Overboard (13 page)

Sebastian smiled happily during their walk back to the room. He finally noticed that Duncan was quiet as they opened their door.

“Sorry she couldn’t help with your neck. Maybe I can help.”

“I don’t need help with my neck. I need you naked and in bed,” Duncan growled.

If this is just a cruise romance, I’m going to make the most of it.

S
ebastian wondered
what had flipped in Duncan. He had gone from, well, Duncan, to being the force of nature bearing down on him. Huge, looming, inevitable, and a little intimidating.

Sebastian had to have him.

Duncan grabbed Sebastian’s collar and ripped the shirt right down the middle before spinning Sebastian and pulling his back against Duncan’s chest. Sebastian felt that massive chest rise and fall like Duncan had just finished a heavy workout.

But they hadn’t even started yet.

Sebastian leaned his head back against Duncan’s shoulder and gave him time to finish fighting whatever internal demons he was fighting.

It gave Sebastian’s own heart a little time to settle. The anticipation had him as riled up as his lover. A once-in-a-lifetime event seemed about to happen. Sebastian wanted Duncan to unleash that energy on him, but worried that any flinch would distract Duncan and ruin the moment.

With one arm pressed firmly against Sebastian’s ribs, Duncan pinched Sebastian’s nipple with his free hand.

Sebastian’s body vibrated with excitement.

He wasn’t in the arms of the man who had run away when Sebastian grabbed his dick during the construction project, or even the excited, playful man from the previous night. Duncan was in charge and he was letting Sebastian know it.

Because of Sebastian’s money, men always seemed to defer to him. He always controlled, even when he was on the bottom.

Duncan’s hard body, firm grip and ragged breathing told Sebastian this was going to be a completely different fuck than he had ever experienced.

His body tightened in anticipation against Duncan’s.

“Are you going to have your way with me?”

Duncan didn’t answer, leaving Sebastian to wonder if Duncan was overwhelmed by the moment or if something else was going on.

Sebastian slid his hand toward Duncan’s dick. It was hard, and large, just like Duncan.

Sebastian needed to give him a gentle prod without scaring him away. Something to let Duncan know that Sebastian was ready for anything.

“Duncan, you can—”

Duncan cupped his hand over Sebastian’s mouth.

“Shh. No sweet-talking. No promises. This is just two men fucking.”

“Mmm.” Sebastian purred against Duncan’s hand while pointing toward the bed.

Duncan had other plans.

He pushed Sebastian up against the counter, where Sebastian could see himself in the mirror. Duncan pulled Sebastian’s shorts down to his knees.

Unsure what Duncan wanted him to do next, Sebastian watched in the mirror. He was looking for a clue. Any clue. Whatever Duncan wanted, he was willing to give.

“Don’t move.”

Sebastian nodded.

Duncan disappeared, but only for a second.

“Get out of those damn shorts.”

The thrill of following the orders instead of giving them spurred Sebastian to action. He kicked off the shorts and leaned his elbows onto the counter.

Duncan’s rough fingers pressed against his ass. There was no gentleness or teasing. Two thick fingers coated with lube plunge into Sebastian, forcing a gasp out of him. With those two fingers, Duncan claimed Sebastian as his.

Sebastian loved feeling needed and desired.

The lust coursed through every movement Duncan made. His fingers thrust rapidly in and out of Sebastian. He slapped his fat cock against Sebastian’s ass. His hand rubbed against Sebastian’s body while Duncan stroked his own dick.

Sebastian knew he was going to be fucked, but it would be at Duncan’s pace, in Duncan’s time, serving Duncan’s needs.

At that moment Sebastian couldn’t imagine any other way.

The fingers pulled out and Duncan backed away, leaving Sebastian stretched, empty and alone. He almost cried in the moment.

“Don’t move.”

That command again. Holding Sebastian in place with just two words as surely as any amount of handcuffs or scarves could.

Sebastian looked in the mirror.

Duncan sat on the couch directly behind him. He rubbed his dick with long, slow strokes. His eyes were still wide and excited. They were not meeting Sebastian’s eyes in the mirror. They focused directly on Sebastian’s ass.

