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A Pirate’s Life for Me

CHAPTER ONE

The ad seemed too good to be true:

Work in paradise. Now hiring entertainers for adult tourist shows in the Caribbean. Free

room and board. All transportation supplied. Must be in good physical condition. HIV test
required. Actors and models encouraged to apply.

After the last few months Lucas Hart had been having, finding the ad was like finding a

hundred dollar bill in the gutter.

He'd immediately called and was granted an interview three days later with Susan Moore,

director of Human Resources for a company he'd never heard of. Dressed in a borrowed suit and
tie, he sat across a desk from an attractive blonde in her early forties. He tried to look confident
while she thumbed through the resume he'd submitted, but inside the butterflies were going
crazy. His confidence had taken a beating lately.

"Tell me about your work with the Tall Ships Festival, Lucas."
"Yes, ma'am. I was part of the crew of a hundred and ten foot schooner that sailed Lake

Michigan and engaged other ships in mock battles. My duties included running the sails,
maintaining the rigging, cleaning and of course acting in the shows. I've included a letter from
my captain," he added, hopefully. He desperately wanted this job. "I've been trained in sword
fighting and I'm pretty good at diving off the rigging. I don't have formal stage training but I'm
reasonably good at acting. I'm a quick learner."

"You might be the most qualified applicant I've ever met," she remarked as she looked

over his resume. "At least for this job." Susan Moore closed the folder containing his paperwork
and looked up, her blue-gray eyes sparkling behind stylish square glasses. "Let me explain what
this job entails and you tell me if you're interested. At this point, I'm ready to hire you on the
spot. You've got the experience, looks and personality." She gave him a brief once-over. "I think
you're perfect."

Lucas released a deep sigh of relief. "That's fantastic news, Ms. Moore."
"Susan," she said with a twitch of her lips, still studying him.
He smiled. "Susan." He ran a hand through his honey-colored hair, glad now that he

hadn't gotten it trimmed before coming in here. He'd thought it might make him look a little
more rakish, and it appeared to have worked. When women looked at him the way Susan Moore
was looking at him, Lucas had the situation under control. "This is really great news," he
repeated with a growing smile. "I'm definitely interested in hearing all about the position. Your
ad was vague enough to make me imagine all sorts of things, from drag shows to aerial
acrobatics."

She laughed. "No on the former, yes on the latter. Have you heard of the Arcadia Hotel?"
"I'm sorry, I haven't. I've been a little out of touch for most of the last year since we don't

get much news on the ships."

"What about Anteros Island?"
He thought for a moment. "It's in the Caribbean, isn't it?"
"Yes, it's a tropical resort that caters to several cruise lines. The Arcadia is one of several

hotels on the island and it happens to be an adult hotel. One wing is Heaven, the other Hell.
Where they meet is Purgatory."

Lucas laughed in disbelief. "You're kidding."
"I'm not. It's amazing. I had the good fortune of staying there for two weeks last year. In

Hell, of course," she said, grinning. "Best time of my life." She winked at him and then blushed a
little as if suddenly realizing she was flirting with a young man nearly twenty years her junior.
She looked down and straightened the papers in her folder. "The Arcadia, in addition to offering
several in-house clubs, restaurants and adult shows, sponsors a pirate show five to seven days a
week. This pirate show is what I'm hiring for."

Lucas couldn't believe his ears.
"The shows are performed in a bay on an old schooner which has been modified to allow

a close-up audience. There's a screen behind the ship where the shadow of an opposing ship is
projected. Pirates on the 'real' ship battle against privateers and Caribbean spirits on the shadow
ship. It's surprisingly effective. They do a great job."

"Sounds incredible."
"The pirate ship holds a twelve-man acting crew. You'll be expected to climb rigging,

swing from high locations, participate in sword fights, and occasionally fall into the water --
everything you've already done."

She smirked at him. "Now comes the good part. If you sign on, all room and board is

included. You can eat at any of the Arcadia's restaurants for free, although you will be
responsible for paying for alcoholic beverages and for gratuities. Housing will provided for you
in the form of a cottage you share with other members of your crew, two to a room. It's fully
furnished with everything you might need: full kitchen with all the appliances, flat screen TV,
DVD player, game consoles -- you name it and it's probably there.

"You will receive a weekly salary of five hundred dollars. Because Anteros is a U.S.

territory it will be taxed, by the way -- and you'll also receive a fifty percent employee discount
on all activities on the island that offer employee discounts. You'll work the show every day
while ships are in port and then you'll be off until the next docking."

Lucas shook his head, afraid to believe everything he'd heard. "What's the catch?"
She smiled. "There are a few: one is that I need you there in two weeks. Also, you'll be

living on an island for one year. Unless you're fired, you won't be able to leave unless you pay
your own way. Granted, it's not a tiny island. There are plenty of places to explore and it offers
nearly every amenity the mainland does. There is a local government and you're subject to all the
same laws as you would here, but also all the benefits. But though it's similar to here in some
cases, it's still a very different lifestyle. Not everyone can pack up and go, or are willing to live
on a secluded island. Nor is everyone willing to work fourteen days in a row without overtime."

"But the time off between sailings more than makes up for it," he pointed out.
"Depends on your perspective, I suppose." She tapped the folder containing his

information. "The only thing I need from you to complete your hiring is for you to take a
comprehensive physical at one of our approved clinics and pass an HIV test. We'll be running a
criminal background check as well as your credit report. After that you only need to clear up
your personal business here and we'll transport you to the island via one of the cruise ships."

"I'll be taking a cruise there?"

"You'll be traveling as an employee in the employees' quarters," she clarified with a

laugh. "It's definitely not the same."

"Still sounds better than flying," he laughed back. "Wow," he repeated, setting back in his

chair as everything she'd described sank it. "I have to tell you, Susan, this sounds like a dream
job. I loved working the Tall Ships festival and this sounds like doing more of the same, just in a
bigger pond. And I won't have to sleep on the ship, which sounds great. A tropical island, free
food and housing..." He shook his head, incredulous. "I'm interested. This is too good to pass
up." And I can get away from everything that reminds me of Lisa.

Susan beamed. "Excellent. I was hoping you'd say that, Lucas. As I said, you're perfect

for this job. Now, let's discuss the move. There are private banks on the island which..."

Two weeks after that interview with Susan, Lucas flew to Fort Lauderdale. From there

he'd boarded the cruise ship, the Excelsior, and shared a cabin with a friendly Filipino crewman
named Andy. A week later, well-tanned from afternoons lounging beside one of the ship's pools,
he'd disembarked on Anteros Island and jumped directly on the employee tram.

I can't believe I'm about to live on a tropical island... as a pirate.
It brought a wide smile to Lucas's face as he looked out the side of the open-air tram and

watched the scenery of his fantasies -- now his new home -- whiz past him. Turquoise waters,
red hibiscus, green palmettos and white sand beaches -- he'd entered a world of primary colors.
Everything was vibrant and fresh and a million miles away in both distance and spirit from
Chicago.

"Somebody pinch me," he murmured.
"Only if I get to pick which body part."
He turned his head in surprise. A petite blonde girl sat beside him. He'd been too

awestruck by the surroundings to notice her when he'd taken his seat.

He noticed her now. She had a cute pixie face that would have been even more

pronounced had her shoulder length blonde hair been pulled up instead of brushed in around her
face. As he watched, she nervously tugged the locks tighter to her cheek. Her sunglasses were
tinted pink, which revealed that her eyes were a light color -- green or blue.

"It doesn't seem real, does it?" she asked. She was wearing a white tank top with a rabbit

face stitched across the front of it. Each time the tram rode over a bump, her breasts jiggled.
Lucas was glad for his dark lenses that allowed him to sneak glances without being caught.

"I'm from Toronto. When I told my friends I was going to live on an island they thought I

meant somewhere in Nova Scotia," she laughed. "I can't wait to send them postcards from here.
They'll hate me." She twisted sideways in the seat and extended her hand to him. He couldn't
help noticing she kept her left hand hovering over her cheek and hair. "I'm Nicole. I'll be
working on the beach as a cocktail server." She smiled awkwardly. "Funny, huh?"

He cocked his head, curious. "Why is that funny?"
Again, she pulled at her hair until Lucas realized she was trying to cover part of her face

with it. "I'm not exactly model material," she said. "I was in a car accident a few years back and I
-- I was burned."

She didn't mention where the scars were located, but Lucas had a pretty good hunch.
"You'll probably be the most popular girl on the beach," he told her earnestly. "To be a

horrible male, the truth is that we're going to be staring at your breasts the entire time, and from
what I can see they're stunning."

Her eyes widened. Then she burst into laughter and lowered her hand. "Well, at least

you're truthful! Wow."

He shrugged and grinned. "You really have nothing to worry about, Nicole. Whatever

you think is holding you back -- believe me, it's not. You're gorgeous and you're friendly. Two
pluses in my book." He shook her hand. "I'm Lucas. I'm working in the pirate show."

She shook her head in wonder. "There's a pirate show? What do you do in it?"
"I'm not exactly sure," he admitted, "but I bet it's a lot of swinging from rigging and

yelling 'Argh' a lot. Maybe spanking some wenches," he added playfully.

She laughed. "Pirates are sexy. Will you get to wear an earring and an eye patch?"
"Of course," he replied loftily, though he had no idea what the costume would consist of.

"I'll be properly decked out for raping and pillaging."

"Oooh," she teased, turning more in her seat to face him. "Sign me up. I make a great

damsel in distress."

He laughed. "Something tells me I might find the tables turned, Nicole. You're not

fooling me."

Her grin was flirtatious and fun. "And something tells me you'd be able to handle it."
He just grinned.
"You've got a nice smile, Lucas. Maybe after we get settled in our housing we can get

together and explore our new home, what do you say?"

Unfortunately, her wording made Lucas realize just how permanent this new situation

was. They were now living on an island. If things went badly between them there wasn't any
easy escape. They might run into each other every day. It made him think of Chicago, and how
every restaurant and street reminded him of Lisa...

"I'd love to, but I think for the first week or so I should try to bond with my cast mates,"

he told her, smiling sheepishly. "You know, sit around and compare scars and see who can burp
the alphabet. But I'd love to catch a drink with you sometime later. I'd love to hear what you
think about this place and your job after you've gotten to know them a little better."

She sighed dramatically, but her eyes twinkled. "I guess I can live with that. I should

probably try to hang out with my new co-workers first too. If I'm going to be stuck living with
them for long..." She tugged self-consciously at her hair again.

To distract her, he quickly asked, "Do cocktail servers live in the cottages too?"
She gaped. "Cottages? What? No fair! We're stuck in big 'ol dorms. Why do you get the

cushy digs?"

"Well, we are sexy pirates," he teased. He held up his hands to ward off her swat.

"Maybe it's because we're part of an adult show. They think we'd be too irresistible in general
population."

She snorted loudly and indelicately, which made him laugh. She blushed and hit him

again. "Irresistible, my ass," she huffed.

He shrugged, grinning. "Trying to make myself feel good."
"So you said adult show, hmm?" Blue eyes turned speculative once again as they roamed

over him. "Now, I'll have to catch your show. Oh, hey, look!"

She pointed up ahead where the front of the tram was clearing the hill and heading down

into the semi-circle of the bay. The horseshoe shaped bay spread before them, shops on either
side, but it was the beach which held their attention. "See those guys in the blue shirts? They
work for the Arcadia. Farther north will be the Royal Capeside. That's who hired me."

Several young men and women wearing turquoise blue polo shirts and white shorts were

busy wiping off chairs and picking up debris and trash from the beach. Since the Excelsior had

just docked the beaches were still relatively empty of tourists and the Arcadia employees were
busy preparing for their arrival.

Lucas pointed at a tiki hut bar where three young women in floral print sarongs and

turquoise bikinis were preparing their stations. "That looks like where you'll be working, right?"

"I think that's only for the Arcadia servers. I'm not sure how much territory each hotel

covers, like, if the Arcadia gets the south end of the bay and the Capeside is limited to the north.
Ooh, I'm so excited now!" Nicole exclaimed, rubbing her bare arms. "I'm getting goosebumps.
Isn't this exciting?"

Lucas looked beyond the people on the beach to the incredibly blue waters of Hidden

Idol Bay. He could see a ship sitting out in the water, a vessel similar to what he'd sailed in Lake
Michigan. A shiver went down his spine when he spotted the familiar skull and bones of the
Jolly Roger flying from its mast.

"Yes, Nicole, this is exciting," he breathed.

~~~~~

The employee tram turned off of the main cobblestone road of Hidden Idol and onto an

asphalt road which carried them away from the tourist area into what were clearly the
neighborhoods of the bay. The tram passed some private backyards before making stops at
several housing areas in Hidden Idol including a small apartment complex, what looked like a
small bungalow town named Arcadia West, and a dormitory-style housing unit called the
Capeside Villages where Nicole disembarked with a cheerful wave and promise to get together
later with Lucas. After these stops only Lucas and another man in his early thirties at the front of
the tram continued to ride it as the caterpillar-like vehicle wound its way back towards the water.

"Where you headed?" the brunette man up front asked as he twisted in his seat to look

back at Lucas. He was even more tanned than Lucas was, with squint lines radiating out like
sunburst from the corner of his blue-green eyes. Though brown, his hair carried heavy blonde
streaking from the sun. A trim soul patch fit perfectly on his square face and matched his thick,
but also trim eyebrows. "You going to the orientation too?"

Lucas shook his head. "Orientation for what?"
The man's face dropped. "Guess not. I'm heading up to Bayside. Orientation for new

diving and fishing crew."

"Sorry. I'm being dropped off at some cottages. I work for entertainment." Lucas looked

over what he could see of the man. He was well-built, maybe more so than he was, with a wide
chest and thick arms. "So which do you do -- dive or fish?"

"Both, though I prefer diving," the man said, his grin a veritable flash of lightning in his

tanned face. "Name's Chasen. You do any diving?"

"I'm Lucas. Nice to meet you. No, I've never had the chance, but I wouldn't mind giving

it a try. Especially here," Lucas added with a smile. "The view underwater must be amazing."

"That's an understatement and a half," Chasen laughed. "On Anteros, it doesn't matter if

you're looking at fish or people -- both are beautiful." His hazel eyes flicked over Lucas,
assessing him. 'You ever come up to the piers, you look me up at Blue Yonder. I'll take care of
you and make sure you learn the right way. I'll make you fall in love."

That's the last thing I want, buddy. But Lucas nodded. "Thanks. You'll be seeing me

soon."

Chasen's grin widened. "I'm holding you to that." He hesitated. "So you're here on your

own, right?"

"Yep."
The diver looked him over again. "Good."

~~~~~

Chasen was dropped off at a bus stop where he said he'd catch a ride up to the northern

end of the bay. The friendly older man again extended the invitation to come find him at Blue
Yonder, which Lucas promised to take him up on. Alone, Lucas rode the tram southeast, heading
up into the hills overlooking the bay. After a five minute trip, the driver let him off at the end of
a narrow road.

Cottage 22 was a small, one-story pale pink abode that sat side by side with three other

pastel colored cottages on a crushed shell road that ran parallel to the bay. Behind the cottages
rose a hill covered in wild vegetation and palm trees that led into a real-life jungle. The cottages'
front yard was the crescent-shaped beach that melted into the turquoise waters. On it, a sand
volleyball game was in progress, and two young men and a woman were tending a barbeque pit
dug into the sand. It looked like a scene from a vacation, yet Lucas knew this was what his life
would be like for the next year.

Smiling wistfully, he walked up the driveway of Cottage 22, passing an electric blue

Ninja. He paused to admire the motorcycle, something he'd always dreamed of driving. He
noticed then that none of the cottages had garages, and he remembered he hadn't seen many
private cars down on the main roadways either. Apparently most people traveled by two-wheeled
vehicles, walked, or used public transportation. It made sense since cars were probably difficult
and expensive to transport over.

Now I have an excuse to get a street bike, he thought as he approached the front of the

cottage. This keeps getting better and better.

He slung his duffel bag from his shoulder and knocked on the front door. Beside the

welcome mat sat a collection of conch and spiny shells, as well as two pairs of well-worn flip-
flops. A wooden wind chime spun gently from the eaves but there wasn't enough of a breeze to
make it rattle.

"Just a sec!" he heard a male voice yell from inside.
A minute later the front door swung open, revealing a skinny young man around Lucas's

age. He certainly looked like an island native with his head of light brown braids that reached his
shoulders where colored beads rolled across his skin. Deeply tanned skin brought out the
brightness of seaweed green eyes. His lanky form was dressed in a loose white tank top and blue
board shorts with white stripes up the sides. His feet were bare. He smiled at Lucas, the act
poking two deep dimples into his cheeks and making his button nose crinkle. "Hiya!"

Lucas couldn't help grinning back. "Hiya, yourself. I'm Lucas. I think I'm your new

housemate."

The other man's eyes rounded and he did a quick once-over of Lucas. "Right on! Come

on in, Lucas. I'm Kip." Kip stepped back to allow him inside. "Welcome to Cottage Twenty-two,
the coolest house on the island. Man, this is great! I didn't expect anyone so hot."

Lucas gave him a bemused glance but Kip rattled on, unaware: "You came at a good

time. The other guys are at the store buying food for grilling tonight. It'll give you time to unpack

and settle in before they all attack you. And boy," Kip added, taking an unabashed look at
Lucas's backside, "are they going to attack you."

The comment and implication was so unexpected Lucas couldn't help but laugh. "So, uh,

why don't you give me the tour while we wait for them?"

"Sure thing, bro. You're with me. We've got a great room that faces the ocean. It's the

second best room in the place. But first, let me show you the house!"

They were standing in a tiled alcove just inside the door. Kip led him straight ahead into

the living room. More Spanish tile covered the floor, along with a large, colorful braided rug in
the center of the room on which sat a gnarly driftwood coffee table whose glass oval top was
covered with beer bottles, food wrappers and a centerpiece of a giant abalone shell in which
someone had placed some tea lights. A coral colored sofa and loveseat formed an L around the
table, facing a flat screen TV mounted on the wall. Above the TV hung a fake marlin. Lucas
smiled at the jock strap dangling from the fish's beak.

"Kind of a mess right now, but we clean it up when we have guests," Kip apologized. He

pointed at a console beneath the TV. "We've got TiVO and satellite, so we can watch anything
and everything. Also Xbox 360 and a Wii. I think we're getting a PS3 soon."

Lucas pointed at the framed photographs of island scenes which hung on the adjacent

wall: a macro of a crab's eyes peering out of a tide pool, a Caribbean child mouthing a
pomegranate, and one Lucas especially liked -- a pair of hands buried by sand with only the
entwined fingers peeking out. "Those are nice."

"You think so?" Kip beamed. "Adam took those. He's got a real eye for it. He takes

pictures of the crew too, but those photos stay in his bedroom. Too personal for the living room,
he says."

Mention of another roommate prompted Lucas to ask, "So how many people live here?"
"Four." Kip pointed between them. "There's you and me, then Adam and Tyler. There are

three other cottages for the rest of the crew."

Must be the girls, Lucas mused.
"Here's the kitchen."
This room was smaller than the living room, but contained all the necessary appliances. It

amused Lucas to see a couple of pineapples and a coconut sitting on the counter. He couldn't
remember the last time he'd seen a real coconut.

"Tyler likes to cook, but the rest of us eat at the Arcadia or down in HI."
"HI?"
"Hidden Idol. It's that touristy section where all the gift shops and restaurants are," Kip

explained as he walked to a sliding glass door beside the circular dining room table. He pulled
the door open and grinned at Lucas. "Check it out, bro. The backyard is small, but it's sweet."

Lucas peered out into the small patio behind the house. "A Jacuzzi! Nice."
"It's great at night," Kip enthused. He waited until Lucas backed away before he slid the

door closed again. "We go to the beach for barbecues and parties. The Jacuzzi is for more
intimate action," he leered. "Everyone looks sexy when we light the tiki torches. I'll bet your hair
really glows in it."

Uncertain about the vibes he was getting, Lucas stepped away from the other man. "And

the bedrooms and bathrooms?"

"We share the guest bathroom. Adam and Tyler have the master bedroom so they get

their own bathroom. Privilege of being the captain and first mate," Kip said with a roll of his
eyes. He led Lucas down a short hall. "Here we are." Kip entered a room at the front of the house

which was barely furnished with two dressers and two double beds. He flopped down on the bed
that was nearest the window. "Sorry, but I've got dibs."

Lucas smiled. "No problem." He wouldn't have minded if he was forced to sleep on the

floor, quite frankly. He paused for a moment to admire the scene outside before he tossed his
duffel beside his bed. There was a chest of drawers on the opposite wall which he assumed was
his. A closet with mirrored doors sat to his right. Someone had pinned a red kite to the ceiling as
decoration, its tail twisting up and down the wall as though it were in flight.

Lucas took a seat on the end of his bed. "I thought it would all sink in by now, but it

hasn't," he said, laughing at himself a little. "This all still seems like a dream." He studied the
other man. "How long have you been here?"

"Going on sixteen months," Kip bragged. "Best job I've ever had. You'll believe it too,

once you start. And as long as you do a good job and don't get into trouble on the island you can
stay here forever. Our boss takes more vacations than the tourists do."

"When do I meet him?"
Kip grinned. "You don't. He's here, but Mr. Aras is more concerned with what's going on

inside the Arcadia than what we're doing in the bay. He left a letter for you -- it's in the top
drawer of your chest -- but he leaves the orientation and explanations to the captain of each
show. Don't sweat it," he added when he saw Lucas's worried look, "we'll all help you out. We're
part of the same crew now. We won't steer you wrong, bro. Get it -- steer you wrong. Haha!"

Lucas rolled his eyes. "So we don't have a boss, is that what you're telling me?"
Kip looked thrilled. "Pretty much. Yep."
"Isn't that a little risky for the show? A bunch of young people on their own on a resort

island seems like a recipe for goofing off."

"Not if you know Adam," Kip snorted. "Which you will when he comes back from the

store. Cap'n Blackheart, as he's known, runs a tight ship. No fooling around unless it's part of his
script."

That caught Lucas's attention. "When do I get to see that, by the way? The script, I

mean."

For the first time, Kip looked a little shifty. "Well, er, you'll get the main script. That's in

the envelope Mr. Aras left you. The other one... Adam'll fill you in on it. It tends to change with
his moods."

"What does that mean?"
The other man shrugged. "It means he makes it up as he goes. We follow the main script

that Mr. Aras gives us when we think the boss might be in the audience or when he sends VIP
guests who might report back to him. When Aras is off the island, Adam runs his own version of
the shows. They're wild, but they're fun. Don't worry." His grin turned suddenly lecherous. "Only
half of the crew gets stripped."

"Oh, yeah?" Images of naked female pirates swam through Lucas's mind. "Is that the

extent of the 'adult' portion of the show?"

Kip burst out laughing. "I know what you're thinking, you dog. Oh, it gets better, trust

me. You know that HIV test you took? It wasn't because they worried you might cut your finger
if you know what I mean."

Lucas raised both eyebrows. "You don't mean we engage in sex on stage, do you?" He'd

never been especially exhibitionistic with Lisa, but that was only because she was self-conscious
of her body. Lucas took good care of himself. He knew he had nothing to be ashamed of.

"I'm not going to spoil the surprise, bro," Kip said evilly. "You'll find out yourself when

you watch our first show. The practices won't mean anything. Adam will pull things out of his
ass at the last minute. And no pun intended by the comment, by the way. Adam's all top."

"Well, yeah, he's the captain," Lucas said, bemused by the clarification.
"In ways you haven't even imagined. There's no way I'm ever getting fired from this job.

No way, no how. I like being strung up before the mast too much. Ha-ha!" Kip suddenly slapped
his thigh. "Hey, why are we doing this indoors? You just moved to an island! Let's take this to
the beach, Lucas. We gotta work on that tan of yours, bro. Plus, I want to check out your bod."

Lucas was sure of it now: his new roommate was gay, or at least bisexual. It made sense.

Kip was skinny and had a cute, almost girlish face. He looked gay. It didn't particularly bother
Lucas -- he was open-minded and didn't care what people did as long they didn't hurt others --
but he'd never been the focus of such aggressive come-ons. Most gay guys didn't hit on
obviously straight men. It made him a little self-conscious as Kip checked him out again before
turning and leading Lucas out of the bedroom.

"Leave your shoes here," Kip instructed at the front porch. After kicking off his sandals

Lucas followed the other man across the shell road to the white sand.

Lucas gasped in delight. The sand was so fine it almost felt like baby powder between his

toes. "This is amazing," he moaned as he sank down beside Kip on the beach a good distance
away from the volleyball game in progress. He stretched out his legs and dragged his fingers
through the fine granules. "It's like powder."

"Wait until the other guys bury you in it," Kip warned, grinning mischievously. "It's

become a tradition when new guys join the crew."

Lucas panned his eyes over the turquoise waters. "Do you like them? The rest of the

crew?"

"For the most part," Kip replied honestly, nibbling on his lower lip. "Tyler can be a real

bitch sometimes but Adam will keep him in line. He's probably the only one I'd say be careful
around at first. Tyler treats the crew like it's a dog pack, and everyone has to learn their place in
it. The other guys are pretty laid back, although Orinth in twenty-three can get on my nerves
since he's got a big mouth. But the guys are cool. I don't think you'll have a problem with any of
them. You seem pretty laid back."

Lucas sighed. "I don't want to give anyone a reason to complain about me. I really need

this job. I don't know what I'd do if I lost it."

"You running from home too?" At Lucas's surprised look, Kip nodded knowingly. "Lots

of guys are when they come here. It's no biggie. This is an opportunity to start over. Can't blame
a guy for that."

Hearing something in the other man's voice, Lucas asked, "What about you?"
"Bad relationship," Kip replied, avoiding Lucas's eyes as he looked down and drew

patterns in the sand.

Lucas sighed. "Me too."
"Sorry to hear it, bro. But I can't say I'm sorry it brought you here." Kip whipped his tank

top up over his head and folded it into a loose pillow behind him. His upper body was lightly
muscled and hairless like a young boy’s. Lucas's eyes caught on the golden nipple ring in Kip's
left nipple. "You'd better start working on that tan, roomie. Adam wants us all to look like island
natives."

"I guess I'm lucky I don't burn easily or freckle," Lucas remarked before taking hold of

the hem of his T-shirt and pulling it off. He could feel Kip's eyes on him and tried to ignore it as
he also made a makeshift pillow.

"Nice, bro," Kip said after a low whistle. "Real nice. That's some chest you've got. Not

bulky, but really cut. And look at that six-pack!"

"A friend showed me a good routine," Lucas replied simply. "And I like to swim."
"Swimmers have the best bodies," Kip opined, "all tight and firm with that V down the

back leading to a tight bubble butt... mmm."

Lucas bit his tongue and said nothing.
They both stretched out on their backs. Lucas closed his eyes and luxuriated in the warm

sunshine and the sound of the seagulls cawing over the water.

"Don't fall asleep," Kip said softly. "It's easy to do."
"I won't," Lucas mumbled.
But he'd spoken too soon. He'd been too excited to sleep last night, and had tossed and

turned all night. The beach seemed to sway beneath him, much as his bunk had while he was on
board the Excelsior. It rocked him like a baby, and with the pleasant breeze dancing over his bare
chest and the warm sun on his face, he felt himself dozing off.

"Tell me about yourself," Kip murmured softly after several minutes. His voice sounded

closer and Lucas guessed the other man had rolled onto his side and was looking at him. His
voice was low and quiet, blending in with the serene surroundings. "Tell me about Lucas. What
did you do before you came here?"

What did he do... The answer was less interesting than he would have liked. "I worked on

a pirate ship," he breathed, eyes still closed. "A friend got me the job. My first ever. I guess it's
all I know how to be."

"You only know how to be a pirate, huh?" Lucas felt the sand bunching against his arm

as the other man slid closer. "Lucky guy. Go on. Why'd you leave it to come here? What drove
you away?"

Stupidity. Naiveté... Reality.
"I thought I was in love," he sighed. "I was wrong. I was glad it was over. But I felt like I

should have tried to make it work. I'm usually the kind of guy who's good in relationships. But
maybe that's only when they're short-term. This was my first serious one."

"You think you don't know how to love?" Kip whispered.
Lucas frowned. "Maybe. No. I don't know. I don't want to think about falling in love,

anymore. I just want to work and have fun and just live."

"No obligations. No ties," Kip agreed. "Just an island boy. An island pirate."
The image that brought to make made Lucas smile with relief. Here was someone who

understood, who wouldn't condemn him for being immature and selfish even though this was the
first time in his adult life he would be acting so. He'd tried hard to be a good boyfriend to Lisa,
and as a result he couldn't help feeling used. Hurt. His spine relaxed into the sand as obligation
fell away. "Yeah," he breathed, "that's what I want."

"It's what we all want, Lucas. We're young guys here to enjoy ourselves. We're here to

live it up the way we can't back home without apologizing to nobody for it. That's what being on
a pirate crew is all about. You're going to fit right in. I can tell already."

Something brushed over his forehead. He realized Kip's fingers were lightly combing

through his hair. He thought about asking the other man to stop, but it felt too good and if that's

all Kip intended to do Lucas supposed it was alright. He didn't want to come off as a homophobe
on his first day here.

Kip's voice floated over him. "Living here is like living in someone's dream. Sometimes

I'll fall asleep right here on the beach, with the stars as my blanket and the water lapping against
the sand as my lullaby... It's a great place to bring someone for the first time."

Lucas opened his eyes when the other man's head blocked the sunlight from falling

across his face.

Kip smiled endearingly at him. "Don't mind me."
As the other man descended, Lucas turned his face to the side. Kip's lips fell on his

cheek, surprisingly soft for a guy; he'd expected something rougher.

Lucas rolled away from the other man. He came to a stop on his stomach a few feet from

a confused looking Kip. "Hey, look," he said as gently as he could, "don't take it the wrong way.
It's cool and all but I'm not like that, Kip. I'm not interested in guys."

Kip's confusion gave way to humor. "Um, okay. What is it -- you like the whole

seduction thing? I guess that's okay. I like chasing too. Especially when you're so cute."

Lucas shook his head and sat up. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it on. "I'm not playing

hard to get, Kip. I'm serious. I'm not gay. I'm sorry if I accidentally led you on."

He brushed the sand off his shirt and shook it out of his hair. After a moment he realized

Kip hadn't moved and was staring at him. "What?"

"You're really serious," Kip said, his mouth hanging open. "You're straight."
Lucas didn't understand what the big deal was. "People usually aren't that surprised by

that," he joked.

Kip laughed too, but his was one of incredulity. "They are when they've been hired to

join our crew."

"Why?"
"Lucas," Kip slapped his forehead, "you've been hired to work in a gay show."

CHAPTER TWO

"I have to say, Lucas, this has never happened before and again, I'm sorry you've been

brought all this way out here because of a mistake."

Lucas paced the kitchen with Kip's cell phone pressed to his ear. Kip sat cross-legged on

the counter, shamelessly eavesdropping. First he and then Mr. Aras, the entertainment director
for the Arcadia Hotel, explained the bad news to Lucas: there were two pirate shows -- one
featuring men and women performing for a heterosexual crowd, the other featuring a crew of all
men who performed for a gay crowd. Apparently, much to Lucas' dismay, Anteros Island
pandered heavily to gay men.

"So there really isn't any opening in the regular show?" Lucas asked, biting his

thumbnail. "Nothing in the near future? Someone finishing up their contract, maybe?"

He listened to Mr. Aras do a few mouse clicks. "The next expiring contract on that show

comes up in four months, and there's a good chance that crew member will renew. This is his
third extension."

"Damn."

Lucas was stressed. He couldn't go back to Chicago now. Not after he'd seen what a

dream job this was. When would he ever get another opportunity to work on a tropical island as a
pirate? Sure, he could be added to the waitlist for a spot on the heterosexual show, but what
would he do in Chicago in the meantime now that his contract with the Tall Ships had expired?
Work fast food? Sell clothes? He didn't have any other skills.

He stabbed a hand through his hair while he thought furiously. At the counter, Kip gave

him an encouraging smile. Lucas smiled back weakly. Kip was a nice guy. Gay or not, Lucas
could imagine them becoming friends. Lucas stared at him for a long moment and then made up
his mind.

"Mr. Aras, what if I stuck with this show until an opening came up on the other crew?"
"But, Lucas, you said you aren't gay."
"I'm not, but how much gay content is there on this show? Couldn't I play one of the

supporting roles? Like a crewman who hangs around in the rigging or something? You don't
need to be gay to swing from the ropes, do you?"

Kip smacked himself in the forehead again while Mr. Aras paused in answering.
"The crew of the show is gay and the audience is gay, Lucas. I can't help thinking it

would be dishonest or disrespectful to have a straight man in the show." Aras sighed heavily.
"Don't you think?"

"Not at all," Lucas jumped in, seeing a chance to sway the older man. "We're putting on a

performance. They want to see attractive men dashing about being pirates. I can fulfill that
fantasy. It's not like I'll be expected to have sex with them or anything." He mentally shuddered
at the thought. "They'll have no idea I'm straight and I promise I'll be nothing but respectful of
my crew's preferences. It won't even be an issue. I'm an adult, Mr. Aras, and I think I'm a pretty
decent one, at that. I respect other peoples' choices."

Kip cupped his hands around his mouth and whispered loudly, "Being gay isn't a choice,

bro!"

Lucas waved him down, hoping Aras hadn't heard him. "I want to be here, Mr. Aras. I'll

do everything I'm asked and I'll be an asset to the crew. Let me stick with the show until there's
an opening on the other crew. Please, Mr. Aras."

Another drawn-out sigh. "Lucas, I really don't think--"
"I'll work for $300 a week," Lucas blurted. He immediately winced at the rash decision,

but if losing out on $800 a month for a few months gave him a chance at full-time on the straight
show, he'd take it. "You can't beat that bargain, Mr. Aras. You won't have to pay for my passage
back and I'll work for peanuts until I can transfer to the other show. You know you can't turn that
down. All the paperwork has been done. I'm already here. Use me."

He heard Aras's chair squeak as the man shifted. "I like your persistence, Lucas, and I

appreciate your offer. But your contract has already been written. I can't change your salary."

"Then what about--"
"I'll consider it." Lucas shut his mouth and jammed the phone to his ear. "I'll consider it,"

Aras continued, "and if Adam gives me his personal okay, then you can remain here. But you
have to meet with him and discuss this. It's his crew. If he feels comfortable with the situation,
you stay. If he doesn't, I'm sorry, Lucas, but we'll have to make arrangements to return you to the
mainland. Is that fair enough?"

Lucas shut his eyes and slumped back against the refrigerator. "More than fair, sir. Thank

you. Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me yet," Mr. Aras warned with a chuckle. "You still have to convince Adam

why you should stay. He'll be tougher than I."

Lucas tried to picture a tough gay guy and couldn't. Every gay man he'd ever known had

been similar to Kip: short and/or skinny and usually very effeminate. In other words, easy for a
jock type like him to charm. "I'll win him over. I'll show him that I can be a positive addition to
the crew."

"Then I wish you luck, Lucas. You sound like a nice guy. It'd be a shame to have to send

you back."

"Thank you, sir. Don't bother making plans. I'm staying."
He could hear the smile in Aras's voice. "I'll be looking forward to hearing from Adam,

then. Take care."

Lucas closed the phone and handed it back to Kip, who was shaking his head. "What?

You don't think I can convince him?"

Kip tucked the phone into his pocket. "No, I don't. And I know Tyler isn't going to go for

this, either. Tyler's got a chip on his shoulder about straight guys. He thinks they're all repressed
queers." Kip sighed, looking like a defeated puppy dog. "I think you're going back, bro. I
wouldn't unpack if I were you." He sighed again and hopped off the counter. "This really sucks. I
was looking forward to hooking up with you."

"Kip, I'm not leaving. I can't."
The other man shook his head, avoiding Lucas's eyes. "You're not staying, Lucas. But

good luck trying, I suppose."

Lucas blinked as understanding dawned on him. He caught the other man by the arm as

he moved to exit the kitchen. "I should have asked you if it was okay if I tried to stay," he said
quietly. "I'm taking the spot of someone who'd be better suited as your roommate." Though he
hated to say it, he needed to: "If you'd rather I leave, just say the word, Kip. I'll go without
another word. It's not fair to you otherwise."

Surprise rounded Kip's features. "But I thought you needed this job?"
Lucas sighed, releasing his hold on Kip's arm. "I do, but I'm not going to bulldoze my

way onto your crew. This is your home and your job. You're the one who's supposed to be here,
not me. So it's your call, Kip. I won't hold it against you if you decide you'd rather have a gay
roommate come in. Honestly I won't. If the tables were turned and I had a chance of a gorgeous
girl in my room instead of you, you'd already be hitching a ride on a tuna boat." He grinned to
show he was teasing.

Kip's green eyes deepened. He suddenly stepped forward until he was toe to toe with

Lucas. "Would I? Even if I told you I'd let you fuck me?"

Lucas sucked in his breath at the bolt of tension that snapped between them. His face

flamed.

Kip slowly smiled.
"Yeah, I want you to stay, bro. If you do, I might get that glimpse of your naked bod."
Lucas had to force his laughter. He couldn't believe he'd just imagined having sex with

Kip. "If I make it onto the crew you can stare at my lily white butt all you want."

Kip made a face. "Tan lines? Bro, we gotta get rid of those!"
The tension was broken and Lucas breathed a secret sigh of relief. "Help me convince

Adam to let me stay and I'll let you take me to every nude beach on this island."

Kip's grin was pure sex. "You are so on." He checked out Lucas from head to toe.

"They'll be coming home any minute now. Let's clean you up. The hotter you look, the less likely
Adam'll be to send you home. It's important to him to have a good-looking crew, you know?"

Lucas nodded. He was relieved to have Kip on his side. He stood a better chance with

Adam this way. "Let me take a quick shower. Look through my bag and pick out what I should
wear."

"What, you think just because I'm gay I'm into fashion?" Kip snapped, planting his hands

on his hips.

Lucas's stomach sank into his feet. "Oh, shit, no, I didn't mean--"
Kip's lips split into a grin. "Don't sweat it, bro. I was only teasing you. Go jump in the

shower. I'll find some clothes for you."

