“Husband,” he corrected without thinking.
Jack watched the way Callum’s eyes softened and his smile grew the closer Bear’s snout got to his face. Callum wrapped his fingers around the links and Bear moved his attention there, alternating from Callum’s hand to his face. Earlier, Callum had begged him to see him as he was before, to not see the bruises and the anxiety, and Jack wasn’t sure he could, but in this exact moment, he did.
“Can I go in?” Callum asked, Bear’s tongue now lapping against Callum’s hand, his tail a little looser than before.
“If you want to head toward the small play area back there, I can bring him around,” Candace said, gesturing down a walkway to another gated corral.
Callum stood up with a grin and Bear whimpered. Callum frowned at him apologetically then looked up at Jack with an expression of such pure joy it hurt Jack’s heart to think that wasn’t Callum’s constant state of existence.
“I’ll be waiting for you,” Callum told Bear, motioning for Jack to follow him. Jack jogged past the kennels and caught up with Callum as he was popping open the latch to the corral.
“He seems to like you,” Jack observed as Callum bounced on the balls of his feet waiting for Candace and Bear.
“He doesn’t treat me any different,” Callum admitted, glancing quickly at Jack before directing his attention back to the kennels.
“I’m done with that, kitten.”
Callum looked at him again, eyes laden with doubt.
“I'm going to make you come so much when we get home that you’ll wish I was treating you differently still,” Jack whispered, his voice low and dangerous.
“Daddy,” Callum whisper-yelled, reaching between his legs and adjusting himself.
Jack grabbed his hand and stilled it before moving it to the growing bulge between his own legs. He turned them so Candace wouldn’t be able to see and leaned down level with Callum’s ear.
“This isn’t any different than before, but you need to be careful what you wish for.” He used his hand to curl Callum’s fingers around his thickening shaft. “I’m going to wreck every hole in your body and then I’m going to marry you again in front of all your friends while you’re full of my cum.”
Callum’s hand tightened.
“Jack, you may want to step back. Let Bear get used to Callum up close for a little bit before we introduce you.”
Callum released Jack’s cock and stepped away. Jack pushed his erection down the leg of his pants and put space between them as Candace brought Bear into the play area.
Bear hesitated when he saw Jack, stalling out beside Candace after she removed his leash and patted him on the head.
“Come on, pup,” Callum coaxed, squatting down and holding his hand out again. Bear approached him, repeating the sniffing of the hand and the face. Jack watched as Bear’s tail raised and raised, until it started to wag and he licked a sloppy stripe up the side of Callum’s face.
Callum laughed. The sound was so perfect and familiar Jack’s cock leaked against his thigh in excitement. Callum ruffled his fingers through Bear’s long black fur and waggled his fingers in Jack’s direction.
“Bear, I want you to meet someone,” Callum told the dog, nuzzling their faces together.
Jack took a step toward the center of the space where Callum and Bear were sitting together. Bear’s ears angled toward the sky, but Callum whispered something against one and they relaxed.
Jack took another step and another until he was close enough to reach out and dust the tops of Callum’s outstretched fingers with his own. Bear’s head angled toward the movement and Callum bumped the dog with his good shoulder reassuringly.
Bear did a little spin and shoved his snout under Jack’s hand. Jack petted him, running a smooth and steady touch up his nose to between his ears.
“This is Jack,” Callum said to Bear in a tone so conversational Jack couldn’t help but chuckle. “He’s my Daddy. He’s my husband.”
Callum smiled at him when he said it, and Jack nodded in agreement. Jack settled down in the grass next to Callum, still petting Bear while Callum talked.
“He is really important to me and, if you come home with us, he’ll be really important to you, too. He takes the best care of me,” Callum rambled on about Jack, praising him to the canine in ways Jack was sure he didn’t deserve. Every affirmation out of Callum’s mouth served as a steady reminder that Jack should be worshipping the ground this man walked on.
Jack knew in this moment, every person he’d ever thought he loved before had been nothing compared to this. They’d been amateur displays of affection serving as little more than trial runs for the greatest gift he’d ever have.
“I love you,” he told Callum, interrupting his speech to Bear. “More than anything, than anyone.”
He raised a hand to Callum’s face and stroked his cheekbone, dragging his hand down to Callum’s braced shoulder and sliding his fingers across the entirety of Callum’s collarbone. He didn’t flinch, instead blinked his attention onto Jack like a laser beam.
