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Dane’s eyes burned into mine, and I let mine burn back at him, hoping he could feel how much I loved him as well as hear it.
“Oh.” His voice came out shaky.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tight.
“I love you,” I said.
“Love you. Love you,” Dane said against my hair. “Sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me tonight.”
“Nothing’s wrong with you. I like when you’re in jealous love mode.”
“Uh. Jealous love mode?”
“Yeah, like, when you get kinda irritated if I’m too far away on the couch so you, like, drag me onto your lap. Or when we’re walking and I go to hold your hand and you put your arm around my shoulders instead, ’cuz it’s not close enough.”
Dane gaped at me, and I realized with a shock that he wasn’t aware he did any of that.
“Sometimes,” I went on, “you reach over and pull the elastic out of my hair so you can touch it, or you tug on my ponytail so I’ll take it down.”
“I…I do?” He slid his fingers into my hair. I loved when he touched it.
“My favorite, though,” I said, pressing closer to him, “is when you’re inside me, and you try to pull me down farther onto your cock. Like you can’t stand not being able to crawl all the way inside me. You make this little frustrated sound and I can feel you so deep.”
Dane shuddered.
“Jesus Christ, Felix.”
I pressed my lips to his neck.
“Maybe you can show me later.”
He nodded.
“Whatever you want, sweetheart.”
A soft little body squeezed its way between us and started working its paws on Dane’s muscular thigh. I slid off his lap and put the remaining tuna in the fridge. Then I put a little bowl of water on the floor.
“Maybe she’ll curl up with us if we sit on the couch?” I suggested.
The cat had begun a slow, inquisitive exploration of the apartment, though, sniffing delicately in every corner and jumping effortlessly to the tops of all the furniture. I trailed after her and Dane trailed after me.
“Maybe not the bed—” Dane began to say. But she jumped on the bed and burrowed under the covers. I moaned from the cuteness and poked at the lump of her to make her grab my fingers through the blankets. Dane sighed but didn’t stop me.
Eventually, when she’d explored every nook and cranny she could find, we sat down on the couch and I called to her and made kissy noises to lure her into my lap. I couldn’t think of anything better than Dane holding me and me holding the kitten. But just as that fantasy seemed like it might come true, she stalked right past me and jumped onto Dane’s lap instead.
“Damn, that’s harsh, Skellie,” I said. She let me stroke her head with two fingers for about ten seconds, then curled into a tiny ball on Dane’s thigh and buried her head under her tail. “Awww, she loves you,” I said, half jealous and half elated. “She doesn’t even care that I exist.”
“But…why?”
“Why does she love you?” I grinned and shrugged. “No mystery to me.”
It was cheesy and ridiculous, and Dane smiled at me so big it made my heart flutter.
All evening, I tried to woo Skeleton, and all evening she allowed me to pet her but always ran back to Dane. Finally, I gave up.
“Well, she’s made her allegiance clear. She doesn’t wanna live with me. She obviously wants to live with you.”
“What? No.”
“Why not? You like animals and you never told me why you don’t have one.”
“I…I can’t adopt her. I’m trying to stop needing to take care of people. My sponsees and…and…”
Affection and exasperation warred.
“Dane, you don’t take care of a cat. It lets you live with it. Besides, it’s not the same thing at all. You get something from having a pet. You get to love them, and you get affection from them. It’s nourishing, not draining.”
He stroked my hair with one hand and Skeleton with the other.
“You don’t have to adopt her if you don’t want her, of course. But…do you?”
Because even though Dane had been skittish with Skellie all night, I thought maybe he’d enjoy being able to transfer some of his attention to her. Getting to pay attention to when she got fed instead of his own routines. Maybe petting her would relax him the way touching me seemed to. Maybe he’d sleep better after chasing a kitten around his apartment for a few hours.
Maybe he’d smile more.
“Maybe…maybe she could stay…for a little while. Just to see.”
“Okay,” I said gently, not wanting to pressure him. “We’ll just see.”
I wound my arms around Dane’s neck and kissed him. I poured every bit of love into the kiss that I could. Dane ran a hand up and down my back and I let arousal creep in at the press of his hips against mine.
