Red Handed

The steam curled around them, glistening on every inch of exposed skin, but Noah couldn’t feel the heat anymore. All he felt was the accusation hanging in the air.

A spy.

Sterling Belmont thought he was a goddamn spy.

The words played over in Noah’s mind, but even louder was the realization that slammed into him like a body check to the chest.

All this time—the lingering stares, the unreadable tension, the heavy silence between them—it hadn’t been want. It hadn’t been intrigue.

It had been suspicion.

Sterling had been watching him because he didn’t trust him. Every moment Noah had felt pulled toward him, every flicker of tension that had stirred something strange in him was simply the effect a billionaire must have on everyone. It was just the cold scrutiny of a man convinced he was the enemy.

The hurt came fast and quiet. Not heartbreak, exactly, but something sharper. Something hollow.

He let out a humorless breath, his eyes dropping—unintentionally—for a moment.

Great. 

Blood thrummed in his ears, betrayal hot on his tongue. 

The prick’s cock even looks bigger than before. Of course it did. Because life had that kind of sense of humor.

But the flicker of hurt was quickly scorched out by anger.

Sterling was sitting there with that same icy, composed expression, like he’d just cracked some elaborate code. Like Noah was a puzzle piece he’d finally shoved into place.

Smug bastard.

Noah straightened, the steam catching on his skin as he rose to his full height. Water rolled down the lines of his chest, down the length of his thighs. He didn’t care that he was naked. He didn’t care that his crotch was practically at eye level with his boss.

He leaned forward, just a little, and let his voice drop into something mocking.

“You got me,” he said coolly. “Great work, Sherlock.”

Sterling didn’t flinch.

Not even a twitch.

Instead, he stood.

The movement was slow, deliberate. He also rose to his full height until they were face to face, the difference in their postures barely enough to matter. The heat between them became a force of its own. Steam clung to their bodies, slicking their skin, magnifying every breath.

They were too close to be casual.

Noah could feel the warmth of Sterling’s breath, could smell the masculine mix of clean sweat and subtle cologne, something that should’ve been repulsive in the thick air but instead made his head swim. He was getting drunk on it. His body betrayed him, blood rushing south despite the fury burning in his chest.

Sterling’s eyes dropped for a moment—to Noah’s lips, and then lower. He looked back up slowly, and Noah met his gaze. A dangerous pause filled the space between them, both men breathing hard, both staring at each other's mouths like they’d forgotten how to speak.

Noah pressed on, his words laced with cutting, icy venom. 

"That background check you ran? Money well spent." His eyes never wavered, his gaze fixed and unblinking, his voice flat and mechanized. The kind of calm that signals the imminent shattering of a dam. 

"It’s true," he admitted, "I don’t have any family living in Crestwick." His jaw tensed painfully, each word a betrayal of his own past he’d fought so hard to conceal. Yet he forced the damning truth out. "My mom’s in Linden Hollow Cemetery." 

There it was, a loaded truth slicing through the charged air. A pregnant pause ensued, then, the tiniest fracture in Sterling’s composure. The faintest eyebrow twitch, a subtle shift in the atmosphere. Noah saw it. He turned abruptly, unwilling to let himself dig any deeper. 

Then Sterling muttered a curse under his breath. He reached out without thinking and gripped Noah’s arm.

The contact was electric.

Fireworks exploded through Noah’s nerves. The warmth of that touch—firm, grounding—lit up places he didn’t even want to acknowledge. His heart slammed against his ribs.

“Noah...” Sterling’s voice came out lower than before, velvet wrapped in smoke. “I had no idea, I didn’t—”

But the apology died in the space between them, charged and dangerous.

They stood there, naked, steam swirling between their bodies like a barrier that refused to hold. Noah could feel his body responding involuntarily, the growing ache between his legs a betrayal of every defense he had. His breath hitched as he caught another inhale of Sterling’s scent. Earthy, masculine, raw.

It should have repulsed him.

It didn’t.

He was dizzy from it.

And Sterling—Sterling was staring at his mouth again, gaze dark and intense, chest rising and falling like he was seconds from crossing a line.

Noah ripped his arm away, violently. “Don’t fucking touch me.”

The words cracked in the heat.

He turned and marched toward the door, wet footsteps echoing off the tile.

Noah grabbed the handle—but before he could twist it, a large palm slammed against the glass.

The door didn’t budge.

Sterling was right behind him.

Noah turned, breath heaving, and they were nose to nose. Their bare chests nearly touched. His hands clenched at his sides.

Noah’s anger flared hotter. He shoved Sterling with both hands, palms landing against his chest.

“Get the fuck out of my way,” he said, breathless.

Sterling stumbled back a step but didn’t drop his gaze.

“Prick—” Noah went to shove him again, harder this time, but Sterling caught his wrists before he made contact and held them there.

The grip was firm, unyielding.

Holding him there, making a point.

He released Noah’s wrists so suddenly that Noah almost lost his balance.

When he steadied himself, heat and adrenaline spiked.

He pushed again.

This time Sterling didn’t budge, didn’t flinch. He moved fast, grabbing Noah’s arms, reversing the motion and sending him staggering backward until they collided against the wall with a jarring thud.

The impact knocked the breath from his lungs.

Sterling pressed in as Noah caught his breath, their skin sliding, hot and wet. He pinned him with a knee between the legs and a hand around his neck. The pressure was just enough to keep him there.

“I knew you’d be a problem,” Sterling murmured darkly.

All of Noah’s blood surged south at once. Every nerve lit up in defiance. He reached out instinctively and gripped Sterling’s cock, the move shocking them both.

“Hah,” Noah said breathlessly as he realized what he had in his hand. A hard length that filled his palm like it belonged there. “What’s this? You some kind of pervert?”