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“I say you like it because now that you know it was me, you want me to do it again. You want me to sneak up on you, throw you to the ground, and force you to take whatever I want to give. Most importantly? You want it to hurt.”

He did.

He hadn’t filed a report for that night or for what Titus had done to him in the woods because, truthfully, neither of those events had mattered all that much to him.

Before, he’d at least been able to convince himself the reason for that was because he’d been drugged the first time and had his pheromones messed with the second.

The problem was, he couldn’t exactly come up with a solid excuse why he was currently sitting here, being hand-fed, listening to this all hopeful instead of plotting revenge against the two men who’d kidnapped and humiliated him.

There was something wrong with him.

He wasn’t normal.

He’d always known that.

Sister Grace had known it too.

He glanced at Mercy. “You call me a monster.”

The director’s brow furrowed. “Not because of what happened at the reunion, and not because I think it’s a bad thing. I don’t mean it as an insult, Calix. I never have. I’m drawn to all your broken, jagged parts. I want you to be drawn to mine as well.”

Aodhan leaned forward, hand moving to cup the base of Cal’s skull.

If he noticed the way that caused him to tense, the doctor ignored it, keeping his touch right where it was.

“I didn’t decide not to kill you because you came for me that night, Detective.

I decided to keep you because I liked the taste of your tears and the thrum of your heart beating beneath me.

I liked the way you smelled and the sounds you made.

I liked how you responded to me—even though it was against your will. ”

“You really should apologize for your comment,” Titus told him. “Clearly it’s affected our Third more than you meant for it to.”

“I am sorry, baby.” Aodhan stroked the back of his head lightly. “Do you forgive me?”

“You’re insane,” Calix blurted, yanking out of the man’s grasp. “Both of you. You’ve kidnapped me and kept me locked in a room for weeks! Forget the night of the reunion. What about these past days? Third? You cannot seriously be asking me to join your pod while I’m tied up and my ass hurts.”

“Why not?” Titus shrugged.

“He claimed me while I was dangling upside down from the ceiling,” Aodhan said, grinning.

Cal stared between them. “Aren’t Connects supposed to cherish and protect their bond mates?” He clung onto the most important part. “Consent has to be freely given for a bond to even form.”

“That’s true,” the director agreed.

He scoffed. “If you think I’m going to consent after all of this—”

“Baby,” Aodhan’s grip lowered until he had him by the nape, “you’re misunderstanding things again. I’ve been fucking you so rigorously these past days to show you, but it’s clearly gone over your head.”

“You don’t have a choice here, Calix,” Titus said. “When it comes time to form the bond, you’ll have to agree, of course, but we have ways of making you do that.”

Cal shuddered. “What?”

Titus’s multi-slate rang, and his brow furrowed when he glanced at the screen before setting the chopsticks down with an annoyed click. “It’s the hospital. I have to take this.”

He got up and headed to the door, slipping the earbud attachment from the device into his left ear before accepting the call.

“Those idiots can’t go five minutes without him,” Aodhan drawled, clearly to himself as he cut a boiled dumpling in half and carefully brought a piece to his lips. It was the most refined way Cal had ever seen anyone eat a dumpling before, and it helped drive a single point even further home.

“You’re a psychopath.” Calix was trapped with crazy people.

“At least you’ll never be bored.” The doctor winked at him.

Cal glanced at the doorway, listening for any signs Titus was returning, and then shifted a little bit closer to Aodhan. “You know he’s manipulated us both here, don’t you?”

Aodhan paused, but didn’t tell him to shut up.

“You heard it yourself. He orchestrated this whole thing. Leaving out the newspaper clipping for you to find, confusing me in the forest—”

“How’d he confuse you in the forest?”

That wasn’t really important here, but he explained anyway. “He used his Connect ability to turn me on and then screwed me with my own gun.”

“Did you know it was him?”

Titus’s voice as he spoke to the hospital could be heard then, the sound drawing closer to the door as the man slowly walked back down the hallway toward them.

“No.” Calix needed to speed this up. It might be his only chance to try and get through to the doctor, especially since things were already tense between the two.

“Did it matter who it was?”

“No.” Cal pulled his gaze from the door and rested it back on the doctor, only realizing he’d been giving autopilot responses to questions he absolutely should not have been giving truthful answers to.

Aodhan had a smug air about him that was impossible not to notice. “Just admit that you liked it, baby. I bet you thought about it, the same way you thought about what happened at the party. Both of those events turned you on. Did you think about me when you touched yourself after?”

Why did Cal get the sense that the doctor was toying with him? He couldn’t possibly know what he was saying was true. It had to be a really good guess. Right?

“What are you two talking about?” Titus reentered then, glancing with interest between the two of them.

“Oh, nothing much,” Aodhan’s grin turned vicious. “Our dear detective was simply trying to turn me against you, that’s all.”

“Is that so?”

Calix hated himself for it, but he instinctively dropped his gaze when Titus set a steely look on him.

“He seems to think I’m too stupid to have figured out your little newspaper trick was a setup.” Aodhan pouted. “I didn’t realize you thought so low of me, Detective. I’m wounded.”

“Hand me that knife,” Cal stated, “so I can wound you for real.”

Titus heaved a sigh. “Why do you always insist on making things so difficult for yourself, Calix?”

Before he could respond to that, the doctor stood with a flourish.

“Done eating, baby? You are? Great. Then let's get you back on the hook.”

“This time,” Titus drawled, though it was obvious his comment was to Aodhan, as though Cal wasn’t even there, “he doesn’t come off of it until he’s actually learned his lesson. Is that understood?”

“Yeah, Mercy.” Aodhan reached for Cal. “I’m with you.”