Chapter 1
Chapter One
Alton
I really should’ve clarified what the matchmaker had meant when she’d asked if I liked bears.
Shit. Had that been speciesist?
“Can you tell me what you’re thinking?” The slight Southern accent with a hint of something foreign coming from the…
gentleman on the other side of the picnic table made the whole situation even more surreal.
He had been very polite, though, so gentleman was probably the right word unless it offended him.
Would it offend him?
“Bears.” Shit. I’d answered. At some point I’d have to stop doing that. “Um, the matchmaker asked if I liked bears and I thought she meant big gay guys. You know, slang for hairy and bigger.”
She hadn’t.
Maybe?
His lips twitched in what might’ve been a suppressed smile, but I didn’t know him well enough to figure out if he thought I was funny or if I’d offended him.
“She has a bit of an interesting sense of humor from what I saw, so she might’ve meant both.
Although I’m not a bear and don’t really identify as anything bear-related. ”
So I hadn’t offended him?
“Um, because you’re not related to bears or because you don’t really do typical… um… human gay culture?” Fuck. I was going to end up being chased off without even getting a coffee date first. “Was that… please let me know if I offend you. You’re the first… I’ve never met…”
Shit.
I’d never met a Bigfoot before… and the handful of random facts I did know weren’t helpful in the slightest because they might not be accurate at all.
Shutting up seemed like the best plan, at least until I could get my brain to regroup, but it gave Malik a chance to respond too.
“You aren’t offending me and I will very clearly articulate why something is offensive if we get to that point.
” His gentle tone was completely at odds with the fact that he was broad as a house and had to be at least seven feet tall.
“I understand you’re going to have questions and I’m just glad you’re giving me a chance to get to know you better. ”
Huh?
I must’ve looked confused or just stupid because he gave me a real smile that time and gestured toward the picnic table we were currently sitting at. “I was expecting you to take one look at me coming out of the woods and turn around to leave.”
Oh.
“Well, that honestly hadn’t occurred to me.” Should it have? I guess watching a Bigfoot coming out of the woods in a plaid shirt and jeans could’ve been overwhelming to some people. But I was there to meet him and he was kind of sexy in an unexpected way. “That seems… um… rude?”
I liked the lumberjack look and his aura had radiated something special.
And if I was being honest… I’d answered yes to that bear question, so the body hair didn’t faze me even though there wasn’t as much around his face as I’d expected.
“I’m confused and not sure what to do, but leaving before we talked hadn’t occurred to me.” Partly because the matchmaking fee was nonrefundable if I was a dick and partly because she’d been so confident we would be a good fit for each other.
Her aura had been questionable when she’d talked about a lot of things… money being one of them… but it’d shone when she said she’d found my perfect match.
I wanted my match more than I wanted to let fear lead me astray.
“We talk.” He shrugged, broad shoulders going up and down distractingly. “We get to know each other a bit and then we see what happens from there.”
“You make it sound so easy.” Dating hadn’t felt easy the past couple of years but I was hoping that had come to an end. “Has anyone ever said you have a beautiful aura?”
Instead of telling me I was weird or asking me if I’d taken my meds, he smiled. “No, but thank you.”
My brain was still struggling because nothing she’d said made me picture anyone who didn’t at least look mostly human, but Malik’s was still working fine so he picked up the slack again. “I don’t see them but I’ve met people who can. Are they distracting for you?”
“Sometimes.” Like when I met a really unexpectedly pretty one. “It was worse when I was a kid, but I’ve gotten used to it for the most part.”
When he simply waited quietly and watched me, I realized a bit too late he was still curious.
“The distracting part is mostly when a lot of people are in one place. Like picture a work event or dinner party where everyone is flashing different colors. Places like that are where people lie and boast and don’t always let the best side of themselves shine… literally and figuratively in my case.”
And then there was when I was slightly anxious and worn down too.
He chuckled, the smile lighting up his face again. “That would be distracting. Most people seem to struggle in those situations. Is that why you were looking for someone who lived a more rural life?”
That’d turned into the understatement of the year considering how far out in the middle of nowhere we currently were sitting.
