Chapter 15

Unsure of what I’d said, I knew I’d upset Simon in some way. This time it was nothing to do with Robbie and everything to do with what had happened in the afternoon.

I’d seen a more relaxed Simon in the evening. He’d let his proverbial hair down, laughing and singing with the others. He was the old Simon, but better, if that made any sense at all.

He’d always been up for a laugh when we were younger, but the night of Robbie’s accident had changed it all, especially his feelings towards me.

I tossed and turned all night, remembering how eager he’d been to take my cock. How he’d swallowed it down, rarely faltering until I’d cum in his mouth.

I really thought he’d pull away when he knew I was about to come, but he took it down, every single drop.

He’d never looked sexier to me than he had then.

His body was godlike, and given more time, I would have explored it in more detail. But today was more about gratification, about pleasuring ourselves.

He’d said we had to be sure. That we couldn’t go back once we’d crossed that line. I’d have agreed to anything this afternoon, but he was right.

It had changed everything. Not that we had much to change. Hell, we’d barely spoken for years. So, why did I feel so bad about how the night had ended?

He’d shrugged it off as if it were nothing, swearing it couldn’t happen again.

Fuck. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. I punched the pillow, frustrated I felt the way I did. Damn stupid emotions. At least on the street, I could fuck and forget. If only things were that easy now.

A light knock on the door woke me the next morning.

“Duke, it’s Barbara. Are you still coming today? It’s almost ten.”

Shit. I’d overslept.

“Erm, yeah. Sorry, Barbara, looks like I overslept. I’ll be down in five.”

“Okay. Simon’s already downstairs waiting. I’ll pour you some coffee.”

I jumped out of bed and searched through my suitcase for some suitable clothes.

What did she say we were doing today? Ah, that was it. Visiting a friend in Monte Carlo and going out on their yacht. I’d best dress someway decent.

I threw on some clothes and packed a small bag with a pair of swim trunks, just in case. Better to be prepared.

I ran down the stairs, almost colliding with Simon, who stood waiting at the bottom, a coffee cup in his hand.

“Barbara said you’d want this.”

I took it from him, taking a quick sip.

“Fuck, that’s hot.”

“Well, get it down you. Barbara said she wasn’t waiting any longer.”

I guzzled down as much as I could without scalding myself and hurried outside.

Barbara sat in her silver Mercedes, waiting patiently.

She waved as we approached.

“Come on, boys. Pierre sails soon, and we want to make sure we’re not late.”

I hopped in the front, Simon in the back, and we set off at a speed not conducive to sightseeing. Everything was a blur.

Barbara was not the safest of drivers, and I lost count of the amount of times I tried to brake, knowing it would do no good. Even Simon was holding on for dear life in the back of the car, a terrified look on his face.

With hardly any time to look at the surroundings, we arrived at the port. Barbara got out of the car and handed her keys to a liveried man waiting on the quayside.

“We haven’t missed him, have we?”

He shook his head and pointed to a small boat, another uniformed man at the helm.

“I thought we were going to die,” Simon said, looking decidedly green as we climbed into the launch.

“You and me both. We can always get a taxi back,” I joked, although actually, it sounded like a marvellous idea.

Fifteen minutes later, we pulled up alongside the biggest yacht I had ever seen. Dark blue in colour, with teak handrails and staircases, it was stunning.

“Bonjour and welcome to La Rosa,” an elderly man greeted us. “I am Pierre and will be your host for the day. Barbara here is a wonderful friend, so you, by default, are also my good friends. Go up on deck, and we’ll take a short boat ride around the coast. Then we’ll drop anchor and have lunch.”

We climbed the stairs to the top deck and set ourselves up on a few sunbeds, the scorching sun reflecting off the white surfaces.

“Who is this guy?” Simon asked, making himself comfortable.

“I have no idea, but I’m liking his style.”

“I wonder how much this cost him.”

“I dread to think. Millions of euros, I would imagine. Let’s just lie back and enjoy the ride.”

A waiter approached with a tray of canapés and champagne. It was a little early, but we took a glass anyway.

“This is the life. I could get used to this.” Simon sipped on his drink and lay back on the sunbed.

“Isn’t this something people like you do regularly?”

“Who do you think I am? Ryan Reynolds? If I had half his money, I’d have my own yacht.”

“And a personal masseur.” I laughed as he looked over at me. “What? I need the money.”

We sat in silence and gazed around as the yacht picked up speed, taking us further out to sea.

“You don’t think they’re going to kill us and feed us to the fishes, do you?”

“What on earth made you think of that, Simon?”

“I watch the programmes. I see the serial killers. How well do you actually know Barbara?”

