Chapter Sixteen
Al
Lai stared out the passenger-side window, fingers tapping restlessly against the seat of the Lexus in an uneven rhythm.
Tap. Tap-tap. Pause. Tap.
I reached over and placed my hand on top of his, stilling the movement. I’d known Lai long enough to read the twitching fingers, the chewing of his lip, the slight narrowing of his eyes. He was mulling something over.
“Penny for your thoughts,” I offered quietly.
He frowned at the interruption, and I smiled. That was the Lai I knew; annoyed at being pulled out of his own head, even when he was clearly spiraling.
“I’m reconsidering a few things,” he admitted.
“Like what?”
“Our plans for tonight,” he said, and I frowned, feeling a slight prickle of dread; if he’d decided it was time to go home, I couldn’t exactly say no, but I desperately wanted to see Fox.
Lai rolled his eyes at the look on my face. “Relax, dumbass, we’re still going back to the lot,” he teased, reading my mind. “But I don’t think you should detail Fox. Save the pampering for after the auction.”
I tilted my head. “Why?”
“You’re going to be paying for that car a second time. The better he looks, the more he’ll cost.” Lai leaned back, arms folded. “Hell, maybe you should take some parts off. Make him look like an expensive project instead of a finished one.”
I stiffened. “Fox isn’t going to like that idea at all.”
“Well,” Lai shrugged. “Sell him on it. I’m not paying more just because he wants a shiny bumper; I’m already trying to come to terms with buying a car that doesn’t even have tires yet, and I can tell he’s gonna be pricey.
My budget is twenty grand. Make sure Fox doesn’t take up more than half of that. ”
I blinked in confusion. “What’s the other ten for? The Dodge?”
“Yeah. What else?”
I pressed my lips together, forcing myself not to laugh. Not even a smile. I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek.
Lai thought he could buy a 1970s Challenger for ten grand.
God, he had absolutely no idea what that car was worth, and I wasn’t about to tell him.
If he knew that the Challenger, in its current condition, was going to set him back a cool hundred thousand dollars, he’d talk himself into walking away, and I wasn’t going to let that happen.
I’d seen the spark between Lai and that car, and Lai needed it, even if he wasn’t ready to accept that just yet.
“Yeeeah.” I stretched the word out, trying to sound casual. “You’re probably right; I’ll sweet-talk Fox, see if he’ll let me loosen off his bumper or something. I don’t really have 10K to spare.”
Lai’s eyes narrowed slightly, studying me. He knew me too well. I shifted the conversation before he could push.
“I’ll just do the seats tonight,” I offered quickly. “Make him feel better. Save the full pampering for when he’s released.”
Lai rolled his eyes, but relaxed, distracted from my guilt by my insistence on spoiling Fox.
***
The yard’s gates were open with two hours still before closing, and the owner sat inside the small booth near the entrance, flipping through paperwork, bored but alert.
I glanced at Lai as I parked on the dirt path leading in. “You sure you know what you’re doing?”
Lai nodded, determination settling into his features. “Again. Not an amateur.” He smirked. “I’ll keep him busy, and if I can’t keep him busy,” He winked. “I’ll keep him well rested.”
I snorted quietly as Lai stepped out of the car and strutted toward the booth with casual confidence. Lai was naturally charming and slipped into roles like that effortlessly; it was why he’d survived long enough to become an ex-assassin. Not many in his line of work were so lucky.
I gave him a minute before following. As I slipped past the booth, I glanced inside; Lai was already seated at the desk opposite the owner, leaning forward, laughing at something the man had said. It looked natural. Easy.
Good. Whatever Lai was doing, it was working.
I moved deeper into the yard, boots crunching softly against gravel.
Fox sat where I’d last seen him, tucked neatly behind a Ford Ranger. The Ranger blocked him from being seen from the roadside; my Mustang was hidden, protected.
My chest tightened, and I paused next to the Ranger, gently stroking its grill and murmuring a ‘thank you’ before squeezing past it, grinning as I spotted Fox at last. But, to my surprise, Fox didn’t greet me back.
The car sat silent. Locked. No flicker of lights.
No subtle vibration. No presence reaching out to me.
He wasn’t expecting me; the realization warmed me. It felt oddly domestic, like coming home late and finding your partner asleep in bed.
