Chapter 44
CHAPTER 44
F ran sighed in relief when he parked outside of the castle. He couldn’t believe he would get to live there permanently soon and with his mate — a mate who actually liked him. He was also hoping that Jacob had enough energy that they could mate tonight. If not, he would ask Jacob to bite him anyway.
As he got out of the car, he remembered what Joe had said about Jacob's birthday. He would have to find out Jacob’s favourite food and ask Laura if she wouldn’t mind preparing it for them. They could have a romantic meal in their room. It was too late to ask Laura to make a romantic meal for them tonight, but maybe one day this week.
He was so lost in thought as he walked up the front steps that he jumped when the door opened and Clairmont appeared.
“Welcome back, Francis. How was the hospital?”
“Hey, Clairmont,” Fran said, walking in. “Busy, but it was good to be back. Is Jacob okay?”
Clairmont closed the door. “He is. He shifted earlier and looked much better when he shifted back, and then the band of brothers retreated to yours and Jacob’s room for the afternoon.”
“Band of brothers?” Fran asked with a laugh.
“Well, I was going to say trouble tribe, but band of brothers sounds better,” the butler replied with a laugh.
Fran laughed. “Yeah, let’s go with that one. I’m off to see Jacob to see what he wants to do about dinner, whether he wants to come down or not.”
“Very good, Francis.”
Fran smiled and quickly took the stairs two at a time, suddenly desperate to see his mate.
Jacob was nervous. Even though he was assured that Fran would love his surprise, he was still nervous. He shook his head. Enough, he thought to himself. Fran will love this.
He looked around the room. The table setting looked lovely with the roses in the vase adding to the elegance. He then looked at the bed. He had taken a couple of roses and pulled off the petals, sprinkling them over the bed. Maybe he should take the petals off the bed, in case it made him look desperate.
Before he could walk to the bed, the door opened and Fran walked in smiling.
“You’re back,” Jacob said happily, smiling back at him. Indeed his smile was so wide his cheeks hurt a little.
“I am,” Fran said, closing the door and striding over to Jacob, pulling him into his arms and kissing him.
Jacob wrapped his arms around Fran, kissing him back. He was glad they were the same height, it made kissing Fran amazing. He ran his hands up and down Fran’s back and licked the seam of Fran’s mouth requesting entrance. As soon as Fran opened up, Jacob plundered, dominating the kiss.
Fran was in heaven, he loved the fact Jacob was taking charge of the kiss, and let Jacob dominate his mouth.
They slowly pulled back, Jacob playing with a strand of Fran’s blue hair, hair that Jacob loved. “I hope you don’t mind, but we're having dinner in our room tonight.”
Fran grinned, stroking over the slight stubble burn showing on Jacob’s face. “We are?”
Jacob nodded. “Look,” he turned Fran to look at the table.
Fran gasped. “Babe, it’s stunning.”
Jacob led Fran slowly over to the table. “The roses are for you,” he said softly. “This is a thank you for looking after me, for forgiving me, and for being my mate.”
Fran beamed. “Babe, you don’t need to thank me.”
Before Jacob could reply, there was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” Fran called out.
The door opened and Clairmont walked in carrying a tray of food. James carried another and another man walked behind, pushing a food trolley with more covered dishes on warming plates.
“Dinner, gentlemen,” Clairmont announced as they walked to the table.
He placed covered dishes on the table.
“Now, your starters are here. You have lobster tails with a Mediterranean salad. The main course is roasted lamb and beef with all the trimming and dessert is lemon and lime cheesecake. Everything you need is here. Would you like one of us to stay and serve?”
Fran shook his head and sniffed. “No thanks, Clairmont. This is all perfect and we can serve ourselves.”
The butler nodded. “Excellent. Enjoy your dinner, gentlemen.”
“Thanks, Clairmont,” they both said and watched as he ushered the other two men out of the room.
Fran turned to Jacob. “You had them make all my favourite foods?”
Jacob touched his cheek. “I saw Laura and she helped me to create this special dinner for you. I wanted to show you how special I think you are, sweetheart. Well, when I say she helped me create this special dinner, she did all the cooking, but I’ve asked her to show me how to make all these dishes for you.”
“Oh babe, you have no idea what this means to me.” He leant in overcome with emotions and kissed Jacob. “Now, let’s eat, I’m starving.”
Jacob laughed and held out a chair for Fran to sit in. He then took the covers off their starters and, putting them on the bottom shelf of the trolley, he sat down next to Fran.
