AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t know…I have an inkling about them.”
Our boys joined us, all grumbling about morning, Joel walking funny. He tried to sit on my lap, and it was three attempts before he decided to stand. “Got-damned hamburger! My ass is bruised to beat hell.”
Everyone laughed as I asked, “Complaining?”
“Not one lil bit, Sir.”
The second night was much like the first, only there was one difference. On the stage, before the play began, Damon and I brought Joel up and presented him with his first true collar.
He stood there, while Damon and I both spoke to him, off-mic, and tears were streaming from his eyes, making him more beautiful. He realized the importance of it, the meaning.
“Babe,” Damon started with a hoarse voice. “You’ve earned this. You’re ours, and we will never take that lightly. Ever.”
I turned Joel to me and said, “We will be good to you. We will love and protect you, and never take for granted your submission to us or the love you have for us.”
“I love y’all. I love ya!”
It was a simple collar for a simple man. He didn’t go in for fancy things, so it was a silver chain that would hang low enough to cover his shirts. Connecting the chain was a small padlock that was engraved. Owned by D-B .
We saw him often in the days to come, staring in the mirror while holding it, and each time, he ducked his head so he couldn’t catch himself in the reflection crying.
Chapter Thirty-One
Joel recovered enough to get the grill going and with Xen and PJ to help, not to mention the rest of Beast’s boys, the late lunch went well. We sat on the grass after, looking out on a group of men petting Puck as she hung her head over the corral fence. “She’s eating up the attention.”
“Sure is,” Joel said. “Patch too, saw a couple of people sneakin’ ‘im apples. And Xen is so in love with the goats, he’s talkin’ his man into gettin’ some.”
Damon laughed at that. “I have a feeling a lot of people are going to be getting goats soon. Everyone loves them.”
The quiet was nice, even though a hundred men were roaming around the place, everyone seemed reverent of the quiet day. Compared to the loud night they’d had; it was likely needed.
Peace was prevalent, calm smiles could be seen on nearly every face. I was in that same world, where the sky could open and pour rain and shoot lightning, but I wouldn’t notice. All I could feel was the sun shining.
There were going to be bumps, there were going to be fights, trials, but together, the three of us could handle it. Our love, our trust, it was there, in our family.
And it was a family.
When the weekend was over, and the last car had traveled down the road, Eli and Noah were there to help us clean up the place. Eli was shining, he was so happy, and he helped me get the big tents to collapse and folded as he whistled.
“Stop being Mr. Sunshine.”
“Why? I have the best man in the world, and he wants to marry my ass. Can you fucking believe it?”
“Yeah, I can. It’s about time someone saw through all your pretty.”
“He sure does. Said that my looks might fade, but my ass would still be fuckable.”
We laughed at that, but I knew Noah better than that. He was trying to add humor to the way he felt. He was crazy in love with Eli.
“The place is going to be a success, Burke. Not one person I heard talking said they wouldn’t be back. In fact, they’re kind of upset you’re only going to be open once a month.”
“I couldn’t handle more than that! That was…it was fun, I won’t lie, but it was a lot of work too.”
“You have help. If you decide to open more.”
“Let’s see about holidays first. A week at a time, people coming for their vacations. Then we’ll decide.”
Damon, Noah and Joel were all drinking a beer on the porch when we finished with the tents. “Joel, take the truck over to the guesthouse and pick them up and we’ll store them up in the attic in the barn. When you get some more rest. I’m fucking exhausted.”
“Good weekend,” Noah said. “Had fun, and I’m not much for clubbin’ anymore.”
“This isn’t a normal club, just like we’re not a normal family,” Eli said as he took a seat on Noah’s lap. “We’re kinky, weird and our day jobs are caring for animals and things. But I’ve never been happier. I feel it from all of us.”
“I ain’t never been,” Joel declared. He was on Damon’s lap, swinging his cowboy boot and grinning in the goofy way that I loved. “Y’all took me in ‘ere and made me part o’ it. Can’t tell ya how grateful I am.”
“We’re grateful for you, Joel,” Eli assured. “You’ve made my friends as happy as Noah and me. That’s all I could ever ask of you. Well, that and saving my life.”
Damon grabbed my hand, and Joel tried to wrap his hand around them both. He looked at me, then to Damon and we saw it. His love and trust in us would ensure we’d sit on that porch in thirty years, every bit as happy as we were on that wonderful morning.
The End
