The Captain and the Best Man

by Catherine Curzon

  “Is that nice?” Josh asked. “I got this at the airport too! It’s a bit posh, isn’t it?”

  “Well, a chap should treat himself when he’s flying to Guadeloupe.” Guy’s skin was slippery and warm when they embraced, fragrant and fizzing with bubbles. “Cinnamon buns are just the start of it!”

  Josh chuckled. He couldn’t remember a time he’d had more fun with someone he’d known for barely a day. “Buns! You have very nice buns. Sorry…I’m being rude.”

  “You’re very rude,” Guy agreed, beaming. He took the shower gel and squeezed it decadently onto Josh’s chest, running his hands through the bubbles. “And the best buns on this island!”

  “Nice and firm. Just for you,” Josh purred. He closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation of Guy’s caresses and the water raining down on them. And now it wasn’t only Josh’s buttocks that were nice and firm.

  “Would you like me to give you the benefit of my experience?” Guy teased, stroking his hands lower. “Nice and firm suits you.”

  Josh shivered with anticipation. “Go on, then…”

  With one more kiss, Guy dropped to his knees before Josh. He blinked up at him through the water. “You’re glorious, you know.”

  Josh smiled down at him. He’d never been described as glorious before, and certainly not in a voice that sounded like velvet. The word rebounded inside Josh’s head as he gazed down at Guy.

  Resting his hands on Guy’s shoulders, Josh said, “You make me feel glorious.”

  “You should.” Guy stroked Josh’s buttocks. He shifted forward just a little then drew the tip of his tongue along Josh’s erection, teasing him. “See? Glorious.”

  Josh moaned and ran his hand through Guy’s hair. “You’re magnificent,” he murmured.

  This wasn’t the sort of thing that happened to Josh, yet here he was, an airline pilot on his knees before him, dotting long, slow kisses to his body and massaging his buttocks with a very confident touch. Eventually Guy took Josh’s erection between his lips and slowly, tenderly, began to move.

  My captain.

  Josh watched Guy through half-closed eyes. The man was exquisite and his, and maybe not just for their stay. Josh moved his hips gently against Guy, soon finding a rhythm between them that seemed to have always been there.

  Guy somehow knew just how to please him, as though they’d known each other for years, not just one day. His hands were so assured in the massage, his mouth so soft, tongue and lips working against Josh’s body as the water showered down over them.

  Murmuring his lover’s name, for the second time that evening Josh climaxed. He leaned back against the shower tiles, smiling like a fool because he couldn’t remember feeling this happy before.

  “Captain Collingwood, you’re the finest pilot who ever flew.”

  “I’m having the most wonderful night.” Guy rocked back on his knees and looked up at him. “With the most wonderful man.”

  “I’m so glad we’ve met,” Josh said. He grinned—the sparkle in Guy’s eyes warmed him. As he watched, Guy rose to his feet, never breaking their gaze.

  Glorious.

  “Can I take you back to bed, darling?”

  Josh held his arms out to Guy. “I’d love that.”

  Guy gathered Josh into his arms as though he was a groom crossing the threshold. Josh snuggled against Guy’s chest, feeling those firm muscles again. Guy reached up and turned off the water then carried him from the bathroom and back to the bed.

  Our bed.

  Josh pretended it was a luxurious four-poster bed, because in Guy’s arms that was exactly what it seemed to be, not a basic double bed draped with mosquito nets. Everything seemed brighter, more burnished somehow, with Guy.

  Guy paused at the bed to kiss Josh, then laid him down on the sheets. He watched Guy settle beside him, rivulets of water on his broad shoulders.

  “Hold me,” Josh whispered. Guy enfolded him in his strong arms, cradling him to his chest.

  “Thank you,” he sighed. “This has been the best birthday I’ve ever had.”

  Josh blinked away the droplets of water that still hung in his eyelashes. He wondered if he and Guy would still know each other by the time his next birthday rolled around. “Even if you didn’t get the cinnamon bun?”

  “I’ve got you instead, darling.” Guy kissed his hair. “What else could I want?”

  Josh ran his finger down the side of Guy’s cheek. There was such sincerity in Guy, which almost seemed at odds with his unassailable confidence. But Josh supposed that the person he was seeing now was something close to the real Guy Collingwood. A tender, sweet man, packaged within the delicious outer wrapping of an assured and glamorous pilot.

