"Do you know where we're going?"
Cersei whispered to Arya as the men, led by Renly and Loras, ushered them towards two waiting limousines. They have just landed in the island's private airstrip after a 45-minute plane ride. They at first considered blindfolding Cersei for the surprise, but decided against it when she threatened to stay at home and celebrate her birthday on her own.
Renly, Loras, Robert, Cersei and Tommen were in one limousine while the rest of them were in the other. If the view from the plane was already breathtaking, Arya was already giddy with excitement upon seeing the island's lush greenery, crystal blue waters and powder-fine white sand. It is a very private island, as Loras boast proudly of. They were the only ones there, save for the Tyrell staff plus Chef Baelish and his own staff, who all flew in the day before. The Starks and Baratheons looked at each other with silly grins on their faces. They were joking and teasing each other until the vehicle came to a stop in front of a sprawling white modern structure. Although the Starks do have their own private resort and the Baratheons have one too, including a private lodge up in Switzerland, the Tyrells are no doubt as loaded as both families. The private island and its numerous staff is proof of that.
Everyone ooh-ed and aah-ed as soon as they walked in the main house. It looked every bit a dream vacation beach house. The walls were a clean white, the glass windows were ceiling to floor but tinted for viewing only from inside looking out and not the other way around. The décor were simple and the furniture practical; everything was reminiscent of those Caribbean vacations Arya and her family had over past summers.
"I'm impressed," Cersei said to Loras, who in turn was grinning. "Very impressed! Thank you for offering this beautiful place for my birthday vacation."
"Anytime you feel like getting away from the city, Highgarden and its staff is yours to command, my Queen," Loras teased. He remembered Renly's story about how Cersei loves being called Queen.
"Oh shush, you!" Cersei said with a playful swat of her hand on Loras's arm. "I am no Queen!"
"Why don't you all relax for now and we'll call you when lunch is served," Renly addressed everyone. He looks comfortable here that Arya couldn't help but wonder, how many times has he been here with Loras?
The group dispersed to find rooms of their own. Gendry fell into step with Arya as she lugged her suitcase up the stairs. Gendry grabbed it for her, carrying it easily despite his own suitcase. The others filed up the stairs in search of rooms at the second floor, while Gendry and Arya took the opportunity to be alone even for a moment.
"Feel like bunking with me?" Gendry asked with a smirk on his face.
Arya laughed softly. "You know you'll never get past my door, right? What with my brothers watching your every move?"
Gendry frowned. "They're breathing down my neck, Ar. I don't even know how we can spend time together when they're always lurking around. It's worse than when we first got together."
"That's because you don't know the meaning of discreet, stupid bull that you are."
"Yeah," he snapped, feeling a bit irritated now. "That's because I'm stupid this, stupid that. That's all you call me."
"You do know that's my term of endearment for you, right?"
Gendry remained silent, and Arya took heart.
"You should learn how to work around my brothers," she explained. "Trust me, I've lived with them my whole life." They were by the doorway of one of the rooms Arya had chosen for herself. She scanned the hallway and saw that her brothers have disappeared in one of the largest rooms in the house. With a smile, she pulled Gendry in the room with her and closed the door. Gendry quickly seized the opportunity to kiss her, like, kiss her properly.
It was a bit rushed, though. Both knew they only had a few minutes before one of her brothers, or worse, all of them plus her cousin, would come calling. Arya became the aggressor; pushing Gendry until he was trapped between her and the door. He gave a soft growl; the sound giving Arya goose bumps all over. Soon, their kisses turned hot and hard and doubly arousing. The soft feel of lips on lips, the swirling of tongues, and the groping of hands on hips and back and chest and every other inch of skin they could reach. It would have gone on to something more if they hadn't heard one of the guys call out.
"Gendry!"
Gendry pulled back from the kiss, his lips moving to her forehead where it would be safer. At the state he's in, he would be getting blue balls before the weekend is over, unless he does something about it. He heard Arya sigh as he enveloped her in his arms for a while longer.
