Page 51 of Troubled Skies (Blue Skies #3)

twenty-four

Adrian

Adrian ignored yet another text from Luis and continued trying to assemble his new bed.

Two weeks after returning from his grand adventure, he was making some progress in getting his life back in order.

He’d gotten a bonus from work for signing an NDA about the crash, which had struck Adrian as ironic, but it meant he’d been able to put down first and last month’s rent as well as a security deposit when one of the units in Luis and Darius’ complex became available to rent.

It was a two-bedroom, which meant he’d need to find a roommate, and he still had to figure things out about his job since he wasn’t sure when he’d be ready to fly again on a regular basis.

The flight home from the Maldives had been a nightmare with Adrian clutching his worry beads every time the plane shook, but his anxiety and stress had as much to do with the lingering effects from the crash as it did his broken heart.

And what a jerk Maurice had been after Ren’s father kicked them off the yacht.

Adrian still seethed at the way Maurice had insinuated he’d been nothing but a plaything for Ren, then asked if Adrian wanted to be his for the flight back to the US on Maurice’s private jet.

Adrian thanked his lucky stars that Sylvie had helped him find a commercial flight, charge it to Ren’s credit card, and get away before he had to deal with Maurice or any of Ren’s friends again.

Now, he was home, and his friends had rallied around him with offers of support.

Two weeks wasn’t a long time, but Adrian could tell he was stronger than when he’d left LA.

Did his heart ache for Ren? Of course, it did.

But then, he’d known it was going to no matter how things had worked out.

He’d made that choice as soon as he agreed to stay with Ren until the end of the trip, and he’d made it with his eyes wide open.

His phone buzzed again, and Adrian ignored it. Then someone pounded on his door.

“Open up, Ricky!”

Adrian smiled. Deciding to keep using his middle name had been easy. He liked it, and it suited him a lot better than Richard or Ricky ever had. However, getting Luis to use it was another matter entirely.

“What do you want?” Adrian asked as he opened the door to find Luis glaring at him. “You’ve been blowing up my phone for the past forty-five minutes.”

“Finally.” Luis grabbed his hand and pulled him through the doorway. “You left something at my place, and I need you to come get it.”

Adrian managed to swing the door shut behind him as Luis towed him toward his condo. Sometimes he forgot how strong Luis was. Despite only being five-five, Luis had been a competitive gymnast all the way through college and still maintained his athletic physique.

“What did I forget?” Adrian asked. He was pretty sure he’d remembered everything when he moved, especially since he didn’t have that much. Aside from his clothes and a few keepsakes, most of his belongings had presumably ended up in a dumpster after Grant kicked him out.

“You have to see,” Luis said, and that’s when Adrian started to get suspicious that he was up to something.

“Fine,” Adrian said and let himself be led across the courtyard and up the stairs to Luis and Darius’ condo.

“I got him,” Luis announced as he came through the door, and Adrian heard a curious scuffling sound before Darius appeared.

“Hey, sweetheart. How are you?”

Adrian eyed the other man. “Suspicious.”

Darius chuckled. “You wouldn’t be our Ricky if you weren’t.”

“Adrian,” he corrected.

“Right. Anyway, you left something behind, Adrian. It’s in the living room.”

Rolling his eyes at the two of them, Adrian pushed past them. “I don’t know what I could have left here,” he said, expecting to be ambushed by a surprise welcome home party or an intervention as he turned the corner into the living room. It was empty. “What are you two…”

Empty except for the gold bag sitting in the center of a mid-century modern coffee table Luis had refurbished for Fix and then decided to keep.

Adrian turned back toward the front door only to discover that neither Luis nor Darius had followed him. He looked back at the bag. That was definitely the Birkin Ren had given him. But he’d left it on the Belle, so how was it here?

The only explanation…Adrian’s heart hammered double-time as he lifted his head and scanned the condo in which he used to live. He didn’t want to let himself believe it, didn’t want to call out a name and be met with silence, but there was no other explanation.

