Author: Regency
Title: Buy Me Something Pretty
Pairings: Harry Hart/Eggsy Unwin, Merlin/Roxy Morton/Gazelle
Contains: age difference, navel-gazing, bisexual Roxy, bisexual Eggsy, Harry being a jealous but doting sugar daddy, Eggsy being very charmed by his sugar daddy, very light daddy kink, light angst, fluff
Summary: Non-Kingsman AU. Harry spoils Eggsy endlessly, as a good sugar daddy should, but he takes umbrage at anybody else trying it. Eggsy takes exception to Harry's jealousy. During a trip to Monte Carlo, chips aren't the only things at stake when Harry worries that Eggsy will find a better offer and Eggsy worries that Harry already has.
Author's Note: Written for the Winter 2015-2016 Hartwin Secret Santa fic exchange, recipient: CosenAngel. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters recognizable as being from Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015). They are the property of their actors, producers, writers, and studios, not me. No copyright infringement was intended and no money was made in the writing or distribution of this story. It was good, clean fun.
Harry had a taste for the finer things in life. He'd been brought up with them and they suited him, but he rather found as the years passed him by that he appreciated them less than he might if he'd never been exposed. He supposed that must be why he chose the lovers he chose. Those younger than him who'd had fewer advantages and longed for better lives. Harry loved the finer things, yes, but more than that he loved to share them.
Enter the earnest Eggsy Unwin in his gaudy knockoffs, who lacked deportment, not wit, and wanted for material wealth but not potential. Eggsy needn't have batted his lashes to get Harry to buy him a drink; from the moment Harry saw him, he wanted to buy the boy a mansion and all the furnishings therein. And Eggsy, gun shy, cautious, and distrustful though he was, very much wanted to allow it.
It was the start of mutually-beneficial, mutually satisfying relationship.
Eggsy counted his allowance for a third time as Harry's private jet touched down on their designated airstrip in Monte Carlo. Eggsy had been provided with a few different currencies to play with, only three of which he was permitted to carry himself; his body woman would carry the rest. Eggsy's daddy was security conscious by nature of his extreme wealth, a trait amplified where Eggsy and those Eggsy cared about were concerned. Harry had hired him a personal bodyguard the day Eggsy had consented to be his darling, weeksafter he'd discreetly employed a couple of nameless commandos to take out the garbage formerly known as Eggsy's ex-stepdad.
His mum didn't really like Harry–too much wealth in one man's hands made her nervous–but she was grateful enough not to put up too much of a fuss. Eggsy figured she hadn't realized that Harry was gone on him by now. She still thought Eggsy was a passing fancy and perhaps he was, but Harry had assured Eggsy that he'd be cared for in the event their arrangement should come to an end. Thus far, all he'd done (the new house, the sturdy cars, his fat savings account, and Daisy's trust fund) had been in aid of keeping that promise. Harry was a gentleman to his Oxford-encased toes, and a gentleman's word was his bond. Seven months in, Eggsy had come to trust that bond would hold.
Roxy stepped out of the cockpit to tell him they were about to disembark. Eggsy hummed in acknowledgement, busy tucking the various banknotes Harry had sent for him into the custom money belt concealed under his bespoke suit. Harry was adamant that Eggsy only bring what would he could carry on his person and that Roxy do that same.
Roxy shed her co-pilot's uniform in favor of an outfit more befitting the Monte Carlo Casino's dress code. Something long enough to cover the thigh holster where she kept her throwing knife and Sig but short enough to distract the other players at the table if she got the urge to sabotage a round or two of poker.
"So." Eggsy regarded his new best friend. "You pilot aeroplanes, kick arse, and carry poison-dipped daggers in your suspenders. Why ain't I dating you again?"
"Because you're bent as a penny dropped off the Empire State Building in a headwind and so am I. You're not my exception." Which…fair enough. Eggsy'd had his share of dating girls back in sixth form to save face in front of Dean and his crew, but it hadn't stuck, barring a few. Turned out that all the stuff he liked in Roxy he'd liked just as well in Harry first. Including the legs. He got distracted thinking about how Harry used those legs of his (and those arms, not to mention his sneaky fucking hands) to keep Eggsy in bed when he wasn't ready to let go of him.
"Fuck's sake, we don't have time for you to wank, so keep your mind out of Harry's pants and come give me a zip."
Eggsy scowled at having his perfectly happy recollection ruined but rose at her beckoning to slide the back zipper on her knee-length Elie Saab original into place. Bold here, sheer there, embellishments everywhere, with legs to spare. The overall look bordered on twee with only Roxy's 'don't fuck with me' grin to temper it. The knowledge that she was carrying the equivalent of forty large in US dollars strapped to each thigh similarly kept Eggsy's cheeky tongue in check. His man wasn't a fool, if he'd authorized Roxy to make the withdrawal and trusted her to carry it, she was more than woman enough to keep track of it all.
