Chapter 27

“I think I’ve found something,” Julio says down the phone, his voice hushed.

“What something?” I ask. “And why are you whispering?”

“I’m at work, in the stationery cupboard.” He gives a nervous giggle.

“Don’t get caught. Call me from home next time,” I tell him, worried that he’ll get in trouble. He’s already risking his job to help me.

“I will, but I wanted to tell you now,” he says, lowering his voice. “I’ve found an anomaly. It might be nothing, but it’s interesting enough to follow. I’ll call as soon as I can.”

He rings off before I can say thank you, so I text it instead and receive a smiley emoji in return.

I take a deep breath. While I’m hoping for some explanation of my father’s behaviour, that there could be something seriously wrong makes me nervous. I try not to think of it for the moment. I won’t know any more until Julio calls me back, and I’d rather do something positive about my future, so I go to find Juana. I want to talk to her sister.

I blink my eyes open, stretching, and my hand hits the notebook I’d been writing in before I fell asleep. After Juana gave me her number, I called Sofia, who was very helpful and had some good advice. I still don’t know how I can turn my love of cooking into a way of sustaining myself, but she offered to let me join her and see what she does. It could be an option for the future.

“Hey.” Constantin pokes his head round my open door, looking as sleep-ridden as I do. My door was ajar, and I said if it was open, they were free to disturb me, but if it was shut, to knock.

“Hey. Come on in,” I say, inviting him over. He comes and sits next to me on the bed.

“I was going to suggest we could all siesta together.” He gives a small, hopeful smile.

“You don’t take siestas,” I laugh.

“I do when it’s very hot in summer. I even open the bar later.” He shrugs a little. “It’s starting to get warmer, so I was thinking we could start.”

“I’d really like that.” We could do with some downtime after the last couple of days. Just spend time relaxing together.

“Rafe isn’t in his room. I just checked,” he says. “I don’t think he knows the concept of siestas.”

“I don’t think he does,” I chuckle. “Shall we go find him and convince him of the benefits?”

“All of them,” Constantin says, but before he gets up, he turns back to me with a twinkle in his eye. “I’m pretty sure he has a praise kink, you know?”

“I’m almost certain he has.”

“Does he know? Should we tell him?”

“He has no idea,” I reply. “And yes, of course, we’ll tell him ... eventually.” I grin as I clamber off the bed and head to the door, Constantin’s deep laughter following behind.

We finally track him down in a room I’ve only been in once before, when I explored the house in my first few days in Barcelona. Then, I was awestruck by the photographs on the walls. Now, most of them are no longer on the walls, but arranged in a semi-circle round Rafe, who is sitting amid them on the floor. Constantin sits on a couch opposite him and I flop onto the floor, leaning back between Constantin’s legs.

“Hey guys.” He looks up at us distractedly. He’s clearly in the middle of something.

“Rafe, what are you doing?” I ask.

“Cataloguing all these photos. I want to know what’s available in case I can use any of them. Also, they might provide me with some ideas on how to structure the biography, rather than just as a linear timeline. But aren’t they beautiful?”

He holds up a picture of Estrella and Richard Burton. “I wonder what Elizabeth Taylor had to say about that?” he remarks and then brandishes another of Estrella, this time with a good-looking gentleman in ambassadorial attire. “He looks swoony, don’t you think?”

“Are you lusting after famous dead guys?” Constantin asks, idly running his fingers through my hair. I like it and lean into his touch.

Rafe looks up. “Appreciating their good looks is not lusting.”

“It kind of is,” I say with a smirk .

“But I’ve always liked... Oh.” Rafe giggles as he processes what he’s just said.

“Anyway, what person works through siesta?” Constantin asks.

“You don’t have siestas.” Rafe grins.

“Not yet, but when it gets warmer I do.”

“Really?” Rafe looks like he’s waiting for the punchline.

“Siestas are so good. They’re a chance to rest, or to spend time together.”

“We could make our own version,” I suggest.

“Like how?” Rafe tilts his head to one side.

“Come over here and I’ll show you.”

Rafe moves some of the pictures out of the way and crawls over to me, kneeling between my legs.

“Like this?” he asks.

