Chapter 11 #2
I cry out, my body shaking as I try to stave off my orgasm, but the feel of him moving in and out of me, the knowledge that it’s him, that he likes it, is too much.
I lean up, grabbing onto his ears and holding him against me. His tongue vibrates within me, and I feel my cock jerking between my legs. I can’t stop shaking, can’t stop the moan that spills from my throat the moment I let go, and cum spills, hot ropes dribbling down my shaft.
It goes on and on, riding wave after wave of pleasure in my body, but also in my mind. It’s almost like I can feel his climax, his pleasure, like it belongs to me. For a moment, it feels like I’m going to lose my mind.
Like this is some sort of eternal torment. And then, before I can begin to beg for relief, he slows and then stops. His tongue is still inside of me, but this time it’s unmoving, apart from a gentle, occasional pulse, like he’s still savoring my taste.
I touch his head gently, wetting my dry mouth, and I attempt to speak, but words are beyond me.
I think that orgasm ruined my brain.
After a short, careful moment, Cielo slowly pulls out of me. The sensation makes me gasp, but it’s a welcome retreat only because he doesn’t go far. His body is still pressed close to mine as our eyes meet, and I drag my fingers through my mess on my stomach and hold it up to his lips.
His nostrils flare, and his tongue peeks out, but he shakes his head.
“Just a taste,” I whisper. Will he know it’s me when he tastes it? Will this be the moment the truth comes out?
Cielo’s nostrils flare wider, and his ears flick, and just when I think he’s going to refuse me again, his tongue curls around my fingers. He lets out a deep hum as he licks them clean, then his gaze meets mine.
There’s something in his eyes, and I feel a question pushing at the inside of my temple, but it’s wordless—a sort of curiosity without form.
But before either of us can say a word, we’re interrupted by a loud, blaring sound coming through the walls.
Cielo jumps up, his eyes wide with absolute terror.
“Fuck!” I try to grab him, but he darts away from my hands and leaps off the bed, clearly terrified. “It’s okay,” I say, shuffling off the bed. “Sweetheart, it’s okay. It’s just the fire alarm.”
Cielo trills loudly and picks me up, tucking me into him and moving toward the bedroom window. I’m pretty sure he plans on climbing out and bringing me to safety, which just makes me like him even more.
“No, no, Cielo. Put me down. It’s not loud enough to be coming from in here. It has to be next door.” I tap his shoulder as he wrenches the window open, and I let out a small laugh. “Cielo. Seriously. Put me down. You’re not going out the window like Spider-Man.”
He stops and cocks his head. “I think Gia and Amara are home. They probably burned something. They’re always doing that.”
“Buurrrrn. Fihhhreee. Hurt!”
“No, no. We’re safe, baby. Just put me down.”
“Bahhhbeee?”
“Yeah, baby.” I grin and press a kiss to his nose, making it scrunch up.
“Look, we’re fine. But let’s go make sure Gia and Amara are okay.
I swear, they probably got distracted and burned something in the oven.
” He sets me down, and I quickly pull my clothes on and hand him his scarf, before taking his hand and pulling him toward the door.
“One time, Gia wanted to warm up a donut she had and put it in the microwave for like ten minutes instead of ten seconds. They had to get another microwave. She completely burned it to pieces.”
“Ooooh,” he breathes, as I push the door open and step outside. Most of the time, I like the company of my cousin living next door, but honestly, their ill-timed smoke alarm fiasco cost Cielo and me a very special moment, so they’re not my favorite people right now.
“I mean, the Italians in my family were not happy about the news of the two of them using a microwave. They believe that’s a morally suspicious appliance, and then went on to say that society was collapsing.” I roll my eyes as I remember the hand flapping and yelling that ensued.
I ring their doorbell, and a moment later, the door opens, my cousin waving a tea towel around, smoke making the air hazy.
“Oh my god, Gia, what did you do now?” I ask, the blare of the alarm hurting my ears.
“Nice to see you too, stronzo,” she says and then scrunches up her nose, turning to look at Cielo and grinning. “Amara forgot to put water in the macaroni and cheese and put it in the microwave.”
“Again?”
“Yeah, we’re gonna have to get a new one. But you, handsome monster man—who looks in way better shape than last time—” She points to Cielo, who hasn’t let go of me. In fact, he only seems to hold onto me tighter. “Can you take the damn smoke alarm off the ceiling. We can’t reach it.”
