Captain Silver Fox, page 9
“So which one is it?” Fox asked when Lucian kept silent.
“I don’t know, Captain.”
Fox raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know? That’s a strange answer, don’t you think? It seems to me you’d remember a decision you made minutes ago.”
He was shuffling his feet now. “Yes, Captain.”
“So I think it’s safe to assume you do remember, but you don’t want to admit to me it’s the second.” The guy remained silent, and Fox sighed. “I’m gonna report this to your supervisor and request your file be checked for previous infractions. If I discover this is a pattern, you’re out. If I find even a shred of evidence you’ve been deliberately targeting new crew members for public sex as a sort of hazing thing, I will not only fire you, but everyone else who knew about it as well. Am I making myself clear?”
Lucian’s hands shook as he clasped them in front of him. “Yes, Captain.”
“You’re on leave without pay, effective immediately. You are to stay in your cabin until your supervisor contacts you.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Go. You, stay here for a minute,” he said to Marianne, who managed to look both smug and a little scared at the same time. He had to admire that in her.
He waited till Lucian was gone. “Look, I get that you’re new to this, but no matter what a guy tells you, having sex in the staircase of what is basically your workplace is never a good idea, regardless if there are cameras or not.”
She let out a sigh, her shoulders dropping. “I’m sorry, sir. Captain.”
Ah, she had been paying attention. That spoke in her favor. “You should be. This is not a good first impression. Please make sure this never happens again.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“And Marianne?”
“Yes, Captain?”
“You can do better than a guy who keeps score about how many of the female crew members he’s nailed—according to the gossip I would much prefer to not have overheard. Just my two cents.”
The flash of anger in her eyes told him Lucian had better watch his back. “Yes, Captain.”
Well, that had been unpleasant, he thought as he finally made his way to the next deck. The good news was that he no longer needed to fabricate an excuse to speak to Brantley. The sordid tale of Lucian and Marianne was a valid reason. That thought improved his mood considerably, and he made his way to guest services with a smile on his face.
To say that Brantley was unhappy about being called to guest services again was an understatement. It was the sixth time in two hours, for fuck's sake. You'd think that on an afternoon where ninety-nine percent of the passengers weren't even on board, he'd have a few hours to catch up on some paperwork, but no.
First, he'd had to deal with a scheduling challenge, since two waiters who were supposed to work that night had fallen sick. They were cabinmates, so Brantley could only guess as to how they'd infected each other with the stomach bug. Frankly, he preferred not to think about the details.
Then there had been an issue with a cabin where the toilet was overflowing, which meant two guests had to be moved into a different room. And the other things on his plate had been equally uninteresting, and yet they had still required his personal involvement. It was all part of the job, but for some reason, he had a hard time with it today.
That in itself frustrated him, as this was only his first week with this particular cruise line, and he should be elated. But holy crap, it really was like managing a litter of kittens. Even though he'd seen evidence of Carol's statement that this was the best run ship she’d ever served on, there were still a ton of things that needed attention. What the hell was wrong now that they needed him again?
He almost came to a full stop when he spotted Fox at the station. The captain was leaning against the desk and chatting with Hueng, the guest service representative on duty who had called Brantley. He caught himself just in time to make a smooth transition into a slower walk, pulling his face into a neutral look before he greeted Fox.
"Captain, to what do I owe the honor?"
Fox turned around, sending him a broad smile. "Brantley, good to see you again. I personally witnessed a problem a few minutes ago that I would like to talk to you about. Is the flex office available?"
Brantley didn't have a formal office, much like many of the other managers. It was impossible, considering the tight space on a cruise line. Instead, they shared a flex office with three desks where any of them could sit down at any time to get some administrative work done.
"I'm pretty sure it's occupied, Captain."
Fox scratched his chin. "No problem. We'll meet in my suite, then."
