It was a myth, Hayne decided, that working a boring job made days blend into one long monotonous blur. Quite the opposite, it caused an acute awareness of the time. Because of the lack of anything better to do, he worked out the hours, the minutes, the seconds till the end of the day. Knew exactly when his next day off was, how long he had to endure till he was free.

So it was precisely three twenty-six on a quiet Monday afternoon when he came sauntering in, acting as if he owned the place.

Which he did, in a way.

Ardleigh Jordache Sheckler the third, next in line to inherit the luxury Sheckler’s department store empire.

Of course Hayne didn't know that at the time. If he had, he'd have sent someone else to deal with it. But working here, it became difficult to distinguish one obnoxious c-list celebrity from another. He'd just assumed the latest bratty loudmouth was another wannabe actor, or maybe some manufactured boy-band fop.

Pasting on the insincere `Hi! I work for Sheckler's, how may I rid you of hundreds of dollars today?` smile, he crossed the richly carpeted floor towards the man.

"Good afternoon sir, may I be of any assistance?"

He'd had a dozen different responses to that question. Most of them involved the esteemed customer either proclaiming that yes, he was a lesser mortal, born to bow and scrape before them. Or, customers scowling, swearing and saying they didn't need help shopping, what the fuck did he think they were, morons?

But he'd never had kohl-rimmed violet eyes smile at him flirtatiously, never had pink glittery fingernails rake down the front of his shirt and tap his name badge.

"Oh, I'm sure you can…" Heavy lidded eyes flickered down to the name badge, back up to his eyes, and breathed out his name like a sigh. "Hayne."

He would have taken a step back if it wouldn’t have seemed so obvious. There weren't many people around -- Sheckler's wasn't the sort of place one went to browse and poke around -- but it would still no doubt have caused a commotion. Staff just didn’t treat their customers that way. How could he object when it was an unwritten clause of the contract that attentive services of the perfect, attractive staff were as much on sale as the perfect, attractive luxury goods.

Instead, he cleared his throat, pretended not to notice, looking off into middle distance somewhere over the unusual customer's left shoulder. A shoulder decorated with the black swirls of a tattoo, just visible through the sheer shimmery mesh shirt.

I'm not staring…I'm not…

"Were you looking for anything in particular, sir?"

The customer -- Man? Boy? Something in between? Hayne decided he was probably a few years younger than himself -- just smiled a knowing, smug little grin.

"Well, yeah." He was treated to another flirtatious grin, before the man went on, breezy and dismissive. "But apart from that, I've just gotten a new apartment, and I gotta get some stuff to put in it."

"Um…well our furniture department's on the second floor, sir, if you'd like me to—"

"Ah to hell with that…" The customer grinned, stared at him for a long assessing moment, then took him by the shirt sleeve, dragging him towards the elevator. "I can do that after. Right now I'm bored. C'mon."

Hayne glanced around. So far none of the other few patrons or staff had dragged themselves out of their little bubbles long enough to notice he was being harassed by a purple haired lunatic. How the hell did he get hair that colour anyway? Of course, it matched his eyes perfectly, but still…

He found himself on the receiving end of another of those almost predatory smiles, as he was bundled into the elevator. Trying on his most assertive look, arms folded across his chest, Hayne used all of the two or three inches height advantage he had to stare down the customer.

"Where are we going?"

"Damn, lighten up babe." The smile changed to a downright evil grin, as its owner took a step closer, ran his fingers lazily along Hayne’s arm. "After all, you're here to serve me, right?"

Hayne balked, suddenly claustrophobic in the elevator, despite its plate glass panels. The customer was standing far too close. He grit his teeth, trying to focus on the downright conceit in the words rather than the suggestion in the touch, telling himself over and over to just think of the paycheck.

"Yes sir, I'm here to assist you with any requirement you may have while you shop here at Sheckler's."

The customer laughed out loud, took a step back, leaning languidly against the other side of the elevator. "Quoted straight from the employee handbook." He feigned a dramatic tone, one hand pressed to his chest. "Daddy would be so proud."

"Excuse me?"

