Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

Not a Proposal

Afterward, as he unbound me and cleaned me up, removing the tail and having me sit on a towel for a few minutes so I wouldn't soil my underwear, I couldn't meet his gaze. Now that we were out of the scene and I was becoming Fletcher the single parent again, I couldn't quite believe where Aiden had taken me and how much I'd fucking loved it.

He seemed to understand and didn't press me to engage. But when he'd finished tidying up, he came over and tipped my chin with a finger to force me to look at him.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

"More than," I said, offering him a smile.

"You loved that."

I frowned. "What the fuck is wrong with me? What have you done to me?"

"Nothing is wrong with you. You're fucking perfect. And I haven't done anything but helped you access some of your most forbidden fantasies. But…I know that can be a bit of a mind-fuck."

"Yeah," I said.

"But, Fletcher."

"Yeah?"

"You are the most perfect, sweetest, dirtiest, little piggy that I could ever hope for, and I love that you let me see it. Thank you."

"You're…welcome?" What a strange conversation.

"I'm going to help you get dressed, then I'm going to take you back to your place and shower you with luxury and pampering, all right?"

"That sounds perfect."

But first, we had to face the public.

"Oh, holy shit," Robin said as we walked into the gaming parlor to return the key to Jacob.

For a panicked second, I thought I'd forgotten to take the mask off. I put my hand to my face and felt my own skin. Phew.

"You look blissed out," Robin said. He glanced at Aiden, who simply smiled.

Robin grinned and shook his head.

"Wow. You've dommed him so good he can't even talk. Well done."

He offered his fist to Aiden, who gave him a bump.

"Leave him alone, Robin. He's tired," Aiden said.

"I bet he's fucking tired. My mind is spinning, wondering what could possibly reduce this fine specimen to such a useless state."

Aiden laughed. "Come on, Fletcher."

It wasn't until I'd soaked in the tub for half an hour and was lying in bed with Aiden that I was able to vocalize my reaction to what had been a mind-blowing couple of hours.

"I never knew I had such base desires," I said. "But…holy fuck, that was hot."

"Fletcher, that was more than hot, at least for me. Taking you to that place…letting you explore your submission in such a raw, profane way? That was more than I'd ever hoped for."

"I'm glad you had fun," I said, giving him a little smirk.

"I definitely did. You were so fucking hot, my sexy little piggy."

"I still want to be Treasure, though…sometimes."

"I know. I'm hoping we can uncover many more sides to your animal nature in the future."

I kissed him, with the security of a man who knew he was seen and valued and cared for, in the most intimate of ways.

* * * *

We finally had Annie and Brian over for the lasagna that they'd missed.

Aiden helped me again, and this time, I was able to enjoy the reminiscences while we worked, knowing that Daniel would be happy that his parents were coming over and that everything between us was okay again.

This time, Lucy was here, and she set the table and played with the dogs in the backyard so they'd be tired and not too much of a handful.

When Brian and Annie showed up, Annie passed me a pie that she'd made and promised to bring for dessert.

"It's peach. Your favorite."

"Thank you! That's amazing." I leaned in and gave her a kiss on her cheek, and she cupped my chin, gazing into my eyes with real affection. We enjoyed a moment, then Annie cleared her throat and bent to her boots.

I took the pie to the kitchen, blinking back emotion. I wasn't going to cry.

"What's that?" Lucy asked.

"Peach pie," I said.

"Ew. Peach pie?"

"I bought brownies," I said. "Go say hello to your grandparents."

"Oh, phew," she said, heading into the living room.

Aiden came over to give me a kiss. "I happen to love peach pie."'

"Oh my God!" Lucy screamed from the other room.

Aiden gave me a curious look. I shrugged.

"It's fine. They already cleared it with me."

"Cleared what?" Aiden asked as Lucy came running into the kitchen holding a gray tabby kitten to her chest. The dogs had followed and were sniffing the poor cat, who was looking rather unnerved and confused.

"They got me another kitten!" Lucy said, her eyes glistening.

"Wow," Aiden murmured, glancing doubtfully my way.

"It's okay. It's staying here."

"It's living here?" Lucy shouted. The dogs started barking.

"Yes, but you have to clean the litter box. I'm not touching that," I said, pointing the knife I was using to spread garlic butter at her.

"I will. I will! Oh my God, thank you Granny and Grandpa!" Lucy yelled, holding the kitten up. "Isn't he gorgeous? I'm going to name him Mando! Or should I call you Grogu?" she said, turning the cat so she could see its face.

"I like Mando," Aidan said, grinning now, as Annie came into the kitchen.

"Hello, Aiden," Annie said.

"Annie," Aiden said with a smile. "How are you?"

She shrugged, returning Aiden's friendly smile. "I can't complain."

"That's not true." Brian's voice sounded from the other room. "You complain all the time."

I smiled, and Aiden laughed.

