8. EION
Chapter eight
EION
Angus slipped under my arm, and his hand found its way back to my thigh. I was impressed that he was comfortable being physical with me. His confidence was sexy, and I was settling into the feeling of him there with me.
“Barnaby has been through a lot with me. I wouldn’t be here without him.”
“Obviously, there is a story there. Do you want to share it with me?”
“Not tonight, but I will. Angus, I want to share so many stories with you.” What made me say such a thing is beyond me. I’d lost my fucking mind. I went from not being able to talk to having no filter at all. “I’m sorry, Angus, I shouldn’t have said that.”
He cocked his head and squeezed my thigh. “Why?”
Great, he would hit me with logic and expect me to answer his very sensible question. Now, how would I answer it? “Because. I. Well.” Come to find out, I didn’t have a great answer for him. He bailed me out by continuing.
“I’d like to know more about you. It feels like there might be some interest between us since you did invite me here to feed bears and eat with some deer.”
I really liked this man. “I’d like to know more about you, too. How bout we put these guys away and go feed some baby bears?” This time it was me with the big smile.
My chest was against his back as I helped hold the cub, and Angus held the bottle of milk. Alan tried to climb up his leg while his sister Amanda chowed down on her lunch. We were down to three meals a day, but even with more solid food, they were hungry.
My entire body quivered while Angus giggled against my chest. “Eion. Eion. I am feeding a baby bear.” Then there were more giggles.
“Yes, you are.” The giggles didn’t stop, and it warmed everything inside of me.
“Eion. They are so cute. Can I do this every day? Do you do this every day? How can you be grumpy at all when you feed cubs every day?”
Apparently, the babbling applied even when he was happy.
It struck me that nobody would ever know he was such a gentle soul by looking at him, but his enthusiasm was infectious, and I grinned behind him.
Every day, I fed these sweet cubs and forgot how incredible it was.
Angus had just reminded me that what I do is a gift.
The urge to kiss the side of his head and tell him he could have anything he wanted from me was bubbling at the surface.
The way we were sitting, I could smell his shampoo, his body wash, and whatever made him a man.
It aroused me to a point that took me back to high school when a stiff breeze would get me hard.
“You can feed them whenever you want for the next six months, then they get to go into the big enclosure with Bethany.” I looked over his shoulder, and he looked up at me. Something passed between us. That was definitely a spark, and I wanted more of them.
“Shit. Ouch.” Alan had bitten his knee, undoubtedly breaking the skin. The moment between us vanished, but not the feelings it stirred.
“Alan, you naughty boy.” I took Amanda from Angus and set her over in the bedding where they slept.
“I really wish we had a better nursery for these larger animals.” Amanda rolled on her back, her belly clearly full.
I had never shared my animals with anybody like this, but I wanted Angus to meet all of them.
“She’s even more adorable with a full belly. ”
I handed him Alan, getting him settled. He was easier to hold, but they were getting big, and I was going to have to start sitting on the ground while they ate. “You ready to feed another one?”
“Yes. Yes. Best date ever.”
I chuckled and placed my hand on his shoulder while I got him situated.
After a minute, I realized my hand was still on his shoulder.
It felt like a magnet had me locked there, and an electric current ran between us—it was pleasant.
When I had the opportunity to lean over his shoulders to help, I did.
When the bottle was gone, I took the sleepy bear and placed him next to his sister.
“You did well. They are happy and full.”
“I want to do it again. Can I take a picture of them?”
I couldn’t blame him for wanting to document this moment. Feeding bear cubs was amazing, and it was something I wouldn’t take for granted anymore. “Of course.” He stood up, took pictures of the sleeping bears, then took about six more.
“Okay. Now you get down there with them.”
“What?” I looked at him.
“I want pictures of you with the bears.” He blinked at me and smiled sweetly. “Please?” Fucking hell. He already had me wrapped up in him. I squatted down next to the bears and smiled. Then he came over and took some selfies with both of the bears and us.
“Okay. I’ll remember this forever. Thank you for letting me feed them. I will be taking you up on your offer to let me feed them again.”
“I can’t wait.” His smile made me feel good. “Let’s go eat some food. I cooked for us.”
“You did? I can’t wait.” We left the enclosure and walked side by side toward the medical building, where I had stashed the cooler with our meal. “Why can’t you have the large animal nursery? Is it space?”
That wasn’t the question I had expected, but it also proved he had listened to me.
It hadn’t been something I realized I’d wanted, but it felt good to have someone hear me.
“No, we have the space. To be honest, it’s money.
The donations I receive cover the cost of providing the animals with proper food.
The enclosures I have are safe, and I am barely using any of my land. ”
I wasn’t sure how much to tell him. Complaining about how hard my life was, especially after the money he had just given me, didn’t sit well.
I’d been managing since the accident, when I took my insurance money, bought a bunch of land, and adopted the little fawn that had become an orphan.
Sure, the orphan didn’t need the acreage, but I did.
We walked together toward the enclosure where the small herd of deer lived.
Annabelle was in there; she was the one who started this place.
Annabelle and Barnaby were the ones who helped me heal.
“How much land do you have?”
Nobody knew I spent my settlement money to buy this land.
Yet I wanted to share with Angus because it felt natural.
I also knew if I didn’t want to answer, I could tell him that, and he wouldn’t be offended.
“I have ten thousand acres, and I am dedicating it all to the Sanctuary. You’re about to meet the girl who was the reason for starting this place for healing.
