Page 22 of Inhuman Nature

Chapter Six

Rake

Rake made a face he hoped looked friendly. He doubted he managed more than a grimace, however. It was Sunday, and the combined clans of Armstrong and Tomlinson had descended on the large detached house where DJ had grown up. One of DJ’s numerous cousins had trapped Rake in a conversation, but he couldn’t remember her name. Either Kaitlin or Kerry, but Rake wasn’t brave enough to try one out and have it be wrong.

He tried to catch DJ’s eye as she wittered on about, of all things, cars. Instead of DJ, however, Rake made awkward eye contact with DJ’s mum, Femi. She always insisted he call her ‘mum’ too, but he’d never been able to make that step.

Because even if they hadn’t spoken in years, Rake still had a mum.

Femi came bounding over to them. “Katie, come help me with the food,” she said, winking at Rake. He managed a genuine smile this time.

“Auntie—” Katie, becauseof courseher name wasn’t one Rake had thought it might be, complained.

“Kitchen,” Femi sang, then turned and walked away, theclear expectation being that Katie would do as she was told. Katie shot Rake an exasperated look, but followed her aunt.

Rake slipped away upstairs before anyone else could try to speak to him. It was too busy, and some of DJ’s younger cousins hadn’t yet grasped the concept of volume control.

Rake knew the layout of the house well by now, so made his way along the landing to DJ’s old bedroom. Everything remained exactly how it had been when DJ had moved out. His parents didn’t need the space, given it was just the two of them and their dog in the five-bedroom house.

Rake toed off his shoes and lay down on the duvet. As he stared unseeingly at the ceiling, he thought about their night at the club on Friday, and how he’d not had the chance to check in with Shaun. The more he went over it, the more he felt like a failure of a Dom.

Rationally, Rake knew he couldn’t have left DJ mid-aftercare to chase after someone he’d only interacted with once, but still. Rake had meant it when he told Lawrence that he had a responsibility towards any sub.

Rake needed to convince Shaun to spend some time with them—some opportunity to ask if he was really all right. Lawrence, however, remained a barrier that Rake would have to circumvent.

The bedroom door opened. “Hey,” DJ said quietly. “I saw you sneaking away.”

“I needed a break.”

DJ situated himself on the bed, but kept a bit of careful distance between them. When Rake got overwhelmed, his touch aversion got worse. Still, this was DJ, so Rake reached out and clasped their hands together.

DJ reciprocated by pressing his free hand to Rake’s chest. The action never failed to ground Rake when he was overstimulated. He could concentrate on DJ’s solid hand, knowing that DJ would feel his heart rate return to normal when his anxiety subsided.

“It’s all right,” DJ said. “I know how full-on they can get. You can stay up here all evening if you need to.”

“They already think I’m weird enough. I can’t hide up here when everyone else is having dinner together.”

“They’ll understand.”

“You’re the only one who understands.” Rake turned onto his side, DJ mirroring his movement so they lay facing one another.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” DJ asked.

Rake sighed. “Shaun. He left before I could speak to him.”

“He sticks in your mind, doesn’t he?”

“Mmm. Yours too?”

“Yeah. There’s…” DJ trailed off, gaze darting away before focusing on Rake again. “Somethingthere.”

Rake smiled. “How articulate of you.”

“Fuck off,” DJ said with a laugh.

“Don’t think I won’t spank you just because you’re in your childhood bedroom.”

“You wouldn’t.”