Chapter 29
twenty-nine
CIELO
When I arrive home from work, a pile of cash in my pocket—some of which I will spend on my Dante to buy him pretty things—I find my VySytheh already home. He is lounging on the couch, his leg draped over the arm, his shirt off. His small nipples and smooth skin make lust pulse through me.
He is gorgeous. More beautiful than the colorful sky as the sun sets, and just as vibrant.
“How was work?” he asks, his eyes shifting from his phone to me. I see the smile in his eyes, and it makes pleasure course through me. “I got off early. Everest said he was going to shut the store down for me.”
“Good,” I say as I fall onto the sofa next to him, curling into him. His hand finds my hair, and he scratches, making my ears flutter wildly. Letting out a soft thrymm, I smile as he huffs a laugh, his eyes moving back to his phone.
I do not want him looking at anything or anyone besides me in this moment. It makes me selfish, but I cannot help it.
He is mine.
I reach out to take the distraction from his hand, but it buzzes loudly.
He glances down at the screen, murmuring under his breath. “Oh shit. Sorry, babe. Luca said he’s going to send me something important.”
He turns the phone so I can see it, and I read the words on the screen carefully.
Luca: Sending video, need u to listen and tell me what it’s saying.
Dante frowns at the screen. “There’s no attachment. Maybe it will take a while to load.”
“Impooortannn?”
“Yeah. I think so. Luca never asks me to do this unless he really needs it. Did you see him at work today?”
“Yes. He wahhved. Nooot say hi.”
“Hmm.” Dante continues to frown, chewing on his lower lip, which looks like fun, so I lean in to take a taste for myself. He groans and turns his head toward me, his phone dropping to the side as we kiss. He tastes delicious. He tastes like mine.
It is a peculiar thing to taste my VySytheh. I wonder if any other Vyastil besides Rathyn has experienced this. This bonding, this soul connection.
Moving my head, I nibble on the skin of his neck and shoulders, loving the way his skin ripples under mine. He groans, and I cannot help but straddle him, licking across the lobe of his tiny ear. I know the weight of me is heavy, but he bears it easily, his hand running up and down my sides.
I love the feeling of his human skin against mine. It is so soft, so thin and fragile, but holds such strength. So much love within.
I turn my head again as he whines for another kiss, so I give him my tongue before he nips at my jaw. His lips trace the same path I took on him, and when he reaches the crook of my neck, he pauses and then gnaws at me with his blunt teeth.
I wish for him to pierce me, to make me his in the same way I want to mark him.
I want it to be a symbol of our love for each other.
And I do love him. It is a human emotion, but one that is also of Erethar. The Vyastil can know this kind of feeling, this kind of joy, if we allow ourselves to be open to it.
My lips meet his again, our teeth grinding, our bodies writhing against each other. It is one of my favorite pastimes with my Dante. I enjoy his taste, the soft mewls he makes. He is perfect.
He pulls back, panting, his cheeks a pretty pink. “Wait…wait.” His hand presses against my thundering hearts. They feel as if they will beat right out of my chest. “I know we’ll get caught up with this, and god, I want that, but I had a surprise for you.”
My eyes widen. “Surrrprise?” It’s a harder word, unfamiliar on my lips, but I know what it means.
Dante blushes. “Yeah. The other day at work, Everest told me that you don’t have lakes or oceans on Erethar.”
I shake my head. “No. Water undergrouunnn.”
“You don’t go swimming or anything like that, do you?”
The idea of placing our bodies in our precious water and potentially contaminating it is horrifying to me. But I am well aware that it is different on Earth. I have read about it. The humans have not been kind to their supply either, and most of it is not usable for them to consume.
But they have so much more of it.
He laughs at my expression. “I guess that answers my question. I wanted to know if you’d like to go see the lake before it gets dark.”
I sit up, my eyes wide. “Now?”
He smiles, his lips a little swollen from the way I bit them as I thrust my tongue into his mouth. “Yep. It’s not that far of a drive. I kind of feel like an asshole for not taking you before today. It’s really cool.”
I will do anything Dante wishes to do, but I also do not want to stop this. “Yes, buuut…” I purse my lips slightly. “Can we keess there?”
He lets out another laugh. “We sure can. The sun will be setting, the waves lapping at the shore. It’ll be so romantic.
I think you’re really going to like it.” He pauses, then reaches for his phone and touches the screen before sighing.