Neither of them spoke a word as they took the elevators to the fourteenth, where Fox had his captain's suite right next to the bridge. Brantley was all too aware of the cameras, as well as crew and guests they encountered, and he kept a professional demeanor as he followed Fox into his suite. He closed the door behind him, then did a quick glance around the room.
Damn, it really paid to be captain. He couldn't complain, having only one roommate, since lower-level crew members had to share a cabin with four or even six people, but this was a whole ‘nother level. Granted, it wasn't as large as Fox's hotel suite had been, but it was still easily six to eight times as large as his cabin.
He softly whistled between his teeth. "Not bad."
Fox turned around, smiling. "A bit of an upgrade compared to your cabin, I reckon?"
"It's your ship, so you should know."
"Who are you rooming with?"
“A guy named Per with a last name I can't pronounce. A tall, blond Norwegian dude who makes me want to rewatch True Blood and get my Alexander Skårsgard fix." The look on Fox's face told him the man was unfamiliar with the over-the-top sexy craziness of that particular series. "Watch it sometime. Trust me, you'll love it."
"Okay."
When Fox remained silent after that, Brantley raised an eyebrow. "Was there really a reason why you needed to speak to me or was that some convoluted excuse to invite me into your room?"
A slow, sexy-as-fuck smile spread over Fox's mouth. "Why would I want to invite you into my room? Are you suggesting I have sinister motives?"
Brantley shrugged nonchalantly. "I wouldn't use the word sinister, but the thought did cross my mind that you could have an ulterior motive to get me into your room."
Fox slowly looked around the room, then crossed his arms. "What's so special about this room that I would want to lure you here?"
Been grinned. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that the two of us are here, there's a bed present, and there are no cameras?"
Fox's eyes darkened. "Why would we need a bed if we are just friends?"
"Friends with flirting," Brantley corrected him.
"With flirting, yes. Not with benefits."
"One could argue that flirting has benefits as well. Or that friends can fool around with each other and still remain friends."
He was pushing it, and Brantley knew it. He wasn't even sure why he was doing it. Hadn't he and Fox both agreed that anything more than friendship was insanity, dangerous, forbidden? They'd decided on friendship, so what was he doing here once again pushing the boundaries of that friendship?
Fox stared at him. First at his eyes, but then his gaze dropped lower to Brantley’s lips, which he licked almost automatically in response. Lower it traveled, the man undressing him with his eyes. God, the way he looked at Brantley right now. It was as if he was imagining what was hidden by Brantley’s clothes.
And he wouldn't have to imagine hard, because he'd seen it. He'd been there. Inside him. With that perfect, thick cock. With those deep, precise strokes, those flexible hips, that strong as that had rippled so perfectly as he surged inside him.
Fox's eyes traveled back up to meet Brantley’s. "Sometimes I wonder…"
"Wonder what?" Brantley asked when Fox stopped talking.
"I wonder if I remembered your taste correctly. In my head, I have this memory of our kisses, and I wonder if it's accurate or if I somehow embellished it."
He was playing with fire. They both were. Brantley had to take a deep breath before he answered. "I really wish you could test that."
10
Fox dreamed of him that night. They were on some Caribbean island, and all the other people had magically disappeared, leaving the two of them on a pristine beach. They had those giant beach towels that were bigger than man-size, and he put Brantley on his back on one of them, then stretched out on top of him. It felt like magic. His smile, the way his eyes sparkled, his soft, warm skin under Fox's hands, their hard dicks brushing against each other.
He woke up as he was about to slide inside him in his dream, his body fully convinced it had been real. Disappointment slammed into him like he'd hit a dock with the ship. God, it had felt so real. Probably because it had been so easy to recall how their bodies had felt together. Why couldn't he let him go? This was becoming absurd. He was forty-five, for fuck's sake, not some lovesick teenager.
