Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
MATEO
For a moment, Dax looked uncertain, like he was surprised by his own reaction.
It made sense if he’d never had someone touch him like that, but Mateo wasn’t going to push him to keep going.
He liked the noises Dax had been making, as well as the way he’d writhed under Mateo’s touch, but he’d never want to make him feel uncomfortable.
“Can I see your mating tentacle?” he asked, trying to distract the gorgeous man from whatever was going through his head. It worked, Dax’s gaze snapping to his, filled with heat as the long, slick appendage slid out from the pouch to wrap around his hand.
Dax’s eyes fluttered, and his breath caught when Mateo rubbed his thumb along the tentacle, and when Mateo pulled his hand away to slide it along the length, Dax almost seemed to slip, his head disappearing below the water as his body jerked under Mateo’s touch.
When he came back up, Mateo hesitated, raising an eyebrow at him. “Should we wait to do this in bed?”
“No,” Dax rapidly shook his head, the tentacle pushing against his hand again. “I want to show you the–Nngh–magic!”
The silly kraken was determined to finish the experiment, and as much as Mateo was uncertain about coming in the water and somehow ending up stewing in it, he could always shower afterward. He didn’t want to make Dax get out and relocate when he was so frenzied with lust anyway.
Stroking the mating tentacle was nothing like a normal cock.
It wasn’t rigid, for one thing, writhing in his hold and wrapping around his hand in search of more stimulation.
Sort of like stroking a cat’s tail. For another, it had suckers on it.
Not as big as the ones on the other tentacles, but big enough that he’d probably feel it when Dax was inside him.
His hole clenched just at the thought. What would that even be like? Similar to a ribbed condom, maybe?
Even under water, the thing was slick, making Mateo believe the water wouldn’t be a hindrance when it came to lube. Which made sense since Dax’s people didn’t usually live on land.
Sitting back on a few of Dax’s tentacles, he used both hands, one after the other, sliding them along the mating tentacle and watching Dax’s reaction.
The kraken moaned almost constantly, head thrown back and his mouth open as he fought for breath.
He was seriously easy to please, which was a relief for Mateo since he had no idea what he was doing.
Sex outside his species was rare, and the few supes he’d hooked up with had all looked human. He was in uncharted water with Dax.
“Mateo! Mateo! You’re going to make me–”
Despite knowing Dax wanted to experiment, likely intending for them both to come at the same time, Mateo couldn’t make himself stop.
Not when Dax looked so debauched, a flush high in his cheeks and his body rolling like he couldn’t stop himself.
Tentacles wrapped around Mateo’s legs and waist, keeping him right where he was, so he figured Dax felt the same way.
He tightened his grip just a little, dragging his thumb along the suckers on the next slide of his hand, and Dax shouted, releasing a sticky substance from the tip of the tentacle so hard that it splashed Mateo’s abs and coated his hands.
It was only keeping his attention on Dax while he rode out the waves of pleasure that kept Mateo from grimacing. He knew sex in a tub was a bad idea.
Before Dax even fully caught his breath, Mateo felt a tingle on his skin, and the water that had gone cloudy after Dax came cleared.
He let out a sharp breath, looking around himself in surprise, but there wasn’t a single speck of anything potentially messy in the water.
It honestly may have been cleaner than when they first got in since Mateo had never bothered to dust the thing since he moved in.
“See? You’re safe with me,” Dax breathed.
The way he said that, like his one mission was to make sure Mateo felt safe and happy, made him melt and all thoughts of mess and everything else he’d worried about slipped away.
He wrapped a hand around the back of Dax’s neck, pulling him in for a kiss, and nearly inhaled water when Dax wrapped his arms around Mateo, no longer supporting their weight, and they both went under water for a second.
Mateo came up spluttering, having not been expecting it, and Dax had a sheepish expression on his face when he finally lifted his head out of the water.
“Sorry. I lost my head a little. I wasn’t thinking.”
Was it wrong that Mateo felt a little cocky about that?
And Dax hadn’t been lying. Nothing about the water was any different in ways that would make him think the clarity was just an illusion of some kind.
Having a boyfriend who could make things clean just by being in the water might come in handy one day.
After some further experimentation, because Dax said it wasn’t a successful experiment unless they recreated it, which apparently meant they needed to recreate what they did in the bedroom for a comparison, Mateo was relaxed and fully at ease for the first time in weeks.
His muscles felt a little like jello, and he had a smile on his face as Dax nudged him to get dressed and pulled him out of his room.
He was so relaxed, in fact, that he almost forgot about his roommates entirely until nearly bumping into Oliver in the hallway.
“Crap. Sorry. Again,” Oliver mumbled, scuttling out of the way to avoid them.
The guy seemed to have two left feet and was always tripping over something or bumping into someone wherever he went.
Which would be fine if he wasn’t carrying a bowl with what looked like curry.
It would’ve spilled if Dax’s tentacle hadn’t whipped out to right the bowl.
“Woah,” Dax breathed, waiting to release the bowl until he was certain Oliver had it.
Mateo still eyed the smaller man suspiciously even after he seemed to have it.
The guy had once dropped a bowl seemingly out of nowhere without anyone anywhere near him to bump into.
