Epic hauled me along the path, muttering every so often about the scene with William and Luis.
“I can’t believe you. Why did you just stand there?”
“I was too shocked to move,” I admitted.
“Were you too shocked to tell them no?”
“No.”
“Oh, so you can say that word.” He glanced my way. “I was beginning to wonder.”
“I wouldn’t have gone along with their scheme, you know.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
“Believe it or not, I was looking for a way to extricate myself when you burst through the flora to rescue me. You’re bleeding by the way.”
“I know.” He put a hand to one of the scrapes on his neck. “The bushes were denser than I thought.”
“And there you were without Excalibur to hack through them.”
“Shut up.” He softened his tone finally. “I thought maybe you were going to take them up on it.”
“Who knows? At another time and in another place, I might have. But not the night before their wedding. That makes things awkward.”
“I think William really wanted a shot at you. Maybe he didn’t think Luis would go for it after the wedding.”
“Whatever. It’s not like I’d go through with it at all.”
“Wouldn’t you?” Epic asked. “You sure the hell weren’t fighting them off.”
“One moment of hesitation—”
“I swear, you looked like an armadillo about to be hit by a semi.”
“Hush.” When we got to our suite, I opened the door and led Epic to the bathroom where I made him sit on the side of the tub. “Let me get my first aid kit.”
“I don’t need you to—”
“You saved my maidenly virtue. It’s the least I can do.”
He huffed unhappily but stripped off his shirt and let me clean him up.
He had a lot of scratches, mostly on his hands, neck, and chest, but there was one on his cheek and one on his forehead. As I dabbed healing ointment onto each, I wished I could kiss them better.
This boy.
This sweet, silly, loving boy was going to be the end of me.
I kissed his unscratched cheek. “Thank you for saving me from what probably would have been a very hot but ultimately degrading three-way with my ex and his uber sexy husband-to-be.”
He took my shoulders and held me back a bit. “Is that something you and Luis used to do?”
I didn’t answer.
“No, come on. Tell me.” He let me go and went to the sink to wash his hands. “Did you guys used to bring in a third?”
“Sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” Epic turned to lean against the sink with his arms crossed over his chest. “Because I don’t see that as a ‘you’ thing.”
“You’re right,” I admitted. “It’s probably more of a Luis thing. I still wonder why I went along.”
“I think that’s sad.” Epic sighed. “Now I’m going to feel weird at their wedding.”
“It might work for them. No need to pass judgement.”
“No, that’s not it. What do I care what they want?” His gaze hardened. “But if you were mine, I wouldn’t share you with anyone. That’s…not worthy of him or you.”
“Mm.” As I rearranged things in my first aid kit, I allowed myself to poke at emotions I’d believed I was well past allowing to hurt.
I thought about the times Luis’s eyes strayed. The clubs where he pulled a third into a dance or a drink, then coerced me into bringing him home with us to “share.”
I thought about the ugly mornings after when he’d lost interest and I had to gentle some stranger out into the street with a few kind words and a solid goodbye—the ones that were hopeful and the ones who felt ashamed. Luis didn’t disappoint them; that was always my job.
The attempted seduction put a damper on their wedding festivities for me, especially since I now suspected that their three-way idea was the sole reason I’d been invited.
What would have happened if I’d come with Laurie? Would I have gone along with their plan? Passed it off as an adventure and gone home feeling like one of the strangers we’d given no more thought to than a sex toy?
I glanced up to find Epic’s eyes on me.
“Come here,” he said simply and held his arms out wide. I went, determined not to cry, and yet…shit.
“Hush.” He stroked my hair. “Shh.”
“Fucking Luis”—I sniffed—“and his fucking games.”
“Shh.” Epic took my weight and rocked me gently. “They’re a pair, aren’t they? Leave them to it.”
“I should have known he had some sort of ulterior motive.”
“You couldn’t. It’s not in you to think like that.”
That made me laugh. “I spend almost all my time trying to think like human traffickers.”
“That’s not the same as wondering if your ex has some douchebaggery in store for you the night before his wedding.”
“Right?” I had nothing to grip but the muscles in Epic’s arms, which—wow—were pretty firm. “Sorry.”
“No reason to be sorry.” He slid his hands up my arms and over my shoulders to wrap them gently around the back of my neck. “You and I had a great day, didn’t we?”
“We did.”
“And we’re going to have a great day tomorrow,” he said, “despite the wedding. Then it will be all over, and you’ll never have to think about the two of them again.”
I still felt a little dewy eyed when I nodded. He handed me a tissue.
“Dry up.”
“Okay, but I’m ordering alcohol from room service. You want anything?”
“Don’t.”
I turned. “What?”
“That’s not going to make either of us feel better.”
“C’mon. What if I order a very nice bottle of champagne and one of each of their desserts?”
“Well, dessert.” He frowned. “When you put it that way…”
“So that’s a yes?”
“Could be a yes.” He eyed me thoroughly. I tried to look stable and unemotional. “Okay, yes.”
I picked up the phone next to the couch to place an order. Epic strolled over, and I invited him to sit next to me. He slid beside me and put his arm around me. Next thing I knew, he was kissing my neck.
