Chapter 26 #2
“You are far too quiet,” Rathyn says, his eyes narrowed, his ears bent down. He’s unhappy. Well, he shouldn’t be. He’s gotten plenty of cum from me. He should be satiated and content.
“I’m just being a good little tool,” I bite out, and Rathyn frowns from above me, his eyes gliding down my chest to my cock. It still needs release, my balls heavy and thick, my cock aching. I want more, but I refuse to admit it. The Vyastil may be stubborn, but so are humans.
Maybe to our own detriment.
“I have more in me. Get it out,” I hiss, and Rathyn’s lips turn down further.
“I do not wish to take you if you are upset with me.”
My cock jerks, and I bite back a moan. It aches, hurts in the worst way. But what makes it even more terrible is the ache in my heart. “You had no problem taking it from me when I was strapped to a chair. Why is it different now?”
He stares at me, his ears flicking. He’s irritated and maybe a little confused. But I don’t care. Everything feels like it’s crashing down around me. I don’t know what I was thinking, becoming a companion to a Vyastil and falling in love with him in the process. It was a stupid mistake.
“Whatever, it doesn’t matter now. I know what this is now—who I am to you. Just drink my cum, heal up, and get Cielo out of jail.”
Rathyn shifts, his body looming over mine. I see the flash of red and orange in his eyes as he glowers down at me. “Is Cielo the Vyastil you want?”
“Fuck you.” I jerk my hips up slightly for friction, but he just arches out of the way.
“I will not fuck you. Not if you want another.” I roll my eyes, and his hand moves up to clutch at my chin, holding my face steady. “Do not roll your eyes at me. Answer, human.”
“Fuck. You.”
His nostrils flare, and his eyes flash to my lips. I want to lean up and kiss him, but he’s holding me against the mattress.
“I don’t want Cielo, you butthead. But you insulted me. And I’m mad. So suck my dick and let me be pissed at you.”
“I do not want your piss.”
I huff a laugh, and his lips curl up slightly.
I make sure to frown very sincerely after that.
I won’t let him think he can make silly comments, and I’ll just come around like nothing happened.
My feelings are hurt. I feel raw and splayed open.
And despite being horny, I’m still worried about my friend.
“Do not frown, Everest.”
“Don’t call me a tool, asshole.”
“You know you are more than that.”
“Whatever.” I make sure to roll my eyes very slowly, so he sees every turn.
He sighs and then lets go of my face, but not before running his nose against mine. “I will take my fill, and when you are done, and your balls are small again, we will talk.”
“My balls aren’t small…” But my words are cut off by the feel of his tongue wrapping around my cock.
For a moment, I forget all the bad things in the world and let him use me.
I’m spent, and Rathyn is healed. Mostly. He’s also been very quiet, walking around the apartment, claws clicking on the floor, occasionally stealing glances at me while I sit wrapped in a blanket and curled up on the couch.
I’m still a little achy from everything, and as much as I want to scream at him, I’m beat. I’ve never been so exhausted in my life. I think I’m depressed. It’s beyond despair at this point.
“Everest,” he eventually says. It stings that there’s no “my” in front of my name.
I don’t look at him.
He walks over and takes me by the chin and turns my head. A single claw drags down the side of my neck, though it doesn’t break the skin. “My mark.”
“Healed.”
“How?” he demands.
I huff and wrench away from him. “Cielo had to give me that herb you all have.”
Rathyn stares at me, then suddenly he’s probing my mind before I can stop him. He gets all the way in, flipping through the scenes of the fight like they’re photographs in an album, and when he’s done, I’m breathing heavily from fighting him off.
“Fuck you,” I spit.
“You were injured. Humans injured you. It was not a scratch. They insulted you. You did not tell me this.” His voice is a low growl.
“Yeah, what the fuck do you care? I’m still alive. Still full of the cum you all need so badly. Here to be your pretty little lapdog.” I wait, silently begging him to say something—anything—to change my mind.
But he doesn’t.
He sighs. “It is not only dangerous for you to be associated with me in front of other Vyastil, but it seems humans as well.”
“Is that all you have to say?” I jump up and fold my arms, staring at him.
“What else would you like to hear from me?”
“Oh, I don’t know!” I shout, throwing my arms up. “Maybe that you’re sorry. Maybe that you feel fucking bad for letting Cielo live in that hovel while he does your goddamn bidding, and you let him get carted away like he did something wrong!”
“He did do something wrong. He broke our laws.”
I stare at him, my eyes wide enough that they practically pop out of my head. “He broke the law helping me save you!”
