Ollie was shocked at how easily they escaped, just climbing over the fence with each other’s help. Though truth be told, Goran seemed suspiciously proficient. Almost as if he were a real-life burglar, well acquainted with getting through fences and locked doors. Ollie shuddered.
Now that they were sitting so close to one another, with their thighs touching, it was impossible to ignore Goran’s scent—fresh and citrusy over musky skin. Ollie glanced at him, shuffling closer when the bum moved toward the front of the bus and stumbled between the seats, grabbing the backrest of a seat across from them. With Ollie being away from people for so long, he could easily succumb to some aggressive bacterial strain, and he definitely didn’t want to get it from that guy.
He stilled when Goran casually put his arm over his shoulders. “I wanted to go to this Internet café first, okay?”
They’d only just run off, and Ollie’s plans were already crumbling. They needed to go to the shops for Goran to buy something, and being so far away from the mansion, the payphone plan didn’t seem like a valid option anymore. Did people even use payphones anymore? Ollie needed to breathe and think. Take charge of the situation.
“Why? Aren’t you hungry?” he asked and checked if someone wasn’t giving them funny looks. Goran’s arm was a perfect weight and provided some comfort on the smelly bus full of people who could potentially be dangerous. “And... you think this”—he raised his shoulder underneath Goran’s palm— “is a good idea? What if someone attacks us?”
“Where? At an Internet café?” Goran raised an eyebrow. “I just want to send my family an e-mail. It won’t take long. We can grab some food afterward. Where’d you want to go?”
Ollie didn’t know what to say at first, overwhelmed with the choice. For once, he could go anywhere he wanted. “I mean... you’re touching me. Someone might not like that.”
Goran cocked his head. “I’m just touching you like I would a friend…”
Ollie looked at the hand resting on his shoulder. It radiated warmth, and he rather wanted it to remain where it was. “I’m just... not much of a fighter. It’s dark, and we don’t have our own car. Anything could happen.”
Goran leaned closer with a smile. “Exactly. Anything could happen. That’s what’s so great about this. I’m all buzzing. I’ve been in fights, don’t worry.”
Ollie smirked, unable to resist the charm radiating off Goran. Their mouths were so close he could sense the heat of Goran’s breath on his cheek. “Sure. If anything happens, you’re gonna use me as decoy and leave.”
Goran laughed and shook his head. “That’s not my style. I told you I’m a lifeguard. I guard lives, not put them at risk.”
Ollie couldn’t help it. He was melting a little bit, as if Goran were the sun and he was a popsicle carelessly left at the beach. He needed to change the topic. Quickly. “So you miss your family.”
Goran leaned back against the seat but kept his arm over Ollie’s shoulders. “I do, but I bet they don’t miss me.”
“Why not?” Ollie sighed and relaxed against the backrest with the weight of Goran’s hand pleasantly warming his arm.
Goran looked out of the window and kept silent for a longer while. “I told you I’m saving up to pay for my parents’ debts, like I’m some hero, but the truth is, those debts are my fault in the first place. I fucked up on all levels.”
Ollie didn’t know what made him do it, but he squeezed Goran’s thigh gently, looking into his face. All of a sudden, his earlier resolve to remove Goran from the cattery at all costs was dwindling. He would be affecting not only Goran but his innocent parents as well. “My family hates me too.”
Goran gave him a little smile and patted his shoulder. It made Ollie feel as if everything would be all right, no matter what he said next. “How come? You said they’d help you get a job and all that.”
If Goran was pretending to be sincere, he was a damn good actor, because Ollie was falling for the act. He looked down at his fingers and twisted them around the thumb of his other hand. He never really talked about this to anyone but Luis. “I came out to them two years ago. They weren’t happy with me.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. What happened?”
Ollie clutched his shirt at the front of his chest, remembering the most nerve-wracking days of his life. They were what made him want to become a carefree kitten that didn’t need to worry about anything but its master’s pleasure. “We had a few silent days, and I thought it would eventually blow over, but then they said that they’d still expect me to have a wife and kids, because it goes with our family’s reputation.”
