Chapter Twenty-Five
George
It wasn’t often that George got out of bed before his lovely demon, but Scott was still sleeping soundly when he slipped out, took a quick shower, and then went to inspect the contents of his refrigerator. There wasn’t a lot there—basically because he’d spent most of his time since meeting his mate at Scott’s place. But a quick trip to the corner store just down the road, and George had the fixings for a decent breakfast. He’d also bought buns in case Scott got up and immediately wanted to get to the office. At least George could take solace in that he’d sent Scott off with a meal.
When Scott stumbled in twenty minutes later, he didn’t seem to be dressed for the office. He wasn’t dressed at all. He had one of George’s comforters wrapped around him, with just his head sticking out. His hair was still all over the place, and George smiled widely.
“You’re just in time for breakfast. Did you sleep well?” He wanted to say something about “ignore the mess,” but he didn’t want to attract Scott’s attention to his everyday clutter.
“Hugs first.” Scott shuffled around the counter as George hurriedly shoved the fry pan off the heat. “I woke up, and you weren’t there.”
“You had a busy day yesterday. I wanted to provide you with some sustenance.” George pulled Scott into his arms. “Demon heroes who double as busy executives need their food.”
“Merihem won’t let me into the office.” Scott yawned. He didn’t seem upset about it. “Him and Dakata want to see us in the forest this afternoon. By the way, Merihem found your taxi. That’s being delivered here in about an hour.”
“For someone so sleepy, you still manage to get a lot done,” George teased, dropping a kiss on Scott’s mussed hair before taking a longer smooch when Scott tilted up his face. “We don’t want the eggs to go rubbery, babe,” he added when they finally pulled apart. “Have a seat. I’ll bring you a plate.”
“I love this.” Scott must’ve still been half asleep because he shuffled back around the counter and dropped into the nearest chair, pushing aside a pile of mail George had left there. “Your place is so much more homely than mine. I don’t think I’ve ever slept so well and every room smells… amazing.” He blushed a bright pink, like he’d just realized what he’d said aloud.
“That could be the bacon you’re smelling.” George quickly served up the food onto two plates. Don’t get your hopes up. “Here,” he added as he came around the counter with the plates, putting them on the table. “Eat this, and you’ll feel more like yourself.”
“I don’t want to feel like my other self. I want to feel like this. Warm. Comfortable. Loved.” Scott picked up a knife and fork and looked George right in the face. “I think I need help with that.”
Suppressing his happy dancing bear wasn’t easy, but George managed to confine his glee to a wide smile. “Then you’re in the right place. Eat first, babe, and then tell me how I can help.”
Scott
He meant it. He would need help, maybe. The fear had driven out all of his old behaviors because nothing was as important as George’s safety to him. They had expressed that repeatedly over night. Scott had let his demon have his way, and he’d let him have his way again if George got to moaning the way he did when…
His demon was laying back once more, fanning himself, utterly smug about his conquest of their blissful one.
He loved it.
Maybe, but don’t get your hopes up that he’ll want to do it again.
You leave that to me. You just keep with this relaxed, no fuss pot vibe going and we’ll be all good.
Scott rolled his eyes at his demon and munched on the crispy bacon his stomach demanded. It was the smell, and the lack of a warm body pressed against his that brought Scott out of the bedroom. He’d grabbed the nearest thing to hand to wrap around his body—it smelled of George. It comforted him, which he and his demon half were still in need of. The text he had gotten from Merihem telling him to take a few days off left him not in the least bit conflicted.
Leaving George, no, he wasn’t ready for that when he did not know if the threat to George was definitely over. The message said little, only requesting them to pay a visit to the forest later today, with George.
There was also the issue of whether George would be upset about whatever Merihem and Dakata did to the great buffoon.
Asshole. Fucktard. Shit head. These are more like it.
Yes, well, that may be the case, but we don’t want to upset George. He’s suffered enough.
“Is there a reason you’re scowlin’ at the bacon?” George asked, a worried furrow appearing as he eyed Scott’s plate.
“I…” Scott sighed, and he caught George tensing. “Your father…” he held George’s gaze. “Will you be upset if they—”
“Got rid of his superior attitude about what he can and can’t have that belongs to me?” He shook his head. “I’ve spent years hiding, worrying about when he’d finally catch up with me.” A black look appeared, one Scott had never witnessed before. “The fucker was gonna milk me like a cow.”
Scott pushed back from the table, body shuddering with outrage. The comforter fell to the floor as he glowered. “He was going to do what!” he bellowed, his demon ready to emerge and hunt the fucker down and chop off his hands—even though that had probably already been done.
George chuckled and placed his cutlery down, pushed back his chair, and patted his lap.
They didn’t need words, Scott was on his lap in a heartbeat.
George held him close, his nose nuzzling into Scott’s hair. “You saved me.” Those three words swept away the anger, and Scott’s body responded to the bulge growing under his ass.
He lifted up for a kiss and wasn’t disappointed when George gave him one that curled his bare toes and left another part of him straining for attention.
Somehow or other, sometime later, Scott was sweaty and sticky, lying in the center of George’s enormous bed with his blissful one, breathing hard and pinning him to the covers.
