Chapter 21

21

NIKO

I make my way off the elevator, smiling when I see Kovi sitting at one of the empty tables in the middle of the room. I push the cart over and drop down in the seat next to him.

"Hey, how you been?" I ask, knowing Kovi has been dealing with a lot of ups and downs since school started.

"Oh, hey, I've been… Well, not the best.” He proceeds to tell me all the drama that’s been happening with him and the guy he was dating. My heart aches for my friend. "So, are you going to the Halloween ball?” Kovi asks.

"The Halloween Ball? Isn't it on Halloween and the blood moon?" I ask, staring at him.

"Hell yeah, and campus is gonna be alive with decorations. The twentieth anniversary of the Halloween Wave, how sick is that?" he says excitedly.

"Ah, well, I don't know if I'm going to go or not," I say, rubbing my finger along the spine of the book I’m holding.

"What? Why not?" he asks with a bewildered expression on his face.

"You know how hard it has been for me this semester. I'm always in my monster form. Celebrating everyone out and about in their shifted forms when I'm always stuck in mine doesn't seem like my kind of party."

"Niko, it's about more than that. What about the fact that, for some of us, we want to celebrate monster history? It's not something to hide. And think about it this way: you're lucky. Since you're always in your monster form, you don't have to worry about changing into some kind of life-threatening hazard.”

“I still think a reprieve from this…” I adjust my cap, and Coby pokes his head out for a moment before I push him back in. “Would be great. But the grass is always greener on the other side of the graveyard.”

He chuckles. “I like you the way you are, Niko. Never change, my dude.”

"How did you get to be so wise?" I joke.

"I've always been this way,” he replies. He puffs up his chest and preens, and I snicker.

I stand up and move to push my cart. “Look, regardless of our humans, you should at least go to the dance if it’s important to you. With everyone shifting out, it ought to be fantastic for you.”

“Yeah, maybe,” he says. “‘Our humans?”

"Erm, well the human roommate is now… the boyfriend, so there's that."

"What? Damn, I've missed a lot. While I might not have a date to the Halloween Ball, you should go and show off your man, Niko." He says, patting my shoulder.

"I'll consider it," I say, knowing it's the only way he's going to drop it. Coby nips at my cheek and I swat him away, not in the mood to be called out by my snakes.

Kovi and I chat for a minute more before I push the cart away and get back to my job. As much as I want to stay and help Kovi with his drama, I should probably get some of my work done.

I'm sitting on the couch with my head laying on the arm when King walks in the front door. He sets his duffle bag down on the ground then approaches me. He stands at the back of the couch, and I tilt my head back to get a good look at him. He smiles sweetly at me before shoving his tongue in my mouth, kissing me.

He pulls away and I try to chase him but my neck doesn't move that far. "Tease," I quip, sitting back up and turning my body. "How was practice?"

"It was good. Tiring, but good. I'm so excited about the game coming up though." King told me about my dad's idea to have a fundraiser to help change the baseball rules that are currently in place. While other sports teams got their rules updated when they announced the inclusion of humans, the baseball team didn't. It’s been pushed to the side since their season hasn’t started yet.

"It's going to be so good for the team. I'm glad you’ll be getting more recognition. Just make sure you guys actually play well."

"Har, har. We always do well. But I have a test coming up, so I was coming to bug you to see if you could please help me? I'm so damn worried about failing and being unable to play in the game." He gives me the puppy dog eyes and I make a playful face at him.

"Come on, let's go study."

He grabs his backpack, and I hold his hand and drag him into my room. We set all the materials out on the bed and King explains what his test is supposed to be on. We've studied this material time and time again, so I don't know why he's worried.

"Okay, I have an idea."

"Hit me," he says, lying back on my bed. He eyes me seductively, licking his lips, and a thrill racing through me.

"I can already see where your mind is wandering, so here's what we're going to do. I'm going to use your study guide to ask you a series of questions. For every question you get right, you can have me do something."

"Do something? Like what?" He jerks up straight, his eyes wide, and I chuckle at his eagerness.

"Anything you want. I can strip, kiss you, suck you, fuck you, whatever you want. But you have to answer the questions correctly. If you don't answer correctly, then you don't get a prize. Sound fair?" I recognize I want all of those things, too, but we both know he needs to study. So, two birds, one stone.

"No, that's teasing me," he whines, throwing himself back onto the pillows.

Crawling over to him, I put my finger under his chin and tilt his face up to me, placing a soft kiss on his lips. His eyes drift shut as he softly moans. "Then you better fucking get the answers right, Kingston."

Shuffling off him, I go back to the end of the bed, gathering up the flashcards. Fanning them in front of my face, I stare at King, waiting for his move.

"Fine, I'll play your game, but only because I'm fucking horny and I need to study. So, I get something every time I get an answer correct?"

"Right."

"Okay, hit me."

Scanning through the pile of flashcards, I look for an easy one to start him off with. I read off the first question, King's eyes lighting up when he realizes he knows the answer.

"Easy, it's cartilaginous. Give me a kiss."

Leaning forward, I capture his lips with mine briefly before pulling away. King whines, trying to chase my mouth.

"Nope, next question: What is a fibrous joint between two bones connected by ligaments and a strong membrane?"

"Fuck, I think I know this. Syndesmosis?"

"Yes!" I whip my shirt off and King's jaw drops. "I figured I would speed this up for you."

We repeat the process until I'm completely naked, and I’ve kissed and licked multiple parts of King's body.

"Last question: What is it called when a movement causes the angle between the bones and joints to decrease?"

"Flexion," he says with all the confidence in the world while taking off his briefs and laying completely naked in front of me.

