“This isn’t what I had in mind when you said we had plans,” Callum grumbled petulantly from the passenger seat as Jack navigated up the long, dirt drive to Candace’s ranch.

“Patience is a virtue,” Jack responded with a smirk, putting the car in park.

Callum eased himself out of the door, already getting around better with the restricted arm usage, and he met Jack at the front door of Candace’s house.

“What is this place?” he asked, knocking, then startling when what sounded like a herd of dogs began to bark on the other side of the door.

“It’s a dog rescue,” he answered.

Callum pivoted slowly, eyes wide and excited. “Are we getting a dog?”

“You are,” Jack confirmed. “I want him to be yours.”

They looked up and found the door open, a short, middle-aged woman with a coif of curly blonde hair stood in front of them with a smile.

“Who’s Jack?” she asked.

“That’d be me.”

She extended a hand. “I’m Candace. It’s great to meet you in person. You must be Callum,” she said, turning her attention and smile to Jack’s side.

“I am. It’s nice to meet you.” Callum grabbed Jack’s hand and fisted his fingers, using his muscles to try and temper his excited reaction.

“He’s excited,” Jack told Candace, giving Callum away with a chuckle.

“Good,” Candace agreed. “Come on out back and you can meet the kids.”

Callum trailed Jack even though he got the feeling it took all his strength to not burst out at a full sprint to find the dogs. Candace led them into a wide backyard that had a handful of fenced off play spaces and smaller kennel areas under shaded tarps.

“These dogs are all rescues,” Candace told them over her shoulder, walking toward one of the large enclosures where four or five dogs were chasing each other playfully. “Some are more skittish than others. Some were abused, but those boys generally don’t get to come out and play with the others because they’re unpredictable. We spend a lot of time with them so they don’t feel rejected.”

Callum was staring at the dogs roughhousing and barking at each other in the yard. He was mesmerized, eyes tracking their movements until he flicked them toward the kennels, his broad grin souring slightly.

“Can I go see them? he asked.

“Of course,” Candace answered, gesturing toward the kennels and letting Callum take the lead. He set off and Jack followed, Candace falling in step with him, a yard or so behind Callum who had already squatted down in front of the first kennel.

“That’s Bear,” she called out to Callum.

Callum held his hand toward the chain-link, palm down. Bear approached timidly, his ears on alert and his tail tucked. He sniffed at Callum’s hand.

“What kind is he?” Jack asked.

“Not certain.” Candace shrugged. “Definitely some German Shepherd in there, but he’s a mix for sure.”

Callum was leaning against the fence now, his cheek against the metal links and Bear was sniffing his face.

“He likes your boyfriend,” Candace observed.

“Husband,” he corrected without thinking.

Jack watched the way Callum’s eyes softened and his smile grew the closer Bear’s snout got to his face. Callum wrapped his fingers around the links and Bear moved his attention there, alternating from Callum’s hand to his face. Earlier, Callum had begged him to see him as he was before, to not see the bruises and the anxiety, and Jack wasn’t sure he could, but in this exact moment, he did.

“Can I go in?” Callum asked, Bear’s tongue now lapping against Callum’s hand, his tail a little looser than before.

“If you want to head toward the small play area back there, I can bring him around,” Candace said, gesturing down a walkway to another gated corral.

Callum stood up with a grin and Bear whimpered. Callum frowned at him apologetically then looked up at Jack with an expression of such pure joy it hurt Jack’s heart to think that wasn’t Callum’s constant state of existence.

“I’ll be waiting for you,” Callum told Bear, motioning for Jack to follow him. Jack jogged past the kennels and caught up with Callum as he was popping open the latch to the corral.

“He seems to like you,” Jack observed as Callum bounced on the balls of his feet waiting for Candace and Bear.

“He doesn’t treat me any different,” Callum admitted, glancing quickly at Jack before directing his attention back to the kennels.

“I’m done with that, kitten.”

Callum looked at him again, eyes laden with doubt.

“I'm going to make you come so much when we get home that you’ll wish I was treating you differently still,” Jack whispered, his voice low and dangerous.

“Daddy,” Callum whisper-yelled, reaching between his legs and adjusting himself.

Jack grabbed his hand and stilled it before moving it to the growing bulge between his own legs. He turned them so Candace wouldn’t be able to see and leaned down level with Callum’s ear.

“This isn’t any different than before, but you need to be careful what you wish for.” He used his hand to curl Callum’s fingers around his thickening shaft. “I’m going to wreck every hole in your body and then I’m going to marry you again in front of all your friends while you’re full of my cum.”

Callum’s hand tightened.

“Jack, you may want to step back. Let Bear get used to Callum up close for a little bit before we introduce you.”

Callum released Jack’s cock and stepped away. Jack pushed his erection down the leg of his pants and put space between them as Candace brought Bear into the play area.

Bear hesitated when he saw Jack, stalling out beside Candace after she removed his leash and patted him on the head.

