Page 41 of Troubled Skies (Blue Skies #3)
twenty
Adrian
They docked at Port Said in Egypt the next day, refueled, and were on their way six hours later, passing through the Suez Canal and continuing on to Jeddah where Ren was scheduled to lunch with Prince Faisal.
Adrian was not looking forward to being left behind, but he understood the reason for it and took comfort in the fact that Ren didn’t seem pleased either no matter how much he was looking forward to seeing his friend.
Their passage through the canal was not nearly as interesting as Adrian had thought it would be. After the beauty of the Mediterranean, the industrialized channel through which they passed would have been disappointing if he hadn’t known what it was and where he was. And who he was with.
Thanks to the slow speed with which they progressed and the absence of waves, the captain had allowed the pool to be filled, and Adrian and Ren took full advantage.
To be fair, Adrian did have a few moments of, “How is this my life?” especially when Ren pulled him into the spa and gave him a scorching blow job before lunch.
Adrian returned the favor after they ate dinner, and then they spent the rest of the evening in the hot tub.
The next day, they were back to cruising speed in open water on the Red Sea.
Life as it currently was resumed its regular routine, and Adrian began to understand why Ren liked to help Rachel prepare the crew meals.
If he’d have been the Belle’s sole passenger, he’d have been bored out of his mind.
As it was, he and Ren spent most of their first sea day helping Rachel give the galley a deep clean as well as doing meal prep, while the chef and the prince kept him entertained with stories of their culinary adventures.
The list of things they had eaten was truly astonishing.
Adrian couldn’t imagine wanting to try things like witchetty grubs or ice goby or ant egg soup, and he begged them to stop when they tried to describe their texture and chewiness in great detail.
At one point, Rachel sent Ren into the walk-in refrigerator with a list of items to pull for dinner, then sidled up to Adrian and fixed him with a meaningful look. Adrian raised an eyebrow at the chef, and she bumped her shoulder against his.
“I’m glad you decided to stay,” she said. “Henri is like a different person when he is with you.”
“How do you mean?” Adrian asked because, to him, the Ren he had spent almost every moment with for the past week was the same Ren he had encountered when he’d woken on the plane in London.
“I told you that people cater to Henri so often, he is sometimes careless with their feelings. I have never seen him be cruel, but I have seen him be capricious and make demands of them just to see how far he can push them. But not with you.”
Adrian smiled. “Because he knows I’ll always say yes.”
“Non. I think it’s because he knows you won’t. You nearly denied him something he wanted very much, and that surprised him. He knows he can trust you to tell him what you really think instead of what you think he wants to hear. That is a rare thing for him.”
“What about his friends? This Prince Faisal and Maurice?”
Rachel wrinkled her nose. “They’re like he is.
Privileged boys who play with their father’s money and fear that it will be taken away if they step out of line.
” She raised a hand to forestall Adrian’s protest. He’d been prepared to defend Ren, but she shook her head.
“As I said, you bring out something different in Henri, and it is good to see. I like you, Adrian. I hope you will remain in Henri’s life after our trip is done. ”
Adrian vividly remembered the chef’s words to him the morning he discovered the yacht had put to sea with him still on board, that not all love affairs needed to have a happily ever after.
He’d been trying to live by those words this past week, but now he admitted the truth to both Rachel and himself.
“I hope so, too,” Adrian murmured as Ren returned to the galley with the ingredients Rachel had requested.
“What are you two speaking about?” he asked as he placed the plastic bin on the counter.
“You, of course,” Rachel said as she slid past him and brought the bin to the sink so she could wash the vegetables.
“Rachel offered to tell me all your darkest secrets,” Adrian teased.
“I have no secrets,” Ren said. “I am an open book.”
“That’s what I told her.”
Ren stepped behind him, and Adrian turned, looping his arms around Ren’s neck. He hummed with pleasure when Ren put his hands on Adrian’s waist and pulled him closer.
“None of that, you two.” She plunked a colander full of freshly washed carrots in front of them. “Make yourselves useful or get out of my galley.”
“Oui, chef,” Adrian replied, but before he moved away from Ren, he stretched up and gave the man a kiss, laughing when Rachel rolled her eyes.
“And this is why you are confined to the ship until we arrive in Malé,” Rachel grumbled as she slammed a large flank steak onto a cutting board and began slicing it into thin strips with a very sharp knife.
