“Oh, holy fuck, I hate you,” Benji croaked, grinning tearfully. He dragged a hand over his suddenly wet cheeks, shaking with joy and excitement. “Nothing I say is ever going to top that, Noah!”
“Say yes,” Noah suggested.
Benji dropped to his knees and kissed him. The sun streamed in through a crack in the curtains, just a thin sliver. But Benji couldn’t help but feel the room was full to the brim with light.
“Yes,” he breathed.
Noah slipped the collar around his neck. It settled around Benji’s throat smoothly, easily, like it was always meant to be there.
CHAPTER 12
The rest of the holiday passed in a blur.
They spent a lot of time in their rooms. Not all the time—this was technically Max’s holiday, after all. There were many breakfasts and dinners had with all of them, many games of chess, and movies, and days lazing on the beach.
But whenever Max was busy, either with Daphne or off on his own excursions, they retreated to their room.
“We could just stay here,” Noah suggested on the day they were booked to fly back. “You could get a tan. I could sell seashells.”
Benji laughed. “You just want more excuses to rub sunscreen on my back.”
“Mmm. Good point.” Noah kissed him, long and deep and wet. His hand drifted up Benji’s bare body until he reached the collar Benji had been wearing anytime they were alone. He didn’t want to ask, Noah could tell. But he would keep looking expectantly at the box until Noah suggested he put it on for him.
“You have a job, Mr. CEO,” Benji pointed out when Noah finally drew back. “I hear those calls, you know. They need their big guy back.”
“We could extend the trip,” Noah suggested. “We could have the wedding here.”
Benji laughed. “Like hell. You want toplanshit. All the right foods and the perfect venue and—and—perfect flowers, I don’t know.”
Noah pulled gently on the heart-shaped ring attached to his collar. When he’d ordered it, he had worried it would look gaudy. But there was nothing gaudy about the way it lay against Benji’s throat, shining in the soft morning light.
“You deserve perfect,” Noah told him, then paused. “You’d want something small.”
Benji blinked, taken aback. “I mean… kind of, yeah. You know I hate it when lots of people are looking at me. But ifyouwant a big one?—”
“We can have a small one,” Noah said. “I always pictured I’d have something big, but… there’s something calming about the idea of having a small group. Just the important people.”
He climbed on top of Benji, watching Benji grin and bite his lip.
“But I’m still getting the perfect place,” he continued, voice low. “Perfect flowers. Perfect clothes…”
Benji shivered as Noah pressed a finger underneath his collar. It could barely fit, and Noah watched his skin dent around it.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to get away with the collar at the wedding,” Benji said breathily.
“You could hide it under a bow-tie,” Noah suggested.
He untucked his finger from the collar and trailed it thoughtfully down Benji’s collarbone.
“I have something else to give you,” he said. “Are you hard?”
Benji blinked and looked down at his naked body, where Noah was touching his chest.
“Uh,” he said, and laughed. “Not yet?”
Noah hummed and stood. “Stay that way.”
Benji made a noise of complaint, leaning over to watch Noah rummage through his suitcase. “I don’t know. You’re getting me pretty excited?—”
