Page 77 of He Who Sleeps

Fifteen minutes later she was out of the shower, dressed in a long-sleeved wrap dress, bare under the dress to her toes. Emerson had left it out for her, with the simple ask of “Please” on a handwritten card, and she obliged, leaving her hair free as well.

Padding from the room, she made her way down the stairs, loving the feel, the energy in the house. And stopped as she spied Carter and the large dog coming from the other side. She went to her knees and smiled. “Look at you, you beautiful baby!”

Brutus sniffed her hair and then her face and then glanced back at Carter, who was just waiting patiently.

"It's okay, boy," he murmured. "You can say hi."

Brutus swung his enormous head back to her and, without warning, swiped her from chin to temple in one sweep of his long, wet tongue.

She giggled and smiled, huge. “Oh, look at you! Hello, you big boy!” She looked to Carter, covered in dog slobber but she didn’t care. That was what wet wipes were for. “Will he let me pet him? I would never presume...”

"Sure," Carter smiled easily, clearly comfortable with her being around his dog. Brutus was the size of a small horse, but seemed to have a gentle nature and was clearly well trained. "He's a total softie," he added as she reached up to pet the sleek, grey coat before her. "He doesn't like people touching his feet, but we've been working on that, haven't we, boy?"

He scratched Brutus' head and the dog gazed up at him adoringly. "His groomer is his second favorite person in the world and we've come up with a plan so she can clip his nails without him pulling," he explained. "He's not bad or aggressive with her. It just takes ten times longer than it has to because someone doesn't let her hold his paw for very long."

“I can see that. There was one dog at the shelter a while back that had the same phobia,” she said. “They can work through it, though I’m glad he’s such a good boy. Brutus, we are going to be good friends,” she said to the animal. “Do you like blanket cuddles? I do...” She scratched behind his ear. “Such a good boy.” She looked to Carter again. “He’s amazing. And so are you.” She got to her feet and went to him kissing him sweetly. “Thank you for bringing him.”

"I knew you wanted to meet him, and he loves road trips." Carter shrugged self-consciously. "It seemed like a good idea all round."

“Hmmm...” she hummed and snuggled close to him. “Where is everyone? Emerson mentioned dinner, but we didn’t get a tour of the place,” she offered, her hand going absently to the dog’s back to pet him.

"Yeah, it's getting late. I figured he wanted to get food into everyone before he got six hangry brothers and one hangry girlfriend," he teased. "Come on, the dining room is this way. I'm sure you'll get the tour afterwards."

They walked down another hallway and ended up in a large room with a decently long table, set for eight.

“There she is...and looking fucking edible,” Emerson said. “That dress is temping as hell.”

She blushed. “You picked it.”

“I did. So? Shall we eat?” He pulled out the chair next to him.

Leo's stomach grumbled loudly and he burst out laughing as he entered the room. "I hope they're catering a whole feast out there," he said, taking a seat at the table. "I'm starving."

"You're always hungry," Easton teased, taking the seat next to Carter and turning his attention to Brutus. "Hey there, big guy," he said quietly, getting a huge head snuggled into his chest as he scratched behind ears and stroked flanks. They were clearly familiar with each other and just as clearly adored each other.

“Why didn’t you bring the bird?” Jack asked as he and Kendrix said down, the latter’s eyes on her, intense and brooding. She hadn’t seem him since they got back, but their calls were...intense.

"She doesn't like travelling and there wasn't enough room in the car for her equipment," Easton explained. "She's okay. My housekeeper is staying over to keep her company. She's going to have a whale of a time."

"Since we're talking animals and I know you all have the impulse control of raccoons on meth, I'd like to remind everyone to please not feed Brutus from the table," Carter announced as the others all arrived and took seats. "He's a good boy and he doesn't beg, but I don't want him to pick up bad habits from you horrible lot."

She smiled. “Understood. No snacks for the puppy.” She winked at him.

With everyone seated, the food started coming out, and Emerson looked to her. “I had the chef make yours special, since you don’t eat meat.”

She nodded as they brought out a plate of large portabella, farrow and spinach. “Oh, it looks yummy.” She looked to Emerson’s plate to find the same meal but with steak and smiled. “It’s lovely.”

“Before we start, a toast...” Jack said as glasses of wine were brought to the table. They all raised theirs. “To Emerson. The oldest of us, the smartest, though I dare say I’m better looking.” He flashed her a wicked smile. “Happy birthday.”

"Well now you've done it," Leo said after the toast. "If you're going to start a pissing contest about who is the best looking, we'll have to put it to our lovely queen here to decide. What say you, cupcake? Who is the most handsome of us all?"

“Hmmm...” she said and sipped her wine, mulling it over. “You are all smoking hot,” she said evenly, “made hotter by the things you do, and how you treat me. But you all have the top spot in different categories...” With a grin, she looked down at her wine. “And they are all equal for me. Though, my friends asked about each of your dicks. I couldn’t comment there.” She took another sip of her wine and giggled to herself.

"Someone gave you lessons in diplomacy," Finn chuckled. "That'll teach Leo to be an idiot."

"Hey, I'm all for a dick measuring contest," Leo said right back, unperturbed. "I'll slap it on the table right now." He stood up and started unbuckling his pants.

“Don’t take it out unless you’re planning to use it.” She giggled.

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