Page 4 of Lucky Shot
I jump when there’s a slap at my door. “Let’s go, Noah! You’re going to miss the wreckage.”
The image in my head shatters, and I look at myself objectively. If I didn’t have such fair skin, I’d allow myself to burn like Max did. Would I still be pretty, then?
I’m in a white Speedo and while I wish I was brave enough to have bought the one that basically turns transparent when wet, I didn’t. This one is thin, but the material is thick enough that my modesty is preserved.
As if I had modesty. If I actually did, I would be wearing more than a Speedo, right?
Leaving the bathroom, I flick off the light and grab the spray sunscreen from the desk. I douse the front of me as best I can and then head for the hall. I appreciate that these doors are all key coded. It would be a pain in the ass to try to keep track of a key all day.
As soon as I’m on the deck, I grin. We’re off the shore of some island and the waters are so fucking clear. But I need help with my sunscreen still, so I scan around the deck trying to find someone a bit indifferent to me. That way, when I ask them to rub sunscreen on my back, they don’t think I’m asking for a fuck.
I spot Azure sitting at a high top with what I presume is coffee or tea. How he can drink something hot when the sun is already blazing down on us, I can’t imagine. With sunscreen in hand, I head for him.
He’s one of those people that can give you the creeps sometimes. Clinical sociopath or something. Based on the way he’s a beat late to respond and how he’s constantly just watching feels creepy. It doesn’t help that his hair is dark as night, but his eyes are eerily light.
“Hey,” I say as I stop at his table. His gaze turns to me and locks. He tilts his head ever so slightly, but his eyes remain on mine. “Help?” I ask and hold up my sunscreen.
There it is. A beat before he responds, and it’s to raise his eyebrow as if asking, ‘seriously?’ Yep, I’m serious.
Rounding the table, I hand him the bottle and turn, gather my hair that is just starting to touch my neck, and wait. Another beat passes, but then he gently pushes me forward a few inches and gets to his feet. I grin and close my eyes as he begins to spray down my back. Then his hands follow, rubbing it in.
His fingers dip just below the elastic in my Speedo and then curl slightly around my waist and ribs, over my shoulders, and around my neck. My heart races when both his hands are circling my neck and I try not to react at all.
“Arms,” he says, and I let my hair go to hold my arms out a bit.
Azure sprays the backs of them and then rubs them. He gets to his knees and sprays the backs of my legs, again his fingers dip under my Speedo to get the skin that may be exposed when I move around.
When he’s on his feet, he turns me to face him. Azure is a few inches taller than me, and I look straight ahead at his bare chest. He’s wearing a patterned chain necklace—five links of chain and then a short bar of metal—that hangs halfway down his sternum.
“Close your eyes,” he says as he sets the sunscreen on the table and rubs his hands together. I do and then he’s rubbing his hands over my face. I sputter with laughter, but he’s thorough, getting right up into my hairline and over my ears.
There’s a moment where I’m slightly giddy. This is exactly the kind of treatment I’ve always craved. It’s not just being taken care of, but having it be so completely that I’m almost a doll. Where my partner does all the things I’m capable of doing and all I do is let him.
“Did you get your chest?” Azure asks, and I blink at him, pulling myself out of my reverie. His eyes are scanning down my body, but unlike with most people, I don’t feel like he’s ogling. He’s inspecting. It’s not for attraction purposes, but because I assigned him a job and he’s being thorough.
“Yes,” I say. “But you can do it again if you think I didn’t do a good job.” It’s kind of a tease, but I honestly just want to soak up another minute of being dolled up.
Azure’s gaze tracks down my body once more and ultimately decides I probably didn’t do a good enough job. So he gives the same treatment to my front. Again, his fingers dip beneath my Speedo, though he’s all business.
Of all the obvious and blatant come-ons I’ve received on this trip so far, this completely cool and professional touch is the first that actually garners the beginning of a reaction from me. It’s not physical; it’s because he’s the only person who is answering a need within me that no one else does. Ever.
Mostly because I can’t let that part of me show. Not as someone in the spotlight where a negative public reaction could cost me my entire career. I have an image, a reputation, and it all needs to fit within the expectations of a professional hockey player. Not a femme boy who wants to wear pretty things.
“Good?” Azure asks.
I blink a few more times and nod. My cheeks heat a little, so I turn toward the water. “Yep. You coming? Want to check out the sunken ships with me?”
Again, a beat passes before Azure steps next to me. I glance at him from the corner of my eye. He’s watching me. Assessing.
“This isn’t an invitation to fuck,” I blurt.
A moment of silence passes between us before he gives me an amused smirk. “Noted.”
Now my cheeks are ridiculously hot. “Sorry. I’ve just… It seems like anything I do can be interpreted as an invitation. Even if I’m just drinking my bottle of water.”
Azure nods. “I’ve noticed.”
“Of course you have.”