He tapped her side to signal he was through.
"Point taken. Let's go before they start wondering what kinda element they're lettin' in their fine establishment." He offered Roxy his arm. "Shall we?"
She wagged an admonishing finger at him. "Ah ah, ladies first."
She slipped a petite but deadly hand into her clutch and, after signaling for the flight attendant to open the cabin door, checked the tarmac for danger. She made it seem quick, a wide gazing arc from left to right and then another from right to left. Eggsy recognized it from his stint in the Marines. First sweep: close threats and moving targets. Second sweep: distant threats and stationary combatants. Suspicious sounds were assessed during both. Roxy wasn't terrifying because she could hold her own, she was terrifying because she was good, and most numb nut thieves would discount her outright. Their idiocy was Eggsy's gain.
"We good?" he asked after watching her a minute.
She stepped back inside, ever conscious of sight lines, and nodded. "Seems to be." She brought her bejeweled wrist to her lips. "All clear, sirs."
Merlin replied immediately. "Off you go, then. Have a good night. Try not to cause an international incident."
Eggsy rolled his eyes toward the cockpit where Merlin was no doubt watching their every move. "That was one time!"
"Yes, and that's more than enough for any man. And try not to land us all in crippling debt, won't you?"
Roxy gave him the nonverbal signal to move. But Eggsy couldn't leave without a parting shot:
"Yes, Dad!"
Merlin's grunt was audible over the PA.
Unbeknownst to them, so was Roxy's giggle.
Eggsy revved the engine of Harry's gold chrome Ferrari 458 Spider and felt like a young god come to Earth.
"Roxy, love, you might wanna find something to hold on to." He winked at her in the falling dusk as Monaco turned from rustic clay brown and marble white to glimmering star yellow with every new and blinding light. For tonight, Monte Carlo was his kingdom come.
If Roxy didn't love him, love this life so much, she would have murdered him for what he was about to do. Instead, she grabbed hold of the crash bar overhead and screamed as he gave this gorgeous machine the gas and raced across the tarmac at lightning speed, letting the landing strobes and vested figures and his good sense of direction tell him true. This was his day and he was feeling lucky.
"If we die I'm going to kill you!" she shouted over the wind blowing through the open windows. He hoped she was going for the windswept, just-fucked look or else he might really be in for it. He breathed the Med Sea air, grappled with a devastating curve of road overlooking the shoreline, and knew the risk to life and limb was worth it. Everything he'd done and lost was worth a chance at this. The water still, the birds cawing, this engine purring under his hands and about to sing. Being adored by someone he was sure would never have looked at him once. He was high on life.
"Gorgeous, innit?" He nodded toward the sea turned a gorgeous velvet blue in the distance. He bet he could see his reflection in the surface of it, it was so tranquil.
"Breathtaking." Another thing he and Roxy had in common: a love for beautiful things.
At this speed it was more a streak of glittering colour beneath a blanket of stars than anything, but his stomach still flipped at the thought of swimming in it. Maybe I can talk Harry into letting me take out a yacht. Harry didn't have much in the way of strict rules regarding what Eggsy could and couldn't get up to; he only asked that Eggsy tell him if he was planning anything that could be dangerous. Considering how little else Harry refused him, Eggsy figured a little courtesy was the least he could do to keep his daddy pleased.
"You're thinking about him again, aren't you?"
Eggsy didn't need to say and he didn't want to, either, lest he earn himself another lecture. Roxy might work for Harry, but he knew she didn't entirely understand or trust him, not the way Eggsy did. She was a bit like his mum that way: Men with too much money inclined to give it away to the first pretty face that pouted didn't sit easy with her. It wasn't the arrangement she disapproved of, having been in a few herself; it was how neither Harry nor Eggsy could quite help letting this thing between them become something else. Something real. In a business arrangement like theirs, real could be dangerous. Real could hurt.
She thought Eggsy had hurt enough; that was why she worried.
Eggsy knewhe had hurt enough; that was why, with Harry, he never worried much. Harry wanted him happy, full stop. He'd do anything to see Eggsy chuffed, give him anything. Buy it, commission it, even once or twice create it from hand. All for Eggsy and from the very start. Who else could win Eggsy over after that?
This trip to the Monte Carlo Casino had been Harry's idea, too. An overnight trip to the hive of international glitz and glamour to celebrate Eggsy's high university marks last term and a pre-fete to commemorate his upcoming twenty-sixth birthday. Harry never turned down an opportunity for excess, not when Eggsy was the recipient. So when Eggsy had turned his puppy dog eyes to Harry and said he wanted to take Harry's 458 on a joyride through Monaco, he hadn't hesitated to set travel plans for both his private jet and for a Med Sea ferry. Eggsy had arrived by land and his golden chariot by sea, but he could admit to himself that he was still waiting for a certain dark-haired knight to make his night complete.
They arrived in a lightning storm of camera flashes with questions for thunder. The local media was always prepared for a celebrity and Eggsy hated to disappoint.
