Chapter 9
nine
DANTE
Iwake entirely encompassed by soft, velvety arms and the thick, firm tail of my monster. I don’t know when I started to think of him that way—in that possessive kind of way where I would hurt people who hurt him.
It just feels so profound now.
It feels a little more real since I know what his cock feels like against my own, and what his cum smells like, and the taste of his tongue. I know the noises he makes when he lets go, and how he holds me tightly even when completely unconscious.
I don’t want to believe it means something because I’m not really in a place where I can handle getting my heart broken, but I can’t help but feel a tiny spark of hope from last night flaring to life in my chest.
Cielo doesn’t budge when I manage to wriggle out of his arms, and by the time I’m done showering, jerking off into the bottles for his daily allotment, braiding my hair, and getting dressed, he’s still out.
His tail is hanging off the bed, his hands at his sides with loose fingers and open palms, and his mouth is parted on a gentle, snoring purr.
I have half a mind to wake him just so I can sneak a kiss before I leave, but I don’t. He’s still healing, both inside and out, and I have a feeling he didn’t rest much while he was in Rathyn’s service.
I try not to think too much about that, but I do plan to send a text to Everest while I’m fixing my morning coffee. I have questions. God, I have so many fucking questions.
My experience with monsters is limited. I’ve been sucked off at the clinic, but that was it. This is entirely new territory for me, and probably for Cielo.
Hell, probably for most monsters.
Everest and Rathyn are the only ones I know of who have gotten past the cum-drinking phase of their relationship, and it sounds like Rathyn was wildly inexperienced and is probably still discovering new things with Everest. I want that with Cielo. I want to be his first everything.
I just don’t know how willing he will be when he wakes up after last night.
I feel that odd little pressure tapping against my temple again. The sensation is almost like curiosity—like it’s searching for something—but it doesn’t entirely feel like it belongs to me.
It makes me nervous. What if this is the next step of my strange illness? What if the nerve damage has started to move into my brain and I’m beginning to hallucinate?
Fuck, I don’t have time to think about this. I have a shop to run and a few prototypes to sketch out. Luca should be at the Deaf Expo today, but I’m going to send him my designs and see what he thinks.
He’s better at that sort of thing than I am. I can come up with concepts, and I’m great at creating prototypes, but he’s always been amazing with details. What I really need is inside information, so I pull out my phone to shoot Everest a text.
Me: Can we meet up today? I have a couple of questions about Vyastil and sex.
Everest: My favorite topic. Give me ten minutes.
I grab my design tablet and shove it into my bag, then pour my coffee into my to-go cup and shove my phone back into my pocket. Peering into the bedroom, I see that Cielo still hasn’t moved, and the cum is on the dresser. Hopefully it won’t be disgusting all cooled off—though he’s never complained.
I’m just starting to feel worried that it isn’t enough. If Rathyn takes fifteen a day, how deprived is Cielo’s body?
The walk across the street is quick, and only two reckless morning drivers manage to nearly hit me, which is better than the usual six, and it’s not long before I’m in my office with my inventory list beside my keyboard and my design tablet open.
I have a rough sketch on the screen that probably makes sense to absolutely no one, but I’m going to need time to figure it out. Cielo is the only one I’ve touched and the only Vyastil cock I’ve seen.
I know that he likes being held. He loves affection, and he damn near lost his mind—fucked literally to sleep by a hand job, so they’re clearly sensitive. But what else do they like? What sensations will send them over the edge?
Their anatomy is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The slit is like a fat clit, and behind that is a ribbed, veined, thick cock that comes out with a little stimulation. But is it physical, or is there another component to it?
Maybe they need more than just touch, because it’s not like Vyastil are out there just popping boners when they accidentally brush up against humans. It has to be something more, and that might mean toys for them require a partner and trust.
It had taken a lot of coaxing to get Cielo to fully unsheathe. A part of me wants to believe it was because we were connected by more than a quick tryst—that there are feelings between us.
But I don’t know if I want to give myself that kind of credit either.
With a sigh, I make a few more adjustments to the drawing before my phone begins to buzz with a text.
Everest: You free now? I had to run into town to drop something off for Zane, and I can drop by.
Me: Yeah. I’m at the shop. It’s closed, but come to the back door. It’ll be unlocked.
Everest: Be there in five.
