by Jerry Cole
“No, not all of them. A lot are more standoffish. I think she just understands that she was in a bad situation and we helped her, and she’s thankful. They’re smart animals.”
Jensen nodded, marveling at the feeling of the white feathers under his fingers. Blake sipped his beer some more, watching quietly. Letting Jensen into his house was a gamble. He was already attracted to the man, no question, and this was only making it worse. Watching the guy so carefully pet a bird that, by most people’s standards, was an ugly throw-away…it did something to Blake’s long-dormant heart. He wasn’t even sure Jensen was gay, though the teasing from Jensen’s co-workers seemed to indicate that he was, and Blake’s intuition was usually pretty good. He also thought Jensen might have been checking him out as he left the coffee shop, but he wasn’t entirely sure, and he hadn’t wanted to be obvious about checking.
“So, can I ask how you wound up here working for Angie?” Blake asked at last. “I don’t mean to pry, but it’s unusual for someone young, without a family or friends, to come up here and stay.”
Jensen looked mildly uncomfortable. “I’ve known Angie for a long time, and she knew I needed to get out of Denver for a while, so she invited me to come work for her. It works out well. I just needed space to figure some things out.”
“Yeah, Denver is getting crowded and crazy. I don’t blame you wanting to get out.”
Jensen nodded, but it was very obvious there was more to the story than he was letting on. “So did you go to school here?”
“Yeah, well, Boulder and then Ft. Collins for vet school.” He paused for a moment, then forged on. “My last boyfriend was back in Denver and wanted me to move down there, but that was a very long time ago. I couldn’t have dealt with the traffic then, sure couldn’t handle it now.”
Jensen chuckled, but he had relaxed a little again and was looking at Blake a little more intently. Mentioning his last relationship had been a gamble, but Blake suspected that he was going to have to initiate if he wanted to know once and for all if Jensen was interested.
They settled into a conversation, and Jensen relaxed. They discussed local politics and their family histories until the chicken was done and then began to argue about movie preferences over dinner. Blake had had two beers, and Jensen had stopped at a glass of wine, but somehow they were still both acting giddy like they’d split a bottle of vodka between them. Everything felt right and easy. Jensen hadn’t even made any comments about the fact that Blake made a little plate of chicken and green beans for Ginger, which he set in her cage for her before settling her down for the night.
Jensen had just smiled at the fact that he was plating dinner for a parrot.
They wound up back in the living room after dinner, this time both on the couch and substantially closer than they had been before. They were arguing about whether or not golf and tennis were equal wastes of time as sports when something…clicked. Jensen leaned closer, face red. Blake met him the rest of the way, and it was like a fire had been lit.
***
Jensen knew immediately that he was in way over his head, and that this wasn’t a good idea, but he was powerless to stop it. Blake kissed with a kind of single-minded determination that Jensen hadn’t experienced. He had dated a little before falling in with his abusive bastard of an ex, but nowhere in any of it had he experienced this level of focus. Jensen was careful not to put too much weight on Blake’s leg and hip and carefully maneuvered, so he was on his knees. Blake’s hand was already on his ass, and Jensen tangled his hands in Blake’s hair.
It was pure fire and passion almost instantly, and nothing at all like Eric, which was probably why he was able to ignore the panic lapping at the back of his mind. He hadn’t kissed anyone since things had ended with the bastard, and the sheer thought of intimacy had caused him to panic before, but he was shoving that to the back of his mind with everything he had because this felt like it was absolutely worth it.
Blake deepened the kiss further, then backed off slightly to nibble at Jensen’s lips. They were both hard in their jeans, and Jensen couldn’t resist the urge to grind down for some relief. Blake let out a noise like a wounded animal and squeezed a handful of Jensen’s round, firm ass.
Jensen slid a hand between them and palmed Blake’s crotch. “Can I…?” he murmured, pulling back just enough to meet Blake’s hooded eyes.
Blake nodded, and Jensen pulled down the zipper. Blake moaned softly as Jensen got a hand on his cock.
