Chapter 1

C hapter 1

M mm." Gabe stood on the dock, the morning sun glimmering through his short, dark hair as he admired the passengers boarding the private cruise ship. His tanned biceps flexed with each shift of his arms, the light-blue tank top contrasting nicely with his bronzed skin and setting off his baby blue eyes.

Cole smiled and shook his head, growing heated by more than the summer sun. "Stop drooling over the guests."

"Me?" Gabe swiped the tip of thumb over the corner of his husband's mouth. "Got a little drool there yourself, honeybun."

Cole chuckled and wiped his mouth; Gabe wasn't wrong. A hell of a lot of eye candy was filling up the ship.

Rubbing his hands together, Gabe grinned and licked his lips. "This is going to be fun." His baby blues sparked with lust. "Think any of those hotties will want to get naughty with a couple of old timers like us?"

"Old timers?" Cole laughed. "We're not even thirty."

"That's true. But sometimes I feel old around the young ones at the club." He snorted. "Sometimes I feel ancient."

"Trust me." Cole leaned forward and kissed his neck. "You're not." His lips lingered as he sucked his husband's warm skin, which had a tantalizing saltiness of sweat. Gabe grabbed his hips and pulled their crotches together; both were hard as a rock.

"Don't write a check your cock can't cash," Gabe growled and kissed him hard on the mouth.

A quiet, disgusted ugh came from nearby and the men drew apart to see a man walking down the dock with a kid in tow. The boy looked about eighteen, thereabouts, and shuffled forward with his head hung low and shoulders slumped.

Gabe bristled at the man's comment and took a step in his direction. Cole halted him. "Let it go," he murmured. "He isn't worth it."

The boy must've heard him because he cast them a fleeting glance. What Cole saw in his eyes at that moment left a sour feeling in his gut. The kid looked like a lamb headed for slaughter. The two walked on down the dock without further comment.

"Fucking dick," Gabe muttered, shooting a final look at the man.

"Come on." Cole inched closer and nuzzled his husband's neck again, nibbling his earlobe. "Don't let some bigoted jerk ruin your mood, ‘cause I was kind of enjoying your mood." He pinned Gabe against the wooden dock railing and lightly grinded their crotches. "Think I can get it back?"

Gabe grinned and kissed him, grabbing two handfuls of his ass, squeezing hard. "Yup."

"Hey, check it out." Cole nodded at the boarding passengers. "Look who showed up."

Both men eyed the young man standing in line. Tomas. When they'd invited the dancer, Tomas had seemed hesitant about joining the cruise. But there he was.

"Mm," Gabe grinned with impish glee. "This might just get interesting."

"Maybe." Cole couldn't deny the spike in heartrate at the sight of Tomas.

"Tell me again why we haven't made our move on that sweet thang?"

Cole shook his head. "Not entirely sure," he admitted. "The kid certainly seems to like us."

"Shit," Gabe snorted. "The boy practically blows his wad any time we're around. He has definitely jerked off thinking about us nailing him."

Cole smiled and nodded. Despite Gabe's lustful terminology toward the boy, he possessed as much affection for Tomas as he did lust. They both did. There was something special about the boy.

"I don't know," Cole murmured. "I feel like we need to let him come to us. There's more going on with him than meets the eye. I think if we came on too strong, he might actually pull away. And I don't want that."

"Me, neither."

Tomas shyly glanced their way. Cole flashed him a friendly smile and nodded. Tomas pursed his lips in a small smile and averted his eyes. His shyness was sexy as hell.

God help us, Cole thought as his shorts tightened.

"That boy is cruel," Gabe groaned. "Playing shy with us. I think he forgets we've seen him on stage and flirting with the club customers. That boy ain't shy."

At the club—no, he definitely wasn't shy. But like most people… maybe his shyness emerged when confronted with someone—or multiple someones—he was truly interested in. Cole didn't believe he was playing shy at all. He flirted playfully with Cole and Gabe at the club but had yet to openly admit he might have a real interest in them. The few times they had seen him outside the club, the boy was like a completely different person and hardly seemed willing—or able—to talk to them. Cole did believe Tomas was shy at the core, but there was something more going on as well, he was sure of it. Maybe they could talk, for real, during the cruise.

After Tomas boarded, Cole and Gabe walked over to speak with Braun, the man Max hired to collect tickets from the passengers and vet any "undesirables" who might attempt to board the ship.

"That is one hot beefcake," Gabe mumbled from the corner of his mouth as they neared the man. "Think we can recruit him for the club?"

Cole smiled. "Maybe." The man would certainly fit right in.

Ricky and his little harem approached. He looked Braun up and down and immediately began flirting. Levi and the others joined in, making it crystal clear they were up for anything if Braun was willing.

Cole and Gabe chuckled. "Let the man do his job, guys," Cole said. "You have the entire cruise to seduce him out of his pants."

"Mm-mm-mm." Ricky brushed saucily against Braun as he and his boys headed up the gang plank. "See you on board, baby." He winked at Braun and bit his lower lip seductively.

"I see you're not going to be bored." Cole chuckled.

Braun shook his head and smiled. "I'm not sure I could survive those boys."