Harry wasn't famous, even if he had the looks for it, but he was richer than a few whole countries, and even Monacans loved a tarted-up celebutante to tut over with their morning tea.
Eggsy sat at the wheel waiting for the valets to come for the car once they'd finished with the Bentley ahead of them. He gave himself a quick onceover, idly wondering if he should do something to make himself more presentable. Just because he had the money for admission didn't mean he felt like he fit in every time.
Roxy elbowed him. "All right. Come over here. I'll fix you up."
Thanks in part to the heavily tinted windows on the 458, nobody saw Eggsy get a quick coat of lip stain on his mouth or a touch of glittering shadow to make his green eyes shine. He always liked to look a bit unearthly when he was representing Harry at these things; part of him worried that everybody might think he wasn't worth it if he didn't.
Roxy edged his mouth with a blotting sheet. "Perfect. You're going to get chatted up by just about everyone tonight."
"Not if you're standing next to me distracting them with your legs."
"If you want to raid my closet, Eggsy, all you have to do is say so." Looking suddenly self-conscious as the paps turned their attention to their car, Roxy made a few abortive motions toward her hair. Their windy ride had her looking post-shag, and a miraculous shag at that. She pulled it off. She'd look even better if she believed it.
"Looking good, Rox."
She squeezed his hand in wordless gratitude and gave her concealed weapons a last pat.
"Feeling glad to be alive, Egg. You seem to have mistaken the municipal roads for a racetrack." Not that he'd been the only one. Formula One drivers zoomed through the streets of Monaco at all hours in their private vehicles. They'd blended in perfectly and she knew they had. Roxy was constantly aware of their status.
"You loved it."
She beamed. "Of course. Now let's get out of here and do something stupid."
"Fuck yeah."
They stepped out onto the red carpet together and it was the start of a beautiful night.
On entering the grand casino, Roxy and Eggsy helped themselves to the bar to take the lay of the land. Lo and behold, the drinks poured in with the admiring glances. They raised their first shots of Grey Goose to Harry for footing the bill and their next shot to the thrills sure to come.
A quick look around told Eggsy, they were the youngest people in the place by far, but he'd guess he probably had the biggest credit line. Not that he was permitted to take on credit from the house. Roxy gave him the signal and then broke away to exchange her cash at hand for gambling chips and plaques for the gaming tables. He was to keep his own stores as a last resort. The very last, Harry's emphasis.
Harry was notoriously protective of any money he gave Eggsy because Harry Hart didn't believe in loans, he believed in gifts. Anything he gave Eggsy was Eggsy's to keep and he did his best to impart advice on how Eggsy might go about keeping it. Stocks and bonds, mutual funds, commodities, Roth IRAs, real estate, and more. Eggsy dreamed about property values and commercial properties with good road access. Harry was not in the least content to be a good lover when he could be both lover and teacher, and Eggsy was only too happy to play teacher's pet.
Roxy returned bearing a case of gambling markers, interrupting him before his thoughts could stray to how Harry liked to discipline his prize student when he was at his least cooperative. She pretended not to see the flush to his cheeks. She was the best wingman to have if Ryan and Jamal couldn't be here.
Roxy sipped the cosmopolitan he'd ordered in her absence while he counted his chips and split them 50/50 for he and Roxy to share.
She pushed her portion at him. "Eggsy, no."
Eggsy wouldn't be deterred that easily. He swept the toppling stacks of multicolored chips and plaques back to her. "Eggsy, yes, Rox."
She sighed. "You're going to get me reprimanded."
"Harry wouldn't dare." He probably wouldn't. He hated to see Eggsy cross and Eggsy preyed on that more than a bit. He pushed to see when Harry would push back. He was still waiting.
Roxy was gearing up to argue him down when the previously unnoticed blonde drinking beside him interjected, "A word of advice: let him spoil you. Where else will you find a man that gorgeous willing to comp you for an evening in Monte Carlo, hmm? Enjoy it."
Eggsy checked her out the same as Roxy would have done. She was a few years younger than Harry, he thought. Natural blonde, if he had his guess, and stacked like a tower of 500 euro poker chips. In short, not his type, but also very much Roxy's. He smirked and raised a brow at his best mate's pole axed expression.
"Yeah, Rox. You heard 'er. Enjoy it!"
Roxy fixed him with a look that could kill and Eggsy lived for it. He never got to get one over on her without paying the price. He was knee-deep in his beginner's luck and going all in.
Shooting a harassed glare at them both, though her gaze lingered on the older woman a heartbeat longer, Roxy acquiesced. "Fine, but if I get fired, it's on the both of you."
Their eavesdropper, who introduced herself simply as Tilde, purred in admiration, "Well done, goding."
Eggsy didn't know what that meant, or even what language it was, but from the way Roxy's cheeks flushed redder than her Tarte raspberry blush it was obvious she knew everything he didn't. Roxy finished off her drink in two gulps, not taking her eyes from the older woman for a second. The fascination was mutual.
