Page 27 of Branson's Promise

Satiated, and riding the glow of our shared releases, we fumbled around until we were all in the large bed. Noel lay next to me on his side, his head resting on one elbow, while I sat with my back against the headboard with Milo between my legs.

My hands absentmindedly massaged his neck and shoulders as the three of us made small talk about everything but the most important matter at hand. It seemed my two men had plenty to say while they were fucking me but very little to say afterwards. The problem was, I knew what I wanted to say, but I was so happy and content in the moment that I didn’t want to risk ruining whatever comfortable arrangement we had fallen into after that out of this world experience.

“So, a nipple ring?” I said, turning my head to face Noel, while my hand ticked along the back of Milo’s neck. I loved the goosebumps that broke out when I scratched my nails along the hairline there.

Noel hummed, looking at me, his gaze moving from my hands and back to meet my eyes. “I lost a bet at a bachelor party in Las Vegas, and this,” he ran his hand over the silver barbell in his nipple, “was my reward for losing. I’d planned to take it out but grew attached to it, so it stayed.”

Resting my hand on Milo’s shoulder, I reached the other out to tweak the bar, eliciting a small moan from Noel. “Don’t start something you don’t intend to finish.”

“Who says I don’t intend to finish?” I asked and Milo shook his head in front of me.

“You’re insatiable,” he said, shuffling further back so he was almost sitting on my lap. I resumed running my hands over his shoulders, this time venturing further down to where his tattoos were more intricate, taking up almost all the skin along his back. My hand ran over what felt like a lump under his skin and when I looked closer, I could see small raised areas hidden among his tattoos. To the naked eye they were almost invisible, but this close up, I could see them. Woven into the garden of floral prints decorating his skin was a scattering of small scars. He had taken a lot of effort to have them covered and the artwork was spectacular, doing an amazing job of doing just that. I opened my mouth to say something as my finger traced one of the patterns and my finger snagged on a particularly large scar. Before I could get my words out, Milo’s muscles tensed and he sucked in a deep breath.

Noel had rolled onto his back and was talking to us about a hotel they were building out in Australia and how he’d been out there for the first time recently, so he didn’t notice the shift in Milo until Milo jumped off the bed, grabbing for his discarded shirt on the floor.

“Um,” he started, “thank you for tonight, for including me in -” he waved a shaky hand as he stepped back towards the door “- this, but I will let you two get back to your night.”

In the hidden depths of my gut, I’d had this feeling he’d run again. And that was probably Noel and my fault for not telling him exactly what we had hoped from tonight. My stomach twisted uncomfortably as Milo shut down, a brief shadow of panic clouding his beautiful features.

Standing from the bed, I reached a hand forward as though approaching a scared animal, but Milo didn’t halt, instead, he dressed quickly and reached for the door handle. His entiredemeanour along with the atmosphere in the room had changed. Whether because of what we had done, or what I had felt and he now thought I knew about him, I wasn’t sure.

“Milo,” came a deep, commanding voice from behind me. “We don’t want you to leave. Branson and I were hoping we could talk with you about this, about us. You, him and I,” Noel clarified.

But Milo just shook his head and opened the door.

“I can’t, I’m sorry, I just -” his words broke off before he gathered himself and tried again, “I really enjoyed tonight, but I can’t do this right now, sorry.” And with that, he left the room.

Turning to face Noel, I caught a hint of disappointment, but he still pasted on a sweet smile. “He said he can’t do this right now. Not that he can’t do this at all. That’s good, right?” I asked hopefully.

Noel stood and pulled me into him, his warm embrace and invading scent doing wonders at calming my nerves. It was always a possibility that Milo didn’t want what we did but I had foolishly convinced myself in the past few hours that we were all on the same page.

“I have a feeling our little artist has some secrets in his closet and his leaving is more about that than about us, Branson.” Noel kissed the top of my sweat-streaked head. “Come on, let’s shower. As much as I love the smell of sex on you, we have a car ride with Mia tomorrow and I doubt she’d appreciate it as much as I do.”

