Chapter 27 How to Build a Tent #2
He swiftly spread out the towel and gripped my pelvis with his huge hands.
He held my lower body up in the air while my upper back rested on the mattress.
His cock rubbed the front wall of my hole, and the firm tip must have been digging right into the closed gate to my womb.
It pushed the big red button with surgical precision.
“That’s an interesting position,” he mused, speeding up.
“Coming.”
“Already?”
“Higher.”
Lifting my hips higher, Ernest managed to make the angle even better. My cum hit my chin, so I scooped the drops up and licked it. It tasted interesting. Sweet compared to Ernest’s.
Of course, seeing me do that, Ernest growled. He drilled into me, pulling my body onto his cock, sending me into another climax almost immediately after the first. By the time he came, I was positively liquefied.
We slept naked, cuddled up in the conjoined sleeping bags.
In the middle of the night, I had to pee.
The sky had cleared, and I stared in awe at the magnificent gradient of colors.
There were no man-made lights in at least a forty-mile radius, which should have made stargazing incomparable to anywhere else I’d ever visited.
But the night lasted only about five hours down here at this time of the year and was lighter, the sun hiding just below the horizon.
A bottomless space opened above my head, studded with the unfamiliar constellations of the Southern Hemisphere while an almost turquoise glow rose from behind the black mountain peaks in front of me.
Behind me, the snow-covered top of the volcano reflected the colors, the blue almost electric.
Ernest climbed out of the tent after me.
“Where have you gone?”
“Just needed to pee.”
“Come back, it’s cold.”
“Look at the sky.”
He hugged me from behind and nuzzled the hollow under my ear. “So you like it here?”
I felt my face stretch into a wide smile. I didn’t have words to express the stunned reverence the sight brought. So I just nodded, and Ernest held me while I tried to memorize every detail.
The next day, we circled above Monte Burney and flew to the Alacalufes reserve. In broad daylight. I petted my dragon and stared around me in constant amazement.
Maybe I did die the night at the New Year’s gala. In that case, I must have done good because I’d ended up in the best circles of heaven.
We saw humpback whales, seals, and penguins; we soared above glaciers and dove into valleys. In seven days, we traveled almost a thousand miles along the coast. Going north, the weather got warmer, and the nights darker.
And for the entire trip, we didn’t see a single person. Sometimes, we noticed a cargo ship in the distance, but Ernest seemed to have some kind of sixth sense that alerted him to the presence of any humans, so we always managed to avoid them.
I would have easily stayed for a few more days, but we were running out of supplies, and judging by how deeply and long Ernest slept each night, he must have been tired.
I didn’t think he could survive on ramen noodles much longer.
I still had no idea how he could fly such distances in that enormous body and not need to eat a couple of sea lions for breakfast every day.
The night in the western part of the Chonos archipelago was supposed to be our last before we’d return to civilization.
The breeze had been quite strong during the day but calmed down in the evening, so we built the tent near the highest peak and prepared a quick dinner from the last pack of dehydrated food we had with us.
We made the short trek to the top just before sunset.
Ernest kept me warm, holding me to his broad chest, while I did what I’d done most of the time on our trip to Chile—I stared with my mouth open.
The few wispy clouds lit up in fiery orange colors, getting purple overhead, and the ocean turned into a liquid gold.
“I’m like the sun,” Ernest said thoughtfully.
“You are?”
“Uh-huh. I do my very best right before the deadline.”
I choked out a broken laugh. “That’s an awful joke.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“It’s appalling. Don’t ever say it again. Especially not when we could be having a romantic moment.”
“Romantic. Hm.”
He lifted me off his lap, placed me on a rock, and moved away. I turned to see what he was up to.
“Ernest?”
My mate got down on one knee onto the grassy ground and dug into the pocket of his hiking pants. Grimacing, he muttered a soft curse, trying and failing to fish something out of the deep pocket.
“I should have planned this better,” he said. “There it is!”
Except he fumbled and dropped the small item into the grass.
“Oh fuck, Lawrie, I’m so sorry.”
Trying to hold back my laughter, I patiently waited for him to retrieve the ring.
“Got it.” He smiled victoriously, dimples popping, but then his smile faded again. “Now you know what I’m going to ask.”
“I’ve kind of figured it out, yes. Ask anyway.”
“Okay. Lawrie, I love you more than anything in the world. Do you want to be my husband?”
And that was how Ernest asked me to marry him. After that terrible joke he’d just made, it was on the tip of my tongue to say something snarky, like “well, duh” or “not that I have a choice,” but seeing that hopeful, adoring look in his eyes, I couldn’t ruin it for him.
