I swore to myself, as we exited Eric's car, that I would never, ever play passenger to the man ever again.
Michael had left us with a kiss each, he seemed to peck my lips without thinking, I thought I could still feel them tingling. He'd then turned to kiss Eric, who deepened it, before biting Michael's lips. Michael hadn't even flinched, so I can only assume that this is a regular occurrence. It didn't stop me from turning beet red and slightly aroused. Dammit, I've been reacting worse that felt a teenager surrounded by free porn since I woke up this morning.
Eric took me home first, that was when I first discovered his... driving skills. They were the sort that made you wish you had checked your life insurance before you buckled your seatbelt in his car. I think I exited his car shaking slightly, but the trembling stilled the moment he took my hand in his.
I felt a little shy, letting him into my apartment for the first time, as nice as it was, it differed a great deal from their house. It's kitchen was modern, but compact which lead into the open plan dining and living room space. Both the bedrooms were doubles and there was only one bathroom, which was slightly smaller that their ensuite and the bath had a overhead electric shower and just one sink. Seeing as I couldn't enjoy the colours, mum had designed my home to be more sensory, soft rugs, underfloor heating, a sofa you could sink into and cushions made from fabrics with a mixture of textures. She was thoughtful in that way, she found it easier to express her care for me in gestures than with hugs or words.
As Eric explored, I quickly went and changed out of the leopard print top and black sweatpants he'd leant me. They did not match, but don't tell him I said this, I think he was just trying to find something small enough for my frame and apparently the top had shrank in the wash, so didn't fit him. It didn't fit me that well either, but the sweatpants were much worse. Despite tightening the drawstring as best I could, my hips could not keep them from sinking lower as I walked. I picked out a top the label said was red and some black jeans and folded his clothes ready to give back to him.
And then, I had to brave Eric's driving once more. It turned out that I didn't live far from the gym, but I hadn't known it was there. Let's be honest, I wouldn't have joined even if I had. Until this week, I had sworn off muscular men. Funny how things work out. I wonder if Eric would let me walk home later rather than risk my existence for a third time...
Eric's gym was a large single story building with was lucky enough to be detached with its own car park. He pulled into a reserved space, there were a handful of them, before coming around the car to open my door for me. I could tell he was somewhat excited to show me around his territory. His toothy grin didn't falter once, even when I grimaced about his music choices in the car. Again, he took my hand as he lead me through the front doors of the gym.
The first thing that hit me, was the smell of chlorine, it turned out that there was an Olympic sized pool here. It wasn't a leisure pool, so there would be no wave machine or rapids, it was specifically for exercise. There was, however, a hot tub and sauna area leading off to one side of it. The gym had the expected area of exercise machines and there were plenty of them. Eric confided that he had to purchase expensive ones meant to be durable enough to cope with supernaturals, ones made standard for humans couldn't take the speed, strength and sometimes build of a supernatural. There were also a selection built to cater for the dwarven size.
There were two large sport halls, like the sort found in most schools. Eric hired these out for things such as dance practice, volleyball and other tournaments and occasionally to businesses that wanted to do to 'team building' exercises. He pointed out the locker rooms, saying each (one for each sex, it wasn't wise to mix sexes when so many brought their mates along... gay relationships were a minority for many supernaturals) had attached showers and bathrooms. He also pointed out the internal cafe. It was outsourced to an external company, but they had an agreement to serve healthier options, rather than junk food. His gym was awesome.
Finally, he lead me through an employees only door that lead to a large open office and break room and an attached personal office; his.
"Finally! How many text messages do I have to send you before you respond?" A diminutive woman stalked forward slightly unstably on high heels. Without them, she wouldn't have been much over four foot. She had curly blond hair and wore black rimmed glasses, but I suspected that they were non-prescription.
"You could have phone me, Sylvie," Eric said, reasonably.
"As if you would have answered!" The dwarf complained. Eric simply offered her one of those toothy grins that seemed unique to him. "I bet that you have forgotten that you have a meeting with a potential new client. A V.I.P!"
"I do?" Eric tilted his head to one side as if he was attempting to recall. "When?"
"In about fifteen minutes," Sylvie responded as she looked at the large watch on her small wrist.
"Huh, well let me know when they arrive," Eric said, carelessly before dragging me into his office, in order to finish the tour. He closed the door on the woman, still grinning, while she looked fit to stamp upon his foot with one of those pointy heels and draw blood.
