Chapter 16 Griffin
GRIFFIN
Iwas behind on my work, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
The last time I’d been in my office, I’d watched and listened as he’d sobbed, as the consequences of my own actions broke my heart.
That, and it meant I’d have to leave him behind.
I couldn’t bring him into the office, where he’d be surrounded by electronics — and ways to contact the outside world. He’d been good for the past week, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to find a way to get past my passwords and find a way to send help.
I hated the reminder that he probably would try to flee if he got the chance, and I chose instead to focus on the fact that he was coming to me more and more willingly.
The more time that passed without me losing my temper, the more the fear dissipated from his eyes.
He no longer feared that I’d put him back into the basement cell, and I resolved not to give him a reason to be afraid.
I wasn’t the same person I’d been when he’d arrived.
I was something different when I was with him, something new, and it made it difficult to leave his side. He probably wanted more time alone, but that would’ve meant going back into the kennel or remaining cuffed to my bed until I returned. I couldn’t get sloppy, no matter how well he was behaving.
It was all a farce, and I knew that.
But that farce allowed for moments like this.
I shifted on the bed, peering over the edge as he chased the laser pointer’s red dot again. I hadn’t gotten the thing out for several days, not wanting to remind either of us of what had happened the last time we’d played with it.
At the same time, something had shifted when we’d been playing, and I wanted to explore that. I’d taken away from it when I’d distanced myself from him, and I…
I wanted him to smile more than I wanted to be called Master.
I didn’t want to see the light in his eyes die again.
He scrambled across the floor, chasing the dot, and the tail twitched as he wiggled his bare ass for me in anticipation of the next pounce. We’d been playing for a while, and he had to be getting tired. He didn’t complain, though, and I was enjoying the sight too much to stop.
I could watch him act this adorable for hours.
I got up, sliding off the bed, and I went to scratch behind those kitty ears. He tilted his head, eyes half closing, and I smiled at him. “Good boy, Toby,” I praised him, tousling his hair.
He didn’t open his eyes until my hand fell back to my side, and even then, there was something unreadable in his gaze. I couldn’t make sense of it no matter how hard I tried. Was he hating it? Was he tolerating it?
Was there a chance he was enjoying playing like this but was too afraid of me finding out?
I wanted to ask, but I didn’t dare.
“If I leave you here for two minutes while I go to the bathroom, will you behave?” I asked.
I didn’t want to cuff him for the time it would take me to relieve myself and come back, but that could be time he’d use to make his way to the front door.
It would take time for him to work with the locks, and the security system would give me plenty of warning, but I didn’t want it to come to that at all.
“Yes,” he said, his expression almost serene.
I didn’t know what to make of that any more than I knew what to make of the rest of it. I wasn’t feeling fantastic, though, and the extra effort seemed like more than I wanted to bother with.
“You know you’ll be in trouble if you leave this room,” I warned him, probably unnecessarily, but I had to make sure he understood the boundaries I was setting for him.
He flinched a little, but he nodded, his expression turning wary.
I sighed. “Just… don’t. All right?”
He nodded again.
“Okay.”
I wasn’t sure if I trusted him, but my bladder wasn’t willing to wait much longer while I quizzed him and tried to figure out what his real response would be to what wouldn’t be more than two minutes of freedom. Surely he knew he couldn’t get very far at all, and if he tried to bolt…
I might not put him in the basement, but that didn’t mean I’d tolerate it. I didn’t want to have to think up a proper punishment for him, but I would if I had to.
I headed for the bathroom, leaving the door slightly ajar so I could listen for him. Right as I pulled down my pants, movement caught my attention from the corner of my eye. I frowned, because it looked like a hand trying to open the door.
But it wasn’t that hard to open to begin with, so even the little nudges made it swing open a little more. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing, but I at least knew he wasn’t trying to run for it.
Right as I aimed for the toilet, I heard it.
“Meow.”
I glanced over, baffled, and it took me a moment to realize he was pawing at the door and meowing — like a real cat would if it was locked out of the bathroom. Their little paws might’ve gone under the door instead of on the side of it, but the principle was still the same.
I chuckled, shaking my head as I emptied my bladder, and by the time I flushed, the door was mostly open. I pulled my pants back up and zipped them, heading for the sink just as the door opened completely.
I looked back in time to see him crouched down, cat ears prominently displayed on his head as he swiped again at the door.