  He had never known anyone quite like him.

  Still holding Josh, Guy pulled the cool sheet over them. Then he whispered, “I don’t want to go to sleep. Is that terribly silly?”

  “No, not at all!” Josh rested his cheek against Guy’s, feeling his breath warm against his skin. “But we have all of the time here on St Sebastian, and all the time we like once we’re home.”

  “Autumn in England suddenly seems a lot brighter,” Guy replied. “Don’t you think?”

  Josh nodded, grinning. He certainly hadn’t been expecting a romance. “Long walks through the fallen leaves—if you like that sort of thing.”

  Would a glamorous long-haul pilot enjoy something so pedestrian?

  “How terribly bored would you be if I suggested Richmond Park?” Guy kissed his hair. “The deer are always worth a wander.”

  “I’d love that,” Josh whispered against Guy’s chest, his voice slow with advancing sleep.

  “Then we’ll do it,” he heard his lover murmur, his lips still resting soft against Josh’s hair. “Kick some autumn leaves around.”

  “And go for a cinnamon bun afterward.” As Josh closed his eyes, his lashes brushed Guy’s chest. “Night-night, Captain Collingwood…”

  “Goodnight, darling,” his captain whispered. “Sleep tight.”

  Chapter Four

  Josh awoke to the sound of the waves and the distant call of gulls. Somewhere, someone was laughing. He had no idea what time it was, and he opened one eye, for a moment wondering how he’d managed to fit a four-poster bed into his flat.

  Then all of the events of yesterday came back to him in one go, and Josh grinned against his pillow.

  Wow.

  “Good morning.” There was that voice, as smooth as silk, close against Josh’s ear. “Sleep well?”

  Josh turned, his lips just brushing against Guy’s face. The fact that Guy had stayed and not done an early flit pleased Josh more than he could say. “Morning…I did sleep well, thanks. Did you?”

  “I had some very nice dreams,” he admitted, slipping his arm around Josh’s waist. “And managed to secure us an especially decadent breakfast, which should be waiting on the balcony whenever we can bring ourselves to get out of bed.”

  Josh put his arm around Guy in return and gazed at the tousled-haired pilot, taking in the flecks of gold in his sparkling blue eyes.

  “You get better and better! Handsome and able to magic breakfast out of thin air.” Josh sighed. “I don’t want to get out of bed. I want to spend the whole of my week here with you.”

  “Well, let’s barricade the doors and keep very quiet. I won’t tell”—Guy kissed Josh’s nose—“if you don’t.”

  “Not a word, promise.” Josh passed his lips over Guy’s then kissed him, very softly. But as they were naked and entwined in bed, their kiss began to deepen. He felt Guy’s hands stroking his back, a perfect combination of heat and tenderness, the same hands that had safely piloted them halfway across the world just twenty-four hours earlier.

  Josh roamed his hands across Guy, sighing into their kiss with appreciation of his body. He sighed even more as he finally slid down to Guy’s erection and feathered his fingertips along it. An answering sigh escaped Guy’s lips as his hands came to rest on Josh’s buttocks, cupping them w
ith obvious relish.

  Josh grinned. To think that this man wanted him… How could it be true?

  He broke from their kiss for long enough to say, “I don’t suppose there’s time before breakfast to…” Guy was so sophisticated, Josh thought for a moment to choose the right words. “Have another moment?”

  “Breakfast can wait,” Guy said. “Don’t you think?”

  “I think so, yes.” Josh shifted a little, bringing Guy on top of him. “Like this?”

  “Perfect,” his lover whispered, reaching out for bedside table where Josh’s travel essentials waited. He was as assured as ever, barely breaking their kisses as he rolled the condom over his erection. In fact, they seemed deeper than they had been, and Josh faintly heard the tube landing back on the table before Guy’s hands were on his body again.

  Josh stretched one arm up above his head on the pillows. He caressed Guy’s side, enjoying the sensation of strength in him.

  And he’s mine.

  For St Sebastian, for the deer park…

  There was such tenderness in Guy as he brought their bodies together, despite the power Josh felt in him. He closed his hand around Josh’s against the pillow and ducked his head for another kiss, sinking against him as he did.

