Haunted Heart by Susan Laine

over Ruben with careful scrutiny. “How are you feeling?” A hint of trepidation made Duncan’s voice quiver.
    Ruben did as he had been taught. He analyzed his body’s reactions. His heart pounded hard and fast, but it felt good, a warm mellow bath of pleasure rather than an icy fist of panic. His skin itched and his muscles trembled, but the urge to run away wasn’t there. Instead, Ruben felt like crawling in Duncan’s lap and kissing him again, maybe all night.
    This handsome, kind, and down-to-earth man made Ruben want so much he was damn near bursting with need.
    “I’m… I’m fine.” And he meant it too. Gosh, he was happy about that. For a while he had worried he might have developed a phobia about people too, especially men, attraction, and the mere idea of making love. “That was nice.”
    The amazed, borderline smug grin that rose on Duncan’s lips reminded Ruben of the day they had met, when the gorgeous art director had flashed him that charming smile and captured his heart in the process. “Thanks. It sure was.”
    Ruben decided to throw caution to the wind. “C-can we do that again…?”

Chapter 11
     
    “Y OU LOOK disgustingly blissful,” Maggie noted as she came into Duncan’s office.
    “Yeah….” Sighing, Duncan could hardly deny the truth. For the better part of two weeks now he had been walking on clouds, a permanent grin gracing his lips. He and Ruben had spent time together at Ruben’s house—and they’d been kissing a lot.
    Every day after he got off work, Duncan hurried to Ruben’s place, unable to contain his enthusiasm and swimming in delight as Ruben allowed Duncan to kiss and plunder his lips for endless hours. At the end of their kissing sessions, Ruben’s nipped, licked, and sucked lips were plump, swollen, and red like ripe apples.
    The first time Ruben had let Duncan touch him with his tongue, caressing the shape of his bottom lip, Duncan had come close to having a teenage moment of premature ejaculation in his pants. With great difficulty, he had reined in his instinct and savored every kiss with Ruben. And apart from those tentative brushes of hot, slick tongues, they hadn’t gone deeper.
    They hadn’t yet had even a single full-body embrace. Every kiss had taken place on the couch, chaste and fully clothed.
    Still… it was definitely making out. And Duncan loved every torturous moment of it, his insides melting into a hot pool of desire that gave his dreams and daydreams endless inspiration. It was bittersweet—to be so close to Ruben yet always holding back.
    But there was no way Duncan was going to scare Ruben off.
    “Boss? C’mon, snap out of it. You’ve got tons of work to do.” Maggie snapped her fingers right in front of Duncan’s face, actually managing to brush the tip of his nose.
    “Hey!” What a rude awakening. Duncan growled. “You’re fired.”
    “Yes, yes, what else is new?” She waved a dismissive hand about. Then a wicked gleam rose in her eyes. “So, come on, boss man. Dish out all the details. Leave nothing out.”
    Duncan harrumphed. “Buzz off. You want thrills? Go read an erotic romance novel, will you?”
    Maggie laughed, sitting down in front of his desk. “Now I know you’re keeping stuff from me. And you know I’ll get it out of you, one way or another. Might as well cave now.”
    Even a murderous glare didn’t work, Duncan noted with some dismay. Not serious, of course, since Maggie was one of his closest friends and confidants. “Didn’t you just order me to get to work? When did this place turn into a gossip mill?”
    “You look so dazed and happy, Duncan. I like it. The sex must be good.”
    “We’re not having sex.”
    Maggie’s eyes widened. “Beg your pardon?”
    Duncan sighed. “I said we’re not having sex. We’re….” He shrugged with a nonchalance he didn’t feel. “We’re getting to know each other. Taking it nice and slow.”
    For a while it was eerily quiet. Duncan was staring down at the pen