And then Ren stepped out of the hallway that led to the bedrooms.

“I am sorry it took me so long to get here, poussin,” he said. “Do you forgive me?”

Tears blurred Adrian’s vision, and he stumbled toward Ren who opened his arms and drew him in.

“I love you, chéri,” Ren whispered in between peppering Adrian’s face with kisses.

Adrian nodded against Ren’s chest because he couldn’t breathe let alone speak, but the thought of letting Ren believe for a single moment that Adrian didn’t feel the same way was unthinkable.

“How are you here?” he asked once he got his voice under control. “I thought you would be…” Adrian shrugged. “Anywhere else, I guess.”

“Non. I told my father that I loved you, and that I was going to come get you.”

“How did that go over?” Adrian suppressed a shiver. “He wasn’t exactly thrilled with me when we met.”

Ren smiled at Adrian. “He gave us his blessing.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Not at all.” Ren took Adrian’s hands in his. “I think he might be a little scared of you, to tell the truth, mon petit chaton. I must know what you said to him.”

Adrian buried his head against Ren’s chest again.

“I told him you were the most amazing man I’ve ever met, that you changed my life by showing me it was okay to risk my heart.

And, I may have given him a gay pride lecture and pointed out that it wasn’t okay for him to insist you keep that part of yourself hidden. ”

Ren laughed. “You are incredible, mon cher. As are your friends.” Ren called out the last, bringing Luis and Darius out of hiding. “Merci,” Ren said with a nod of his head.

“It was our pleasure, Your Highness,” Darius said while Luis positively vibrated beside him.

“Thank you, guys,” Adrian said. “Sorry I didn’t answer your texts.”

“Bitch,” Luis said, but he was grinning. “Just so you know, it’s a good thing I’m married because you left me alone with an honest-to-God prince, and I behaved myself.”

“He did,” Darius said. “And you weren’t alone. I was there the whole time.”

“Are you sure?” Luis asked. “I don’t remember you in the room.”

“You were both quite charming,” Ren said. “And thank you for helping me to get Adrian here so I could surprise him. But, now, poussin, I would like to have you all to myself.”

“Yes, please,” Adrian said.

Once they were out of the condo, Adrian told Ren his place was across the courtyard. “It’s nothing fancy, Your Highness.”

Ren caught him in his arms and kissed him. “I do not need fancy. I just need you.”

“You say the nicest things.” Adrian returned the kiss and laughed as someone wolf whistled. “But I think we need to get you out of sight.”

Adrian was as eager to have Ren all to himself as he was to see the prince’s reaction to his ground-floor apartment. “It’s not much,” he said as he unlocked the front door. “I think the cabin on the yacht might have been bigger, but it’s home.”

“I’m sure I will love it,” Ren said. “Because you are here.” But then he crossed the threshold. “Poussin? Where is all your furniture?”

Laughing, Adrian pointed to the IKEA boxes. “I’m still putting my bed together.”

“Putting…together?”

Taking hold of Ren’s hand, Adrian led him to the bedroom where the bedframe was half assembled. “Putting together. This, Your Highness, is how we peasants do things.” He picked up an Allen wrench and handed it to Ren. “Welcome to my world.”

Ren tossed the tool back into the box with the screws and bolts.

“You have a mattress, poussin, who cares about the bed?” He pulled Adrian into his arms. “I know we have things to discuss, to decide about our future, but I want you to know that I love you. You are incroyable, so sexy, so brave. When I found out you had left the yacht, I was so angry that you had not stayed to fight for us, but then I found the check and I was angry at my father.”

“You shouldn’t have been,” Adrian said. “I understood where he was coming from, but I didn’t need to be bribed into signing that NDA, and I didn’t want anything to take away from what we shared.

I love you, Ren. I didn’t want to. I was fighting it almost the whole time we were away, but it didn’t work. And now you’re here.”

“Now, I’m here. With you.”

“And I’m with you.”

“Oui.”

“And we’re really going to try and make this work?”

“Adrian, I do not think we will need to try very hard, do you?”

