Mad Man (Necessary Evils Book 5) Read online

  Avi frowned harder, at a loss, floating closer. “What? No. I was trying to be nice.”

  “Nice!” Felix snapped. “I won’t be able to use my hands for a week.”

  Avi gave him his sexiest smirk. “That’s a shame. I could think of so many things to do with those fingers.”

  Felix slapped him hard enough to send his head flying to the side, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. When Avi laughed, Felix raised his hand again, this time closing his fist. Avi snagged his wrists and pinned them behind his back. “You keep slapping me like that and I’m going to think you like me or something.”

  Felix’s face flushed. “Fuck you.”

  “Would me fucking you make your day better?”

  Felix snagged his wrists back. “You are the worst.”

  Avi was usually content to play the villain but, for some reason, he couldn’t let this go. “Do you know how many interns I pissed off by giving this job to you?” He jerked his chin toward the sequined jumpsuit.

  For once, Felix seemed thrown. “What?”

  Avi shook his head. “Your name is in the magazine credits. I’m pretty sure they’re plotting your death, even as we speak. I hear them in the cantina. They hate you. I mean, everybody kind of hates you…except me. I think you’re neat.”

  Felix seemed to let that knowledge wash off him like he didn’t even hear it. “Why would you do that?”

  Avi was close enough to feel the heat of Felix’s body and his breath on his skin when he spoke. He smelled like spearmint gum. He had to force himself to concentrate on the question. “Because you literally said, ‘I’m having a bad day. I need a distraction,’” he mimicked, lifting his voice to a soft, breathy impersonation of Felix’s voice.

  That brought Felix up short. “How did you know I said that?”

  Avi shrugged. “I heard you on the phone when you came in today.”

  “You eavesdropped on my call?”

  “Yeah. And I wanted to do something nice for you,” Avi said, exasperated. Felix looked stymied. “Why are you having a bad day, anyway?”

  To Avi’s horror, Felix burst into tears. He wiped them away, still glaring at Avi as if any of this was his fault, which he was at least eighty-seven percent sure it wasn’t. “I’m not crying over you. Just so you know. Today’s my birthday.”

  Avi blinked. “Oh,” he muttered, as if that made perfect sense.

  “It’s my birthday. A big one. A milestone one. Twenty-one. But my parents aren’t here. My dad’s dead. My mom’s…you know, in a home. She used to make me this dessert… Ugh, never mind.” He lifted the sweater to his nose, wiping his tears on the sleeve.

  Understanding dawned. The ugly sweater belonged to Felix’s mother. “I…didn’t know.”

  Felix sniffled. “Why would you? I just… I wanted a day where I didn’t have to think about anything sad.”

  “Why didn’t you say something?” Avi asked.

  “Why? What would you do about it?” Felix countered.

  Avi surged forward, slanting his lips over Felix’s soft but unyielding mouth, not deepening the kiss but not pulling away either. Felix shoved him back, slapping him hard again. Before Avi could think to react, Felix grabbed his hoodie and dragged him back, smashing their lips together in a kiss that turned dirty fast. Avi’s arms went around him without thought, and Felix wrapped his limbs around him like a vine.

  Avi scooped him up, dropping him onto the table, rocking against him and groaning when he realized Felix was hard, too. “What are we doing?” he asked against his mouth.

  “Fuck me,” Felix panted, not breaking the kiss.

  Avi’s brain short-circuited. “What?”

  “Fuck. Me,” Felix repeated, emphasizing each word with another filthy kiss. “It’s my birthday.”

  Avi’s cock was throbbing behind his zipper. There was no way he was saying no to that. He couldn’t keep his hands off him. Felix’s kilt or skirt or whatever it was left Avi free to run his hands far up under it, fingers skimming over petal soft skin to a hard cock encased in lace panties. Fuck. He felt like a fucking teenager. “I don’t have lube or condoms.”

  “You’re a fucking serial killer. Improvise,” Felix demanded against his lips.

  Fuck, Felix was bossy in every area of his life. He looked around and snagged the bottle on the counter. Coconut oil. They used it to lubricate the sewing machines. He yanked Felix from the table, spinning him around and bending him over, dropping to his knees to drag those lacey panties down to mid thigh, biting gently at whatever skin he found, wanting to take his time and taste every part of him.

