Courted
Chapter twenty
Charlie and crew had never treated me the way these men did. Even Kienan went out of his way to find out what foods I enjoyed most and made those more often for me. Salad never showed up on the table now that he knew it triggered me.
On Saturday, Vale took me on his date. He hadn't gone completely feral since he'd made the connection to my smell pulling him back and now he carried a handkerchief that I scentmarked daily. All of them carried the same item, actually, insisting they needed it for a hit whenever necessary.
"Here you go," Vale opened the car door for me and waited until I was settled before he leaned in to buckle me into the seat.
"I can do that myself."
"I know. But you don't need to." He carefully shut the door and rounded the car to get into the driver's seat.
Zephyr climbed into the backseat and put on headphones, an obvious method of showing us he wasn't paying attention to us.
I gave him a smile to show I appreciated the effort and turned to Vale. "So, where exactly are we going?"
"To a really pretty picnic spot."
"I've never been on a picnic." I grinned at him, excited for the adventure ahead.
Vale hadn't let me help with anything and had done all the preparations, including loading the car without me. I hadn't seen him take out food or anything for a picnic, so he must have hidden it in the trunk.
"Want to pick the music?" he asked.
"Really?"
He handed me his phone, already set up so I could choose a song I liked. It took me a few minutes, but I found something I'd enjoyed as a teen and put it on.
"Hope you like Lady Gaga."
"I do." Vale smiled at me and patted my hand before driving carefully out of the driveway and onto the road. He looked nervous as he headed along the highway. It was a small one, winding through farmland, but he seemed extra tense despite the lack of traffic.
"Are you okay?"
"Fine." He seemed too focused to talk, so I leaned back in my seat and enjoyed the music, searching for the next song to put on when this one finished.
It only took four songs to reach the turnoff and then another three before we pulled into a small clearing at the end of a dirt road. Trees surrounded us, the sunlight filtering through the leaves.
"Stay put." Vale hopped out and ran around the car to open my door.
Zephyr got out and stretched, looking around, but he hung back as Vale opened the trunk and started to pull stuff out. He had an actual picnic basket in there, as well as a rolled-up picnic blanket. He held the blanket out to Zephyr who threw his hands in the air.
"You're on your own, man. I'm just here to make sure you don't beast out."
"You can carry a freaking blanket," Vale muttered, throwing it at his friend.
Zephyr caught the blanket and laughed, but kept bopping his head to his music.
"I can carry something," I offered. Of course, he wouldn't hear of that.
We headed into the forest, following a narrow, barely-there trail that wound through the trees, with Vale carrying a small cooler and the picnic basket. I had to smile at how seriously he was taking the courting. It was like he thought I wouldn't accept him if he didn't do this perfectly.
Zephyr walked behind us with the picnic blanket, whistling to his music.
My legs were starting to burn before the trail abruptly ended at a lake. A crystal clear creek burbled along one side of a small, rocky beach. Grass and wildflowers stretched from the forest edge to the beach, giving us plenty of space to spread out the picnic blanket.
"This thing is plastic on the bottom so the dew won't get you wet," Vale explained as he unrolled the blanket. It was a dark blue check with a soft flannel top and canvas-plastic bottom.
Before I knew it, Vale had opened the picnic basket and cooler and was setting up enough food to feed an army.
"I'll just go sit over here and drool," Zephyr sighed, heading for the opposite side of the clearing.
"Stop being an idiot. Come eat." Vale waved him over. "You can fuck off after your belly is full."
"So kind of you." Zephyr pulled off his headphones and looked at all the food. "Where do I even sit?"
Vale pointed at the corner closest to the creek, then grabbed my hand and tugged me to the end near the forest. It let us look out over the lake while we ate.
"This is really beautiful, Vale." I took the plate he'd put food on and smiled. "It's been so long since I've been out in nature. I forgot how calming it was."
"We found this place while we were out hiking a few years ago," he told me. "All of us used to hike a lot, before…" He trailed off, his face downcast. "Well, after the health issues, it was too dangerous."
"Maybe we can start hiking?" I suggested. "If my scent pulls you back, having me dripping in sweat should keep you on track."
Vale laughed and even Zephyr cracked a smile.
"Maybe, baby, just maybe."
The food Vale had brought was just as incredible as the view.
Mini hoagies, deviled eggs, hummus with vegetables and pita chips, an entire cheese board with a dozen types of cheese, fresh fruit, and sparkling water in three flavors.
For dessert, he pulled three mini cheesecakes out of the cooler.
"Do you prefer chocolate, dulce de leche, or pineapple? " he asked.
"Can I have a piece of each? I've never even heard of dulce de leche."
"Of course you can." He divided each cake into thirds and shuffled the pieces around so we each had a cheesecake made up of all three flavors. "I told you the first day, you can eat whatever you want, when you want. I will always make sure you have what you need."
