Page 39 of Killer Honeymoon
“It’s eerily quiet,” Royce said, looking over at Sawyer. He noticed the smirk on his husband’s lips. “Don’t say it.”
Sawyer turned his head and met Royce’s gaze. “The calm before the storm.”
Royce sighed heavily. “You said it.”
“How could I resist? You set it up so perfectly.”
“So I did.”
Royce closed his eyes and enjoyed the sun’s warmth on his skin and the breeze ruffling through his hair. The waves washing up on shore and lapping against the wooden pier lulled him to sleep. He didn’t know how long he’d been out when the first drop of rain splattered against his forehead. He jerked upright and looked around to orient himself and assess the threat. His gaze snagged on his husband’s smiling face. “What’s so funny?” he asked.
Sawyer leaned forward and kissed him briefly. “I love the way you come out swinging in nearly every scenario. There’s no gentle awareness with you. It’s zero to sixty in a single heartbeat. Dead asleep to raring to go in the blink of an eye.”
“Because I don’t want to waste a single moment spent with you.” Royce cupped Sawyer’s neck and kissed him again. As their lips molded together, then parted, Royce forgot all about the pending storm and the fat raindrop that had woken him up until another landed on his bare chest. He pulled back and glanced toward the sky, surprised to see how gray and overcast it had become. “How long was I out?”
“Twenty minutes.”
Royce looked at Sawyer to see if he was kidding. Nope.
“Your eyes are the same stormy color as the clouds,” Sawyer said. “Just like when we—”
A lightning bolt sliced through the sky, lighting up their backyard as if Mother Nature had lobbed a flashbang grenade at them.”
Royce reached for Sawyer’s hand, and they hurried into the house right as the heavens opened up and unleashed a torrent of rain. They watched the fury of the storm from the safety of their home. An army of thick, angry-looking gray clouds had replaced the fluffy white ones from earlier. Royce watched in complete awe as each cluster seemed to contain its own storm. Lightning flickered and lit the clouds from within, and a few bolts escaped and arced toward earth. The light show bounced between the clouds as if guided by some unseen conductor. Thunder rumbled and rolled, its fury shaking the house and making the paintings on the walls rattle.
They stayed in the doorway admiring Mother Nature’s tempest while leaning against one another until a lightning bolt struck too close for comfort. Royce laughed as they darted deeper inside the house, even though his heart was pounding as furiously as the storm outside.
“What now?” he asked as they flopped onto the couch.
Sawyer tipped his head to the side. “We have tons of board games here. Scrabble?”
“No way,” Royce replied. “I end up feeling stupid.”
Sawyer stiffened. “I make you feel stupid?”
“Not you,” Royce replied quickly. “My pitiful vocabulary makes me dumb. You throw out big-point words likeubiquitouswhile I try to come up with every dirty word I’ve ever heard.”
“And some you invented,” Sawyer said. “Remember the time you tried to get away with usingfucknugget?”
“Hey, that’s a word. It was in one of your audiobooks.” Royce sighed heavily. “Again, I gotta wonder if I’m the right person to teach the Explorer program.”
“I’ve reviewed your syllabus, and Scrabble isn’t on there. It’ll be fine.” Sawyer pursed his lips and scrunched up his nose. “How about Monopoly?”
“That’s not on the syllabus either, even though players land in jail.”
“Smartass,” Sawyer teased. “Strip poker?”
Royce nearly jumped all over the offer, but a flash of lightning reminded him of their precarious position. He shook his head. “I don’t want to end up bare assed in a tree if this storm rips our roof off and sucks me out.”
“I got news for you.” Sawyer hooked his finger in Royce’s shorts and tugged him closer by his waistband. “These shorts would be no match for this storm. You’ll be buck naked no matter where you land.” Sawyer pressed a kiss to Royce’s neck and slid his hand inside his husband’s shorts, grazing his fingertips over Royce’s dick. “The roof isn’t going anywhere, but I’d love to suck you—”
Someone rang the doorbell before Sawyer could share his idea on how they could pass the time. Royce was about to say they should ignore it, but their uninvited guests started pounding on the door and yelling. Royce heard both male and female voices and had a sinking feeling he knew who their visitors were.
“Do we have to?” Royce asked.
Sawyer sighed and stood up. “We must.”
“Wait,” Royce called out. He pulled his shirt back on and tossed Sawyer’s to him. Sawyer put his on during their brief walk to the front door.