I rolled my eyes. “Long enough to know she doesn’t have an evil bone in her body. You, on the other hand.”

“What do you mean? I’m a nice guy.”

I side-eyed him. “Really? You wanted to kill me a few months ago.”

“Yeah, well, things change. People change. Opinions change.”

“I’m not the boy I was, that’s for sure.”

“I can see that, and don’t think I missed your comment about being a prostitute yesterday. You need to fill me in on that.”

Well, fuck. I thought he might have missed it or was being too polite to bring it up. Guess I was wrong. I wasn’t ready to talk to him about it. Maybe I never would be.

“Not today. Let’s have a good time. How about you get your camera out and take some pictures?”

I watched as he unpacked his camera, a digital affair with a long lens. I had no clue about them, but he seemed to know what he was doing as he stood at the front of the boat with the camera to his face.

I couldn’t help but admire his thick thighs. He wore a pair of tight-fitting navy-blue shorts with a pale-lilac collared shirt. Funny how we’d dressed almost the same without trying.

I closed my eyes against the bright sunlight, the motion of the vessel and the dull throb of the engine below sending me to sleep.

Gentle hands caressing my arm woke me.

“What the…”

“You have no sun cream on, and it’s hot out here.”

He continued to rub in the cream. “We could go down below if you’d prefer. We’ve dropped anchor, and Pierre said we could take a swim before lunch.”

We had indeed stopped. The coast was still visible, but we were further out than before, a few more yachts dotted around us.

“Fancy a swim?” I asked.

“I’m up for it. I have my swimwear on under my shorts.”

“You do?” This I was dying to see.

We made our way downstairs to the rear of the yacht. There was a small decked area a foot or so above sea level, a few people using it to dive into the sea.

Simon stripped off, revealing a pair of snug white swimming briefs, the outline of his cock clearly visible.

I couldn’t take my eyes off him, and neither could anyone else. That was one way to grab attention.

“What?” he asked, looking at me. “What’s wrong with these?”

“Absolutely nothing. Looking fine. I’ll go get changed.”

Moments later, I returned to see him talking to a guy so young he’d probably only just left school. He was looking at Simon as if he was his next snack.

Call me stupid, but a spike of jealousy hit me. What the fuck did he think he was doing? Simon was way out of his league.

“Hey, gorgeous. Ready for that swim now?”

Simon looked at me, perplexed.

“Er, yeah.”

The ‘boy’ smiled all innocently. Like he wasn’t trying to get inside Simon’s briefs and jumped into the sea.

“So, ready?” I asked, walking to the edge of the platform.

“Very,” he said before pushing me into the water.

The Mediterranean might be warm, but it’s fucking cold when you first go in there. I surfaced, coughing and spluttering, wiping the salty water from my eyes.

“What the fuck!” I shouted.

Simon stood on the boat, laughing. “That’ll teach you.”

He dived effortlessly into the crystal-clear blue sea with barely a ripple. I lost sight of him and spun around, trying to find him.

I squealed as a hand gripped my ankle before slowly edging up my leg towards my groin.

Simon appeared beside me, a mischievous smile on his face.

“What? You thought I was a shark?” He was so close I could see the droplets of water collected on his blond eyelashes.

I lifted a hand and brushed them away, running my fingers through his curly, wet hair.

I rested my other hand on his shoulder as we trod water, trying to stay afloat, our legs brushing together.

His arms encircled my waist, our bodies closer now.

I looked at him close up for what seemed like the first time. Piercing blue eyes met mine, and despite the coolness of the water, heat spread through me.

What were we doing? More to the point, what was I doing?

He’d made his feelings very clear last night, but here we were again, chest to chest, and I was about to make another fucking mistake.

I pressed my lips gently to his, closing my eyes, tasting the saltiness of the water.

He moaned quietly, and I took that as my cue.

I licked the seam of his mouth, and he opened up, allowing me in.

He tilted his head and drew me closer. Not an inch separated us.

So intent on our kiss, we forgot to keep afloat and sank under the water. We sprang apart and surfaced, laughing.

“Were you trying to drown me?” He shook his head, water spraying everywhere. I didn’t have that problem, my head shaved as usual.

“I was trying to seduce you.” I laughed, shoving my hand towards him, splashing him.

“Oh, it’s like that, is it?”

I swam away, hoping to escape him, but he was quicker and grabbed my leg.

His hand moved higher until he grazed my balls.

“Hey! No fair.”

“All’s fair when you’re splashing.”

“Duke! Simon!” It was Barbara. “Come get lunch.”

“Good, I’m starving.” I’d not eaten breakfast again, and the small canapés we’d eaten earlier had done nothing to fill my stomach.

