Page 4 of A Breath of Life
“Perhaps you should negotiate new terms that include cleaning days.” Again, he applied slight pressure near my groin, the tips of his thumbs nudging my interested cock. I wanted to squirm at the pulse of delight. I wanted him to inch his thumb over a fraction and stroke me properly.
I glanced beyond Diem’s shoulder once more, assessing the situation. “We’ll talk about it when she’s locked away again. Can you carry me to the bedroom where there’s a door and safety? And a bed.” I wickedly grinned, wiggling my brows.
The rumble in Diem’s chest sounded again. “I’m not done cleaning. Brave it out, and maybe I’ll reward you.” That time, he moved his hand over the swell in my underwear and squeezed. The pressure lit me on fire.
I whimper-groaned, which seemed to amuse him. “Can’t I have a reward without bravery?”
“Courage is a requirement as a private investigator. You can’t run from danger. You have to face it fearlessly.”
“Yeah, see, the thing is. Every time I face danger, I break my glasses. It’s becoming a concern.”
Diem chuckled, and the wandering hand disappeared. “That… is oddly true. Maybe you aren’t cut out for dangerous work.”
“I am so. Please keep touching me.”
But the moment faded as Diem put another inch between us. “Prove yourself. Stay here and be a brave soldier.”
“Then you’ll reward me?”
He hummed and raked his gaze over my body, the interest in his eyes answering for him.
I checked Baby’s location for the hundredth time, considering Diem’s conditional offer. Be brave. Don’t run away.
“Echo’s not scared,” Diem added.
“Echo doesn’t know any better.”
Hearing her name, the canine lifted her head, ears perked.
“Ten minutes. I’ll get Baby back in her enclosure, feed her, and we can walk to that Chinese restaurant down the street and get takeout.”
“That wasn’t exactly the reward I was hoping for.”
“Echo could do with another walk.”
The intelligent pup chuffed as though agreeing and sprang from the couch, bounding to the door where she sat under the hook holding her leash.
Diem chuckled. “Not yet, girl. Ten minutes.”
“Tell her she isn’t safe there. Tell her to sit on the couch again.”
“She’s fine.” Diem pecked a kiss on my forehead and again got lost in my eyes. “After dinner… maybe we can…” Tentatively, he pressed a palm to my swollen cock, stroking once through my underwear, emphasizing his point.
“I’d like that.”
“Me too.” He wet his lips, blew out a breath, and moved away like he was close to losing control. “Ten minutes.”
I instantly missed the solid protection of his oversized frame. Instead of curling back into a ball, I remained on the counter, legs dangling bravely over the edge, as Diem finished.
He collected the cleaned items for Baby’s enclosure and set them up inside. Her terrarium, which had been upgraded when we moved into our shared apartment, was six feet long and three feet high. It spanned the length of one wall, elevated on a wooden stand with cupboard space underneath to store equipment and hide the electronic instruments that controlled her environment. It was all techy nonsense I didn’t understand, but Diem had expressed pride in the setup.
In truth, my fear of the boa was far less than I pretended. At this point, it was mostly an act. The high drama was expected and never failed to make Diem smile. Since his smile was one of my favorite things in the world, I played a part—he knew it, too, but had the decency not to call me out. If he thought I was truly terrified, I had no doubt he would be sure I was safely out of the room before he started cleaning.
I’d grown accustomed to living with a snake. Diem had a soft spot for his pets. Baby and Echo brought out a side of him people rarely saw. He loved them, and few people earned a spot in Diem’s heart. His pets, his ninety-something-year-old nana who lived in a home and had lost her memory to dementia, and me. We were the only ones.
Once the terrarium was in order, Diem collected Baby and placed her gently inside, ensuring she was near her favorite rock under a warming light. He spoke to her with a soothing tone, words I couldn’t decipher. In the beginning, I thought his affection toward the snake was absurd. Not anymore. Now, I saw it as endearing. I recognizedtheir bond and how Diem related to the boa on more levels than people realized.
After a minute, Diem glanced over his shoulder. “She’s hungry. Can you grab her dinner?”
