‘To talk about your day, grumpy.’
Blake let out a steady breath. ‘My day was the investigation.’He knew he was being short, but it was taking all of his self-restraint to not send a barrage of questions about his welfare.
‘Okay, then, everything else. How’re George and Bailey?’
‘Good,’Blake replied, sending him a photograph of Bailey and George in the police kennels.
‘Oh God, she’s filthy.’
Blake smirked. ‘She spent all day chasing the land sharks. I think one of the dog handlers wants to adopt her.’
‘Tell them she’d make a terrible police dog! Thank you though. For looking after her. I really appreciate it.’
‘No worries.’
‘Are you okay, Blake?’
‘Yes. Rest.’
‘Please can I call you? I’d really like to hear your voice.’
Blake swallowed as he slipped off the bed and leant against the windowsill. Pember’s kitchen light reflected off the patio tiles, meaning he must have made it out of bed.
‘Alright.’
The phone didn’t ring straight away. So, Blake watched as the light flicked off and the house grew dark. A dim light appeared from the back bedroom a minute or so later, causing him to wonder if that was where Pember had made his nest.
The phone rang, but Blake only stared at the screen. If he answered, he wasn’t sure he’d have the strength to end the call later. Eventually, however, he cleared his throat and pressed it to his ear. There was a high-pitched noise down the other end of the phone, followed by the sound of fabric rustling.
“Pem?”
“S-sorry, yeah. Hey. Hi.” His voice was breathy, making Blake’s cock stiffen again.
“Are you okay? You sound out of breath.”
“Y-yeah, sorry! I’m all good, how’re you?”
Blake sucked his lip, canine grazing the edge of his mouth. “I’m fine.”
“Good. Good. I’m really sorry about leaving so abruptly yesterday, I… I freaked out, to be honest.”
Blake sighed. “You don’t need to explain, Pem. I get it.”
“Yeah, I know, but it came on so suddenly, and I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing. I could see the effect it was having on you, which made it even worse so I just… ran away. The only other time I’ve had a full heat was when I was sick last year. Ollie saved me, and I just kept thinking about that.”
Pember’s words made Blake go cold. He rubbed a hand over his mouth. “I never intended to make you feel like that. Christ, you must think I’m a total fucking arsehole.”
“N-no, that’s not what I meant. I’m okay now. After the shock wore off I started to kinda get into the groove with things. I’ve learned a lot about myself and I started to recognise when a heatwave was coming on. The more it happened, the more I felt like I could handle it. I didn’t… I wasn’tallowedto fully experience my heat growing up. Neither was my sister. D-don’t get me wrong, I’m still medicated up to the teeth, but I’m just not sure I fully trust the new meds. All day today I’ve been…”
The words trailed off, and Pember drew in a breath. Followed by several more.
“Um, Blake?”
“Yes?”
“What would happen if I asked you to come over tonight?”
Blake closed his eyes, running his tongue over his teeth. “What do you want to happen?”
