I nearly choked when he said that. He looked at me quizzically. “You, okay?”
“Air down the wrong pipe,” I gasped out.
“I want to live somewhere out of the city in a space that makes me more comfortable. This whole apartment isn’t my style; it’s beautiful, but I’m not a concrete jungle type of guy. I must convey a certain image in my business.” I thought about what style might be his. The pottery dishes he had would go quite well with my décor. I needed to bring him to my house to see what he thought.
Never had I been so glad that Stephen had never lived there. We had an apartment in the city. I had found the vineyard and bought it without talking to him, knowing when he saw it, he would love it. I wanted to split our time between the city and the vineyard. The fact he left before I had closed on the property now brought me joy.
Once he was gone, I couldn’t sell the apartment in the city fast enough. I was looking forward to being in the country, me, Daisy, and miles of grapes. The winery was a few miles down the road, close enough for me to be involved but not so close that it intruded on my peace. I wondered if a sweet, awkward Italian man might want to walk among my grape vines with me.
“Let me pay you for the items?” I looked at him expectantly, still feeling a pang of guilt about such an extravagant gift.
“I’ll take payment from you, but not in the way of cash.” He looked down, then up slowly, and when I caught his eye, he quickly looked away again. He was so quirky it made my heart flutter; he was incredibly adorable, making other things wake up.
“I will see what I can do to arrange that. You better start a list so nothing gets forgotten.” My mind went through so many filthy options my cock twitched, which at once reminded me that I hadn’t put any underwear on.
“You should know I decided to show solidarity and didn’t wear underwear.”
He smiled at me and then looked at my lap. “I don’t mind.”
I didn’t think about the fact I was half-hard the whole time we were in the same room. Not to mention how quickly things escalated in my head. Fortunately, I had picked black sweats with some name-brand down the leg, so my arousal wasn’t too noticeable. The pants were extremely comfortable and did great things for my ass, and I grabbed something that looked like a hockey jersey, but the inside had a cotton lining, so it wasn’t as scratchy as authentic jerseys and was warmer.
“Sit with me. I must leave in a few hours. Daisy is probably missing me. I've been here most of the day. There are things I want to help you get for Charlie.” I moved over a little, hoping he would sit close to me but giving him the choice to leave space.
He sat right next to me. Our bodies touched from shoulder to knee. I turned and looked at him, unable to keep myself from smiling.
“Oh, the stuff I am sending home with you distracted me from the real story.” He grinned. “It’s what took me so long in the shower.”
I thought maybe he was replaying what had happened between us. It was foremost in my mind while I washed the evidence of our intimacy off. Even now, I longed for the feeling of his tongue tangled with mine. I wanted to explore his body with my hands and my mouth. I was aroused again already, but I suspect that I would have to get used to this when River was near me. I had to shake my head a little to refocus on our conversation.
“I don’t know if this is okay, but I showered with Charlie.”
“Of course, it’s okay. As a dragon, he would leave if he was uncomfortable. If you keep your energy calm, we won’t have more situations like yesterday.” I felt like I wasn’t explaining it well, but he nodded as if he understood.
“He stomped his feet and flapped his wings. Then he started his little dance.” River’s enthusiasm was contagious.
“You two are getting along so well already. Surprising, you survived without a dragon, right?”
“He reached up and petted Charlie. I love him.”
“This is exactly how it's supposed to work. You two bond.” I looked at my watch, needing to get going. I grabbed my phone and opened the browser.
“Yeah. I am amazed at how natural it already feels.” River smiled, and warmth spread through me. I was already addicted to him.
“This is not required. I think you should get some beds for Charlie to go into during his downtime. Nothing is wrong with him sleeping on the back of the couch or your lap.” I looked down at the sleeping dragon on River’s lap. His hand unconsciously petted his back.
“Some ‘caves’ would be good when you have clients here or want to cook and have him out of the way. Perhaps when you are distracted with other things.” I raised my eyebrow at him. Just the thought of those things brought my dick on board. He looked at me, his eyes filled with heat.
I wanted to pull him to me and start those kisses again, but I kept talking about caves. “I have cat beds stashed around my house and offices, but those would not fit the design concept here.”
He snorted at me. “I doubt it would impact my business at this point; I like to maintain the magic of being a sports agent, though.”
I remembered seeing furniture with dog enclosures built into them. They could use any wood and match the design of the house. I found the website and showed River. He decided having them made into a dragon bed would be perfect. We discussed where he wanted to put them and decided he would get six, with faux fur on the sides and a fluffy pillow on the bottom. One would be fitted with a handle and a lid so he could take it with him when he traveled.
I sent a quick email to my assistant. He texted me that it would get taken care of. He also said he had some business I needed to handle. I promised that I would be available tomorrow. Then I asked him to have my tux clean and available for Friday.
Regrettably, I had to get going. I wanted to stay here all night, getting to know little things about River. I wanted to experience him and Charlie bonding more, help him teach his companion new commands, and listen to stories about him taking showers with his new best friend. I reminded him that he should also get some perches to mount in different areas. One in his bedroom, office, and kitchen would be ideal.
He started to hand me the bags and backpacks. “Keep the memorabilia and give it to him when you meet him on Friday. You will bump me off as his favorite uncle.” I stopped talking, abruptly realizing I had put us together on a more long-term basis.
