Chapter 9 #3
Yep, I was going to have to get used to bugs. The old rhyme about the old lady who swallowed a bunch of random things that “wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her” got stuck in my head. If I was going to be with this man, I would have to develop a stronger constitution at my advanced age.
But the iguanas were so cool. I’d jokingly called the tortoises dinosaurs, but these two looked even more prehistoric.
It was fascinating to me how like works of art they were, how they moved, so sinewy and menacing, just like the predators they descended from, but as Kendall plucked the male off the floor of the enclosure, the creature was so gentle.
He carefully crawled up Kendall’s arm and roosted on his shoulder, staring at Kendall like the sun rose and set in his eyes.
I feel you, dude.
“There are several different types of iguanas. These two are from Hispaniola. I’m getting two more—they’re Cuban Rock iguanas—and I might be taking on a tegu, but I’m a little concerned because he was a house pet, and I’m not able to provide that kind of environment.”
“A house pet? What is a tegu?”
He pulled out his phone and showed me pictures of him holding a giant lizard.
“They’re huge! Like it just walks around? How do people have that in their house?”
He snorted. “I’m from Florida, Francis. People keep all kinds of interesting things in their houses.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, but—”
“You can build a large cage, or I’ve seen people let them roam free.
Folks who love them say that they’re like dogs, and they’re usually not aggressive unless you corner one in the wild.
I don’t see the attraction of keeping them in the house, but the one I’ve been asked to take on is used to being treated like a house pet, so I might not be the best person. ”
“It would certainly be loved, though.” Romantic? Cares for animals? Will run into a fire for you? Check. Check. Check. He really did check all the boxes, even before I’d met his crew. Now there was no question.
“Can I?” I reached out to touch Richard Burton. I needed to know I could do it.
“Yeah, sure. He’s really friendly.”
“I’ve never seen one of these in person, but I watched a documentary once about marine iguanas in the Galapagos?
They’re amazing, how they had to learn to swim so they could eat the specific kind of sea plant to survive.
” I’d watched so many hours of television while sitting on the couch at Max’s.
That particular program, however, was one of the first things that started pulling me out of my moping.
If these amazing creatures could manage to survive under extraordinary circumstances, I could too.
The iguana’s skin was such an interesting texture. I’d thought it would feel scaly, or slimy, but it was dry and bumpy. It wasn’t creepy at all. I could see the appeal of these creatures the more time I spent here. It helped that Kendall’s enthusiasm was contagious.
“This pair was taken from an exotic-animal hoarder who had so many animals he shouldn’t have had. The local shelter was looking for folks who could take on the ones their staff wasn’t equipped to handle. I took them, as well as a pair of chameleons, who we’ll see next.”
“Why did you become a firefighter rather than working directly with the animals?”
“I don’t know. I guess after doing fire suppression in the Navy, it just made sense to go that route.
I had a family to provide for, and I knew I could get hired.
I didn’t go to college, so becoming a vet would have required a lot of schooling that I didn’t have the time and resources for.
I could just imagine coming home and telling my ex-wife, ‘Hey, I’m going reserves, but I’m going to go to college and further add to your stress, ’kay?
’ She would have had my man parts for sure. ”
“Yeah, I bet it’s hard when you’ve got kids. I think my mom would have liked to do something other than be a trophy wife, but she loved being a mom.”
“She didn’t work?”
“She’d tell you watching us boys was more work than ten full-time jobs.
That we were the bane of her existence, we turned her hair gray, made her old before her time, any number of complaints.
But she had fun with us. I think if she wouldn’t have fallen for my father in college, she would have done modeling or acting or something.
She was in a few plays in college before she dropped out to be with him.
See that? I come from a long line of frustrated artists, I guess. ”
He put his free hand at my lower back and rubbed gently. “Not frustrated anymore.”
I instantly relaxed into him. He was right. “I guess I need that reminder.”
Richard Burton started to climb down his arm, and Kendall bent to let him down into the enclosure.
“Even iguanas want to climb you like a fireman’s pole. Guess I’ve got competition.”
I was becoming so fond of Kendall’s exasperated laughter, I made it my goal to bring it out of him as often as possible. He had no idea how much I loved getting a rise out of him.