  Josh crossed his legs around Guy, feeling so close to him that it was almost as if they were melting into one. There would be many mornings like this, he hoped.

  Josh was no blushing innocent and he had a suspicion that Captain Guy certainly wasn’t, but here, in the dappled sunlight, was something new. A sense of something so ridiculously right, so absolutely perfect that it seemed almost absurd. And wonderful.

  “Guy…” Josh said against Guy’s cheek, trying not to graze him with his morning stubble. “You’re amazing.”

  “It’s a pilot thing,” Guy deadpanned, then added with a playful wink, “That’s a joke, don’t worry.”

  Josh chuckled as he tightened his hand with Guy’s. He rocked his hips with Guy’s movements, the bed beginning to creak as Josh moaned with pleasure.

  A pilot thing.

  A thing for a pilot, maybe.

  Guy’s body moved with Josh, their gasps and sighs mingling together, both somehow made of sensation. Every kiss seemed deeper than the last, every embrace tighter and the world outside seemed to melt away, everything that mattered here in this small room.

  He was just the sort of man that Josh could fall in love with.

  Josh smiled at the thought. If what they had could work in the Hampshire drizzle, then love would follow, Josh was certain.

  And surely pilots must fall in love too.

  Guy’s fingers closed around Josh’s erection, his hand matching their rhythm and pace. He caught Josh’s earlobe softly between his teeth and whispered, “You are glorious, never forget.”

  Josh chuckled, but the sound transformed into a moan at Guy’s touch. “I don’t want this to end,” Josh murmured.

  “It doesn’t have to,” Guy whispered. “Not if we don’t want it to.”

  “You’re such a romantic,” Josh replied, ruffling Guy’s hair. Was Josh, though? Sometimes, maybe. And with Guy, he couldn’t help but be.

  “Someone has to be.” Guy smiled, touching his nose to Josh’s. “We’re a dying breed!”

  Josh grinned. Guy had made their encounter so sweet. Two men, meeting for the first time, promising each other romance only a day later.

  “I’d like to be a romantic too,” Josh admitted. “Can I try it out on you?”

  “Darling, I would love you to!”

  “I’ll try my best!” Josh tightened his legs around Guy as if giving him a hug. A particularly saucy one at that.

  Darling. Guy made it sound like the most decadent word on earth. Romantic wasn’t quite Josh, but with Captain Guy, it could be.

  Josh kissed him, and pleasure built in him again. His whole body felt alive and his veins seemed to be filled with light, as bright as the sun outside. Josh’s hips bucked against Guy’s and he moaned his name, again and again, until the words merged into a sigh.

  As the moments after that peak of pleasure ebbed away, and they lay together, their limbs entwined, Josh felt completely at peace. Guy’s kisses grew more relaxed, though his embrace was as strong as ever, and he whispered, “That’s a hell of a wake up.”

  “Let’s do that again sometime.” Josh smiled. He half-closed his eyes and listened to the soft sound of Guy’s breathing, the throb of the fan as it turned in the warm air above them, and the constant roll of the sea.

  “Name the day,” Guy said sleepily. “And I’ll be there.”

  Josh drew shapes on Guy’s shoulder with his fingertips. “The wedding party are arriving later this afternoon… I’ll have to go and see them, can’t let Groomzilla down, but maybe later—I could slip away. I could come round yours?”

  “You’ll find me out on the veranda, sipping rhum agricole and looking very smug indeed.” Guy smiled. “Whenever you like, darling, just drop round.”

  “You can count on it.” Josh kissed Guy’s cheek. Guy had the look of a man who was content to loaf, but Josh was thinking about the breakfast that awaited them. If they were going to spend several hours in bed, Josh wanted to make sure he’d eaten. “Darling? You mentioned breakfast.”

  “Did I?” He lifted his head, his expression nothing short of dreamy. “Do you have a robe I can borrow? I’m not in the mood for pesky old clothes!”

  “Yeah, there’s a couple of toweling robes in the bathroom.” Josh kissed Guy’s forehead. “Let me go and get them and we can be almost decent!”

  “I shall lounge until you return,” Guy decided. “Pilots are always experts in lounging.”

