Page 11 of Designation: Null

Sam frowns. “I don’t know, actually. I’ve not heard anything about him. But it’s kind of amazing to think this whole big experiment might come to an end. It’s like a cure for cancer or something.”

Robert takes a sip of his tea to buy himself a few moments to think. He can’t ask if everyone thinks Logan is a success story without giving away the reality that Logan is not null. And he sure as hell isn’t Dominant. Robert isn’t even sure he’s all that stable as a submissive. Whatever was done to him, it doesn’t seem like something the military would be keen on repeating. So why does everyone think it’s a success? Logan was barely keeping it together on the flight back.

The mystery is intriguing enough that he’s actually looking forward to going back into work.

“All I know is that I’m pretty happy with my designation. And I know Craig is too. In fact, I think there are a lot of guys who have embraced their designation and would be pretty fucking resistant to not having one.”

Robert nods. That’s true. Rates of acceptance are increasing and sign-on bonuses for joining the designation branch of the military are going down.

“But there are people who struggle with it, and if they do, then maybe that’s the best thing that could happen to them,” Sam says.

“Was he submissive first and then became null or has he always been null?”

Sam shrugs. “Don’t know.”

“And how are things going between you and Craig?” Robert asks, changing the subject.

“Amazing. I didn’t think I’d ever find somebody who would complement me so well. If somebody asked me if I wanted to be null, there’s no way in hell I’d say yes. I think I’d have missed out on my soulmate. We have compatibility markers now.”

Robert manages to keep his expression neutral over the word soulmate. “I’m glad you’re happy. That’s wonderful news.”

“And he’s so cute and content in his cage,” Sam says with a dopey grin on his face.

Robert forces himself to relax back into the chair and listen as Sam tells him about everything he’s missed over the last several months.

It’s good to be back.

4

Aweek later, Logan is walking down the hall toward medical when someone calls his name. He turns around and sees Robert coming toward him with the faintest limp, but otherwise healed. One wouldn’t look at him and think he looked like a guy who’d been tortured. Though he’s still too thin for his large frame.

Robert’s gotten a haircut. He’s tall and striking. Even if he wasn’t trying to get Logan’s attention, Logan would have noticed him. Might have glanced twice. There’s a magnetism that radiates from him. Who wouldn’t want to be the focus of Robert’s attention?

Ugh.

Logan crosses his arms, unsettled by the intensity of his reaction. Then it gets worse. Logan actually takes a step closer, moving toward the Dominant without meaning to, a deep throb ofyesgoing through his body and making him act. And isn’t that just the definition of submissive behavior? How many subs does he know who use that as a defense? They didn’t mean to go home with the Dominant! They didn’t mean to make a sex video!

They were just suddenly desperate to be spit-roasted at a bar. Or whatever horrible activity they got up to because their biology demanded it.

No.

Logan isn’t going to be one of those.

Robert’s wearing nice black jeans, ankle boots, and a blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the hollow of his throat exposed. He’s clean-shaven and Logan can’t stop looking at all the little details of him, imprinting them in his mind to think about later.

He’d been drawn to Robert when he’d been tortured, half-dead, filthy, and drugged. How is he supposed to cope with this? Every little piece of the Dominant is perfect and worth contemplating.

Logan smiles at the sight of him, because he has to, but focuses on the fact that he did a good thing by saving Robert. Helping save anyone would make Logan happy and isn’t necessarily tied in to how drawn he is to the Dominant.

“You look great. Recovering okay?”

Robert waves it off. “Fine. Fine. How are you settling in?”

“What do you mean?”

Robert blinks at him, surprised by the question. “You’re new to this base, right?”

“Well, yeah. But they don’t change much.”

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