And of course, when that happened, you messed with them; a sneaky grope, a soft kiss—a whispered hello.
I looked Fox over, trying to decide where to poke at him. He’d always responded strongly to me touching his interior; I suspected he’d react to a slap on the butt just like Candy did when I’d greet her with one after a long day at work.
I slipped my fingers under Fox’s trunk handle, testing, then pulled back and firmly slapped his reverse light, right across his ass.
The car honked, loud and startled. I clapped a hand over my mouth, barely holding back laughter.
“Shhh, Fox! It’s me!” I hissed, grinning as the shadow appeared, sitting on the lid of the trunk, his golden eyes wide and his chest heaving as he hastily formed himself. “Are you okay?” I asked, still grinning.
“Yeah– yeah.” He ran a hand over his face. “Just–I had a nightmare. I dreamed I was rear-ended, but it was–”
He stopped, then slowly looked at me.
“It was you.” His smile spread, and he lunged forward, wrapping his arms around my neck. In the warmth of his embrace, I almost didn’t register what he’d said. Almost. My mind caught up a second later.
Fox could dream.
I knew what that implied. I’d met one of the Gods of Dreams before, and they had explained that dreams were only meant for beings with souls, real souls, nothing false or cloned.
Part of me was relieved that Fox was a Real Boy now, and part of me felt guilty for making him in the first place, only to be torn away from him after only two days.
Fox didn’t seem to mind, though.
“You’re here! Why are you here?” Fox pulled back from peppering my face with kisses, and I laughed, trying to return one.
“I missed you, and I have news. Let’s get inside, though. I don’t want to attract attention,” I chuckled, landing a kiss on his cheek.
Fox nodded, instantly dissolving back into shadow as the door unlocked.
I climbed into the passenger seat, pausing a moment to take him all in again.
Gods, I missed being inside that damned car, missed the smell of leather, the curve of the wheel.
I ran my fingers across the dash, meeting Fox’s shadow-hand halfway.
He leaned into me, resting against my shoulder.
“Have you had your court date already?” He asked quietly.
I nodded, my hand continuing downward over the air-con controls, brushing the stereo, sliding across the center console.
Fox whined softly, enjoying every caress.
“Now we just wait for you to be auctioned,” I murmured, kissing the top of his head.
“I signed up for every auction in the city for the next two months, and I’ll keep signing up until I find you. I won’t miss it.”
Fox shifted, climbing into my lap, curling against my chest. “You’d better not drive anyone else until then,” he muttered.
I laughed softly. “I don’t know if I can promise that.
I’ve been inside a Lexus all day, but she’s no one you need to worry about.
” I cupped his face, lifting it. His features were barely visible against the void-like skin, but those golden eyes burned into mine, and his lovely mouth was turned down in a pout.
“I do have something for you.” I reached down to the footwell to grab the bags I’d brought with me.
Fox’s eyes lit up even brighter as he spotted the logo on the bags. “AutoZone?” He gasped, grabbing onto the plastic, eager to see what was inside.
“I was going to detail you tonight, but Lai said it would be a bad idea before the auction,” I chuckled, pulling out bottles and laying them out for him to examine. Fox whimpered, clutching a bottle of wax to his chest, and I laughed again.
“I will if you really want me to, but if you look any hotter, someone else might outbid me and snatch you up.”
Fox sighed wistfully, letting go of the wax and picking up the green bottle of car wash, opening it to sniff it.
“Lai’s right. Besides, a detail would be wasted with me being stuck here.
” Fox dove into the bag and pulled out a pack of fiber cloths, testing them against his cheek.
“I’m not even under cover, and it’s so dusty my air filter needs replacing. ”
I laughed softly. “When you’re free,” I whispered, tracing his arm with one finger, enjoying the way he shivered. “I’ll bring you home and give you a full detail. Inside and out.”
I could have sworn that the Mustang’s entire frame shuddered as Fox let out a shameless moan of longing.
“And then? A road trip,” I vowed. “Five hundred miles at least.”
Fox slumped against my chest, shivering as if the promise itself was enough. I held him close, caressing his shoulder, my hand slipping to his waist, then lower, feeling the tempting warmth between his thighs.
‘Al…” Fox pressed tighter against me. The shadow that had struggled to keep its shape not so long ago was perfectly solid and hard in my hand.