Five minutes is enough time for me to add some notes about the toy needing to do a lot more than just cock stimulation before I hear the heavy back door swing open and slam shut.
My bones are a bit achy as I heave myself out of the chair, which probably means the zitha has mostly worn off.
I knew it couldn’t last that long, but I had hoped I’d get at least a few days.
With a sigh, I pull my office door open and see Everest’s shadow hovering near the back hallway, and I feel a punch of relief to see he’s alone.
I like Rathyn, but I have a feeling he’d complicate the conversation if he were here to listen to me and Everest talk monster-human sex.
“Hey,” I tell Everest when he’s close enough to hear me. “I’m in my office.”
He follows me inside and shuts the door behind him, dropping immediately into one of the comfy chairs I have set up for my bad days. I go back behind my desk and take a deep breath, trying to figure out a way to approach this topic.
Everest has always been an open guy, but I have no idea how sensitive or protective he is over his and Rathyn’s sex life. I can imagine he feels like I do about Cielo, though—maybe even worse since they’re actually in a relationship. The possessive feelings with them seem to go both ways.
“Is everything okay with Cielo?” he asks. There are nerves in his tone, and I appreciate how much he cares, even if it makes me feel a little itchy with jealousy.
“He’s great. I mean, he seems great. He’s not really keen on talking about how he feels or what happened to him.”
Everest blows out a puff of air. “Yeah. It was hard when he was assigned to Rathyn since I barely know any ASL and he was just beginning to absorb the language, but I have a feeling he wouldn’t be chatty even if we could converse.”
I bite my lip. “Well, he seems to be healing up. He’s not as skittish with me anymore, which is nice. I’m kind of terrified of overwhelming him with my family. He met Gia and Amara once, but that was it, and they were on their best behavior. That will so not last.”
Everest snorts. “If Cielo can handle me, he can handle them at their worst. I have faith.”
I don’t say anything. I want Cielo to be able to handle all of my family. I love them, and we’re all really close. It’s a miracle my parents haven’t randomly shown up because I know someone must have told them about my new housemate.
Getting involved in the Deaf community for Luca taught me that Italians and Deaf are alike in a lot of ways. We both speak with our hands and cannot stay out of everyone else’s business.
But I’m not sure that’ll be good for Cielo, who is just learning to cope with his new situation.
“So,” Everest says, drawing me out of my thought spiral, “are you worried about him? I thought you wanted to talk sex.”
“No. No, I do.” I sit back and rub my temple. That weird feeling is getting stronger, and I have no idea what to make of it. “I wanted to ask you…uh.” Fuck, I have no idea how to approach this, and I am never shy about sex. Ever.
Everest frowns. “What?”
I bite down on the edge of my thumbnail before dropping my hands to the desk and leaning forward. “You and Rathyn have sex, right?”
Everest’s cheeks immediately go pink. “Uh…”
“Like, sex sex. Not just the cum drinking.”
His blush darkens. “I mean…that’s…kind of private.”
I sigh. “No, I know. I swear I’m not trying to be a creep. You’re just the only person I know who’s gotten intimate with a Vyastil outside of the clinic.”
“Wait.”
My jaw snaps shut.
“You got intimate with a Vyastil at the clinic? Like…” He makes a circle with his finger and thumb, then shoves his pointer finger through it, and I almost burst out laughing. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was a virgin.
“Oh my god, no,” I say. “No, just the normal clinic stuff. A couple of them got handsy—I think maybe curious? One of them was licking me clean and went a little…south. Damn near shoved his tongue in my asshole.”
I didn’t see that Vyastil again, and probably for a reason.
Everest’s ears are now blazing. “Right, yeah. I think they like that kind of thing. When Rath figured out rimming, well, it’s been otherworldly.”
I hide a giggle. “Yeah. They’re enthusiastic. And those long tongues…”
Everest’s eyes go a little misty. “Mhm.”
“Anyway,” I say, clearing my throat. I’m a little hard, but not from the memory of past experiences at the clinic.
No, I’m imagining what it would be like to have Cielo’s tongue inside me, and god…
I want that so badly. “When they first started the whole clinic thing, all the PSAs were going on and on about how the Vyastil don’t do sex—”
“Which is bullshit,” Everest bites out.
“Right. Yeah. I figured that out. I mean, the ones who live in the capital seem to be pretty big prudes. I’ve only met a couple, but they seem kind of uptight.”