"Gendry! You better be here in the next twenty seconds or you know what's coming to you! If only Grey Wind were here…" the voice trailed off further as he probably moved on to another room.
Okie dokie. That was definitely Robb.
"I have to go," he whispered, pressing one last kiss to her swollen lips. "I'll see you out there, okay?"
Arya only nodded, running a finger to her lips and feeling them tingle from the kiss. "Bye," she whispered.
Gendry gave a soft laugh, making another foray to her mouth before finally, finally letting her go.
When he was almost out the door, he heard Arya chuckle and say, "Remember, caution and restraint goes a long way."
"Same goes for you, little wolf," he said, a grin splitting on his face.
With that, he closed the door and left.
"So, Loras," Robert said as they had a scrumptious lunch by the beach. "What can we do while here? Anything you could recommend?"
Loras took a drink of his fresh mango juice before answering his boyfriend's older brother. "Well, we can have a spa session here. We have the best massage therapists, you'll all be feeling so pampered you'd never want to leave!" he added with a laugh.
Everyone groaned in delight at the idea of getting massages. Loras continued with his recommendations. "We can also go scuba diving, snorkeling, take the yacht out, windsurf, jet ski, play golf," he pointed to Robert. "We have a golf course not far from here. You'll love it."
"Looking forward to it!" Robert said with glee. He turned to Cersei and asked, "What would you like to do, my sweet?"
"For now, let's just laze around or go swimming at the beach. Sunbathing? Arya?" Cersei said with an excited look at Arya.
"Exactly what I was thinking!" Arya responded with a laugh.
"We could all have that massage tonight, like some kind of perfect ending to a perfect day," Cersei added.
"Excellent food as usual, Chef Baelish!" Robert said with a dramatic clap of his hands. They all turned to the chef and gave thumbs up signs and words of approval.
Chef Baelish took a small bow, obviously as dramatic as Robert, and expressed his gratitude. "It is my pleasure to serve you all."
"Ugh, you pamper us with great food," Cersei said as she leaned back on her chair and rubbed her flat tummy. "I wonder how full I would be tomorrow when my actual birthday dinner is served! I'll be mother to Hot Pie soon, if you don't stop feeding me amazingly delicious food!"
Everyone laughed at the mention of Hot Pie.
"Come on, my little wolf," she said, gently pulling Arya out of her chair. "Let's get ready to don our sexy swimsuits and sunbathe."
Before they left, Arya saw Gendry's face light up at the mention of sexy swimsuits.
"You know," Cersei said as they walked towards the room at the furthest part of the second floor. "My son is obviously wrapped around your little finger." She laughed as she led Arya inside the large master's bedroom, as the latter took a quick study of her surroundings. Like the rest of the house, the master's is beautifully and comfortably designed and decorated. Arya took a seat on the edge of the bed as she watched Cersei rummage through her suitcase in search of her swimsuit.
"Nah," Arya said with a slump of her shoulders. "I'm not that powerful to get him wrapped around my finger."
Cersei gave a triumphant "Ta-dah!" as she held up the red two piece in her hands. The red material had accents of gold which Arya knew would compliment wonderfully to Cersei's beautiful skin. Arya continued to study her as she took out her bag of toiletries in search of her sunblock and a few other necessities.
"Don't underestimate yourself, Arya," Cersei said as she pointed the bottle of sunblock to the young girl. "I've seen the girls my son has dated in the past and no one holds a candle to you, my little wolf. Not even that Jeyne Heddle," she adds with a crinkle of her nose.
Arya didn't know how to respond to the compliment so she said nothing and resumed watching her.
"Gendry's a good boy, Arya. I hope you don't doubt that. I've never seen him this whipped since forever," she said as she placed a soft kiss on Arya's cheek. "Now, surprise me with your swimsuits!"
