Chapter Eight
Bunny
I ’m convinced I must have gone to Bunny Heaven or something just like it. That when I entered Mr Bennett’s flat, bursting through his door, it was instead a portal to an alternate universe. Some weird rabbit’s hole sucking me into a world I hardly recognise. Mr Bennett is different too. After the initial shock of seeing me in the door to his bedroom, he hasn’t stopped smiling, nor has he stopped touching me. Petting me, actually. His usually cool blue eyes are warm and tender when he looks at me, his voice deep and gentle when he calls me by my name. Bunny.
“How did you know?” I ask, my voice filled with awe as I take in the accessories displayed on Mr Bennett’s sage-green duvet. I eventually convinced him it was okay for him to put me back down for now. I told him he could always sweep me back up into his strong arms whenever the urge to hold me or carry me strikes. He looked at me doubtfully, grunting something unintelligible, until I grasped his cheeks in my hands, cradling them carefully, while my eyes found his .
‘I’m not going anywhere,’ I reassured him, and the wolf inside him seemed to relax, comforted by my words.
My gaze glides from a pink furry bunny tail to what I think are wristbands made of snowy white fake fur. My fingers itch to put them on, but I try to contain myself because I have a feeling that Mr Bennett wants to dress me. He looks up from the black delivery box, tilting his head at me, something silky and lacy clasped in his hands. A wondrous frown dwells between his dark blond brows.
“I didn’t,” he says softly, answering my question, the tanned skin around his eyes crinkling as he takes me in. I shiver. I could get used to this version of Mr Bennett way too easily. The newfound softness in his voice and the tenderness in his eyes when he looks at me. His smile. His laughter. Like rare gemstones. “I hoped…” he trails off, shrugging slightly, as he pulls the delicate fabric from the box. He lets out a long, shaky exhale as he unfolds the garment. “When I saw you touching the bunny while you were doing the window display, there was such…” he sucks in a breath. “There was such longing in your eyes. Like you… like you were jealous of that toy bunny.”
“I was,” I say, smiling at him. He nods slowly, solemnly holding out the garment between us.
“This is for you,” he says a little gruffly. “I mean…if you like it, that is. If you are…you know…inclined towards such… things .” And then he goes and does something that I never expected. He blushes. Mr Bennett blushes like a shy schoolboy. He’s adorable. He’s so… prim and proper. So well-articulated and almost rigid in his posture and his mannerisms. But I know he’s in there, hiding in the shadows. My wolf. My big, bad, hungry wolf. God, I can’t wait to ruffle his fur and lure him out. I know he wants to. It’s only a matter of time .
“I am,” I say, my voice steady as a beat. Sucking my bottom lip into my mouth, I take in the satin fabric. It’s a dusty pink, tea rose, if I’m not mistaken, with white lace trimmings and tiny silk bows from the neckline and all the way down the front of the… jumpsuit? It’s not exactly a jumpsuit, is it? More like underwear. A one-piece. The bottom part is similar to a pair of sleep shorts and has lace trimmings, too. “It’s lovely,” I breathe, my heart expanding in my chest. “It’s very lovely,” I gulp, my fingers reaching for the shimmery fabric.
Mr Bennett’s entire face lights up, sunshine in his eyes, his golden skin glowing. “Yeah?” he asks, his voice filled with vulnerability and longing.
“Yes,” I smile at him. “I always dreamed of having something this… delicate ,” I say. I run my fingers along the front of the one-piece, curling the tips around one of the tiny bows. He puffs out his chest with pride at my praise, a smile growing from the corner of his mouth. God, Mr Bennett is so sexy when he smiles. He truly is. Like real movie star sexy. But not those clean-cut contemporary actors. No, not them. More like Cary Grant or Montgomery Cliff or Rock Hudson. That unorthodox male beauty. Or Robert Redford with that golden head of hair of his and intense gaze. Those quiet, brooding types; when they finally smile, it lights up the entire universe.
“You haven’t even seen the back yet,” he blurts, his eyes eager.
“Show me then.” I smile at him with newfound confidence, my gaze connecting with his and I swear sparks fly all around us, the air electric. He nods, then turns the piece around by the spaghetti shoulder straps. And I almost swoon at the sight, my dick perking up in my slacks. There are tiny ivory-white buttons running all the way down the back, like a trail leading all the way down to where the shorts begin. But they don’t stop there. The back of the shorts has small buttons that go all the way down, too. Way, way down.
