Chapter Fifteen - A Sunday In The Life Of An Influencer
Aidan murmured something in his sleep, as Heathcliff traced a small path slowly from his shoulder down his arm and rested his hand on the young man's hip. For all the case Aidan was making about being the perfect professional, he liked to sleep in.
Heathcliff rose up slowly, careful not to wake up his bed partner, although, by the look of things, the chances for that to happen were close to zero. He would go down and prepare breakfast, but not before his usual routine.
Should Aidan have awakened, Heathcliff would have been all down for another type of exercise, but it looked like his guest was very accommodating of Heathcliff's habits.
He could go to the backyard and start the day with his usual Tai Chi routine. It helped him clear his mind and boy, did he need that right now.
Heathcliff had thought Aidan to be an open book. But it wasn't the first time he was wrong about the corporate bunny. At first, he had seemed easy to seduce. Then he hadn't. And then he had been easy to approach again, which brought things to the present, with Aidan in his bed, no longer a virgin, and quite satisfied with that outcome if Heathcliff could take his words at face value.
Aidan had made no waste of compliments, but he had been quite thorough in replying to Heathcliff's questions about whether he enjoyed himself or not. Thorough in the way of small giggles, a few blushes, and several 'Of course I liked it, Stone, stop bothering me, I really want to sleep'.
But Aidan hadn't gone to sleep right away. For minutes, Heathcliff could tell Aidan's eyes were on him but had said nothing. And after that, there had been a shy hand reaching for him and resting against his elbow, like its owner wanted to make sure that wasn't some dream.
Heathcliff had turned and taken his bed partner into his arms, pulling Aidan firmly to him. Despite Aidan's half-hearted protests, they had slept like that until morning.
The problem wasn't with Aidan, Heathcliff thought as he breathed in the morning air. The problem was with him. More precisely, with his lack of experience regarding such situations.
He wanted something, but he could not define it, nor was he capable of finding the means to get it. That wasn't like him. Heathcliff Stone had everything in his life well figured out, planned to the precision of hours, if not minutes. From the outside, that must not have been quite clear, but he hadn't gotten where he was without proper discipline.
That also meant it wasn't on a whim that he had proposed Aidan the deal of sleeping together to eliminate complications with partners who could spill the beans about Heathcliff's sex life to tabloids. The practical aspect of the said deal was all him: calculated, down to the letter.
But that was just part of whatever was happening right now. Heathcliff wanted Aidan, he liked him, with his pretty brown eyes, pouty lips, gorgeous ass, and proper attitude. He wanted the bunny so much that the fact that they could strike a deal beneficial for both parties seemed to fall into place like the last piece of a puzzle.
Aidan's unwilling confession about his virginity had rattled the boat a little. Heathcliff hadn't expected that to happen, and usually, complications were seen as nuisances from where he stood. He would have liked to know about it in advance. But he could not find it in him to feel annoyed with the lack of essential information beforehand.
Instead, Heathcliff felt triumphant, truly and utterly satisfied, with the idea that he had been the first man to have sex - proper sex! - with Aidan. From last night, the feeling hadn't waned. On the inside, Heathcliff felt a little giddy, like a teenager after the first night of lovemaking.
Well, that feeling had gotten a bit of a cold shower with Aidan's words after they jerked off each other in the bathroom. Aidan wanted to make it all clear that feelings would not be involved. Usually, Heathcliff would have appreciated the directness and also, the intention to keep complications at bay from the get-go.
But, in this particular case, it had made him feel a tiny bit annoyed. Was Aidan truly impervious to his charms? He didn't seem so. Yet, he had quickly said that they would be all professional in their dealings, regardless of all the steamy sex happening between them.
And what had he expected? For Aidan to proffer his undying love? Why? Just because Heathcliff was his first?
"It's the 21st century," he murmured to himself and moved slowly, performing his routine.
Emotional attachments were so last century or something. Today, people wanted everything and wanted it now. That meant that no one had time for thinking over what they felt about this or that. At least, people who wanted to be successful, as he wanted. Others didn't mind trailing behind. For them, other things were important.
But not for Heathcliff. So where was this feeling of slight dissatisfaction coming from? Heathcliff decided to focus on his exercise routine for the moment. It was clear that inner peace wasn't some on/off switch. He needed to work on it, and he knew that well.
Later, as he was watching over the mushroom and veggie omelet, he knew what was wrong with him. Inner peace had eventually made him see it all clear.
Now, the question was: how could one truly trap a bunny? Especially one who was slippery as a weasel, sly as a fox, and brave as a lion? Heathcliff had his work cut out for him, but maybe it was high time for that to happen.