"AJ Sheckler. The Third." The guy extended a hand, smiled coyly. "At your service." At Hayne's expression, he smiled. "Ah, it's not that big a deal babe, jeez. I don't even get as good a discount on the stuff as the staff do. But hey, on the bright side, more for me that way when Daddy dearest pops his Gucci clogs, huh?"

Hopefully it hadn't been the kind of question that demanded a response, but fortunately Hayne wasn't put in that position, as the elevator doors opened with a ping and a swoosh.

"Ah, here we go."

Honestly, Hayne wouldn't have been surprised to find them in the toy section. The happy avarice in AJ's eyes was not dissimilar to that of the little kids who came to see their city-renowned Christmas toy display.

Instead, there were at the menswear department, which thankfully seemed to divert all attention away from him. AJ fluttered through the racks of clothes in a whirlwind of mismatched colours and fabrics -- "Ohh! That's nice…and that! That’s just fabulous! Ooooh! Magenta!" -- and by the time they made it to the changing rooms, Hayne was all but buried under a pile of hideous clothes that probably cost what he earned in six months.

Brusquely hanging up the clothes on the rail in the changing room, Hayne turned to leave, only to be given a sly little `and where do you think you're going?` look. He stifled a sigh.

"Will that be all, sir?"

"Quit with the `sir` shit. And no, that won't be all, you gotta stay so you can tell me what you think of the stuff!"

The next half hour dragged by in a sea of mock leather, silk and sequins. He'd never seen anyone quite so fanatical about being quite so badly dressed. One gaudy outfit after another came parading out of the room. AJ demanded his opinion, then proceeded to preen in the floor length mirrors. He tweaked this, adjusted that, before throwing his hands in the air and marching back to the changing room, wailing like something out of a Lewis Carroll book, "Oh, this won't do at all!"

Sitting beside the growing pile of clothes that AJ simply had to have, Hayne found himself wondering, much to his horror, what AJ might look like in decent clothes. Maybe in a suit. Grey, to bring out the colour of his eyes. Maybe one of those gorgeous silk Armani suits they'd taken delivery of just a week ago.

He was brought gratefully back to the situation at hand when a stream of curses more colourful than the clothes rang out from behind the changing room door. Disinterestedly, more out of habit than actually giving a damn, he walked over to the door and asked; "Do you need any help, sir?"

"Yeah, dammit!" The door opened, a hand shot out, grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him into the small cubicle. "I'm stuck."

Hayne blinked, blinked again, stifled a laugh, blinked some more. In the middle of the multi-coloured debris, AJ scowled, hands on narrow hips, dressed only in a pair of nauseatingly aqua leather pants.

"Stuck?"

"In these!" AJ gestured irritably at the pants, then glanced up with a helpless look. "And hell if I'm ripping anything, this was the only pair in my size, and I gotta have them."

"Have you tried, ah…just…jiggling the zipper about a bit?"

AJ looked at him as though he was an idiot. "Of course I have." A little of the agitation melted away on a mischievous grin. "Maybe I'm just jiggling it wrong…Wanna have a go?"

"I don't think—“

"Awww, go on…" Long glitter tipped fingers wrapped around his wrist, drew his hand to the low riding waistband of the leather pants. Pouty lips curved into a smile as Hayne's fingers accidentally brushed the expanse of soft, warm skin just above the stuck zipper. "I mean…you're the professional here, right? Bet you've had to do this a dozen times."

"Believe it or not, this is a first." Hayne grit his teeth again, trying to find somewhere to land his gaze that wasn't his hand at the unbuttoned, half-zipped pants. Somewhere that wasn’t the mesmerising swirl of the tattoo as it dipped teasingly over AJ’s shoulder to curl around one nipple, or the dusting of hair that seemed to draw his gaze in "follow me!" style from AJ's navel, before disappearing beneath the low slung waistband. The only thing left to stare at was the floor, as he gingerly tugged at the stuck zipper. The zipper refused to budge.

AJ grinned, tone mock-helpful. "Might be an idea to use both hands, babe."