"You asshole," Lucas grumbled before heading for the guest bathroom.

~~~~~

"You don't think my button-down would be better?" Lucas looked at himself in the mirror

doubtfully. "I thought I was supposed to get dressed up."

"In this case you need to be dressed down," Kip replied as he lounged on his side on his

bed, admiring Lucas while he stood in front of the mirrored closet doors wearing only a pair of
tight brown shorts. "You've got a hot bod, bro. No one can resist a blonde swimmer. Hopefully
not even Adam."

Lucas ran a hand through his hair, sighing inwardly. He'd stopped Kip from rubbing oil

onto his chest and shoulders but he still felt like a piece of meat on display. Still, if it got him the
job, it would be worth it. And what was the point of all his workouts and healthy eating if it
wasn't to show off his body?

He turned from the mirror so he wouldn't have to see Kip staring at him in it. "So tell me

about Adam. What do I need to know about him?"

Kip dropped his eyes and picked at the comforter on his bed. "Don't resist him, bro.

That's the best advice I can give you. He's the captain. Do what he says. Even when we're not
working."

Oh, great. A guy who takes the alpha male thing to the extreme. Lucas had had to deal

with his fair share of them on the ship. Fortunately he was easy-going for the most part. It was
only when someone was incompetent that he had a problem submitting to their orders.

"Okay, I can do that. Anything else?"
Kip raised his eyes. The worry on his face touched Lucas a little. The other man was

really trying to help him. "Try to get on Tyler's good side as soon as possible. He's the key. He
and Adam are together, you see, so if Tyler hates you, he'll convince Adam to hate you, too."

"Together as in..."
"They're fucking each other." Kip grinned.
Lucas breathed deeply. "Okay. So treat Tyler like the bitchy girlfriend. Got it."
Kip groaned. "This is going to go down bad, I can already tell."
"Hey, don't give up on me already! Come on, roomie, you're my ace in the hole!"
It made Kip laugh. "Okay, okay, bro. I won't run up the white flag just yet. You're hotter

than most of the crewmembers and Adam might get off on you being straight, who knows. I'll
keep my fingers crossed." He abruptly sat up as they heard the sound of motorcycles pulling up

to the front of the cottage. "They're here, bro. Pinch your nipples! Bite your lips! Make 'em all
puffy!"

Lucas stared at him as if he were nuts. "What the hell, Kip, I'm not meeting them looking

like I just had sex with you!"

"Oh, damn, this is so not going to work," Kip muttered as he jumped off the bed and

grabbed Lucas by the wrist to drag him out into the living room.

The other man's nervous reaction contributed to Lucas's. He forced himself to breathe

deeply. He told himself this was just another job interview. Impress Adam for the next half hour
and for the next year he'd have the best job of his life. No problem. He could do it. He would do
it.

Then the door opened and the man who stepped through it made Lucas realize he'd

underestimated this situation entirely. As his eyes widened, beside him Kip cleared his throat and
said, "Hey, Cap'n, guess who just landed on the island? Our new whipping boy!"

CHAPTER THREE

Lucas hadn't thought he was the kind of person to stereotype, but he realized to his

dismay that apparently he was, because in his opinion the man who had paused just inside the
door, a motorcycle helmet in one hand and another beneath a muscled arm, couldn't be a gay
guy.

He just couldn't be.
For one thing, Adam looked to be about the same age as Lucas but was much bigger than

him, taller and practically built like a linebacker. He wore a white tank top which showed off the
solid mass of his shoulders and thick arms that could probably beat Lucas in an arm wrestling
match. His chest stretched out the shirt, hinting at impressive pecs topped by thick nipples, and
the navy blue board shorts he wore revealed thick, defined calves lightly dusted with black hair.

He looked to be of Native American descent -- cinnamon-skinned -- with straight ebony

hair that just brushed the tops of his shoulders. He possessed dark eyes set in a face that was as
square and symmetrical as any model's.

From the moment he'd stepped into the cottage and seen Lucas there, Adam's attention

hadn't moved from Lucas, not even to acknowledge Kip.

"Aras did right by us this time, yeah, bro?" Kip was saying nervously. "This here is

Lucas. Lucas, this is Cap'n Blackheart."

Lucas cleared his throat self-consciously. He broke free of his stasis and stepped forward,

hand outstretched, trying not to be intimidated by the dark stare. "Hey, how're you doing? Adam,
right? I'm Lucas. I arrived today."

Adam switched the helmet to his left hand and shook Lucas' hand. He flashed a

disarming smile. "How's it going, man?" His voice was deep and slow, full of confidence. It
wasn't at all what Lucas expected. "We've been wondering when our new crewmember would be
arriving. Your timing is good. You came just in time for grilling." His grin widened. "You also
showed up just in time for me to win the pool. Thanks, man. I'm five hundred dollars richer. I
owe you a round of beers one of these nights."

How can this man be gay? Lucas thought in bewilderment. He never in a million years

would have pegged Adam as anything other than a magnet for the chicks and a drinking buddy
during Sunday football.

"Grilling and free beer, huh? This day keeps getting better and better." Lucas shot a smile

at Kip, whose own smile was looking a bit strained at the edges. "What more could a guy ask
for?"

"It should get lots better," Adam said with a chuckle, releasing Lucas' hand. He finally

glanced at Kip. "Isn't that right, Kip? I take it you've already seduced him with everything that
Joyboy can offer? You're good at that."

Kip saluted, eyes darting anxiously between Lucas and Adam. "Aye, aye, Cap'n. I've got

him hooked. The last thing he wants to do is leave."

"You can say that again." Lucas laughed nervously.
"Enough with the Cap'n bullshit, already. Can you get out of the way? These bags are

heavy."

Adam smirked at Lucas and rolled his eyes like a long-suffering boyfriend before he

stepped to the side, allowing a second man holding three grocery bags to enter the house. This
man was similar to Lucas in appearance and build -- like a soccer or baseball player. His hair
was nearly platinum blond, cut short above his ears, but his face was more in keeping with what
Lucas had expected when Kip told him his roommates were gay: large gray eyes ringed with
thick lashes, a pointed, delicate nose and wide, lush lips. Gold hoops swung from both ears and a
leather cord holding a shark tooth rested against his collarbones which were exposed by a white
tank that matched Adam's -- although wasn't filled out the same.

This guy is definitely the girl in the relationship, Lucas thought as he looked the other

man over. He tried not to squirm uncomfortably at a mental image of Adam and this new guy --
most likely Tyler -- making out hot and heavy.

Tyler froze when he caught sight of Lucas. After a quick once-over, his gaze turned

suspicious. "Who's this?"

"Our new crewmember," Adam told him, still smiling. "Lucas just got in today. Tyler, be

nice and give him a proper island greeting."

Lucas smiled. "Hey, Tyler."
But the blond pursed his lips and shifted the bags in his arms. "Yeah, hey, what's up? I

see you've already made yourself at home." He looked pointedly at Lucas' state of undress.

Lucas was embarrassed, but he knew it would look worse if he tried to cover himself.

"You have a great place. You'll have to tell me what I can't touch, which I imagine is a lot." He
grinned to show he was teasing.

Tyler didn't play along. He thrust out the bags. "You can take these, for starters.

Apparently they hold the dinner I'm now cooking for you, although no one bothered to tell me
there'd be an extra mouth to feed so someone's going to get shafted. Don't blame me that the
newbie is getting your food."

"Take it easy," Adam said casually. He reached out and massaged the back of Tyler's

neck. "Lucas just got here. Put away the claws for at least a few hours. We don't want to scare
him off already."

The look Tyler sent Lucas was just shy of a glare. Lucas responded by smiling evenly

and taking the loaded bags from the other man's arms.

"I ate a little something on the ship," he said, trying to be diplomatic. "You really don't

need to fix me anything, Tyler. I'm good."

"Well, lucky for us," was the blonde's reply, dismissing Lucas with a wave of his hand as

he turned to Adam.

Lucas gritted his teeth and kept the smile on his face as he watched Tyler wind both arms

around Adam's thick neck.

"So he's not going to ruin our plans, is he?" Tyler asked, not bothering to disguise the fact

that he was referring to Lucas. He stretched his body against the slightly taller Adam. "You
promised me, Cap'n."

When he realized Tyler was about to kiss Adam, Lucas turned and headed for the kitchen

with the bags. "I'll put these away for you," he muttered, hoping his unease wasn't too obvious.

"Yeah, I'll help you, bro." Kip hurried after him.
"Tyler already hates you!" the slender man hissed once they were inside the kitchen.
"I haven't done anything!" Lucas protested as he began unloading the bags. Steaks, fresh

shrimp, papayas and a variety of vegetables went into the refrigerator or on the counter. He
paused, palms braced on the edge of the counter. He was more shaken than he'd realized. "I don't
know if this is going to work," he admitted. "They're not what I expected at all. I don't know how
to--" he shook his head, confused, " -- I just don't know."

"Well, you'd better figure it out because Tyler's gonna tear your hair out if you don't get it

together. I told you he's the key. You gotta get on his good side."

"Does he even have one?" Lucas asked, giving a desperate laugh. "I don't know how to

be friends with a guy like that."

Kip came up and poked his finger into Lucas' arm. "Learn quick, bro. Blondie's gonna be

the reason you end up back in the States selling turtlenecks at the Gap. Think about that."

It wasn't difficult to do and it wasn't difficult to know it was exactly what Lucas wanted

to avoid. Taking a deep breath, he nodded and straightened.

"You're right. I've got this. I'll make it work. Don't worry."
Kip looked dubious, but nodded, anyway. "You should come with me and help me set up

the fire pit. Tyler rules the kitchen so he might like it if we get out of the way and set up the grill
for him."

When they entered the living room again, neither Adam nor Tyler was to be seen,

although Lucas could hear sounds of movement coming from the master bedroom. He made sure
he didn't listen too hard in case the men were fooling around. He wasn't confident that he
wouldn't freak out if he heard moaning.

"We're gonna set up the pit!" Kip yelled out as he swung open the front door. "Bring us

some beers when you come out!"

"Get 'em yourself!" Tyler yelled back.
Lucas sighed and followed Kip outside. The other man led the way to the side of the

cottage where a waterproof plastic bin containing two bags of charcoal sat. Lucas hefted a bag
over his shoulder and grabbed a bottle of lighter fluid and an extended lighter while Kip gathered
an armful of cut firewood and driftwood that had been stacked against the bin.

The volleyball game had broken up, most of the players now stretched out on the sand

near the water. It felt strange to look at the men and realize they were all gay. Kip led the way to
a stone-ringed pit the size of a large coffee table that had been cleared in the sand. Ashes and the
remnants of rib bones sat in a gray pile within the pit. A large circular grill was propped against
the rocks, which Kip inspected before declaring clean enough. Lucas covered the bottom of the
pit with the charcoal and Kip doused it with lighter fluid before lighting it up.

"We'll throw the wood on after it's burned enough," Kip told him. "This way we get a

nice fire but the heat won't go out too soon."

Lucas nodded, his eyes straying back to Cottage 22.
Kip touched his arm. "Bro, relax. Tyler was wound up because he was horny. Once he

gets laid he'll be a lot easier to work with."

Lucas winced. "Great. So I'll have to keep a schedule of when they have sex and only talk

to him afterwards?"

Kip laughed. "Might not be a bad idea. But seriously, I could tell Adam was into you.

He's the one who makes the final decision so just keep working on him and you might be okay."

"Adam." Lucas shook his head ruefully. "He wasn't what I expected at all. The guy could

take me in a fight. He's huge."

"Wait'll you see his dick. Now, that's huge."
Groaning, Lucas dropped to the sand and crossed his legs. "Do me a favor and don't

mention his dick ever again. Or any other guy's dick, come to think of it. You'll only make it
harder than this needs to be."

"Hard is the way it's supposed to be!" Kip crowed. "You've been doing it wrong if it's

soft, bro!"

Lucas reacted the way he always did with guys his age: he surged forward and tackled

Kip to the sand. The lighter man fell easily beneath him and was laughing as he fought
ineffectually to twist out of Lucas' chokehold.

"Are you going to behave?" Lucas taunted him playfully as he held the other man face-

first to the sand. He gave Kip a noogie on his dreads. "Are you?"

Kip twisted his head around and winked at him. "Maybe you'll have to make me," he said

in a husky voice.

Heat pulsed in Lucas' cock. Horrified, he started to release the other man but Kip reached

up and locked Lucas' arm in place. He twined his legs around Lucas', pinning him atop Kip.

"You gotta get used to this," Kip said softly.
Lucas strained to keep his hips away from Kip's backside. "No, I don't. I'm only here for

the show." He didn't understand where all this was coming from. "Come on, Kip. You know this.
I thought you were my friend."

"I am your friend. That's why I'm doing this. The show's going to be worse than this,

Lucas. Much worse." Kip turned his head again, dipping his chin. He ran his tongue across
Lucas' forearm. "How bad do you want to be here?"

"Kip," Lucas said angrily, "don't do this."
Kip arched his back, rubbing his tight ass into Lucas' groin. "I'm helping you," he

whispered. "Trust me."

"Helping me?" Lucas choked out as his cock nestled in the crease of Kip's ass. "What are

you--"

"Well, well, well. New guy's been here half a day and you're already fucking? You work

fast, Kip. I'm impressed."

Lucas' face flamed as he looked up at Tyler and Adam walking towards them. He quickly

scrambled backwards as Kip released him and jumped to his feet. Tyler and Adam wore the
same clothes he'd seen them in earlier, but there was a flush on Tyler's cheeks that suggested he'd
gotten some kind of action. Lucas didn't want to imagine what it had been.

"No need to be shy, new guy," Tyler said with a smirk as Lucas surreptitiously adjusted

the crotch of his too-tight shorts.

Lucas rolled to his feet and ran a hand through his hair, shaking the sand out. "It's Lucas."
Tyler looked bored. "What?"
Lucas stepped up to the other blond. "My name. It's not 'new guy', it's Lucas. If I'm going

to work with you for the next few months it makes sense to use my name."

Tyler gave him a smile that was anything but friendly. "Until you prove yourself in the

show you're just 'new guy' to me."

"Lucas and I were just foolin' around," Kip spoke up, tugging Lucas back. He grinned

and slung an arm around Lucas' neck. "He's an okay guy, you know?" He slapped Lucas' chest
with his free hand and let his palm linger on a pec. Lucas struggled to keep his face blank as Kip
felt him up. "Feels good too."

The scene reeked of performance to Lucas and when he glanced at Adam he worried that

the other man thought so too, for his gaze shifted between Kip and Lucas thoughtfully.

"Glad you like Lucas so much, Kip." Lucas watched warily as Adam walked slowly to

the pit and inspected the fire. For as muscled as the man was, he moved with grace. The sun
shone blue on his dark hair. "You gonna throw the wood on there anytime soon? The boys want
their steaks black and blue. You know this."

Kip released Lucas and hurried to comply. "Sorry, Cap'n!"
"Just don't want to get a late start on the cooking. Not like last time, right?" Adam bared a

grin at Kip.

The smaller man looked up and offered a surprisingly shy smile. "No, we don't want that.

I'll get this ready, don't you worry."

Adam nodded and cleared away some bits of shell in the sand with a sweep of his feet.

"I'll put Dean and Peter in charge of manning the grill. You keep an eye on the wood."

"Sure thing. Whatever you want."
Lucas wondered at Adam's ability to command other guys so casually. Maybe physical

intimidation was a part of it, but Lucas doubted Kip was afraid Adam would beat him up. No,
there was something beneath Adam's easy, casual attitude, something the captain of the football
team always had, something the leader of a gang exuded: magnetism. Lucas had barely met the
guy, but he really hoped he would get the chance to stay and learn more about him.

"Here." Something ice cold pressed into Lucas' back, making him gasp and arch away.

He looked back over his shoulder accusingly.

Tyler snickered and handed him an open bottle of beer. "Hope you're not used to Coors

Light. We drink real beer on the island, new guy."

"You're not challenging me to a drinking contest, are you?" Lucas strove to keep his tone

neutral, but his annoyance with Tyler's attitude was reaching its peak.

The other blond took a pull from his beer, his gray eyes fixed on Lucas. "You don't want

to challenge me, new guy. This is my turf."

Lucas paused in the middle of raising his beer to his lips. "I didn't know the Caribbean

harbored territorial gangs of fake pirates."

Gray eyes glittered. "Now you do."
"Tyler." Adam was standing still by the fire, a beer held low by his hip. He wasn't

smiling, but his eyes held amusement. "Knock it off."

"I wasn't--"
"Just stop."
Mulish, Tyler stomped over to Adam's side and muttered something into the bigger man's

ear. Adam nodded, his eyes on Lucas, but he didn't reply to Tyler. Instead, he raised his beer.

"I know we'll find excuses to do this several more times tonight, but I'd like to be the

first. Here's to your first night on the crew." His grin was charming, infectious. Lucas' bad mood
faded in the face of it. "Welcome to the island, Lucas."

"Here, here!" Kip called out even though he didn't have a beer to toast with. Tyler

grudgingly raised his and quickly took a drink from his bottle, but Adam kept his in the air,
grinning at Lucas as though they'd been friends for years. "I'm glad you're here, man," he said.

Caught up in Adam's enthusiasm, Lucas replied, "I look forward to working under you,

Cap'n." It took him a second to realize the innuendo in the comment and flush red.

Adam, watching him steadily, tipped his beer at Lucas and laughed.

~~~~~

Tyler was an excellent cook.
The marinated steaks and shrimp skewers were delicious, maybe the best Lucas had ever

had. Tyler had made salads too, and the one made with citrus fruit, squid, and some spices Lucas
had never tasted before was good enough to fill his plate three times. He had to tell the guy how
great everything was. Tyler, typically, just grunted and pretended he was too busy eating to
respond to the praise.

The sun was in the middle of setting, and the entire gathered crew of the Dread

Destroyer -- all twelve of them -- paused in finishing up their meals to watch the blood red sun
melt behind the jungle vegetation.

Lucas had already finished eating and was working on a beer, but he paused also, though

he was more interested in the new friends he had made than in a pretty sunset. There were too
many faces and names to match up and he knew with the drinking that he wouldn't successfully
remember anyone until tomorrow. So he simply admired them, again marveling over the
shattering of his expectations.

If Susan Moore, the woman who'd given him the job in the States, was also responsible

for hiring these men, the woman deserved a bonus. The men gathered around the fire pit were the
cream of the crop. Even a straight man could acknowledge the attractiveness of the men here. It
was like being in the middle of a Calvin Klein commercial. Granted, some guys did possess a
few mannerisms or speech patterns that immediately identified them as gay to Lucas, but from a
visual standpoint he couldn't tell Adam's crew from a gathering of straight jocks. It was uncanny
and he was more than a little ashamed of himself for believing all gay men were pretty and
effeminate.

Of them all, Kip was the most girly, but even the brunette could pass for straight if he

bothered to put in the effort. Tyler was perhaps the next cutest, but Lucas wouldn't have pegged
him for gay if the other blond had been in school with him. With the exception of the platinum
hair and slightly delicate features, Tyler was Lucas' twin in athleticism and build. If they ever got
into a fight -- something that seemed to grow more likely with each new beer that Tyler
consumed -- they would end up doing pretty equal damage to each other.

But the one who had surprised Lucas the most and who held his continued fascination

was Adam. Watching the dark-haired man greet each of his crew with a grin and a heartfelt one-
armed hug was for Lucas like watching any of his buddies back home in a neighborhood bar. He
had the feeling Adam could be dropped in any city in the world and people would flock to him,
drawn by his charisma. They'd have no idea that he was gay and probably wouldn't even care.

The longer Lucas covertly watched the other man, the more he wondered if Kip was mistaken
and Adam was as straight as he was.

Adam caught him staring just as the sun disappeared from view. Grinning, he came

around the fire and nudged aside the guy sitting beside Lucas whose name he had forgotten two
hours ago, and dropped heavily to the sand.

"You ready to crash yet or are you still hanging in there?" he asked as he clinked the neck

of his beer with Lucas'.

Lucas grinned sheepishly. "A little tired, but not too bad. I'll probably head in earlier than

the rest of you, though."

"Kip show you around the house?"
Lucas nodded, glancing at the brunette who was busy licking his fingers clean of the

juices from his shrimp. "He showed me most everything. He's a good guy."

"That he is." Lucas tensed as a heavy hand landed on his shoulder and began to gently

squeeze. "He's a firecracker in bed too. You and he will have a good time, man."

Throat gone dry, Lucas did his best to relax beneath the massage. "You're assuming I

don't have anyone back home."

"If you do, don't expect it to last," Adam told him matter-of-factly. "I'll tell you

something, Lucas. I've been on this island going on five years. Guys who come out here with
boyfriends back home end up not talking to them within six months. The distance is too great.
It's hard to tell someone on the phone about the snorkeling you did with sharks when they're
flipping burgers in a dirty city. One of you starts to resent the other. It happens. This world
doesn't mesh with the old one. My advice to you, Lucas: this crew here, these guys -- they're the
only ones who matter in your new life. We're your family, your brothers and your lovers. We've
got your back. We'll do anything for you. We understand what it's like to be here and want this
kind of lifestyle. No one at home can relate. That's just how it is."

The words were encouraging, but also served to make Lucas more depressed. The life

and camaraderie Adam described -- minus the homosexuality, of course -- was something he
yearned for. It was why he'd joined a ship crew in Chicago. He craved the brotherhood that was
created by the close confines and the isolation. He'd grown up a single child and every day that
he'd gone to work on a ship he'd felt like he'd found the brothers he'd always wanted.

Clearly, life on Anteros could be the same way and even better since the place was so

breathtaking. But what about the downside that was currently massaging his shoulder? How far
was he willing to go to keep this?

His eyes sought Kip again and found the slender man nervously watching him and Adam.

Lucas could tell Kip wanted to come over and run interference, so he barely shook his head. That
was what Kip had done earlier with the wrestling, he realized belatedly. Kip was trying to show
that Lucas was already claimed, like they were in prison or something and he was at risk of
forcibly becoming someone's bitch.

A shocking thought raced through Lucas: what if every new crewmember was required to

sleep with the captain as a sort of initiation?

"You okay, man?"
Lucas shook off the alarming thought and drained the rest of his beer in one gulp. "Yeah,

I'm fine. Thought I saw Tyler shooting me the evil eye," he joked.

As he'd hoped, the comment caused Adam to remove his hand from his shoulder. "Don't

worry about Tyler," Adam said with a chuckle, glancing at the platinum blond who really was
glaring at Lucas. "He's the First Mate and he's even more possessive of the crew than I am. He'll

give you a rough time at first, but stick it out and he'll love you like he loves the rest of his
crew." His eyes slid to side, meeting Lucas'. "I don't anticipate it being a problem. You seem to
have it together, Lucas."

If only you knew, Lucas thought wildly. "Listen," he began, his palms beginning to sweat.

"Do you mind if we take a walk? I need to talk to you about something."

Adam's eyebrows lifted, his expression curious. "Sure thing." He stabbed his beer bottle

into the sand. "We can walk over to--"

"So, Lucas!"
A member of the crew, a redhead with curly hair -- Orinth, Lucas managed to remember

-- had climbed to his feet where he stood there, swaying.

"Lucas, since you're the new guy in the crew, you gotta be welcomed right proper, isn't

that right, Cap'n?"

All eyes turned expectantly to Adam, who was now grinning and nodding his head.

"That's right. That's how we've done it for years."

Lucas gulped. "What kind of welcome are we talking about?"
Another guy with long brown hair who'd arrived at the beach with a joint pinched

between his lips and hadn't stopped smoking except to shove chips in his mouth, joined Orinth
on his feet. "You gotta be reborn, dude. You gotta be baptized in the jizz of the Loa."

Lucas stomach dropped, but the rest of the crew broke into laughter. "Man, quit with the

porn movie fantasies, Hewie," one of them called out. "You're gonna freak the guy out."

Lucas laughed uneasily, trying to play along. "Yeah, don't freak the new guy out. He's

suffering from cruise-lag."

Beside him, Adam chuckled. "Take it easy on him, men. Newbie's are fragile. Just the

typical baptism will be adequate."

"Typical baptism?"
Adam only grinned at his question. "Hope you don't mind sand in your cheeks."
Eyes widening, Lucas jumped to his feet and began to run, but the predatory roar of the

men behind him told him he wasn't going to get far.

He didn't. Ten pairs of hands lifted him off his feet and tossed him around long enough to

make him worry he was going to be thrown into the bay. But he abruptly found himself pinned to
the beach instead and buried in what felt like a ton of sand. By the time the last pirate had backed
away, grinning, Lucas was sure he'd been buried beneath the newest pyramid. He couldn't move
a limb.

"Shit," he groaned, letting his head roll against the cooling sand. He stared up at the stars.

He'd never seen so many stars before in his life. "How long do I have to stay here?" he called
out.

"After we've all taken turns sitting on your face!" yelled a familiar voice from the

direction of the fire pit. Tyler, of course.

A figure squatted beside Lucas' head. "It's okay, bro. We'll come dig you out in the

morning and you'll be a new man. You'll be a pirate!"

"Kip, what if I have to piss?"
The other man snickered. "Sand is absorbent, bro. Just go with the flow." Kip's smile

faded and he glanced over his shoulder before whispering, "When are you going to tell Adam?"

Lucas shook his head and sighed. "I don't know. I haven't found the chance yet. I don't

want to tell him while Tyler is around but the guy won't leave Adam's side."

"Well, you'd better tell him soon, bro. Aras is gonna ship you out if he doesn't hear from

Adam within the next few days."

"I know, I know." Lucas looked longingly towards the fire where the food and beer were.

"Any chance you'd help a roommate out?"

Kip just laughed and stood up. "Sorry, bro. You gotta go through the initiation same way

we all did. Don't worry, though. There aren't any sand crabs or wild dogs here. You'll be okay
until morning."

"Yeah, thanks. Thanks a lot," Lucas muttered as the other man walked back to the pit.
The sand was cooler down where they'd buried him, but it wasn't uncomfortable and the

air around his face was warm. The food and alcohol in his belly combined with the calm sound
of the water lapping at the beach soon lulled Lucas' eyes closed.

He opened them with a start, disoriented. He struggled to move his arms and legs and

couldn't. Then his memory returned and he turned his head to see if the other guys were still at
the fire pit.

He gasped at finding someone kneeling directly next to his head.
"Thirsty?"
Before he could answer, the smooth lip of a beer bottle was at his lips. He parted them

and gratefully accepted the slow stream of cool beer that ran over his lips and down his throat.
After he'd taken a couple of swallows, the bottle was pulled away.

Lucas licked his lips. "Thanks. I needed that."
He finally glanced up at the face of the other man and blinked in surprise.
"Too bad you're not a heavy drinker," Tyler said, his expression hooded. "If you made an

ass of yourself I wouldn't need to interfere."

Lucas struggled to comprehend the words and the implied threat. "What do you mean?"
"There's only one First Mate on the Dread Destroyer and that's me."
"It's only a pirate show, Tyler--"
"That's where you're wrong, and that's why you don't deserve to be here." Tyler stood up,

his body blocking Lucas' view of the stars. "I'd piss on your face if it wouldn't get me in trouble
with Adam," he murmured, as if he were considering doing it anyway.

Lucas waited, prepared to explode out of the sand if Tyler's hand moved anywhere near

his shorts.

"Go back to the mainland," Tyler muttered. "Go back or I'll send you there myself."
"The hell I will," Lucas replied. "I'm here and I'm staying."
He thought he saw Tyler scowl, but the other man didn't say another word. He turned on

his heel and walked away, leaving Lucas buried by himself in the sand.

"Damn it," Lucas whispered to himself, staring at the stars again. "Way to charm 'em,

Lucas. Way to go."

CHAPTER FOUR

Lucas dreamed of Chicago and he dreamed of Lisa. The two of them were at Millennium

Park, standing together before the giant art sculpture the Chicago Bean which looked like a
silver-plated legume the size of a house. Their reflections were warped in it, much like looking
into a funhouse mirror.

But this wasn't fun. Lisa's hand was small and soft in his hand. He could feel the

'friendship' ring that he'd given her on their first anniversary pressing against his middle finger.
Her perfume was strong in the humid summer air. It nearly made him dizzy.

Everything suggested that it was her beside him, yet in the curved reflection of the Bean

Lucas wasn't holding hands with his ex-girlfriend, he was holding hands with a man. He couldn't
make out the face and the hair color could have been anything from dark blonde to dark brown.
But it was a man. There was no doubt about it.

Dream-Lucas didn't freak out. Not even when the silver bean began to stretch and

elongate, twisting into sharp angles. Eventually it morphed into a silver clipper ship. A silver
pirate ship right in the middle of Chicago. No one else in the park noticed.

Adam stood at the rail. He was decked out in a tricorn hat and breeches and boots. His

chest was broad and bare. At his hip swung a golden cutlass.

"Pirate, come aboard," he ordered.
"I have to say goodbye to her," Lucas replied.
Adam nodded. "Then say goodbye to everything. You're one of us now."
Lucas turned to the side where Lisa had once stood. She was there again, her hips

unarguably feminine beneath his palms. He closed his eyes and leaned forward to kiss her... but
she was gone again. His lips landed on a firm mouth. Stubble abraded his chin.

"You're one of us now," Adam called from the ship.
Lucas opened his eyes--
And found himself staring at sunrise in Hidden Idol Bay. Sand was cold and hard around

his limbs. He shivered, but it wasn't entirely from the chill.

What kind of dream had that been? He'd been holding hands with a guy? He'd kissed

one? Lucas wished he could blame it on heavy drinking, but the truth was that he really hadn't
drunk that much last night.

As he waited for the distressing dream to fade from memory, he took more notice of his

surroundings and realized he wasn't alone. Someone was sitting cross-legged in the sand beside
him, drawing patterns in the sand with his fingers. Tattered canvas shorts, a fading red T-shirt,
and hemp bracelets on both wrists all held the lingering sweet smell of marijuana. From behind a
curtain of lank, straight brown hair, an equally nondescript brown eye glanced over at Lucas.
"Hey."

"Hey." Lucas watched in bemusement as the other man turned his head and went back to

drawing in the sand.

Lucas tried to shift out of his prison of sand. He couldn't move.
"What -- what time is it?" he asked, swallowing and realizing how parched he was. The

last thing he'd had to drink was the sip of beer Tyler had given him.

The other man shrugged and raised his head to the sky, studying the low position of the

sun and the swathes of pink and purple still streaking above the water. "Dunno. I'd guess around
eight or so."

The slow and slightly husky voice brought back memories. Lucas squinted. "You're --

Hewie?"

"Got it in one, dude."
"Is anyone else awake?" Lucas strained to see to the fire pit. It was empty, the coals long

since put out. The beach appeared deserted except for the two of them.

"Everyone's up. The crew always takes the newbie out for breakfast on the first morning."

Hewie looked up at the cottages. "They're slow, though."

Lucas' stomach rumbled. "I'm not surprised. I mean, you guys should be hung over."
"Nah. We have a lot of practice drinking rum." The other man gave him a quirky smile.

"Pirates and all."

Lucas grinned. "Pirates."
A screech from the vegetation behind the cottages had Lucas craning his neck to see what

had caused the sound.

"Howler monkeys, dude. Nothing to worry about."
Howler monkeys. Right.
"So how'd your night go out here, dude? Lotta stars, right?"
"Yeah, it was beautiful," Lucas said, recalling the incredible nightscape he'd gazed at last

night. "Can't see that back in Chicago. The city's just too bright."

"Santa Monica's the same way," Hewie agreed.
"How'd you end up out here?"
"Peter brought me out. I was planning on boarding the rest of my life. Just chillin'. But he

dragged me along with him." Hewie smiled as if remembering something. "I'm kinda lazy. I
thought it'd be too much work being a pirate. But I like it. I wouldn't want to do anything else."
He shrugged. "And the bud here is awesome."

His long, slim fingers moved lazily through the sand, carving out a Zen-like sand garden

before he wiped the slate clean with a swipe of his palm. "You had a good time last night? You
cool with all the guys?"

The back of Lucas' head was sore. A couple of hours of lying on sand had begun to feel

like resting on a slab of concrete. He shifted his head this way and that, trying to find a
comfortable spot in which to rest it.

"I've forgotten half their names, but yeah, seems like a cool crew."
Hewie nodded. "We are. I think you're gonna fit right in. Low-key is the key, if you know

what I mean." And in case Lucas hadn't understood: "You smoke?"

"On occasion. Pretty light, though. It tends to just make me hungry."
"Yeah," Hewie murmured thoughtfully. "Can't wait until we eat."
Lucas waited, watching Hewie draw more patterns in the sand. The sky grew steadily

brighter.

"So, uh, how much longer do I have to stay buried?"
Hewie looked over at him in surprise. "Dude, I totally forgot about that." He stood up.

"Hang tight. I'll grab a shovel and have you out in a sec."

~~~~~

"Grab a shower, dude. We're heading out soon, I think."
Lucas waved acknowledgement at Hewie and let himself into Cottage 22 while the other

man headed back out to the beach to contemplate the bay and the meaning of life, or something.
Hewie was like every pot head Lucas had ever known, and way too straight-acting for Lucas'
piece of mind.

"You've really got to get a grip," he told himself as he brushed off the soles of his feet on

the front porch mat. "You've established that you can't tell a gay guy from a straight guy. Time to
move on, buddy."

He opened the door, finding the cottage full of sound. Somewhere in the house a clothes

dryer hummed steadily. He could hear music from behind the closed door of the guest bathroom

and just make out Kip's crooning above the running water of the shower. Smiling, hoping the
other man would hurry up, Lucas decided to wait for his turn on the patio so the sand that still
leaked out of his clothing when he shifted wouldn't trail all over the house tiles.

The TV was on in the living room, turned to ESPN, but no one was watching it. The

kitchen was empty too, only a coffee maker gurgling gently on the countertop.

Assuming Adam and Tyler were in their bedroom, Lucas pushed open the sliding glass

door and stepped outside. He froze. The two men were sitting in the Jacuzzi.

Adam, his arms stretched out along the rim of the tub, turned his head and grinned at

Lucas. "Hey, man. Come on out. Nice to see you survived the night."

Lucas reluctantly stepped out onto the patio and closed the door behind him. He did his

best not to think about his dream and how Adam had starred in it. "It wasn't too bad. I fought off
a couple of crabs in a turf war. They won't bother us anymore."

Adam chuckled. His black hair was damp at the ends, clinging to the thick stalk of his

neck. Lucas tried not to stare at his shoulders, which were mountains of molded muscle.

He really didn't stare because sitting next to Adam was Tyler who was glaring at Lucas if

he were hoping his laser vision would kick in and slice Lucas in half. Tyler wasn't built nearly as
well as Adam but as Lucas guessed he was decently muscled and boasted an impressive tan for
being so blond. Like Adam he had a hairless chest, although his nipples were small and pink
unlike Adam's dark, thick buds. When Lucas realized he was comparing other guys' nipples he
wanted to smack himself.

"Did you track sand all through the house?" the blond asked peevishly.
Lucas shook out his shorts and shirt, scattering sand over his feet and the patio.

"Probably, but I'll clean it up." He smiled at Tyler. "Kind of a consequence of being buried in the
sand against your will."

"We're all going to breakfast," Adam said, warding off the retort Tyler had been about to

make. "When you were hired they probably told you about the free meals we get at the Arcadia,
but for a newbie's first breakfast on the island we traditionally go down into HI and hit up a
favorite restaurant of ours."

"Sounds great. I'm starved."
"All the servers wear thongs," Adam went on, glancing briefly at him.
Lucas' smile remained fixed on his face through willpower. "I'm guessing they're all

men?"

Adam laughed. "Yeah. They're all men."
"We're on a fucking gay island," Tyler muttered in disgust. "What did you expect?"
Lucas wished he could punch Tyler in the mouth. "I rode on a tram with a girl who'd been

hired as a server. This isn't a men' only island."

"You're right, it's not, but you'll have fun anyway," Adam assured him, running a hand

through his damp hair. "Newbies get special treatment from the servers."

Oh, great, Lucas thought, groaning inwardly. Just what he needed -- special treatment

from guys in Speedos.

"Join us, Lucas." Adam lifted a hand and cupped the back of Tyler's head. Lucas likened

it to an animal trainer pinning down an aggressive panther to ward off nasty behavior. "Kip loves
his showers. If you wait for him to get out we'll be done with breakfast."

Lucas didn't move. "I've still got sand--"
Adam waved off his concern. "The filters will take care of it. Whatever sinks to the

bottom will be cleaned later. Come on in. This is your Jacuzzi too, man."

Fearing he was about to become the punch line of a gay hot tubbing joke, Lucas

reluctantly walked over to the Jacuzzi. It was mounted in a wooden deck that required him to
climb up three steps to the edge of the tub. Towels and clothing were piled in a corner of the
wooden deck along with a half dozen empty beer bottles. Leaves and vines trailed over the top of
the wooden fence that bordered the small patio.

Highly conscious of the two men watching him, Lucas pulled his shirt off over his head

and kicked off his sandals. As he was extending his bare foot to the bubbling water, Tyler
sneered, "Ditch the shorts."

Looking hopelessly to the pile of clothing, Lucas saw what he'd feared: in addition to the

tank tops was at least one pair of shorts.

"More newbie hazing?" he asked, deliberately avoiding looking at Tyler.
Adam's eyes were steady. "Not hazing. Curiosity."
Lucas swallowed hard. "Curiosity. Right."
He told himself Adam wanted to check him out to see if he had the body to be a pirate. It

was about keeping up the quality of the show's performances, nothing more.

But even as he tried to convince himself of this he had to question why Adam needed to

see his dick. Surely the pirate show didn't feature full frontal--

"Don't worry, bro. Only half of the crew gets stripped."
Shit.
"If he's that shy we should reject him now," Tyler muttered to Adam. "He's obviously got

a tiny dick that he's afraid to show us."

It was probably the only comment that could have goaded Lucas to go through with it.

Deliberately holding Tyler's gaze, Lucas ripped open the Velcro tab on his shorts and let the
garment drop to his ankles. No one was more surprised than him that the two sets of eyes that
immediately zeroed in on his groin didn't bother him. In fact, he got a weird thrill out of the way
Tyler pursed his lips while staring at his cock.

"Big enough for you?" Lucas asked smugly.
Tyler's eyes lifted to his face. His expression soured. "I'm going to assume you're a

bottom with such a pencil dick."

"Tyler, knock it off."
Adam's murmured warning did what his and Tyler's eyes hadn't been able to do: make

Lucas self-conscious about posing for a couple of gay men. It was the burr in Adam's voice that
in the right setting could be taken for sexual, that made Lucas acutely aware of the weight of his
cock hanging between his legs and the air caressing his bare ass cheeks.

He felt incredibly naked and worse, he could feel heat climbing up his chest. Unnerved,

he quickly stepped out of his shorts and splashed gracelessly into the Jacuzzi until he was in the
water up to his sternum. He pressed his back to the edge of the tub, facing Adam and Tyler with
a cauldron of bubbling water between him and them.

"You've got a nice body," Adam remarked, one hand leisurely massaging the back of

Tyler's neck, the other rubbing absently at his own chest. "I know a lot of roles where we could
use you to advantage."

Lucas gripped his thighs beneath the water. "I -- thanks. Coming from you that's a huge

compliment."

Adam's grin was self-deprecating. "Luck of genetics. I've got a mesomorph body type. It

doesn't take much lifting for me to bulk up. I mostly need to concentrate on getting cut."

Lucas shrugged, not ready to tell Adam that he looked pretty impressive as was.

"Maybe he could play one of the crew that gets the lash." Tyler looked far too excited

about the suggestion for Lucas' comfort. "Like someone in my part of the show." Uncomfortable,
Lucas watched as Tyler shifted around until he straddled Adam's lap. "That'd turn you on,
wouldn't it? If he was in my crew and I gave him the lash? I know you like it when I dominate
the other guys."

When they kissed, Lucas quickly looked away, his eyes roaming over the jungle

vegetation that was creeping over the top of the patio fence. The jungle really was right there. It
brought a smile to his face to imagine monkeys and parrots and snakes and whatever else living
just a few feet away from them. Chicago truly had nothing on this place.

When he thought enough time had passed, Lucas turned back. But to his dismay the two

men were still going at it.

And Adam was watching him while he kissed Tyler.
Lucas flushed, embarrassed to be caught looking. But though he knew he should look

away, though he wanted to, he didn't, because Adam's gaze was gripping, as if his eyes had
reached out and grabbed Lucas' face by the chin. It was a look of authority, of command, and
Lucas understood that if he broke the gaze he would be disobeying and disrespecting a man he
badly needed to impress.

He'd never experienced that with another man. Adam made Lucas feel young even

though they were probably separated by a year at the most. Adam made him nervous in a way
that had nothing to do with job performance, physical ability or knowledge. Instead, Lucas was
self-conscious of how he looked, how he moved. Adam was like a mirror, reflecting back at him
everything Lucas had never had to see in another man's eyes.

Inexplicably he tried to imagine what it must be like for Tyler to be caught under that

intense gaze while they had sex. Lucas almost pitied the other blond and in a strange way also
envied Tyler, if only because Lucas' sex life with Lisa had been more sweet than passionate and
he'd always wondered what it was like to feel stripped to animal basics, to lust after someone to a
degree he almost wanted to devour them.

Thanks to the positioning of Tyler's head, Lucas couldn't see their mouths actually in

contact, but he had an unobstructed view of Adam's hand as it stroked up and down Tyler's spine.
Each stroke up Tyler's muscled back made Lucas dig his fingernails into his thighs. Each slow
float down reminded Lucas of fucking his ex-girlfriend, of teasing that soft skin just above her
tail bone.

When Adam's hand made its downward trek but didn't stop at the water's edge but

continued beneath it -- and when Tyler moaned loudly and arched his back -- something twitched
between Lucas' thighs.

He stood up in a rush and scrambled out of the tub, conscious of the view he was giving

of his naked ass. At that point he didn't care. He hastily tugged on his shorts and gave Adam
what he hoped was a careless grin.

"I'm going to try kicking Kip out of the bathroom," he said, giving a breathless laugh he

hoped didn't sound as fake as he thought it did. "It's bugging me not to be able to brush my
teeth."

Adam broke off the kiss. His errant hand reappeared on Tyler's shoulder. "Okay. We're

leaving in twenty, so make sure he's ready too."

Lucas nodded. "No problem."
Dripping, disturbed on a deep level, he hurried back into the house.

~~~~~

Though the morning had started out badly, it was quickly turned around by a ride on the

back of Kip's motorcycle. The drive into the retail area of Hidden Idol Bay was beautiful. The
turquoise bay held a pair of cruise ships which bobbed in the water like two enormous napping
white whales. A wooden boardwalk, sandwiched between the beach and the cobblestone main
drag, was filled with people either shopping or heading to the beach for a tan or a swim. The
weather was perfect: warm but with a gentle, cool breeze. The air smelled of flowers and the sea.

The restaurant, the Yellow Hammock, was a big open air affair, basically picnic tables on

the sand covered by a humongous canvas tarp from which hung fishing nets and oddly, plastic
bananas. The reason for the bananas became apparent quickly and much to Lucas' horror when
he saw what the restaurant servers were wearing.

"Wouldn't you like to take a siesta in a yellow hammock?" teased one of his cast mates --

a black-haired man named Riley who looked to be in his early thirties yet whom Kip swore was
only twenty-one.

Lucas hid a wince as a nearly naked server, wearing only a yellow thong, walked past

him carrying a tray of Mai Tais. "I have to say I have never been served food by a man in a
thong."