“Yes.” Not that this was what I’d pictured. “I can handle busier areas but it takes a lot out of me. So when she asked the type of location I’d like to live, I imagined something quieter and with less people.”
I wasn’t sure if I should’ve been more specific, though.
Malik smiled again. “What thought just crossed your mind?”
Ugh.
I could see he was trying not to laugh as he shrugged. “You have a very expressive face.”
That was going to get me in trouble eventually.
“Um, I was wondering if I should’ve been more specific when I described my perfect place to live and… and then I was wondering what kind of house you lived in.” I was an idiot. “I wasn’t going to ask that out loud, though.”
Yep, I was an idiot.
“You really can’t ask me things unless you want to know the answer. I can stay quiet but my inside thoughts become outside thoughts when… when a Dom asks me questions.”
He might not have been human but the beautiful tint to the edges of his aura meant Dom.
Well, Daddy from what I’d been told, but we hadn’t gotten to that point in the conversation yet.
Until now.
Ugh.
Slow breath in.
Slow breath out.
The matchmaker said we were compatible and Malik had been nothing but nice so far. He’d even walked over slowly to give me a few seconds to get my bearings because it’d probably been obvious I hadn’t been expecting him.
I’d thought meeting out near the state park meant he’d be a shifter of some sort.
That had been an assumption I should’ve clarified sooner.
Malik’s eyes sparkled again. “That’s going to be helpful when you’ve been naughty.”
I could feel my face heating up as my cheeks started to ache but I refused to back down from the necessary conversation…
or what might’ve been him flirting. “I’m generally a very good sub.
I… I like making my Daddy happy and… and when I find the right headspace to submit, I have a very young Little side. ”
It was just hard to find it living in the city.
I was an idiot to have put myself there to begin with, but I’d been dead set on trying to live as a regular human and had just ended up torturing myself.
Which honestly seemed to be a very human thing to do, so I might’ve been successful in my attempt to blend in.
“What kind of things do you need to find the right headspace?” His question was logical, but it took my brain a few too many seconds to figure out an answer.
He must’ve thought I was worried because his smile turned gentle again.
“I like a younger headspace if that’s what you’re worried about, but if you’re not ready to talk about that part of your life, you just have to let me know. ”
Swallowing hard, I sat straighter and tried to look like a functional adult even though I wasn’t one at the moment. “No. It’s not that. I’m just. I think it’s just taking my brain a bit to catch up with reality.”
Instead of being offended, which he’d have had every right to be, he raised one eyebrow and tried to look serious. “Never had a date with a Bigfoot before?”
Trying not to smile, I shook my head. “And I haven’t had a date with a Daddy in a long time either.
I’ve been living in mostly human areas and that’s usually fine for making friends and casual situations, but it’s hard when it comes to dating.
And… well… our world doesn’t have an overabundance of Daddies at the moment. ”
That was one of the main reasons it’d taken me so long to approach the matchmaker.
No matter what everyone had said about her, there weren’t that many Daddies in our world at the moment, and no matter how careful I was, human ones always ended up thinking I was a bit too weird in ways they couldn’t explain.
Chuckling, Malik shook his head. “So you’ve got a lot running through your head from every direction.”
That was an amazing understatement.
“How about I do my best to clarify some of the top things I think are on your mind and then we’ll settle into actually talking about date stuff?
” He smiled as I gave him a tentative nod that I felt kind of bad about.
“Alright, let’s see. General societal highlight.
The name Bigfoot is not offensive, most of us find it funny and no one can pronounce the original name we called ourselves.
Mostly because only scholars speak the language.
I do. I’m scholars but that’s not the point. ”
Well, that was good because I hadn’t seen the word since I was a kid.
“Okay, personal stuff. I have a real house.” Cocking his head, he got a thoughtful expression I thought was cute as he sorted through what he thought was important.
“I was homeschooled in a small community, but a lot of it was through online courses, so I was able to get my master’s in ancient history.
I know that’s weird, but it came easy to me with all the history that we have available to us. ”
He must’ve run into people that thought it was odd, but it seemed logical to me. Humans might not keep up with their history very well, but the groups of others they shared the world with were more careful.