Chapter 17 #2
As he slid out of his jacket, Qylar scanned the massive entry, open to the lodge-sized living room and dining room with its table for twenty.
Besides the winter coat he’d borrowed from Alex flung over the back of one part of the sectional, Kenji was nowhere to be seen.
Qylar growled to himself before listening for movement to determine which way to go.
Kenji breezed out from behind the stone wall that featured the fireplace, his eyes wide. “Who the hell needs four wall ovens, two enormous gas ranges, and two refrigerators in one house? That’s the most expensive professional kitchen I’ve seen in my life.”
“Cryss likes to cook. And they usually have a full house for the holidays, so a lot gets done in there.”
“Was this an inn or something before it was their vacation home?”
“Nope. It was someone else’s vacation home.”
Kenji marched past. Before he could get far, Qylar snagged his wrist.
“Slow down.”
Kenji huffed, frowning at him. “If I must.”
Qylar slid his hand into Kenji’s and drew him just inside the main first-level bedroom along the back of the house.
“This is Cryss and Alex’s bedroom.” He led Kenji out, passing another bedroom and peeking in.
“This one’s for the kids.” At the end of the back hall was an office, an exercise room, a sauna, and in the very rear, one of Qylar’s favorite places in the house.
“They have a fucking movie theater—in their house. No, not their house. Their vacation mansion.” Kenji shook his head. “Unreal.”
Qylar smiled down at Kenji. “Upstairs, there are several more bedrooms, including the one I typically use when I’m here.”
He squeezed Kenji’s hand and led him upstairs.
Kenji slid a finger up the handrail. “Not a speck of dust. How long’s this place been closed up?”
“I notified the agency that monitors the house that we were coming early. They had a crew come remove the dust covers and do a light cleaning. The beds are freshly made and the towels in the bathrooms are clean.”
“Maid service. Why does that not surprise me?”
Qylar snickered. “You haven’t spent enough time at the townhouse yet to know we have someone come in to clean once a week.”
Kenji frowned, his jaw dropping a bit.
“Keep your tentacles to yourself on Mondays. We don’t want to lose our lady.”
As soon as Qylar entered their bedroom, he turned and walked backwards, gauging Kenji’s reaction. “I know it’s not as big and nice as Cryss and Alex’s, but it’s nice enough, don’t you think?”
“Nice enough? It’s huge,” Kenji said. “It’s almost too big.” He wandered into the adjoining bathroom and walked back out. “That tub could fit us both.”
“Enough room to stretch out your tentacles.”
Kenji ran and jumped onto the bed. “What size is this?”
“Alaska King. Fits up to four people.”
Kenji’s head whipped in his direction. “Has there been four people in it before?”
“If there was, it was before I started sleeping here. The previous owners bought all the furniture.”
“This is crazy-huge,” Kenji said.
“I’ve considered getting one for the townhouse, but I’m not sure we could get it in the door.”
“We don’t need all this,” Kenji said.
Qylar smiled at the use of we in that comment. “It’s the only mattress where my feet don’t rest at the very bottom edge and I can fully shift and have room for all my tentacles, too.”
“Well, when you say it like that, maybe we do need one of these at home.”
Home sounded even better than we.
“Especially now that I’ll be sharing it with my mate.”
Kenji smiled in Qylar’s direction before he scanned the room again.
“Almost every outer wall is glass. And I haven’t seen any curtains. I’d ask if you guys were exhibitionists but given the tentacles, I’d doubt it.” He turned to face Qylar. “Please tell me we’re not going to be showing off for the neighbors every night.”
“Hardly. It’s all smart glass.” Qylar walked to the dresser and lifted the remote. He returned to stand near the bed. With one click, the windows turned opaque white.
“I’ve seen that shit on television.” Kenji snatched the remote and tried it himself. “That’s cool as fuck.”
“There’s a remote in each room and two main switches, up and down, that’ll change the entire house at once.” He grinned. “You don’t have to worry about being an exhibitionist. Unless you wanna be.”
Kenji changed the windows a few more times, ignoring his comment. “Oh, do they change colors?”
The windows were suddenly bright blue.
