IslandAffair

Much. He guided Robin toward the dark-blue sedan and they climbed
into the buttery leather seats with a mutual sigh. Robin glanced at him with an
amused smile before tipping his head back and closing his eyes.
    “We could just sleep right here.”
    “Tempting, but I need to hold you and I can’t do that here.”
    “You’re right. Home, James, and don’t spare the horses.”
    John rolled his eyes and eased the car out of the parking
lot and into the quiet street. The drive was short and uneventful but tension
crept back into his shoulders and he found himself looking into the rearview
mirror a bit too often. He glanced at his lover. Rob was the picture of
relaxation with his head back and eyes closed but the white knuckles of the
hand clenched against his thigh gave him away. Too much had happened for them
to forget it easily. It wasn’t until they were inside the apartment and the
lock snicked shut that they could relax again.
    In the bathroom they stripped off their clothes and dropped
them on the floor, climbing under the shower together. Hot water sluiced over
them and John stood passively while Robin ran the washcloth over his skin,
murmuring softly over each bruise and pressing soft kisses to the small grazes.
When he was done, he surrendered the cloth to John and stood silently in turn.
There was nothing sexual in the contact, more a reassurance that each was
unharmed. John lingered over the scars on Robin’s head, feeling a rush of
renewed anger. If that woman had hit him any harder Rob might not have been
standing here. He knew how dangerous it was for someone who’d had such a severe
head injury to have a repeat blow. With the anger came the fear he had been
suppressing and he began to shake. The washcloth dropped from his fingers and
he wrapped his arms around his partner, feeling Rob return his fierce embrace.
    “Shh. It’s okay. I’m all right.”
    “God. Rob. I’m so s—”
    “No!” Rob grasped his hair, tugging his head back to look
into his eyes. “No apologies. I wanted this as much as you. I love you, John.”
    John’s knees wobbled at the long-awaited words. He’d begun
to wonder if Robin would ever say them again or if he’d lost his chance when
he’d left him on the island. He smoothed his knuckles over the stubble of
Robin’s jaw, rubbing his thumb over his parted lips.
    “I love you too.”
    He leaned in to kiss the moist softness and shivered at the
warmth of their shared breath as the water began to cool. Robin turned and shut
the shower off and they got dried quickly. With the curtains drawn the bedroom
was dim, though as tired as they were it probably wouldn’t have mattered if the
lights were on and a full brass band were playing. They crawled beneath the
quilt and he waited until Robin swallowed his medication before pulling him
into his arms. As Rob’s hand drifted down his chest and across his stomach his
cock gave a twitch of interest but before he could do more than acknowledge it
sleep dragged him under.
    John’s Scottish accent rumbled in his ear, familiar and
comforting. “You know what we need?”
    Robin lifted his head to look into John’s eyes and raised
his brow in question.
    “A nice holiday.”
    Robin snorted inelegantly and buried his head against John’s
shoulder. “Just promise me one thing?” He laughed. “No swimming pools.”

Epilogue
     
    Robin lay back on the towel on the soft sand of the private
beach. Relaxed and drowsy, eyes closed. His mother had absolutely no concept of
time zones and she had telephoned at stupid o’clock this morning and woken him
to chat. He hadn’t had the heart to tell her to call back at a more reasonable
hour. Lulled by the peace of his surroundings, he let his tiredness take over
and drifted. His skin was by turns hot from the warm sun and cooled by a gentle
breeze soughing through the dried grass atop the dunes. His shirt lay discarded
by his side with a bottle of sun lotion and a textbook on child education. A
calm ocean lapped at the sand some distance from his feet and only the
occasional cry of a seagull disturbed the peace. Secure in his solitude, he
drifted slowly to sleep.
    He woke to see John on his knees by his side. He smoothed
sun-warmed lotion onto Rob’s strong shoulders, his broad golden chest blocking
the light as he bent to his task. A lock of hair fell over eyes as blue as the
summer sky above and was ignored while the firm strokes continued down Robin’s
arms to his hands and fingers