Duncan tore open the condom wrapper and rolled the condom onto his dick.

Sebastian reached behind him and spread his cheeks to provide a better view.

“Is that what you’re looking for?” he whispered. “Is that what my man needs? I’m right here waiting for you.”

“For me.”

It wasn’t a question. It was a command, a reminder that he had claimed Sebastian.

“Of course for you. Only for you, my love. But you feel so far away over there. Want me to come over there and keep you company for a little while?”

“A little while?”

Sebastian didn’t understand the question.

“Or longer. Whatever you want.”

“You’re going to keep me company for a little while?” the words roared out of Duncan.

He launched himself from the couch. Before Sebastian could spin around, Duncan’s body slammed against his back again.

Trying to react to Sebastian’s desires, he bent back forward.

He guessed wrong.

Duncan hooked his arms under Sebastian’s, hooked his hands behind Sebastian’s head, and pulled Sebastian to a standing position.

Sebastian couldn’t have escaped. Not that he had any fucking interest in trying. Instead he desperately tried to figure out what Duncan wanted. He tried listening to his lover’s body, focusing on his lover’s needs.

That subtle change meant everything for Sebastian. He was part of something more than his own selfish lust.

Duncan’s muscles flexed when he lifted Sebastian off the ground. With Sebastian’s upper body so restricted, the only thing he could do was hook his legs around the outside of Duncan’s and wonder what was coming next.

And then he felt exactly what Duncan had planned next. His eyes went wide.

“Yes. Perfect,” Sebastian moaned.

He lowered Sebastian onto his dick but couldn’t get lined up correctly. His dick kept sliding forward against Sebastian’s balls.

“If you let me go, I can help you...”

Duncan didn’t wait for Sebastian to finish his offer. He wasn’t looking for help either. He lowered Sebastian back to the ground and pushed him against the counter. With one forearm holding him in place, Duncan was free to guide himself to Sebastian’s opening. He slammed against Sebastian, taking him with one earth-shattering thrust.

Sebastian wanted to freeze the moment and just bask in the fullness. After years of playing with the emotions of men, toying with their feelings, and loving them only to leave them after the conquest, Sebastian had finally found the place he belonged.

He was claimed and satisfied with whatever would come next between them. Things would be perfect between them forever.

Duncan hooked his hands behind Sebastian’s head and lifted him again. In perfect harmony, Sebastian hooked his legs again.

Duncan thrust like he was being chased by a demon. His dick stroked Sebastian’s prostate wonderfully. Sebastian tried to reach for his own swollen cock but Duncan wouldn’t release his arms. Instead Sebastian was left with only being able to listen to their grunts, feel their bodies, and see their movements in the mirror.

He couldn’t believe how pinned he looked suspended in midair and pressed against Duncan’s giant body. Duncan’s eyes were wide open, staring at the two of them in the mirror, too.

Sebastian smiled, but the next second, his breath was taken away as Duncan doubled his pace. The orgasm swept through Sebastian. It was all he could do to keep his legs hooked around Duncan. He desperately held on with his feet so that Duncan wouldn’t fall out of him and have his own pleasure interrupted.

Duncan pushed another orgasm out of Sebastian before his own body stiffened against Sebastian’s. They fell against the counter. Duncan continued fucking until the last bit of his orgasm had faded.

Sebastian was still hard. He’d had several prostate orgasms but his dick was still hard as a rock and he needed to come.

While grabbing his dick, he met Duncan’s eyes. “Can I?”

Duncan nodded and pulled Sebastian back against him where they could both watch in the mirror. Duncan’s hands rubbed over Sebastian’s neck, chest and abs.

Sebastian tried to keep his eyes open, but it was all too much. He could only focus on his own needs.

With his eyes closed, he felt Duncan’s hand glide down his sweaty abs. Duncan’s thumb hooked on the base of Sebastian’s dick while his fingers cupped underneath.

Sebastian gave way when Duncan’s hand slid out onto his shaft. Duncan bringing him to his final orgasm would be the perfect ending to the perfect fuck.