“I wonder if he got distracted. It’s probably not important.
I bet it’s a video of some hot person he wants to ask out. ”
I hop up, my tail reaching out and winding around him, pulling him to his feet as well. “Show me laaake,” I say.
He grins wider. “Yes, okay. I’m going to grab a few snacks, and we can go and watch the sunset and kiss.”
That sounds like the perfect evening to me, and I relay that to him in his head.
He takes me by the chin and runs his nose over the side of my neck, the way I do when I’m scenting him.
I shiver and hum in pleasure before forcing us to pull apart.
If we do not stop now, we may never, and I wish to see the water.
“We go. You get snaaacks.”
Dante laughs and steps back, giving me a salute. It’s something he’s done before, and when I looked up the gesture, I read that people in their human army give it to those in command, but it is also used by others as a way of saying yes.
I do it back, making Dante’s lips curl up.
“Goddamn, I’m so obsessed with you,” he murmurs as he rushes off to the bedroom to change. When he reappears, he is in something warmer: a sweater, a hat, and boots.
“My socks?” I ask, and he shrugs.
“If you want to bring them, you can, but you will get sand in them.”
“Saaannnd?”
He nods and then makes a face. “Shit, you don’t know what sand is, do you? Oh my god. I can’t wait to show you this. You’re either going to hate it or love it.”
I cannot wait to find out and am trembling with joy as I climb into the car beside him and he pulls out onto the main road. It does not take long before I see a sign pointing us in the direction of the lake, and I make a happy trill.
“You’re going to love this. It’s not like most lakes, you know? It’s basically a landlocked ocean. It’s got high and low tides, and waves, and…is any of this making sense to you?”
I grimace. “No.”
He grins and takes my hand, kissing my palm.
“The point is, someday we’re going to travel, and I’m going to show you other lakes, and probably rivers and oceans.
And forests! And they’ll all be really different, but I think you’ll like them.
There is so much to see outside of our little city. So much of Earth you will love.”
I think this, too. Not just because the human world is so vast and diverse, but also because I will be with my Dante. We will drive in the car and hold hands and kiss in so many places, and for moments, I will forget the pain I was in before I met him.
Leaning back, I watch as the scenery whips by, and eventually we turn down a small road which leads to a massive black parking lot. There aren’t many cars. I assume it is due to the cold, as humans tend to be very intolerant of weather.
It truly is a wonder they have survived for so long.
They should have another layer of skin that they shed, just like the Vyastil, but they do not. Instead, they wear sweaters, hats, and scarves. I would not like something like that wrapped around me. But I do enjoy my pink jacket.
Dante pulls into a spot near a walkway, and across the short distance, I can see the ground is…different. It is pale brown and stretches out as far as I can see, interrupted by something else. Something very, very vast and dark blue, a sharp contrast to the cerulean sky.
“Come on,” Dante says. He opens the door and leans in to grab his little bag full of the snacks he wished to bring, then he holds his hand out as I stretch and take a deep breath of the air.
It smells very different here—fresh, like the air just before it rains. I turn to Dante, who’s watching me curiously, a tiny smile touching his lips.
“Differennnnt,” I hum.
He nods. I love that I do not need to explain more than that.
He takes my hand and leads me to the pathway, the hard ground giving way to something soft. And…and terrible. “Saaannnd?” I ask, trying to lift my feet out of it. I look like a Seymosi doing a mating dance.
Dante covers his mouth, eyes twinkling as he watches me. “Yes. Sand. I told you it’s not that great.”
It is not great at all. The tiny grains stick to me, and I trill as those tiny bits get between my toes and make my skin itch. It is not comfortable, but in the next moment, it’s forgotten as my eyes take in what spans out in front of me.
This is the lake.
The water above ground.
It is blue and rolling, almost as if it is alive. Waves—what Dante called them—hit the sand, bursting into small tuffs that arch outward. It is like a monster, ancient and restless. I am afraid, but also in awe.
I stand there, my hands at my sides, my mouth open as I inhale the scent of it.
“I know, I’m not a big fan of the beach part, but the water makes it worth it.” His words trail off as he stares at me. I can feel the affection he is sending my way, and I can’t help but curl my tail around his waist as he leans into me. “It’s pretty beautiful, huh?”
“Yes,” I say, my eyes closing as I listen to it, the sound of the water hitting the shore, loud and unruly. “Beautiful.”