Taming Beasts | MxM | Petshop

Part 3

I stretched my back, releasing a content growl and pushing my front paws as far to the front as I could. The scent of meat had woken me, so it was no wonder that my stomach rumbled loudly, especially since my last meal had been at least a day ago. I crawled towards the bars, then sat down in front of them, sniffing at the air.

Ross entered the bedroom five minutes later, a white designer bowl in his hands that looked just as clean as the rest of this apartment. While I disliked sterile environments, I didn't mind getting my hands on that bowl. It smelled deliciously of fresh horse meat, my nose could tell.

Looking back and forth between me and my meal, Ross raised the bowl slightly. "You want this?"

My voice rumbled in my throat, daring him to deny me my treat. I wasn't stupid enough to believe he wasn't going to try and bargain using food. After all, he wasn't the first to try.

Sighing, Ross sat down on the edge of his bed and put the bowl down on his nightstand. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he merely smiled lopsidedly. "In case you're not aware, I don't speak cat. But I know you can understand me perfectly well, so let's make this simple. If you want me to give you this horse meat, I expect you to nod. That's it. Not too hard, is it?"

I snarled at him, causing him to sigh once more before I stalked back into my corner and curled up into a cosy ball. That man was soon going to learn that I wasn't stupid enough to play his games. After all, he might have been asking for a mere nod then, but his demands were going to change soon after. It's not like I hadn't been through that before.

He was going to feed me eventually.

"Moondrop," he coaxed, and my eyes fluttered back open. Ross was looking quite serious despite the soft intonation he'd used. My ears tilted backwards. Slowly, Ross leaned forwards, resting his elbows on his knees and intertwining his fingers.

"I paid a small fortune for you, so you're right thinking that I don't want that money to go down the gutter and let you die," he said nonchalantly, though his demeanour changed once he cocked his head to the side, showing a smirk on his lips. "But I didn't pay all that money to be pushed around by a pet of all things, either. So, here's the deal. You're going to do what I tell you – and I won't be asking anything unreasonable."

The dark tip of my tail stirred at my discontent, slashing the air back and forth. I raised my lips in a silent snarl to show him what exactly I thought of his cocky attitude. He might have paid someone money so that I was handed over, but that didn't make me his, just like I hadn't been theirs in the first place.

Ross wasn't fazed. Instead, he reached for the bowl and pulled out a thick piece of juicy meat to toss at my feet. It caught in the bars, then fell to the ground within reach. My nostrils flared involuntarily, interested in the delicious taste, while my eyes focused on the marbled texture, and my mouth watered.

I suspected he was testing me, watching my every reaction as he played his games with me. But despite knowing better, I quickly reached for the meat, extending my claws to pierce it firmly and drag it back into my corner. Snarling at him at suspicious of my success, I looked back and forth between Ross and my food. The hunger won over after two seconds, and I gobbled the piece down.

The flavour teased a purr from my throat that stopped immediately once Ross laughed. My ears pushed back against my head. "Tastes good, doesn't it? I ordered it especially for you. Pretty much the best horse meat you can get, and not even a week since butchering. All you need to do is nod for me."

If he hadn't added 'for me', the temptation accompanied by my flaring hunger might have won me over. His wording made me remember what had happened a couple of hours ago, though, hardening my resolve to not become his and therefore not do anything for him, either.

This man wanted a sex toy, simple as that.

Another lump of meat landed within reach, and I grabbed it immediately, devouring it without second thought lest it was taken away again somehow. Ross raised his eyebrows. "See, you're hungry. And you could be eating this in peace, enjoying this expensive meal. So, just nod. It's not that hard."

He pointed at his face and nodded.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

I don't think we were getting anywhere.

Ross suddenly got up from the bed with a sigh. "Fine. I'll leave you to it, then."

Briefly, I thought he was going to give in and hand me the bowl, but that was naïve at best. Ross left the meat where it was, safely out of reach, and walked away from my rumbling stomach. I snarled at his retreating back in pity defiance before I was left to deal with my hunger.

It got worse the longer I was exposed to the mouth-watering scent, and me staring at the sleek white surface of the bowl wasn't making it any easier. I approached the bars and strained my ears, making sure Ross wasn't lurking around. When I couldn't make out any sounds except for the constant buzzing of electricity, I got onto my knees to press my body against the bar and stretch my paw out, attempting to reach the bowl.

The position was awkward given my short thighs.

I stretched my knuckles, making my fingers reach as far as they could. They fell short by at least two feet, though, so I dropped my arm back with a frustrated growl. At that distance, there was no use making a fool out of myself by trying to somehow gain a couple more inches.

I retreated into my corner, glaring around defiantly. With nothing better to do, I started gnawing at the blanket. My fangs easily pierced the fabric, and I threw my head around, ripping them out. Half an hour later, the blanket had been torn to shreds.

I was pawing at the pieces when Ross returned. "Is that really all you can do? Destroy things?"

I didn't bother answering. Besides, if he actually thought that, he was too stupid to converse with anyway. What did he expect was going to happen when he locked me up with barely three square meters of space, nothing to do and maddening hunger clenching down on my stomach?

He crouched down in front of the bars, close enough so I could give him a nice scar if I felt like it. His bright eyes looked cold, and I doubted it was because I was pleasing him. "Moondrop, don't you think we need to communicate?"

I was communicating. Humans only never bothered to interpret, thinking that playing dumb was going to make me speak to them.

"Fine." Apparently, he liked the word. "Do whatever you want. You'll see you're only making it harder on yourself."

Shaking his head, he left me to die of boredom.