It only took a few strokes from Duncan’s skilled hands to make Sebastian come. Sebastian’s eyes opened in surprise at how quickly Duncan could bring him off.

The man was amazing.

The man was his.

Then Duncan turned away.

“I’m going to bed. Keep the TV quiet if you turn it on.”

Sebastian’s world collapsed. He stood confused, trying to make sense of what was happening. Was Duncan mad at him? He replayed the evening, trying to find out what he might have done wrong.

In the end, he was left feeling both claimed and tossed away. Completely satisfied and horribly frustrated.

He suddenly understood what his previous lovers must have felt.

This would end differently, though. He wasn’t going to give up on Duncan without a fight.

Duncan was the man he wanted to be with.

T
he waves bounced
the small boat that carried them from the cruise ship to the shore. Neither man seemed to notice. Their attention was focused on each other.

“You look great today,” Sebastian said, rubbing his hand against Duncan’s neck.

Duncan had woken early and shaved his neck while trying to sort through his feelings. He barely recognized the man in the mirror. He looked handsome. The sharp edge between the smooth skin of his neck and the thick beard looked intentional, planned, and deliberate rather than lazy and pathetic.

He had walked with a bounce in his step that he wasn’t used to. Instead of dealing with the world as it came to him, he felt ready to pounce, grab it by the neck and get what he wanted out of it.

Kind of like he had in their room with Sebastian.

Looking out at the waves, Duncan blushed at the crazy way the night had played out with Sebastian. Not that Sebastian had seemed to have minded. Quite the contrary. He had looked amazed with Duncan.

He patted Sebastian’s hand before pulling it away. “It feels weird not having the hair there. Like I’m naked.”

“I like you naked, but I think I like you dressed in your new clothes even better. You are quite the pretty beast.”

Duncan blew out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. The anger from the massage had faded in the light of day. Things always seemed good when it was just the two of them together. Duncan tried to decide if he was just being pointlessly jealous. Sebastian’s past and his reputation did not necessarily define how he would be in the future.

And the sex was amazing last night. That had to mean something.

Duncan was confused. He wanted to believe in Sebastian, but he wanted to protect himself, too.

He blew out another breath.

A problem for another day. He would focus on having fun and sort out the rest later. Either Sebastian would hang himself on his own stereotype, or things would work out.

Duncan hoped Sebastian wouldn’t screw things up. But he reminded himself to make sure that he wasn’t the one that ended up making them fail.

For now, Duncan tried to keep it simple. He loved that the two of them were finally able to flirt without looking over their shoulders. Things were so much easier when no one he knew was around.

“Well, I love having someone worth dressing up for,” Duncan said sheepishly. “And waking up for. And... Something. I had something, I swear.”

The two men laughed together.

Duncan knew he needed more practice with the flirting. Sebastian seemed to love the effort, anyway, even when the words did not come out very gracefully.

“I’m so excited about this excursion,” Duncan said. “This is the one I’m most looking forward to. I always thought I would make a good explorer.”

“No way,” Sebastian argued. “You’re too big. You’d get stuck in the narrow passages. You be the great muscle for some adventurer like me, though. The big, rugged thug that’s always able to create a diversion.

“How much time do we have, Indiana Jones?” Duncan asked.

“About an hour. Plenty of time. I can’t believe you left your watch at home. What about your phone? How are we going to meet back up if you can’t tell time?”

“I left my phone back in the safe in the room. I’m not paying for roaming.”

“That’s no good. Let’s kill some time in the shops finding you a nice, manly, heterosexual watch that your parents won’t get suspicious of. I love men with gold watches. It makes a man look so confidant and pulled together. The world might fall down around him, but he’ll fucking know what time it is.”

Duncan appreciated that Sebastian wanted to buy him something, but he worried that Sebastian would want to spend more than he should. If they were really going to give their relationship a try without Sebastian’s dad’s money, Sebastian needed to start learning how to not rely on those credit cards.