"Come," Tilde beckoned them with a curl of her fingers, "I know all the best spots. We'll have fun." Though the words were directed at both of them, they struck Roxy like cupid's bow, and it was all Eggsy could do to number the hearts in her eyes.
"I don't even have a drink," Roxy parried weakly.
Tilde rapped her nails delicately along the stem of Roxy's empty glass and a bartender appeared as if on cue with a replacement. "Now you do." She took hold of Roxy's unoccupied hand to lead her into the heart of the teeming casino, and in desperation Roxy grabbed onto Eggsy to bring him along.
Before he knew it, they were taking the Monte Carlo Casino grand tour: First stop, the slots parlour where Tilde-Princess Tilde of Sweden, a member of her secret service detail corrected-scored a jackpot in seventeen minutes after kissing Roxy's cheek for luck. Eggsy lost his taste for slots after his first dozen flop turns and only stuck around to watch Tilde call Roxy sweet things in every language they had in common.
They skipped the poker table where a number of bull-faced masters were already in their third hand of the game. Tilde laughed at them and pronounced them all poor losers with a victorious wink.
Eggsy swept each of game of Roulette he played, trusting his gut to lead him. Roxy swept every hand of blackjack the next table over, up until Tilde's personal guards signaled it was time for her to leave. Roxy lost that hand and, following a rather sweet parting kiss from their self-appointed hostess, every hand she played after till she gave up and joined Eggsy at the wheel, her suspenders a few thousand euros lighter, and a pout on her smudged lips.
He passed her his martini to finish and placed an outside bet on the 19 to 36. 'Invest wisely and gain wisely.' Harry was there, as good as, murmuring in his ear, hand on his wrist. Never one to miss a chance to show Eggsy off, Harry had promised to join Eggsy on his night out, but that was beginning to seem like a bust. There was such a thing as too late to be fashionable and Harry was fast approaching it.
Roxy shifted beside him, subtly alert to one thing or another. Eggsy let his eyes drift to the other players and spectators at the table to see if it was them that set her off. Only Roxy wasn't watching them—she had been and wasn't anymore.
Hoping she'd spotted Harry, he took a peek at the subject of her attention: A brunette dressed in something daring was holding court at the craps table, racking up win after win and doubling her money easily at each turn, so much so that the boxman was starting to sweat.
Casino security was closing in on her in rounds, and being obvious enough to leave Eggsy was wincing. The woman was aware of them, if her mocking smile was anything to go by. It matched the wicked chrome prosthetics she had for legs. The man beside her, dark, tall, and recognizable by his flash threads and snapback, was complaining about bingo for some reason.
"Do I look like I play bingo?"
"I'm just thayin', we could be playin' bingo and havin' dinner."
"I'll buy you a McDonald's of your own as soon as we're done here."
Richmond Valentine, the Richmond Valentine, grunted his dissatisfaction but declined to comment further.
Eggsy leaned back to speak to Roxy. "Who's that with 'im?"
"No clue, but I can't wait to find out." Roxy had barely taken her eyes off the woman in the obviously designer dress since she first noticed her. If Eggsy didn't have a healthy fear of the woman he'd tease her for the obvious heart eyes she had for the smirking woman. First Tilde, now this one. Roxy was bound to find her match in one of them.
"And him?" Eggsy nodded discreetly toward the bald tower of a man situated at the next roulette table in a pristine white dinner jacket. Harry's closest friend and preferred pilot, Merlin, had been watching Roxy for months and it'd be creepy if Roxy wasn't clearly into it.
"On my to-do list."
Like Eggsy, Roxy tended to favor her own gender, but there were a couple of people that got under her skin regardless. Merlin got under her skin. If he took the initiative and made a move, he might even get farther.
"You should get him to buy you a drink."
"And leave you here alone so Harry can have me shot when the bottom drops out of your winning streak? I think not."
"Fuck that, mate. I'm just about done here anyway. Think I could do with a another drink and some dancing till himself graces us with his presence."
Roxy regarded everyone in the near vicinity with a discreet but effective flint eye till they gave him a foot of grace all around. "I'll be gone fifteen minutes at most."
"Take an hour."
"Not on your life." She kissed his cheek and whispered into his ear, "Do not touch your reserves. I mean it!"
"Yes, Mum."
"Fuck off," she laughed and wound through the throngs of the well-dressed to reach Merlin's unattended side. He looked surprised yet not unhappy to see her.
Eggsy finished off his last game, which he promptly lost, and cashed out to make for the night lounge at the rear of the game room, just past the slots parlour. The vintage carpeted floors and soundproof walls dampened the thump of dubstep and top-shelf speakers working overtime. The tension in Eggsy began to ease as soon as a neon green strobe light flickered in his face. He flashed his wristband and Breitling at the bouncer and was waved right inside.
