Page 12 of Troubled Skies (Blue Skies #3)

At the last minute, just as the man ahead of him was about to pass beyond Adrian’s line of sight, Adrian turned his head.

Ren could tell he saw the man, noted the way they made eye contact and the little signs the man gave that he was attracted and disappointed not to be seated next to Adrian, but he felt relief when Adrian turned away.

Relief that turned to elation as Adrian’s gaze met his own.

Adrian’s eyes widened, his lips parted, and then color bloomed on his cheeks as he turned his gaze back to the window.

Ren slid into the empty seat next to him. “We meet again, poussin. It must be fate.”

Adrian huffed, gaze still focused on the activity outside the plane. “What are you doing here?”

“Going to Ibiza, just as you are. Just as I told you I was.”

“I know that,” Adrian snapped. “I mean what are you doing here .” He turned and gestured to the seat next to his. “And don’t tell me it’s fate. I won’t believe it.”

“D’accord. I noted we were not seated together when we gave our connecting information to the concierge and asked for my seat to be changed so that I might sit with you.

” When Adrian opened his mouth, Ren anticipated a protest, so he hurriedly added, “I thought you might need a friendly hand to hold during takeoff. J’ai raison, non? ”

Adrian stared at him for several heartbeats, and Ren held his breath until Adrian nodded. “Jay raisin, oui,” Adrian replied grudgingly, trying to mimic Ren’s words.

Ren made a face. “Your pronunciation of my mother tongue pains me, poussin.”

Before Adrian was able to respond, a flight attendant appeared at Ren’s shoulder to ask if either of them would like a glass of champagne. Ren looked to Adrian who shook his head, then Ren surprised himself and declined the alcohol as well.

“Just what is your mother tongue?” Adrian asked as the attendant moved on to the row behind theirs. “I’ve tried to place your accent, but I can’t.”

Ren contemplated how to answer Adrian’s question—though Ren had been caught off guard by Adrian’s “Prince Charming” comment in the suite, it seemed as if Adrian truly didn’t know who he was.

Ren found he liked that and was in no hurry to tell Adrian the truth.

But before he figured out what to say, the captain’s voice came over the speaker instructing the flight attendants to prepare to depart from the gate.

Adrian immediately began worrying at his fingers.

“May I?” Ren asked and reached his hands out.

Adrian hesitated for a moment before he took hold of them, and Ren began stroking his thumbs across the pulse points on Adrian’s wrists.

He stared at the veins visible beneath Adrian’s creamy skin and the way his darker golden tones contrasted with it before raising his eyes to find Adrian’s gorgeous green ones staring back at him.

With the sunlight from the window turning his hair to fire and gold, the man was simply breathtaking.

Ren would have liked nothing more than to run his fingers over Adrian’s luscious lips and soothe the slightly puffy spot left by his gentle nips when they’d kissed, but he held back and smiled instead.

Uncertainty swam in Adrian’s eyes even as he returned the smile, and Ren felt the tension in Adrian’s hands.

“I live in a country called Belvaux,” Ren said as he continued his gentle strokes against Adrian’s wrist. “It is a small principality between Spain and France. Though our official language is French, we also speak Spanish, so our accent is fully neither one nor the other. I learned English at a young age as do most children in my country. My first tutor was from Paris, so I retain some of her inflection. And then I was educated in Switzerland before going to university in the UK, so…” Ren shrugged. “And where does your accent come from?”

Adrian looked startled, then laughed. “Seattle. Plus, I’ve lived in LA for the past five years. I suppose I do have an accent to someone who isn’t from the US, but I don’t hear it.”

“I only hear my accent when my brother Phillippe speaks,” Ren said, curling his lip and shaking his head.

Adrian laughed again, and Ren was pleased Adrian didn’t seem to notice that the plane had pushed back from the gate.

“Do you have siblings?” Ren asked, grasping at anything to keep Adrian’s attention on himself rather than the movement of the plane.

“Just me,” Adrian said, but something in his demeanor warned Ren that this was not a topic to pursue. “Tell me about Belvaux,” Adrian said.

Ren smiled. “Of course,” he replied and began to tell Adrian about the mountains along the French border and the beaches on the Mediterranean.

He talked about the cities and the villages, the skiing and the festivals, the food and the people.

Everything he could think of, he poured into Adrian’s ears.

Everything except that he was a member of the royal family, that his father was the sovereign, his brother the crown prince, that he was the spare.

Obviously, Adrian must know he was wealthy, but as Adrian didn’t offer any details about his life, Ren felt safe allowing that topic to remain unexplored.

“Why were you in LA?” Adrian asked just as the plane turned and came to a stop at the end of the runway and the pilot’s voice crackled through the cabin.

“Flight attendants, prepare for takeoff.”

Adrian’s hands turned to ice in an instant, his pupils blowing wide as fear made his pulse race under Ren’s fingers.

“I’ve got you, poussin. You are safe.”

Adrian nodded, but didn’t say anything, and the tension remained in his body. Something banged in the galley as the plane began to race down the runway, and Ren cursed under his breath as Adrian closed his eyes, chest rising and falling more rapidly.

“Poussin? Please, look at me,” Ren said.

When Adrian didn’t comply, Ren reached out to cup Adrian’s chin and turn his head.

Adrian opened his eyes, and Ren smiled. “There you are, poussin. Are you with me?” Adrian nodded.

“Bon. Now breathe with me. In…and out…in…and out.” With each word, Ren inhaled deeply then let go of his breath, forcing himself to keep a steady pace until Adrian began to follow him.

“There you go. In. And out. In. And out.”

Adrian gripped Ren’s hands tightly enough to make them go numb. “Fuck,” he whispered.

