Page 21 of Finding His Forever

This time, he jumped off the bed, ran his hands through his hair, and paced the room. “Okay. I’m not asleep, so that means I’m in some sort of parallel universe where my perfect Dom just told me, A—he loves me. B—he’s a goddessdamn multi-millionaire. And C—he’s best friends with Brian Fucking Hendrix!TheBrian Hendrix who won three World Series rings, Most Valuable Player in two of them, played in eight All-Star games, and was Rookie of the Year in his first MLB season.”

Del chuckled. “Do you know his stats off the top of your head too?”

He stopped short, put his hands on his hips, and glared at Del. “If you want me to, I can rattle them off. Oh, my goddess!” He pointed at the man laughing in his bed. “If you ever introduce me to him, you’ll have to pick me up when I faint. He was my favorite player for years. I cried when he announced his retirement.”

“If you tell me you had a crush on him, I’ll never introduce you.”

Climbing onto the bed, he crawled over Del’s naked body and kissed him. “Can I add something to our contract?”

“What?” Del asked warily.

“You don’t tell me about your past crushes, and I don’t tell you about mine?”

Del swatted Matthew’s ass. “Brat.”

“But I’m your brat.”

Flipping their positions, Del ground his erection against Matthew’s. “Damn right, you are.”

Epilogue

Five months later . . .

“A

hhh. This is the life, Sir.” Matthew took another sip of his key lime martini, swallowed, and then smacked his lips. The drink was a specialty at the Master Key Resort and a nice change of pace from his usual appletini. “I could get used to this.”

Between his vacation options on the schedule and the resort’s room availability, it had taken a few months before he and Del could use the trip he won at the Secret Santa event. Since being officially promoted to a paramedic, he became the low man on the totem pole again for scheduling time off. While he was assigned to the same firehouse he’d worked at for the past few years, after another paramedic was promoted to an administrative position, he acquired a new partner—a female EMT named Delilah Shore, who he adored. She was friendly and fun, knew her EMS shit, and had no qualms about getting her hands dirty and diving in to help whenever needed. Matthew lucked out with her since Zim’s new EMT was a slacker. Behind-the-scenes bets had been made at the firehouse on when theguy would eventually get fired or, at least, transferred. Their captain’s patience was clearly running thin, and Zim constantly bitched to Matthew that he was about to lose his mind.

As of six weeks ago, Del and Matthew lived together in a two-thousand-square-foot, three-bedroom house in a gated community in Palm Harbor, just north of Tampa, not far from Matthew’s station. Neither had wanted an ostentatious mansion or penthouse apartment, although Del could afford that. Coming from lower- and middle-class families, those didn’t suit them. Their new house had more space than they were used to, but they’d fallen in love with it at first sight. While searching for the perfect place, they both wanted to find a pleasant, safe area where neighbors knew and looked out for each other. The single-level ranch sat on almost an acre of land. It had a pool and a fenced-in backyard, perfect for parties and the two dogs they adopted last month. After realizing the bonded pair couldn’t be separated, Tori Sawyer, Mitch’s and Ty’s wife, facilitated the adoption through her charity that trained rescue dogs for veterans with PTSD. Nip was a corgi mix, while Tuck was a cockapoo. They were approximately four years old and had been spoiled rotten since finding their forever home. Tori was dog-sitting them while their dads were away for the long weekend.

Before agreeing to move in with Del, Matthew had made several demands. First, since Del paid cash for the $899,000 home, Matthew insisted on paying the utilities. They split other expenses such as groceries and a landscaper, a pool cleaning guy, and a housekeeper, who each came once a week. Second, they’d signed the equivalent of a prenup that stated if they went their separate ways, the house belonged to Del even though Matthew’s name was also on the deed. If something happened to Del, he didn’t want Matthew to lose the home for any reason, so both their names were listed. Third, after discussing them first, Del was allowed to make large purchases that benefitted both ofthem, but gifts to Matthew couldn’t be more extravagant than something he might buy for himself. So, the new fancier truck Del had wanted to get him was a no-go. Matthew would trade in his pickup soon for a newer model that he could afford on his increased salary.

While Del had resisted Matthew’s terms, he finally relented. Matthew never wanted his Dom to think he loved him for his money. Stability was more important than the number of zeroes on the man’s bank statement. Over the past few months, Matthew learned Del was both generous and shrewd with his wealth. Donations were made to Tori’s Healing Heroes charity and the homeless shelter, where they volunteered twice a month now. Del also considered his purchases before making them instead of just throwing his money around. He valued quality over what was most popular or expensive and did his research.