"Oh, you poor boy," spoke up Orinth, the red-haired man who'd first suggested Lucas be

buried in the sand. "You've clearly lived a sheltered life. Don't worry. We'll corrupt you in no
time." He raised his voice to be heard above the din of noisy diners. "Hey, everyone, we've got a
virgin here! Bring out the goods!"

To the chants of "Vir-gin! Vir-gin!" their table's server marched up to Lucas, holding out

the instruments of his humiliation.

Lucas groaned and laughed as a pink baby bib was tied around his throat. His utensils

were replaced with a plastic spork, and his drink, a pina colada, was served in a flesh-colored
canister that resembled a penis. A white straw jutted from the slit. He picked up the bottle
gingerly and with what he hoped sounded like a good-natured sigh proceeded to suck from the
straw. The restaurant's occupants cheered.

Deciding he'd gotten off easy, Lucas relaxed. He could handle drinking from a penis

bottle.

He should have known better.
"You have to kiss the banana."
Lucas blinked and looked up at his server uncomprehendingly. "What banana?"
The server, an average-looking man in his twenties whose one interesting feature was a

dragon tattoo winding up the side of his ribs, pointed down at his groin. "My banana. Newbies
have to kiss the banana before they can eat their first meal here."

"You're kidding."
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" the server drawled, his expression as animated as a paper

sack.

Lucas laughed humorlessly. "I guess not."
"Kiss the damned banana, you wuss!" screamed Orinth, whom Lucas was beginning to

suspect was the instigator of everything he would ever find uncomfortable.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" cheered the men around Lucas.
"Bro, you gotta do this or they'll know you're a fake," Kip hissed.
"No shit!" Lucas hissed back.

He'd never been more embarrassed in his life. His face must have looked as red as the

bottles of Tabasco sauce on the table. But he turned sideways on the bench and grimly leaned
forward. Thankfully the server was too bored by the tradition to want to grab Lucas by the back
of the head and grind his face into his crotch. The guy just stood there, hands on his hips, as
Lucas closed his eyes and pressed his lips briefly to the nylon covered bulge between the other
man's legs.

"Aw, get in there!" someone yelled.
A hand pressed against the back of his head, shoving his mouth and face forcefully

against the server's dick. Lucas could feel the ridge of the guy's glans against his lips. He could
smell the sweat and musk of the man's balls. The server's heartbeat throbbed against the side of
Lucas' nose.

"Fuck!" he gasped, jerking backwards.
His crewmates cheered and laughed, making jokes about how hungry for cock he must be

since he was gasping like a fish. Lucas reached blindly for his penis bottle and shoved the straw
into his mouth. But the moment his lips closed around the straw, he realized what he must look
like so he quickly thrust the drink back to the middle of the table.

"Bro, relax, you did it," Kip whispered into his ear. "No big deal. All you did was kiss

some yellow fabric. It's cool."

Some yellow fabric stretched over another guy's dick! Lucas wanted to yell, but he didn't.

He laughed along with the other guys and pretended he'd enjoyed the experience but his hands
were damp and his mind and heart were racing.

Fortunately the food was served to their table a few minutes later and everyone forgot

about the newbie tradition in favor of digging into their meals. Lucas wished he could do the
same. He touched his lips. The impression of the server's mushroom tip felt seared onto his lips.
Jesus.

"You okay, bro?" Kip stirred around his scrambled eggs while studying Lucas with a

worried expression on his face. "You look like you're about to bail on us."

"Do I?" Lucas scrubbed his face with both hands and forcibly relaxed his expression. "I'm

fine. I'm over it."

"When are you going to tell Adam?"
Lucas looked down at his steak and eggs, wishing he had an appetite because the food

really did look delicious despite having been served by a guy wearing a yellow slingshot.

Whose dick he'd kissed.
"Today," he said firmly. "As soon as we get back to the house." He slanted a look at

Adam who was rising from the other end of the table, answering a call on his cell phone. "I have
to tell him immediately."

Kip nodded sagely. "You got that right, bro."
Lucas picked at his food. "But before I do -- I have to know something. Tell me more

about the show. This morning Tyler said something about it that I didn't like."

"It's a sex show," Kip said bluntly, his voice lowered so those nearest to them wouldn't

hear. "Most of the guys play the crew of the Dread Destroyer under Cap'n Blackheart. The rest
play the Loa."

"The what?"
"Caribbean gods. The story is that the Cap'n sails our ship into the bay, looking for the

Hidden Idol. The gods decide to punish us for our greed."

"Whipping?" Lucas asked through a tight throat, remembering Tyler's threat to him.

"Yeah, but not like you're thinking. This is kinky stuff. BDSM kind of whipping. Most of

the crew ends up jizzing all over the ship."

Lucas's mouth went dry. "Shit."
"It's better than it sounds," Kip promised quickly.
"Kip, I'm straight!"
"Yeah, but a blowjob is a blowjob, you know? And a hand on your dick feels just as good

even if it's a guy at the other end of it."

Lucas laid his spork aside, his appetite completely gone. "I don't know if I can do this."
He felt a presence behind his left shoulder. "Why don't we find out?" Adam's breath

gusted hot and moist across his ear. "I just got a call from Aras, Lucas. You know Aras, don't
you? The entertainment director of the Arcadia? Guess what he asked me?"

Lucas didn't need to guess. "He wanted to know what you'd decided to do about me."
Adam's lips touched his ear. "Bingo. I think we need to go home and have a chat."

~~~~~

Lucas stared at the swordfish above the TV. The jockstrap had been removed. He

wondered if it had been taken down during an attempt to clean up the house for him.

"I was planning on telling you this afternoon," he said.
"I can't believe you're fucking straight!" Tyler burst out for the fifth time since the four of

them had returned to the cottage leaving the others at the restaurant. "You've been lying to our
faces this entire time. You're such an asshole!"

"Look, I didn't know how to come out and say it." Lucas turned around. Tyler and Adam

were seated on the sofa. Kip paced nervously behind it. Lucas directed his words to Adam,
whose face was expressionless. "I wanted to tell you in private but I couldn't manage to get you
alone. I'm sorry it's taken this long. I never intended to drag it out for so long."

"You're straight." Adam's tone was as unreadable as his face. "Why didn't you agree to let

Aras send you back to the States?"

"Have you looked at this place?" Lucas laughed a little. "You live in paradise. You have a

job I would kill for. A job I would pretend to be gay for. Can you blame me? I can't go back to
Chicago after seeing what you have here. I just can't."

"But you're not fucking queer!" Tyler repeated angrily. His cheeks were mottled with red,

his gray eyes the color of slate. "What the fuck do you think you're going to do during the
shows? Sweep the deck? Serve popcorn? If you're in the show you either fuck or you get fucked,
end of story."

"Hey, bro, that's not totally true," Kip cut in, frowning down at the top of Tyler's head.

"There are a lot of other roles Lucas could take that wouldn't involve doing something majorly
sexual."

"What I want to know," Adam said quietly, his eyes fixed on Lucas, "is why I should

allow you to remain on my crew when you don't support anything we do or feel. Right now
you're an unwanted stowaway. Convince me why you should stay."

Lucas had known it would come to this. It always came down to a single moment. He

stepped up to Adam, ignoring everyone else in the room.

"Your responsibility is to put on a show to please the crowds. What do they want? They

want to see good-looking pirates. They want to see pirates who are physically capable of playing
their roles. They want men who represent a fantasy. I can be that man, Adam. I'm good-looking

enough. I've got as much experience as any of your crew when it comes to rigging and running
the ship. I can act well enough. I can be who they want me to be and they will never have to
know that I'm not gay."

"And when it comes to the sex?" Adam's lashes lowered halfway, shuttering his gaze.

"How good of an actor are you when it comes to playing gay?"

Lucas swallowed down the rock that lodged in this throat. "I kissed that guy's dick at the

restaurant. You tell me."

His bravado wilted when Adam stood up and advanced on him. Lucas didn't realize he

had backed up until the heels of his feet hit the baseboard of the wall. Adam didn't stop until he'd
crowded Lucas against the wall.

"My crew does everything I tell them to." Adam braced both hands beside Lucas' head,

his thick arms forming a cage around him. "Everything and anything."

Lucas nodded tightly. "I get that. I've worked on a ship before. I'm good at following

orders."

Adam leaned forward. Lucas jerked back, hitting his head against the wall.
"What if I ordered you to suck my cock?" Adam's voice was low and thick. "Could you

earn your passage on my ship, Lucas?"

Lucas gritted his teeth. "You're just fucking with me. You're not being fair."
Adam smirked. "I've fucked every man on my ship, Lucas. If you stay, I'll end up fucking

your ass too. How's that for fair?"

"You'd do it -- even if I didn't want it?" Lucas stared.
He tensed, barely breathing as Adam pressed his cheek to his and murmured, "The fact

that you're straight and you've never been touched by a man makes you as valuable as pirate's
gold, Lucas. Your booty is the booty here. I promise you I'm not the only man on my ship who
has a fantasy of busting the cherry of a guy like you."

Lucas' skin buzzed. He could hear the blood roaring in his ears and throbbing between his

legs. He felt dizzy and angry, frustrated and confused.

"I'm not whoring myself out to you for a job," he ground out. "I'll be the best damned

pirate on your ship if you let me stay. I'll make you proud of me, Adam. I'll make you proud of
your show. But I'm not selling my body to you like a hooker."

Adam leaned back. "Are you sure you're one hundred percent straight?"
The question threw Lucas for a loop. "Am I -- of course I'm straight. I had a girlfriend for

two years. I've dated girls since puberty."

"Have you ever tried dating a guy though?" Lucas grew alarmed when Adam's attention

fell to his lips. "You ever kiss one?"

The dream rushed up. Lucas smashed it down. But other memories surfaced: of watching

Adam more closely than he should have, of being unable to look away while he was kissing
Tyler, of wondering what it would be like to be under Adam...

Lucas jammed his left cheek against the wall as Adam leaned forward again, seeking his

mouth. "No. Stop it. I'm not kissing you."

"Then I'll kiss you," Adam breathed against his cheek.
His lips were hot as they drifted over the surface of Lucas' skin, barely tracing his

cheekbones. Lucas pressed his palms to the wall, trying to melt into it and escape the mountain
of muscle that was Adam.

But there was no escaping Adam's lips sliding down his cheek. No amount of straining

could move his throat out of reach of Adam's hot tongue. The first wet swipe across his skin

pulled a gasp of shock from Lucas' lips. The second wet stripe lifted him onto his toes as he
strained away.

He shut his eyes, trembling fiercely as Adam buried his face against his throat and

breathed against the skin covering his pulse. Each exhalation caused Lucas' dick to throb. His
face broke out in a sweat. His nipples tightened, rubbing against the inside of his shirt. When
Adam nuzzled higher, tenderly kissing the skin behind his ear, Lucas heard a sound that he was
sure would haunt him for the rest of his life: his own moan.

A hand cupped him between the legs. Lucas lashed out but Adam crushed him to the

wall, his greater bulk pinning Lucas in place.

Lucas glared at him, breathing heavily. "Get the fuck off me."
The fingers between his legs curled. Lucas bucked helplessly, his cheeks flushing with

heat. "Fuck you. Let me go!"

"This could be the opportunity of your life," Adam told him softly, his fingers lightly

massaging Lucas' cock and balls. "How badly do you want it?" He studied Lucas' face. "Feels
like you want it a lot."

Lucas bit his lip, furious with himself for pushing back into Adam's palm. "I don't..."
"If you want it, Lucas, it can be yours. All of this."
As the words sank in, Lucas eyes widened. Adam nodded and abruptly stepped back.

Freed of the pressure of the other man against him, Lucas nearly fell to the floor. He managed to
hold himself upright by pressing against the wall.

"It's your call," Adam told him somberly. "You know what I want and what I'm going to

come calling for eventually. You decide if this dream is worth it to you."

"What the fuck, you're letting him stay?!" Tyler shouted from the sofa as he jumped to

his feet. "He's not even gay!"

Both Lucas and Adam ignored him.
"I'm calling Aras and leaving a message on his machine at midnight," Adam said. "Give

me your decision before then."

Dazed, Lucas nodded. "Midnight."
He watched warily as Adam turned and walked to his bedroom. Tyler cursed and

stomped after his boyfriend.

"Bro, he's gonna let you stay!" Kip cried out, rushing up to Lucas.
Lucas flinched from him before getting a grip on himself. "Yeah." He ran a shaky hand

through his hair. "The question is do I still want to?"

CHAPTER FIVE

Lucas studied the open gates of the Capeside Villages and questioned what he was doing

here.

Leaving Chicago was supposed to be about starting over, about moving on from Lisa.

Mentally and emotionally he wasn't in any shape to start up something with another girl, yet here
he was, behaving as if he were.

From where he stood outside the iron gates of the cocktail servers' dorm he could see the

edge of a courtyard and hear the sounds of female conversation and laughter coming from that
area. Just like that, he understood why he had come here. The sound was a balm for his jagged

nerves. Simply hearing it made him feel taller, more confident... more in control. Yeah, this
morning had started off bad and turned out horrible, but the day wasn't over yet and Lucas was
ever the optimist. He just needed to turn it around. He needed to be back on familiar territory. He
stepped through the gates and ventured into the courtyard.

Though the dorm complex was surrounded by stucco walls, a large square 'window' had

been cut out of one wall of the courtyard, granting an unobstructed view of the houses and the
bay below. Three circular iron tables were arrayed in front of this vista surrounded by a couple
dozen chairs occupied by young women in varying forms of beach wear. The tables held pitchers
of what looked like margaritas, and many of the women's flushed cheeks and overly loud bursts
of laughter suggested they'd been drinking since sunrise.

"Hey, girls, we have a visitor!"
It was an athletic redhead in a turquoise bikini who'd noticed him. She immediately

waved him further into the courtyard. "Come on in. We won't bite."

"Speak for yourself, Rochelle," said a brunette with short hair studying Lucas from over

the rim of her martini glass. "This guy's hot."

There was a smattering of laughter. Lucas grinned, comfortable with the female attention,

comfortable with the flirting. Any doubts that he'd harbored over his sexuality was instantly
abolished. He liked women. Oh, yes.

"You might have wandered into the wrong place," Rochelle went on, openly eying him.

"Unless you're our new trainer?"

"I'm beginning to wish I were," Lucas flirted back. "Actually, I'm looking for a friend.

She came in yesterday. Her name's Nicole?"

He watched the girls exchange blank glances until a blonde nodded and stood up. "It's

Sherri's new roommate. Hang on, I'll go get her."

"Thanks."
Rochelle held out her glass. "Care for a drink? I'm Rochelle, by the way."
"I'm Lucas. And thanks, I'm okay for now."
"What part of the island are you from, Lucas?" asked another woman, a beautiful black

woman whose voice held a slight Caribbean lilt.

"What part? Well, I live here in HI --" for now, "-- and I work on the pirate show, if that's

what you mean."

A few gasps went through the collected women. "Pirate show?" the brunette with the

short hair repeated. "Holy hell, you mean the sex show!"

"I've seen that show," another woman said excitedly. Her face was beet red. She'd either

gotten too much sun or too much alcohol, probably the latter since the rest of her half-naked
body was nicely tanned without a hint of sunburn. "I took my boyfriend to see it when he came
to visit last spring. I swear to God as soon as the show was over and he and I got back to his
hotel room we were tearing each other's clothes off and humping like bunnies."

The girls hooted and laughed and Lucas joined in even though he couldn't fully enjoy the

situation, knowing what he did about which show he was signed up for.

"I swear," the red-faced girl continued, fanning herself with her hand while looking Lucas

over from head to toe, "the pirates were wrestling with each other, bare-chested and oiled, and
fighting with swords over who got to ravish which wench. It was all your dirty fantasies right
there on stage."

"Okay, I'm sold," Rochelle declared. "When's your next show, Lucas? I want to see you

in sweaty action."

Great. How was he going to get out of telling them he performed in the gay shows?
"You're going to have to wait, because he's a pirate virgin," a new voice chimed in.
Relieved, Lucas smiled at Nicole who was exiting the dorm complex.
"Hey, there you are. You look great," he told her which was the truth. She wore white

shorts that showed off her sleek, firm legs and a pink bikini top that barely managed to hold up
her considerable breasts. Her hair was still pulled forward over the scar on her cheek but she
looked happy and confident.

"I didn't expect to see you for another week, Lucas. But I'm definitely not complaining,"

she replied coyly, walking up to him and giving his arm a squeeze.

"What's this about pirate virgins?" Rochelle called out. "He doesn't look like much of a

virgin to me."

"Lucas arrived on Anteros yesterday with me," Nicole told her, "so he probably hasn't

had a chance to start practicing with the cast. Am I right?" She turned her blue eyes up to him in
question. "Or have you been polishing your mainmast and yelling 'Argh' already?"

She was adorable. Lucas' smile for her was half attraction, half relief that he did find her

so physically appealing after all he'd been through lately.

"The only 'Argh' I've said came after discovering I forgot to bring my toothbrush," he told

her. "No acting yet. I don't know when they'll put me in the show. But I'll be sure to let you
know," he added, throwing a grin at Rochelle and the other women. Assuming I ever make it
onto the straight show.

"Oh, you'd better," muttered one of the girls.
"What about Mike?" he heard another girl murmur to her.
"What about him? He's all the way in Philadelphia."
A handful of girls snickered.
Speaking solely to Nicole, Lucas asked, "Are you allowed to leave? I have some free

time and I thought you might want to do a little sightseeing with me this afternoon. If you want
to, that is."

"If I want to." She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay, like I'm going to say no. It should be

fine. We have server training at four though. Will we be back before then?"

"Absolutely. We can just hit whatever's within walking distance."
"Great!" She looked down at her bikini top. "Do you think I should change?"
It was Lucas' turn to roll his eyes. "Like I'm going to say yes."
She laughed and slapped him on the arm. "Horn dog." She turned back to the other girls.

"We're going to go check out the island. I'll be back for the training, don't worry."

"No raping and pillaging of the new girl," Rochelle admonished Lucas with a salacious

wink. "Not unless you plan to do all of us."

"Fair's fair," someone else chimed in.
"I'll keep my cutlass sheathed," Lucas promised.
As the girls laughed, he and Nicole left the courtyard.
"I'm really glad you came and found me," she said as they walked down the road that

would take them back to the main byway of the island. "I thought you'd be out getting tattoos
with your new pirate buddies."

Lucas winced as he imagined what kind of tattoo his cast mates would want him to get.

Probably something phallic or a text variation of 'cabin boy'.

"Well, they baptized me last night by burying me on the beach and leaving me over

night," he admitted ruefully. "This morning I was taken to an extremely strange restaurant where
I was served breakfast by waiters in Speedos."

Nicole snorted and covered her face with her hand, blushing a little. "Oh, man."
"Yeah, so I decided I needed a moment to myself to recover. Plus I figure you and I

might be too busy with training pretty soon to do anything fun. Sounds like I was right."

"I didn't have nearly as exciting an initiation to the island, I'm afraid. Last night the girls

cooked dinner and we had a getting to know you thing, almost like Truth or Dare but without the
humiliating dares." Nicole shrugged, making her breasts bob nicely. "There are about ten new
girls including me, so it was a nicer welcome to the island than you had. Though I wouldn't have
minded checking out a bunch of pirates in their swim trunks."

Lucas smiled, thinking she would've been disappointed when said pirates turned out to

have zero interest in women.

He looked down as she linked her arm through his. His eyes couldn't help straying to her

cleavage. "So where do you want to start?" she asked, her eyes glinting mischievously.

Choosing to ignore the innuendo -- for now -- Lucas pointed straight ahead. "Let's see

where our feet lead us."

~~~~~

The island was smaller than he thought. They managed to thoroughly cover the entire

southern end in only a few hours. They explored the different beaches where they saw the sun
reflected off of brown-skinned surfers and gleaming catamarans. They checked out the strange
little food huts selling stuffed breads and skewered meats, and souvenir stands hawking
necklaces and painted coconuts. They window shopped, oohing and ahhing over cameos carved
into conch shells and a jewelry store whose windows glowed with locally farmed pearls.
Everywhere they went Lucas fell in love all over again. He'd never seen anyplace like it, and he
was sure if he left he never would again.

All the walking prompted them to buy mango coladas served inexplicably in fake

coconut shells and sweet tea flavored with rum. But eventually they decided they needed to eat
to offset all the alcohol they imbibed. They paused for a late lunch at a shabu shabu restaurant
called Swirl inside the Jade Dragon Casino. Swishing slices of beef through hot, bubbling broth
while sitting beside a picture window that gave a view over the jungle, the beach and the ocean
was nearly a surreal experience for Lucas.

"So come on, spill it. What's been bugging you?"
Lucas' chopsticks flipped in different directions and his perfectly cooked slice of meat

drifted to the bottom of the pot. "What are you talking about?"

"I may not know you that well but I can tell something's wrong." Nicole wagged her own

chopsticks at him before reaching out to pick up a pile of bean sprouts. "You’re making me think
I’m lousy company."

Lucas’ eyes widened with dismay. "Wow, am I really? I’m so sorry. I wanted you to have

a good time today too. Crap. Did I say I’m sorry? Because I am."

"Lucas, we're on a tropical island. I'm going to have fun even if you cut off one of my

toes. Relax."

He gave up the beef as a lost cause. Sighing, he looked out the window at the marvelous

view. "I guess I'm probably coming off awkward because I recently broke up with my ex. It's
kind of shocking to be suddenly single."

It sounded good. It was mostly true. But Lucas didn't feel awkward because he thought

he'd lost his touch with women. It was deeper than that.

He was startled by a soft touch to his wrist. Nicole smiled kindly at him. Midway through

their sightseeing she'd tucked her hair behind her ears, revealing the scarred skin that she thought
marred her face. Lucas hadn't commented on the action, not wanting to make her self-conscious,
but he was honored that she felt comfortable enough with him to do that.

"You're in no hurry to find another partner, right?" she asked him. "Because all flirting

aside, you shouldn't be. It's good to be single for a while. You kinda forget what your favorite
food is and what your favorite activities are because you're so used to compromising with
another person. Be single, Lucas. Have fun with it. I'm just your friend. No pressure, no
expectations.You don't need to impress anyone."

He felt guilty now that he'd invited her out to use her, because he had. He'd wanted to

know if she could turn him on. But it wasn't fair to her. His sexual dilemma had nothing to do
with her. She was nice and she was pretty and she wanted to be a friend he could turn to. Lucas
felt like a major jerk.

He covered her hand with his. Its petite size made him feel instantly better. It didn't

matter what had happened with Adam this morning. Lucas was still a man. One single
unexpected reaction couldn't change who he was fundamentally. He was attracted to women. He
enjoyed their company, he liked the way they smelled, the way they felt against him and how
they thought about things. He might not be ready for a relationship with another one right now
but that didn't mean he was confused about his sexuality.

"Thank you," he murmured. "I really mean that. A lot of things have been thrown at me

lately and I guess I'm a little off my game."

"You don't need to play a game to hang out with me."
"I know, and I'm glad you feel that way, Nicole. I could really use a friend right now."
She appeared surprised to hear it. "You're not getting along with the other pirates?"
He debated telling her. He had a feeling she wouldn't judge him or freak out. But... he

wasn't completely comfortable with it, himself. Admitting to her that Adam had messed with his
head was pretty darn close to admitting he worried he might have gay inclinations and that
wasn't something Lucas was anywhere close to considering. No way, no how. He wasn't into
guys. He just wasn't.

"They're different from my crew back home," he said evasively. He pulled his hand out

from under hers and picked up his chopsticks again, determined to fish out that piece of meat.
"They're nice guys, don't get me wrong, but I can tell it's going to take a lot of work to fit in with
them. I'm not sure I can, actually."

"Why would you think that? I mean, do they not speak English? Are they aliens?"
They may as well be, he thought morosely.
"They just -- they have experiences that I don't. Ones that I don't think I'll ever be able to

share."

"Ah, so it's a bonding thing." She nodded sagely. "Hey, you never know. You may all end

up on a sinking ship one of these days and the stress of the event will bond you all forever.
Happens all the time to victims of tragedies."

He smirked at her. "Sinking ship, huh?"

She nodded. "Like, off a tropical island. Maybe in a bay."
"I'll keep my fingers crossed, then."
"Seriously, though, you're really likeable. I can't imagine these guys having a problem

with you, shared experience or no."

He leered at her. "You just like me because I'm hot."
"That and modest." She snorted, which made him laugh and which in turn made her blush

and smack him on the arm.

Their server appeared, refilling their cups with hot tea. Nicole burned her tongue and

dribbled tea down her chin which Lucas, being a gentleman, pretended not to notice.

"So these guys have really gotten you down, hmm?" Nicole patted her chin with a

napkin. "Is it as bad as you think or are you blowing it out of proportion?"

"Maybe, maybe not." He stared into his hotpot. "The thing is, I feel like if I stay I'll have

to pretend to be someone I'm not."

He'd never been a good liar. He didn't see any point to it. Lying never got you anywhere

and only caused trouble in the long run. But to stay on Anteros he'd have to lie to the audience
and lie to his cast mates that he was completely comfortable with everything that he and they did.
He thought they were good guys. It didn't feel right to pull that deception on them. But if he
didn't...

As if reading his mind, Nicole said, "If you can't, what's your option?"
"The option is going back home." He settled back in his chair. "And I don't want to."
"Then why are you moping over it? You've already made the decision; you just don't

want to face it for whatever reason." She reached over and plucked the errant beef out of his
hotpot and popped it into her mouth. "Just go with the flow. Maybe you shouldn’t pretend. Just
be yourself and it’ll end up being who they want you to be."

She was looking at him intently, as if she saw deep into his soul. It was somewhat nice to

be receiving advice from someone who looked and sounded so sure of themselves.

He shook his head at her. "I really wanted that piece, you know."
Her grin made the scar on her cheek crinkle. "I'm not surprised. It was delicious."

~~~~~

He parted with Nicole at the Capeside Villages at three with her dorm phone number in

his pocket and a real promise to get together for dinner once their schedules permitted it.

He felt great as he returned to Cottage 22. Socializing with Nicole, being in what he

considered a 'normal' social situation, had done wonders to revive his confidence and his mood.
He'd fallen into the Twilight Zone for awhile but now he felt grounded again and ready to handle
what might come next.

He should have known better, of course. He'd seen the two motorcycles in the driveway

which indicated that Adam and Tyler were home. He should have been prepared for something
as uncomfortable as the Jacuzzi scene that morning.

But when he opened the door and let himself into the living room, his thoughts were still

on Nicole and her funny habit of snorting when she laughed and the generous swell of her
breasts which he'd snuck plenty of glances at. And so he wasn't prepared for the open master
bedroom door and the sound coming through it -- the sound of Adam and Tyler fucking.

It took only a second or two for him to recognize the moans and the squeaking mattress

for what they were. He froze, his heart suddenly hammering against his ribcage. All the hairs on
the back of his neck stood on end and his body broke out in a flush.

"Put your hand down."
"Oh, fuck, yeah -- right there. Give it to me. Fuck!"
"Don't make me say it again, Ty. Put your hand down."
"But, please, --”
"Don't make me hurt you."
An electric sensation zapped down Lucas' spine. If he turned his head ninety degrees he

would be able to see the two men through that open door. To his shock he realized a part of him
was curious enough to want to, especially when Tyler let out an especially loud moan and Adam
grunted from exertion.

But the other part of him freaked and urged his feet to whisk him out of the living room

and down the hall to the room he shared with Kip with the speed of a man fleeing from a house
fire. He didn't mean to slam the door because he didn't want the other men to guess that he might
have heard them, but in his wild state he kicked the door shut hard enough to rattle the wall.

He pressed his back to the door. He couldn't hear them anymore but that was partly from

the blood roaring from his ears and the "oh, shits" shooting from his mouth like machine gun
fire.

He looked down, found the lock on the door and engaged it. Only then did he slump

against the wood. Only then did he let the overheard words run through his mind once again.

Don't make me hurt you.
When had he ever said that to a girl? When had he ever thought it, for god's sake? Was

that what gay sex was about? Domination and threats of violence?

Shaken, he stumbled to his bed. He fell back onto the mattress as if in a daze. He stared at

the tail of the red kite that was pinned to the ceiling as he absently opened the placket of his
shorts and pulled his cock from beneath the waistband of his underwear.

He closed his eyes and pictured Nicole's breasts, full and plump like a pair of water

balloons. But he knew they would be warm and soft, overflowing his cupped hands. He sighed
and stroked himself, not questioning the fact that he was already hard after only a second's worth
of fantasizing. He imagined pulling her down atop him and sucking on her tits. He heard her
breathy moans in his ears.

A soft gasp slipped from his lips as he rubbed his thumb over the tip of his cock,

smearing precum over the smooth bell and tickling the bubbling slit. Loosely he fisted himself,
running his dry palm up and down his shaft, torturing himself with less pressure than he wanted.
His ass cheeks clenched as he thrust up into his palm. He imagined it was Nicole's pussy he was
driving up into, her wetness slicking his tip.

Groaning a little, he reached down with his other hand to play with his balls.
Put your hand down.
Adam's low voice cut through Lucas' fantasy. His eyes shot open although he didn't stop

jacking off.

Don't make me hurt you.
He bit his lip in frustration as a ribbon of heat wrapped around his cock. He pulled and

stroked, trying to bring back the vision of naked Nicole, but Adam's voice was rooted in his
brain, his deep dark voice seeming to push down on Lucas' hips, making him want to rub his ass
down into the mattress rather than thrust upward.

This wasn't right. This wasn't how he jerked off. "Fuck you," he groaned, gripping his

dick tighter until the chafing began to hurt. He coasted his palm over his glans and pinched just
under the ridge, a trick that never failed to make his thighs tremble.

But Adam's voice followed him, mocking his attempts to control the fantasy. Don't make

me hurt you.

Lucas gritted his teeth. His balls drew up, the taut orbs bumping the edge of his fist with

every downward thrust. He was suddenly hyper aware of his asshole, a part of him that never
came into play when he had been with Lisa. The rosette furled tight each time he pumped into
his fist and felt naked and loose whenever he flexed.

"Fuck both of you," he gasped angrily. At that moment he truly hated Adam and Tyler for

being sick enough to fuck each other where anyone could hear them, where anyone could see
them. They had no respect for other people, no respect for him, the only one amongst them who
didn't get off on blowjobs or being fucked up the ass--

Jets of cum burst from the tip of his cock so hard that Lucas sucked in a shocked breath.

Heat splattered across his chest. Some of it hit the underside of his chin. His stomach convulsed,
nearly bending him in two as he shot two more volleys, each hitting his collarbones.

When his stomach finally unclenched he sank into the mattress, breathing heavily and

feeling nearly dizzy. He was shocked by how violent his orgasm had been. The cum on his chest
and face cooled quickly. He felt sticky with it. Disgusted by it.

"Hey!"
His heart seized at the abrupt knock on the door. He grabbed a handful of the bedcover

and yanked it over his naked groin.

"Hey, straight boy."
Lucas tensed as Tyler chuckled on the other side of the door. His voice was thick with

smugness.

"How was it? Did you blow a big one?"
Lucas' face flamed.
Tyler laughed again, the sound dirty. "You'd better leave the island soon. It sounds like

you're turning queer. Next thing you know you'll be begging me to fuck you and we both know
how that'd play out, don't we?" He lowered his voice, pressing his mouth to the edge of the door.
"I hope you fingered with your ass. If you don't loosen it up for me I'll rip it wide open. Not that I
care about you but I might come back for seconds and no one likes a sloppy hole."

Lucas flung the cover off, his rage pulling him to his feet. But Adam's voice stilled him.
"Get away from that door or you'll regret it for the rest of the month."
"Oh, come on, Adam, I'm only playing with him. Serves him right for--"
"I don't want to hear another word. Leave him alone."
Tyler's voice faded as he moved away from the door. "Fuck, it's not like he's supposed to

be here. Why am I the one who has to behave..."

Lucas couldn't hear anything more that was said, which was good for both him and Tyler

because Lucas wanted to kick the other man's ass. Furious, he cleaned himself off with a T-shirt
from his duffel and adjusted his clothing. He took a good hard look at himself in the mirrored
closet doors. He didn't like what he saw. In fact, he hated it.

But he would live with it, because there was no way he was letting Tyler win.
He took a deep breath and unlocked the bedroom door. When he entered the living room,

Tyler and Adam were standing beneath the marlin, arguing. They both turned to look at him
when he entered, Adam's face unreadable, Tyler's instantly adopting a nasty sneer.

"All packed up, straight boy?"
Lucas ignored him and spoke to Adam. "Explain your policy about fighting within the

crew."

A corner of Adam's mouth twitched. "Fighting over stupid shit means someone gets beat

up for a stupid reason. I don't interfere, if that's what you're asking."

"No one gets kicked off for fighting?"
"Not unless it gets out of hand." Adam raised a dark eyebrow. "Is it going to?"
"If I stay it might, yeah." Lucas let his breath out slowly. "And I'm staying, so it's

something to worry about."

Tyler's eyes bulged. "You're staying? Are you fucking insane?"
Adam held up his hand, which Lucas loved because it clearly pissed off the other blond.

"Why?" Adam asked, watching Lucas intently. "Nothing will ever be easy for you. You'll
probably struggle with everything you're assigned to do. I'm not letting you stay on just to have
you quit two months later. You'll ruin my show."

"I'm not quitting," Lucas stated. The moment he said it he was sure of his decision. He'd

always resented bullies and Tyler was a gigantic one. No one was going to intimidate him out of
something he wanted. Sure, acting out of spite wasn't exactly smart, but Lucas did want to stay
and Tyler simply gave him the passion to fight for it. "You can try to scare me off all you want.
You both can. But I want this. I deserve to live here just as much as you do. I'm good at what I
do and this is my reward. I'm taking it."

Adam crossed his arms, making his huge biceps bulge even larger. "So you're going to

give us attitude."

"No, I'll obey everything my captain tells me to. I'm proud of being a good crewman. I

can follow orders. But outside of the shows I'm not going to let anyone push me around." He
glared at Tyler. "I don't have to act gay in this house. I'll be gay for your shows but not in my
private life. I don't owe you that." He switched his glare to Adam. "No more groping. No more
kissing. None of that."

"Jesus," Tyler whined, "will you listen to this sanctimonious asshole? He's telling us what

he will and won't do? Like he has any right to dictate--"

"He does have a right," Adam cut him off. "He's not an indentured servant. I'm not his

master. Not in this house."

Lucas heard the warning and tensed for what was coming next.
"But on my ship, in that show, you're everything I want you to be." Adam's eyes were

dark, maybe dark enough to be black. They were the kind of eyes you last saw before you got
your lights punched out. "Whatever I tell you to do you will do, Lucas. Whatever I say, goes.
The first time you resist me, the first time you say no -- you're on the next banana boat. No
second chances, no forgiveness."

Lucas started to nod but this time Adam held up the hand for him to keep quiet.
"Men are going to have sex in this show. You're going to see it, you're going to watch it,

and you're going to eventually participate in it. If I hear or see a single thing from you that
suggests you think we're disgusting or you believe what we're doing is wrong you're out. That
doesn't just go for the show; that goes for my home. Tyler is my lover. He's my partner. We're
going to kiss and we're going to fuck. You're going to live with that or you leave."

Lucas swallowed. "As long as you don't force me to join you--"

"I'll only force you if you make me," Adam replied. Something in the way he said that

made Lucas want to step back from him. "But I know men, and if that ever happens it'll be
because you want me to."

It might have been a threat but to Lucas' ears it was a reprieve. He couldn't imagine ever

wanting Adam to force him into something sexual, which meant it wouldn't happen.

He nodded, his shoulders relaxing. "Fair enough. I can live with that."
Beside Adam, Tyler seethed. Though Lucas disliked him, he could see what Adam

probably found attractive in him. Tyler's eyes turned practically silver in his anger. They all but
glowed. And the mottled state of his cheeks made him look both young and somewhat feminine.
If Lucas were gay and someone like Adam, he might be into Tyler too.

Too bad the moment Tyler opened his mouth he became ugly.
"Why are you letting him stay? Just because he's got a good ass? Just because you're into

blonds?" Tyler shoved Adam, who was solid enough that he didn't move an inch. "What the fuck
is this about? He's not one of us and he'll never be. You're destroying everything that's good
about our crew!"

"I know what makes our crew good," Adam replied calmly as if he'd fended off a

hundred Tyler temper tantrums before. His eyes flicked over Lucas before returning to Tyler.
"What makes our shows work is tension, Tyler. Sexual tension. It's in this room. You can feel it.
It's why you're pissed. But we can harness that and we can make it work for us. I have faith it'll
make our show and our crew even better."

"Oh, there's tension in this room, alright." The venom in Tyler's gaze actually made

Lucas flinch. He began to rethink his chances of coming out on top in a fight against Tyler. Tyler
would fight like a bitch. It would be bloody and nasty. It would hurt.

"There's a fucking pecking order around here," Tyler went on. "I'm First Mate and that

means he answers to me too. If you disagree then I'll know you're lying about all of this show
improvement bullshit, Adam. I'll know you're just being a fucking asshole!"

Lucas saw Adam hesitate in his reply. It wasn't a good sign.
"That holds true during a performance," Adam agreed at last. "But not here."
Triumph lit Tyler's face. "Then make him say it. Make him agree to it right now."
Ugly or no, Lucas decided he still wanted his chance at kicking Tyler's ass. He curled his

hands into fists as Adam looked at him expectantly.

"Well? Can you live with that or is it a deal breaker?"
Lucas had to think of Nicole, the beauty of the island, and the misery of his life back in

Chicago before he could grit out, "Yes. I can live with that."

The sly smile that slid across Tyler's face made Lucas want to vomit.
"Then straight boy stays. Lucky us."
The air conditioner kicked in. The cool rush of air over his face made Lucas realize he'd

been sweating profusely during the entire scene. He wanted a long shower and time to dwell on
the potential mistake he'd just made.

"I'll call Aras and let him know you're staying," Adam told him. "Tomorrow you'll come

to rehearsal and shadow one of the crew. Kip should be back soon. I'll tell him to take you out on
the town for dinner. I think you should get out of the house and explore the island with him. He'll
be a good friend. He'll help you through the tough times."

Lucas nodded, refusing to dwell on what the 'tough times' might entail.

The grin that broke out across Adam's face was as startling as it was captivating. Lucas

tensed warily as the larger man came up to him and held out his hand. "Welcome to the crew,
Lucas. For reals, man. You're one of us now, no matter how long it takes you to accept that."

Lucas shook Adam's hand, conscious of the strength of the other man's grip and the heat

of his skin -- things he noticed in an entirely unwanted way, now. "Thanks, Cap'n," he said
stiffly. "It's an honor to be here."

Adam laughed, his voice full of genuine amusement. "Relax, Lucas. It won't be as bad as

you expect. I have the feeling this may be the best decision you ever made."

Lucas really wished he could agree.

CHAPTER SIX

Lucas spent the remainder of the day on the beach in front of the cottages, walking along

the water's edge, feet sucked into the sand with each pull of the tide. Mostly he stood just above
the tickle of the foaming water, gazing out over the bay and at everything he could see within it.

He'd just placed his sexuality to the test just so he could admire this view every day. He

asked himself whether it was worth it, but the answer was complicated. He told himself this was
about more than a simple show. This was about pushing his boundaries about himself and the
world.

Working in the pirate show would require changing the way he thought of other people

and about himself. Sure, if he wanted he could suffer the homosexuality with gritted teeth and
probably be able to get through the contract without altering anything about himself.

But Lucas knew himself when it came to his work ethic. He hadn't done his job half-

heartedly back in Chicago and he wouldn't do it here. This show meant a lot to Adam and Kip
and the rest of the crew. Lucas wouldn't ruin their performance by merely going through the
motions. He'd promised to pull his weight and he would.

So was this beach, this bay, this island -- worth surrendering his body to something that

wasn't him? He was an adventurous person. He believed in expanding his horizons. But how
much was too much? Was dropping to his knees for another man -- assuming it got that bad --
really necessary for meeting the definition of being open-minded? Was something so drastic
required to be a better person? His friends back home would laugh their asses off if he used that
excuse for what he was about to do.

And what disturbed him a lot was that he wasn't dreading the upcoming shows as much

as he thought he should. His previous physical contact with other men had been purely platonic
-- playful wrestling, friendly games of football and so on. He'd seen plenty of guys naked in
locker rooms and on the ship, but he'd checked them out the way every guy did: furtively and
merely to compare himself, not because he was attracted to cock.

He'd bargained with Adam to let other men grope and fondle him and to do the same to

them as his performance required it. And for what? A little house on a beach? Easy access to
pina coladas? If he'd wanted that so badly he could have moved to one of the coasts or to Hawaii.
He could have found work there in some capacity that didn't require him to submit to such
personal, sexual demands.

As he watched the sky shift from shades of blue into deeper purples and reds, he asked

himself what was keeping him from going back to the cottage and telling Adam to take his

conditions and shove them up Tyler's ass. Adam had all but told him he was going to try to
convince Lucas to have sex with him. There was no way that was going to happen. Lucas fucked
girls. Guys didn't fuck him.

Yet he was still here, knowing what Adam wanted of him. Assuming, that is, Adam

wasn't just messing with his head. In fact, the more Lucas turned the idea over in his mind the
more he wanted to believe it. The more he could.

It had to be the only reason he was still here. He gripped that hope like a lifeline. Yes,

subconsciously he must have recognized the bluff and decided to call it.

"I just better be right," he murmured to himself with a short laugh. "Or I'm going to be in

deep trouble."

Fresh from the surf, his feet and ankles collected sand as he walked higher up the shore

before dropping on the beach to sit. He wrapped his arms around his drawn-up knees as he
continued to admire his view. He could see the half-moon boardwalk area of Hidden Idol and the
orange-purple glow of sunset glinting off the windows of the numerous gift shops. At the far tip
of the bay bobbed the masts of catamarans and fishing boats in what appeared to be a marina.
Closer to his end were the cruise ships and the schooner that would be his future stage.

It excited him to look at that pirate ship but it also left him feeling nervous in a way that

had nothing to do with his sexuality. He had bragged to both Mr. Aras and Adam that he would
be able to fit in with the crew immediately, performing smoothly in the show. But what if the
choreography was complicated or required some skill that he'd not yet mastered? Lucas was
aware that he'd promised the world to both men. His pride demanded that he live up to that
promise. Not to mention his job depended upon it.

Studying the ship closer, he noticed he was seeing it from a different angle than the one

he'd had when he'd ridden the employee tram into the bay. He could see that attached to midship
was an extended platform that hung out over the water like a patio bolted onto the side of the
ship. He assumed that must be where the audience sat. He was surprised. And worried. The
audience would be right there in the middle of the action. It would be difficult to fake anything
with them sitting only a few feet away.

He tracked the distance from the ship to the shore and saw a pier with a small passenger

boat docked at its end. The ship was painted black with a jolly roger stenciled on its side. A large
antique glass lantern hung from the bow of the ship to lead the way to the show. On the pier an
arcing sign crossed the deck, painted with text Lucas couldn't read across the distance.

This was real. People earned their living from this. None of this was play, none of it a

joke on his masculinity. By staying here he'd committed not only to a job but to a lifestyle. His
thoughts turned immediately to Lisa. She'd shake her head derisively at what he was about to do.
But he wondered... would she be surprised?

A low growl of a motorcycle pulled him from his thoughts. He looked back over his

shoulder to watch Kip drive up to the cottage. Lucas was caught off-guard by the strength of the
relief and pleasure that swept him. He really did like Kip and trusted him and yes, Lucas could
admit he was scared shitless and needed the other man's support. He might not have chosen to
stay on Anteros if anyone else had been his roommate.

He was about to wave to attract the other man's attention but thought better of it. It might

be better to let Kip learn of what had happened directly from Adam's mouth. Lucas hoped his
new friend would be happy for him. He still felt a little guilty about taking the place of someone
better suited for Kip. If Kip turned out to be more upset about the news of Lucas staying than
he'd first let on, Lucas vowed to ship out and honor his friend's wishes.

Kip made him wait for it. The glowing ball of the sun had fallen well behind the jungle

by the time he heard the slender man's steps cross the sand.

"Hey, bro."
Lucas grinned warily and looked up as a hand clapped him on the shoulder. "Hey."
"So you're in." Kip's face glowed a warm orange as he looked down at him. "You

convinced Adam to stay. Is this seriously what you want?"

"At the moment it is, yeah. I'll stick it out until there's an opening in the other show but

until then I'm prepared to do what I need to."

Kip dug the toes of one foot into the sand. "What you'll need to do is gonna be a lot. I'm

warning you now. Touching men. Kissing them... more than that, bro. Everything you'd do with
a girl you're gonna be doing with men. You gonna be okay with that?"

The words slid in one ear and out the other, none of it sticking in his head. He had to let

them go. Dwelling on them, thinking too closely about what he was about to do in the upcoming
months, was just too much to handle. He'd take it one day at a time.

"I'll do what I have to, Kip. I promised Adam I would."
Kip shook his head but a wide grin spread across his face. "Bro, you want this bad, don't

you? You've got some set of balls. I can't believe you're staying but I'm glad you are."

"Thanks, man." Lucas accepted Kip's hand and pulled himself to his feet. "So it's cool?"

he asked the dread-locked man.

Kip looked at him as if he were nuts. "Why wouldn't it be? I got myself a new roomie! A

straight boy I get to take to his first nude beach. Life couldn't be better." He laughed.

Lucas groaned good-naturedly. "Oh, man, I'd forgotten about that. Make sure you give

me plenty of warning so I can trim up."

Kip wagged his eyebrows. "How about I help you do it? Nothing sexier than letting

another guy shave you."

"I'll just take your word for it," Lucas chuckled. He brushed the sand off the seat of his

shorts before thrusting his hands into the pockets. "So Adam says you get to be my babysitter
tonight."

"Not your babysitter, your guide," Kip corrected him. He slung a slender arm around

Lucas' shoulders and began leading him back to the cottage. "We're going to do up this island
right, bro. I'll take you to one of my favorite hotspots and break you in to the gay lifestyle here
on Joyboy." He threw Lucas a suddenly concerned look. "That's alright, isn't it? I thought we
may as well get you used to pretending to be gay and all, yeah?"

Lucas nodded. "I need to get comfortable with this. I don't want to give Adam or Tyler

any reason to find fault with my performances."

Kip whooped and slapped an open palm against Lucas' chest. "So we're tearing up the

gay bars?"

Shaking his head at what he was letting himself in for, but oddly curious all the same,

Lucas grinned and said, "Just don't forget that I'm a virgin to all this. Don't take me to some
leather club or something."

"Bro, there's no way I could ever forget that you're a virgin." Kip leered at him. "Trust me

on that."

Lucas blushed.

