Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Everett climbed down the ladder, his ass screaming the whole way. Dax walked past him to start removing the higher items. Everett stayed at the bottom of the ladder, so Dax could hand him everything, then took things to the desk. Once he had a few items, he’d start wrapping them.
Dax handed him a rather delicate wand that had a pearl handle and a glass end. It had always been a particular favorite of Everett’s because of the swirling shade of purple in the glass. He carefully set that aside because he wanted it near the top of the box. Or maybe he’d just keep it separate to take home by itself.
As Dax kept handing him things, Everett watched him, wanting to know more about the man. Especially, whether he was attracted to women or men. Or both. “So, what’s the weirdest date you’ve ever been on?”
Dax looked down at Everett’s question, which had admittedly come out of the blue.
Everett shrugged. “Just thought we could share some fun stories to pass the time while we’re packing.”
“I’ve actually had a lot of strange dates, so let me think a minute.” He handed another delicate collectible to Everett. “There was this one man who just grunted at me throughout the date, then was surprised when I didn’t want to have sex.”
Everett snorted, while inside he felt a bit giddy over Dax’s admission to dating a man. “I’ve got you beat. Back in college, this guy asked me out, and I met him at what I thought was going to be a rave. Turned out to be some kind of sex ball. We walked into the building and people were having sex everywhere—lots of them tied up. He led me right up to a table and picked up ropes.”
Dax’s laugh was warm and low. “Interesting first date.”
“Right? I told him off and left. It’s not that I’m against getting tied up, but I didn’t know him and, well, I’m not one for public sex.” He took a unicorn figurine from Dax and set it on the desk. “What about you? Into public sex?”
Dax was silent a moment as he studied Everett. “That’s a rather personal question.”
Heat crept up his neck and he cleared his throat. “It was. Sorry.”
He kept staring, then a slow, sexy smile lifted his lips. “No, Everett, I don’t enjoy public sex. I like sex to be very, very private.”
Everett couldn’t stop a small shiver at those words. He’d kill for some of that private time with this man. He cleared his throat. “That guy I left at the sex party sought me out the next day, completely clueless as to why I’d taken off. When I told him it wasn’t my idea of a first date, he was surprised. Turned out a disgruntled ex had told him I was into that. He was properly embarrassed.”
“Did he ask you out again?”
Nodding, Everett chuckled. “We ended up going out for six months, but he was into public sex, so it didn’t work out. He was always trying to get me to do it in the strangest places. Even on a Ferris wheel. Can you imagine? In one of those tiny seats with so many people going around with you? Yeah, no. It was a shame, though, because he was a really nice guy. He just couldn’t enjoy sex unless there was some kind of exhibition involved.”
“I dated someone who was into the same thing, and I indulged a few times. Enough to learn it wasn’t for me.”
Dax switched to books and handed a rather heavy stack to Everett, who needed two hands to Dax’s one just to carry them.
“You know,” Everett said as he set the stack down. “I’m not sure why I started on the higher shelves. We could start with all the things on our level and work our way up.” He waved a hand around the room. “My grandfather actually remodeled this entire room to look like his dream library. When he bought the estate, this room was only one story, and he knocked out a bedroom above so he could have these tall shelves and ladders. In his later years, he couldn’t even use the ladders.” He looked down at one of the Valkyries on the desk. “I think it made him really sad. To have his body shutting down like it was. He was sick a long time, but his arthritis really got bad in his sixties, so I spent a lot of time going up and down these ladders for him. I’d forgotten how much pain it can cause.”
Dax came down the ladder. “Let’s go back to you handing me items because you’ll know how you’d like to organize everything. I promise to wrap everything carefully.”
“You’ve done a wonderful job so far. I can tell you’re being very careful.”