Vygus growled but pushed, and sure enough, there was one more. Before it fully came out, Caydem turned on all the bullets once more. Vygus tossed his head back and shouted. The toy slipped free just as he crashed onto his side. Labored breaths came from him as his body continued to tremble.
“This is definitely something we need to do again,” River said.
Caydem gripped River’s chin and turned him to face him. River could see in the vampire’s eyes there was something he wanted to say. Maybe he wanted to talk about what had happened, but River didn’t. If possible he wanted to forget it all. River leaned up and kissed Caydem, surprising them both. River wanted to believe he initiated the kiss to keep Caydem from talking, but he knew deep down that he’d needed it.
Congratulations on His Acceptance
Time seemed to fly by, and now River was looking at graduation. He’d finished—regardless if his last semester was hijacked and full of bothersome supernaturals, he’d still done it. Graduation. He was finally done with his school life. It had been so long ago that he’d made the choice of attending school, and now that it was done, River had to move on to his next thing.
River sat up in bed. Now what would he do?
The normal thing would be to apply for a job within his field. River had no desire or wants. An overly hot body curled around his lower half, reminding him that he had two desires even if he hadn’t wanted them in the beginning.
“What are you still doing in bed?” Caydem asked as he sauntered into the room.
He wore a three-piece suit as if he’d been born in it. His smooth ebony skin looked good with the gray suit.
“I’m contemplating on what to do next,” River answered honestly.
Caydem arched one perfect thick eyebrow up at him. “If you were any other human, I’d think you were leading to leaching off of me and my richest.”
Vygus growled and crawled his way from under the blankets, his blond hair sticking up at weird angles.
“Master doesn’t need your blood money. He can have mine,” Vygus spat.
Ugh.
“Get out of my bed, fleabag,” Caydem demanded.
“Make me, leech.”
River sighed as a headache started right behind his right eye. No longer wanting to think about his future, he slipped from the bed and around Caydem as the two supernaturals continued to argue like cats and dogs. Although they acted completely different when being intimate, they still did the back-and-forth thing. He made his way across Caydem’s open-floor-plan penthouse and to the kitchen. For some reason he’d allowed the two to attach to him, and now he doubted he’d ever be free. Not that he truly wanted to be. River pinched the bridge of his nose. His brain was a mess when it came to the supernaturals. River had always kept things precise and simple, yet he found himself in a complicated situation, one that he couldn’t make up his mind to leave or stay in.
River stopped short at the older man in the kitchen. Both of the supernaturals were rich beyond means, and still River tended to forget that fact, but it was blatantly obvious by the personal chef in the kitchen. Why in the world a vampire needed a chef was beyond River.
“What can I get you, sir?” the older man asked.
“I’ll have an egg white omelet with spinach and turkey.”
“Very well, sir,” the older man said.
River nodded and headed for the kitchen table. He should probably think about a place to live, and for that, he would need money. Looks as if a job was needed after all. He couldn’t possibly afford a place based on his pay from the gym. Especially since he hadn’t taken any new clients since most of his schedule was filled with Vygus and Caydem.
“Can I have five eggs with ham, turkey, and onions,” Vygus said.
Caydem took the chair next to River and leaned in, licking his lips.
“I’ll have my breakfast now.”
River held up his hand to stop Caydem. “You ate last night.”
“Yeah, so hands off, bloodsucker,” Vygus grumbled as he grabbed the opposite seat to Caydem.
Caydem paid Vygus no attention, his alluring eyes solely focused on River.
“Are you trying to limit me?” Caydem gave River a toothy grin as if he anticipated River’s reply.
“The schedule—”
Caydem leaned back in his seat. “School is over. We still have to follow that stupid schedule?”
“Actually, once I get a job, the schedule will be changing. There will be less ti—”
“No,” Caydem said, cutting River off. “You don’t need a job. I have enough money.” Caydem’s eyes cut over to Vygus. “The fleabag has money as well.”
“I hate to say it, but I agree with the leech.”
River had no desire to be a kept plaything for either of them. It didn’t matter what he needed to do as long as he had some structure to his day. He’d also prefer to have the option to run if need be, and money made that easier.
“I will get a job, and I’m not living with either one of you,” River said.
The grunts of disagreement were to be expected. River had been practically staying with both of them at one of their places for the better part of the last semester of college.
“Master, you can’t be serious?” Vygus groaned.
He was.
Caydem watched River with keen eyes as if trying to see into his dark and empty soul.
“Then we will buy a place together,” Caydem said.
River paused. “What?”
“There should be no problem with that. You won’t have to choose which place you prefer, and you can help pick it out.”
River shook his head. “I don’t want to pi—”
“It’s either that or move into my place.”
“Hey,” Vygus whined.
River sighed, knowing all too well Caydem would find a way to get what he wanted. And oh how lucky River was to be what that vampire wanted—not.
“I will not be your kept pet,” River said.
Caydem shrugged. “I don’t need you to be. You’re far too interesting to be a pet. Plus, we have a dog already, and we don’t need anything else.”
Vygus gave a low growl but otherwise didn’t argue the point. He called River master, but ever since he and Caydem had gotten a little more intimate, there was less of a power struggle between the two.
River really thought about his options. If Caydem was saying he wasn’t going to be locked away, then did he really have a reason to say no? He wanted both of the supernaturals, even with their needy personalities, and maybe. Just maybe it was time for River to not be so lonely. Not just live among them, but actually fully commit himself to them. The thought made his stomach turn, but when he thought about the people being Vygus and Caydem, it settled. Hadn’t he already immersed himself with them? He spent every moment with them. Even when Caydem had gone to work, Vygus was around or vice versa, and on the rare occasion River was alone, both of them texted him nonstop.
“Let me think about it,” River said. He lifted his hand up, stopping anything Caydem was going to say. “I didn’t say no. I just need to make this decision on my own.”
Caydem nodded. River thought it was going to be the end of the conversation, but Caydem moved in a blink of an eye. His fingers slid through River’s hair, curled around the strands, and pulled River’s head back. Cool lips pressed against his neck. River waited for Caydem to say anything, but nothing was said. Ever so slowly, he was let go. And even as Caydem left the kitchen and went to the bedroom, River half expected him to come back and declare River belonged to him or something along those lines.