  “I don’t need the foreplay. I just want you inside me. Now.”

  Christ.

  Avi flipped Felix’s leather skirt up, taking a moment to appreciate the obscenely sexy picture he made, before shoving his own clothing out of the way and grabbing the coconut oil, drizzling it over his fingers and probing the furrow between Felix’s cheeks, biting off a groan when he pushed one slick finger into Felix’s taut hole. Fuck.

  Felix made this broken hnf sound that made Avi have to remember not to come before he even made it inside. Felix was so fucking tight. After a minute, he pushed a second finger in with the first, working them in and out as best he could.

  Felix turned and gave him a pissy look. “Just hurry up. I need to feel you inside me.”

  Avi grinned, shaking his head. “Bossy,” he murmured, slicking himself up and pressing the head of his cock against Felix’s entrance, hesitating for just a moment. They both moaned as Avi pushed inside. Felix was almost painfully tight. It took three tries for Avi to even get inside. “Fuck, loosen up for me,” he coaxed, his hands gripping Felix’s narrow waist. “Let me in.”

  Felix whimpered, then bit it back. Soon, Avi could move easily, but he had to pace himself. He was quickly becoming addicted to the grip of Felix’s hole milking him with each thrust.

  Felix arched his back. “Fuck. Yeah. Like that. But harder.”

  Avi realized Felix was jerking himself off under the table. “God, you’re so fucking perfect.”

  “I know,” Felix gasped. “Pull my hair.” Avi did as he was told, slipping the elastic free and locking his fingers in Felix’s silky strands, yanking him back, gripping his hip so he could pound into him. “Oh, fuck. Yeah. Yeah. Just keep doing that. Don’t fucking stop. I’m so close. Just a little more.”

  Avi had never had anybody coach him through sex before, but he found it helped knowing Felix was almost there. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold off. When Avi kissed the slender column of his throat, Felix nudged him away. “I don’t need any of that.”

  Avi slapped Felix’s ass, earning a startled yelp. “Well, I do. So, behave.”

  Felix cried out right then and Avi could feel him spasm around him. He really had been close. Was it the smack that sent him over the edge? Fuck. That was enough for Avi, his whole body shuddering with pleasure as he came. He should have pulled out, but he didn’t. He couldn’t. He was already spilling inside Felix, pumping his hips, loath to leave the snug heat of a body he’d spent endless hours fantasizing about.

  When Avi softened, he slipped free. Before he could say anything, Felix adjusted his clothing, smoothing a hand over his green blouse and pulling his sweater tight around him. “I need to finish this,” he said, returning to his seat, dismissing Avi like a two dollar whore.

  Avi stood there staring for a long while. “I can have somebody finish that up in the morning, or you can do it over a couple of days. There’s time.”

  Felix gave a quick shake of his head, his hair falling into his face. “No, it’s fine. If my name’s going to be on it, then I should be the one to do the work.”

  “O-kay,” Avi said, still hesitating. “Should we—”

  “You can go,” Felix said, tone sharp.

  “You do know I’m the boss, right?” Avi asked, amused.

  Felix flicked his sassy gaze at him and his still open pants. “You do know saying that with your dick out in front of cameras you installed in this room could be construed as sexual harassment.”

  Avi grinned. “Until I play them the sound where you demanded I fuck you like I was your concubine. I feel…used.”

  Once more, there was…something, but then it was gone, locked down behind a typical Felix eye roll. “Go home.”

  Avi didn’t want to go home. Not alone, anyway. But he had no reason to stay. “Maybe I should just stick around and make sure you get home okay.”

  Felix cut his gaze to him again. “I have a gun in my bag and a knife in my boot. Trust me, I’ll be fine getting home.”

  He really was perfect. “Okay. See you in the morning, I guess.”

  “Bye,” Felix said, dismissing him without so much as a wave.

  Damn. He was a savage.

  Felix didn’t walk home. He took an Uber most of the way, then asked the driver to stop a couple blocks away. He needed the night air on his face. He needed the sharp pain in his ass that made him grimace with every step. He needed to be punished. He was fucking shame spiraling. He looked at his phone. It was after midnight. Hopefully, there was nobody waiting for him.