The smile that broke across Adrian’s face seemed to be all the answer Ren needed.

He bent down and swept Adrian off his feet and carried him to the mattress laid out on the floor in the corner.

Adrian clung to Ren as he knelt, then placed Adrian on the makeshift bed, but Adrian didn’t let go.

He pulled Ren down on top of him, kissing him, running fingers through his hair, tugging at the scruff that once again surrounded his mouth.

“You grew it back,” Adrian said.

“For you, mon cher, because it gave you such pleasure.” Ren settled between Adrian’s legs and leaned down to kiss Adrian again, then rested his forehead against Adrian’s. “I was so scared I had lost you, poussin, so scared you would not forgive me for not coming to your rescue.”

“You know I’m not some fragile princess who needs a Prince Charming, right?” Adrian asked, only half teasing.

“I do. I know you are strong, and I know you are capable. And you know I am not a Prince Charming.”

“That’s up for debate. You’ve been pretty charming since I met you.”

Ren laughed, and Adrian thought it was the best sound in the world.

He lost himself in kissing Ren again, reacquainting himself with the taste and feel of this man even as he felt the occasional tremors of how close they had come to losing each other.

But every time those thoughts intruded, Adrian shoved them aside. Ren was here and they were together.

Perhaps that was why neither of them seemed to feel a sense of urgency. For the longest time, they were content to kiss and caress, murmuring the “I love yous” that were still new enough to cause a thrill every time Adrian said it or heard it.

Eventually, their caresses stoked a fire, and their kisses fanned the flame.

Ren undressed Adrian with a sudden urgency that mirrored Adrian’s own need, then Adrian rose to his knees and did the same for Ren, laughing when Ren swallowed his cock while Adrian was busy trying to remove Ren’s shirt.

His laughter turned to moans as Ren worked him, and Adrian braced his hands on the wall above Ren’s head so he could thrust deeper into Ren’s mouth.

Ren’s hands on his ass encouraged him to push deeper, rougher, and Adrian complied until he teetered on the edge of climax and pulled back.

“Not yet,” he gasped, and Ren pulled him down to the mattress.

“Where is your lube, poussin?” he asked.

Adrian reached up and pulled the bottle from under his pillow.

“Bien,” Ren said as he set it aside. He crawled back between Adrian’s legs, lifted them and placed them on his shoulders, then set about feasting on Adrian’s ass.

“Never shave again,” Adrian gasped as Ren’s mouth worked its magic, his tongue teasing at the small knot of muscle, pushing its way inside. “God, that feels good.”

Ren hummed, his scruff vibrating against Adrian’s tender skin, but the sensation nearly drove him out of his mind.

He moaned as he tried to get Ren’s tongue deeper, then gasped as he felt Ren’s finger slide into him.

Ren shifted, and Adrian heard the lube open, then felt a second finger, now slick and cool, slide in alongside the first. He gasped again when Ren’s mouth closed over his cock, bucking up and forcing himself to the back of Ren’s throat.

Ren continued to work Adrian over, bringing him to the edge over and over until Adrian was begging Ren to let him come.

“I love you,” Adrian said. “But I need you inside me now.”

“Your wish, mon amour.”

There was a momentary pause as Ren slicked himself up, and then he was back, lining his cock up with Adrian’s entrance and sliding inside. It was a transcendent moment, and Ren paused once he was fully seated. They gazed at each other, and Ren brushed the hair back from Adrian’s face.

“It was your hair I saw first, poussin,” he said softly. “It caught me like a moth to a flame, and I have been helpless ever since.” He bent his head to give Adrian a gentle kiss. “I love you, chéri.”

“I love you, too,” Adrian said, then gasped as Ren began to thrust, building the heat between them back to boiling, then pushing them over the edge.

They came together, an explosion that rippled through Adrian, whitening his vision, and sending him soaring. Ren held him as he came down, his body shuddering with aftershocks, knowing that no matter what else happened, he would always be safe in Ren’s arms.