Page 22 of Damian & Jun, Episodes 5-8 (The Residency Boys #7)

Jun looked straight into Damian’s eyes. “You want me to scream.”

Damian’s head dipped in a nod. “Scream.”

Jun drew in air, still staring at Damian. Any moment now and Damian would take it back. But no. Damian was steady. His heartbeat under Jun’s palms was steady. He was waiting.

Jun closed his eyes, let his head fall back against the tree, and screamed.

At first, it was just sound, and then it was a beast, twisting inside his chest. He bent forward, turning into a ball inside Damian’s arms, head against Damian’s chest. He wasn’t merely screaming; he was twisting and fighting.

The lid was off, and his body had become the turmoil of his mind, writhing and struggling, punching and kicking.

Damian held on. His arms were bands of iron. His chest was a solid wall. His legs were anchored into the forest floor, holding Jun up between himself and the tree. No matter how much Jun bucked and twisted and clawed and roared, Damian was there.

Jun’s throat burned raw. His lungs emptied of air. His arms and legs weakened. The fever burned through. His stomach rolled. He jerked sideways, vomiting to the side over Damian’s arm. His legs let go of Damian’s waist. Damian stepped in, holding him up, helping him stand as he swayed, unsteady.

“I feel sick.”

“Poison like that makes you sick.” Damian steadied him, wiping Jun’s lip with his outer sleeve.

Jun whimpered. It was all gone. For now. He was nothing. Tired. Empty.

Damian bent his knees and picked him up like a child, arms under Jun’s rear.

“I’m heavy,” Jun whispered.

“Yes, you are. That’s why I go to the gym and pick up heavy things every day.”

Jun snorted. As if he knew that this exact moment was going to happen. “Can’t believe you want me.”

“Jun, I’m the wolf they forgot they caged. Only someone like you is going to love someone like me the way I need to be loved.”

And it made sense. All of it. It slotted into place in Jun’s chest, loosened a fear he’d been unwilling to name. “The church.” He sniffed. “That’s your rage. That's you burning it down.”

“Yes. And I’m going to fuck you on that altar.”

Damian

Damian carried Jun halfway back. Jun wiggled down, and they walked hand in hand the rest of the way to the barn.

Damian opened the door and let them inside.

It was clean on the interior though cold.

He flipped on the low wall sconces, leaving off the brighter overhead flood lamps, then punched the button on the space heater, and threw down one of the mattresses stored against the wall.

They both drank water in the small bathroom, rehydrating after the run. Jun swished out his mouth.

There were flannel blankets in the cabinets where the tack had once been stored. Damian laid one over the mattress and motioned to Jun to join him. They kicked off their boots and crawled onto the mattress together, pulling two blankets over them. Jun curled up against Damian’s side.

Damian stroked Jun’s head. “I told you about your father impersonating you with a passport, right?”

Jun groaned softly. “Nothing surprises me, not anymore. We all called Yun, asked him about SP4700Y and getting 5N free to perform. We need to make money.”

Damian squeezed Jun closer. “You know I don’t care.”

“I know. But Su-jin needs to support his family, and the other guys need income, too. Besides, I want to help fund the dungeon.”

Damian laughed softly. “You just want me to chase you.”

Jun tried not to smirk.

The peace of the empty barn permeated them for a while. It was so different, so far away from everything else.

“Matthew called me out earlier this week. He reminded me that you and I should have a contract. I should protect both of us.”

Jun huffed. “Contracts are only as trustworthy as the people who sign them.”

“They’re records. They state agreements clearly.”

Jun propped himself up on one elbow where he could look down at Damian. He stroked his fingers over Damian’s face. “I don’t need one. Paper can lie or be lost. You came for me. That’s what I trust.”

Damian let Jun’s words sink in. At the heart of the matter, he didn’t feel the need for a full contract either.

But the years he’d spent under Richard’s training rebelled at the idea of not having clear communication or following protocol.

The lawyer in him wanted a contract, something firm and absolute.

“What about an agreement? Not something for you to trust. Not for me to trust but to prove to others if we ever needed to. Something we can use as a framework to know we considered everything we could.”

Jun was quiet for a long moment. “You mean, if someone tried to say we were doing something one of us didn’t want or to make sure you and I have said everything we need to say?”

“Yes, to both.”

Jun cuddled closer, gripping Damian’s shirt under his coat. “I can do that.”

