Page 132 of Deviant Need

“We have no space in the car for⁠—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Mikhail cuts in, grinning. The dogs lose their minds as soon as we’re close enough, jumping and wagging and demanding attention. We let them sniff our hands, getting familiar with our scent.

One of them launches at Mikhail and licks all over his face. He huffs out a laugh and starts scratching her behind her ears.

“What should we name them?” I ask, scratching behind the male’s ears while he leans into my hand. “We can pick a name each?”

He shrugs. “I choose Lumi for the female.”

“Good choice,” I say, grinning at him. “Sammy for the male then.”

“Perfect.” He keeps scratching and rubbing both of them, and I grab onto Lumi, wrapping my arms around her. The fur is so soft between my fingers, and I run my hands through it.

Sammy looks over at me from Mikhail and jumps onto me hard enough to knock me flat on my back. Then both of them hop onto me and lick my face, their little paws scrambling over my chest.

Mikhail’s laughter echoes through the kennel, and he grabs onto them, pulling them off. “Okay, okay, get off him.”

Pushing myself up, they immediately turn their attention to him. He picks up a toy and throws it across the space. They both take off running after it, then race back to drop it at his feet. He throws it again, and I just watch him, biting my lip. He looks so happy right now.

“You’re staring at me,” he says without looking up from the dogs.

“I know.” I don’t even try to deny it. “You look happy.”

“I am happy.” He glances at me, and his smile softens.

Crawling over, I sit down next to him. The dogs immediately climb onto both our laps, tongues hanging out of their mouths from all the excitement. We both run our hands through their fur, and I lean into Mikhail’s side.

“We should bring them to our tree,” I say.

“We could hide treats for them in there.”

“The ants will eat them, Mikhail.”

He rolls his eyes. “They so won’t.”

I raise my eyebrow at him, and he grins at me. I can’t wait to spoil them. I’m going to bring them everywhere, buy them the most ridiculous collars and outfits, get them every single toy I see. I’m going to be way more over the top about this than Mikhail is, and he has no idea what he’s gotten himself into.

He crushes his mouth to mine, quick and rough. “I’m so excited for the next part.”

“Next part?” I pull back enough to look at him, confused.

He hums against my lips before kissing me again.

We sit with the dogs for a while, letting them get used to us and play with them. The woman returns with collars and leashes, helping us get everything squared away. When we finally walk out of the shelter with the paperwork signed, Alexei and Kelly are waiting by their car at the curb.

“We’ll take the dogs until you’re done,” Kelly says, taking both leashes from Mikhail. He crouches down immediately to pet them, and both puppies attack him.

What is he planning? I glance at Mikhail, trying to read his expression, but he just looks smug.

He parks in some random lot downtown and looks at me before pulling me in and shoving his tongue into my mouth. His hand slides to the back of my neck.

“I can’t wait to be inside you later. You’re making me so hard. I regret not fucking you earlier. You’re killing me,” he groans against my mouth before pulling back, breathing hard. “So we aren’t going to the beach, it was just a distraction. We’re staying home instead with the dogs.”

“What?” I ask, still trying to catch my breath.

“We’re getting a tattoo.”

“A tattoo?”