Page 20 of The Devil's Mercy

He hummed. “For acting on instinct and being yourself. Although I suppose, since you were only aroused because you thought it was Heathe, you should earn a punishment instead. You used to have a crush on him, did you not?”

It was on the tip of his tongue to deny it, but Calix caught himself.

“I did, but it was never all that serious.” He’d liked the other student in high school, but it’d been the epitome of childhood crushes, never slipping into anything stronger than that. “I would have slept with him that night if he’d asked me, but I would have left him in the morning without a second thought.”

“Don’t say any of this to Aodhan. Don’t get me wrong, I’m furious at you for thinking about spreading for someone else, but unlike our delectable doctor, I can think rationally. You didn’t know us then, didn’t know how badly we wanted you. It’s forgivable.” He walked around Cal, making a soothing sound when Calix tensed. “Relax, I’m going to apply sun cream, that’s all. He doesn’t have any scheduled surgeries today, which means he could decide to be bad and leave the hospital early.”

“What about you?” he asked, mostly to distract himself as he felt those cool fingers dip between his cheeks. They prodded at his sore entrance carefully, rubbing cream around his puckered hole before slipping inside of him. He whimpered, but was hushed again.

“Relax,” Titus repeated, wrapping an arm around Cal’s waist to help keep him still as he worked on pushing globs of ointment into his torn passage. “I took a few weeks off. They won’t expect me back for a while. That means we have plenty of time to get acquainted.”

“Fantastic.”

He shoved his finger deeper, holding that position when Calix swore. “Sarcasm won’t get you anywhere right now, little monster. It’s best you behave while I’m being kind. Admittedly, there are quite a few things I’m cross with you about, your brief yet lingering attraction toward Heathe bottom of the barrel. Aodhan isn’t the only one you should be wary of.”

“I can say with absolute honesty,” Cal replied, “that I am one hundred percent aware of exactly who I need to be most wary of.”

“Good boy.” He seemed pleased by that response, even going so far as to plant a lingering kiss on the curve of Cal’s left shoulder before he started gently massaging his hole again. “I made Aodhan believe I had lingering feelings for you by leaving out that article. I knew it would be enough to get him to react.”

“Feelings?” he shook his head. “You’ve never had feelings for me. Don’t take this the wrong way, Director, but I’m not entirely convinced you have feelings at all.”

“I do,” he reassured. “Not many, but there are a few. A few more, now that I’ve taken a mate.”

“I confess I don’t know a lot about your species, but I do know Aodhan Solace is barely a step above you in the feelings department. He can’t be enlightening you all that much.” Emotions were supposedly shared through the Connect bond. Cal didn’t entirely understand how it worked, but since they were both pretty inept in that area…

“If you’d stuck around instead of running to the Academy, you would have experienced all of theemotionsI’m capable of firsthand.”

“What…does that mean?”

“Can you stop playing dumb now, Calix? It really doesn’t suit you, and it’s making me wonder if I might not have chosen wrong after all.”

That was a dangerous thing to say, and the threat didn’t go unnoticed.

Or unheeded.

As much as he hated falling in line, as shitty as it made him feel, there was really only two ways this could go. He could push things too far and really end up dead.

Or he could give in, figure out exactly what it was these two men wanted from him, and get it over with.

“I know what it sounds like you’re alluding to,” Cal tentatively began, “but…”

“You don’t respect yourself enough to believe it could be true,” Titus finished for him, humming in understanding. “All right. I’ll go easier on you for now. I’m telling you I wanted you back then, Detective. I’m saying I still want you now.”

He couldn’t help but scoff at that notion. “You already have Aodhan.”

“You sound jealous,” Titus noted.

“I’m not.”

“There’s no need to be.”

“I’m not.” Good Light help him, he was. He was, despite all of this and all of the things he’d just discovered. Despite the fact he’d been used and there was a chance none of what’d transpired between him and the doctor had ever been real.

Cal was jealous of the thought of Aodhan with the director.

Jealous of the idea of Titus with Aodhan.

Those old longings he’d thought he’d put to bed ages ago had crept to the surface again and Cal knew he couldn’t trust them. He’d always known Titus Mercer was an impossibility. The fantasy of a horny teenager on the run. That’s all.

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