Chapter 2 #3
If that wasn’t all crazy enough, Pax pulls the blindfold off, opens his eyes, and trains them directly on Blake.
“Blake,” he says confidently, clearly, with zero trace of ambiguity or uncertainty.
He doesn’t flinch or blink, doesn’t look away, just tosses the mask over his shoulder and beelines over.
As soon as he’s in reach, Pax bends down, takes Blake’s hand, and yanks him up without pretense, off of the bench.
Without a word, he takes off across the sand, dragging Blake behind.
As they power-walk up the path and around the pool area towards the bedroom, the sound of catcalls and laughter follows.
Blake’s heart is beating nearly out of his chest. Like an absolute girl, he wonders if this will be all he’ll get with Pax — if they’ll have sex and then he’ll be out of Pax’s system.
That idea sits terribly in Blake’s stomach, like a spoiled meal.
He pushes forward anyway, because he wants Pax.
More than he’s wanted anyone in a very long time — maybe ever.
As ridiculous as that thought is, Blake clings to it, because it’s something — something new.
It’s that space in the middle of his chest, the one that’s been empty for so long, suddenly tingling back to life.
It’s hope, possibility, maybe. It’s a glimpse of all the things Blake wanted and thought he could have, once upon a time.
Feelings he long-since buried and convinced himself were only for children, for dreamers, for other people who aren’t Blake — all of that, somehow breaking through.
And how Pax could do that to him, how he could crack that ice, that brick wall Blake’s built around his heart with a mere couple of looks and one (really spectacular) kiss, Blake’s got no idea.
But here they are. And maybe none of this is real, maybe it’s all some elaborate fairytale Blake’s concocted in his head combined with the romantic, seductive atmosphere of the resort.
Whatever. Blake doesn’t even care, he’s just not ready to let go of any of it just yet.
“This room is so stupid,” Blake mutters, as Paxton shoves open the heavy door. It doesn’t swing wide normally, instead, it pivots in the middle on a hinge, smacking them both in the face with a huge blast of cold air. “Doesn’t know if it wants to be a hotel suite or fuckin’ summer camp.”
“Admittedly, the lack of privacy for sleeping and sex is… an interesting choice,” Paxton remarks, still holding onto Blake’s hand as he leads him through the room to the last bed on the right. “Considering the premise of this whole thing.”
“Right,” Blake agrees. “I mean, no offense, but not all of us are into the orgy thing.”
Paxton’s grin widens on his face as he turns, sinking down onto the bed he’s claimed for himself and releasing Blake’s hand.
“None taken. Normally I would tell you that you shouldn’t knock what you haven’t tried, but I have to say, I’m feeling much more monogamous than usual.
” He pulls his bottom lip in between his teeth and Blake is stuck awkwardly willing his ears not to turn the hot shade of red he can feel creeping over them.
Weird choice of words, he thinks. Monogamous.
Blake has to force himself not to dwell — it probably doesn’t mean anything.
Hell, this is the second time since they’ve met just a few short hours ago that Pax has mentioned his love of orgies, and Blake really needs to stop reading into things.
They’re here to hook-up, and Blake can do that.
In fact, it’s the best weapon he’s got at his disposal to make Paxton want more.
“Come here,” Paxton says, holding out his hand again, and Blake goes willingly, folding himself into Paxton’s lap and sinking into his body. Something about the way they fit together — it’s pretty damn perfect, and Blake’s been with a lot of bodies in his life.
Pax’s is his damn ideal — strong enough to toss Blake around if he’s in the mood, but soft in all the right ways. Thighs that can squeeze around Blake’s hips or head, slopes and planes that beg to be licked, hair that’s soft and the perfect length to fuck up between his fingers.
Yeah, Pax is fuckin’ hot.
This kiss is fire too, same as before — Pax is licking enthusiastically into Blake’s mouth while sliding a hand underneath his shirt and up his back.
His hands are big and his palm is warm on Blake’s skin.
In his lap, Blake scrapes his nails over Pax’s scalp, rocks his pelvis against Pax’s belly, urges him to lay back on the bed and to take Blake down with him.
On all fours and hovering over an increasingly disheveled Paxton, Blake brackets Pax’s head with his forearms and grinds their groins together.
Fuck, yeah, Pax is hard beneath him, and already making noises like he really digs what Blake is doing, which is not very much.
Just dragging his mouth over the bolt of the guy’s jaw, sucking kisses into his neck, and running fingers up and down his side.