~~~~~

They didn't bother changing clothes, much to Lucas' surprise. He'd expected Kip of all

people, to be conscious of fashion but the other man told Lucas to hop on the back of his bike
and hold on.

"The island is pretty low-key when it comes to dress codes," Kip told him as he pulled on

his helmet. "As long as you're wearing shirts and shoes you can get in most anywhere. And
where we're going we won't even need shirts."

Lucas started to reach back for the grip handle on the back of the bike then deliberately

made the choice to wrap his arms around Kip's waist instead. "Where are we going? Isn't it kind
of early to go to a bar? The sun set only a half hour ago."

"Parties go on all day, bro. Doesn't matter if the sun is up or down. Especially where

we're going. You won't be able to see the sun or the moon. No windows. The place is called
Industrial Empire. It's gonna blow your mind."

"Not a leather place, right?"
Kip laughed. "Not even close. Hang on!"
They zipped down the cobbled streets of Hidden Idol but then took the turn that would

take them out of the bay and out to the southern coast of the island. Kip was right. There seemed
to be just as many people walking around outside as there was during the day, and most of them
were men. They waved at him and Kip as they drove by, sometimes larger groups of men yelling
out requests for them to stop or offers for what they'd receive if they did. One guy even mooned
them with his lily-white butt. It felt like what Lucas imagined Mardi Gras on an island would
feel like. Everyone was out to have a good time. No one was judging anyone.

He was in a good mood by the time they pulled up to a large warehouse-type building

whose fresh lime green paint and neon sign belied its use to store any type of equipment or
merchandise. Industrial Empire looked exactly how Lucas imagined a giant gay dance club
would, complete with the shirtless doorman.

Kip paid their way in and after walking down a fan-cooled hallway and through a

rainbow-colored bead curtain they found themselves in one big room full of men, music and
laser lights. It stole Lucas' breath for a moment as he gazed up at the multi-level tiers full of
more dancing and drinking men. Everywhere he looked were bronzed, bare, sweating male
chests. The place smelled like a locker room where an orgy had taken place. Sweat, musk and
cologne was so thick in the air Lucas was surprised he couldn't see a visible cloud of it. He
understood why so many men were shirtless. The humidity in the place must have been pushing
ninety percent.

"Pretty intense, yeah?" Kip shouted into his ear. He leaned away from Lucas and grabbed

the hem of his shirt, stripping it fluidly over his head. The lights poured across his tanned skin,
winking off his nipple ring. "Do it, bro. It'll feel much better. Just tuck it into your shorts." He
did just that, mimicking the rest of the men who carried their shirts in the waistbands or pockets
of their shorts.

Stripping off in a warehouse full of gay men wasn't Lucas' first choice but the place was

sweltering. Hoping he wouldn't be noticed amidst the miles of flesh already on display, he pulled
his tank off and stuffed it down the front of his shorts as a pitiful protection for his groin area.
Kip saw what he did and laughed before grabbing Lucas by the hand and pulling him into the
maelstrom.

Sweat and skin. That's what dominated Lucas' awareness as he and Kip threaded their

way through the gyrating crowd of bodies. Sweat-slick bodies slid against his own, painting his
already moist skin with more wetness. Most of it was accidental contact due to the congestion of

the room but not all of it. Lucas dropped his gaze, avoiding eye contact as he felt muscled chests
pressing deliberately against his arms and back. Hands followed, cupping his ass, pinching it,
sliding fleeting across his stomach and over his shoulders. Someone even drew close enough to
blow into his ear.

"Kip!" Lucas shouted out, squeezing to attract his friend's attention. "Kip, I don't think I

can take--"

"Hang in there, bro. I'll get you through this!"
With a forceful tug, Kip yanked Lucas through the crowd and into a small pocket of

space. It was like staggering out of the path of a tornado. Taking a deep breath, Lucas realized
his friend had pulled him to a bar. Grateful, he collapsed against the edge, laughing a little
ruefully when Kip slapped him on the back.

"You made it in one piece," Kip grinned.
"Yeah, but my ass is sore," Lucas quipped, rubbing his bruised cheeks. When Kip burst

out laughing, Lucas realized how it sounded. He playfully punched the smaller man in the
shoulder. "You know what I mean!"

Kip winked. "Sure I do!" Still laughing, he flagged down the bartender and ordered six

shots of Jaegermeister. At Lucas' raised eyebrows, Kip shrugged. "We're off the clock tonight so
we may as well let loose. And you're gonna need it to get through this night."

"You're probably right about that." Lucas leaned back and rested his arms atop the bar as

he surveyed the chaotic scene. "I can't imagine what this place must be like after midnight."

"A lot cooler, just wait and see." Without explaining the comment, Kip handed over the

first shot of dark liquor to Lucas and toasted their glasses. "Bottoms up, bro. Maybe you too, by
the end of the tonight."

Lucas smirked. "Don't bet any money on it, roomie." He tossed back the sweet, licorice-

flavored shot and smacked his lips. "You know Tyler challenged my ability to drink him under
the table," he said as he accepted the second shot from Kip. "I almost wish he were here now.
Almost."

"Almost is the key word," Kip agreed. "He's fun at clubs but not in his current mood. You

and he would get into a fight."

"Probably. It might be worth it though."
Lucas turned and leaned his forearms on the bar top as he stared down at his empty shot

glasses. "Adam says I'll shadow someone at rehearsals tomorrow."

"Yeah, I was surprised he didn't have you come watch the show tonight," Kip remarked,

sliding the third shot to Lucas. "But I guess he wants to explain everything we do before he
shocks you."

"There's a show tonight? But -- aren't you supposed to be in it?"
"There's a show every night when the ships are in port except for the first night," Kip told

him, shrugging. "Aras wants the tourists to go to the Arcadia in-house show for the first night.
It's the most expensive. But yeah, after that it's non-stop pirating until sail-away. It's no big deal
missing tonight's show, bro. Don't worry about it. Adam modifies the shows for when
crewmembers are sick or we're between new members. I'd rather be here with you, bro. We'll
have way more fun than they will."

"Maybe for you, but I'm dying of curiosity," Lucas said. Not to mention he was still

worried about not being able to live up to his own hype.

Kip lifted his shot. "Like I said, Adam has his reasons for wanting you to miss it. Don't

worry about it. Drink up. I'm gonna get you out there dancing no matter how much it costs me."

"It's going to cost you a lot!" But as Lucas down his third shot he could feel the alcohol

finally warming his belly and his veins. He was relieved as his tension began to leave him. If it
took getting wasted to get him through this so be it. He knew if he could survive this place he'd
be able to handle whatever Adam and his pirate crew threw at him.

But it might be a long night, he thought as he watched men jumping up on tall rectangular

boxes that placed them above the rest of the fray. The men danced and hugged and grinded up
against each other just like the women Lucas was accustomed to seeing on those platforms. But
there were no women here. Just hard, gleaming chests, short shorts stretched around hairy thighs
and enough testosterone in the air to make Lucas slightly dizzy.

A cold bottle of Corona was pressed into his hands. "Drink up, bro. You look like you

need to cool down."

Nodding, Lucas brought the bottle to his lips and drank down half of it. As he lowered it

from his mouth his eyes caught a brown-haired man across the bar from him. Lucas blinked,
shocked at seeing someone he knew from Chicago.

He can't be gay, Lucas thought wildly, but his mind struggled to fit the pieces together.

Steven was a good-looking guy. He was a touchy feely sort but Lucas had never made anything
of the other man's tendency to slap him on the shoulder and greet him with a two-armed hug
whenever they got together. Steven was just Steven. A good friend and good conversationalist.

He stared as Steven said something to a friend before turning from the bar and heading

out into the sea of men. Lucas' heart thudded as he tried to decide whether he should approach
Steven and what he would say to him. But as a laser light seared the man's profile, Lucas noted
the differences between him and his friend back home. It wasn't Steven after all.

Shaken, Lucas raised his beer and downed the rest of it.
"We should get you up on one of those stages," Kip said beside him. The slender man

was watching the dancing with obvious fascination. "You wouldn't have to worry about anyone
touching you while you're up there."

"Yeah, but everyone would be staring at me."
"Which would you rather have on you: their eyes or their hands?"
Lucas nodded. "Good point."
He tensed as a hand that wasn't Kip's settled on the small of his back. "How's it going?"
He turned his head and found a man just a few years older than him standing beside him.

His short dark blonde hair was painted red and purple by the laser lights. He was good-looking
with sharp dimples in both cheeks and a stud in one nostril. He was slightly less muscular than
Lucas but his chest and abs look taut. A tribal tattoo wound around his left bicep.

"What's up?" Lucas asked, straightening. The hand fell away from his back.
"I saw you checking out my friend," the man said, nodding towards the opposite side of

the bar. "I thought maybe you'd like to meet him. I'm Jacob."

"Lucas." He smiled, uncomfortable. "I wasn't checking him out, actually. It was a

mistake. I thought he was my friend from Chicago."

Jacob nodded. "He's going to be disappointed. Well, he would be if I'd told him about

you. I thought I'd come talk to you first. Good thing I did."

Lucas could feel Kip listening to the conversation from his other side and wondered why

his friend hadn't butt in yet. Lucas decided to bring him in. "I'm here with my friend. This is
Kip."

Lucas turned, putting his back to the bar, as the two men shook hands in front of him.

"What's up, bro?" Kip jerked his head toward the dance floor. "You looking for a

partner?"

Jacob shook his head, the stud in his nose sparking as it reflected the lights. "Not yet. My

buzz hasn't kicked in. I can't dance to save my life unless I'm drunk first."

Lucas grinned. "I hear you."
The three of them watched the floor for awhile before Jacob leaned against Lucas' arm.
"So my friend wasn't your type?"
Lucas kept his gaze straight ahead even though he could feel Jacob studying him. "Not

sure I have a type," he said. "I'm not here to pick up anyone if that's what you're asking."

"You and Kip are monogamous?"
Lucas hesitated. "We're roommates."
"Ah."
Lucas heard a snicker before: "Hey, bro, I'm going to hop on this song. I'll be right over

there, don't leave!"

Before Lucas could grab him and hold him back, Kip darted out into the crowd. True to

his word, he didn't go far but even ten feet was too far for Lucas' comfort while Jacob was
obviously trying to hit on him.

"What're you drinking?" he asked Lucas. "Looks like you're all out."
Do I really want to get drunk with this guy? Lucas asked himself. He sighed and

reminded himself why he was here. If he couldn't stand a little flirting from Jacob there was no
way he was going to survive the pirate shows.

"I was doing shots with Kip but now I'm on beer," he replied, giving the other man a

smile. "I'll drink whatever though. Thanks."

"Let's do some more shots, then."
Lucas' stomach sank while his heart seized. "Okay."
Ten minutes and three shots of Tequila later, he knew he was drunk. The music wasn't

nearly as loud and throbbing in his head and the sweat on his skin didn't feel sticky it was
soothing. It allowed the side of Jacob's equally sweaty ribcage to slide smoothly against Lucas'
arm as the other man leaned heavily against him. Even Jacob's fingers currently drawing circles
on Lucas' back just above the waistband of his shorts wasn't bothersome.

"I think I'm ready to dance," Jacob breathed into Lucas' ear.
Lucas tried to think of football and wrestling matches as he felt Jacob's weight against

him and his arm around his back. Dancing would be good, he decided. Dancing would put some
space between them.

"Okay," he said. "I'm not any good though. And I'm drunk." He laughed a little

nervously.

Jacob chuckled too. "You've got it backwards. You'll be better because you're drunk.

Come on."

He didn't resist as Jacob took him by the wrist and led him out amongst the dancers.

Away from the bar the lights were brighter and seemed to spin faster. Lucas tried to watch them
at first but quickly had to look down as he lost his balance and stumbled.

"Careful there."
It was a weird role-reversal to have Jacob steadying him with a hand on his back the way

Lucas used to help Lisa whenever she'd had too much to drink. He told himself not to think about
it and it wasn't difficult to do when there were so many other sensations to deal with.

It was hotter out here in the crowd and smelled strongly of that man scent Lucas knew

from his own body. The music's bass throbbed in the soles of his feet, climbing up his legs and
tickling his balls. It was an easy, hypnotic rhythm and to his surprise his legs and hips swiftly fell
slave to its beat.

"There you go." Jacob danced in front of him, grinning at Lucas as the press of bodies

occasionally shoved them together. "You dance nice," he murmured when one such crush pushed
them sweaty chest to sweaty chest. When the crowd backed away, Jacob remained tight against
him.

Lucas swallowed, uncertain where to put his hands as Jacob loosely took hold of him by

the hips. He ended up resting them awkwardly on Jacob's shoulders.

"Move with me," Jacob said, his fingers pressing into the upper flesh of Lucas' ass.

"Relax."

It was hard to relax with another man's hands on his ass and another man's crotch pressed

up against his, rubbing away, but Lucas tried his best. He forced his own fingers out of their
claw-like positions and spread them across Jacob's shoulders, trying not to be fascinated by the
heat and softness of Jacob's skin. They were the same height but Lucas wished they weren't
because he could barely stand to meet Jacob's heated gaze just inches away.

"You don't like this?" Jacob asked after a while.
Afraid his heterosexuality was showing, Lucas quickly shook his head. "No, it's great.

Just really crowded."

Jacob nodded. "It'd be easier if we were closer together."
Fearing the other man would wrap him in his arms, putting them face to face, Lucas was

wholly unprepared for Jacob to release him and abruptly spin him around, putting Lucas' back to
his chest.

When Jacob molded himself to his ass and shoulders, Lucas gasped. His hands clamped

down reflexively on the arms that wound around his bare stomach.

"Better?"
Jacob's breath on his cheek made him shiver. Throat dry, Lucas couldn't speak. He

searched the crowd anxiously for any sign of Kip, but all the bodies looked the same in the
erratic lighting.

"So tense," Jacob murmured. His palms spread on Lucas' stomach and massaged him,

riding the swell of his belly as he sucked in a breath. "Relax. We're just dancing."

"I can feel you," Lucas blurted.
The other man laughed and pushed his erection against Lucas' ass. "I hope so. I'm not

exactly Tiny Tim."

"I'm not -- I'm not interested in that."
"In what? Getting fucked?"
Just hearing the word from another man made Lucas' stomach flip-flop. "I'm just here to

hang out. Nothing more."

"I understand. We'll just dance for now. But when the bubbles come you'll have to let me

give you a gift."

Lucas was afraid to turn his face for fear of bringing his mouth close to Jacob's, so he

stared straight ahead as he asked, "Bubbles?"

"Wait and see. For now just enjoy yourself, Lucas. We're only dancing."

Dancing. They were only dancing. Lucas closed his eyes briefly and got a hold of

himself. Jacob was right. They weren't doing anything. Jacob hadn't tried to touch his cock or
grab his ass. They were only dancing. Slowly, Lucas allowed himself to relax.

One song blended into another and then another. Lucas gave up trying to keep track of

the time or how close Jacob was or how many men reached out to caress him in passing. Lucas
moved with the music and thought of nothing else ... and he enjoyed himself.

The men dancing around him were sometimes frenetic, sometimes more obviously sexual

in their movements, but he had to give them credit for obviously having a good time. Sometimes
they would shout out the lyrics to a popular song, or send up loud whoops when certain beats
rumbled through the floor. When a cocktail server danced through the crowd, offering Jell-O
shots in large plastic syringes, Lucas obligingly opened his mouth for a shot of raspberry Jell-O
laced with vodka while the men around him cheered.

He fell back against Jacob, letting the other man take more of his weight, and didn't turn

away when Jacob set his chin on Lucas' shoulder and began to nuzzle his ear. A tongue curled
around his earlobe and Lucas' eyes fell to half-mast. The hands on his stomach slipped below the
waistband of his shorts, gently combing through the sparse hair of his treasure trail. He shivered
again at the feel of Jacob's short fingernails scraping over his sensitive skin.

Jacob thrust against him. Feeling drunk, feeling playful, Lucas laughed and teased him

about not being able to do anything through two layers of clothing.

"We could change that," Jacob whispered into his ear. His tongue dipped into the whorl.
"Change -- what?" Lucas panted, clapping his hands atop Jacob's wrists as the other

man's hands dipped lower into Lucas' shorts.

"The amount of clothes between us."
Lucas grinned sloppily and shook his head. "Not gonna happen. I don' fuck men."
Jacob laughed in a low voice. "That's okay, because I do. I love it."
"Tha's good for you," Lucas said, interested to hear his voice had begun to slur. "But I'm

s'ill learning."

"Learning to fuck?"
Lucas shook his head. "T' like men. Not fucking. Not yet."
"Hmm."
He could tell Jacob didn't fully understand but Lucas realized he didn't have the mental

facilities to explain coherently. He shrugged it off. "I'm jus' bein' gay for now."

He moaned softly as Jacob kissed the underside of his jaw. "Good enough for me,

Lucas."

Good enough for me too, Lucas thought dazedly as he rolled his head on Jacob's

shoulder, giving the other man more room to kiss him. Through his slitted eyes he saw Kip in
front of him, wide-eyed but grinning at him. Lucas lifted his head and waved at his friend.

Just then it began to snow. Confused, Lucas raised his palms before him and caught the

flakes. But they weren't flakes they were bubbles. The crowd cheered as flumes of soapy bubbles
shot onto the dance floor from big pipes held up by the employees. Lucas gasped and laughed as
the cool bubbles poured over him and Jacob, drenching them in slick, banana-scented oil.

"Here are the bubbles," he heard Jacob say, "and that's my cue."
The world spun as Lucas was turned around. Dizzy, he faced Jacob, who was covered in

bubbles and had a soapy cone of them sitting precariously on his head. Lucas found the sight
hilarious. As he laughed at the other man Jacob smiled and pulled him forward.

Jacob's kiss caught him with his mouth open. Startled, Lucas had no defense ready when

a tongue slid into his mouth. Hands caught him behind the head, holding him in place as the
other man gently dominated him through his mouth. Lucas had never been kissed this way. This
was how he usually kissed women. He pressed his hands to Jacob's chest. He held his tongue
back at first, shy of making contact. But Jacob's tongue found it and caressed it, teased it out to
play. The sensation went straight to Lucas' groin. With an involuntarily moan he fell head-first
into the kiss.

The crowd around him whooped and hollered, starting up a bubble fight, but Lucas heard

none of it as he exchanged one reality for another.

CHAPTER SEVEN

There had been plenty of mornings when Lucas had woken up on the floor with half his

clothes missing and a hangover severe enough to make a grown man cry, but never had he
woken up to one with the crystal clear certainty that he'd done something which would haunt him
for the rest of his life.

With his eyes closed he tried to determine where he was, hoping he might be able to

make a quick escape without anyone noticing him. He was lying on the floor. Unlike the many
times when he'd ended up on the hard wooden floor of a ship on Lake Michigan, this time he was
on carpet. Cautiously, he moved his hips.

He still wore shorts. That was good, although he wasn't out of the clear yet. The next

thing he did -- which made him cringe inside at what it suggested -- was to clench his buttocks.

No pain.
Very good.
He opened his eyes.
He was lying on his face on beige carpeting. A towel was near his cheek, rumpled as if it

used to be stretched beneath his face but had been pushed aside during the night. He raised his
eyes a little ways and saw the post of a bed. With a low groan, he rolled cautiously onto his back.

Seeing a red kite pinned to the ceiling above him brought a shuddery sigh of relief to his

lips. Instantly he felt safe. Nothing would happen to him now.

"How ya feeling, bro?" asked a soft voice slightly to the right and above him. "Hehe, I bet

it's not too good right now." Kip was leaning over the edge of his bed, grinning down at him.

Lucas managed a weak smile and let his eyes fall shut again. "I feel as good as you

think," he croaked. "Don't ever let me drink again." He paused a beat. "Or take me to that place."

The silence that followed should have felt good with his pounding head, but Lucas knew

what hung in the air, waiting to be said.

"I saw tongue, bro."
Lucas groaned and flung an arm over his eyes. "Don't."
The other man laughed. "I can't help it. I saw tongue! His tongue and your tongue --

wrestling like UFC fighters. It was so hot!"

"Just forget you ever saw that," Lucas mumbled, wondering why he didn't feel like he

was going to puke. "Did I puke last night?"

"Yeah, but you did it outside the club so it's cool. I held your hair back for you." Kip

snickered.

"Fuck off." Lucas tried not to think of anything, especially last night. But something was

bothering him. He scrunched up his nose. "Why do I smell like bananas?"

"It was Foam Night, bro."
"Oh, god, the foam. The gift!" Lucas rolled back onto his stomach and buried his face in

his crossed arms. "What was I thinking?"

"I think the little head was doing the thinking for you and he was having a hell of a time,

bro."

"Kip, why did you let me do those things?"
"You said you wanted to try being gay, remember? I think you made a pretty good start

of it. You fooled me."

Every amused comment from Kip increased Lucas' urge to bury the other man in the

beach, head down.

"You shouldn't have let me get so drunk. You shouldn't have left me, Kip. You were

supposed to be my wing man and you bailed on me."

"Come on, bro," Kip snorted. "You weren't going to learn anything if I stood next to you

holding your hand all night. You needed to take the leap on your own. You did. Right down
another guy's throat."

Feeling his face burn, Lucas kept it safely tucked against his arms. "You're never going to

let me live this down, are you?"

Kip paused before answering. "There's nothing wrong with a man kissing another man."
Lucas fell silent, realizing how he'd sounded. He raised his head. Kip didn't look mad

where he leaned over the side of his bed but Lucas still felt bad.

"I'm sorry," he said. "This is all -- it's something my old friends would have made fun of

me for, so I'm being defensive, thinking you'd do the same." He pushed up onto his elbows and
sighed. "What happened last night with Jacob wasn't the worst thing that's ever happened to me. I
guess it wasn't awful at all. It's just -- I'm not used to thinking of myself doing that sort of thing.
That isn't the me I know."

"Maybe you don't know yourself as well as you thought."
Lucas' laugh was skeptical. "I really doubt that. I know I like girls. I love them. I've dated

them all my life. I thought Lisa and I were going to get married. A guy doesn't just flip-flop like
that. The things I did last night -- it was all because of the booze. It had to be."

"Can't blame everything on booze, bro."
"I'm not gay," Lucas insisted again.
Kip looked at doubtfully. "But you said you wanted to try."
"I know, but--"
"You liked it. I hate to break it to you but you did. You and Jacob were hitting it off and

sure, the booze broke down your inhibitions, but something had to already be in you, Lucas, for
it to go as far as it did."

"That's crazy," Lucas protested.
Kip's expression sobered. "You wanted to do more with Jacob but I wouldn't let you."
Lucas' stomach lurched. "Bullshit."
Kip shifted around until he could hold up his palm like he was swearing in court. "God's

truth, bro. I had to drag you out of there. You wanted to go with him to the back room."

Lucas paled. It didn't take much imagination to figure out what would have awaited him

in the so-called back room. He hung his head.

"Thank you, Kip."

"I've got your back, bro. I may be having fun with you right now but I'd never let you get

hurt. No way."

A throbbing headache was rapidly making itself known, though Lucas wouldn't be

surprised if it was caused more by his rising blood pressure than dehydration. "I don't know what
happened to me or why I would act that way."

"It's no big deal. You got drunk. Someone was feeling you up. You forgot that you

shouldn't like it. Maybe you're missing your girl, whatever."

Kip was giving him all the excuses he could want, even though neither of them believed

any of them. Kip really was a friend.

Lucas peered at him with one eye. "So we only -- kissed?"
"He grabbed your ass before I could get between you. Sorry about that," Kip said,

although he laughed which showed he wasn't that sorry. "But it didn't go any further than that.
He could tell you were out of it."

Lucas sighed. "Yeah, he was an okay guy, I guess."
"Glad you think so because I've got a present for you."
Groaning, Lucas flopped back onto the floor. "Considering my state of mind, am I going

to like it?

"Maybe. Maybe not." There was a rustling sound. A folded piece of paper settled on the

back of Lucas' head. "It's his phone number."

"I can't believe last night happened," Lucas moaned. "I can't believe I picked up another

guy's digits!"

"Just so you know: that was only a hint of what's to come. The shows are going to be

even more intense, bro. And you'll have to be sober for them. Adam won't allow drinking before
the shows. It's too dangerous."

"I think it's time I started doing drugs, Kip."
Kip laughed. "No chance of them either."
A knock on the door had Lucas tensing. He cautiously sat up, grabbing the piece of paper

with Jacob's number on it and hiding it in his fist.

"You guys awake?" rumbled Adam's deep voice through the wood.
"We're awake, Cap'n," Kip called out cheerfully.
The door opened and Adam's broad face appeared in the crack. He saw Lucas on the floor

and grinned. "How's it going this morning, Lucas? Heard you had a rough night at Empire. Foam
Night, wasn't it?"

The sticky state of his hair and the overpowering stench of bananas made it pretty

obvious Lucas had been a victim of it. "Yeah," he said, plucking at his hair in disgust. "I think
I'm all set for bubble baths for the rest of my life."

Adam laughed, the sound deep and masculine. "Rule number one at Industrial Empire:

never get drunk during foam night, man. That's the key. There's a good chance of drowning." His
grin sharpened. "Or waking up in someone else's bubble bath."

Lucas dropped his eyes.
"A part of me is surprised you're still here," Adam went on, "but another part of me isn't

surprised at all."

The comment bothered Lucas. Did it mean Adam knew Lucas would end up fooling

around with a guy at the club? But how could he know that? Lucas was pretty sure he hadn't
done anything 'gay' since stepping foot on the island.

"Rehearsals are at noon," Adam told them. "Kip, make sure our new pirate doesn't hack

up a lung on my ship. I'm holding you responsible for cleaning him up and getting him ready."

