Chapter 7 #2
I may close up the hot dog shop a little early, and I may wait outside, craning my neck side to side, looking for the transportation Rathyn is going to provide. Does he have a normal car, some kind of alien device? Oh my god, is he going to teleport me?
I hold my breath as a sleek black car pulls up to the curb and a door opens.
I see Rathyn step out from the back, his eyes landing on mine.
“You were eager,” he says, noting my early arrival.
“Just finished early. Don’t read too much into it.” My eyes move back to the car, and I let out a small whistle. “Nice ride.”
He peers back at it. “It’s what was provided to me. I find it…small.”
I guess it is when compared to him. He’s gigantic.
I lean down and see a human behind the wheel, his eyes on the road ahead of him. He doesn’t even look over and say hello.
“What did you do to the poor driver?”
Rathyn cocks his head and scoffs. “Nothing. He’s not paid to interact with you. Now get in, Everest. We have somewhere to be, and my patience will only last so long.”
I shiver slightly at the way he says my name and then slide into the back seat, Rathyn following closely. Our legs bump, and his tail unwinds from around his leg and curls around my calf.
Rolling my lips between my teeth as the car speeds away from the curb, I try not to focus on the feeling of his tail holding me, but it’s almost impossible.
The way he uses it to hold me feels meaningful. I can’t help but wonder if this is the way the Vyastil hold hands, though that’s ridiculous. Why would he want his walking cum bank to hold his hand?
“So, where do you live?” I ask, trying to distract myself from how badly I want him.
“You’ll see.”
I peer over at him and see him watching me intently.
“Is it as nice as this car? Or is it too small for you?”
His ears flutter as the car turns right down another street. The movement has me sliding into him, and his tail tightens around me, making me shiver again.
“The living quarters are…” He hesitates on the last word. “Suitable, but small.”
“Suitable? We’re moving into the nicest part of town.”
Rathyn says nothing as we near a large, looming building I recognize on sight. A place I never thought I’d go.
“Oh, hell no, you live at The Foundry. Come the fuck on.”
The Foundry was a project that the city funded after the monsters arrived and things got better. It’s an old industrial building that has been remodeled into luxury lofts. The exterior still has the original brickwork, and the iron-framed windows stretch from floor to ceiling.
Rathyn glances at me. “Why do you say it like that? Is it significant?”
I roll my eyes as we pull into the large driveway. “Like you don’t know,” I mutter. But I realize, at his continued confusion, maybe he doesn’t.
I see the doormen waiting near the large wooden doors, and as soon as the car comes to a stop, they move toward us.
“This place is basically for the super wealthy,” I tell him. “When it first went up, it was priced way above the rest of the market. But considering your people think houses are a basic necessity, maybe you all don’t do expensive real estate.”
He hums but says nothing as the door opens for him, and his tail slips from my calf and twines around his leg as he slides out. I wonder if I just insulted him without realizing it.
I know I can be mouthy, but I’m not trying to be a dick. At least, not right now.
As I follow him in, my heart jumps in my chest, knowing what’s coming just past those doors, and we reach his living space. But as nervous as I am, I’m also excited to see the inside of this place.
I’ve been wondering about it since it was built, and I’m so curious that I forget about dick sucking for a moment.
As we step into the lobby, he leads me to a set of blackened steel elevators where another doorman waits, sliding the elevator gate open for us. Once we’re inside, Rathyn reaches a long finger out and presses number five, and then we’re shooting upward, the dim glow illuminating the dark space.
There’s a gulf between us. Not literally, but he’s not standing pressed against me anymore, and he’s not in my head. It feels…empty.
My chest aches with it as we reach his floor, and it takes me a moment to remember how to breathe properly. Rathyn parts the doors and steps out without looking back, leaving me to follow.
The hallway ahead of us is lit with sleek brass wall sconces that give the place an almost ageless aesthetic. It’s beautiful and strange, just like the Vyastil.
Just like Rathyn.
He stops in front of a door with a gold 612 adorning the wood and pulls out a keycard. There’s a little black box just like at the clinic, and when he scans it, the door lock clicks.
My breath comes out in a rush as we step inside. The air is cool and fragrant, floral but unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I take a deep breath as I move further in, staring around with huge eyes.
The ceilings are high with exposed beams and massive warehouse windows, giving me a view of the city below. My gaze swivels to the custom cabinets and the stone countertops in the kitchen.
“Fuck you,” I say with a loud laugh. “Too small my ass.”
