Page 48 of The Family Pet

“You don’t have to rush into it,” Daddy murmured. He sat in a chair on the other side of Saint and reached down to pet his head gently. “Take your time.”

“He’ll need to choose them soon,” I argued, then shoved a full strawberry in my mouth and chomped on it. The sweet flavor burst on my taste buds, and I moaned before showing Saint my fingers. He lapped at them like the good boy he was, suckling at the tips until he had cleaned off all the juice left behind. “Good, pup.”

“Stop pressuring him, boy,” Daddy said gruffly, waving his fork at me. “He’ll choose when he chooses. It’s been a while since he’s been to school, and he deserves to take it as slow as he wants. Master’s degree programs can be difficult, and he needs to be ready.”

I shrugged and grabbed another piece of sliced strawberry, passing it to Saint again. He opened his mouth, and I laid it on his tongue, swiping my thumb across his bottom lip before pulling away again. I’d come to realize over the last couple of months that I enjoyed feeding him and taking care of him as though he was a real puppy.

We’d fallen into a comfortable routine. Saint thrived on being our pet, especially now that our attention had become less about revenge and more about. . . something else. Emotions, I supposed. We loved him, which was both fucking weird and kind of nice.

“What can you do with a philosophy degree anyway?” I asked, then munched on my breakfast. It was the weekend, which meant a day off for all of us. I was excited. We’d been busy during the last few days and had barely spent time together. A woodworker had come in this week to fix the last of the damage from the shooting—since the decorative bannisters on the stairs had originally been carved by hand—erasing the reminders of bad memories.

“I could do anything I wanted,” Saint murmured, giving me a smile. “I could go on to do law and be a better lawyer than you.”

Daddy laughed into his cup of coffee. “Ouch.”

I mock glared at Saint. If he’d said something like that to me a few months ago, I would’ve taken it as a challenge and done everything in my power to prove him wrong, but today I patted him on the head. “Sure, puppy. If you say so.”

He barked at me and pretended to snap at my fingers with his teeth, and I laughed, caressing his jaw gently, which earned me a sweet smile. He leaned into my touch, eyes slipping closed with his long lashes fluttering across pale skin.

“You’re beautiful,” I whispered, and his smile grew wider as his eyes stayed shut. My cock twitched in my pants. I couldn’t help it with him sitting there on his knees so submissively. All I could think about was shoving my hard-on between his tasty lips.

He finally looked at me for a quick second before his gaze dropped to the bulge in my pants. I’d dressed for the day in jeans and a T-shirt, but I didn’t want to go anywhere now. I preferred to take Saint up to his room, or mine, and fuck him while Daddy joined.

I pushed my chair back and stood, and Saint watched me eagerly. I crooked my finger and winked, then walked out of the dining room toward the stairs. The thumping on the hardwood floor behind me told me that Saint was following me on all fours, and I couldn’t help but grin. We’d given Saint the chance to leave us behind and stop being our pup, but he’d chosen to stay. He liked playing with us.

We’d set down rules after Daddy had gotten out of the hospital, which included when he was allowed to talk and walk, and we’d even given him safewords—Puppy, over and out, which was something I’d created and thought was hilarious. Dad and Saint weren’t quite as amused, but they went along with it.

Walking up the stairs was one of the times he was allowed on his feet, and he followed me eagerly. One glance over my shoulder at his wide grin had me chuckling. Without the money and blackmail hanging over his head, Saint had become freer. Happier. Any guilt I felt had slowly disappeared knowing he now wanted to be here.

When he got to the top of the stairs, he went back to his hands and knees, and we walked toward his room rather than mine. Inside hadn’t changed any, though it was more of a playroom than a bedroom now. Saint slept with me most nights, and so did Daddy, though he usually came in later after a long night of work.

The doghouse with spiral towers wasn’t used as much as it should’ve been, but occasionally Saint decided he needed some time alone and crawled in. Once, I’d gone in there with him to try out all the sex toys on him, and he’d been such a good pup, responding so well to me. But Saint needed to be in a certain mood for immersive pet play, and I was okay with that. We didn’t have to delve deep into the kink, even if Daddy clearly enjoyed it. I realized that all I needed was Saint and Daddy, though I would never say that aloud.

Too corny.

The fake grass in the dog room wasn’t uncomfortable, and I didn’t mind sitting on it with Saint, but me and my chubby had other plans for him this morning. I sent a smirk over my shoulder as I went into the playroom and fell on my ass. I cocked my head as he crawled in after me.

I patted my half-hard cock. “I got a treat for you. A big bone for you to suck.”

He gave me a knowing look, and I shrugged, aware that Daddy had used that pun before, but I didn’t care because it wasn’t a lie. My cock was currently in boner state and it was big, thank you very much, and I would argue it until I was blue in the face.

He crawled his way over to me, the smile on his face smug now as he reached me. He’d fallen into silence like a good pup and stopped in front of me, bending forward to run a finger over my bulge. He hummed thoughtfully and glanced up at me from under his long lashes.

Winking, I reached down to unbutton my jeans and give me more room to move, then unzipped them. Shoving my pants and boxers down, I pulled out my cock and waved it at him. “See? The bone I promised.”

A tsk from the door had us both freezing, and my attention jumped to Daddy and the way he was leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed and a disappointed expression on his face. Because it was the weekend, he was only dressed in gray sweatpants and a white shirt, and he looked as good in them as he did a suit.

“What did I say about feeding the pup without my permission?” His voice was rough but tender, and there was a note of playfulness I’d learned to enjoy. Daddy’s seriousness was still there, but he’d softened around the edges, at least, emotionally.

I pouted. “But he was hungry.”

“Was he or did you just want to feed him?” He straightened and casually walked into the playroom, dropping his crossed arms. “Boy, you’re still not listening to me.”

I raised my chin and smirked. “What are you going to do about it?”

Saint let out a dramatic whimper that sounded similar to a dog’s and backed away, glancing between us. He pressed his lips together and sat back on his ass as Daddy came over to him to pat him on the head.

“Good pup. One of you listens to me.”