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“Do you want me to leave?”

He nibbled on his bottom lip before mumbling, “Um, no.”

I used my thumb to remove his swollen skin from his teeth before I said, “Do you want to sleep upstairs or down here?”

“Here’s fine, on the couch. I’m too tired to climb the stairs and change before brushing my teeth. But I have mouthwash in the bathroom across the way.”

I laughed, pulled him tight to me, before I pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Do you have an alarm code?”

“I do, but I arm it from my cell.”

Nodding, I grabbed our plates from dinner and took them into the kitchen. I rinsed them before stacking them with other dirty items, and called out, “Do you want me to start the dishwasher?”

“Yes, please, the tabs are under the sink. Thank you, Graham.”

By the time I walked back in, after swishing mouthwash before joining Neko, a few minutes passed.

He waited until I was back in the room before he pressed a few buttons on his cell and the lights in the hallway dimmed and the ones in the TV room shut off. He then set the device down on the coffee table and moved his hands to the hem of his hoodie. I hadn’t noticed the cursive writing earlier which read, ‘dudes just taste better.’

When he revealed his toned, almost hairless chest, with defined pecs and abs, my mouth watered.

Fuck, darker nubs. That knowledge would live in my head each time I stared at his chest.

His fingers, which I grew obsessed with over the past two days, moved to hook the waistband of his sweats and he shimmied his hips as he slid them off, revealing long, toned legs and bright purple boxer briefs.

But when he plopped, face-down, onto the couch, I shook myself out of my perusal of his body and willed my own to relax.

“Find space around me since I’m not moving. Can you grab the blanket in the closet behind you?”

A chuckle escaped my throat, but I stripped off my clothes and went to search the closet. I pulled out a plush blanket and turned. Neko hadn’t moved from the awkward position he landed in. I took a deep breath, placed the covering on the top of the couch where I could reach it, and scooped up the lightweight man, tucking him against my chest. I turned so my back would be against the sofa, and lowered the both of us to stretch out on the wide couch.

The sound of a sigh echoed through the room before Neko scooted closer, his back and legs against my front, and I draped an arm around his waist. His head tilted at a weird angle, so I slipped my arm underneath his neck and his soft hair brushed against my skin.

“You have more chest hair than I thought you would?”

I had no clue how to respond to that. “Is it bothering you? My hair and while I’m on the subject, me holding you while you sleep?”

“No, no, no, no… oh, did I say no?”

I huffed out a laugh, and I sensed Neko’s smile.

With each breath he took, it brought him closer to me, and my skin tingled at his touch. When I lifted him in my arms, I realized there was no hesitation on my part at both of us being undressed with no breathing room between us. Instead of overthinking the explicit trust he’d given me, my eyes drooped at his warmth and his scent. The beast that raged at the sight of him being abused relaxed.

“Good, because I don’t think I’ll stop being less protective of you.”

“You’re very sweet, Graham.”

His words slurred, and before long, his deep, even breathing made me smile.

And then I realized defining my sexuality and trying to figure out why I’ve never felt this way wasn’t important. What mattered was the surge of affection whenever his attention focused on me. Or the way he smiled, drawing me nearer and nearer to losing my heart to the man. Neko was beautiful, intelligent, sexy, and I wanted to say he was mine.

Would I be able to ask him if he felt the same?

Chapter 3

Neko-Ren

A loud thunkfollowed by giggling sounded in the quiet house, but I snuggled back into a warmth that surrounded me from head to toe, ignoring anything not in my immediate area.