Page 44 of Troubled Skies (Blue Skies #3)

“Then we will just have to find opportunities for you to do so,” Ren said.

Adrian put the bag back in its dust cover, then launched himself at Ren, toppling both of them to the floor. Ren’s towel parted, and he found himself lying naked beneath Adrian as the man peppered his face and neck with kisses, laughing and telling Ren how ridiculous he was.

“Seriously,” Adrian said. “You are the most absurd…” kiss “…improbable…” kiss “…thing…” kiss “…that has ever happened in my life.” Kiss. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”

“Because I am one of a kind, poussin.”

“You certainly are.”

“As are you, mon cher.”

The next kiss lingered, and Adrian’s hands roamed freely over Ren’s bare skin while Ren tried to divest Adrian of his clothing as quickly as possible.

Once Adrian was as naked as himself, Ren pulled him into a deep kiss, lifting his hips to grind his cock against Adrian’s, overjoyed at the warmth of his body, the beat of his heart, the feel of this man in his arms. Not just a man, but this one.

Adrian. Ren had never met anyone like him.

“I missed you, poussin,” Ren whispered when they paused to catch their breaths.

“I missed you, too.”

“You were so soundly asleep when I returned. Did you take one of your pills?”

Adrian started to pull away, but Ren locked his legs around Adrian’s to keep him in place.

“What happened?” Ren asked. “You said you were going to rest. Did you have a nightmare?”

“I did.” Adrian shook his head. “How did you know?”

“Because I know you, chéri. Dis-moi, s'il te pla?t. Tell me what distressed you so because I know you do not like to take those pills.”

“I was back on the plane, in the crash, and I was trapped. You were there, but you didn’t hear me calling for you, you couldn’t find me. You left me.”

The haunted expression on Adrian’s face and his shattered whisper made Ren pull him closer, emotion welling in his chest. “Poussin, I would never leave you behind. I promise, I will always come find you. If it is in my power to do so, I will keep you safe.”

Adrian stared at him for a long moment, those green eyes peering directly into his own, unwavering, as if weighing Ren’s very soul.

“I believe you,” Adrian whispered. “I don’t know why, but I’ve felt safe with you from the moment we met even though I didn’t know you.

” He chuckled. “I tried to talk myself out of it, but it didn’t work.

Obviously. There’s something about you, Henri Renard Sebastian de Montclair, that’s opened my heart again. ”

“Oh, mon trésor.” Ren drew his fingers across the contours of Adrian’s face, light touches that outlined his cheeks, his eyebrows, his lips. “Tu as aussi ouvert mon c?ur. It is the same for me.”

Ren’s voice was husky, almost breathless, because his chest felt too full of whatever he was feeling for Adrian.

He didn’t think he’d ever made a truer statement, even though it left him feeling flayed open, raw, exposed.

Adrian saw him as more than his title and money, more than the role he played in public, and saw beyond the carefully crafted persona to who Ren really was, who he wanted to be.

Adrian saw all of that and did not turn away.

It made Ren wonder if what existed between them might be more than the diversion Ren had thought him to be when he’d impulsively extended his invitation.

Ren didn’t know. There were things that made it more difficult, chief among them was his father and the demands he placed on Ren to “act appropriate to his station.” The thought of how his father might react if Ren declared himself to be in a relationship with Adrian was enough to send what little courage he possessed running for cover.

“Where did you go?” Adrian asked, and Ren realized he had zoned out, his hands stilling on Adrian’s body, fingers gripping his waist.

Smiling, Ren lifted his hips, the contact of his cock with Adrian’s making them both groan. “I was thinking how much I would like you to fuck me,” Ren said. A small lie, and yet it became the truth as the words left his mouth. “If that is something you would like to do.”

Adrian’s expression was stunned, but as he regained control, heat overtook surprise in his gaze. “I haven’t topped in a long time,” he said. “But I will if that’s what you want.”

“I do, poussin, I want it very much.”

They moved to the bed, and Adrian got the lube, placing it next to the pillow as they resumed kissing and caressing, teasing at each other until they were both struggling for control.

Adrian was a master at bringing Ren to the brink, and then backing off, leaving Ren panting, his frustrated cries echoing in the cabin.