Lai warned me not to take too long, but I couldn’t leave Fox wanting. Not my car; my car got what he wanted, and right then, he was moaning my name.
I caressed his inky skin in slow and comforting motions. This might be a quick visit, but I wanted to savor every moment.
The interior didn’t give us much room, but that didn’t matter when we wanted to be close.
I embraced Fox, and his metal frame embraced us back, swaying a little as we moved.
I was acutely aware of how much motion we were making, and paused; the last thing I needed now was to be caught with my cock out in an impounding lot.
It wouldn’t be my first indecent exposure charge, but so freshly out of jail, I had to be careful.
“Don’t rock the car,” I whispered, and Fox looked down at me with a gleam in his eyes that promised just the opposite.
His dark fingers unbuttoned my shirt and pushed it aside as he sank his chrome teeth into my shoulder.
I gasped, the pain elevating my own need; I was hard and desperate, desperate to fuck him, desperate to drive him.
I just had to hope Lai was as good at buying time as he promised.
I flicked the lever on the side of my seat, dropping it back.
It was tight quarters, but in one fluid movement, I wrapped my arms around Fox’s waist and twisted him beneath me, forcing him against the leather seat below, face to face with barely room enough between us to breathe.
I leaned over him, the back of my head pressing against the roof, taking in the sight of him.
I couldn’t quite tell where black leather ended and Fox began; he was a dark void with two glowing yellow eyes and a hint of a smirk, blending in perfectly with his interior.
“I missed you so fucking much.” I breathed, kissing his neck as I undid my belt, freeing my cock, already painfully hard. Fox melted against me, his fingers tugging at my hair.
If I couldn’t drive him, this was the next best thing.
Pushing his legs apart, I made myself comfortable between his thighs while the shadow hugged me, encouraging me. He didn’t need to urge me on; I wanted him desperately, pushing deep inside him with a soft moan.
Fucking Fox was indescribable. He was soft, yielding, offering no resistance at all as my cock penetrated his tight hole until my piercing pushed against him.
No one that tight should have been so easy to fuck, but he moaned greedily and protested with his claws each time I pulled back, his thighs squeezing around me like he wasn’t going to let me go each time I sank into him again.
In him, the world fell away, my mind disconnecting, unable to comprehend what I was feeling.
All that remained was lust and pleasure, and Fox was able to satisfy every inch of me.
I was fully inside him, and he was melting into every part of me, his darkness seeping into the gaps between my atoms. My matter to his antimatter.
Fox completed me.
I fucked him against the leather seat, my movements gaining speed as my climax drew closer.
I was nearing the finish line, and I felt the shadow beneath me tremble.
We were going to cross it together. I closed my eyes, pushing down on the gas.
I wasn’t about to let go until I saw the checkered flag or God.
In the end, I couldn’t tell if it was God or the finish line that I saw in the flash of light behind my eyes, my body going numb, losing all sensation except the rolling ecstasy of orgasm.
I slumped against Fox, gasping for breath, my cock twitching inside him, pumping him full.
He dragged his claws down my back, sending shivers across my already sensitive skin as he gasped roughly into my throat.
When I finally pulled back, there was nothing between me and the seat, my cock sliding wetly against the cushioning, the leather slick and glossy with my cum.
“Not fair…” I managed a shaky breath, looking around for Fox.
He reappeared next to me with a purr, his eyes narrowed in delight. “I am going to miss this. Being patient is going to kill me.”
I laughed at that, sitting up and fixing my clothes. “I have something to entertain you until the auction, don’t worry.”
Fox shifted closer, curious. His eyes widened as I reached back into the bag and pulled out the Game Boy and a copy of Pokémon Red.
“I was there!” Fox squeaked. “I was there for the midnight release!” He snatched the game from my hand.
“I drove my ex-owner and his brother to it; they were in the line from like 6 pm, just shivering and waiting. Once they had the game, they sat together in me with the heat blasting and played until sunrise. I remember.”
I watched the shadow scoop up a handful of batteries and gently insert two into the console. The Game Boy chirped, greeting him, and Fox’s smile widened.
“Well,” I chuckled. “You catch them all. It might be a week or two, but I’ll visit when I can, alright?” I leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Oh, and we got one for your friend, too. Play nice.”