Page 61 of Impurrfections

“You’re fine.” Theo moved aside, grabbing some paper towels. “I’m done anyhow. What do you want for breakfast?” He opened his fridge and ran through a list like eggs and bacon and bagels and yogurt. My brain couldn’t handle all those choices. I saw a loaf of bread on the counter. “Can I have toast? And butter?”

Theo froze for an instant, then said, “Sure. Toaster’s over there. Make me a slice too.” He got out the butter and an egg. “I’m going to fry an egg. You sure you don’t want one?”

My brain reminded me how long it’d been since I’d had tasty, warm, gooey eggs. My stomach rolled queasily. “Toast is fine.”

We were halfway through eating when Theo’s phone rang. He yanked it from his pocket. “The vet!” He fumbled, laying it on the table and switching to speaker as he answered. “Yes? How’s Foxy doing?”

“Hi, Mr. Lafontaine.”

“Theo. How is she?”

“It’s Dr. Louisa. Foxy’s doing great. Came through surgery like a trooper and she has six healthy puppies. The first one gave us a bit of a scare, but he’s a tough little boy. He’s doing well now.”

As Theo asked, “When can she come home?” my vision went a bit fuzzy.

I sucked in air and laid my head down on my arms right there on the table.She’s okay. The babies are okay.I didn’t screw anything up.

The vet said, “Pick her up around five-thirty. I’d like to watch her through the day, make sure all the babies are nursing.”

“Wait.” Something nagged at me and I tried to think. “Arthur told me her milk hadn’t come in yet. That’s why he thought she wasn’t ready. Isn’t that a problem?”

“She’s producing now,” the vet answered. “If she had more than eight pups, you’d be bottle-feeding, but I think she can handle six.”

She made it through.The relief made my eyes sting. I rubbed my face in the crook of my elbow.

“Do you know what breed the dad was?” Theo asked.

“Not for sure,” Dr. Louisa said. “But they’re larger than Elkhounds, and three are pure black. At a guess, I’d say black Lab.”

I managed to pick up my head and say, “Thanks, Doc, for saving her. I was afraid…” My throat went dry and I swallowed hard.

“You did the right thing, bringing her in when you did. Don’t worry. You’re in for a happy, busy time finding homes for these babies.”

“Thank you.” I pushed away from the table and hurried to the patio doors to stare out at the back yard.Babies. Puppies.I imagined six tumbling black and gray balls of fluff playing out there, exploring their new world, and felt light as air.

Behind me, I heard Theo asking some important questions about what the puppies needed and what Foxy should eat. I should’ve been listening to the answers, but I trusted Theo to remember and tell me. In front of me, the mid-morning sun laid shadows under the dusty-green foliage of the plants in the yard. A pair of birds squabbled over some scrap of food.

Theo said goodbye to the doc and came up behind me. “Nice day out.”

I turned to him. “Foxy’s okay.”

“Yeah, she is.” His grin made the sunny day even brighter.

Setting a hand on his chest, I looked into his shining, gray eyes, and desire rose up like a tidal wave. “Take me to bed?”

He froze. “Are you sure? You probably need more sleep.”

I didn’t want sleep. I needed my hands on his skin and his mouth on mine, needed to be wrapped up in the caring, generous, gorgeous man whose awful grandparents hadn’t managed to break him. “I can sleep later.” Cupping his face between my palms, I kissed him hard.

After one more moment’s hesitation, he gave a low groan and swayed toward me, his lips opening under mine.

When we separated, breathless, he asked, “Shower first?”

I really wanted to get my hands and my mouth on more of him, but we could do that in the shower, and I smelled of dog and fluids I didn’t want to name. “Sure. Yeah. Together.”

We didn’t mess around undressing each other, just hurried to the bathroom and ripped off our clothes. Well, Theo still folded his on the counter, but sloppily. As we stepped under that cascading showerhead, I turned to him, threaded my fingers in his hair, and kissed him. He hummed against my lips and wrapped his arms around me, pulling our bodies together.

I wasn’t fully hard yet, but a moment or two rubbing against Theo with the warm water slicking the space between us would fix that. Already, I felt his dick rising against my thigh. We kissed messily, hungrily, wet skin sliding on wet skin. Theo pulled out of the kiss with a gasp to ask, “Soap?”

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