He checked in his case and ordered a pint of Guinness to unwind. Monaco was all finery from polished game tables to vaulted ceilings and cut-glass crystal goblets, but he didn't like it much without Harry. He kept worrying he'd break something or get himself chucked out for trespassing. This was more his scene, dark and sweaty and alive. Nothing stodgy about this party.
He took out his phone to see if Harry'd called yet. There was nothing but a few snaps from his mates back at home and a new picture of Daisy at his mum at the park. He missed them. He'd have to take them someplace nice when he got home.
Eggsy waited fifteen minutes to see if he'd hear from Roxy, winking out of instinct at a set of redheaded twins who couldn't keep their eyes off him but opting not to go when they waved him over. He rocked along to whatever the DJ was spinning as he scrolled through his texts and downed his drink and an extra shot.
'Any chance of me seeing you tonight?' he typed one-handed as a tall streak of posh and well-bred cut through the crowd to reach him and immediately blocked what little light there was. Eggsy had to lean back against the bar to look up at him. He looked like an Abercrombie & Fitch model. In fact, Eggsy was half-sure he wasone.
"You here alone?" he asked, vowels so sharp Eggsy could cut himself on every one. Definitely posh.
"Don't see anybody around, do ya?" Eggsy hit SEND on his message and put his mobile away, set on vibrate. There wasn't a chance of him hearing Harry's ringtone with the music up at this volume.
His admirer dipped down to breathe against Eggsy's ear, "I was trying to be polite."
"'S all right, bruv. No harm done."
"Do you wanna dance?"
Eggsy looked him over, wondering just what Posh was capable of as I Can't Feel My Face cross-faded into a Foreign Beggars banger. He knew this song; the shot right through him.
"All right, then. What you got?"
Posh grinned at him and pulled him onto the floor.
The bass hammered up through the soles of his feet to make his heart race like he was leaping between rooftops with only momentum for wings.
The other dancers closed in to fill the path they'd made, swerving and grinding and shouting along to the lyrics of Apex like half of them had any idea what they were about.
Somebody handed him a pair of neon shades and he put them on knowing he'd look like a regular tosser in the black light and not minding it.
Posh curled an arm around his shoulders and drew him in tight. Eggsy smelled his Burberry cologne and the whiskey on his breath.
"You wanna go somewhere?"
"Nah. Thanks, though."
"Seriously?"
Eggsy continued wind against a lanky brunette in a spiked necklace that probably cost more than rent at his old apartment.
"Seriously." Eggsy shrugged at Posh. "'M taken, love. Happily. Not about to ruin that for a dance."
"He can't be that good, whoever's got you in his pocket."
"He is, though."
Posh grunted and all Eggsy did was blow him a kiss with a twinkle in his eye. All posh boys like a bit of rough, ey.
Of course that was the part that got him in trouble. Him pulling sulky Posh back into the crush to dance. And, all right, Posh had somemoves, he'd give him that.
An hour later, Eggsy and Spike were shouting the song's hook in each other's face at top volume when he felt the weight of a pair of eyes settle on the back of his neck. Arms still around Spike's waist, Eggsy glanced around the dance floor to see who was watching him. With all the shades and dark corners, it wasn't easy getting a look at anybody's eyes.
He scanned the crowd, overlooking designer jackets and thousand-euro blowouts for somebody distinctive. He realized suddenly that he couldn't feel his phone; the dubstep had drowned it out. Harry.
Harry was a bit of a watcher, and not just because he liked to keep his eyes on Eggsy. He couldn't help observing Eggsy in his natural environment, seeing how Eggsy acted when he wasn't trying to keep up with his much older lover. That was what he said, time after time.
With an apologetic squeeze to Spike's hip, Eggsy shouldered through the horde to where a towering figure waited in complete silence drinking something amber-gold and probably expensive out of a snifter.
Eggsy stole it from him in the same breath that he tore the shades from his face and tossed them behind the bar. He took a sip and grinned at the decadent taste and soothing heat of it.
"That's good shit, bruv."
"Only the best for you, you know that."
Harry pulled Eggsy into a warm embrace, his fingers curling protectively over the nape of his neck with an arm across his ribs. Harry held him like he wasn't quite sure when, or if, he'd be up to letting Eggsy go. Eggsy trusted him to hold on tight. Some folks thought he trusted too fast (his mum) and with too much faith (Roxy); that didn't stop Eggsy soaking Harry's affections up for safekeeping, in case he did come to his sense someday and left him behind. He'd have all the gifts Harry gave him and all the knowledge he'd shared, and at least the memory of his adoration to keep him warm. He'd know love when he saw it next time, 'cause Harry'd taught him.