"Aye, aye," Kip promised. "He'll be ship-shape."
"See you on board, Lucas... if you make it."
Lucas raised his head, hearing the challenge. "I'll be there, Cap'n."

~~~~~

A long, hot shower, fresh mango juice and a fruit salad with a side of oatmeal went a long

way towards making Lucas feel alive again. By the time he'd hopped on the back of Kip's bike
for the ride into Hidden Idol he felt mostly human.

"So Adam said I'll be shadowing someone during rehearsal," he said from over Kip's

back. "It'll be you, right?"

"Probably not," Kip replied, disappointing Lucas. "He'll probably want you shadowing

Dean or Ben since they’re usually the ones who teach the newbies. It's fine, though. They're nice
guys so they'll treat you right and show you what you need to know."

"Yeah, but I'd prefer you."
Kip laughed. "That's what all the guys say."
Lucas rolled his eyes.
They pulled up to the dock Lucas had seen yesterday. He could read the sign arching over

the pier now, which said in Old English script: The Pirate Show at Hidden Idol Bay and beneath
it in smaller lettering: Surrender yer booty.

The boat that ferried show guests out to the pirate ship bobbed at the end of the pier,

already holding the rest of the seated crew. Adam sat behind the wheel, his white grin and black
hair flashing in the sunlight.

"So he makes it after all," he teased. To the rest of the crew he said, "Lucas had his

Joyboy cherry popped at Industrial Empire last night."

Immediately questions and whistles ran through the boat load of men.
"Who was the lucky guy? Was there more than one?"
"I coulda done that for you, Lucas! Why didn't you ask?"
"Please tell me you took pictures, Kip!"
"Top or bottom? My money's on him being a leather and whips Top!"
Lucas suffered the teasing and catcalls with grace. He grinned, not bothering to clarify

that he and Jacob hadn't gone nearly that far. Apparently Adam hadn't told the crew the truth
about his sexual orientation and Lucas was grateful. He wanted the crew to accept him, not view
him with mistrust as someone who wasn't one of them. He needed friends to survive this.

"Alright, lay off him for now," Adam said, quieting the men. "You can harass him and

get the dirty details after rehearsals. Climb aboard, guys. Unhook us, will you, Kip."

"You think he's a Top?" Lucas heard Tyler sneer to one of the other guys. "I'll bet you a

hundred bucks he's a whiny, whimpering bottom."

Lucas pretended not to hear although he was sure Tyler had meant him to. He and Kip

slid onto the padded bench seats next to Ben and Peter as Adam started up the engine.

"Hang on, boys!"
The boat roared away from the pier, heading straight for the middle of the bay. Adam

didn't drive like the madman Lucas expected, although it had to have been a temptation on such a
beautiful day and in such calm waters. Lucas tilted his head back and enjoyed the warm sunlight

on his face and the occasional burst of refreshing mist over his face as the boat carried them out
to the pirate ship.

A poke in the shoulder drew his attention to a grinning Ben, a pale blond with washed out

blue eyes and thick, fleshy lips whom Lucas had met only fleetingly at the barbeque.

"Adam says you're shadowing me today," he shouted. "Right on, buddy." He clasped

Lucas' hand and squeezed. "We'll be rope monkeys today. Lots of fun. Hope you aren't afraid of
heights."

"Not a chance," Lucas yelled back above the loud drone of the engine. "Although I'm still

a little hung-over so make sure you're not under me. I might hurl on your head."

"Haha! If you do get queasy let me know. We'll have to do some strategic positioning to

make the most impact!" Ben joked back.

"You take care of my boy, you got that, bro?" Kip warned Ben. "Teach him right or I'll

swashbuckle your ass."

"Was it you who took care of him last night?" Ben teased back.
Lucas was glad at that moment that it hadn't been Kip because his face would have been

as red as a lobster.

Kip, however, wasn't on the same page.
"Not yet," he said, with a wink at Lucas. "I'm in no hurry. I've got him to myself every

night. I'll get 'im eventually, bro."

Ben laughed. "Lucky guy!"
They bounced over a small wave, a spray of saltwater sprinkling their faces. Lucas

thought about what Kip had said and hoped his friend was joking. He counted on Kip to be his
buddy, not fuck buddy. Nothing could ruin a friendship quicker than a failed relationship,
especially when one of them was gay and the other one wasn't.

He had little time to worry about it though, because within moments Adam had pulled the

boat up to the pirate ship. It was beautiful up close, the hull painted scarlet, the sails tied in puffs
of white canvas, its masts pointing to the heavens like the spires of a pirate church. Adam steered
the boat beneath the overhanging audience platform and up to a gangway hanging off the side of
the ship.

Orinth immediately jumped over the side onto the platform and tied the boat off before

Tyler joined him and began lending a hand to the other men as they moved from one vessel to
the other. When everyone had boarded except for Kip and Lucas, Tyler smirked and helped them
onto the platform, although his gray eyes clearly held the urge to let Lucas fall backwards into
the smaller boat. Lucas did his best to ignore him and climbed the rubber coated gangway up to
the top deck of the ship.

Up on deck, Lucas couldn't stop a grin from splitting his face. The ship was as well-

maintained as he'd hoped, the wooden deck and masts gleaming, brass sparkling, yards of rope
dangling from the masts and tied off securely to the rails or else coiled neatly on deck.

The gangway had dumped them all onto the audience platform where chairs would be set

up for the audience to watch the show. Currently the chairs were folded and stacked against the
railing, safely out of the way.

It would be an up close and personal experience, closer than he'd guessed from seeing the

setup from shore. He looked up and found that the masts and sails were practically right above
his head. The audience would not only see the action, they'd be right in the middle of it.

No room for faking it here, that's for sure.

A heavy hand clapped him on the shoulder. Adam stood close to him, his dark eyes

peering intently into Lucas' eyes.

"Ready to be someone you're not?" he asked, his lips tilting up at one corner of his

mouth.

Lucas held his gaze. "Ready and willing."
Adam's smile bloomed into a full-fledged grin. "I was hoping you'd say that, man." His

thick fingers touched the side of Lucas' neck before his hand fell away. "Impress me, Lucas. I
want you to earn a prime role in this show."

Adam turned away and shouted for the rest of the men to strip off. Wondering at the

comment about his role, Lucas joined suit, pulling off his T-shirt and slipping out of his sandals,
tossing both against the forecastle along with everyone else's cast-offs. His eyes couldn't help
panning over the hard, bare chests surrounding him. Even a straight man had to admire the
perfection gathered around him and he did.

"We're going to rehearse the basic script since we've got Lucas learning the ropes. No

deviations for now." Adam's deep voice easily carried across the deck, commanding and
encouraging at the same time. "Let's show him how clean we can do this, gentlemen. No
mistakes, no sloppiness. Just good old fashioned porn."

Tyler stuck his fingers between his lips and whistled his appreciation for the order.
Adam nodded at his First Mate, grinning. "Everyone to their places. Lucas, you follow

Ben. Go everywhere he goes. Watch him. Pay attention to his facial expressions and how he
moves his body. The audience can see everything, so you've got to be aware of everything you're
letting them see."

Lucas nodded. "Understood."
Tyler scowled and stepped forward. "You understand, what?" he snapped sharply.
Lucas flushed when he realized what Tyler meant. "I understand, Cap'n."
Adam's eyes gleamed. "There you go. Never disrespect your captain, especially a pirate

captain."

"Yes, Cap'n." Lucas was embarrassed, but the confrontation between the three of them

excited him slightly. "It won't happen again, Cap'n."

"In your fucking dreams, scrub," Tyler sneered. "I know I'll be riding your ass for weeks.

I can just tell."

Lucas fisted his hands but kept them out of sight behind his back. "Whatever you say,

sir."

Tyler's grin was shark-like. "I like the sound of that. I'll replay it in my mind tonight

while I jerk off."

The rest of the crew laughed, thinking it was a joke, but Lucas glared at Tyler knowing

the other blond was taunting him. He gritted his teeth and said nothing.

"Alright, let's get on with this," Adam ordered. "Everyone to their places. Remember

we're following the script this time." He turned to Tyler. "Mr. Christian, hand out the weapons."

"Aye, aye, Cap'n." Tyler and Orinth disappeared through a door in the forecastle as

everyone else moved to their places on deck or in the rigging.

Lucas followed Ben in climbing up the rigging until they were perched midway up the

foremast. "Mr. Christian?" he asked. "Like from Mutiny on the Bounty?"

"Just a stage name," Ben told him as he watched Tyler and Orinth emerge, carrying

armloads of swords, belts and sheaths. "Adam wanted the option of adding some mutiny action
on occasion. We have a lot of fun with those storylines."

"Ben!" Orinth called. "Catch!" He tossed up a sheathed sword that was hooked to a belt.
Ben caught it deftly and belted it around his waist. "The blades aren't sharpened," he said,

withdrawing the cutlass and showing Lucas the dull edge, "but you still have to be careful with
the tip."

Once everyone had been armed, Adam strode over to the wheel of the ship and stood

behind it. The moment he laid his hands on the wheel, a shiver ran through Lucas. He didn't
know why it had happened. He'd sailed under numerous captains and none had impacted him the
way the sight of Adam at the helm did. But Lucas definitely felt the difference this time.

The man looked powerful, his head held high, shoulders square. Adam's expression and

body language showed that he truly believed he should be standing there and nowhere else in the
world. Lucas could perfectly imagine a pirate captain looking the way Adam did. It made him
want to do nothing but stare in fascination at Adam. And that unnerved him.

"On a warm summer night in the year 1753, the famous pirate Captain Marcus Finch

sailed into the bay of Wide Cove Island," Tyler said aloud, speaking as though he were reciting a
script, which Lucas guessed he was. "He and his crew of hardened pirates had learned of a
treasure beyond anything they had found before, something greater than jewels and more
priceless than gold. It was a treasure that no man had ever possessed, a treasure belonging to
the Loa, gods of the Caribbean and creators of the very island to which Finch and his men had
come.

"Beneath a full moon, Captain Finch and his men hacked through the inhospitable jungle

and braved the wild jaguars and poisonous snakes. Though their spirits quailed, they pressed on
until eventually they found the markers leading them to the ultimate treasure: the Hidden Idol of
the Wide Cove Loa.

"Finch and his men rejoiced, believing they had become rich, but as they would soon

learn the Loa do not give up their treasures so easily. As they were attempting to leave the bay,
Captain Finch and his men were quickly cornered by the swift fleet of the British Royal Navy."

"Over the speakers they play dramatic music and the sound of sword fighting," Ben

explained. "It's pretty realistic."

"After a fierce fight that lasted well into the early morning hours, Finch and his ship

were sunk to the bottom of the bay with all hands lost," Tyler went on.

"But some say it was not the British who sent Finch to his early grave. The wise know it

was the Loa, the angry gods, who would not permit a man to leave with their precious idol
without paying an appropriate price.

"Since then, pirates across the seas have come to this bay to find the Hidden Idol Finch

left behind. Call them brave men, call them foolish men -- all have been unable to resist the lure
of the ultimate treasure.

"The latest to try his luck is the formidable Captain Blackheart and the handsome crew

of the Dread Destroyer..."

Over on the mainmast, a pirate Lucas didn't know that well -- Riley -- was wearing a rope

around his waist. Riley leaped overboard from his high perch, executing a neat dive into the
water. It was a spectacular sight, one which would surely wow the audience.

A few moments later he emerged from the water and climbed up a ladder on the port side

of the ship which the audience wouldn't be able to see. Pretending to carry something, a dripping
Riley rushed to Adam at the wheel.

"Captain Blackheart and his men have found the idol that Finch carried to the bottom of

the bay..."

Adam suddenly held up his arm, his hand holding an invisible prop which Lucas assumed

would later be the idol. The crew cheered, holding their swords aloft.

"... and like the pirates before them, they are attempting to leave the bay with their

sacred treasure -- without paying the price for it."

"A screen will rise from the water over there," Ben whispered to Lucas, pointing to the

port side of the ship. "The audience will see an image of a full moon that becomes covered with
clouds. The music will change, becoming foreboding."

"Cool," Lucas whispered back.
"It's getting there," Ben chuckled. "On the screen they'll see shadows moving around that

are supposed to be the Loa. See Orinth over there? He's pretending to be taken over by one of the
Loa."

Down on the main deck near the port rail, red-haired, loud-mouthed Orinth was writhing

around where he stood, acting as though he were being possessed by a mysterious spirit. Beside
him, Peter, Hewie's friend from Santa Monica, let out a shout and pretended to slash at the
shadows that would be appearing on the screen.

"But though Captain Blackheart and his men are brave and tenacious," Tyler went on

from the script, "there is no escaping the Loa or their lusts. For the Loa created this island from
the fruits of their passion, and that is how they can defeat even the most ferocious of pirates: not
with blood, but with something much sweeter."

More of the pirates were being attacked by the Loa at this point, which they tried to fight

off with complicated and showy sword fighting techniques. Lucas noticed Orinth, the first
'victim', was now behaving much differently. He had sheathed his weapon and was moaning and
rubbing his hands over himself, caressing his body as though someone had given him a hit of
Ecstasy. Beside him, Peter's mood had changed, too. He reached out and spun Orinth around,
pulling the other man to him. The two men kissed passionately, their hands grabbing each other's
asses, their hips grinding.

Lucas' mouth fell open. He shifted against the ropes, hoping what he was feeling was

unease rather than something else. Desperate, he looked elsewhere. The view was worse. Kip
had his sword out and was mimicking using the tip of it to cut away Hewie's pants. When he'd
'stripped' the marijuana-friendly Hewie, Kip reached out and yanked the other man by the hair
over to his crotch, where he ground Hewie's face against his groin.

"Holy shit," Lucas breathed.
"Pretty awesome, huh?"
Lucas swallowed. "Um, yeah."
"Well," Ben said, shifting his balance on the ropes so that he was standing on them.

"Time to earn my keep. You stay here and just watch, okay?"

Lucas nodded as Ben untied the free end of a rope that was threaded through a series of

overhead pulleys that connected it with the mainmast. Lucas couldn't figure out what its purpose
was until Ben enlightened him by wrapping the rope around his forearm and leaping fearlessly
off the rigging. Ben swung through the air to the mainmast while he slashed at invisible spirits
with his cutlass. Once at the mainmast he pushed off with his feet, hacking his way back to
where Lucas sat in the foremast rigging.

"Watch," Ben whispered, right before he started moaning. He deftly slipped his sword

back into his sheath and fell back against the net-like support of the rigging. He pretended to
yank open his pants and shuck them down his legs. Lucas watched, wide-eyed, as Ben began

caressing himself while rolling back and forth in the netting. It was like watching someone jerk
off on the bed next to him. Lucas was both horrified and turned-on.

"Look at my ankle!"
Overwhelmed by everything that was going on, Lucas dropped his eyes to Ben's feet. The

other man had wrapped the rope around his left ankle several times while still holding onto the
free end with one hand.

"You'll learn to do this so you don't slip out," Ben told him in between moans and

thrashing his head back and forth.

A slightly hysterical laugh slipped from Lucas' lips. "Okay."
Ben grinned. "Now watch this. My best part."
Lucas nearly shouted when the other blond abruptly slid off the rigging over the side,

head first. Waiting for Ben to splatter on the deck below, he gasped when the rope drew taught
around Ben's ankle and wrist, suspending him upside down in midair. With his arms and legs
spread wide like a spider at the end of its silk, Ben's body began a slow descent to the deck.
Confused, Lucas looked further down and saw one of the pirates turning a crank on the final part
of the pulley system to which the rope had been attached.

The blond was slowly lowered to the deck and hung there a few feet from the planks,

'naked' and bound. The other pirates swarmed around him, stroking and fondling him.

Lucas fell back against the ropes. "Oh, my god."
"Back, you madmen!" Tyler shouted from below, using what looked like a riding crop to

'beat' the lustful pirates away. "Have you all lost your minds? What's wrong with you?"

As he pretended to whip the possessed pirates, they in turn responded to the whipping not

as if it was punishment but as thought it were sexual torture. They turned their backs to the whip
and pretended to stroke themselves as if the pain turned them on. Tyler, frustrated, ran to the rail
as if he were about to jump overboard. He suddenly convulsed.

As much as he hated the other blond Lucas had to give Tyler props for being a good

actor. Lucas believed that something was overtaking Tyler. He leaned forward, watching in
fascination as Tyler became someone else right before his eyes.

When the transformation was complete, Tyler's face held a dark, seductive leer that made

Lucas swallow uneasily. Tyler caressed himself and began walking amongst the pirates, forcing
them to their knees and whipping them across their asses. He used the tip of his crop to tease and
torture the other men and as Lucas watched the other blond dominate the rest of the crew, he
noticed a very unwelcome pressure in his own crotch.

No. No, no, no, no, no.
But it was too late to deny it. Lucas was hard. Miserable, he pressed a hand over his

crotch and tore his gaze away from Tyler and his whip. His eyes fell on Adam, who 'held' the
idol in one hand and his cutlass in the other as he stood atop the forecastle and above the other
men.

He was the sole survivor of the Loa's attack and even Lucas wanted to see him succumb.

He wanted to see Adam fight and fail, see his clothes torn off and his body swallowed by the
hungry passion of the other men. As if hearing his thoughts, the rest of the pirate crew turned to
look up at their captain, and slowly advanced on him.

Lucas fell back against the rigging and turned his eyes to the sky. He began to laugh

quietly to himself. This was the script, he'd just realized. This was the tame version of the show!
If Adam's deviations were much wilder than this Lucas was going to be in deep trouble.

He closed his eyes and covered his ears with hands. He'd had enough, and it was too

much.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Lucas was thoroughly soaked.
He blinked the brine out of his eyes as he climbed the ladder curving up the side of the

Dread Destroyer. The bay water had been warm, probably around eighty degrees, but it had
provided the distraction he needed to bring his body back under control. Feeling more confident,
he climbed onto the deck and found the other members of the crew giving the deck a quick
cleanup. He'd missed the end of the show, just as he'd hoped.

"No one dives into the water without my permission."
Lucas spun to find himself faced with Adam, who was thankfully fully clothed. Lucas

had dove overboard before waiting to find out if the script called for something different.

Adam eyed Lucas' dripping state and shook his head in disapproval. "Especially no

unscripted diving from the rigging in the middle of a show."

"You're right. I'm sorry." Lucas slicked his dripping hair off his forehead. He knew what

he'd done was dangerous but he'd needed a way to get rid of his hard-on before he joined the
other men. The ribbing from them would have been uncomfortable but it was Tyler and Adam's
reactions he feared the most. He'd told them he was straight. He'd insisted on it almost as if it
were a point of pride. What had happened to him in the rigging -- he couldn't explain it to
himself much less to the two men.

"It was reckless of me. It won't happen again, Cap'n," he promised.
Adam's expression relaxed. "Show's over, Lucas. You don't need to call me Captain

anymore. But my rules still stand."

Lucas nodded.
Slinging his cutlass over one shoulder, Adam grinned and asked, "What did you think of

it, by the way? It's a little cheesy, I know, but I promise it comes off better when we're all in
costume and the screen is up and the recorded narration is going. Tyler gives a half-assed effort
when he has to recite the script for rehearsals. But at least you have an idea of what the show is
about."

A playful shout at the railing drew Lucas' attention to the rail where Kip and Dean were

wrestling, each trying to throw the other overboard. Lucas kept his eyes on them rather than
meeting Adam's gaze.

"So tell the truth," Adam pressed. "Did you like it?"
A hundred different responses ran through Lucas' head, all of them safe. But none of

them made it to his lips. For some reason he felt compelled to be somewhat truthful.

"It's -- a pretty crazy show. I can see why you sell out every night. For someone who's

into that sort of -- if they're gay," Lucas corrected himself, "it would be a very sexy show. I mean
yeah, it's very provocative. Very... gay. Which it should be," he added awkwardly. "I guess a lot
of it's wasted on me though, since I'm not into that. The man-on-man stuff, I mean."

He inwardly winced at how defensive he sounded. He couldn't help it. He desperately

didn't want the other man to know the show had affected him, but Adam was clearly excited to
hear his opinion and Lucas wanted to give him his due.

"You make a good point," Adam mused casually, but something in the tone of his voice

set Lucas on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Some of the big shots from the mainland
have seen the show. They're as hetero as you get. And like you said, they must not have been
'into that sort of thing' because they didn't bone up at all while watching Tyler whipping the
crew." His grin held megawatts. "Only a guy who's gay, or maybe bi-curious, would do that.
Right, man? Only someone into the man-on-man stuff?"

Lucas shrugged tensely, aware that Adam was baiting him. "I guess."
The wrestling at the railing ended in a truce when Tyler interrupted it to tell everyone to

get back to work. Though the crew voiced their disappointment they all obeyed Tyler as if he
really was their First Mate. Lucas tried to picture the other blond in Adam's role and found he
could envision it, although he didn't like it.

"You had a girlfriend back home?"
"Yes," Lucas answered warily, glancing back at Adam, wondering at the shift in

conversation. "It's part of the reason why I left Chicago."

"Sorry to hear it." Adam's sympathy was brief. "You two ever play games? You know, of

the bedroom variety?"

"Sometimes. Why?"
"You ever let her peg you?"
Lucas frowned. "I don't know what that is."
Adam's smile was mysterious. "Doesn't matter. You can research it later. What kinds of

things did you do with her? Anything kinky? Maybe some bondage play like tying her up? Some
spanking? Role-playing?"

Unable to find the danger in answering honestly since it reaffirmed his heterosexuality,

Lucas ventured, "Sure. Sometimes."

"She ever return the favor?"
Lucas stiffened. He should have guessed. "No. That wasn't what we were into."
"You sure about that?"
"Yes," Lucas said firmly, frustrated that he had to thrust images of Tyler and his whip out

of his mind. "I'm sure we never switched roles and no, she never returned the favor. I'm not
interested in that."

Adam tilted his head, his expression far too amused for Lucas' liking. "How do you know

for sure if you two never tried it out? Tell the truth: how did you get her to agree to being tied
up? Did you coax her into it? Pressure her?"

"A little of both," Lucas admitted grudgingly. "But if she hadn't wanted it she wouldn't

have gone along with it."

"Maybe that's all it would have taken for her to do the same to you." Adam shrugged.

"The right words, a little pressure -- she could have opened up a whole new world for you."

He raised an arm to comb his hand through his dark hair, the action flexing his massive

bicep and the bands of muscle in his shoulder. A pang of jealousy went through Lucas as he
surreptitiously checked the other man out. He lifted weights faithfully and while he was proud of
his physique he couldn't build the kind of bulk Adam had. The other man was a study in
muscular perfection. Lucas could stare at him for hours, admiring each striation and curving
belly of muscle, appreciating the work and dedication that went into maximizing them. In this at
least he could understand where gay men had an appreciation for the masculine form. Adam was
a feast for any knowledgeable eye.

"Then again," Adam continued casually, presumably unaware of Lucas' admiration,

"maybe it's not too late to expand your horizons... if today was any indication."

He glanced over, his gaze piercing despite his smile. Lucas felt like he'd been caught

peeping through a fence at a sunbathing neighbor. Had Adam seen him up in the rigging? Did he
know why Lucas had dove into the water?

Lucas crossed his arms over his naked chest, highly aware that his shorts clung to his

hips, allowing every contour to show. His cheeks, though wet, felt uncomfortably warm.

"I'm not sure what you're getting at and it's really none of your business what I did with

my ex-girlfriend."

Adam's grin changed, becoming noticeably less sharp. "Don't worry about it for now. In

fact, let it go. I'm just glad you haven't run away screaming. That means you're sticking it out.
That's good."

Was it? Lucas had his doubts. He'd just been ogling Adam's body, for god's sake.
"Ben has a pretty athletic part," the bigger man said, abruptly changing the topic again

much to Lucas' relief. "I paired you with him because I think you could handle something
similar. That's what I read in your file, assuming you didn't pad your resume."

"I can handle that, sure."
"Good. I'll start you rehearsing with us next Wednesday. We don't normally rehearse

while the ships are in port unless we've got a new crewmember. There's an old wreckage beneath
us and the historical preservation group doesn't like us out here stirring the water more than we
have to."

"You mean the real Finch pirate ship is underneath us?" Lucas marveled.
"That's right. So we need to request special permission to run extra rehearsals. But you'll

pick it up quick, I think. We'll start you off on the script."

Lucas hoped his relief wasn't evident on his face. "So I'll be doing what Ben did today?"

As bad as Ben's role was at the end, dangling like bait on the end of a fishing line, at least Lucas
wouldn't have to actively interact with anyone and he'd spend the majority of his time up in the
rigging out of the fray. It was ideal.

"Actually you'll do a variation of what he does," Adam told him. Mischief hovered in his

eyes. "Now that I've seen your diving skills I think it'd be pretty hot to have you try to escape the
Loa by diving overboard. You'll fail, of course, and get hauled back over the rail and lashed to a
mast." He glanced down Lucas' body, smirking. "I think the crowd will get off on seeing you
dripping wet like this and being fondled by the crew."

Lucas hoped he hadn't gone pale. He knew what Adam was doing. This was punishment.

Lucas wanted to smack himself in the forehead. Just because of the poor decision to dive off the
rigging -- just because he'd been defensive about his sex life with Lisa -- now he'd be tied up
while soaking wet, his clothes stuck to him and outlining every part of his body while the other
men felt him up.

"You're not cutting me any slack, are you?" he asked, glaring at Adam.
Adam chuckled. "I'm hoping that deep down, Lucas, you don't want me to."
Lucas stepped up to him, knowing he was risking a punch to the face that would drop

him. "I said I'd pretend for you. But that's it. You can't change who I am. You can't brainwash me
into being gay for you."

Adam, though, just laughed again. "The thing is, Lucas, I won't have to. You see, I

believe in a thing called the Kinsey Scale. It measures a person's sexuality on a scale from zero
to six. Zero is exclusively straight. Six is exclusively gay." He arched an eyebrow. "Hardly

anyone is at either end of that spectrum. Everyone slides up and down the scale at various points
in their lives. And you--" his grin widened as he looked into Lucas' eyes, "-- are doing an awful
lot of sliding. I think it's just a matter of time before you slide right into my lap."

Lucas' stepped back, his courage faltering. "The hell I will."
"No?" This time it was Adam who closed the distance between them. "You think I'm

risking my show on some guy who I don't trust to give me the performance I need from him? A
believable performance?"

"I said I'll act," Lucas replied defensively. "I never said anything about anything else."
Adam fell silent. Lucas refused to look away, refused to back down.
"Tonight after the show we're going to have a crew bonding session," Adam declared

after a long moment. "I think we need it."

'Bonding session' was synonymous with 'hazing' in Lucas' mind. Something of what he

was thinking must have shown on his face because Adam shook his head.

"It won't be anything hurtful or humiliating. I want you to get along with my crew and

they with you. It's counterproductive to drive you away with something childish."

Nodding warily, Lucas said, "Alright. I'll trust you."
"I appreciate that, man." Adam looked over Lucas' shoulder at the rest of the crew. "I was

going to suggest you watch the show tonight as part of the audience but I'm rethinking that. I
don't think you're ready to hear the audience's reaction to what we do. I haven't scared you off
and I don't need anyone else doing it for me," he added with a grin.

Thinking it out, Lucas decided Adam might be right. He wasn't so sure he could handle

hearing the comments the audience members would undoubtedly make about Adam and his crew
and the sexual situations they were in. It would make him paranoid about what the audience
might say about him when he finally joined the performance.

"So hang out at the house and relax," Adam went on. "As soon as the show's over the

guys and I will come back and get cleaned up and then we'll have some fun. We've got game
consoles and satellite TV to keep you occupied. You're welcome to order dinner from the
Lobster Shack. I've got an account there and I'll call them and let them know I'll cover you. I
don't think you'll be bored but if you think you'll be desperate for entertainment I'll lend you the
keys to my bike so you can ride into HI."

Lucas stared. "You'd let me drive your motorcycle?"
"Sure. Why not? You're one of mine now. I know it doesn't feel like that to you yet but

I'm working on it." Adam smiled. "Give me some time, okay?"

Adam was a decent guy. Lucas had to give him that.
"That's... really nice of you. But I'm sure I'll be fine chilling at the house. Thanks,

though."

"Not a problem, man." Adam hooked Lucas behind the neck with his massive arm,

pulling him close. Lucas raised his hands awkwardly, unsure where to put them. He listened to
Adam's deep voice rumble in his ear: "Like I said: you're one of mine now and I'll take care of
you."

~~~~~

Lucas had lunch with Kip who prodded him for compliments about the show and

especially about his performance. Lucas, amused, gave as glowing a review as he could while

still keeping up the facade that none of it had affected him physically. It more than satisfied Kip
who'd admitted he'd been afraid Lucas would request to be sent home after seeing the rehearsal.

The rest of the day was spent on the beach working on their tans until the sun set and it

was time for the pirate crew to prepare for their show. Lucas leaned in the doorway of the guest
bathroom and watched as Kip applied heavy eyeliner to himself.

"It's like being a stage actor, bro," Kip explained as he smudged the makeup with his

pinky finger.

"Or like being a stripper?" Lucas suggested, laughing as Kip threw his toothbrush at him.
Kip pointed at him accusingly. "You're just jealous that you gotta stay behind. I've got

your number, bro."

When Kip was finished, Lucas and he entered the living room where Adam and Tyler

were waiting. Lucas tried not to stare. He hadn't expected a little eye makeup to have such a
dramatic effect on his housemates but it did. Adam looked roguish and mysterious, a fitting dark
pirate captain. It was Tyler though, who made Lucas do an unhappy double-take. The black
eyeliner made his gray eyes pop like diamonds. Smudging the makeup hadn't made his eyes look
smoky; the soft blur of color sharpened his gaze and gave him a vicious, wicked look that Lucas,
to his dismay, found himself unable to look away from.

"See something you like?" Tyler sneered. "At least now we know your kink. You go for

guys in makeup. Glam fag."

Lucas blushed angrily and was finally able to look away.
"Tyler, shut it," Adam warned quietly. "If you want people to stare at you and think

you're sexy you can't make fun of them for doing it."

"I do not think you're sexy," Lucas muttered. "You look like a hustler."
"Whom you'd love to fuck," Tyler retorted. "Just wait until it's your turn to prep for the

show. You won't hear the end of it from me, new guy. I'll ride your ass--"

"Tyler, shut the fuck up." Adam clamped his hand on the back of his boyfriend's neck just

as he would control a wild cat. "Let's go before you sound like an even bigger shithead."

Lucas smirked and happily followed the three men out of the house. They were all

dressed in sweatpants and T-shirts but Lucas had earlier seen them packing breeches, and in
Tyler and Adam's case -- tricorn hats -- into backpacks. They shouldered the bags before
mounting their motorcycles.

"See you after the show," Adam said, his friendly grin continuing to give Lucas hope that

the bonding session would be nothing to worry about. "We should be back around eleven."

"I'll be here," Lucas said with a grin. "Break a peg leg."
Kip and Adam laughed. Tyler rolled his eyes in disgust. Lucas didn't mind seeing him go,

although he did miss Kip and maybe Adam a little bit as the three men drove off to the bay.

Feeling very much like the outsider that he was, he went back inside the house and

ordered a lobster roll from the Lobster Shack, putting it on Adam's account. When it arrived he
didn't take it into the house; he carried it out to the beach and sat on the sand, eating while
watching the lighted screen behind the pirate ship glow and flicker with a fantasy that worried
him more than he needed it to.

~~~~~

The hangover caused by his bad behavior at Industrial Empire caught up with him around

nine. One minute he was watching a special on ESPN about great college football rivalries, the
next he was opening his eyes to a finger poking him in the shoulder.

Kip hovered over him, grinning from ear to ear. "Wakey wakey, bro. Time to go."
Lucas sat up slowly, surprised to see that not only was Kip home but he'd apparently

already showered. His dreads were dry but his chest still carried droplets of water and the towel
from the bathroom was wrapped around his thin waist.

"When did you get back? Are Adam and Tyler back?"
"Yep and yep. Tyler's just finishing up his shower. Adam already took his and has gone

over to the other cottages to round up the guys for the session tonight."

The session. Lucas gulped. "Tell me what it is," he asked Kip as he used the remote to

turn off the TV. "Adam won't give me anything but vague hints. Tell me I don't have anything to
worry about."

"You don't have anything to worry about," Kip deadpanned.
Lucas groaned and punched the other man lightly in the stomach. "Will you be serious

and tell me?"

"It's really no big deal, bro. Honest. You'll have a good time and it'll help bring you closer

to the rest of the guys." Holding his towel up with one hand, Kip used the other to pull Lucas off
the sofa. "Go change into your swimming trunks."

"So this involves swimming?"
"Just go!"

~~~~~

Once Lucas changed and returned to the living room he found Kip waiting to usher him

outside.

"We're going. Come on, bro!"
He seemed excited which boded well in Lucas' opinion. Kip had his back after all, and

wouldn't be looking forward to something which would hurt Lucas.

Out in the driveway Adam and Tyler sat astride their motorcycles, their helmets gleaming

beneath the full moon. Like him and Kip, both men wore swim shorts and tank tops.

"The rest of the guys are already out there," Adam said, his voice muffled by his helmet.

"Orinth just called and said the gate is open."

"Sweet. At least we won't have to climb any trees this time," Kip laughed.
"I think the Loa are shining on us tonight," Adam agreed, his helmet turning slightly,

letting Lucas know the other man was looking at him. Being stared at by that silver face shield
unnerved Lucas. He wondered if Adam was doing it intentionally. "Let's get him out there, Kip."

"You got it." Kip slapped Lucas on the shoulder. "Get on, bro!"
Nervous and trying not to show it, Lucas straddled Kip's bike and wrapped his arms

around the other man's waist.

"We'll be driving out of town so don't get worried, okay?" Kip said, turning his head to

speak to Lucas.

"I trust you, Kip."
Adam pulled out of the driveway, the others following close behind.
Riding on a motorcycle a night was a new experience for Lucas and one he enjoyed

immensely. His head was constantly turning, trying to take in all the moonlit sights they passed

as they turned out of Hidden Idol Bay and onto a wider two lane road that Lucas hadn't yet
traveled.

Within a few minutes the road took them away from the shops, restaurants and hotels and

carried them through rural areas with increasingly thick vegetation. Dense, nearly furry ferns
spilled over the edges of the pavement as though beginning their slow campaign to devour the
road. The aroma of flowers grew cloyingly thick, as though night bloomers were attempting to
drunken any who passed by. Gnarly-trunk trees with wide, overarching limbs that were clogged
with leaves blocked the moonlight, casting the bikes in sporadic darkness as they drove deeper
into the jungle-like part of the island.

Lucas tightened his grip and concentrated on his balance as Adam led the bikes off the

main road and onto a dirt one which curved, serpentine-like, into the heart of the jungle. Lucas
couldn't hear any animals over the roar of the three motorcycles but he imagined he could feel
their eyes upon him wondering who the interlopers were into their territory. It was a sensation of
entering the true wilds, something he knew he'd never experience back in the States. It made his
skin tingle with hyperawareness of how physically exposed he was.

Up a hill where the road was grooved by the evidence of car tire tracks they passed by an

open wood gate. A sign was strapped to the gate with wire. Lucas managed to read it as they
passed by:

Access Road #6

Finch Preserve

No Trespassing

A small thrill shot through him at the knowledge that whatever they were going to do

tonight was at least partly against the rules. His blood hummed a little quicker through his veins
as he strained to see over Kip's shoulder and pierce the darkness ahead of them.

In another moment Adam slowed his bike, Tyler and Kip following suit.
"We're here, bro," Kip said from over his shoulder.
Lucas peered around him in confusion. He couldn't see anything but trees, ferns, and

strange bushes. "We're where?"

But right as he said that he smelled the change in the air: the acrid bite of gasoline that

managed to overcome the sweet and damp aroma of the flowers and soil. The source of the smell
was soon evident as Adam led them through a grove of trees and into a small clearing where
seven other motorcycles were parked on the grass. As Kip found an area to rest his own bike
Lucas' eyes adjusted to the dim lighting and picked out the figures of the rest of the pirate crew.
His eyes widened.

"No one can see us out here," Kip said, correctly interpreting Lucas' sudden tension

behind him. "It's why we come out here in the middle of nowhere. Total privacy, bro. It's cool."

Cool or not, Lucas quickly realized he would be the only man with clothes on in another

thirty seconds. At least it's dark, he thought as he dismounted. Adam and Tyler had already
shucked their clothing and helmets and were walking in their sandals to join the other men who
were standing in a loose circle in the center of the clearing. Lucas tried not to stare at their
powerful flanks and the perfect V of their back and shoulders. Had he paid this much attention to
other guys while he was in school? he wondered with no small amount of panic.

"Leave your clothes here," Kip murmured, his excitement muted now as he stripped off

his tank and shorts and draped them over his bike. "Keep your sandals on, though. You don't
want to step on anything nasty."

"Do I need to worry about mosquitoes?" Lucas muttered as he pulled off his tank top. He

studiously avoided looking at his roommate's naked body.

Kip laughed softly. "Feel the wind?" A steady breeze rustled through the trees. "That'll

keep the bugs away. We'll be okay. Hurry up, though. They're all waiting on us."

Lucas stepped out of his shorts and tried not to look self-conscious as he followed Kip to

the circle of other men. It didn't help much that ten pairs of eyes turned to track his progress as
he joined them. But Lucas knew he had nothing to be ashamed of when it came to his body so he
held his chin up and even managed a nod of greeting to Ben and Orinth, the latter of whom shot
him a wide grin and a thumbs up.

He only wished his dick was softer. How he could be at all aroused by the situation was

beyond his comprehension, but for some reason his dick was primed for action. Fortunately he
didn't seem to be the only one who had that problem. Kip's dick was nearly horizontal and
several other men sported fattened cocks that hinted at impending erections. As he and Kip took
their places completing the circle, the horrified thought shot through Lucas' head that they were
about to engage in a circle jerk. But Adam spoke up before he could dwell on that possibility for
long.

"We're here tonight because a hole in our family has been filled, a gap has been bridged.

We're here tonight because our crew is whole again. We are a crew again.

"We're here to welcome Lucas into our family, to make him a part of us. To pledge our

brotherhood and our loyalty to him." Adam paused. "We mark him tonight as one of our own.
For as long as he remains on Joyboy, this brand will hold true."

It sounded like a fraternity initiation to Lucas, and maybe in a way it was. This was a

fraternity of pirates, of young men who had forgone a traditional life on the mainland and opted
for something unique. Again, it struck him how incredibly lucky he was that Adam had allowed
him to stay. Someone else should have been standing in his place, completing this circle. But this
time it was him and the first stirrings of pride over being one of Adam's chosen pirates warmed
his chest.

"Let us each mark our new brother in piracy," Adam's low, hypnotic voice washed over

them, "and commit to him our brotherhood and love."

Adam reached to his left, where Peter stood, and handed him something Lucas couldn't

quite make out. Peter selected one from the bunch, something long and thin, before reaching to
his left and handing the mysterious objects to Ben. Ben selected from what was in Peter’s hand
and continued the pass off. When the handoff reached Kip to Lucas' right, he could see what was
being handed out: thick grease pencils. Kip reached across Lucas, skipping him, and passed the
remaining pencils to Dean. Tyler received the last pencil.

"Lucas."
Adam's voice slithered through the humid air of the jungle like an insidious snake,

grabbing Lucas' attention and holding it.

"Will you join our brotherhood of pirates? Will you join our family and become one of us

for as long as your wear our brand?"

"I will," he replied in a strong voice, squaring his shoulders.
Adam's nod of approval oddly enough made Lucas' cock swell slightly. "Then let all who

would be his brother step forward and offer his mark."

The tree limbs closed in overhead, blocking the moonlight, but Lucas could easily see

Kip step into the middle of the circle and then turn to face him. Lucas smiled at his roommate
and friend as the other man's grin slashed whitely through the dimness.

"I knew we'd be friends as soon as we met, bro. But we're going to be more than that.

We're going to be brothers. And you know what brothers do? They watch each other's back."

As Lucas waited, curious as to what came next, Kip stepped up to him and placed his left

hand on Lucas' right shoulder. Kip began to walk around him, keeping his hand on Lucas' skin
until he was directly behind him.

Lucas felt the sudden warmth as Kip pressed up against him. He tensed but didn't

otherwise move as the smooth tip of Kip's cock grazed his left ass cheek. He felt the blunt head
of the grease pencil against his shoulder blades and then felt Kip begin writing something across
his back.

When he was finished writing, Kip stepped back and said aloud, "And now you are

marked as my brother."

He assumed his place in the circle again, the sensation of his cock burning hotly in Lucas'

memory.

Then Ben stepped forward into the circle and turned to Lucas.
"It's my job to train you, to keep you safe from injuries and to help you fulfill your

potential to the best of your abilities," he said to Lucas. "I look forward to it. I'll show you
everything I know and I promise to remain the one you can turn to whenever you need help or
advice about the show.

Because you'll rely on your feet to climb into the rigging and keep your balance above

decks, that's where I'll place my mark."

He stepped up to Lucas just as Kip had and kneeled before him. Lucas' hands closed into

fists as a new tension crept into his body. Ben's face was directly in front of his crotch, his eyes
level with Lucas' firming cock. He could actually feel the other man's breath on his dick head,
and he wondered if it was intentional, if Ben was teasing him.

Ben looked down and placed his left hand on Lucas' ankle, his fingers curving around his

heel. As the grease pencil moved across the top of his foot, Lucas tried not to think about how
surprisingly intimate that pencil felt against his skin. He hadn't expected his foot to be so
sensitive but it was. Especially when Ben's written letters dipped into the arch of his foot,
caressing his sole.

Lucas gritted his teeth as he felt himself hardening even more. The sweat that began to

bead on his skin was beginning to be less the fault of the humidity and more the fault of Ben
touching his foot.

Ben finished quickly, to Lucas' relief. With a murmured, "And now you are my brother,"

he stood and rejoined the circle.

Hewie was next.
The faint smokiness of marijuana hung on the air. Hewie must have smoked a bowl

before coming out here. His voice was raspy and slow. It sounded like dried leaves tumbling
across the jungle floor.

"I like that you're so laid back," he began, facing Lucas as the tree limbs shifted yet again

and moonlight dripped onto him. "The world isn't a serious place and you seem to get that. That's
cool, dude."

Lucas smiled.

"I'm going to place my mark near a part of your body that's important on mine. Life's too

short, dude. If you ever need a brother to kick back with and watch the clouds go by, I'll be your
man."

He invaded Lucas' space with a slow, easy smile. Lucas didn't expect the hand that came

up and cupped him behind the head. Nor was he prepared for Hewie to lean against him, chest to
chest, cock to cock. Hewie's cock was fat and thick, not yet stiff enough to rise from his groin. It
rolled sleepily against Lucas', a sensation that brought heat to his face. He nearly backed away
when Hewie leaned close, but managed to control the impulse as Hewie brought up his grease
pencil.

His fingers tickled the skin of Lucas' cheek as he began lightly writing across Lucas' chin.

The grease pencil slid easily through the budding stubble on his chin, and Hewie took his time,
his weedy breath puffing slowly, rhythmically, against Lucas' lips. Lucas could feel Hewie's
heartbeat against his chest. He could feel it in the other man's cock where it lay against Lucas'
scrotum. The fingers in his hair curled slightly, stroking his scalp, and Lucas had to close his
eyes to fight down a shiver of unwanted reaction.

"And now you are my brother," Hewie whispered.
Before Lucas could open his eyes, Hewie kissed him, just a dusting of his lips. It was too

brief and platonic to alarm him. Lucas merely watched through lowered lids as Hewie stepped
away from and took his place in the circle again.

On it went, with each member of the crew stepping into the center and explaining to

Lucas and the rest of the men what their impressions of him were and how they pledged to help
or support him as a member of their family. They wrote on his arms and thighs. Peter wrote
across his stomach, fingertips dipping into Lucas' naval and causing him to grit his teeth as his
cock began to lift away from his groin. Orinth teased him by writing his brand directly across
Lucas' right nipple, using every opportunity to caress and pluck at the bead of flesh. Riley, whom
Lucas had so far barely spoken to, wrote down the inner band of Lucas' thigh, the side of his
hand brushing deliberately he was sure, against Lucas' nutsack to further torment him.

Lucas tried to stave off his erection but it was a losing battle. By the time nine of the men

had carried out the ritual on his skin his body was sensitized to touch and lightly beaded with
sweat. He could see he wasn't the only one affected, though. Every cock he looked at was full
and fat. At least a handful of them were past horizontal and quickly rising toward vertical.

And then it was Tyler's turn.
Lucas had been dreading the other blond's turn as soon as this game started. Hating how

vulnerable he felt with the memory of other men's hands upon him and highly conscious of the
hard-on he sported, Lucas still managed to hold up his chin up and met Tyler's challenging stare.

"You come to this crew with an attitude," Tyler began, his words hardly surprising Lucas

who was prepared for the worst. "I could tell from the moment I laid eyes on you that you would
be trouble. But that's what pirates are. We're trouble. So I guess you fit right in."

Lucas swallowed his surprise.
"As your brother I promise to kick your ass when I feel like it, to make your life as

miserable as I can and to taunt you and harass you until I feel like you're giving us all that you're
able to. I promise to be the brother you hate--" Tyler's grin was like the flash of a panther's eyes
in the darkness, threatening impending pain, "and I promise to be the brother you wish you never
had. Since I intend to kick your ass every chance I get that means your ass is mine. That's where
you deserve to wear my mark."

As Tyler stepped around him, coming up behind him as Kip had earlier, Lucas wished the

other blond had been first to mark him. In the beginning Lucas had possessed more control over
his body. At this point he was sensitive to the mere touch of the breeze. So to have Tyler tuck up
behind him, his cock pressing aggressively against the crease of his ass, was nearly more than
Lucas could bear.

He clenched his jaw and fisted his hands, fighting the urge to growl at Tyler to back off.

When two hands settled on his waist and slid down to bracket his hips, he nearly spoke the
words, ceremony be damned.

He closed his eyes as Tyler's breath warmed the back of his head. It was difficult not to

imagine that this was how Tyler would feel behind him the moment before the other blond bent
him over and fucked him. It angered Lucas. It made his blood rush faster through his veins and
lifted his cock up tight against his stomach. He wanted to fight. Or fuck. It almost didn't matter
which.

"I own your ass," Tyler whispered nastily into his ear, "and you'll wear my mark there for

as long as you're on this island. Remember that."

His breath licked across the nape of Lucas' neck and then down across his shoulders and

lower still as he lowered himself to his knees behind Lucas. Lucas nearly stepped forward when
he felt Tyler's fingers curl into his cleft and spread his cheeks apart. Cool air wafted across his
sweaty crease, brushing over his hole. His eyes shot open. He found his gaze locked with Adam's
who watched him with an unreadable expression from across the circle.

Tyler's breath was hot against the top of Lucas' ass. It puffed quickly against his skin as if

the blond was turned on by exposing Lucas this way. The thought of the other man getting off on
this pissed Lucas off. To his dismay, it only made his cock harder.

The tip of the grease pencil touched him midway down his back and from there slid

slowly down his spine like a drop of sweat. He tried not to give away his discomfort and
therefore give Tyler the satisfaction of knowing he'd gotten to him, but Lucas couldn't help
stiffening as the tip of the pencil entered the top of his crease and slid lower. A moment before it
would have touched his hole and a moment before Lucas would have jumped out of the way
Tyler lifted the pencil and began writing vertically down the smooth inner skin of Lucas' ass.

Lucas sighed with frustration. He had no illusions that Tyler was writing anything but

something insulting. It was too perfect an opportunity for Tyler to do anything else. He was
surprised, then, when Tyler finished up more quickly than anticipated, letting Lucas' ass cheeks
fall closed again, sealing his written words in the crease.

He rose to his feet behind Lucas. The smugness in his voice was as thick as the humidity.

"And now you are my brother," he murmured.

Definitely the brother I will fight the most with, Lucas thought in irritation as he watched

Tyler rejoin the circle. He couldn't even get any satisfaction out of noticing that Tyler had boned
up. The blond had gotten off on humiliating him after all. There wasn't any victory to be found in
that.

When Adam entered the center of the circle Lucas was prepared for the worst. By this

point he wouldn't be surprised if the larger man decided to 'brand' him down the length of his
dick. The sad thing was it wouldn't be a difficult surface to write on since Lucas' cock was as
hard as a rod made of diamonds.

Lucas really hated himself at that point.
"This crew is my family more than my blood relatives are," Adam said as he stood in the

circle. "So when anyone requests to join our ranks I take it seriously. I take it to heart.

You came to me willing to fight for your right to join my family. Though I've had my

reservations I've come to believe that you're telling the truth. You believe you can be one of us.
You believe you deserve to be. And to my surprise, I believe it too."

Lucas pursed his lips, thinking about the conversation he'd had with Adam on the ship

that afternoon.

"By staying, you've committed yourself to our family. To my family." Adam's eyes

gleamed as the moonlight fought its way through the foliage. "Now that you've become one of us
I promise to protect you and to help you become the best that you can be: the best pirate, the best
friend and the best person you're capable of becoming. You're mine now, Lucas, and I welcome
you with all of my heart."

Lucas' own heart was pounding for a reason he couldn't explain as Adam stepped up to

him. For all the sexual pressure Adam had been applying, Lucas trusted the man. He liked him.
Here was a leader, a captain, someone whom Lucas could see pledging his devotion to. Here was
a man who might be worth belonging to.

"I place my brand where I hope to one day place myself," Adam told him quietly,

reaching up with his grease pencil. He held Lucas' eyes as he wrote letters across Lucas' chest,
directly above his left nipple.

He loomed larger than life over Lucas, the darkness of the jungle lending to Adam's sense

of height and bulk. His body gave off tremendous waves of heat. His cock bobbed in the air,
inches from Lucas' own, fearfully close and tantalizingly near. Once, he moved, and the wet tip
of his cock slipped against the equally wet tip of Lucas'. He hadn't known until that moment that
he was leaking, and once he knew he shuddered.

Whatever Adam wrote was sweet and to the point. In only a few seconds he stepped back

taking his heat with him and announced, "Now you are my brother. Now you are one of us,
Lucas. Though the brands on your skin will eventually wear off, they're engraved inside where it
counts. From this day forth you will forever be a pirate of Hidden Idol. From this day forth, you
will forever be something special."

The circle of men abruptly erupted into whoops and shouts, startling Lucas out of his near

trance-like fascination with Adam. He grinned and returned the pounds and back slapping the
other man gave him, but half of his attention was fixed equally on Adam and the word he could
feel written across his chest.

