Page 133 of Why Cruise

“He wanted you to get some sleep. It’s better, well he says it’s better when he’s touching one of us. But he didn’t want to be all over you.”

“Weird, but okay.” I stretched again. Being with Mackenzie like this was comforting, like a hug.

“You need a shower and some food,” she said. Then her eyes darkened with concern. “Are you ready?” she asked.

I nodded and braced myself. I shuddered as she moved away, that moment of disconnection not feeling as horrible as usual. She groaned and sat up, then pulled me towards the bathroom.

I wrapped myself in a blanket as we walked through the luxurious sitting area. My hair was damp, and I didn’t like the sensation of it. After heat, I got oddly sensitive about certain sensations. The living room, lounge, whatever it was gleamed with touches of gold that might look tacky in full sunlight.

We stepped out onto the deck into the warm night air, but I still shivered and pulled the blanket closer. Ren and Justice were sitting with their heads together. Justice looked up and smiled. His long legs brought him to me in about three steps. He rubbed my arms like he was warming me up and tucked the blanket closer. He took my face in his hands like he was checking my eyes to make sure I was all in one piece.

“How are you?” he asked.

“Okay. Starving. Cold.”

He kissed me gently, like I might break into a thousand pieces, and then said, “Theo, can I bite you?”

“Fuck yes.”

I fought to swim my way out of the blanket. He peeled it back and slid an arm around me, and tilted my head to the side. It hurt in the best possible way. His teeth broke my skin and then I felt him rush inside me, filling every piece of me. I breathed into it and Mackenzie and Ren were there, too.

He let go and whispered “mine” into my ear. Ren joined us and put his arms around me, too. He stroked the other side of my neck.

“Mine,” he said simply, and I bent my neck for him. Ren’s bite was harder, more demanding. His aura seeped into mine, feeling like crisp morning air. He licked my neck and then turned my head left and right like he was admiring the marks. Mackenzie dove into the middle of our circle and hugged me.

I blinked, noticing something. “How come Mackenzie only has one bite?”

“Well,” she said, “things were a little hectic. Okay? You punched a cop. We thought Ren was going to die. And then some mobsters wanted to steal you? And then we got on this boat and things went a little crazy. Well, I didn’t want to presume. And then there were knots like everywhere…”

“Shhh.” Ren covered her mouth with his palm. “Can I bite you, Mackenzie?” he asked. She said “yes please” but it was muffled behind Ren’s hand.

“I could bite you right next to Justice’s? Or do you two want to be matchy-matchy?”

We both responded, “Matchy-matchy!”

Ren picked Mackenzie up. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he sank his teeth into her neck. Justice wrapped the blanket around my shoulders again and pulled me to sit on the squishy sofa.

Ren and Mackenzie crashed down beside us, still locked together. She sat straddling his lap. He admired the marks on her neck.

“Wow,” I said.

“I knew bite marks were erotic and shit, but I have no idea how I’m going to function with you two running around with those on your neck.”

Justice leaned over and agreed. “They look really hot.”

“So, what do we do now?” I asked. “Are we getting back on the cruise ship?”

“I think Epsilon of the Seas is back in Port Haven already.”

“Oh, right.” Heat lasted a couple of days, and we’d been at the end of the cruise.

“Todd the Butler brought our stuff over.” Mackenzie informed me.

“We could just, I don’t know, float around for a while,” Justice said.

“I’ll have to figure something out,” I said. “I only took like two and a half weeks off of work.”

Ren snickered.

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