Hayne looked up, glare meeting smug grin. Turning his attention back to the zipper, he caught sight of the phone-number of a price-tag and deciding that tearing them really wasn't an option. But still handled the garment -- and its occupant -- a little rougher than necessary. "You're enjoying this way too much."

"You think…?" It had just been an offhand remark, but the husky tone alone was enough to make Hayne glance up from the task at hand. Eyes half closed, smiling with none of the previous deviousness, AJ shifted his hips forward, brushing against his stilled hands. Hayne froze, momentarily unable to anything but stare as he felt the heat, the pulse pounding beyond his fingers. "What gives you that idea..?"

Fortunately, he didn't have to reply.

Unfortunately, he didn't have to reply because the zipper on the leather pants chose that moment to give way. Aided by the force Hayne was placing on the flimsy tab of metal, the sheer slickness of the fabric, AJ’s non-existent hips, and evil gravity, the pants were pooled at AJ's knees before Hayne could blink.

Caught off balance, he barely managed to stop himself from falling face first against AJ's crotch. Embarrassed, he almost noticed as an aside that the customer had been wearing nothing beneath the leather pants and was already half erect.

Surely there was some kind of `no refunds` policy about that…?

AJ just grinned lazily at him. "Damn, if I knew you were that eager, beautiful, I'da tried on the pants afterwards."

"I…I don't…" Suddenly flustered, but unable to tear his gaze away from the sight in front of him, Hayne shook his head mutely.

"Awwww, don’t be embarrassed, beautiful…" His hand still around Hayne's wrist AJ drew the dark-haired salesman's hand back towards himself, curving Hayne's shock slack fingers around his hardening arousal. He leant back slightly against the changing room wall, a smile on his lips, eyes drifting shut. "I don't mind."

It wasn't as if this guy would be the first, it wasn't as though he was the only. Of course Hayne had never done this at work before, but then he'd never had to deal with a customer as pretty. When he wasn't talking ninety to the dozen and flirting like he was born to it, there was something incredibly sensual about the purple haired man.

As good as naked, AJ leant against the wall, lower lip caught lightly between his teeth. One hand pressed back against the wall, clenching and unclenching reflexively, the other slowly running up and down his own bare chest. He was the poster child for unselfconsciousness, and right in that moment Hayne wanted him, badly.

The walls of the room seemed to be closing in. Hayne was aware of AJ's breathing, the heartbeat pounding beneath his fingers, the sharp gasp, the tensing of the body beneath his hands as he tightened his grip, stroked once, experimentally. Twice, and the gasp turn to a soft, low breathy groan. Three times, and those startling violet eyes opened almost sleepily, smiled at him.

Hayne began to smile back, before the stray thought hit some sense into him.

As if he just realised he was playing with fire -- and God knew, AJ was hot enough that he probably was -- Hayne pulled back sharply. The heel of his shoe caught on a sparkly gold top tossed carelessly onto the floor, nearly throwing him off balance a second time. Just wanting to get out, he barely glanced at AJ as he stumbled out of the changing room, not bothering to check whether anyone was watching.

"I uh…I'll be waiting outside when you're done."

He spent the time it took AJ to sort out his clothes, and presumably himself, listening to the shuffling and rustling of too many sequinned clothes, and berating himself for behaving so stupidly. Here at work of all places. With the CEO's son.

It didn't matter whether he wanted to. He couldn’t do it here, couldn't do it with him. Apart from anything else, he knew where the security surveillance cameras were…

He tried to ignore the sudden shiver than ran through him at that thought, concentrated on maintaining a nonplussed expression. If he tried hard, he could pretend it was just another ordinary afternoon, and he was only waiting for the customer to finish selecting his purchases.

After a moment, AJ flounced out of the dressing room. There was a pile of clothes on each arm, one of which he duly threw in Hayne's direction. “Those can go back." Striding out of the changing area, he headed towards the checkout counter in a displeased flurry of glitter and psychedelic colour. Hayne busied himself with arranging the clothes neatly on the restocking rack, before reluctantly following his charge in case he was making a scene at checkout.

