by Dana Delamar
“It’s a species of tree in the family oxalidaceae,” Damon said, a question more than a fact as he read off his mobile.
“Not helping, Yank.” I crossed my arms. “Sky has to be taking the piss,” I said. We’d been traipsing about the island for half the day and had barely managed to locate and photograph ten of the items on her list of fifteen.
“The carambola is a tropical fruit…” Dev said.
“A fruit? We’re looking for a pissing fruit on a tropical island. Brilliant. You sorry lot aren’t telling me anything.”
“…also known as the star fruit,” Dev finished with a smirk.
Finally. “I’m sure as shit not climbing a sodding tree to take a photo of a fucking fruit,” I said, shuddering at the memory of the rickety suspension bridge. In a sick twist, my cock twitched because as scared as I’d been, I’d cross that bridge again if it meant having Dev pressed against my back and ass.
“Never fear, dude.” Damon slapped his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll brave the heights. Nothing is keeping me from winning this challenge. I can almost smell the roasting pork now.” He sniffed the air dramatically.
Dev laughed. “You’re a right nutter. Come on then, let’s find you a carambola tree to climb.”
After fifteen minutes of trekking, Dev stopped and pointed ahead.
“What is it?” I asked.
“A carambola tree.”
I looked, stepped forward, then squinted. “Where?”
“There. Follow my finger.”
The tree, its branches heavily laden with orange fruit, stood about a quarter mile ahead, straight up a steep bit of the mountain.
“That looks…” I swallowed. Way too fucking tall.
“Amazing!” Damon said, pushing past us. Like a sodding monkey, the lad raced up the rocky hillside.
“Well now.” Dev watched him, arms crossed. He turned to me. “Shall we?”
“Christ.” I shook my head. “That daft woman is out to kill me.”
Dev smirked. “Is she?”
“Yes. And maybe you’re in on it. A ploy to get me out of the band.”
Dev’s smile disappeared. “I don’t want that, Rod. You have to know that.”
I punched his shoulder. “Just pulling your leg, mate.”
“And breaking my arm, you arse.”
I gripped the back of his neck and tugged him along. “Come on. Let’s make sure the Yank bastard doesn’t fall to his death.” I tapped my lip and shot Dev an evil look. “Although…”
“Stop it, you knobhead. Murder is a felony. Besides, the Yank is growing on me.”
“Yes, like mold.”
He laughed. “Or a particularly tenacious fungus.”
The good-natured ribbing with Dev felt so familiar, it was hard to believe we’d been fighting so much the last three months. I could almost think that the worst was behind us. That we were friends again.
Except, did I want that?
Did I want to come full circle and be back in the same spot we’d been in before Palm Springs?
Was some of Dev better than none of Dev? I didn’t know. But he hadn’t freaked out when I brought up the idea of a threesome with Sky, and he’d most definitely got off on it in the past.
Dev’s face as he’d shot his load, his eyes on my spent cock covered in jizz, had become my favorite memory. My cock started to harden as it always did when I thought of Dev in the throes of orgasm, and I tripped on a root, going arse over tit. I landed on my stomach, the breath knocked out of me.
There was a scuffling sound, and then Dev was next to me. “Rod, are you all right? Shit, shit.”
He gently rolled me over. His hands touched my arms, my chest, and my world was filled with his gorgeous anxious face. His skin had darkened in the Tahitian sun and his beard had grown in, setting off his perfect white teeth.
“I’m fine. Help me up, mate?”
“Yes, if you’re certain.”
“Just shook up a bit.”
We clasped hands and he tugged me to my feet. He plucked a leaf from my hair and then swatted my back and ass to rid it of dirt and flora. I didn’t hide my grin. “Thank you, Dad.”
“Sod off, you muppet.” He laughed, then released me, and for that I was sorry.
We climbed the rest of the way without further incident, if you discount the fact that at least fifty percent of my body’s water content had been imbibed by my shirt. When we reached Damon by the tree, he was stretched out on a rock, eyes closed. I kicked his foot. “Having a bit of a kip, are we?”