Unable to help himself, Ren leaned close to Adrian’s ear and said, “Maybe later.” He smiled innocently when Adrian glared at him but unclenched his hands enough for Ren to slip one free and wrap an arm around Adrian’s shoulder.

“I’ve got you, poussin. I promise. You are safe. You are fine. Breathe with me.”

The plane tilted as they rose in the air, rocking from one side to the other.

Ren pulled Adrian closer and began to sing something his mother used to sing for him when he was little.

It was one of the few things Ren remembered of her before she died in a car accident when he was three, but the song always came back to him when he needed comfort, and he was happy to offer that comfort to Adrian as the plane’s wheels lifted off the ground.

They sat this way—Ren holding Adrian, and Adrian leaning against him, still holding one hand in a vise-like grip—until the plane reached cruising altitude, and the seatbelt sign was turned off.

“Are you all right, poussin?” Ren asked.

Adrian nodded, sitting up and letting go of Ren’s hand. Ren flexed his fingers trying to get some feeling back.

“Did I hurt you?” Adrian asked.

“Non. I am fine. You have every right to be anxious, and I am happy to have been able to help.” Embarrassment pinked Adrian’s cheeks, and he turned his head slightly to the side to avoid Ren’s gaze.

That just wouldn’t do, so Ren reached out again and cupped Adrian’s chin.

“You have nothing to be ashamed of, poussin.”

Adrian nodded. “Why do you call me that?”

“Poussin? It is a term of endearment in my country. If you do not like it, I can also call you mon chaton ou mon chou.”

“Your shoe?” Adrian asked and wrinkled his nose.

Ren laughed. “I will make note not to call you my cabbage, then.”

The horrified look Adrian gave him made Ren laugh even harder, but Adrian’s smile as he finally settled into his seat was a small victory even though he missed their contact immediately.

He didn’t press the matter. Instead, he returned to the question Adrian had asked before takeoff and explained about being in LA for a movie premiere.

Again, he omitted the part about it being a part of his royal duties.

“And why are you going to Ibiza?” Adrian asked.

Ren frowned as he sought a way to explain it. “I am picking up a yacht to deliver to its owner in the Maldives.”

“Is that what you do?”

“Non. This is a…special request that I must attend to personally. And you?”

Adrian shrugged. “Vacation. I needed some time away.”

“Because of the—”

“Yes.”

“And how long will you be on the island?”

“I gave myself a week, but I might stick around longer or head to the continent. I’m not sure yet. What about you?”

“I was scheduled to depart as soon as I arrived at the marina today, but we have been delayed by a storm along our route.” Ren leaned closer to Adrian, his stomach tight with unfamiliar nerves.

“This is good news, non? Because now I can show you all the best places to eat and shop and dance. If that is agreeable to you, of course.”

Adrian’s expression became guarded, and Ren couldn’t help himself from reaching out and bringing one of Adrian’s hands to his lips. “I promise, poussin, I only wish to see you have fun. Will you let me do this for you?”

After taking a deep breath, Adrian nodded.

“Bien!” Ren’s smile returned as his apprehension faded. “We will start tonight at the most exclusive dining establishment in Ibiza Town. It will be just the two of us for the most exquisite meal you have ever eaten, and then tomorrow, I will show you the island that is like a second home to me.”

As soon as Adrian leaned away from him, his expression shuttering once again, Ren knew he’d pushed too hard too quickly, but the invitation was out there.

As Adrian seemed to be searching his face for something, Ren remembered Adrian’s reaction to the texts he’d received from his ex in the suite and something clicked for him: Adrian had been hurt by past lovers and was dealing with the aftereffects of a traumatic event.

“I am only looking for your companionship, poussin,” Ren said, surprising himself with the truth of his words.

His initial attraction to Adrian may have been based in sexual desire, but that had changed as he learned more about the man.

Was he still attracted? Very much so. Adrian was beautiful, but that beauty did not just exist in his face and body.

Something about Adrian called to Ren in a way he had not known was possible for him, and he wanted very much to ease Adrian’s anxieties, to erase the dark shadows that clouded Adrian’s expression or caused his body to tense, his pupils to dilate in fear rather than ecstasy.

Ren placed his right hand over his heart. “You have my word of honor.”

“Can I give you an answer after we land?” Adrian asked, his expression still wary.

“Of course, poussin, whatever you need.” Ren was still holding Adrian’s hand, so he raised it to his lips and kissed it gently once again before letting it go.

Charmed by the tinge of pink that rose to Adrian’s cheeks, Ren wanted to say more, to tell Adrian that while he hoped their time would lead to sex, he would be content with simply spending time together if that was what Adrian wanted.

Ren wasn’t sure what it was about Adrian that enchanted him, but as the flight continued and they had the kind of conversation that two people who were attracted to each other had as they got to know each other, it became clear that the time he had on Ibiza was not going to be nearly enough.

Adrian delighted and intrigued him, and the fact that Adrian did not know who Ren was only charmed him more.

The circumstances under which they had met could leave no doubt in Adrian’s mind that Ren was wealthy, just as Ren assumed Adrian to be as well, so Ren had no need to dissemble about his jet-setting lifestyle as he told Adrian stories of his adventures.

But it was the fact that Ren could introduce himself to Adrian as “Ren” rather than “His Royal Highness Prince Henri Renard Sebastian de Montclair of Belvaux” that thrilled him.

Most people—Maurice included—saw him as a prince first, but Adrian saw him as a man, and the rush he felt that Adrian desired him for who he was rather than what was incredible.

As their conversation continued and Adrian relaxed, Ren found that he liked this version of himself, and he especially liked that Adrian seemed to like this version of him as well.