“This is Toby?”asked the other man.
“It is.W-why is h-he… n-naked?”stuttered Ernest, coming to a grinding halt in front of Toby, his attention moving to the other man.“What’s going on here?”His bushy brows formed a solid line as he frowned.
The guy held up his hands looking to placate the other man.“Nothing.He flew here, and I’m assuming he was looking for you if this is your Toby, and I got him some of your clothes just before you got here.To cover up.”
The way he rushed to explain it gave Toby a chance to watch them both.There didn’t appear to be anything other than friendship between the two men, which was a relief because Toby didn’t want his mate to have an issue with him being so tiny.
When Ernest looked back at him, Toby offered a sweet smile, fluttering his eyelashes.“Hi.”
“Hi, yourself,” Ernest replied, blushing deeply as he took a step forward, his nose twitching noticeably.
Another step closer and Toby’s already overreacting body went into hyperdrive.He was glad of the clothes he held.There was plenty of material to hide his reaction.
Don’t hide.He needs to see how much we want him.
Leave off!
“I’ll leave you to it,” the other man said, making a quick dash for the steps.
“Thank you, Rick,” Ernest called after him, but didn’t move his gaze from Toby.“I’m Ernest…your mate.”
“I know,” he murmured shyly.
“You do?How?”
“Your friend told me your name.”He lifted the clothing to make his point, not thinking about what it was covering.“Your scent—it was on my hoodie.”
“How did you find me?I’ve only just left Remy.”
Toby wasn’t quite sure what Remy had to do with this.“Remy?”
“Yes, the lovely person who runs Bucket List Buddies, I left my information with him to pass on to you.I waited at the hospital… and… yes… you see…” He heaved a sigh, fingers running through his thick mane of graying hair, licking at those juicy plump lips Toby wanted to suck on.
He was a hunk… and big… so damn big and sexy.
Toby’s nose twitched as blood circulated directly to his nether region, and he tugged back the clothes, his blush now matching Ernest’s.He hid what he was sure his mate could smell—his arousal.No, I will not jump his bones.I won’t!We haven’t been on a date.
Are you sure?
He wanted to answer his animal with assertion, but what came out was,maybe… sort of… oh gods I want to jump his bones!
Chapter Twelve
Ernest
“Could you please put those clothes on?”Ernest was feeling more than a little hot under the collar.He was feeling more than a little hot everywhere, truth be told.His cock had decided it was a perfect time to test the seams of his crotch, and his shirt was feeling tight around his arms and shoulders—ripping it off would be an enormous relief, and totally inappropriate for a first meeting.
He’d been giving himself such a stern lecture all the way home—not to expect anything, not to get his hopes up, and definitely not to do anything stupid like go rampaging in his elephant form until he found his mate.Seeing Toby in his front yard had left him flustered—and not only because of the lack of clothes.
Ernest had barely managed to make it home as it was.His elephant thought he was doing a piss-poor job of finding their mate and wanted to take over.But there was no way his shifted form would fit in his truck, let alone between the seat and the steering wheel.His elephant side was equally unhappy to see Toby naked when Rick was there… there was a lot going on in Ernest’s head.
Except now he felt mean because Toby was probably already feeling embarrassed.Ernest didn’t want to stop looking at him.Toby was slim, but he wasn’t overly short, and he had the prettiest cock and…
Ugh!Stop torturing yourself!Ernest shut his eyes and tugged his hair hard.“I’m doing my very best to behave like a gentleman.Truly, I am,” he muttered between clenched teeth.“I’ve been worried sick about you since Saturday.And I was at Remy’s.You know I was at Remy’s.I’ve already said I was at Remy’s.Right.Please put some clothes on, and I’ll go and make us some coffee.How does that sound?Look, I’ll even turn around so I don’t peek.Is that alright?”
“That’s so sweet,” Toby said from behind him, and Ernest’s keen ears could hear the rustle of clothing.“I feel a bit silly.I didn’t think my plan through thoroughly this morning.My bird had told me we could fly here, but I never thought about what I’d do when I got here.
“I tapped on your window, but Rick doesn’t understand bird talk, and I can imagine you don’t either.”
