Page 20 of Troubled Skies (Blue Skies #3)

Ren groaned as Adrian stroked his cock, and he bowed away from Adrian’s hand. “Ah, poussin, let us go inside to shower.”

“I thought this was all right.” As much as he tried, Adrian couldn’t keep the hurt from his voice. “You said—”

“With the crew, yes. They are paid for their discretion. But at this end of the pool, we are visible to others around us.” Ren raised his head and cast his gaze on the dock.

“And the paparazzi.” He focused on something outside the marina gate, and when Adrian looked in that direction, he could clearly make out a man with what looked like a camera and a telephoto lens aimed their way.

“Merde,” Ren whispered under his breath. “Je suis un imbécile. You make me forget myself, poussin, forget to be careful. Come. Inside. Quickly.” Ren turned and all but fled toward the interior leaving Adrian to follow.

The abrupt change in Ren’s demeanor surprised Adrian. After all the public kisses and handholding, Adrian had thought Ren was out and comfortable being seen with another man, but this reaction made Adrian question his assumption.

He found Ren inside the spa’s shower and stood outside the spray with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Are you out?” Adrian asked. Even if this was just some vacation fun, Adrian wasn’t willing to be with someone who wasn’t out. Been there, done that, bought the full set of luggage that went with it.

“Come join me,” Ren said as he turned and faced Adrian.

“Not until you answer my question.”

Ren shook his head. “How do you mean ‘out’?”

Adrian couldn’t tell if Ren was being deliberately obtuse or if he truly didn’t know this idiom. “As in, do people know you like dick?”

“Such a crude way to say this.” Ren wrinkled his nose.

“Answer my question, Ren.”

With a sigh, Ren tipped his head back and ran his fingers through his curls.

Under other circumstances, Adrian would admire the way the water ran down his chest and abdominal muscles, would fall to his knees to worship the uncut cock that hung heavy between his thighs, but Ren’s dissembling was pissing him off.

“If you’re not going to answer, I’ll be going,” Adrian said.

“Non. Wait.” Ren stepped out from under the spray and took hold of Adrian’s hand.

“Come shower with me. I will explain.” Reluctantly, Adrian allowed himself to be pulled under the warm water.

“May I wash your hair?” Ren asked and pumped shampoo into his hand from a dispenser on the wall, then began to massage Adrian’s scalp.

“To my friends, oui, I am out, as you say.” He rinsed his hand and shielded Adrian’s eyes as he tipped his chin back to wash the shampoo from his hair.

“Although they do not approve, my father and brother know I am attracted to both men and women because I do not hide it from them. They care when the paparazzi take queer pictures of me with another man.” Ren pumped soap into his cupped palm and began running his hands over Adrian’s chest. “My father doesn’t like that.

The reason I am bringing the yacht to the Maldives is punishment for being caught with my best friend, Maurice.

I will show you the picture after we get dressed if you like.

It embarrassed my father because I was supposed to be with a young woman. ”

“Christiana?” Adrian asked.

“Oui. Yes.” Another nose wrinkle. “I am sorry I was indiscreet enough for those photos to be taken, because they embarrassed both my family and hers, but…” This time he gave the one-shoulder shrug.

“It didn’t work out so badly because she is gone, and you are here with me.

” He kissed Adrian on the nose. “And you are a much more agreeable companion. I would not want to risk angering my father further by photos of you and me frolicking naked on board the yacht showing up on social media. In the far end of the pool, we were hidden from sight, so only the crew would know what we do if they cared to look.” Another shrug. “But they do not care to look.”

The explanation made sense, and Adrian relaxed under Ren’s soapy caresses. “Is your father homophobic?” he asked.

“I don’t think so. Non.” Ren motioned him to stand fully under the spray.

“Come wash off.” Adrian did as he was told, the soap bubbles pooling at his feet as the water flowed over him.

“It is more that he has certain ideas about how the world should work, and one of those ideas is that his sons should be with women so that we may father children and continue our family name.”

Ren shut off the water and reached for a pair of fluffy, white towels.

“I suppose my parents were like that as well,” Adrian said as he rubbed himself dry, then accepted a robe from Ren. “Only I wasn’t interested in girls at all, so there wasn’t much hope of me dating one. One of the reasons I left home was because I couldn’t be open about who I am.”

