Chapter Nineteen
Freddie
When Gen had forced him into a holiday, Freddie hadn’t imagined he would have company. Losing his virginity had also not been a part of the plan. Yet, he couldn’t find a single reason to feel disappointed over how things were turning out.
After lounging in bed for a few hours, Freddie wandered into the en-suite to rinse off the sweat and lube from his body. He ignored the deep chuckle from Taine at the slight hitch in his step. The man didn’t need—and wouldn’t get—an ego boost from him.
Freddie wrapped a fluffy towel around his waist and returned to the bedroom. He had no idea where his pyjamas had gone when Taine tossed them earlier. “Are you hungry? I’m starved. I could eat entire blocks of cheese.”
“What’s with you and cheese?” Taine set the room phone down on the receiver. “You eat enough of it to lock your system up for months.”
“As a medical professional, I feel I should inform you that’s not quite how it works.” He moved closer to the bed. “Also, cheese is brilliant.”
“Sound argument.” Taine stretched a long arm out to grab the edge of his towel and yank on it. “I ordered breakfast for us.”
“More like brunch.” Freddie glanced at the nearby clock to check the time—well past eleven in the morning. “Definitely more brunchish than breakfast. What’d you order? Does it have cheese?”
“I got a delivery from Toastable. They make sandwiches. You’ll be overjoyed to know they have a double-cheese-triple-layered sarnie. I got a few others for us to nosh on and, for an extra tip, the lad’ll grab two large coffees for us.” He grinned when Freddie sent up a prayer of thanks. “Shouldn’t you be offering that to me?”
The lad turned out to be a young woman with impressively bright pink hair. She giggled at Taine and winked at Freddie before handing over a large bag along with two cups. They could hear her chattering away into her phone on the way down.
Gossiping.
The same in any language, any race, any sex—people love to share a cute story.
“Catch.” Taine tossed a paper-wrapped sandwich to him after foraging around in the bag. “We made an impression on her.”
“I’m sure being half-starkers didn’t help.” Freddie belatedly realised they’d forgotten to throw shirts on before opening the door. He still had the towel wrapped firmly around his waist. “Did you tip well?”
“Always.”
Life had taught Freddie you could learn a lot about someone by how they treated serving staff, cashiers, and the like. Taine had, thus far, gone out of his way to be kinder to those others often viewed as less worthy. He considered it an excellent indicator of the depth of goodness in the man.
All right, drink more coffee, Freddie. You’re getting too deep this morning. Sex is going to your head.
“Are you sore?”
Freddie blinked a few times, trying to process the question. Sore? “Oh. Oh. A bit. Nothing major, no pain or anything, it twinges. You are a bit more sizeable than the average bloke.”
“Is that a roundabout way of saying my ferret’s extra large?” Taine grinned over the rim of his coffee cup. “A ferret who lifts weights?”
“Eat your sarnie.” Freddie took a bite of his own sandwich. He enjoyed the chewiness and saltiness of the melted cheeses. He thought it included two types of cheddar and perhaps gouda. The third cheese eluded him. “The cheese market should be open. Are you ready for a tour in the world of dairy?”
Taine peered into his coffee with a seriousness that started to worry Freddie. Those golden eyes finally lifted to meet his brown ones. “Your love of all things cheesy is slightly terrifying. Am I going to have to restrain you?”
“Only in bed.” Freddie shot the response back at him without considering the words. He snickered when Taine choked on a sip of coffee. “Problem?”
“Careful with your teasing, Frederick.” Taine set the cup down on the nightstand next to a half-eaten sandwich. He strode purposefully across the room to capture Freddie’s wrists and pin them behind his back. His teeth caught Freddie’s bottom lip to tug on it. “I’ve always played with a full toy box. Don’t taunt me if you’re not prepared for the reaction.”
“Promise?” Freddie had no idea why he’d decided to yank the tiger by the tail. Taine frankly reminded him more of a sabretooth tiger than an average feline one might find in the jungle. “You’re making me hard—I can’t deal with that right now.”
Taine slid his arm between their bodies to grasp Freddie’s hardening shaft, loosely covered by a fluffy white bath towel. “I keep my promises, Frederick. I’ll have you all tangled up in a sexual fever so hot that it’ll take days for you to think straight.”
“’M not straight.” Freddie managed to mumble through the haze of arousal. “Also, still hungry.”
“Eat your sodding cheese toastie.” Taine released him after a bruising kiss. “And when you’ve finished, we’ll go see even more cheese. We’ll have the stuff coming out of our ears.”
“The good stuff.” His mouth started to water just thinking about what he might find in Alkmaar. “You should eat up. I’ll tire you out today.”
“Will you?” Taine saluted him with the coffee cup he’d picked up again. “We’ll see.”