“Closer,” I say, and he leans forward. He puts his hands on my shoulders and looks at me with his beautiful smile before I pull him into a kiss. It’s needy, and I open my mouth, inviting him in, loving how he responds. His tongue finds mine and they tangle together. I place a hand on the back of his head, deepening the kiss. I feel Constantin shift position on the couch. His hand is still in my hair, his touch becoming electric the more we kiss.

Rafe pulls back, catching his breath. His eyes are soft and dreamy, his lips wet and glistening. His gaze shifts up to Constantin, and in the next second, he kneels up to kiss him too. His groin is right in front of me and my cock starts to thicken in response. His T-shirt lifts, exposing a strip of creamy skin. It’s more than I’m capable of resisting and I press a kiss to it. He stretches a little, and I lay open-mouthed kisses across his stomach. I slip a finger into the waistband of his shorts, running it around the top, and I feel him shiver a little. I tip my head back to look up at them. Constantin is right, it is hot to watch them. I’m getting harder by the second, and judging by the bulge in Rafe’s shorts, I’m not the only one.

Rafe breaks off and looks down at me. I tug a little at the waistband.

“Can I?”

His nod is all the encouragement I need. I ease his shorts down over his hips, freeing his cock. I quickly glance back up to see Rafe attack Constantin with his mouth again. His cock juts out at me. It’s long and slim and pretty much perfect like the rest of him. A bead of precum forms at the tip, and I moisten my lips, gently licking it off with my tongue. I hear a little moan and that spurs me on to swirl my tongue round the head before taking the tip into my mouth. He makes another sound, and the thought of him moaning against Con’s mouth in response to what I’m doing to him makes me rock hard. I run my hands along his arse, pushing his shorts down further. I squeeze his cheeks and pull him closer, engulfing the whole of him. My nose hits the golden hair at the base and I catch his citrus and vanilla smell, inhaling deeply. I have a fleeting desire to shower with him so I can wash him all over in it. His hips lurch and he thrusts into me. I suck him deeper, helping him find a rhythm as I play my tongue round the base of his cock until his thrusts become too fast. I let him drive into me, fucking my mouth over and over. I become aware of something pressing on the back of my neck; Constantin is as rigid as I am. I shouldn’t find that a turn-on, but I do. Rafe’s abs tighten, and his buttocks tense under my hands. I play my fingers over his crease as he arches his back and cries out, cum hitting the back of my throat. I hold him there until he starts to sag, and his softening cock slips out.

He manages to hoist himself up onto the couch, lolling against the back, his face blissed out.

“That was . . . That was . . .” He stops stuttering and just smiles. I climb off the floor, my cock aching and desperate for relief. Constantin smiles and I straddle his lap. I reach down and run my hand over his bulge. I was right, he is hard.

“Do you want me to take care of that?” I ask.

“I want you to.” He smiles and pulls his shorts down. His cock is thick and framed by dense black hair. I lick my lips despite myself. He tugs me forward and I lift slightly to take my shorts over my hips. He swipes a thumb through my precum, lifting it to his mouth to taste. His eyes glisten and he smiles, then he draws me closer with a hand on my hip until his cock is lined up against mine. His large hand envelops both of us and he starts stroking up and down. Our combined precum doesn’t quite provide enough lube, so I spit on my fingers and smear it over our tips, letting his fingers work it down. I roll my hips, going with the movement, enjoying the friction of him moving against me.

“Holy fuck!” Rafe’s eyes are wide as he watches us disappear and reappear in Constantin’s hand. I reach for him, and he kisses me before dragging his eyes back to where I’m about to spill all over Constantin’s hand.

“Gonna come,” I utter, feeling the familiar tingle in my spine. I tense, trying to hold off as long as possible.

“Yeah,” Constantin says and comes with the next stroke of his hand. I let myself go and follow his release with my own a few seconds later.

I slip off his lap onto the couch, Rafe shifting a little to allow me to sit between them.

None of us speak for a spell. I’m too spent and need a minute. Constantin’s head is thrown back, and he looks relaxed.

Eventually, the silence is broken by Rafe.

“Well, that was fucking hot.”

Constantin laughs. “I said siestas were good.”