Thai'ing the Knot Read online

  A Total-E-Bound Publication

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  Men of Phuket: Thai’ing the Knot

  ISBN #978-0-85715-151-3

  ©Copyright Sedonia Guillone 2010

  Cover Art by Lyn Taylor ©Copyright April 2010

  Edited by Jess Bimberg

  Total-E-Bound Publishing

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.

  Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

  The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

  Published in 2010 by Total-E-Bound Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, United Kingdom

  .

  Warning: This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has been rated Total-e-melting.

  Men of Phuket

  THAI’ING THE KNOT

  Sedonia Guillone

  Dedication

  For Mitch, always.

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  WBA: World Boxing Association

  Nippon Airways: All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd.

  Mercedes: Daimler AG Corporation

  ESPN: ESPN, Inc.

  NHK: NHK Enterprises, Inc.

  Chapter One

  The second Nat woke up, he knew something was wrong. A familiar, heavy feeling pressed on his chest, the way it had nearly twenty years ago the day his twin brother had gotten sick and died.

  Nat’s skin prickled. Ryu. Nat turned his head and braced himself. But his lover lay peacefully, eyes still closed, long lashes like dark brushes on his delicately rounded cheekbones. Nat scanned Ryu’s body, from the nicely-shaped fingers curled by his sleeping face on the pillow, over his wiry physique of colourful tattoos. Cherry blossoms bloomed over Ryu’s shoulder, the branch ending in artful curls on biceps and triceps.

  The down-filled comforter had slipped down to Ryu’s slim hips and Nat scanned every part he could see. Portions of the white tigers leaping over Ryu’s skin showed on his ribcage. Over his lat muscle was a portion of a samurai’s kimono. Nat knew the drawing of the two kissing samurai well by know, having had the opportunity to see Ryu’s naked back every day for the past four months.

  Ryu took a deep breath in his sleep and turned slightly. He seemed fine, yet the heavy feeling remained.

  Was it about Ryu? Nat closed his eyes briefly. No. His intuition, finely honed from years of police work, did not sense a problem there. Yet, there was something. That question. The question he wanted to ask Ryu for the last few weeks. He’d already bought the ring on the sly, in the bit of time he actually wasn’t in Ryu’s presence. All the other guys here in the White Tiger knew about it and were doing a damn good job of keeping it a secret from Ryu. It was just a matter of when to ask. Of that, he was uncertain.

  Kiku, the owner of this place, and Ryu’s best friend in the world as well as his protector and mentor, had said that when the time was right, Nat would know in his heart.

  The time wasn’t right yet.

  But that wasn’t the source of the bad feeling.

  Bracing up on his elbow, Nat watched Ryu sleep. That at least was something he knew about. Watching Ryu doing anything was pleasurable. In sleep, Ryu looked nothing short of an angel.

  Ryu blinked. He let out a long exhale and looked up.

  Damn. Staring at Ryu had woken him up. Nat chided himself silently. He should have known Ryu would be sensitive, even in his sleep.

  “Are you all right?” Ryu immediately levered up onto his elbow. He scrubbed his free hand over his face. His eyes, though concerned, still looked sleepy, and his hair stood up in bed-head spikes which framed his classically beautiful face. Too sexy for words.

  Nat watched him another second. If he lied, Ryu would know immediately and hound him for the truth. He shrugged and heaved a sigh. “Happy to see you.”

  A smile stretched Ryu’s pouty lips. He fell back against his pillow, his gaze still on Nat. “If I didn’t have a practice spar today,” he said, “I’d show you my gratitude for those kind words.”

  Nat smiled back at him. “If you didn’t have a practice spar, I’d let you.” It was a policy of theirs not to have sex the same day Ryu had a fight, practice or otherwise, for as Ryu put it, he had to conserve his qi. Nat’s cock tightened and rose under the covers. He did his best to ignore it. Later, once Ryu had completed his fight, there’d be time for that.