  He’d done a lot of impulsive things in his short life, but tonight had started a chain reaction of poor life choices that left him reeling from his own dumbassery. Was that a word? It should be. His decisions had snowballed until he couldn’t outrun them anymore and they flattened him.

  That was how he felt. Run over. All the reasons he should never have kissed Avi played on repeat like a song he couldn’t get out of his head. Avi was his boss. Avi was an asshole. Avi tormented him night and day. Avi was his brother-in-law. They’d been at work. In the workshop. Where there were cameras. And guards. Guards watching those cameras.

  But none
of those things were what had him unraveling. He stopped, leaning against the abandoned print shop, the bricks threatening to destroy his mother’s already aggressively well-loved sweater. His mother. Fuck. She would be so embarrassed of the mess he’d become. Holy shit. He really was just so good at making bad decisions.

  He was a goddamn cliché. Instead of going home and hanging out with the guys and letting them celebrate his twenty-first birthday as planned, he’d opted for a pity party of one. Because he was sad and lonely, which was stupid because he was never alone. He lived in the equivalent of a frat house, with people coming and going all hours of the night.

  He didn’t even know why he’d done it. Okay, that was a lie. He’d done it because he was the worst kind of hypocrite. He would tell anybody who was being treated the way Avi treated Felix to run fast and far, no matter how rich or sexy or smart or funny or fucking dangerous he was. But when Avi had kissed him, it was like something broke inside Felix. His fucking heart had stopped and he’d just wanted more. He’d wanted it all. Kissing Avi had made him forget how sad he was, had made him feel seen and…wanted. Something he never felt.

  He quit stalling, walking the few short steps to the mechanic shop his brother owned, then walked another few steps to where he lived with his friends. The lights downstairs in the rec center were always on, but the farther into the large space he got, the more sure he was he wouldn’t be able to escape his friends.

  When he walked in and dropped his work bag, four of the half-dozen guys playing PS5 turned to look at him as a unit, the controllers in their hands forgotten. Felix looked around, his heart twisting. There was a happy birthday banner and balloons and food scattered on the table. There wasn’t much left, but that was to be expected with ten twenty-somethings living in one huge apartment.

  They’d thrown him a party. A party he’d missed to bang a man who hated him. For the second time that night, he burst into tears. Arsen’s husky-blue eyes widened, and he dropped his controller, vaulting over the back of the couch, his aqua hair flopping into his face as he put his arm around Felix and led him to the sofa.

  Nico watched, eyes narrowed, looking more intimidating than usual with his black hair braided down the center of his head like an extra from Vikings. The Dum-Dum in his mouth should have made him look less intimidating, but it really didn’t. “Are you good? Did somebody hurt you? Is that why you look…like you do?” he finished awkwardly.

  Felix caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the window. His hair was a mess, his shirt askew, his skirt twisted. “No. Nothing like that.”

  Felix knew he was freaking them out. Arsen and Levi kept exchanging looks. The should-we-call-someone look. The do-we-need-to-kill-someone look.

  “Tell us what happened,” Arsen said. “Where were you? You missed your party.”

  Felix collapsed in a fresh pool of tears, covering his face with his hands. Nico came down the stairs just then, his blond curls bouncing, eyes going wide when he saw Felix sobbing.

  “What the hell?” Nico asked. “Are we killing some people tonight?”

  “No. Just… It’s nothing. You can’t tell my brother,” Felix said, giving all of them a look through his tears. “He’ll freak the fuck out.”

  “About what? What happened to you?” Nico asked.

  Felix shook his head, miserable. “I can’t.” They all frowned at him. They had no secrets. “Seriously. It’s too…shameful.”

  Arsen narrowed his eyes at him, doing that thing that made Felix feel like he was looking through him. “You fucked him! That boss you hate.”

  “How do you do that?” Felix asked.

  There was a moment of stillness, and then chaos erupted.

  “You didn’t,” Nico said, scandalized.

  Levi nodded. “Oh, he so did. Look at him.”

  Just then, Lake floated down the stairs. “Who did what?”

  “Felix fucked his brother,” Arsen said.

  “Brother-in-law,” Nico clarified when Lake choked on whatever he was eating.