“Oh fuck…fuck that feels good,” he murmured, moving to kiss behind Jensen’s ear as Jensen moved his hand, exploring. Blake’s cock was average length, but it was thick and leaned left, and it was already leaking.
Jensen thought about how it would feel pounding into his ass and moaned.
“Been way too damn long…” Blake groaned as Jensen stroked him. He reached between them to undo Jensen’s zipper, and Jensen froze for a second. Blake looked worried. “Jensen…sorry, are you okay?”
Jensen forced himself to move and breath for a second, then nodded. “I’m fine, I promise.” He used his other hand to undo his zipper and move his boxers aside. “I’ll explain later.” He kissed Blake again, trying to convey that this wasn’t anything to do with him and that it was all okay.
“As long as you’re sure…” Blake pulled back slightly, looking Jensen in the eye with a lot more focus now. “We can always stop, okay? You can always tell me if I’m going too far.”
“You’re not, I swear.” Jensen grabbed Blake’s hand and put it over his slightly-flagged cock. “I want this so bad…just memories.”
Blake looked at him for a long moment, nodded, satisfied, and began to stroke Jensen back to full hardness. Jensen shuddered and began to suck at a spot on Blake’s neck far enough down that the collar of his shirt would cover it.
Blake pulled Jensen’s hips closer to his own so he could get a hand around both of their cocks, stroking slowly. Jensen felt like everything was too much and not enough at the same time, and he ground down against Blake, relishing the feeling of the other man’s calloused hand on them.
“So good…fuck,” Jensen muttered against Blake’s neck. “Wanted this since I first saw you.”
“Flatterer,” Blake laughed, though it sounded a little choked.
“Am not. And I really wish we had some lube right now because I like it fast and hard…”
Blake huffed another laugh. “If you’re really desperate, in the exam room, there are little packets of medical grade stuff in the drawer by the sink…I don’t think I can stand right now without toppling over.”
Jensen grinned and kissed him hard, then abruptly stood up and hurried into the other room, cock out and proud against his very red thatch of pubic hair, jeans pulled down just enough to make walking a little difficult and comical. He switched on the light, found the exam room again, and rummaged around until he found the little packets of lube next to sterile swabs and other veterinary supplies. He grabbed a handful of the packets, switched off the lights, and hurried back into the living room. He dumped the handful of packets on the side table, and he was gratified to see Blake’s eyes locked on him, and, deciding that if he could push this far through discomfort, he could push a little further, he shucked his shirt and pushed his jeans and underwear off.
Blake stared at him and swallowed hard. “Oh fuck…they do go all the way down…”
“What?” Jensen was momentarily startled, then looked down at himself. “Oh, the freckles...”
Blake leaned forward to pull him down and began to mouth at his chest. “Don’t you dare sound embarrassed…It’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. One of these days I’m going to spend hours just kissing every single one of them.”
Jensen felt himself turn scarlet. “It’s really that much of a turn-on for you?”
“Fuck yes.” Blake’s hands were all over him, and if he’d been hard before, it was nothing compared to now.
Jensen reached between them to undo the buttons of Blake’s shirt, though it wa
s difficult when the other man latched onto his nipple and began sucking and nibbling on it while rubbing and thumbing the other. Jensen ground down, close to coming just from this, thankful when he finally got the last button undone on Blake’s shirt and pushed it as far back as he could. He gasped when Blake thrust upwards, rubbing their cocks together again.
“Do you want to get your jeans off…?” Jensen murmured, hands tangling in Blake’s hair as the other man continued to assault his chest.
Blake shook his head. “Not…not this time,” He murmured.
Jensen looked down and realized that he probably wasn’t the only one with hang-ups. “Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t even think…”
“It's fine. Just, the scars are pretty hideous.” Blake ran a hand up and down Jensen’s back, though whether to soothe himself or Jensen, it wasn’t clear.
