Chapter 14 #2
Lick: Humans aren’t all bad. And some monsters have human mates. Which means at some point they must have revealed themselves. Technically I reveal myself on a regular basis…they just don’t live to talk about it.
MothAkai: How does that work anyway?
Lick: What? The not living?
Akai rolled his eyes.
MothAkai: Having a human mate.
Lick: The same as being with a monster, I guess. Why? Are you thinking of mating with him?
His fingers hovered over the screen. It should be easy to type no, or to be horrified at the idea. But he wasn’t horrified. He was…curious…and not sure how to proceed. He didn’t want Cole to be horrified by the idea. Humans were notoriously weird when it came to sex.
MothAkai: No! Just because he sewed my wing doesn’t mean I’m going to suck his dick in gratitude.
Lick: LOL. You wouldn’t have typed that if you hadn’t thought about it.
“Fuck.” His dinner was burning. He added a little water and gave it all a stir before taking it off the heat to finish cooking, as there were still a few very crunchy bits despite the overly crispy bits.
He hadn’t thought about what sleeping in the same bed meant in that much detail.
And he hadn’t been thinking about it since Cole had left, except at night and when he was on the deck or bored.
Something about Cole leaving made him want him.
Which was also a very strange feeling. One he didn’t remember having with any previous partner.
Akai fired back a quip.
MothAkai: You’ve clearly thought about sucking human dick.
Lick: Nah, I prefer them begging for their life.
Akai grimaced and made an attempt to reroute the conversation.
MothAkai: Do you want to know something really strange? Our paths have crossed before.
Lick: You cross an awful lot of paths, because you’re always moving.
It was how they’d met, and Akai kept an eye out for Lick as he travelled. Lick always had a watch list.
MothAkai: Fair.
However, he didn’t want to go into detail about the blood debt and potentially tangled fate lines. Lick didn’t believe in fate, but he did know an awful lot about blood. And revenge.
Dots appeared on the screen as Lick typed.
Lick: So are you going to get him naked?
Yes, no…maybe? He’d already seen Cole naked more than once.
MothAkai: I don’t know.
Lick: Do you want to?
MothAkai: I think so, but I couldn’t bear it if he panics.
The last time Cole had panicked, he’d ended up getting shot, and he didn’t want to do that again.
Lick: If he does, I can take care of the problem :)
He did not want Lick taking care of Cole.
Lick: Do you think he would panic, since he’s already helped you?
Akai grabbed a fork and stabbed a slice of root, chewing on it as he stared at his screen and thinking about the way Cole had climbed into his nest, had gone foraging with him, and how they had sat on the deck drinking beer and playing games as if they’d been friends forever.
MothAkai: I don’t think so.
Which was not the same as being certain.
MothAkai: I’m not sure if I want to find out though. He’s hardly got any hair. He’s all bare skin.
That would feel weird, and he had no claws…but his touch had been gentle.
MothAkai: He’s also short.
Lick: You’re extra tall and hairy. It sounds like you’re making a lot of excuses because you’re scared.
Of course he was scared. They had history, and none of it was good, but he didn’t want to lose him. Not that he had him. And living in the cabin was only temporary. He tried to imagine what it would be like to spend summers in the cabin.
Cole wouldn’t want to move around with him as he had a job in town, and he didn’t want to live in the cabin all the time either.
He liked traveling and exploring and making.
Of course he wanted to do those things with someone, and he’d always imagined that someone would be another harpy… or at least another monster.
The idea that he’d have a human mate had never crossed his mind, even though he’d seen other monsters with their human mate at solstice.
MothAkai: I’m not scared of a human.
Even one who’d accidentally shot him.
Lick: Just fuck him and get it out of your system.
Akai wished it were that easy. He crunched through the burned parts of his dinner, ignoring the bitter taste, thinking about Cole, naked on the deck, dick in hand. The scent of his sweat and the way he looked sprawled on the sofa bed, sleeping.
Lick: How are you getting to Yellowstone if you can’t fly?
MothAkai: I haven’t worked that out yet.
Lick: Can you steal his car?
He was not stealing Cole’s truck, even if he could drive. However, if Cole was driving, he wasn’t stealing the truck. No, that was much worse as he’d be kidnapping him…unless he could convince Cole to drive him.
MothAkai: That’s the plan.
Even though it wasn’t.
And what would Cole get out of driving him?
He glanced at the bag containing the jewelry and knew there wasn’t enough gold to convince Cole to drive him to Yellowstone. It wasn’t gold Cole wanted.
Cole escaped from the town whenever he could to this cabin, so he could be on his own…yet he was still lonely. Cole needed more than what the human town had to offer. Could the monster world fill in the gap?
Was that why their fates had tangled?
Was he supposed to bring Cole to solstice?
It was only as he thought about Cole walking around the stalls and joining in the parties that jealousy rose and twisted around his heart. He didn’t want Cole to be with another monster.
And that was much more troubling than contemplating fucking the human.