48. Cary

48

Cary

C hristie, Al, Evan, and I sat around the sitting room after closing one evening. It’d been a week since the crap hit the fan, and we all knew we needed to discuss it.

“So, Andy isn’t going to be a problem any longer. As far as he’s concerned, he got drunk and was shooting into the air. Loren said the judge slapped him with a big fine and sent him back to Virginia,” Evan said, sounding relieved.

“Any concern he’ll come back?” I asked.

“No, I think he heard about the restaurant and hotel reopening and was just coming to try to get some of the money he figured I must be rolling in by now. Once he stepped foot inside the manor, he fell victim to the entity’s agenda. I think the experience has scared him enough to stay away for good.”

I nodded, hoping that was true. Evan then explained his dream of the three men killing Leon Cordelia in his basement. None of us knew who they were, but the dream had shown Evan the abuse Leon had exacted on them. Even physically scarring one of his murderers.

“So,” I asked, and looked toward Al. “Is this truly over? I know the spirits haven’t crossed, but is Evan safe here now?”

Al nodded. “I think so, and we need to try to help all the spirits cross over, but that may be more problematic now if what Inez said is true. Regardless, the dangerous one is out of commission for the foreseeable future.”

Evan stood up, went to a fancy cabinet and opened it, and pulled out a bottle of champagne. “Then, this calls for a toast,” he said as he brought the bottle and four glasses with him.

He popped the cork, poured the champagne into the glasses, handed one to each of us, and lifted his saying, “Here’s to my family, my friends, and my business partners.”

“Hear, hear,” we all said, and drank.

We chatted about all that needed to be done on the manor, from finishing the guest rooms to re-upholstering the chairs we currently sat upon. After Al and Christie left, and Evan and I went home, he pulled me up to our bedroom.

I chuckled. “Really? After all you’ve been through, you’re not too tired?”

Evan just grinned, pushed me into a sitting position on the bed, and then disappeared around the corner. I could hear him open his chest of drawers and take something out. I assumed it was condoms and lube, although those were stored in the side tables.

When he came back over, he knelt in front of me. “What’re you doing?” I asked, wondering if I was about to get a blow job, but Evan produced a small box in his hand and opened it.

A beautiful white gold band sparkled up at me, and I pulled it out, seeing a dragon wrapped around it. I could tell the band had been made by a magic practitioner, the dragon meaning protection. “What’s this?” I asked.

“This is me asking you to marry me,” he said. “Cary Beacroft, I love you. You are my family. I’ve never felt so loved and wanted as I do when I’m with you. You make me feel safe, protected.” He rubbed his finger over the dragon. “I love our life here, our friends, and Al and Christie are the best business partners in the world. But you, you’re the glue that keeps this world together.”

He looked down and sighed. “It’s hard for me to believe I have much to offer you, but you’ve helped me believe that’s not true.” He stood the, his smile wavering for only an instant. “So, here I am believing in myself enough to think I can make you as happy as you make me, for the rest of our lives. Do you want me?”

I recognized he was posing the same question he’d asked me the first time we’d been together. And my answer was the same now as it had been then.

I jumped up and swept Evan into my arms before tossing his cute ass onto the bed. He laughed as I straddled him, slipped the band onto my finger, and leaned down until I was inches from his face. “I want you like parched earth wants the rain. I want you like growing fields want the sun. I want you with everything I have in me.”

I closed the inches between us and kissed him before laying my full body weight onto his and grinding our cocks together. “Yes, I will marry you, Evan Garland, and I will work to make you the happiest man ever to have walked this earth.”