Now that I was no longer freaking out, I could see everything more clearly. Yes, learning I was changing species still mildly freaked me out, but in the warm light of day, I was starting to get used to the idea. There was nothing I could do to change my fate in that regard, so I’d be fucked if I was going to let it get me down. I had to just push on and get shit done. And that would be a challenge because I could still taste Casersis’s juices, and it kept making me hornier than I’d been since puberty. I couldn’t do anything about it now, though, so I looked around the place I’d be staying for the time being, if I ever left at all.
My room in Casersis’s estate was larger than my entire apartment back in Seymour Commons. I had more storage space than I knew what to do with. It all included a giant walk-in closet with a bench running down the middle of it, rows of shoes on a wooden rack. There were cedar shelves everywhere that held so many clothes and trinkets—cuff links in jewelry boxes, rings with a variety of jewels that looked masculine but fancy, tie clips that sparkled, odds and ends that I didn’t think I’d ever use—that I wondered if Casersis had gone shopping when he was supposed to be sleeping the night before.
Apart from that, I had a dresser that contained all of my old clothes, of which I didn’t have many. And dear God, the mahogany four-poster bed was enormous. A king-size just for me? What?
Everything else, my ThoughtHub, and other things from my past school days, lined bookshelves, waiting for me to put them wherever I wanted them, but I couldn’t figure out where I might want them.
And with all Casersis had bought me, I really didn’t need most of it. It stumped me. Even when my parents were alive, I didn’t have this much shit.
I looked around, and it dawned on me. The reason I had so much shit was because there were things here that hadn’t come from my old apartment. A voice-activated holovision projector rested against one wall, and I had no doubt Casersis had as many movie channels as the world had available. I saw several game consoles in a cabinet below it, the controllers and VR goggles arranged in convenient trays. Along with the few books I owned, I saw rows and rows of other books in the same genres, waiting for me to read. There were even codes on the old-fashioned paper books to download them onto my CommLink, so I could listen to them or read them on the hologram it could project from my hand.
It was all too much. I even saw a gift basket from somewhere with the same kind of shower gel and shampoo that I had used at Mr. Cipriani’s when I’d had to shower before he measured me.
I stormed back toward the secret panel that led to Casersis’s parlor but stopped when I heard voices. I cracked it open to listen in, knowing I shouldn’t, and heard an unfamiliar voice along with Casersis’s and Kevin’s.
I opened the door wider just to see who all was in the room and found Casersis talking into his CommLink.
“I really do not care, Bradley,” Casersis said. “You have no reason to worry.”
“Like hell, I don’t,” came the terse voice from the CommLink. “Erastus is hell-bent on going after two of your companies. I can’t keep you out of the media with this shit going on. How am I supposed to do my job?”
“By any means necessary,” Kevin cut in. “Casersis pays you quite the sum to do your job. It’s your job to figure out how to do your job.”
Bradley grumbled a moment, apparently with his hand over his implant or his fist closed over it. When he came back, he bit out, “Fine. But I want you to stay away from that Dustin character. He’s bad for your image, Casersis. I can’t have you running around with a ragamuffin in public.”
“You have grievously overstepped your bounds,” Casersis said. The harsh, clipped tone of his voice sent pleasant shivers down my spine. Yes, I’d dominated him, but now, hearing his commanding tone, I wanted to take him back to bed and teach him who had just ruled him not so very long ago. But Casersis had work to do, and I had to remind myself that I was pissed at him, no matter how horny I was.
“I will keep the company I wish, and you will do your job, or I will find another public relations manager. Do you understand?”
Bradley huffed, and I wanted to crow. Casersis knew who he belonged to.
And where the fuck had that thought come from? Casersis didn’t belong to me. Fuck. My brain was on some other level, and one I wasn’t sure I wanted. What was I going to do with this shit? My brain shouldn’t be betraying me like this, let alone my fucking heart.
Ugh. Now I wanted to strangle both Casersis and myself. I wasn’t ready for this shit. And I doubted Casersis was, either. The worst thing was, I had probably brought this on myself. Well, there was no “probably” about it. I had brought this on myself with that epic sexcapade. I couldn’t leave him so lonely, though. It would have broken me. At that moment, Casersis had needed someone to take care of him, to take responsibility for his well-being. We both had needed that release. I had needed to feel in control, and Casersis had needed to feel grounded and safe and wanted. There was no way I could have accomplished both any other way. Not that I could think of, at least.
And it worked. For the most part, anyway. That was what mattered, wasn’t it?
