Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 64929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
“I could never forget that,” Owen murmured, pulling me closer. “I’ll save that spot just for you, Adri.” He grinned, impish and freer than I thought I’d ever seen him. “Golden retriever or chihuahua?”
I snorted. “I am not a chihuahua. I bark. I am not one of those little yappy dogs.” He was crazy if he thought I was a little fluffy rat. “You’d better pick something better or it will be my name on your ass. I’m sure you can figure out a way to explain it. Your skills with BS are legendary.”
“They have golden retriever chihuahua mixes,” Owen said helpfully. “They’re fucking adorable.” “You can call me baby or pup or honey or even snookums, but you start calling me a re-wawa or anything insane like that, and I’ll kill you in your sleep.” I was not a fluffy rat, no matter how cute he thought they were. I was beautiful and happy. What was he thinking?
“Kinky,” Owen commented.
I swatted him, and he smiled at me — something genuine and warm, loving enough to make my heart melt all over again. He leaned in and nuzzled my hair. As though echoing my thoughts, he murmured into my ear, “You’ll just have to be patient. It’s going to take a while to find something as perfect as you to put there.” Before I could turn into putty in his arms, he added, “Since you’re ruining my fun. I totally wanted a re-wawa on my heart. I guess you’ll have to find something for me. Trace it with your tongue a few dozen times, just to make sure it’s what you want to see there…”
He was incorrigible.
He was insane.
He was perfect.
He was mine.
And I was never going to let either of us forget that.
Epilogue
The seemingly endless monologue about what the professor hoped we’d learned in the class and by doing the paper was wasted on me. Watching her pace across the front of the room was the only thing holding my attention. Maybe the other students needed the reminder that they were supposed to have learned more than new sex positions and slang terms, but I didn’t.
As crazy as I knew it would sound to the other students, and probably the professor herself, I thought it was the most important class I’d taken in college. In others, I’d learned skills that would prepare me for a job and make me a better speaker, or someone who could hold intelligent conversations about history and political events. In her class, I’d learned who I was.
Maybe who I was becoming was probably the better way to say it. At the beginning of the school year, or even the semester, I never would’ve been able to imagine waking up in Owen’s arms wearing nothing but my collar. I never would’ve been able to imagine racing around the bedroom chasing a ball while he smiled and laughed, petting my head and telling me what a good pup I was.
The old Adrian hadn’t had the words to explain the things that had run through his head or that made him feel different. The new Adrian didn’t always have the words either, but at least he knew they were out there and that someone was there to listen.
Owen was there to listen. As I sat there thinking about it and about everything that I’d written in the paper, I had to admit that it was the thing that still shocked me the most. It wasn’t the tail or collar that made me feel like the world had turned on its head.
It was Owen. It was the way he looked at me, the way he reached out to touch my face, the way his hands trailed down my spine as he caressed me and told his pup how his day had gone. It was in the way he did little things for me, buying my favorite coffee or getting me up just a few minutes early because he knew how much I liked waking up with him without having to rush.
We’d gone from almost strangers, two people who were just sharing a house out of necessity, to lovers and a real family. Maybe we’d gone about tearing down the walls that had created so much distance differently than other people would have, but I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.
Stripped down and finally honest, we’d been able to see each other for who we really were. We were both realistic; we knew there would be problems and bumps in the road. Even with all the things we had in common, we were too different not to butt heads. But the love that was there now was strong and growing.
It wasn’t built out of the initial attraction that pushed people together. It wasn’t built out of fear or the thrill of the taboo.