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“He’s your Second, isn’t he?” Obviously that was the case. Titus was a Connect and Aodhan had to be his first chosen bondmate. “The reason you’re confident enough to let us sleep together is because he’s already bonded to you.”

There was a soft rustling sound somewhere on the other side of the room, and Cal tilted his head toward it, unable to make out much of anything else when Aodhan suddenly stepped away from him completely.

Cal hissed as that cock was dragged out, then waited, almost not believing when he was left empty and the hook wasn’t replaced. He was sore, could feel fluids dripping down his thighs, yet his dick didn’t soften any, even with the attention to his prostate gone.

He floundered, struggling on his tiptoes a second before the chains holding his arms up were lowered half an inch.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough for his feet to fully touch the cold ground.

The massive sigh of relief left him in a whoosh, one he wasn’t even embarrassed about, but he tensed all over again when he felt the doctor’s warm presence move around him.

“I’ve got to leave for my shift, Detective,” Aodhan sounded disappointed. “You owe me one for not letting me come first. Now I’ll have to spend the rest of my day hard for you.”

A snap of anger flashed through him, almost making him growl a reply, but he caught himself. Cal pressed his mouth into a firm line, not daring to respond to that accusation, lest the inch he’d just been gifted be taken back.

Aodhan chuckled and then chucked him under the chin with a single finger. There were kissing noises, like they were making out right in front of Cal, and then a moment later, the sound of the door opening and closing came, followed by a thick silence.

One he wasn’t buying for a second.

Calix squirmed, certain he wasn’t alone despite having no indication otherwise aside from his gut feeling. The same feeling he always got when in the director’s presence.

“I know you’re there,” he cut through the silence first, unsurprisingly. When the other man in the room didn’t say anything right away, Cal gave in to the fear, allowing a thread of it to enter his tone. “Please.”

“What are you asking for, little monster?”

He flinched at the nickname. “Don’t.”

“Why not? A thing should be called as it is, don’t you agree?

And you?” A hand, colder than the one belonging to the doctor, reached out and lightly grasped Calix’s jaw, tipping his head slightly back.

“You’re a monstrous thing if I ever saw one.

I’ll have you know, I’m very familiar with monstrous things, Cal.

You could even say I know them…intimately. ”

A shiver raced down his spine before he could help it, and the director chuckled darkly at him.

“What is this?” Calix forced himself to ask.

“You were doing so well with being honest. Are you sure you want to turn back now?” It was impossible to tell what Titus thought about that, whether he was curious or disappointed.

Whether he even cared one way or the other.

“Yes.” Somehow, now that it was the two of them alone again, the courage he’d managed to scrape together fled.

“Why? Do you think I’m not capable of doing what Aodhan’s been doing? Think I can’t use you in the same fashion and make you feel small?”

“You admit it?” Calix had thought that was what they’d been doing, but even seeing their aim hadn’t prevented him from falling for the trap.

“Unlike you, I’m not afraid of my own desires. You’re so clever, Detective. Why bother with prolonging the inevitable?”

“You’re right. I’m no fool,” Cal added quietly. “It’s obvious you’re the one in charge here.”

“I am,” he didn’t even try to deny it, his thumb stroking against Cal’s bottom lip. The touch was soft, careful.

Terrifying in its possessiveness.

And thrilling.

Oh, so thrilling.

“Aodhan is my Second,” Titus finally confirmed.

“And your Third?”

“Is that your adorable way of asking if we’ve got one?”

Calix refused to answer that, and Titus chuckled.

“We do.”

He wouldn’t feel bad.

He wouldn’t—

“Don’t be sad,” the director cooed, proving that Calix had obviously given himself away somehow. “Come on. Tell me what you’ve been thinking.”

He shouldn’t, but…He’d gotten them talking to him again. Shouldn’t he take advantage of that while he could?

“You said you wanted me…” It was too embarrassing to say and Calix found the rest of his sentence dying in his throat.

“Let’s work our way up to it, shall we?” Titus let him go and stepped back. “You performed so well the night of the reunion, little monster. Acted exactly how I’d hoped you would. I never got the chance to properly reward you for that.”

