Rathyn’s eyes narrow, but he curls his hand around the box like he can’t help it. “I wish to find toys for you.”
“You can do that later. Right now, I want to work my first day without you hovering.” He growls slightly, and Everest sighs. “I’ll come right home after my shift. You go…do whatever you do when I’m not around, and I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“Everest,” he says sternly.
Everest is unmoved. “Go.”
After what feels like an actual stand-off, Rathyn’s shoulders sag. He doesn’t leave easily, though. He wraps his tail around Everest’s waist and tugs him close, giving him a slow, filthy kiss.
It’s hard to watch, but only because it makes me miss Cielo, who is either at the gym or at my house waiting for me. For the first time in a long, long while, I realize I want something more.
I don’t want to be alone.
And maybe the problem wasn’t that relationships didn’t fit my life. Maybe the problem has always been that I was not made for humans.
The following day, I sit down with a tired sigh and smile at the giant, foil-wrapped burrito Everest plopped in front of me. There’s a massive glass of ice water beside it, and a pile of chips and two containers of salsa and guac.
Having an employee, even if he isn’t exactly an employee, is amazing.
“I wish I had known you sooner,” I tell him, peeling back the foil.
He snorts. “Sure, but then you would’ve had to pay me, so that wouldn’t have happened.”
I grimace through my first bite. He has a point. Though if Luca comes home with a few more contracts, and if I can get this whole Vyastil sex toy idea off the ground, I might be able to have an actual staff someday.
“Is this what you always wanted to do?” he asks as he nibbles on a chip.
I sigh as I chase my bite down with a sip of water. “I mean…I don’t really know. I was the kid who would say something like, when I grow up, I want to be a tree or some shit. I never had a passion.”
He tilts his head as he looks at me. “You don’t strike me as a guy with no passions.”
I can’t help but laugh, and I almost choke on a piece of chicken. “Trust me, I’m passionate. Just not about work. I want enough money to pay my bills, to eat out whenever I want, and to maybe take a vacation or two a year. And I want to be able to do it without working myself into the grave.”
Or being in constant flare cycles. That would be nice, too.
Everest hums as he swirls a chip around the guac. “I get that. I didn’t exactly have hot dog dreams when I graduated high school.”
“Did you want to do something else?”
“Honestly?” He goes quiet for a long second. “I know it sounds pathetic, but all I could think about was getting the fuck out of my aunt and uncle’s house. They’re…” He stops and bites his lip. “They’re the kind of people you don’t want shopping here.”
“What—oh.” Because oh. I get what he’s saying.
He pulls a face. “Yeah. They wanted me to be more like my friend, Zane. He’s a good guy, but his parents got in his head about the Vyastil and all those bullshit conspiracy theories about why they’re here.”
“What do they think?” I have to ask. There are rumors online, and most of it is bullshit. But I have a feeling not all of it is. After seeing what they did to Cielo, I’m starting to wonder if some of the humans who are against the monster presence in our world are on to something.
The individuals are kind and wonderful. Their society, I’m not so sure.
He sighs and shoves a bite into his mouth, chewing like he’s trying to avoid the question. After it’s obvious I’m not going to let it go, he groans and swallows. “I don’t really know the details. Zane doesn’t talk to me about it much because of my whole thing with Rath. But I think they believe some shit like they’re coming to destroy or enslave humanity. Or they’re trying to corrupt our DNA to eradicate us. Some bullshit like that. I never believed them.”
The very idea that Cielo would be interested in eradicating us is almost laughable. He’s a tender little marshmallow who just wants to be held and kissed and given lattes.
There isn’t a chance in hell he’s hiding something like that.
The others who are more like Rathyn, well…I can’t say I trust them. It’s obvious there’s corruption in their government, but that’s everywhere. They’re no different from the terrible humans we have to live with.
“You know I don’t believe it, right?” Everest asks.
