Chapter Nineteen
The Resort
Monday Night
Six P.M.
After making sure that Greyson wasn’t going to go scorched earth on Sasha, or whatever her name was, they headed back to the resort, so that they could pick up the other two men.
It was date time.
And honestly, Gene was looking forward to it. They’d run all day with only a few interludes to celebrate their relationship, and vacation. With tonight, he was going to be able to enjoy dinner staring at the most handsome man in the whole world.
As they got to their room, they headed inside, and that’s when Gene put the moves on his man.
“Hey, gorgeous Native. Come here often?” he asked, pulling Ethan into his arms to stare into his beautiful blue-black eyes.
Ethan wrapped his arms around Gene’s neck, and smiled at him.
“Well, if you’re going to be at a place, count me in. My bear is kind of sexy.”
Gene winked at him.
“Oh, well, wait until later. I’m going to get all kinds of sexy with you. I’m done working for the day. Yes, we have to scope out Dark Spirits, but I’m going to be focused more on my mysterious man.”
Ethan ran his hand down Gene’s chest, and across his abs to his belt. When he held onto it, his lover grinned wickedly.
“Oh, please do,” he said, finding his man’s mouth, and diving in.
The kiss was nuclear, and the whole time, he could feel Ethan undoing his belt. In his head, he was begging he’d drop his pants and get to work.
With.
His.
Mouth.
Only, Gene didn’t get his wish.
Hurricane Inconvenient rolled into port, and their resort space.
Gene heard the door open, and he broke the kiss long enough to grab his gun, and point it at the French doors not far away.
That’s when he saw him.
“Corbin, are you out of your goddamn mind?” he asked, when he saw him peeking around the door.
God.
Damn.
It.
What did a guy have to do in order to molest his man on vacation?
Seriously.
This week was working against him.
“Sorry,” Corbin said. “We were sitting out here since it’s a nice view, and we thought we heard you. Ready for dinner?” he asked.
Blackhawk laughed.
Oh, well, they’d been about to start with dessert first, until the man interrupted them.
Why wasn’t that shocking?
Corbin had the worst timing—for them.
“Come in,” Ethan said, and as he did, Gene sighed in sexual frustration.
He was not enjoying this vacation since he couldn’t just whip it out and get head on demand. That was half the fun of being someone’s Top.
This was killing the vibe.
Seriously.
“Can we talk to you?” Corbin asked, as he was holding Will’s hand in his.
Both men sat on the bed, fully expecting this to be a clusterfuck of some sort.
This was, after all, Corbin.
“Sure,” Ethan said.
Corbin glanced over at his man, and then when he turned his head to look at the other two, he was grinning.
“Will and I are going to get married here. We decided to elope while in Puerto Rico!”
That surprised them.
“What?” Gene asked. “Are you kidding?”
At first, Corbin wasn’t sure if he was excited or disappointed in him. These two men’s opinions mattered a great deal to him.
“No. Why?”
Gene was up, and he headed right toward Corbin. When he reached him, he hugged him.
Oh, and he hugged him good.
He enveloped the smaller man into his body, and didn’t let him go for a few seconds.
“Corby! That’s awesome,” he said, kissing the man on the forehead. “We’re so happy for you both!”
Then, he went to Will.
“Will, you take care of him. He’s going to be exhausting with his antics, but you’re getting the best guy in the whole world next to my guy!”
Will smiled.
And enjoyed the hug.
It was nice to have family.
“I know I am,” he admitted, smiling at Corbin who was now beaming too.
Ethan headed toward his friend, and hugged him.
“Corbin, I love this for you,” he admitted. “You and Will are going to have an amazing marriage, and I hope when you get married, we get to be there.”
He rested his head on Ethan’s shoulder.
Now that he knew they approved, he could start planning it.
“We want to plan something for tomorrow, or later in the week. Can you both be our groomsmen?” he asked.
Could they?
ABSOLUTELY.
“Dibs on Will,” Ethan said. “He’s going to be the easy one. He knows how to put on a tie.”
Corbin laughed.
He was so grateful that the two men had opened their lives for him, and Will. They never let him down, and they were two of the most important people in his life.
Will was amused.
“I mean, not saying anything we don’t already know,” he joked.
Gene dropped his arm over Corbin’s shoulders.
“Okay, give us the deets. What’s the plan?”
There honestly wasn’t one.
“We want to get hitched on the beach. We thought that maybe, when you finish this case in the next day or so, we could do it then.”
That worked for both of them.
“Sold,” Gene said. “We’ll help set it up.”
That was all Corbin needed to hear.
“Thanks, Guys. It means everything that we do this with our family.”
