Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
DAX
Dax held his breath, wondering if he pushed too soon by asking. He hadn’t been able to stop himself. His mate was in his arms, so close he could feel the heat of Mateo’s body, and when Mateo’s gaze dropped to his mouth, the words came tumbling out uninvited.
Mateo’s gaze dropped again, and Dax barely saw the nod before he leaned in. His eyes fluttered shut, and when their lips pressed together, it felt like the whole world came to a standstill and it was just him and Mateo.
Slender fingers slid into his hair, making Dax shiver. His arms wrapped tighter around Mateo, drawing him closer, sipping at his mate’s lips and quietly drowning inside with the elation he felt. His mate was kissing him. His mate was in his arms. It couldn’t get better than this.
They pulled apart before he was ready, his heart pounding and his fingers digging into Mateo’s clothes, trying to pull him back for more.
He was wrong, though. It could get better. Because when Mateo smiled into the next kiss, and Dax felt the curve of it against his lips, he felt a little like he might swoon. Who would’ve thought smiling kisses would be the best?
When Mateo pulled back again, he rested his forehead against Dax’s and whispered, “I think we have an audience.”
Dax’s eyes blinked open, and he looked around.
Most people weren’t paying them any mind, but a few were smirking in their direction.
And while he would happily ignore it in order to continue, he could hear the tinge of discomfort in Mateo’s voice.
His need to care for his mate outweighed his need for more kisses.
“My place isn’t far from here,” he murmured, quickly adding when Mateo’s eyes went wide, “No pressure, I just want to spend more time with you.”
While there wasn’t a chance he’d say no to more with his mate, he understood Mateo’s caution.
He likely didn’t feel the same way Dax did.
It was important they took things slow. And while he’d willingly wait for sex, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to invite Mateo over.
His mind flicked to what he’d bought the day prior, and he sweetened the pot a little.
“I’ve got desserts from Peri’s Place that I haven't finished yet. I’m happy to share. ”
That made his mate hesitate, conflicted. “I’ve never been, but I’ve heard good things…” he murmured uncertainly.
“It’s amazing,” Dax confirmed, feeling a little guilty for manipulating his mate into coming home with him.
Not guilty enough to take it back, he wasn’t a saint, but bad enough that he’d keep his promise and keep his hands to himself.
Just having Mateo in his space would be enough for him.
And maybe some more kisses if he was lucky.
Once again he held his breath as he waited for Mateo to make his choice. He bit back the huge grin that threatened when Mateo finally agreed, trying to maintain his cool instead of squealing like a little kid.
“Is it far?”
Tipping his hand side to side, Dax grimaced. “I mean, there’s a subway ride involved, but it’s only a fifteen minute commute. I promise the desserts are worth it.”
That made Mateo snort, and when he pushed to his feet, he looked less apprehensive.
His attention moved back to his hands as he dusted them off, a slight grimace on his face that made Dax think his ‘liking things clean’ was a little more nuanced than Mateo let on.
Not that he minded. He just dipped a tentacle in the water, using it to help Mateo clean off his hands.
He gave his mate a wink, handing him the last napkin, then bent to clean up their mess, gathering up the cardboard boxes and the plastic bag.
While he was cleaning, he heard Mateo sigh and looked over his shoulder with a frown.
“What?”
“Can I say I’m super jealous without sounding weird? Having so many limbs seems really convenient.”
Surprised, Dax barked out a laugh. “You’re jealous? Really?”
He’d had strangers he was flirting with say the tentacles made them uncomfortable. It sometimes made dating hard. No one had ever said they were jealous before. He was glad Mateo seemed to like them, though.
Mateo shrugged awkwardly. “I feel like I could get so much more done if I had more hands.”
Snickering, Dax caught Mateo’s hand, tugging him out of the park and tossing their trash in the receptacle on his way past, all without breaking his stride.
It was pretty convenient having extra limbs, especially when working on certain experiments.
He didn’t want to sound braggy, though, so he didn’t say that out loud.
“Have you met Clarita? She runs the front desk. Each of her heads can think independently. Now she’s the queen of multitasking.”
The conversation continued the whole way to Dax’s apartment, discussing different supe powers and the conveniences they could achieve.
It was easy, and Dax was practically bouncing as they arrived at his building.
“Humans might not have their own magic, but because they are so good at adapting, they are one of the most innovative species that I’ve ever met,” he said while unlocking the main door.
“It was a travesty that there weren’t any humans on our team until recently. ”
“Why weren’t there any?” Mateo asked, following him inside and toward the stairs.
Dax had a basement apartment, which meant the views weren’t great, but in exchange, he got a massive tub that was basically a miniature pool inside his apartment, and it suited him really well.
