Chapter Four
Dorian had been alive for thousands of years and never had such a relaxing vacation.
Days passed with them lying out on the beach, swimming lazily in the water near their bungalow, and exploring the nearby markets.
At night, or sometimes in the afternoon if they were feeling frisky, they ended up wrapped around each other, fucking in every position they could think of.
He slept like the dead afterward, catching up on the hours of sleep he’d missed while overworking himself.
He still reached for his phone a few times a day, and his fingers itched for a computer to check how things were going.
Kian always noticed and was quick to distract him by dragging him off to go swimming or to check out an event at the resort.
His mate was determined to get him to relax, and he would let absolutely nothing get in his way.
Including his own inability to sit still.
Dorian noticed it on the third day of their vacation.
Kian was getting jittery, his foot bouncing or his fingers fidgeting with the straw of his drink.
He’d told Dorian more than once that sitting still was hard for him, and while lying on the beach was good for Dorian, it was starting to drive his mate crazy.
He needed a little more excitement than just lazing on the beach.
With that in mind, while Kian was in the shower, Dorian called down to the concierge to get some idea on local outings and activities. He noted a few down on the little notepad he’d found in the nightstand, as well as the times they were available, then he called Ozen.
“You’re supposed to be on vacation, Dorian. How in the world did you get your hands on a phone?”
Dorian pursed his lips against a frown. “I am on vacation. There’s a phone in the bungalow.”
“I’m not updating you about work. You’re supposed to be resting,” Ozen chided.
He sighed heavily. Perhaps he should have called Taron. He was less likely to scold him. “I’m not calling about work. Though, you’re one to talk. When was the last time you took a vacation before you met Avery?”
“I’m not answering that,” Ozen shot back, though Dorian could hear the smile in his voice. “If you’re not calling about work, then why are you calling? Where’s Kian?”
“He’s in the shower. He’s getting bored, so I’ve found some activities to take him on, but he stole my wallet.”
Ozen snorted, tone amused when he said, “You ending up with a trickster like Kian was the last thing I expected. I like this for you, though. He lightens your load.”
Dorian hummed in agreement. When thinking about who he might end up with, Dorian never considered someone like Kian either.
Their temperaments were so different, it was stunning they worked at all.
But Kian was everything Dorian never knew he needed.
He made Dorian’s life better just by being his mate.
“The resort should have my card on file,” Ozen continued, oblivious to Dorian’s lovesick thoughts of his mate. “Go ahead and charge it to my tab. You can pay me back later.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it. I don’t suppose you have any ideas on how to get him to those activities without him automatically assuming I’m trying to work, do you?”
Ozen’s bark of laughter made him smile. Mating had done wonders for the both of them. There was a time he’d worried he’d never see his friend smile again.
“Not a clue. If you figure it out, share the knowledge, would you? Avery won’t let me out of his sight when we’re on vacation, because he doesn’t trust me not to check my emails.
He hasn’t gone so far as to steal my phone yet, but if Kian shares that particular trick with him, I have no doubt he’ll do it. ”
“I should have known not to leave you alone,” Kian commented dryly.
Dorian stiffened, looking slowly over his shoulder at his mate. “Uh, Ozen, I need to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
Ozen, having heard Kian’s warning tone, was still laughing when Dorian hung up. Dorian put his hands up in surrender, his tone earnest when he explained, “I wasn’t checking on work, I promise. He wouldn’t have told me even if I was.”
Kian narrowed his eyes but said nothing, leaning against the door to the bathroom with his arms crossed over his chest.
He couldn’t lie to his mate, it felt wrong, so he abandoned any thoughts of surprising Kian and blurted out his plan. “I found some activities we can do through the resort. I was hoping to surprise you.”
“And you need to call Ozen because…” Kian trailed off suspiciously.
“Because you stole my wallet?” Dorian replied uneasily. He really hated upsetting his mate. Especially after all Kian had done to help him relax the past few days.
Huffing out a laugh, Kian straightened. “I forgot about that. Fine, I’ll let you off just this once. But we’re not doing any activities, so it doesn’t matter. You’re supposed to be relaxing.”
Pushing off the side of the bed where he’d been seated, Dorian crossed the room to stand in front of his mate, taking his hands.
“I appreciate everything we’ve done so far.
I’m much more relaxed than I expected at this point.
But I can see the toll the slow pace has been taking on you.
You’re bored, Kian. And I won’t be able to relax knowing you’re unhappy. ”
Kian’s mouth twitched, a frown trying to pull at his lips, though he tried to hide it.
Dorian could see him trying to hide his unhappiness.
He was doing his best for Dorian, but Kian hadn’t even pulled any pranks this week.
He was suppressing who he was to make Dorian happy, and Dorian didn’t like that.
While he didn’t often participate in Kian’s pranks, he enjoyed watching the way he smiled when doing something mischievous, and the way he cackled when he got caught.
He was never cruel about it, his pranks were relatively harmless and even those who got the more harsh pranks never complained to SR. They took Kian’s playfulness in stride, because he was kind and thoughtful, and if you treated him fairly, he proved to be a good ally.
Dorian would take issue with anyone trying to dim his mate.
His pranks and playfulness were part of who he was.