"So, a new kitten, huh?" Aiden said.

"This one's a bit older," Annie said. "And Fletcher is a fantastic dad and dog owner. I'm sure little…Mando?…will fit right in."

The kitten tried to squiggle free, but Lucy held on to him.

"You'd better put him in the spare room and shut the door. There's already a litter box and water bowl up there," I said. "We can introduce him to the dogs properly tomorrow, after he's had a chance to smell them.

"Okay!" Lucy said, disappearing with the dogs. Annie followed her out, as Brian could be heard greeting the dogs in the other room.

"It's gonna be hard getting Lucy down here for supper," Aiden said.

"Yeah. But worth it."

"And worth all the hassle of cat ownership?"

"Please," I said. "Compared to dogs, cats are easy."

Aiden grinned. "Tell me that again in a couple of months."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. I suppose now is not the best time to tell you I'm allergic?"

My face fell, and I slapped a hand over my mouth.

"No, you're not!" I mumbled, internally freaking out. "Really?"

Aiden held his sober expression for another two seconds, then broke, grinning with glee at having rattled me.

"You bastard."

"What does it matter? I don't live here."

We held each other's gazes for a long moment.

"Aiden, do you want to live here?" I asked, before I'd thought too much about it. Before I got too scared to ask him, when it was something I really wanted to know.

He stared at me for a long time, then gave me a soft smile.

"You're asking me if I want to move in with you, your two dogs, your argumentative twelve-year-old and a new kitten?"

"Yes," I said. "I want to sleep with you every night."

"Well, when you put it that way, of course I will. But what do we do with my apartment?"

"Better keep it. You might want to escape after you find out what it's like living here."

"Not a chance."

Dinner went well.

After her grandparents had left, I took Lucy aside and asked her if it was okay for Aiden to move in. I should have asked her before I'd asked Aiden, but it had been a spontaneous invitation.

Lucy was over the moon with excitement about it.

"Yes! That's awesome, Dad."

"Are you sure? You don't think it's too soon?"

She gave me a strange look. "Dad, come on. Does he know he has to help with the animals?"

"I'm sure he does, and I'm sure he will."

"Honestly, am I the best matchmaker or what? I knew you two were perfect for each other. Cool how that worked out, huh?"

"Very cool."

"I know you miss Papa. But I think he'd be glad about Aiden."

I grinned and pulled her in close. "What would I do without you?"

"Probably be way less cool, honestly."

I looked forward to being a family of three again. It wouldn't be the same, but it would be just as wonderful.

* * * *

Aiden and Lucy were planning something.

Christmas was two weeks away, and Aiden had officially moved in the week before. Now he and Lucy kept whispering and giving me smug looks.

"What the fuck is happening?" I asked.

"Nothing," Lucy said.

"Not a thing," Aiden said.

They looked at each other with barely contained excitement.

"Come on. I didn't realize the two of you were going to gang up on me. I don't think it's very nice to keep secrets."

"Oh, relax, Dad. All will become clear. Just you wait."

"For what, though? What am I waiting for?"

"Patience, Fletcher. Patience," Aiden soothed.

He must have known by then that patience wasn't one of my strong suits.

When I dropped Lucy off at Annie and Brian's the weekend before Christmas, she waved bye with a very smug look on her face.

In the car, I said to Aiden, "You'd better not be planning anything in the Bordello, because if that's what Lucy's been helping you with, I think it would be a teensy bit inapprops, you know?"

"It's nothing like that. I'm not in this just for the sex, you know."

We drove along the canal, enjoying the view of the city all lit up in the darkness. Colored lights were strung in places and became more plentiful as we reached the downtown area. I was so mesmerized by the pretty lights that I didn't realize Aiden was steering into the Chateau Laurier driveway until he stopped the car in front of the massive doors.

"Come on," Aiden said, putting the car in park and getting out.

"I— What?" I said, but I got out of the passenger seat as Aiden passed his keys to the valet.

"Very good, Sir."

Aiden grinned at me as he opened the trunk, revealing two suitcases and two garment bags with hangers.

"Ta-da!" he said, a jovial smile on his handsome face.

"Are we staying here?" I asked.

"Yes."

"For the night?"

"For two nights."

"Holy shit," I said, blinking with astonishment, staring around me at the lights bouncing off the stone of the historic hotel.

"And one very fancy dinner that we have a reservation for." He glanced at his watch. "So we'd better get to our room."

"Aiden, this is… This is perfect," I said, following him inside.

A massive Christmas tree, decorated with giant ornaments, rose past the second story balcony and shone its festive cheer over the lobby.

Once we'd gotten our room keys, the attendant ushered us away and said someone would bring our bags up.

"I could get used to this," I said, glancing at Aiden as we waited for the elevator.

"I want you to. I like to treat you well. You know you deserve it, right?"

"Why does everyone keep telling me that?"