Well, then, Gene had to go there.
“And your mother and father?” he asked.
Corbin blinked.
Oh, shit.
Gene knew that look anywhere. That was the ‘Corbin didn’t think things through’ look, and it mostly happened when he was about to fuck up.
If he didn’t include his mother…
Alice would lose her ever-loving mind. She’d find anyone involved and hunt them down like animals before she busted out their kneecaps.
Bet.
On.
It.
“Oh, shit.”
Ethan laughed.
“Oh, this is going to be spicy. I’m here for the drama,” he stated. “Either way, Alice is going to lose it.”
Will went to offer to postpone it, but his man must have known what he was thinking.
“No,” Corbin said, stopping him. “They can come to the one we have back in Philly with all of our friends. We’ll tie the knot on the beach, and then not tell those two it’s official. Then, we can have a ceremony there, and they get to experience it—along with your family, Will.”
Oh, well, he need not worry about that.
His family wouldn’t be coming.
There was no doubt there.
“That works,” Gene said. “We don’t want to be accomplices to that,” he added. “Alice feeds us.”
Corbin laughed.
Oh, he wasn’t shocked by that statement. There was no doubt his mother could be spicy.
But they liked her that way.
“Okay, so we close a case, and get you two hitched,” Gene admitted. “Now, this is a vacation.”
Corbin loved how willing they were to bend their time together to make him and Will feel welcomed.
So he hugged them again.
“I love you guys,” he said. “Thank you.”
Oh, they didn’t mind in the least. If you couldn’t watch two of your friends get married, and be jealous that you couldn’t join them, were you even alive?
One day, Gene would get his wish.
Bet.
On.
It.
“How about we get ready for dinner at Dark Spirits. We want to check the place out, and we need to talk to some of the employees to see if Esmeralda and Rodrigo were actually here last night and stayed here when Samuel was being killed.”
Corbin looked confused.
“Who is Samuel?”
They clued him in. When they were finished telling him about the last victim, he whistled.
“Your killer deviated.”
Yeah, tell them about it.
“So, from what I’ve learned from you both is that he’s going off the rails, or he’s trying to adjust to you being on his ass.”
They both nodded.
“If it’s a he,” Will offered. “Do we know that for certain?” he asked.
Ethan was ready to give this killer more of a defined image so Gene could keep working it.
“Yeah, it’s going to be a male. There’s no way two females can do the heavy lifting on this one. If this is tied to the mob man, and his girl, she’s either helping him, and his goons are doing the work, or it’s a male. That’s what my gut says.”
That made sense.
Gene told them everything they’d learned when dealing with the mob man, and how they’d been abducted.
And Corbin didn’t like that.
Not.
At.
All.
“You need to be careful,” Corbin said. “I don’t want anything to happen to you guys.”
Oh, they understood.
Family happened when you least expected it, but here they were, creating one where they were able to feel connected with the people they met along the way.
“We’ll be okay, Corby. Don’t worry. I’m old eagle eyes. I’m watching over Ethan like a hawk.”
That he was.
No one agreed more than Ethan. His man’s hand was on his ass, and he was against his side. Someone was hovering, and he didn’t hate it.
And he never would.
“Go get dressed,” Gene said. “We’re going to go have dinner, and nose around a bit. I would like to believe that Rodrigo and Esmeralda aren’t lying, but you can’t trust a mob man as far as you can throw him. EVER.”
They laughed.
That should be a given.
Who befriended and trusted anyone who wore the title—mob man?
A crazy.
That’s who.
As they headed out, Gene nuzzled his man.
“I’m going to enjoy dinner,” he said. “Would it be okay if we left the sex toys in the room, and I just have a quiet date night with the love of my life?” Gene asked.
Blackhawk’s heart skipped in his chest.
How could he not give the man anything he asked? What he felt for Gene was so strong, he could have his heart from his chest.
“I don’t want to be distracted,” Gene added. “I still feel off.”
That was all he had to hear.
The old Ethan would have questioned if he’d done something wrong, but this version of himself understood that the man he loved was trying to keep them safe.
He wanted that.
More than sex.
“Oh, I think that can be arranged. I miss being in bed with you, Gene,” he offered, taking the key from his lover’s pocket so he could get out of the contraption and into some clothes. “We’ll take this up later, when we come back to the room.”
That was his hope.
Gene knew the sexiness would continue.
Bet.
On.
It.
You could take Ethan Blackhawk out of the cock cage, but you couldn’t take the kinkiness out of the man.
They’d already proved that.
* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *
Dark Spirits
Seven P.M.
San Juan
Gene was quiet on the drive over there, and there was one reason. The man beside him had stolen his breath.