Smiling, Dominic kissed him on the nose. “Nothing mortifying about it. I was eighteen once, too. I remember how much it sucked.”
“I don’t believe you,” Sam said, leaning his overheated cheek against Dominic’s wet chest. “You were probably hot as fuck at eighteen, too. All girls were probably yours.”
“Well,” Dominic said. “Would you believe me if I said I had spots?”
“No,” Sam said, smiling despite himself.
Dominic dropped a kiss on the top of his head. “It’ll pass, Sammy.”
“I know.” Sam sighed. “But it still really sucks. I can’t wait to get over this.” Desperate for a change of subject, he said, “Did you have the chance to check the cameras in the shibari room?”
“Yes,” Dominic said, his soaped hands gliding over Sam’s back. “There are three of them. No infrared. There are two blind spots in the room, one behind the column and the other on the left from the door.”
Sam closed his eyes, trying to picture the room in his mind. He’d seen it only fleetingly, but he had a pretty good memory.
Except he had trouble focusing. Dominic’s hands were too distracting. The weird thing was, Dominic’s touch didn’t feel impersonal and detached. Dominic was washing Sam as though he had every right to touch him, his hands confident and gentle—knowing.
Sam pulled his hips back. The situation was embarrassing enough.
“The column it is,” he said, clearing his throat. The ultrabook he’d been given by MI6 might be small, but the glare of its screen would still give him away in a dark room unless Sam used it behind the column. He frowned. “Are we sure the program can crack the flash drive’s password in a few minutes?”
“It isn’t the first time I’ve used it. The program was developed by our best hackers. There’s very little it can’t crack.”
“Very little? That’s not very reassuring.”
Dominic’s soapy hands moved to his lower back. “The boffins are confident it will work. Besides, Brylsko isn’t the type to employ first-rate computer programmers. He’s too paranoid that they’ll stab him in the back and steal all his money.”
“So when are we doing it?” Sam said, trying to ignore the perfect weight of Dominic’s hands on his lower back. God, it felt… His hole clenched, his cock going painfully hard as he imagined Dominic’s long fingers slipping lower and stroking between his cheeks.
“The sooner the better,” Dominic said, his soaped hands dipping lower, skimming over his buttocks and thighs. “So tonight.”
Sam couldn’t focus on the conversation anymore. “All right,” he managed, stepping away. He couldn’t quite meet Dominic’s eyes as he hurried out of the bathroom.
Seriously, fuck his life.
Chapter 13
Dominic hadn’t exactly been happy to be assigned to this mission. As a rule, senior agents disliked babysitting and he was no exception. Watching over a rookie was tedious at best and extremely aggravating if the rookie kept messing up.
Watching over Sammy was neither tedious nor aggravating. The boy was very bright, quick to learn, and eager to please.
It wasn’t Sammy who was the problem. It was him.
Nothing had prepared Dominic for how agitated and uneasy he would feel while his rookie partner put himself at risk. If something went wrong, Dominic wouldn’t be able to help. This particular mission required a skill set he didn’t have. While he had done some pickpocketing in the past, this job required someone who was better than just good. It required someone exceptional.
Someone like Sammy.
Dominic couldn’t even find Sammy despite actively looking for him. The room was dark, the stage at the center the only illuminated spot. The audience was scattered all over the room, mostly in pairs, a good part of them paying no attention to the shibari performance, too busy groping their partners.
As he’d suspected, this show was just an excuse for some kinky passengers to engage in public sex under the guise of attending a professional bondage demonstration. The darkness gave an illusion of privacy, but it was probably titillating enough. Considering that most couples weren’t even trying to be quiet anymore, it made him wonder how many of these shows ended in one big orgy.
A couple near him started to fuck.
Dominic paid them no attention, his eyes peering into the darkness. He felt more on edge the longer Sammy was out of his sight. He had to remind himself that the boy was very good at what he did. It did nothing to quell his concern: he was well aware that sometimes excelling at something wasn’t enough. Sometimes there were circumstances outside of one’s control. Stealing the flash drive while Brylsko was wearing it on a chain around his neck wasn’t an easy task, considering Brylsko’s paranoia. But it was dark and Brylsko was also distracted by the girl in his lap. It could work. It could also blow up spectacularly in their faces.
Dominic peered in Brylsko’s direction. He could barely make out his shape. Brylsko’s girl seemed to be blowing him, but he couldn’t tell for sure; it was too dark. He couldn’t see Sammy anywhere.