Chapter Sixteen

Denton

Avoiding Mr. Polished wasn't too difficult when we were off the bus and exploring the places we stopped at. It was on the bus that things got tricky. We had little choice in our seat selection after arriving last and it wasn't the done thing to take different seats when folks had already chosen theirs.

So we had to put up with Mr. Polished right there, watching our every move. Or my every move. I wasn't stupid enough to not register that the guy had an ego the size of the United States and wasn't listening to the word ‘no'. Four times he'd touched me inappropriately and was taking any opportunity he got to engage in conversation.

At the first stop, when Ollie and Victor had gone into the shop, I'd taken the time to once more explain to the dense fucker that I wasn't interested. He'd just given me a knowing smirk, like in the end I'd give in. He was wrong, but it was fucking exhausting.

Some men could be like him, seeing my refusal as a challenge, completely disregarding the fact I'd stated I was happy with my boyfriend. He didn't need to know that what Victor and I had was brand new. It wasn't his business. Thing was, I didn't want to give the guy an ego check, but his attempts to attract my attention were pissing me off and spoiling what should have been a perfect day.

The weather was glorious, Aruba was beautiful, and the people were so friendly. And then there was Victor, looking like a bright flower in the middle of an arid desert. His excitement for the places we went was contagious and I'd snapped so many photos of him, I could start my own Victor appreciation club.

"Look," he tugged on my arm excitedly as the bus slowed once more while we passed Bushiribana Gold Mill Ruins. "The information says we can walk around the Bushiribana gold smelter ruins." He waved the guidebook at me. "Oh, and the sands here are red and the contrast of the blue skies with the red sand makes the ocean a gorgeous, deep blue. I hope it's as pretty as the photos they've taken." He gave me a cheeky wink. "It should be a great photo op for you and then maybe you'll stop taking pictures of me."

"There are most certainly better things to take pictures of than you," Mr. Polished snarked and set my blood boiling.

Victor's eyes welled with tears and he glanced away quickly, shrinking into himself in a way that hurt my heart.

It had been at least two years since I'd seen Victor withdraw in this way. That Mr. Polished's hurtful comments had hit a tender spot inside Victor was too much. Rage bubbled to the surface, and I didn't wait for the bus to stop as I rose and glowered down at Mr. Polished. "How dare you say such a hurtful thing! Victor is both beautiful on the inside and out. You are clearly not if you think it's okay to demean another person with your catty and downright disrespectful comments.

"Up to now, I have ignored your blatant and obvious disregard to the fact that I am with this gorgeous man. I stupidly believed you'd be able to check your own ego. Evidently not."

Mr. Polished gave Victor an ugly sneer. "Beautiful, him, I'm not catty just telling you how it is and keeping it real," he scoffed, his hand indicating to himself in such a way that drew attention to his own perfection, totally not getting that it was just a veneer with nothing beneath. "You know what they say about someone who protests too much!"

Anger drove me to bend down close enough I could smell his cologne. "I am not interested in you, and I never would be. Not even if you were the last man on the planet."

I jabbed my thumb towards where Victor sat, not taking my eyes off the toad in front of me. "What I love is the sweet kindness of the man who you'd be privileged to befriend. Now keep your damn thoughts and hands to yourself." I gave him a threatening stare. "I won't tell you again."

I spun back to my seat to see Victor"s mouth gaping open and a bus full of men all staring at me. The silence was deafening. "He's my boyfriend and I won't have anyone disrespect him," I announced to everyone, seeing as Reinaldo was up and heading my way.

There were several cheers that came from Leeson and Ollie's direction, as well as from a fair few men I didn't know, as I retook my seat.

Hoping I'd not just fucked up big time, I didn't have an opportunity to do more than part my lips to apologize when Victor's hands cupped my whiskered cheeks and his mouth claimed mine in a kiss that set a blaze under my ass.

Whatever sounds came from those around us became drowned out by my pulse thundering in my ears. The kiss lasted long enough to make my chest feel as if it was about to burst but I didn't want it to end. His hunger was everything I'd imagined late at night, alone. It swept me into the current of its passion, leaving me dazed and wishing we were alone in our room—naked.

I was pulled back to reality when the tour guide squatted down beside me. Mentally preparing myself for whatever shitstorm was about to come my way, I was surprised to realize that he had turned his attention to Mr. Polished instead.

