Order (Tattoos and Ties Duet #2)(77)
“You’ve been busy.”
“I didn’t like sleeping alone so I stayed awake,” Alec said, his voice growing quiet as he got closer to the bedroom.
“Quit tryin’ to sex talk me,” he teased, and Alec shot him a brilliant smile over his shoulder as he opened the door. Alec stopped right inside the door, and Keyes craned his neck to see inside. His anxiety immediately lessened. Wow, okay, he could be into this. Alec had gone all out in the romance department. Rose petals carpeted a path to the bed, the only light in the room came from the soft glow of candles, very soft classical music played and champagne sat chilling in the bucket along with several longneck bottles of his favorite beer.
He guessed Alec was breaking their recently established no sex after eating rule. “Why did you do all this?”
“The night requires romance.” Alec didn’t let him go, moving forward, guiding him toward the edge of the bed. There had to be a hundred candles flickering, all over the bedroom. “I got you a gift. Sit down.”
Oh hell, another gift. His anxiety swirled as he lowered to the edge of the mattress, his body tight with tension. Why was Alec buying him more gifts? He hadn’t bought Alec shit since they’d started dating. Now he’d be two down. Keyes stared at the small brightly wrapped boxes Alec extended. He hesitated. Small things could be as expensive as the big things. He didn’t take the gifts immediately. Instead, he looked up at Alec and asked, “What’s goin’ on?”
“Seriously, play along.” Alec ignored his question and placed the gifts in his hand. When he started to say he’d gotten that ridiculous gift sitting out in the driveway, Alec shook his head, and nodded to the present in his hand. “Unwrap.”
Keyes leaned over, placing his bottle of beer on the nightstand, then reluctantly unwrapped the box as Alec left him sitting there. Alec got a new job and he got a gift? That made no sense at all.
“Keep going,” Alec encouraged quietly from the closet door. Keyes lifted the lid to find a small leather collar and leash inside. It took a second for him to digest, then suddenly he better understood what tonight was about. Sex toys. They were celebrating Alec’s good fortune and taking their relationship to the next level sexually. He nodded—totally into the idea as long as he wasn’t the one tied up—and immediately reached behind his back to tug his T-shirt over his head. Whew, all the anxiety fled. He’d dodged a bullet in this deal.
Alec pushed open the closet door. The little pup was curled on his new doggie bed and had somehow managed to wrestle and move the house shoe over to the bed with him.
“Sorry to wake you, but it's time,” Alec whispered, marveling like he’d done every time he picked up the tiny puppy at how small and light he was. “I have a feeling you and he are going to be the best of friends.”
Alec came out with the puppy tucked against his chest to discover a shirtless Key unbuttoning his jeans, the collar and leash lying on the mattress behind him. What in the world about his gift had made Key disrobe?
“Baby, I have someone I'd like for you to meet,” he announced as he walked across the room. He came to a stop in front of Key.
The range of expressions crossing Key’s face might have been comical in another situation. Key took a step back, legs hitting the mattress as Alec stepped closer. Wanting to avoid any potential panic attack, Alec carefully handed his precious cargo to Key.
The dog wasn’t much bigger than Key’s work-roughened palm, and for the first time since Alec had met their little guy, the puppy began to shake. Maybe it had to do with the fierce expression marring his lover’s handsome face.
“Take him, babe. He’s ours.”
Key finally accepted the puppy, his strong arms cradling the little guy, bringing him to his chest. Key’s still tense gaze lifted to his. He didn’t need words to understand the question, but Key’s focus immediately shifted his attention back to the dog, his thumb rubbing across the pup’s tiny head.
The sudden doubt over what he’d done in bringing the dog home vanished. The puppy looked up, craning his neck until Key bent in enough to look the dog in his face. The little guy gave Key that same soul-touching gaze he’d given Alec last night. Key slowly sat on the edge of the mattress, his whole attention fixed on the bundle in his hands.
Alec circled the bed and kicked off his shoes before climbing on the mattress from the other side. He purposefully stayed silent to give Key a moment as he stretched out across the end of the mattress, resting his head on his hand, and waited for whatever was to come next. It took some time for his big, rough and tumble biker to form any words.
“What’s his name?” Key asked, looking down over his shoulder. Alec patted the bed beside him, encouraging Key to move closer.
“I don’t know. What should we name him?”
In true Key fashion, it took time for him to turn, then to carefully and gently place the puppy on the bed between them before stretching out on his side to face Alec. The puppy turned a full circle then yapped at a rose petal that had followed Key onto the bed.
“I thought that was for my dick,” Key grumbled, pointing at the collar and leash on the edge of the mattress. It took a second, but when it hit him, Alec couldn’t help the laugh. That possibility had never occurred to him. He excitedly filed away for later Key’s apparent willingness to play. “What’s goin’ on?”