by Hammond, T.
“Gil, you brought up some interesting points regarding the communication bond, as well as questioning how specific Red’s nose can be. Assuming his nose is equivalent to other canines, Red’s edge is our ability to ask him questions, and gather additional insight a regular dog wouldn’t know was important.” David then stressed, “Whatever we decide, we will have to maintain better secrecy than we’ve done so far. The fewer members of task forces present while Red is working, the better. And, if we decide to test Red’s nose, the tests will have to be with individuals who already know about Red. No new people should be added to our circle of confidants, without us approving it first.”
“Understandable,” Gil agreed. “There’s no reason for anyone, other than a second observer, to be with me when I access the drug locker for testing Red. I can pick someone who has already seen him in action. Call me when you’re planning a trip downtown and I’ll set something up so we can see how specific he can get with that nose of his.”
“How fluent is your ASL, Gil?” Bas asked, referring to his American Sign Language skills. “It’s obvious you caught on to David and me at the station. We learned because our squad volunteered to take classes with the hope it would help our team’s efficiency. It’s not a common military practice.”
“I didn’t learn in the military. My dad is deaf; my whole family is fluent,” Gil said.
I chimed in here, “We will have to consider if there is some sign language I can learn too. While I can’t see others, it may be a way to relay what Red is telling me if we are in a position where I don’t want other people to know he’s talking. There’s a slim chance someone, like Gil, may pick up on it, but it might give me a new tool.” I tried to visualize how much easier it would be to sign as Red talked instead of verbal translation. “I already know the ASL alphabet, although it would probably take me an hour to sign ‘Watch out he has a gun in his boot!’ because I’ve had no reason to practice.”
“I can rent some ASL videos from the library,” Ken interrupted. “I think it would be great to learn how to sign. I’d be happy to go thru the lessons with you and we can learn together.”
“I’ll do it, too,” Janey chimed in. “I don’t have any litters being weaned right now. The website we set up is still raking in a steady income for both of us, so I’ll be able to practice with you and Ken.”
We were going to be one big ASL family. It would be slow going for them to teach me, but we would find a way to make it fun. “So,” Ken asked, “will this be like every foreign language—we learn the swear words first?”
“No,” Bas replied, seriously. “Not in front of the dog…” we all chimed in together with him, “… he repeats everything.”
We ended up setting a time to meet with Gil at the police station on Tuesday morning so Red could try identifying specifics about the drugs the detective had on hand. Red was excited to try the new test although he wasn’t too excited about the cocaine because it made him sneeze. Gil suggested, if he had problems with the coke, he could try putting more emphasis on the meth ingredients. Arrangements finalized, and after a few quality moments with Molly, Gil left and the rest of us settled in for a lazy afternoon.
It was movie night, but instead of picking a movie, Janey pulled out four copies of a popular erotic BDSM novel to distribute to the group. She had us skip to the “good parts” as she called them and each person was assigned a character. Janey directed the men to select a cartoon character voice to use when reading their portion of the book. We were all in hysterics by the time Christian, read by Bas as Foghorn Leghorn, finished an intimate encounter with Ana, read by Ken as Tweety Bird. I think reading erotica might have become our favorite group activity, how sick is that?
Chapter Twenty-Six
Saturday night found David and me cuddled up in my window seat. I was resting my head on his chest, enjoying the steady beat of his heart and the rhythmic cadence of his breathing. When he spoke to me, the words rumbled and echoed in the ear I had pressed to his warm skin. “The security light came on. There goes Red, chasing the cat who jumped down off the fence.”
I could feel a slight shift in the body beneath me as David looked toward the nightstand clock. He laughed, “It’s almost midnight. He must have been waiting under the deck for the cat to cross over to his yard. We are talking about a serious obsession here.”
“Well, what else does a dog have to do?” I joined him in laughing about the dog’s antics. “He sleeps most of the afternoon away, it makes sense he’d be stalking at night.”
I shifted my legs to drape one over his thigh. His body was so hot against the length of mine. It was like being laid out against a heated brick. Toasty.
“I was hoping to talk to you tonight, but I’m not sure if it’s the right time to discuss this, or not.” I kept my head flat against his pectoral, and waited for his reaction.
“You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” I felt a kiss pressed to the top of my head.
“Yeah, but fear of screwing up a good thing is a huge motivator to shut up, and coast along as we have been,” I replied, kissing the nipple pressed against my nose. Maybe I’ll forget bringing it up for now, which means a distraction is called for. Darting a quick tongue out, I licked a nipple which instantly pebbled. As I opened my lips intent on engulfing the sensitive little disk, I was manhandled up the length of David’s body so we were now face to face. Wow! I always forget how strong he is until he does something like that. “Err, Hi?” I think, I squeaked like a damned mouse.
“Don’t think I won’t recognize a distraction technique when I feel one,” he chuckled, brushing a warm kiss over my lips. I fell into his mouth and enjoyed the lush fullness of his taste, sweeping my tongue over his in a playful dance. It was especially nice to be lying over the full length of his body.
