Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Wylde
“Wow, pretty kitty, this place doesn’t even look like the same cabin you walked into a few hours ago,” I said as I drew him down to sit on my lap. “Thank you.”
With his tail curled around his hip and his lace-clad bottom firmly pressed to the front of my jeans, it was time to enjoy the feel of something soft beneath my fingers after how long they’d been sliding over the strings of my guitar.
After months of staring at it, pissed that I couldn’t play, it had felt damned amazing to grab a pick and start playing again.
What felt even better?
The feel of that tail beneath my palm.
“I loved watching you dance while I played,” I told him as he cuddled against my chest. “So fun and alluring. I can’t believe all you were able to accomplish. Our cabin looks like a real home now.”
“I bet you’re hungry, after all the work you did,” Thor said as he stepped into the room carrying a small plate of mozzarella sticks and marinara sauce, along with a second plate with a cupcake on it.”
“Is that for me?” Payne asked, perking up, though he didn’t make any effort to get out of my lap.
“It sure is,” I said, picking one up and dunking it. “Good kitties get treats, lots of treats, and special surprises like the one we have planned for you after your snack.”
“Really?”
“Yup,” Thor replied.
“Do I have to change for my surprise?”
“Hmm,” I murmured as I held the stick to his mouth and watched as he took a dainty bite and then licked the sauce from his lips.
“Ohh, that sauce is amazing.”
“All of the restaurants here at the Ranch are top-notch,” Thor explained. “If you’d like, we can dine at one of them tonight.”
“I’d like to cook supper if that’s okay? I haven’t gotten to cook in weeks, and I miss it,” Payne admitted.
“It’s perfectly fine with us,” I said as I dunked the stick and offered it back to him. “Is it part of the Meow Maids package or a bonus gift just from you?”
“At Meow Maids, we do far more than just tidying up,” he replied after he’d swallowed his next bite. “Our service model is that we cater to all your household needs.”
“Well then, we wouldn’t want you to break protocols and go against your service model,” I said. “Dinner here at home would be a wonderful way of honoring how homey you’ve made the space. If you’re free to stick around afterward, we could always put a movie on.”
“Could we play a game too?”
“We sure can,” Thor replied. “We’ve got several different card games and a few board games as well, unless you have something else in mind.”
His face lit up in one of those bright smiles again.
“I love card games, but I do have something else I’d like to play too. Picture mini-marshmallows and straws.”
I considered myself to be a man with a very vivid, very dirty imagination, which was why I immediately pictured him trying to suck a marshmallow through one of those wide straws they served with bubble tea, which happened to be one of my many guilty pleasures.
“You’re picturing it, aren’t you?” Payne asked as I offered him another bite.
“Oh yeah,” I replied.
Hell, I was having a damn good time just feeding him his mozzarella sticks, but then spoiling a sweet sub in any and every way imaginable happened to be one of the many things I loved about being a Dom.
Okay, so maybe that part, along with so many other things I enjoyed, is what had led to me being labeled a soft Dom, but it was a designation I cherished, though I wasn’t averse to meting out discipline when the situation called for it and the submissive clearly needed that kind of reinforcement from me.
In Payne’s Q I will listen to it when you’re behind the wheel because we decided a long time ago that the driver has control of the radio,” I pointed out. “But I draw the line at learning to play it, even for you.”
“Fair enough,” he replied as the occasional sound of Payne rummaging around in his room drifted from behind the door he’d closed. “But it was still good to hear you play again. Why’d you wait so long after your shoulder healed?”
Shrugging, I shifted from one foot to the other, suddenly realizing that I was still wearing my vest and chaps.
I’d put them on so Payne could see how dirty they were, knowing he had written in his introduction packet that he enjoyed bootblacking.
While I hadn’t expected him to clean them when he’d had a whole messy cabin to worry about, I’d wanted him to see what condition they were in so he could tend to them when he was ready.
Just the thought of him running his hands over all my dusty leather while it was still on my body left me needing to adjust myself on my way to the bedroom to take it off.
“A shrug isn’t an answer,” Thor called after me.
“Maybe, but it’ll have to do for now,” I called back.
I stripped everything off far faster than I’d put it on, but when I’d donned it, I’d been worried about making sure everything fit just right; now I was just eager to see Payne’s face when he saw the surprise we had in store for him.
I reached the living room as Payne emerged, preened, and spun, revealing that he’d shed one kitty tail for a much different, shorter one and exchanged his apron for a small pouch he’d secured around his waist.
Interesting. I wondered what he carried in it.
“I just couldn’t give up my tail completely,” he admitted. “So I swapped my house kitty tail and ears for bobcat ones, and I’m ready for you to surprise me.”
“In that case, let me escort you to your chariot, though I hope that tail is flexible, since we have to take the UTV to reach it.”
“All of my tails allow me to sit comfortably, for the most part,” he explained, angling his hips as he got in and sat somewhat sideways as he put his seatbelt on.
In that position, he could watch Thor while he drove while I watched them both from the back seat and occasionally stroked Payne’s hair and ears. He pressed into my touch each time I did it, a clear sign that he was enjoying the attention.
His gasp when the sign came into view was immediately followed by a squirmy shimmy as he wiggled in his seat.
“Reese’s Perfectly Imperfect Animal Rescue/Petting Zoo? Oh my god, how perfect a name is that, and I get to pet some of the animals? This surprise is the best!”
“I’m glad you approve,” I said as we parked.
He had to do a little scooting to get out, and I was right there to steady him and make sure that he and his tail had no issues as he extracted himself from the UTV.
Excitement vibrated through him as he excitedly looked around, waiting to begin the tour, the tip of his pink tongue poking out occasionally to lick his upper lip.
He’d reapplied the makeup on his nose and redrawn some of the whiskers he’d sweated off while dancing and cleaning, as well as the shimmery glitter that dusted his skin.
In short, he looked positively stunning as he waited to meet the animals, and just like that, the realization hit.
Two weeks with Payne wasn’t going to be enough for me.