CHAPTER 67
DAKOTA
Shoving the box of condoms into my backpack, I double-check it one last time for supplies. Change of clothes. Towels. Water canteens. Snacks. Two fluffy blankets. Enough condoms to last a decade. Check, check, and check.
I check in on Rabbit and Aggie again. They’re both seated with towels on their heads, and Rabbit is painting Aggie’s toenails for her. “I’m going to head out with Murr, guys. There’s dried meat in the containers and we’ll be back by morning.”
“Sounds good, Mom. Have fun.” Rabbit doesn’t look up.
Aggie waves and gives me the most obvious wink. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
Right. I’m not even sure what that might be. “See you tomorrow. Love you, Rabbit.”
I sling my pack on my shoulder and head out of the store, looking for Murr.
He’s lying on the pavement outside, wearing his kilt and surrounded by cats.
One cat is tucked under his arm, four more against his legs in a neat little row, and two more by his head.
Others are piled onto his chest, and he strokes and pets cat ears and scratches chins.
There’s a freshly dead wild turkey carcass nearby, with a few cats still eating, and feathers everywhere.
He looks like the picture of contentment, and a cat on his chest gives me a sleepy but accusing gaze.
I clear my throat. “Is this a bad time?”
The smile Murr gives me makes goosebumps rise on my skin. “Good time.”
He carefully moves cats off of him, easing them away from his legs and affectionately petting them before getting up from the ground. He moves to my side and pulls me in close, nuzzling my neck and pressing a kiss there.
“Ready to head out?” I ask, nervous like a schoolgirl now that we’re about to have our alone time. “I thought we’d head to a nearby bank. No one’s likely to head there because there’s no scavenging to be had. Banks are useless.”
“Fly?” he asks.
My eyes widen. Do I want to fly with him? Like…on his back? Or in his claws? Either way, I think my answer is no. I’m too much of a control freak to even consider my feet leaving the ground. “We walk.”
He shrugs, easygoing. “Dakota lead, Murr follow.”
I take his hand in mine, and as I do, I notice his claws are all shorn down to nubs. With a gasp, I lift his hand to study it closer. “What happened?”
The dragon-man chuckles. “Murr…bite.” He mimes cutting his nails short with his sharp teeth. “Make good for Dakota touch.”
For me? For sex? I’m touched. I kiss one fingertip. “Did it hurt?”
“No pain,” he reassures me. “Touch Dakota everywhere now.”
Oh mercy. Time to find that bank.
There’s a small, square building a few blocks away with a faded sign and an overgrown parking lot.
The ATM machine was demolished long ago, pieces of it strewn through the drive-thru, weeds growing through a few chunks of metal.
The glass doors are busted open, but the interior seems decent enough.
It’s quiet and dark despite the sunny day, and we head inside, looking around.
There are a few wooden seats with nicely upholstered chairs that haven’t suffered too much from nearly a decade of neglect, and I wonder if we should bring these back to the bookstore.
Would they be more comfortable for Dottie and Aggie? I touch one, considering.
Then I give it a pat, deciding. It’ll be there in the morning. Tonight is for me and Murr. I need to stop thinking about others for a few hours and focus on me and my new…husband.
The word feels strange. There wasn’t a big dress or a church to marry us. The only ceremony was a bite and some furtive touching on the hood of a car. It still feels right, though. Good. Strange, but good.
There are small offices along the main lobby, and I look for one without a desk in it so we can set our blankets down.
I find one where it looks as if the desk has been destroyed with an axe, likely for firewood, with the remains of it in the doorway to the tiny office itself.
I kick it out of the way so we can shut the door, and as I do, a postcard is revealed, taped to a piece of the desk.
Rabbit loves postcards.
I pick it up, pulling off the ruined bit of tape. It’s a photo of the Grand Canyon, the picture faded but still legible. I take it over to one of the chairs, setting it down so I won’t forget it when we leave.
Murr watches me. “Dakota good?”
Immediately, I feel foolish. Here I am fussing over postcards for my daughter and chairs for Aggie and Dottie when I’m supposed to be having intimate time with my partner.
“I don’t know how to relax,” I confess to Murr.
“I’m so used to being on alert, being prepared to look after someone, or trying to figure out our next meal.
It feels wrong to leave for a day, and yet I know it’s not. ”
He moves to my side, pulling me into his arms. I drop my backpack and lean against his chest, enjoying the simple pleasure of a hug.
His skin feels so pleasantly warm, but not as scorchingly hot as before.
It’s because his bite changed something in me, I think.
It adjusted my body temperature so his isn’t quite such a stark difference.
Murr presses a kiss to the side of my neck from behind, still holding me close. “Stay? Or leave?”
“I want to stay,” I reassure him. And I do.
I’m allowed to have fun. Adult fun. This will be good for me. For both of us. I reach for Murr, holding him as he lavishes kisses on my neck.
Time to put that blanket down in the office.