“So is that how you ended up with Luis? Trying to make ends meet?” Goran spoke softly, without judgment in his voice this time.
Ollie clenched his hand on Goran’s thigh, as the words stabbed him right in the chest. He looked up, into Goran’s eyes, which seemed as sincere as they did when he called all the cats prostitutes. There was an overwhelming need in Ollie to share with someone, and this time and place felt right.
“No. He’s an acquaintance of my parents, so we knew one another before all this. He... you know... was the first guy I slept with,” Ollie said, self-conscious the moment he finished talking. Was it pathetic that he was stuck with his first-ever crush, serving him as a... prostitute who pretended to be a cat? How did Ollie even end up like this? It was ridiculous.
Goran groaned when the bus stopped, and he got up, prompting Ollie to do the same. How did he even know where to get off? Bus routes always confused Ollie.
“You were in a relationship with Luis before all this?” Goran asked as they stepped into the warm night somewhere Ollie didn’t recognize.
Ollie hesitated, wondering if he should lie, because the truth was too pathetic for words. “No. It was... a thing.”
“And he always liked this kind of stuff? Sorry to ask so many questions. I’m just trying to piece it all together.” Goran put his hands into his pockets, looking cool and casual in his tank top and shorts. Ollie was already missing Goran’s arm over his shoulders as they walked along a grassy park with patches of bushes and some trees planted for shade.
“No. He told me about his fascination with pet-play later, and when my parents gave me the ultimatum, he was the first person I thought of. He was assembling the first set of cats at the time, and that’s how this whole thing started.”
“So are you staying there because you don’t have anywhere else to go? I mean… it’s tough, but you can always work something out. You can’t stay there forever. For your own sake, really. I came to the US a few months ago. My uncle was supposed to have a job for me, so I could earn decent money quick, but I think he found out I was gay, and the job wasn’t there for me anymore. Nor was a room. So I just grabbed whatever work I could find, but I had barely any money. You’ll have a hundred grand from Luis for a start. You’re set.”
Ollie looked at the dark pavement beneath his feet and shrugged. “I’m not sure. It’s safe in the cattery. And Luis is lovely.” Goran’s arm brushing against his made Ollie shift a bit closer as goose bumps sprouted all over his skin.
“I guess. Who am I to talk? I mess up all the time. Maybe you are better off there. I’d go mad though.” Goran took a deep breath. “I’d forget what it means to be alive. Don’t you feel that kind of life is pointless? Don’t you want to have a job? A business? A boyfriend?”
Ollie stopped and put his hand against a lamppost, watching Goran take a few more steps. That was so right. What was Ollie waiting for? Luis was pulling away from him every day, and waiting for his affections to settle back on Ollie felt like a waste of time. Then again, leaving meant decisions, difficulties, and change. Ollie wasn’t sure he was ready for any of that.
“I don’t think about any of this most of the time.”
Goran smiled at him anyway, turning around and walking backward to still look at him. “Well, now that you’re loaded, you can be my boyfriend. We could go to Croatia, you’d rent yourself a little place. I’d teach
you kayaking. You like prawns? We could eat them all day. And tuna steak, man… they’re so fresh back home.”
Ollie laughed, and a bit of the tension he’d been feeling all evening left his muscles. “Sure you would. A perfect cover for murdering me.”
Goran grinned and winked at him. “I’d fuck you first.”
Only now did it hit Ollie that Goran flirting with him outside of the cattery felt so very different from inside. They were just two guys out here, without the rules, without the expectation of sexual play. It was something he had never really experienced outside of watching it unfold in books or movies, and there was something about the attention he was getting now that made him feel good about himself. As if all that he was at this moment was more than enough to elicit Goran’s interest.
“Before you murder me? If you know it’s gonna happen, does that count as necrophilia already?”
Goran laughed. “Ew! I may be a cat-boy, but I’m not into freaky shit. I don’t even think I could be a puppy in the long run. I’m not good with following orders.”
