Page 10 of The Devil's Embrace

A slow and agonizing death via mortification.

Chapter 3:

“They aren’t happy to have been called here for nothing,” Aodhan said as he reentered the room, shutting the door at his back.

“Sorry. Thanks.” Calix was still on his stomach on the table, trying to hide his face from the doctor without making it too obvious. It’d taken over a half hour for the other man to log all of his injuries and treat them, and while the pain was gone, he’d been advised not to move for a while yet.

Honestly, as embarrassed as he still was, there was no way he was going to risk pushing himself back into that agonizing state of being, not if there was a way to avoid it. It’d been fine when he’d been getting something out of it—even if Heathe hadn’t realized he’d been getting Cal off as well—but now…

He probably seemed like a freak already. Since he kept insisting it’d been consensual sex gone wrong, Aodhan had offered to explain things to the officers who were waiting to speak with him.

“No problem. I imagine meeting one of your future coworkers under these circumstances is already more than enough. There’s no reason to feel humiliated, though, Detective. You’d be surprised by the kinds of things I see here on a dailybasis.” He waited until Calix risked peeking out from his arms to smile brightly and added, “Consensual and otherwise.”

Cal groaned and covered his face all over again, not even caring if he was acting like a kid. Whatever drugs he’d been given to help with the pain—because it hadn’t just been a topical one, he was also currently hooked up to a floating IV and had been given a shot earlier—it wasn’t helping him keep his composure any.

“The damage wasn’t nearly as severe as I initially suspected,” Aodhan said, taking on that professional voice once more. He picked up a holopad tablet and began clicking away at the screen. “I’m prescribing a mild sleep aid and sun cream.”

“Sleep aid?” Calix frowned.

“Many people in your position find it difficult to get a good night's rest after…Well.”

He bristled. “Are you allowed to do that, Doctor? Make assumptions and prescribe medications based on them?”

Aodhan cocked his head. “Isn’t that basically my job? I take educated guesses to try and identify and then solve the problem. It’s not that far from what you do, Detective. I bet you enjoy that part as well, problem-solving. Am I right?”

He wasn’t wrong.

“You’re making me sound rather cold.” Cal felt that prickly of melancholy. Did the attractive doctor also dislike him?

“Really?” He seemed to consider it, pursing his lips before giving a single shake of his head. “That’s not how I see it. We see horrible things all the time. Of course lines have to be drawn in order to protect our mental health. We’re no good to anyone if we’re panicking or crying at every little thing.”

“Now it sounds like you have a thing against empathy.” That was a stretch, but Cal was admittedly on the defensive now that his mind was whispering the doctor probably hated him, the same as everyone else.

Hell, hadn’t he learned his lesson by now? Only hours ago, he’d followed Heathe to that room alone because he’d foolishly believed there could be someone on this planet who didn’t hate his guts. Look where that’d gotten him. And if Aodhan had been the one to find him, that meant he was also an alumni.

He knew who Calix was and what he’d supposedly done.

He had to.

If this was another trick, he refused to fall for it. He wouldn’t let his guard down ever again, even if that meant he needed to be mean to the hot doctor—

“I don’t see why either of us would need a thing like that to do our jobs properly,” Aodhan replied, cutting into Cal’s thoughts. “I might even argue the exact opposite.”

He didn’t sound offended or like he was joking. It was as though the doctor was taking the topic seriously, more so than Calix had meant for him to. It certainly didn’t sound as though he was angry or judging him for his rude remark.

“You don’t feel bad for me.” The realization came to him then, and Cal’s brow furrowed. The man still peering down at the holopad wasn’t the same one who’d rushed him into this room with careful words. “Is it because I told you it was consensual?”

The doctor didn’t believe him, that much was apparent—mostly because the guy wasn’t an idiot. But Calix’s insecurities shifted, and he found himself scowling and pushing himself onto his hands and knees, determined to climb off the bed and get out of here.

A strong hand on his narrow back shoved him down, pinning him before he could go much of anywhere, however. A surprised breath whooshed out of him and Cal froze.

“You aren’t very obedient, are you, Detective?”

“What?” Surely he’d misheard him…

Aodhan sighed, his hand still holding Cal in place. “You aren’t good at following instructions,” he reiterated. “Doctor's orders were you rest, so where do you think you’re going?” He paused and tilted his head curiously. “I said the wrong thing just now, didn’t I. What was it? I assure you, it wasn’t my intention to scare you off.”

“Scare me—” Calix shook his head, vaguely wondering how they’d gotten to this odd conversation. “You didn’t scare me off.”

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