Page 16

How dare he.

Pavel felt rage bursting beneath his skin like a livewire, and he struggled to contain it. He’d finally gotten Zane here, at his mercy, completely locked away with no help in sight. The last thing he could afford was to fuck this up by losing his composure.

But it was difficult.

Zane didn’t get to comment on how Pavel had walked away from him without a second glance. Not when he was merely returning the cruel favor.

Not when he didn’t even have the decency to remember Pavel or their past together.

At least Pavel did. At least he’d been trying all this time to bring them back together, the way he’d promised a much younger Zane he would always do. And yet this version of the man he’d always cherished, this adult, devilishly handsome, entirely frustrating version had the audacity to stand there and act like he’d been the one abandoned?

No.

Absolutely not.

Slowly, he rose from his perch on the stool, blinking the shiny tip of a blade into focus when Zane moved to counter him.

“Stop.” Zane held the star crystal dagger steadily, a wealth of confusion vivid in his gaze as he searched Pavel’s face. “Sit back down and talk to me , Pavel.”

Talk to him? Like they had as kids? Sitting in the dark, confined to the quiet and all alone?

Why?

What good had those talks done then?

“You don’t even remember anything,” he snarled, moving a step forward only for Zane to hold his ground. The tip of the blade pressed lightly against the center of his throat. A place that would take an awful long time to heal if it was pierced through.

“So we really knew each other?” Zane’s brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you say anything before?”

Pavel clamped his mouth shut, refusing to answer that.

“Don’t be stubborn now,” he said, “that’s my thing, isn’t it? Come on. I’m trying here.”

“It’s too late.”

“Oh.” Zane’s hand wavered before he dropped his arm entirely and took a full step back. “In that case, I’ll see myself out.” Foolishly, he gave Pavel his back. “Make sure not to get your wound wet for the next few—”

Pavel went for him, but apparently his doctor was learning.

Zane spun on his heels just before he could make contact, latching onto Pavel’s wrist to use his momentum against him. He slammed him down over the kitchen countertop, twisting his arm so it was caught between them against Pavel’s narrow back.

“We’re going to discuss the tracking device you placed behind my ear in a bit,” Zane said, speaking directly against the curve of Pavel’s ear in a way that sent vibrations humming all throughout his body. He pressed the sharp edge of the blade against his nape to ensure he was aware it was there. “No sudden movements, gorgeous .”

Pavel glanced at him over his shoulder the best he could in his current position. “Trying to make me hot for you, Doctor?”

“I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt for the sake of the Retinue,” Zane stated, jaw clenching when Pavel laughed in his face.

“You’re hoping to sit on my cock again, let’s just stick with the honesty, shall we?”

“That’s what I’ve been saying for the past month.” Zane pricked him with the knife, but barely. “I can’t be the only one honest here.”

“I’ve never lied to you.”

“No, only withheld the truth, clearly.” He licked his lips. “How did we know each other as kids? Were you also at the orphanage?”

Pavel’s origins weren’t as big of a secret as Zane’s, or really even a secret at all. He’d never felt the need to hide it, and neither had any of his family members. The fact that he was from Hexa wasn’t kept quiet either.

“Took you long enough,” he growled.

“Why didn’t you say something?” Zane asked.

“Because you’re the one who forgot. Asshole.”

The insult clearly caught him off guard.

“What?” Pavel chuckled. “Did you expect me to thank you for erasing me from your memories?”

“Is this,” he pursed his lips, “revenge then?”

Pavel went still at the hint of hurt in the other man’s tone. No matter how angry he was, he never wanted to wound Zane that way. “Gorgeous, let me up.”

“No.”

“This isn’t revenge. I’m not getting back at you because of hurt feelings—” He rolled his eyes when Zane’s brow winged up in disbelief. “All right, fine. I’m also getting back at you, but that’s not all that this is about. That’s not the crux of it.”

“You’re punishing me for something that happened when we were children?” he asked incredulously. “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously.”