“Reward me?”

He hummed. “For acting on instinct and being yourself. Although I suppose, since you were only aroused because you thought it was Heathe, you should earn a punishment instead. You used to have a crush on him, did you not?”

It was on the tip of his tongue to deny it, but Calix caught himself.

“I did, but it was never all that serious.” He’d liked the other student in high school, but it’d been the epitome of childhood crushes, never slipping into anything stronger than that.

“I would have slept with him that night if he’d asked me, but I would have left him in the morning without a second thought. ”

“Don’t say any of this to Aodhan. Don’t get me wrong, I’m furious at you for thinking about spreading for someone else, but unlike our delectable doctor, I can think rationally.

You didn’t know us then, didn’t know how badly we wanted you.

It’s forgivable.” He walked around Cal, making a soothing sound when Calix tensed.

“Relax, I’m going to apply sun cream, that’s all.

He doesn’t have any scheduled surgeries today, which means he could decide to be bad and leave the hospital early. ”

“What about you?” he asked, mostly to distract himself as he felt those cool fingers dip between his cheeks. They prodded at his sore entrance carefully, rubbing cream around his puckered hole before slipping inside of him. He whimpered, but was hushed again.

“Relax,” Titus repeated, wrapping an arm around Cal’s waist to help keep him still as he worked on pushing globs of ointment into his torn passage. “I took a few weeks off. They won’t expect me back for a while. That means we have plenty of time to get acquainted.”

“Fantastic.”

He shoved his finger deeper, holding that position when Calix swore.

“Sarcasm won’t get you anywhere right now, little monster.

It’s best you behave while I’m being kind.

Admittedly, there are quite a few things I’m cross with you about, your brief yet lingering attraction toward Heathe bottom of the barrel.

Aodhan isn’t the only one you should be wary of. ”

“I can say with absolute honesty,” Cal replied, “that I am one hundred percent aware of exactly who I need to be most wary of.”

“Good boy.” He seemed pleased by that response, even going so far as to plant a lingering kiss on the curve of Cal’s left shoulder before he started gently massaging his hole again.

“I made Aodhan believe I had lingering feelings for you by leaving out that article. I knew it would be enough to get him to react.”

“Feelings?” he shook his head. “You’ve never had feelings for me. Don’t take this the wrong way, Director, but I’m not entirely convinced you have feelings at all.”

“I do,” he reassured. “Not many, but there are a few. A few more, now that I’ve taken a mate.”

“I confess I don’t know a lot about your species, but I do know Aodhan Solace is barely a step above you in the feelings department.

He can’t be enlightening you all that much.

” Emotions were supposedly shared through the Connect bond.

Cal didn’t entirely understand how it worked, but since they were both pretty inept in that area…

“If you’d stuck around instead of running to the Academy, you would have experienced all of the emotions I’m capable of firsthand.”

“What…does that mean?”

“Can you stop playing dumb now, Calix? It really doesn’t suit you, and it’s making me wonder if I might not have chosen wrong after all.”

That was a dangerous thing to say, and the threat didn’t go unnoticed.

Or unheeded.

As much as he hated falling in line, as shitty as it made him feel, there was really only two ways this could go. He could push things too far and really end up dead.

Or he could give in, figure out exactly what it was these two men wanted from him, and get it over with.

“I know what it sounds like you’re alluding to,” Cal tentatively began, “but…”

“You don’t respect yourself enough to believe it could be true,” Titus finished for him, humming in understanding. “All right. I’ll go easier on you for now. I’m telling you I wanted you back then, Detective. I’m saying I still want you now.”

He couldn’t help but scoff at that notion. “You already have Aodhan.”

“You sound jealous,” Titus noted.

“I’m not.”

“There’s no need to be.”

“I’m not.” Good Light help him, he was. He was, despite all of this and all of the things he’d just discovered. Despite the fact he’d been used and there was a chance none of what’d transpired between him and the doctor had ever been real.

Cal was jealous of the thought of Aodhan with the director.

Jealous of the idea of Titus with Aodhan.

