Chapter 7 Xave
XAVE
The door to my hotel room closes behind me, and I head over to the California king. Letting out a heavy sigh, I sink down on it and mentally go over the checklist of things I needed to take care of.
I sorted everything out with my and Damon’s room cards, so that’s all done.
And I met up with my contact to tell him where the cabin is and hand over the car we stole so he and his team can take care of them.
The bag of our abductor’s personal effects and the other stuff we stole from the cabin is sitting in the corner of the room so I can do my own investigation later, but at least the crime scene and car are being dealt with.
Before I met up with my contact, I grabbed something to eat at a fast-food place a few blocks away so I wouldn’t pass out from hunger, but that was a few hours ago, and my stomach is already rumbling again.
Now that I’m sure I’ve got everything checked off my list, I pull my phone out of my pocket and open one of my food delivery apps. I take a second to scroll through my options, then peruse the menu for a nearby sports bar that has good reviews.
I’m just confirming my order when a text comes in from my cousin.
Jace: he’s being stupid again
I don’t need to ask who he’s talking about to know he means Jax, and based on how Jax acted all Christmas break, I know what Jace is talking about without needing more context.
Xave: is he still obsessed with that hacker kid?
Jace: so obsessed
Jace: it’s both sad and fascinating to witness his absolute delusion about how obsessed he is
Xave: have you guys figured anything out since you got back to campus?
Jace: nada
Jace: well that’s not entirely true
Jace: we know this kid is as boring as he was before the break
Jace: and that my dumbass brother is apparently spellbound by his boringness
Xave: you know how he is
Xave: once Jax figures the kid out he’ll get bored and move on
Jace: I’m not so sure this time
Xave: just keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid
Jace: that’s like asking the inmates to run the asylum
Xave: I’m well aware
Jace: and you still trust me to be the adult?
Xave: crazy, I know
Jace: what’s the definition of insanity again? Something about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?
Xave: that’s what they say
Jace: fyi that’s not actually the definition and Einstein never said it
Jace: the more you know
Xave: can you at least try not to be a dumbass for the next few days?
Jace: I can *try*
Xave: you’re going to be a dumbass, aren’t you
A meme loads in the text thread of a little girl shrugging her shoulders with an evil-looking grin on her face.
Jace: maaaayyyybe
Xave: how about you try not to do something stupid that I’m going to have to deal with?
Jace: no promises
I wait to see if he has anything else to say, then exit out of my texts and open Instagram.
Curiously, I click on Layan’s profile and check out her stories.
A photo of her and some guy with their arms wrapped around each other at some club loads, then a half dozen more of them giving each other googly eyes at the same club, and finally one of them snuggled up in bed with the words “together again” flashes across my screen.
I know they’re recent photos because she’s wearing the same white dress from the text she sent me last night.
Whatever. If she wants to stand me up to get back together with her ex, then that’s a her issue. At least she only has my alternate number, so I don’t have to worry about her bothering me again. I’ll block her number and socials on it when I get a replacement.
Tossing my phone onto the bed beside me, I scrub one hand through my hair.
It’s strange, but the silence and emptiness of my room feel stifling, and I can’t shake the little niggle of unease in the back of my mind that’s keeping me on edge and not allowing me to fully relax.
Leaning back on my hands, I let out a heavy sigh and look around the opulently decorated room that includes both a sleeping and sitting area.
On the sleeping side is the bed with a flatscreen TV on the ceiling over it and another on the wall across from it, a set of dressers, two bedside tables, and a massive two-sided electric fireplace encased in a glass wall that separates the two spaces.
On the sitting side are a couch, a loveseat, a desk, several chairs, and another flat screen TV tucked into the corner.
The really interesting part of the room is how the glass wall between the bathroom and the bedroom has a feature that changes the glass from frosted to clear with the push of a button, which gives anyone in the bedroom a perfect line of sight into the shower, and of the tub.
I originally booked the room because I thought I’d be using it for more than just a place to crash, and the only reason I even came to town was for the rave—and the promised activities after. But now that Layan has made her choice and the rave is over, there’s no point sticking around.
It's not like I don’t have options of places I could go until school starts again, but my usual go-to of finding a clothing-optional beach and spending my time sipping fancy cocktails and enjoying the nightlife that comes with hedonistic escapes just isn’t appealing right now.
I could go home, or to one of the family vacation homes, but that will just raise questions, and I’d rather not spend the last bit of my holiday under the scrutiny of my family.
I could always just pick a random place to go for a few days, but I’m not in the mood for that either.
I might as well just head back to school early. I know from experience it’s never a good idea to leave the twins to their own devices for long, and I’ll just have to deal with whatever messes they make when I get back anyway.
Making up my mind, I glance at the clock next to the bed.
My food should be here in about twenty-five minutes, which gives me enough time to take a shower.
I already showered before I headed out to handle everything, but the quick rinse and scrub was just enough to make me decent enough to be out in public and did nothing to help strip away the lingering effects of the last twenty-four hours.
Hopefully the hot water will help me relax and get rid of the weird unease still hanging over me.
The bathrooms at this hotel are as extra as the rest of the room, and not just because of the peep wall.
