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Titus removed his fingers—no doubt to replace the hook in Cal’s ass—and Calix forced himself to ask one of the questions he’d been pretending not to have.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” The accusation slipped past his lips, and he continued without giving the other man a chance to confirm or deny it. “That day in the woods. It was you.”

If Heathe hadn’t been the one who planned the night of the reunion, it was safe to assume he also wasn’t responsible for what had gone down in the woods.

A part of Calix had always known it wasn’t Heathe, but he’d buried those thoughts down deep, unwilling to allow them to clutter his mind in the middle of work.

He’d convinced himself that, no matter what he believed, at the end of the day, it was clear whoever had accosted him with his own blaster had meant to punish him for something he’d done.

And he’d done a lot that was worth being punished for.

“If it's really about having me, that day in the woods was your chance,” Calix scrambled to piece things together now that he’d been gifted a single moment of clarity.

Any second, the director could decide to shove the sex toy back into him, rendering him a mess of scrambled thoughts and jumbled nerves all over again.

“You made me think it had something to do with Nero and Heathe. Why?”

“I was disciplining you,” the director said. He stepped closer, the heat from his large frame enveloping Calix’s bare back, so close, and yet keeping enough of a distance that they didn’t touch anywhere. “It worked, didn’t it?”

“What?”

“Subconsciously, my intentions wormed their way into you. There were no more entertaining thoughts about dating that forensic scientist after our time in the forest.”

Mitri Meadows was one of the people Calix had met while working the case. He’d been there that day as well, at the scene of the crime, doing his job. They both had. There’d never been any mention of—

Oh.

That was right.

Cal had forgotten. Bruce had tried setting the two of them up that day, hadn’t he?

“It’d been a joke,” he whispered, the uncertainty in his tone ringing clear enough even he could hear it. But it didn’t make him back down. “Bruce wanted me to get out more, that’s all.”

“We both know that’s a lie, Detective.”

Cal stiffened. “No part of me ever considered going out with Mitri. Why would I? I’m not staying on planet. I’m—”

“You aren’t going anywhere. I thought that much was obvious by now.

” A hand stroked down the length of Calix’s spine, starting from the spot just beneath his neck, trailing down to his tailbone slowly.

“If it helps any, this almost came as a surprise to me as well. I thought we’d have much more time to get you acclimated and warm you up to the idea.

I didn’t think things would fall into place this easily.

Anytime people are introduced as components to a scheme, there’s always an increased chance of things going awry.

And Aodhan…Well. You know better than most how unpredictable he can be. ”

There was too much information coming at him all at once, it was impossible to untangle and make sense of it all, so Calix tried to focus on the most important bits. The parts that might help him better understand—and therefore use to his advantage—his situation.

“What am I really doing here?” he asked. “Why did you attack me in the woods? Why did you let Aodhan…do all those things with me if you’ve already claimed him? If you’re attracted to me, why haven’t you done anything about it?”

“You mean why is our doctor always the one having all the fun with your hole?” Titus slapped Cal’s ass, grabbing a handful of his cheek and squeezing until Cal was left clenching his teeth against the sting.

“You have great instincts, can sense danger miles away even without my influence. And what’s more, you have training from the Academy.

This is a puzzle you can solve on your own.

Stop trying to lead me into doing the hard work for you.

We’ve only been at this a week. I’ve got all the time in the world to spare for you, little monster. ”

So it’d only been one week. That was something, at least.

…something bad.

Because if Aodhan and Titus could make seven days stretch and feel like three months, there was no telling what else they were capable of doing. How else they would choose to break Calix down.

“I need to hear it come from you,” he insisted. “Just tell me.”

“It’s your addiction to adrenaline that’s caused it,” the director continued as though Cal hadn’t spoken. “It’s made you rash and reckless.”

“Clearly, since I find myself here, in the clutches of a psychopath.”

“There you go, getting hot and bothered again, forgetting about the danger you’re in and opting to run that filthy mouth of yours.

You’re lucky that I like it. That I, unlike our doctor, have patience.

True patience at that. We’re going to have to reset your flight or fight responses, but one step at a time. ”

Cal didn’t like the sound of that. “Titus…Mercy.”