He was fine with the trade-off since he worked on the research floor with amazing views all day.
He would take the tub over the views any day.
“Uh… I’m not sure,” he answered honestly. “I never really thought about it before. Is it hard for humans to get into the sciences?”
Mateo shrugged, which was fair. That was an odd question. Dax blamed his scientific mind. He now had a question he didn’t know the answer to. He wanted to do research and ask questions until he figured it out.
“Wow. You’ve got a nice place,” Mateo commented, drawing Dax’s attention.
While he’d been thinking to himself and closing the door, Mateo had wandered into his living room.
There wasn’t much to it, he didn’t spend a ton of time in his apartment when he could be out with friends, visiting his family, or at work, but he did have a light machine that projected a waterscape onto the walls and ceilings.
It made the space feel more homey. His older sister sent it to him when he first moved to the city and told her he was feeling homesick.
Mateo looked around, curiosity on his face. Dax loathed the idea of turning on the light and ruining the atmosphere, but he was a little worried he’d make the wrong impression keeping it dark.
“Do, uh… you want me to turn on the lights?”
Shaking his head, Mateo turned to him again with a soft smile. “I’m good. This is pretty. Like being under water.”
Dax nodded eagerly. “I like it. I’ve got a noise machine too. It reminds me of home and helps me sleep.”
Huffing, Mateo turned to look around the room again.
“If I played sounds from home, it would be my sister singing off key and my parents arguing about whether a word is real or not.” At Dax’s confused look, he smirked.
“They’re big into Scrabble. They’ve got a huge wall of multiple games playing at once because they’re insane like that. ”
Dax snickered. “They sound like fun. I’m gonna grab our desserts. Make yourself comfortable.”
As he plated the small treats, he found himself humming and bouncing a little. This was going well. Mateo seemed a lot more relaxed and happy than he had at work and he was sharing facts about his life like a real date. Dax hoped this was a positive sign.
When he came back out of the kitchen, he found Mateo sitting on the couch. Or maybe it would be better described as melting. The sweet man looked tired and was sinking into the couch like he was moments from falling asleep.
Now the big question. Did Dax wake him, give him his cake, maybe even turn on the lights so he could wake up a little, or did he let the man sleep?
MATEO
Mateo woke up in stages. It was quiet, and it took him way too long to figure out where he was.
He remembered Dax inviting him to his place, remembered admiring the light show Dax had set up.
He didn’t remember much else after that.
Dax had said he’d have dessert. He couldn’t remember eating anything though.
He snuggled closer to the warmth he was wrapped around.
He often ended up cuddling his pillow instead of actually using it, so it didn’t surprise him to find himself clinging.
What surprised him was that his pillow was breathing.
Mateo’s eyes flew wide, his mouth falling open in shock when he realized he was wrapped around Dax.
Not Dax holding him. Not sleeping shoulder to shoulder.
No, Mateo had gone full cuddle menace on the poor kraken, his leg tossed over all those tentacles and his arm squeezing Dax’s torso tightly.
If they weren’t in such close quarters, he’d squirm away out of embarrassment, but when he looked around, he realized they were both on the couch, cuddled together.
Too much flailing and he’d accidentally shove Dax onto the floor. He didn’t want to hurt him.
He jerked his gaze up to Dax’s face, wondering just how embarrassed he needed to be, but aside from a soft smile on his face, Dax didn’t make any sounds to indicate he was awake.
Actually, when Mateo’s grip loosened on him, he pulled him in tighter, smushing Mateo against his chest with a happy sigh.
Without waking him up, Mateo was kind of stuck. He refused to do that after accidentally falling asleep on the kraken’s couch and possibly manhandling the man into becoming a body pillow. He could be a real menace in his sleep.
While he contemplated how to extricate himself from the situation, he let his mind drift to the night prior.
The water patterns had been really relaxing and a humidifier in the corner made this kind of light shushing sound that lulled him to sleep.
And he wasn’t woken up once, not even when Dax joined him.
He could see the cakes on the table, he probably set them down and sat beside Mateo, not knowing by doing so, he was volunteering to become a snuggle buddy for the rest of the night.
Mateo was embarrassed, but he also hadn’t slept that well in months.
It was quiet, Dax was warm, and the couch was comfortable.
He almost wanted to go back to sleep just to soak it all in.
“You’re awake,” Dax murmured, his voice a little gravelly with sleep.
Mateo jerked his gaze up, his heart tripping over itself when he took in the sleepy smile on Dax’s face.
The little voice in the back of his head said it was a bad idea, it was too messy, he should cool things off before they got too complicated, but when Dax’s tentacles slowly wrapped around him, giving him that all-over hug he loved so much, that voice got silenced pretty fast. There wasn’t much that would make him give this up.