“It’s not my fault I don’t remember. I—”

“Almost drowned when you were twelve, yeah, I know that too.” Pavel had heard the story too late to do anything about it, even comfort him. By the time they’d met again, Zane had already found a way to work through any trauma that may have developed thanks to that incident. “That’s why you trained yourself to hold your breath so long, and why you get off on being oxygen deprived.”

It wasn’t really about the chemical rush that took place in his brain once he was allowed to breathe again, not like it was for other people. Zane’s high came from dancing with death. From getting close to that dark end and telling it to go fuck itself.

“You lost all of your memories prior to the adoption,” Pavel finished. “But that doesn’t matter to me. I’m still upset with you.”

“What were we to each other?” Zane held him firmly against the table. “We were children.”

“You were mine,” Pavel stated, “and I was yours. It was simple—it is simple because nothing has changed. You still belong to me, and I still belong to you. Which means if you want to slit my throat here and now, you have every right to do so. I won’t even try to stop you, bashert.”

“That,” Zane homed in on his phrasing, “you keep saying that. What does that mean?”

“It means you’re my person,” he explained. “When we were kids, you were my best friend, the thing I wanted to protect the most. When we were teenagers and reintroduced, you were my horny teenage wet dream. Now that we’re adults, and we’ve been reunited, you’re my lover. We’re soulmates.”

“That is the cheesiest crap I’ve ever heard.”

“That’s only because you aren’t very romantic.”

“It’s because I don’t believe in stuff like that,” Zane corrected.

“Right, it was easy enough for you to screw both Kazimir Ambrose and Lyra Diar at the same time.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t I?” he snorted. “Gorgeous, I’ve been shadowing you for a hell of a lot longer than a couple of months. If anyone knows what’s going on with you, it’s me. I had to watch you slip into those seedy motel rooms to fuck him. Stood outside and waited to see how long it would take you to come back out.”

“What is wrong with you?”

“Bashert doesn’t mean soulmates in the way you’re thinking,” Pavel chose to reply, instead of answering his question. “I’m not like plain Hexans. Part of what I am, part of whatever concoction makes me, has this instinct to form a lifelong bond. When we were little, I chose you.”

Zane was silent for a moment and then, “So—”

“When we met again,” he cut him off, knowing exactly what he was about to suggest, “I chose you again. This was always my choice. You were always going to belong to me.”

“And where is my choice?” Zane pressed against his arm, causing pain to shoot up to Pavel’s shoulder.

“You don’t get one,” he replied, despite the obvious threat. “You can throw your little tantrum, break my arm or slice my throat, it won’t change anything. After you’re done, once you’ve calmed down, you’re still going to be in the exact same position you’re in now, Doctor.”

There was another quiet moment and then he let him go and stepped back, watching cautiously as Pavel carefully lifted back up into a standing position and turned to face him.

“Put the knife down, gorgeous,” Pavel coaxed, rubbing at his wrist. He kept his distance, sensing they were on the precipice of something important. How he treated Zane from here on out would determine which way they fell, and he wasn’t about to risk losing everything he’d been striving for simply because he couldn’t keep his cool.

Pavel was patient , damn it.

“What position?” Zane asked, ignoring the command. “Tell me. What position am I in, Pav?”

The nickname was like a cold balm in the middle of a burning desert and he almost moaned at the sound of it. It’d been so long since he’d last heard the other man call him that. By a name Zane could no longer even recall having said before.

“I could tell you,” he dared, letting his eyes trail pointedly down Zane’s front, “or I can offer to put you in an even better one.”

“What if I say I want to leave?”

“You’re allowed to say anything you like.”

“…But you have no intentions of letting me go.” Zane tipped his head. “Could you stop me? I’m the one holding the knife, and you’re the one with a hole in your side.”

“Think you’ve got the upper hand, gorgeous?” He shook his head and placed a palm over the spot where his shirt covered the bandage. “Hate to break it to you, but a tiny cut like this isn’t nearly enough to prevent me from doing as I please with you.”

He could practically see the wheels turning in the doctor’s head.

“We’ve never sparred before,” Zane said.

“Do you need to?”

He considered it. “No. You’re physically stronger than I am, and it doesn’t help me any that a part of myself is curious.” Zane dropped the knife. “The position is me on my back, isn’t that it? That’s what you want?”

