14. Sarah
SARAH
Oh, my gawd.
Kelran had gotten him sorted, alright, in a getup that should have looked as comical as Kelran did.
That was not the case with Doran. He strutted out of the lone changing room looking like someone who’d just walked out of a gaslamp urban fantasy novel - chocolate brown trousers that clung to his perfect ass and powerful thighs without being ill fittingly tight, a waistcoat in a soft fawn color that set off his coloring beautifully, and under that a crisp cream colored shirt with a stand up collar that had those two little folded down collar tips framing a bow tie that matched his pants perfectly .
A darker brown pair of Chelsea boots graced his feet, their luster gleaming under the shop’s lights.
And on top of his head, a bowler hat whose shade matched his boots.
He shifted his weight, glancing away. “I look stupid, don’t I?”
I licked my lips. “Can…can I see your wings out in that?”
He looked startled at the question, and glanced around. “Um, okay, if I move over here, there’s enough room for me to let them free some.”
“The shirt and waistcoat are wing-friendly,” Kelran added, sounding satisfied at my stunned reaction.
Doran stepped over to where he’d indicated and flexed. His wings emerged, and he unfolded them halfway.
“Dear Lord. That’s even worse.”
“It is?” Doran looked dejected, his shoulders slumping, and I felt like a shit for not being clearer.
“Read the room, Doran!” Kelran chuckled, and I blushed, mortified, as Doran lifted his head and sniffed. I knew exactly what they were smelling.
“Ohhh.” Happiness blossomed across his face as Doran tucked his wings back away and turned to the shopkeeper. “Yeah, I’ll take these and the pattern for it all. And a pattern for the jeans, Stetson, work shirts, and that other pair of boots.”
“You got it. Need any base matter?”
“No,” he replied over his shoulder as he returned to the changing room. “That little one there keeps us topped up, and I’ve got all that grass and scrub still where the greenhouse’s got to go to bring once I’ve cleared it.” He pulled the door shut behind him.
“He brings the stuff he’s cleared here?” I asked, unsure if I’d heard that right.
“Yes. I’ve got an industrial sized recycler, so for a small fee, households can use it to fill a matter container. Basically it's rental of the containers, as sometimes someone gets careless and tosses the empties they put in the trailer with their junk and recycles them too.”
“Why not simply replicate new ones and sell them?”
He grinned. “Because I get more credits renting them. If they buy, they bring them back almost every time. If I only charge a rental deposit every time, half the time they forget, or don’t bring enough.”
“I see.” It was rather ingenious, really.
The changing room door opened, and Doran stepped out, dressed once more in the black uniform pants, shirt, and scuffed work boots he’d come in, his new outfit draped over one very sexy bare forearm.
His nostrils flared. “I think we best wrap our transaction up,” he said, and I blushed. I could feel the fire creeping up my neck all the way to the very roots of my hair.
“Ba ba. Ba,” Laura said demandingly. I peered around her stroller to see she was making grabby hands towards Doran, arms up in the air.
“She wants you to pick her up.”
“Ba ba, Dor,” the baby demanded.
“She’s adorable,” Kelran said, smiling down at her. “How old is she?”
“Umm, they said thirteen months and a bit. She can toddle a few steps holding onto stuff, but mostly crawls around and scoots on her butt still. And her speech is still getting there, but she understands most of what we’re saying when we talk to her.”
Doran nodded vigorously. “Yes. I’ve only known her for a day but can tell you she is very, very smart.” He sounded as proud of her as if he was her father, and my heart filled, imagining how he’d be with my three.
And maybe a baby if you get the show on the road.
“Is there anything else I can help you with?” Kelran asked as Doran set the clothing on the counter before turning to lift Laura out of the stroller.
She gave him a smile, showing off the few tiny teeth she had, patting his face happily.
She was fascinated with his facial hair.
For that matter, so was I. Beards had never really done it for me before, but the short but thick scruff he kept well groomed suited him perfectly, making him look a million times hotter than he would without it.
“Sarah?” Doran prompted.
“Dor, dor, dor,” Laura babbled happily, planting a sloppy kiss on his nose that was more open mouth and drooly than a proper kiss.
Kelran laughed, and I giggled. It was too stinking cute, and I’m pretty certain my ovaries just literally exploded at how indulgently he looked down at our little charge.
“Um, yes!” I said, jerking myself out of my stupor. “I’d like some flour and any locally grown vegetables you’ve got.”
“I’ve got locally grown and milled flour, alright.
Gryk’s put up a small mill to process his grain.
I’ve got three types. Fine, which is great for pastries and cakes, and regular, that’s a good all purpose choice that even makes fantastic bread.
Now those two are wheat, but I’ve also got coarsely ground oats. ”
“Can I have a bag of each of those? And are they labelled?’
“You bet they are! I’d best deliver those, though, seeing as you walked here.
These are big sacks. I can deliver a sack of what you humans call space potatoes and space carrots too, and I’ve got some onions.
Would you like some fresh milk, too? I’ve got fresh kilt-ha milk.
I can even deliver some to your door every morning.
I hired a delivery worker who is willing to get up so we can make deliveries of milk and eggs before wake-up. ”
“Yes, please. Um, a gallon of that milk, please. I’ll let you know if we want morning deliveries.”
I grabbed the clothes off the counter, tossed them into the stroller’s seat, and took off out of there like my ass was on fire as Doran had begun tickling Laura under her chin, and it had finished tipping me over the edge.
Forearm porn and hot, literal daddy porn, right there.
I couldn’t get home fast enough, and he’d just have to sort out payment without me.
“A shower,” I muttered, abandoning the stroller and its contents by the front steps. ”Yep. That’ll cool me right down.”
It did, too, right until he got home, singing and bouncing her on his hip.