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And as much as I miss my family, I don’t want them at the cost of losing Eissa.

‘You seem deep in thought, but you won’t let me in,’ his hands complain.

I’ve gotten better at shutting him out, but it’s a necessity if I’m going to try to figure out why Jyrion’s taken such an interest in me. He’s shown so little regard for humans so far, so I know something’s up.

I shrug. ‘Just thinking about home.’

Eissa’s face does something complicated, and his ears flick. It seems like maybe he’s irritated, but I’m still learning all of his expressions. ‘It shouldn’t be much longer.’

I offer him a noise of acceptance, then I sit up. ‘Tell me more about your old companion.’

He stiffens. ‘No.’

I don’t know why the rejection hurts so much. ‘Was he like me?’

Eissa meets my gaze. ‘No. Nothing like you.’

“Okay,” I tell him aloud.

He breathes in deep, his chest expanding, then I feel him tapping against the inside of my temple, asking to be let in. I prefer sign to speaking in our heads. But even so, when he enters my mind, I can understand him even if I don’t fully understand the words. He sends me images and the meaning behind what he says, and it’s all a perfect blend for conversation.

But I don’t want to lose sign in the process.

‘Please?’ he asks.

I relax my mind and feel him ease inside, filling me. It’s like a warm hug from the inside out, and I hate to admit how much I love it. How much it comforts me. But it does.

Kori was one of the first humans I met who was truly interested in me. My differences made him curious. The fact that I was nothing like a human was enticing. But he still made me feel good about myself. Losing him was hard.

My heart aches for Eissa. I understand what he’s saying from both sides. I’ve been seduced and fucked by hearing guys who wanted to see if it was different with a Deaf man. I get stared at in public when I sign. Though I can’t hear them, I know people mimic my accent when I vocalize.

Sometimes I feel like a circus animal.

But Eissa sees me.

But I also understand Kori’s perspective because Eissa is inhuman. He is a Vyastil. A monster. He will never be like me. By all rationality and reason, we shouldn’t be compatible.

And yet, he feels like a piece of me that’s been missing all of my life.

I don’t know what to do with all of this, and as much as I want to ask more about Kori, I don’t. Not yet. ‘Will you have to go back to the capital soon?’

Eissa bows his head and nods. ‘Yes. I have been given several assignments that have me working there.’

‘I cannot go with you?’

I’m unsurprised when he shakes his head. ‘It would not be safe. I won’t be able to maintain the ruse of you as my companion for that long.’

He sends me images—a fantasy of us surrounded by Vyastil, him holding me and kissing me in the human way. He sends another of him kneeling at my feet and taking my cock tenderly, fingering my ass, then making me come for a crowd.

Showing them that it’s so much more than a simple exchange.

My Luca.

I close my eyes as I let those words hit me in the chest. Reaching over, I cup his cheek, then lean in for a kiss. His long, thin tongue wraps around mine as I breathe in deep, then let myself settle into what we are.

For now, what we could be will stay a fantasy. But I have no plans of giving up on making that a reality. No matter how much Eissa fights me on it.

He calls me his. But he is also mine.