Dipping his head, he pressed a soft kiss against Kian’s lips. “Come now, dearheart. Let me pamper you a little. This vacation should be fun for the both of us.”
Kian sighed, leaning his forehead against Dorian’s as the mask finally slipped, and the strain around Kian’s eyes became more apparent. “I was trying to be good. You need rest.”
“Sharing experiences with my mate and caring for him is relaxing for me. It puts me at ease knowing you’re happy.”
A smile tugged at Kian’s lips, his tone teasing when he said, “Sap.” He followed it up with a sweet kiss, so Dorian knew he wasn’t complaining. He straightened with a nod. “Alright. Show me what you planned for us. I’m vetoing anything that will stress you out.”
Dorian figured he’d say that, so he’d thankfully crossed off things like skydiving and base jumping. He wouldn’t be able to stomach watching Kian do those things, much less do it himself.
He handed Kian the list, studying his beauty as he read it over. Those gorgeous blue and lilac eyes were captivating, and he wished not for the first time he had requested that Kian’s office be shared with his so he could look at them whenever he wished.
A light pink tinged Kian’s cheeks, and he twisted his mouth to hide his smile. “Stop staring at me.”
“Never,” Dorian denied with his own smile.
The activities were enjoyable, snorkeling to catch glimpses of the kraken city, a mixology course run by the bartender who’d invented the blood-based drinks Dorian enjoyed so much, that kind of thing.
But it was when Dorian told Kian to return to his mischievous ways that seemed to ease his mate’s stress.
It wasn’t immediate, and it took some coaxing.
Kian was unwilling to do anything that might stress Dorian out, and getting into trouble with the kraken police would definitely stress him out.
But Kian’s pranks were never harmful, and he needed to let off some steam.
So, to encourage him, Dorian planned his own pranks on his mate.
Well, he tried anyway. He wasn’t as creative as Kian.
His first attempt at pranking his mate was a simple towel swap.
They came in from the terrace after a swim, where two towels were supposed to be waiting for them to dry off.
Dorian handed Kian his, but he’d swapped it out before and handed him a hand towel instead.
His little prank backfired, because Kian just shrugged and dropped his swim shorts, drying off with the hand towel with no shame whatsoever.
Dorian had to use his own towel to hide his mate and spent the rest of the evening glaring at anyone who came close to Kian.
His next few attempts, he tried to get Mickey to help him. Mickey brought Kian a drink so obnoxiously decorated with those little umbrellas, it was almost impossible to drink it, but Kian just smirked and plunked a straw in the middle of all the umbrellas, completely unfazed by the prank.
It seemed that Dorian would need to up the ante to get his mate to prank him back. So, while was playing in the water, Dorian snuck off to talk to Mickey again.
“You want me to put glitter in the sunblock?” Mickey asked uncertainly.
Dorian nodded, glancing over his shoulder toward the beach. Kian was still swimming around and hadn’t noticed him yet, but he only had a minute or two to plan this out with Mickey before he noticed he was gone.
“You don’t think he’ll be mad?”
Dorian didn’t even have to think about that.
“No. He loves pranks. Our mutual friend, Taron, had once ‘accidentally’ bumped into us at the market and swapped Kian’s shampoo out with some meant to change a person’s hair color.
Kian laughed until he cried when he saw his reflection, then turned around and set a spell on Taron so that every time he was near one of his mates he’d trip and look like he was swooning. ”
“Ohhh…” Mickey nodded slowly in understanding. “So we’re trying to prank a master prankster. And you only want to add glitter to his sunblock?”
Dorian resisted the urge to pout at the dubious tone. He could admit he wasn’t a great prankster, but he’d thought the glitter would be funny.
“Uh oh. I think he noticed us. I’ll do the glitter thing and bring you another drink just so he doesn’t get suspicious,” Mickey rushed out, hurrying away while Dorian headed back for their loungers.
Kian met him there, still dripping, a quirk to his mouth that said he knew exactly what Dorian was attempting and found it amusing.
“Why were you talking to Mickey?”
“My drink melted while we were swimming. I was asking for another.” That wasn’t a lie, though he had purposely stopped drinking it so he’d have the excuse, and when Mickey showed up with his drink a moment later, Kian let his sneaky behavior go with a shrug.
“No planning any activities tomorrow,” Kian insisted. “I’ve got plans for us.”
“Really? What kind of plans?” Dorian asked, tracking the motion as Kian dried himself off. He wanted to be the one with his hands on his mate.
Patience. Once the sunblock was brought to him, he could indulge and prank Kian at the same time.
“It’s a surprise. But I promise by the end of it, you’ll definitely be relaxed.”
Dorian’s eyebrow quirked, and he got the feeling whatever Kian had planned was dirty in some way. He wasn’t going to say no to that.
“Mr. Dorian? You requested more sunblock?”
Dorian turned to Mickey, accepting the bottle with a smile. “Thank you, Mickey. I appreciate all your help.”
“Mhmm,” Mickey nodded, trying and failing to look innocent as he added, “If you need any more help, just let me know. I’m good at–” His eyes darted to Kian, and he plastered on a big smile– “Uh… caring for my patrons. Just call if you need me.”