” My voice hitched a little, and Angus stopped moving, looking up at me.
“Another story for later?” I couldn’t speak, not expecting emotions to surface. This was something I had only told my therapist. I nodded, and he nodded back.
“What is the name of the lovely lady I am about to meet? She must be important if she is the reason you bought all this land. What an honor to be introduced.” He smiled.
“Her name is Annabelle. I’ve packed some sweet feed for her in our cooler. I wanted to make sure she would come over and visit with us. She currently has a couple of babies of her own.”-
“I’m excited to meet her.”
We entered the enclosure, and I knew exactly where I wanted to set up.
The meadow was a popular place for the deer to graze, and there was a small lake where they would come to drink.
Both of us got situated on a blanket I had brought, and we leaned our backs against a fallen log.
When Angus sat down, he was much closer than a casual friend would sit. I didn’t mind it one bit.
“Eion? Did you think you were feeding an army?”
I looked at the spread in front of us and realized how much food I actually packed.
It didn’t matter how much there was; I hoped he would find something he enjoyed.
Panic started to set in. I took a long look at his body and started to worry that he might not eat this kind of food; maybe he only ate raw, organic vegetables.
“I. Well. Shit.” Great, the anxiety arrived, and I couldn’t form words. “You. Food. Okay?”
He reached for my hand, putting our palms together, then lacing our fingers. His skin was warm and comforting. He looked me in the eye and mouthed the word breathe. Focused on how our hands felt together, I took some deep breaths and let them relax me.
“Did you want to ask me a question?” Even though I was rock hard, he calmed my mind enough so I could talk. “Is this food okay? You look like that. I should have asked about your diet.”
“Thank you for worrying, but I don’t have diet restrictions. I work out every day but don’t deny myself food.”
I sighed, glad that he would be able to eat some of what I made. Then I explained everything I brought, and he smiled at me the entire time.
“All of it sounds good. Can I have some of all of it? How about you give me a fork so we can eat from the containers? I’m not snooty.”
I laughed and grinned. “That’s a great idea.” We took the lids off all the food. I handed him a fork and held the container of pasta salad toward him. While I stared at him, he took a bite, and I watched.
“It’s really good, Eion.”
I knew it was obvious that I relaxed, but I followed his lead and took my own bite. Then we leaned back and enjoyed our picnic, passing the containers back and forth. “I want you to meet all the animals. You’ll like Orlando the Giraffe. He hears all my secrets.”
“I didn’t know you had a giraffe.”
“Yeah. You’ll like him.” I looked toward his enclosure but didn’t see him.
“I’d like you to meet my friends, too. I don’t have a lot of them, but the few I have are really special.” Angus added between mouthfuls of food.
I couldn’t believe he would want me to know his friends.
The grumpy man in me didn’t want to believe it.
“I’d like that.” Shocking myself, I actually meant it.
I packed up our leftovers and got ready to show Angus the superpower nobody knew I had.
I handed him the bag of sweet feed, then helped him up.
I moved us to a stump closer to the water. When I sat, I pulled him down with me.
I turned to him, and he looked at me. “Something wrong?”
He must have sensed something on my face that I hadn’t intended to be serious, but went with it. “You can’t tell anybody my secrets.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t. What’s between us stays between us.”
“Okay. Watch this.” Not releasing his hand, I started to make a chirping noise.
Barnaby appeared from somewhere, knowing what was coming.
Changing tone and length, I made more noises and carefully watched the tree line.
About a minute later, I heard the snap of branches.
I couldn’t wait for Angus to experience the magic that was about to happen.
The pitch of my whistle was brought up higher.
From experience, it would only be another minute, and then I saw them.
I lifted our held hands and pointed. When I looked at him, his eyes were huge. The deer herd came out of the forest, one at a time. There are currently fifteen in the group, but I let them breed and live a natural life, so undoubtedly, there will be more.
Most of the whitetails stopped on the other side of the lake, but Annabelle and her fawns walked toward us. She twitched her ears, and I smiled. “That’s Annabelle,” I said quietly.
“Ohhhhh.” He whispered. I put both of his hands together like a cup and filled them with feed.
Annabelle nuzzled along my sleeve but slowly worked her way over to Angus.
Her lips moved along his hand, and he giggled.
Then she nibbled the food from him. Once she finished eating, I took a handful and offered it to her.
“You can pet her. Slow movements.”
Carefully, he moved his hand down her forehead, then over her nose.
His eyes were still huge, and the smile on his face made my chest tight.
Some of the other members of the herd wandered over, and we fed them.
After a bit, he took my hand again, and we sat there quietly watching them drink and graze.
Eventually, they all wandered back into the woods.
“What did you think?”
“Eion. That’s amazing. You called them from the woods. You’re like a Disney princess. Annabelle is beautiful. They ate from me, right here in my hands. And I pet her. She was so nice. She had babies. Are they all rescues? Do they all have names? Do they need names? Eion.”
He was babbling, which was already a good sign, as it meant he was both happy and nervous. “I’m glad you got to meet my girl.”
There were a lot of things I wanted to tell him—share with him.
There was a lot of potential with Angus, and I wanted it more than anything.
There were still secrets, and I hoped those wouldn’t come between us.
Not sure when I started to hope, but for now, it felt good to have this.
I was glad that he didn’t seem to notice that I held one really big thing back.
He was right. This was the best. Date. Ever.