A Kink in the Tail

Chapter 52 - Good Morning

Adam woke up in a warm tight embrace, unable to move his limbs but it wasn't uncomfortable, on the contrary, he felt safe. Turning his head the scent of his mate was strong and he pressed his face against the curve of his neck, nipping then running the tip of his tongue over Paul's earlobe. The arms around him tightened and a shiver ran through his mate's body in response.

"Mmm that's so good...do that again." Paul stretched to give Adam more room to press kisses along his neck. It still caught Adam by surprise when the icy Guardian showed his softer side.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! An alarm went off on Paul's phone bursting their cozy bubble. He twisted around to find the phone with his free hand. It was somewhere on the floor beside the couch but he had no luck finding it and eventually had to let go of Adam and get up.

Paul slipped away and all of Adam's senses were suddenly bereft.  If his limbs weren't so stiff he would have reached out and pulled him back but after lying in the one position for so long his body refused to do anything more than slowly stretch out. His eyes followed Paul as he wandered around the room finding socks and shoes, talking to someone on the phone, and putting on his watch. Bit by bit he was transforming into the austere Guardian, the man in black as the Luna always called him.

"Hang on." Paul dropped the phone on the table and disappeared into the bathroom for a few minutes. Adam rolled over and dragged himself up.  Sitting on the edge of the bed he looked down at his rumpled clothes, looking like a homeless person who had wandered in by accident. Falling asleep together on the couch was sweet at the time, but now he felt like a pretzel. They had talked all night about their future, growing more excited about the endless possibilities. They had fallen asleep blissfully happy.

Walking back into the room and picking up the phone as he went Paul didn't miss a beat.  He started talking where he left off, giving one instruction after another to some unfortunate on the other end of the line. Adam on the other hand looked in the mirror and winced, not a pretty sight. Running his hands through his hair did little good, even the patch around his eye was a darker purple-blue than usual, definitely not perfect mate material.  

"Pick up one of my suits while you're there. I'll be in in 40 minutes." Paul finally found his tie and threw it over his shoulder.

"I don't care who it is." He yelled down the phone."They can wait like everyone else. One last thing, get David to come in before the end of the day. If he makes excuses personally drag him in yourself."

When Paul finished his call Adam could see his shoulders droop momentarily before quickly putting on his tie, straightening his collar, and pulling down his cuffs. The simple ritual helped him to focus.

Adam smiled, he loved his mate's little habits, the precise way he did things and carried himself as if nothing in the world bothered him when most of the time he was weighed down with problems. These days he knew better than to be fooled by all these little tricks of the trade and knew that Paul's complete focus on his job didn't come without a lot of effort.  At the moment. unfortunately, he was the problem. Paul had to navigate around the mess his outburst had created and salvage his reputation, and he couldn't do a thing to help. 

Adam was lost in thought when he was swept up into his mate's arms and held so gently that it made him melt.

"I know you're tired my love but I have to leave now and I need you to get a wriggle on. Before I head for the office I'll take you to where we're staying. You can rest there." Paul kissed Adam's cheek still flushed and warm from sleep, then went back for seconds. "Goddess I'd love you. I don't want to go...but..." He ran his thumb over the spot he just kissed. "...the news is out and I need to go put out a few fires."