offer money to Ru, but Ru had refused to take it, not even to pay for his vet training. Ink hadn’t given up on persuading him. Their uncle was in prison awaiting trial, their aunt unfit to plead and locked up in a high-risk psychiatric unit. Ru would likely get money from Ireland’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme and maybe the farm would be transferred to his name, but the wheels of justice had rolled more slowly there.
Ru had gone back to Ireland with Bela to take care of the animals, but he’d said he’d be back as soon as he could. Ru told Ink their parents wanted to see him, but Ink wasn’t up to that. Maybe he never would be. If he was ever lucky enough to have kids, they’d be his for life, regardless of what they did. He’d tried not to influence Ru’s relationship with his parents, but now that Ru had seen them, he’d told Ink he had no interest in having anything more to do with them. Ink hadn’t wanted Ru to punish them on his behalf, but Ru said he couldn’t forgive them for the way they’d treated Ink.
Once Ink had a new birth certificate with his correct age, but still with the name Ink Farrow, he’d applied for a passport, and booked this holiday for him and Tay. Devan and Jonty were halfway through their six months of travelling around the world and had called them, raving about the beauty of this resort. Ink had wanted to go somewhere completely different, somewhere Tay had never been, a place they could experience together and make happy memories. They’d hardly stopped taking pictures. Tay had been emailing some of them to his parents. Not all. Ink grinned when he thought of the ones that were just for him and Tay.
“Has the boat disappeared from view?” Ink asked.
Tay lifted his head to look. “Yep.”
Ink pushed to his feet and pulled off his trunks. “Fantasy time, Robertson Crusoe.”
Tay laughed and stripped.
“Catch me.” Ink bolted across the sand.
Tay went after him. “Look out for snakes, cone shells and sharks that look hungry enough to beach themselves.”
Ink skidded to a halt and let Tay tumble him into the water. They lay together, smiling against each other’s faces and kissing, as the waves gently washed over them. Tay shifted around and lay so he could mouth Ink’s cock. Ink did the same to his. Just mouths and lips and tongues working their familiar magic, until Ink was finding it hard to concentrate on Tay as well as himself.
Then hands got involved too, pumping at the base while mouths sucked at the tip. Even a sudden bigger wave didn’t interrupt them. Ink tried to stop acute pleasure spilling over into ejaculation, but only because he wanted this to go on and on. Tay made a strangled sound and exploded in Ink’s mouth, warm spurts of come that tasted like the sea. Then Ink was coming too, his balls drawing up, and he groaned around Tay’s semi-hard cock as he shook with the force of his orgasm.
They stayed in the shallows, their chests heaving, and Ink shifted round so they could lie next to each other and hold hands.
“I love you,” Tay whispered.
“Love you back.”
When the sun’s heat became too much, Tay clambered to his feet and hauled Ink to his. “How long do you think it would take us to get fed up of this?”
“About four hours.”
Tay laughed.
“I’m still wondering if we should ration the food, in case they don’t come back to get us. Of course, I can always snack on you. You’re very filling.”
They walked back to the umbrella.
“Want to go for a snorkel before we eat?”
“We’re putting our trunks back on, right? I don’t want any fish getting the wrong idea.”
Tay shuddered.
Once they reached the umbrella, they put their trunks on, kitted up, and waded in backwards wearing their flippers.
“Same rule applies,” Tay said as they got deeper. “If I tell you to get out of the water, you get out of the water as fast as you can. Okay?”
It touched Ink how protective Tay was with him. “If you think I would leave you alone to cope with a shark, you are so wrong.” He paused. “Probably.”
Tay laughed.
The water was warm and so clear, it was hard to believe it was really the sea. Tay touched him on the arm and pointed. A turtle was swimming a few metres away and didn’t scoot off when Ink and