“I love your mouth,” I confessed, “and I love you. I want to ask if you’d move into the house with me. I know it’s only been a couple of months, but I can’t think of anything I’d like more than to go to bed with you wrapped around me every night. If you think it’s too soon, or if you like living separate, be blunt, okay?”
David reached up and pulled me down for a deep, carnal melding of lips, tongues, and teeth. He welded my mouth to his with lust and hunger, the thickening ridge of his arousal pressed into my belly leaving no doubt he wanted me. “Two and a half months doesn’t seem like a long time to me either, but you already feel like a necessary part of me. I hate living separate from you, which is probably why I’m usually here most nights.
“Damn, woman, one minute I look at you and you make me breathless, then in the next you smile and you breathe new life into me,” he whispered, his breath gentle drafts of air against my skin. “I love you, too. I would love to move in. I would love for you to make a place for me in your life, because you have already made a place for yourself in my heart.”
“You say the nicest and most adoring things,” I grinned like an idiot, I’m sure. “I’ve never considered myself a romantic woman, but my heart jumps when you say sweet stuff like that.”
I split my legs apart and drew my knees up towards his hips so I could straddle over his lap. When I sat up, I was splayed wide over his groin, and I brushed myself against the erection which strained upward from his body. Grasping him in my hand, I held his thick, ridged warmth steady as I rubbed my clit against him in tight firm circles. I could feel the gathering wetness between my thighs as my sensitivity heightened with each brush across the head of his cock.
His fingers delved through my folds to test my dampness. “Not quite yet, Lover,” he whispered, anticipating I was getting ready to lower myself down on the hard length of him. “Patience.”
I ran my free hand over my breasts and trailed downward, over my stomach, into the nest of hair covering my mound. With a practiced hand, I speared two fingers into my cleft and began a rhythmic undulation of my hips which had David breathing as hard as I was. His hand wrapped around my other fist, still clutching hi
s erection, and he guided it in a pumping motion mirroring the stroking of my fingers against my clit.
“David,” my voice carried an urgent plea. Still overlapped, together our hands guided him to my entrance and I slowly lowered myself on the head of him. “Oh, yes,” I moaned and pushed down against the upward thrust that fully buried him.
“Damn. You feel incredible,” he groaned in a sexy, gravelly voice.
I began to rise up and thrust my pelvis down at a strong, increasingly fast pace. His hips rose to follow my retreats, my fingers still stroking my clit. Our breath labored, catching on each inhale.
“Can feel you,” David gasped, his body almost painfully taut. “Close.” His hands clutched desperately at my butt, pulling me down hard as his hips strained upward. I relished the bite of his fingers digging into my ass as he hovered on the edge of peak pleasure. “Can’t wait,” he moaned, as I felt the first spasm hit him. David’s need pulsed through me with his release, and I toppled off the edge, helpless against the climax that wrenched a cry from my throat.
My hands slid up his chest as my body went boneless. I molded my fingers to his face, tilting it up for an open-mouthed kiss that drank up his moan and need, and shared my trembling, silent scream of relief. We were both shaking from the intensity of our orgasms; my body held him inside as ripples shuddered through me. I was still quivering as I sank into sleep, wrapped in his arms.
****************
Later, the next morning on the couch, while he was holding me against his shoulder, David said, “There are some modifications I would like to make to the house for security reasons. Cameras, specialized electronics, expanded electrical boxes, and a few other things to handle my programming work. The computer stuff I do is pretty complex and kinda top-secret so I need to take steps to keep my files and prototypes secure. I don’t want to take over your home, but these are necessary things to keep my work, and you, safe. I would have talked to you about security whether I moved in or not, but I was trying to time a discussion so you wouldn’t feel I was encroaching on your space.”
“My offer for you to move in is unconditional, David. I suspected your work was of a confidential nature, and you can do anything you feel necessary to secure the house. I’ve not used my office since the accident, and I’d love for you to use it for yourself. If Bas is working with you, then we’ll make space for him to set up an area to work also. The third room on this floor doesn’t even have furniture so feel free to expand into whatever areas you want. Add what you need to make it secure and functional. Being in a rental house, as you two are now, probably leaves you both at some risk since you guys can’t make permanent alterations.”
David nuzzled his face into my neck and bussed a kiss right below my ear. “The security is going to make you crazy,” he warned.
“If you move in, this becomes our space, our home. I’m dedicated to making this relationship work, David. I’m making a place for you in my life, and I’m prepared to make concessions and compromises while we get it all figured out,” I told him. “If the added security makes you safer, then I’ll deal with it.”
David leaned his head back on the couch, drawing me tighter to his side. “You are displaying an awful lot of trust. Your capacity to believe in us making this relationship work is truly mind-boggling.”
“David, do you realize we have seen each other almost every day of the last few months? Unlike most couples who date while putting in forty-hour work weeks, we have spent as much quality time together as anyone dating for six months or more.
