Page 25 of Hooked by a Hero (Tales from the Brotherhood #4)
Thirteen
T hey were stranded. Elias had once been a prominent physician in London with a newly inherited fortune that would grant him access to the highest social circles in England.
If he’d been so inclined, he could have married into any number of aristocratic families.
Lady Eudora had pursued him relentlessly for his wealth and status.
Elias wondered what she would have thought of him now if she could see him sleeping in a tiny hut made of brush, jungle debris, and crates pulled from the Fortune’s cargo.
He wondered what his friends in The Brotherhood would have said if they knew he had only two changes of clothing recovered from the ship that already bore smudges and stains that no washing in a barrel of water, beating on rocks, and leaving out to dry in the sunshine could ever remove.
He laughed when he thought about what Grayson and Charlie would think if they knew he was considered one of the leaders of their tiny band of survivors.
“I do love it when I awake to find you already smiling,” Caspian said in a groggy voice, rolling to his side and pulling Elias into his arms.
Elias sighed and made a low, happy, laughing sound as he twisted to embrace Caspian. “Good morning.”
“Good morning to you,” Caspian replied, then kissed him briefly. They had recovered a stock of tooth powder from the Fortune , but even that fortunate discovery could do nothing to improve one’s breath first thing in the morning, before there was a chance to use it.
Although, all things considered, Elias had done a terrific job of maintaining basic cleanliness on the island, even without every convenience life in London or on the ship would have offered.
They had built their small camp around the freshwater spring, after all, and even sand could be used to bathe in a pinch.
All of which came in quite handy when Caspian moved his lips from Elias’s own to Elias’s neck and the top of his shoulder. He brushed his hand up Elias’s side as well, bringing his fingers up to play with Elias’s nipple.
Elias laughed low in his throat and relaxed into the sweet touch. “Have a care,” he whispered. “The others believe we are sharing this hut out of convenience. If they were to overhear anything untoward?—”
“The others know where things stand between us,” Caspian chuckled, then shifted all the way over Elias, nudging his thighs apart and settling himself between them. He looked down at Elias, his eyes dancing with mirth. “They know.”
Elias grunted uncertainly. While he was certain that he and Caspian had been unable to hide their affection for each other in the fortnight that they’d been living on the island, he still did not feel it was wise to press the matter. Not everyone was as tacitly accepting as Hunt or Ruby.
Although when it came to pressing things, not everything was objectionable. The way Caspian pressed their hips together, making Elias fully aware of both Caspian’s and his own morning tumescence, and rubbing them together to bring both of them to greater fullness.
“Have a care,” Elias whispered again, then gave up any efforts to resist.
Caspian kissed him, and even their less than fresh states did not inhibit Elias from kissing him back.
The kiss was quick, however, and Caspian hurriedly moved on to draw his lips down Elias’s neck to his chest, licking and teasing one of his nipples for a moment, before descending lower to trail kisses down over his belly to the waistband of his drawers.
Elias would have slept in the altogether and urged Caspian to do so as well, and not only because of the humid heat of the island, but with so many of the other survivors so close by, there was no telling when they would be suddenly roused and called upon.
Still, that did not entirely explain why Caspian insisted on wearing his full trousers that covered him from waist to ankles at all times.
That curious thought brought up a thousand others and all the questions Elias had about Caspian’s mysteries. Those things were immediately forgotten, however, when Caspian reached the top of Elias’s drawers, then tugged at the drawstring to loosen them.
“You do not have to,” Elias said breathlessly, raising his arms to rest above his head in a way that stretched his body for his lover.
“Oh, but I want to,” Caspian said, mischief in his eyes.
Elias laughed lightly, but the sound turned into a moan he had to muffle as Caspian reached into his drawers to take out his cock.
It was a beautiful and intimate way to start the morning.
Caspian stroked, nuzzled and licked Elias’s balls and cock, pulling back his foreskin so that he could lavish his tip with tantalizing attention for a moment before drawing it into his mouth.
In the past week or so, Caspian had been somewhat insatiable when it came to giving him pleasure in that way. He was incredibly good at it as well.