“Yes.” Just picturing it, his delectable doctor naked in his home…submitting to him after all this time…It didn’t even matter they hadn’t been referring to physical positions, all other thoughts fled his mind and that desperation returned tenfold.

And Zane could tell. Pavel saw the shift come over him and realized too late he’d walked into a trap.

“Okay,” Zane said, his tone only serving to make Pavel more suspicious.

“Okay?”

“I’ll let you have me,” he replied, “on my back. I’ll even take all my clothes off and spread my legs for you.” Zane retreated a step toward the living area.

“What’s the catch, Doctor?” Because there was one, he could sense it, and Good Light, Pavel was already prepared to agree to whatever it was, so long as he got exactly what he was being promised.

“You claim this isn’t about revenge. What’s it about then?”

“I already told you,” he said. “I want you.”

“In what capacity? Wait.” Zane held up a hand. “Don’t answer that. Let’s just take it slow.”

“I want you to be mine forever.”

He paused. “That isn’t very slow.”

“It’s what you need to hear.” Pavel stalked Zane all the way to the living room, stopping the second the doctor paused by the end of the couch.

“Why’d you put a tracking device on me?” It was impossible to tell by his tone alone if he was upset or not about that.

“In case you tried to run,” he admitted. “Peace of mind. If I don’t know where you are at all times, I panic a little.”

“That’s…controlling,” Zane decided, but Pavel shook his head.

“I would never prevent you from going anywhere. You can move about as you please, nothing there has changed.”

“Except now you can locate me at the push of a button.”

“It was never difficult to find you before,” he said. “I can always find you, Zane.”

“And when you get tired of me?”

“I won’t.”

“And when I get tired of you?”

Pavel scowled. “You won’t.”

Zane eyed him for a moment. “I’m not making any promises.”

“You couldn’t escape me even if you wanted to.”

He chuckled. “You’re forgetting something yourself.”

Pavel frowned.

“My get-out-of-jail-free card, remember?” Zane smiled when Pavel’s expression went blank. “There we go. Now you’re seeing the picture I am. You think I don’t have a choice? Baby, that was your first mistake. Your second was believing I’m any less of a Royal just because I don’t share their blood. You’ve been watching me? Then tell me something, when have you ever seen me not in control?”

His mind scrambled to come up with a counterargument, but the only solution he could think of was a bad one. Kidnapping Zane and getting him all the way off planet wouldn’t be easy. In fact, there was a very good chance Pavel would fail if he attempted it.

“Going to tell Kelevra about me, gorgeous?” Pavel couldn’t let that happen. If Zane told Kel he was being bothered, the prince would choose his side. They’d always been closer than Pavel was to Kelevra. He’d order Pavel to keep his distance, which wouldn’t be possible, and he’d end up putting his family in jeopardy.

The Imperial Prince did not mess around when it came to his demands being met.

“I haven’t decided,” Zane replied. “I get the feeling it would only further complicate things.”

“I won’t give you up.”

“So you claim.”

“I won’t.”

“Prove it then.”

Pavel blinked at him. Was this a chance or a trick? Zane was a master at getting under people’s skin, at making them feel such strong emotion it clouded their mind and disrupted their critical thinking skills. “Are you playing me right now?”

Zane grunted. “I’m being more direct than you ever were with me.”

He didn’t seem like he was lying… “Prove it how?”

The doorbell rang then, and Zane grinned. When he took a step toward it and Pavel instinctively went to block his path, he gave him a stern look. “Relax, Pav. It’s just a delivery.”

“You…” he watched Zane head to the door, urging himself to keep still and not rush after him and prevent him from opening it. “…ordered something? What?”

There was a level five employee at the door. He bowed his head when Zane greeted him, and then held out a single square black bag. “This is everything you requested, Mr. Solace. Can I help you with anything else this evening?”

“No, that’s all. Thank you,” Zane said politely, the epitome of Royal class.

“Have a good night then, Mr. Solace.” The man bowed a second time and then turned to leave just as Zane began to shut the door.

He returned holding the bag in one hand, pausing to decide where to place it. The living area had a couch that faced the floor-to-ceiling windows, and he ended up setting the bag down on the small table Ledger was typically found sitting on.