Ollie stepped closer, into the shadow of a tree, and looked up at Goran, with a flush heating up his cheeks. The air smelled of salt and gas, and Goran’s face emerged from the darkness in the weak glow of the streetlights. “I can imagine. You never listen, and your mouth has no emergency brakes.”
“That’s actually a good way to put it. I try, I really do, but I can’t help myself sometimes. I say things how I see them. Not the best attitude in customer service.” Goran sighed and pointed to a neon sign of an Internet café down the street.
“I know, and you’re either crazy or really charming. I’m not sure just yet,” said Ollie, walking toward the café first, to hide the heat blooming on his face.
“I think that’s what I like about being a cat sometimes. I don’t have to worry about saying something stupid.”
Ollie looked above his shoulder and grinned. “You’re a cute cat.”
“Oh really? How come?”
Goran was a cute human too. At least when he wasn’t accidentally hurting Ollie’s feelings. “Isn’t it self-explanatory?”
“No. I wanna know what you like.”
They entered the surprisingly seedy-looking cafe that smelled of instant coffee and sweat. Goran seemed to know what he was doing, as he paid a cashier who didn’t even look at them properly and proceeded inside.
Ollie followed him, trying to keep close to Goran even as he spotted a vending machine with all sorts of snacks that were forbidden at the cattery because of Luis being health-conscious. His mouth watered at the sight of potato chips and mass-produced chocolate he used to enjoy as a kid. In this moment, he understood what he wanted to do tonight. He’d have the food he’d not been able to eat for the last two years, and something was telling him that Goran would be a willing participant in the pig-out.
“I told you your cock is nice,” he teased quietly.
Goran raised his eyebrows and pulled at the collar of his top. “Amping up the heat in here, are we?”
Ollie slapped Goran’s ass and rushed toward the vending machine. Before leaving the cattery, he had taken out his wallet from the locker where he kept his valuables, and he was certain there would be enough change left there for a little something.
Goran leaned against the vending machine next to him with a deep groan. “Oh, yeah… Snickers…”
“Will you have some unhealthy food with me?” asked Ollie, pushing coin after coin into the slot. He couldn’t stop grinning. He hadn’t felt so light in weeks, possibly even months, and all it took was sneaking out with the most detestable guy at the cattery... who turned out to be decent company. Despite considering Cin his best friend in the house, Ollie never actually felt this urgent need to share as much with him.
Goran laughed. “Hell yes, I will, if you play some Counter-Strike with me.”
Ollie took his chocolate bar out of the machine and bit into it as soon as he tore through the wrapper. The sugary sweetness spread through his mouth and went all the way to his curling toes. “I don’t think I can say no to you now.”
Goran lowered his voice and snatched the chocolate out of Ollie’s hand. “You tease. I should so abuse that.”
“What, the Snickers bar?” asked Ollie, keeping his face still, as if it were made of stone, even though he was bubbling up with laughter on the inside.
“No, something much sweeter,” Goran said and pushed Ollie against the vending machine, his lips pressing against Ollie’s.
Ollie’s brain rattled, and he was suspended in a strange place between anxiety and the electric connection of their bodies. Goran’s hands slid down his sides, and his soft lips opened, gently nipping on Ollie’s mouth. Ollie gasped and leaned against the vending machine when his knees went soft. A kiss shouldn’t feel like anything special, and yet no one had ever kissed him quite like this. Not in public. Not with so much unrestrained passion.
Ollie’s hands were in Goran’s hair, clutching at it as the kiss deepened. He’d kissed every guy in the cattery, but truth be told, even kissing Luis didn’t feel this way anymore. Goran’s lips held excitement, and his touch spoke of all the things he wanted to do with Ollie.
“Hey! Come on!” a few people moaned at them from their computers, and Goran pulled away, but his eyes were trained on Ollie’s, dark and glimmering with unabashed lust.
For a few seconds, Ollie forgot how to breathe. No fists were flying toward them so far, and the warmth of Goran’s lips was still tasting so sweet. “You... wanted to send an e-mail to your family,” he said in the end, holding on to the chocolate bar as if it could somehow save him from falling through the floor.