  Ryu’s smile faded. “Something’s wrong, though. I feel it. What are you troubled about, Nat?” He turned on his side and rose up again on his elbow.

  He should have known Ryu would guess. “I don’t know. I just woke up with this…feeling.”

  Ryu’s almond-shaped eyes widened. “You’re not…having doubts, about us, are you?”

  “God no.” Nat didn’t hesitate on that, not only because it wasn’t the problem but because he hated for Ryu to be scared a second about them. He’d given Ryu enough grief their first meeting when Kiku had sent Ryu to Thailand for protection from a psychotic yakuza boss, and then again, when that mission had finished and he and Ryu knew there was something between them, he’d said nothing and let Ryu return, hurt and frustrated to Tokyo. When Nat had taken the leap two weeks later and followed Ryu here, taking an emergency leave of absence from the Thai Royal Police in order to be with him, he’d sworn never to let Ryu have another moment’s grief. Though with this nagging sense of foreboding, he wasn’t sure that would be possible. “Listen, Ryu, you never have to worry about that again.” Nat still remembered watching Ryu’s cab pull away from the kerb on the way to the airport. Ryu’s face through the window had been so hurt. So disappointed.

  Relief flickered over the other man’s softly rounded features. “Can you talk about what it is?”

  “I would. If I knew.”

  Ryu sat up now, dislodging the covers and Nat got an eyeful of his morning hard-on which bulged through the skin-hugging white boxer briefs he’d worn to sleep. No nakedness to tempt them. He leant over and pressed a soft, quick kiss to Nat’s lips. “Whatever it is, you know I’ll help you, right?”

  “Of course I know.”

  Ryu nodded. “Better get going, I guess.” He pushed away the covers and rose from the bed.

  Nat watched him disappear into the bathroom. Instead of getting up himself, he clasped his hands behind his head and listened to the sounds coming from the bathroom. Ryu’s morning relief streaming into the toilet, the flush, the turning on of the shower. Ryu showered even before sweating at the gym. He had a thing about bodily cleanliness that went beyond…normal.

  Nat smiled briefly to himself. It was one of the quirks he’d found charming about the man back in Phuket at the training camp where he’d passed Ryu off as a student.

  Steam filled the bathroom and Nat sat up quickly and leant forward, stealing a glance through the doorway.

  Bull’s eye. Ryu had just pulled off his boxer briefs and was opening the glass door of the shower. That erection Nat had
seen underneath the boxer briefs still poked heavenward. Not large and thick but perfect, just the right amount of tiny veins and blushing colour, the lobes of the head smooth and lickable. And Ryu’s sac underneath, juicy and plump, fit perfectly in Nat’s hand when he palmed them.

  Too soon, Ryu stepped into the shower and disappeared behind the cloud of steam. The glass door shut, leaving Nat alone with his own hard-on. Heaving a deep sigh, Nat lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling. The tightness in his cock beckoned but he continued to ignore it. He needed to conserve his own qi. Ryu’s voice, singing, caught Nat’s ear. Nat listened. Ryu was singing a song in Japanese, a rock ballad by a singer he listened to sometimes. Gackt. Funny name, but Ryu liked the guy, and when Ryu liked someone, he was a fan for life. Nat knew this, having seen the scrapbook Ryu had kept since his late teens on Nat’s career. Every little news article in Thai, Japanese or English Ryu had found went into that scrapbook. Cheeks blushing, Ryu had finally shown it to him a couple of weeks ago.

  That’s when the thought of popping the question had popped into Nat’s mind.

  “Nat?”

  A deep voice came from the other side of the soji screen door. Kiku.

  Nat sat up, frowning. Kiku never came to the door. Must be something important. Nat’s stomach tightened. “Yes?”

  He threw back the covers, glad for his boxer shorts, and crossed over to the door, which he slid open.

