19. Bjorn #2
Bjorn did have a vague memory of that scene, now that Dennis had described it, and he leered.
“I’m happy to kiss you whenever you want, with or without the assistance of pasta.
But if I’m in bear form…maybe avoid getting too close to my teeth while I’m chewing.
Not that I’d bite you!” he added quickly, realizing belatedly how bad that had sounded.
“Just, like, don’t stick your hand in an open bear mouth, you know? ”
That got a derisive snort out of his mate.
“That sounds like a helluva life lesson. But sure, I won’t stick my tongue in your mouth when you’re a bear.
I’d probably end up with a mouthful of fur in the best of cases, which, ew.
” He made a show of scrubbing at his tongue.
“That happened to me from your chest the first night we slept together. I swear I’m still coughing up hairballs. ”
“Hey, that's rude,” Bjorn protested. “It’s not my fault if you licked me in your sleep.”
Dennis threw up his hands. “I didn’t lick you in my sleep!
There was just fur everywhere! You’re incapable of sleeping without wrapping yourself around me and my face ends up -” He was interrupted by the sound of a doorbell, because apparently this fancy hotel room even had a doorbell so no one had to do anything as low-class as knock.
“Oh, I bet that’s dinner.” He eyed Bjorn, still kneeling naked on the floor, and shook his head. “You just…wait here.”
Bjorn grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and covered himself while Dennis went to the front door.
He admitted an awkward-looking teenager in a 1930s-style bellhop uniform, who pushed a rolling cart into the room.
“…hope your dinner is good, sir,” the boy was saying when he got through the doorway, then promptly froze at the sight of Bjorn sprawled out nude, covered only with the thin fabric.
He…probably should have gone into the bedroom rather than relying on a blanket. Oops. “Uh, sorry,” he muttered, looking down awkwardly. “I, uh…”
The boy shook his head firmly and grinned. “You wouldn't believe some of the things I've seen here, sir. This isn't even the weirdest today. Enjoy your dinner.” He stopped the food cart next to the dining table, accepted his cash tip from Dennis, turned on his heel, and was gone within seconds,.
The door shut behind him and Bjorn and Dennis stared at each other for a long moment before bursting into simultaneous laughter. “Oh my god,” Dennis wheezed, “his face.”
“I think…” Bjorn managed through his laughter, “my balls have retreated inside my body in humiliation. That poor boy didn’t sign up for this.”
Dennis managed to catch his breath long enough speak. “I love that no matter how weird people in the room were, he didn't forget his tip.” He leered at Bjorn and wiggled his eyebrows. “Though by rights, people ought to be paying you for a view of your muscles.”
“Yeah?” Bjorn lowered the blanket, returning Dennis’s leer. “Well, I'm available for your viewing pleasure all night.” Should he…fuck it, he was gonna. “Or any other sort of pleasure you want,” he added in a purr.
Dennis considered him seriously for a second, and then smiled. “Let’s eat dinner and then we can decide what kind of pleasures tonight is going to involve. We do have a king-sized bed, for a change.”
Bjorn’s mind immediately flew to the things they could do tonight in that huge bed, distracting him from what he was doing, and he tripped over his own foot as he tried to stand up to head to the table.
Dennis, across the room, had no hope of catching him, and Bjorn crashed face-first into the couch cushions with a resounding thwack. “Owww,” he whimpered into the leather.
A stifled snort, and then, “You ok over there, big guy?”
Bjorn didn’t raise his head. “My humiliation is complete. Just leave me here for dead.”
“There’s shrimp here for you,” Dennis countered in a sing-song, tempting voice. “And garlic knots, and I might even let you have a bite of my pizza if you’re nice.”
Ooh, grease-slick lips meeting in a slippery kiss… Bjorn raised his head and clambered to his feet. “I’m convinced.” This time, he managed to cross the room without any disasters befalling him, and he pulled out the chair next to where Dennis had settled. “Hey.”
Dennis smiled back and pushed a wide bowl toward him. “Shrimp scampi, sir.”
It looked delicious, the shrimp plump and juicy, the pasta well-coated in buttery sauce.
As if on cue, his stomach rumbled. He was always hungry after a shift, voluntary or not, so he should have expected this.
He shot Dennis an apologetic look for the carnage he was about to wreak, seized his fork, stabbed up a shrimp and some pasta, and shoved the bite into his mouth. Oh, damn, that was good.
Dennis chuckled quietly, then picked up a slice of his pizza and brought it to his mouth. “Remember to chew,” he told Bjorn before taking his own bite. His eyes fell closed in apparent bliss. “Mmm.”
Bjorn swallowed his own food and watched Dennis savor his bite.
Yes, those rosy lips were indeed slightly greasy from the pepperoni’s oils, and damn, he wanted to kiss them.
He waited until Dennis had swallowed, then leaned forward and pressed their lips together, gathering the slightly spicy taste and the slickness off his mate’s lips with his tongue.
Dennis moaned into his mouth and a surge of joy went through Bjorn. He was pleasing his mate! But then Dennis pushed lightly at his shoulder. Oh no, was Dennis not into this? Trying not to show his disappointment, Bjorn drew back. “Uh, sorry.”
Dennis shook his head. “Definitely do not apologize for kissing me like that. I just don’t want us to get distracted by making out, skip eating, and waste what I'm sure was very expensive food.”
Well, that was a weight off his shoulders. Bjorn breathed out and looked down at his hands, then nodded. His mate spoke sense. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s fair. Let’s eat and then make out.”
“Hell yeah.” Dennis raised his pizza back to his mouth. “But I refuse to kiss a bear. So keep that in mind.”
Well, if that wasn’t an incentive to rise above his shifting instinct, nothing was. Bjorn was resolved: he’d stay human tonight.