His gaze turns to the ceiling, and his ears flick. There’s something he’s not telling me, but it’s not my place to demand answers.
Suddenly, I feel Everest start to stir, and I don’t want him to wake without me. “I must go.”
He nods, then stands with me as I step away from the table. He takes my wrist gently, then tilts forward, his forehead pressing to mine. It was the only affection we ever, as young ones, knew. It pales in comparison to what humans can offer.
What my Everest makes me crave.
“Be more clever than I was,” he repeats. “I care for you. I want to see you successful, yes. But also happy.”
Happy was not a concept I understood until my human. But now it is something I want to guard with my life.
“And take care of him, too,” Eissa says as he releases me.
That is something I can promise. I press my hand to my chest and tilt my head down. “Until my final breath.”
He says nothing, but I feel his eyes on me as I step back through his portal and stride to my apartment, where my human is waiting. He’s still asleep. Still dreaming. Still so unaware of me, and yet he seems to sense me.
He turns as I slide atop the covers, and when I open my arms, he rolls into them, resting his weight against me.
This is happiness.
This is what I will guard with my life.
twenty-one
EVEREST
Iwake up to find Rathyn standing over me, holding something draped over his arm. Is that…
“Clothes?”
He normally doesn’t like me in clothes.
He nods, a grunting trill erupting from his throat as he holds them out. Pants and a shirt. They’re mostly sheer and won’t leave much to the imagination, but they’re different from what I wore before.
Swinging my legs over the bed, I stretch my back, worn out from the orgasms but feeling good. My hole is sore, and my prostate feels a little…abused. In the best way, but still.
I’m exhausted, and I have no idea what this is about. Until I do. Until I remember how, before the mating herb, Rathyn had caved so easily last night. He folded like wet spaghetti.
Walking around the bed, I ignore my full bladder to lean in, pressing a hand to his cheek as I kiss him. He rumbles his delight against my lips, his tongue curling around mine, his piercing clinking against my teeth.
The more we do this, the more I think about letting him pierce mine. Especially with his nice Vyastil herbs that heal me up almost immediately. It might not be so bad.
“We’re going to Erethar, aren’t we?”
He sighs. “As you have insisted.”
“I do. I do insist.” I feel bouncy and excited. I wish to fuck I could share all this with Zane. If he weren’t also being a butthead, he could be doing this right along with me.
I wonder if his extension was approved. Or if he’s been forced to show up to the clinic to get sucked. God, I need to talk to him. For all I know, he could be a companion to someone else.
I make a mental note to ask, but not now. I want to focus on this first. It’s a little selfish, but sue me. I haven’t gotten to be selfish much in my life.
“I’m going to use the bathroom and get some breakfast, then we can go.”
Rathyn stares at me, a glint in his eye. “I will assist.”
“Oh my god, no blow jobs?—”
