Page 14 of Sinners Retreat

Where there are pools, there are children.

I glance at my wristwatch and groan internally. It’s already half-past six. If I want to shower and ready the room for potential female company, I need to shake a leg.

My options stand before me. On one side is a child predator who offends all the senses and begs to be slain. On the other stands an attractive, intelligent woman who tantalizes me in every way and begs to be fucked. Thoroughly.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath before I say, “I’m probably going to have an early night, so you boys are on your own.”

“Such a shame,” Bennett says. “You could have had so much fun. But I guess the fun is all mine now, huh, Gary?”

He claps a hand on the wheedling man’s back and nearly sends him onto the bed. Gary just grins. He doesn’t even realize he won’t have teeth to grin with by the time Bennett finishes with him.

“Yes, well, I need to shower and ready myself for bed. If you boys don’t mind shuffling out of here, that would be great.” I motion them toward the door.

As they exit the room, I catch Gary mentioning a karaoke machine in the attached bar. Bennett turns to me with a final pleading look, but I just smile and usher him out. Hopefully it’s not the same lounge where I plan to meet Kindra.

I close the door behind them, return to the bed, and sift through my suitcase. Everything is folded and bagged for ease. My hand fishes around until I pull a clump of dark denim from inside one of the bags. Despite trying to avoid them, wrinkles glare back at me. Maybe they’ll loosen while I shower.

I hang the jeans and a dark-grey button-up on a rack in the bathroom. An iron offers a reproachful look from the small closet across the way, but I’m not exactly domestically inclined. The steam will have to do.

I turn on the hot water and step into the large walk-in shower. As I lather my body with the provided hotel soaps, I curse myself for not bringing along a travel set of my own making. Instead of smelling like a man, I get to sit beside agoddess while I give off the aroma of a funeral parlor. Who chooses the fucking scent for these things?

Once I’ve rinsed off as much of the stink as I can, I step out of the shower and glare at the empty towel rack. I probably should have noticed that when I hung my still-wrinkled clothes there, but I was too consumed by thoughts of Kindra.

Like her ample breasts. And the way her bottom lip forms the perfect landing zone for my cock. She’s a bit tightly wound, which leads me to think she’ll be the type to let loose in the bedroom. A man can dream.

I slosh water over the carpet as I head toward the phone in the room. After calling room service and requesting some fresh towels, I hurry back to the bathroom and use a rag to dry my body. Only then do I realize I’ve forgotten to grab a pair of boxers from my bag. I exit the bathroom once more and nearly run into a frail housekeeper.

The gray-haired woman in front of me isn’t the least bit fazed. She holds a towel toward me and stands there as if seeing a naked man isn’t at all concerning to her.

“Please speak of this to no one,” I say before rushing to the bathroom.

After securing the towel around my waist, I open the door to apologize to her properly, but the woman must be part apparition because she’s disappeared. I step into the hall, but she’s not there either.

Then the door clicks shut behind me.

I turn and rattle the handle, though I know it won’t open. My room key lies on the other side of the door, along with my clothing, cell phone, and dignity.

Well, fuck.

With no other option, I head down the hall toward my brother’s room. I can only hope he and Gary haven’t yet gone out for the evening.

I rap my fist against the door and am flooded with relief when it opens. My brother steps back to allow me to enter, but I don’t miss the questions firing in his eyes. I have a few questions of my own when I glance at one of the two beds and see Gary in a deep sleep.

“Bennett, you didn’t,” I whisper.

“Oh, I did. I have zero interest in karaoke or any activity which involves public attention. I also didn’t relish the idea of spending an entire evening listening to his voice, so I did myself a favor and slipped a little something into his pre-game cocktail.”

While I prefer for my prey to be fully awake and aware of whatever I have in store for them, Bennett enjoys knocking them unconscious and putting them in precarious situations before they wake up. When it comes to our shared pastime, I am a creature of habit, but my brother is a creator of chaos.

“You can’t do anything until we reach the island,” I remind him.

“Yes, and how unfortunate,” he says as he stares at the sleeping man on the bed. He turns back to me. “Why are you in my room dressed in little more than a thin strip of scratchy cotton?”

“It’s a long story, but suffice to say, I have locked myself out of my room. Did they give you a spare key at the front desk?”

Bennett shakes his head and covers his mouth to hide his smile, but his eyes give away his sheer enjoyment of my folly.

Fuck him.

---