Chapter Nine
Lionel
What are we doing? his lion hissed as Lionel was trying to keep his mind on track—staying focused on his mate as a person, rather than someone naked under a huge T-shirt.
We are getting to know our mate.
Getting to know him? His lion, rather uncharacteristically, was having a bit of a fit. He was clinging to you like a sloth. He was rubbing against your abs. His neck was right there. Why haven’t we bitten him?
Because we’ve got a bit more finesse than that, Lionel sent back.
Smiling—hopefully, he was still smiling.
Gods, Brad was gonna think he was an absolute idiot.
“Office? Yes, yes, I do have one in town. I arrange mortgages for people who get refused by the banks for various reasons. I have a network of third-tier lenders, second-tier lenders, that sort of thing, that I can call on. Not very interesting, I’m sure.
What is it you do again? You know, when you’re not delivering baked goods to hungry lions. ”
He already told you. He’s Brad, the construction worker . His lion was having a positive meltdown. Lionel kept smiling—he was sure he was starting to resemble one of those scary clowns.
“I’m a construction foreman,” Brad said, and there was a definite twinkle in his eye as if he could hear what was going on in Lionel’s head.
“I usually run a number of different jobs, at different sites, but at the moment my focus is on your friend Hector’s building.
He needs two teams to get all the renovations done before the little one comes.
I oversee the projects and lend a hand with different tasks that need doing.
You’ll find I’m quite skilled with my hands. ”
He winked.
He actually winked . Lionel mentally groaned. All he could think of was that Brad was naked under his shirt. Naked with a capital N . Lionel had tasted his mate’s lips, he’d had his hands on those tight ass cheeks. He’d…
“That all sounds really… er… er… er… physical,” he said, then realized how that might sound. “Not that I don’t think you can do it, because clearly you can. I’m sure you’re very talented with your hands, and… and…”
Tweaking my nipples, wrapping those fingers around my cock, teasing my… Gods, stop thinking about what he can do with his hands.
Brad laughed. “We’re not doing very well with this getting-to-know-you stuff, are we? Should I have put those pants on?”
“It wouldn’t have made any difference,” Lionel muttered. No pants—he’s just freeballing there. Fuck. Stop. Pull yourself together, man.
“I think it’s important to talk first,” he added.
“Not that anything you tell me is gonna change my mind about you. And I’m going out on a limb here, but I imagine you feel the same way about me.
It’s just, I’ve heard of people when they meet their mates, they immediately jump on them and start humping. I feel you deserve more than that.”
There, hopefully, that’ll make me sound a little less than a complete idiot. His lion didn’t think so if the snort was any indication.
Brad took another bite of his pie, and Lionel lost himself watching how the man’s lips were moving, the sexy way he chewed his food.
The cute way his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed.
Then there was the sensual arch of his unmarked neck, the hint of shoulder showing from the neckline of a shirt too big for Brad’s frame…
I’m torturing myself. Think of something else. “Have you ever dropped a hammer on your toe?” Lionel wanted to slap his hand over his mouth the moment the words left him. “I mean… er…”
“Yes, I have, actually.” Brad nodded, grinning wildly. “And I wasn’t wearing boots at the time, so yep, that hurt bad. I have also hit my thumb with a hammer so many times, it’s a wonder it’s not all swollen and misshapen.” He held up the thumb on his free hand.
Nope. Lionel wasn’t going to think of swollen appendages, nor was he trying to work out if the adage about a man’s penis length being three times longer than his thumb was true. Because if it was…
“Do you want to tell me what happened last night?” Brad asked, derailing the sexy thoughts. “You mentioned you wanted to explain when my poodle was trying to bury his nose in your T-shirt.”
That was the last question Lionel wanted to answer, but it was the one he should answer above all others. To be fair, he had said that he would. Brad was looking at him with such innocent eyes, as if he were someone important. Lionel really didn’t want to spoil that.
Inhaling sharply, he said, “I don’t do well in the dark. There. I’ve said it. I know that probably sounds ludicrous. I had a terrible experience when I was a child. I’m fine going out where there’s lots of people and lots of light, but I don’t like the dark.”
Brad was nodding, but Lionel hadn’t finished. “I also don’t like spiders, rats, lizards, basically anything that crawls in the dark.”
“Hey, having fears like that is perfectly normal,” Brad said supportively. “Lots of people have them. I just don’t understand, with you being scared of anything that goes bump in the night, what were you doing at a ghost hunting event? That must’ve been torture for you.”
“Thank you! Yes, it was hell.” Lionel took a quick swig of his wine. “But I had to go. Events conspired against me. Gods, I’m so embarrassed about the way I behaved.”
Brad’s hand was so warm in his, and Lionel put down his glass so he could cover Brad’s fingers with that hand.
I don’t want to let go. I know I’ll have to eventually, because Brad will have to go to work at some point, but wow.
Lionel had never felt such an intense connection with someone through such a simple action.
“Hector and Morty bought me the tickets. Well, two tickets. One for me and one for our friend Ian. I was the one who dragged Hector to the previous Bucket List Buddies event—dance classes—and that’s where he met Morty.
They were being nice by buying me and Ian the tickets. So, I couldn’t say no to that.”
“Ian?” Brad frowned. “I don’t remember seeing you with anyone last night.”
“That’s what I mean about events conspiring against me.
Ian’s sister went into labor last night.
She had a hefty boy, and yes, I sent a gift basket.
But Ian’s mom insisted Ian be there to run errands or something like that.
Between you and me, I thought it was a bogus excuse, but Maisie had the baby while I was off making a fool of myself.
