Island Heat (24 page)

“I have.”

Seth was there, squeezing his shoulder, urging him to keep going. Seth had particularly wanted
him
to speak up at this meeting for some reason, so Kevin had let him volunteer him for the duty.

God, he wished he hadn't now, though. Eli had sounded so smooth and confident, but he wasn't going to sound at all put-together. He should have planned out more of what he wanted to say.

Kevin drew a deep breath.
I have to do it before I lose their attention.
“I came here and I was... worried. About everything. Money, fitting in, learning everything I needed to know to
run
my own
business
for the first time. I mean, that was huge to Troy and me. But in just a couple of weeks, the mentoring program has taught us... so much. We've gone from terrified menu planning to hiring our first-ever employee, and we could transfer a lot of those skills already to the outside world. We can't be the only business in that boat. I'm... incredibly grateful for this opportunity. Troy's life and my life will never be the same.”

He cast a quick glance to Bill. Bill seemed like he was listening, but he wasn't necessarily persuaded yet. Time to try the
other
route. He couldn't see Troy in the crowd, but he was certain Troy was waiting for it, too.

“For more than one reason,” Kevin said, surprising himself with how strong his voice was despite the hundreds of eyes on him. “I... when I came here, I was straight.” That got a laugh he hadn't necessarily been expecting, but it didn't put him off. Instead, it emboldened him. “And before I even set foot on the island, I... met a man I could never have dreamed of. One who supports my dreams and doesn't coddle me. The most sweet, loyal, honest... compassionate man I could imagine. He even extends compassion to those who have hurt him. If it weren't for Ember Isle, I could never have met the one for me.”

Even Seth, standing right next to him, gasped as he said these words. A few people clapped, while others made quiet sounds of approval and appreciation.

All Kevin could do was pray that Eli wasn't going to be
completely
freaked out by the sudden public declaration of love.

The crowd shifted, and then Eli was there, standing next to him and reaching out to take his hand with a smile that was unmistakably loving. Eli's face glowed with pleasure and pride as he turned to speak to Bill, and Kevin's tight, anxious nerves relaxed instantly.

“It's early yet – we've only known each other for three weeks,” Eli began, which almost made Kevin nervous until he continued strongly, “but compared to the man I was when I arrived here, sad and recently single, I'm... I have a light in my life, and it's this man.” He raised their joined hands to his lips to brush his lips over the back of Kevin's hand.

The warm, intimate brush of skin on skin in front of
hundreds
of people made Kevin blush and fidget.

When Eli turned back to Bill, Kevin could hear every word Eli spoke loud and clear. “I'll find someone to administer the tasks you still do. We'll find people who understand the spirit of the place you've built, and we'll keep it alive. You can step back and relax, be an absentee owner, and not be tied to this place.”

“We can help,” Seth agreed, starting to nod thoughtfully. “We can start up business associations and hold planning meetings, come up with ideas for next year, identify trends...”

Jorge, the cute Swedish guy, spoke up, “And the rental office already handles much of the business administration support. We can take on more. We will take the stress off you,” he promised with a hard, sincere nod.

“This isn't right!”

Unsurprisingly, it was Tom. Kevin let out a quiet sigh of annoyance as he turned about, trying to locate him in the crowd. It was hard enough on a regular day, let alone surrounded by so many people shifting and whispering and applauding certain words and trying to speak out with their own ideas.

Eli nudged him in the right direction and he glanced over behind Bill, then frowned as Tom stalked around the fruit box to face Kevin and Eli for a moment, then turned his back on them to stand between them and Bill.

“We had a deal. It's already closing.”

Bill shifted from foot to foot, then sighed. “Tom, look around you. Everyone, would you stay around if Tom were owner of this island, if he didn't change a single thing about the place?”

Kevin instantly shook his head, then glanced around to see several more people starting to shake their heads.

