28

The alarm woke Jamie early.

He quickly turned it off before it could wake Anthony, and leant over his sleeping lover, watching him.

His plan had worked perfectly.

He'd watched over the past three weeks as Anthony's resolve to hate him as slowly crumbled.

They'd first slept together a week ago, and Anthony had been putty in his hands ever since.

They were almost back to their old routine, except that Jamie was having to keep a tight hold on his temper. He couldn't let Anthony see his true colours yet.

Once Anthony was in love with him again, they would go back to that detective's home, fetch Lily and start their lives over; perhaps in Spain.

Anthony stirred and woke slowly beneath him, looking up at him with sleepy eyes. Anthony smiled groggily and stretched.

"What're you staring at?" He asked quietly.

"You." Jamie murmured, leaning down to kiss Anthony.

"Hey, you know the place we're stopping at today for fuel?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, there's a walk you can take up to a castle nearby. I thought it might be nice to get off the boat for a while."

Jamie stared hard at Anthony for a while, before he shrugged.

"I suppose we can go," he said quietly. "Don't you even think of trying anything, though."

"Why would I?" Anthony asked, yawning and sitting up. "Do you want some breakfast? I think we have some eggs left."

Jamie nodded, and watched Anthony enter the galley and start cooking breakfast. He watched Anthony cooking, his mind miles away.

Anthony was always a good cook; punctual too.

Dinner was on the table every evening when Jamie came in, like they had some sort of connection that let Anthony know when Jamie was a few minutes from home.

He was a good fuck, too.

Jamie reluctantly rolled out of the warm bed and went for a quick shower, before dressing and heading out to the galley, where Anthony had toasted and buttered some bread and piled scrambled eggs on top.

Jamie sipped a mug of tea, before settling down to eat, murmuring a low thanks to Anthony.

A husband shouldn't have to say thank you, he thought to himself as he ate.

Saying thank you for everything, like it wasn't his partner's job to care for him. Like Anthony had the right to have his work appreciated.

The little slut didn't deserve the clothes on his back, let alone praise for cooking some damn eggs.

Jamie quickly cleared his mind, sipping his tea slowly, knowing his anger would soon begin to show on his face unless he calmed himself.

He heard Anthony humming to himself in the shower, and couldn't fight back a smile.

Many habits Anthony had developed during his absence annoyed Jamie, but he couldn't deny Anthony's little humming habits were cute.

Jamie put his dirty plate in the sink and went back through to the bedroom. He strapped on his watch, pocketed his wallet and went up to start the boat's engine.

They sailed slowly down the river, Anthony sat in the prow as he usually did, watching the world go by.

They docked around noon, and Jamie set about paying for fuel, and re-filling the boat's petrol tank.

Anthony refilled the water tank and wandered up to the tiny shop on the dock to restock their food supplies.

Jamie watched him closely through the window as he browsed and bumped into a young woman near the tills.