Matthew’s parents and extended family loved Del. While they knew the man owned a technology company and worked from home as a computer coding contractor and app developer, they didn’t know about the one he’d sold for millions. Matthew respected his wishes to keep that to themselves and understood the man’s reasoning since his deadbeat dad attempted to get his hands on Del’s money.

Next month, Matthew would meet Del’s best friends and their families on a joint trip to Disney World. He knew them from the trio’s weekly Skype sessions and phone calls. Apparently, their children couldn’t wait to meet their new “Uncle Matty.” No one had called him anything other than Matthew since grade school by his choice, but he already loved the name the kids had picked for him.

Del leaned forward and licked Matthew’s lips. “That tastes good on you, but not as good as how that thong bathing suit looks on you, pup. I should be jealous of the men staring at you, but then I remember you’re mine. They can look all they want atmy exhibitionist sub as long as they don’t touch. Then I’ll have to break their hands.”

Matthew didn’t care who expressed interest in him at the resort—he only had eyes for Del. Okay, maybe he checked out their current waiter, Hector, a few times in the last half hour. With dark hair and eyes, a well-toned and tanned body, swoon-worthy dimples, and a tight ass you could bounce quarters off of, both men agreed he was a fine specimen of the male gender. He was also attentive but not flirtatious, which would garner him a hefty tip later, but nothing more since Del and Matthew established early in their relationship that neither had any desire to share or cheat. According to Del, he couldn’t handle more than Matthew and didn’t want to try, which the submissive loved.

He adjusted the shoulder of the mesh top he wore, which was the same color as his peach thong, and shifted on the towel-covered chair he sat on. Thongs were his favorite choice for swimwear whenever they weren’t inappropriate, but he hated sitting or laying on any outdoor furniture that an unhygienic person may have used before him. Meanwhile, Del was shirtless and wore a pair of short white swim trunks that molded to his hips, ass, and groin spectacularly. Matthew wasn’t the only one attracting attention as they sat in the shade of an umbrella at a table by the pool, waiting for Hector to return with the appetizers they ordered for lunch.

They didn’t want to overeat because they had dinner plans later with the resort’s manager, Master Cordell Roberts, and the assistant manager, his submissive fiancée, Tiffany Armstrong. Tiffany was Tori’s cousin, and Matthew had met the couple once before when they’d attended Tori, Ty, and Mitch’s collaring ceremony at The Covenant. Tiffany was no longer the timid woman she’d once been, and Matthew was happy for her. She’d blossomed during her relationship with her new Dom.

The resort was even better than everyone had described. Their room was spacious and comfortable, the private island was gorgeous, and the food and drinks were delicious. They’d gone windsurfing that morning, and Del wanted to try snorkeling tomorrow. Being from Ohio, he’d never done either, and Matthew loved teaching his Dom things he grew up doing while living so close to the Gulf of Mexico.

Because they were only there for three nights, Del had booked them on a flight from Tampa to the Florida Keys Marathon International Airport, where they rented a car to drive to the resort. They probably could’ve just taken a ride-share or taxi since Master Key was only about twenty minutes away, but Del wanted a vehicle available in case they wanted to do some sightseeing. However, the resort was beautiful, with plenty to do and see, and Matthew doubted they would leave until it was time to return to the airport.

They arrived just before noon yesterday and were able to check in early. By two, they were sipping cocktails and relaxing in a cabana on the beach, overlooking the clear, blue water of the Atlantic Ocean. Later, a fantastic dinner at Decadence was followed by a fun evening of playing and socializing in both the dungeon and Club 69, a nightclub where they met several lovely couples and a few single guests. Also available were a Dominants-only lounge, another one for submissives, a cigar bar, a boutique, a day spa, more water sports, and a hiking/biking trail that took them around the island. As far as Matthew was concerned, it was paradise as long as Del was by his side.

Matthew’s cell phone chimed with an incoming text. He opened it to find Tori had sent him a cute picture of Nip and Tuck sleeping together on a dog bed. Smiling, he showed it to Del as the waiter arrived with their food. “Can I get you anything else, gentlemen?”

Del eyed Matthew’s nearly empty martini glass and his own bottle of beer. “Another round of drinks, please, Hector.”

“Certainly.”

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