Those old longings he’d thought he’d put to bed ages ago had crept to the surface again and Cal knew he couldn’t trust them. He’d always known Titus Mercer was an impossibility. The fantasy of a horny teenager on the run. That’s all.

Only, some of those fantasies had been confirmed, had they not? Titus’s admission that he was in charge, that he ruled over Aodhan, meant he was every bit as dominant in real life as he’d been in Cal’s imagination.

The doctor had gotten to experience it firsthand.

All while he’d been playing with Cal on the side.

Lying and using him.

Pretending to care.

“I’m not jealous,” he stated more clearly. “I’m livid. You tricked me. Both of you. And now you want me to believe it’s because of some twisted sense of desire? Ever consider asking me out instead?”

“Aodhan would never have gone for something so simple. No, he needed to be led to that conclusion on his own. There was no other way.”

“You’ve just confessed to tricking him, too. What would he think about all of this, huh? If he found out it was all a manipulation to get him to dance to your tune?” When he didn’t receive a reply, he tried a different angle. “Conclusion? What conclusion?”

“Have you ever dreamed of me, little monster?” Titus eased a second finger into his hole. “I still think of the way you looked at me that first time we met.”

It’d been in the police station, where Cal had already spent the past four days being interrogated. Titus had walked in to get Bruce, and the two of them had locked eyes. To say his first thought wasn’t that Titus Mercer was the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen would be a lie.

“Answer the question, Cal,” Titus suggested. “Or, would you rather I replace the hook and string you back up? Hmm? We can try this again some other time, maybe tomorrow, when you’re once again brought to the state of exhaustion and too tired to fight.”

“I haven’t thought about you in years,” Calix stated. “But before you reach for the hook, don’t take it personally. I tried hard not to think about anything from my life here.”

“I didn’t ask if you’ve thought about me. I asked if you’ve dreamed about me.”

He swallowed and caught himself just before he shifted on his feet and gave his nerves away. “Yes. Happy?”

“In what capacity?”

“I…” Was he ordering Cal to describe his wet dreams to him? Good Light. That was too far. He—

Titus slipped a third finger into him and stretched them, scraping against the tender parts that were already rubbed raw.

“You saw how I looked at you the day we first met,” Calix whispered, hanging his head. “Of course I’ve dreamed of you. Not of this…exact setup, but…”

“It’s not too far off.” Titus kissed his shoulder lightly again. “I know this is difficult for you, that you still need time to adjust, but don’t push me too hard, little monster. There’s a reason even someone like Aodhan Solace submits in my presence.”

Why did that make it sound like Aodhan was worse than Calix was even imagining? A master manipulator and a cold-blooded killer, but what else?

“Who is he?” Calix couldn’t help but ask weakly. “Who is he really?”

“Mine,” Titus replied, then made a soothing sound in the back of his throat before Cal could react to the claim. “And yours.”

If they’d taught him anything at all by doing this, it was that Aodhan had never once ever really been his. No matter how badly he wanted him to be. Then, and now. “No.”

“Are you saying you don’t want him anymore? He’ll be pained to hear that. But if you’re good for me, maybe I can be convinced to keep this conversation between the two of us. What he doesn’t know can’t hurt you.”

Calix’s brow furrowed.

“Or you can keep acting tough, Detective. Whichever direction you lead, I’ll follow.”

“…Why? Why are you doing this? If it’s just because you wanted me, fine. I’m right here. I’m tied up and I can’t fight back. Just fuck me and get it over—”

“That’s your problem,” Titus cut him off. “You’re always trying to do things the easy way. If you’d used the brain I know you have that day in the school parking lot, for example, the two of us never would have met.”

“Don’t.” He’d always wondered what the other man truly thought of him, but he’d also always known he never wanted to hear it. “Don’t bring that up.”

“Why not? It’s our beginning, isn’t it?”

“No.”

“How come?”

“Because you and I have never even started.” Too late, he realized it was the wrong thing to say.

“Is that what you want, little monster?” Titus practically purred. “A proper start? It’s not too late for one.”

“I want you to unchain me,” he said. “I want to leave.”

The director gave a sigh, a wealth of disappointment in the sound. “It seems you really aren’t worn out after all. Let’s try again tomorrow, shall we?”