“Race you.” Simon set off at pace. There was no way I’d keep up with him.

He hoisted himself out of the water onto the platform, and fuck me if his swim trunks didn’t cling that little bit more, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination.

I was willing to forgo lunch and take that dick. I was hungry for it.

He turned to face me.

“What’s up?”

I shook my head. “Nothing, but you might want to wrap a towel around you or put on some shorts. You’ll be giving Barbara a heart attack.”

Simon laughed again, looking around him.

“Is this what you want?” He edged his trunks down just a little, exposing the tip of his cock.

I sank under the water, trying my damnedest to cool off. That guy was fucking hot, and he knew it.

By the time I resurfaced, he was wrapped in a towel, his trunks swinging on his index finger.

Fucking tease and now there was no way for me to exit the water without him seeing the effect he had on me.

“Come on, Duke. It’s lunchtime.” He threw the trunks at me and turned to leave.

Cheeky bastard.

I managed to climb out of the water and threw a towel around me, my erection still on show. If he wanted to play that game, I was more than happy to do so.

I ran up the stairs behind him and slipped my hand up the towel he wore. My hand grazed the cock dangling between his legs.

He jumped and turned to face me, his groin just a little above me.

He made a show of redoing his towel, giving me a glimpse of his half-hard dick.

“Wait until we get back to the villa,” I told him. Fuck what we’d said before. I was having him, and this time, he wouldn’t be leaving my room, nor I his.

“Forget what I said last night. We will be doing that again.” He bent down, his lips close to my ear. “I want you to fuck me, Duke. Will you do that for me?”

“Damn straight, I will.”

“Boys, have you finished? Pierre and I are starving. If you’d prefer, you can go to one of the cabins down below.”

Remembering where we were, I tried to get rid of my hard-on, but the sight of Simon’s taut muscles beneath the towel made that nigh on impossible.

Guess I was going to have to own it.

“I’ll just slip my shorts on. Be back in a minute.” Simon disappeared, leaving me at the impressive dining table with Pierre, Barbara and another woman he introduced as his wife, Giselle.

I should have been embarrassed, but years of flaunting myself to sell myself had taken that away from me.

I sat on the opposite side of the square table, remembering at the last minute I was still holding Simon’s trunks. I dropped them to the floor, holding them between my feet. Didn’t want them getting lost. I’d take care of them later.

“Barbara here tells me you give the most wonderful massages. Perhaps we could avail ourselves of your services at some time in the future. I’m happy to pay for you to visit and put you up in one of the exclusive hotels. Or you could stay here on the yacht. Your choice.”

“I don’t know about the first part, but I’d be happy to oblige.” Who knew Barbara had such rich friends? She’d never said a word, just that she liked to spend time in France. I should have guessed when Cyril left the most generous tips.

A cool hand swept across my bare shoulders, and Simon sat down next to me, now fully clothed.

“I can attest to the fabulous massages. He did wonders for me yesterday.”

Was it only yesterday I’d helped him?

“Seriously, there are plenty of others that do the same job. I’m nothing special.” I shrugged nonchalantly.

“Duke!” Barbara’s raised voice had us all looking at her. “I won’t have anyone else touch me. The only other man I allow to lay their hands on me is Cyril. Your massages have helped me no end. You know this.”

I mouthed a silent thank-you to her as a plate of food was placed in front of us all. Even on the yacht, waiters served us. I wondered what Pierre did for a living?

The meal was delicious; a small goat cheese salad, followed by sautéed sole and a classic crème br?lée, all served with the finest wines.

Thankfully, Barbara stuck to water. I couldn’t imagine the journey home otherwise.

Simon and I listened as they talked. They included us in most of the conversations, but it was obvious that the three friends had much to catch up on. Simon told me a little more about Robbie and his thoughts that Carlos was not all he seemed, that maybe they were closer than they let on.

It was refreshing to have a normal conversation with him and not the usual aggressive back and forth we’d been used to.

As soon as we finished eating, the engines started up and we slowly made our way back towards the port, anchoring a little way off.

“Thank you so much for joining us today. Giselle and I would be happy to welcome you again at any time. If you don’t mind, Duke, Barbara has given me your number.”

That was fine with me. We’d more or less agreed that I would visit again.

We said our goodbyes, and the launch took us back to the car.

We looked at each other with dread as Barbara opened the door.

“It was nice knowing you,” Simon whispered before getting into the back.

“Fuck you.” I got in the front and smiled at Barbara. “Nice and steady, yeah?”

She winked and smiled back. “Of course, I don’t drive any other way.”

And right there was the biggest lie ever told.