The massive glass shower with dual rainforest showerheads also has a bench at the back and a steam option to create a sauna of sorts.
And the giant soaker tub doubles as a Jacuzzi and is big enough for two.
The dual sinks and massive mirror are tucked up against the back wall, and the toilet is in a small closet-like space that keeps it separate from the rest of the bathroom and out of sight from anyone on the other side of the peep wall.
The entire space also has heated floors, heat lamps, two towel warmers, and is made entirely of chrome, glass, and impossibly shiny black tiles with tiny veins of silver running through them.
But the most interesting feature has to be the built-in system that lets you choose from an array of lighting and sound options.
After turning on the heated floors, I cycle through the lighting options before settling on the starlight setting.
The lights above me dim until they go off, and a strip of light along the joint where the floors meet the walls appears, the soft glow giving off just enough light so you can see where you’re going.
While the strip of light is coming on, little pinpricks of light in the ceiling flicker to life and twinkle like tiny stars.
It's about as close to being outside and under the open sky as you can get inside a hotel room bathroom.
The audio options are mostly nature and white noise sounds, and I turn on the Northern Forest setting.
Soft sounds of the forest, like wind moving through leaves and the distant gurgling of a brook or stream, are punctuated by random animal noises and other sounds from the woods.
It reminds me of those nature relaxation sounds my mother used to play in my room when I was a kid and couldn’t sleep, except this one has the odd wolf howl or loon call that also sounds suspiciously like a wolf, so it’s not quite as relaxing.
Once I’ve got everything set, I strip off my clothes and turn on the water. It only takes a few seconds to get up to the right temperature, and I step under the spray. The sensation of the hot water cascading down on me is soothing and comforting, and I tip my head back to wet my hair.
The combination of the water sluicing over me, nature sounds, and the nearly dark room with twinkling starlight creates a type of sensory overload that helps calm my racing thoughts until my mind is mostly quiet and I finally relax.
I stay like that for a few minutes, just enjoying the water and atmosphere, but don’t let myself get lost in the moment so I don’t lose track of time and miss my food delivery.
Just because I can, I turn on the steam option to the lowest setting and watch as a fine mist gathers in the air around me as I pick up the small bottle of body wash I stashed on the ledge when I first checked in.
The hotel has a full supply of high-end toiletries available, but I always use my own stuff when I travel.
A long and piercing wolf howl echoes in the bathroom as I squirt some of the body wash into my hand, and I chuckle softly when a group of loons chime in and echo the wolf’s howl.
The first time I heard a loon in person was when I went to a resort in Canada, and I almost shit myself because I thought it was a wolf.
The Canadian girl I was in the hot tub with laughed her ass off at my reaction, and that was the night I learned that loons really do sound like wolves, and that Canadians love it when tourists freak the fuck out at loon calls.
My thoughts wander away from that night, and flashes of memories filter through my mind as I smooth my sudsy hands over my chest and stomach.
A low, masculine chuckle, and a big, strong body against mine. A hard cock digging into my hip, and a hot, wet mouth wrapped around my dick. Soft hair sliding through my fingers, and muffled moans that mix with my own soft sighs of pleasure.
Without my permission, my dick thickens and fills as the gentle buzz of arousal surrounds me. Instead of fighting it, I loosely grip my cock. The light touch feels good, and a shiver of desire moves through me as I give myself a few slow strokes.
I don’t remember a lot of what happened at the rave, but the snippets of what went down in the smash room keep coming back to me like a highlights reel, and I speed up my hand as I let myself sink into the pleasure.
Surprisingly, my thoughts don’t shift to one of the countless hookups I’ve had, or the many incredible nights I’ve shared with various women over the years. In fact, they don’t shift at all, and instead of picturing a woman on her knees for me, the image that forms in my mind’s eye is Damon.
Part of me feels like I should be freaked out, but I just roll with it as I stroke my dick hard and fast as I rock my hips and thrust my cock through the circle of my hand.
The Damon in my fantasies is dressed how he was when we were abducted, and his hood is down, so I can’t even pretend like I’m picturing his alter ego.
And even though the smash room was dark and there’s no way I know what he looks like with my dick in his mouth, the image of him I’ve conjured up is so damn hot I can feel myself hurtling toward my release with all the speed of a freight train.
I keep working my dick as I picture Damon in front of me, those plush lips wrapped around my length as he moves over me.
I can almost feel the wet heat of his mouth, and my body tightens as fantasy Damon lifts his gaze and looks up at me, his incredible eyes full of heat and vulnerability.
Almost without warning, my orgasm explodes out of me, and I slap my free hand against the tiled wall as I come hard, my knees buckling and my entire body lighting up like a bonfire as I shoot over my hand.
When I can think again, I blink my eyes open and stare into the misty darkness.
What the hell? Reliving memories of getting blown while I jerk off isn’t unusual, but imagining Damon on his knees and picturing what he might have looked like is. And so is coming so hard I nearly fell over at the thought of him looking up at me while doing it.
Shaking my head, I step back under the spray to finish up my shower.
That was weird, but whatever. It’s not like a fantasy about a guy means anything, especially after going through something as traumatic as being abducted with said guy after a drug-induced hookup.
I just need to get some sleep, and everything will go back to normal in the morning.