Anyone who knew him would laugh at him. No, almost anyone. He knew a few people who would express satisfaction upon hearing his predicament, and not because they wanted to see him make a fool of himself or brought down a peg or two, but because they loved him and had been waiting for that to happen for a long time.
For Heathcliff to really, truly, deeply, like someone.
***
Aidan stretched and yawned, feeling the silky sheets under his fingers. Since when he was throwing money on such luxuries? His eyes snapped open. He wasn't at home. He had slept over at Heathcliff's house, and, more importantly, he had had sex with the man. A quick look around let him know he was alone in the room.
He rolled on his stomach and hid his face into the pillow.
"Aidan Spark, you really did it," he said to himself, the sound of his own voice making it all real.
He turned on his back and remained like that for a couple of minutes, just staring at the ceiling. So, to put things in order, he wasn't an ass virgin anymore. The experience had been amazing, Heathcliff had been awesome, and he, Aidan, hadn't even made a bit of a fool of himself.
He had ended up blurting out the truth about his virginity, and Heathcliff had seemed impressed. In a positive way. Well, that was good. Actually, it was terrific. Aidan felt appreciated, which was pretty much the opposite of what he expected from telling someone he was still a virgin at twenty-two.
Their relationship was bound to change. That was clear, and Aidan knew it, all too well, that it was up to him not to screw it up. He could not fall for Heathcliff. That was definitely out of the question, and it was more than just his job at stake.
On the upside, he would get to have a lot of awesome sex with Heathcliff. On the downside, he needed to keep himself in check and let no one know about what was going on between him and the sexy fitness guru.
Now, where was Heathcliff? Most probably, he never slept in, not even on Sundays. And also most likely he was already working out or doing something only fitness gurus did to keep in shape and all that.
No matter how nice the bed was, he had to get up and go scouting the area for Heathcliff. That was a good opportunity to see if Heathcliff was still pleased with the arrangement. Aidan could not really trust the man. After all, he had fucked hundreds of dudes. Or they weren't hundreds if what Heathcliff said was true. Even so, Aidan knew what kind of competition he had to face.
Maybe not right now, though. Heathcliff had been so pleased with Aidan losing his virginity to him, and it looked like, for some time, he could hold his interest. After all, it was a novelty in his life, again, if what Heathcliff said was true and no other virgin had ever moored into his port.
Aidan hurried to the bathroom, for a quick shower and to freshen up. For a couple of minutes, he stared into the mirror, making faces and gauging whether he could keep a neutral expression and not look like some love-struck teenager the moment he would see Heathcliff after their torrid night together.
He smiled as he saw the clothes left on the back of a chair. This time, they fit. So Heathcliff had planned for this all along, and he hadn't just left some of his old clothes for Aidan to wear around the house. They were some sort of sportswear, shorts and a tee, but very comfortable.
Aidan walked down the stairs, feeling pretty confident in his abilities to behave like the perfect professional.
That, until he saw the man fiddling with something in front of the cooktop in the kitchen. Did he really need to walk around shirtless all the time? Not that Heathcliff had any reasons to be modest. Even among other fitness gurus, he looked amazing.
But that, unfortunately, was doing nothing for Aidan's nerves. He could behave properly. All he needed was a second to collect himself.
Time was up. Heathcliff turned to look at him from across the room and smiled. Aidan felt a sudden lump in his throat and made a small, weird sound.
"Is everything okay, bunny boy?" Heathcliff asked in his usual energetic voice. "I was expecting you to get up before me, seeing how dedicated you are to building a career."
"It's Sunday," Aidan pointed out, feeling a tiny bit pissed at Heathcliff's words.
"Ah, really? So that's when you go all wild and listen to death metal?"
Aidan opened his mouth, but no witty retort came up. Maybe he was too busy ogling Heathcliff's perfect chest and abs. It wasn't all his fault. That man needed to wear a t-shirt.
"Why are you always naked?" he asked, without hiding his irritation this time.
Heathcliff laughed. "I'm not naked. I wear pants."
"Right," Aidan replied and rolled his eyes.
"Hey, it's not like we're not close friends now. You can see me naked at any time."
Aidan licked his lips. His eyes, damned traitorous eyes, traveled from Heathcliff's face down to his chest, and then, by sheer force of will, back to where they were supposed to look. "Your close friends don't find it distracting?" he asked.
"I've heard no complaints," was the prompt reply.
"I can bet," Aidan commented dryly.
"Come eat." Heathcliff invited him to take a seat at the table.