He wasn't. He was engaged in some animated discussion about a pair of embroidered designer jeans with one of the salesgirls, but he wasn't making a scene. It seemed that the little transgression in the dressing room had been forgiven and forgotten as he bounded brightly towards Hayne the moment he saw him, doing an impromptu little twirl to show off the gold sparkly shirt he was currently wearing instead of the mesh shirt in which he'd arrived. "Go well with the leather pants, y'think?"

Only if you were colour blind.

"Uh…yeah, I guess."

“Where’s your sense of adventure, Hayne?” Suddenly surly and reticent, AJ sighed petulantly, turning for the elevator. "Guess I better do the boring shit now, huh?" He grinned wryly. "At least it's easier to hide a huge clothes shopping bill in an even bigger one for furniture."

Watching the counter staff packing AJ's many purchases ready to be taken downstairs for him, Hayne couldn't help arching a brow. "Don't you have people that'll do this kind of thing for you?"

AJ just giggled. "Bitter, much? And yeah there probably are." Taking a step closer, he smiled that sexy, heavy-lidded smile again. "But there are some things you just gotta take care of personally, y'know?"

Hayne blushed. He'd hoped the incident in the dressing room would have put AJ off. Instead it seemed to have done the opposite; the flirting had reached a new notch. He was probably deemed to be a challenge. AJ giggled again, sauntering over to the elevator, not even looking over his shoulder, assuming, correctly, that Hayne was following. "C'mon, you can show me what's so fascinating about a dining room chair that costs thousands."

As soon as he was within reach, AJ grabbed him by the shirtfront, pinning him back against the closed doors. He smiled, lips almost brushing Hayne's jaw as he murmured, "Or maybe you could give me a demonstration of the beds, huh?"

He didn't have the opportunity to reply, either in affirmation or declination, before AJ kissed him, deep and hard but never quite fully, as though it was just a taster for further mischief.

When he pulled back, Hayne could taste the sweetness of some fruity lip balm on his mouth, and instead of wiping it away, just licked at it, savouring the exotic flavour. The sensuality of the act only occurred to him when those equally exotic eyes darkened, watching him intently as a kitten fixated on a feather.

“Oh, yeah…” AJ purred, body slinking away from Hayne’s as the elevator reached its destination. “We’re making time for some hands-on displays, no doubt about that.”

“I don’t—“

“Ah-ah…” AJ grinned, shook his head. One finger pressed against Hayne’s lips to silence him. “The customer is always right, remember?”

When the elevator doors shushed open, Hayne hoped desperately that the eternally quiet furniture department was over-run with customers. Maybe Sheckler’s had a sale and hadn’t told him. Maybe they’d rescinded on the policy that demanded visits to the upper floors were almost by appointment –- and hefty wallet –- only.

Stranger things had happened. His current charge was proof enough of that.

AJ took in their surroundings with wicked glee. Noticing the other sole occupant of the floor, he turned to Hayne with a sidelong grin.

“Who’s that?”

Hayne scowled slightly, watching the perfectly coiffured blond make his way towards them. “Dennis…”

“Friend of yours?” AJ giggled at his expression.

“Not exactly.”

“So what’s he doing hidden away up here?” AJ mused. “I mean he’s not that ugly that he needs to be outta sight of the customers.”

“He’s the furniture department manager. I’m sure he’d be much better suited to help you choose—“

“Pfft.” AJ giggled softly. “I’d say you were more than qualified, beautiful. And he’s cute but you’re cuter.”

Trying to ignore the little flicker of relief that danced across his thoughts wearing aqua leather pants and nothing else, Hayne offered his hastily approaching colleague a cursory smile.

The other salesman however, only had an interest in favouring AJ with a charming smile.

“Good afternoon, sir, how may I help you today with your—“

Without batting a mascara-coated lash, AJ latched onto Hayne’s arm, as though he’d just been interrupted mid theatrical sentence.

“…Of course, you’re so right! Perfect, absolutely perfect. I’ve simply never had the kind of attentive service I’ve had today darling, I must remember to mention you to my father.”

