Chapter 16

Colby

I wasn’t going to ask if he needed help carrying anything…or if he thought I’d brought too much, but that was because he had more limbs than I did and nearly all of it had been his idea.

It also seemed to be the Dom’s job to carry shit.

When I’d tried, he’d looked at me like it was the strangest thing he’d ever seen. Then he’d very carefully taken everything out of my hands and patted me on the head.

“You moving in?” Human helper dude was still hanging out or maybe he’d come back…either way, he was at his post and had given up trying to take his job seriously.

“My human is visiting . We are not rushing.” Saint shrugged a few tentacles as helper guy tried not to laugh. “Human limits are fascinating.”

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

There was a difference between negotiating spankings and when we could move in together.

“If you bring your human down tomorrow mid-morning, I’ll get him a badge so he can come and go as he pleases.” Human helper guy managed not to laugh that time. “For when he comes to visit.”

Saint seemed to agree with him because he gave a dramatic human sigh. “Yes, daily visits the humans label as sleepovers.”

I was starting to see why Saint liked human helper guy.

They were both ridiculous.

“I have to check my mail and do stuff at my place once in a while.” So it couldn’t be daily sleepovers with Saint. “Thank you for your help with the badge.”

Being polite got a smile from Saint but human helper guy chuckled. “You’re welcome.”

Brat.

“My Colby, your body is hungry. Is there a specific meal you would like to consume? No. Eat. Is there a specific meal you would like to eat ?” Saint wrapped one tentacle around me and looked like he wanted to pout.

It was probably the not carrying me thing, so I snuggled closer and ignored all the shit he was holding. “Nothing comes to mind right off the bat. Right away, I mean. Is there anything you would like?”

“Specific food cravings seem to appear more strongly in humans and are often based around nutritional deficiencies. However, there is nothing I must eat at the moment.” Herding me into the elevator, Saint made a cute thinking sound. “Our options are a restaurant, to eat in our dining facilities, or to make a meal in our kitchen.”

He didn’t seem to be leaning one way or another, but kind of shrugged when he looked down at the bags. “While I have what is labeled as basics, I do not think we have the ingredients for a proper meal.”

“Probably not.” But I’d fix that at some point. “Let’s do the dining hall. I’d like to start getting to know more people here.”

Because that was important when visiting.

“The human need to nest and to get to know the neighbors . Yes.” He said it like it was a strangely human thing. “My people do not have the same instincts, however, they are rubbing off on us .”

“I don’t think that’s a bad thing to have picked up from humans.” There were a lot of other stupid things they could’ve learned from us. But luckily, they were really smart and the only thing they seemed to get addicted to were their mates.

“Our civilizations are surprisingly compatible, my Colby.” When he finally got to the door, Saint actually let me open it and I still couldn’t help smiling when I could just walk right inside.

No crime meant no locks.

And since they could hear what was going on inside anyway, they always knew when it was safe to interrupt.

“Did you have any kind of locks on your doors on the spaceship?” He set my stuff down on the bed, which seemed to be the signal that I could finally start helping…nesting and all that. “I know there were some documentaries but they were on the engines and technical parts.”

I’d been hoping for Star Trek and I’d gotten engineers droning on about stuff that made no sense at all. It’d been frustrating and the show had gotten such low reviews from the average viewer that they’d stopped doing any more.

They’d learned the wrong lesson, but I was hoping we’d get better movies in the future now that we were getting better books.

“Not in the way you are picturing, my Colby.” Saint walked around the room, opening up a closet and showing me that there were drawers under the bed that I hadn’t noticed. “Our method of isolating sounds between rooms made it necessary for privacy.”

Made sense.

“So you had something to keep people from accidentally wandering in when you wanted to be alone but it wasn’t really about protecting your stuff?” When he nodded, I pictured something like the doors in Star Trek. “Why don’t you have the same problems with theft like we do? Someone said you guys started off more aggressive than we are?”

Picking up the food, Saint looked thoughtful as he carried the snacks and stuff over to the counter. “We were highly territorial and that led to stronger aggression than is found in humans. You are more cooperative by nature. We had to learn ways of working together. Our evolutionary process seems to have been longer than yours.”

“Seems to?” Taking my work clothes over to the half-empty closet, I hung up the shirts and pants I’d need for the next couple of days. “Don’t we know that?”

“There are questions.” Saint was taking organizing the new food supplies very seriously and frowned as he rearranged them for the third time. “Your planet has been significantly damaged through a variety of ecological disasters. It has made it hard to accurately document a timeline.”

Well, between the shit we’d done to ourselves, stuff like volcanos, and falling crap from space, it probably wasn’t a surprise that we didn’t have good records.

“Are you guys working to help with that?” It seemed like stuff they’d be willing to research since we couldn’t kill ourselves with it.

“We must rebuild that science first.” Saint’s wiggly shrug didn’t make sense until I thought about the words.

“You guys don’t have the scientists that look at the archeological record and stuff like that? I have no idea what the right titles are but I know there are lists of them running around trying to figure out what happened in the past.” I thought I’d misunderstood until he shook his head, making a clear human gesture for me.

“We reached a point where we understood our planet.” Giving me another shrug, he came over and picked me up. When my legs were wrapped around his torso and he had me snuggled up tight, he rubbed my back like he thought I was stressed. “When we understood, we moved on to new science and reached for the stars as humans have said.”

Wow.

“You always know everything, so it’s kind of weird to hear that you have to go backward for us.” It definitely wasn’t the first time they’d had to do that, though. “I haven’t heard about that on the news. I need to pay more attention.”

