Heat Stroke (Beach Kingdom 2)

Jamie was already jotting down the answer. Sean Connery.

Marcus’s father sent him an impressed nod and Marcus’s chest inflated like a life raft.

“I’ve got the entire Bond collection at the house,” Marcus’s father said to Jamie, shifting in his seat. “You should come over and watch sometime.”

“Yeah,” Jamie said, having no luck subduing his smile. “I’d like that.”

“Can I come, too?” Marcus teased.

His father’s lips twitched. “Sure, if you bring over some of that juice.”

“Which one?”

“Sex Machine, of course.”

Marcus dragged a hand down his face, but a laugh snuck out. “Sorry I asked.”

“Question two!” Called the quizmaster. “In the TV series Knight Rider, Knight was aided by his car, which was called KITT, but what sort of car was KITT?”

“Trans Am,” Jamie and Marcus’s father whispered at the same time, before high fiving each other. Marcus’s heart tripped over itself. Happy, ambient music—the kind that plays at the end of movies—filled his ears and he was definitely mooning at Jamie, but he couldn’t help it. Didn’t want to help it, even though Joey was shaking his head and laughing at him.

“Question three! Which actress plays the character Oda Mae Brown in the classic nineties film Ghost?”

Marcus almost spit out his beer. “No way.” Jamie and he traded a stunned look. “Babe, I’m telling you, it’s a sign.”

Jamie tilted his head. “What kind of sign?”

“We should get married soon. Probably tomorrow, I’m thinking.”

He was waiting for Jamie’s signature eye roll, but instead, his fiancé lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “How about next week?”

Marcus stopped breathing. He grabbed the leg of Jamie’s chair and yanked it all the way over, leaning close enough that their foreheads were almost touching. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah.” Jamie sucked in a breath. “Once the school year starts, my schedule will be tight and we’d probably have to put it off until next summer, so—”

“I want you to go back to work with my ring on your finger. I want everyone to know you belong to me.”

Jamie’s eyes did that melting thing they’d been doing more and more lately and it caused a matching sensation in Marcus’s chest. “I want that, too.”

“I want to pick you up at school and bring you to your favorite Thai place.”

“Done.”

“Then I want to bring you home and—”

“Marcus.”

But it was too late. Thinking about the trifecta from heaven—calling Jamie his husband, going on a date with Jamie, bringing home his man so they could fuck in the bed they shared—had caused Marcus’s cock to fill with unbearable pressure. He swallowed a guttural groan and willed his erection to subside, but he kept picturing Jamie with his head thrown back, moaning while Marcus sucked him off. And ouch. Ouch. The metal sides of the cock cage bit into his hardening flesh and his life flashed in front of his eyes.

“Jamie,” he wheezed, pointing down at his jailed junk. “I have to get this thing off.”

“Get what off?”

“Cock cage,” he whispered. “I bought it yesterday. I thought it would be a fun surprise. I put the key that opens it on your key ring while you were in the shower.” He bit down on his lower lip and tasted blood. “You gotta spring me, babe. I’m dying.”

“Jesus Christ.” Jamie pressed his lips together. “Life with you isn’t going to be boring.”

“Not unless my dick falls off.”

“Everything okay over there?” Marcus’s father called.

“You guys over there picking wedding venues?” Joey chimed in, waving down the waitress. “You’re missing the quiz.”

Having his family within spitting distance should have been enough to lose his erection, but Jamie smelled too good and his hand was resting on Marcus’s thigh now—and it was hopeless. “Help me.”

“Okay, hang tight.”

“Bad choice of words, babe.”

Jamie plowed a hand through his hair and turned to address Marcus’s father and Joey. “I just remembered I have to count out my register in back. Forgot all about it. Marcus is going to help me so we can get back quicker.”

“Math,” Marcus offered in a strangled voice. “Going to help do math and things.”

“Right,” Joey said, smirking. “Take your time.”

Marcus’s father slid the answer sheet and pencil over in front of himself, cracking his knuckles. “Don’t you worry, men. I got this.”

Jamie stared after the paper longingly for a moment, then took Marcus by the hand and pulled him through the busy bar while Marcus tried not to limp. Some of the customers they passed did a double take over seeing him and Jamie holding hands, but that only made Marcus’s dick harder. Damn right, he’s mine.

“Ouch,” Marcus ground out, his cock fighting for freedom against the walls of its cage. “What if I die, Jamie? What if I don’t live long enough to marry you? How long would you wait to move on?”

“Enough with the crazy talk,” Jamie said, herding Marcus into the back office and locking the door. “I’d never get over you. I’d never move on. Now drop your pants.”