Without giving the other salesman a chance to speak, AJ patted his shoulder as he dragged Hayne along. “You could learn a lot from Hayne here…” The hand slid down over the blond man’s chest, AJ making a point of checking the man’s name before moving on. “Dennis.”

Leaving the other salesman gawking in their wake –- and just knowing Dennis would never let him hear the end of that –- Hayne was grateful that AJ seemed to know where they were going, since he was busily wishing he could sink through the floor.

The moment they were out of earshot he glared at AJ.

“What was that for?”

“Oh, lighten up beautiful!” AJ grinned. “And besides, he could learn a lot from you.”

Out of sight of the other salesman, AJ pushed him up against an antique armoire, hands busily tugging Hayne’s shirt free of his pants, while his lips latched onto the vulnerable skin just beneath Hayne’s jaw.

A long way past saying no, Hayne’s power of objection was limited to at least wishing they could do this out of sight.

“Wait…there’s a storeroom on the next floor, if—“

AJ gave him a look that radiated `where’s the fun in that?`, before violet eyes darted around the vast shop floor. Dennis was still at his post by the elevator, but that was several carefully designed furniture displays away. Something classical and tasteful drifted quietly through the hidden speakers in the walls. Everything was chosen to create the perfect ambience in which the customers could fuss and fawn over a one-of-a-kind dining table made out of toothpicks, or something almost as crazy.

Something almost as crazy as AJ. There was no way Hayne was considering allowing his suddenly rampant libido to agree to this madman’s whims…

Then AJ turned back to him with that wicked, wild smile, and all Hayne’s arguments faded to background noise like the piped strains of Chopin.

“C’mon.”

Taking AJ’s hand, he paid no attention to where his wayward customer was leading him. And for a moment, it made no sense whatsoever that AJ was heading towards the textiles section, where long rows of richly coloured, custom-made fabrics cascaded along one wall. Celebrities sent their interior designers here to pick out drapes and upholstery fabrics. On his salary, Hayne could just about afford to have one pillow made, if he starved for a week and didn’t turn lights on in his apartment.

AJ meanwhile shoved past the carefully pinned material as though it was dollar-a-yard cotton, cheerfully ignoring Hayne’s pained squeak as an embroidered Italian damask made a suspicious tearing sound.

AJ giggled. “Oops…”

“Oops?” Hayne echoed as he followed, voice a strangled hiss. “What the hell is `oops`?”

Behind the display there was a narrow gap between the slanted display stand and the wall. It was barely room enough for Hayne to stand without ducking his head, and little more than two feet across at it’s widest.

There was just enough space for AJ to lean against the wall, in between rolls of fabric cut-offs, and tug Hayne close.

He’d been teased and tantalised for so long with those kisses, that it didn’t occur to him that this might be a lot more comfortable if their positions were reversed. He was too consumed with the thought of possessing those clever lips. Hands braced against the abrasive wall either side of AJ’s shoulders, Hayne leant closer, letting just the tip of his tongue drag slowly along AJ’s lower lip.

It seemed those lips couldn’t even stay still long enough to be kissed, curving into a lazy grin and vibrating against Hayne’s with a murmur.

“S’that all you’ve got?”

He couldn’t quite decide if the goading was deliberate or just AJ. Either way it had the desired result. Pressing closer, one thigh insinuating itself between AJ’s legs, Hayne deepened the kiss, tongue stroking slowly against the other man’s, however unnecessary coaxing seemed to be. He didn’t think there’d be anything he could suggest that AJ hadn’t done before, or demanded as par for the course, and damned if that wasn’t incentive to surprise the other man somehow.

AJ melted into the kiss, hands clenching in the back of Hayne’s austere white shirt. Somewhere in the kiss, his name badge fell off, and he distinctly heard a crack as one of them trampled on it. That sound was almost as satisfying as the little mewled sounds AJ made, pure lust, pure sex.

