Chapter Eighteen
Easter
P art of me is freaking out as I lead him through the flat towards my bedroom, but mostly I’m just excited, almost giddy. It feels like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders, sharing my father’s death and my mother’s retreat from the world with him. I hope—no, I pray—my surprise for him will be the ultimate proof I meant what I said. That nothing, absolutely nothing, can change how I feel about him, my Bunny. His right hand is securely clasped in mine while the other is fisted tightly in my shirt collar like he’s afraid I’ll somehow dissolve into thin air. He’s tucked against my side and although it’s slightly awkward walking like this, I think we both need it. The closeness. The quiet comfort of the physical connection. The reassurance that we are unbreakable.
Fuck, I almost wasn’t allowed to take Benjamin with me. Once I’d persuaded him to come back, Mr Harvey pulled out a kitchen chair and said ‘ Sit, young man !’ real Scotland Yard style. I heard Benjamin snort behind me and I’m not sure if it was because someone was out-bossing his boss or because Mr Harvey referred to me as young. Never mind. I’d rather have my Bunny snorting than crying any day of the week. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say that dear old Henry VIII would have loved for Mr Harvey to have been one of his royal interrogators. Once he was satisfied that my intentions were sincere, he pulled Benjamin into a bear hug and murmured something against his ear that made Benjamin sniffle like I’d never heard him sniffle before.
“East?” Benjamin tugs at my shirt impatiently, frowning at me. “How much longer are we gonna stare at your door?” He smiles at me knowingly, then bats his dark brown eyelashes.
“Right,” I grunt, reaching around him and opening the door. As soon as I open it, I smell the intense fragrance of the tulips, and I know he does, too, because he wrinkles his nose adorably and peeks inside. “Go on,” I laugh and give him a gentle push. He stumbles, but I catch him around his waist and he giggles against my chest. And that’s how we enter the room, me turning him around, half-pushing him inside with my arms wrapped around him from behind. A deep sigh leaves his chest when his gaze connects with the generous vase of lavender tulips on the nightstand next to his side of the bed. His side.
“Are those for me?” he asks, his voice breathy, as he leans back against my chest and looks up at me. I nod and if I could take a forever photo of Benjamin to store away in my mind, this would be it. The way he’s looking at me right now. Like I just hung the bloody moon. My chest fills with pride and love, as I nod and rasp, “Yes, darling. Those are for you.”
“I love them,” he whispers. “Lavender is my favourite colour.”
“I know,” I say, because although he’s never told me, I somehow know. Just like I know that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, I know everything important about him, my Bunny. His smile takes over his entire face, lighting up his muddy-grey eyes until they’re sparkling like two large pieces of moonstone.
“They smell wonderful,” he whispers. “Thank you, East.” I just nod at him, my heart in my throat, because I know what he means. They smell of spring and hope and new beginnings.
“You’re welcome, darling,” I hum against his lips. I kiss him tenderly, sucking his plump bottom lip into my mouth, feeling him squirm with need and then melt against me pliantly. I force my tongue into his mouth, and he meets me willingly, his fingers digging into my pecs, like he wants to crawl all the way inside me and live there, right next to my heart.
“East,” he moans as he starts humping my left thigh, grinding his hard dick against my pants. “I’m gonna come if you keep this up.”
“Don’t.” I bite into his lip, and he whimpers. “Don’t come yet. There’s more.”
“More?” He frowns, panting. “But East…” He shakes his head as he blinks at me, all love-drunk and adoring. “The tulips…” He gestures at the nightstand.
“There’s more,” I say simply, untangling his fingers from my shirt and pushing him towards my dresser until we’re standing right in front of it. “The second drawer. It’s yours now,” I say, and I think my voice shakes a little, but never fucking mind.
“It’s mine,” he states matter-of-factly, then turns, looking at me. “What do you mean, it’s mine, East?”
“Just what I said.” I smirk. “It’s yours. For your stuff.” He tilts his head, then licks his lips.
“But I don’t have any stuff. Here. ”
“Of course you do.” I gesture at the second drawer. “Now, be a good, obedient Bunny and open it.” He shivers, a flush blooming across his cheeks .
“Yes, Master,” he says, and my hardness makes it to an entirely new level, ready to burst through the fabric of my pants. I just manage to bite back a needy growl because this is not about me. This is about him. He reaches out and wraps his fingers around the handle, slowly pulling out the drawer. An entire rainbow of colours appears in front of us. First, there’s baby blue, then bumblebee—yes, Meredith told me because, to me, yellow is just fucking yellow.
“East?” his voice trembles. “East, what is this?” I can tell that he’s seconds away from tearing up; the small, telltale sniffles a sure sign.
“Go on, darling.” I nudge him, pressing a gentle kiss against his hair. “You’re only halfway there.”
“Halfway where?” he asks, bewildered, and I bite back a laugh because, damn, he’s just too fucking cute.
“Hmmm,” I nibble on his left earlobe. “Get on with it. I have plans with you,” I say, digging my hard-on into his crease, eliciting a deep moan from him.
“Yes, Mas—Master,” he stammers, his fingers shaking as he pulls the drawer out even more, revealing the next colour. Pear . Then comes bright lilac and, at the very end, an entire palette of pinks. Lace, melon, and peach . Sea , flamingo, and taffy. I memorised all the names, but don’t ask me which is which because I have no fucking clue.
