Page 23 of Milk & Cookie

“What do you mean?”

“Well, for starters, you’ve only known the girl a few days. I forbid you from telling her you love her or asking her to marry you for at least a week.” He laughs to himself, and then frowns. “Is she even the marrying type?” he asks. “I don’t really know her, but then again, no man does unless they’re dying or gay.”

His expression turns thoughtful. “She’s perpetually single, but it’s not for a lack of the local riff-raff approaching her, Vince. She’s turned down more dick than you’ve had donuts. Well, it’s not a big town, so that’s probably not an accurate comparison. My point is she’s obviously got criteria, but commitment doesn’t seem to be on it. What are her mom’s views about coupledom? She’s single too. Maybe they don’t believe in marriage.”

“I wasn’t going to propose to her today.” I rub at the sudden stress-ache in my brow. “And Fred approached me,” I remind him. “I’m not terminal or gay.”

Daryl nods. “You are a stranger though. Passing through.”

I shake my head. “I just told you, I’m moving here.”

“Did she know that before she let you start your prep-work for breeding her?”

The question gives me pause. “No.”

Daryl pats the blankets on my leg. “Then maybe don’t go rushing into marriage talk until you’ve done some more homework, Mr. Investigator.”

I nod. “Good idea. Thank you.”

“Yeah, well, love is blind, but don’t worry. I’m looking out for you.”

I lean forward and pat his head. “You make a good seeing-eye dog.”

He bites me, and I smack him with the nearest pillow, until he wrestles it away from me.

“You want me to return the favor?” I pull a feather from my mouth. “See if something can be done for your library situation?”

He tosses the pillow away, picks up the nearby chair, and raises it over his head in a threat, flashing his eyes at me in warning. “Don’t get involved.”

I raise my hands in surrender. “I’ll leave it for now. But I’d like to see you in love and happy, instead of in love and miserable.”

“I’m not miserable. You’re miserable. Shut up.” He shoves the chair back by the small desk. “And I don’t need a giant, indiscreet wingman. I’m surprised you’ve had any success in keeping your investigations private. You’re very fucking noticeable.”

“Well, it’s not like I don’t try my best to blend in, Daryl. Why do you think I wear black and sit in the dark so much? I can’t hide how big I am, but… sometimes it works in my favor.”

“Well, not here. You stick out like a sore thumb. You should prepare yourself for the whispers and rumors that will crop up once you move here. These aren’t imaginative people, so they’ll be size-related. If you breed that tiny hippy, everyone will know she fucked a giant.”

“Good. They’ll understand she’s mine. People are scared of giants and tend not to fuck with their shit.”

“Apart from magic-bean buyers called Jack,” he says with a chuckle as he launches himself onto the bed again, to stare down at me. He bounces on the bed a few more times, before heading for the door. He lingers there.

“What is it, Daryl?”

“Did you like it?” He avoids my eyes and appears to inspect the paintwork on his doorframe.

“Like what?” I know I’ll be annoyed by the answer.

He rolls his eyes. “Come on, Vince. You’ve got a monster sweet-tooth and a major hard-on for curves. Fred’s been fucking stacked in the chest department for years on end, with all the babies she’s been feeding. You opted out of taste-testing Ben’s milkmaid, so I couldn’t compare notes with you before, but I guarantee you’d suck Fred’s tits, given half a chance. So, did Miss Organic let you sample her wares?”

My mouth waters at the memory of suckling at her breasts. She fucking loved it as much as I did. I clear my throat and give him a flat look. “No comment.”

What else can I say? Definitely not, I can’t wait to drink from her while she’s riding my cock.

“Fine. Don’t tell me it was the hottest thing you’ve ever done. Just tell me one thing.” He grins. “Are you going to do it again?”

I cover my erection as well as possible, but it’s not exactly inconspicuous. “No comment.”

He winks. “Nuff said.”

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