Page 43 of Refurbished

Barnaby entered the trailer with me and went to the bed that we’d put in the living room for him; carefully, he curled up next to Ramsey. I smiled to myself. This was a much better ‘home’ than the thirteen-foot I had been living in. I stripped and slipped under the covers, then reached for the warmth of Angus’s body.

“Welcome back,” he mumbled. I curled up behind him, my lips finding his neck and shoulders. The soft sounds made my cock come to life. While I sucked on his neck, then behind his ear, he wiggled back into me. With my hand stroking his hard length, it didn’t take long for me to make him climax. Being able to give him pleasure, to feel him shudder against me, was addictive.

“I really like you,” I whispered in his ear.

“I really like you too.” He said as he kissed the back of my hand. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll finalize everything with your mom tomorrow. She’s going to do so much good for the animals.”

“Good. Good.” He mumbled, clearly slipping toward sleep. “Sleep, good baby. Love you.” I froze. It was obvious he wasn’t aware of what he said, but it was easy to admit to myself that I liked hearing those words. Somehow, he had taken me from being grumpy and not wanting to even talk to him to wanting to hear him say those words again when he wasn’t half asleep. That knowledge scared me some, but more than anything, it excited me.

We got up early the following morning, and I called Amelia right after we finished feeding everyone breakfast. By noon, a messenger arrived with samples of everything for the event. There were business cards, letterhead, key chains, and practically everything else a logo would fit on, including a stuffed Orlando the giraffe with a Sanctuary T-shirt. Apparently, there would be two thousand gift bags that would include the adorable Orlando. I had to admit that something on this scale was exciting to be involved in. We ate an early lunch before a nap. Angus had to work, and I hated letting him go. I wasn’t even sure why he had a job, but that was a conversation for another time. “Your mother is a force of nature. I guess I know where you get it from?”

“Me?” He stood up and pulled me up from the seat. “I’m nothing like my mother.”

I couldn’t help but snort at his reply. “Pretty sure you kept after me until I couldn’t help but ask you out.” I kissed him. My tongue ran over his lips, which he opened for me, and our tongues were slick against each other. “You’ve convinced me to have a gala for the Sanctuary with two thousand attendees, and I don’t like people.” I kissed him again, enjoying the warmth of his mouth on mine, the heat lighting me up. “And let us not forget what you do to me in the bedroom.”

“Well, when you put it that way, maybe I am a force of nature. You probably need a reminder, though.” He took my hand and led me toward the back of the trailer. “Now aren’t you glad we have this big bed?”

We both landed on the mattress. He slid up until his head hit the pillows, and I climbed on top of him. Easily, I slotted my knee between his thighs, where I pushed against him. Then I blanketed myself over him. I could feel our solid cocks rub through our jeans. Even though we were clothed, there was something so erotic about being with him like this. I didn’t really have the chance to be with boys in high school, and I imagined this was what it was like. “I begrudgingly admit that accepting this as my new home was a great idea. Especially this bed.”

After that, there was no more talking. Once I had him come for me, we snuggled up and took a nap. He would be working until 2:00 a.m., and we had been up early. I didn’t necessarily need the sleep, but I couldn’t resist curling up with him. I helped him dress for work, which meant I had the pleasure of lacing up his corset before he put on his jacket. The man was insanely sexy with the vest tightened around his chest and waist. Of course, I thought he was gorgeous wearing anything or nothing. It was just one more wonderful layer of Angus. He kissed me, then I gave him a tight hug. “Do you know how good you look?”

He laughed. “Actually, I hear people say it, but I don’t see it. I’m still that skinny sick kid when I look in the mirror.”

“Oh, sweetheart. I wish I could take all that away from you. That ‘sick skinny’ kid you talk about, from what your mother shared with me, was a good guy too. One I would have wanted to know.”

“I doubt it.”

“Would you want me more if you went back to when I had two complete arms?”

“What? No.” He stepped away as if I had actually accused him of wanting that. “Oh. I get it. Thank you for thinking I look good.”

I gave him a smile. “There you go. You are hot as fuck if I’m honest. Makes me want to camp out at the bar and make sure nobody hits on you.”

He looked at me, then chuckled. “Well. Eion men and women flirt with me every night. I wasn’t interested in them before I met you, and now I belong to you.” Holy shit. The pounding in my chest was relentless, and I was afraid I might pass out. How is this man so amazing? I wasn’t the jealous type—so I thought—but I could feel a tightness in my body when I thought about people flirting with him. He was mine, and he knew it. I never expected to be that guy worried about who flirted with their boyfriend, but here I was being exactly that. I wouldn’t do anything crazy like really camp out at the bar, but it wouldn’t stop my brain from being stupid. I laughed at myself because logically I knew all those others that had tried didn’t stand a chance with him, because, as he stated, he was mine.

Chapter twenty-one

ANGUS

Eion went from not wanting to speak to me when I first visited the Sanctuary to being jealous weeks later, which was adorable. Once he let me into his world, he had shown me how beautiful he was inside. When my mother shared with him that I had stress issues and such bad self-esteem that I had become anorexic, he handled it by showing me how he felt about me. He offered me grace.

I knew he fought with his own issues because of his arm, but I didn’t even think about it. With or without his prosthetic, he was everything I could ever want in a man. I didn’t find his residual limb weird or gross, which he had admitted had happened in his past. If strangers that he worked around—not even got naked with—behaved that way, I understood why he was leery about sharing his emotions with someone. As I checked IDs at the door of The Dapper Duck, I thought about my boyfriend. I had spent the last five nights in his bed. West had given me the time off to get to know him better, and it had worked. We had established the beginning of a relationship.

Sitting in the break room, I ate my taco carefully. It was obvious to me that I was treating food inappropriately. One taco for someone my size wasn’t enough, and I was picking at it. I needed to make an appointment with my therapist, and I already knew the reason I was stressed. This was the first real relationship I’d had, and my insecurities made me start thinking I needed to be perfect. When I pulled out my phone, I found a message.

EION

I miss my boyfriend.

It made me feel wanted. All of it felt strange to me, but I liked it, and what surprised me most was that I missed him, too.

ANGUS

I miss you too. Did you have a good night? Did everyone get fed? Are all the babies good?

EION