“You wouldn't understand, Tom,” Eli said softly, but still loud enough to catch everyone's attention. “Bill has a certain way he does things. He started the retreat here with certain intentions, and... I don't think you'd be able to continue them faithfully.”

Tom's face drew into a scowl. “Better than you running the place.”

“I agreed to sell you this island when I believed you were buying it out of love. Now, I've come to believe it's out of spite.” Bill tucked his hands into his pockets, his expression no longer uncertain. “I didn't realize this wasn't just any old island resort to all of you. My apologies,” he addressed the crowd at large. “Your offers of help are very kind, and we'll work out the details over the coming months. But for now, I won't be selling.”

There was abrupt silence for a moment before a few people started to gasp and clap, while others grabbed each other and shook each other's shoulders in disbelief. Then, cheers and applause reigned, a few men whooping while others more politely smiled and clapped.

Kevin spotted Troy standing next to Dean on the opposite side of the box from Bill. They were both cheering; a moment later, they raised their hands, their fingers laced together, to pump in the air in victory.

Kevin smiled broadly, turning to lean into Eli and kiss him firmly. Warm, gentle lips met his own fiery kiss of elation, and Kevin's tension seemed to evaporate under Eli's kiss.

Tom had already shouldered his way out of the crowd when they broke apart, but Kevin caught sight of James running up the beach after him, trying to catch up.

Already, it was becoming a party atmosphere. Rather than return to work, people were starting to sit in the sand or walk a little further away with groups of friends, and some were going to grab beer or snacks.

“How about a bonfire?” someone yelled. “There's driftwood further down that should be dry enough.”

Bill was talking to Boris and K, who both seemed to casually lounge around.

“I'll get food from the supply shop,” offered the store owner – Kevin wished he knew his name, but he'd introduce himself when he next saw him. There were a lot of people whose names he wanted to know, now that he could see himself returning year after year.

Eli leaned into him, wrapping his arm around his shoulder, then murmured into his ear, “Let's go be hermits... or hermit crabs.” He grinned wickedly. “The party will last a while.”

The proposition made Kevin shiver and take his hand to start pulling him out of the crowd already. He cast one more look back at Troy and Dean, who were no longer holding hands but were sitting next to each other on the sand. Belatedly, Kevin turned back to Eli and added, “Not funny.”

“Funny enough for you to say yes,” Eli winked as they reached and crossed the boardwalk. They walked hand-in-hand until they reached the cobblestone street beyond it, and Kevin's heart felt so light he felt he could fly up the hill towards Eli's mansion.

***

“I'm glad I don't have to go back to Chicago yet.” Kevin sat on the bed, watching Eli flit around the room to turn both bedside lamps on to their dimmest setting. It was dim enough that their own reflection didn't distract from the ever-spectacular nighttime view, but bright enough that they could see one another.

“As am I,” Eli agreed, touching the lamp to turn it on. His warm brown eyes were lit up wonderfully, and Kevin took a moment to pause and admire the view. Eli noticed the pause and glanced at Kevin. “Hm?”

“Nothing,” Kevin answered, but he felt warm at the sight of the lamp light flickering along that strong jaw and stubble. Eli was beautiful. Kevin suspected he didn't know just how handsome he really was.

Eli crawled onto the bed, and Kevin intercepted him by shifting to face him, then grabbing his shoulders to push him down onto his back. “Oof!” Eli murmured but went down, letting Kevin manhandle him a little. His eyes gleamed.

Kevin tingled already with the possibilities as he shifted to straddle Eli. He already felt warm at the pressure of thighs on thighs. There was one thing he knew he wanted to do first, but he wanted to take his time. He wanted to show Eli, not just tell him, how much he meant to him.

He took hold of Eli's tie and tugged lightly until the end slipped through the knot and it was untied. Then, he started to slowly pop a button at a time out of its hole, unbuttoning Eli's shirt from top to bottom and spreading it apart to admire the sight of that muscled chest. God, he was glad Eli swam.