Jumping on top of him, I giggle while holding onto him. "You got this, Kingston. You're going to kick ass on that test."

"I just might. Now, since I got the last question right, I want you to sit on my face."

"Only if I get to suck you at the same time."

"Oh, fuck, sixty-nine? Yes, get on my damn face so I can suck you while you suck me."

I scramble on top of him, my face lining up with his dick. Fucking Medusa, I'll never get over his thick cock. It's so damn beautiful and fits into my mouth perfectly. His hands grab onto my ass, shoving me down onto his face. He pulls at my cock while he licks and sucks on my balls, and I throw my head back ignoring his cock for a second, getting lost in the warm feeling of his tongue on me.

He wrenches his mouth away, slapping my ass. "Suck my cock, Niko. Get it nice and wet with your mouth."

Shivering at his command, I lean back down and take him into my mouth. The velvety feeling of his dick on my tongue has me moaning loudly and forcing myself farther down onto him. His tongue finds my balls again, and I have to force myself to keep sucking him down.

King finally puts my cock into his mouth and I pull off and shout loudly, "Hell yes!" He chuckles, shoving his dick back into my face. Taking the hint, I lick up and down his shaft, then pull him back inside.

We work each other, one of my hands using his thigh as leverage while the other one plays with the hair at the base of his cock. Sixty-nine is so much harder than I thought it would be. I want to take my time and devour King, but at the same time I want to lay back and enjoy him working me so well. And fucking work me well, he does. My dick is in the back of his throat; he occasionally swallows around me, causing my eyes to cross from the pleasure.

I move to lift my head off when his legs close around me, holding me in place.

"Is this okay?" he breathes out, my dick instantly missing the warmth of his mouth.

My head is locked, so I nod enthusiastically, letting him know it's more than okay, it's fucking perfect. The tightness on my head has me feeling lightheaded, and so fucking turned on.

King hollows his cheeks, and the suction is my undoing. I unleash in his mouth, moaning around his dick as spurts of cum shoot out of my shaft and down his throat. My dick falls from his lips as his legs tighten on my head even more. He holds me in place as he finds his own release, his dick jerking as ropes of cum fill my mouth. When he's completely empty, his legs fall open to the side, and I face plant onto his cock, breathing heavily.

"Shit, that was amazing," I gush, kissing his limp cock before rolling off him and onto the side of the bed.

King chuckles, moving to lay beside me. Pulling me into his arms, he kisses my forehead, my body relaxing into his.

"Come on, let's get cleaned up."

We take turns showering, me going first while King cleans up all the study material we just had sex all over. Once he's cleaned and dressed, he finds himself in my bed again, and I can't complain. I love laying with him, and my sheets smelling like him isn't a bad thing at all.

I rest my head on his naked chest, toying with the barbell in his pec. I've never wanted to get a piercing before, but I can't deny I'm intrigued by his. He seems to get so turned on when I play with it. I wonder if I would have the same reaction if I got it done.

"How was your day?" he asks, rubbing my snakes. I didn't put my beanie back on after my shower and I feel more free. It's a part of myself I don't have to hide from King.

"It was good. Kovi came and chatted with me at the library. Classes were the same. What about you?"

"Good. I spent the day either at practice getting ready for the game, or studying for the damn test, as you obviously know."

"You're going to kick ass."

"Thank you," he whispers, kissing my forehead. He tends to do it a lot, and each time I melt into a puddle of goo. He does the sweetest gestures that I don't think he even realizes he does.

"For what?"

"Tutoring me. Believing in me. Pushing me."

"Always," I tell him, reaching up to kiss him.

"Hey, what's this Halloween Ball I keep hearing about?"

"Oh, that. So, it's this big dance Creelin U does every year, but this year Halloween falls on the blood moon."

"Does that mean something?" His brow creases, and I chuckle, remembering he doesn't know a lot about monster history or what goes on within our world.

"Yeah, it's a pretty big deal. And the fact it's on a blood moon means that most monsters will be in their shifted forms. For a lot of monsters, their powers will be exacerbated or more intense than they usually are."

"Wow," he breathes out, his arms tightening around me. "Will you change?"

"Um, no. I'm already in my monster form. I don’t have any other. And my powers stay the same whether or not there is a full or blood moon." I squirm awkwardly, hating this. I hate that I don't have another form. It’s petty, but I’m vexed we're having a whole Halloween Ball celebrating those who can shift when I can't do that.

"That's so damn cool." No, it's not. At least, it's not to me. But I don't tell him that. King wouldn't understand. He grabs my hand and kisses each of my knuckles before interlocking our fingers. "So, would you want to go to the Halloween Ball? Be my date?"

Closing my eyes, I don't know how to answer. Well, I know what I want to say, but I don't know how to say it. Even when Kovi brought it up earlier, my answer was an immediate no. Watching everyone celebrate being in their monster forms while I'm hiding in the corner. No, I don't want to do that. "Uh, I really don't want to go."

"Why not?" King asks, baffled, and pulling away from me.

"It's not my scene," I say, trying to get out of it without telling him the truth. I hate being this insecure about how I feel.

"It is your scene, though. The whole ball is to celebrate monsters. You're a monster."

Sitting up, I throw my legs over the side of the bed. "Yeah, I know I'm a monster. You don't have to remind me."

"I didn't mean anything bad by it, Niko. I just assumed you would want to celebrate your history and see all of your friends in their forms."

"Okay, well, I don't want to fucking go. Can you drop it already?"

King looks at me quizzically, and I instantly feel like shit. He puts his hands up in surrender and lays back down. "Got it," he whispers, turning over and cutting me off.

Fucking hell. Damn it.

I might have just fucked everything up.