"Sir, Unique Voyagers take a strong, zero tolerance stance to bullying and harassment. You"ve been so blatant about throwing yourself at this individual that I assumed it was reciprocated but that clearly isn"t the case. I will be providing your details to the crew once we get back to the ship. If any further reports are made against you, further steps will have to be taken. Am I understood?"

Mr. Polished looked mortified and terrified at the same time, to the extent that I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

As Reinaldo stood back up, he gave me a brief nod, before stepping aside and ushering Mr. Polished off the bus.

When I turned back to Victor, he was rosy pink, with puffy and slick lips, and had blown pupils. He made it hard to get my head to think about what had just happened other than getting him naked.

"Come on, you two. You don't want to miss lunch." A hand on my shoulder made me groan. "Whatever you're thinking about, forget it," Garrett stated firmly. "We're already likely to get left behind if you pair get into one more scrape, despite what Reinaldo just did." His grin contradicted his gruff, no nonsense tone. One that Leeson said often was just for show.

"Wasn't thinking anything." It wasn't a lie, I was more feeling it.

Victor pushed at my chest half-heartedly. "We better get off the bus."

I glanced at my lap when Garrett walked away. The boner tenting my shorts made it impossible to leave right then.

When I returned my gaze to Victor, his was where mine had been. Only, he was licking his plumped lips with an eagerness that made it hard to resist him. I held up one hand and, with the other, I shoved at my cock, conjuring up images of the worst traffic scenes I'd attended to collect casualties.

"Stop staring at me like that," I rasped past my dry throat when Victor grew more interested in what I was doing.

"Like what?" he questioned distractedly, his gaze unmoving from my lap.

"You know, you cheeky devil. We need privacy for what's going on in your head. Now, please," I begged, "look away for a minute until I get myself under control."

I shut my eyes for good measure and waited until the tightness of my shorts lessened as I ran through the horrible things I'd seen. Only then did I open my eyes again.

Victor, thankfully, was looking at the guide booklet. "So tell me a little about Baby Beach, which I have to say is a cool name for a place."

"It's got a man-made lagoon and is recommended as a great place for snorkeling. The local beach restaurant has a load of positive reviews saying the food is great, but we should try the local fish dishes." He looked at me. "If you're a fan?"

"I am." I slid out of my seat and held out my hand to him. "I've never tried snorkeling and I've always wanted to. Wanna try it with me?"

His smile made even the brightness of the sun outside seem dim. "I'd love to."

He bounced up out of his seat, his eagerness removing the shadow that Mr. Polished had attempted to cast over the day.

Off the bus, holding hands, I glanced at the kiosk hiring snorkel gear, then at the restaurant just down the beach. "What say we snorkel first as we have a few hours here, then eat?" If I could see Mr. Polished heading to the beach restaurant with a group of men, then shoot me for not wanting to go there after the run in on the bus.

Victor's fingers squeezed mine. "Yeah, sounds good to me, I'm not all that hungry right now. And I'm sure swimming on a full stomach isn't a good thing to do."

We walked to the hire shop, the sun beating down on us, making the water look more and more inviting. Ten minutes later, after I'd paid for our snorkels, masks and fins, we headed down to the water"s edge, where Garrett, Leeson, Beckett and Ollie were. We all seemed to have the same idea.

"Beckett and Ollie have decided they'll wait and watch over our stuff. So pile your things with ours," Garrett said, looking around. "It seems safe enough, but I'm not leaving my wallet on the beach."

Garrett and Leeson were the first in the water, but it took me and Victor a few more minutes to learn to breathe using the snorkel. The two-minute talk from the hire guy, who made it sound easy, had gone in one ear and out the other.

"This is harder than it looks," Victor complained, kneeling in the shallows, frowning through his snorkel mask. The water was crystal clear and as warm as a bath, but it was Victor that gave me the buzz of joy running through me.

"Breathe through your mouth once you put it between your teeth. Do that a few times, then try it with your face into the water," I assured him while kneeling next to him in the water, checking his shoulders looked shiny with the sun lotion I'd reapplied.

He did as I suggested, his head popping up seconds later, splashing water at me as he grinned around the mouthpiece and gave me a thumbs up. He looked a little ridiculous, but he'd never looked more beautiful when he gazed at me with such happiness it stole my breath. Heart pounding against my ribs, I came forward and kissed his forehead. "I've wasted so much time," I murmured, more to myself than to him.

He tugged out the mouthpiece and gave me a serious look—or it would have been if he wasn't wearing a snorkel mask. "We have now. That counts… means everything to me."

Fuck!

He slayed me better than any dragon hunter.