He grinned up at the ceiling, not feeling in the least bit guilty about the fact George had… ravished him, “On a workday,” he giggled.
George shifted and rolled, bringing Scott with him to settle on top of him. “Workday?”
Scott blushed, or he probably would have if he wasn’t already flushed from their make-out session. “Doing this”—he pointed between them—“during work hours. A workday.”
The hand stroking down towards his ass paused, and back was the tension filling George’s body. “Is that a problem?”
Nothing about the tone suggested George was worried, but through their connection, Scott felt it. He understood his past behavior, which he’d already said he’d need help with from George, was to blame. He made himself a little more comfortable, lying fully on George, folding his arms on top of George’s chest so he could rest his chin on them and meet his gaze. “I have OCD, I know I do, and by acting the way I have, I’ve made you feel…”
“Worried I’m not enough for you,” George whispered.
Scott accepted the stab of sorrow at the words because they were the truth. “I felt like I was the one not good enough for you. That because I’m different, ‘not perfect’ that I needed everything around me to be perfect when I’m not.”
George’s growl was all threat. “Your family’s got a lot to answer for. There is nothing wrong with you.” He slipped his hands under Scott’s armpits and dragged him up his body until their lips were nearly touching. The skin sliding against skin got a groan from both men, but George never wavered. “No one is perfect, not a soul alive. Me and my bear, we want you here in our home. Want you to make a home with us. We don’t care about whether or not your behavior is perfect. Whether the house has a little clutter here and there. None of that matters ‘cause we have you.”
Scott gave a very undignified sniff and did his best to blink back the tears stinging his eyes at the sincerity of his bear's words. “I want to promise that stuff won’t make me want to tidy and clean, because we know I’d be lying. But you might want to offer… a reward system to me to distract me.” As Scott said it, he and his demon warmed to the idea.
Sexual rewards.
Behave.
Hell no. I might even encourage you to go all fuss pot for sex.
“Reward system?”
“Yep. Say I have a bad day and I’m annoying you with my behavior, you offer me a reward. We could make a chart where I get to pick something.”
George’s smile was so wide it nearly stretched to his ears. “This I can totally get on board with.” He rolled them once more, his arousal digging into Scott’s hip. “So, what do you have in mind to put on the list?”
“Snuggling with your bear,” his demon said for Scott.
The light in his eyes made Scott melt with the warmth. “My bear would be very agreeable to that.” He rubbed his nose down Scott’s, kissing him softly. “What else?”
~/~/~/~
Scott carried in two of the suitcases he had packed in his old home and brought them into George’s house. His blissful one was behind him, hefting the other two. “How many suits did you cram in here? And how the heck do they weigh so much?”
The grumble was all amusement, and Scott fired a grin over his shoulder at the man who had had a lot of fun in creating a reward list to distract Scott when his need for control got out of hand. “You have my shoes, not the suits.”
“Shoes, suits, they still weigh a ton.”
“I just brought as much as I think I’ll need,” he replied, placing the suitcases in the spare bedroom that had a big, empty closet that was going to be Scott’s. The room had a set of drawers and a very comfy-looking armchair that would work for an office seat.
“I can’t see anyone needing twenty suits,” George muttered good-naturedly as he placed them carefully next to the other ones. “You look good wrapped in my comforter or…” his gaze became heavy lidded, and a flare of desire appeared in the depth of his eyes, “naked.”
“I’ve created a monster,” Scott stated, lifting his hands to ward off the man coming towards him. “We have to go, head to the forest. We don’t want to be late.”
Are you sure? Look how cute our honey bear is with a pout.
His big shoulders shrugged, his jacket tightening around a bicep as he ran a hand through his messy hair. And pouting as his demon pointed out. “We could go tomorrow?”
At how hopeful he looked, Scott wanted to give in. Only his innate sense of work ethic and the hate of letting people down, had him shaking his head. “Dakata is still my boss. And as much as I want to stay and…” he waited for a beat, “unpack.”
George snorted and reached into his pocket. Cell phone in hand, his eyes alight, he tapped at the screen. “Reward, pick one.”
Sneaky. You did that on purpose. His demon sounded shocked.
So what?
I like it.
Scott huffed and came forward to look at the screen. “I’ll take the back rub. After lifting those suitcases, I could do with one.”
George gave him a suspicious look. “You did that on purpose,” he accused.
Scott kissed his once more pouting lips. “Who me? Never.” He gave him a saucy smile. “The quicker we get to the forest, the quicker we get to come home.”
George’s face transformed into a stunning smile. “I like how that sounds.”
“Getting back quicker?”
“No, that you see this as your home.”
Heart trembling at the emotion George conveyed as their gazes held. Scott cupped George’s cheeks and kissed him softly. “Any place with you in it is my home. The walls don’t matter, it’s the contents that do.”
The kiss held a dreamy quality as they lingered, holding each other.
When George pulled back, he reached for Scott’s hand. “Ready?”
Scott wasn’t sure he was when it meant that work would once more come between them. “As I’ll ever be.”