Page 5 of The Quarterlands (Dark Water #4)

Chapter Two

Alex

Everything had changed, and yet nothing did.

Tyler sent Alex back to his suite, and, bizarrely, his life resumed as normal.

He spent his days working out, doing yoga, and reading, and his nights entertaining Tyler’s guests.

Of Tyler himself, there was no sign. Maybe now that Tyler slept with him, he was no longer interested.

Alex wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved about that or not.

It gave him some breathing space, but it didn’t help him with his mission.

The respite didn’t last long. A few weeks later, Tyler had him brought up to his suite.

“I have a job for you,” Tyler said, pinging a briefing document into the air. “I’m giving this one to you because you understand the importance of the floating city project.”

He pointed at the diagram in front of them. Alex was familiar with the schematics of floating cities; he’d read all the books Tyler had given him and listened to him talk about his plans for them at length.

“They’re the key to our entire future,” Tyler said passionately.

“These new floating cities are prefab. If scaled up, they’re cheap to manufacture and construct and have the power to transform the world.

All the refugees, the poor, the dispossessed, and homeless can be relocated onto them.

We can clear out the Quarterlands cesspits and government work camps and give people a chance at a decent life, as well as freeing up actual land for agriculture in the process to make it easier to feed them. ”

He spoke as if he cared about those things, and maybe, in an abstract, big-picture kind of way, he did.

But Alex knew his primary interest in the tech was financial.

Building floating cities on an industrial scale was the next big thing, and Tyler intended to dominate the industry from the start.

He’d been a big investor in Ghost Eye, but that had been a high-end venture.

In order to make them viable, they had to be mass-produced, and Tyler believed he was the man to do it.

“I know you’re as interested as I am in making this happen,” Tyler said, leaning in, his eyes blazing with sincerity. “And this is your chance to be part of it. That’s why I’m trusting this job to you and only you, Alexander.”

He didn’t fool himself that his role would be anything other than being Tyler’s whore, so he wasn’t disappointed by what came next.

Tyler pinged a holopic of a middle-aged man with bushy grey hair into the air. He wasn’t in any way interesting, apart from his vivid green eyes.

“This is Rupert Walcott. He’s the politician who’ll be handing out the contracts to build the floating cities that will transform our future. He’s also someone with certain… peccadilloes.” Tyler smiled. “He’s into young men and has a particular penchant for BDSM.”

Alex kept his expression neutral, but his heart sank.

What would Walcott want to do to him? He hoped it wouldn’t be a repeat of his experiences with Harper.

He was, therefore, pleasantly surprised by what Tyler said next.

“He likes being dominated – the more brutally, the better – and out of all the young men at my disposal, I think you’re the best suited to this job.

Walcott needs someone he can talk to as well as fuck, and nobody understands the floating city project better than you. ”

“All the young men…?” Alex blurted.

Tyler’s face creased up in a delighted smile. He always loved wrong-footing him, and it had been some time since Alex had given him the pleasure.

“Oh, you don’t think you’re the only young man in my stable, do you?

” He laughed. “Or Marta the only woman? I have many indies in my service who perform this work for me. Did you think you were unique?” Tyler winked at him.

“I need a wide cross-section of types – ages, looks, sexualities – to match the right person to the job. You’ve been quite a draw, obviously, because of your looks and your fame, but you’re only suitable in certain circumstances, and I have a hell of a lot of people I need onside to make my business projects work.

” By “onside” he meant blackmailed or bribed, presumably.

“You’re so na?ve,” Tyler sighed. “This is a normal part of being in very big business and moving in the circles I do. People expect it. Everyone is capable of being bought. You just have to find the right currency. Although…” He frowned.

“There are some currencies I won’t trade in.

” So, the man had scruples. Interesting.

“I’ve been asked to provide children, and I could do it, too; the Quarterlands are full of underage brats who’d do anything for a hot meal and a ticket out of there.

I won’t trade in kids, though, however desperate they might be for an escape route. ”

Alex supposed, grudgingly, that that was commendable of him, but it was hard to give him much kudos for where he drew that particular line.

“If Martin Bagshaw wanted an actual boy, then…?” he asked quietly.

