13. Chapter Twelve
Chapter Twelve
Noah
I sat there, blissed out, for quite some time.
Finally, I grabbed a paper towel from the table and did a passable job of cleaning up. I’d take a shower later. For now, I needed to get out of the house. I whistled, and three pups appeared.
Well, Stormy came immediately, with Sable and River trailing behind.
I gave them my most winsome smile. “Who’s ready for training?”
Stormy dropped to her butt and waited for a treat.
“Good girl.” I let her lip one off my hand.
Then I gave the hand signal for sit .
Of course, I had to guide the younger two into the position. Soon, though, I rewarded them. “Why don’t we go out to the training pen?”
Stormy eyed me .
“You’ll manage without something every time.” I snagged three training leashes and headed out.
After a fashion, Stormy followed.
River and Sable followed as well. Wherever the older dog went, they were quick to follow. That might work for now, but there’d come a time when Christian would want just Stormy, and everyone shouldn’t get too attached…
My heart seized at even the idea that my best friend might leave.
What did you expect? That you’d grow old together here? Never meet someone else? That neither of you would, at some point, want space of your own? How ridiculous is that?
I put Stormy and Sable into the sit position while I clipped the leash to River and gestured for us to walk.
He balked, instead trying to get back to his sister.
Who ran forward to meet him and to glare at me as if to say how dare you separate us?
And you thought getting two was a good idea. I’d never had two, and I figured training them couldn’t be that much more difficult than training one—which was, admittedly, the most I’d ever had.
About twenty minutes later, the younger dogs were tuckered out and their attention was completely used up.
I placed them in a smaller pen—with a couple of food puzzles—while I worked with Stormy.
Whip-smart and eager to please, she was a delight to deal with.
That relieved me because I didn’t want Christian to grow tired of her.
I could manage three dogs, of course, but having back-up felt like something smart to do.
Which circled me back to my best friend.
I put out bowls of water for the dogs.
Is he right? Have I only ever chosen men who look like me?
The sentiment felt wrong, but evidence proved him right.
I didn’t want to delve too deeply, except a pattern was emerging.
No wonder Christian never thought he had a chance.
He was a nice guy. I never managed to pick nice guys.
Maybe I felt I didn’t deserve better? Because tons of super-nice guys were out there—I just happened to pick a lot of duds.
A lot of lemons.
I’d never been able to make lemonade. I’d honestly thought Leroy was the one for me. And how fucking wrong I’d been on that score.
After the dogs had drunk their fill, I chose some balls to throw.
Only Stormy understood the concept of retrieving the ball.
Sable and River would catch the ball, then plop onto their bellies and begin gnawing on them.
Super adorable.
“I’m off.” Christian yelled the words from the back porch. Then was gone back into the house before I could respond.
My phone sat heavy in my pocket until after lunch. Call him? Text him? Pretend nothing happened…? Yeah, that option wasn’t likely.
Still, I was in high spirits when Hadrian showed up with Dag for their private tutoring session.
Dagobert, whose name had mercifully been shortened, was a bit of a scamp. The German-shepherd cross was smart, cagey, and had developed an attitude.
My job was to help Hadrian manage the dog now, before the situation got worse.
I left my three in the house—and would likely do that for the next couple of sessions. Eventually, though, I wanted to introduce Dag to other dogs so his manners might improve. Although fixed, he still insisted on trying to mount everything—including my leg. I wasn’t, to say the least, impressed.
Still, at the end of the hour, I felt progress had been made .
Well, hoped we’d made some headway. Whether Dag was still moving forward next week would be up to Hadrian and how much work he was willing to put into the training.
The rest of the day was uneventful as I pored over my inbox and found a couple of clients had emailed me.
I also had a couple of calls—one, a referral from, of all people, Soren.
I owe him a call . As well, several people were replying to the flyer I’d left at the pet store.
Two couldn’t make their way to Foggy Basin, so I planned to spend a half day on the road seeing them in their homes.
That meant leaving Sable and River at home in their crates.
Not the most-fun prospect, but they needed to learn to self-soothe.
Plus, their crates were right next to each other.
They’d have company and, just as likely, would sleep all day.
Knowing Christian was working late at the grocery store, I decided to leave the leftover lasagna for another day, and I whipped up his favorite stir fry—ginger beef with extra sprouts—and had it waiting for him.
He showered quickly and joined me at the table. His normally burnished-copper hair was a shade darker, since it was still damp. He dug into his food with enthusiasm, so I let him be while I enjoyed my meal as well.
Not shabby. You’ll need to do more now he’s working all those hours.
Because we were roommates and best friends. People in that kind of a relationship did nice things for each other. I was certain of it.
As he neared the end of his meal, I ventured to speak. “So…”
“Yep.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “That was delicious.”
