Page 8 of Hooked by a Hero (Tales from the Brotherhood #4)

The kiss was sudden and surprisingly brutal at first. Caspian braced his hands on either side of Elias’s shoulders and kissed him back with as much ferocity as Elias had come at him. It was raw and scintillating, and had Caspian more aroused than he could remember being in no time.

Then Elias laughed. The sound was muffled at first, but it quickly turned free and light as Elias’s tense body relaxed into their closeness.

“I did not mean to kiss you like that,” Elias said with his laugh as Caspian leaned into him, pinning him harder against the wall. “I just wanted to kiss you, but the ship pitched and it was far more aggressive than I intended.”

Caspian smiled, shifting the way he balanced on his arms while leaning into Elias. “I did not mind,” he said, angling his hips into Elias’s so that the man could see just how much he didn’t. “You can take me this time, and next time I’ll take you.”

Elias gasped, and his playfulness shifted to smoldering heat. He still had his hand around the back of Caspian’s neck and pulled him in for another searing kiss.

The man was perfect in so many ways. His body was fit and an ideal match for Caspian’s in terms of size and proportion. Caspian regretted the need to balance on his arms, especially when Elias stroked his free hand up under the loose hem of his shirt to touch his skin.

Of course, there was no reason they needed to stay balanced the way they were. As the thought occurred to Caspian, he smiled into Elias’s kiss. Elias was dressed in nothing but his nightshirt, after all. Caspian had disturbed his sleep by knocking.

It was well past time that he disturbed other things.

As the ship rocked again, pulling him back from the wall slightly, Caspian used the motion to let go of the wall and sink to his knees in front of Elias.

Elias only had time to gasp as Caspian lifted the hem of his nightshirt and ducked his head underneath.

Elias jolted slightly, pushing his feet wider until they braced against the edge of the bed on one side and the wall on the other.

It wasn’t much space to work with, but Caspian nuzzled his cheek against the top of Elias’s thigh all the same, gripping his thighs, then sought out one of Elias’s balls so that he could close his mouth around it.

Elias made a sound and grabbed the edge of the shelf above his narrow bed as Caspian sucked.

The humid heat of Elias’s body, particularly his cock as it grew rigid against Caspian’s cheek was glorious.

Caspian let go of Elias’s ball and adjusted to run his nose and lips up the underside of his cock until he was able to lick his tip, then to use his lips to push back his foreskin so he could suckle Elias’s tip.

The groan that escaped Elias’s throat was louder than his first sound.

As it happened, it was entirely too loud.

Just as Caspian really began to enjoy himself by taking Elias’s cock deeper into his throat, there was a thump from the cabin beside Elias’s, followed by Mr. Cartwright’s groggy voice asking, “I say, Pettigrew, are you quite alright? Did you fall out of bed?”

Caspian froze, Elias’s cock half-filling his mouth. Elias squeaked, then somehow managed to say, “I am quite alright, thank you. I only lost my balance for a moment and struck my toe,” in as close to a normal voice as possible.

“Good, good,” Cartwright said sleepily.

Caspian and Elias stayed perfectly still for several seconds. Elias deflated a little in his mouth, and when he was certain Cartwright had either gone back to sleep or was busy with something else, Caspian pulled back all the way.

“This is intolerable,” Elias hissed as quietly as he could as Caspian reluctantly rose to his feet. “Is there no place on this ship where we might be alone?”

Caspian sighed, kissed Elias’s lips gently, then laid a hand on the side of his face. “No,” he said, aching with disappointment, not to mention unspent lust. “There is no privacy on a ship at all.”

Elias made a sound that encompassed all the frustration Caspian felt, then kissed him quickly. “We must pray to reach Australia as swiftly as possible, then,” he whispered.

For some reason, the mention of Australia reminded Caspian of what he’d heard on his swim and his reasons for seeking Elias out in the first place.

He could not very well share his concerns now, though.

Not when Cartwright might have been aware that Elias was not alone and that the sound he had made was not one of a stubbed toe.

Caspian leaned close to Elias’s ear and whispered, “Meet me up on the forecastle deck as quickly as you can.”

He stepped back and Elias nodded to him. Caspian nodded back, then backed out of the cramped cabin as stealthily as he could.

The skies were beginning to cloud over slightly from their initial brightness by the time Caspian made it back abovedeck and strode toward the front of the ship. More people were up and about, but only the crew. They seemed more intent on going about their morning work than disturbing him.

Elias joined Caspian at their favorite spot on the forecastle less than ten minutes later, but once he looked around at their exposed position, his eager expression turned puzzled.