In-room dining answered, and I managed to tell them what I wanted. It wasn’t easy, what with Epic’s lips and teeth and tongue finding all the secret spots that made my skin sizzle.
“Mm. What are you doing?” I asked after hanging up.
“I’m kissing you.”
“But why?”
He shot me a look that made me feel fifteen again. “Well, when I like a boy very much, I usually try to put my tongue in his mouth and my dick in his ass, and that’s called—”
“Shut up. I meant, why now, at this moment.”
“I saved you from a fate worse than death.” He gave my cheek a little pinch. “That means you’re mine now.”
“Epic—”
“No. We’ve danced around this…thing between us for a couple days now. It’s fine if you’re not interested, or you don’t want to, or this isn’t the right time for you. If you don’t consent, it’s fine.”
“But?” I wanted to hear him say it.
“But I want you, Ryan. I don’t know how many ways you need me to tell you or show you how much I want you, but I will jump through whatever hoops you need me to. I’ll be good to you. I’ll be good for you. I will never let you feel less than or look at another man when you’re around—”
“Epic—”
“And I don’t want to hear that you aren’t going to be around for very much longer because I knew that going in.” He turned and lifted his leg over mine so he straddled me. “I know this is temporary. Don’t waste any more time. Do you want this?”
“Yes,” I whispered because it was all I wanted.
All I could think of.
All that mattered.
Epic met my lips in a bruising kiss and took charge from there—cupping my face and turning me this way and that so he could deepen the connection between us.
He plundered my mouth, then trailed hot kisses over my cheeks and neck while I pecked at whatever part of him my lips could reach and simply tried to breathe him in.
He smelled delicious—a heady mixture of flowers and sea air and healthy male sweat. He tasted of the sweet sauce that had accompanied his duck breast—cherries and black pepper. Before I realized what I was doing, I’d dug both hands into his thick dark hair. The strands slid through my fingers like silk.
“Mm. I like that. Pull it. I enjoy things a little rough.” He pulled back and switched his attention to one of my nipples. “What about you?”
“Some.” That’s what most people wanted to hear. I needed to be drinking or totally in the heat of things to endure any kind of pain while making love, but lots of people bit, or pulled hair, or scratched mindlessly, and so I told a little lie to smooth the way.
I gasped when Epic lightly bit my nipple. He studied my face.
“Maybe you’d like me to be gentle with you? You like that better, don’t you?”
“Maybe?”
“All right. You don’t have to be careful with me because I don’t mind a bite here or there, but when I worship your body, I’ll be careful.” He whispered, “I’ll treat you like blown glass if you want.”
“Blown is good.” My face heated with some kind of shame. I was a man after all; I could take a little manhandling. “Glass not so much.”
“If that’s what you like, that’s what I want to do.” He unbuttoned my shirt, and as he did, he placed tiny, gentle kisses on my throat, my chest, each nipple, and down my treasure trail. My belt came next, then my zipper. “Okay?”
“Yes.” He took my cock from my briefs and gave it a long stroke. “Oh.”
“Lift.” I did as he asked, lifting my hips so he could pull down my jeans and briefs. Next came shoes and socks. He smoothed his hands over my thighs, his touch so light it gave me goosebumps. “Do you want me to suck your cock, Ryan?”
Lips pinched shut, I nodded.
Why couldn’t I say it out loud?
Probably a combination of fear that speaking would spoil the moment and fear that I’d blurt out something shrill like Now, do it now!
“Mm.” Epic licked a line from my balls to my glans. I shivered all over and sank farther into the seat. My back arched, making my dick slap my belly like a seal asking for a fish.
Epic did a poor job of hiding his smile.
He cupped my balls with one hand and held my cock in the other. When his tongue caressed me again, I was ready for the sensation. My thighs tightened in anticipation and my cock leaked in preparation.
“You’re so responsive.” He buried his nose in my ball sac. “And you smell so fucking good.”
As I smoothed his hair, I willed him to get on with it, but Epic would not be rushed. He explored every inch of my cock before ever taking it into his mouth, coming at me with long swipes of his tongue and kitten licks and nips with his lips.
When at last he took my cock, he slid down the entire length of me in one agonizing descent, and then hollowed his cheeks to suck hard as he withdrew.
He drifted his clever fingers lower to massage my balls and then my taint as he did that long slow glide and suck, over and over, until I was ready to beg, or cry, or scream for him to speed up, suck harder, do more. Then he pressed into my hole with one finger, and I flew apart.
“Oh God…yes. Oh my God. Epic. I’m—”
He stayed where he was, swallowing my spend to the very last shiver.
“Epic.” I cradled his head between my hands in a tight grip. He rested his cheek on my thigh.
“Mmhmm?”
A polite knock at the door startled us both.
“Stay.” He put his hand on my chest. “I’ve got it.”
When Epic stood, the outline of his thick, erect cock showed clearly beneath the fabric of his jeans. He turned a terrific shade of pink while he adjusted himself. I couldn’t be seen from the door, but I slipped my shirt over my lap anyway.
“Back in a second.” He winked. I caught and held his hand. He turned back, one eyebrow lifted. “Something you need?”
“Thank you. I—”
The knock came again, slightly louder.
“Hold that thought.” Epic kissed the top of my head. “We’re not anywhere close to done.”