“We do still need to talk about what you consent to and what I consent to. We haven’t played together enough to know each other’s kinks.”

Jun laid his head down on Damian’s shoulder. “If it’s you, I consent to everything you want.”

Damian shook his head, smiling a little. He kissed Jun’s hair. “That’s what we call irresponsible play. What if I decided to brand you with my name? Or keep you in a cage for a week?”

Jun snorted. “You wouldn’t.”

“The cage or the brand?”

“Both?”

“I might want to brand you.”

Jun propped himself back up on his elbow. “Honest? You’d want to brand me?”

“Not really my style. But piercing you, yes.” Damian dragged his fingers over Jun’s nipples and pinched one.

Jun’s breath stuttered. He pushed into Damian’s hand.

“We’ve been surviving, just brushing the surface of what we can do with each other,” Damian whispered, twisting Jun’s nipple one way and then the other. “I want more, wolfling. I want to dance on the edge of a knife with you, but we need to agree on the knife.”

“Show me.” Jun snuggled deep.

Damian pulled out his phone and searched for the sample contract he’d loaded on his phones years before.

They needed to sleep. He had to drive back to the city in the morning, but for that moment, none of it mattered.

“Water sports?”

Jun narrowed his eyes, sitting up enough to glare. “I thought we were playing, not doing polo.”

“Piss play, wolfling. What if I caught you in the woods and decided to mark you as mine?”

“Green.” Jun huffed.

Damian raised one eyebrow. “What if I wanted you to drink it?”

“Yuck, Alpha, no!” Jun sat up again, eyes wide. The blanket fell away. Jun snatched at it and shivered.

Damian chuckled. “This is why we have to talk, wolfling.”

Jun groaned. “Who wants to drink piss?”

“Some people do. Some people let their partners piss inside them.”

Jun’s face blanched. “Absolutely not! Who even thought of that?”

Damian cocked an eyebrow.

Jun groaned and flopped against the mattress. “Fine. Bring it. Can we just talk about things you actually want to do? This is going to give me nightmares.”

“Things I want to do and things I’m willing to witness or have you do could be different. For example, if Richard kept Collin naked one day and émeric was keeping him in a cage like a cat, would you consent to being present?”

“You mean seeing Collin naked? Being a cat?”

“Being humiliated, fucked, caged, all of that.”

Jun whimpered. “I’m a bad, bad person. That just sounds hot.”

Damian belly laughed. Little wolf, you have no idea. “It is. He sucked me off one day like that. Like he was in heat. We all had him.”

Jun’s face flushed. “Would you hate me if I wanted to touch him?”

Damian shook his head. “Would you be angry if I fucked him in front of you?”

Jun blinked. “I…I don’t know. Maybe not?”

Damian made a note. “Let’s come back to that. Do you consent to me having sexual relations with Richard?”

“Aren’t you?” Jun’s face crinkled up adorably. “He’s your dom. You’ve always told me that.”

“I haven’t slept with anyone but you since you called me on Christmas.”

“Why?”

“Because we hadn’t agreed.”

“Won’t they be angry?” Jun sat up fully, fear in his eyes. “You can’t just stop, Da. They’re important. I don’t want them to hate me. I’m not taking you from them! I said that!” He slapped the bed. “I never agreed to you stopping. I don’t want that.”

Damian caught his hand. “It’s been a couple weeks. We’ve been surviving. I’ve slept in the same bed as émeric. You haven’t taken me from them. We just hadn’t negotiated. That’s what we’re doing now.”

“You have to keep sleeping with them.” Jun pressed his hand against Damian’s arm as if he were going to push him into concourse at once. “They’re important to you.”

Damian kissed Jun’s knuckles. “They are. And so are you. I was giving us time. I’ve had years with them.

Months with Collin, but years with Richard and émeric.

We have all been giving you time, Jun. Every relationship is its own.

Ami only engages with émeric. They live on opposite sides of the world.

They’ve been together in different ways for something like twenty years.

Except for when she was married. I don’t submit to émeric, but I will engage with him sexually.

The only one I submit to is Richard. We all have different ways we engage in each of our different relationships.

Ways we consent and volunteer for, not ways that are dictated. ”

Jun bit his lip, listening, eyes unfocused like he was thinking. “Would they expect me to submit to Collin since I’m new?”

“There are no expectations. Do you want to submit to him?”

“No.” Jun shook his head. “Collin is…soft. Not like you or Richard. émeric confuses me.”