"But you'd die with a fucking smile on your face, eh?" Gabe grinned. "Not a bad way to go out."

"True."

"Couldn't ask for a better—" Cole grunted when two boys crashed into him, knocking him against Gabe.

The boys vaulted over the metal fence which corralled the boarding passengers and barreled past Braun without showing their tickets. The man snatched hold of the kid in the rear as quick as a viper. With their hands clasped, the front boy jerked to a halt as well. They turned around, breathless, anxious expressions on their faces as their eyes darted past the men.

Cole immediately recognized one of them as the boy from earlier.

"Please," the other boy pleaded breathlessly and with a sense of urgency. "Please let us on. We… we'll work on the ship… to pay our way. Please."

"They're coming," the second boy whispered fearfully to his friend.

"Hold them!" someone shouted from down the dock.

Cole looked around. A large man was running their way, followed by the asshole from before.

Eyes narrowing, Gabe told Braun, "Let them board."

"Gabe…" Cole started, then sighed and nodded at Braun.

As soon as the man released them, the boys raced onboard, swallowed up by the other passengers.

I hope we didn't just make a big mistake.

"Hey!" The two men approached in a rush. The slower one stepped forward—the man who had displayed disgust at Cole and Gabe's delicious kiss—exhibiting a belligerent attitude. "Why did you let them go?"

Gabe looked at him dryly. "They got away."

"Well, get them back," the man ordered. "One of them is my son—my underage son."

Underage? Those boys didn't look like minors. But sometimes, minors appeared older than they were. This could be a problem.

"Why were they running from you?" Gabe asked suspiciously. "What did you do to them?"

"I didn't do anything to them," the dad remarked. "Not that it's your business. And you can keep the other one, for all I care, I just want my son back."

"Is the other one his boyfriend?" Gabe narrowed his eyes at the man.

"His friend," the dad corrected.

"They were holding hands," Gabe drawled, taking pleasure in the discomfort the man gleaned from this line of conversation. "They looked like boyfriends to me." He smirked. "Lovers, at least."

The dad's face twitched. "My son is not a faggot."

Gabe took a threatening step forward. "What's wrong with being a faggot?"

The larger man held out his hand. "We're just here for his son."

"Well, it doesn't seem his son wants to go with him," Gabe said.

"Should I call the cops?" the dad threatened. "Tell them you're harboring a minors on your fag ship? Is that really the kind of publicity you want?"

Gabe jabbed a finger in his face. "Don't fucking threaten us. That would be very bad for you."

"Gabe…" Cole touched his arm, drawing him back. "Go find the kids."

"Excuse me?"

"If the boy is a minor," Cole admitted reluctantly, "we can't have him on the boat."

Gabe scowled. "Those boys were running from this asshole. Kids don't run away for no reason."

"I know," Cole murmured. "But we have no choice. We cannot bring minors along on this cruise."

The father looked smugly at Gabe. "My son. Now."

"What the hell—"

The two boys barreled past Max, knocking him against Horatio, panting and laughing. The flow of passengers ahead swallowed them up and they were gone.

Max righted himself and chuckled. "Guess I can't shame them for being excited." He sighed wistfully. "To be that young and energetic again, your whole life stretched out before you. Ah." He shook his head and smiled. "If they only knew how lucky they were."

Arching an eyebrow, Horatio eyed him. "And you don't feel lucky? You're just an old man with your best years behind you?"

Max laughed and kissed his husband, murmuring sensually, "The best thing behind me— is you… all hot and hungry."

"Mm." Horatio growled a little bit and grinned. "Nice save."

"Come on." Horatio took Max's hand and nodded ahead. "Let's go get settled into our cabin, then explore the ship."

"Sounds good." Max kissed him and whispered against his lips, "Maybe we could take a moment to christen the room before we go exploring?"

"Mm…" Horatio moaned through another kiss. "Absolutely."

"Hey, boss." Gabe approached from down the boarding deck. "You see a couple of young men come by?"

Max chuckled. "I've seen many young men pass by. Can you be more specific?"

Gabe provided a quick description, then explained the situation.

"Shit," Max mumbled. This wasn't good. "A couple of boys raced by just before you showed up. I didn't get a good look at them, but in abstract, I suppose it could've been them."

Gabe nodded. "I'll see if I can track them down." He displayed a blatant lack of motivation as he headed up the boarding desk, wading through the flow of passengers.

"Think he'll find them?" Horatio asked.

"I think he's hoping he won't."

"Understandable. But even so, Cole is right—we can't have minors on the ship."

"Yeah," Max whispered. "I wonder why they were running away from the boy's dad?"

"Could be any number of reasons."

"Gabe said they seemed desperate to get away."

Horatio eyed his husband. "What're you getting at?"

"Nothing. It's just… I would hate to turn them over to someone who may be mistreating them. I've witnessed enough abused children to last me ten lifetimes."

"Me, too," Horatio murmured. "But what can we do? The man has the law on his side, and we have no proof he's causing harm to his son."

"Maybe." Max took out his phone and called Gabe. The man answered on the second ring. "It's Max. If you find the boys, bring them to me before you escort them off the ship." He glanced at Horatio. "I have a few questions for them."