"So will I and the rest of the guys," Zephyr said.
"This is my date, Z," Vale shot the other man a scowl. "When I say I'll provide, you don't chip in with a Musketeer chant. Go eat your cake on that log over there."
Zephyr laughed. "I'll be right over here if you start feeling feisty."
"He's already feisty," I joked, taking a bite of the chocolate cheesecake. "Oh, wow, this is good!"
Zephyr did a great job of disappearing into the trees. We knew he was there, but he had his headphones on, which gave us some semblance of privacy.
I helped Vale clean everything up once we'd polished off our cheesecake or most of it. I'd ended up too full to finish, but Vale promised to save the rest for me to enjoy at dinner or for a bedtime snack.
Once the blanket was free, he folded up his cute picnic basket and set it aside before producing two pillows and laying them on the blanket. "Come here. If you want."
He stretched out on the blanket, one arm open in invitation, the other behind his head. The man looked good, his shirt riding up to show off his flat stomach, his piercings glinting in the sunlight.
"Just don't tickle me," I warned, flopping down beside him.
I curled into his side, my head fitting perfectly into the dip of his shoulder.
He smelled so amazing out here, like part of the landscape with his wet stone scent mingled with tree bark.
"I think you were made for nature, Vale.
Even your scent mixes with the trees and the lake. "
"Still prefer lemon," he said with a smile. He looked down at me and I saw that his eyes, while dark, were really brown with specks of gold in them. Beautiful.
"Any piercings I can't see?" I asked curiously, touching a finger to his snakebite.
Vale shook his head in disbelief. "I was talking about lemon scent and you went straight to cock piercings?"
"What? No, I didn't!" I protested. "I meant like nipples or bellybutton!" Narrowing my eyes as he shook with laughter, I asked, "Wait… do you have cock piercings?"
"I do," he confirmed. "And pierced nipples. No bellybutton ring though."
"Oh. Wow." I shook my head. "Wasn't that insanely painful?"
"Very, very painful." He shuddered. "But the worst part is after. You can't get off for a long time."
"That sounds awful. I could never." I lay there thinking for a minute. "Why did you do it?"
"Because I wanted to see what it looked like. And I heard it makes sex more pleasurable." His cheeks turned pink and I found it oddly endearing.
"Well, does it?" I was curious.
"I don't know," he said quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"I, uh, never had sex after I got the piercings."
"Really? But you've had sex, right?"
"Of course, I'm a thirty-year-old man," he chuckled. "The possibility of going feral is higher if you experience intense emotions. Sex could cause me to go into a rut as a feral and it could be disastrous."
His grip around me tightened. "I don't want to hurt you."
"You've been fine for three days. When was the last time that happened?"
"It's been at least a year." He looked sadly out at the lake.
"You don't realize how much something like this affects your lifestyle until you start wanting things again.
My life has just gotten smaller and smaller over time.
I don't remember the last time I left the house. Or talked to someone outside my pack."
"Vale, I hate that for you."
"I'm not trying to get you to have sex with me out of pity or anything," he said briskly, tugging his arm out from under me and sitting up. He wiped his arm across his face. "It's not that. It's just being here with you reminds me of how much I've lost."
"We're going to get it back for you, I promise.
" I wanted to tell him to claim me right here and now, but something stopped me.
Maybe it was Zephyr sitting just a few yards away, or maybe it was the fact that he would absolutely take it as a pity fuck right now.
Whatever it was, I held back and just sat there beside him as we watched the waves on the lake.
After a rousing game of rock skipping, we finally packed everything up and headed back to the pack house. The sun was sinking low in the sky as Vale pulled up in front of the house.
Zephyr got out and went into the house, leaving us alone in the car.
"I had a lot of fun, Vale. This was the best first date I've ever been on. Also, the only one I've been on, but that doesn't make it any less special."
"I'm glad you liked it. I thought you'd enjoy a picnic. Let's get your cheesecake into the fridge so it won't go bad."
"Wait. Aren't you supposed to kiss me at the end of a date?"
His eyes widened. "Do you want me to kiss you?"
"Yes, Vale, that's what I'm suggesting." I smirked at his shocked look.
Then he was right there, his lips on mine, his hand cradling the back of my head as he devoured my mouth. That's when I discovered he also had a tongue ring.
We kissed for what felt like a couple of minutes, but when we finally came up for air, the sun had dropped behind the trees and we were sitting in twilight.
"Guess we should go in," Vale said reluctantly. "Thank you for the kiss, sweet girl."
"Thank you for the picnic."
He let me carry the cooler with my cheesecake inside. As we stepped through the doorway, both of us still rosy-cheeked and smiling from making out, we found Zephyr and Kienan trying to hold Dean back as he snapped and snarled at us.