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CHAPTER 16
Returning to Ireland
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Fleur and I spent our last days at an animal sanctuary that she was doing pro bono work for. As a way to raise funds for the large cats that lived there, she taught three full days to a room full of mostly women who wanted to learn how to communicate with animals. Although I sat in on the first three hours, I quickly accepted that communicating with animals wasn’t in the cards for me.
Instead, I retreated to work on projects that our family foundation was involved in, and catch up with family and friends. At night Fleur and I talked, laughed, and made love so many times I was starting to wonder if my dick would start shrinking.
“Why would it shrink? That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.” She laughed in her post-orgasmic state on our last morning in South Africa.
“When I was little, I knew a girl who sucked her right thumb and it turned smaller than her left thumb. What if all the sucking and fucking we do ends up having the same effect on me?” I teased.
Fleur laughed. “I wouldn’t worry too much. You have plenty as it is.”
Cupping her left breast, I suckled on the other. “That’s fortunate because I can’t see myself giving up making love to you in this lifetime.”
We’d been sleeping in a tent on the lush grounds of the sanctuary and by now, I wasn’t surprised to come out of the tent in the morning and find some of the cats lying up against the fence as close to Fleur as they could get. Although the tigers, lions, jaguars, and leopards that the sanctuary was home to had large areas of land to roam, it wasn’t the same as the preserve where Mike’s lodge was. The staff here insisted that Fleur stay on the outside of the fences and never enter any of the enclosures. It was fine with me since that meant less for me to worry about.
Since we were flying back to Cape Town that day, we packed our things and after a quick breakfast with the owner of the place, he drove us to the airport.
I looked out the window and zoned out as Fleur and her friend talked about the different large cats Fleur had communicated with while we’d been here. He was close to seventy and had known Fleur and her parents since she was a little girl. The man was nice enough but talked way too much for my taste, so I was a bit relieved when he dropped us off at the airport.
The flight home was even longer than our flight here because we had a sixteen-hour stopover in Cape Town and we would have another two stopovers on our way to Dublin. I knew Fleur had chosen the cheapest ticket possible and with her tight financial situation, I couldn’t blame her.
“I wish we could sit together,” Fleur muttered as we stood in line in the Cape Town airport at five in the morning the day after we’d left the sanctuary.
I smiled knowing that I might have a chance of taking care of that detail. It was the sweetest thing to see her reaction when we boarded our plane to Frankfurt.
“I’m not a materialistic person, but this is…” She looked around when we’d found our first-class seats up front.
“You like it?”
“Yes!” Fleur was measuring how far she could stretch her legs.
“You’ll be able to lie back and sleep if you want.”
“Fancy.” She smiled.
I was used to flying a lot and sat back with a relaxed smile watching my beautiful girlfriend. “Have you never been in first class before?”
“No. And I told you the upgrade wasn’t necessary.”
“I wanted us to sit together and besides, I had miles to use.”
“Oh, okay, because it would be a bit selfish of us to use money on luxury like this when so many are suffering and could use our help.”
With a low chuckle, I pulled Fleur closer and whispered against her neck. “Did River ever tell you what she and the rest of my family call me?”
“No.”
“When they want to be funny, they call me Saint Mumsimax. It’s because of my philanthropic work with orphans but I really think you’re the saint here. You’re so God damn good that you make me feel like a devil in comparison.”
At first, Fleur smiled and kissed me but after we’d taken off and been in the air for a few hours, she suddenly leaned against me.
“Max.”
“Yes?”