Harry separate from him slightly to give him a look-see. Eggsy knew he must have looked a bit shit after a few drinks and dancing amid clouds of BO and expensive cologne. It didn't seem to bother Harry any. He held Eggsy's face in his hands, rubbing soothing circles into his cheeks with the pads of his thumbs, dipped down to brush their noses together. Eggsy went a bit hummingbird heart and starry-eyed. Contrary to Harry's Miss Manners reputation for propriety he was helpless to resist a little PDA. Eggsy was helpless against the tiny smile that crossed his lips when Eggsy let him have his way. Handsome fucker knows what he does to me.
"Seems you had yourself some fun."
"Was all right, I guess." Eggsy shrugged, his besotted grin belying his words. His limbs were tingling with the rush of dancing. His blood sang at being near Harry, how good Harry always made him feel at first touch.
"You even made some friends, I see."
"Yup." Eggsy nuzzled his clean-shaven jaw into the lush velvet of Harry's dinner jacket. He had plans for this jacket, goddamn. Harry shouldn't be able to make this getup look good, especially not the plaid trousers, but here Eggsy was wanting to crawl in his lap anyway.
Harry set a large hand at the small of Eggsy's back and tipped his head to let Eggsy at his neck. "Good friends?"
"Don't even know their names. Never wanna see 'em again." Eggsy flicked his tongue against Harry's Adam's apple to feel the fine rasp of his five o'clock shadow over his raving taste buds. He tasted of French soap and skin, aftershave and the rest of the night. "I swear to god, I'm going to ride your face till dawn." He gazed up at Harry from beneath his lashes. "I've been good, Daddy. Say you'll let me."
Harry's already dark eyes darkened further. "Have you been good?" He dropped his hands to Eggsy's arse and squeezed like he was checking for ripeness. Far as Eggsy was concerned Harry could take a great big bite.
"Yeah. Uh huh."
Harry kissed Eggsy's brow in soft dry line from temple to temple, his hands still squeezing rhythmically at each cheek, bringing their cocks in almost perfect alignment. Fuck...me. Christ. Eggsy bit back a whine. "Just because I'm a gentleman, Eggsy, doesn't mean I won't spank you. Are. You. Sure?" He emphasized his words with a powerful clench of his strong hands.
Eggsy shivered, cock and ass throbbing but good. What would have been a threat from anybody else was a vow from Harry. Harry never made it hurt, not more than Eggsy liked.
"Ya can't say that here." Not where I can't touch you, he thought.
Harry nosed along his hairline down to his ear. "So why don't you stop me?"
Eggsy could feel a few more sets of eyes turning in their direction. Even rabble rousers got curious. Eggsy could stand a bit of curious; Harry, on the other hands, hated it as much as he loved it, the show-off. "Daddy, behave."
"That's my line." He sucked at Eggsy's lower lip, snatched him close to suck at his tongue.
Eggsy groaned and held on, opening his mouth to let Harry in deep, arching his back to press his body flush against Harry's chest where he could feel his heart beating a familiar tune.
A sort of pressing silence descended on the area around them, the kind that came with held breaths and nearly swallowed tongues. Harry'd had that effect on Eggsy from the first time they met; he couldn't exactly blame anybody else for going speechless when he turned up or when he turned on the manners and charm. Weird bugger, mine. He was as sweet as he was terrifying, and the only thing more hypnotic than watching Harry move was watching him kiss. Harry claimed Eggsy, body and mind, when he kissed him, trapped him in his arms and possessed his lips, filled his head with Harry and more Harry, the smell and taste of Harry, the addictive texture of Harry's tongue sliding against his own.
It wasn't distaste that made people stare at Harry when he was with Eggsy, no matter what Harry thought himself. It was envy. Eggsy would know.
"Hope you reserved the honeymoon suite," Eggsy rasped as he caught his breath.
Harry nudged his chin to kiss him again, light and sweet. "Better."
The Hotel de Paris Monte-Carlo was everything Eggsy had dreamed it would be, like some palace for a prince or a king. From the exemplary service at the front desk to the sterling elevators, and the distinctive artwork the decked the hall leading to their suite, Eggsy was captivated. Eggsy tried not to look like a gawping tourist at each new hand-stitched carpet and chandelier, but he knew he failed when Harry gathered him up to his side to kiss his hand.
"It's amazing, innit? Never seen anything like it."
"Just you wait till I take you to Rio de Janeiro for Carnivale. That will blow your mind."
Eggsy gazed at this man who'd changed his life just because and hadn't stopped there. "You already do."
Harry backed him up to a wall to plant a garden of kisses along Eggsy's throat till his voice cracked from giggling at each feather light caress. Harry walked away pleased with himself and Eggsy was pleased, too.
"This is our stop." Harry swiped their card key and opened the door to let Eggsy go ahead of him. As he discovered quickly, that was by design.
Eggsy stared at Monte Carlo sparking before them 180 degrees out of every floor-to-ceiling panel window. "That is sick." He blindly sought Harry's hand to ground himself. "Look at this, love. It's all...fuck me, it's gorgeous." All of the richness in the hands of the casino's patrons couldn't match the lights of the city and starry sky reflecting it back onto the fathomless water beyond.
