Page 24 of Siren in Love (In Love #1)

Corvin

~ Corvin

Corvin wasn’t overly fond of road trips, but with Mike in the car, it had been fun getting to Morrowvale Rose Resort.

Mike loved singing, and when Corvin had turned off the radio and requested songs, Mike had delivered. It had turned into a game where Corvin tried to ask for something Mike didn’t know the words to.

Thus, Corvin had learned Mike knew the entire Rocky Horror Picture Show set, and when Corvin had considered Little Shop of Horrors out loud, Mike’s grin had Corvin picking “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky” just because he hoped that would throw Mike.

It hadn’t, but his voice had been a kind of haunting the original had never managed.

Mike had only stopped when they parked in the lot in front of the resort, but he’d hummed all the way to the reception desk, and the lady with the tidy chignon had given Mike a smile that was much brighter than the normal, professional smiles hotel staff normally used.

Corvin left Mike to the staff schmoozing and looked around the lobby. It followed a sand, white, and gold color theme, and all the paintings on the walls were of boats, the ocean, or both, which shouldn’t have come as a surprise seeing as how the resort was walking distance from the beach.

The beach! We can go to the beach together! Oh, long walks on the beach maybe?

“I still can’t believe you know all those lyrics. Was the lawyer thing your fallback? Pineapple Mike, did you secretly dream of being a Broadway star all your life?” Corvin walked next to Mike, both of them wheeling their bags behind them on their way from the reception desk to the elevator.

Mike hummed. It sounded amused. “Nope, I always wanted to be a lawyer. I just… Singing is important to me.” He hit the elevator call button.

“Whoa?! It is? I’d never have guessed.”

Mike smiled, then looked at Corvin with big eyes. “Do you mind it? Or do you like it?”

What’s with him? Why’s he look so guilty about his weird music obsession?

“Well, I don’t know if you noticed, but look—” He held up his engagement ring in front of Mike’s face.

“—I wouldn’t have taken this if I didn’t like your singing voice.

You do realize you’ve always done that? Like, humming and whatnot?

You always hum that soft melody when you bring me coffee or a snack while I’m reading. ”

“Yes. I don’t want to disturb you.”

The elevator arrived, and Mike let Corvin go in first. Once the doors closed behind them, Corvin let go of his bag and hugged Mike. “You could never disturb me. Oh! Maybe they have karaoke here. You’d be a tough act to follow, but get a few cocktails into me, and I might just dare!”

Mike hugged him back. “I’d love to listen to you. I love you very much, Corvin.”

Corvin pulled back. “You’re acting strange, you know that? You clearly need this vacation more than I do. Although…why are we in the honeymoon suite? That’s a bit premature.”

Mike shrugged. “Peter’s way of giving us his blessing.”

“Mike, the lady at the front desk congratulated us. I mean, I don’t want to jinx the wedding.”

Mike cupped Corvin’s cheek, the touch immediately soothing. “It won’t. Think of it as testing out a nice hotel room to see if we like it. We’re not jinxing anything, honey. Okay?”

“Okay, but we need to find the pool and cleanse the situation with vodka in the form of a colorful, umbrella-bedazzled drink. To properly unjinx it, you know?”

Mike snorted. “Read too many grimoires down in the archives, did you?”

“You just want me to ride your broomstick like a wicked witch.”

“Guilty as charged,” Mike said, not sounding guilty at all.

The pool was that artificial blue the ocean nearly never was.

It was heated, but currently, there was only one person in there, not looking very excited by the concept of water.

The slice of ocean the Rose Resort sat opposite wasn’t as blue as the pool.

Still, Corvin felt the pool went wonderfully with the pink umbrella stuffed into his tequila sunrise, and the sea breeze helped with the vacation mood he was getting into.

“Happy now?” Mike asked from the barstool next to Corvin’s.

They’d decided to sit down at the pool bar and order their drinks.

The bartender, a woman with a chignon like the front desk person, only with rainbow-dyed hair, had complimented his On Holiday with Handsome T-shirt and given them extra snacks.

“Very happy.”

“Good,” Mike said.

“Yes, excellent to hear,” an icy voice said from behind Corvin. “Though I thought you might be enjoying the comforts of your honeymoon suite as soon as you arrived. I ordered the champagne specifically for that purpose.”

Corvin spun around only to find Peter the Terrible standing about a hand’s breadth behind him.

He wore a silky black button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top two buttons undone.

His gray slacks brought out the contours of his legs and thighs, which were really eye-catching, and Corvin blamed the tequila sunrise for how his eyes had been caught.

He looks really fit for a lawyer. Gym rat lawyer? Huh.

Corvin cleared his throat and made himself look into Peter’s ice-blue eyes. The pool’s blue was warm compared to those eyes. “Yes, thank you for that. And the rose petals. And the roses.”

Peter patted Corvin’s shoulder. “My pleasure, Corvin.” He glanced over Corvin’s shoulder to where Mike sat. “I’m on your floor, by the way. Suite 305, in case either of you need anything.”

Mike and Corvin muttered their thanks, and Peter strolled off past the pool, drawing hungry stares from some of the vacationers lounging on deck chairs in the spring sunlight.

“He’s so weird,” Corvin said when Peter was out of earshot. Disturbingly, Peter looked over his shoulder and winked at Corvin as if he’d heard.

Mike cleared his throat. “Are we sticking with your plan for the rest of the day, or did you want to explore?”

Corvin took a long sip from his cocktail. “I do want to ride your broomstick, but maybe we can take a walk before we get back to the suite? I mean, did you see the sign that said botanical gardens?”

Mike nodded. “It’s where this place got its name, apparently. Used to be just botanical gardens with lots of varieties of roses, but then they added the tennis courts and the pools and the gym, and now it’s fancy.”

“You’re quite fancy too.” Corvin braided the fingers of his left hand with Mike’s, admiring their engagement rings, just like he had done over and over again since the morning Mike had put them there.

I love this man so much that the amount of happiness he gives me feels unreal sometimes. I hope this isn’t a dream or some coma fantasy.

Mike brought their hands up to his mouth and brushed a kiss over Corvin’s knuckles. “You’re just using your wicked charms to get me to show you my broomstick.”

Corvin giggled. “Not in public. Don’t think it’s that kind of place.”

“No, it’s not. But if you finish your drink, we can head back to the room. Before the rose petals wilt, you know.”

“The ones on the bed?”

“Yes, those.”

Corvin finished his cocktail and made sure he had Mike’s attention as he licked all around the straw. “We really shouldn’t let them go to waste.”