Noel was right - not only about the smell of sex - but about Milo. The more I got to know him, the more it was clear that someone or something had hurt him. I knew what it was like to hurt, but everyone wore their trauma and their pain in different ways and whatever it was that was in Milo’s life that haunted him, he didn’t want us to know.

Chapter 14

Milo

Laughter greeted me as I walked down the stairs the next morning and I paused as I reached the entrance to the kitchen and leaned against the wall just out of sight. I listened to Mia’s gentle voice as she spoke to someone and I poked my head around the door to find Mia and Noel sitting at the kitchen bar, their backs to me and an open laptop in front of Noel. They both had cups of coffee and plates of bacon and eggs in front of them and the smell reached my nose and made my mouth water but I didn’t go in, instead I stood silently while they spoke.

“I don’t mind flying commercial, if that’s easier?” Mia asked and Noel chuckled as his fingers clicked away on the keyboard.

“Nope, we’re doing this trip in style. I’ve sent my PA, Madeline, an email and she will let the flight crew know the details and blank out my calendar over Thanksgiving weekend. Madeline will also sort out our rooms, so all that’s left is for you to decide on what you want to see and do for those few days.”

Mia clapped her hands in excitement then threw her arms around Noel’s neck, enveloping him in a huge hug. “This is really happening? We’re really going to London?”

“We are, like I told your brother, I don’t make promises I don’t intend to keep. You want to see London and I want to show it to you. Now here, take my laptop and jot down some ideas. If there’s anything you want to do, like a theatre show or tour, let’s get those booked in.” As Noel pushed the laptop in front of Mia, I backed away from the kitchen and paused in the hallway, resting my head against the firm surface of the wall.

It was so easy to presume Noel wouldn’t follow through with his promises - that was my gut reaction - but he’d proven in just a short span of time that that wasn’t in his nature. What had taken my father years to never achieve, Noel had done in a morning. My gut churned as I thought about the way I’d perceived him, how I’d judged him so harshly and so easily without giving him an ounce of my trust when in reality he had never done anything to warrant it.

I felt like one big ball of confusion - with what had happened between Noel, Branson and I, the clearly incorrect assumptions I’d made about Noel, and now these feelings that I didn’t understand towards both of these men - yeah, a ball of confusion summed me up perfectly.

A few hours later, I lined my bag up at the front door as I watched my sister begrudgingly thump down the stairs. “I can’t believe the weekend is over already,” Mia huffed as she pulled her duffle bag as though it was a reluctant toddler. She tossed it at the front door next to mine, then came to wrap her arms around my waist. “Are you okay, Milo? You seem a little tense.” She dropped her voice, looking to the stairs, before saying, “He’s really not that bad. I know you’ve moaned about the way he throws his money around like dad, but I think he’s different. It wouldn’t hurt to try being friendly to him.” She gave me a squeeze before dropping her arms and throwing a final comment my way, “He’s also really easy on the eyes.”

I groaned, rolling my eyes before turning towards the stairs to see Branson bounding down, a shit-eating grin on his face, aimed directly at me. Heat flushed in my cheeks and I averted my gaze, busying myself by grabbing mine and Mia’s bags and pulling them outside to where Raymond was waiting with Noel’s gas-guzzling monstrosity.

The last thing I wanted to do was be trapped in a car with Branson and Noel. Not after I’d flaked on them last night or before I’d had a chance to get my own thoughts and feelings in order. Branson had gotten just a little too close to my secrets. I’d been caught up in the moment - euphoric and buzzing from the pleasure and the intimacy - and I hadn’t predicted that he’d notice my scars, but he had, and I’d sensed the words before he had a chance to say them - the question floating in the air around us. Like angry bees with their sights set on me with no escape unless I ran. So I did.

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