After an excellent lunch, Ren suggested they watch a movie.
Adrian assumed Ren meant they’d watch on the TV in their cabin, but no, Ren led Adrian down to the main deck and into a 10-seat theater complete with a snack bar, soda fountain, and popcorn machine.
Adrian sat on one of the high stools at the counter having another “how is this my life?” moment while Ren made them popcorn and milkshakes, but it wasn’t a sense of disbelief driving his emotions or worry that something was going to upend his sense of happiness.
Not this time. It was joy and gratitude.
He took a picture of Ren pouring one of the shakes into an honest-to-God soda fountain glass and sent it to Luis.
Thank you for encouraging me to trust myself , he typed and got back a string of heart emojis that made him smile.
Who are you? And what have you done with my housemate? Srsly, tho, you deserve it, sweetheart , Luis sent back. I’m glad he’s treating you right.
Me, too. Adrian added kissy lips, then put his phone down as Ren slid the milkshake across the counter to him.
“I do not think even your superior skills will succeed against my extra-thick milkshakes,” he said.
“I don’t know,” Adrian responded as he sank a straw into the thick mixture. “I think I’ll do okay.” Withdrawing the straw, Adrian drew it across his tongue and made a show of licking it clean, letting the melting cream linger until he swallowed it.
Ren cleared his throat, then set about making his own drink.
While Adrian had gone with a pretty standard strawberry, Ren’s concoction was more exotic and made with passion fruit puree.
Adrian thought that was a little too on-the-nose, but he accepted a taste and moaned as the tangy flavors exploded on his tongue.
“I’d definitely be willing to put my superior skills to the test for another taste of your shake,” he teased.
Scooping freshly made popcorn into a red and white striped container, Ren glanced over his shoulder. “You are trouble, poussin.”
“Absolutely.” Adrian slid off the stool and followed Ren to one of the banquettes in the back row.
“What would you like to watch?” Ren asked as he picked up a tablet and scrolled through their options. “We have an extensive library.”
“Definitely not Titanic or the Poseidon Adventure ,” Adrian said as he snuggled up next to Ren and looked at the screen.
“We are in the Red Sea, poussin. There are no icebergs or typhoons here.”
“How about porn?”
The shout of surprised laughter from Ren made Adrian grin. “I have never dared to add that to our film library,” Ren said. “But my brother, Phillippe…” He shook his head at Adrian’s hopeful expression. “Phillippe’s tastes are…je ne sais pas.”
“Whips and chains?”
Ren made a face. “Non. It is horribly vanilla. And only men with women.”
“All right, so no life-size dicks on the big screen.” Adrian looked at the list of titles again. “What about that movie, the one you were in LA for. Is that on here?”
“It is. They sent us an advance copy because it was filmed in Belvaux, but it is not very good. Just a silly comedy about a couple who meet while traveling and decide to spend the weekend together.” He smiled at Adrian. “As if that would ever happen.”
It was Adrian’s turn to laugh. “Yeah. Who would ever do something like that? But, if it was shot in your country, I want to see it.”
Ren queued it up, and Adrian snuggled closer as the opening credits began to scroll across the screen.
Before they were even fifteen minutes in, Adrian had to agree with Ren’s assessment.
The movie wasn’t very good, but the scenery was amazing.
Ren told Adrian where everything had been shot—and even pointed out his very brief cameo—and Adrian had to admit he was enthralled by the landscape as well as the street scenes set in the capital.
Belvaux was beautiful, and he told Ren that.
“I hope I get a chance to see it in person someday,” Adrian said.
For a moment, Ren simply stared at Adrian. Then he put his arm around Adrian’s shoulders and said, “I would love to show it off to you, chéri.”
Adrian’s heart stuttered in his chest. “But?” he prompted, too aware of the whisper of Rachel’s words only a few hours before, and the hope they had planted in him.
“There is no ‘but,’” Ren said with a soft smile. “If you would like to see my country, I will be very happy to be your personal guide.”
Meeting Ren’s gaze, Adrian closed the distance between them and kissed him.
Like always, the feel of Ren’s lips on his sent a thrill through his body.
But it wasn’t simply the physical connection that made Adrian come alive.
He knew he was falling for Ren, and that whatever they were doing had passed beyond casual for him, and he let himself feel all of that even though he knew he was going to have to let Ren go.