Muffled and distant, just on the edge of her hearing: “Oh, you sweet little thing.”

She shot to attention and dread filled her. The human said that. Could’ve been about anything─a bug, a plant, a mouse, an object. But she still hadn’t seen any sign of Farrow. Patty dashed to the front of the apartment to follow the sound. Just along the front wall of the building, she froze and nearly collapsed in her horror. Farrow’s gear. Left abandoned by the tunnel entrance. 

She heard Mateo gasping on the other side of the wall. Much, much quieter, a pained cry.

Oh, fuck. Her limbs went to jelly and she fully dropped to the ground. Her heart pounded. What could she do? How could she possibly oppose a human? She could… get closer. Wait for him to leave Farrow be for a second, or maybe reveal some key information she could use to fight back. Had Farrow already busted out the threats of cutting wires and opening pipes? Did they not work? She’d still do those things, of course, but what was the point if it wouldn’t save Farrow?

She heard Farrow whimpering something. She wanted to cry. “Oh, Farrow, keep talking,” he moaned. Holy shit, how did he get his NAME?

Steeling herself, Patty found a crack further down that led outside, and from there crept along the bushes to a crack on the exterior of the patio siding. She slipped in and found herself underneath the couch, creaking loudly above her. Mateo was moving. A lot, for someone who was sitting down. She moved along the edge of the wall, searching for a spot with a better view.

Farrow swore, quietly, interspersed with grunts and gasps. It sounded like… No. Fuck no.

“You look amazing like this,” Mateo whispered.

“Oh, fuck, Mateo,” he moaned in response.

Finally, they slid into her vision. Mateo was reclining on the couch, watching the nude man in his hands and nonstop grinding his hips into the cushion. Farrow’s legs were enclosed in a fist, his wrists pinned above his head by thumb and pointer, his back supported by the same hand. His long, lean body was stretched out, twitching muscles on clear display, cock standing tall. He was shaking, visible even from this distance, and when Mateo’s other thumb twitched up to stroke the underside of his dick he cried out and twisted his head to the side. Farrow thrashed against the hands, but they didn’t budge. “Please,” he whimpered. His voice threatened to break into a sob.

He did look amazing. 

“This is what you get for coming so early today,” Mateo said. “I’ve got all the time in the world, and I’m gonna use every second of it.” He punctuated with another gentle stroke up his cock.

Farrow squeezed his eyes shut and whined.

Coming so early today. Was this… not the first time? They seemed familiar. And Farrow was always really eager to get his morning run started as quickly as possible. This looked like torture for him… good torture. She really wouldn’t have expected this from him. Or from the human, clearly so turned on watching the little body writhing between his fingers.

Mateo’s thumb wiggled against him and Farrow had to bite down a scream. “I wish you’d let me take pictures,” he sighed.

Farrow stubbornly shook his head.

That calmed her immensely. He had at least some veto power.

Mateo settled into some sort of rhythm─or maybe the opposite of a rhythm. He waited until Farrow just started to regain self-control before delivering another stroke, again and again. Farrow strained. His stomach was fully tense despite the support he was getting from the hand underneath him. Mateo hummed pleasantly. “I could if I wanted to, though. Couldn’t I?”

Farrow gasped and humped forward. “God, yes, yes you could.”

“I could do just about anything I wanted.”

“Yes, yes, yes.”

Okay, so a little more complicated. Farrow’s self-preservation did not seem intact. He could easily be brushing real red flags off as dirty talk. Patty didn’t have a solid read on this human either way. She hadn’t noticed any new bruises or injuries on Farrow. He’d been much more confident recently, actually, the opposite of what she’d expect from a victim of coercion.

Her heart panged. Mateo did so much for him that she obviously couldn’t.

Mateo brought his face down to his hands. With his mouth open, he slowly dragged the dry outer part of his lip against Farrow’s groin. Farrow whimpered and pressed towards the mouth in front of him. Mateo pulled his head up, barely avoiding him, and planted a kiss along Farrow’s jaw. Patty stiffened.

“No, no,” Farrow muttered, with no hint of lust or desperation this time. “That’s─my wife. My wife kisses me there.”

Mateo hesitated. “Alright.” His lips hovered over Farrow’s scalp. “How about here?”

“Okay.” 

He pecked him and gently smiled. Patty put a hand to her chest. She couldn’t decide what to make of that. She really didn’t like the human knowing that she existed, but it was good to know that Farrow wasn’t about to toss her to the side. She felt… oddly okay with the situation, more than she thought she would be. If Farrow was safe, and happy, and not planning on abandoning her to live in some twenty-something’s coat pocket. Still, he was keeping a hell of a secret from her. 

Farrow had been better recently, but she wouldn't say he was good. Confrontation would lead to argument, rejection, and she feared he would turn to this human lover and be too stubborn to crawl home if he became abusive. Silent treatmenting himself straight into a cage would be a very Farrow move. Did she really need to publicize this discovery? They were fighting for months and then suddenly she had a husband who was calmer, happier, and with so much more energy to help out around the home. He was offering to do the laundry now, for fuck’s sake. Patty had good reason to even the scoreboard and keep a little secret for herself. 