The group spent a few moments congratulating Lucas and comparing the placement of

their brands on his body -- he'd never felt more comfortable with men staring at his nude body
until then -- before Adam declared it was time to take a dip. He led the way through the jungle to
the sound of rushing water and a waterfall that spilled into a pool of cool, black water. Lucas,
proudly wearing his new brands, was the first to dive into that hidden grotto.

The ceremony had done its job. Lucas felt completely comfortable with his new crew. As

they fooled around in the water he discovered he didn't mind the occasional ass grab or nipple
tweak or playful flicking of his dick. Withholding his body from his newfound family seemed
ridiculous at this point. Whatever he had they'd seen before, and more importantly they
appreciated it and made him feel proud of himself. And the touches were playful, not pressuring
for more. At one point Lucas found himself nearly flirting with Ben because he was riding the
high of being completely at ease with his body and being near someone who found his body
pleasing without worrying that something more would come of it.

The sun threatened to break over the horizon by the time they all returned to the cottages.

Lucas and Kip were exhausted when they entered their room. Though Adam hadn't permitted

anyone to drink since they were all driving, they'd partied it up without the alcohol, wrestling
and swimming in the water for hours.

With Kip passed out face-first on his bed, Lucas paused to study himself in the mirrored

closet doors. He looked like hell, covered in dried mud and smeared grease pencil. He grinned,
feeling like a wild jungle man.

He cocked his head sideways, trying to read what the other guys had written on his body.

Everything was reversed in the mirror, so he struggled to make sense of the words. It wasn't until
he looked at his chest that he finally understood.

Directly above his heart, written backwards so that it would read correctly in the mirror,

was Adam's name. Armed with that knowledge Lucas could then decipher the other guys' names
written on the other parts of his body. They had all branded him on the places on Lucas' body
that meant something to them. But only Adam had branded him across Lucas' heart, writing it
backwards to make his message clear.

His grin fading, Lucas traced Adam's name with his finger. A strange feeling welled up in

him, one he didn't understand and wasn't sure he wanted to. He shifted his feet and felt grit
between his ass cheeks. It reminded him of what had been written there and by whom. His smile
fell away completely.

He took a long, hot shower. He scrubbed himself clean of the evidence of the bonding.

The word 'family' was on his brain as he tumbled headlong into sleep.

CHAPTER NINE

He woke up with the memory of large hands smearing mud over his skin, of them

gripping his limbs and spreading him, of breaths on the back of his neck and soft, fleeting
touches to his lips. At first the waking was gradual and reluctant -- his body still seeking
completion through the dream. But as he realized just who had been starring in his dreams Lucas'
eyes shot open in shock.

In the other bed Kip was snoring in a light, rhythmic cadence that sought to soothe Lucas'

pounding heart. But the sound could only do so much when his dick was hard and his skin
electrified by the memory of sensations he had no business yearning for. He wanted erotic
dreams of women; even fantasies of Lisa were preferable to a dream about friends who were
men. And gay.

He stared at the red kite pinned to the ceiling and self-pity overtook him. He wished he

could be like the kite and fly away from these new feelings and thoughts. He was scared. He felt
like he was losing the core of who he was. He had no idea who Lucas the man was anymore. He
wasn't the person he'd been in Chicago or with Lisa. He was a stranger. A pirate on a Caribbean
island, living a life without consequence.

Maybe he was wrong. Maybe Adam could brainwash him. Maybe it was already

happening.

He blew out a frustrated breath and let his hands drift slowly down his stomach. It was

too easy to mimic the touches of his dream, to bring back the excitement of a relentlessly
building orgasm. But what bothered him most was that those touches had been inspired by ones
he'd experienced in the flesh. They weren't based on fantasy but on reality.

He'd done his share of groping and pinching last night. All in fun, of course -- or at least

that's what he'd told himself while in that dark pool with the other men. He'd had no intention of
hooking up with any of them, so giving Kip a pinch on the ass or not twisting away from Ben's
hand as it drifted across his stomach had all been harmless. It was Lucas being a good sport after
their bonding session. Trying to fit in, be one of the guys.

But had it been more than that? Had he been acting like a cock tease last night? That

possibility was pretty terrible. Still, he forced himself to face a worse thought: that he had half-
hoped someone last night would call him out or push him for that little bit more.

The right words, a little pressure -- she could have opened up a whole new world for you.
Adam sounded like a prophet.
Lucas groaned softly and rubbed at his eyes as last night came into clearer focus. He'd

flirted with Ben. He remembered grinning at the other man and swimming close enough to him
that their legs tangled: knees knocking, hair-roughened thighs scissoring together. Ben's hand
had briefly cupped Lucas' hip and Lucas had laughed and ducked beneath the surface. When he'd
come up for air Ben had been waiting for him, the other man smiling as he cornered Lucas
against the rocks, his fingers coasting across Lucas' belly just below his navel. And Lucas had let
him.

If he'd done that with a girl he would have woken up this morning beside her. He couldn't

plead ignorance of his actions. He was aware of the message he'd sent out by not saying no.
Pulling the 'straight' card was no excuse for what he'd done.

He wasn't sure he believed it anyway.
First Jacob. Now Ben. Either it was a series of unfortunate coincidences or a pattern of

behavior was developing.

"Maybe I'm just a friendly guy," Lucas murmured hopefully. He groaned and dragged a

pillow over his face. Maybe I'm just an idiot.

In the other bed, Kip snorted and murmured sleepily. Lucas pushed the pillow aside and

reluctantly sat up. The tenting of his boxer briefs couldn't be ignored and it couldn't be taken care
of with Kip a few feet away. Grimacing, Lucas grabbed a T-shirt from the floor and held it over
his crotch as he quietly left the bedroom.

He locked the bathroom door behind him and considered the problem between his legs.

Was he really going to do this? Beating off would be acknowledging that a gay erotic dream had
turned him on.

To hell with it.
He pulled down his boxers and let his dick pop free. The medicine cabinet held a tube of

lube which he used to coat his palm. Grim, he took hold of his cock and started stroking it.

He determinedly thought of Lisa. She was beautiful and her body had always brought

him pleasure. He remembered fucking her, how great it felt to be inside her heat and wetness. He
was relieved by how much he enjoyed the memory of sex with a woman. At least I haven't lost
that, he thought.

But the fantasies of Lisa began to bother him. The emotional baggage they carried was

too much to overlook. He and Lisa had failed as a couple. It didn't exactly turn him on to
remember her leaving him.

So he abandoned those images and replaced them with fantasies of Nicole. He shifted his

weight restlessly as he pictured her generous breasts. He imagined pushing his face between
them, licking the valley between them and turning his head to find a peaked, pink nipple. He

squeezed the head of his dick as he imagined suckling on that tight, plump bud and hearing her
gasp as he did so.

His breath came faster as he pictured himself kissing his way down her body to the patch

of hair between her legs. He imagined it being a darker ash blonde, short and crisp. He could
practically smell the musky scent of her core and feel her soft, wet lips against his nose as his
tongue sought out the pearl of flesh hidden within the folds.

He licked his lips and fluttered his tongue a little. But it wasn't quite enough to recreate

the sensation of going down on her. He found his attention drifting, falling away from his fantasy
and focusing on the here and now. He became especially aware of his dick -- of the weight of it,
the firmness, where it flared and where it bulged with veins. He liked how it nestled perfectly in
his palm as though it should rest there even when he wasn't jerking off. He tickled the slit with
his nail and smiled as he shivered in pleasure.

His dick was a thing of beauty. He'd masturbated before as a means to an end but this

time he paid attention to what he held in his hand. There was no denying the appeal of this hard
tube of flesh in his hand. It was powerful -- the source of his masculinity and some of his
confidence -- and yet it was what made him vulnerable both physically and emotionally.
Aesthetically it was perfect. Sexually it never failed him.

And what if this were another man's dick? intruded the thought. Enjoying your own body

is one thing but if you had the chance to hold another guy like this? What then?

Lucas shuddered with secret shame. Thinking about holding another man's dick didn't

completely turn him off.

A straight man doesn't think that way.
"I know," he gasped in misery. Then he was shooting off, toes curling against the tile as

he peppered the sink with his cum.

~~~~~

When a stressed Lucas entered the kitchen, he wasn't thrilled to find Tyler in boxer briefs,

standing at the stove cooking a large omelet. On the counter sat two plates dressed with assorted
cut fruit, neither of which Lucas expected was for him. The sight of the two plates however,
drove home the reminder that he was in a 'family' in which men partnered with men and he'd just
jerked off in the bathroom to images of their dicks.

The platinum-haired blond looked up at Lucas and curled his lip before diverting his

attention back to what he was cooking. It wasn't an unexpected reaction but Lucas was hoping
something had changed between them after last night.

"'Morning," Lucas mumbled, shuffling past the other man and opening the fridge. He

pulled out a pitcher, sniffed it, and found a glass in one of the cabinets. As he poured the juice he
could feel Tyler looking at him.

"You managed to clean off all of the brands," Tyler noted. "Or did you leave a few in

place?"

Lucas sipped his liquid breakfast slowly as he leaned against a counter. He was unable to

tell Tyler's mood from the neutral tone of his voice.

"No," he said, warily, "they're all gone."
"Too bad," Tyler muttered as he loosened the omelet from the bottom of the pan with his

spatula. "Some of them should have remained in place."

Lucas watched the other man cut the omelet in half with the edge of the spatula and

carefully slide a half onto each plate.

"Which ones?"
Tyler, in the process of setting the empty pan in the sink, glanced over at him. "What?"
"Which ones should have remained in place?"
Lucas asked himself why he was pushing the conversation. When it came to Tyler he'd be

better off avoiding him. But the bitchy blond got under his skin and Lucas needed to understand
why. Was it just the attitude that got to him? Was it because Adam, whom Lucas was beginning
to genuinely like, thought Tyler was something special and Lucas wanted to understand what it
was?

The sun streamed in through the window above the sink, turning Tyler's hair to pure

white. His gray eyes, cast sideways to the light, became nearly translucent and were fringed by
snowy lashes. Stubble sparkled on his jaw. The shark pendant he always wore looked slick and
smooth as it rested against his collarbones but the tooth wasn't as smooth as his tanned chest.
Only his nipples broke the plane of his upper body, a body that could have made him Lucas'
twin.

"I'm talking about the brand I put on your ass, of course. The only one that matters."
Tyler's snarky response killed Lucas' appreciation for his appearance. Looks definitely

weren't everything, he thought in mild disappointment.

"It doesn't matter that it's gone," Tyler went on. "Like Adam said, you can wash it off but

it'll always be there. I'll always be on your ass, new guy."

"Don't you think that'll be kind of difficult when Adam's always on your ass?" Lucas

replied calmly. "You're his girlfriend, aren't you?"

Anger turned Tyler's eyes to the color of storm clouds.
"Is that what you think being the bottom means?" Tyler snarled, still holding onto the

handle of the pan as if he were thinking of smashing Lucas in the head with it.

"Well, sure. You're the one who takes it from him, right? You don't do it to him."
Tyler's eyes narrowed. "And what makes you think that?"
"Look at him. You can just tell he'd never be on the bottom of anything like that. He's the

captain."

"Then by your logic I, being the First Mate, should be on top of every crewmember

beneath me." Tyler dropped the pan with a loud clatter. "Including you."

"That's not what I meant," Lucas shot back. "I meant it's a physical thing. He's bigger so

he's the top dog. It's different with us. You're built like me. You're not bigger than me," he
emphasized, "you're the same. So if you tried anything you'd get nowhere."

Tyler smirked. "Nowhere, huh?" His eyes raked Lucas from head to toe. "Tell me how

you felt when I had your ass spread and I was looking at your hole."

Lucas sucked in his breath. The counter dug into his hip as he took a step backwards.
Like a jackal scenting a wound, Tyler moved forward, cutting the distance between them.

"You were fucking hard, new guy. You wanted me to rim you. You wanted me to shove my
tongue and my fingers up that tight virgin ass of yours and show you what you've been missing
by fucking girls all this time."

Lucas paled, shocked by Tyler's aggressiveness.
"You claim you're fucking straight like it makes you better than us but you're nothing but

a closet queer. What a fucking hypocrite. I hate fags like you. You want to bend over for it but

you don't want anyone to know. You want to pretend you're straight so you get the best of both
words and you don't have to pay the price for being different."

"I never said I wanted that," Lucas argued, finding his voice. "I'm not gay. I agreed to

pretend, to--"

"Oh, fuck you!" Tyler gave him a look that made Lucas feel dirty and ashamed. "You

want it so bad your cock's hard every time me or Adam step into the room. You want it. You
want this." He grabbed his crotch. "Right up your ass."

Lucas blindly set his glass on the counter, his shaking fingers causing the glass to rattle

against the tile. He stepped up to Tyler who looked perversely excited by the confrontation, as if
pissing Lucas off was the only thing he lived for, as if he got off on the anger they sparked off
each other.

"Maybe you're just projecting onto me what you want me to do to you," Lucas accused.

"You're the bottom around here, remember? You're the one who regularly takes it up the ass."

Tyler's cheeks burst out in mottled color, his nostrils flaring. "Shut the fuck up, you little

cock tease. I'll make you scream the first time I shove it in. I'll make you scream when I pull it
out and you'll scream when I shove it back in. But by the time I'm done fucking you you'll be
moaning like a little bitch and wondering why you waited so long to open your backdoor for
bus--"

Lucas' right fist collided with Tyler's cheek, sending the other blond spinning backwards

into the center of the kitchen. Snarling, Tyler launched himself back at Lucas, his wild first
punch blocked by Lucas' forearm but his second one catching Lucas in the side of the ribs.
Another punch caught him in the gut before Lucas retaliated with a hit to Tyler's kidneys that
made the other blond gasp.

Tyler tried to wrap his left arm around Lucas' neck to hold him in place for his right-hand

punches but Lucas twisted so the punches couldn't make full contact. He grappled with Tyler,
pulling at his shoulders while trying to push him into the corner where the counters met. Digging
his heels into the tile, Tyler resisted the push into the corner, tangling his arms with Lucas' until
both men were caught in a standing wrestling pose.

"You bitch," Tyler gasped, his breath puffing hot against Lucas' face. "You'll never take

him from me. Never!"

"I don't... want him!" Lucas panted back, shoulder muscles burning as he struggled to

keep Tyler from breaking free. "I'm not gay!"

Tyler jerked against him, stumbled. Lucas, already too close to him, found his own bare

feet catching on Tyler's and lost his balance. He fell backwards, pulling at the other man to keep
them upright. But they weighed the same and momentum was in Lucas' favor. Tyler went down
too.

The cold tile drove the breath from Lucas' lungs, but more painful was another man's

body crushing down on his chest. Fortunately Tyler's knees avoided Lucas' crotch but the weight
of his hips still drove Lucas' tail bone into the unyielding tile.

He hissed in pain. Then he froze. Atop him, Tyler stilled also. Chest to chest, nose to

nose, Tyler let out a low laugh that sizzled up Lucas' spine.

"Sure you're not gay?" Tyler taunted softly. His eyes held flecks of gold and black. He

looked less like a girl than Lucas had ever seen him.

Maybe it was because his dick was digging into Lucas' hip.
"You want this," Tyler repeated. He thrust once, grinding his cock into Lucas' hip.

Lucas responded by jamming his heels into the tile floor and bucking up his hips. He

managed to tip Tyler sideways. He tried to slide out from under him in that moment of imbalance
but Tyler jumped onto his back and used his body weight to force Lucas onto his stomach. An
arm slid around Lucas' throat just as Lucas’ hand slipped on the tile. Lucas recovered quickly
and pulled at the python-like constriction around his throat but it was too late. Tyler managed to
lock his other hand around his wrist, trapping Lucas in a chokehold. Gasping for breath, Lucas
struggled to his hands and knees. Tyler followed him up.

Half-draped over him, Tyler squeezed his arm threateningly. "Admit you've been

wagging your ass."

Lucas swallowed against the pressure on his throat. "You're delusional."
"And you're hard as a fucking rock," Tyler shot back.
Lucas threw an elbow back, trying to catch Tyler in the solar plexus. He barely grazed the

other man. The arm around his neck tightened in retaliation.

"Admit you're a faggy little bottom," Tyler breathed into his ear. "Come on, new guy. I

already know it's true so just say it." His tongue flicked Lucas' earlobe. "Admit it to me. Admit
you want my boyfriend... that you want me."

"I like... women."
"Fucking admit it, you liar!" Tyler screamed.
Lucas choked as Tyler tightened his grip, completely cutting off his air. He twisted and

bucked beneath the other man but Tyler maintained the pressure on Lucas' neck.

Black spots began to spin before Lucas' eyes. He started to sag. He knew he had one last

shot before Tyler knocked him out.

Lucas slammed his head to side.
Tyler let out a cry of pain as Lucas' skull smashed into his cheekbone. The pressure

around Lucas' neck fell away. Coughing, he quickly rolled out of Tyler's reach, pressing his back
to the cabinets.

Backed against the cabinets at the other side of the kitchen, Tyler held his face with one

hand, his gray eyes misty with pain and anger.

"I hate you," he spat. "I've never hated anyone more. Stupid bitch."
"The feeling's... mutual," Lucas panted. "Asshole."
"Are you two finished?"
They both looked up as Adam, wearing only his underwear, walked in and picked up his

plate of omelet that Tyler had made for him.

"You two are like a couple of cats," he muttered. "It was funny before but now you've

gone too far. Work it out or get out of my house. You two fight again and you're off the crew."

He walked out, leaving them sitting on the floor staring after him. A moment later, Tyler

jumped up and scrambled after him.

~~~~~

"Bro, you're on a Caribbean island. If you can't lighten up and relax here you might need

some psychological help."

Lucas gave Kip a sheepish smile. "Sorry. Tyler seriously pissed me off this morning. I

didn't think it was still bugging me but I guess it is."

The two of them were floating on inflatable rafts out in the bay in front of the cottages.

Several of the other pirates were relaxing on the beach or tossing a Frisbee. Tyler and Adam had

yet to make an appearance. Lucas didn't want to consider what might be occupying them inside
the cottage. He really, really didn't.

"If it makes you feel better I think you gave him a black eye," Kip told him, idly

splashing water onto his chest as he tilted his face up to the sun.

"Good. He deserves it."
"You gotta be careful, though. Adam's ticked off about the fighting. Tyler's his boyfriend

whether you like it or not."

Lucas gnawed on his bottom lip. "Adam knows there are two sides to every story. He

knows Tyler's been riding me. I have to trust that he knows I'm not the kind of guy to pick a fight
for no reason." He dragged his fingers through the water. "That's the first time I've hit anyone in
years, Kip. I'm not that kind of guy."

"Tyler can bring out the worst in anybody, bro. I guess you're right. Adam knows the

score. Still. Be careful. I wouldn't put it past Tyler to give Adam an ultimatum if things continue
the way they do between you two. I don't think Adam would risk losing Tyler to keep you
around, you know?"

"Yeah," Lucas said dismally, "I know." Because when it came down to it he was still the

new guy who wasn't even gay.

They floated for awhile in silence, Lucas' thoughts preoccupied with the fight and Adam's

reaction to it. Occasionally the current would push his raft against Kip's and the soles of their
bare feet would bump or higher up their arms would press together.

Worried that his confused body might begin interpreting the innocent contact the wrong

way, he rolled off his raft and let his lower body hang in the water while he held the side of the
inflatable with his arms. Chin propped on his arms, he glanced up and found Kip looking at him.
"What?"

"Did you have a good time last night?" Kip's grin was pure mischief. His mirrored

sunglasses reflected Lucas' scowling face back at him. "Seems like the bonding worked for you,
bro. I couldn't tell the difference between you and my queer crewmates." He snickered.

"I was just trying to get into it the way Adam intended," Lucas said defensively. "And in

the dark it wasn't like I could avoid touching you guys. You were all over me."

"Props to you for not jumping out," Kip agreed, but Lucas could tell his friend was

inwardly laughing at him.

"Look, what do you want me to say?" Lucas took a deep, fortifying breath. "You know

what's happening to me the same as I do. You were there at Industrial Empire and you were there
last night."

"Bro."
"I'm losing my mind or something."
"Lucas," Kip tried again when Lucas kept his head down. "It's not as big a deal as you're

making it out to be. So you had fun last night. So what? You were supposed to. Keeping yourself
apart from us would have proved to Adam that you don't want to be here. You do, so you played
along. That says a lot about you that's good, okay?"

"It also says a lot about what I'm into," Lucas mumbled, his eyes on the water.
"And that would be what? Guys? Is that the end of the world, then? Who the hell would

want to be into guys, huh? Only freaks and perverts."

Lucas winced and gave Kip an apologetic look. "You know I don't mean it that way."

"Then what's the big deal?" Kip waved his arms expansively. "If it turns out you're bi,

then consider yourself lucky, bro. You get to choose from both sides of the buffet. More sex for
you! How can that be bad?"

More sex? Double the playing field? Why hadn't he thought of it this way before? Screw

the hang-ups about being labeled gay. His biggest problem now would be being called a man-
whore. He could live with that.

"You know what? You're right. What was I worried about? I mean, I'm on an island

where it's practically impossible to be discriminated against when it comes to the gay part, and
yet I still like women and can go back to them anytime I want. So what's the big deal?"

"Right on, bro! That's the way to be!"
"When I move back to the mainland I can pretend this episode of my life never even

happened!"

"Er, I guess you can--"
"I can still see Nicole and still act in the pirate show. It's not like I have to choose one

over the other. It's fine. It's totally fine." Lucas threw back his head and grinned to the sun. "I
don't know why I was fighting the idea of being bisexual. I guess I just freaked about the guy
part but as long as I only have real sex with women then it's no problem."

"Actually, there is a problem with that plan, bro."
Lucas lifted his head. "What?"
"Being bi is good and all but you can't be bagging girls where Adam can see you doing

it."

Lucas stared at him. "What do you mean?"
Kip swung his arms through the water, digging trenches. "Tyler's got a thing about guys

who swing both ways. Something happened to him with an ex- or something. So Adam's touchy
about it because it upsets Tyler. The rule is no women in the house and no women at crew
gatherings. Like, if we all went to dinner or to a club you couldn't bring a girl along or pick one
up while we're all there."

"Don't tell me: no phone calls to and from girls either?"
"Pretty much."
"Damn it."
Lucas sulked. Talk about rules guaranteed to give him blue balls. And it wasn't as if he

could fight them. He was a guest in Adam's home and in quasi-probationary status on the crew.
He wasn't in a position to argue anything.

All wasn't lost, though. He could work around it, he decided. He'd go on dates with

Nicole or other girls during his personal free time. Adam couldn't control that. Maybe if Lucas
was lucky that female companionship would sway him back to the heterosexual team for good.

Piece of cake.
"Alright, no girls while I'm with the crew. Consider it done." Lucas was already thinking

of ways to contact Nicole without a phone. It shouldn't be too hard since he knew where she
lived.

"Good, bro. You don't want to set off Tyler if you don't have to."
Tyler. Though Lucas couldn't stand him, hearing that the other blond had had a tough

time with a former lover stirred his empathy. What had this mysterious boyfriend done to Tyler?
Cheated on him with a woman? Compared him to one? Lucas had to bite back a smile at that last
thought. But in reality Tyler's bitchiness wasn't funny. Especially if it got him what he wanted
out of Adam.

"You know, it's weird," Lucas began cautiously, "but the way you describe Adam and

Tyler's relationship -- it's almost as if Tyler has Adam wrapped around his little finger even
though Adam is in charge. Which I know is nuts, but--"

"It's true," Kip cut him off. "Adam would do anything for Tyler. I'm talking anything.

Which is why I warned you to be careful. Tyler has the power to get you kicked off this island,
bro. You gotta watch what you say and do around him."

"But Adam's the captain. It's his crew and his show."
"Oh, don't get me wrong," Kip hastily backpedaled. "Adam isn't whipped. No way, no

how. Adam will bring down the hammer and Tyler's been smashed beneath it plenty of times just
like the rest of us. But as far as relationship stuff goes Tyler wears the pants. Adam does
everything he can to keep Tyler happy when it comes to lovey-dovey stuff. I'm not talking about
the fucking, of course. Adam's a total top there and pretty dominant. But you already know that. I
think you kinda like that about him," Kip teased.

Lucas hoped he hadn't gone green.
Or red.
"Whatever," he muttered, splashing Kip in the face. "Keep your twisted fantasies to

yourself."

Kip laughed at him. "So yeah. That's the deal between those two. Watch your step around

Tyler and don't mess with any chicks because if he finds out you'll be in deep shit. And no more
punching him in the face, bro."

"It was an elbow."
"Wish I coulda seen it."
Lucas laughed. "No you don't. He was kicking my ass up until I threw the elbow. It was

pretty shameful." He dropped his chin to the raft again. "There's a girl I want to see again, Kip."

"What did I just tell you?"
"I know, I know. But I'm not gay. Maybe I'm bi but that's as far as I'll go. I still like girls

and I want to get to know this one better."

"Do you really?" Kip looked skeptical.
"Uh huh."
But Lucas wasn't as confident as he pretended to be. A part of him questioned why he

wanted to pursue something with Nicole. He'd recently been dumped by a girl and he'd sworn off
dating until he recovered from the burn of it. Was he latching onto Nicole as a last-ditch effort to
maintain his heterosexuality? Was he only using her?

"Well, you can't bring her back to the house," Kip warned.
"But I can meet her somewhere like I did before." Lucas brightened. "You want to come

with me the next time I do? I think you two would get along. She's pretty cool."

"Bro, you're gonna get me in trouble," Kip moaned. "We just did the bonding, remember?

You're supposed to want to be with the crew more, not less."

"I love the crew," Lucas assured him. "That doesn't change just because I want to date a

girl, Kip."

"But it was supposed to make you want to be with us. You know. Be with us." Kip gave

him a look loaded with innuendo.

Lucas' mouth fell open. "Kip, don't tell me you're talking about orgies or something."
Kip shrugged. "I'm talking about being open to the idea of hooking up within the crew.

We all do it, bro. It's expected that you'd want to too. Last night was supposed to be like, your
coming out party."

"In the gay sense, of course," Lucas said dryly.
Kip grinned. "The only sense that matters, bro."
Lucas turned his head and rested his cheek on his crossed arms. He could see the beach

from here. Most of the crew was on the beach. He could identify some of the guys by hair color
and build. If he remained on the island apparently he'd become so familiar with them that he'd be
able to recognize all of them from this distance… and by taste.

"Tonight after the show Adam's probably going to want the four of us to jump in the

Jacuzzi."

Lucas looked over at Kip wearily. "Why? For the first orgy?"
Kip shook his head as if he were disappointed in Lucas. "To clear the air after your fight

with Tyler. Adam wants us all to get along."

"I'm not the problem. It's Tyler and I doubt a little hot tub action is going to change the

way he acts towards me."

"Adam's going to try. So be ready for that tonight." Kip flicked water at him. "What are

you going to do while we're at the show? Don't tell me you're going to hook up with this girl of
yours."

"I really don't know." Lucas heaved his upper body onto the raft and then carefully turned

so he could lay his full body on the raft again. "But whatever I do, it's my business. It's my free
time. Adam can't take that away from me."

Kip sighed. "Don't say I didn't warn you, bro."
"Anything that happens is my fault, not yours." Lucas closed his eyes against the sun. "I

know what I'm doing."

CHAPTER TEN

Lucas fell off the edge of the waterfall and plummeted to his death to the cheers of the

zombie-fied island natives. Again.

"Hell, I really suck at this game," he muttered, flopping back against the sofa cushions,

the video game controller slack in his sweaty hands.

"You'll have plenty of time over the next couple of nights to improve your skills if you

care that much."

He tensed as Adam, freshly showered and wearing his costume breeches, walked into the

living room, towel-drying his hair. Lucas firmly kept his eyes on the other man's amused face,
refusing to let his gaze fall lower to the massive chest muscles on display or the bulge outlined
beneath the thin breeches.

"I'm not much for games," Lucas admitted warily, bracing himself for a lecture. "I lose no

matter what."

Adam took a seat on the arm rest of the sofa across from Lucas and held onto the ends of

the damp towel as he draped it around his neck. "Too bad you and Tyler don't get along, then.
He's pretty good at them. He could give you some pointers."

Lucas tried to imagine sitting side by side with the other blond and playing video games.

He mentally grimaced and then worried that it had shown on his face.

Adam chuckled and shook his head at Lucas. "You look like I'm going to throw you out

on your ass, man. Lighten up. I gave you a warning. As long as you listen to it you'll be fine."

"You can't blame me for worrying, Adam. Come on. Tyler sleeps with you. I don't have

the same influence over you that he does."

Adam's dark eyes were steady on him. "No, you don't."
Lucas thought he heard an unspoken yet hanging in the air. Adam was staring at him as if

he wanted Lucas to voice the word himself and acknowledge that it was a possibility.

Nervous, Lucas cleared his throat to dispel the tension. "My point is that he can say

things about me when I'm not around to defend myself."

"He could." Adam's lips tipped up. "He already has. But I've known Tyler long enough to

tell when he's got a legitimate complaint and when he's just bitching. When it comes to you he's
mostly bitching. But I understand his concern, Lucas."

"You agreed to let me try," Lucas reminded him.
"I did and I am. But you're in a unique situation and it's one Tyler doesn't like. I think he's

wrong to mistrust you but I understand why he does. You can bail on us at any time without any
repercussions. It's different for us. This is our home, our jobs and our lives."

"I wouldn't bail on you like that," Lucas argued. But he remembered telling Kip about

leaving Joyboy and forgetting that this part of his life ever happened. Maybe he wasn't taking
this as seriously as he should.

"You say you won't bail now but if the pressure gets to be too much?" Adam's eyebrows

lifted skeptically. "You can't fuck this up, Lucas. If you do I'll have my hands full with a pissed-
off Tyler and that's something I wouldn't wish on anyone."

Lucas smiled faintly. "Me neither."
"Tyler's on the crew for the long haul, Lucas. And he's going to be with me for as long as

he wants me. Don't put me in an awkward situation. I believe in you. I want you here, but not at
the risk of ruining what I already have. Got it?"

"I got it. I'm sorry for what happened this morning. I let him get to me and I took it too

far. I don't get in fights, Adam. I honestly don't. I wish I hadn't done it this morning. I feel like a
real jerk."

"You can apologize to him tonight," Adam said ominously, although his lips twitched as

if he were struggling to maintain a straight face.

Lucas groaned and let the game controller slide off his lap. "Great. I can't wait. Promise

me you won't let him rub it in my face for the rest of the week because you know he'll want to."

Adam gave in to the laughter he'd been trying to contain. "I'll see what I can do."
Lucas let his regret show on his face. "I really am sorry, Adam. I hate that I risked my

place on the crew by doing something so stupid. I promise I won't tangle with Tyler ever again."

"It's okay, man." Adam stood up and Lucas's eyes fell helplessly to his naked torso. The

dark caramel skin and the huge, well-defined muscles demanded Lucas' attention. How many
crunches had Adam done to get that killer six-pack? What did he bench to build up his chest and
shoulders like that? It was all Lucas could do not to lick his lips as he stared at the perked
cinnamon-colored nipples on the slabs of Adam's pecs, the only points of vulnerability on a body
seemingly hewn from stone.

"Lucas."
He raised his eyes swiftly, guiltily. Adam's lazy smile made it evident that Lucas'

admiration hadn't gone unnoticed.

"If I weren't optimistic about what the future holds for you and us I would have given you

the boot long ago. But whether you're aware of it or not you prove all the time that keeping you
on is the right decision."

Adam headed back into his shared bedroom with Tyler, his heavy bare feet slapping the

tiles.

"By the way," he called back as he walked, "I asked Ben to stop by with some notes

about the script and your new role. I figured you'd prefer to work them out with him rather than
me... at least for now."

Alarmed by nearly every word Adam had just spoken, Lucas sat up straight. "Ben? He's

coming here?"

Adam let the doorbell answer for him. Lucas gulped as he looked over the back of the

sofa at the front door.

"Answer it, Lucas," Adam ordered. "You've got him hooked but he won't stay on the line

forever." The bedroom door closed on his laughter.

Lucas palmed his face. So Adam had noticed what had gone on in the jungle pool. Of

course he had. Lucas didn't remember rubbing up against the larger man, which meant Adam had
hung out on the periphery, observing Lucas' slutty behavior with the rest of the crew. Shit.

Well that was a misconception he'd have to clear up with Adam later. For now he had

Ben at the door. Ben, whom Lucas hadn't been alone with since the bonding session. He'd hoped
to put it off until, well, forever.

He glanced at the TV and decided he needed to set up a scene that would be as innocent

and non-sexual as possible. Stomach fluttering, he put away the game equipment and turned the
TV to a sports channel. He paused and then turned up the volume in the hopes of putting off any
sort of intimate conversation. He glanced hopefully at the guest bathroom but the light was still
on. Kip took the longest showers!

It's your problem anyway, he reminded himself as he reluctantly went to the front door.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door.

"Hey, buddy."
Ben was smiling with those puffy lips of his and Lucas caught himself staring at them

with more interest than he should have.

"Hey, Ben. Come on in."
The other blond was wearing his costume breeches too, although he'd thrown a red Coca-

Cola T-shirt over it, much to Lucas' relief. He followed Ben to the sofa where the other man sank
down onto the cushions with the familiarity of a family member stopping by.

"I've got the notes Adam wanted me to make for you," Ben said, looking up at him and

holding up a sheaf of stapled papers. "We don't have much time to go over them, though, since
the guys and I'll be leaving for the show in a few minutes."

"We can do it another time, I guess." Awkward, Lucas decided to sit at the far end of the

sofa, hoping the distance he put between them wasn't too obvious. He didn't want to hurt Ben's
feelings but Lucas wasn't entirely sure yet what, if anything, he wanted from Ben.

"Maybe we can catch lunch tomorrow?" Ben looked at him hopefully and Lucas felt his

stomach do a funny somersault.

"I'll check with Kip and see if he'd made plans for us," he replied. "If not, then sure."
Ben smiled earnestly. "Great! There's a clam shack that I can take you to. I keep it a

secret from the other guys otherwise they'll devour it like a horde of locusts, but I don't mind
sharing it with you."

To his embarrassment, Lucas felt himself blushing. He looked to the TV and tried to

ignore Ben's eyes on his face. "Okay. Sounds good. I'll just check with Kip and then let you
know."

He watched the basketball action on the screen for a few seconds, conscious of Ben

continuing to study him. After a moment, Ben laughed softly.

"It's not like we were drunk and you can play it off, huh?"
Startled, Lucas turned to him. "What?"
This time it was Ben's turn to color. "I'm talking about last night. In the jungle. I'm

guessing you don't fool around that much? You're acting pretty shy about it."

Lucas' mouth went dry. "Am I?"
"For a guy, yeah." Ben's color faded and he smiled a little. "Usually when a guy flirts

with me like you did I expect to go home with him or at least get hooked up with a blowjob. But
I guess you take it a little slower."

Lucas felt horrible. He watched his hands twist together in his lap. "Sorry, Ben. Yeah,

I'm-- I guess you could say I'm kinda new at the gay thing."

"Have you just come out or did you just recently realize you're gay?"
Wincing, Lucas shrugged. "The latter, I guess. It's been hard lately."
"I'll bet it has," Ben teased. "It was pretty hard last night."
Lucas groaned and threw one of the sofa pillows at him. "Not like that. You know what I

mean."

"Yeah, I do." Ben took pity on him. "No one had told me anything about you but it makes

sense now. It's okay, buddy. It really is. I know how difficult it can be. It's confusing and scary as
hell. But at least you're on the crew and on Joyboy. I can't think of a better place to be newly gay.
We'll help you out. Not just with the sex," he clarified with a laugh when Lucas rolled his eyes,
"but with everything. Me, especially. I feel responsible for you. You're like my little brother in a
fraternity. A pirate fraternity but it works the same way."

The tightness in Lucas' chest was something new. Though he felt guilty for lying to Ben

about his sexual orientation he also felt extremely grateful to the other man for being so willing
to take him under his wing and show him the ropes. Lucas had heard on occasion how the gay
community sometimes referred to themselves as 'family' and now he understood why. He'd taken
it for granted that a gay man's rite of passage was as relatively easy as a straight man's. But it
clearly wasn't. If you got help for it, you were lucky.

"I didn't mean to lead you on," he felt compelled to apologize to Ben. "I like you and I-I

think you're at-tractive," he stuttered, embarrassed, "but I don't think I'm ready to get involved in
anything. Not yet."

Ben slumped theatrically, his arms and legs flopping, boneless, on the sofa. "So why do I

go on living?"

Lucas punched him in the shoulder. "Ass."
"Hmm, you're right. I do live for ass. Good point, Lucas."
Lucas reached over and plucked the notes from Ben's hand. "I'll look these over while

you're at the show and we'll get together tomorrow to talk about them."

"Don't you need to double-check with Kip, first?"
Lucas shook his head. "It's not every day that someone offers to share their secret clam

shack with me."

Ben's smile was warm. "Good man." He sat up. "So what are you going to do while we're

at the show? Watch TV?"

"For a while, I suppose. I thought about going into town or just lying out on the beach

and counting stars."

Ben snorted. "Life is tough, eh?" Lucas tried to dodge the hand that reached out to ruffle

his hair but Ben caught him behind the neck with his other hand and held him in place for the
ignominious treatment. "Don't have too much fun without us," Ben told him.

Then before Lucas could react he pulled Lucas towards him and pressed their lips

together.

It wasn't an aggressive kiss, so Lucas didn't know how to react to it. Tense, he kept

motionless, hands braced on the cushion between them as Ben brushed his lips gently back and
forth across Lucas'.

Lucas' eyes were open. He stared at the closed lids of Ben until Ben opened his eyes too,

his pale blue eyes filling most of Lucas' vision.

"I wanted to do this last night," Ben murmured, "but you were like a merman last night,

constantly slipping out of my reach."

"I didn't know what I was doing," Lucas said, shivering as the movement of his lips

caused them to stroke over Ben's.

"Hopefully you know what you're doing now," Ben replied, before closing his eyes and

kissing him again.

Lucas was completely sober unlike that night when he kissed Jacob, so he could truly

appreciate all the differences between kissing a man and kissing a woman. Ben's lips were
thinner, firmer. They weren't sticky with gloss or waxy with lipstick. They were lightly dry, a
little chapped, and they moved against Lucas' mouth with a confidence Lucas hadn't experienced
much when kissing women. And then there was the smell: not the floral or powdery scent of
perfume and makeup, but the crisp, muskier scent of aftershave and cologne, smells he was
familiar with and which reminded him of himself. It confused him, and in a way he couldn't
explain he found it erotic.

"Lucas," Ben whispered against his lips, "close your eyes."
Chagrined, Lucas obeyed, and found every sense heightened. He was even more aware of

kissing a man now and yet he didn't feel the need to pull away. Curious, he pushed back with his
lips, testing. When Ben made a soft sound of approval but didn't try to cram his tongue into
Lucas' mouth, Lucas dared to part his lips and close them around Ben's fleshy lower one. A spike
of arousal stabbed through Lucas' groin when Ben groaned and his fingers tightened around the
back of Lucas' neck.

"Ben, we have to go."
Adam's quiet voice shocked Lucas as much as if the man had shouted at them. Face

flaming, he jerked out of Ben's hold and quickly pushed back onto his end of the sofa.

Ben and Adam were both watching him, the former with cautious, hopeful interest, the

latter with an expression Lucas couldn't decipher. Behind them both stood Tyler, the black eye
that Lucas had given him rounded with outrage and suspicion.

"What the fuck is this?" he demanded. "I thought he said he was--"
"Tyler, shut it," Adam snapped sharply, his eyes still on Lucas' face. "It's time for us to

go. All of us."

Barely resisting the urge to wipe the back of his hand across his mouth, Lucas nodded.

"I'll see you guys later."

"Lunch tomorrow and we'll go over those notes, okay, buddy?"
He nodded wordlessly at Ben who seemed happy and unaware of the tension running

through the other three men. Ben stood and circled the sofa, touching Lucas briefly on the
shoulder as he did so.

"I'll see you two at the dock," Ben said to Adam and Tyler as he opened the front door.

He paused and grinned back at Adam. "Thanks, buddy." Then he let himself out of the house.

Before Tyler or Adam could say anything about what they'd just witnessed Lucas jumped

to his feet. "So I guess you're off too, huh? Break a peg leg," he babbled, smiling weakly. "I'll see
you tonight."

Tyler gaped at him. Adam simply continued to watch him. With his head swirling with

too many thoughts and too many emotions, Lucas quickly escaped to his room, rapping sharply
on the bathroom door as he passed it.