Jensen kissed him again, slower and without as much heat, trying to convey that he understood and it didn’t matter. He grabbed one of the packets of lube and handed it to Blake, who quickly ripped it open and coated his hand, and began stroking them both, going a little faster and a little harder each time. Jensen’s hands were all over Blake’s chest, and they were kissing again, hard and deep, tongues dueling for dominance.
Jensen could feel his coming orgasm like a coiling spring, and it was somehow more intense than anything he’d ever felt. He didn’t know what this was, but it felt far more real and permanent and important than a hand job had any right to. He ground down, moaning into Blake’s mouth, and finally everything snapped and he came, hard, all over both of their stomachs. Blake broke the kiss, moaning, and followed him seconds later. Blake had closed his eyes for a long moment, but when he opened them again, it was like a lightning strike. Jensen knew in that instant that he was going to fall in love with this man, and there was not a damn thing he could do about it.
***
They stayed on the couch for several long minutes, neither of them saying anything until Blake’s stomach began to itch and he shifted. Jensen kissed his neck and, taking the hint, stood up. Blake managed to get on his own feet, though he could tell he’d have to use a cane tomorrow because his hip hurt like the devil already. He smiled, realizing it was a small price to pay.
Jensen looked down at himself, laughing. “Do you mind if I take a quick shower? I don’t really want to drive home like this.”
“No, by all means, please.” Blake helped the other man gather up his clothes, then led the way to the downstairs bathroom, which had a walk-in shower and was as attractively decorated as the rest of the house.
“Tell me the truth, is the upstairs as nice as the downstairs, or are you secretly a slob and this is a front?” Jensen teased him as he dumped his clothes on the counter.
Blake snorted. “It’s a little messier upstairs, but not by much.” He retrieved a set of towels from the hall closet and set them on the closed lid of the toilet. “There’s soap and shampoo in the shower already. I’m gonna head upstairs and clean up real quick.”
“I think I’m good, thanks.” Jensen looked like he wanted to say something else and then shook his head. “I’ll be out in a second.”
Blake nodded and went upstairs to his own shower. He knew he should have offered to share. He knew he should probably have stripped earlier. But, as he carefully got his pants and underwear off while seated on the toilet, he swallowed hard. Even this far on, his hip was gnarled, and the skin around it was scarred from multiple surgeries. It had been unnerving for other men in the past, so he usually made sure the lights were off. It wasn’t that he was necessarily embarrassed, it was just that it tended to upset people and cause a lot of questions.
He got into the shower and sat on the bench under the spray, still thinking as he rinsed off the evidence of what they’d been doing on his couch. Jensen had frozen and acted like a startled rabbit, and Blake had really wanted to halt everything and ask what the heck that was. He hadn’t because it didn’t seem like Jensen wanted to discuss it, and besides, he had been incredibly eager afterward.
Blake sighed. He supposed they were both running from things in their own way, and it was just a question of what. He normally ran from complicated. He normally ran from anything that smelled even a whiff like commitment. But here and now, Jensen seemed like he might be worth it.
He shut off the water and got dressed. Jensen turned off his own shower a moment later, and when Blake went downstairs, the other man was waiting in the kitchen, drinking a glass of water and reading something on his phone. He looked up and grinned when Blake entered.
“I’m going to head home since I have an early shift in the morning, but you have my number…” he looked slightly less confident for a second. “Unless this was a one-time thing, I mean.”
“No! No, I…no. I’d like to see you again. I have a full roster of clients and some other things going on the next few weeks, but I do want to see you again. Maybe we could go out?”
Jensen’s face lit up again. “That would be great.” He came around the kitchen island to kiss Blake slowly for a long moment, then broke away and headed to the entryway. Blake followed, they said their final goodbyes with one more kiss, and then Jensen left, and Blake locked the door.