“We have talked about anything and everything, and we have never played coy games. Damn David, you only knew me one day and you asked about the accident and resulting scars. You asked to touch them. I’ve had people I know take up to a month simply to broach the subject.”
I caressed his face with my free hand and cupped his jaw so I could feel the sandpaper roughness against my palm. “I trust you. I have faith in us. And, if you hurt me, Bas will pound you into a puddle of mush, then try to steal your girl,” I teased.
“Well, yes,” David conceded. “There is that incentive to make it work.” He kissed me softly. “I’ll start moving my things in this afternoon. Bas and I can do a lot of the security electronics, but I’ll hire an electrician to do some rewiring and upgrades to handle the equipment I'll be bringing in. I’m designing a prototype which Bas is helping me field test and refine, based on his experience as an end-user. It would be convenient to set up a workspace for him too.”
“There is a basement. It doesn’t have an outside egress, and the space is unfinished. But you can check it out to see if it’s a space you want to use.”
“I had no idea the house had a basement, there are no windows visible on the outside. Where is the door?”
I grinned, it wasn’t often I caught him off guard. “There is a second door inside the kitchen pantry. I think the guy who built the house thought it was cool or something. The key hangs on a hook right next to the door. Feel free to check it out whenever you want to, you can have your very own secret Man Cave.”
One thing I could say about David, the man had awesome control. He managed to sit on the couch and make small talk for another ten minutes before he kissed me on the head and scooted me to the side, “I’ve gotta go check out the basement.”
Epilogue
Halloween was a day of celebration. For the one-year anniversary of the accident, and Red’s first birthday, we decided to have friends together to enjoy an evening of food, laughter, and jokes about secret lairs. It was a joyous day, and I can honestly say I barely thought about the day as anything other than Red’s birthday. He’d gotten into the spirit of the celebration with all the enthusiasm of a toddler. Red even insisted on wearing a party hat. Really. We have pictures.
Shortly after David moved in, and the house was turned into a fortress, Janey invited Ken to move in with her. I was amazed she’d so easily accepted my gay assistant somehow becoming straight in a mere moment. Too weird for me, but hey, I’m not the one sleeping with him. Smirk.
Ken’s moving worked out well for all of us, as I didn’t really need an assistant anymore. Ken’s job has morphed into a housekeeper-househusband role, where he comes in for six hours a day, Monday through Friday, to prepare meals and do chores such as laundry and shopping for both David and me.
Janey, Ken, and I are learning ASL, and David practices with me on the weekends. Red can understand some of the signs, but his mind doesn’t retain much of it. We are teaching the basic “dog” commands such as sit, stay, and down. Red’s been a good sport about it. “What’s with all the hand gestures? All you have to do is ask me to sit and I will.”
Bas spends more time at the house than Ken does now-a-days. Since, the security system went in, and the computer room was set up (it ended up in the basement, big surprise there), the guys are frequently testing new prototypes and programs. Ken’s room was converted to a guest room, and Bas crashes here often when he and David have been up late working on a project.
I am so glad Bastian and I found a comfortable relationship after so many years of conflict. He started dating other women, although he has never brought a woman to the house for one of our friendly get-togethers. Suppose I don’t blame him considering our book night debauchery. I have high hopes he will find a woman to rock his world. He’s a good man and deserves to be happy.
Speaking of book night, our little group is on the second book of the erotic BDSM series. I don’t think anyone will be able to top Gil’s characterization of Christian using the voice of Speedy Gonzales matched with David speaking the Ana parts as Natasha, the Russian spy from the Bullwinkle cartoons.
Asking David to move in has been the best decision I ever made. The man is incredible and has enhanced every aspect of my life. The house was in chaos for a couple of weeks, and yes, it drove me crazy as he'd promised, but waking up to feel and hear the sound of his heartbeat under my ear every morning, made all the pandemonium worth it. There wasn
’t any conflict with blending our lifestyles together. He'd been infinitely patient and understanding.
We have explored the nightstand drawer, thoroughly, and even added a few new items. When I explained the reason for the loopy bow around Oh-Henry, David helped me enlist the aid of a gay friend he made when he was staying at the Doubletree. We all went dancing at a club downtown and his friend, Jason, “bumped into us.” Jason proceeded to “recognize” and flirt with Ken all evening, going so far as to lay a big smooch on him as we were leaving for the night. Oh, I wish I could have seen it, but hearing everyone laughingly relay the story was almost as good.
Detectives Gil Westfield and Mike Stephens have set up numerous tests to define the limits of Red’s tracking and sniffing abilities. Both of the detectives have become regulars at the house; Gil especially. Red enjoys when they spend the occasional afternoon hiding items in the yard for Red to find and identify. Red’s nose wasn’t able to distinguish the ingredient mix for meth samples, possibly having something to do with the strong chemical scents messing up his nose? But, the detectives are creative about experiments to test his ability in distinguishing people scents, which Red seems to have a talent for.