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“I thought we might go for a drink,” Eddie explained when Will stared at him for a little too long. Who could blame him? Eddie was gorgeous.
“Anything you want.”
Eddie smiled and led him to the lifts, but instead of going down a level to the staff bar, he pressed the button for the top floor. Will knew instantly where they were going, and he smiled, loving the sweet gesture. They pushed through the door out to the executive deck they’d frequented many times since their first date. When the ship got too much—the people, the pace—they disappeared here for much-needed moments of quiet time together.
But instead of the simple layout of deckchairs on green Astroturf and a single string of fairy lights strung over the pergola-like structure, the deck had been transformed. Coloured lanterns hanging at different levels from the canopy of white-painted steel girders swayed gently in the breeze. A picnic rug was laid out on the floor, basket and all, with a chilling bottle of something sitting to the side. Thick cushions were piled up around the rug, making the small space look like a nest they could burrow into. A sheet had been pinned up, blocking the view of the deck from the helm. Will swiped his card against the lock, securing the door and preventing any unannounced visitors from intruding into their private moment.
Will wrapped his arms around Eddie and kissed him like he’d wanted to do all night, breaking apart only to suck in a much-needed breath of air.
“Let’s have a drink.”
Will followed him to the blanket, and they sat, Eddie motioning for Will to sit between his outstretched legs. But Will knelt before his man instead. “In a second.” He pressed a kiss to his beautiful dancer’s temple before grasping Eddie’s hand and reaching into his pocket with the other. Will’s fingers closed around the warmed gold and he gripped it, sucking in a breath. This time, his heart was steady. His palms weren’t sweaty, and he was lightheaded for an entirely different reason, but having a moment alone with his man did it to him every time. “Eddie,” he implored as he lifted his lover’s left hand to his lips. When Eddie saw the ring and his eyes widened, Will smiled and pressed on. “I chickened out of doing this on stage. Not because I didn’t want to, but because it wasn’t us. Being up there on the stage is your thing, and you’re fabulous at it. I love every minute I get to watch you. But it’s not the two of us. This, here? This is us. Lifou is us.”
Eddie smiled and shifted, moving to his knees too. He wrapped an arm around Will’s waist and leaned in close, seeking a connection that Will was only too happy to give in to. They kissed, slow and sweet before Will pulled back and nudged Eddie’s nose with his.
“You’ll side-track me.” Will smiled at his man but became serious again soon. “You make me happier than any man has a right to be. You’ve taught me what love really means and I’m head over heels in love with you.”
Will slipped the simple square-edged band on Eddie’s finger, a perfect fit. “I don’t know whether this is a proposal, or a promise. Maybe more of a pledge. I don’t need the vows or to be on stage. I just need you. What do you say? Me and you, together forever?”
Eddie bit down on his lip and smiled, his eyes shining with unshed tears and Will’s heart somersaulted. “Yes, my handsome captain,” he whispered, nodding quickly and reaching up to cup Will’s cheek. Against his lips, Eddie whispered, “Always and forever.”
Will wrapped him in a hug, needing to be closer to his man. He joined their lips, tasting and teasing Eddie’s tongue with his own. Right there on the deck of his ship, holding his man and promising to love him for eternity, was heaven.
When they finally broke apart what could have been minutes or hours later, Eddie sat and patted the cushion between his legs. Will moved, sitting in the spot Eddie wanted him. He only waited for Will to still before Eddie wrapped his arms and legs around him, pulling him closer. Will slipped off the heels Eddie wore, massaging his feet between sips of the chilled champagne. At the groan leaving Eddie’s mouth, Will reached up to capture his lips.
“Can’t believe a year has passed since we first did this,” Eddie whispered against Will’s lips. “Best year of my life.”
“Mine too. I can’t wait to spend forever with you.”
Eddie’s hand went to Will’s heart, and a smile lit up his face as he sighed happily.
“Happy anniversary, Eddie.”
“You too, handsome.” Eddie shifted then, straddling Will’s legs and cupping his face as Will laid back on the pillows. He kissed Eddie again, smiling against his lips. The man atop him had chased away the loneliness residing inside Will. He’d wiped away the cobwebs in his heart with his laughter and love and had made Will adventurous again. Eddie lit up Will’s entire being with the brilliance of the sun, bringing happiness back into his life where Will hadn’t realized it was missing.
Their life together was fast and crazy. Every day was a roller-coaster ride, which ended when they fell into bed together, exhausted. But Will was up for embracing the thrill or screaming as loud as he could on the ride as long as Eddie was by his side.
They kissed, and Will slid his hands up under Eddie’s shirt, expecting to touch smooth skin, instead finding another layer of soft material. Eddie pulled back and sensually inched his blouse up his belly, then over his head, letting it dangle in his fingertips. With every slow movement, pale skin against fine baby pink lace was revealed. Will licked his lips and groaned. There Eddie was, straddling him, his erection tenting in his silky black pants while a lace bodysuit clung to his leanly muscled body. Will walked his fingertips up Eddie’s belly to the taut nipples peeking through the fine weave, then up over his shoulders and down his back. He followed the plunging backline, the lace disappearing into Eddie’s pants, and Will’s breath hitched.
His semi had thickened, hardening at the sight of the beautiful man before him. The man who Will knew loved him as much as he adored Eddie. “So fucking sexy.”
Will pulled him down again, lining up their hard cocks, and kissed him as Eddie rocked. But soon it wasn’t enough. As their clothes were peeled away and tossed haphazardly to the side of their cocoon made of blankets and pillows right there on the deck of the MV Dreamcatcher, Will knew fate worked in wonderful ways. When Eddie sank into him—lace bodysuit still firmly in place—and moved slowly inside Will, making love to him, Will knew that every winding path he’d followed, each decision, twist of luck, hard road and heartbreak, and every happy accident had worked together to bring him to this point. To bring him to Eddie.
Will gripped Eddie’s arse, framed beautifully by the line of the lacy G-string plunging between his taut cheeks, and urged him to keep moving, gasping as sensation flooded him.
Later, when they lay in each other’s arms, wrapped only in the blanket Eddie had spread over them, Will touched the ring on Eddie’s finger and looked up to the sky. Among the million stars overhead, one flickered, winking at him. Eddie gasped and pointed, a shooting star streaking across the skyline. “Make a wish,” he encouraged excitedly.
“I don’t need to.”
“Of course you do.” Eddie playfully pinched Will’s side.
“Star light, star bright—”
Eddie closed his hand over Will’s mouth and lifted onto one elbow, sputtering out an indignant laugh. “Don’t say it aloud!”
Will laced his fingers with Eddie’s and rested their hands on his chest. “It doesn’t matter whether you hear it or not, because you know what I’ll wish for. You just gave it to me. Us. Together, forever. Just like this. A future where we live and love exactly like we’ve done over the last year.”
“Oh, Will. I love you. I always will.” Eddie kissed him then, and Will rolled, covering Eddie’s body with his bigger one. He whispered the words back to him and kissed a line up his throat. They made love long into the night, watching the dawn of the sun light up the sky. When the twin cliffs marking the entrance to Sydney Harbour greeted them, they dressed and padded down to their stateroom hand in hand, greeting the day exactly as they would for the rest of their lives. Together.
They’d navigated choppy seas and chartered a course into waters where they could hitch their sails together and drift smoothly into paradise. The wind could take them anywhere; it didn’t matter to Will. Whatever this voyage of life had in store for them was simply another adventure—one that Will would love, because all that mattered was the knowledge Eddie would be by his side. Always.