I couldn’t think about that now. Instead, I swung the door open the rest of the way and walked in, plopping myself right next to Casersis as if I owned him. Part of me whispered, “I do.” And that scared me just a bit. I didn’t own him. How could a scruffy construction worker own a multi-billionaire elf—the literal richest person in the world?
Casersis glanced at me with a strange expression, tender and loving, but unsure at the same time, and said, “Bradley. Take care of it. I must go. End call.”
The chime from his CommLink sounded the end of the call, and Casersis wrapped his arm about my shoulders. “All finished?” he asked.
I glowered at him. “What’s with all the new shit?”
His eyes widened, and it was almost comical. Almost. “What do you mean?”
I sighed. God grant me patience. I desperately needed it. Shit, I couldn’t very well snap at him. I had agreed to talk about things like a reasonable person. Hell, I was even the one who demanded it. Kevin looked between us with a raised brow as if he couldn’t believe the new dynamic between us, and I wondered if he had heard me fuck Casersis into his mattress.
“I mean, why is my room filled with things that aren’t mine but look like they’re supposed to be mine? Cuff links that are worth more than everything I’ve ever owned combined. Tie clips that are probably worth more than the cuff links. Books in my favorite genres that I’ve never read, some I’ve never heard of. Gaming consoles galore. What the fuck, Cass? Why?”
Casersis lowered his head, a sheepish slump to his shoulders. “I never want you to want for anything again, my beauty.”
God, I’d like that patience, please. I rubbed the bridge of my nose and leaned against him to give him a subtle clue that even though I was pissed and at the limit of my patience, I wasn’t rejecting him. The poor bastard couldn’t take much more rejection after what he’d told me about his son. I couldn’t do that to him, not even with how angry I was.
“I get that,” I finally said. “I do. But, again, we need to talk about this, Cass. If I need something, I’d like you to trust me to tell you.” I looked into his eyes to drive my point home. “And if I want something, I’d like to work for it. I don’t do handouts. I’m one of those people with pride to spare that you lamented about.” I nudged his shoulder with my own and gave him a small smile. “I like to earn what I get, Cass. I don’t mind if you help me, but I’d like to discuss it before you do, okay?”
He let out a put-upon sigh but leaned his head against mine as if he needed that closeness and said, “I will try. But…”
When he paused, I grew suspicious but kissed the top of his head. “But what?”
“Would you let me pay for your college education?”
My stomach pitted, and I wrinkled my nose. That was the epitome of “I can’t work that shit off,” and I was sure Casersis knew it. I wanted to cling to what little independence I had left. Losing control was not an option, and if Casersis did that for me, what control over my life would I have?
Could I reassert myself if he paid for my college? Sure, I could go to the community college, and that would be fine and cheaper than the one I really wanted to go to, but I’d still have to find a way to repay that debt.
Then it hit me. “I want to go back to work.”
Casersis did that preternaturally still thing again, and I stared at the top of his head. “Dustin…”
Sighing, I rested my cheek against the crown of his head and poked his side. “I can’t stay here forever without something to do with my hands. I just can’t. It’s been hard enough since just last night. I called my boss before I showered to let him know I wouldn’t be coming in today because I was ‘sick,’ and I knew he didn’t buy it. I can’t afford to lose this job. I don’t want to lose this job. I enjoy it, and I love the people I work with, especially my boss.”
I didn’t think it was possible, but Casersis stiffened further and finally looked up at me. “You can afford it. I wouldn’t let you be—”
“That’s exactly it, Cass. You wouldn’t let me. I’m an independent person. I like doing things on my own, earning my own way, paying for the things I get either by the sweat of my brow or by lending a hand or by something. Handouts feel wrong. Charity isn’t something I enjoy unless I’m the one offering it.”
Casersis huffed a soft laugh. “Then you are like me in that regard.”
“Quite possibly,” I mused. “But the point still stands.”
“I—”
The broken, cut off word made me look at him more closely, and I hated what I saw. I softened my voice and took his hand. “I’ve been on my own since I was sixteen, Cass. The courts granted my emancipation because I fought for it tooth and nail. I worked hard for it. I had to prove that I could be self-sufficient. I had to prove that I could live independently and pave my own way through society, even if I didn’t have money. I had to prove that I was better on my own than with the abusive shits who I landed with when the foster system tossed me to the first available opening.”
I squeezed his hand and sighed. “I like it here. I told you I would quit fighting, and I meant it. I don’t want to fight you. But, please, please talk to me about things, and I’d really like to go back to my job.”