Aiden contemplated me for a long moment. "Maybe because it's good to see you happy, Fletcher. And they want you to be happy."

I reached for Aiden's hand.

The room on the fourth floor was spacious and clean and had a view of the parliament buildings—but only one window.

"Huh. I thought the windows would be bigger," I said, gazing out at the seat of the Canadian government.

"I can have us moved to a room with a better view…" Aiden said, looking uncomfortable.

Fuck, I was ruining his surprise.

"No, no, it's lovely. It's an old hotel. It's got some quirks, but I like that."

"Okay. Good. We need to get changed."

Suddenly, my eyes went wide. "You're not going to propose are you? Oh my God, are you going to propose?" I stared at Aiden in horror.

Aiden looked so fucking frustrated with me it was kind of hilarious. But then he smiled blithely.

"Yes, Fletcher. You found me out. That's all I wanted to do, so I brought you up to the fourth floor, and in a moment, the entire staff is going to come in with champagne and chocolate and bugles, celebrating our engagement."

"You're being sarcastic," I said, then wondered if he was. "Are you being sarcastic?"

Part of me danced at the thought of a proposal, but the bigger part was terrified of making that kind of commitment.

There was a knock on the door, and my eyes went wide. Aiden answered it to let the valet in with our luggage.

"Thank you so much," Aiden said, giving the young woman a tip before closing the door.

"Would you calm down and just get dressed?"

When we were ready, I followed Aiden down to Wilfrid's. We were immediately taken to a secluded table for two that had been decorated with candles and had a bottle of champagne in the center.

I looked at Aiden, who only smiled.

"Aiden," I said.

"There's a note on the bottle."

"Do not propose to me, Aiden," I said, my voice trembling.

Aiden pulled out his chair and sat down, steepling his hands under his chin and waiting.

"Aiden, please don't propose to me," I said in a whisper, feeling hot then cold, then hot again.

"Read the fucking note, Fletcher." Now he was annoyed.

I reached for the card attached to the bottle.

"Sit down and read it," Aiden said. His Dom voice did its work.

I sat down and read the note.

Dear Fletcher,

You are the best thing that's ever come into my life. I want you to know that. I want you to understand how much I love you, how much I enjoy doing the things we do together. And that means all the boring, regular things, like walking the dogs, watching TV with Lucy and cleaning the kitchen. But it also means the other things, the intimate things, the kinky things—things that have brought us closer and given us both what we needed and wanted.

I'm not going to ask for a commitment right now, but I want you to think about the fact that marriage is something I want to talk about. Maybe after Christmas, or in the spring, when things are a little more settled, and we've proven to each other that we're in it for the long haul.

I love you so much, Fletcher Marin, and I only the see the best for our future.

Yours,

Aiden

I blinked back tears as I came to the end of it. I nodded my head, unable to speak.

"Is that a yes?" Aiden asked, his grin a mile wide and his eyes sparkling.

"Yes. Yes, yes, yes."

* * * *

Later, up in the room, after a lovely meal and a rich dessert, we lounged in our PJs on the King bed. I was replying to a text from Lucy.

Yes, I was very surprised! You two are amazing. Thank you for helping Aiden plan this.

Is your hotel room swanky?

Very. I feel so pampered.

Yay! See you Sunday.

See you Sunday.

I put my phone down on the bedside table.

"Did you pack my toothbrush?" I asked, getting up and walking over to where we'd put the suitcases. They sat open on the luggage bench. I saw something pink poking out from under a couple of pairs of Aiden's boxer briefs in his suitcase.

I looked closer.

"Aiden."

"Yeah?"

I reached into his suitcase and pulled out the pink piggy mask that I'd worn in the Bordello, holding it out on the end of one finger.

"Why do you have this pig mask in your suitcase?"

"Oh!" he said, getting off the bed and walking over to me. He wrapped his arms around me and peered at the hood over my shoulder.

"Well, I was hoping you'd be my dirty little piggy for a bit."

"Um. We're in the fanciest hotel in Ottawa, and you want me to play piggy?" Honestly, my cock was already hard thinking about it.

Aiden grinned and kissed my shoulder. He slid his hand under mine—the one that wasn't holding the mask—and took my thumb between his fingers.

"This little piggy went to market," he murmured, pressing his cloth-covered hard-on against me. "This little piggy stayed home," he said, taking my pointer finger.

My breathing got quicker, and I started to smile.

He took my middle finger, rubbing it with his fingertips in a very sexy way.

"This little piggy ate roast beef."

He licked a trail from my jaw to my earlobe and bit it as I gasped. He took the next finger between his.

"And this little piggy had none."

I sighed and tilted my head back—his, always.

"And this little piggy," he whispered, taking my smallest finger and leading my hand down to cover my swelling cock in my pajama pants. "Went wee, wee, wee…all the way home."

He stroked me with aggressive motions until I turned and launched myself at him, kissing him with everything I had as he laughed against my mouth.