Page 99 of Covenant

“Oh my god. It’s just a monkey.”

We all turn and see the creature perched on a rock, eating my sandwich.

“Oh shit,” Bron says with a small laugh. “Yeah, they will steal your food if it’s unattended. Sometimes they even take it right from your hands. One time, one even took it from my mouth.”

“Jesus,” I murmur as I try to compose myself. But I don’t really want to leave Matthias’s lap, and honestly, that monkey is making eyes at my fingers like he wants to snap them off and consume them.

I don’t trust the jungle.

“And no, there aren’t anacondas here. Just part of my dream. Was pretty wild,” Bron drawls.

We both stare at him and then he waves his hands around. “Wanna head back down? Looks like you might need to find something to eat sooner rather than later.”

“That’s fine with me,” I murmur as I stand, my legs trembling slightly.

Matthias runs his hand across my butt as he gets up. I glower at him as I skirt around the sandwich-eating monkey. It snickers at me, and I jump, moving closer to Matthias as we make our way down the trail.

“Didn’t know you were so scared of monkeys.”

“We don’t have them where we live, so you’d have no reason to know.”

He chuckles, and I nudge him with my elbow to shut him up.

It mostly works. He makes sure to point out all the monkeys on the trail. Bron chimes in too, and by the time we make it to the trailhead, I’m ready for a drink. Something strong. I watch as Matthias tips the guide and he wanders off.

“I’m ready for a hot bath and a massage. And a stiff drink,” I tell him.

Matthias holds back another laugh, and I glare at him.

“We’ll catch a cab home and I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”

“You better. That was awful.”

The longer we aren’t hiking the more I realize it wasn’t so bad. Looking back on it as we make our way to the villa, I realize it’s going to be a great memory, something I’ll look back on with fondness. I may even be able to laugh about the monkey.

But right now, my muscles ache.

When we make it into the villa, Matthias takes my hand and leads me to the bathroom, helping me strip down and enter the tub that is rapidly filling with water and bubbles.

“I’ll get the drink for you and then I’ll join you. If that’s okay?”

“Yeah. It is. And hurry. My feet need a massage. And my legs and back.”

He grins and disappears out of the bathroom. My head leans back against the tub and I feel my muscles relax. When we get back to the city, I’m going to start working out. I won’t be this weak next time we go for a hike.

My mind moves to the past, how Matthias and I would run through the woods, not even stopping to breathe. What I wouldn’t give to be that young again.

This past year has broken me. Maybe it’s time to start putting myself back together again.

“Here you go,” Matthias says, holding a fancy crystal glass with amber liquid and a large ice cube in the middle. It’s filled near to the top, and I sigh with happiness.

“Thank you,” I say, sipping at it. It burns its way down my throat as Matthias slips in across from me.

His body disappears beneath the bubbles and then a second later, I feel his hands grabbing my feet and he starts to massage.

The noises his fingers pull from me are embarrassing. And I should be more humiliated, but he saw me scream a few times today. I can’t be bothered to try and keep everything inside. It feels too good.

He does one foot and then the other, making me melt into the warm water. And then those hands move up my calves, working those aching muscles before he scoots forward and his hands trail up my thighs. My head swims as I continue to sip on the whiskey, letting him soothe me, caress me. I’m groaning deeply, my cock hard and ready to be touched. But he doesn’t give me what I want. He just pulls me further into him, his legs wrapping around me, my head resting on his shoulder, my glass sitting on the edge of the tub as his hands massage up my back.

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