It was Kevin who spoke as he sat down in the emerald green armchair across from us. “It isn’t that simple, kid. Can you at least give us a few days to figure things out? I mean, this is as new to us as it is to you. One of the reasons Dad is so hell-bent on giving you everything under the sun is because you’re the first pseudo-elf he’s seen in thousands of years. Another is because he is just like that. But the job thing… we have to make sure you aren’t going to sprout pointed ears at the job site, and that you aren’t going to drop from some sort of illness from the changes. You ran a fever all night last night, and it could happen again.”
I thudded my head back against the backrest of the couch and groaned. “You’re right. But… only a few days, and I’ll need a doctor’s excuse or something to send to my boss. I can’t leave him hanging because I’m one of his best workers.
“We’ll figure something out, D.J. Just give us some time.” Kevin shrugged. “Until then, there’s a gym in the west wing you can use. I picked out the game consoles and the games, and if you want something else to do, let me know.”
Six days later, I was running on the treadmill in the gym. Casersis had somehow conned a doctor under his employ to write me an excuse. I wasn’t about to ask questions because I didn’t want to know. Truly, I didn’t. If I knew, I’d probably strangle him, and I’d rather not do that because the sex between us was stellar.
Yeah, I kept fucking him. I couldn’t help it. I was a red-blooded man, and Casersis was fucking gorgeous, and that slick substance that leaked out of his ass when he was turned on tasted amazing, like some kind of sexual dessert. My dick didn’t care one way or the other, just so long as he got to fit into a tight hole, and I didn’t care because Casersis, while he and I had issues, was relatively safe.
After an hour and thirty minutes of running my ass off on the treadmill, I was finally done for the day. My sweats were soaked, and I felt gritty. I’d pushed myself harder today than I had meant to. Casersis kept getting under my skin, and I needed an outlet. I’d benched more than I thought I was capable of, worked my muscles until the pain became a pleasure. Then tired myself to oblivion on the elliptical machine and then ran myself into the ground on the treadmill. All in all, I should sleep like a baby tonight. …If I made it to the bed without passing out and drooling on the carpet.
By the time I had showered and re-dressed, it was time for lunch. Oh, did I mention I had to wait for nightfall to actually pass out? I was dog-ass tired, but I felt good. If nothing else, I needed to keep at that gym every day to work off the food Beth kept cooking. Jesus, if I didn’t, I’d be a walking blimp before the year was out.
And when did I start thinking of living here for an entire year? What happened to wanting my independence? But I had to keep reminding myself that living with someone wasn’t necessarily giving up my independence. Couples did it all the time, didn’t they? But Cass and I weren’t exactly a couple.
Just then, my heart whispered, “Yet.”
I shivered and cursed myself but headed into Casersis’s parlor. He was reading something on the hologram that hovered above his palm and apparently didn’t hear me come in. I didn’t mind. I loved my work, got lost in it. I couldn’t keep him from his. It wouldn’t be right or fair. I couldn’t ask for something for myself and then deny it for him.
When I sat down next to him, he turned his head and smiled at me, dismissing the hologram to give me his full attention—which I must say, it pleased the ever-loving shit out of me. I loved that I had that effect on him.
“Did your training session go well?” he asked.
I nodded because it really did. “And how’s your work going?”
Casersis grimaced at his palm, the one that held the CommLink implant just beneath the skin. “It was a text from Bradley. I am really starting to regret hiring him, but he has been rather good at his job up until now.”
I grinned. “Speaking of jobs… It’s been almost a week, Cass.”
He dropped his hand to his lap and let out a slow breath through his nose. “I know, beauty. I have been trying to think…”
I groaned, “Cass…”
“I know. I promised. But this is serious, Dustin.”
“I’m going stir crazy,” I admitted. “Working out isn’t cutting it anymore. I need something constructive to do with my hands.”
He turned to give me a sympathetic look and nodded. “I can understand that in a way. Would… would gardening help? Do you like landscaping?”
Landscaping… I had done a bit of it before, and I didn’t hate it. “What are you getting at?”
He shrugged. “I can order plants and other necessities, whatever you desire, and you can turn the surrounding grounds into whatever you wish, so long as you leave paths open to the forest.”
It would be something to do, and he was trying his hardest to compromise, and it would be something I could do with my hands. It really was the perfect solution for now. “I can do that.” I poked his side and added, “But we’re going to talk about the job thing. I want to go back to work as soon as possible. I don’t just miss the work, Cass. I miss my friends on the job. I miss my boss. He’s a good guy and almost like a father to me. He gave me a job when I was sixteen, a full-time job when everywhere else didn’t even want to give me a part-time job. I want to go back.”
“But, Dustin—”
“Don’t you ‘but, Dustin’ me, Cass. I deserve to have a job.”
And just like that, he got up and fled the room. I wasn’t done yet.
