Chapter 5 #2
As embarrassing as it is, I’m already far past the point of being able to calm down.
The production process for America’s Voice took months, and I was too busy at the time to hookup.
Plus, I’d been trying to avoid the whole coming-out-on-national-television thing.
It’s not that I’m in the closet—everyone at home knows I’m into guys, including Mamaw and Viola.
It’s the fact that the people making the show would have blown it up into this huge thing.
Not fooling around had seemed worth it then.
Now I very much regret it.
“You appear to be plenty up already,” Tavryn teases. His grin is so wide that I can see a fang peeking out on one side. It tugs lightly on Tavryn’s full lower lip, distracting me completely. “Plus, I believe you told me last night that you were 'totally alright’ with me touching you.”
Well, someone certainly woke up in a good mood. I’d be silly not to take advantage of it. My hand finds Tavryn’s back again, but he tuts as soon as I touch him. “Ah, ah, ah, what did I tell you yesterday?”
“No touching,” I groan, my hand falling back onto the mattress. I may have never actually agreed to that, but if Mamaw taught me anything, it was to be respectful of other people’s boundaries. No matter how much I’d like to wrap my arms around Tavryn, I have to let him be.
“Good boy.” My cock twitches in response to the praise, and the way Tavryn’s brow raises lets me know he felt it.
His own hand is braced on my chest, fingers curled into the fabric of the borrowed sweatshirt.
He doesn’t move it, and I don’t ask him to.
He’s made it very clear he’s the one in control here.
And honestly? I’m totally okay with that.
“Alright. I’m bored,” Tavryn announces, and just like that, the building tension between us breaks.
He flicks the blankets back to get up, taking his warmth with him.
I get a good look at the robe now. It’s a dark purple and reaches to about his midthigh.
There’s a long slit in the back for his tail, and as he moves, I catch a glimpse of black briefs stretched tight over one of the absolute greatest backsides I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
I slide my hand down my stomach to toy with the waistband of my boxers as I watch him head straight for the bathroom.
“Wait!” I call, jerking up into a sitting position. He pauses and turns his head to stare at me. “Um, is that the only bathroom y’all got on this ship?”
“Mhm,” Tavryn replies, leaning against the doorway to the small, simple bathroom. “I thought I might take a shower. You don’t need it, do you?”
I most definitely did. Considering Tavryn made me clean his entire couch because he thought I might have sat on it in dirty underwear, I doubt he wants me jerking one off in his bed.
“Do you mind?” I ask, giving him what Mamaw calls my puppy dog eyes.
They’ve always gotten me what I wanted in the past.
“Yes. You’ll just have to wait.” Tavryn walks into the bathroom without looking back, the door sliding shut and locking behind him. I collapse back against the bed with a groan. Today’s off to a great start.
I attempt to go back to sleep, but the soft sound of running water is only emphasizing the fact that I also have to go to the bathroom.
Seriously, who doesn’t let their guest pee before they go take a long shower?
It’s rude, that’s what it is. Though, I suppose I’m not really Tavryn’s guest. At least, not a welcome one.
It feels like he takes hours in the shower.
He didn’t even seem like he was that dirty or anything.
He certainly didn’t smell dirty. He smelled like…
well, thinking about Tavryn’s scent definitely isn’t helping my boner go down.
It kind of reminds me of this amber body lotion someone gave Mamaw for Christmas one year.
She’d hated the smell so much she threw the entire bottle away, but I’d fished it out of the trash because I thought it smelled real good.
On Tavryn, it’s even better than I remember.
“My gosh, he’s slower ‘n a Sunday afternoon,” I say to myself as I stare up at the ceiling. “Seriously, how long’s he been in there?”
“Around fifteen minutes.” Stells’ voice, which sounds way too happy for what feels like early in the morning, scares me so bad I nearly fall out of bed.
“You could warn a guy, Stells,” I reply. She must still be in the cockpit driving the ship since Tavryn just got up. I’ll have to remember to keep an eye out for her when Tavryn goes in there. “How’d you hear me anyway?”
“Oh, there are recording devices all around the ship for easy communication.” Stells is so nonchalant about it that it takes me a couple of seconds to realize what she’s saying.