"But I'm not ready yet!" Kip yelled from the other side.
Neither am I, Lucas thought.

~~~~~

Later that night he called Nicole.
He didn't invite her over or make plans to meet up with her. He just needed to hear a

female voice and listen to her laugh at his jokes and say things to him that she might not mean
but would make him feel good all the same.

It didn't quite work out that way.
"Someone asked me for my number today," she told him. "Isn't that funny?"
He smiled. He was on his back on the sofa in the living room, the TV volume muted.

"Why do you sound surprised?" he teased. "You should get hit on all the time."

"While that's nice of you to say--" he grinned at the heavy sarcasm in her voice, "-- things

are a little different around here. I didn't expect to run into anyone who would be interested in
me."

"Why not?"
"Well -- Lucas, this island is full of gay men," she laughed. "Until this guy today I didn't

expect to meet anyone straight."

Lucas stilled. "What are you talking about? Not everyone is gay."
"Lucas, like I said, I haven't met any straight men until the guy asked for my number

today, so the odds aren't exactly in my favor."

His fingers tight around the phone, Lucas said very clearly, "But I told you that I just

broke up with my girlfriend."

There was a pause from the other end of the phone. "You said you broke up with your ex.

I assumed it was a guy."

"Why would you think that about me?" He felt blindsided.
"One of the girls… she’s good friends with Orinth—"
Mr. Bigmouth, Lucas thought with rising paranoia.
"—he told her you’re in his show. The gay show, Lucas. He told her you’re doing great.

So I just assumed--"

"What?" he barked more harshly than he’d intended.
"I assumed that you’d finally found yourself and realized that you could bond with the

pirates after all, "she finished quietly.

A pearl of anger formed in his stomach. "I’m not gay."
"Lucas, calm down. It's not a big deal. You don't act effeminate, if that's what you're

worried about. Or -- or campy. It's just..."

Dread throbbed behind his eyes when she trailed off. "What?"

"You’re extremely good-looking and well-groomed and--"
His mouth fell open. "You're stereotyping gay men!"
"Oh, god, I am, aren't I? You're totally right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have thought that. It

was really ignorant of me."

"Is that all, though?" Lucas pressed, his paranoia reaching critical levels. "It can't be just

that. Something else about me made you think I'm gay."

"No, Lucas, that's really all--"
"Just tell me," he said, trying to hold back his frustration. "I won't be mad at you. I

promise."

He listened to her release a long breath. "I thought I saw you checking out other guys

when we were together." Unaware that he'd gone pale, she went on, "That's what convinced me
you must be at least bi. I wondered if you were gay in the beginning just because you were on
the island but you were flirting with me and I was confused. But at lunch when you were looking
around at guys and you made those comments about not being able to fit in with the pirates—it
all clicked. Orinth’s comments sealed the deal, I guess."

She'd seen him checking out guys. Lucas didn't remember doing anything like that when

he was with her -- why should he when she was beautiful and great to look at? But she said she'd
caught him looking at guys.

Impossible, he thought angrily.
But only a few hours ago he'd kissed another man right where he was lying.
Maybe it wasn't so inconceivable after all.
"You said you wouldn't be mad at me," she said in a small voice. "You're my closest

friend here, Lucas. Please tell me you're not mad."

He shut his eyes, suddenly sad. "I'm not mad. You're my friend, Nicole. This is just a

surprise. A big surprise." He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. The mild arousal he'd felt
simply by talking to her had faded a while ago, leaving him cold and apathetic. "So all the times
when we flirted -- you thought it was just your gay friend playing around with you? You didn't
think I was actually interested in you?"

"No, I thought you were confused and trying to find the courage to come out," she said,

sounding apologetic. "I'm normally kinda shy with guys I think are interested in me that way. I'm
only really comfortable with gay guys. It's part of the reason why I took the job here. That’s why
I found it so easy to talk to you– you set off my gaydar."

Depression pressed Lucas into the sofa. His arm felt too weak to hold up the phone.

"That's just crazy, huh?" he tried to laugh. It came out sounding like he was strangling. "Well,
you know what, you may have been right."

"Lucas, do you need to talk about something? You sound depressed."
"Nah," he brushed her off. "I’m fine. Listen, one of my roommates just came home. I

have to go."

"Oh. Well, okay. Will you call--"
"I'll call you when I've got some free time," he lied.
"Lucas, you sound like you're mad at me."
"I'm not, but I've really gotta go. I'll call you later, Nicole. Have a good night."
She sighed. "You, too, Lucas."
He hung up and rolled over to watch infomercials.

~~~~~

Kip found him later that night in the Jacuzzi, half drunk and working on becoming

completely drunk.

"Bro, what's up?" Kip, naked as the day he was born, his eyes smudged with the eyeliner

he couldn't completely wipe off, climbed gingerly into the bubbling tub of hot water. He picked
up one of the empty bottles of beer that lay sprawled across the wooden deck. "Looks like you're
heading towards a big night."

"Getting there," Lucas agreed, his head tipped back against the fiberglass edge so he

could gaze up at the stars. "How was the show?"

"Hot as always," Kip bragged. He popped the top on one of the few unopened beers. He

knocked it against Lucas' can in a toast. "So what's up? Why're you partying out here all alone?
What's the special occasion?"

"Everyone thinks I'm gay," Lucas declared. "Guys, girls, little old ladies -- you name it.

They all think I'm gay. Maybe I am."

"Whoa, back up there, bro. Where did this come from?"
Lucas raised his head. "Nicole told me she thought I was gay. She still thinks I'm gay,

that I'm having trouble accepting it or some shit."

"This is the girl you wanted to bang so you can say you bat for both teams?" Kip

snickered. "Ah, bro, you are too funny."

Lucas drank the rest of the beer he held and tossed the empty in the general direction of

the other cans. "It's not funny. I liked her. I liked her a lot."

"So you say. I'm thinking she was just your parachute in case the rainbow plane you're

flying looks ready to crash." Kip set his beer on the deck and scooped up water with both hands.
He leaned across the space between them and drizzled the hot water over Lucas' collarbones.
"You need to relax, bro, and stop trying to control what other people think of you. Do your own
thing and you'll be fine."

The moonlight glinted off of the nipple ring on Kip's chest. Lucas unthinkingly reached

out and hooked his pinky finger through the warm metal loop.

"Does it feel good when I do this? Is that why you had it done?"
Kip grinned. His hands splayed lightly across Lucas' collarbones. "Feels better when it's a

tongue or when you twist it, bro. Wanna give it a shot?"

Lucas laughed. "You're trying to make me gay."
"I have the feeling it might not be so hard when you're drunk like this," Kip laughed

back.

The sliding glass door opened and Tyler and Adam stepped out onto the patio. Lucas'

buzz prevented him from tensing up. Kip had warned him they'd all be sharing the tub. It was
why he'd jumped in first. Better to get it over with without having to show off too much skin.

"You're naked in there, right?" Tyler challenged, glaring at Lucas.
"As naked as you," Lucas replied, his eyes panning over the other man's nude body. He

told himself he was drunk so he may as well get an eyeful that he could blame on the alcohol
later. "You're already hard," he blurted.

Tyler stroked a hand across his nipples while leering at Lucas. "You don't know what the

fuck you want, do you?"

"He's drunk, bro, relax," Kip said warningly, sliding protectively onto the bench next to

Lucas. "We're all out here to have a good time, Ty."

"What're you, his mother or his boyfriend?" But Tyler ignored Lucas and climbed into

the tub, draping his towel across the tub's lip behind his neck so he'd have a pillow.

Lucas tore his eyes from him to watch Adam approach. Something bumped his cock

under the water and he realized belatedly that it was his own hand. Only slightly bothered by that
fact, he curled his fingers around himself and lightly stroked himself as he watched Adam lower
his large body into the water beside Tyler. Adam's dark eyes cut through the distance between
him and Lucas. Lucas' cock twitched.

"You drinking hard for a reason?" Adam asked him.
Lucas shrugged. He didn't want to tell Adam about Nicole. In a way it shamed him. He'd

taken a weird sort of pride in being straight.

"You're not trying to hide from something, are you?" Adam went on. His beefy arm lifted

out of the water and draped across the deck behind Tyler's head. "I told you today that you need
to do something but I need you to mean it, Lucas."

The alcoholic haze in Lucas' mind cleared. "I remember. I'm not hiding from anything. I

just wanted to have a few beers." When Adam continued to look at him expectantly, one dark
brow arched, Lucas reluctantly faced Tyler. "I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for hitting you. It
was a shitty thing to do no matter what kind of an asshole you were being to me at the time."

Kip burst out laughing but Tyler's glare only deepened. "What kind of half-assed apology

is that? Apology declined, jerk-off."

Lucas wanted to slap himself in the face for making this more difficult than it needed to

be. "Okay, okay, you're right. I guess I'm drunker than I thought. But I do mean it, Tyler. I'm
sorry. I shouldn't have hit you. It was a stupid thing to do. I'm sorry."

Tyler pointed at the bruise darkening his own face. "You gave me a fucking black eye."
"Look, what do you want me to do? I apologized. I can't do anything else."
"Yes, you can."
Lucas blinked, feeling like he was one step too slow. "What is it?"
Adam held still, his eyes on Lucas, as Tyler turned his head and licked the underside of

the larger man's jaw. Tyler slanted a sly look back at Lucas. "Since you're comfortable hooking
up with Ben you can hook up with us."

Lucas let go of his cock and pushed back against the edge of the tub. "I didn't hook up

with Ben. He kissed me. He's a friend. It didn't feel right to push him away."

"We're your friends too, aren't we, new guy?" Tyler lifted a dripping hand out of the

water and splayed it over Adam's chest. He flicked a dark nipple with his forefinger and Adam
finally reacted, his lips parting and his lids lowering partway. It was a look of growing arousal
and it captivated Lucas. "You want him?" Tyler taunted. "You have to go through me to get
him."

"Tyler, what're you doing, bro?" Kip looked uneasily between him and Lucas. "Stop

fucking around. We all know you'd never share Adam with Lucas."

"Maybe Adam wants him. He's been dropping hints like fucking atom bombs lately,"

Tyler muttered, suddenly pushing away from Adam.

Adam caught him by the upper arm and pulled him back. "Stop it. You're acting like a

brat. Don't start something if you don't like the consequences, Tyler."

"I didn't start this," Tyler said fiercely, jerking out of Adam's grip and surging up into the

other man's face. "He started it and then you let it go on, Adam. He's been lying to our faces and
you don't seem to care. Why is that, Adam? What the fuck is going on? Is he gay or is he
straight? Do you want him or do you want me?"

"It isn't as easy as that," Adam told him, muscles flexing in his jaw. "Not for Lucas, and

not for us."

"Why are you defending him?"
"I'm not!" Adam's patience had snapped. "But if you're asking if I have a plan then yes,

Tyler, I have a plan. It involves me, my dick and a whole lot of ass, hopefully yours and his. Is
that what you want to hear?"

The last thing Lucas expected to see on Tyler's face was hurt. "You fucker." Tyler spun

for the edge of the tub, but Adam pulled him back against him. "Let me you go, you
cocksucker!"

"Shut up." Adam sounded angry but also regretful, as if he'd said more than he wanted to.

He held a thrashing Tyler in his arms despite the threat of them both drowning. The water in the
tub rushed over the edge and Lucas had to grip the edges to stay in place. Slowly, eventually,
Tyler gave up fighting and settled sulkily onto the bench beside the larger man.

"I hate him and I hate you," Tyler pouted sullenly. Strands of his wet blond hair clung to

his cheeks like the tracks of tears.

"I know," Adam said quietly. "I'm sorry."
Lucas felt like a jerk to be sitting there listening to them. A brush of fingers along his

thigh made him look up into Kip's sympathetic smile.

"It's okay, bro," Kip whispered, barely audible above the churning bubbles of the Jacuzzi.

"They do this all the time. It's not your fault."

It was easy to believe it was his fault though, when Tyler's mercurial gaze rested on him.
"I'm not mad at you, Adam," Tyler said, glaring at Lucas. "You're being tricked just like

the rest of us."

Lucas gritted his teeth. "I'm not tricking anyone."
Tyler ignored what he said. "I'm not satisfied with your apology. I think you're lying just

like you've been lying about being straight. I saw you fucking around in the water last night and I
saw you swapping spit with Ben. So if that's not true your apology isn't true, either."

"I don't know what you want from me," Lucas told him, his gut telling him something

bad was about to happen. "I've been as honest with you as I can, Tyler."

"I don't believe you and I still want satisfaction."
"What are you doing, Tyler?" Adam asked tiredly.
Tyler smirked at him, his anger giving way to an excitement Lucas had seen in him

before. "I want Lucas to give me a different sort of apology. And no one's getting out of this tub
until he does."

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Nothing good could come of this. Lucas knew it as surely as he knew the sun would rise

in the morning.

"What do you want from me?"
Tyler's eyes gleamed in the moonlight. "I want you to come over here and apologize to

me for pretending to be straight, and for pretending you're not after my boyfriend."

"I won't do that." Lucas couldn't believe Tyler wouldn't let it go. "I haven't been

pretending anything. I haven't been lying and I haven't been leading either of you on. I'll admit

I've been confused lately. I still am. But I haven't been playing at anything. If you can't accept
that it's your problem, not mine."

"Oh, so it's my problem," Tyler sneered.
"Yes. It is."
"Then how about I make it your problem." Tyler turned to Adam. "Either he goes or I go.

I'm sick of seeing his face."

Lucas tensed. He'd been dreading this particular bomb ever since their fight in the

kitchen. He'd hoped it would happen later after he'd had a chance to prove himself to Adam and
convince the man that he deserved to be here. But now, now it was too early. Lucas hadn't
proved himself to be good at anything but leading Ben on and aggravating Tyler.

"He's not going," Adam said calmly. Lucas slumped in relief. "He's here until he screws

up. Let it go, Tyler. Move on."

"Let it go?!"
"He's not a threat to you or to us."
Tyler grabbed the shark tooth around his neck and squeezed it, his knuckles turning

white. "You just said you wanted to fuck him."

"I only said that because you pissed me off and I wanted to return the favor," Adam said

impatiently. "But say it is true. Grow up, Tyler. You fuck the other guys all the time. We both
do. Suddenly now you want to be monogamous? Don't bullshit me."

"The difference is that I like the other guys and I don't like him," Tyler shot back, sending

another venomous glare at Lucas. "The thought of touching you after he's touched you makes me
nauseous."

"Does it?" Something new had entered Adam's voice which made Lucas hold his breath.

He watched the two men stare at each other, the tension building in the air. "Does it really,"
Adam asked in a low voice, "or do you hate the fact that the thought of it turns you on?"

Lucas' eyes widened. "Wait. I'm not interested in coming between you two or - or being

some sort of pawn in a twisted game between you."

Adam broke his staring contest with Tyler to send Lucas a glare of annoyance. "You'll be

whatever I tell you to be."

"What? No way. We had a deal that--"
"The deal's gone. If you want to stay, if you want to figure out who you are -- you do

what I say," Adam told him sharply. "The way I see it the only way this works out between the
three of us is if we leave no doubt in anyone's mind what the chain of command is."

"In the show," Lucas argued hotly. "None of that was supposed to carry over into real

life."

Adam's face was stony. "It does now."
Lucas looked helplessly to Kip. "You were there. You heard what we agreed on."
"I did, bro." Kip smiled uneasily at Adam. "Come on, Cap'n. It's not fair to change the

rules on him now. You guys had an agreement you were both happy with."

"That changed when he began showing interest in Ben. I was prepared to cut him slack

while he was figuring things out. But the only thing Lucas needs to figure out now is who he
wants it from first."

Face flaming, Lucas shot back, "What if I plan to be the one who gives it?"
A slow smile spread across Adam's face. "Then you've just confirmed that the rules have

now changed."

Throat dry, Lucas shook his head. "This is wrong."

Adam's expression didn't change. "You're free to leave at any time."
His bluff called, Lucas didn't know how to respond. He didn't want to leave. They all

knew that. He'd stayed long enough to have fallen in love with the island and with the
camaraderie of the crew. Now that he was questioning his sexuality he was even more screwed,
figuratively speaking. He couldn't imagine returning to Chicago and to his old friends and trying
to explain his new feelings to them. He'd end up bi-curious on his own, and Lucas had to be
honest with himself -- the thought of exploring without help scared him.

"What would I have to do," he said reluctantly, "if I decided to stay?"
"You have to prove that you're under my command, that you'll do what I tell you to do

even if you don't like it. Including keeping your hands to yourself."

Lucas looked at him incredulously. "You're making it sound like I want to attack you."
"Like you don't," Tyler said with an eye roll.
Adam smiled slightly as if amused that Tyler had made the point for him. "Prove to Tyler

that I have the power to control what you do or don't do. I don't want him to worry that you'll act
on your own. If anything happens between you and me that he doesn't like, he'll only have me to
blame, not you. You won't initiate anything without my permission."

It sounded suspiciously like a con job, but Lucas decided it did make a little bit of sense.

Adam was willing to shoulder the blame for any action by Lucas that angered Tyler. But it meant
Tyler would have to believe that Lucas was under Adam's control, that he only acted when
permitted to by the bigger man. That, Lucas wasn't too keen on accepting.

"He won't do it." Tyler could apparently read minds. He looked triumphant about it too,

as if he were anticipating Lucas' impending departure from the island. "He fought you in the
beginning. He doesn't want to follow anyone's orders. He thinks he's hot shit by telling you to
shove it."

"You don't know anything about me," Lucas muttered, irritated that Tyler kept trying to

paint him in certain ways.

"I know you're not going to let us order you around, new guy."
Lucas thought of what awaited him in Chicago if he left the island now. He swallowed

around a dry throat and said, "I want to stay."

"Bro," Kip murmured, sounding worried. He pressed up against Lucas' shoulder and

whispered, "Think about what you're saying. Adam doesn't make any of the rest of us follow his
orders outside of the show. Do you really want to do this? And for Tyler too? Think about it!"

"I have." Lucas took a deep breath. "I'll do whatever you say from now on, Adam, if it

means I get to stay on the crew."

"No way," Tyler scoffed, but he looked worriedly to Adam.
The larger man nodded. "Whatever you do in this house it's because I let you. If you

make a move on me it's because I invited it. If we end up hooking up it's because I wanted it and
you submitted to me." He turned to Tyler. "If you see something that upsets you, you come to
me. Whatever it is, you have to agree right now that you understand it's because I made the call,
not Lucas. You want to be pissed, you be pissed at me, not him."

Tyler was pale. Lucas felt a smidgen of sympathy for him. "This is all a load of crap. You

can claim whatever you want but I'm not buying it that he's going to follow your orders no matter
what they are. There's no way."

"That's why I'm making him prove it right now." Lucas gulped as Adam's dark eyes fixed

on him once again. "You want this, you prove it."

The Jacuzzi water seemed to have gotten hotter. Lucas was sweating. "What do you want

me to do?"

"You have any full cans left?"
Lucas glanced at the beer sitting on the deck. "Yeah."
"Grab one. I want you to drink the whole can." Adam smirked. "Off of Tyler's stomach."
Lucas and Kip both gasped. Tyler began to laugh. The blond threw back his head and let

loose. "Oh, my fucking god, you should see your faces," he choked out in between his laughter.

Not finding anything amusing, Lucas ignored him. "You're serious."
Adam's smirk deepened. He ran a palm slowly across his massive chest. "I am. I could

make it more challenging if you need me to. I could force you to blow him."

Lucas laughed uneasily. "Ha ha, no, this is enough of a challenge already." But he could

feel himself growing harder beneath the water. He was afraid to analyze what it was about this
situation or what Adam had said that was turning him on. It was bad enough that he hadn't
jumped out of the tub and told Adam to go fuck himself.

At the other side of the tub Tyler recovered from his outburst. He gave Lucas a derisive

sneer. "He won't do it. He should be on the next boat or plane out of--"

"I'll do it."
Tyler's eyes glittered. "Sure you will, new guy."
"Afraid that I'll go through with it?" Lucas taunted, deciding to give a little tit for tat.

"Looks like I may have more balls than you do, Tyler."

Fury lit the other blond's face. "In a second you're going to find yourself with a mouthful

of mine, faggot."

"Not sure about that, yet," Lucas said. "I consider myself bi-curious at best." He nearly

laughed at the ridiculousness of this conversation. He couldn't believe he was participating in
something like this.

"And I consider you all talk and no action at best," Tyler retorted.
Lucas was tired of this. "Tell me how you want me to do this," he said to Adam. "I'm

doing it."

He liked the approval he saw on Adam's face. Lucas had wanted to see it there because

he'd performed well on the ship but he'd take this if it was all he could get for now.

"Tyler, stretch out on your back on the deck," Adam instructed calmly. When the blond

hesitated, Adam said, "If you're not willing to go through with this, then you forfeit any right to
complain from now on, Ty."

"Fuck that," Tyler muttered. He rose, dripping, from the water and grabbed the towel he'd

been using as a pillow. He turned his back on them to spread the towel across the wooden deck,
granting Lucas and Kip a view of his backside. Lucas glanced at it only quickly, confirming that
it was as tight and round as his clothing suggested, before lifting his eyes again as Tyler climbed
out of the tub and lay on his back on the towel beside the lip of the Jacuzzi.

"Clasp your hands together and raise them above your head," Adam ordered. "Don't

lower them or I'll make you regret it later tonight."

The twitch of Tyler's cock didn't go unnoticed by Lucas, whose own cock throbbed at the

sight of the other man stretched out before them. Tyler's back was forced to arch by the position
and his flat stomach fell concave. His smooth, athletic body looked like an offering to the jungle
gods.

"I won't move," Tyler said softly, all traces of his earlier rebellion gone from his voice.

He sounded submissive and pliant and it was one of the sexiest things Lucas could ever

remember hearing. He ached to grab his own dick and strangle it until it went limp. The sight and
sound of Tyler this way was doing crazy things to his mind and body and he wasn't sure he liked
it.

"Lucas." He dragged his attention to Adam, who was watching Lucas with that dark,

steady gaze of his. "Pour the beer onto his stomach and drink it from there. Don't let any of it
drip onto the deck, understand? I want you to catch all of it with your mouth."

Shit. Lucas asked himself when he'd lost his mind and decided that this was a good idea.

Was he seriously going to drink beer off another guy's body? This wasn't like doing body shots
off a hot girl's breasts. This was slurping an entire can of beer off a naked guy.

And yet Lucas wasn't turned off.
Feeling like he was on auto-pilot, he reached around behind Kip -- who was wearing a

smile that looked apologetic and hungry at the same time -- and picked up a full can of beer.
Then he looked back at Tyler lying on the deck. Thankfully the blond was looking up at the sky.
Lucas couldn't have done anything if he'd had to meet Tyler's eyes.

He stood up and waded slowly across the tub to the other side where the other man lay.

He could feel Adam's and Kip's eyes on him but Lucas did his best to ignore them both as he
opened the can of beer. Its hiss made Tyler's triceps tense but he didn't move his arms from their
extended position. Lucas could sense his expectation. He was hoping Lucas would chicken out.
Lucas was going to prove him wrong.

With one hand braced on the edge of the Jacuzzi he leaned over Tyler and carefully

drizzled a small stream of beer onto the blonde's stomach. Tyler sucked in his breath -- the beer
must have still been cold -- and his stomach dipped lower, forming a shallow bowl. Most of the
beer collected around his navel in a small puddle. Lucas breathed through his nose and lowered
his face to Tyler's stomach.

Up close he could see a trail of faint golden hair leading from Tyler's navel to his crotch.

Lucas focused on the smooth, taut skin beneath his face and not on the rising flesh to the left of
his cheek. The puddle of beer shimmered, vibrating gently with Tyler's heartbeat. His hip bones
were sharp. Lucas thought he saw faint bruises in the shape of fingertips curled around them.

The imagery behind how those bruises could have been formed made Lucas' stomach

clench. He wanted to bend in half and fold protectively around his cock which was rigid and
swollen and thankfully mostly hidden by the churning water. Understanding left Lucas shaking.
Adam had grabbed Tyler by the hips. He'd grabbed him from behind and he'd -- he'd…

If you think about it, you will learn something about yourself you're not ready for.
Lucas took his own advice and shut the door on that train of thought.
He focused on the here and now. The smell of beer and chlorine filled his nostrils. He

smelled something else beneath that, something that reminded him of locker rooms and guys'
bedrooms. Something was rising in Lucas, a hunger, a curiosity, a need to know. He could feel
himself trembling, so nervous he was afraid he'd throw up. He dug his fingers into the fiberglass
shell of the Jacuzzi and leaned down. He pressed his lips to the small pool of beer glimmering on
Tyler's skin.

He slurped quietly, his lips barely grazing the liquid. As the volume of liquid diminished,

his lips followed, gradually sinking lower. The moment his lips brushed over Tyler's skin the
blond let out a shuddery moan. Lucas closed his eyes and fought not to cum.

He sucked up all of the beer and then poured a little more. He poured too much this time.

He had to chase a few thin rivers of liquid as they spilled over the edge of Tyler's stomach. He

slurped up the errant trails, his tongue instinctively slipping out to catch the stray droplets that
had escaped beneath Tyler's back and threatened to fall.

He heard Tyler whimper.
That small sound was the equivalent of an injection of pure ego. Lucas wanted to hear

more of it from Tyler. He wanted the vicious, malicious blond to succumb to Lucas' power. The
two men weren't equal. Lucas held all the cards and he would finally make Tyler pay for being
an asshole to him.

He watched Tyler's face, finding it amusing that the blond stubbornly refused to look at

him while Lucas poured more beer. This time Lucas was a little bolder. He poured some beer in
a controlled stream up the middle of Tyler's body, nearly up to his sternum. The beer
immediately ran, so Lucas quickly sealed his lips over the thin streams and sucked them up. He
used his tongue liberally, swirling and lapping across Tyler's ribs and down his heavy belly. He
opened his mouth and sucked Tyler's skin even after the beer had gone. At Tyler's navel, Lucas
sealed his lips around the small indentation and gently licked. An angry, frustrated moan ripped
from Tyler's throat and his hips thrust up. Lucas smiled cockily against his skin.

Until the hands settled on his waist.
He started to jerk upright but Adam's large hands held him bent over Tyler.
"Don't stand up," the larger man ordered in a deep, husky voice. "Drink the rest of the

beer, Lucas."

Lucas' triumph fled. The beer can trembled slightly in his hand as he poured more liquid

onto Tyler's stomach.

"Adam," he heard Tyler moan.
"Don't speak," Adam said quietly. "You can make noise-- you both can -- but don't speak

and don't move."

Lucas tensed as large hot palms slid up his back up to his shoulders and then back down,

fingers curling around the outer edge of his ribs and down to his waist.

"Drink, Lucas."
He had to close his eyes for a moment. The heat in his face threatened to boil his eyeballs

like a pair of poached eggs.

Adam's hands smoothed up his body again. "Relax and keep drinking. You're doing fine."
Relax. Right. Lucas opened his eyes and stared at the puddle of beer glistening on Tyler's

body. He could see Tyler's cock in the corner of his eye. It was so hard it had curved upwards
and was pointing at Lucas' left temple. If Tyler came he would shoot all over Lucas' face. A
shudder of something wrong and nasty ripped through Lucas' body. He couldn't do this--

A warm hand massaged the back of his neck. "Lucas, if you stop you have to leave."
And that was all the motivation he needed. He nodded once, jerkily, and then lowered his

lips back to Tyler's body. As he licked and slurped the beer off the other man's stomach and
chased the droplets that threatened to slide beneath Tyler to his ass Adam's hands caressed the
length of Lucas' back and shoulders.

After a while it began to feel relaxing. The tension slowly bled from Lucas' muscles.

Adam's hands were strong and lightly calloused. He alternated caresses down Lucas' spine with
deeper massaging motions around his shoulder blades. It felt gay to allow him to rub all over
Lucas, but Lucas figured licking beer off a naked guy's stomach had pushed him beyond the line
of what was acceptable for a man clinging tenuously to his heterosexuality.

Besides, it felt good. Increasingly good in fact, as Adam's hands began to slide a little

lower on the down strokes. Lucas poured more beer, his lips gliding through the liquid across

Tyler's skin, highly conscious that Adam's fingers stroked the sides of his belly and his palms
were now regularly cupping Lucas' hip bones. Lucas' raised his eyes to those same bones on
Tyler's body and saw the bruises again, the bruises from fucking.

Lust tore through his body so violently he shuddered, causing Adam to clamp down on

his hips. When those large fingers curled around his hip bones just as they had Tyler's, Lucas
realized he was seconds from cumming.

"I have to stop," he gasped, raising his head and trying to twist out of Adam's grip. "I

have to, I can't--"

"Why?" Adam asked in a low voice, leaning over him. Lucas shut his eyes and shuddered

again as Adam's slick, muscular chest pressed down on his back. "Because of this?"

He reached beneath Lucas and folded his fingers around Lucas' erect cock.
Lucas moaned. It sounded a hundred times worse than Tyler's moan, a hundred times

sluttier. But he couldn't do anything else as Adam held him in his palm and gently squeezed in a
pulsing motion that pumped the blood to the head of Lucas' cock.

"I told you to finish the beer," Adam said against his ear. "Tyler wants you to finish. I

want you to finish. Even Kip, whose got both hands beneath the water, wants you to finish."

A strangled laugh burst from Lucas' lips. "Kip, you pervert."
"I can't help it bro, this is fucking hot. It looks like -- it looks like you're about to blow

Tyler while Adam fucks you."

"Oh, god," Lucas moaned softly, driving his hips forward and pushing himself through

Adam's fist. "I can't -- I can't be gay..."

"It's a hand job, Lucas. Even a straight guy gets off on hand jobs."
Lucas clung to that like a rock climber hanging on by his fingertips. This was a matter of

sensation, of stimulation. He could rut against the carpet and feel just as horny, just as desperate.
It wasn't because it was Adam-- big studly Adam who could fuck up anyone... who could fuck
anyone.

Adam's breath dampened Lucas' ear. "Finish the beer. Finish Tyler."
Finish Tyler. Finish Tyler. It looped through Lucas' mind. He wanted that. He wanted to

bring Tyler down a notch and show him who was boss. Shaking with arousal, Lucas poured the
last of the beer over Tyler's stomach, watching it spread as Tyler's rapid, excited breathing forced
the rivulets to run.

He chased the trails with his tongue, hearing Tyler moan again. Lucas licked him like an

ice cream cone, flattening his tongue and running it down that golden treasure trail in search of
more beer. He could smell Tyler strongly now. The heat of his cock burned like a lit pipe against
Lucas' cheek. Lucas licked up all the beer he could but didn't lift up when it was all gone. As
Adam slowly, tortuously jacked him, Lucas touched his lips to dark blonde pubic hair.

Hands clamped down on his head, shoving him so hard towards Tyler's groin that Lucas

nearly got whiplash from resisting. But he did resist because Tyler was suddenly groaning and
convulsing and there was no way in hell Lucas was going to go anywhere near the other man's
cock because now it was spitting at him.

"Ah, fuck, fuck!" Tyler cried out as he continued to shoot against the side of Lucas' face.
Lucas was horrified and reached up to yank Tyler's hands away from his head. It was like

trying to pry open a mechanical claw.

"Ride it out," Adam ordered roughly. He pumped Lucas' cock with sharp snaps of his

wrist and Lucas' brain short-circuited. He forgot about Tyler trying to force him to go down on
him and he forgot about the hot liquid now dripping down the side of his face.

Mouth open, Lucas groaned and hunched over Adam's hand as the other man brought

him unmercifully to orgasm. As his cum rushed up and out of him he cried out, but Adam
continued to pump him. He pumped and twisted and rubbed his fingertips over the sputtering
head. Lucas whimpered at the intensity of the sensation and tried to thrash away. Adam held him
and milked him, using Lucas' own cum to lubricate his strokes until Lucas was on the verge of
begging the other man to stop.

Adam released him. As though he were gentling a well-ridden horse, he smoothed his

damp hands up Lucas' back, smearing Lucas' cum into his skin. Lucas shivered and let his
forehead drop onto Tyler's heaving stomach. The hands on his head fell away as the other blond
slumped on the deck.

"Did you enjoy that, Tyler?" Adam's voice was edged. Lucas wondered if he'd cum or if

he was hard. He was afraid to turn around and look in case that would be inviting Adam to do
something with him.

Tyler threw an arm across his eyes. "I came. What do you think?"
"Do you understand now why he's staying on the crew?"
Lucas stilled, wanting to hear Tyler's response.
"I get it," Tyler muttered. "But until he sucks my cock he's still just playing with us. It's

still just a game to him."

"Fuck you," Lucas panted, angry. He wanted to take a bite out of Tyler's stomach in

retaliation. He had a hunch Tyler might like that, though, so instead he straightened and shrugged
off Adam's now loose grip. Shaken, he stumbled to the other side of the Jacuzzi and dropped
onto the bench. He covered his face with his hands.

"If we do something like that again it will be because I order it," Adam said. Lucas wasn't

sure if he was speaking to Tyler or him or both of them. "Nothing goes on without my
permission."

"So you say," Tyler mumbled.
"That's how it is," Adam growled, and Lucas flinched even though he wasn't the object of

Adam's ire.

"Sorry," Tyler apologized in a subdued voice. "Yes, Adam. That's how it is."
Lucas lowered his hands and watched Tyler roll to his feet. He walked back to the house

without looking back. Adam shook his head and stepped up out of the tub. Water rained down
off his body like a mountain rising from the sea. Lucas hated that he stared but he couldn't help
it.

Collecting his and Tyler's towels, Adam paused on the patio, looking back at Kip and

Lucas. "Clean up the deck before you come in."

"Yes, Cap'n," Lucas said without thinking.
One corner of Adam's lips tipped up. "You did well tonight, Lucas. I'm pleased with

you."

Feeling like a schoolgirl, Lucas shrugged, trying to play off how much he liked hearing

that. He watched Adam enter the house and wondered, jealously, what the two men were going
to do for the rest of the night.

"Good thing this tub has strong filters," Kip remarked casually.
Lucas looked over at his roommate, took in his reddened cheeks, and groaned. "I can't

believe you jacked over me. That's just... creepy."

"We're not related, bro. It's all good." Kip leered at him. "Anyway, don't flatter yourself. I

was jacking over all three of you. Damn, bro. Why wouldn't you want to be gay after that?"

Lucas pinched his lips shut and said nothing. It was something he was wondering, too.

CHAPTER TWELVE

"I thought for sure you'd be sleeping in today, bro."
Lucas, standing in front the mirrored closet as he pulled on a shirt, glanced in amusement

at the lump in the second bed that was Kip. "It's eleven. I already did sleep in."

The other man's head popped up from beneath the covers. Two dreads had become

tangled and were jutting up from Kip's head like antennae. "What're you getting dressed for? If
you think I'm getting up in the next hour you're still dreaming, bro."

"I'm meeting Ben for lunch to go over the notes he made for me." He caught Kip's grin in

the mirror. "It's just lunch," Lucas insisted, although he couldn't summon up any annoyance with
Kip for thinking otherwise. Lucas was in a good mood. He couldn't remember his dreams last
night -- probably a good thing -- and he'd woken up this morning looking forward to the day.

Last night had been insane but he'd decided not to dwell on the weird parts and

concentrate on the positive, which was the fact that he had solid footing on the crew now. Adam
was on his side. Unless Lucas screwed up in a major way he was on his way to becoming a
permanent addition to the island. Not even Tyler could get him thrown off.

Plus Lucas felt a little cocky after having put the other blond in his place. If Tyler dared

to start up any shit with him all he had to do was remind Tyler of how he was whimpering and
moaning while Lucas simply drank beer off his stomach. If there was a bitch in the cottage, it
wasn't Lucas.

"Lunch with Ben, huh? He's a good guy," Kip said, shrugging. "It wouldn't be a bad thing

if you skipped lunch and went straight for the good stuff. Those fat lips of his form the best
suction." He leered.

"You mean you and he--" Lucas shook his head. "Wow. I guess I should have expected

that since you said the crew is into... orgies, but I hadn't pictured you and him together."

"We don't hook up that often, really. He was in a sorta relationship for a while and hasn’t

done much since."

"Like you?" Lucas teased, finishing buttoning his short-sleeved shirt and turning around

to face his roommate.

"Aw, don't paint me like that, bro." Kip slapped a hand over his chest as if wounded.

"Have you seen me hooking up with anyone since you've been here? I'm a paragon of virtue."

Lucas snorted. "Yeah, okay." He picked up his wallet and his copy of the cottage key and

stuffed them in the back pocket of his shorts while he studied Kip. The other man stretched and
yawned, the blankets falling down his smooth chest to pool in his lap. Kip might not be his type
if Lucas even possessed a type when it came to men but Lucas had eyes. He could tell when a
guy was attractive.

"You're not abstaining because of me, are you?" Lucas asked. "I don't want to be causing

you problems. I know I've been kind of high maintenance lately. I don't want to interfere with
your action."

Kip waved off his concern. "Nah, bro. It's okay. I've been on a break is all. I beat off in

your bed plenty of times when you're not here," he laughed.

"If you do I will seriously hurt you," Lucas threatened as he made a face of disgust.

Kip flopped back on his bed. "I'm just waiting until you're all settled. Sex can take a back

seat while I help out my roomie through his sexual identity crisis."

"I can take care of myself--"
"Sure you can. I saw that last night."
Lucas winced, his face heating. "That was pretty wild, huh? I've never done anything like

that before."

Kip's eyes sought his. "You looked fine to me, bro. You've got nothing to worry about.

No one's laughing at you, trust me."

"I'm counting on you to tell me when I'm going too far," Lucas pleaded. "I don't know

what the hell I'm doing here."

"Hey, I watched out for you at Industrial Empire, didn't I? I've got your back, bro." Kip

flipped his arm across his eyes and yawned again. "Besides, Adam won't let anything bad happen
to you. He likes you. He wants you. You can't do better than the Cap'n."

Lucas wished he could see Kip's face. "Has he hooked up much with the crew? Besides

Tyler, obviously."

"A few threesomes and foursomes here and there," Kip answered carelessly. "But you

should feel flattered. Tyler's usually the one who brings in the extras. Adam doesn't pursue
anyone and I can't remember the last time any of us tried to bag him on our own."

"That's weird."
Kip laughed. "Come on, you can admit it. You're stoked that you're the exception."
"I'm always the exception. I'm an exceptional kind of guy." Grinning, Lucas nervously

tucked his thumbs into the waist band of his shorts. "So why do you think he wants me? Besides
for my obvious good looks, I mean."

Kip dropped his arm so Lucas could see him rolling his eyes. "You're so full of yourself,

bro. I'm surprised you haven't become a man-whore sooner. As to why he's going after you like
this-- I dunno. Maybe because you remind him of Tyler so much. He probably figures this is the
closest he can get to having twins."

"Tyler and I are not twins," Lucas swiftly argued. "If we were brothers I would have

kicked his ass a long time ago."

"Just sayin' you kinda resemble each other. Same body type. Both blond. Adam's

definitely got a type and you're it." Kip paused, his eyes alight with mischief. "Doesn't hurt that
you're willing to let him boss you around. He likes guys who're kinda submissive."

Lucas tensed. "Fuck you. I'm not submissive."
"Maybe not with me or the other guys but you're willing to be with him and that's all that

matters." Kip pulled the covers up over the bottom half of his face until only his eyes were
visible. Lucas could tell by the way they crinkled at the corners that Kip was grinning like a fool.
"You like letting him take control. Ain't no shame in that, bro. I think it's kinda hot imagining
you twisting around beneath him, losing your cherry while he's got you pinned down like that."

Blushing fiercely, mortified that the image made him horny too, Lucas muttered, "Shut

up." He turned, hearing Kip's muffled laughter. "You'd better not still be in bed when I come
back."

"You're not coming back until late," Kip predicted. "Ben's had blue balls since the

bonding session. Throw the guy a bone. He definitely wants to throw you one."