"This is the Winston Churchill Diamond Suite. It was frequently used by Churchill himself and several of his personal effects remain, including the art you admired in the hall, in addition to some of the more classical furnishings."
Eggsy choked out a laugh. "Should've known you'd turn a date into a history lesson."
Harry pulled Eggsy back to his chest. "Not a lesson, darling. An act of love." He skimmed his lips along the shape of Eggsy's ear. "I want you to have the very best of all things, just as I want you to be the very best of all men."
"I'm working on it."
"I know you are." Harry gave his midriff an affection squeeze. "You're doing beautifully."
Eggsy's hip vibrated before he could speak.
Harry raised an eyebrow just short of audibly. I know that man too well. "Somewhat conspicuous."
"Sorry!" Eggsy answered quick on seeing Roxy had called him five times.
"Where the hell are you?"
"Uh...sorry, I've left the casino."
Harry withdrew and helped himself to the open bar. Eggsy waved off his offer for a cocktail. He was buzzed enough for an entire weekend.
"You've gone. You...have gone...without telling me first. Eggsy, I don't have to tell you how dangerous that is."
"I can take care of myself, Rox. I've been doing that since I was a kid."
"I was literally inside the lounge with you, you prat. I knew you didn't want me hovering over you all night and I was trying to give you space so you wouldn't disappear on me like this. Then, you went all wolfhound and started chasing after a fox I couldn't see. What the fuck, Eggsy?"
"Right, that's a really specific analogy, Roxy, but I'm sorry for the bother." He turned slightly away from the older man who was calmly sipping his drink and admiring the Mediterranean Sea as it spilled into the nearby marina. "I found Harry. Well, he found me, and now we're here."
Roxy wasn't comforted. "Right, that's me fucked."
"I'll take care of it. Go give the craps-shark a lap dance or something like you wanted to earlier. Or Merlin, if you're feeling brave."
"Shut up."
"Come on, please. For me? It's my night." He wasn't above begging to get Roxy to chill out. She was too high-strung as it was where safety was concerned. "Everything'll look better in the morning."
"What the hell, why not? If I'm going to be unemployed in thirty-six hours, I might as well enjoy Monaco. See you on the plane."
"Night, Rox."
Eggsy put his phone away to find himself the subject of burning scrutiny by one Harry Hart, OBE, and CEO of Kingsman Tailors International. Eggsy's year-round plus one. Eggsy's very dedicated sugar daddy—not that Harry liked being called that. He wrinkled his nose at the title and now Eggsy used it constantly just rile him.
Harry offered Eggsy the remainder of his drink before Eggsy could steal it from him and led him to one of the pristine sofas that overlooked the bay. There Eggsy made himself at home in Harry's arms, on his lap once he'd kicked off his shoes and shrugged out of his coat. He was happiest when there was nothing between him and Harry, when he could touch and be touched to his heart's content. Harry took that as his cue to grow hands that slipped under Eggsy's jumper to skim over his abs and count the notches on his spine. Eggsy curled his toes and squirmed till Harry ground up to his arse in retaliation. There wasn't any urgency for either of them since they had time to go slow and let it build. Eggsy's nipples tightened to pebbles remembering the last time Harry had taken it slow with him. Jesus, how'm I gonna survive this? Harry was just about lethal when he took his time.
"So...," Harry began, tracing a single fingertip up from the base of Eggsy's skull to his crown.
Eggsy settled, purred. "Hmm, yeah?"
"Tell me about your handsome friend."
Eggsy was so surprised he couldn't do anything but scoff and roll his eyes. Harry's jealous streak was probably all Eggsy didn't love about him. Harry prided himself on keeping better track of it than this.
"I already told you, I don't know him. He was just some high-roller thirst trap trying to figure out who lined my pockets so he could get in me pants. He wasn't serious."
"He was," Harry countered, certain. Another finger had joined the first in stroking his hair against the grain, raising goose pimples all over Eggsy's body. How Harry managed to do everything right and wrong simultaneously he'd never understand.
"I wasn't."
"I suppose…"
"I doubt he could afford me, anyhow." Eggsy stretched up to kiss Harry's greying temple, to which Harry's hummed in contented response. He always gave a little squirm of appreciation when Eggsy bestowed him with kisses. It was the cutest thing and he didn't even realize he did it. "Besides, I don't want another daddy. I'm plenty happy with the one I've got." He brushed Harry's runaway fringe from his forehead, and Harry leaned into the contact like a fretfully needy cat. He slept the same way: clinging in slumber, and then dour when caught, sniffing at the indignity of it all.
"Not even to have one closer to your own age?" Harry resumed. "What Charlie lacks in self-made fortune, he may make up for in otherfringe benefits."
"You know him?" He supposed Charlie was a better name than 'Posh'.
Harry wound his arms around Eggsy more securely. "I've made his acquaintance. Our families run in the same circles."
