Tyler Robbins, the owner of Gay Travel Inc., decides to send four of his best—and single—travel agents to different continents to report on romantic travel venues. He sends Preston Bennetts to Kenya on a safari. Preston is excited by the idea until he discovers that homosexuality is illegal in Kenya. How is he supposed to complete his assignment? Fortunately he meets Austin and Ryan Holder. Austin has always wanted to visit Africa and Ryan has accompanied him because the old man is getting frail. But they’re both great company and Ryan agrees to help Preston.
Their constant search for romantic photo opportunities has Preston and Ryan thinking lustful thoughts about each other. That absolutely can’t happen in Kenya though. Any sign of gay activity could have them sent to jail.
Will taking pictures of the Big Five game animals satisfy Tyler and prevent Preston and Ryan from touching each other?
Buy link: http://www.bookstrand.com/book/gay-lovers-on-safari
STORY EXCERPT
Preston wasn’t planning to listen to the guide’s spiel. He was more interested in trying to work out how to spend some time with Ryan, if he could even locate him. But then the guide said, “At Carnivore, as well as beef, lamb, pork, and chicken, they also serve crocodile, ostrich, zebra, and venison, as well as soups, salads, and vegetables in authentic sauces.”
Preston stopped listening to the guide’s patter. Crocodile? Ostrich? Zebra? Lamb and venison he could get back home, although they were damn expensive. But ostrich? Not so much. Maybe he would go there and perhaps he could encourage Ryan and his father to join him. He had an expense account after all and surely in a candle-lit restaurant it would be possible to get some kind of romantic photograph.
Back at the hotel he asked for a brochure about Carnivore and checked the dress code. There wasn’t one. That suited him just fine. Then he asked the clerk at the desk to ring Mr. Holder’s room for him.
“If you go to your room, sir, I’ll put through the call if Mr. Holder accepts it.”
“Thank you.” That sounded like Ryan was back from his day touring around anyway, or the clerk would have said, “When he returns,” not “if he accepts it.”
“Hey there, Preston, what’s the problem?” Austin asked.
For a moment, Preston was taken aback. He’d been expecting Ryan to answer, but of course Austin was Mr. Holder as well.
“Hi, Austin. The guide today was telling us about a restaurant called Carnivore. I hoped you and Ryan would be my guests there tonight.”
“Is it a dress-up kind of place? I didn’t bring a tux with me.”
Preston laughed. “Neither did I. According to the brochure I collected, there’s no dress code. I was just planning to put on a clean pair of Calvin Kleins.”
“Ah you bought some of those extra thin tropical weight jeans, too, did you? Ryan and I each bought a pair as well as some madras cotton shirts. Haven’t needed to wear them yet, though. The weather isn’t too hot and the nights are cool enough a man can get some sleep.”
Austin must have covered the telephone receiver as there was a muffled conversation going on. Ryan must have asked what was happening. Preston hadn’t had to buy any new clothes. Well, what with getting his immunizations he hadn’t had time anyway. But because of his career he had a wide-ranging choice of clothing with everything from lightweight breathable cotton to quilted snowsuits. Not that he liked going anywhere cold. The weather here suited him perfectly. He had his sunhat if he was walking around. However, he suspected the temperature out in the Serengeti at Masai Mara would be hotter.
Just then Austin was back. “Thank you for your kind offer. Ryan and I would enjoy that. I’ll book the taxi. What time do you want to meet us out front?”
“How about in an hour?”
“Sounds good. See you then.”
Preston took his time showering and shaving, and walked down the stairs. True to his promise, Austin sat in the foyer, his cane between his knees, with Ryan standing beside him. Austin waved to the clerk at the reception desk, who nodded. Preston guessed the clerk was going to summon a taxi. Sure enough, only a few minutes later one pulled up at the door.
Carnivore was an experience indeed. The restaurant was roofed, but there were no walls where the guests sat, so they looked out over the grass at other diners, and the sky gradually darkened as night fell. It was quite romantic, but nothing that could be expressed in a picture. Nevertheless, Preston determined to add a sentence to his daily blog to send to Tyler about that. He also snapped a few pictures for Twitter and Facebook, updating his status and saying where he was.
“My boss should be very pleased with me today. I’ve uploaded dozens of pictures of birds and animals from the national park.”
“He really expects you to do that all day long?” Ryan asked.
“Not all day long, but this vacation is for work, not just for fun. I only wish I could think of ways of making it seem romantic. It’s absolutely a bucket-list kind of trip, but romantic is a lot harder to explain.”
“What do you mean romantic?” asked Austin.
“The places the four of us have been sent to are to be marketed as the ultimate romantic destinations for gay men.”
“Ah, I see,” the old man replied thoughtfully.
Preston had a moment’s worry that maybe he shouldn’t have used the “g” word out aloud, but there was a lot of noise around them, and this was a tourist destination after all. It wasn’t like on the sidewalk where he was imposing on the lives of the local inhabitants. Here in this restaurant, apart from the staff, everyone was a tourist.
Soon the first selection of meats arrived. Leg of lamb, chicken gizzards, pork sausages, and chicken livers. Even the hot vegetables tasted different from normal in their special sauces, and all the conversation centered on the meal.
The meats were roasted over charcoal fires, and the waiters carried skewers around the restaurant, slipping chunks of meat onto guests’ plates if they wanted to taste each different dish.
Later zebra, crocodile, hartebeest, and ostrich were served, and the three of them tasted everything.
“What’s a hartebeest?” Austin asked the server.
“They’re grassland antelopes. They weigh up to two hundred kilograms and stand a meter high at the shoulder,” he replied.
Preston translated the sizes into American. “So twice as heavy as a man although not as tall.”
“And with two long horns,” added the server, smiling broadly.
“Remind me not to get too close to one,” muttered Ryan.
Preston laughed. “Unless he’s on your dinner plate.”
“There is that, indeed.”
They were laughing and about to begin eating this new meat when another server appeared with some more vegetables and described the sauces to them. While she was talking, Austin was looking at something behind him, but Preston thought it might be rude to turn around to see what had attracted the old man’s interest.
Fortunately once the server left, Austin leaned forward. “There’s a young couple behind you feeding each other food off their plates. If you swapped sides of the table with me, so behind you looks out over the lawn, and copied them, that would make a romantic picture.”
Preston just stared at Austin. “You’re right. It would.”
“That’s fine by me.” Ryan picked up his plate and glass and moved it to the empty space to the right of his father. Austin pushed his plate across the table and they all moved around. It was a small table, with one of them on each of the four sides, but for the purposes of the picture, Ryan and Preston sat together where Austin had been, with their backs to the garden. They rearranged the food platters so everything looked neat, placing a tiny tea candle between their plates, and then linked arms and held a forkful of meat at each other’s lips. Austin took several photographs which they all looked at and pronounced good before Ryan moved back to his side so they could each be sitting in one space again.
Buy link: http://www.bookstrand.com/book/gay-lovers-on-safari