“This does not seem like a particularly discreet spot,” he said.

Caspian couldn’t help but laugh aloud. “I wish that I had called you up here to continue our conversation below,” he said, being as careful with his words as he was with his proximity to Elias.

Not only were members of the crew up on deck, Captain Woodward had stepped out from his cabin at the stern, and even though there was a great deal of distance and miles of rope and rigging between them, it was clear the captain had spotted them and did not approve.

“I was just beginning to enjoy the topic,” Elias said, his face going red and his expression turning bashful. “It shames me to say it, but I am not certain I would have lasted much longer on that particular subject.”

Caspian laughed again, though it came out as more of a snort. That only made him laugh harder, which, in turn, had Elias giggling as if he was a lad of half his years.

Caspian’s heart felt so light. He was in love, there was no question about it.

And yes, it was new and fresh and as likely to be mere infatuation as not, but he loved the feeling.

Even though it would cause him more problems than he wanted to think about if he chose to pursue it.

He hardly cared. He had as much of a right to feel free and happy as anyone.

He was forced to sober up a bit as Captain Woodward came down onto the main deck and casually walked toward the bow.

If the captain was suspicious of the attachment between him and Elias, and if he intended to intimidate or bully them into keeping their distance or hiding what they felt, it meant Caspian only had so long to share what he’d heard earlier.

“I think the convicts are planning a mutiny,” he said in a quick, quiet voice.

Elias lost his charming, boyish smile at once. “A mutiny?”

Caspian nodded. “I heard them during my morning swim.”

It was a short sentence, but Caspian immediately regretted it. Elias’s face pinched with confusion. “Your morning swim?”

“Yes,” Caspian answered slowly, wincing.

“How could you possibly think to swim when the ship is traveling so fast? No one could keep up with a moving vessel like this,” Elias said.

“As I discovered when I dipped my toes in the water,” Caspian lied. He hated lying to the man he had such powerful feelings for, but to tell the truth would have only raised more questions, and there were other things that needed their attention.

“You discovered a plot to mutiny?” Elias asked, leaning closer to Caspian.

Caspian nodded and adjusted until they leaned so close to each other that they could have kissed again. The topic did not inspire thoughts of kissing, though. “That man, Dick. He has a plot. He was sharing it with the others.”

“But they’re prisoners,” Elias reasoned. “They’re kept on the lower deck in a cell. They couldn’t possibly mutiny.”

“They could if they escaped,” Caspian said.

“But they won’t,” Elias said, sounding uncertain. “I tried to lobby for them being brought above to enjoy some fresh air, but Captain Woodward refused.”

“I have no great love of Captain Woodward, but in this instance, he might be right,” Caspian said.

Elias shook his head. “I still do not see how twenty men who are shackled together and kept in a cell could cause a mutiny,” he said. “Mutinies are when the ship’s crew overthrows its captain, not when prisoners or passengers rise up.”

“They are plotting something,” Caspian said. “Do you think we should warn the captain?”

No sooner had the words left his lips than Captain Woodward’s booming voice snapped, “You have been informed that sodomy is a crime punishable by death, have you not?”

Caspian and Elias jerked apart and turned to the man.

“Sodomy, sir?” Elias snapped, feigning indignation. “I beg your pardon?”

“You heard me, Dr. Pettigrew,” Captain Woodward said, climbing the stairs to the forecastle and coming close enough to tower intimidatingly over Caspian and Elias.

“And as there is no civil authority at sea to hold a trial and carry out a sentence, I would be forced to implement justice in my own way aboard my ship.”

Caspian was instantly furious. How dare the oaf threaten him for something as innocuous as falling in love with a lovely, charming man?

Elias, however, gulped and pulled away from him. “No, sir,” he said. “None of that will be necessarily. You have been entirely mistaken if you believe either myself or Caspian is guilty of anything at all.”

Captain Woodward studied them for a few more, tense seconds before humphing and moving on without a word. He did not leave them alone, however. He went to stand at the highest point of the forecastle, looking out into what was quickly becoming an overcast day.

“We should find our friends and join them for breakfast,” Elias said, moving toward the stairs down to the main deck.

“We should,” Caspian said, following him.

He glanced back over his shoulder at Captain Woodward as he descended. He would never understand the English obsession with condemning something as beautiful as love.

Whether he understood or not, there was nothing he could do about it. He continued on with Elias until they found Ruby, Mr. Ferrars, and Hunt. Perhaps it would not be so bad if there was a mutiny and Captain Woodward was overthrown after all.