Chapter 5

C hapter 5

Y ou don't want to be here, do you?"

The Egyptian stood on the small balcony overlooking the ocean, watching the shoreline recede into the distance. "I prefer solid ground under my feet," he spoke with a dash of gruffness to his deep voice.

Kane approached his fiancé and took his hand. Cochise was barely taller than him and sported only a slightly more muscular frame. "I know. But contrary to your belief…" He smiled. "… you will have fun. And it's important to Gabe that you're here for the anniversary party. Clint may have been his best man at the wedding, but you're both his brothers. And he loves you and Clint equally."

Cochise made a sound that suggested maybe he didn't quite believe his equal status with the cowboy.

"What?" Kane squeezed his hand. "You don't think Gabe loves you as much as Clint?"

"It isn't about love," the big man murmured, eyes on the distant shore. "It's about respect… loyalty… honor."

Kane frowned. "I don't follow. You and Clint are equal in the giving and receiving of all that."

"No," Cochise mumbled. "Clint apologized. I didn't."

"Apologized for what?"

The Egyptian released a heavy breath. "For what happened with Quinton."

Kane had heard the stories of the things Quinton Sanitini had done to Gabe… and forced Clint, Cochise, and the others to do to him as well. Kane drew an unsteady breath and stepped in front of Cochise. "Gabe knows you're a man of few words and that it isn't always easy for you to speak your feelings. He knows you— and how much you love him. He never blamed you, any more than he blamed Clint or the others. Gabe is fully aware of how sorry you are, and how you would take it back if you could. We can't change the past, but we can put it to rest and move forward. Gabe has. And so should you."

Cochise stared at him for a long moment, then nodded. "I'll try."

"That's all any of us can do." Kane kissed him. "Come on. They're throwing a Bon voyage party on the lido deck. Time for us to let down our hair and start enjoying our vacation."

The Egyptian chuffed. "I'll try."

Cole and Gabe emerged onto the lido deck with Tomas between them. Half-naked bodies littered the deck and filled the large pool. At one end of the pool, Ricky and his boys had hijacked some hotties and were now playing horse.

"Looks like fun." Gabe cocked his head at Tomas. "Bet we could dominate the game."

Tomas fidgeted anxiously.

"Are you afraid to go in the pool?" Cole asked. He was almost certain that Tomas' phobia was restricted to the ocean, and possibly large bodies of water, but he didn't think they should just grab him and jump into the pool.

"No," the boy whispered. "I'm not afraid of all water, just…" He glanced fearfully out to sea. "… that."

"Well, don't worry about that water," Gabe said. "It's going to stay out there . Do you want to play with us in the pool? It'll be tons of fun." He draped his arm around Tomas and kissed his cheek. "I can't lose with a partner like you."

The young man ducked his head and smiled small, his cheeks turning rosy.

Cole whimpered to himself; the boy's shy persona was as sexy as his stripper persona. Maybe even more so.

"I-I guess…" Tomas didn't sound too confident, yet still willing.

"All right, then." Gabe scooped the boy up in his arms and Tomas squealed. "On my back, baby." He slid Tomas around onto his back piggyback style. "Hold on." The boy hugged his neck as Gabe grasped his ankles, drawing his legs around his waist—then made a beeline for the pool.

"Shit." Cole chuckled and remained in place as Gabe launched into the water. He and Tomas went under, then burst to the surface moments later, both laughing. Cole nodded, his heart warming. If anyone could draw the playboy out of Tomas, it was Gabe.

"The master horsemen are here!" Gabe bellowed, shifting Tomas onto his shoulders. "We shall conquer you all!"

Ricky and the others accepted the challenge and ganged up on the duo, hooting and howling.

"You're not joining them?"

Cole flinched and turned to find Angel and Dane standing beside him. "I don't have a rider."

"You do now." Cory Romero appeared out of nowhere and snagged Cole's arm. "Colton won't be my horsey. He only lets me ride him in the bedroom."