Gendry woke up from his nap with a throbbing head. He was hot and irritated upon learning that the guys took the largest room in the house. He would have loved the size of it, if only it didn't have five beds all around the room. He would have to share the room with Arya's brothers and cousin, which means he will not have any alone time with her, especially because it meant losing the chance to make out with her after everyone has gone to bed, as is their usual routine. He was grumpy since lunch time, much to the delight of Robb and Theon, especially Jon. Gendry knew that they planned this all along; him not getting any in the duration of their trip.
He looked around and saw that he was the only one in the room. As if on cue, he heard the laughter of the Starks, Theon and his brothers. Hell, he thought, even Tommen gets his own room. He got out of bed, padded to the bathroom to splash water on his face to help wake him up. He padded back to the room to poke around his suitcase for his board shorts, until he found the black and gray one. He shed his shirt and shorts, put the board shorts on and walked out of the room shirtless, stopping only to grab a towel from the rack before finally stepping out.
He found the guys playing a little game of Frisbee, while his mom and Arya were lying face down on their towels placed strategically on the sand away from the ongoing game. He tried to sneak a closer look at Arya when he got knocked down by Robb, who was running after the Frisbee that Jon threw.
"The fuck, Robb!" he snapped angrily, rubbing his shoulder as he quickly got up on his feet.
"The fuck too, bro! You're smack in the middle of a game because you're gawking at my sister again!" Robb shot back as he got up too.
Gendry dusted sand off his shorts as he mumbled, "I wasn't gawking at your sister. I was looking for my dad and my uncle."
"They went to play golf with Loras," Robb explained as they walked back to Joff, Theon, Jon and Tommen. "Do you want to play with us, or do you prefer a boring game of golf with your father, his sparkly brother and his equally sparkly boyfriend?"
"Don't be mean," Gendry exclaimed with a slight anger to his voice.
"I wasn't being mean! It was a joke! You do know what a joke is, right? Or are you too busy being grumpy to even recognize one?" Robb said, placing his hands on his hips. "Bro, I know it's hard with us breathing down your neck all the time. But maybe you could try keeping your hands to yourself and most especially your cock in your pants. At least until you're alone?"
Gendry looked at Robb and knew he was right. He was being a downright horny prat who's been wearing his heart on his sleeves lately and his cock almost out of his pants.
Totally whipped.
"Oi! What's holding up the game?" Jon called out from the other side.
Gendry grabbed the Frisbee from Robb and tossed it over to Jon. "Watch your head, Stark!"
That night, Loras and Renly introduced several massage therapists to the group for the spa session. There were eight girls in all, but Arya noticed three who stood out from the group for their pretty faces. Loras introduced them as Doreah, Irri and Jhiqui. Everyone will be getting massages, except for Tommen, who happily stayed inside to Skype with his new friends, Bran and Rickon.
Arya noticed that the guys were staring openly at the girls. Yes, even her boyfriend.
Arya seethed inside when she saw Doreah smiling at Gendry, and noticed that he was smiling back. When it was time to prepare for the session, Doreah immediately crossed over to take Gendry by the hand and lead him towards the closed tents set up by the pool area specifically for this purpose. Without even a backward glance at her, Gendry let himself be led inside, along with Robb, Jon, Joffrey and Theon, who looked equally happy at the impending session.
"Come now, Miss Arya," the therapist named Osha said as she led her towards hers and Cersei's tent. "The session must begin."
Ten minutes into the massage, Osha paused for a while and said in a soft voice, "You seem very tense, Miss Arya."
"Arya," she responded.
"I'm sorry?" Osha asked, clearly befuddled.
"Just call me Arya, please. Miss Arya sounds too formal," she explained.
"Lover's quarrel?" Osha said, chuckling softly.
"I'm sorry?" It was Arya's turn to be baffled by the statement.
Osha started kneading the tensed muscles on her shoulders and down to her back. Arya moaned at the feeling of her hands breaking down the tensed muscles and tissues. "I asked if you and that young man named Gendry has had a lover's quarrel."
"How'd you know we're together?" Arya asked curiously.
"I told you, little wolf," Cersei's muffled voice said from the other bed. "You both do not know the meaning of discreet."