Ren returned the favor, turning on the mattress, then kissing and nipping his way down Adrian’s body until he reached the man’s cock which he eagerly took in his mouth. Adrian rolled to his back, hand reaching out while his hot mouth engulfed Ren and swallowed him down.

Cool, slick fingers skimmed their way along Ren’s ass, tracing the seam until they found his entrance.

He held his breath as Adrian teased at him, pressing first one finger and then two inside him.

It had been a long time since Ren had been fucked, and he was tight, but Adrian took his time, relaxing him and slowly easing Ren’s muscles to accept the intrusion of his fingers, soothing the burn into pleasure until Ren was begging for Adrian’s cock.

“Your wish, my prince,” Adrian said. “My pleasure.”

“Our pleasure,” Ren tried to say, but Adrian slid home on a long, smooth thrust, and Ren lost all thoughts as the intense burn turned to the most amazing feeling in the world. “Oh, chéri, we should not have waited so long to do this.”

Adrian hummed, picking up a slow rhythm that gradually built in intensity until his knees were braced against the bed, and he was pounding at Ren’s ass.

Ren pulled his legs up and locked his ankles over the two dimples on Adrian’s back he loved to tease.

His neck arched as he tried to bring his lips closer to Adrian’s, as he tried to connect them in every way possible.

His fingers stole between Adrian’s cheeks, teasing at his taint, at the tiny whorl of sensitive flesh, pressing the tip of his finger inside as Adrian cried out against his mouth.

Rocking back, Adrian chased Ren’s fingers, then redoubled his efforts as he drove deeper inside Ren’s body.

Again and again until Ren couldn’t hold back anymore.

He opened his mouth on a silent cry as his vision went white, his senses detonating with the force of his climax, the heat of Adrian’s release pushing him higher, both of them groaning in pleasure.

They collapsed onto the bed, bodies entwined, mouths seeking, lips finding, their hands tracing lazy circles across whatever skin they encountered. Ren’s body thrummed, tiny aftershocks lighting him up as he rocked against Adrian.

How was he ever going to let this man go?

But how could he keep him when his father had all but exiled him because photographs of Ren kissing a man had been taken and made public?

He suppressed a shudder at the thought of his father’s reaction to Adrian, at the thought of how much damage that could do to Adrian.

But Ren was a master at pushing inconvenient thoughts and unpleasant repercussions from his mind when there was someone captivating to occupy his attention, so he held Adrian and focused on how they could spend the next two days before the threat of pirates became real.

Two days later, they docked in Djibouti to refuel and take on their security detail before joining the convoy of military ships that would escort them to Salalah in Oman, and the start of the last leg of their trip.

A unit of armed guards boarded in mid-morning, working with the crew to put up shielding that would protect the yacht and barriers that would hinder any attempts pirates might make to board the yacht.

Adrian was initially fascinated and asked Ren to watch with him but then became apprehensive when the helicopter landed on the bow, and they had to practice evacuating to it in case of an attack.

Planes caused him anxiety, but the helicopter flat-out terrified him.

Rigo told him in no uncertain terms that if he froze, he’d be left behind.

Ren argued with his bodyguard, but Rigo was adamant, there wouldn’t be time to talk Adrian down from a panic attack.

“You’ll be fine, poussin,” Ren told him, but got only a weak smile in return.

“You have to do what Rigo says,” Adrian replied. “Promise me, you’ll get yourself to safety if you need to.”

Ren saw the set of Adrian’s jaw and knew it was useless to argue. Acquiescing, he silently vowed he wasn’t getting on that helicopter without Adrian by his side.

The mood on the yacht changed radically as the day wore on.

The crew became progressively more tense as shock wire was strung on the deck railings and water cannons were placed strategically around the ship.

Ren’s father’s office—already heavily reinforced and containing an auxiliary communications station—was designated as their safe room and stocked with food and bottled water, while Rachel prepared meals that could easily be grabbed between security shifts and reheated.

The doors to the unused cabins were secured and reinforced.

If someone tried to enter the yacht through those windows, the doors would slow their access to the yacht’s interior.

Exterior doors were also secured and reinforced, meaning the crew had to use the interior stairs to move between decks.