“You guys took so hella long to get up here, I figured I might as well.”
“Fuck off.”
Damon got up and held his hand out to Dev. “Camera?”
Dev handed him the disposable digital camera Sky had given each team. Damon slid it into the front of his shorts and proceeded to climb up the tree.
My heart jumped into my throat. The higher he went, the worse I felt.
“Probably shouldn’t watch,” Dev said quietly.
I sat down on the rock and closed my eyes to concentrate on taking deep breaths until there was a thud. For a moment, I thought the idiot might have fallen, but then Damon said, “What’s next?”
I opened my eyes to see him try to hand Dev the camera back. Dev’s face scrunched up and he backed away. “You had it in your pants, mate.”
“Underwear.”
“Pants.”
“Whatever.” Damon shrugged.
Dev looked at the list to see what was next. Before he could speak, I groaned. “Can we take a break? It’s hot as fuck”—I tossed my rucksack onto the ground and swatted at a mosquito on my arm—“insects are crawling up my arse, and I’ve yet to catch my breath.”
I pulled my shirt off and hooked it into my back pocket before grabbing a bottle of water from my sack and emptying it on my head and chest. “Oh fuck. That feels good.”
Damon’s eyes zeroed in on my wet chest. He licked his lips and stepped up to me. “Dude, I’m feeling really thirsty all of a sudden.” He bent forward and swirled his tongue around my nipple, then moved to the other.
Dev watched, his expression stoic. Caught up with the irresistible urge to push him, to make him fucking react, I cupped Damon’s face in my hands and planted a big wet kiss on his mouth. Damon’s dark eyes twinkled as he opened his lips and licked my tongue like we were in a porno.
My gaze flew to Dev, who was definitely no longer calm. His face darkened and his eyes narrowed to slits.
Damon grinned at me as he made a show of wiping his mouth. “Now I understand the constant lineup of people wanting to crawl at your feet.”
Dev muttered something under his breath, something that sounded coarse and angry. Damon’s kiss had got my dick stirring, but it was the pure fury on Dev’s face that really cranked my shaft.
“I’ll leave you two lovebirds to it then, yeah?”
“Oh, come on, Dev,” Damon called after him.
I laid a hand on Damon’s shoulder. “Leave it.”
Damon’s face twisted with worry. “He knows we were just kidding around, right?”
I got a sick pleasure seeing Damon so utterly unsettled. I squeezed his shoulder. “That was a really hot snog.”
“What?”
I let my hand fall off his shoulder and trail down his generous bicep. The lad definitely worked out. “What if it weren’t a joke?”
Damon blushed, took a step back. “I saw Dev’s face. I’m not going to be the Yoko in this situation.” He lowered his chin and looked up at me. “That Sky’s job, right?”
“What about Sky?” It took everything in me not to bristle. I picked up my kit and started walking down the hill.
Damon kept pace. “Well, we all know she’s sleeping with both of you. I was hoping to get some of that action too.”
Dropping my rucksack, I rounded on him, ready to get in his face. “Keep your fucking prick away from her.”
Damon laughed, and I wanted to punch him in his stupid handsome
face. “Just yanking your chain, dude. I know she’s off-limits.”
“Bloody fucking right.”
“I’ve got my eye on someone else anyway.”
I think I knew who he meant. “That pretty little black bird from TI?”
“That’s the one.” Damon grinned. He looked so cocky, the arrogant little shit. So certain he was going to get the girl. I hadn’t known the bloke for long, but I’d seen the way she’d been eyeing him, so he was probably right. He would get her if he wanted her.
I just wished I were as self-assured in my desire to get Dev. My little attempt to stir his jealousy might have worked all too well.
DEV
“Wake up, you lazy sod!” Rod bellowed in my ear and gave me a hearty shake.
I blinked up at his wicked grin as he started stripping off his clothes and dropping them on the floor of our bungalow. Strutting around starkers, as usual.
“What time is it?” I asked, looking for my phone. Judging by the low slant to the sun coming through the windows, it must be early evening.