Okay, wow. My words to Gendry come back like a slap to my face.
"No, we're not in a fight," Arya answered Osha's question.
"Hmm…so it must be Doreah, then?" Osha retorted.
Arya's back instantly tensed.
"I see," Osha chuckled lightly as she continued massaging the tension out of Arya's body. "Doreah is a little flirt…"
"Osha!" Cersei's therapist hissed. "Don't be rude!"
"I meant no disrespect, Arya. I'm just saying that Doreah can be a little flirt. But if that boyfriend of yours is strong to resist temptation, then you have nothing to worry about."
'That boyfriend of hers is my son," Cersei mumbled.
Arya laughed. "I like you, Osha. You're my new best friend!"
"I'm hurt," Cersei joked as she turned to lie on her back. "Remember, I was the one who gave birth to that guy you call boyfriend."
"You seem tense," Doreah said as she kneaded the tension away from Gendry's shoulders and back. "Everything in you is so…"
The guys started snickering.
"…hard."
Doreah finished with a teasing tone, and if Gendry wasn't that tensed earlier, he definitely is now. Her hands started massaging his lower back up to the top of his buttocks. If Gendry would admit it, her touch felt heavenly. She alternated between long and hard strokes to soft and fleeting, kneading at the tensed muscles until the stiffness went away. When her hands went to the back of his thighs and down to his legs, he couldn't help elicit a moan. His gym work out has been brutal and so the massage was definitely doing wonders to his sore body.
"Mm-hmm," Doreah hummed softly. "Let all the tension dissipate. I can make all the stress disappear, if you'll let me…" she whispered in his ear. He thinks he feels the light touch of lips and tongue on his earlobe, although he wasn't too sure.
Suddenly, her hands were on his ass, giving a tight little squeeze and Gendry just jumped out of the massage bed.
"Hoo-kay, then," Gendry said as he wrapped the towel around his hips. The guys suddenly looked up and stared at him with a confused expression. He felt a warm flush from his ears to his neck, and the only thing he wanted to do was to get out of the tent and find Arya. "I, uh, have to go. It's been a great massage, but I have something I need to do. So thanks!"
Doreah stood there with a surprised expression on her face. The others just waved him off and went back to settling on the massage beds, paying Gendry no mind until he completely disappeared from the tent. Doreah seemed annoyed and offended, but she gathered her things anyway and left the tent in a huff, telling her companions that she would be staying in their assigned room until they come back from their tasks.
Arya and Cersei were laughing as they walked out of the tent, along with the two massage therapists assigned to them. They seemed to be in high spirits, but they stopped when they saw Gendry sitting on one of the lounge chairs, seemingly waiting for Arya to come out. He immediately stood when Cersei gave him a little smile, signaling to the girls and took their leave. Arya walked towards him with a concerned look on her face.
"Hey," she said, pulling her fluffy white robe closer together. She was wearing her underwear and nothing else, so she was careful not to let anything peek from within. "Are you done? How'd it go?"
"Well," Gendry said as he walked closer to her. "I usually enjoy massages, but not when the masseuse is trying to hit on me."
Arya laughed. "Really? And you left before she could get on the massage bed with you?"
Gendry laughed too. "She was bordering on creepy already! When she squeezed my ass…"
"She what?!" Arya sputtered.
"Quiet!" he said with a laugh. "She damn squeezed my ass! But I ran out as fast as I could!"
"You did?" Arya teased, edging closer and closer still.
"Mm-hmm…" he hummed in answer as he nodded, then gently tugging her to him until their lips were only inches apart. "I've been a good boy. What's my reward?"
"Well…" she pressed her lips to his in a quick kiss. She laughed when he pouted in disappointment, leaning towards her for more kisses. "I do have something in mind. Meet me out here at midnight."
Gendry watched as she sauntered slowly back inside, deliberately teasing his senses with a seductive sway of her hips. She paused at the doorway, turning her head to look at him, a glint of mischief twinkling in her eyes.
For Gendry, midnight couldn't come sooner.