Mateo stopped the stroking. “I’m letting go for a second,” he warned. “You’re not going to touch yourself.”

Farrow nodded, his head bobbing to the side in his exhaustion. 

His fist relaxed. The other hand slipped down to hold his bottom and released its pinch. Farrow collapsed back and hooked his arms between the fingers behind him, maybe to make it a little easier to keep his promise, maybe to keep himself from collapsing down. He was a ragdoll. How on Earth was he always so high-energy when he got home after this?

Mateo took his free hand to his mouth and slipped his tongue between his middle and ring fingers. When they parted, strands of saliva stretched in between. He lifted Farrow under his shoulders and set him down on his opposite palm on his knees. Farrow grabbed at his fingertips for stability. His angry red cockhead rubbed at the wet flesh and he shuddered, but stayed still.

“So well behaved,” Mateo cooed. He petted lightly down Farrow’s spine, and Farrow collapsed onto the fingers in front of him. “Stay.”

Mateo unzipped his pants and shoved them down to pull his dick out. It sprung up with urgency. How could he stay so well-composed while so rock-solid? Patty was struck by how… visually pleasing it was. Healthy tan and pink, uncut, with a soft-looking quality to his skin. Did Farrow get to feel that? All over? Okay, she saw the appeal.

He jerked himself slowly. Farrow watched intently, shaking with desire. 

“Fuck,” Mateo breathed. His thumb closed in to stroke his thin ass. Farrow’s cock was pressed against his fingers, and his cry sounded pained. “Aw, is it getting desperate?” He was playing it casual, but he couldn’t stop himself from panting.

His reply was so strained she couldn’t hear it, but whatever it was, it seemed to get Mateo going, which drove Farrow a little crazier in turn.

…Would he like it if she talked to him like that?

“Fuck, fuck, you’re so pretty when you shake,” he hissed. “Okay, go.”

Farrow pounded his hand furiously with the kind of animal drive Patty hadn’t seen since they were childless. And suddenly, she was filled with rage. What the fuck did she need to be doing? Could she even compete? Was it the domination, or the size, or his gender? Had Farrow been gay this whole time? But no way, he was obviously still attracted to her, he’d been way more eager recently. Unless he was thinking about Mateo the whole time. If he wanted to change things up, why couldn’t he just fucking tell her? 

“Do you want it looser?” Mateo whispered. “...Okay.”

And why was he so nice when he wasn’t being mean? What was this asshole even getting out of it? 

Farrow cried out and collapsed. Mateo’s hand, already tense with excitement, curled around him tightly with his thumb against his face. Farrow freed his arms to pull the wide pad in and kissed it desperately, like a partner’s face.

Mateo’s cum spurted over his hand. He moaned and relaxed back for a moment, then reached over to grab a tissue from the box on the table, wiping up his hands, dabbing at a spot on his jeans. He giggled and Farrow, sprawled lazily on his palm, was roused to attention. “Look, you got some good distance,” he said, pointing around his pocket. Farrow turned to look, his ass in the air. Mateo stared lustfully and licked his licks. Patty found herself mimicking him. 

At least she had some things in common with this guy.

Her emotions spun again, around to possessiveness, lust, some odd endearment watching them relax and laugh together. Mateo could still hurt him. He knew they were there, he could get an exterminator and kill her whole family if he wanted. She knew it happened. If Farrow accidentally snubbed him, or tried to end the situation. If he stopped showing up. All relationships are good before they get bad. And she didn’t think Farrow would ever notice the warning signs. 

Mateo pressed Farrow’s back into his palm and gently stroked his chest. Farrow panted and glowed, smiling up at the man holding him. He grabbed a finger and pressed his head against it.

“Oh, my God,” Mateo squeaked. “Please don’t drive me crazy before you leave. I gotta act normal today, I got a big meeting.”

Oh, shit, he was gonna go back home soon. He could run into Patty. How on Earth could she answer those questions? 

She ran. Back inside, past his abandoned gear, sprinting in tight corridors and clambering past obstacles. She was halfway home when she finally stopped to rest, and that was only when all the dust sent her into a coughing fit. 

Farrow was back five minutes after her, in his typical fantastic morning mood. He unloaded his bag, handing over an orange slice and a bundle of baby spinach.

“Score!” he sing-songed. 

Mateo was just handing him all this shit, wasn’t he?

She set the goods on the counter and pulled him into a hug and a kiss. No weird smell this morning… oh fuck, that was human cum. On the days he came back smelling odd, it was cum. He was getting cummed on. She hugged him a little tighter. 

Patty got to chopping up the greens while Farrow stood beside her peeling the skin off the slice. “Didn’t exert yourself too much, right, baby?” A little dryness slipped through in her tone.

“No, it all went pretty smoothly.” 

They worked in silence for a bit. He was wiggling a little bit, dancing to some song in his head. Every so often he hummed a segment of a melody. She knew that tune. The human played that song all the time. Was it a love song? She tried to remember…

“Farrow…”

“Yeah?”

She swallowed and looked him in the eyes. “Would you ever want to… I don’t know, change things up a little in bed?”

His face lit up. “Oh, like you want me to be a little more dominant?”

Patty stared at him blankly for a moment. “Yeah. More dominant. Sure.”