Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 70574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Holy fuck! Were those nipple piercings? Did Eli have his nipples pierced? How had I not noticed that at the club? Had the harness thing he wore covered his nipples? It had to have. I would have never not noticed that. His hotness level, which was already erupting like a volcano, just shot another wave of lava onto me.
“It isn’t leather, smartass,” he quipped playfully. “Now, let’s go eat. I’m starved.” He took two steps, stopped, and then frowned down at me. “I showered while you were still snoring like a powder puff, Ari. Stop looking at me like I’m too nasty for you to touch.” Then, with a ruffle to my hair, which he knew would piss me off, he walked on past me and grabbed the straw bag I’d purchased to use while poolside. It said Cabana Boy Wanted.
God, I was such a dumbass.
I knew I was a dumbass. Eli knew I was a dumbass. Before the day was over, everybody on the boat would know it. Yes, folks, I had dumbassery down to a science.
I straightened my back and slid my feet into the flip flops. “First of all, what type of fabric is it if it isn’t leather, because it sure looks like leather to me. Secondly, you won’t be touching me, so there’s nothing to worry about on whether you showered or not. Thirdly, and most important, I don’t snore.”
Eli opened the cabin door and shoved me into the hallway. “First of all, it’s breathable polyurethane which not only stretches and molds to fit your physique perfectly, but it allows air to pass through as well. Secondly, I will be touching you…as often as I want to. Thirdly, I was only kidding about the snoring thing.” He grinned at me as he pointed which direction I needed to walk. “You snore way more like a freight train than a powder puff—I was trying to be polite.”
Chapter Five
Eli
I was pleasantly shocked; breakfast at the buffet had gone surprisingly well with my cabin mate acting a bit like the old Ari I remembered and loved. Since we had been early risers that morning, due to Ari’s motion sickness forcing an early retirement to bed the previous night, there wasn’t a large number of men gathered in the dining room—most were still sleeping off the remnants of the Wizard of Oz party the boat had sponsored the first night. I was thankful because smaller crowds would give Ari a better adjustment period. I knew that booking the gay cruise had been his way of trying to escape me, so I suspected he hadn’t spent nearly enough time researching all the on-board activities they had planned. While the events, parties, and private rooms excited the hell out of me, especially since I was with Ari, I seriously doubted he knew anything at all about what to expect. I sure as hell didn’t see him participating in any of the events—he’d made it abundantly clear how he viewed the BDSM lifestyle, so I could probably count on one hand how many kinks might interest my boy.
He ate like a horse, shoveling food in as fast as possible while still maintaining his proper manners, while his gaze ate up the scenery with excitement. Not for the first time, his actions made me wonder how he’d spent the last few years without me in his life. Much to my dismay, he appeared as backward and alone as he had back in college.
“You might want to slow your eating down a bit, champ,” I warned playfully. “We aren’t one hundred percent the wrist bands and the ear patch are going to work with your motion sickness.” I hoped to hell they did; he’d passed out cold when he’d taken the medication I’d found and purchased for him last night.
He sat his fork and knife down and stared at his empty plate for a few seconds. “Nope; I feel perfectly fine. I might have just had a stomach bug or something. I’m good to go now.” He looked toward the pastry section. “I’m going after another croissant. Need anything?”
He stood up and my eyes immediately went straight to the bulge between his legs. Hell, what did he expect? Those booty shorts did very little, if anything, to hide his package. After seeing him in bed this morning, his morning wood nearly bursting out of his tiny briefs, I was amazed the shorts were capable of containing him at all.
“Food, Eli?” he asked with a frustrated stomp of his foot. “I’m trying to offer an olive branch here,” he huffed.
“Uh…oh…no, I’m good.” I patted my stomach. “I’ve had enough.” Looking him up and down, slow and lazy, I said, “I have no idea where you pack all that food.”
He shrugged and walked away from me, his bubble ass looking gloriously plump, firm, and well-rounded in the body-hugging booty shorts. “Yeah…now I know. Gorgeous view from behind, angel.” I’m sure I had to be imagining it, but following my words, there appeared to be an extra twist in his walk. That exaggerated twist of his hips was a glimpse of the old Ari I’d fallen in love with—it was like I got to see something of him that nobody else witnessed. He’d made me feel so fucking special, like I deserved extra.