Those glittery fingernails raked hard down Hayne’s back, and he arched into the kiss, growling softly in the back of his throat. AJ’s hands came to rest at his waist, hands teasing beneath the rumpled hem of Hayne’s shirt. He shivered involuntarily, AJ accidentally finding a very sensitive spot as he slid his hands around to the front of Hayne’s pants, unfastening them deftly. Apparently AJ had far less trouble with other people’s zippers than his own.

Hayne chuckled softly, and AJ purred in approval as he massaged the heel of his hand against the increasing bulge beneath the half-open zipper. Laughter catching in his throat on a groan, Hayne pressed forward against AJ’s touch, rubbing and seeking more friction.

“I was right, you are eager.”

“Damn right,” Hayne growled, rocking his hips against AJ’s again, stealing another long, deep kiss. Fingers tracing the outline of Hayne’s erection pressing against the rumpled pants, AJ broke the kiss with an indolent grin.

“Got one of these.” From a pocket Hayne would have deemed too tight to hold anything, AJ produced a foil wrapped square. “The rest…” He grinned impishly over his shoulder at Hayne as he turned to face the wall. “You’re gonna have to use your imagination, beautiful.”

There was a glimmer in those violet eyes that seemed to demand that Hayne’s imagination be as wayward as AJ’s own. Hayne doubted he could compete on that score, but here out of the sight of any cameras or passers-by, the feelings AJ invoked in him in the dressing room came back with a fervour.

AJ’s painted-on jeans were a little tougher to ease down slender thighs than the leather pants. Hayne didn’t blame the fabric for wanting to cling to that pale, perfect skin. Skin that smelt of subtle musk and a surprisingly unexotic soap. It was the way sunshine would be if it had a scent.

When he leant down, rubbing the side of his face against one velvet-soft asscheek, AJ made a low pleading noise that rumbled deeply from his chest. One hand lifting to cup and squeeze the other buttock, he blew a soft stream of warm breath along the crease of AJ’s ass, smiling to himself when the other man shivered.

Repeating the action with the tip of his tongue, he was rewarded with a mewled cry so loud he almost stopped for fear someone would hear them.

Almost. Licking softly along that warm cleft again, he parted the tender flesh with one hand, revealing the puckered opening he sought. Bringing the other hand to his lips, he wet his index finger, before running just the tip around the rosy entrance.

AJ pushed back, moans whimpery and insistent. Not in the most patient of moods himself, Hayne obliged with a slow, careful thrust of the single finger, sliding it past the resisting muscle.

He bit back a groan of his own, watching his finger being swallowed up by that accommodating body, cock twitching in sympathy as the tightness and the heat enveloped the digit. The hunger for more was so palpable he was shaking in an effort to go slowly.

The noises AJ made weren’t helping any attempt at restraint. He gasped Hayne’s name as another finger joined the first, and let out a bona fide howl as Hayne leant close, tongue probing in between the fingers, moistening the stretched opening.

There was no way even Chopin at his loudest would cover that up. Hayne held his breath for a long moment, but there were no approaching footsteps, no disgusted yells. Just AJ, murmuring his name again, and pulling away.

“Hold on, beautiful,” AJ gasped, shaking his head. “Or we’re not gonna get to you…”

Fingers unclenching from around the foiled square, AJ turned around like sinuous liquid, one hand tangling in Hayne’s hair and urging him to his feet. AJ knelt in front of him, the condom between his teeth in the wicked grin as he tugged Hayne’s pants down to his knees. From around the foil, he giggled almost to himself.

“Is that a pricing gun in your pants or are you just happy to see me?”

Breathing too hard to do more than gasp out a laugh, Hayne shook his head, both hands braced against the wall. AJ stroked his erection with one hand, tearing open the condom packet in his teeth with the other.

“Sheckler’s…don’t have…pricing guns. Too…mass-market.”

“Figures.” AJ murmured, fingers twisting around the shaft of Hayne’s cock before sliding the thin rubber over the head. In the back of his mind, Hayne wasn’t all that surprised that the condom was a bright neon pink. It was probably watermelon flavoured and glowed in the dark, too.

He didn’t have much space to think at all after that. AJ’s lips followed the path of the rubber along the length of his arousal, wet heat trailing after the tight circle of his fingers.