“Come on, pup,” Callum coaxed, squatting down and holding his hand out again. Bear approached him, repeating the sniffing of the hand and the face. Jack watched as Bear’s tail raised and raised, until it started to wag and he licked a sloppy stripe up the side of Callum’s face.

Callum laughed. The sound was so perfect and familiar Jack’s cock leaked against his thigh in excitement. Callum ruffled his fingers through Bear’s long black fur and waggled his fingers in Jack’s direction.

“Bear, I want you to meet someone,” Callum told the dog, nuzzling their faces together.

Jack took a step toward the center of the space where Callum and Bear were sitting together. Bear’s ears angled toward the sky, but Callum whispered something against one and they relaxed.

Jack took another step and another until he was close enough to reach out and dust the tops of Callum’s outstretched fingers with his own. Bear’s head angled toward the movement and Callum bumped the dog with his good shoulder reassuringly.

Bear did a little spin and shoved his snout under Jack’s hand. Jack petted him, running a smooth and steady touch up his nose to between his ears.

“This is Jack,” Callum said to Bear in a tone so conversational Jack couldn’t help but chuckle. “He’s my Daddy. He’s my husband.”

Callum smiled at him when he said it, and Jack nodded in agreement. Jack settled down in the grass next to Callum, still petting Bear while Callum talked.

“He is really important to me and, if you come home with us, he’ll be really important to you, too. He takes the best care of me,” Callum rambled on about Jack, praising him to the canine in ways Jack was sure he didn’t deserve. Every affirmation out of Callum’s mouth served as a steady reminder that Jack should be worshipping the ground this man walked on.

Jack knew in this moment, every person he’d ever thought he loved before had been nothing compared to this. They’d been amateur displays of affection serving as little more than trial runs for the greatest gift he’d ever have.

“I love you,” he told Callum, interrupting his speech to Bear. “More than anything, than anyone.”

He raised a hand to Callum’s face and stroked his cheekbone, dragging his hand down to Callum’s braced shoulder and sliding his fingers across the entirety of Callum’s collarbone. He didn’t flinch, instead blinked his attention onto Jack like a laser beam.

“Where did that come from?” he asked in wonder.

Jack leaned close and pressed their mouths together instead of answering, the moment only interrupted by the intrusion of a hot and slobbery tongue being added into the mix.

“Bear, no. Oh, God,” Callum complained, leaning back and wiping his mouth on the sleeve of his shirt.

Jack sputtered and fell onto his butt he was laughing so hard.

Candace was resting against the gate with her arms crossed and a knowing smile on her face. She held the leash in their direction.

“Looks like someone gets to go to a new home today,” she suggested.

Callum looked at Jack hopefully. He nodded.

“Anything for you,” he promised Callum softly.

Three hours later, after filling out the adoption paperwork at Candace’s kitchen table and making an expensive pit stop at the pet store, Callum, Jack, and Bear were home. Jack settled into the corner of the couch while Callum showed Bear the whole house, talking to him the entire time.

“Where do you think you want your bed, Bear?” Callum asked, looking around the living room. “Do you want to sleep out here or with us?”

“Out here,” Jack answered for the dog.

Callum angled a sharp glare at him. “He might be scared. He’d probably feel safer in the same room as you. I know I do.”

Jack wasn’t sure if Callum was deliberately trying to hit his soft spots or if it came naturally. Either way, Jack wasn’t inclined to protest. Instead, he leveled a look of his own in Callum’s direction.

“I’ll put it out here and see what he thinks,” Callum conceded, kicking the overstuffed dog bed to the side of the couch. “You can sleep here if you want,” he told Bear before heading toward the back of the house to the sliding glass door to the yard.

“You do bathroom stuff out here.” Callum’s voice grew quieter the farther away he and Bear went. Jack leaned forward so he could hear him for one second longer then settled back into the couch, closing his eyes.

He was woken to a hot warmth around his cock. He startled, having not even realized he’d fallen asleep. Callum pulled his mouth away with a sloppy pop and grinned up at him mischievously.

“You’ve gotta be quiet, Daddy, or you’ll wake up Bear.” Then his mouth was back around Jack’s dick, the hot, wet heat making it impossible to think.

Jack dropped his head against the back of the couch, tangling his fingers into Callum’s hair to direct his head.

“Harder,” Callum mumbled around his cock. “I won’t break.”

To display his point, Callum dove down Jack’s length, burying his nose at the base of Jack’s cock and swallowing, working the muscles of his throat repeatedly.

Jack tugged Callum back and fisted his cock, stroking himself roughly until he came, spurting his release like party streamers across Callum’s closed eyes and swollen mouth. He shoved his softening cock back into Callum’s mouth, using his tongue to clean himself off.

“Go get in bed. It’s your turn,” he promised Callum, kicking off his pants beside a soundly sleeping Bear.

Callum’s eyes sparked with anticipation, his own erection obvious between his legs before he turned and retreated to their bedroom.