“Happiness.” Rowe looked up to find Lucas staring across the table at Andrei. “Andrei is my happiness.”
Yeah, Rowe couldn’t argue with that. In all the years that he’d known Lucas, he’d never seen the man happier than when Andrei was simply in the same room as him. Rowe placed his forearms against the table and watched as Lucas opened the silver case to reveal two decks of cards and a set of poker chips. They were planning to play a bit later after the sun went down, but Lucas had mentioned brushing up with Andrei.
“You going to get Lucas tattooed on you?” he asked, looking at the former fighter.
Andrei shook his head. “Nope. No tattoos.”
“Seriously?”
“Hate needles.”
Rowe shook his head and chuckled. “Badass MMA fighter and you don’t like needles?”
Andrei finally cracked a grin as he looked over at Rowe. “I’ve never liked needles. The doctor used to have to call in three other nurses and my mom to hold me down when I had to get a shot. I love Lucas, but no tattoos.”
“What about you, badass Ranger?” Lucas demanded. He picked up one of the bottles of water Andrei carried up and cracked the seal on the cap. “Are you going to get something related to Noah tattooed on you?”
Snow called across the deck from where he was coming up the stairs. “He’s going to get ‘Property of Noah’ tattooed across his ass.”
“Hey! That’s not a bad idea,” Rowe said with a smirk.
The doc settled into a chair next to Andrei, a tall glass of iced tea in his hand. “Speaking of, I heard the water shut off as I was coming up the stairs. You two are up for dinner tonight and he promised ribs.”
“There’s plenty of time, Doc. Let me just go round him up.” Rowe headed for the stairs, flipping his friends off over his shoulder as they pelted him with crude taunts and catcalls. They were right, though. He was going to do far more than remind Noah of their cooking assignment for the night. It was their last day on the houseboat and on vacation. He was thinking more along the lines of a nice slow fuck that left them sticky, sweaty, and a useless pool of rubbery muscles in the center of the bed. They were going to head back to Cincinnati the next day with these damn goofy grins stuck on their faces for at least a month.
Rowe nodded to Jude as he passed through the kitchen to the narrow hall leading to the bedrooms and the bathrooms. Noah was just stepping out of the bathroom, a thin white towel wrapped around his narrow hips. Beads of water dripped from his hair to streak across his chest and Rowe was suddenly thirsty.
“Hey, sexy,” Rowe growled, leaning his shoulder across the wall next to the bathroom door. “Where you headed?”
Noah grinned at him, dimples digging into his cheeks and sending Rowe’s heart racing. “I was thinking about pulling on a pair of shorts. You got an idea that involves no clothes?”
“Snow was saying that I need a tattoo on my ass. I thought you could help me find the perfect spot.”
Noah snorted. “Tattoo? What? A little sign that says ‘Head storage space. Insert here’?”
Rowe was laughing silently even as he leaned in and took Noah’s lips in a slow kiss. Noah pressed in for something hungrier, harder, but Rowe immediately backed off, nipping at his lips before moving in for another slow, lingering kiss. They didn’t do this often enough. This was their last day away from the work, bills, neighbors, clients, and the rest of the world. He wanted to slow down, take his time building up the fire between them.
“Yes,” Noah panted, his voice barely a whisper of sound. “Whatever it is you want, the answer is yes. Just give me more.”
Rowe sucked on Noah’s bottom lip, worrying it between his teeth before releasing it. “Bedroom. Need to make you moan for me.”
Noah turned and took the necessary three steps to get to the bedroom, Rowe directly on his heels. He slammed the door shut, all the while telling himself to slow down. They had time. He’d pin Noah to the mattress and suck on every inch of flesh spread before him like he was a goddamn banquet.
Standing at the foot of the bed, Noah turned toward the door and pulled off the tiny towel covering him. His hard cock bobbed against Noah’s stomach. Rowe was tempted to just drop to his knees right there and suck Noah straight down his throat, but he had a better idea. Sadly, slow and lingering was going to have to wait.
Stepping toward Noah, he dipped down and grabbed Noah by the back of the thigh before lifting him off his feet and tossing him backward onto the bed. Rowe dropped onto the bed, following him down. He lifted his head to snag Noah’s parted lips when there was an ominous crash just before the foot of the bed slumped, the frame hitting the floor.