“We have half an hour to get ready for the Tahitian feast,” Rod said, tossing his boxer trunks at my face.
I batted them away and sat up. “I didn’t think we could go.” Since I’d stalked off before we’d finished the scavenger hunt, I’d figured we’d be having protein bars and a sulk for dinner tonight while everyone else went out.
“The Yank and I finished it,” Rod said as he rooted through his luggage, looking for a clean shirt. “He’s really not that bad, once you get used to him.”
Rod, singing Damon’s praises? My gut clenched. I knew it. I fucking knew it.
Rod hadn’t come back to our room and he certainly hadn’t chased after me, and I’d wondered if he’d gone off and fucked the bastard.
All afternoon I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the two of them, my mind spinning sick fantasies that had tormented me and turned me on at the same time. Rod kissing Damon. Damon sucking Rod’s cock. The two of them fucking Sky…
I kept hoping Rod would turn up, but he hadn’t. I must have drifted off at some point. After I’d tossed off for the hundredth time… after those fantasies had started blending with my memories. Rod, and Sky, and me.
I could have that again, maybe. If Rod hadn’t already moved on to Damon.
“He must be pretty good at sucking your cock,” I finally said, my eyes glued to Rod’s arse. The arse I wanted to touch. But couldn’t. Wouldn’t.
Rod turned to me, a colorful flower print shirt in his hands, a smirk on his lips. “You sound… jealous, Devkinandan.”
“Should I be?” Did I even want to know?
He narrowed his eyes at me, his gaze dropping down to my crotch, to the bulge that had grown there. “Would you be if I said yes?”
Was he just going to play games with me? I turned my head. “Bugger off.”
He said nothing, apparently going back to rifling through his things, judging by the rustling of cloth, the clanking of his jewelry. “You want to know if I slept with him, is that it?” he finally said.
“No, I don’t.”
He scoffed. “You’re gagging to know.”
I looked up at him. He was still turned away from me, holding up two pairs of board shorts, apparently trying to decide which to wear. “Where have you been?” I asked.
“Not with Damon.”
Relief washed through me. A relief I didn’t want to feel.
“I bet he does suck cock really well though.” Rod’s voice was low, teasing, and he cast a sly glance at me over his shoulder. “Maybe we should find out?”
He let the question dangle, his eyes locked on mine, and I shook my head. “For fuck’s sake, Rod, just… don’t.”
“Have a little fun, Devkinandan.”
I closed my eyes. How did he always make my name sound like an invitation to crawl into his bed?
“Let me guess,” he said. “Spent all afternoon wondering whether I’d been testing that out? Thinking about trying it yourself?” I kept my eyes shut, not wanting to give him the satisfaction, but heat crawled up my neck and into my face. “How many times did you toss off, Devkinandan?”
There it was again. That insinuating lilt he added to my name. That lilt that said I’d enjoy it, that he’d make it worth my while, that he’d make it my everything…
He chuckled, and I heard him head toward the shower. “Better get moving, old chap.”
I waited until the water turned on, then I shoved my hand into my shorts and wrapped my fingers around my rigid cock, pretending they were Rod’s lips, his mouth I was thrusting into… then Sky’s mouth, then Rod’s again… then Sky’s… then Damon’s…
In seconds I came with a grunt, utterly disgusted with myself, and lay back on the bed. I was fucked, wasn’t I?
So many things I wanted. So many things I craved. So many things I couldn’t have.
But maybe I could have some of those things.
Rod and Sky had both indicated their interest in the three of us sharing a bed again. We’d been happy then, so happy.
Could it work again? Would it be the solution we needed to fix things between Rod and me, to keep us together?
To keep Sky in my life?
Maybe I owed it to all of us to give it a try.
Feeling better than I had all day, I mopped up my cum with my shirt, then started tearing through my clothes. I was suddenly hungry, and not just for the feast that awaited us.
Less than an hour later, we piled out of the vehicles in front of the Moorea Tiki Village Theater. It was just past dusk, darkness settling over the village.