“He’s not a monster, Gia. He’s a Vyastil.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she says and then waves him in. Cielo steps around me, but his tail is still twisted around my waist. I’m left no choice but to follow them inside, finding a frazzled Amara staring up at the blaring alarm.
“Yank it off. Put us out of our misery,” Gia says loudly.
Cielo nods and easily reaches up, pulling it away from the ceiling.
The only problem is, he pulls down some of the drywall with it, leaving Gia and Amara gasping.
Cielo’s eyes widen, his ears falling forward—an indication that he’s upset he did this.
But it’s not his fault. He did exactly what they asked of him.
I reach over and take the still-blaring alarm from him and yank out the batteries, setting them on the counter and glancing up at the small hole above us.
After a moment, Gia says, “Well, shit. I knew he was tall, but I didn’t realize he was that strong. Bet he can lift you and throw you around, huh?”
She waggles her eyebrows, and I find my cheeks heating.
“Gia,” Amara says and then sighs. “Leave the poor guy alone. Plus, we don’t really want to know what they get up to in their free time. We share a wall after all, and they’re not that thick.”
Gia grumbles but relents and goes back to fanning the smoke out of the kitchen window.
Cielo seems to realize there’s not actually an emergency, so his tail slowly uncurls from around my waist, and he grabs another towel on the counter and begins to mimic Gia.
‘He’s so fucking cute,’ Amara signs.
I give her a pointed stare. “He also knows way more ASL now.”
“What? He literally just started learning.”
“Yep, and he’s almost fluent. It’s a whole Vyastil thing,” I tell her. I don’t get too close. I’m a thousand percent sure I smell like sex, and I don’t want any more invasive questions or comments tonight. “Anyway, why don’t you two come over after you get this mess cleaned up. I have leftovers.”
Amara gives me sad puppy eyes. “Really?”
I snort and pull her into a half-hug. “Yes, really. I like taking care of my favorite cousin.”
“I fucking resent that,” Gia snarls, then steps close to Cielo and drops her towel, threading her arm through his. “If you claim her, I’m claiming him.”
Cielo looks mildly alarmed. Probably because the Vyastil are incredibly possessive, and I don’t want him to think she’s trying to literally claim him.
“She’s not being serious,” I say as I pull back from Amara.
Gia sighs, then drags a touch down his arm where she stops at his hand. “You have claws, right?” He flexes his fingers, and they extend. “You should let me paint them.”
“Gia,” I warn.
She ignores me and holds them up to the light. “Seriously. We could go pink. Like your coat.”
Cielo’s eyes go wide. “Peeennnnnk?” Then he signs it.
“Yeah. It’ll be fun. Dante can cook without burning the house down, and I can give you a manicure.”
I want to tell her no, to leave Cielo alone, but he actually looks interested, so I sigh and hold my hand out for him. “Fine, whatever. Just keep a window open. Your nail garbage smells like…like garbage.”
“Clever,” she says, batting her eyelashes.
I flip her off as I take Cielo’s hand and tug him back through their front door and over to ours. When we’re inside, I let him go, but he snakes his tail around my calf and tugs me close.
“Hey,” I murmur when my chest meets his stomach.
He looks down at me as I glance up. His tongue darts out, wetting his lips, then he says very clearly, “Hey.”
I cup his cheek and drag my thumb over his lower lip. It pushes in slightly, catching on one fang. “You’re getting better at talking.”
He shrugs, but says and signs nothing.
Maybe he’s unsure. Or ashamed. I know his people did a fucking number on him, and I don’t think it’s going to be an easy fix. Or a fix at all. I don’t think there are trauma therapists for Vyastil just yet, though it might be something to ask Quilliyn about.
Maybe if there aren’t, there can be in the future. I assumed every Vyastil living on Earth is here voluntarily, but now I’m not so sure.
“Are you hungry?”
He shakes his head.
“Want a latte?”
The caffeine doesn’t seem to disturb his system. He’s kind of like Amara. She has ADHD, and when her stimulants wear off in the evening, she’ll come over and raid my cupboard for coffee grounds because it helps her wind down for sleep.
He perks up, and I can’t help but tug him down so I can press a soft kiss to his lips. “Anything for you, baby.”
He purrs against me, nibbling against my jaw before letting me go. I don’t want distance between us right now. I want to curl up in bed with him and rot the rest of the evening away.
But I hear Amara and Gia making noise, which means they’re probably heading over, so I let him go, carefully step out of the ring of his tail, then dip into the kitchen to feed my family.