“I didn’t know they did that,” Qylar said.
Kenji changed them to red. “Festive for Christmas.” He handed the remote back. “Decorating done.” He made a little check mark in the air with his finger.
Qylar snickered and cleared the windows to let the light shine in. It was a beautiful day so they might as well enjoy it, considering a storm was approaching. “We have to do a little more than that.”
Kenji crawled to the edge of the bed on his knees, reaching out a hand. He fisted his hand in the front of Qylar’s sweater and dragged him closer. Kenji pressed his body against Qylar, looking up through his lashes. “We don’t have to decorate today, do we?”
Qylar’s cock instantly hardened. It took little for him when it came to Kenji. “We don’t have to do anything today.” He winced. “Except unload the truck.”
“Can that wait until later?” Kenji asked, a slow smile crossing his lips.
“If we do what you want to do, I doubt I’d have the energy to unload it after.” They’d only just traveled back from Nefyria—which they’d spent fucking—with a short two-day pitstop in San Francisco to repack for Aspen.
Which they’d also mostly spent fucking.
And they’d done it again on the short trip that afternoon.
“What I want to do?” Kenji asked, his voice a low purr. “As if I don’t feel your cock getting harder against me.”
Qylar closed his eyes for a few seconds when Kenji lowered a hand to cup him, fighting the need already growing. “You’ve been near insatiable since we left Nefyria.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Kenji whispered, his lips parting on a sigh at the end.
Qylar stared down at those lips, starved for a kiss he wouldn’t take.
Not yet.
“It’s not a bad thing,” Qylar replied, his fingertips digging into Kenji’s hips. “But you’re not exactly accustomed to this kind of use. We’ve been going at it almost non-stop for days. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“If I was hurting, I wouldn’t want you all the time,” Kenji murmured before kissing the bit of neck he could reach above Qylar’s sweater.
Qylar’s eyelids grew heavier. A gasp came when Kenji’s hands snuck under the bottom of the sweater and slid up his abs. Before he could stop him, Kenji had Qylar’s sweater over his head and flying across the bedroom. It hadn’t even landed by the time Kenji had his belt free and jeans unzipped.
“In a hurry?”
Kenji’s gaze lifted to his, and Qylar saw need shining in his eyes.
He needed to ask Cryss if Alex had gotten hornier during a particular stage of pregnancy, because this wasn’t the shy, timid Kenji he’d known before their trip.
Perhaps his mate was finally becoming comfortable enough to be himself, and that was a wonderful thing.
And if by himself that meant sex-starved and spirited, who was he to complain?
He’d have Kenji morning, noon, and night if he could. And then some.
He just didn’t want Kenji pushing past his limits and not listening to his body’s needs for rest.
Kenji drew his hard cock out, stroking the length as Qylar fought to undress his mate and catch up.
Once they were both naked, Kenji fell back on the mattress and lifted his legs in welcome.
His once-tight hole was already gaping a tiny bit, but that might’ve been because they’d already fucked on the relatively short ride from the city to Aspen.
After digging out a left behind container of lube, Qylar tossed it into the middle of the bed.
He climbed in and hovered over his mate’s body.
He searched Kenji’s face, watching the need quickly expand to fill up every inch and bubble over.
When Kenji shivered and whimpered his name, he knew it was time.
He captured his mate’s lips and feasted on his mouth.
There was little foreplay. Kenji wouldn’t allow it.
He rolled them over and climbed astride Qylar, reaching for his cock.
Qylar barely had time to snatch the lube and coat them both before Kenji mounted him.
His mate rode him hard, both of their bodies soon coated in a thin sheen of sweat.
Lying back and watching Kenji take what he needed was stunning to see.
Without the nervousness or the fear, Kenji boldly took, demanding his needs met.
Qylar wanted to pin him to the mattress and give him a good, hard fucking, but they’d played so much. Giving Kenji the freedom and control was safer. Kenji knew his body best. If something was uncomfortable or pained him, he could shift position immediately to prevent injury.
It didn’t take long for Kenji to cry out, his cock erupting over Qylar’s abdomen without a single touch to it. Kenji slowed, trembling all over, two more jets of cum spraying over Qylar. He came to a stop, panting while staring down.