Duncan worried that the dependence on credit cards would eventually be a problem for Sebastian. Learning how to shave a beard and wear decent clothes was much easier than learning to live without a ton of money.

They pushed through the crowd and into a jewelry store. Duncan quickly realized the place was out of his price range.

“I’m sorry, Sebastian, but I won’t wear any of these. That’s just too much style for me. Let’s go check out the gift shop next door.”

While staring at a display on the other side of the shop, Sebastian said, “Sure. No worries. I’m going to stay here for a few minutes. I’ll meet you over by where the bus is picking us up.”

Duncan sighed quietly enough that Sebastian didn’t hear. They were going to need to have the money talk again sooner rather than later. Duncan worried it was going to lead to their first big fight.

Not on the day of the pyramids, though. He wouldn’t ruin the one excursion he was excited about just to try and make Sebastian wake up to reality. Especially when he wasn’t convinced Sebastian would be embracing that reality after the cruise.

Why would he give that all up for me?

“Okay. Hurry up though. I don’t want to be late.”

Sebastian didn’t even notice Duncan leave.

Duncan didn’t understand people’s interest in jewelry but he knew that plenty of his interests that would bore Sebastian.

If things did work out between them, he almost looked forward to being dragged to things that he didn’t think he’d like. Maybe some would stick and he would become a more rounded person.

But not jewelry. That would always be a waste of money in his mind.

In the gift shop, Duncan found a Woody Woodpecker watch for ten dollars. That was good style. Cheap and an iconic character. He put it down again, though. Sebastian would just make fun of it.

He left the shop and sat on a park bench, letting the sun warm his skin. Sebastian joined him a few minutes later.

Duncan still wasn’t ready to ask Sebastian to cut back on his spending. Thinking about money though, reminded Duncan about their business venture. He might as well pretend things would work out until they didn’t.

“Do you have any thoughts on a name for our company?”

“I thought we were relaxing? Even your mom said we could wait until we got home.”

“Just excited, I guess.”

Sebastian patted Duncan’s knee. “Me too. No idea about a name. How about something with our last names?”

“Yuck. Stuffy. Okay, I’m over it. That’s too much work for vacation. Let’s go find the bus.” Duncan glanced at his wrist and groaned when he saw the space where a watch should be, again.

“Hey, I bought you a present,” Sebastian said.

Sebastian handed Duncan a little jewelry box. It had probably cost Sebastian a fortune. A fortune that he didn’t have. Duncan’s exes had rarely bought him presents at all, though. He was conflicted about how to feel.

With a grimace, Duncan opened it to see what gaudy bauble his boyfriend had bought him.

“You got me watch. Thanks.”

“Look at it closer. I picked it just for you.”

Duncan opened the box again and noticed that the watch was the Woody Woodpecker one he’d picked up earlier.

“Oh my God. That’s hysterical. You are such a doofus. But I love it.”

“I saw you checking it out and stopped there to pick it up. I love you,” Sebastian said without any hesitation.

Duncan must have heard him wrong. “What did you just say?”

“I said I love you. I’ll say it again. I’m head over heels here. Say it back. Don’t keep me floundering.”

The words cut through Duncan’s concerns, at least for the moment. He wanted to believe.

“I love you, too. I can’t stop thinking about you.”

Sebastian stole a quick kiss in public. Duncan didn’t bother flinching. He wanted the kiss. He didn’t care who might see.

He couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Especially since they had barely known each other before the cruise.

Duncan didn’t want to overthink it because something about it all felt right at that moment. There was definitely something special between the two of them, some kind of amazing chemistry.

What the fuck was happening? A second ago he had been thinking about enjoying the trip and not planning beyond that. Now, he was embracing something that felt so much more serious.

If you don’t give someone the chance to break your heart, you’ll never learn who will take care of it.

With a glance at his watch, he realized the bus should be arriving soon.

“Where is that bus?”

Sebastian stood and stretched. “Why don’t you wait here? I’m going to walk around the block and make sure we are in the right spot. If the bus pulls up, just tell him to wait a minute.”

“I’ll miss you while you’re gone.”

