Eissa takes a moment to answer. “It is unusual, but not unheard of. I can authorize the amendment to the contract, but I wanted to be sure you’re not being threatened or coerced into agreeing.”
Well. That’s a gray area, considering how pushy Rathyn has been, but I wouldn’t say I’ve been coerced. I’ve enjoyed his company—mostly. And I do like the orgasms. But it all seems a bit…much.
“He is mine,” Rathyn says, then slips into his language, words I doubt I’ll ever understand flowing from his lips like a melody. They remind me of how I used to imagine the fairy spoke in thePeter Pannovel.
Bells and chimes and song.
Eissa replies in kind, and they speak for a moment before he sighs and puts up a hand. “Everest,” Eissa says, “please confirm you understand that this contract is negotiated once a year for the duration of your virile period, and that you wish to enter into it willingly.”
“Virile period?” I parrot.
Eissa nods. “For the length of time your semen remains viable.”
I didn’t know it, like, expired or whatever. “I mean, I think I want to say yes, but I have some questions.”
“Little human,” Rathyn starts to growl, but when Eissa puts up a hand, he goes quiet.
“Ask your questions,” Eissa says.
“Do we have to live together?”
“It is preferred,” Eissa says. “It will offer you the benefit of comfortable living quarters and limited access to Erethar.”
My heart leaps in my chest. The monster world? Seriously? Rathyn didn’t say that either. I take in a shaking breath. “What kind of access?”
“My home,” Rathyn supplies, his tail moving down to my ankle, the tip caressing a spot of exposed skin. I shudder. “The city, and the fields.”
“Provided you are accompanied by him,” Eissa says, nodding toward Rathyn, “or an appointed guard. You are not allowed to wander on your own. The consequences will be severe.”
That dulls my excitement, but not by much. “Okay. I can get behind a sweet apartment and being able to step through the portal. It’s…safe for humans, right?”
“I would not bring you somewhere that would put you at risk,” Rathyn says. He’s said something like this before, but now he sounds seriously annoyed.
“Right,” I tell him. “Wouldn’t want to put the cum bank at risk.”
He says nothing to that, but his ears flick back.
Eissa sighs. “You will be monetarily compensated for your service as is determined by the contract. An expense account will be set up in your name, and the human government will ensure that you will be paid out appropriately once your contract has ended.”
I lick my lips. “And…if I want out early?”
“Both parties can negotiate a release,” Eissa says.
“So, if he hurts me?—”
“That is cause for immediate termination of contract and life,” Rathyn says, his voice harsh and offended.
I was not expecting that, but maybe I should have. He’s been overly concerned about my well-being this entire time. He offered to build me a house, for fuck’s sake.
“We do not hurt those important to us,” Eissa says, much more calmly than Rathyn.
I almost laugh. My cum is important, not me. But it’s something. And it’s not like I have a ton of things going for me at home, really.
Just my little apartment, a crappy job, and— “Oh shit. Zane.”
“I do not understand this word,” Rathyn says.
“It’s not a word. He’s my…” Xenophobic best friend and roommate who’s going to literally try to cut my head off when he hears what I’m about to do. But I’ve already decided, and even Zane couldn’t talk me out of it. “Never mind. Where do I sign?”