We were greeted with welcome drinks—something tropical, fruity, and strong—then led to a large open arena by a handsome bare-chested man dressed in a sarong and a necklace made of wooden beads and animal tusks. His dark brown skin glowed under the theatrical lighting. He introduced himself as Ponui and introduced several of the dancers, a mix of men and women. The gorgeous, long-haired women wore coconut bras—not traditional garb, they pointed out, but a nod to modern sensibilities—and long flowing grass skirts or sarongs with flower leis and crowns.
Everyone was well-tanned and toned, and with a pang, I realized that this was the first time I’d been so completely surrounded by people as dark as me, other than my own family.
We were shown around the village and taken through an exhibit showing photographs of the island and its people over the decades, then taken back to the arena, but not before stopping at the earth oven, which they called an umu, where tonight’s feast was cooking. We’d be eating slow-roasted pork, chicken, roasted breadfruit, and taro root, among other items. It all smelled heavenly.
Ponui brought out some coconuts. “Who would like to learn how to open one of these?” He looked at the lot of us, his eyes settling on Sky. “You, my lovely?”
Sky flushed, her cheeks pinking up prettily, and stepped forward. She was wearing a long, multicolored sarong over her bikini, her dark hair gone wavy, and I thought I’d never seen a more gorgeous creature in my life.
Rod nudged my shoulder. “You might want to reel your tongue back into your mouth, mate.” He grinned as he said it, the firelight gleaming in his eyes, highlighting his cheekbones, the bump of his Adam’s apple, the veins cording his bare arms.
Correction: I’d never seen a more gorgeous creature than Sky or Rod.
Ponui demonstrated how to open the coconut with Sky’s assistance, his eyes glued to her just like mine were, and an insane jealousy gripped me when he made her laugh. He placed a crown made of flowers on her head to thank her for participating. Between the flower crown, the lei, and her sarong, she looked like a Tahitian princess.
When Sky returned to her seat, Rod gripped her around the waist and insisted she sit between us. “Where you belong, love,” he said, his eyes flicking from her to me, the heat in them clear.
A thrill ran through me. I wanted it, the two of them, again. I wanted it so badly my skin prickled all over with awareness at h
ow close they both were, how I could reach out and touch them, how easy it would be to just let go…
But then what? How else would this end, but in heartbreak?
When the dancers and singers started weaving a mythical tale about a long-ago princess, one of the women pulled Sky into the dance, teaching her some moves. Sky looked great shimmying her hips in a tight circle, and one of the male dancers came up behind her, not quite touching, but doing some kind of lascivious move that made Sky burst into laughter and earned hoots and cheers from the lot of us in the audience.
Rod, of course, jumped in, doing his own thing, his hips moving to a slinky rhythm only he heard, one that dried my mouth and earned him a wolf whistle from Damon, the prat. Vanessa took a few snaps with her phone, and I thought Daniel would break something trying to snatch it from her before she posted anything to Instagram.
“You’re no fun,” she complained as Daniel grabbed her phone and deleted Instagram from it.
“You know the rules,” he said. “No posts until the very end of the trip. The last thing we need is the paparazzi descending on this place.”
Just the thought made me shudder. It had been so nice, being on our own, not worrying about fans or the press or anything.
Well, other than the fate of the band.
Sky and Rod started dancing together, the two of them looking hot, both sporting light tans and grins that weren’t at all forced. In fact, they seemed downright flirtatious, Rod playfully trying to pull down her sarong. She grabbed his hand and pushed it away, but didn’t let it go, and he tugged her close.
Rod’s eyes slid to mine, and then he beckoned me forward and handed Sky off to me. He yanked Damon and Vanessa into the dance, planting a kiss on Vanessa’s lips, then one on Damon’s. The two of them burst out laughing, but they didn’t jump away.
And then Rod gave me a pointed look, a look that blazed with heat. A look that said See what you’re missing?
My stomach did a funny flip. I could have that. We could have that.
If only I could get over myself.
Sky cleared her throat. “That’s our Rod. Always stirring the pot.” I focused my attention on her, not caring that we weren’t doing the dance correctly, or at all. I had questions I needed to ask.