AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Across the table, she grinned. He was glad to see it. Her eyes had still held the glassy sheen of tears when she had entered as she sat, taking in the table and the pastries he already had laid out beside their coffee as she spoke softly about her aunt and the funeral preparations she had helped her mother make.
He had taken her hand when her voice hitched and her eyes finally overflowed, telling him about the aunt who had been more like a grandmother, the unexpected preparations, and the extended time with her family. She’d not pulled her hand away as he stroked his thumb against her palm, learning each line and crevice, tracing each of her talented fingers, and even though the conversation had since shifted, he couldn’t bear to let her go.
“I wouldn’t have pegged you for a farmboy.”
“Oh, yes, ma’am. I was raised to grow food and milk cows. Seems a little on the nose, right?”
Her laughter washed over him like a wave, cool and restorative, and he basked in it, wanting to drown in her.
“Speaking of noses, you look like a whole new bull.”
Her smile was small, glancing up at him beneath her lashes, and even though she had just drained him so thoroughly that his cock should have been limp and lifeless for at least a week, it stirred against his thigh. He wondered what might happen if she ever actually tried to be seductive since her every little unconscious movement was enough to make him hard. He stiffened as she licked powdered sugar off her lips and felt his cock jump against the front of his pants when she pushed her hair off her shoulders, exposing an appealing clavicle.
If she ever tried to seduce him, he suspectedhewould become the town menace, requiring a cleanup crew and cones put in the street outside of his house, an extra sewer installed at the curb. Caution signs would be placed at either end of the road, yellow triangles bearing the black silhouette of an ejaculating horned figure, making his neighbors aware that they needed to proceed slowly, for he had no self-control.
“So how is it that you’re here and not riding horses somewhere?”
The table was in danger, he realized. He would soon be pressing into its underside, causing it to jerk and making their coffee spill.
“No,” he chuckled, “I decided pretty early on that it wasn’t for me. Ironically enough, I still wound up working in agriculture, but I do my business from the boardroom, not a cornfield. Still, that lifestyle becomes ingrained in you. You need to have a plan, must be looking ahead to the next season, the next three seasons, understand all the variables working against you and the assets at your disposal. Understanding the grass cycle, the crop cycle, how you need to breed your livestock in conjunction with that so that one doesn’t impact the other. There’s no room for second-guessing yourself. If you second-guess yourself, your family starves. It doesn’t require a suit and tie, but it’s served me well in business. Especially when some of the folks you work with can’t seem to find their way out of a closet with an open door without someone taking them by the hand.”
Another wave of laughter drenching him, and he was certain there would be a spot of moisture on the inside of his pants before too long.
“Some of the people I went to school with are the same way. They either slept or cheated their way through undergrad, and all went home to work for their uncles. They have jobs though, so I don’t even get to use that as a victory point.”
His thumb moved in a slow figure eight over her mound of Venus while two fingers stroked up and down the base of her fingers. She had yet to pull her hand away.Good. This is a preview of what you’ll do to her pussy every evening. Take your shoes off, sweetheart, come lay down. Let me finger you while you tell me about your day.
“I-I’m from a human city,” she admitted sheepishly. “Well, a human suburb of a human city, I guess. It’s not a very diverse area at all, so moving here was — is, it still is — an eye-opening experience, but I love it. I love learning about the different cultures and the food. It makes me feel so sheltered, but . . . this sounds silly, don’t laugh at me, but the world feels so much bigger now. It’s amazing that so many different species can come together in this town; it makes me want to exploreeverything!”
“It’s not always roses and sunshine,” he huffed. “Some people don’t wear pants. Now, I’m willing to admit that I’ve lived around humans my whole life, and I understand the way majority culture tends to bleed into everything, but covering your ass in public should be the basic entry point for society, in my opinion. So, there’s that.”
Her head dropped back as she laughed, her shoulders shaking. It exposed the long column of her throat, imminently kissable, and he shifted in his seat, attempting to ease the pressure in his pants.
“And that doesn’t sound silly,” he added, “not at all. I remember feeling the same way when I first moved away from the place where I grew up. The world is only the world as you experience it, and it doesn’t grow until you experience new things.”
She bit her lip, nodding earnestly, and he groaned internally. He was doomed.
“Thatisone nice thing about this place, I will say. Everyone tries their best to get along, and that can be challenging sometimes, because we all have different life experiences and perspectives. You have to keep that in mind every day in a place like this. Assume that your neighbors mean well, even if their version of meaning well is a little different than what you’re used to.”
“So, does that mean you’ve only ever dated humans?”
The question hung in the air between them once it left his mouth, the moment of truth. Across the table, Violet shrugged, giving him a small, beguiling smile.
“I have, but I grew up in a human town and went to undergrad at a human school. They were the only guys available to me.” She leaned forward, her eyes glimmering. “Now, though . . . Well, it’s like you said. You have to experience new things for your world to get bigger.”
He could take her home that night. Rourke realized the truth of the thought as she sipped her coffee, still holding his eye. He could take her home and fuck her that night, stretch her out in his bed, and get his dick wet until it was pruned, and she was unable to walk in a straight line . . .And where will that get you?He could take advantage of her vulnerability, take advantage of the heightened intimacy of their relationship as it stood and fuck her all night long . . . But he was unable to see beyond the morning. Doing that didn’t seem as if it would lend itself to stretching out with her on the sofa, didn’t paint a picture of walking hand-in-hand with her to the scoop truck.
No. You’re not going to do that. You need to think with your head and not your cock. You really respect her and will take things slow. Isn’t that what you told Lurielle you wanted? To actually get to know someone? Don’t make the same mistakes you made with the Veleena. The sensible little bull was still dressed in the chiton of antiquity, the wisdom of his elders sitting on his shoulder. He wondered if she would be able to see the outline of his erection, tenting the front of his work pants.Maybe she’ll be offended that she didn’t drain you well enough. Or maybe she’ll give you a hand job under the table. Who knows, it’s worth a shot.He mentally flicked the lustful little bull off his shoulder.None of that. We’re taking things slow this time.
A young satyr pushed a mop bucket out a short while later, leaving it prominently displayed near their table as they walked back to the counter.
“That’s our cue that we’ve overstayed our welcome,” he chuckled, glancing around the nearly empty coffee shop.
More than an hour had passed, and the evening crowd had dissipated quite without his notice. He had asked about her education; she’d asked how long he’d lived in Cambric Creek alone. He learned she loved architecture and art and sunny afternoons, and she learned he loved dusty old libraries and always ate dessert first. Talking with her, getting to know her — it had been easy, easier than any of the dead-end dates he’d been on in the past year. His heart thumped his chest as they exited, and his balls pulsed in the same cadence, working together, conspiring against him.Fine, good, take things slow. But if you fuck things up with her, we’ll kill you in your sleep.
“Look, I don’t know how inappropriate this is or not, but I’m a bit past the point of caring.” He dragged a hand over his face and gulped.Now or never, big guy. “I meant to ask you after I got the ring out; that was the whole point in doing it. I . . . I don’t like not having the answers I require, and you are just . . . a very intriguing question mark. I missed you; you know. When you were gone.”
Her eyes once more had a glassy sheen, and his stomach lurched, but her words kept his panic in check. “I-I missed you too.”