“Look, it matches perfectly!” Gia says, holding up Cielo’s foot. She’s already filed and painted the claws on his hands, then given him a thorough massage before moving to his feet.
They’re the least human part of him, besides the tail. And his ears. And fangs. And skin. And okay, mostly everything, but those feet are not humanoid at all.
She attempted to use her callous smoother on them, but it didn’t do anything, so she moved on to painting his massive claws to match, and he’s now staring at her with a proud grin, his hand curled around his huge cappuccino mug.
He’s on his third one.
I appreciate that both Amara and Gia aren’t giving him shit about consuming a breakfast drink in the evening.
They can be a bit much about tradition sometimes, but Gia also secretly likes pineapple on pizza, and loves getting stoned and ordering Dominos at midnight, so I think she’ll keep our secret.
“Do you like them?” I ask. Cielo and I are curled up on the couch together, and I have my thighs around his hips because he’s shuffled his whole body toward Gia so his head is resting against my shoulder. It’s not the most comfortable position, but the weight against me is soothing.
His head knocks back against my jaw, and he gives his purring hum as he nods his head.
I’ve undone his braid, and I’ve been combing my fingers through his hair, which he seems to really like. “I think they look amazing. You’ll have to keep them out all the time.”
He frantically shakes his head. “Hurrrrt. You.”
“You won’t,” I whisper against his long, pointed ear. “I promise.”
He hums a disagreeing sound, but I’m not in the mood for a fight, so I let it go. It’s a nice, pain-free evening so far. I want to enjoy this. Closing my eyes, I dip my head lower and bury my nose against the crown of his hair.
He smells more like me than his world now. I wonder if that bothers him, but I don’t want to ask. I don’t want to make him even more unhappy than he has been.
“Cielo went to the gym today,” I say instead.
Amara twists around. She loves the gym more than Gia does. “How was it? Were people dicks?”
Cielo’s brow furrows, and he opens his mouth, then changes his mind and switches to sign. ‘No. Chadwick, Tyler, and Brody were nice.’ He fingerspells each of their names carefully. I should ask Luca about giving them a sign name so Cielo can use that instead.
Amara mouths the letters and then bursts into laughter. “Oh my god. Of course you’d make friends with a Chad, a Tyler, and a Brody.”
“Be fucking nice,” I hiss at her.
She waves me off. “No, I’m serious. Only you would be able to charm a fucking Chad.” She leans her elbow on the coffee table as she observes him for a long moment. “Are you doing okay?”
Cielo blinks at her.
“You were pretty rough when you got here a few days ago. We’ve been trying to give you space to rest, but I don’t know. I just wanted to check. I mean, you look way better.”
My heart softens. I really fucking love them for caring.
‘Yes,’ Cielo signs. ‘I’m happy.’ He drops his hands and twists his fingers around mine.
She sucks in a breath, and I think I know what’s coming, so I brace myself for a question I can’t answer, but Gia quickly cuts in. “Babe. Boundaries.”
“But—”
“Boundaries,” Gia says. Her tone is firm but kind.
Amara lets out a puff of air. “Right. Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I murmur. I want to be able to answer that question. I want to say that Cielo is mine and only mine, and this is a forever kind of thing.
But I don’t know what this is yet.
Or what it might be.
Or what it can be.
Hell, I don’t even know how long the Vyastil live or if they have partners for life. I need to ask, but I’m afraid it’ll scare Cielo off.
“We should go,” Gia says after a few beats of awkward silence. “I have work at ass o’clock.”
Amara groans but doesn’t protest as Gia lifts her to her feet and steals a kiss before she leans over to us, pressing her lips to Cielo’s forehead first, and then mine.
“See you soon?”
“Dinner later this week,” I tell them.
They shoot us a quick nod and a goodbye, then the door shuts, and I feel Cielo stiffen. I feel another pulse in my head like before—not words this time, but more like confusion.
A discomfort.
I don’t know what I’m meant to do next, but the thought doesn’t feel like it belongs to me. It feels like I’ve tapped into someone else’s radio. I don’t know what any of it means, and it’s a little scary.
Still, I swear I heard Cielo in my head earlier. Either that or my nerve pain is killing off my brain cells and making me hallucinate. The feeling is gone as quickly as it came, though, so I push it aside to worry about later. I’m exhausted, and I think Cielo is, too.
“Want to go to bed?” I eventually ask.
Cielo relaxes back against me and sits there for a long moment before he turns his head and kisses me without warning.
It’s a bold move.
One I wasn’t expecting from him.
But it’s also one I definitely want more of.