“Are you okay?” Qylar whispered.
“Am I okay?” Kenji chuckled. “I’m fucking amazing.”
“Yes, you are,” Qylar growled.
“Just gimme a sec,” Kenji whispered, brushing his damp hair away from his forehead and remaining still, Qylar’s hard cock still lodged deep.
Seeing Kenji, skin shining with a joyful smile on his kiss-swollen lips and cheeks red from exertion—Qylar didn’t think he’d ever seen anything so lovely in his life. His gaze dipped to the barely there swell that only added to that beauty, but he dragged his gaze away from it.
Kenji would have his freedom of choice.
Qylar eased and tightened his grip on Kenji’s waist, slid his hands down to his hips and squeezed again before sliding both palms over his mate’s smooth ass. He gripped the cheeks and massaged them, trying not to lift his hips off the bed to feed his cock deeper.
After a minute passed, Kenji placed his palms on Qylar’s chest and rolled his hips. “Now it’s your turn.”
Qylar smiled up at him, gasping as Kenji slowly rode him again.
“I’m gonna fuck you so good you forget your name,” Kenji said, smiling wickedly.
A tremor went through Qylar, the dirty talk doing unimaginable things to him—especially coming from his sweet, innocent Kenji. Had he done this to his mate? Had all the sex turned Kenji wanton? If so, he deserved a medal for his effort—though Kenji was reward enough.
The speed gradually built until the sounds of their bodies slapping together filled the air.
“Does that feel good?” Kenji asked.
Qylar could barely speak. He nodded, trying to force words from between his lips, but barely managed a whispered ‘yea.’
When had the tables turned? He was the one who’d fucked half of San Francisco, yet he lay there, overwhelmed with the need storming through his body like some untested boy.
“Are you gonna come for me?” Kenji asked him, throwing his hips down harder and harder.
Qylar nodded violently, unable to breathe as his body tightened hard enough to shatter when he finally came.
His fingertips jabbed into Kenji’s hips and the edge approached.
His back bowed and he roared the second he arrived, his vision going wonky and stars appearing at the edges.
Kenji took another one of his loads deep, working his shaft to get every last drop of it.
The room spun before he was finally able to drag in a deep breath.
He collapsed back against the bed, winded and brain-fried.
Kenji lifted off his cock and rolled to his side, cuddling against Qylar.
He wrapped an arm around his mate and held tight.
Closing his eyes against the light in the room, he realized they’d just done what Kenji had seemed unwilling to do.
They’d fucked in front of a wall of windows in broad daylight.
Thankfully, neither of them had tentacled out, but still.
Had they been so mindless to not notice?
“Who are you and what have you done with my Kenji?”
Kenji chuckled, kissing the side of his chest.
“Suddenly, I feel like the inexperienced one. How?”
“I don’t know,” Kenji said, sighing. “But I think there is something…”
Qylar turned to Kenji. “What?”
“Ever since our swim in the ocean on Nefyria, I’ve felt more…
alive. I don’t know how else to describe it.
I walked out energized. It was like I could suddenly feel things around me a little more intensely.
The sky was a little bluer, the salty scent in the air stronger.
” He paused a moment. “And when we made love in the apartment after? I felt that more deeply, too. The connection seemed strengthened. The feeling hasn’t stopped, either.
After we got home, I looked around San Francisco, and it felt like I was seeing it for the first time.
The colors are sharper and more in focus. ”
Qylar tipped Kenji’s chin up, seeing joy on his face. “Something in the water?”
“Are you telling me the ocean drugged me? If so, I’m already addicted. It’s like I really am a superhero now. I hear better. I see better. I feel better.”
“If memory serves, I think Alex mentioned his finger tentacles started after he was anointed. Maybe there is something in the water.”
“Anointed? What’s that?”
“Before his father could publicly acknowledge him and claim him as a son, he had to step into the royal spawning grounds—because he hadn’t been born there. He walked in until he was deep enough to be submerged.”
“Is that something I need to do? I wasn’t born there either.”
“Do you want to find your father and have him publicly acknowledge you?”