Clearly, this whole friends-with-flirting thing had been an illusion. Then again, he'd known that from the start. He'd only been fooling himself that he was capable of keeping his hands off Brantley, of being content with hanging around and the occasional flirting. Okay, heavy flirting, but still. His intentions had been good, that much credit he wanted to give himself, but holy fuck, had he been naive or what?
His hard-on wouldn't subside, and he let out a sigh. He'd always prided himself on his self-control and discipline, which was why it was so aggravating to realize he had none when it came to Brantley. And it wasn't Brantley's fault, not in any way. In fact, if Fox had to take a guess, he'd say that Brantley was as frustrated by their connection as he was. It wasn't like the younger man was looking for anything serious, let alone with his boss.
No, this was inconvenient for both of them, except that it had stopped being merely inconvenient by now and had scaled up into something much more… Annoying wasn't the right word. Annoying indicated something negative, and as frustrated as Fox was with the whole thing, he couldn't think of Brantley in a negative way. The connection they had was special. Mighty inconvenient, but special.
He'd never been particularly interested in younger guys. Sure, they were an easy target when he was looking to score. He wasn't stupid. He knew damn well he had that whole silver daddy thing going on, which attracted a fair share of twinks. And while daddy kink didn't exactly ring his bell, he was fine with a little role-play in the bedroom. They just weren't the type of guys he'd ever been interested in dating. Then again, he wasn't interested in dating in the first place, so what the hell did he know?
Fact was that Brantley was twenty-seven, making him eighteen years younger than Fox. If not for the whole boss-employee thing, that age gap alone should make them pause. And yet it didn't, for some weird reason. Maybe it was because Brantley was mature for his age or some shit, or maybe Fox just felt younger with him, he wasn't sure. He'd certainly had enough stamina when they'd spent their night together, he thought with a smile.
That, of course, brought his cock back to full hardness, and with a muttered expletive, Fox reached for the lube he always kept next to his bed. He kicked back the sheets, then circled his left hand around his dick and closed his eyes. He could picture him as easily as if Brantley was standing right in front of him. Hell, he could even remember exactly what his body looked like, what it had felt like.
The little scruff on his chin that gave such a delicious friction when he'd kissed his way down Fox's body toward his cock. The way his eyes gleamed when he thought something was amusing. How messy his hair looked after Fox had held his head while fucking his mouth. How surprisingly soft his skin was and how much Fox loved that his chest was smooth, such a perfect contrast with the salt-and-pepper fur on his own chest.
But there was so much he hadn't done with him yet, so much he wanted to learn. How adventurous he was in the bedroom, for example. When he was younger, Fox had loved experimenting with all kinds of shit, eager to discover what made him tick. And oh, he'd learned a thing or two about himself. But that stuff was hard to do with one-night stands, if not impossible. That required way more trust than he was willing to dispense to people he didn't know.
It made him wonder. Would Brantley like being restrained? Blindfolded? Maybe experiment with a little spanking? Would he want to do the same to Fox? Mmm, he'd love to see Brantley dominate him a little. Nothing extreme, since his experiments had taught him that he was what could charitably be called adventurous but definitely nothing more than that. A few visits to a BDSM club in Amsterdam had cured him of any notion he'd be interested in that lifestyle. All power to the people who were into that, but it wasn't his thing.
But Brantley restraining him, maybe blindfolding him, then having his way with Fox? That was a fantasy he could get behind. And so he did, allowing his mind to conjure up an erotic fantasy of Brantley taking him, that perfect cock of him buried deep inside Fox, hitting all the right spots.
With a few more strokes, Fox came, shooting his load all over his hand. He lay panting in his bed for a while before he was ready to open his eyes again and allow reality in. They couldn't continue like this, with this crazy pull-and-push dance, neither of them willing to cross the line. It was exhausting, even if it was exhilarating at the same time. Hell, even now, seconds after jacking off to a fantasy of the two of them, he couldn't wait to see Brantley again.
