Page 25 of Courting Danger

They all started petting him, prompting Ocean to roll over and let them rub his belly, wiggling the whole time so his tail wagged. He was clearly eating up the attention, and they were elated to have a visitor. Ocean waved his paws in the air, woofing and being a silly boy for them.

“Thanks for bringing him in,” Finn said.

“I figured they’d like it, though I didn’t expect it to go over this well,” Pope admitted as he watched Ocean have the time of his life entertaining the littles.

A quick check of his watch showed that it was time for him to move along, so he whistled, just to see how Ocean would respond, and the pup instantly rolled over, careful of the littles, let them hug him one last time, and scurried back to Pope’s side,taking his arm. Those emerald eyes shimmered with joy when Pope appraised him.

“We’ll come back when I’m done with monitoring duty,” Pope promised.

“Yay!” The littles squealed, while Ocean did a dance that made his ears bob while his tail wagged enthusiastically all the way back out the door.

Different song, different strippers, including a familiar face who shouldn’t have been up there trying to show off. He let his gaze linger on Roan’s face while he awkwardly tried to spin around the pole and recalled the day he’d tried that on Kong and nearly fell and cracked his skull open. If Kong hadn’t been strong enough to hold him up, there was no doubt in Pope’s mind that he’d have needed stitches at the very least.

Danger was among the crowd of Jokers gathered in front of the poles, not that he was paying much attention to Roan’s torturous attempt at a routine. Pope could see how hard Roan was trying; it was written all over his face. The problem was that he was so focused on imitating what he’d seen other dancers do that he wasn’t relaxed enough to go with the flow of the music.

Shaking his head, Pope watched as Roan tried desperately to get everyone’s attention, while most of the guys, including Danger, remained engaged in whatever conversation was going on. Dressed in a pair of black boy shorts that left nothing to the imagination, he showed off his toned body, even if his moves lacked fluidity and grace.

“Arf, Arf!” Ocean barked, the second bark sharper, drawing attention his way and bringing an end to the conversation.

Instead of barking more, he stood watching Roan finish his dance and clapped his paws, barking encouragingly when Roan did an awkward bow at the end before scurrying off the stage. It prompted some of the others to clap and whistle too, rather than standing around ignoring him. Pope rubbed his ears,pleased with way Ocean was presenting himself tonight. Gentle and kindhearted, just like his old man. Pope knew his old friend would have been proud of the way his son had turned out.

Pope waited until Roan had returned to Danger’s side before leading Ocean away, but there was a moment when Roan’s eyes widened in recognition when he’d spotted Ocean that Pope could have sworn something unspoken passed between them when Ocean inclined his head and Roan returned the gesture.

Interesting. He’d file that little tidbit away for later and wait to see how they interacted during Roan’s next swim lesson, since he’d be on hand for that. They paused to observe a flogging demonstration that was part teaching, with one Dom occasionally stepping in to help readjust the way the wielder was administering gentle strikes while he got the hang of it.

Ocean paused where Pope did, standing still and observant, never bouncing around or acting impatient when Pope lingered somewhere until he was satisfied all was going well. He leaned into every touch and caress Pope administered, nudging Pope’s hand to get an extra ear scritch or two but never attempted to distract him from his duties. At the end of his shift, he went to the bar and found Roadie signing in to take over for him, so he passed him the emergency care kit and accepted the cold lemonades Teddy slid over for him and Ocean. Ocean’s in one of the special pup bowls stocked beneath the counter.

“I heard about what happened with Kermit,” Kat said as she paused across the bar from him. “Sunshine took him into the quiet room to finish settling down, but she said you and Ocean really saved the day.”

“He’s a good pup,” Pope declared, rubbing the back of Ocean’s leather-covered neck.

They’d talk about whether or not it was okay for Pope to touch skin, among other things, once they’d finished theirdrinks. For now, Pope was enjoying a moment of calm after what had turned out to be a somewhat lively two hours.

“Yes, he is,” Kat declared, gently patting his head before moving along.

Since Ocean wasn’t in the right headspace to tell Pope why he hadn’t mentioned being a pup when they’d given him the tour, the question would have to wait until later. It was good to see him completely at ease, slurping lemonade from his bowl and arching, whenever Pop’s hand slid over the back of his headgear.

Lemonade dripped from the leather when he finished, and Pope carefully wiped it away, Ocean’s glittering emerald glaze never leaving his.

“We need to talk for a moment about limits,” Pope said. “So, I need you to focus for me. Can you do that?”

“Arf!” Ocean replied, eyes narrowing behind the mask, and then he blinked, nodded, and found his voice again. “Yes, sir.”

“Perfect,” Pope replied. “I know you want to play, but before I take you to the pet space where there are all kinds of fun and naughty things to do, I need to know if it’s okay to touch places your gear doesn’t cover.”

“Yes, please,” Ocean replied.

“Are kisses and nose rubs okay?” Pope asked.

“Definitely.”

“If you need something or have questions, do you have a signal for pause?” Pope asked.

“Three taps on the thigh,” Ocean replied. “Like pawing.”

“Good, okay, see, I needed to know that,” Pope replied. “Things got a bit twisted up there, so we didn’t get to do things in the right order.”

“I’m okay with you touching me anywhere.”

Ocean’s clear and articulated consent was what Pope had been waiting for. Now that he had it, he could ease him back intohis pup headspace properly by taking him to the pet playroom and introducing him to everyone. Then they’d drop back in on the littles, who’d be happy to see their new friend return. Ocean would dictate what happened after that, since there were a wide range of apparatuses available if he chose to try them. On a night when he’d expected to be bored enough to sign up for a second, if not a third, shift as a monitor, the unexpected gift Ocean had given of his company was more than welcome.

“Just so it’s clear,” Pope said. “You’re free to touch me anyway you’d like, Pup. Ready to see the playroom?”

Nodding, Ocean let out an excitedArf!

“Have fun you two,” Kat said, chuckling when Pope flinched, having missed her return.

He offered his arm to Ocean, who was far bouncier on this trip through the crowd. A pup who understood the difference between work and play usually required training, which just left Pope with more questions about how much playing he’d done, because he’d make an amazing pup for anyone looking for one.

Including him.