The back of his neck burning, Lucas flipped off his laughing roommate before escaping.

~~~~~

Ben lived in Cottage 21 along with Hewie, Dean and Peter. For some reason all three

men were asleep on the sofas in the living room.

"We had a pretty rough night last night," Ben whispered, taking Lucas by the elbow and

leading him towards the front door. "They're going to be hurting today." He chuckled.

Lucas threw the heavily snoring men sympathetic looks and also took the opportunity to

quickly check out what he could see of the cottage. The furniture was identical to that in his own
cottage but the decorations -- a chunk of driftwood with darts stuck in it, fish netting with fake
crabs and starfish tied to it, a three-foot tall pink party bong and a mini basketball hoop suction
cupped to the wall -- revealed some of the personality of the men who lived here.

"How come you're not in the same state?" Lucas asked once they were outside. It was a

beautiful day and very bright. He and Ben both slipped on their sunglasses.

"I knew I was going to have lunch with you," Ben replied, tossing his extra bike helmet

to Lucas. "Helping you with the script is more important than getting trashed. I can do that any
night of the week. I often do." He climbed onto his motorcycle-- a red one -- and patted the seat
behind him. "Hop on. It's not too far of a drive."

I really need to buy myself a bike, Lucas thought as he slid onto the motorcycle behind

Ben and wrapped his arms around the other man. He did his best not to react as Ben adjusted the
grip of his hands lower so that Lucas' palms curved over the waistband of Ben's shorts. A few
inches lower and Lucas would have a handful of the other man's junk.

"Hang on!"
The ride, as ever, was exhilarating and Lucas quickly forgot about where his hands were

and simply enjoyed himself. It was a short trip as Ben had said. In just a few minutes Ben pulled
the bike up to the back of a small square red building that looked on the verge of being eaten by
the leafy bushes that surrounded it. Ben parked the bike next to the handful of bicycles and
mopeds already sitting in the dirt lot.

"It doesn't look like much, does it?"
Lucas pulled off his helmet and looked around. He had a view of dirt, bushes and a trash

bin. "It looks like a locals place."

"Exactly! Good call. Always eat where the locals eat, is what I say. Come on around to

the front. It's pretty cool."

Ben was right. A smile broke out over Lucas' face when they came around to the front of

the red building. The vegetation had been cleared away beneath an enormous banyan tree.
Branches radiated out from the massive, twined trunk like the spokes of a wheel. From those
large branches hung colorful hammock swings, four to six to a branch. It reminded Lucas a little
of a carnival swing ride, except these swings looked like colorful net pouches. In front of each
set of swings was a long bench made from a halved log where diners could place their food and
drinks while they sat in the swings.

"The menu's pretty simple," Ben explained as he waited for Lucas to finish admiring the

eating area. He pointed at the front of the red building which consisted of a doorway and a
window which served as a food ordering and pick-up area. Next to the window a simple wooden
signed was nailed to the wall advertising a basket of fried clams and a bottle of soda for two
dollars.

"What a deal!" Lucas exclaimed.
"Just wait until you see how big the baskets are," Ben boasted.

The two of them waited in the quick moving line and placed their orders. Ben didn't insist

on paying for him which relieved Lucas. He didn't want this to seem like a date.

Their food was ready just as quickly and soon Lucas was carrying a literal straw basket

full of fried clams and a Coke to one of the colorful swings.

"This is just awesome," he enthused as he sank into the comfortable net seat and set his

food on the bench in front of him. "They'd never have this back home. No way."

"Now you see why I don't tell the other guys about this. They'd take over the place and

it's pretty packed already."

Lucas dipped a handful of clams into a spicy cocktail sauce and leaned back in his swing.

Above him the fat leaves of the tree shielded him from the sunlight but a few rays sparkled
through. He noticed several colorful birds in the branches and even an iguana curled along a tree
limb.

He pushed back with his heels and swung a little bit. "I love this. Thanks for bringing me

here."

Ben shrugged but Lucas could see that he was pleased.
"Food's good too." Lucas shoved more clams into his mouth.
"I'm glad you agreed to come out here," Ben murmured, "since you're so shy and all." He

flashed Lucas a grin to show he was teasing.

"I guess I am... about some things," Lucas admitted. He watched a pair of yellow and red

birds flap around each other up in the tree. "It's been a while since I've been so out of my
element."

"That just makes it all more exciting," Ben assured him. He finished his clams and

pushed his basket to the side. "Want to talk about the script?"

Surprised that Ben wasn't interested in pursuing the topic of his burgeoning

homosexuality, Lucas dusted off his hands and pushed his own empty basket aside. "Sure."

For the next ten minutes Ben described Lucas' role in the show and gave him suggestions

on how best to perform it. Lucas had read over the script but Ben was able to help him visualize
the action perfectly.

"It sounds pretty do-able," Lucas declared when Ben was finished. "Also sounds a bit...

hands-on." He laughed uneasily.

Ben studied him. "I hadn't thought about it from the view of someone who's newly out.

Does it make you uncomfortable? We could probably talk to Adam about it and get him to tone it
down for you."

"Has he ever done that for anyone?"
"No. But no one's ever asked."
Lucas used his feet to move his swing back and forth. "I guess I'd prefer not to be the first

to ask him, then. He's kind of intimidating."

"Most guys like that about him," Ben said with a smirk. "You're telling me you don't?"
"I don't know," Lucas hedged. "Do you?" He was dying to ask if Ben had hooked up with

Adam. Ben was blond, after all, so he was supposedly Adam's type.

Ben gazed out at the other customers in their swings. "I don't think anyone can resist

Adam. He's charismatic the way I imagine real life pirate captains used to be. When we all
pledge fealty to him I think some of us believe it's for more than just the show, it's for life. I'm no
different. I feel his pull. How could I not?" He glanced briefly at Lucas. "If you're asking if I'm
into the power games he does with Tyler, the answer is not really. But I've done them before and

if he and Tyler come knocking I happily go along. Sometimes it's nice to let him take over and
just enjoy what he's doing."

"I'm used to being the one doing that," Lucas said. "With girls, I mean. I'm the one in

charge, the one on top."

"So are you a top when you're with guys?" Ben smiled, looking curious. "Or do you

know yet?"

Lucas looked down at his feet. "I don't know. It's confusing. Adam-- there's something

about him that draws me. But I don't want to be the girl. I feel-- I don't want to be a pussy, you
know?"

"Sure. You don't want to be a 'fag'. We've all been there at some point, Lucas. But like I

said, Joyboy is the best place for exploring these things without worrying about labels or being
ashamed." Lucas felt a hand settle high on his shoulder near his neck. Ben's thumb barely grazed
his skin. "I think you should try out everything you can and learn what you like and what you
don't. You obviously want to top someone but Adam seems to strike a chord in you too, so
maybe you've got a bit of the sub in you."

Lucas smiled sourly. "I am not submissive. Kip keeps trying to tell me I am."
"Have you been with a dominant?" Lucas tensed as Ben's hand slid around the back of his

neck and rested there, heavy and ominous. "The relationship isn't about a weak guy and a strong
guy. The submissive actually has more power because he can call a stop to it whenever he wants;
they only go as far as he's comfortable with."

Lucas gripped his knees. He was afraid to look at Ben. "You sound like you have

experience with it. So... what are you?"

Ben's fingers moved, not to clamp down as Lucas expected but to massage his taut

muscles. "I can be whatever the situation calls for. I'm comfortable with both roles. That's all it is
to me, Lucas, a role in a performance. It's not a lifestyle thing for me, not like I think it is for
Adam and Tyler. For them the power exchange exists even when they're not fucking. That's not
my thing but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it if it's your thing."

"It's not my thing," Lucas said quickly, laughing nervously.
"Hmm," Ben murmured, noncommittal.
"I was just curious, that's all. I don't have anyone else to ask. Kip just thinks it's all funny

and keeps making fun of me."

"For what? What's going on in your cottage?"
Instead of answering, Lucas reached for his Coke and took a long swallow.
"Ah, I get it. I've got competition hmm?" Ben grinned as Lucas shot him a guilty look.

"So Adam wasn't helping me out after all; he knew you were already hard-up for him, is that it?"

"Ben, it's not like that."
"Relax, I'm partly kidding. Partly." Ben lifted an eyebrow archly. "I can understand the

attraction. We're all attracted to Adam in some form or another. It's why he's our captain."

Lucas looked at him oddly. "But it's not real. It's just a show. He can get fired."
"Lucas, if Adam were fired you can bet your ass the rest of us would boycott the show or

sabotage it or something. He is our captain. And most of us would do anything he asked of us,
including sexual things. We'd do it willingly." Ben's eyes dropped to Lucas' mouth. "No one
would blame you if you fell prey to him too; although some of us might be disappointed we
didn't get there first."

Unnerved by that fixed attention to his mouth-- because it was something he'd done with

girls, with Lisa -- Lucas pushed his swing into motion again to distract Ben.

"Ben," he began hesitantly, "I have to be straight with you: I'm not sure if I'm ready for

anything with anyone. This all kind of caught up with me in a rush. I'm still pretty unsure of
everything."

He gripped the bottom edges of his hammock swing as Ben reached out and spun it

around so Lucas faced him. Ben pulled the swing in so Lucas' knees moved between Ben's
spread ones. Still holding the edges of the net near Lucas' shoulders, Ben smiled.

"I'm not here to pressure you into sex, Lucas. Like I told you before, I feel like your

fraternity brother. I've taken you under my wing. I want to help you figure out things. Hopefully
you'll get it all sorted out eventually and decide you can't resist me a minute longer. But until
then we're cool. Don't worry about it. I'd hate for you to start avoiding me because you're afraid
I'll put the moves on you."

"I'd break your arms if you did," Lucas shot back jokingly. He was embarrassed that he

was coming off sounding like a virginal girl. "I'm not afraid of you, Ben. I just wanted you to
know where I stand so you don't feel like I'm leading you on."

"Well, you are leading me on a little bit," Ben accused with a mock glare, "but it turns

me on so I'm not complaining. Maybe I've got a masochistic side."

"I would've thought you'd know for sure, if you've been with Adam like you claim,"

Lucas challenged. He didn't know where the comment had come from. Maybe it was generated
by that small spark of jealousy and curiosity he felt whenever he thought about Ben and Adam
together.

Ben must've picked up on it because his eyes lit with speculation. "You think so, huh?

What do you think I did with him? You must have a few ideas in that sexy head of yours."

Lucas would have spun away if Ben didn't still have hold of his swing. "I've got a few

suspicions," he played along.

Ben's grin nearly split his face. "So share them. Don't hold out. I want to know if my

secret's out."

"I bet you like to be pushed around," Lucas taunted, finding the discussion more

humorous than sexy, which was perfect as far as he was concerned. "He probably shoves you
against walls and feels you up. Or better yet he bends you over sofas."

"Ouch! You're making me sound like a rag doll! Give me some balls!"
"Nope, sorry, I can't. You like it too much when he's grinding your face into the sofa

cushions," Lucas laughed.

Ben rolled his eyes. "Oh, buddy, you're brutal!"
"It's that mouth of yours," Lucas joked back, his eyes zeroing in on the puffy body part in

question. "Adam can't get enough of it. He's always pushing you to your knees and forcing you
to blow him." A funny tickle quivered through him as he said it and imagined it. The scene was
far too vivid in his mind.

"You think I give a good blowjob?" Ben asked, still smiling, pulling Lucas' swing a little

closer until Lucas' knees pressed against the inside of Ben's thighs.

"With those lips there's no way you can't. Not unless you suck," Lucas laughed.
"Oh, I suck alright. I suck very, very well."
Lucas' laughter faltered.
"What else do you think Adam and I get up to?" Ben pressed. "I know you've thought

about it. Do you think he fucks me?"

Lucas swallowed around a suddenly dry throat. He could feel his dick starting to fill.

"Probably."

Ben's eyes were intense, only a hint of a smile lingering on his lips. "Do you think I like

it?"

Birds chirruped in the branches above their heads. Lucas yearned to look up at them to

break the tension but Ben's gaze was riveting. "I think you like it, yeah," he murmured. "Seems
like you would."

Ben's legs tightened around Lucas' knees, drawing Lucas' eyes down to the other man's

lap where his shorts bulged with an obvious hard-on.

"I did like it when he fucked me," Ben said, his voice lowered. "But I liked it best when

he fucked me while I fucked Tyler."

Lucas sucked in his breath, his eyes shooting up to Ben's. "At the same time?"
"I liked being inside him while Adam was inside me," Ben went on. Lucas wanted to

squirm, wanted to thrust a hand into his own lap and grab himself to ease the throbbing. "I like
taking it but my preference is to slide my dick inside another guy, listen to him gasp as I fill him
up. That's my favorite sound: hearing a guy's surprise when he realizes how big I am and that I'm
all the way inside him."

"It-- it must hurt," Lucas blurted. "The other guy, I mean."
Ben shook his head. "Being fucked feels incredible. The pain goes away and all you want

is more. You want it deeper. Harder. There's a cock sliding in and out of your ass and it owns
you, Lucas. It's all you can feel. You'll babble, say a bunch of stupid stuff, but you don't care
because all you care about is being fucked. All you care about is getting your nut off."

Lucas didn't want Ben to see that he was hard. He didn't want to invite anything even

though his body screamed for some kind of relief.

"I know how that feels," Lucas said, clearing his throat. "When I'm with a girl--"
"I'm not talking about fucking someone, I'm talking about being fucked," Ben cut in.

"That's a feeling that blows your mind. Imagine it, Lucas: another guy deep inside you. An equal.
Someone just like you, groaning and gasping, pushing in and out of your ass as hard and fast as
he can, sweat dripping into his eyes, wanting to fill you with his cum, fill you all the way to the
brim..."

His body flushing, Lucas dug into the ground with his feet and shoved back. "I get it.

That's enough."

Ben immediately opened his hands, releasing Lucas' swing. He looked surprised at

himself. "I-- shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get carried away like that, Lucas."

Shifting around in his swing to try to hide his erection, Lucas tried to play it off. "No

worries. I started it with all that talk about Adam. Don't worry about it, man."

"Yeah, but what I just did was out of line. Wow." Ben ran both hands through his hair

before looking up at Lucas with remorse. "Lucas, I'm really sorry. I told you I wouldn't pressure
you and then I launch into my version of porn. That's just wrong and-- shit, I messed up."

Ben's clear and genuine distress allowed Lucas to calm down and focus on something

other than his body's reaction to the descriptions. "Ben, really. It's okay. It's not like I've never
heard stuff like that before. I used to talk dirty to my girlfriend from time to time. It's no big deal.
I'm a big boy. I can handle it."

When Ben still looked unconvinced, Lucas added, "Snap out of it. Don't make me have to

slap you around."

The other man burst out laughing. "Oh, that's right. You're not a submissive. How could I

forget that valuable piece of information? I probably turned you off with everything I said."

Lucas just shrugged. "You'll never know."

Ben grinned. "So how about we get out of here? I think the skin on the back of my legs is

permanently imprinted with this netting."

Lucas shifted and winced as the netting pulled away from his skin. "Ow, crap. I think

that's a good idea."

~~~~~

It was nearly dinner time when Lucas let himself into Cottage 22. He expected to see the

guys in the living room but only Adam sat on the sofa. He was turned sideways on the cushions,
one arm along the back of the sofa. He looked like he'd been waiting for Lucas to come home.
Lucas gulped.

"What's up?" Lucas said, moving cautiously into the living room, hoping to glimpse Kip

in the kitchen. No dice. "Where is everyone? I thought you'd be getting ready for dinner."

"How was your day with Ben?"
Adam sounded interested but not accusatory. Lucas did his best to remain calm.
"It was good. He took me to his favorite restaurant and then we spent the rest of the day

on the beach watching the catamaran races."

Adam nodded. "I'm glad you two get along. He'll be good for you. He's one of our best

performers."

Lucas waited. Something hung in the air. He didn't know what it was and it was freaking

him out.

"So, um, is there a reason you're sitting here by yourself with the TV off?" he asked.
Adam appeared amused. "As a matter of fact there is. I sent the guys into town to pick up

Chinese and some groceries. I wanted some time alone with you."

Lucas' dick pulsed even as his body turned cold. "To do what?"
Adam stood up and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. "Aras needs some promotional

photos of you for the new advertising material. Apparently the photographer wrecked his bike so
we need to go down to his place. He's got a studio set up in his house."

"Promotional photos? Like, of me in costume?"
Nodding distractedly, Adam punched in some digits and held the phone to his ear. "That

and some other shots -- hey, Greg, yeah, it's Adam. We're ready whenever you are, man. Is now
okay? Okay, great. We'll be right down. See you." He put the phone away. "Pack your razor,
whatever soap you use and your costume."

Lucas didn't move. "Why do I need a razor and soap?"
Adam's chuckle moved across his skin like a hand gloved in velvet. "Most gay guys like

the object of their fantasies to be shaved. It also makes for cleaner photos. Hence, you need to
bring your razor along."

"But I barely have any hair on my chest. Nothing that'll really show--"
"That's not the hair I'm talking about."
The silence that followed was so complete Lucas could hear his watch ticking. "I thought

you said this was for the show. For advertising."

Adam smirked. "Relax. I'm not setting you up for sleazy internet photos. You're working

in an adult show, Lucas. We have sex on stage. It's not unreasonable that you'll be expected to
pose for photos in the buff. Look, I had a feeling you might feel this way which is why I sent
Tyler away. It'll be just me and Greg there. Maybe his assistant too. It'll be fine. You'll be fine."

Lucas gave a strangled laugh. "You're not the one who's going to be posing for naked

photos!"

Adam tilted his head. "I might. I've already had mine done but Greg gets creative

sometimes. We'll see what he has in mind. Costume, razor, and soap, Lucas. Go get 'em."

"You're going to shave me there. At this guy's house." Lucas wanted to turn around and

run to Ben's cottage. "Can't you give me a minute and I'll--"

"Lucas, we're going," Adam said firmly. "Grab your shit and let's go."
That damned voice got to him. Lucas didn't know how or why but it was undeniable.

Conscious of Adam's relentless stare, Lucas headed to his room to grab his gear.

He couldn't believe he was agreeing to this.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Adam's friend Greg lived in a small one bedroom house in the southern tip of the island.

It sat in the shadow of the large neon sign of the Three Aces Casino. The house was low-slung
with a green ridged fiberglass roof and ferns hanging from the eaves. A white mutt was sleeping
on the porch when their motorcycle pulled up. It wagged its tail and wiggled its body happily
from side to side as Adam scratched behind its ears. When Adam stopped petting it the dog
trotted around the porch and disappeared into the darkness at the side of the house. Lucas waited
nervously behind Adam as the bigger man knocked on the scarred red front door.

The door swung open to reveal a very tanned man in his late thirties wearing only a pair

of loose khaki cargo shorts. His chest was flat, his shoulders and arms constructed from lean,
ropey muscles. White wrinkles fanned out from the corners of his dark green eyes and three
especially deep lines dragged horizontal grooves through his high forehead where his shoulder-
length brown hair was clinging with fading desperation. A couple of days' worth of stubble
darkened his jaw. He looked like a man who spent all of his daylight hours in the sun and took
showers on Sundays. His thin lips were clamped around a cigarette and he had a phone to his ear
as he nodded a greeting at Adam and passed his eyes dismissively over what he could see of
Lucas.

"Come on in," Greg mumbled, turning and moving into the house. Adam and Lucas

followed him inside.

"Joey's in the living room," Greg said and then peeled off into what appeared to be a

sparse kitchen while he continued his phone conversation.

The house reeked of patchouli incense and cigarette smoke and was minimally decorated

with mismatched rattan furniture. Lucas' attention was dominated by the makeshift studio set-up
in the living room. A white sheet was pinned to the ceiling, covering one wall. Large lights
surrounded by silver umbrella-like enclosures sat on tripods and were positioned around the
sheet, bathing the area in diffused light.

A slender man with a mop of dark curly hair, also shirtless, was kicking the numerous

power cords out of the way with his bare feet. He glanced back when he heard their steps across
the creaking wooden floorboards. He was slightly younger than Lucas, with a wide square face
and hooded brown eyes fringed with thick lashes. His mouth was unusually small and seemed to
tilt permanently to the left. It jerked towards his ear when he saw Adam.

"Ooh, it's the pirate captain," he cooed. "If I'd known it was you coming over I would

have rubbed out a quick one before you got here. Now I'm going to be hard the entire time. It's
gonna be torture." He batted his eyelashes at Adam.

Lucas tensed, a faint wave of annoyance washing over him.
"What's up, man?" Adam dragged the smaller man into a one-armed hug which Joey tried

to turn into a full embrace. Adam allowed it a moment before casually peeling Joey off of him.
"Photos aren't for me this time. I have a new crewmember. This is Lucas."

"How's it going?" Lucas said, holding out his hand.
"Oh, he's a hottie, isn't he?" Joey said, directing his remark to Adam as he took Lucas'

hand in both of us and simply held it captive. "Beach boy with pretty brown eyes. I definitely
approve, Adam."

Lucas pulled his hand free. "Nice to meet you, too," he said pointedly.
Joey leered at him. "Frisky."
"He's going to punch you in another minute if you don't quit it," Adam said with a

chuckle. "Lay off him. Lucas is nervous enough as it is without you camping it up."

Joey pouted. "Fine." His expression abruptly cleared and his manner became business-

like. "Greg is planning on doing the simple profile shot and a full-body nude. Aras needs the
shots by the first of the week so Greg wants to do the post-production tomorrow. Is your boy
camera-ready?"

Though he was glad Joey wasn't acting so ridiculous anymore Lucas was still ticked that

the younger man insisted on speaking to Adam as if he wasn't in the room.

"What kind of nudity are we talking about?" he asked, demanding Joey's attention.
"The kind where you're nude," Joey said blandly. "What do you think? The whole

shebang, pretty boy. I can tell you've got a hot bod so why are you even asking?"

"Because I don't regularly pose for nude photos," Lucas retorted.
Joey looked him up and down, skeptical. "I bet I can find pics of you on the internet

somewhere, pretty. Blowin' some guy or taking it up the--"

"He knows what you mean," Adam cut in, grinning, "but Lucas isn't an internet porn star

just yet. This is all new to him so cut him some slack and take it easy on him, got that, Joey?
Don't scare my boy."

"I thought you liked your boys to be scared and trembling," Joey teased. Giving Lucas a

marginally less snarky look, he said, "It'll be full frontal, either standing or reclining. You won't
be bending over and showing us your hole or anything." His lips twitched when Lucas grimaced,
making Lucas suspect the other man had said it deliberately to bug him. "It'll be tasteful. Greg
believes in making beautiful photos, not pornography, so you can trust us with your bod, pretty."

"The name's Lucas."
Joey's lips pursed together as if he were holding back laughter. "Sure thing... Lucas. So

strip off and let me see what we're working with here. I've got my fingers crossed but you never
know who's got the tube sock stuffed in their underwear."

"Jesus," Lucas muttered beneath his breath. He turned to Adam for help. "Tell me I don't

have to do it in front of this guy. It's bad enough that you're here but I don't want this guy
checking me out."

"He's Greg's assistant and he's always present during a shoot. It's how they work." Adam

squeezed Lucas' left bicep. "You've been naked in front of other guys before. At school. On your
old job. Maybe some of them were gay and were checking you out. Did it matter either way?

Joey's not going to touch you. He and Greg are professionals. We need these photos, Lucas. The
show needs them and you want to be in the show, don't you?"

Lucas gave Adam a look of exasperation. "What kind of question is that? You know

exactly how badly I want it."

Adam smiled, although his eyes were intent. "Then getting naked and letting Greg take a

few tasteful photographs shouldn't be a problem for you. No matter who's in the room watching."

Cold with dismay, Lucas glanced over at Joey. The brunette was smirking with every part

of his face except his mouth. It irritated Lucas that he was allowing this smarmy man to get
under his skin. And for what? Because the guy wanted to stare at him and make him feel
inadequate? Screw that.

Lucas grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulling it off over his head. "Let's get this over

with."

"Ooh, muscles," Joey said appreciatively.
Cheeks burning, Lucas concentrated on removing his shorts. He wasn't wearing

underwear so when he let his shorts drop to his feet he stood awkwardly, resisting the urge to
hold his hands over his groin.

"He's not shaved," Joey noted.
"Yeah, we need to use your bathroom, man."
Joey's eyebrows lifted. "We? Can I come too?"
Lucas nearly jumped out of his skin when Adam grabbed him lightly by the scruff of the

neck and guided him out of the living room. "Maybe next time, Joey. Don't you have work to
do?"

"I guess I do," Joey sighed. "Don't take too long. Greg and I can't have dinner until this

thing's over."

"You can't rush a shave, Joey." Adam gave Lucas a small smile. "Don't want to cut off

anything we might need later, right?"

"That's an understatement and a half," Lucas mumbled as Adam pushed him into the

bathroom and shut the door behind them.

He watched warily as Adam unrolled the towel containing Lucas' razor, soap and lotion

across the counter. Then the big man opened the medicine cabinet and took out a pair of clippers.

"You've done this before, I see."
Adam grinned. "Pleasures of being the captain." He plugged the clippers into the outlet.

"You need me to do this?"

Lucas quickly laughed. "Hell no. I'll be scraping the razor over my dick and balls,

thanks."

Adam shrugged and handed him the clippers before taking a seat on the shut toilet seat.

"I've had plenty of practice so if you need help doing the tricky parts just give a holler."

Feeling highly self-conscious, Lucas turned his hips slightly away from Adam, just

enough to conceal himself yet still allow him to keep an eye on the larger man. He turned on the
clippers and began to trim.

"So how come I'm special?" he asked above the buzzing sound. "I didn't see anyone

shaved during the rehearsal."

"A few guys are. You just didn't notice. It's personal choice for the show since the crowd

isn't that close. For photo ops, though-- these pictures and some later publicity events-- everyone
shaves down. Aras thinks it's more sanitary. Personally, I think Aras might be a little closeted if
he cares that much about whether we're shaved or not."

Lucas laughed in surprise. "You really think so?"
"Nah, I'm just talking. I've seen his wife. I'd stay straight if I got to do her too."
The buzz of the clippers filled the bathroom. Lucas tried to concentrate on doing a good

job rather than dwell on the vibration of the clippers as it touched the top of his balls and
trimmed around the base of his cock. He held the end of his dick with two fingers and moved it
around gingerly, trying not to create too much stimulation. The last thing Lucas wanted to do
was sprout a hard-on with Adam so near.

"I think it's short enough," he announced, shutting off the clippers. He did his best to hide

his dread as he picked up his razor and the shaving cream. "Now for the part where I turn into a
girl. Or I guess just a little boy." He shuddered.

"That's not why we do it," Adam said with a low chuckle. He scratched at his pec. "When

you shave off the hair your dick looks a lot bigger. You'll see. You'll be surprised."

"I'm sure there are other reasons," Lucas muttered, trying not to sound resentful.
"Obviously. A smooth pair of nuts in your mouth feels and tastes like heaven. And

nothing beats the feel of your hairless balls against some guy's ass when you're pounding him."

"I'm sorry I asked."
Cheeks hot, Lucas bent his head and applied the shaving cream carefully to the hair

around his groin. Highly aware of Adam watching from just a few feet away, Lucas took a deep
breath and began shaving with short, precise strokes. As he periodically rinsed the blade beneath
the running water in the sink, he couldn't help feeling like he was shaving off part of the old
Lucas in the process.

"You're doing really well, Lucas."
The soft, approving rumble of Adam's voice surprised Lucas enough to make him pause

and look back at him.

"I'm not making topiary animals here," he joked weakly. "I'm just shaving."
"Yes, and you're doing it because I asked you to." Adam's dark eyes drifted slowly down

Lucas' naked flank. "I like that a lot, Lucas. I appreciate obedience. It's important to me." His
gaze lifted to meet Lucas'. "You've done a lot of things you didn't want to since arriving on the
island but you've done them for me. That's hotter than you know."

Lucas swallowed hard. His slippery, shaving cream-slicked dick was beginning to fatten.

"I didn't do them to make you hot. I want this job."

"Part of this job requires turning me on... with your show performance and your attitude."
Lucas could see where this was heading. He looked down at his crotch. He'd shaved most

of the hair around the base of his dick and the stimulation-- and the conversation-- had caused his
dick to fill out. The result was pornographic; there were no two ways about it.

"What do you want?" he asked, staring down at himself. "You want to do this to me? Is

that what you're working towards?" He imagined Adam's hands between his legs, slowly
dragging the razor across his tender skin. He shivered.

"If I wanted to do it," Adam said, "I'd be doing it."
Unfortunately Lucas knew he was right.
"Turn around and face me."
Like a man facing a firing squad, Lucas turned around. Mostly hairless, he felt more

naked than he ever had before. And definitely more gay. There was no way he would have ever
done this around his guy friends back home. No way.

He gripped the handle of the razor tightly as Adam studied the job he'd done.
"You look good, Lucas. Very sexy. Come here."

With feet of stone, Lucas shuffled forward. He tensed as Adam reached out and ran one

finger through the shaving cream streaked above his cock. His thick finger didn't actually touch
Lucas' shaft but it was close enough that Lucas could feel the heat coming off it. That and the
new sensitivity of his groin made Lucas bit his lower lip and struggle not to react.

"Sensitive?" Adam asked, glancing up at his face.
Lucas nodded.
"Good." Adam opened his palm. "Let me have the razor."
"Adam--"
"Your balls need to be shaved and it's easiest if someone else does it for you." When

Lucas continued to hesitate, Adam murmured, "It's not as if I haven't touched you before. I'm not
going to jack you off this time. I'm just going to shave you. Greg and Joey are waiting on us."

"I can do it myself, Adam."
The bigger man shook his head, smiling faintly. "You said you'd do everything I say,

Lucas."

The fight drained from Lucas' body. He handed over the razor. "Just-- please be careful.

I'm attached to them."

Adam broke into a dazzling grin. "Don't worry, man. I'm growing attached to them too."
A burst of nervous laughter slipped loose before Lucas could stop it.
Still smiling, Adam reached out and gently took hold of Lucas' ball sac. The touch made

sweat begin to bead on Lucas' brow. It was too easy to imagine the two of them back in the
Jacuzzi where Adam's sure strokes had gotten Lucas off so hard he'd nearly passed out. His body
wanted to move, wanted to thrust forward and encourage Adam to jack him again. Lucas ground
his teeth together and forced himself to stand still.

Below, Adam swiped some extra shaving cream off of Lucas' groin and gently rubbed it

over the pouch. "Hold your dick up and away," he instructed softly. "It's big enough to be an
obstacle."

Lucas snorted. "That's something I don't hear often enough."
"Stick around and you'll hear it plenty."
Adam stretched Lucas' sac, pulling it down until the wrinkles smoothed out. "Don't

move."

Lucas barely breathed as the razor scraped slowly across his ball. The actual touch was

unobtrusive, similar to the pressure of someone lightly scratching him with their fingernails, but
Lucas felt a moan welling in his throat nonetheless. He recited multiplication tables in his head
as he watched Adam rinse the blade under the water and then draw it gently over his right ball
again, catching the fine hairs. Adam worked in silence for a few minutes. After scraping over the
entire orb, Adam ran his fingers around it, testing its smoothness. It felt like a caress, especially
when the tips of his fingers 'accidentally' stroked the tender skin behind Lucas' sack.

The sensation caused warmth to bloom in Lucas' balls. He stared at the polka dotted

shower curtain behind Adam and began obsessively counting dots. His fingers gradually curled
in against his palms as Adam picked up his left ball and began to carefully groom it with the
razor.

Scrape and rinse. Scrape and rinse. Stretch the ball to smooth out the wrinkles. Scrape

and rinse.

By then it was no longer necessary for Lucas to hold his cock out of the way. It was rigid

enough to arc away on its own. He pressed down on it in a vain attempt to hide it.

"I love shaving a guy," Adam said quietly, his attention fixed on the razor as he drew it

across Lucas' skin. "A guy lets me hold the most valuable part of his body in my hands and drag
a sharp blade over it. That kind of trust-- that kind of submission-- it never fails to turn me on."

"It's not submission it's obedience," Lucas said. He cleared his throat of the hoarseness

that had crept into it. "It'd be different if I were letting you do this without being forced to."

The razor scraped across his ball and drew away. Adam raised his head. His expression

was thoughtful. "You know what, Lucas, you're right. This isn't submission. Not yet."

Lucas dared to meet his eyes. "It won't ever be."
But Adam gave the barest of smiles and tightened his fingers around Lucas' balls until

Lucas started to squirm. "I'm a positive kind of guy. The glass is always half full." He let go and
Lucas quickly backed away as the other man stood.

"Clean yourself up-- don't forget to do your pits-- and join us outside." Adam checked

him out again. "You look good. Your photos are going to be great."

Lucas didn't bother muttering thanks. Blushing at how obviously aroused he must look,

he quickly turned to the sink and began rinsing himself off. He dried himself off using a towel
he'd brought and then cautiously smoothed lotion over his newly shorn groin.

He gasped. He'd done Ecstasy once with Lisa and this reminded him of that, of that

electric sensitivity to the barest brush of the fingers. He watched himself in the mirror as he
explored his bare groin. Adam was right: his dick looked much bigger when it wasn't surrounded
by hair. It was a disconcerting combination of prepubescent boy and virile man. Lucas wasn't
sure if he was disturbed or turned on by what he saw. He decided he'd better stop touching
himself or he was going to blow right there at the sink.

Taking several deep breaths and thinking about the final fight he'd had with Lisa, he

waited until his cock wilted before he opened the bathroom door and re-entered the living room.

Greg was off the phone and checking the lighting levels with some kind of handheld

device. Joey stood beside him, holding what looked like a giant flattened nylon Frisbee painted
silver. Adam, leaning against the back of the couch, saw Lucas and smiled.

"Here's Lucas, ready to go."
Greg glanced at him only briefly. "Gorgeous. Come stand in front of the sheet, Lucas.

Nothing to be afraid of here."

Trying to appear nonchalant about being the only naked guy in a room full of what he

assumed were all gay men, Lucas stepped in front of the sheet and tried to figure out where to
put his hands. He settled with letting them hang by his sides, though they weren't as loose as he
would have liked. He blushed when Joey pointedly stared at his shaved crotch but was proud of
himself for looking Greg in the eye when the photographer clucked his tongue.

"Gorgeous, gorgeous," Greg repeated, looking through his camera lens at Lucas. "Joey,

tilt the reflection to his left. Light up that shadow along his arm-- yes, that's it. Perfect." He
lowered the camera. "Since you're already naked we'll do those shots first and the costume shots
last."

Lucas nodded. "So, um-- should I just stand here? Do I smile?" He hoped to god he didn't

have to smile while standing with his dick out. That would be far too humiliating.

Greg gave a dry chuckle. "We're doing a pinup shot here, Lucas, not a yearbook photo. I

want you to look into the camera like you're taunting some guy to come suck your cock."

Lucas groaned beneath his breath. "Okay, yeah. Sure. Taunting."
Greg raised his camera to his face. "Spread your feet. Tilt your head to the right. Bring

your chin down to your chest a little-- too far-- yes, right there. Look at me." He snapped a few

shots. "Now, try to look less like you've been caught pissing your pants and more like you want
some guy to fuck your brains out."

Joey snickered.
Humiliation burning the back of his neck, Lucas stared into the camera and tried to look

sexy.

"Yeah, no," Greg said, lowering the camera impatiently. "Pretend you're in a club and

you're cruising for your partner for the night. Show me how you look when you're picking up a
guy." He raised the camera again.

This was turning out to be more difficult than Lucas had expected. The pressure of

having three sets of eyes on him wasn't helping in any way.

He turned his thoughts inward. He remembered what he could of that night at Industrial

Empire when he was buzzing but not completely out of it. There had been a moment when he'd
encouraged Jacob's interest, hadn't there? Surely he'd been drunk enough at some point to appear,
well, horny?

"You're killing me, Lucas," Gregg muttered from behind the lens.
Flushing, Lucas scrubbed at his face with his hands. "Look, this is hard for me, okay? I'm

not used to this sort of thing. I'm an actor, not a model."

"Then act like you're cruising," Joey suggested. Surprisingly, he didn't sound smug or

like he was making fun of Lucas. He was probably hoping to get the shoot over with so he could
eat dinner.

"I'm trying," Lucas muttered. He blew out a long breath. "Let me give it another--"
"I think I may be able to help."
Adam straightened off the couch and pulled off his shirt. As always, the sight of Adam's

enormous, bulging chest and shoulder muscles left Lucas momentarily stunned.

"Well, that's an improvement," Greg remarked, peering through the camera's viewfinder

at Lucas. "Now you look like you've been confronted by a horse cock."

Lucas gave an embarrassed, strangled laugh but Joey looked intrigued. "Maybe that's

how you should shoot him. Show him as a hungry bottom."

Shit, not this again, Lucas thought. "Wait. Just give me a chance to--"
"Close your mouth, Lucas, and keep watching Adam," Greg ordered. "Adam, stand

behind me so Lucas will appear to be looking into my lens."

Lucas could only watch, unhappy, as Adam moved behind the photographer and then

shucked his shorts, leaving him as naked as Lucas, albeit with neatly trimmed dark pubic hair.
He was half-hard, the thick, meaty length of him just starting to lift off his balls into horizontal.

"Shit," Lucas breathed, staring at the monster between Adam's legs.
"You afraid of this?" Adam taunted softly. He reached down and held himself by the base

while he rubbed at his nipples with his other hand. "You afraid of my cock, Lucas?"

An angry flush burned across Lucas' cheekbones. "Fuck you."
He heard the camera snap.
"Then if you're not afraid of it you must want it," Adam concluded. He locked his gaze

with Lucas' as he began to stroke his heavy cock slowly. "Tell me how you want it, Lucas. I'm a
Top who's willing to compromise if I like the suggestion. So tell me how you want this big piece
of meat."

Mortified that the other men were listening in while Adam said these things to him, Lucas

shook his head angrily. "You know the truth. You know I don't want it at all."

Adam's teeth were bright within his dark-skinned face. "Oh, I know the truth, alright. The

truth is what I console myself with when Tyler's too sore for any more fucking and I'm still hard.
The truth is what I squeeze around my dick while I'm jerking it off. The truth is who I think I'm
balls deep inside when I close my eyes."

The heater in the room must have turned on because Lucas was burning up. A familiar

tingling in his groin told him what he didn't want to know: he was hard, and everyone could see.

"That's it," Greg murmured softly, still clicking away with his camera, "show us how you

feel about him, Lucas. He's gonna fuck you and you can't stop him."

Alarmed that Greg might have gotten it into his head that this could be turned into a porn

shoot, Lucas took a step backwards. "He's not touching me."

"No, you'll be touching me," Adam replied evenly. He continued to slowly stroke

himself. He was fully hard now, his cock so thick his fingertips barely touched where they were
wrapped around the meaty shaft. "You'll lick me, Lucas, and you'll suck me. You'll give me a
bath with your tongue and you'll massage me with oil. And when I tell you to turn around and
give me your ass, your face will turn red and you'll bite your lip just like you're doing now but
you'll do it. You'll spread your legs and look back over your shoulder at me because you've never
seen a cock like this and the thought of being fucked by it for your first time is too hot for you to
resist."

Lucas licked his lips. "No. No, that's not going to happen."
"You're scared, Lucas." Adam smiled but it was a predator's smile. His eyes were

narrowed, watching and cataloging Lucas' every reaction to his words. "I think you want me to
play with you for a while before we get to the main event. Maybe I should use my tongue on
your ass. You ever been eaten out? Ever felt a tongue up inside you, licking you, sliding in and
out?"

"No," Lucas moaned. He dropped a hand to his cock and clutched it helplessly. It

throbbed against his palm.

"You'll love it," Adam promised him in a low, husky voice. "When I've tongue fucked

you until you're whimpering and squirming I'll lay the tip of my cock against your sloppy hole
and let you feel how large it is, how tight it's going to fit up inside you. It'll scare you. I may have
to pin you down--"

"No," Lucas whispered.
"-- but eventually I'll push it all inside you, Lucas, and then you'll be fucked. Deep. Hard.

Over and over again until you finally break for me and let loose a moan."

"Fuck," Lucas whimpered. "No."
"Yes," Adam said firmly. "Moan for me, Lucas."
"No, I--" Lucas broke off when his knees started to shake. It was then that he realized

he'd been stroking himself and was about to cum.

"Give it to me," Greg whispered excitedly.
Lucas had no choice. He threw back his head and shuddered as he shot into the air, two

volleys arching over his feet and one shooting straight up and streaking his abdomen. He rubbed
his fingers over his bare balls, milking them of more droplets. He gasped for breath as his cock
sputtered dry.

As he slowly came down from his high he heard the camera continue to click.
"I think we got it," Greg said triumphantly. "Great job, Adam. You really worked him up.

The shots are sick. I can't wait to work on them."

"Not before dinner," Joey whined. "I'm starving."

"Yeah, yeah, okay."
His face flaming, Lucas reluctantly glanced at Adam. The bigger man was calmly retying

the string on his shorts. There was an undeniable bulge at his groin but Adam didn't look
otherwise affected. He pulled his shirt over his head and caught Lucas' eye.

"Nice job," Adam said with a wink. "You'll put the other guys' photos to shame. They'll

be jealous."

"Great," Lucas muttered without enthusiasm. "So glad I could set the bar for the gayest

photo."

He stiffened as Adam walked over to him. The weight of Adam's arm across his

shoulders felt like a yoke.

"I'm going to ask Greg for a shot to keep for myself," Adam murmured into his ear. "You

looked sexy as hell while you were cumming."

Lucas stared at the floor, afraid to move, his body still tingling. He could see the drops of

his cum cooling on the floorboards.

"You're doing everything right, Lucas. You're getting closer to having everything you

want."

"All I want is a job," Lucas argued tiredly.
Adam dipped his tongue into Lucas' ear, slowly fucking it. It was so erotic that Lucas'

knees buckled in response. Adam's arm around his waist kept him from falling.

"No, you want much more," Adam whispered, licking his ear again and making Lucas

moan. "You just don't realize it yet. But I do, and I'm going to give you all of it. Just like you're
going to give everything to me."

###

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