“May I undress you, too?” Eli teased, grinning up at Kevin when Kevin's eyes flickered up to meet his.

“Oh. Yes, of course,” Kevin answered, laughing quietly as those hands rose to his throat. Eli cupped his cheek for a moment before trailing two fingers down across the sensitive line of his neck towards his collar. Kevin shivered, and then Eli was unbuttoning his shirt.

Kevin tugged the material off his arms as soon as he could, leaving his chest bare and tugging at Eli's body until he shifted around enough that he could yank his shirt off, too.

He wanted them naked now.

Eli drew a sharp gasp as Kevin wasted no time unbuckling his belt and unbuttoning his trousers. Kevin slid the zipper down, feeling the cock twitch to life beneath but not paying it special attention just yet as he carefully slid Eli's trousers down.

Despite being shirtless in the air-conditioned cool of the bedroom, he already felt hot. His mind spun with possibilities, and half of them involved Eli taking over and treating him to something he didn't even know about right now.

He had to scoot further down the bed to get Eli's trousers off his feet and his socks off while he was at it, leaving the billionaire just in tight white boxer-briefs with a distinctive line running from groin to thigh.

Fuck, his package was highlighted perfectly. Kevin licked his lips unconsciously at the sight, dragging his eyes up along Eli's toned body to his face again. He fumbled at his own pants to get them off, not even trying to be sexy about it. He heard and ignored Eli's laugh.

“We have time,” Eli urged him. “I don't think anyone on Main Street will be opening tonight.”

Kevin blushed. “No, I know.” He didn't know how to explain that he didn't want to waste a single second of precious time that he could be spending with bare skin on skin. He pulled his underwear off along with his pants to leave him completely naked. Eli spread his legs, bracing his feet on the bed and raising his knees a little.

Kevin crouched between Eli's spread legs to turn his face and kiss the inside of Eli's knee. Hair bristled at his lips, but he shifted his lips to kiss up along the inner thigh, relishing the smooth, warm prickle of desire.

Eli's thigh twitched under his hand a few times, telling him that he was on the right track, and he could easily see the raising bulge in his underwear.

He didn't want it to be
that
easy, though. He wanted Eli to ache for him, to
burn
for him the same way he burned for Eli after every lingering touch of hands or press of lips, whether in the streets or the sheets.

“God,” Eli whispered, his voice cracking as Kevin chose a spot near the bottom of his boxers to press his lips and flick his tongue along the hem of the fabric. “You sure there was no one before me?”

Kevin smirked at the compliment and pressed an open-mouthed kiss against sensitive flesh, then sucked lightly for an extra little sting. “Yep,” he whispered once he pulled his mouth away and shifted to kiss along Eli's hipbone.

“You're just... a natural,” Eli murmured, moaning when Kevin's lips latched on and Kevin sucked firmly. “
Oof
... heh, that's... mm...”

Kevin flicked his tongue rapidly across the skin that thinly covered the hipbone, then licked his way down along the V to the waistband. Then, he slowly started to kiss along the skin of Eli's stomach until he reached the treasure trail before following that up with a flat, slow swipe of his tongue over his belly button and between his abs up to his ribcage.

Eli had his hands raised and was twisting them in the sheets above his head. He was clearly trying his best to let Kevin work on him.

Kevin's cock was half-hard, but his stomach pressed against Eli's groin and he could feel the sheer size and hardness of Eli through the only thin layer of fabric that still separated them. He resisted the urge to grind against Eli, letting this contact alone be enough of a tease.

He was busy licking along one rib at a time, swiping his tongue up from the center of his chest along the arches towards Eli's side and around his pecs. Occasionally, he stopped to press a kiss along his breastbone.

“F-Fuck,” Eli groaned when Kevin's tongue reached the firm flesh just below his nipple, but Kevin still swiped up and away from his nipple, then around in a slow, broad circle around it. Kevin relished the way Eli's breathing caught in his throat, his chest briefly pausing before rapidly rising and falling once more.