Page 17 of Embracing the Stalk

“I can buy you strawberry and cream penis candy if you want,” I said, laughing as he wrinkled up his nose. “No?”

“I’d rather eat strawberries and cream.”

I sucked in a breath as I had a sudden vision of licking a long stripe of cream up Red’s gorgeous body to nibble on thestrawberry perched on his nipple. Then I followed a trail of cream to his cock.

“Fuck,” he breathed out. From the sudden floral smell, Red was happy to share my vision.

“Let’s go,” I suggested. “This is one fantasy I want to play out.”

He suddenly looked uncertain. “You don’t think they’ll mind me being there?”

“If they put up with Tim’s caterwauling, they can put up with anyone,” I said, laughing, hoping to break the tension coming from his uncertainty.

Hey!

I shared a smirk with Red at his youngest brother’s protest, then I stood and tugged Red to his feet, being assertive when he needed it. “Come on, we’ll get you packed, and I’ll message Drew.”

Received! Be there in five.That was from Drew.

Hurry up! Dinner is getting cold.Burke had to stick his oar in.

Red sighed heavily. “If I say no, are you going to listen to me?”

I shook my head. “Nope. This is my decision. I’m taking care of my mate in the safest place I know. That, my sweet rhubarb, is with my pride.”

There was a happy emotion rolling from my pride. It wasn’t often I’d talked about anything except sex. I guess it was time.

Our Gordon has grown up,Randy said cheekily.

I was about to threaten them all with the dreaded pan, but I didn’t want to scare my mate.

We were packed and waiting by the door when I heard abeep beep! I cautiously peered through the window to see the minivan with Apollo, Maximus, and Leonidis jumping out.

“What the hell are they doing here,” I muttered, flinging open the door.

Maximus looked around and beckoned us out. “Give me the keys. You two get in the van. We came in case there was trouble,” he explained, making sense of why they were all there.

My pride fucking rocked. I was so lucky to belong to them, even if they drove me nuts.

I picked up Red’s pack and wrapped an arm around his shoulders to guide him to the van. Maximus took the keys and shooed us away. I could feel Red shaking against my body, but he didn’t protest.

“Remember, we all have your back,” Maximus said to my mate, who nodded and swallowed hard enough I heard the gulp.

The lions formed a protective barrier to any form of attack as we walked to the van and climbed in. Then Maximus was there, the door slid shut, and we were away. I hung on tight to Red because Drew wasn’t the best driver in the world. Red buried his face in my neck.

I caught Leonidis’s worried glance Red’s way, then he looked at me. “We need to talk,” he mouthed.

I gave a slight nod. We could do that later.

When we entered the pride house, it was chaotic and loud, as usual. I ushered Red to the chair next to the one where I usually sat in the kitchen. Tim sat on the other side of Red, and Glass sat on the other side of me.

Tim grabbed Red’s hand and squeezed it. “Good to have you here,” Tim sang, but at less than his usual full volume.

We all shuffled our seats closer so we could sit around the table together while Burke and Ricky served up bowls of pasta, sauce, salad, and hunks of meat for the lions.

I could see Red gazing around the table, then he took a deep breath.

“You’re fine,” I whispered. “You’re safe.”

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