I wasn’t the same person I’d been when he’d arrived.
I was something different when I was with him,something new, and it made it difficult to leave his side. He probably wanted more time alone, but that would’ve meant going back into the kennel or remaining cuffed to my bed until I returned. I couldn’t get sloppy, no matter how well he was behaving.
It was all a farce, and I knew that.
But that farce allowed for moments like this.
I shifted on the bed, peering over the edge as he chased the laser pointer’s red dot again. I hadn’t gotten the thing out for several days, not wanting to remind either of us of what had happened the last time we’d played with it.
At the same time, something had shifted when we’d been playing, and I wanted to explore that. I’d taken away from it when I’d distanced myself from him, and I…
I wanted him to smile more than I wanted to be called Master.
I didn’t want to see the light in his eyes die again.
He scrambled across the floor, chasing the dot, and the tail twitched as he wiggled his bare ass for me in anticipation of the next pounce. We’d been playing for a while, and he had to be getting tired. He didn’t complain, though, and I was enjoying the sight too much to stop.
I could watch him act this adorable for hours.
I got up, sliding off the bed, and I went to scratch behind those kitty ears. He tilted his head, eyes half closing, and I smiled at him. “Good boy, Toby,” I praised him, tousling his hair.
He didn’t open his eyes until my hand fell back to my side, and even then, there was something unreadable in his gaze. I couldn’t make sense of it no matter how hard I tried. Was he hating it? Was he tolerating it?
Was there a chance he was enjoying playing like this but was too afraid of me finding out?
I wanted to ask, but I didn’t dare.
“If I leave you here for two minutes while I go to the bathroom, will you behave?” I asked. I didn’t want to cuff him for the time it would take me to relieve myself and come back, but that could be time he’d use to make his way to the front door. It would take time for him to work with the locks, and the security system would give me plenty of warning, but I didn’t want it to come to that at all.
“Yes,” he said, his expression almost serene.
I didn’t know what to make of that any more than I knew what to make of the rest of it. I wasn’t feeling fantastic, though, and the extra effort seemed like more than I wanted to bother with.
“You know you’ll be in trouble if you leave this room,” I warned him, probably unnecessarily, but I had to make sure he understood the boundaries I was setting for him.
He flinched a little, but he nodded, his expression turning wary.
I sighed. “Just… don’t. All right?”
He nodded again.
“Okay.”
I wasn’t sure if I trusted him, but my bladder wasn’t willing to wait much longer while I quizzed him and tried to figure out what his real response would be to what wouldn’t be more than two minutes of freedom. Surely he knew he couldn’t get very far at all, and if he tried to bolt…
I might not put him in the basement, but that didn’t mean I’d tolerate it. I didn’t want to have to think up a proper punishment for him, but I would if I had to.
I headed for the bathroom, leaving the door slightly ajar so I could listen for him. Right as I pulled down my pants, movement caught my attention from the corner of my eye. Ifrowned, because it looked like a hand trying to open the door.
But it wasn’t that hard to open to begin with, so even the little nudges made it swing open a little more. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing, but I at least knew he wasn’t trying to run for it.
Right as I aimed for the toilet, I heard it.
“Meow.”
I glanced over, baffled, and it took me a moment to realize he was pawing at the door and meowing — like a real cat would if it was locked out of the bathroom. Their little paws might’ve gone under the door instead of on the side of it, but the principle was still the same.
I chuckled, shaking my head as I emptied my bladder, and by the time I flushed, the door was mostly open. I pulled my pants back up and zipped them, heading for the sink just as the door opened completely.