  “Shh,” Felix hissed violently.

  Levi frowned. “Why, is the place bugged? I don’t think Jericho can hear you from his fancy penthouse apartment.”

  “Still, people fucking gossip in this place,” Felix muttered.

  “You. You gossip in this place,” Lake reminded him.

  “Yeah, and I’m sure people would like to turn the tables on me,” Felix countered.

  “You have to tell us what happened,” Nico said.

  Levi grinned. “Yeah, slowly and with a lot of detail.” The others glared at him, but he just shrugged. “What? You don’t want to know what it’s like to fuck a psychopath?”

  “I didn’t mean to do it,” Felix wailed. “It just…happened.”

  “You just happened to lose your virginity…to your boss…who you hate?” Nico asked, doubt creeping into his voice in a way that made Felix want to rip out his nose ring.

  “You know what I mean,” Felix said, hands flailing. “It happened so fast. I was sewing sequins on the ass of some sweatpants, and he came in, being all smug and hot and annoying, but then he said something nice and I was in a vulnerable state. And then…” He trailed off.

  “And then?” All four echoed, clearly expecting more details.

  Felix rolled his eyes. “And then I slapped him and he kissed me and I slapped him again, but then I kissed him, and then the soul of some depraved sex demon overtook me, and the next thing I know, I’m telling him to do it.”

  “Do it?” Arsen asked, Russian accent thick.

  Felix couldn’t believe he was having to explain this to four people all far more sexually experienced than him. “Me. Do me. Fuck me.”

  “Is that what you said?” Levi asked, mouth falling open.

  Felix nodded miserable.

  “And he just…did?” Nico said.

  “But you hate him?” Lake asked.

  Arsen scoffed. “Hate sex is the best of all the sex, no?”

  Felix made a frustrated sound. “Okay, it didn’t just happen. I wanted it to happen. I was sad and lonely and tired of being the last virgin on the planet, and I knew he would do it. He’s a fucking psychopath. He wouldn’t care about devirginizing me.”

  “So, you told him you were a virgin?” Lake asked.

  Felix felt something curdle within him. “No. Not exactly. But it’s not like he would care.”

  “But still, he should have been told, right?” Nico hedged.

  “He kills people. Do you really think punching my V card would be the line he wouldn’t cross? It’s not my fault he didn’t pick up on my context clues. But I wanted to have sex and he was right there, so ready and willing, like an easily baffled, hot sex robot.”

  “So…how was it?” Arsen asked, earning a glare from the other three.

  Felix collapsed against the back of the couch, his dick twitching as flashes of their encounter flooded to the surface without permission. How was it? Holy fucking hell.

  “It was…” Hot and raw and it had set his soul on fucking fire. And his ass. His ass was on fire. The universe had definitely blessed Avi in the dick department. It seemed weirdly unfair given what a dick he was just in general. “Fine. It was fine.”

  “Fine?” Nico asked, brows furrowed. “The look on your face doesn’t say fine.”

  Felix threw his hands up. “Okay, it was better than fine. It was fucking mind-blowing. He rocked my fucking world. Literally. I feel like I was hit with a bomb blast.”

  They all stared at him for a long moment before Lake gently asked, “Are you, like…okay? Physically, I mean? Like, did it hurt?”

  Yes. “Why would you assume I bottomed?” Felix asked, pissy.

  “Because you walked in here like you’d ridden a horse home from work,” Levi observed.

  Felix made another noise of frustration. “I’m…fine. It wasn’t a big deal.”

  That was a lie. He wasn’t fine. It had hurt. So fucking bad. In a way no amount of prep or lube or fucking himself with a toy could have prepared him for, but it felt like what he’d needed. He needed to hurt physically to kill the emotions eating him alive. And Avi had given it. Enthusiastically. He’d done everything Felix demanded of him. Seemed to like it, even.

  Then it stopped hurting, which was so much worse. Because when the pain went away, there was nothing to distract him from how fucking good it felt to have Avi inside him, his hand in his hair, taking what he wanted. Felix had tried to keep it casual. Just sex. It happened every day. To other people, anyway. But when Avi kissed his neck and wrapped an arm around his waist, it had started to feel too real, like something with feelings.