So I said yes and that I loved him and let him slide the thankfully simple engagement ring onto my finger. We stayed on top of the mountain, watched the sun sink into the bright red ocean, and we even waited for the first stars to show. The moon illuminated the short path back to our tent.
When Ernest led me down the incline by my hand, he was smiling smugly, his chest so puffed up, he was all but preening.
“You do understand it’s just a formality, right?” I said. “I’m a sure thing. I have it from multiple reliable sources that breakups do not happen among dragon folk.”
He paused on the rocky field, turned to me so he faced me full-on, and glowered down at me.
“Our marriage will not be a mere formality, Lawrie.” Uh-oh. Now he sounded mad.
“I didn’t mean it like…” I tried to correct some of the damage, but he was already on a roll, the gold in his eyes flashing in the moonlight. Ernest looked impressive when he was pissed.
“I love you, respect you, and I want to celebrate that I’ve found you.
I consider myself lucky to have you and will sustain our relationship the best I can.
Since the law offers us better protection if we’re married, I want that for us as soon as possible.
But I also happen to have this romanticized idea that marriage can be something precious and beautiful, and I want that for myself.
So there. You might think I’m old-fashioned, but I’m looking forward to calling you my husband.
Also, I’m hereby informing you that I’m paying off your student loan in full as soon as we come back, and that’s nonnegotiable. ”
He clenched his jaw, still frowning, but I could see hints of uncertainty around his eyes. My darling Ernest.
“Are you done?” I asked, putting my hands on my hips.
“Depends on whether you’re going to contradict me or not,” he said, looking more and more unsure.
“I’d love to be called your husband, and I’ll even take your last name. You can pay for whatever you want, and I’ll be a good boy and say thank you. It wasn’t my intention to make light of our marriage. You didn’t deserve that, and I apologize.”
Ernest narrowed his eyes. “I sense a ‘but’ coming.”
“There’s no ‘but’, Ernest. I didn’t understand how important it is to you, and now I do.”
“And you wouldn’t care either way?” He looked at his feet, and my heart clenched.
“About getting married? Honestly, not so much.”
He frowned again, eyeing me apprehensively.
“Let me explain.”
“Okay.”
“Remember what you told me the day we found out we were mates? I belong to you, and you belong to me. Whether we’re married or not, I’ll always love you.
I would never make light of our relationship, Ernest. You are the most important person in my life, and I do want to marry you.
” Seeing his expression soften, I smiled at him.
“I’ll sure as hell enjoy a romantic wedding and a sex-crazed honeymoon somewhere remote. ”
Ernest chuckled, and I took a step closer, placing my hand on his chest. “I liked you the first time we met, when you got trapped in that revolving door. I told myself you were out of my league.” He scoffed, about to protest, so I covered his lips with my fingertips.
“Then suddenly, you were mine. All mine forever. And the more I know you, all of you, the more I understand how privileged I am to deserve your love. So while our marriage won’t affect how I feel about you, I’ll be proud to be your husband, Mr. Bracknell. ”
He swooped down and kissed me.
When we made it to the nearest town the next day, Ernest consumed his body weight in empanadas while I nibbled on my ceviche. The red wine was excellent, fruity and smoky, and I got a little tipsy, which amused my mate to no end.
“It’s not fair you can’t get drunk.”
“One of us has to be able to find our way back to the hotel,” Ernest pointed out.
“I could find the way if I needed to.”
“I’m sure you could.”
“I’m capable.”
“You’re so cute when you’re drunk, Lawrie.”
“I’m not drunk. I’m buzzing a teeny tiny little bit.”
“You’re cute when you’re buzzing.”
“Did we go this way before?”
“It’s the street where our hotel is.”
“Oh. See? I would find the way.”
“Uh-huh. Careful, steps.”
“I know.”
The building was old with no elevator, and I leaned on Ernest as we climbed the narrow stone stairs, my head spinning.
“Maybe I am a little drunk.”
Ernest laughed and scooped me up into his arms. He carried me easily the three stories into our bedroom, and then he bathed me. I was almost sober again when I knelt between his legs and took his cock into my mouth. He made the best noises when I sucked him off.
After Ernest had fallen asleep, I lay awake, snuggled to his side. The streetlights illuminated the room a little orange, and the engagement ring glistened on my finger. I looked at it for a long time, getting used to the sight and feel of it.
I pondered what it symbolized and what it meant to Ernest. A promise, care, stability, and a family. Ernest was offering me the safe haven I’d lost when my dad died. We’d build it up together, and I’d cherish it.
And by the way, the name Lawrence Bracknell sounded sophisticated.