"Cool, or whatever. Anyway, I'm not interested."
"Not now."
Annoyed and not a little frustrated, Eggsy climbed off Harry's lap face the man head-on.
"If you want me to go, you don't need make shit up, Haz. Some fuck-off rubbing up against me never set you off at home, but it's botherin' you now 'cause we're in Monte Carlo? Pull the other one."
Harry scoffed and made a poor effort to order his hair. "Please. It was hardly one-sided."
"Nah, that's bullshit. You don't care about that shit. You like watching me sometimes, getting up on someone else. Makes you want me more. What's different about this?" He cocked his head, suspicious, and it came to him. "You found a new piece o' arse and you want me gone, so you're bustin' my balls for flirtin' a little. Go'on, call it what it is, an excuse."
Harry reached for him; Eggsy retreated further. He knew he should haven't gotten used to this.
"No. Eggsy, I didn't mean to say that I doubted you."
"You as much as said you did." Eggsy started fixing his clothes so he wouldn't have to look at Harry. Fuck, he used to love looking at Harry and seeing how the man looked at him like he was some falling star landed right in his lap. "That it, then? You and me done over some bullshit like that."
Harry grabbed at his empty glass on the table. He suddenly looked lost. "I haven't mentioned you going anywhere, that's all your supposition. You have the jet at your disposal, I'll find another way home if need be."
He went all sullen and unreadable on Eggsy, same as he did when he was having a bad day with words. He felt like he wasn't being heard so he shut down. Eggsy wasn't letting him shut down tonight, not on their night. Seven months wouldn't end like this.
"Not good enough." He dropped onto the plate glass coffee table. "I ain't goin' till we talk this out."
"There's nothing to talk out. I'm merely making note of the fact that there are things Charlie can offer you that you might want more than you want to continue our arrangement."
"I don't like him that much." He didn't much know him for a start.
"Dislike can be surprisingly erotic."
"Had enough tossers I hate trying to get off with me on the low. No thanks. What's it gonna take to convince you I don't want him?"
"Nothing. Your word is enough."
"Promise?" Eggsy asked, voice fierce. The moment Harry lied to him, this was over. Harry knew that, too.
"Promise."
Eggsy clambered for Harry's lap again and kissed him like he wanted to savour him for the rest of his days, which had the benefit of being the truth. He drew back, pressing their brows together hard.
"You don' have to worry about me tradin' you in for a younger model unless you got a time machine layin' about."
"You'd like to see me twenty years younger?"
"Nah, just want a threesome with two o' ya." He stroked Harry's sides, soothingly. "I wouldn't be able to walk for days." He kissed Harry's faintly smiling lips. "You'd have to carry me around."
"Science hasn't evolved to make that threesome you dream of possible just yet, but carrying you I can do." Harry gathered him up, latching Eggsy's thighs around his waist, and carried him to the king-size bed in the central room of the suite. "And if you're very bad, I'll be good enough for two."
Eggsy dragged Harry down by tie till he was covered in the solid, powerful weight of Harry's body on top of his. "I'm always bad for you, Daddy."
They ended their first night in Monte Carlo on the water in a motorboat that had just cleared the coast, far enough from civilization that all they could hear was the motor and the roll of the tide. The sky and the sea touched on the horizon and it was all Eggsy could do not to tell Harry to chase it till Eggsy caught the stars and held them in his hands.
Eggsy sat out a blanket they'd found in the suite and he patted the deck beside him to invite Harry to leave the controls for a spell. Harry poured them some bubbly from a chilled bottle and they toasted to the future.
"I didn't get to mention it earlier, but I'm very proud of your marks this term."
Eggsy shrugged. "I couldn't have done it without you and Roxy and Merlin houndin' me to study all the time."
Harry brought out a second blanket for them to wrap up in to combat the nighttime breeze. Eggsy didn't hesitate. They both breathed easier once they were huddled together. Contact made all the petty jealousy seem just that: petty.
"You're an exceptional young man, Eggsy. I didn't make you that way. None of us did."
" 'M no better than you."
" 'There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.' Ernest Hemingway."
Eggsy snickered into the shelter of Harry's collarbone. "No wondering I'm acing all my classes, I'm datin' a soddin' textbook."
"Better dressed, though."
Eggsy made a 'middling' hand gesture. "Not so sure about the plaid, to be honest."
"Brat!" Harry nicked his champagne and poured it overboard.
"Oi!"
"Do you know what happens to brats who disrespect their elders?"
Eggsy took in Harry's posture, the come hither smirk on his lips, the predatory gleam in his eyes and gulped, stomach doing somersaults in anticipation. He licked his lips. "They get spanked?"
"Very good, Eggsy." He slid his hands down Eggsy's hips and grabbed. "Yes, they do."
Suffice it to say that Eggsy was very disrespectful for the rest of their vacation, and he enjoyed it immensely.
