“—for this closet?”
“Excuse you, but these are pretty sweet digs for someone my age making the crap money I do.” I don’t tell him that most of the rent is covered by Zane’s trust fund. “It’s comfortable.”
He says nothing, but I get a sudden flash of an image behind my closed eyelids. Wide, open fields and in the daytime sky, four pale moons ten times the size of ours.
“Was that Erethar?”
Rathyn nods. “It is.”
I take a moment because I feel something else, too. Something like longing, and I realize he’s sharing that with me.
“You miss it?”
“The human world has something we need, but it is not home. It is nothing like home.” He goes quiet after that, and I don’t try to comfort him because I get it. Going from that to this?
It can’t be fun.
“Well, I don’t have a lot,” I tell him as I walk over and open my bedroom door. Fuck, it’s a mess. I have clothes on the floor and covering my chair, a book open on my unmade bed, and a few dirty dishes on my desk.
He takes in a breath. “This place holds your scent.”
“Yep. This is where I live.”
He pulls me back against him with his tail and cups my limp dick, which quickly starts to thicken. “It smells like you,” he repeats, then his long fingers begin to massage my balls.
“Fuck,” I whisper, then stiffen. “Dude, not here. If Zane comes home and sees you sucking my dick, he’s going to eviscerate me.”
“He can try,” Rathyn repeats again. “I will not allow him to harm you. Treaty or not, if another human attempts to cause you harm, that is motive for termination of life.”
“Relax, Jesus. I’m not being literal.” Mostly, but I should probably warn Zane about Rathyn’s possessive temper. “Anyway, uh…I think I have a suitcase here. And there are some trash bags I can pack the rest of my shit in.”
“You will not.”
I turn and stare at him. “I’m absolutely taking my stuff.”
“I will send for your things,” he tells me.
Yeah, I don’t think Zane is going to vibe with a bunch of Vyastil pawing around our apartment—his apartment now, I guess—and packing up my stuff.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Rathyn’s lips turn down at the corners. “He does not care for monsters.”
For some reason, I hate the way he says monsters. “He’s not a huge fan of the Vyastil.”
“Then I will send humans.”
It’s…a compromise, I guess, and one that means I don’t have to pack my entire room in just a few minutes. “Alright, fine.”
He tugs me against him again and peers over my shoulder. “All of this is yours?”
“Everything but the dirty dishes.” I flush slightly, embarrassed at being such a slob. But fuck it. I’m twenty-one with a crap job. I’m allowed to be in my messy era.
“I’m just going to grab a few things, so I don’t have to wear these pants anymore.”
Rathyn’s eyes flicker down to my groin, and his ears flutter slightly.
“I enjoy how these fit you.”