“What would you like tomorrow night? I mean, we could make a schedule, or I can just wing it.”
“I can cook too, you know.”
“You’re busy at work. You’re tired when you come home. ”
“And yet millions of people cook when they get home—and that’s just in our country.”
I pursed my lips. “You’re still contributing more than I am. I need to find more clients.”
“Any leads?” He stacked our dishes.
I stilled his hands. “Yes, but that’s not what I wanted to say.”
“Well, congrats on finding more people to help.” He cocked his head, not pulling away from my grasp.
“Thanks. We can talk about that later.”
“Okay.” An easy grin.
“We’re still not dating. But I was wondering if you’d be interested in learning how to receive a blow job?”
His pupils dilated. Just like that. “Uh, okay…”
“Your bedroom? Or the couch or here or—”
“I haven’t swept the floor.”
“I can—”
“Let’s not lose the momentum, shall we?” Still clinging to my hand, he tugged me up. “My room will be just fine.”
We scrambled upstairs, and he had his jeans undone in seconds. “On the bed?”
I eyed the pile of pooches who’d followed us. Should’ve crated them . “Yes, bed might be safest.” I pivoted to Stormy and pointed. “Bed.”
She went obediently and, as I predicted, River and Sable followed.
Turning back, I found Christian on the bed with a pillow under his head and a very erect cock curled prominently. He’d rucked up his T-shirt, leaving a massive expanse of bare skin, including two nipples, all just begging to be kissed. To be worshipped.
“You’re so beautiful.”
He rolled his eyes .
Don’t roll your eyes at me. Who told you that you weren’t attractive? Who made you feel less than? Even as I said the words in my mind, though, I knew.
His parents.
They might not have ever criticized his appearance in front of me, but they’d made other derogatory comments. Like I wasn’t even there and couldn’t hear. To my shame, I’d only spoken up once.
Mr. Carter had reminded me that my mother worked for him.
I’d learned my lesson—and had always kept my mouth shut after that.
Well, I’ll just have to keep telling him how attractive he is until he believes me . I almost pointed out that Malcolm had found him attractive, but that was just a little too weird.
I knelt on the bed and crawled over to him.
He held my gaze.
I lowered my mouth to his nipple and sucked it into my mouth.
He sucked in a breath.
Taking that as a good sign, I nibbled, laved, and nipped the bud.
He raked his nails through my short hair in the way I loved. Funny how he knew that about me.
Slowly, I kissed a trail over to his other nipple—giving it just as much attention.
That elicited another moan.
Satisfied I was making progress—and amazed he’d never had this done to him before—I kissed my way down his sternum to his belly button. He only had a smattering of hair, and I liked how it tickled my skin.
I swirled my tongue in his navel and then moved lower. When I reached his cock, I straddled his hips. This way, I could watch his reaction as I took him in my mouth .
First, though, I licked the drop of precum on his tip.
His eyes took on a dreamy quality that softened the green of his irises in the light filtering through the gauzy curtains covering his windows—that kept out the setting sun.
I tongued his slit before pulling him into my mouth.
He bucked.
I placed my hand on his hip even as I swirled his length around in my mouth.
He tasted so damn sweet. I wanted both to savor this forever and bring him to a climax at the same time.
Knowing I had to choose, and optimistically believing we might do this again, I grasped his balls in my hands and gently rolled them, all while sucking for all I was worth.
“Uh…um…Christ…”
Cute. Christian never swore, so, for him, that was true blasphemy.
“Noah, I’m coming—”
Was all the warning I got as he spurted into my mouth. I swallowed as much as I could. As I glanced up, and caught him in the throes of passion, I lost focus. I popped off him too soon and—
Yep.
His cum went everywhere.
Everywhere .
Oops.
I wiped my face on the hem of my T-shirt even as he let out a long exhalation and his body relaxed.
“That was…”
I waited, but apparently words were beyond him. So I scooted off the bed, tromped to the bathroom, wet a washcloth, washed my face, and headed back into his bedroom.
Stormy lifted her head in vague interest, but I gave her the stay signal. She resettled right away .
Sable and River didn’t move a muscle—completely exhausted by the day’s adventures. Okay, so keeping them occupied is going to be the key to having special time with Christian when he comes home from work.
He’d played with the dogs immediately upon stepping in the door—but had, after about thirty minutes of that—headed for the shower.
Wait…we’re going to do this again?
I placed the washcloth on his belly and tried desperately to clean up the mess.
He cracked an eye. “Sorry, I think we may need to practice this one a little more. I came too quickly, and you got it up your nose.”
I laughed—likely as he’d intended.
We did try again. After a bit of time. Because refractory periods were a thing.
I might’ve fallen asleep in his bed that night.
So we won’t have to separate the dogs.
Right…just keep telling yourself that.