Elias shifted his arm down so that he could grab a handful of Caspian’s white-blond hair as his orgasm quickly built within him.
He had to fight not to groan loudly and express vocally his appreciation for everything his lover was so keen to do for him.
As much as he wanted to hold back and let the moment continue indefinitely, he gave in to the sensations Caspian sparked within him, if only to minimize their chances of being caught because he could not contain himself.
He grunted and thrust up as his climax hit him. Caspian moaned and swallowed, as if Elias’s seed were like nectar to him. The warmth and talent of his mouth kept Elias in a state of bliss for a wonderfully long time.
As soon as the pleasure subsided, leaving him panting, Caspian pulled back, then positioned himself on all fours over Elias’s spent and sweating body. He reached for one of Elias’s hands and moved it to the waistband of his trousers, nudging it under the fabric so that Elias could stroke his cock.
“Wait,” Elias said breathlessly, lifting himself up a bit and balancing on his other arm. “I want to suck you. Please let me.”
In all the two weeks that they’d been able to be this intimate with each other, Elias had only had Caspian’s cock in his mouth once, and only then in the dead of night, with no light at all in their hut.
“I cannot wait,” Caspian said, though there was a tense look in his eyes that had nothing to do with the pleasure Elias was certain he felt. “I need you.”
He moved on Elias’s hand, and although every one of Elias’s suspicions flared, he put them aside to give his lover pleasure.
It was beautiful to watch Caspian’s face in the dim light of the hut as he indulged in the pleasure Elias was able to give him.
Elias knew there could be more between them.
They might have been trapped on a remote island, but surely they could find some slippery substance to ease the way for the ultimate communion he wished for.
For the moment, he was content to handle Caspian until his face pinched, his breathing hitched, and warm wetness spread across Elias’s hand and wrist.
“You are so beautiful,” Elias said, pulling his hand out of Caspian’s trousers so he could wipe it on the rag kept beside their bed, then take Caspian’s face in his hands for a long kiss.
Caspian collapsed to his side, and the two of them continued to greet the day with kisses and lighter touches until the sounds of others waking in their camp forced them to be quiet and settle.
“I do not think anyone overheard us,” Caspian said, still a bit breathless, as they lay together, recovering.
“They must not have,” Elias said. He was not certain of it, but it seemed as though the others had developed enough respect for the two of them not to say anything.
Then again, it was entirely possible that no one had said anything to them because they did not wish for anyone to comment upon their activities.
Sounds of a similarly intimate nature could just barely be heard from the hut that had been built closest to Elias and Caspian’s, and which was inhabited by Hunt and Ruby.
In her usual, defiant manner, Ruby had announced that she would take up habitation with Hunt out of grief for losing her grandfather, but not a soul among the survivors believed that was the true reason.
They were not the only ones. Though the women had initially asked for cabins to be built for them to share as sisters in survival, Elias was reasonably certain Miss Winters had spent the past few nights in the hut Woburn had constructed for himself, and Mr. Cartwright and Lady Adelaide had been growing closer by the day.
Elias could not predict the future, and he hoped they would be rescued before it was necessary, but he was glad to have some experience in birthing babies.
“We should begin the day,” he said, stretching and sitting, then standing from the pallet of leaves and bedding salvaged from the ship he and Caspian slept in. “Brunning wants to attempt a hunt for the wild boar he swears he saw deeper into the island today.”
Caspian huffed a laugh, but instead of joining Elias in getting up, he rolled to his back, rested his hands behind his head, and watched Elias strip off his drawers and quickly bathe using the pitcher and washbasin that had also been rescued from the ship and filled with fresh water from the spring.
Elias knew he was being watched, and because his heart was so much happier than it had any right to be under the circumstances, he made a show of sluicing water over his body and scrubbing it away with the sponge that had been found on the shore.
“You are a tease, Dr. Elias Pettigrew,” Caspian laughed when he caught on to what Elias was doing.
Elias lost some of his bravado and blushed as he finished washing, then dried off and donned clothing for the day. “At least I am brave enough to show my full body to you,” he said, stepping over to kiss Caspian one last time before returning to his morning ablutions.