It had been lucky he’d been eating a bowl of cereal and hadn’t managed to stain the furniture. “You okay?”
Oliver gave Dax a crooked smile and nodded. “Yup. I’m good. Thanks for catching that. I’m gonna go eat in my room. I was watching a show on my computer.”
Which meant something in the man’s room was going to be stained, Mateo was sure of it. He almost wanted to sneak in there to clean it himself when Oliver wasn’t around. He wouldn’t, that’d be an invasion of privacy and he wasn’t that insane, but that didn't mean he didn't feel the urge sometimes.
“Okay, well, you have fun. Careful not to drop that,” Dax said brightly.
After Oliver shuffled away with his bowl, Mateo glanced in the direction of the kitchen with a grimace. What were the chances the little menace didn't leave an enormous mess to ‘soak’?
“That smelled really good,” Dax commented, heading toward the kitchen without a care in the world. Mateo could only drag his feet when he followed. “Are you hungry? I’m starving.”
“Yeah, I could eat, but–”
“There’s enough for everyone,” Miles called out, making them both do a double take. Hadn’t he left hours ago?
Miles sat at the kitchen island, his own bowl in front of him, along with a plate of what looked like naan on the counter. Behind the counter in front of the stove was Kaz.
Mateo’s shoulders slumped in relief. If Kaz had been the one in the kitchen, then he had a lot less to worry about. The man wasn’t as fastidious as Mateo was about keeping things clean, but at least he didn’t use every pot and pan in the kitchen and he always cleaned up after himself.
“How are you still here?” Dax asked as he joined the pair in the kitchen. “This looks amazing, Kaz! I didn’t know you could cook!”
Kaz shrugged his big shoulders, looking embarrassed as he explained, “Cooking helps me relax. I always make big batches so everyone can enjoy it.” He pointed at a smaller pot simmering beside the bigger one. “That one’s vegetarian.”
“I helped the human with the cleaning charm,” Miles added around a mouthful of food. “He said he’d feed me in thanks, but the big guy here offered to make lunch for everyone since he’d been waiting to use the kitchen.”
Mateo internally cringed. Talking with your mouth full was gross.
“That’s so sweet, Kaz. You’re making me jealous. I wish I had a roommate who fed me,” Dax said, accepting a bowl from Kaz after pointing out the one he wanted.
Mateo hadn’t actually accepted any of the other times Kaz had offered to share food in the past, too eager to get the hell out of the mess of the kitchen and living room to want to sit through a meal, and it felt rude not to eat with the guy after accepting food he’d made.
Mateo avoided it instead, feigning not being hungry, and hoped he hadn’t offended some orcish taboo about accepting food when offered.
It would be just his luck that something like that existed.
Dax didn’t give him a chance to opt out, though, handing him a bowl and shooing him toward the seat next to Miles at the counter with one tentacle on his shoulder to guide him.
The kraken could be pushy if he wanted to be, but Mateo found he didn’t mind.
He sometimes got too into his head and made things harder on himself.
It was nice that Dax took the lead sometimes.
“So why are you really here?” Dax queried when he sat at the island, snagging a piece of naan from the covered basket in the middle. “Because I know you, and good food isn’t enough of a reason for you to stick around on a weekend. Aren’t you normally visiting your cousin on the weekend?”
Mateo listened with half an ear, taking a small bite of his food. He looked up to find Kaz staring at him, his expression deeply concerned as he waited for Mateo’s reaction.
“It’s really good,” he said awkwardly. “Thank you for sharing.”
The big guy slumped, a relieved smile on his face. “I was worried it would be too spicy for humans. The last meal I made, Oliver couldn’t stop coughing and spilled milk all down his shirt while trying to ease the burning.”
That sounded like it was less to do with them being human and more to do with Oliver being chaos incarnate. Mateo kept that opinion to himself.
“I don’t mind spicy food. My family has a few dishes that are really spicy that I enjoy. This isn’t spicy, though. It’s good.”
The orc still looked relieved, but after experiencing Oliver’s particular brand of chaos more than once, he didn’t blame the guy for being worried.
Once he was sure Mateo was telling the truth, Kaz turned to spoon out a small bowl from the vegetarian batch, setting it carefully on the counter with a small plate of naan beside it.
Mateo was just about to ask why when Nylian came through the front door.
Miles and Dax’s conversation, which he’d only been partially listening to, stalled out as Miles stared at the fae. Nylian didn’t say much, just nodded politely when Kaz offered him the bowl and headed for his room with the meal, but Miles’s eyes tracked him the entire time.
“Ah. So that’s why you’re still here,” Dax teased.
Miles hadn’t looked away from the hallway until Dax spoke, but his expression clouded over, and he didn’t make eye contact when he hopped down from his chair and brought his dishes to the sink.
“I think you’re right. I should go check on my cousin. I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks for the meal, big guy.”
He was gone before Mateo could even wrap his head around what happened. He shot a questioning look at Dax, who looked just as confused as he felt.
“That was weird… right?” Dax asked.
Mateo just shrugged. This was the most social interaction he’d had outside the office in a while. He was by no means an expert.