Page 14

14

CAM

I woke up with Penn’s head on my chest and his hard dick pressing into my thigh. He looked more peaceful than I’d ever seen him. All of the stress from the previous night’s conversation seemed to have melted away in his sleep.

After we’d hooked up the night before, we’d taken a quick shower in my suite’s bathroom and ran back across the hall to my room. We laid in my bed in our underwear and caught up about the past few days. I’d fallen asleep with his arms around me, his voice a soothing lullaby. I’d slept better than I had in my life.

“Penn,” I whispered, trying to wake him up. He groaned and tightened his arms around me, pulling me closer to him. I smiled. It wasn’t like we had class that day, so I could have let him sleep. Except I did have plans to meet up my mom for lunch, and I wanted to talk to her about Penn’s concerns. I wanted to get him the answers I promised to help him find.

It had nothing to do with the fact that I wanted to go further with him. I wanted to know that what we felt for each other was real.

“Penn,” I repeated, turning to face him. “Time to—” He cut me off with a soft sleepy kiss and a roll of his hips.

I wasn’t sure if he was completely awake, but I couldn’t stop myself from kissing him back. I fought the urge to let my hands wander his perfect body until his eyes open. “We don’t have class today,” he grumbled against my lips. “Want to sleep in.”

I laughed. “I know, but I have lunch with mom.”

He rolled his hips again. “Want some breakfast?”

“What were you thinking? A nice protein shake?” I teased as my hand snaked down his body to the bulge that was currently pressed against me. He groaned into the kiss as soon as my hand hit his. “Because that would give me a nice boost of energy.”

His hips rolled against my hand, chasing friction. “Was thinking moving up our feeding for tomorrow to now.”

“Think I’d rather have the protein shake,” I told him before kissing down his bare torso.

He let go of me and rolled onto his back as I positioned myself between his legs. I mouthed over the fabric covering his hard dick. I could taste the salt of his precum through the material and god, he tasted amazing. I felt the spike of energy the moment my mouth touched him, and I pulled a little of it in.

Maybe I wasn’t going to do a full feeding, but a few small tugs would do the same thing as the protein shake I planned on having for breakfast.

I tugged down his briefs and took him into my mouth. His hips jolted up almost instantly, feeding more of his dick into my mouth. I groaned, smiling around his cock. “That feels good,” he whispered, his voice still thick with sleep.

I responded by hollowing my cheeks and sucking him harder. I pulled another bit of the energy into myself, and then put all of my focus into him. It didn’t take long before he tipped over the edge, my name on his tongue as his release flooded my mouth. I pulled myself off of his dick with an obscene pop, licking my lips as I crawled up his body.

“Want to suck you.” His voice was still thick, but it was no longer from sleep. I was very familiar with that tone of voice.

I nodded and pulled my dick out of my underwear. His mouth was open and waiting for me by the time I reached the head of my bed. I fucked into his mouth, his hands gripping my ass and guiding me deeper until I came with a shout.

I heard one of my roommates pound on the wall behind my bed, and we both laughed. I plopped down beside him. “Amazing protein shake,” I teased before I brought my lips to his. My flavor combined with his on our tongues as we made out lazily until my phone alarm went off, reminding me that I had lunch with my mom.

And that meant getting answers for Penn.

An hour later, I was sitting on the back porch of my parents’ house with a plate of food. It was just me and my mom, something that happened less frequently the older I got. She’d ordered in from one of our favorite restaurants, and I remembered lunches when I was younger when it was just the two of us and this same food. My dad and my sister had never liked the restaurant. They thought the chicken wings were too spicy, and there weren’t a lot of other options on the menu. My mom and I, on the other hand, always went for the spiciest wings they offered.

We made small talk while we ate our lunch, my eyes watering from the wings she’d ordered. “This is spicier than it was last time,” I commented after I’d eaten three wings and downed half a glass of water.

“New flavor,” she explained with a laugh. “Apparently, we’re not the only ones who thought their previous spiciest was getting a bit tame.”

I liked it. It might have burned my tongue, but it was a flavorful heat. I kept thinking of ways to start the conversation I knew I needed to have with my mom as we ate, but I couldn’t find an opening.

I couldn’t find it as we cleaned up our lunch either. Nor could I locate an opening while we sat on the couch together and caught up on a sitcom we both enjoyed. Instead, we talked about other things. She asked if I’d heard from Ryder and laughed at the stories he’d told me about his European adventures. She told me about the new girl at her office and the changes my parents were thinking of making to the basement. (Since my sister and I both moved out, it felt like they were always talking about making changes to the house and never actually doing it.)

“Are you staying for dinner?” she asked hours later. Hours of me trying and failing to work Penn’s questions into our conversation.