Sebastian leaned down for another kiss. Duncan could get used to just kissing whenever they felt like it.

“I’ll miss you more,” Sebastian said before turning to jog in search of the bus.

The bus ride to the ruins was going to take a couple of hours. Duncan stood and stretched, figuring he would get tired of sitting long before the day was over. He idly wandered the little courtyard at the end of the pier but didn’t risk entering any more of the shops in case the bus arrived.

Most of the crowd from the ship had dispersed, either headed to the beaches or to their various excursions. Duncan recognized several people, but one in particular made him stop in his tracks.

Jason. He must have come over in one of the other boats and been waiting for whatever excursion he had planned.

Duncan decided to swallow his pride and go and try to chat. If Jason was going to be his brother-in-law, Duncan needed to find a way to talk to him or Thanksgivings were going to be miserable. He definitely had no interest in being Jason’s friend, but for Katey he was willing to force himself to be a little more than just civil.

Jason stood next to a tall brunette woman. She laughed at something he said.

Motherfucker. He’s cheating on my sister during their wedding cruise. I should have thrown him off the ship when I first saw him.

Jason handed the woman some money and she bounced off to one of the shops, leaving Jason with a few people who seemed to be waiting for a ride, too.

Duncan wanted to run over and kill the jerk. He would have done it, too. Katey would understand once he explained. It wasn’t Katey that made him remain calm and watch to make sure he wasn’t misinterpreting something, though. He couldn’t imagine how shitty he would feel if Katey brought him information about Sebastian cheating.

The thought of Sebastian cheating jarred him. He realized that he might have more to worry about than Katey did, or at least as much. Sebastian’s player days weren’t nearly far enough behind him.

All thoughts of just having fun during the cruise and sorting it out afterward disappeared. Duncan needed to protect himself and his sister.

“Hey, whatcha staring at?” Sebastian asked.

Duncan jumped. He had been so focused on Jason that he hadn’t seen Sebastian return.

Is he just saying he loves me to get into my pants? If so, why? He’s already been there.

“You’re going to cheat on me and Jason is cheating on Katey. Why do you assholes do that to people like us? Aren’t we worth being loved? And why—?”

“Whoa, man. What happened while I was gone? I’m not cheating on you. Those days are over. I’m a one-man guy now. There’s just you, unless you’ve decided you don’t want me.”

“How can I trust that?”

Sebastian blinked in surprise. “I’m...well...that’s a tough one. I don’t have the best reputation, but I swear to God that I’m giving us a real try. This is the real deal between us. Even when I was playing the field, I never told anyone that I loved them. This is not a game to me. What happened?”

Duncan pointed at Jason.

“Oh. Him.” Sebastian’s voice was all ice. “What did he do to make me look so bad?”

“He’s cheating on Katey.”

“When did you see that?”

“Just now,” Duncan said. He was having trouble breathing and tears started streaming down his cheek.

“Breathe, Duncan. You must have seen something incorrectly. Look.”

Duncan followed Sebastian’s finger and saw Jason. Katey was giving him a big hug. The brunette walked up to them and handed Jason some money.

Between sniffles, Duncan said, “He just...loaned...money...not cheating.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Sebastian grabbed Duncan’s hand to comfort him.

“Yeah. I’m just...you’re important, Sebastian. Don’t hurt me.”

“Never. Not on purpose. And just tell me if I do. We’ll figure out what happened and make sure it never happens again. We’re a team, you and me.”

The hiss of the bus’s airbrakes interrupted their hug.

“There it is,” Sebastian said. “Let’s go see a pyramid.”

“There’s a few of them there. One of them...”

“Whoa. Plenty of time. Let’s get a good seat first and then you can tell me all about it and I’ll try to make up sexy stories about the people that lived there.”

“God, I’m excited about this trip,” Duncan said when they sat in the front seats, close to the tour guide.

Duncan felt like a dick. He wouldn’t have blamed Sebastian for leaving after that outburst, but he had recovered effortlessly.

With a large, relieved sigh, Duncan collapsed into a seat.