Page 9 of Villain

West wasn’t pleased with that answer. “We’re in this together, remember?”

“Of course we are.” Lake slipped his hands into his pockets and tipped his head. “If there’s something you want to say to me, say it.”

“Hey now,” Yejun stepped between them with a forced laugh. “Let’s not do this here, hmm? The Roost is ready for us to move in. Why don’t we regroup there later? Foxglove reopens in a few weeks. It’ll be best if we’re already situated beforehand so we can get a head start on things.”

Right, because now that they had a list of names, it was time for them to start making their way down it.

An image of a blond in a white mask gasping on sheets with ridiculous stars decorating them invaded his mind, and Lake willed his twitching cock to settle down before he got distracted.

Lake held West’s annoyed gaze, the corner of his mouth lifting mostly because he knew that would only add fuel to his friend's internal fire. “By all means. It’s not like I want to be smothered in that palace for another night when there are other options.”

Sure enough, West’s eyes narrowed. “Whatever.”

Yejun tsked as West stormed off without another word, some gazes tracking him as he made his way across the thin black carpeted floor. “Don’t take his surliness to heart,” he said. “He missed you, and he just doesn’t know how to articulate that properly. He’s always been shit with his emotions.”

True.

But since Lake wasn’t much better, he opted not to bother acknowledging that. Instead, he clapped Yejun on the back and motioned for him to lead the way, checking his multi-slate as they went.

He’d been there for a half hour.

That should be long enough to satisfy the Order and gain him Favor. And if not…

Fuck them.

Lake was back on Tulniri now, and he’d come with a plan.

“From here on out,” he told Yejun as they passed at least a dozen members of Essential, “if we want something, we take it.”

“What are you saying?” Yejun reached the door first and pushed it open, holding it with a shoulder for Lake, a wicked smirk on his face. “We’re the Demons of Foxglove Grove. If we want something, it’s already ours.”

Lake chuckled.

“So,” he asked once they’d started down the long, narrow hall toward the elevators, “got something in mind? What is it you want, Imperial-soon-to-be-only-in-line-for-the-throne?”

This time the devilish expression came from Lake.

“Everything,” he admitted, staring at his murky reflection displayed across the golden surface of the closed elevator doors. “I want everything.”

Chapter 3:

“How’s it feel, Songbird?” the husky voice, now familiar to him after weeks of listening, came through the speaker of his computer where Nix had left it on the sink counter.

He was in the bathroom, inside the shower stall, with the curtain pulled back so the camera could catch all of him as he slicked soap suds down his torso and across his chest. It wasn’t anywhere near as awkward as it had been that first time, his nerves better adjusted to being viewed by the stranger behind the screen.

Maestro had contacted him three more times since, once a week for the past three, always impossibly late at night. It was random days, and it’d gotten to the point where Nix would inadvertently lay awake in bed well into the early hours, anticipation and disappointment keeping him up in turns. He’d convinced himself it was because their situation was preferable. He needed to complete five Favors in order to move onto the next tier?

Might as well be with the same person.

Someone he’d developed some level of comfort with, as twisted as that sounded.

Maestro’s Favors ranged in style and flare, but they were nothing crazy, nothing that involved bringing anyone else into things, which Nix appreciated. He’d also locked the chatroom, so it was only the two of them whenever they met like this, and insisted they switch to comms so Nix’s hands would be free to do what he needed to please him.

Nix had no complaints. He’d been curious about Maestro’s voice, hoping that alone would help him figure out the other man’s age.

He sounded young, and even though that wasn’t an accurate way to judge, Nix had chosen to believe it was the truth for his own peace of mind. At the end of the day, even if finding release was no longer a struggle for him, this was still what it was.

He was still masturbating in front of a stranger.

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