Page 10 of The Devil's Mercy

“Yes,” Aodhan groaned. He was shoved back onto the chair so he was bent over it, and he humped back eagerly, welcoming the next thrust.

The tattoo moved down Titus’s right arm, and Calix watched it, unable to look away as it traveled over the back of the director’s hand. He grabbed onto Aodhan’s shoulder, squeezing, and then the image of the snake rose up, separating from his skin.

The strike was swift, so fast Cal would have missed it if he’d blinked. The snake snapped forward and latched onto the side of Aodhan’s neck, teeth digging in.

Aodhan screamed and came at the same time, come shooting across the room as he jerked, caught between the chair and the director, who was still slamming ruthlessly into him from behind.

The snake let go and turned to Calix, hissing and showing off its blood-stained teeth. As soon as their gazes connected, a tingling rush seemed to pass between them.

Cal’s orgasm snuck up on him, coming out of nowhere, shattering any illusions he’d still had that he could resist this fucked up thing going on.

Shattering any hope of maintaining the lie he’d told himself every day since Nero Quinten stepped in front of his car.

That Calix was the victim.

And not just another monster waiting for judgment day.

Chapter 3:

Titus carefully tipped the kettle, filling his cup with steaming liquid as he listened to the birds chirping outside from the open window over the kitchen sink.

And the moans and sobs from the attached room.

The door to where they were keeping Calix was closed, but he could still be heard through the wood. His cries had gotten louder the second Titus had turned the sink on, leaving him to wonder if the detective was putting on a show for him.

Aodhan was already such an attention seeker. He didn’t know how he was going to handle it if Calix turned out to be the same.

Not that it came as too much of a surprise. There’d been something there from the moment they’d first met. Titus had seen the plea in the younger man’s gray eyes. It wasn’t just to help get him out of the bind he’d put himself in by hitting a classmate with his hovercar. It ran deeper than that.

From that single look alone, he’d found his imagination getting away from him. Titus had envisioned everything, from his and Calix’s first time to their last, before the hour-long meeting between him and Bruce had even ended.

He’d planned an entire lifetime between them, had prepared for it.

Only for Calix to sneak off planet the second Titus turned his back.

That wouldn’t happen again.

“He’s so loud.” Aodhan padded into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He’d already changed into his work clothes and had brought Titus’s briefcase down for him, which he set on one of the kitchen chairs before heading over to him.

“He’s performative,” Titus corrected, handing Aodhan the steaming cup of black tea he’d just made. The corner of his mouth tipped up when the doctor took a sip and sighed in contentment. Titus hated tea personally, but he loved how much it made his second happy.

Loved that he could be the one to supply that happiness.

Which was why he allowed it, even though he typically preferred them to share things. There was a closeness to be felt through that single act. A control, if he were being honest, but control allowed him to feel closer to a person, so it counted.

“Are you sure he’s going to be all right here alone?” Aodhan tucked himself into the corner between the L-shaped counter spaces and took another sip, peering at him over the porcelain rim of the cup.

“I lowered the hook last night before we went to bed,” he reminded. “He’ll be fine.”

“It’s been a long time.” The doctor glanced over Titus’s shoulder at the closed door. “What if he passes out from overexertion?”

Titus drank from his own cup, this one filled with coffee, and quirked a brow. “Would you like to take his place? Give him a break?”

“I’m thinking logically,” he stated, “not emotionally.”

Even though he knew that was true, Titus mentally pulled on the invisible string that connected them. The psychic link allowed him to tap into Aodhan’s emotions, but they’dbeen together long enough they were able to switch it on and off. In the beginning, the doctor had struggled with it, hadn’t understood when Titus had explained it was a feeling, like flexing a muscle, more than anything physical they could touch.

For the most part, they both left the connection off, only switching it on to check in throughout the day. Some Connects left the channel open indefinitely, but since Titus didn’t feel all that much, and Aodhan wasn’t much better… There was only so much rush of random bloodlust either of them could take before it became triggering.

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