Rathyn steps up next to me. “You don’t like it?”
“I don’t like you. You’re a damn snob.” My eyes flick up to his, and his lips turn down. I saw him smile earlier, and now I’m seeing him frown. “I just mean, you have no idea how good you have it. I would kill for something like this.”
His tail tightens around his thigh, and his ears flutter. He almost seems ashamed, and my heart clenches in my chest at how harsh I was with my words. “There is no need to take a life over envy. If you want something like this, I will give it to you.”
“Yeah, anyway,” I begin, wanting to change the subject. I don’t need another lecture about how he can build me shelter, or whatever. If this is his idea of slumming it, god only knows what he had in mind to give me. “Am I the first human to be invited to this complex?”
Rathyn doesn’t move his gaze from me. “You are not the first, no. There are other humans and other Vyastil living here.”
“Am I your first human?” I ask, needing to know. For some reason. It has nothing to do with jealousy. Not at all.
He doesn’t hesitate in his answer. “Yes.”
I bite back a smile and turn my gaze back to the cityscape before me. I let my hand drag over the oversized sectional in the living room, relishing how soft it feels.
“So, what’s your world like?”
“Spacious,” he says, and then adds. “And not as bright. Or as busy.”
I wet my lips. “You have a portal nearby?”
“There’s one in the building.”
My eyes widen. “Yeah? Can I see it?”
“Not today. Everest, you seem…” He pauses as if trying to find the word.
“Hot, sexy, far too smart?” I add, and his eyes flash to mine.
“Mischievous.”
I grin. “Yeah, I know. Can’t help it. I’ve always been like this.”
“And yet, you are not married,” he muses.
“Those aren’t exactly desirable traits in a human partner,” I tell him, feeling a little exposed all of a sudden.
He looks confused, then maybe a little angry, before the expression melts away into his usual, unreadable stare.
Tension crackles between us as we continue to look at each other, and I feel him moving closer to me. His tail unwraps from his leg and slides up my leg again.
I feel my body tremble at the touch, and I know what he wants.
“What if I say no?” I ask softly, and a soft hum reverberates from his throat, his tail wrapping tighter around my leg and holding me in place.
“You seem to enjoy that word.”
“I think you need to hear it more often.”
His finger gently touches my cheek, and my lashes flutter. “Incorrect. I hear it the exact necessary amount. And you may say no now, but is that really what you want?”
I swallow heavily. “Maybe.”
“And you are aware of the consequences if I agree to your refusal.”
I blink at him. “Consequences?”
“You are currently in the service of the Vyastil. Once a week, yes?”
“I…yes,” I whisper. I’d almost forgotten that this thing with him is…unusual.
He hums, that low, melodic purr. “You would like to go back into the queue? To have a different Vyastil touching you? Tasting you? Sucking the seed from your body?”
My stomach churns. “I—”
“And that I would choose another to kneel for.”
My eyes flick open, and I purse my lips. “Wait? You…you’d take someone else?”
“Of course I would.” His ears flicker in a way I haven’t seen before. Like a tell. Like he’s lying. But I’m not sure enough to call him on it. “I have needs, and if you don’t want to provide for them, I’m sure there are other humans who will.”
That’s not a lie. I’ve seen them lining up around the building. “They can’t possibly taste as good as I do.”
“Mm. Perhaps. Perhaps not. I haven’t tasted them all yet. And not all of my kind have tasted you. Perhaps I can call someone tonight and offer you. I’m sure you’ll be compensated.”
Something like rage and jealousy rushes through me. “Really? So I’m not special? Is that it?”
“I don’t know why you’re so angry, little human. You signed up for this. It is a requirement, is it not? If you don’t want to be mine, then you will be someone else’s.”
“What the hell are you saying here?”
He takes a beat, then his tail flicks up and brushes the underside of my chin as his fingers press to the sides of my throat. It’s an easy hold, but one with purpose. “I want you as my own, little human.”
“Are you talking about an exclusive arrangement? Where you would be the only one who…”
Who makes me cum? Who sucks my cock? Who touches me?
He gives a small nod as though he read my thoughts, and hell, maybe he did. I huff, turning my gaze away from him, trying to settle my roiling stomach.
Fuck, I don’t want to think about another monster taking my dick into his mouth. I really don’t. I don’t know why, but it makes me slightly ill.
His fingers splay across my jaw, and he turns my eyes back to him. “Everest, for once, say yes. Stop fighting me.”
I swallow and see those rainbow eyes watching me intently.