Real starter-kit stuff. For a guy who’s supposedly into group sex, Pax seems kind of easy to impress, the way he’s tugging Blake closer and curling into him.
Just as they’re really finding a rhythm, there’s an odd sound — like a chime — that goes off from a couple of feet away, somewhere near the middle of the room.
“Huh?” Blake mutters as he breaks away from Paxton’s mouth, startled. Blinking, his eyes adjust and alight on a foot-tall, cone-shaped piece of white plastic that Blake previously assumed was an air-freshener.
“Did we make that happen?” Paxton questions, up on his elbows now and squinting at the cone with suspicion. Rightfully so, probably, because the thing is now glowing with purple light. “Why is it doing that? Is it an alarm?”
“How the fuck should I know?” Blake retorts, scrambling off of Paxton to lean closer and get a better look.
The cone chimes again, sending him tipping backward and into Paxton’s side.
It doesn’t escape Blake’s notice that Pax’s hands continue touching him, even if it’s just a stroke down his back, a comforting palm on his thigh.
“Hello,” the cone says, and Blake yelps, despite the fact that its voice is a very non-threatening female AI with a British accent. Uh-oh. Blake senses a twist coming. “I’m Ava,” the cone continues.
“Hello, Ava,” Paxton says, like it’s perfectly normal to converse with a sentient air freshener.
“Welcome to your first night at the Retreat. I hope the accommodations are to your liking,” Ava says.
“Perfect,” Blake replies with a snort, since, when in Rome. “Think we could get our own room?”
Whether Ava doesn’t hear or doesn’t care, she ignores Blake’s question. “I must say, you are all aesthetically pleasing to the artificial eye.”
“You too, Ava,” Paxton says, approvingly.
“You look great,” Blake agrees, holding up an ‘OK’ sign. “Love your cone. The purple lighting is really flattering.”
“I must ask you to make your way to the sitting area off of the pool,” Ava instructs.
“I don’t want to,” Blake complains as Paxton moves to stand, tugging him back down into several more kisses that turn progressively more involved until Ava chimes irritably at them again.
“Hurry up lovebirds,” she says. “I haven’t got all night.”
“What the fuck,” Blake moans as Paxton laughs and tugs him to his feet, leading him back out to the pool the way they came. “That was so weird.”
Out on the patio, the rest of the cast has already gathered, and all of them look as confused and anxious as Blake feels. Ariana finds him immediately, looking excitedly between Blake and Pax while raising her eyebrows.
“Good times?” she asks.
“Not as of yet,” Blake grumbles, gesturing to another Ava-cone he sees glowing placidly on the small table set in between two of the loveseats.
The furniture is arranged in a semi-circle under the portico next to the pool, and everyone slowly makes their way there while the cameras follow.
“C-3PO the next generation has cockblock programming, apparently.”
Beside him, Paxton keeps hold of Blake’s hand, squeezing reassuringly before using it to tug Blake down, almost into his lap, on the thick cushioned seat.
Not that Blake minds. The other cast members take their seats as well, looking around and pointing out the places they’ve noticed other “Ava”s hiding in plain sight.
They’re everywhere. That can’t be a good sign.
Despite the interruption, though, Pax is clearly still into him, leaning over to kiss Blake softly and grace him with a smile while they wait.
Ava chimes. “Hello. I’m your virtual guide,” she says.
“Hey J.A.R.V.I.S., what’s good?” Vincent calls out, and everyone laughs. Amber laughs a little too hard. Blake gets the reference and snorts.
“Actually, my name is Ava. Welcome. However, you are not here for the reasons you may think. Over the last twelve hours, I have been observing you and learning about your behavior. It has been most insightful.”
“Alright, that’s kind of fucked up,” Matt comments, wrinkling his nose and showing the most personality Blake’s seen from him yet. He nods his own agreement.
“You have been specially selected because all of you are having meaningless flings over genuine relationships.”
“Oh my God,” Leah says.
“The purpose of this retreat is to help you gain deeper, more meaningful connections in your personal relationships.”
“You mean like… platonic relationships? With women?” Vincent scoffs.
“And men,” Paxton adds airily, seemingly unfazed.
“Touché,” Vincent agrees, pointing a finger in Pax’s direction. Blake squashes his jealousy — after all, Pax’s hand is still in his.
At this point, Rachel the producer calls out from where she’s crouching next to one of the cameramen. “Look surprised and excited about what she says next or we’ll have to do it over!”