“This looks amazing,” Fran said, looking at the starters.
“It does. Is now the time to admit that I’ve never had lobster? I should have asked Laura what your favourite foods were.”
“You’ll love it. Thankfully, we have no shells to deal with. Give it a try,” Fran urged, picking up his cutlery.
“Okay, I’m going in,” Jacob said, grinning and taking his first bite. “That’s not bad,” he said, swallowing. “Whatever the sauce is over the salad is lovely.”
“It’s Laura’s secret sauce. She won’t tell anyone what’s in it.”
“I don’t blame her. How was the hospital?”
Fran smiled. “Busy but good.”
“You know you can go back full time right? If you want to.”
Fran nodded. “I know, but I’m okay with just afternoons for a few days. I might look at going in all day after Rose’s funeral.”
They both finished their first course and Jacob started collecting the dirty plates while Fran jumped up to put the other dishes on the table.
“Sweetheart, I’m supposed to be doing all this,” Jacob said, putting clean plates on the table.
Fran caught Jacob around the waist and placed his hand on Jacob’s cheek. “I honestly don’t mind helping. Just the fact that you thought about me, that you wanted to do something nice for me, you have no idea how much that means to me. You honestly have no idea how proud of you I am. You’ve gone against your father’s teachings, you nearly died and you still managed to arrange all this.”
“You’re special and amazing. I never thought there was a way to live outside of my father’s toxic masculinity, but you sweetheart, have shown me what a true man is. I honestly never thought I would love someone as much as I love you, and I do, you know. I, Jacob Bishop, love you Francis Pullman with every fibre of my being,” Jacob tangled his hand in Fran’s hair and kissed him soundly.
Fran was overjoyed. He never thought Jacob would admit his love this soon, but he would grab onto it with both hands and never let go. He slowly tapered the kiss and smiled at Jacob. “My heart was made for you. My lips were made for your kisses, my eyes were made to see you, and my arms were made to wrap around you. Every part of me was made for you. I love you too, Jacob Bishop, now and always.”
Jacob smiled and leant forward, kissing Fran again.
Fran pulled back, grinning. “Do we really need to eat the main course now?”
Jacob grinned and shook his head. “No, how about we take this to bed?”
“You have the best ideas,” Fran said, grinning at him and giving him a quick kiss.
“It might seem silly, but I scattered rose petals over the bed. Again, I wanted to show you how much you mean to me.”
Fran turned and took in the bed, the white rose petals standing out against the purple bedding. Fran then looked back at Jacob. “That’s not silly. Thank you, babe, for doing all this for me. I hope once you’ve mated me, you’ll let me mate you.”
Jacob nodded. “Just take it easy on me, you’ll be my first.”
Fran nodded. “I’ll always take care of you. You’ve had sex before, right?”
“I have, but I was always in charge. With us, we’re equal. We share everything.”
Jacob didn’t think Fran’s smile could get any wider, but it did.
Fran stepped forward, brushing his nose against Jacob’s before kissing him.
Not being silly, Jacob wrapped his arms around Fran and kissed him back, the kiss getting more and more passionate.
After a while, without breaking the kiss, Jacob started unbuttoning Fran’s shirt. Pulling his lips from Fran’s, Jacob dipped his head and started kissing Fran’s neck.
Fran, for his part, tilted his head to the side, giving Jacob better access, and groaned when Jacob hit a sensitive spot. But Fran wanted to see Jacob too, so he started pulling at Jacob’s polo shirt.
Now they were both getting in each other’s ways. Jacob pulled back and let Fran pull his top off. Then Jacob leant down and picked Fran up.
“Careful,” Fran cautioned, kissing his cheek.
“I will be,” he promised, laying Fran down on the bed on top of the covers and the petals. The rose scent surrounded them. Jacob followed Fran down and lay over him, using his arms to keep most of his weight off of Fran. “Hi,” he said gently, rubbing his nose against Fran’s.
Fran raised his hands and cupped Jacob’s cheeks. “Hi, mate of mine. We can go as slow as you need, or stop whenever you need too.”
Jacob smiled. “And that would be why I’m going to make slow sweet love to you, sweetheart.”
Fran grinned. “Then what are you waiting for?”
“Absolutely nothing,” Jacob replied, getting down to the serious business of driving his mate to destruction. Finally, when they were both naked, Jacob made love to Fran, biting him at the base of his neck and howling loudly in triumph.
And after a bit of rest, Fran made love to Jacob and claimed him in the same way.