Page 131 of Forgotten Promise

Kailani was playful and funny, and she had this amazing smile that achieved something John wouldn’t have thought possible. It made her even more beautiful.

Benjamin could be impatient, and he had a sarcastic wit that, though it often came off as him being an asshole, spoke to John’s own smart-ass side. The two of them had begun to banter back and forth, good-naturedly ribbing each other.

“Monte Carlo is so much better than I imagined. Though I have to admit, I have precious little to compare it to. The first time I’d ever left California was when I flew to Boston to join the Trinity Masters when I was twenty-six.”

“Really?” Kailani asked, though with less surprise than she might have earlier in the day. If there’d been one recurring theme today, it had been his awe and wonder as he’d been exposed to no fewer than a hundred new and unique experiences.

The entire day had passed like a dream, yet underlying it all had been a different sort of tension to the one that had been so pervasive this past month or so.

The sexual tension was almost palpable, as John felt it ebbing and flowing between them throughout the day. They’d stolen countless kisses and glancing touches, and Benjamin, the maniacal man, was a master at sexual innuendos, drawing too many racy images in his mind.

He’d spent a good portion of the day dealing with an erection, trying to keep his arousal banked. It was a fight he’d lost more than he’d won.

Even now, as they dined outside on their private terrace, the incredible nighttime skyline as their backdrop, all John could think about was pushing away from the table, grabbing his lovers and dragging them to bed so that he could have his wicked way with them again.

The only thing holding him back was the fact that Benjamin had gone to a lot of trouble—or perhaps expense was a better word—to arrange for this romantic candlelight dinner.

Benjamin had hired a private chef, who’d prepared a five-course tour of the Mediterranean menu. The sommelier who’d selected and poured their wines had helped serve, but once all the dishes were out, Benjamin asked that they simply leave the dessert and port and dismissed them, so that their trinity could be alone.

“For the first thirty-four years of my life, the sum total of my travels,” John said, “included that one trip to Boston. Then, a month ago, I returned to Boston for our binding ceremony.”

“That’s terrible, John,” Benjamin said. “It’s a huge world, so many places for you to see and explore.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” John said. “Since you two steamrolled into my life, I’ve made up for all of that. Because in the past nine days, I’ve been to Hawaii, Colorado, and upstate New York. I’ve flown cross-country in a private jet…twice. And now I’m sitting in a bougie-ass suite in Monaco. All of that in just nine days,” he repeated, stressing the number. “Nine. Days.”

By the time he’d finished his list, Benjamin and Kailani were cracking up.

“All I’m hearing is we’ve been a good influence on you. We’re broadening your horizons,” Benjamin said, grinning as he tapped his wineglass against John’s in a toast.

John shook his head. “Maybe so, but we’re not all used to the jet-setting life, Mr. Dara. I could stand to take a little bit of a break between those horizons. I’ve been in so many different time zones, my body is struggling to keep up and my sleep schedule is legit fucked.”

“I agree.” Kailani took a sip of wine, sighing peacefully. “All this travel has been utter madness. I wish we could stay here forever.”

“I love this city,” John said.

“Back to Hawaii tomorrow,” Benjamin grumbled, clearly unhappy to have their trip cut so short.

Kailani stiffened. “I’m sorry—”

John was prepared to jump in, cut the budding argument off, but he didn’t have to.

Benjamin held up his hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like I’m blaming you. I know you have a duty, and I…we…are going to do everything we can to support you.”

Kailani relaxed, nodding. They’d been lucky Selene had given them this time at all, and they each knew it.

The question of getting their trinity reinstated was still up in the air, but Benjamin’s confidence was infectious. He said he’d make it happen, and John believed him. Maybe he was a deluded fool for doing so, but that was a worry for another day and time.

“It’s a shame we have to rush back because Venice is amazing this time of year,” Benjamin mused. “And I was hoping to take John to ??Eilean Donan Castle while we’re on this side of the Atlantic.”

John leaned forward. “Seriously? In Scotland?”

The World Is Not Enough was one of his favorite Bond movies.

“Of course. I know you’re partial to Brosnan’s Bond, so I started doing a little research, contacted a few people. We could stay in the castle if you’d like.”

John wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to Benjamin’s ability to snap his fingers and basically have anything and everything in the world rolled out for him.

“Scotland is always cold,” Kailani grumbled, clearly not on board when it came to that trip. “Look out there,” she said to John, gesturing to the sparkling water, made colorful by reflections of the lights along the shoreline. “Warm is good. Sunshine is good.”

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