He snorted. “That won’t work just because you want it to. There’s no easy way out of this, little monstrous thing.”

He kept calling him that. Kept referring to him as a monster.

Aodhan had obviously told him all about the kinks Calix liked, how he enjoyed being hurt, and bled.

How he liked it rough. The video they’d filmed of him at the reunion would have clued them into that all on its own, however.

No wonder the doctor had spoken so frankly with him about his darker sexual proclivities. He’d already known Cal would agree.

That Cal would salivate at the mouth to participate.

Aodhan and Titus were in it together. The first had taken Calix at the reunion, the second in that forest at the crime scene…Titus had also shot and killed Amory in the middle of their damn kitchen…Cleanly. Without hesitation.

As though it wasn’t his first time.

“I don’t think you're one to speak on monsters,” Cal risked saying, sensing he was letting the older man lead him where he wanted, but unable to hold back any longer.

He was proving he no longer had a strong will to live, that his penchant for pushing things past the threshold that would guarantee survival was real.

Even knowing that, he couldn’t bring himself to stop; the rush that came from diving headfirst, from toeing the line with danger, bubbled within him, chasing off the discomfort he’d been feeling the past three days.

“You’ve admitted to orchestrating several crimes, and you murdered someone in cold blood.

Whether she was a wanted criminal or not, that doesn’t matter.

You’re going to have to kill me, too. There’s no way I’m going to let you fuck me after all of this and get away with the things you’ve done.

If that’s the case, just get it over with.

I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to be. ”

“You still think this ends with your death, Detective?” Titus obviously didn’t agree with that assessment. “You’re either failing to see the big picture or pretending not to.”

“I agree to your demands, and you let me live. I refuse, and you put me down. Pretty sure I’m seeing exactly what I’m meant to be seeing.”

“Wrong.”

“Try removing the blindfold then,” he dared. “Maybe that’ll help clear things up for me.”

“Adorable. Should I? It won’t bother me, but you…We both know you won’t be able to handle the embarrassment. Do you really think you can look me in the eye right now? If that’s the case…” His fingers tugged lightly at the knot securing the thick black material over Calix’s eyes.

“Wait.” Fuck. He couldn’t be this weak. This pathetic. And yet… He hung his head again.

Titus was right. The thought of meeting the other man’s gaze made Calix’s heart thump wildly in his chest, and not in a good way. At least right now, there was a shield of sorts between them. A screen that allowed him to lean into the false bravado.

One it’d just become painfully apparent they both knew was an act.

“If you say it, I’ll tell you whether or not you’re right,” Titus darkly promised.

“Isn’t that a good compromise?” His hand shifted, roaming up Calix’s side, the pads of his fingers just barely making contact.

“Should I help make you more honest? You’ve shown interest in speeding this up.

If you want answers so badly, you’ll have to be more willing to engage in a give and take of sorts. ”

“Why do I get the feeling that if I agree to that, I’ll be the one doing all the giving, and you’ll be the one doing all the taking?”

“I can give too.” Titus moved closer, until Calix felt the unmistakable bulge of the man’s cock press against his sore ass cheeks. “Would you like that?”

The events of the forest played over and over again in his mind as he considered his options. There was no escaping this, but was there even a chance for him to gain the upper hand when he still felt so left in the dark? At least if this was Aodhan, he’d have experience to help him, but with Titus…

The man had fucked him with a gun one time and hadn’t revealed himself in the process.

Aside from that, he’d never made any moves on Cal, hadn’t even flirted with him during their interactions at the hospital and the station.

If not for this, for the way he so obviously wanted him now, and remembering how openly he’d talked about wanting to fuck Cal in the woods, he’d never guess the director’s interest.

None of this was fair. And that was the worst part. The part where Calix felt wronged, not because of his current predicament, but because he still didn’t know what was really going on or how deeply the other man’s interest actually ran.

Sick. That’s what he was.

But he wasn’t alone in that.

“If I say no?” He clenched his fists and held himself steady, refusing to give in and rub back against that bulge. “If I tell you to back off and say I don’t want you?”