“Do you see your parents?” Ren asked.

“Not in several years.” The conversation had taken a turn into territory that Adrian didn’t want to traverse, so he sidled up to Ren and wrapped his arms around the man’s waist. “Let’s get ready for dinner.

” He turned away, intending to gather his clothes from where he’d dropped them by the pool, but they weren’t there. “Where are my clothes?” he asked.

“They have been taken to the laundry.”

“By whom? Ninjas?”

Ren grinned at him and pulled him back into an embrace. “This is why you do not have to worry about the crew. Most of the time, you will not even know they are around.”

Adrian shook his head. “That’s…unsettling,” he said but let Ren lead him toward the elevator.

By the time they turned down a hallway with multiple cabins, Adrian was completely lost. He wasn’t sure how many decks up they were or whether they were at the front of the yacht or the back and couldn’t remember the rooms Ren had pointed out on their earlier tour.

Each deck seemed to have cabins, a living room or lounge, and at least one bar—devoid of alcohol—along with extensive outdoor seating.

More than the impressive size of the yacht, what Adrian noticed was how quiet and empty it was.

He and Ren were clearly the only passengers, but the crew was nowhere to be seen.

What Ren had said was proving to be true, the crew kept out of sight.

A few times, he’d caught the shadow of someone out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look, whoever it was had disappeared.

Ren came to a stop in front of a closed cabin door, resting his hand on the doorknob and facing Adrian with an uncertain smile.

He was clearly unsure, and that calmed some of the nerves that had kicked up again.

As he stared into the dark chocolate depths of Ren’s eyes, Adrian knew he could easily catch feelings for this man.

Ren had gone out of his way to make sure Adrian was taken care of even when he was a complete stranger.

He was kind and considerate, caring, and oh so sexy, exactly the kind of man Adrian had always hoped to find.

Adrian closed the distance between himself and Ren, one voice in his head telling him that this was everything he had said he didn’t want anymore, but another saying this might be exactly what he needed.

As his lips touched Ren’s, and Ren seemed to melt into his touch, Adrian realized he didn’t care what either voice was saying.

He wasn’t being impulsive. He wasn’t going to lose his heart.

This was reality, and he was going to enjoy it to the fullest extent possible.

This time it was Ren who sighed as they parted, and Ren who put his head on Adrian’s shoulder as he idly played with the ties on Adrian’s robe.

“I have a surprise for you, poussin,” Ren said, his voice soft and wistful, like a child who was hoping for approval but fearful of a different response.

“What kind of surprise?” Adrian asked.

Ren turned the doorknob and opened the cabin door, pulling Adrian along by the tie as he stepped backwards into the room.

As Adrian crossed the threshold, he gaped at the spacious room.

He’d been expecting a small cabin like he’d had on a cruise down to Mexico that had only been large enough for a bed, a dresser, and a one-ass bathroom.

He was completely unprepared for something that was the size of his apartment and rivaled the best suite in a luxury hotel.

“Wow,” he said as he followed Ren into the space. The room boasted a king-sized bed, two lounge chairs, a couch, a desk, large-screen TV, and floor-to-ceiling windows that opened onto the ship’s bow. A set of doors opened onto a private deck on which more lounge chairs and a table were arranged.

“This is amazing,” Adrian said.

“When my brother, Phillippe, travels, this is his room, but he is not here, so it is mine.”

“Where does your father stay?”

“In the master suite above us. His room is closed unless he’s on board.”

“So, this isn’t the largest cabin on the yacht?”

“Non. The master is much bigger. And my father has an office as well as a reception room up there.”

Adrian’s stomach lurched at the thought of a room even more luxurious than this one.

At every turn, just when he thought he had a handle on the disparity between his and Ren’s lives, something came along to remind him that though this felt like a fairy tale to him, this was how Ren lived every day of his life.

“Is this your surprise?” Adrian asked, his voice soft and somewhat shaky.

“Oh, non. This is just a room. The surprise is this way. Come.” He motioned for Adrian to follow him, then held out his hand when Adrian hung back.

Adrian took hold and let Ren lead him past the open door to the bathroom—Adrian noting that it might be almost as large as Luis and Darius’ living room and had a bathtub large enough to hold a couple of full-grown adults—and then into a walk-in closet that was almost as vast.