“So then I thought I could swap my tickets for another night when we could both go, but Ian said he’d already tried that. The other nights were booked out. And Morty was texting me, so excited because he was determined I was going to have a wonderful time.”
“Oh, no.” Brad was trying not to laugh, Lionel could tell by the way he was chewing his lower lip.
“If you want to laugh, here’s something else that no one knows and never will—except for you.
I went to two different gas stations trying to buy a flashlight.
A flashlight! I have a flashlight app on my phone, but for some reason, I thought a flashlight would make me feel better.
Neither of the gas stations sold them, and at the second one, the guy laughed at me because he said my lion could see in the dark.
Which is true”—Lionel glared just thinking about it—“but my lion can’t see much if his eyes are closed.
He doesn’t like the dark either and runs the other way if he sees a rat.
He’s a loll around in the sun, flicking his tail at butterflies sort of lion. ”
“Wow.” Brad sat back, and Lionel instinctively tightened his hold on his mate’s hand. “You had a really shit night.”
“Yeah, well, that doesn’t give me an excuse for being so horrible to you.
” Lionel found it easier to look at where their hands joined rather than at Brad’s face.
“I should’ve been more aware of my surroundings.
I should’ve taken a tiny sniff of you at least—I mean, we all do it.
Except by the time you touched my arm, I was so shit scared and trying to disappear quietly, with the hope no one would notice me. ”
“I was worried about you,” Brad said softly. “I was trying to help.”
“I knew that after the fact.” Lionel chuckled wryly.
“Such a mess. I was so darn scared, it was like every nerve on my skin was raw and exposed. That’s why I shrieked—I felt that impact so much, and I wasn’t ready for it.
And then all I could see in that moment was an entire group of people I didn’t know, looking at me, ready to laugh and…
and… I hate that just as much as rats, mice, spiders, and lizards.
I’m so sorry,” he finished in a hurry needing to get it all out.
“Looking foolish is something I fight against every day,” Brad added, chuckling softly.
“You don’t have anything to apologize for.
I probably should’ve thought a bit more about where we were before I approached you.
You smelled amazing. I sensed you were in distress.
I wanted to help, even to the point of coming after you when you ran off.
Silly thing for me to do given your long legs and my short ones. ”
Lionel lifted his head to stare at Brad wide-eyed. “You cared enough to run after me, even after I became the town laughingstock?”
“You weren’t, and I did. You should’ve heard my poodle. He was equally determined, wanting me to shift in the middle of the street so he could try to catch you. Can you imagine it? My poodle sprinting along on his tiny legs?”
His chuckle warmed the cold spot inside Lionel that came from running away.
“I’m not sure I’d have noticed even if he was yapping at me. All I could think of was getting back to my car.” Lionel groaned. “I’ve definitely stuffed up our ‘how did we meet’ story, haven’t I? Not the sort of thing I want to tell our kids and grandkids one day.”
“We did have a meet-cute of sorts,” Brad said with a cheeky grin. “How many couples could claim that one partner was so overwhelmed, delivering food no less, that he shifted in the front seat of his car? Face it, that’s when we actually met, if you think about it.”
“Now you’re being kind. Thank you.” Lionel frowned. “I still don’t understand why you did that, though.”
“I’m actually a bit of a klutz with people in a social setting.
” Brad shrugged. “Give me a project with a team of men twice my size and I don’t blink.
I just get on with what needs to be done.
My men respect me because they know I can do the job, and it’s easy to be confident with things I know I’m good at. ”
“That is kinda sexy, too.” Who was Lionel kidding? Brad was sexy, full stop.
“Thanks. However, when a handsome man, who proves to be my mate, appears in a thin T-shirt, and sweatpants that hide nothing… I fall to pieces.” Chuckling, Brad added, “I’ve worked so hard to prove myself in the construction field that I really haven’t had the time or the energy to forge personal relationships just for myself, outside of work.
That’s why I was at the Bucket List Buddies event.
“I don’t mind the dark, and I thought the chance of seeing something spooky, or rather people getting spooked, sounded like a bit of a laugh. And it was, although believe me, I wasn’t laughing at you.”
“I know. You cared about me.” Lionel sighed heavily. “That still didn’t explain why you shifted when you got to my house today. You could have just sat there and drooled.” He grinned to show he was teasing.
“Oh, I was drooling to the point of incoherence. Face-to-face with you in the daylight, when I saw all those muscles. I just… Yeah, my poodle knew I was going to stuff things up when I could barely blurt out my name. He doesn’t have a high opinion of my social skills sometimes.”
“My lion knows I can behave out in public, provided it’s light, but he’s not too pleased with me in the mating stakes so far.” Lionel paused and then asked, “Is your poodle screaming at you, ‘Why are we eating food instead of testing out my mattress springs’?”
“Yep.” Brad nodded, giggling. “Being noisy about it, too.”
“Your poodle is going to get along great with my lion.” Lionel looked at the éclairs and the drinks—the pies were all gone—and then back at Brad.
“I want you in my bed, I really do. But I’m worried.
What if I don’t make this good for you? What if we do this and then you feel rushed?
I don’t want to rush you… but I do. I definitely don’t want you feeling uncomfortable with me.
” He huffed out a long breath. “I just really, really, really want this to work. I want you to be mine, and for me to be yours, and we can do that, or we could just eat the éclairs instead?”
Brad looked at the box with the two éclairs. Okay, so Lionel might’ve sneaked more than one of them while Brad was in the bathroom. “How about we save these for later?” he suggested, and then he winked. “Much later.”