"Well, fuck," Cole smirked at the gorgeous young man. "You can ride me anytime, anywhere."

"Well, then, giddy up." Cory dragged him to the edge of the pool, hopped on his back, and nuzzled his ear. "Let's ride, stallion."

Cole howled and jumped into the pool. They joined Gabe in his battle against Ricky's team.

"I got your back, Tomas!" Cory shouted and took down Levi who was about to topple Tomas into the water. "Ha-ha! That's how it's done!"

Levi surfaced, spitting water, a huge grin on his cute face. "Hey, we win, either way!"

"How's that?"

"The losers have to blow the winners."

"Then pucker up , baby!" Cory laughed as he and Cole went after their next victim.

"Uh… what was that?" Colton walked over to Angel and Dane. "Did he just say…?"

Angel pursed his lips in a tight smile and nodded.

"He wasn't serious, right?"

Dane snorted. "Ricky and his sluts? Oh yeah, they're serious. Total cock-hounds."

Angel squinted impishly. "Maybe we should—"

" No," Dane vetoed immediately. "I ain't blowing or getting blown by those whore bags."

"Easy." Angel laughed. "I was kidding. I know you don't roll like that. Well, not with them, anyway."

Colton looked uneasy. "Do you think Cory rolls like that?"

Dane squeezed his shoulder. "Not without your permission."

"I'm not sure that makes me feel better," Colton mumbled.

Angel and Dane laughed. "I don't know," Angel said. "Maybe you should just go with it. There's no harm in playing with others now and then." He winked at Dane. "Isn't that right, baby?"

Dane didn't require clarification; he knew exactly who Angel was referencing.

Leaning closer, Angel waved his phone and whispered hotly, "They sent a new video."

"What? When?"

"This morning."

"Why didn't you show it to me? Let me see." Dane grabbed at his phone, but Angel pulled it away, grinning. "Did you watch it without me?"

"No." Angel pursed his lips. "I wanted to wait till we were settled in on the ship before we watched it."

"Who sent you a video?" Colton asked. "What is it?"

"Oh, just a couple of smoking hot porn stars we got acquainted with a while back."

"Porn stars?"

"Mm-hm." Angel bit his lower lip and squinted at Dane. "Now, that was fun."

Dane cleared his throat and resisted the urge to adjust his crotch. "Yeah… it was."

"Do you want to watch it now?" Angel queried playfully, temptingly waving his phone. "Or when we're alone? Cause you know it's gonna make us hot and heavy. I might just jump your bones right here in front of everyone." Angel bit his lower lip seductively and trailed a fingertip down the center of Dane's chest. "Could you handle that, big boy?"

"I don't know if he could," Colton rasped. "But I think it might kill the rest of us."

Dane chuckled as he looked deep into Angel's clear eyes, smoldering with lust. "That's a chance I'm willing to take." He curled his fingers around Angel's hand in which he held the phone and growled with a husk, " Show it to me."

"Maybe I should've stayed home." Nolan stepped out onto the lido deck with an air of trepidation. "I've never been away from Rueben more than a day or two. I'm not sure how he'll take it."

"He'll be fine," Grid assured. "He's with Jules and the other kids. He'll have a blast. You know Jules won't give him a chance to be sad. Stop fretting and relax and have a good time. You fucking deserve it, babe. You work your ass off. You're allowed a little me time."

Nolan sighed and nodded. Of course, Grid was right. Taking a vacation didn't make him a bad dad or negligent in his job. But as much as he looked forward to alone time with Grid, he worried that Rueben would start missing him after a couple of days and not be okay.

He's with Jules like Grid said. Who can be sad around Jules?

Grid kissed him, startling Nolan from his thoughts. " Stop stressing. Rueben will be fine and so will you. We're going to have a great time."

Smiling small, Nolan gazed at the young man, not for the first time wondering how he lucked out. Grid had swept into his life like a whirlwind and knocked him off his feet before he knew what was happening. Oddly, neither had been wholly aware of their true sexuality until they met. Exploring it together had been—and continued to be—a mind-blowing experience.

