Their Boy Beloved [MxMxM] (Taming His Blaze Book 1)

Chapter 8

MASEO • POV

The next day, Nolan moved into the house, bringing a few packed bags of belongings... and the ugliest cat I have ever seen in my entire life along with him. It looked... like it should've been dead, but crawled out of its grave with a kind of determined stubbornness I had come to expect from cats - not that I knew first hand what it was like to own one.

Reuben was going to have a fit.

Luckily for Nolan and I, my boy was still asleep considering he only had afternoon classes today. I let him sleep in when he could. The silence inside the house was welcome, yet always strange. Though it wouldn't be long until he was awake and screaming, laughing or whining so I never complained about the temporary relief.

Plus it gave me time to give Nolan a tour of the house and peace while he unpacked in the spare bedroom.

Nolan pulled the skinny cat out of its carrier, letting it perch on his shoulder. It wrapped around his neck like a neck pillow, glaring at me with one beady green eye, little fangs hanging over drooping lips. It was one of those hairless cats, always used as a villain's pet in the movies.

A sphynx, I believe.

But with the cat looking so rough and worn and Nolan looking smitten with his glasses almost falling off his handsome face from the cat's smacking tail, he looked less like a villain and more like the happiest nerd in the world with his little sidekick. I was smiling before I could help myself, it was just too ridiculous.

"I thought you'd be a Great Dane kind of guy," I said only half jokingly, heading into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. Nolan followed behind me, big body moving silently despite his size, with impressive ease.

"I get that a lot," he chuckled. "I love dogs, but I'm not in the habit of bringing animals home. This little girl has been the only one who managed to get me to commit to owning a pet. Her name's Eva, by the way. I hope you don't mind. She's too lazy to be destructive and she hates everyone equally, so she won't bother you. I'll clean up after her of course."

Eva smacked Nolan in the face again, protesting his defamation of her 'mean' character with her tail, bumping her bald head beneath his chin and purring. I laughed, shaking my head.

"That's alright. As long as she doesn't eat the cricket and cause a meltdown of nuclear proportions, there are no complaints on my end," I told him. "Coffee?"

"Yes please."

I placed the mugs down on the dining table and we both sat down, taking one steaming cup each. I scrubbed a hand over my face, feeling tired, and anxious about starting our day. I didn't know how Reuben was going to behave, I was nervous about his punishments and I was still adapting to the idea of having another man - another dominant - inside our home.

It was invasive.

Another Master was going to be involved in the care and teaching of my own boy. Professional or not, it was still a knife to the heart, still a hard pill to swallow. I felt like I'd failed at an important task and someone better than me had swooped in to complete it where I couldn't.

Was it jealousy? A little bit. But more than that, it was fear.

I'd been clear that I was willing to let Reu go if it was in his best interests to find another Daddy or Dom who treated him better and provided for him better than I could. Did that mean I didn't love and adore the hell out of him? No. Did that mean it wouldn't absolutely kill me if I did let him go or if he chose another dominant to take care of him instead of me? No.

By bringing Nolan into the mix, I felt like I was practically inviting the better choice into our home and presenting him to Reuben on a silver platter. Part of me wanted to call the whole thing off. The other part knew that Reueben and I were on our last limbs together and if we didn't at least try, we'd fall apart anyway.