Clayton’s blood went straight to his dick, otherwise, he would have done something more threatening than tilting his head and baring his vulnerable neck fully to the infuriating monster.
Mal huffed and licked him before backing away. “I can see how much you hate me. Very intimidating.”
“Fuck you,” Clayton whispered, but there was no heat behind it. They both knew that Mal had some kind of weird power over him, and they both knew that whatever was going on between them was only getting started.
Something deep and long-ignored inside Clayton sang happily like it knew it was finally going to be acknowledged and get to play. Clayton did his best to stuff it down, but he was only partially successful. It was still there, stretching itself toward the monster looming over him, and it was only a matter of time before it was free again.
Clayton put a hand on Mal’s chest and shoved. “I hope you weren’t planning on staying here tonight. You just gave the last free room away to your kid.”
“She’s not my kid.”
“I’m not a kid!” Holly’s muffled voice sounded through the thin wall.
Clayton’s face went hot when he realized Holly was listening to everything. He grabbed Mal by the arm, dragged him to his room, and closed the door.
“Whether she’s yours or not, she’s still got dibs, and I’m not kicking her out tonight. Only a monster would kick out a homeless girl at night. That meansyouhave to go.” Clayton folded his arms across his chest in satisfaction. “And don’t think about sleeping on the couch; it’s broken. You should probably get going if you want to find a hotel. It’s getting late.”
Instead of leaving, Mal made a show of looking at Clayton’s tiny bed.
“You’re joking, right? Even if I went completely insane and let you stay, you’re not fitting in that with me. Hell, even I barely fit.”
Clayton did live on a boat, after all. It may have started life as a rich man’s toy, but space was still at a premium, and Merry and Tommy had been given the biggest room so they could stay together.
They also needed more room in order to fit the ever-growing hoard of toys everyone in the chapter house kept foisting on Clayton every chance they got. Half of the loot they got was from Jack, because the big man was practically a child himself.
Clayton’s boat had four other sleeping spaces of varying sizes, and Grampy got the second biggest because he was old and needed enough room to move around without banging into things. Eira’s room was the same size as Clayton’s but had a lower ceiling since he needed the headroom, and she didn’t. And the space they’d stuffed Holly in was more like a glorified closet.
Clayton almost wished it was available because he’d love to see Mal try to cram himself inside. Clayton couldn’t fit, so Mal definitely wouldn’t.
“We’ll fit on your bed,” Mal said, leaning against the wall and buffing his claws against his shirt.
“We’renot doing anything.You’releaving, andI’mgoing to bed.” Clayton turned his back like he was going to hop right into bed in his day clothes like a barbarian, hoping Mal would get the hint.
He didn’t. Mal should have looked awkward and unwanted like Clayton would have felt in his situation, but Mal just grinned, showing off the pointy reasons why Clayton’s thigh was throbbing like a bitch. Then he leaned his head back against the wall, closed his eyes, and pressed his hands against the wall palms down. When he opened his eyes, they seemed enormous, like Clayton would fall into them if he got too close.
Clayton stepped back involuntarily when he realized the area where Mal’s hands were touching the wall was turning black and spreading out across the room.
Within seconds, the entire room had transformed into a dark and cozy cocoon. Not completely black, though. There was some kind of indirect light source Clayton couldn’t see that was illuminating the space.
At first, Clayton thought Mal had teleported them somewhere, but when he examined his surroundings, he realized they were still in his room. Sort of.
His bed was still there, but it was larger, more comfortable, and appeared a lot more like a nest than it used to. If Clayton hadn’t seen the notch on the side where he’d accidentally gouged a hole out of it while putting his shoes on, he wouldn’t have recognized it. His wardrobe was also there, but it seemed closer to a living, organic thing than a piece of furniture. The handle on his door was no longer a fixture, but part of the object itself.
“What did you do to my room?” Clayton whispered.
“I made itourroom.”
The tingle of fear running down Clayton’s spine made its way right to his dick, but Clayton was legitimately scared now. Mal was so incredibly powerful and beyond anything he was capable of defending himself from.
Mal could do anything he wanted to Clayton, and no one on the boat could stop him. He’d proven his power to Clayton over and over again, and suddenly, it had gone from an annoying but amusing game to something real in the blink of an eye.
What had Clayton brought into his home? Would he be able to get rid of the man if he tried?
When Mal took a step toward him, Clayton held out a shaking hand to stop him.
“I… I don’t want this right now. This is too much.”
Mal stopped the moment Clayton’s fingers touched his chest and cocked his head to the side like a curious predator. He appeared to be listening to something.