Nolan kissed him back. "How can we not, right?" he murmured. "We're together."

"Exactly."

Across the spacious deck, Nolan spotted Caleb and Samuel cavorting with some sexy boys. They had all agreed there would be no talk of work during the cruise. Nearly every second of Nolan's workdays was consumed with Nicholas Dean's case—Caleb's older brother—incarcerated for involuntary manslaughter that resulted in the death of a child. The ongoing process of attempting to free Nick caused much stress to Caleb. The boy needed this vacation as much or more than Nolan. A time to relax and reset.

Before Grid had opened up his life, Nolan lived pretty much to himself with no social life to speak of. No sex life to speak of. His and Grid's first "fuck" had been…

Nolan swallowed through a dry throat, incapable of conjuring the right words to describe their first time—or any time after, for that matter. The college guy had changed his life with that single sexual event, reintroducing Nolan to a world outside the confines of his apartment and office. He made Nolan want to live again—live life to the fullest.

And here they were, making good on that endeavor.

"This sucks." Paul flopped back on the bed. "My eighteenth birthday is only a couple of days away. Why do I have to be locked up until then?"

Jason chuckled and flopped down beside him. "You're not locked up. We're allowed to go to the dining hall for meals."

"Big deal." Paul groaned. "We're in gay paradise and we can't even enjoy it."

"It's only a couple of days," Jason said. "I'm sure we can entertain ourselves for a couple of days." His hand slid between Paul's legs and cupped his package, which immediately hardened. "Huh?"

Paul let out a long moan and pushed his crotch into Jason's hand. "I'm not saying we can't have fun, just the two of us… it's just… it would be fun to explore the ship."

"Mm-hm. I agree." Jason massaged his growing erection. "Maybe we can. That Max guy didn't seem like an asshole. I think he only confined you to the room to appease your dad, so he would stop causing trouble. Now that we're out to sea, though… he'd probably be cool with us exploring a bit. As long as we don't engage in any naughty stuff with the other passengers."

"You think?"

"Mm-hm. But first…" Jason unzipped Paul's pants and dug out his heavy cock. He squeezed and stroked the muscle until it stood erect, thick, and long. "I need a drink before we venture out."

"Huuh!" Paul gasped when Jason swallowed his dick in one gulp and proceeded to suck up and down his engorged shaft. "Ffff uuuck…" His chest tightened along with his lower ab muscles as a pleasurable ache webbed through his loins and into his balls. Jason meant for this to be a quick blowie—and he was just the guy to make it happen.

" Mmm-mmm-mmm…" Jason bobbed up and down on Paul's cock, soaking his hard flesh with saliva which made for noisy sucking sounds that drove Paul wild. His balls filled with cum and Jason grabbed a handful of his heavy sack, squeezing and tugging, wrenching staggered cries and gasps from Paul.

"Fuck, baby…" Paul clutched his lover's hair and gouged his scalp. His hips pumped rhythmically, thrusting his long dick into Jason's mouth, down his throat. The guy took it without gagging—he was talented like that. "Fuck… I'm gonna cum…" Paul clenched his jaw as the tendons on his neck popped and strained. "Uuhh- uuuhhh! Fuck-fuck-fuck!"

Jason tugged his balls harder and sucked his dick faster, deeper.

Paul wailed and dumped his load down Jason's throat. " Huuuhh! Fuck!"

" Mmm…" Jason slowed his pace, sucking more gently. He tenderly massaged Paul's empty balls, then pulled off him and licked his lips. "Yummy."

Paul panted, wilted against the bed. "My… turn?"

Jason smiled and shook his head. "Not yet. Let's go explore first." He crawled off the bed and Paul noted the massive erection in his pants. Sometimes, Jason liked to keep his erection for a while before letting Paul relieve him. He said it made ejaculation more intense and, besides, he enjoyed the "pain" of needing to cum.