“No one’s coming. I just… I’ve made something and I want to surprise you with it.”
“Okay.”
Chrys lets me cover her eyes so she doesn’t see the pieces in the hallway, and when she’s in the bedroom, she turns, pressing up and asks, “Can kiss you?”
“Any time you want.”
Her smile is bright as she pulls me down to her lips.
I savor the brief moment, replaying the sight of her on Arc’s lap, legs held wide, pussy stuffed with a cock that might someday be replaced by my own.
“I’ll be twenty… minutes,” I inform her. “Enjoy your book.”
“I’ve read it five times. I always do.”
She stays in the room as I bolt the base to the floor. She doesn’t come peeking when I use the welding pen to join the last pieces of metal, or when I drill into the ceiling to anchor the top.
Sheiswaiting on the edge of the bed, watching the door when I come for her. “What was all that?”
“Come see.”
Her eyes widen when she steps into the living room, and for a moment, she just stares.
“Did you… build me a cat tree?”
I’ve never heard of them before, but my mutation provides an immediate mental picture. “I guess I did.”
She goes to it, immediately climbing up the bars and slipping into the cushioned basket that lets her swing above me.
Laughing, she asks, “Why?”
“Because you like to climb things… and we didn’t have anything you could before.”
“I love it.” She leans forward, reaching for me, and when her hands find my shoulders, she slides out of it, letting me catch her.
“Thank you, but you guys don’t have to buy or build me things… I don’t need gifts to keep me around.”
“That’s not why I did it. But it’s nice to hear you say that you’re not going anywhere.” I tip her face up. “Are you sure it’s not because we’re the first men you saw?”
She snorts, and it turns into a laugh.
“I look at Sian men most of my work day. I study your bodies and look for what Ithinkis the ideal every human woman is chasing… and then I also look for the ones that will pull the outliers in, but the point is… I have seen every possible form and shape you could be.” She smooths her palm over my chest. “And I cannot imagine finding anyone who would take my attention from the three of you.”
“Is it the scars?”
She rolls her eyes, but she smiles. “You don’t have any scars.”
I lift my shirt up. “Did you forget about this?”
Scowling, she brushes her fingers over the puckered flesh left behind by a pipe turned projectile.
“Whydon’tyou have other scars?”
“Because I know where the cavrinskh are going to strike as soon as they do. It’s… notimpossiblefor them to get me, but it’s highly unlikely anymore.”
“And this?” She traces the jagged outline.
“A long time ago, I had a choice. I stepped in front of something that would have killed Arc. His life in exchange for some replacement bones and pints of blood… I’d make that trade again.”