“What did you order?” Pavel asked, trying to see around him when he heard the bag unzip, but not wanting to risk moving any closer until he understood what game they were playing and, most importantly, what the stakes were.

“This is a sex club,” Zane snorted. “What do you think?”

Pavel’s mouth dropped open the second the doctor turned, one of the items from the bag in his hand. His eyes locked onto the massive dildo, taking in the thigh straps and all of the buttons decorating its flared base.

“Get on the couch,” Zane said, his voice snapping Pavel out of his lustful daze. He barked out a laugh at whatever expression must have crossed his face and shook his head. “It’s not for you. Relax. I’m not going to ask you to take one for me, and if I was, it sure as hell wouldn’t be plastic.” He cupped himself through his pants pointedly. “Sit.”

He took a step in the couch's direction, then hesitated. “Terms.”

Zane lifted a brow. “You don’t even know what we’re doing yet.”

“Terms.” He might not know what the game was, but he sure as hell knew what he wanted if he won.

When he won.

“All right,” Zane agreed. “You fail and I get to walk away. From here on out, we only interact if I want to.”

Which meant they wouldn’t interact ever. More than half the allure was being chased. Zane liked being hunted down, no matter what lies he told himself or others. Without that, without Pavel nipping at his heels, he wouldn’t give him the time of day.

It wasn’t a good deal, however…

“If you want me to give up everything if I lose, then you have to be willing to do the same,” Pavel said.

Zane considered and then hummed an agreement. “Sure.”

“When I win, I get to touch you whenever I please, wherever I please. It doesn’t matter who else is there, you don’t get to stop me or tell me no. You give yourself to me, completely. You let yourself be mine.”

“For how long?” He shifted on his feet, the only sign he gave that he was uncertain all of a sudden.

Too late for that.

“Forever.”

“I’ll adjust my expectations if you’ll do the same,” Zane offered. “When I win—”

“ If , gorgeous,” he corrected, “and you wouldn’t be changing things if you were confident that you were going to.”

“I win,” he stated, “and you have to leave me alone for six months.”

They’d graduate by then. Was he trying to buy himself time, or just worried he wouldn’t be able to focus on his studies? Did he think Pavel would try to prevent him from achieving his lifelong dream? He would never.

“Too long.” Pavel thought it over. “One month.”

That wasn’t a lot of time, but surely it would help sway Zane since it’d also give him peace of mind about his studies. A month of being hunted every night and fucked in every way possible wasn’t going to destroy his perfect record.

“I win,” Pavel said, “and you give yourself to me for one month. You win, I don’t contact you for that long. Do we have a deal?”

That was also long enough for him to come up with another way to chain the doctor to his side. To show him how perfect they were going to be together and make it so the other man didn’t want to leave even if the front door was unlocked and wide open.

Zane nodded. “Deal.”

Pavel sat down in the center of the couch. “So, tell me what we’re doing here, gorgeous. How do I prove myself?”

All at once, his confidence returned and the vicious look he set on Pavel next almost had him questioning his choice to play along without hearing the game rules first.

“You watch,” Zane said, setting the toy on the table before stripping out of his shirt. He dropped it casually to the ground and reached for the fly of his jeans. “You sit there, and you watch, and you do nothing else.”

His mouth went dry when Zane pulled down his pants and exposed his semi-hard cock. “Wait.” He frowned. “What?”

“You heard me.” Zane grabbed the dildo and the bag and came closer, stopping a few feet away from the tips of Pavel’s boots. He dropped the bag with a thud and stared him down. “You touch me, you lose. You touch yourself, you lose. You come?” He clicked his tongue, far too pleased with himself. “Think you can manage all of that, gorgeous ?”

Barely.

Self-restraint was so far down on his list now that he’d already allowed himself a taste of Zane. But…

He couldn’t lose.

“The first thing I’m going to order you to do is come up with your own nickname for me,” Pavel promised, leaning back against the seat. He swept a palm out goadingly. “Ready whenever you are, Doctor.”

Good Light. He prayed for the return of his famous patience now.