Page 40 of Dreams and Reptiles

“Yeah, I bet it’s hard when you’ve got kids. I think my mom would have liked to do something other than be a trophy wife, but she loved being a mom.”

“She didn’t work?”

“She’d tell you watching us boys was more work than ten full-time jobs. That we were the bane of her existence, we turned her hair gray, made her old before her time, any number of complaints. But she had fun with us. I think if she wouldn’t have fallen for my father in college, she would have done modeling or acting or something. She was in a few plays in college before she dropped out to be with him. See that? I come from a long line of frustrated artists, I guess.”

He put his free hand at my lower back and rubbed gently. “Not frustrated anymore.”

I instantly relaxed into him. He was right. “I guess I need that reminder.”

Richard Burton started to climb down his arm, and Kendall bent to let him down into the enclosure.

“Even iguanas want to climb you like a fireman’s pole. Guess I’ve got competition.”

I was becoming so fond of Kendall’s exasperated laughter, I made it my goal to bring it out of him as often as possible. He had no idea how much I loved getting a rise out of him.

“And for our last stop—for now, until I get everyone totally settled—here are Debbie Reynolds and Tony Curtis. Now, if I were going to bring any of these critters into the house, it would be these guys, but they’ve taken to this enclosure really well. They’re probably the ones who need the most amount of care. They are grateful for your donation of crickets.”

“Oh, my. You’re welcome. Wow, they’re such vibrant colors! I thought that only happened in altered pictures.”

“No, they can be incredibly bright. They change colors by stretching their skin to shift nanocrystals in the layers that reflect light. And they change by mood, for mating, humidity, and temperature. It’s incredible. These ones are panther chameleons, and they’re usually found in Madagascar. I really love Jackson’s chameleons, too. They have little horns on their heads. Someday I’ll add some to my collection.”

“You may not have gone to school, my darling, but you are so full of knowledge and wisdom. I love that I always learn something new when I’m with you.”

“That’s what happens when you get old,” he said, stretching out his back with audible cracks. “You live long enough, you’re bound to learn something.”

“Okay, Father Time. We should get you some sleep.”

“I guess,” he sighed, rubbing my back and pulling me in for a quick kiss. “I need to be ready to dance the night away with you tomorrow.”

“Mm. And other possibilities.”

I wasn’t nervous anymore.

He brushed my hair back and kissed me gently. “I’d like to make an addendum to our terms.”

“Addendum?”

His soft smile triggered a longing that had me questioning why we needed letters of interest or contracts anyway. How could human biology and emotional response be minimized to bullet points and data charts? How could the strength of my body’s reaction to Kendall, or the way our conversations stimulated my mind unlike anyone I’d ever spent time with before, be anything short of a miracle? In just three weeks, he’d challenged me to rethink so many of my previously held beliefs. Where would we be in six months? A year? I could spend forever with him and learn something new about him every day, I could just tell.

“If we get through tomorrow night, and you’re having any second thoughts, you’ll tell me? You’ll know that it doesn’t matter to me if or when we’re more intimate with each other than we already are?”

“I know. And the same goes for you. I’ll understand. I certainly don’t assume that just because I’m ready, you⁠—”

Before I could finish my sentence, Kendall had me off my feet and up against the wall of the barn with a grin on his face. He’d moved swiftly but gently so I didn’t feel roughed up. No, this kind of manhandling, I enjoyed. I may have been smaller than him, but I wasn’t breakable. He used the perfect amount of strength and pressure to show me exactly what he wanted.

“I don’t want you to have any doubts that I’m ready.”

He waited a moment as if to gauge my readiness. I’m pretty sure my ankles hooked around his hips was the answer he needed. He kissed me once, twice, with eyes open, and then he moaned as he trailed his tongue down under my jaw and licked along the column of my throat. He shifted his hold under my thighs, bringing our groins together, and our eyes met.

“I had a physical when I joined the fire department here about eight months ago, and my tests were clear.”

“I, uh, it’s been longer for me, but I haven’t been with anyone for more than a year, and I was on PrEP before that. I can start again.”

“It’s been closer to two years for me.” He sucked my bottom lip into his mouth, and I gasped as it sent a jolt of pleasure down to where I was straining so hard. “I’m more than happy to pick up supplies,” he added, running his hand over my ass, kneading the muscles with his thick, strong hand. “Up to you if you want to go back on the meds. I want you to be comfortable. And I don’t want to assume anything about your preference⁠—”

“I thought I made it clear I want to ride your fireman pole,” I said with a laugh, tilting my hips to get a little more friction. “I’m not opposed to topping, but I am undeniably a greedy bottom.”

He chuckled, tucking his face into my neck. “Such a hardship,” he said against my skin. “I’ll do what I can, but greedy?”