Shifting me to the side, he picked up the stack of T-shirts I’d been folding and put them in a drawer under the bed. “Humans have not asked about those plans.”

We didn’t ask, so they hadn’t volunteered.

Someone needed to fix that.

“How did you hear about it?” The conversation was more interesting than where my underwear was going, so I let him keep putting things away. “Are there newsletters I need to sign up for?”

That had Saint pausing mid-sock sorting and his head cocked. He was so cute when he played human, but I tried not to let it distract me. “We have organized what humans call message boards and have established a variety of websites devoted to what might be called news. It is species specific, however, and is not written in English.”

“Oh, that sucks. You’ll have to read it to me.” That’d be just as much fun as the dirty book plan, just in different ways. “Is that okay? Is it secret? What kind of news is on there? I couldn’t learn French so I don’t think I can learn your language but you won’t mind reading it to me. I’m yours.”

The head pat he gave me said I was back to looking cute again, but I was just glad his worries seemed to be fading because he even put me down. “Yes, my human. I will read our news and information segments to you. There is nothing secret. Humans do not ask.”

Probably because they didn’t think they needed to.

Hmm.

“You know how curious we are.” This was getting suspicious. “I think you guys have just been careful to make sure the humans didn’t ask.”

Bingo.

He shrugged.

“Human scientists and political figures were hesitant to release information on human domination-based relationships. They were also very hesitant to explain the phenomenon called kinks.” His shrug was believable that time. “We had a need to gather information. Then the information simply increased.”

“So you started figuring out kinky stuff with your new human mates and then it just got bigger from there.” I went back to sorting my stuff as he nodded again. “That’s a really human problem you have there.”

“It was careful information at the beginning of our journey with humans.” Saint’s frown said they just didn’t know what to do with it now. “Humans find secrets where there is privacy.”

“They’re going to think you’re hiding something because it’s private…and you guys kind of like private when it comes to stuff like that.” Information gathering…not the sexy bits. “I think you just need to act confused when it finally comes out and ask if the humans learned to read your language. It’s not lying as long as the information wasn’t hidden. Just making sure they couldn’t read it isn’t lying.”

“Have you become political, my human?” He sounded disappointed about that, so I shook my head and stepped closer to make sure he’d pick me up again.

“No, Sir.” Giving him a quick kiss, I made sure I was focused on the question and thinking about him so he wouldn’t get mixed signals from me. “I’m thinking like a human who wants other humans to like their…their mate.”

Ugh.

Saint’s smile peeked out. “That is a desirable trait in a human mate, my Colby.”

I was a little bit worried that would lead us into a conversation I wasn’t ready to have, but he was a smart Dom and subtly took his win.

Well, as subtle as a tentacle alien with a smirk could be.

“You have given me much pleasure today, my Colby.” Ignoring the rest of the stuff that should be put away, Saint walked us around to the other side of the bed and sat down, making sure I straddled what would’ve been his lap if he were built like a human. “The scent of your belongings makes me very happy.”

Oh. I’d read about that too.

“I’m glad.” Yep, it wasn’t much of a response, but I hadn’t ignored it?

In the romance novels I’d read, they basically bonded with their mates on some kind of physical level and didn’t want to be away from us…them…them for long.

It was probably a good thing that I’d brought several days’ worth of clothing.

“Should we keep putting everything away and getting the lights up so that it looks like my stuff is scattered around too?” His entire body perked up and he did that puffy thing, but I got a flash of predator and it was just enough to send a shiver through me. “Um, unless you had other ideas?”

He definitely had other ideas.

His grin was total Dom with a brilliant plan. I knew he could sense what that did to me because he stroked his tentacles over me and made a pleased sound that sent a shiver through me. “Yes, my Colby. We shall finish spreading your possessions and your essence around our shared space.”

Oh, I wasn’t sure what that meant…but his grin said he was looking forward to it.

“I…I like helping you and I want to see the lights up.” The plan was to put them around the edge of the ceiling, but with his physical abilities, I wouldn’t have to find a stepladder for these lights. “You…you’ll lift me up, right?”

“Yes, my human.” His tentacles softly clenched around me as they rippled over me in another caress. “I will hold you tight and keep you safe, my Colby.”

So safe I wouldn’t need safewords?

What was he planning on doing?

Swallowing hard, my mouth was dry and I had to lick my lips as the tip of one tentacle caressed around my neck. “I…I always feel safe with you and…and I know you’ll hold me tight. To…to be careful with me. Yes.”

Right.

He’d hold me tight to make sure I didn’t fall.

That made sense.

What didn’t make sense was that in his mind, putting up Christmas lights started with taking off my clothes. I was pretty sure I approved no matter what, but if he had a plan that was actually logical, I couldn’t figure it out.

When my shirt was off and he’d started working on everything below my chest, I managed to find words again. “You…you’ll get a better grip on me if I’m naked?”

Smiling, Saint patted my head. “Humans can be wiggly . Friction will be improved this way as well.”

Friction as in his grip on me?

Had that been what he’d said…what he’d meant, at the very least?

“You…you’ll hold me tight so I don’t wiggle.” It felt like that response went with the conversation but his predator side flashed again and nearly killed the last few working brain cells that were trying to figure out what we were doing.

“Yes, my Colby.” Stroking his tentacles over my naked body, he teased around my cock and squeezed my erection. “I will hold all of you tightly.”

We were hanging up Christmas lights, right?

What kind of Christmas books had he been reading?

Judging by the look on his face as he rose from the bed, me still wrapped up tighter than a present, I’d missed an interesting new release or two.

What had he been reading?