“And for our last stop—for now, until I get everyone totally settled—here are Debbie Reynolds and Tony Curtis. Now, if I were going to bring any of these critters into the house, it would be these guys, but they’ve taken to this enclosure really well.
They’re probably the ones who need the most amount of care.
They are grateful for your donation of crickets. ”
“Oh, my. You’re welcome. Wow, they’re such vibrant colors! I thought that only happened in altered pictures.”
“No, they can be incredibly bright. They change colors by stretching their skin to shift nanocrystals in the layers that reflect light. And they change by mood, for mating, humidity, and temperature. It’s incredible.
These ones are panther chameleons, and they’re usually found in Madagascar.
I really love Jackson’s chameleons, too.
They have little horns on their heads. Someday I’ll add some to my collection. ”
“You may not have gone to school, my darling, but you are so full of knowledge and wisdom. I love that I always learn something new when I’m with you.”
“That’s what happens when you get old,” he said, stretching out his back with audible cracks. “You live long enough, you’re bound to learn something.”
“Okay, Father Time. We should get you some sleep.”
“I guess,” he sighed, rubbing my back and pulling me in for a quick kiss. “I need to be ready to dance the night away with you tomorrow.”
“Mm. And other possibilities.”
I wasn’t nervous anymore.
He brushed my hair back and kissed me gently. “I’d like to make an addendum to our terms.”
“Addendum?”
His soft smile triggered a longing that had me questioning why we needed letters of interest or contracts anyway.
How could human biology and emotional response be minimized to bullet points and data charts?
How could the strength of my body’s reaction to Kendall, or the way our conversations stimulated my mind unlike anyone I’d ever spent time with before, be anything short of a miracle?
In just three weeks, he’d challenged me to rethink so many of my previously held beliefs.
Where would we be in six months? A year?
I could spend forever with him and learn something new about him every day, I could just tell.
“If we get through tomorrow night, and you’re having any second thoughts, you’ll tell me? You’ll know that it doesn’t matter to me if or when we’re more intimate with each other than we already are?”
“I know. And the same goes for you. I’ll understand. I certainly don’t assume that just because I’m ready, you—”
Before I could finish my sentence, Kendall had me off my feet and up against the wall of the barn with a grin on his face.
He’d moved swiftly but gently so I didn’t feel roughed up.
No, this kind of manhandling, I enjoyed.
I may have been smaller than him, but I wasn’t breakable.
He used the perfect amount of strength and pressure to show me exactly what he wanted.
“I don’t want you to have any doubts that I’m ready.”
He waited a moment as if to gauge my readiness.
I’m pretty sure my ankles hooked around his hips was the answer he needed.
He kissed me once, twice, with eyes open, and then he moaned as he trailed his tongue down under my jaw and licked along the column of my throat.
He shifted his hold under my thighs, bringing our groins together, and our eyes met.
“I had a physical when I joined the fire department here about eight months ago, and my tests were clear.”
“I, uh, it’s been longer for me, but I haven’t been with anyone for more than a year, and I was on PrEP before that. I can start again.”
“It’s been closer to two years for me.” He sucked my bottom lip into his mouth, and I gasped as it sent a jolt of pleasure down to where I was straining so hard.
“I’m more than happy to pick up supplies,” he added, running his hand over my ass, kneading the muscles with his thick, strong hand.
“Up to you if you want to go back on the meds. I want you to be comfortable. And I don’t want to assume anything about your preference—”
“I thought I made it clear I want to ride your fireman pole,” I said with a laugh, tilting my hips to get a little more friction. “I’m not opposed to topping, but I am undeniably a greedy bottom.”
He chuckled, tucking his face into my neck. “Such a hardship,” he said against my skin. “I’ll do what I can, but greedy?”
“Greedy. Uh-huh. I also really enjoy cuddling, showering, and reading together.”
That smile of his was back, the one I now knew to mean he was relieved, grateful, and excited at the prospect.
“That’s good, that’s good, because while I am certainly in the best shape I can be, I’m also forty-seven, and recovery times being what they are, those other activities may come in handy.”