“I feel like your mother had a hand in this interior design,” Kyle said as they entered the grand lounge.
Jamie could see why Kyle would think that. Luxury was in every single detail surrounding them. The carpet underfoot was so plush his shoes sank into it a little, a marked difference from the utilitarian option used in the outside corridor. Rather than the recessed lighting in the public areas of the spaceship, the light fixtures in their suite were wrapped in delicate blown glass, the glow softer on the eyes.
Every wall that Jamie could see was paneled with a neutral, light-colored synthwood to help hide the metal underneath. An embedded screen on the far wall of the lounge showcased a constant stream of famous artworks that could be switched over to media.
The furniture in the lounge, while comfortable looking, was all bolted down for safety reasons. Jamie knew from previous trips that a few select pieces weren’t bolted down, like chairs and some benches, but most would be throughout the ship. No one wanted to have to maneuver through a sea of floating, heavy furniture in the unlikely event the ship’s artificial gravity went out.
Kyle jerked his thumb at the hallway that branched off the lounge. “I’m gonna check things out.”
Jamie waved him off. “Go. I’ll find you once everything is situated.”
Kyle left Jamie behind to explore the interior of their home for the next seven days. Jamie oversaw the porters, who guided their luggage into the massive master bedroom on a slim hovercart. The ship’s captain and guest services manager had been on hand to welcome them aboard earlier. The captain had returned to the flight deck after the introductions while the manager, a tall woman in a tailored pantsuit and flat boots who had introduced herself as Michelle, had remained with them.
Michelle approached Jamie and offered him a sleek black tablet. “The controls to your suite and access to communication links with your private chef, concierge, and housekeeping staff.”
Jamie was well-versed in how Empyrean ran their cruise spaceships and accepted the tablet with an absentminded nod. “Thank you. Privacy is all we care about. Unless we initiate a request, outside access will be fully restricted to our suite once you leave.”
“Of course, sir. I’ll inform the staff.”
Once the porters returned, Michelle gave him a respectful nod before leaving with the crew. Everyone who worked for Empyrean on the cruise spaceships was salaried staff. While Jamie didn’t have to pay for the trip since his family owned the company, he had allocated a large amount for a tip out of his own accounts to go toward those assigned to their level.
Jamie tapped into the controls on the tablet and set them to the highest privacy settings for their suite. He had plans, and none of them allowed for interruptions. Satisfied that no one could enter their level without explicit permission from one of them, Jamie set the tablet on the nearest surface. He made his way to the master bedroom, not seeing Kyle in any of the rooms he passed. Considering how large their suite was on the private level, that wasn’t a surprise.
The three trunks had been snapped into the luggage anchors in the large walk-in closet attached to the master bedroom. Jamie and Kyle had each packed a trunk for their week away, while the third, smaller trunk was one Jamie had packed personally to ensure Kyle’s pleasure. For the moment, he ignored that one in favor of his own.
Pressing his hand to the sensor pad, the biolock disengaged once his print was read. Opening the trunk, Jamie dug through his clothes to the secured compartment he had packed the jewelers’ box in. The large, flat black box was biolocked, with the jeweler’s brand discreetly stamped in silver in the lower left-hand corner. Gift in hand, Jamie went in search of his husband.
The large suite was luxuriously decorated, with subtle design hints in each room and open areas to designate a change in location. By far, the real star of the private level was the forward viewing room, and that’s where Jamie ultimately found Kyle.
Jamie tucked his free hand into his pants pocket and leaned one shoulder against the door frame. The viewing room was furnished with comfortable couches, plush armchairs, and a cushioned lounge bench. Half the furniture in there was magnetized so guests could move it around. A wet bar with its bottles secured in vacuum pods and soft lighting completed the room. The whole front curve of the ship was made up of reinforced windows, providing an uninterrupted view of the vastness of space and the planet they’d left behind.
While the view of the stars and Earth was breathtaking, Jamie only had eyes for Kyle.
His husband stood before the wide windows, both hands pressed against one of the panes. The curvature of Earth filled half the view, a bright blue backdrop against the blackness of space and all the stars that burned there. The glow from Earth was like a halo around Kyle, casting his body in an almost ethereal light.
“Figured I would find you here,” Jamie said.
“This is an LOS I’ll never forget,” Kyle replied.
The hint of awe in his voice made Jamie want to give him everything that Kyle had missed out on while growing up skirting the poverty line. He wanted to give Kyle all the experiences that Jamie had once taken for granted. He wanted to see them as new through Kyle’s eyes, moments shared together rather than gone through alone.
Kyle half turned away from the window, and Jamie let his gaze linger on the way his tight jeans clung to his ass. Jamie might have worn a casual suit for the flight into space, but Kyle had dressed in comfortably worn jeans and a T-shirt. Kyle had stated on the short-haul flight to the launch pad in Upstate New York that he might be a Callahan now, but he wasn’t going to dress like one unless the situation called for it.
It was a statement Jamie had no issue with. He’d fallen in love with Kyle just the way he was, and Jamie wouldn’t change anything about the other man.
“It’s one hell of a view,” Kyle said.
“It is,” Jamie agreed, looking at Kyle and not the vastness of space beyond him.
Kyle’s smile was that familiar shade of fond exasperation that made Jamie want to kiss him until he couldn’t breathe. Straightening, Jamie entered the viewing room. Kyle moved to meet him halfway. Kyle’s gaze flickered to the box, one eyebrow arching upward. He didn’t bother to hide his curiosity.
“Is this the present you promised me?”
Jamie hummed thoughtfully in the back of his throat. “You should get undressed.”
Kyle didn’t hesitate to obey, the immediacy of his response making Jamie smile. He watched as Kyle undid the laces on his shoes and kicked them aside. He stripped with the slow motions of someone who knew he was putting on a show, and Jamie was content to wait and enjoy it. Kyle never broke Jamie’s gaze, those green eyes staring at him with so much trust in them, it made Jamie’s breath catch in his throat.
Kyle’s lean body came into view one piece of discarded clothing at a time, his lightly freckled skin unmarred by scars. Jamie’s eyes went to Kyle’s chest in an automatic glance he had yet to learn how to break. The skin where the bullet had pierced Kyle’s heart was whole and would be for years and years to come if Jamie had anything to say about it.
