Page 41 of Refurbished

“Thank you for giving yourself to me, Angus.”

I felt the words throughout my body. “My pleasure.” I snuggled into him more, and I could feel his residual limb resting on my shoulder. Even though his hand wasn’t there, the intent was the same. Holding me close, and that made me relax into him. It only took a few minutes for me to relax into the way he had made me feel and get pulled under into a deep sleep.

I slept so well throughout the night that I hated my 5:00 a.m. alarm. There were animals that needed feeding. Ramsey was asleep at the foot of the bed. I petted his back. “You’re going with us today,” I said into the dark.

I gently kissed Eion’s back and shoulders, then whispered quietly in his ear. “Wake up, beautiful.”

“You are so warm and cuddly. I don’t wanna.”

I smiled. “Sleeping in a real bed was a nice perk.”

He rolled, stretching. “Other than you and Ramsey being bed hogs. I had to snuggle close to get enough blankets.”

“Oh, the sacrifices you made.”

He rolled, and I lay on my back with him leaning over me. “Last night was amazing. I look forward to more wonderful nights with my boyfriend.”

I knew my eyes went wide. The fact that my mother had openly referred to him that way had been lost in our passion. “I’m so sorry.”

He kissed me hard. “Please don’t. I am surprised to be saying these words, but if you want to label this, I wouldn’t mind being called your boyfriend.”

“Really? I’d like that a whole lot.” We kissed until we couldn’t help but get each other off in quick but satisfying hand jobs. Before we left my room, he stopped me.

“In case we run into your mom, she really can’t hear us in here, right?”

“I promise she didn’t hear you screaming my name in the middle of the night.”

He relaxed and slapped my ass. “Let’s get out of here. We have animals to feed. Wait. You are coming back with me, right?”

For a moment, he looked nervous, like I might tell him no. I had one more day before I had to return to work, and I already knew I would miss spending the night with him. Yes, the sex was amazing, but holding him all night was the best part. “Yes. I am spending the day with my boyfriend.” I smirked at him.

We kissed in the kitchen while we filled tumblers with coffee. In the foyer, there was a thick manila envelope with Eion’s name on it. I handed it to him and smiled. He held it out, feeling the heft of it. He narrowed his eyes at me but didn’t say anything. “Ramsey, let’s go.”

The three of us headed out the back door, where I held my breath and hoped Eion wouldn’t be mad. Once the door was closed, I stopped on the lawn and held my hands out like a game show hostess, then turned and smiled at him. “What am I looking at?”

“This old thing? It’s a truck and a fifth wheel. It’s been sitting around doing nothing, so I thought maybe we could take it over to the Sanctuary.” He twisted his lips and narrowed his eyes like he was trying to decide what to think. “Did I mention it has an actual king-size mattress in it? Lots of room to cuddle.”

“You said you were stupid rich?”

I nodded at him enthusiastically. “Very rich. This is not even worth noting as a thing. It can be a donation, a gift, or even a loan. It’s bigger. I could cook for you, and there is that big bed and a comfy couch.”

“Can I use the truck?”

I laughed. “All you want.”

“Then we might as well take it to the Sanctuary. We can move the little one and use it as an office instead of the exam table in the medical building.”

“Perfect.” I kissed him, then tossed him the keys. “Your name might be on the title.”

“For fucks sake. Someone is going to get punished.” He chuckled.

“I look forward to it.” We parked in front and agreed to move the housing around after everyone had eaten. It was 6:00 a.m., and we were already getting looks from the animals. Ramsey got out and went right to Walter, where they sniffed each other, and then he ran toward Orlando. After a few more kisses, we headed our separate ways to feed. This already felt natural after three days. I wanted this to be how I started every day, including waking up in his arms. The last thing I did was get the raccoons out for breakfast. I couldn’t believe how big they were, but they were still happy balls of fluff. I prepared all the bottles and got settled on the floor. A few minutes later, I heard gravel crunching under boots. Without looking up, I knew it was him.

“You look pretty adorable surrounded by babies. They think you are their mama.”

“Everything else done?”

“All but the bears thought you might like to join us. Mama bear also needs a name before she has her cubs. Should be any time in the next ten days, from what I can tell.”