“Yeah, I’ll go do that. Saying ‘time is money’ is rarely as true as at an Internet café.” Goran winked at Ollie and walked off to an empty booth between people playing some game with headphones on.
Ollie followed him to the seat and stood behind him, wondering if Goran would sense his presence with as much power as Ollie did Goran’s. He looked at the ruffled dark hair below and broke the chocolate bar in two. “Here,” he said, poking the bar against Goran’s cheek.
Goran arched his head back and opened his mouth instead.
Ollie knew he was getting red, but he still pushed the Snickers bar between Goran’s sweet, supple lips. He then sat down at the computer next to him and looked at the screen. He’d gotten out of touch with most technology. So much so that he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do first. In the end, he opened up his e-mail. It was full of piles and piles of spam and promotional information. If there was anything of value waiting for him on the account, it was buried deep in the pile of trash.
“You haven’t checked your Facebook in two years. That’s so crazy,” Goran said with his mouth full as he tapped on the keyboard like a maniac.
Ollie grinned, even though hearing that did make him feel isolated from everyone he knew before. “I deleted my account when I joined the cattery.”
“So you bailed on everything and left?” Goran frowned. “No judgment. Just saying. Look, this is my mom with my sister.” He turned the screen to Ollie, presenting a picture of an older, very tan lady sporting a wide smile and a younger woman holding a baby.
Ollie smiled despite himself. It was a cute picture. Completely normal. “They look happy.”
“They always try to be. No matter the circumstances.” Goran quickly started writing again.
“So... did you tell them why you’re not writing to them as frequently as before?” asked Ollie, watching the pictures of a happy family, something he never felt he really had.
Goran snorted. “Yeah. Told them I’m working at a hotel on an island with no Wi-Fi. I’m not gonna tell them I’m… that.”
Ollie licked his lips, wondering if he should press or not. “But... if they want to talk to you, whatever you did couldn’t have been that bad?”
Goran groaned and ruffled his bangs. “I guess they don’t hate me.”
“Was this about a boyfriend, or
something?” asked Ollie, hesitating before he touched Goran’s arm.
“Don’t you owe me a game of Counter-Strike?”
So that was a sign that the road to the truth about Goran’s problems was barred with police cars and rattlesnakes. “You’ll win anyway, but we can play,” said Ollie, smirking at Goran and watching him for any signs of displeasure.
“I could go first and be your muscle.” Goran wiggled his eyebrows and nudged Ollie with his foot.
“Deal,” said Ollie and put on the headphones.
He wasn’t the most proficient of players when it came to first-person shooters, but he had a lot of fun and was even a little bit sorry when their time was up. With some of the steam let off by pressing buttons, he was slowly getting hungry and pushed closer to Goran as they left the café.
“So what did you tell them in the end? Did you write them about me?” he asked playfully.
Goran laughed and pushed his hands into his pockets as they walked down the street. Ollie could only hope Goran knew where they were going. “What would I tell them about you?”
Ollie shrugged. “I don’t know. A guy who’s hot but you hate him anyway?”
Goran poked Ollie with his elbow. “More like he’s hot, but he hates my guts.”
Ollie chuckled and brushed his fingers up and down Goran’s back. He loved how the shirt dipped to mold to Goran’s spine when he touched him. “I don’t hate you. I mean... I guess you can be a difficult person,” he said, even though he wasn’t sure if he really meant it anymore.
Goran pulled Ollie right when he was about to turn left. “I know. Sometimes I say things I regret later.”
“Like what?” asked Ollie, breathing in the cool air as they walked toward the clean horizon of the shore.
“Like… telling customers they can fuck off if they have an issue with me making out with a dude in the lobby.” Goran exhaled deeply. “And that no, they can’t get any extra towels if they are gonna be dicks to me. And that I don’t care if they leave bad reviews for the hotel.” He slouched, lowering his voice with every sentence.
The Cattery_M/M contemporary sweet kinky romance Page 9