Chapter 9
The resort was beautiful.
Glittering seas. Golden beaches. Not too crowded, since it was winter and this was one of Bali's more exclusive resorts.
But Noah had seen his share of beauty. It was nothing compared to watching Benji stare out the open windows in wonder, his smile so bright it put the glowing afternoon sun to shame.
“It’s so warm,” Max cried as he ran around the room. “Does it ever snow in Bali?”
“No,” Benji scoffed. Then he looked over at Noah with the expression of a man who just said something confidently without looking it up first.
“It doesn’t snow,” Noah told him. “We’re too close to the equator.”
He undid the top button of his shirt, his collar swaying in the breeze. The windows were open, as he requested. Warm air streamed in, carrying hints of the ocean.
Benji’s gaze lingered on his open collar. He looked dazed. He’d never been jet-lagged before, and Noah had caught him watching movies with Max when everyone else was sleeping.
Max ran out onto the balcony and gasped. “Wow! Does my room have a view like this?”
“It does,” Noah told him. “I also got them to borrow a robot butler from a nearby resort. If you want room service, you just press the buttons on its display.”
But Max was already screeching and running in the direction of his rooms, dragging Daphne with him.
Their excited yells faded quickly. Noah and Benji’s rooms were technically connected with theirs, but there were so many living rooms and kitchens and spas in between that they wouldn’t be able to hear—for instance—Benji screaming in pleasure while Noah took him apart.
Benji laughed and dropped his head onto Noah’s shoulder. “You seriously got him a robot butler?”
“It’s not really a butler. But it’s got a British accent, and you can get it to order room service or call maids to come and clean the room.” Noah dropped their bags next to the bed, making a mental note to bring Max’s bags to his rooms later.
Benji lifted his head wearily from Noah’s shoulder and stared out the open windows. The beach glittered in front of them, washed with afternoon light.
“It’s beautiful,” he said. “I didn’t know water could be that color. It almost looks fake.”
Noah tucked a messy strand of hair behind his ear. “Get used to it. We’re here for a whole week.”
And he had more for Benji to see than that beach, but Benji didn’t need to know that yet. He had something lined up after dinner—if Benji could stay awake that long.
He touched Benji’s cheek. “You hungry?”
“Oh, shit. Yeah.” Benji’s brows shot up, like he hadn’t considered it with everything else going on. “What do you think? Room service robot?”
“I actually had something planned.” Noah rubbed Benji’s stubble, watching Benji flush under his touch. “But it does require some energy. I can delay it until tomorrow if you want to sleep.”
“What? I’m—” Benji cut off in a yawn. “Fuck. I’m fine, ignore that. What do you have planned?”
Noah ran a hand down Benji’s back until he was hovering over Benji’s ass. “Are you still wearing the plug?”
Benji nodded. His pupils were already swelling, his cock hardening in his jeans.
Noah jerked his head toward the doors. “Lock the doors and then bend over the bed.”
Benji rushed to comply. He didn’t even give a smartass answer, though he did smirk to himself as he came back and bent over the bed, hands braced against the mattress.
“Holy shit,” Benji said, bouncing his hands against the bed. “This might be even better than yours.”
“I’ll buy you whatever bed you want, baby.” Noah ran his hands over Benji’s jeans, just to hear Benji’s breath hitch. Then he snaked around to undo Benji’s belt, pulling his jeans and boxers down in one go.
Benji moaned softly. His puffy hole twitched around the plug, pink and tantalizing.
Noah’s mouth watered. He swallowed his saliva and ran a finger around Benji’s stretched hole.
“Stay,” he ordered.
Benji’s head dropped down onto the mattress. But when Noah got back from rummaging in his bag, he still hadn’t moved. Even if his legs were trembling in anticipation.
“Good,” Noah praised. “Just like that.”
He eased the plug out slowly, only pausing to fuck it back inside a few times to hear his own come squelch inside him. Benji’s thighs tensed, and he sighed into the sheets.
“Don’t get too excited,” Noah warned him. He placed the plug on the duvet…
…and then picked up the one he’d gotten from his bag. He pressed the lubed end against Benji’s hole, testing the resistance.
Benji jerked. “Fuck! Is that another one?”
Noah shushed him and pressed in. Benji’s back bowed as the tip slipped inside. It got wider as it went, until finally Benji’s hole was straining around the girth.
“Oh shit,” Benji said. “Fuck, Noah. This one’s even bigger than y-you.”
“And you’re taking it so well,” Noah said. He fucked the plug in and out until his come gushed out, dripping down Benji’s balls.
Benji moaned. His cock hung hard and red between his legs, already drooling precum.
“Can I touch myself?” he panted.
“We haven’t even started yet,” Noah said, even though his own cock was pressing hard against his briefs.
After another few slick thrusts, the widest part of the plug slipped in. The rest of it went easily, the flared base settling against Benji’s hole.
Noah kissed Benji’s clothed spine. Then he wiped Benji clean and pulled Benji’s boxers and jeans up, ignoring Benji’s noise of confusion.
“You asshole,” Benji panted as Noah turned him around. “What’s the big idea?”
Noah kissed his nose. “That’s for me to know and for you to find out.”
Benji made a face. He looked genuinely annoyed, and Noah watched him carefully. He didn’t want to push Benji past his limits again.
“Oregano?” he suggested, his tone light on the safeword.
Benji rolled his eyes. “I’m fine. Just impatient.”
Noah relaxed. He pulled Benji closer, squeezing his hips. “Well, good thing I set the pace. Want to go to dinner?”
“I’d rather get railed, but sure.” Benji took one step toward the door and paused.
“This isn’t a group thing, right? I’m not having dinner with my baby brother while I’ve got a plug in my ass.