Chapter Seven
Blake, Jensen quickly realized, was either incredibly shy or incredibly busy, and he wasn’t entirely sure which. He answered texts eventually but had not been able to meet up for nearly a week after their tryst, and Jensen was beginning to think he was pressuring someone who didn’t want to be pressured. He had stopped texting the other man after a few tries and was feeling dejected and grumpy, when Jeanie came in, shooing an embarrassed-looking Blake in ahead of her. His face was red as a beet, and Jensen noticed that his nose and cheekbone looked swollen, like he’d been in a fight. His stomach dropped, but he kept his face neutral, trying to calm the swell of panic. The café was empty this time of day, and they wouldn’t get the rush of people for lunch for another hour or so.
“We have some news on where Ginger came from, and we thought you’d want to know.”
“Does this have something to do with why Blake looks like he got in a bar fight?!” Alex asked, looking amused. “Did you try to punch the cockatoo abuser?”
“No! No this is…unrelated. I was helping with a cyst on a goat, and the goat wasn’t as sedated as we all thought and…yeah. My assistant wasn’t there that day, so the goat kicked me straight in the face.” He looked down. “I fought with a goat, and the goat won.”
Jensen’s relief was immediate. Nobody had hurt Blake. His horrible ex-boyfriend hadn’t somehow found him and taken revenge. Blake had just lost control of a goat. That…that he could deal with. And he suspected that, given the color of the bruises, Blake had been trying to wait this out so Jensen wouldn’t see it, which also explained the texting.
He smiled warmly at Blake, trying to convey that he understood the situation. Blake smiled back sheepishly.
“Blake being terrible at goat-wrangling is the least of our problems,” Jeanie sighed dramatically. “And can I get a large latte with an extra shot?”
Alex nodded and began to make the coffee. “Okay, so what is the problem?”
“We got some footage from the bank, and we saw someone walking around downtown late at night with the box. Looks like they tried to drop it off at the animal shelter, but the gates are closed at night because of the break-ins earlier this year. They parked in front of the bank, got out of the car with the box, wandered around a bit, and then disappear for a moment before reappearing without the box.”
Jensen nodded. “So that’s when I found the box. They must have just dumped it right before I saw it.”
“Exactly. The footage is from not even half an hour before you called me. Timing was good, or Ginger would have frozen to death.” Jeanie took the latte from Alex and handed him a credit card. “Anyway, we got plates off the car and traced them to a guy in, of all places, Leadville. So I went out there with a couple of Leadville guys, and we talk
ed to our cockatoo dumper, and he tells us that he bought Ginger from a couple out kind of near Longmont who are on a farm and have an entire barn full of breeding birds.”
“Okay…why is that interesting?” Alex asked. “I mean, I assume someone has to breed birds to sell them, otherwise they wouldn’t be around as pets at all.”
“Because,” Jeanie started with a dramatic flourish to her voice, “the breeder that sold this bird to this guy is tied up in some kind of bribery scandal with the Longmont cops. Apparently, every time anyone goes to inspect them, the birds are mysteriously housed in appropriate enclosures, and everything is clean, but there have been dozens of reports of abused birds and unsafe conditions from other people. This guy who bought Ginger said that the couple who sold her said she was a younger bird who had just been over-preened by a nestmate, and he said the inside of the barn with the birds was packed with cages and disgusting, and he thought he saw some dead birds in a pile by the door.”
“That’s absolute bullshit, of course.” Blake finally spoke up. “Ginger is much, much older than that and was clearly owned by someone who looked after her at some point. She’s well trained, knows how to talk, and even knows how to play dead.”
“So…how did she come to be there?” Jensen asked.
“If I had to make a wild and unfounded guess, I’d say she was the pet of an older person who died or a couple who had kids, or some other situation where her loving owner was gone. She bounced around, wasn’t wanted because she started plucking or already was plucking, and ended up at a breeder. She didn’t produce any eggs, so they sold her to the guy in Leadville.” Blake pulled a chair over and sat next to the pickup area of the counter.
Jensen saw him trying to surreptitiously rub his leg and felt instant sympathy. He poured Blake a cup of coffee with cream and came over to stand next to him, offering the cup. Blake took it gratefully.
“So why did the guy from Leadville dump her outside a café here?” Alex asked. “That’s a long drive.”
