. It’s too soon to be planning joint trips, huh?”

“A little bit.” Ion shook his head. “This is only our third date, even though we spent last weekend together. I don’t usually rush into things, and don’t jump into bed with guys I just met.”

“Just met? We’ve known each other for over a year,” Adrien pointed out before taking a sip of the wine.

Ion raised his eyebrows at Adrien’s statement. “We barely talked for that entire year because you were my boss and I was a mail clerk. It wasn’t like we were chatting at the water cooler before you asked me out.”

Adrien frowned. “Chatting at the water cooler? Do people still do that? And I’m the boss. I couldn’t really show you favour by singling you out for talks. No matter how much I wanted to.”

“Really?” Ion picked up a piece of chicken with his chopsticks. He chewed while he thought about the year he’d worked in the mailroom, delivering letters and files to the different floors. He tried to pick out any signal Adrien might have sent him about being attracted to him, and he couldn’t think of one.

“Yes. You’re fucking gorgeous, Ion. What red-blooded male in his right mind wouldn’t want to date you or just talk to you?” Adrien reached over to cover Ion’s hand with his. “I’m glad we are spending time together like this. The sex is great, and I’m definitely looking forward to having more of it, but I want to get to know you as a person as well.”

Ion turned his hand over then entwined his fingers with Adrien’s. “I’m glad to know it’s not just my body you want.”

He took a deep breath, hoping that what he was about to ask wasn’t going to backfire in his face. “I wondered if you’d like to go with me to my parents’ house next Sunday.”

“Really? Now you want me to meet your parents?” Adrien looked shocked.

Ion pulled away, letting it drop into his lap. “Is it too soon? I know I said we should wait until we’d been dating for a while longer, but I think it’ll go just as well if we did it now, than if we waited.”

After standing, Adrien walked around the table to crouch next to Ion. He took both of Ion’s in his, and smiled at him. “No, it’s not too soon. I’m just surprised because most guys either don’t want me to meet their parents because they’re embarrassed of where they came from, or they drag me around to show me off to everyone they know.”

“To prove they have what it takes to land a rich handsome boyfriend?” Ion shook his head. “That’s not why I want you to meet them.”

Adrien kissed Ion quickly, then said, “I know.”

“How would you know that? Like you said, we’re just getting to know each other outside of work and bed. I could very well be taking you to my parents’ to show you off.” Ion frowned, not liking the idea that Adrien’d been used like that.

Adrien shrugged. “Just a gut feeling, I guess. You don’t strike me as the kind of person who cares about things like wealth and power. Not saying that you don’t like money, and wouldn’t mind being well-off yourself, but it doesn’t obsess you like some of the men I’ve met.”

He wanted a happy medium between the two, because neither one sounded like it was a healthy way to live.

“Thanks for realising that about me. I wouldn’t want you to think I’m with you simply because of your money or your looks. Though you being walking eye candy does help,” Ion teased before kissing Adrien back.

“Hmm…” Adrien hummed as they kissed, then he slid his arm around Ion’s waist to pull him from the chair.

They tumbled into a heap on the floor, Ion on top of Adrien, but they continued to make out. Ion settled between his thighs, then rocked his hips into Adrien’s groin. He groaned at the hard length that met his erection. His lover arched his back, pressing their lower halves together.