The watermelon thought drifted across his mind again, when AJ took him in fully, lips tight and tongue rubbing and swirling, suckling eagerly as though Hayne quenched some unnameable thirst.

His head was still swimming when AJ backed off, standing and facing the wall, slender legs parting as much as his jeans allowed. Blatant as the silent invitation was, it took Hayne’s mind a moment to compute what came next.

AJ murmured soft, cajoling things as Hayne’s hands settled on narrow hips, cock so hard he could have punched a hole in the wall with it. He hesitated as he positioned himself, just mesmerised by the sight before him, until AJ bent a little further forward, opening himself up even more.

And that was all it took. He sucked in a breath as the head of his erection nudged against that soft warm skin. And sliding slowly into AJ made him lose any semi-coherent comprehension whatsoever, body operating on nothing but instinct, blind want, overpowering need.

He was buried to the hilt, feeling himself pulsing erratically deep inside AJ’s body, when he heard sounds that neither he nor AJ was making. The voices, suddenly so close on the other side of the display, startled a hiss from his lips, body freezing in place.

“…You can see, we have a large selection of fine fabrics.” Dennis was saying. “You said you were restoring a Victorian dining chair set? These are the traditional types of material normally used in such a case.”

Dennis’s customer sounded as unimpressed with the spiel as Hayne. There was a moment of quiet muttering.

“Hmm…I don’t know. What about these over here?”

Hayne’s fingers pressed over AJ’s lips in a panic at the conversation going on beyond the drapery. Muffling a breathy giggle against his hand, AJ licked playfully at his fingers, and it took reserves of restraint Hayne had no idea he possessed to keep from moaning out loud. When AJ substituted teasing nips for the licks, Hayne had to bury his face against the whirls of the tattoo to stifle his whimper.

He didn’t know how long Dennis and the customer spent just yards away from them, conversing over the merit of silks versus newer more resilient fabric blends. Hayne lost count somewhere around two minutes.

Purgatory must have felt a little like those two minutes, he decided. Buried in a hot, tight body that seemed to enjoy watching his torment, and being unable to move a muscle. AJ delighted in squeezing his muscles around Hayne’s cock each time he managed to relax some of the tension out of his thighs, keeping him on a taut quivering knife-edge.

One whisper and Dennis would have the whole store running to see the drama.

Hayne couldn’t quite count how many times he almost hadn’t cared about that, either.

He waited several moments after hearing the voices fade away, before removing his hand from AJ’s mouth. His fingers were trembling, body coiled tight as a wind-up toy ready to explode.

Then AJ lapped at his fingertips as he pulled back, glanced over his shoulder at Hayne, and wriggled.

It was as though every nerve ending in his body migrated to his cock, to the point where he and AJ connected. If his job, if his life depended on it, he wouldn’t have been able to stop growling AJ’s name, fumbling to hold onto the other man’s hips as he drew back and thrust, hard. AJ almost buckled against the wall, head falling back against Hayne’s shoulder.

“Oh God, yeah…just like that, beautiful.”

AJ was no less vocal during sex than he was during breathing. But those husky words, low and breathy as a high class hooker, were as intoxicating as the body that tightened ruthlessly around him, coaxing and challenging.

Hayne’s lips latched onto the side of AJ’s throat, steady enough in the hard, frantic pace of his thrusts to release his grasp on AJ’s hip, and slide his hand around to wrap around the other man’s cock. One slow stroke and AJ shivered, sending a delicious vibration running through his body.

Still moaning his encouragement, AJ’s hand came to rest overlapping Hayne’s, helping him stroke, increasing the pace and the pressure.

“That’s it, beautiful…feels so good, feels perfect…”

Hayne let their fingers entwine, muffled kissed pressed to the nape of AJ’s neck, his shoulder, his throat. Neither of them were going to last long. He could feel the building tension in AJ’s body, feel the taut quivering muscles in the thighs pressed back against his, feel the answering shudders in his own body.

