Just remembering the way he fought to keep a straight face left me trying not to laugh as I made my way through the house, making sure to turn off all the lights. I was well-behaved by the time I got upstairs, though, because after dinner, the stress of the day had hit Dorian hard.
He’d been doing great at hiding it from Emeric, but as I came into the bedroom, I found him standing in the middle of the room like he’d just stopped mid-step. He blinked back to life as I came in, but I could smell the stress coming off of him.
“Come here, Wölfchen, I know what I want as my reward.” His attempt at bribing me had been cute but it’d been obvious he had no idea what to do at that point. “We’re going to start with a shower because I want to wash you.”
He shook his head like a pup with water in their ears but then quickly followed it up with a nod. If I’d been human, it probably would’ve been confusing, but I was grateful for being more practically designed. “I… Okay… Yes, Sir.”
So he needed his Dom?
“Good boy.” The simple praise had his shoulders relaxing and him taking a deep breath. “You need to hug me first, though.”
Yes, he was going to need step-by-step instructions at least until his stress had lowered enough that his brain could work. It was definitely going slower than the rest of him because he started walking before glancing around and realizing what was going on. “A hug. Yes.”
So he ran and ran until he stopped?
That was good to know this early in our relationship but I was going to have to work on managing it better.
I was doing fairly good now, though, because he melted into me as he wrapped his arms around me. “Good boy.”
Kissing his head, I held him tight and kept a firm pressure on him until I could sense his stress easing again. “Tell me one thing that’s on your mind.”
I wasn’t sure what would come out or if he could do it yet, but I stayed quiet while his brain worked to process the order.
It took longer than he probably realized, but I was in no hurry and he got there eventually. “They had a bet going on at work about what I was…am.”
Okay, not where I thought we would start but I could see why that’d stuck in his head.
“That was rude. Period. Someone should probably point that out because it seems like the only people who ended up in charge at the high school panic first and make decisions second.” Who’d thought to put a Tanuki and a rabbit shifter in charge of one of the hardest jobs on the planet?
“It’s not rude if I agree with you, right?” I didn’t care if it was but I shook my head anyway. “Okay. Mr. Reed is easily startled and his tail comes out every time it happens.”
That wasn’t good.
How many humans who didn’t know what was going on did they have in the building on a regular basis?
“I think you need to remember that they like you. They were just confused and didn’t know how to approach you about your history.” And genetics. “It sounds like they’ve got a system when they interview new people and you passed without knowing it.”
At some point I was going to have to ask what he thought the Atley kid was.
“I guess there isn’t a good way to ask someone why they walked around a ghost and why they ignore random tails popping out.” Letting out another deep breath, Dorian’s hold relaxed and he started rubbing his cheek against me. “They need to work on their interview process, though, because I’m pretty sure the art teacher knows too, and he’s human because he keeps announcing it entirely too often.”
Ancestors above.
“I’ll have someone check into that.” Jessen was going to have to start doing the background checks on anyone looking to work at any of the schools. The fates only knew what was going on atthe elementary school. Those kids had no ability to control their shifts which was why so many were homeschooled.
But not everyone could do that.
Yep, calls needed to be made and research needed to be done.
“They like me, though.” Reminding himself of that seemed to help clear his head because his scent was shifting back toward delicious and not slightly burned. “And they were excited for our mating and to meet Emeric. My students were nosy but were excited for me too. Did I tell you one family brought in a gift basket?”
“That was nice of them.” It was probably going to keep happening for a while too. I might not have been the biggest badass in the area but I was one of the strongest shifters and technically owned half the businesses in the area.
“It would be understandable if you wanted to address the bet and their behavior in a more formal way, though.” I couldn’t believe they’d been taking bets on what he was. Well, part of me could understand it, but not at work.
We kept our bad decisions at pack or group levels, not work.
“I’m going to think about that but not right now.” Whatever he was thinking, it was moving him in the right direction because his hands had gone from clinging to me to caressing my back.