“So many,” he breathes in awe, tears clinging to his lashes. “Are they all for me?”
“They are,” I say, pulling out a pair of the pink ones, little bunnies adorning the soft cotton fabric. He gasps, sending off an avalanche of tears down his cheeks.
“East. They’re…I don’t…But how?” he blabbers, reaching for the briefs like they’re the Jewels of Lima or some shit like that, then pulling back as if he’s afraid they’ll disintegrate at his touch. “There are bunnies,” he says, and I laugh.
“There are pandas, too. And baby giraffes.” I smile, pushing out my chest with pride. Making him happy is fucking addicting.
“There are?!” he squeals, clasping his hands together in front of him. “I love baby giraffes.” He beams.
“I know.” I laugh even harder. I love you .
“You don’t know that,” he giggles, finally closing his fingers around the briefs taking them from my hand.
“I do.” He shakes his head at me, murmuring something that sounds like ‘silly Master, ’ before he buries his face in the brand-new briefs, breathing them in.
“There are so many of them,” he muses when he eventually comes back up for air.
“There are just enough of them,” I say. “Now you never have to worry, my sweet darling. Not about anything.”
He nods quietly. I know what’s going through his mind right now. He’s worried I might mean it right now, but that, with time, it will become something that will make me think less of him. Oh, how wrong he is. Doesn’t he know that his vulnerability is one of the things I love the most about him? The fact he needs me, that I get to take care of this precious being I do not deserve, but will keep anyway.
“Nothing,” I say. “Nothing will ever make me change my mind about you, Benjamin.” He smiles softly, his gaze coasting along the rainbow of briefs.
“It’s like we’re…” he hesitates, and I can’t help but wish that he was wearing his bunny ears. Later. Later, I’ll dress him up, and we’ll play.
“What, darling?”
“It’s like we’re pee-pared,” he says with a snort.
“Jesus,” I groan.
“Where did you get them? ”
“Oh. Meredith’s place. She only just had them delivered last week. Said they’d be high in demand this spring or something like that.” He nods, dumbfounded at first, then smiles.
“She does have lovely things…shit, I still owe her for the shirt!” He looks mortified, his eyes spilling over with newfound shame.
“The shirt?”
“The green one,” he says. “You know, the one you couldn’t stop staring at, East.” He blinks innocently. “Like you wanted to tear it right off me and stomp on it.” Right. So he did notice that. My mortal enemy number one.
“Oh, that one,” I grunt. “We can pay for it next time.” I shrug.
“Next time?”
“Yeah, I ordered you some more stuff,” I say, remembering how I pretty much ordered everything soft, delicate, and pastel-coloured from the spring catalogue that Meredith showed me.
“You did?” he blinks eagerly, dabbing at the tears on his cheeks with the bunny briefs.
“Yeah,” I say, playing it cool like I didn’t just become ‘Customer of the Decade’ down at Meredith’s Modern Men’s Wear. “Now, put those back and open the next one.”
“The next one?” he looks close to bursting, or tearing the bunny briefs to shreds or perhaps both.
“Yeah. The third drawer is yours, too.”
“It is?” he squeals, and I groan, rubbing at my forehead, pushing the second drawer in and pulling the bloody third one out myself because, for fuck’s sake, we don’t have all day. I have plans for him. His eyes grow impossibly wide as he takes in the content. I placed all his bunny stuff neatly inside it. His ears and wristbands. His lingerie and stockings. The plug with the fluffy tail. “Master,” he murmurs. I reach for the very back and pull out the furriest and, frankly, ghastliest piece of clothing I’ve ever seen, but again, this is not about me, and I know Benjamin will faint or squeal or most likely both once he realises what it is.
And I’m right. Kind of. When I unfold the adult-sized pale-pink bunny onesie and hold it up between us, an animal-like screech tears from his lips and he starts bouncing up and down.
“Ohmygaaawd, Eeeaaast!” he cries, making grabby hands at the pink horror. “I always wanted one of these!” Of course he did. Hallelujah, praise Amazon. I had it delivered last week but hadn’t found the right time to give it to him yet. “Can I put it on?” he pants, near-drooling. “Can I, Master?” He blinks. “I know you want to fuck me real bad.” He gestures at the clear outline of my fat cock behind my pants. “But I just wanna try it on and then you can tear it right off again.”
“No need.” I smirk, turning the onesie around and presenting him with the back. His eyes go wide and crimson washes across his cheeks, down his chin, and all the way down his neck. His right hand flies to his crotch, and he looks like he’s close to coming, his gaze fixated on the flap on the back, just where the bunny’s bottom is.
He leaps into my arms, and I just manage to catch him, before we both stumble towards the bed, landing so that he’s straddling me. Showering me with kisses, he pulls at my shirt, the top two buttons flying off, the sound of fabric tearing.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He presses the words against my skin, his breath warm and moist against my collarbone. Then he sits up, his hair deliciously ruffled, his eyes swimming. “Don’t go anywhere.” As if. “I’ll be right back,” he pants, before sliding down my body.
“Where’re you going?” I grit out. I’m so horny I think I’m going to pass out or suffer an acute implosion of the balls, if that’s even a thing. He clutches the bunny onesie against his chest as he backs towards the bathroom, his eyes glued to my massive erection.
“Stay right there,” he says, smiling. “Get naked.” Then he seems to catch himself. “Please, Master. I’ll be right back.”