  “First-class lounge!” Josh quipped. He slipped out of the bed and went into the bathroom, returning with two plush dressing gowns, each with a small embroidered palm tree on the chest pocket. Josh laid one down on the bed for Guy. “Here you are, Captain.”

  “Oh, they’re very us!”

  Us.

  Guy threw back the sheet and finally climbed out of bed. He stretched his arms above his head, then ruffled his already tousled hair. “Do I look a fright?”

  Josh bit his lip, trying to rein in his smile. He’s mine. “You’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  “You bloody gorgeous liar.” Guy laughed. “But I love it anyway!”

  “It’s a shame to hide that gorg body, but…” Josh tied on his robe and did a twirl. “I look all fluffy!”

  No doubt with Josh’s words ringing in his ears, Guy tied his a little less securely, leaving just a tantalizing glimpse of his tan chest. Then he took Josh in his arms and said, “You’re very cuddly like this!”

  “A little bear to hug in bed!” Then Josh realized what he’d said. “I mean, I’m clearly not a bear as in some beardy leatherman—I’m your own personal teddy bear to cuddle up to at night.”

  “Oh, right.” Guy was suddenly grave. “The thing is, when I’m not flying, I prefer to be a leather-clad Grizzly Adams. Is that a problem?”

  Chuckling, Josh rubbed Guy’s stubble. “I’m sure you could work the look!”

  “Well, naturally!” He laughed. “The off-duty me is basically this, don’t worry!”

  “Pottering about Farnham in your elegant toweling robe?” Josh led them out onto the balcony. He stood on the threshold, absorbing the sound of the sea and the heat from the sun. He squeezed Guy’s hand and smiled.

  “I do a lot of pottering. And I should warn you that I’m a car nut.” Guy closed his eyes, breathing deeply. “Just so you know!”

  “Bet you drive something more zippy than my Fiat 500. You probably drive the car equivalent of a jumbo jet.”

  “In 1953, Grandpa Collingwood bought a Jag XK120 in British racing green,” Guy told him, a nostalgic look in his eyes. “Twenty years later, he gave it to my pa and twenty years after that, my pa gave it to me.” His smile faltered, then returned. “It’s a Collingwood family heirloom really!”

  “Fantastic! Y
ou’ll have to take me for a spin.” Josh supposed there was a niece or nephew somewhere who would drive the Collingwood Jag once Guy was ready to pass it on. But Josh had a feeling that wouldn’t be for a while.

  “Oh, believe me, I will.” He led Josh out to the table, where covered dishes awaited and, Josh noticed, what looked like a champagne bottle protruding from a silver bucket of ice. “We’ll chuck the hood down and hit the open road!”

  Josh pictured Guy’s hands on the wheel, and could hear the purr of the engine. He sat down at the table and lifted the lid from one of the dishes.

  “Cinnamon buns!”

  “Courtesy of Una, who also cooked your supper last night!” Guy took the bottle from the ice. “Should I mix up a Buck’s Fizz?”

  “Go on!” Josh helpfully lined up the glasses, ready. He watched Guy tear the foil and release the cage. Then he took the cork and, as though he did this all the time, popped it from the neck of the bottle.

  And it was so decadent, so perfect, that Josh felt that skip in his heart again.

  “And if your chums are getting wed on St Seb’s, it’ll be Una’s husband, Pierre, doing the service!” He poured out what Josh knew had to be fresh orange juice from a jug on the table, then added champagne. “Cheers!”

  “Cheers!” Josh settled in his chair. He squinted out to sea and sighed happily at the sparkling sapphire waves. And Guy was right there beside him, gazing out at the ocean. He reached across and put his hand on Josh’s knee, saying nothing.

  I don’t need to.

  Josh covered Guy’s hand with his own and entwined their fingers. It was odd to think that thousands of miles away across the ocean, England with its gray skies and drizzle was waiting for them. But back in England, they could be cozy beside a fireplace together and keep each other warm.

  “And here’s to the happy couple.” Guy raised his glass again. “They’ve got the best best man they could hope for!”

  Josh raised his glass too. “To Rey and Stella!”

  “Rey and Stella!” Guy repeated. “May they sail happily into the sunset!”