  Kiku bowed his head respectfully. Once a yakuza boss, he’d gone legit and converted this place from an illegal gambling parlour to a beautiful men’s hotel. A long rivalry with his boss’s son, Taro Suzuki, however, now showed on Kiku’s face. Even though Ryu had ended it all four months ago in a heart-stopping way, Kiku had aged considerably. His still ruggedly handsome face had lines around the eyes and mouth, his eyes deeply sad in spite of the humour and compassion that also showed in their depths. “Nat, I’m sorry to bother you.”

  “Ryu’s in the shower. He’ll be out in a few minutes.”

  But Kiku shook his head. “I’m not here to speak to him. There’s a call for you downstairs in my office. He identified himself as Agent Chuek. He needs to speak with you.”

  Nat’s blood froze. “Not about my parents?” He spoke to his mother and father regularly, but they were older, so he worried.

  “He said to tell you your parents are fine. Not to worry. It isn’t something like that. But it is terribly urgent.”

  “I’ll throw on a shirt and come right down.”

  “Very good.”

  Nat grabbed a t-shirt out of a drawer, slipped it on and told Ryu where he was going.

  Ryu poked his head out of the steam, a sheen of water darkening his already golden tan skin. Water beaded on his lips. “Nothing serious, I hope?” Ryu’s brow crinkled in the middle. He was always worried Nat would have to go back to Thailand to work.

  Nat stepped forward and brushed a kiss over his lips. He resisted the urge to linger and slip his tongue in against Ryu’s. Ryu was the best kisser in the world and even a tiny peck caused tingles through Nat’s body. He pulled back. “I hope not too. At least it’s not a family emergency.”

  “Please let me know as soon as possible.”

  “I will.” He watched Ryu disappear into the steam again before going downstairs.

  In Kiku’s office, Nat picked up the phone resting on the surface of the black lacquer desk. “Agent Chuek, hello.” He sank into one of the guest chairs by Kiku’s desk.

  “Hi, Agent Phoenix. How’ve you been?” The solemn tone in Chuek’s voice immediately put Nat on edge.

  “I’m all right. What’s going on?” He braced himself to be ordered back to Bangkok.

  “It’s about Tongmee.”

  Nat stilled. For several seconds, he forgot to breathe. He’d hoped never to have to deal with the traitorous agent who’d used his connections to deliver Ryu into Taro Suzuki’s lecherous, sadistic hands. Thankfully, Ryu had been able to handle him, but not before a bit of physical torture to his most sensitive body parts. Tongmee was in prison for a long time. “What about Tongmee?” he finally asked.

  “Tongmee’s dead.”

  Nat sat bolt upright. “Dead! What the hell happened?”

  “He hung himself. Ripped his prison uniform and made a rope of it. The guards found him before sunrise this morning.”

  “Shit.” Nat sank onto his elbow, head in his hand. “Dammit.”

  “There’s been an inquest.”

  “And what did it show?” Nat reminded himself to take a deep breath.

  “That there was no foul play. Tongmee…did it to himself. He had regular psychiatric evaluations and apparently, he’d been improving. And then he just…slid back.”

  Nat frowned. “Well, I appreciate your telling me. Thank you, Agent Chuek.” He prepared to get back upstairs to Ryu.

  “Agent Phoenix, that’s the thing. I didn’t just call to tell you about Tongmee. Something’s come to light that didn’t come out in the original trial.”

  Icy fingers snaked up Nat’s spine. He’d always blamed himself, really, for Tongmee’s action with Ryu. He’d known Tongmee was mentally unstable at the time of their assignment and hadn’t replaced the troubled agent with someone more reliable. No doubt, Nat’s conduct was being called into question. “And what is that?”

  “The psychiatrist who worked with Tongmee said that Tongmee made statements to him during the last session before he…died. Tongmee also left a letter, a confessional kind of thing in which he wrote out the entire story of what happened on our mission, down to every detail.”

  Nat felt chilled. “Please,” he said, “get right to the point.”