With a resigned sigh, he wiped his hands off on some tissues, then rolled out of bed to start his day the way he always did, regardless of what shift he was doing. Shower, shave, make the bed, get dressed. It had been his routine for years now, and if it suddenly felt a little empty and lacking, he refused to acknowledge it. This was his life, his career. It would have to be enough because there was no alternative.
Even if he allowed the crazy notion in that he and Brantley had a connection that could possibly last longer than a few rounds of phenomenal sex, there was no life together for them. How could there be, when they were both gone for so many weeks in a row? And there was no way he would ask Brantley to give up his career and stay home for him or find a job ashore. No one had the right to ask that from their partner.
And the notion of him quitting his job was equally ridiculous. He was at the height of his career, having a ship he could've never even dreamed of as a young man under his command. If he gave that up for whatever this thing between them was, he would always regret it. No, what they had couldn't last, which made this crazy attraction so damn frustrating. There had to be a way to get over it, but how?
As he went through his daily routine, he kept pondering it. As a captain, he'd always spoken up about relationships between crew members. The cruise line's official position was that they were allowed, but not between a crew member and their boss. The reasons for that were crystal clear, and over the years, Fox had seen himself what could happen when crew members violated that rule. Things got messy, and that was an understatement.
That meant that for him, all crew members were off-limits, and he'd always stuck to that rule. In the many years that he'd been working cruises, he'd never violated it. Hell, he'd never even been tempted to. Not until now.
Technically, he was Brantley's boss. There was no doubt about this. The rule applied to them. And yet, somewhere in the back of his mind, it felt different. They'd met outside of work, when neither of them had any idea who the other was. That first connection had been forged spontaneously, just two men finding each other.
And both of them were professional. They'd demonstrated that so far, hadn't they? Brantley had navigated their complicated friendship as well as Fox himself had, both acting professionally when the circumstances demanded it. Didn't that prove they'd be able to do the same if they hooked up again?
Because that was the conclusion Fox had come to as he was ready to leave his cabin, checking himself one last time in the mirror to make sure his uniform was pristine. Being friends wasn't gonna work until they could test his theory that they could fuck this thing out of their system. Their chemistry was simply too explosive, so they had to release some tension. Surely after doing that, they'd be able to work together and stay friends, maybe with a little flirting thrown in.
Yeah, that had to work, Fox decided as he closed his cabin door behind him and walked over to the bridge. Now all he needed to do was convince Brantley his plan would work. That shouldn't be too hard, Fox thought, and then laughed at his own unintended innuendo.
God, he really needed to release some of that crazy sexual energy.
Brantley had not had a good morning. After they’d been done flirting the day before, Fox had given him the rundown on the incident he had witnessed. That meant Brantley had started off his day by interrogating—because you really couldn't call it anything else—Lucian, who had been surprisingly cooperative.
After the warning Fox had given the guy, Brantley had not expected him to come clean, but he did, admitting that he'd pulled the same trick several times. Maybe he was hoping for leniency now that he'd confessed? Thank God that wasn't Brantley's decision to make. He'd leave that up to Fox.
The next conversation had been with Raymond, the head of security, and it had been unpleasant, to say the least. It had taken Brantley some time and effort to convince the man his guys had knowingly participated in voyeurism, watching the two employees Fox had caught having sex without doing anything about it.
At first, Raymond had insisted his guys hadn't known beforehand and had simply watched the two on-screen rather than intervening, as they should have. It wasn't until Brantley presented him with the evidence that no, it wasn't the first time this had happened and yes, Lucian had admitted to informing them ahead of time, that he agreed to watch security footage to determine if Brantley was right.
Wouldn't you know it, footage showed Lucian walking to the security office about half an hour before his staircase encounter. After that, Raymond was a hell of a lot more cooperative, promising Brantley he would get to the bottom of this. The team of security guys was small enough that it shouldn't take him long to find the culprits because even after everything he'd experienced, Brantley refused to believe all the security guys were in on this. It had to be a case of a few rotten apples. Or so he hoped.