“He asked once – I turned him down,” Tyler said abruptly. “He seems happy enough with you, and the other indie I let him have, who looks younger than he is.”

If Tyler wasn’t offering children, Alex was sure somebody out there would be. There were enough Quarterlands kids without strong adults in their lives to safeguard them who’d be easy prey.

“I’ll do my very best to ensure Mr Walcott has a wonderful time,” he said, studying the briefing document.

“I know you will. What I like about the new, improved Alexander is your work ethic. You haven’t let me down since your return from Belvedere. I might have had my suspicions, but I can’t deny you’ve performed excellent work.”

Then, much to Alex’s surprise, he tipped up his chin and kissed him gently on the lips. “This will be our victory, Alexander, like the Destiny ducks. Yours and mine. Our triumph. Bring me Walcott, get me that contract, and then we’ll celebrate, just like we did the other day.”

Alex smiled at him, hating the way his cock stirred hungrily in response to the kiss. He didn’t even know if he was pretending anymore; his body seemed to want Tyler as much as his rational mind hated him.

Tyler stage-managed the seduction of his next victim with his usual finesse.

First of all, there was a party where he introduced Alex to Walcott.

This was subtle, a casual introduction in a room full of people.

Alex soon had Walcott engrossed in a detailed conversation about floating cities.

The politician knew his brief and was as evangelical about them as Tyler, although for different reasons.

Like Tyler, he believed they were the answer to many of the country’s most pressing problems. Unlike Tyler, he wasn’t interested in them for their money-making capability.

He genuinely saw them as a solution if they could be made affordable to a cash-strapped government.

Money was always a problem. The world had very little of it to go around, and floating cities were expensive.

The tech to build them had been possible since Pre-R days, but it was only now, so many years after the Rising, that governments had enough finance to build them on anything like the scale required.

Alex found himself liking Walcott. The man was genial and charismatic, if somewhat shambolic in appearance, with wildly uncontrollable grey hair.

Yet his vivid green eyes were genuinely beautiful and gave his face a soulful quality.

He spoke about his husband often and with great affection, which made Alex feel almost sorry for him.

“We’ve been together a long time, although there are certain things we no longer have in common,” Walcott murmured. “Maybe we never did. Anyway, he’s not interested in the same things as me, but I still love him.”

Scenting blood, Alex went in for the kill.

“If you need someone to explore those things with, I might be interested,” he murmured, handing Walcott a canape from a passing tray and holding it to the man’s lips. “Eat,” he ordered.

Alex was good enough at his job by now to feel the frisson passing through Walcott’s body at the tone of command in his voice. For the first time since becoming Tyler’s whore, he thought he might have some fun with it.

It worked. Within days, he was preparing for an intimate dinner with Tyler’s new victim. Alex had asked Tyler if he could decide for himself what clothes to wear for the event, rather than rely on Andrew to provide an outfit, and, much to his surprise, Tyler had agreed.

“Baby steps,” he could imagine Gideon whispering in his ear. “This is good, but it’s only a start. Tyler’s trust was hard won but will be easily lost – don’t squander it.”

So, he prepared meticulously for his date with Walcott.

“You’re sure about this?” Tyler demanded as he surveyed the outfit Alex had selected. “It’s very… subtle.”

“You think I should go full-on leather queen?” Alex grinned. “All black clothes and brooding?”

“Well, we do know what he likes.”

“He’s not that one-dimensional. I know that from meeting him. I have plans… trust me.” Alex shot Tyler a winning smile.

“I’m trying to, but this is too important to fuck up,” Tyler snapped.

“I won’t. I promise. I’ll give him exactly what he wants. This is what I do, it’s what I’m good at. You know that.” Even as he said it, Alex knew he’d made a tactical mistake.

“Is that what you did to me? Gave me what I want?” Tyler’s eyes were once more full of all the suspicions Alex had been trying so hard to banish.

“No, that was real. You couldn’t fake how we felt flying across the lost zone in our duck,” Alex told him passionately.

“I was hot for you. I wanted you. I still do, if you’ll let me serve you in that way again.

This is about me serving you in a different way, sir.

I want to make your dream of building all these floating cities come true. I can do this, I know I can.”

“You’d better,” Tyler said sharply.