My attention was immediately drawn to the large framed photograph upon the wall depicting a well groomed tiger lazing about on grass, his eyes half-lidded as his forehead connected to that of a large wolf. I could see the rich orange of the tiger's coat and although the wolf was varying in grey tones, it was more than the dull grey tones that my eyes viewed the grass and background trees and sky. His coat seemed silver and coal black with hints of white. I knew instantly what or rather who these two beautiful animals were.
Eric's arms captured me in their embrace as I absorbed the details of the picture and his nose buried into my neck. I heard him inhale sharply. "Your animals are stunning," I told him truthfully and felt his tiger purr in response. "It's a wonderful picture."
"Hmm, but I want a new one now," Eric advised me. "This one will have you in it as well." I felt a smile creep upon my lips and my heart flutter in my chest.
"That would be nice," I whispered, quietly, but I knew he probably heard me. Eric spun me in his arms, his eyes sparkling as he looked at me. I hoped I could see the colour of them soon, I was curious to know what they were. As I was staring into them, he caught me off guard and lowered his face so it was close to mine and then he stole my breath away.
I'd never kissed anyone before and never been kissed. In fact, it could be said that Michael took the privilege of my first this morning, although he did so without thought, it was still nice. But this was not like that gentle, brief touch. Eric's lips moved against mine and I found that I was mimicking those movements easily. Sparks were dancing along my skin, totally wiping away any thoughts and short circuiting my synapses. I felt his tongue tease my bottom lip and almost opened my mouth in response, but there came a knock upon the office door and Eric took a step back. It was a good job he was still holding me, otherwise my knees would have buckled and I would have fallen in a heap to the floor. As it was, I could feel the heat rapidly rising in my cheeks. For the love of the god and goddess, we were making out in his office when he was expecting clients!
"Eric, your client is here," Sylvie called as she poked her head into the room. Fortunately, she was not really paying too much attention to her surroundings, I was dying of embarrassment enough without receiving knowing looks on top.
"I should leave," I murmured.
"There's no need, sweetheart," Eric reassured me. "In fact, are you familiar with this brand of coffee machine?" I glanced down at the machine. It was one of those ones where you placed a pod or disk into it and pressed the button to filter water through it. Thus producing any number of caffeine and decaffeinated favourites. I nodded slightly. "Then you can be on coffee duty!" He gave me that toothy grin as if he hadn't just roped me into helping him.
"It needs more water," I mentioned, noticing the tank was almost empty. "I'll go get some." He kissed me more chastely as way of thanks, before heading to meet his client, while I went to the break room.
"Be careful," Sylvie warned, "he'll have you on the payroll soon! That's how that cheeky cat caught me!"
"What did he do?" I asked as she followed me into the room. It was nice, a small oasis with small couches as well as tables and chairs and a small kitchenette, which included a microwave, fridge, kettle and toaster.
"We were old buddies from college," she explained. "And I had just moved into town to look for work. My hometown is a little backwater place and the men there are... well their views can get old fashioned. I'd gone to college for a break, but as soon as I got home, the marriage proposals began. Those idiots didn't want a wife, they wanted a cleaner, chef and babysitter to their spawn! So I upped sticks and came here. It was a coincidence that I met the pesky tiger again. He told me he'd set up this place and that he was due to open to the public soon, so I was convinced to take 'the tour.' Next thing I know, I was helping him sort through a pile of bills he'd let stack up on his desk. I said something stupid like; you need to hire an assistant to help you with all of this and his response was 'Great idea. You are hired!'"
I laughed at her description, filling the water tank as she spoke. "Oh, I'm Alex, by the way," I said, when I had realised that Eric hadn't actually introduced us. "I'm Eric's... mate."
She blinked a couple of times. "So you're the one he got his tail in a twist over!"
"He did?" I asked, worriedly.
"Yeah. He was useless in the office, pouting because Michael hadn't introduced the two of you yet. And I was like, just go get a move on and do something about it then! Really, I just wanted him out from underfoot." I could tell Sylvie was the type of person to lack censorship; she was blunt and honest, probably the sort of person who made equal amounts of friends and enemies and was completely unashamed by that. She said that she better get back to work, that she was still sorting through some application forms for new hires. I watched her wobble away on those heels, before making my way back to Eric's office.