Losing all grace and rhythm, Hayne’s thrusts seemed to have developed a mind of their own, on a mission to fuck AJ through the wall and into a week next Tuesday. It was as though it wanted to disappear into this man, melt into him and become one.

And Hayne was so drunk with it all he wasn’t even making sense to himself anymore.

Free hand pressing over AJ’s against the wall, the extra leverage almost pinning the smaller man in place, he let AJ control the speed of the strokes, willing him silently to find his own release. Just the thought of that beautiful body clamping down around his, and wringing the orgasm from him, left Hayne gasping against AJ’s shoulder.

AJ leant back, turned his head and licked playfully at Hayne’s cheek.

“You ready, beautiful?”

“Yeah…fuck, yeah…”

The words were permission, and the floodgates crashed open, so powerful Hayne could only grasp at snapshot images and sensations: wet heat spilling over his and AJ’s fingers; a tension and tightness aching so intensely it was almost pain; his teeth digging into AJ’s shirt to muffle his cries as he came, fiercely hard, fever hot, seed filling the pink condom and pooling warm deep inside that perfect body.

Reality came back in slow gradients after that. If he focused on their heartbeats, listened to the racing pulse steady itself incrementally to something near normal, he could remember how to think, how to breathe. How to stand up on his own without falling over.

They stood there many moments longer than necessary, AJ leaning back into his arms, Hayne holding him close, just holding on.

“Well…” AJ murmured after a moment. “That was an afternoon well spent.”

“What about your furniture?” Hayne mumbled against the crook of AJ’s neck.

“Oh that,” AJ waved one hand, lazy and dismissive. “Ah, I can do that some other day. Besides…” He squeezed his body around Hayne’s one last time before drawing back, pulling up his jeans and straightening his clothes. “I need an excuse to come back, don’t I?”

Hayne blinked at him, before deciding against trying to figure AJ Sheckler out. It was an impossible task. Instead he tried to concentrate on fixing his own clothes back into place, while contemplating what the hell to do with a used, neon pink condom. AJ giggled at his flustering, before taking it from him, tying it in a knot and dropping it into one of the fabric rolls.

“You can’t do that--!”

“C’mon…” AJ grinned at him. “You guys pride yourself on the personal touch, right?”

He peered around the edge of the display while Hayne stared at the fabric roll, and whimpered. AJ giggled again, tut-tutting as he reached for Hayne’s sleeve.

“Coast is clear, let’s go.”

Dennis didn’t look at them any more disdainfully than he had when they’d arrived. Hayne revelled in the satisfaction of getting away with it, until he remembered his crushed badge was still back there, trampled to the floor behind the display.

He glanced at AJ, who grinned slyly back at him, and he couldn’t really bring himself to care.

They were greeted on the ground floor by one of the doormen, who evidently was more aware of who AJ was than Hayne had ever been.

“Your purchases are ready Mr. Sheckler, if we may despatch them to your car?”

“Thanks.” AJ pulled a car key out of his back pocket, handing it to the doorman. “Bring it ‘round front too, yeah?”

“Very good, sir.”

“And as for you, Hayne darling…” AJ grinned wickedly when they were left alone again. “I’ll be thinking of you for quite some time. For most of the drive home, actually, since my car doesn’t have the most comfortable seats in the world.” Ignoring Hayne’s faint blush, AJ tapped his lips thoughtfully, before turning slowly for the door. “Yeah, gonna have to dream up some excuse to come back in a hurry. Think I can wrangle a refund on a pair of shoes or something?”

Hayne couldn’t help smiling. “If anyone can, it’d be you. And you’re a valued customer, you’re welcome back any time, Sheckler’s looks forward to having you.” He allowed the smile to reach his eyes, regarding AJ with a bemused sort of affection. “I’ll look forward to having you.”

“I bet you will.” AJ giggled softly. “I’ll look forward to being had. Next time though, we’re going shopping for you.”

Hayne stared. “Me?”

“Absolutely.” AJ didn’t even turn around as he strode through the revolving glass doors, calling breezily over his shoulder. “If you’re ever going to be seen in public with me, beautiful, you gotta learn how to dress.”

END