Maybe dinner would be a good idea. After all, my dad would be there, and I did have questions about falling for my feeder. My dad might know something. I told her I’d stay for dinner, and she smiled.

When she went into the kitchen to cook, I followed her. My dad came home while we were chatting. I watched as he gave my mom a kiss on her cheek and asked if she needed any help.

I loved the way they were together. My entire life, I’d wanted something like that. I’d wanted the kind of love that, years later, was obvious to anyone who witnessed it. I craved the kind of relationship that came with kisses after a long day and offers of help before I even asked. I’d always thought that maybe, one day, I’d find a nice incubus to settle down with and we’d both keep feeders on the side.

The same relationship my parents had.

The same relationship that most concubi had—a marriage to someone like them and feeders on the side. We tended to marry our own kind because we knew not everyone was okay with their partner having someone on the side, and not having a feeder wasn’t an option for us.

I wondered if I could have that with Penn. The kisses and the help and the affection. The love and the romance. I wanted it with him, I realized. The feelings I had for him were stronger than any feelings I’d ever had before, and I wanted all of it with him. Maybe I could even just keep feeding off of him, and never need a feeder on the side. The idea felt right.

I couldn’t have any of that unless I figured out the answers to his questions.

“When we eat, can I talk to you guys about something?”

The realization that I wanted what my parents had with Penn inspired a bravery in me that I didn’t know I had. It got me to force an opening in the conversation. Unfortunately, it also caused both of my parents to look at me with alarm on their perfect faces. “It’s nothing to worry about,” I assured them. “I just have a few questions. Or well, my feeder had some questions, and I figured you guys might know some answers?”

That did not soothe the alarm on their faces, but they didn’t push until we were sitting at the table.

“What did your feeder want to know?” my mom asked after we’d all been served.

No warm up time. No small talk about my dad’s day at work. It was probably for the better. It meant that we wouldn’t get sidetracked and I wouldn’t have to figure out another way to steer the conversation where I needed it, because clearly, I wasn’t great at that.

I thought back to the list of questions on Penn’s computer and our conversation the night before. He had a lot of questions, but they came back to the most important one. “Does feeding affect the emotions of the feeder? Like does it manipulate them or anything?”

I was wording it badly. I should have brought Penn’s list of questions with me.

My parents exchanged a glance before looking at me. “Does your feeder have feelings for you?” I nodded. “Do you have feelings for him?” The bright smile on my face was the only answer they needed.

The smile dimmed as they exchanged another glance. “Oh. It does.”

“Not always,” my dad clarified, “but feeding has been known to intensify feelings that are already there. Especially if they’re reciprocated.”

I didn’t like that answer. I could feel myself deflating, because how much of it was real?

“Humans are the same way,” my mom added quietly. “If humans have feelings for someone and they start getting physical, it can intensify things. It’s not magical. It’s not manipulation.” I could feel the flickers of hope coming back to life in my gut. I met her eyes, and she smiled at me. “It’s very human. At the end of the day, we all have the same emotions and react the same way.”

“Do you think it could work between me and him?”

“That one is tougher, Cam,” my mother answered after a few moments of contemplation. “I don’t see why it couldn’t, but he’d have to accept what you are. He’d have to accept that one day, only feeding off of him might not be enough. You’d have to learn when to feed off of him and when to just be with him.” Hadn’t I already done that last night, resisted the pull of the energy and just been with Penn? “And you’ll have to learn how to be with him long term, too. How to support him and his needs.”

“Just like you would if you found a nice incubus and fell in love with him,” my dad added. “But if you like this guy, then there’s no magical reason you shouldn’t at least try.”

My heart swelled at their approval, at knowing that what I was wasn’t going to be a hurdle in my relationship with Penn unless we let it become one. I could be with him and not have to worry that the reason we wanted to be together was because of the feedings.

A part of me had already known that answer, because I’d fed off of Ryder for years and he’d never fallen in love with me. It was still good to have confirmation.

“But if you are going to get serious about this boy,” my mother started. There was a firmness in her voice that demanded my immediate attention. I looked at her and she continued as a soft smile formed on her lips. “Then your father and I are going to want to meet him at some point.”

“Let them figure it out first before you demand a meeting,” my father interjected. “Do you remember how intimidated I was to meet your parents? Don’t put that poor boy through all of that before they even have steady ground underneath them.”

“Yes, but your mom is still scary,” my mother argued affectionately. That was news to me. My mom and grandma had always seemed as thick as thieves. “We are lovely.”

“Are you saying my mom’s not lovely?” The question was almost lost in my dad’s laughter. “I’m telling her.”

“You are not, and that is not what I meant!” My mother’s laughter joined his, and it was contagious enough that I couldn’t help laughing either.

Maybe I could have that with Penn.

I pulled out my phone and texted him, asking when he could come over.