He doesn’t hesitate in his answer. “Yes.”
I bite back a smile and turn my gaze back to the cityscape before me. I let my hand drag over the oversized sectional in the living room, relishing how soft it feels.
“So, what’s your world like?”
“Spacious,” he says, and then adds. “And not as bright. Or as busy.”
I wet my lips. “You have a portal nearby?”
“There’s one in the building.”
My eyes widen. “Yeah? Can I see it?”
“Not today. Everest, you seem…” He pauses as if trying to find the word.
“Hot, sexy, far too smart?” I add, and his eyes flash to mine.
“Mischievous.”
I grin. “Yeah, I know. Can’t help it. I’ve always been like this.”
“And yet, you are not married,” he muses.
“Those aren’t exactly desirable traits in a human partner,” I tell him, feeling a little exposed all of a sudden.
He looks confused, then maybe a little angry, before the expression melts away into his usual, unreadable stare.
Tension crackles between us as we continue to look at each other, and I feel him moving closer to me. His tail unwraps from his leg and slides up my leg again.
I feel my body tremble at the touch, and I know what he wants.
“What if I say no?” I ask softly, and a soft hum reverberates from his throat, his tail wrapping tighter around my leg and holding me in place.
“You seem to enjoy that word.”
“I think you need to hear it more often.”
His finger gently touches my cheek, and my lashes flutter. “Incorrect. I hear it the exact necessary amount. And you may say no now, but is that really what you want?”
I swallow heavily. “Maybe.”
“And you are aware of the consequences if I agree to your refusal.”
I blink at him. “Consequences?”
“You are currently in the service of the Vyastil. Once a week, yes?”
“I…yes,” I whisper. I’d almost forgotten that this thing with him is…unusual.
He hums, that low, melodic purr. “You would like to go back into the queue? To have a different Vyastil touching you? Tasting you? Sucking the seed from your body?”
My stomach churns. “I?—”
“And that I would choose another to kneel for.”
My eyes flick open, and I purse my lips. “Wait? You…you’d take someone else?”
“Of course I would.” His ears flicker in a way I haven’t seen before. Like a tell. Like he’s lying. But I’m not sure enough to call him on it. “I have needs, and if you don’t want to provide for them, I’m sure there are other humans who will.”
