Page 10 of Xel: Broken Bond
My optimism immediately waned. “What’s he going to think of… I mean, he doesn’t know about…” I gestured vaguely to my face.
“If I may answer that rather bluntly,” Aiden said, as calm as ever, “dimari are exceptionally good at ignoring details about their lives that don’t fit in with their preconceived notions about how the world is supposed to be. They’ll ignore inconsistencies and create convoluted narratives to explain away anything that suggests that either their master is not perfect, or that their role in the world is something other than obedient slave. In an aesthetic sense, they have no opinion whatsoever as to the physical features of their masters.”
“But I’m not really his master,” I pointed out. “He’s not going to bond to me like he did to my uncle.” The poor bastard, being bonded to that asshole. As traumatic as it no doubt was for Xel to have lost his master, I couldn’t help but wonder if he wasn’t better off now.
Aiden looked uneasy. “To be honest, I’ve never worked with a dimari who’s lost his master before. So I don’t entirely know what to expect. But as I’ve said, being without a master is the absolute worst thing that a dimari can experience. So my expectation is that Xel is going to do everything in his power to convince himself that you’re his rightful master. And if that’s the case, then your scars will be completely irrelevant.”
I nodded, desperately hoping that Aiden was right. Enough people rejected me on a daily basis – to the point that I’d stopped leaving the property to avoid it. Having a lost and frightened dimari reject me as well, when I was – according to Aiden – his last real hope for a stable life, would be soul-destroying.
But unless we gave it a try, we were never going to know.
“Okay, let’s do this,” I said, getting to my feet. But then another thought occurred to me. “Wait, you said you broughtyour own dimari with you, as well. What’s he going to think of me?”
“Nothing at all,” Aiden said, with a disarming sort of nonchalance. “I’ve asked Kade to help Xel settle into his new life here. So that’s what he’s going to do. As far as he’s concerned, that’s the end of the story.”
“And Kade always does exactly what you ask him to?” If dimari took this obedience thing too far, did that mean they were effectively no more than puppets? I didn’t like that idea at all.
But Aiden laughed, genuine amusement lighting his face. “Oh, god, no. He’s opinionated and manipulative and continuously pulls me up if I break any of my own rules about how to look after him. But that only came about because we’ve spent averylong time talking things over and learning to understand each other. With Xel, you’re going to have to start with all the basic, surface level things, and then deepen your understanding of each other over time. And unfortunately, there are no shortcuts for that sort of thing.”
On a conceptual level, what Aiden was describing sounded delightful. Another person who saw me for who I was, not for my scars and trauma. A sort of symbiotic relationship in which we each cared for each other. But that was assuming that Aiden was right, and Xel was able to look past both my scars and the fact that I wasn’t his true master.
“Well, no time like the present,” I said, mustering all the optimism I could manage. “Let’s go meet him.”
CHAPTER FIVE
COLE
Ifollowed Aiden to the reception room. Bo was sitting at the desk, still working on the latest publicity campaign, and she smiled warmly when we came into the room. “How are things going?”
“Making progress,” I said, knowing I could fill her in on the details later. My gaze drifted across the room, and sure enough, seated on two of the visitor chairs, were two blue men.
The darker coloured one, wearing military fatigues, stood up as he saw Aiden come into the room. “Cole, this is Lieutenant Kade Hill,” Aiden introduced us.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Kade said, coming forward, and I shook his hand automatically, even as my mind raced to catch up with the sudden, startled rush of thoughts in my head. I’d read plenty of news reports about dimari and their role on Rendol 4, but I’d never met one in person before. And Kade was absolutely nothing like what I’d expected. He was tall and muscular, the epitome of a military soldier, and his skin – scales? – were a deep, ocean blue. His grip was firm and he met my gaze without hesitation. Somehow I’d expected a species that saw their role as one of servitude to be meeker. But Kade was notthe least bit shy or hesitant in his mannerisms. And more to the point, he didn’t try to avoid looking at my face, but neither did he stare.
“Thank you for coming,” I said to him, realising that I’d likely messed up his day just as much as I had Aiden’s. “I appreciate your help.” Then I looked past him to the other man sitting in the corner. My immediate impression was that Xel was much more like what I’d expected a dimari to be. He was sitting with a hunched posture, his gaze fixed on the floor, his hands clenched in his lap. His scales were a much lighter blue, though he had the same black hair as Kade; short at the sides, longer over the top of his head, much like a faux hawk. He was wearing a matching set of plain beige trousers and shirt, and I assumed it was his uniform from the hotel.
“Xel, this is Cole,” Kade told him, his tone gentle. “He’s your master’s nephew.”
Xel looked up and his eyes met mine, and I braced myself for his reaction to me. But rather than looking startled or disgusted, the tension suddenly left his shoulders, and the worry lines across his face faded out. I felt myself relax in response to his obvious relief. This was far from the usual reaction people had to seeing me for the first time. Xel stood up, and…
Holy shit, I thought frantically, as I got a proper look at him. Bloody hell, he was tall. Taller than me. Taller than Kade, even. And while Kade had the solid frame of a soldier used to hard work, Xel was no less impressive, though his muscles were leaner – much like the comparison between a weight lifter and a runner. His jaw was firm, his shoulders were broad, his hips narrow… Fuck me,thiswas the man I was supposed to be caring for, like some kind of injured stray? Xel stepped forward with a lazy swagger, his hips rolling, his lips pressed into a sultry pout, and I nearly choked on my own tongue. Oh god, he wasgorgeous. I had not been prepared forthat.
After briefly running his eyes over my face, Xel lowered his gaze to the floor, a gesture of submission that put me off-balance, and I immediately felt myself going on the defensive. He was all power and sensuality, like a high-school jock who had decided to play at making friends with the chess nerds for the day. Holy fuck, no, I wasnotprepared to deal withthis.
But he just stood there, waiting. There were no quips, no astringent words, no mocking disguised as jokes. And now, his face was perfectly neutral. No smirking, no sneering. He was waiting for me to take the lead. And he seemed prepared to wait indefinitely.
All right, get your head out of your ass, I scolded myself sharply. Xel was a dimari. He’d been trained his entire life to be a slave.Of coursehe was going to be submissive, regardless of what his body looked like. I, of all people, should understand that a person’s body didn’t define them.
“Hi, um… I’m Cole,” I said, offering my hand. He shook it, with a shy smile and a nod.
“My name is Xel,” he said, and his deep voice had the most delectable lilt to it – the same sort of accent that Kade had, though I’d barely noticed Kade’s when he’d spoken. Then, a hint of uncertainty appeared on his face. “You knew my master?”
It occurred to me all of a sudden that I hadn’t asked Aiden how I should approach my relationship with my uncle in front of Xel. But I made a few quick assumptions, and given that Xel had likely worshiped the ground he walked on, I decided I should avoid disparaging the man in front of his former dimari. “I did,” I said. “I was very sad to hear that he’d died. But I hope I can help as much as possible while you settle into a new life here.” Oh god, that had come out all wrong. It sounded rote and clunky, like a shady salesman trying to sell a damaged washing machine to an elderly lady. What the fuck was wrong with me?
“Um… Would you like me to show you around the property?” I asked, then added, “Has Aiden told you much about what I do here?”
Xel nodded. “He said you take care of animals when their owners can no longer care for them. I realise there’s a certain irony in asking you to look after me, in the same way.”