It was bad enough on the plane. I couldn’t concentrate on the movie—oh wait, robot butler.
Max will have ordered a hundred things from room service by now. ”
“A hundred and one,” Noah agreed. “And he’ll have taken the robot apart to see how it works.”
They went to check on Max in his room and found him asleep on his bed, fully clothed, surrounded by plates of pancakes.
Daphne looked up. She was sitting next to Max on the bed, scrolling through her phone.
“We’re going to dinner,” Benji whispered. “You’re not invited. Where’s the robot?”
“I talked Max into letting him escape with his motherboard intact,” Daphne whispered back with a grin. She wiped her face tiredly, smudging her blue eyeshadow. “Have fun. I’m gonna watch ASMR videos until I pass out.”
She waved at them. Noah waved back, watching Benji’s fond smile at two of his favorite people. He was glad he’d thought to invite Daphne. He had wanted his first holiday with Benji to be a romantic solo trip, but if Max was coming, he might as well invite Daphne along.
Benji hadn’t gotten to do many fun things with his people. Noah was going to change that.
Benji let himself be tugged into the hall, smiling tiredly up at him. “Where are we going? Should I change my clothes?”
Noah hooked his thumb into Benji’s denim belt loop. “No need. There are no paparazzi here.”
“I was more worried about a dress code, but that’s good too.” Benji settled into step next to him, and the two of them headed down the hall. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Just let it happen,” Noah told him.
Benji started to tense. Noah watched him fight through layers of jet lag and instinct before he relaxed against Noah’s side, head dropping once more onto Noah’s shoulder.
“Okay,” he said simply. “I trust you.”
Noah felt it like a benediction. The boy who trusted so few people had given his heart to Noah, and he was going to do everything he could to prove himself worthy.
It was not, technically speaking, a restaurant.
“What do you mean we’re in somebody’s home?” asked Benji, appalled. He stared around the living room, which had been set up with a beautiful dinner, complete with candles and a silk tablecloth and waiters, all of whom had been arranged before Noah got on the plane.
“She’s on holiday,” Noah explained as the waiters collected their plates.
“I looked her up when Max announced we were headed to this resort. We met a few years ago at a gala, and she was happy to open up her home for the night. You like her stuff, right? She did that stained glass work you mentioned a few months back.”
Benji gaped at him. “Are—are we in Emmy Baracuda’s house?”
“We are,” Noah said. “She says hi.”
Benji spluttered. He twisted to look around at all the other glasswork: sculptures poised on shelves, sticking out of the walls, and hanging from the ceiling.
There was a particularly beautiful installation right above their table, which Benji had shown him one night when he had been studying her glasswork.
“I can introduce you sometime,” Noah offered.
Benji squawked. He was still staring at the installation above their heads, an incredulous smile on his face.
The same one he’d been wearing when Noah showed him the private jet.
He was getting better at accepting his gifts, Noah thought approvingly.
Less dread, less hunched shoulders and desperation, like someone was going to show up any second and steal it away.
“Is this the surprise?” Benji asked weakly.
“Not yet.” Noah stood, careful to avoid a waiter who was passing behind him. “Come with me.”
He led Benji into a side room filled with dangling shards of glass.
“Careful,” Noah told him. “She hasn’t filed them down; they’re still sharp.”
Benji took this opportunity to reach out and touch one. A drop of blood welled on his finger.
“Shit,” he said, surprised. “That is sharp. Didn’t even hurt.”
“Good.” Noah took Benji’s finger and slotted it into his mouth, sucking the blood off until Benji’s lips parted with longing.
“Are we…” Benji swallowed. “Are we gonna fuck in here? Around all the glass?”
Noah shook his head and took Benji’s finger out of his mouth, slick with spit.
Benji blew out a shaky breath. “So why are we here?”
“Wait for it,” Noah told him.
He turned Benji toward the window. It took up an entire wall, showing the beach that lay just outside. The sun was setting over the horizon, casting orange rays into the room.
“What are we waiting for?” Benji whispered. But Noah could see in his face that he suspected. He’d studied this woman’s art, after all. He knew exactly what they were waiting for.
The sun sank lower. The light climbed to the very spot Noah had been told about: the giant piece of glass hanging just to their right. It struck the huge shard, and suddenly the whole room was filled with light, bouncing off every shard until the room glowed with it.
Benji laughed, amazed. “Holy shit! Oh, man. Oh, wow.”
He turned around, raising his hands. Holding his fingers so the light dented around them, casting ecstatic shadows.
“It’s beautiful,” he breathed.
“It is,” Noah replied quietly, watching light dance over Benji’s awestruck face. Benji kept making noises like he wanted to speak, but then would trail off to stare in wordless wonder at the light-filled room around them.
Finally, Benji turned to him, beaming. “I could’ve lived my whole life without seeing this. I would have, if I never met you.”
Noah wanted to propose so bad he could taste it.
He hadn’t even bought a ring—he didn’t trust himself with it.
Benji had said to give him time, and he would.
All of this was just stepping stones, showing Benji how good their life could be together if Benji said yes.
But Noah wanted to have that life now. No waiting, no easing Benji into it.
He wanted to drop to his knees right here in this glowing, glass-filled room and order Benji to say yes.
Then the moment broke. The sun sank under the horizon. The light died, leaving them standing in a room full of hanging glass.
Benji swallowed, blinking hard. He swayed forward into Noah’s chest, tugging at Noah’s open collar. “So… that wasn’t the only thing you had planned, right? Because that was fucking gorgeous, but I still have this giant plug inside me. It’s pretty distracting.”
I love you, Noah thought helplessly. I want you forever. Marry me, Benji.
He wasn’t going to be able to hold back much longer. He could feel the words bubbling up his throat.
He forced them down and smiled. “What did I say about me setting the pace?”