“You mean like cameras?!” I quickly tug my sweatshirt down in an attempt to hide my erection, glancing around for where the cameras are hidden. I don’t see any obvious ones, though I’m far from an expert on knowing where to look. “You been watchin’ me sleep or something?”
Stells lets out a good-natured laugh. “Believe me, Banjo, I have far more important tasks than monitoring what you and Tavryn do in bed together. I only tuned in when you asked a question. Since the room is otherwise empty, I inferred I was the one you were addressing.”
“Oh.” At least Stells didn’t assume I was talking to myself, which I definitely was.
Either that or she was just trying to be polite.
It’s nice to be treated well by someone on the ship.
I really can’t wait to meet her. “I get it. How about from now on, I’ll say your name first if I’m talkin’ to you?
That way, there’s no confusion or nothing. ”
“I can commit to that for you,” she promises. I nod in response now that I know she can see me.
It’s weird, but I’m used to being on camera because of America’s Voice. At least now it’s only Stells that can see me. And Tavryn. I figure he can probably look at the cameras or hear what’s going on if he wants to.
“What about in the bathroom?” I ask curiously. If I have no privacy here, I’d rather know now.
“Tavryn has ensured that the lavatory remains free from recording devices,” Stells assures me.
“He is also capable of ending the recording in the living area. I would share the code to turn it off, but I am attempting to be a better companion after yesterday.” She pauses.
“Surprisingly, he did not appreciate me propositioning you for him. I heard quite a bit about it once we were alone, and you were out of earshot.”
This time, it’s me that’s laughing. “Yeah, I bet you did,” I agree as I wander over to the kitchen area. If I’d thought Tavryn had been mad at me, I bet he’d really had his panties in a wad when he finally got to talk privately with Stells. Part of me wishes I had been there to see it.
“I’m sure he’ll come around. You were just tryin’ to help him out.” By this point, my arousal has finally flagged enough that I can start thinking of other things. Like breakfast. “Y’all got coffee around here? I’m dyin’ for some caffeine.”
Stells directs me through the process of making something called yurba, which she promises is a human-safe coffee equivalent.
It’s also what Tavryn drinks in the morning, so I make a cup for him in the hopes of getting past whatever happened between us this morning.
According to Stells, he also has this weird kind of flat fruit.
I cut it in half before scraping the fleshy insides into a bowl.
I try a bite and am happily surprised. It has a citrusy flavor with the texture of a pear. Strange, but not unpleasant.
By the time I’ve finished preparing everything, Tavryn is out of the bathroom. I immediately drop everything and book it to the bathroom. When I rejoin him in the living room, he’s leaning against the counter in the kitchen, sipping from one of the mugs.
“Feeling better?” he asks, shooting me a playful smirk over the rim of the glass. “I honestly expected you to take longer. Your stamina needs improving.”
I grin at him. My first instinct is to flirt back, but Tavryn pretty clearly told me how he feels about that.
Snuggling me in his sleep isn’t a yes for more when he already told me he isn’t interested.
I change the subject instead. “Stells taught me how to make yurba. It probably ain’t as good as yours, but hopefully it’s good enough. ”
“It’s not terrible,” Tavryn admits. He passes his mug to his tail, which curls around the handle, so he can take the plate of fruit in both hands.
“I suppose I could teach you a few of my tricks for brewing it.” He picks up a piece and pops it into his mouth, sucking lightly on his fingertips to clean the juice off.
The longer I stare at his mouth, the more that heated feeling below my gut grows.
Before I can think things through, I’m standing right in front of him.
I hear his quick inhale as I crowd him. Up close the angles of his face look so delicate.
It’s a trick. Tavryn isn’t delicate in the slightest, and he works hard to make sure everybody knows it.
His outfit, from the silly hat to the long coat to the boots, ensures it.
Though why he’s wearing the entire get-up right after getting out of bed, I have no idea.
“Can I help you with something?” Tavryn asks, voice taking on that mean edge I’m starting to think means he’s uncomfortable. I don’t want that, so I reach around him for my mug of yurba before taking a few steps back.
“‘Scuse me. Just gettin’ this,” I tell him, pretending like I hadn’t been very obviously checking him out. This was bad. Really bad. There’s not a single thing about Tavryn that doesn’t have me raring to go.
Looks like I might be making a longer trip to the bathroom after all.