He meowed again, but he stayed on the carpet instead of crossing into the bathroom.
I chuckled. “Just a minute, kitten,” I told him.
“Then we’ll play some more. Maybe your yarn, hmm? ”
He meowed again as I started to wash my hands, though whether it was agreement or not was entirely up in the air. I didn’t know what the little meowing noises he was making meant. I wasn’t even sure if he did, for that matter.
When I dried my hands off, he retreated back into the bedroom, and I caught sight of the tip of his tail before he disappeared onto the other side.
Without the distraction, I was all too aware of the fact that I felt like I was getting sick.
I didn’t have the time to be sick, and I couldn’t take care of him if I got ill either.
I’d just have to will it away and hope it didn’t happen.
Just a bit of sleep would take care of that, though it was harder to sleep all day now than it once had been.
I wanted to spend my time with him, not lost in dreamland.
I exited the bathroom just in time to see him roll onto his back. I thought that was a puppy thing, but he meowed again, more insistently.
I went to him, cautiously reaching down to touch his stomach, but he instantly latched onto me with his fingernails. I yelped, yanking my hands back, and stared, startled, at him. He’d just attacked me. He hadn’t drawn blood, but he’d definitely attacked. What the…
He rolled a little, still on his back, and pawed at the air.
Again, I tried to pet him.
Again, he snatched onto my hand, and this time when I didn’t immediately pull away, he brought it to his mouth and started to nibble on my fingers.
Realization dawned on me slowly, too slowly, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Naughty kitten,” I chided him. “You obviously want pets. Am I not petting you right, hmm?”
Just like a cat.
I gently pulled my hand away, and his fingernails dug into my skin. It wouldn’t leave marks, but it was still surprising. How could he possibly know I’d be okay with this?
That was when I saw it.
There was a tiny little smile on his lips, something so minute it almost wasn’t there at all… but it was there all the same.
I stopped immediately, staring at him, and the smile vanished just that quickly.
“No,” I said hoarsely. “Please.”
I reached down again, but this time I sought out his hair. I scratched behind his ears then patted his head, smoothing my fingers through his soft hair, and that time, he let me do it without grabbing for me… for a moment.
Then he pawed at me again, trying to bring my hand toward his mouth. I chuckled, shaking my head a little as I teasingly wrestled against him. His fingernails dug into my skin a little more, but I was enjoying the game too much to care.
Because he smiled, really smiled, the next time he got my hand to his mouth and he started nibbling again.
The hints of nausea started to get stronger, but I tried not to show him that I was struggling.
He was… enjoying himself, impossibly, and I didn’t want to see that crash and burn because I wasn’t feeling well.
I had to chase this, to see where it would go.
I had to play with him so I could see more of that smile.
“C’mon, kitty,” I told him, bopping him on the nose. “Let me pet you.”
He meowed, and the next time I reached down to stroke along his chest, he let me touch him. He shivered when my fingers neared his belly button, and I traced circles around it before letting my hand drift south.
I stopped just shy of touching his half-hard cock, though it was a near thing. His breath caught, and he watched me intently, his eyes never leaving my face. I wanted to touch him, damn near needed to touch him, and the hardest thing I’d ever done was to pull my hand away.
“Good kitten,” I praised him instead. “Very good.”
He rolled onto his side, curling up, but he headbutted my leg as he got comfortable. He was still so playful, yet there was something more there, something almost…
Warm.
For the first time, I felt like I was seeing him — not the angry young man who wanted to lash out at me, but something much more genuine. He’d smiled for me, and he was half-hard for me, and I wasn’t taking advantage of him.
Granted, it was partially because the nausea was damn near overwhelming, detracting from the perfection of the moment, but I also wanted to believe I’d have left him alone anyway. Maybe I would have, and maybe not, but in that moment, I let him have his space instead of invading it.
“Kitten, I—” I started to speak, but my stomach rolled again, and I ran for the bathroom. I barely got to the toilet in time before I was throwing up.
Fuck. The one perfect moment we’d had, and I had to go and ruin it by getting sick.
I had to leave him alone in the wake of it.
I had to leave him alone…
Fuck. I had to get back out there and get him cuffed to the bed before he could make a run for it, but my stomach began to empty itself anew as I had the thought.
I groaned, unable to do anything but worship the porcelain god as everything came up.
I slumped to the floor even as I tried to command myself to get up.
And in the next room was my kitten, unwatched and free, while I could do nothing at all.