Page 64 of Touch In Excess

Skye tugged Rami along toward the car, his feet moving faster with an urgency he didn’t entirely understand. Whathe did know was that he needed to be somewhere quiet. Somewhere he could speak and understand when Rami spoke back to him. He needed the chaos to settle so he could comfort his lover because changing his plans to make Rami feel safe was not a hardship. It would never be a hardship.

And he needed Rami to understand that.

Dropping the blanket by the side of the back door, Skye unlocked the car and gestured for Rami to get in. He slid behind the wheel, then leaned back and took a breath before snagging his hearing aid case from the dash.

They were nearly charged and on when he put them in, so it only took a second for his world to adjust to a rushing of sound he hadn’t had access to before. The hitch in Rami’s breath, the little hum of his own, the creaking of the leather seats beneath them.

Turning his head, he licked his lips. “Can you repeat what you were saying out there? I didn’t understand all of it.”

It took Rami a second. It was obvious he was struggling with verbal speech. He lifted his hands and dropped them twice, and Skye hated himself for not being fluent enough to give Rami a break from trying to connect his brain to his mouth.

“I ruined today. Everything feels broken, and I’m so sorry.”

Skye leaned over, curling his hand lightly around the back of Rami’s neck, and pulled him in until their foreheads were touching. Rami hated eye contact, but Skye had come to learn he loved this. And it felt far more intimate than simply meeting his gaze.

“Nothing is broken. Nothing is ruined. I love the beach. It’s kind of a calming place for me. But I also take my hearing aids out and dull all the sounds. It’s less overwhelming that way, and I don’t have the same sensory sensitivities you do. I don’t mind leaving.”

“You seemed like you needed it,” Rami pointed out.

Skye shook his head, then dipped down and took a quick but possessive kiss. “I needed to be with you.” He let him go and sat back, and then something dawned on him, and he grabbed his phone from the console. “I have an idea.”

“What—”

“Let me see if it’s possible before I tell you,” Skye interrupted.

Rami nodded and sat back while Skye sent his text. As he waited, he stepped out to put the blanket back in the car, and the moment he was in the open, he could hear the crashing waves. Not as intense as they were on stormy days, but he understood why it would be too much for Rami. The sound was soothing to him, but it was also chaotic.

Getting back in, he saw his light blinking on the phone and picked it up, smiling. Rami gave him a curious look, and Skye tapped his fingers on the back of his phone. “Can it be a surprise?”

Rami’s eyes widened, brows lifting. “I…don’t always love surprises.”

“I think you might like this one,” Skye told him. He was pretty sure he knew Rami well enough to gauge, though he was now beyond nervous.

Rami worried his bottom lip between his teeth, then let out a breath and nodded. “Yes. I think I’ll like your surprise.”

Skye felt a rush in his chest as he started the car, backed out of the spot, and began to drive.

It was clear Rami had no idea where they were when Skye pulled into the small parking lot. He was looking around, clearlyconfused since they were right in the middle of downtown, and that was the last place Skye would have normally taken him.

But they weren’t going to the main street. Skye had a code on his phone and a plan.

“It seems…crowded out there today,” Rami said nervously. “On the street. A lot of p-people shopping.”

Skye turned to him and took his hand, kissing his knuckles. “We’re not going shopping. We’re going in through that door.” He pointed to the rust-stained metal door in the back of the building.

Rami blinked at him. “In…the building?”

“It’s not open to the public right now. And you’ll see right away where we are. Trust me?”

Rami hesitated, then nodded and got out of the car. Skye followed him and met him at the curb. He offered one hand out, which Rami grabbed, squeezing nervously, and he used his other to punch the code into the panel on the wall that disengaged the dead bolt. The lock clicked open, the sound heavy, reverberating against his palm.

He tugged on the handle, then held the door open with his foot while Rami stepped in ahead of him. When it shut, Skye glanced around, then found the alarm and typed in the same code to shut it off. There was a series of small beeps, just like August said there would be.

And then there was silence.

At least, he was pretty sure there was silence.

“It smells like paint,” Rami said.

---