“It’s so that…you know…I thought it would look nice when you wear the tail,” he murmurs, his warm breath hitting my chin. A squeal leaves my mouth on its own accord as I leap into his arms. He scrambles to catch me as I dive straight for his neck, burying my face against his clean-shaven chin, breathing him in, the scent of bitter cocoa and oranges engulfing me.
“I love it!” I sniff against his neck. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mr Bennett, sir!” A low, satisfied rumble grows in his chest until it leaves his lips as a loud laugh. Holding me out in front of him, he searches my face.
“You’re a funny little thing, aren’t you?” he muses. “So…so impulsive and…and altogether remarkable.” He holds me tighter in his grasp.
“Remarkable? Me?” No one has ever referred to me as remarkable before, on the contrary. I’ve been called many things throughout my nearly twenty-four years on this planet, but remarkable has never been one of them. “You think I’m remarkable?” I whisper.
“I do.” He nods, his expression turning serious. “Are you sure you like it? I mean, you don’t have to wear it just because—” The rest of his words are swallowed up by my lips as I press them firmly against his. I’ve never kissed anyone before and I’m not sure if I’m doing it correctly. At least not until he starts kissing me back, a deep, contented hum emanating from his mouth. Ever so slowly, his lips part, his warm breath ghosting along my lips as he sucks my bottom lip into his mouth, suckling it. There’s nothing hungry about the kiss, although I can feel him getting hard as I rub my crotch against his. It’s careful and tentative and while I’ve never made love to anyone, it rather feels like he’s making love to my mouth. The taste of him explodes on my tongue, and for a couple of seconds, it feels like I’m floating or losing consciousness, or perhaps even both. Then his lips are gone, his lips, and with my eyes closed, I chase them blindly, already addicted to him, my master.
“Wow,” I breathe, my lips tingling, my chest filled with a thousand robins. “That was…that was…” As I open my eyes, I’m met by the deepest, darkest blue I’ve ever seen, the colour nearly stealing the air from my lungs. He suddenly looks shy, my Mr Bennett. Hesitant. “Does that answer your question?” I say.
“My question?” He regards me, puzzled like he, too, has had all the air knocked out of him.
“Whether I like it.”
“Maybe?” he swallows, smiling at me.
“It’s perfect,” I say, sweeping a lock of his blond hair out of his eyes. “Just like you, Mr Bennett.” He exhales deeply, his eyes shifting between my eyes and my lips. They burn from his piercing gaze. I burn from his gaze.
“No more ‘ Mr Bennett ’,” he says pointedly. “I think we are way past that point in our relationship; wouldn’t you agree, Bunny?” I nearly drop my jaw, my mind fixating on that one word. Relationship. “You can call me Easter or—”
“Master?” I cut him off before mumbling an apology, digging my front teeth into my bottom lip.
“Yes, you can call me Master, too, but perhaps not when other people are around.” He raises an eyebrow at me in warning and I nod compliantly.
“Can I call you East?” I ask, my entire body buzzing with the last remnants of energy I can muster. What a day, huh?
“Yes,” he chuckles. “You can call me East too. ”
“Okay. East it is then, Master,” I grin at him, a strange tiredness pulling at my limbs, as I try to suppress a yawn. Worried eyes are on me in a heartbeat.
“My poor darling,” he rasps. “You worked so hard today. And then you saved me, too.” There’s a wet sheen to his eyes as he takes me in.
“I did save you, didn’t I, Master?”
“You did, Bunny. You have no idea.” His voice is shaky as he leans in and presses a chaste kiss against first my forehead, then the tip of my nose and finally my lips. It’s just the softest of kisses, featherlight and barely there. Only it is there, right there, my second kiss ever. I could get used to this. I truly could. I sigh against his lips as I close my eyes, leaning into him.
“Let’s get you fed, bathed, and then off to bed,” he says. “It’s way past your bedtime, my darling Bunny.” And I just nod because everything he just said sounds like heaven. It does. I can’t spend the night, obviously. I can’t risk it. Not with him. Not with my master. Although it hasn’t happened in a while, I know it can happen. It has happened. And that would be just horrendous. That would mean the end of this before it has even truly begun. So I can’t. But I can stay for a little, pretending it’s for good, and then when my master is asleep, I’ll sneak out. I guess the garden can wait. The carrots aren’t going anywhere, neither are the onions unless they suddenly decide to sprout a pair of legs. I giggle at that. “What?” he says, laughing too, brushing his thumb along my chin.
“Nothing,” I grin. “Nothing at all, East. It sounds like heaven, is all.”