  He heard Chuek take a deep breath before continuing. “Tongmee claimed you left the door unlocked the night he…kidnapped Ryu. Tongmee was complaining about your unprofessional behaviour. He said you were allowing yourself to be corrupted. Commander Wattana reviewed Tongmee’s letter. He feels that you withheld many details during Tongmee’s trial and are in serious violation of your duties. I’m calling to serve you with a court-martial. He allowed me to do it by phone because I insisted you’d respond immediately and dutifully.”

  Court marital. The icy fingers became claws, ripping at Nat’s chest. His breath came in short bursts now. Of course, he’d replayed that moment many times in the last four months. He and Ryu had returned from his friend Deena’s party. Nat had grabbed Ryu, pushed him up against the closed door and given him a blow job then and there. The passion had taken them to the bed where Ryu had knelt on the floor. Nat had taken him from behind and just after he’d come, Tongmee had bludgeoned him unconscious with the butt of his gun and drugged Ryu.

  All because Nat hadn’t taken one second to lock the door first.

  Nausea rose and churned in Nat’s gut. He closed his eyes and breathed heavily.

  “Phoenix, are you all right?”

  “Yes,” he managed to say. “I just need a minute.”

  “No problem.”

  Breathe, Nat reminded himself. With his eyes still closed, he took several deep breaths. When he felt he could speak again, he opened his eyes. “When am I expected back?”

  “Within the next twenty-four hours. As long as you agree to return on your own recognizance, no one will come to Tokyo and bring you back handcuffed. That was the agreement I was able to negotiate for you.”

  Dear sweet Buddha. Ryu would be beside himself. He cleared his throat, which felt suddenly thick. “All right. Thank you, Agent Chuek. I’ll be there.”

  “I’m sorry, Phoenix.” Chuek’s tone broke, expressing the sorrow Nat had sensed earlier. “I don’t agree with them at all, but they won’t listen to me. At least they let me be the one to…work with you.”

  Nat nodded even though Chuek couldn’t see him. “I appreciate that.” Chuek had taken over Nat’s spot as the commander of their unity in his absence.

  “Call in before your flight. I’ll be there to pick you up.”

  “Thank you, Chuek.”


  “You’re welcome, Agent Phoenix, sir.” Chuek clicked off, leaving a buzzing tone.

  Still frozen, Nat stared at the receiver for what felt a long time before setting it down. He exhaled again and cradled his head in both hands. How the hell was he going to break this to Ryu?

  “Nat? Are you all right?”

  Kiku’s voice in the doorway made him sit up slowly and turn.

  The lines in Kiku’s face deepened yet more. The poor man. He’d already been through more conflicts than Nat could imagine. A less strong human being would already have died from the stress Kiku had endured. Kiku stepped into the room and took a few paces towards him. His demeanour showed he didn’t want to intrude yet felt compelled by his concern. “Something bad has happened, hasn’t it?”

  “Yes.” Nat took a deep breath and told Kiku about the phone call.

  “Oh God.” Kiku sank heavily into his desk chair and leant back, his rugged face deep in thought. “I share your concern about Ryu,” he said finally. “He will not take this well.”

  “I know.” Nat raked a hand through his hair and sat up. “Kiku, I’m sorry. You’ve had enough to deal with and now I’m causing more trouble.”

  “With all due respect, Nat, you’re talking nonsense.”

  Nat stared at him. “I don’t understand.”

  Kiku gestured to him. “Ryu has been the happiest these past four months since I've known him, and that’s a very long time. Being with you has done that for him. I wouldn’t trade that for anything. You know I mean it.”

  Yes, he knew. Ryu was Kiku’s precious baby and Kiku protected the younger man as a tigress would protect its cub. Kiku had gone to great expense and personal anguish to keep Ryu safe for years. He’d lied to cops, chopped off part of his left pinkie finger to free himself from the yakuza, and faced off with a murderous gangster to protect Ryu. Which was why the stubbly dark growth on Kiku’s normally clean-shaven head was now peppered with grey and why as a man of forty-one years old, he appeared ten years older than he was. “Of course. But that happiness will end once I tell him I’m leaving.”