Rathyn swallows heavily, then says, “I did not ask for you to save me. I do not need help from a human.”
I feel that like a slap. It fucking hurts. Here I am, falling head over heels, thinking this is different, but fuck. Zane was right. They are monsters.
“You’re all liars. You act like you’re so much better than us, but I’ve seen the way you treat your own kind. I see the way you think about humans.” I take a step back away from him as he walks closer.
“And what is the difference between us, Everest? Is it not the same to find your people starving? Sleeping on the streets? Dying of preventable illness because you refuse to care for them?”
“Like the way you care for yours?” I snap. “Like the way you lie about the Tarek and the war?”
His entire body stiffens.
“Like the way you lied to me when you made me believe I was yours?”
“I did not lie. You are mine,” he hisses. He stalks forward and tugs on the chain between my nipples. “You have signed a document stating this.”
“I know, and it was a mistake.” I duck away from his touch. “I thought you were different. I thought what we had was…”
“What?” he presses into my silence.
I thought you were mine, I think to myself, but I don’t let him hear it. It doesn’t matter anyway.
Shaking my head, I turn away. “Whatever. I understand now.” Walking to the counter, I snatch up Cielo’s coat. If Rathyn isn’t going to do anything for him, I will. There are other Vyastil in the city. Other Vyastil who can tell me how to help him.
I don’t need Rathyn anymore.
He’s the one who needs me.
“I’m leaving.”
“You cannot.”
I meet his gaze. “You can come collect your precious fucking cum whenever you want, and I’ll sleep here because my contract says I have to, but I’m not your prisoner.” I walk to the door and reach for the handle, but his hand catches my elbow. “Don’t.”
“Leaving is foolish.”
“No. Staying here with you is foolish.”
“And where will you go?” he challenges.
“Home. With Zane. Where I should have stayed this entire time. I’ll be back tonight to sleep in my bed.” I wrench away from him and open the door. “But don’t follow me.”
I slam it behind me as I leave and start down the hall toward the stairs. My chest is aching like I swallowed a giant boulder, and the feeling only gets worse as I make it to the street and realize he didn’t follow me.
I don’t know why I wanted him to. I don’t know why I want him to fight when all I am to him is a living cum factory.
I don’t know why any of this matters.
But it does.
And god, it’s killing me.
I find Zane at the gym where he always is, going a little wild on a rowing machine. He catches my gaze and mouths that he’ll be done in ten minutes, so I make my way to the little coffee cart and sit down.
It’s nice to be alone for a moment, though all I want is to feel normal, and I know that’s not going to happen. But the sounds of the gym remind me of my life before Rathyn and everything that came with him, and it brings me a small amount of comfort.
It doesn’t last long, though. The chair next to me is pulled out, and I look up, startled to find Quilliyn there, though I don’t know why. He’s always working. I’m starting to wonder if he’s one of the castoffs from the Outerlands who lives in squalor, too.
“You’re upset.”
I bow my head and take a breath. I shouldn’t just blurt it all out, but I can’t seem to help myself.
“I don’t know if I’m going to get in trouble for telling you this,” I say, “but some shit went down, and I really need to talk to someone about it.”
Quilliyn glances around, then stands up. “Come with me. We can go for a drive.”
My eyes widen. “You drive?”
He lets out a small laugh and shrugs. “With some modifications, yes.”
I bite my lip as I look over at Zane, who’s red in the face and frowning as he watches Quilliyn touch my arm. “Will you take me to Zane’s after?”
“Not to The Foundry?”
“Fuck no. I’m only going there when I absolutely have to.”
He sighs, then nods. “I can take you wherever you wish to go.”
Jogging over to Zane, I lean in and yank one of his earbuds out. “I’m gonna head over to yours when Quill and I are done chatting.”
He lifts a brow. “Chatting?” He says it like it’s an innuendo.
“Fuck off, dude. We’re just talking.”
“Whatever you say.” But his tone is a little lighter, so I know he believes me. Still, I shove his earbud back in a bit harder than necessary, then follow Quilliyn out the front door and around the side of the building.
He drives a nice, normal-looking car. At least, it seems normal until he opens the door and I realize it has no back seat, and the driver’s seat has been modified to sit further back than I have ever seen.
He slides in and presses his clawed foot to a brake pedal that’s huge enough to accommodate him.
“How long have you been driving?”
He rolls his eyes. “Longer than you.”
That’s probably fair. My aunt and uncle didn’t let me learn, so I’m not as good at it as most people my age. Not that it matters. With Rathyn, everything is catered, including my rides.