Page 23 of The Devil's Mercy

“I need to hear it come from you,” he insisted. “Just tell me.”

“It’s your addiction to adrenaline that’s caused it,” the director continued as though Cal hadn’t spoken. “It’s made you rash and reckless.”

“Clearly, since I find myself here, in the clutches of a psychopath.”

“There you go, getting hot and bothered again, forgetting about the danger you’re in and opting to run that filthy mouth of yours. You’re lucky that I like it. That I, unlike our doctor, have patience.Truepatience at that. We’re going to have to reset your flight or fight responses, but one step at a time.”

Cal didn’t like the sound of that. “Titus…Mercy.”

He snorted. “That won’t work just because you want it to. There’s no easy way out of this, little monstrous thing.”

He kept calling him that. Kept referring to him as a monster. Aodhan had obviously told him all about the kinks Calix liked, how he enjoyed being hurt, and bled. How he liked it rough. The video they’d filmed of him at the reunion would have clued them into that all on its own, however. No wonder the doctor had spoken so frankly with him about his darker sexual proclivities. He’d already known Cal would agree.

That Cal would salivate at the mouth to participate.

Aodhan and Titus were in it together. The first had taken Calix at the reunion, the second in that forest at the crime scene…Titus had also shot and killed Amory in the middle of their damn kitchen…Cleanly. Without hesitation.

As though it wasn’t his first time.

“I don’t think you're one to speak on monsters,” Cal risked saying, sensing he was letting the older man lead him where he wanted, but unable to hold back any longer.

He was proving he no longer had a strong will to live, that his penchant for pushing things past the threshold that would guarantee survival was real. Even knowing that, he couldn’t bring himself to stop; the rush that came from diving headfirst, from toeing the line with danger, bubbled within him, chasing off the discomfort he’d been feeling the past three days.

“You’ve admitted to orchestrating several crimes, and you murdered someone in cold blood. Whether she was a wanted criminal or not, that doesn’t matter. You’re going to have to killme, too. There’s no way I’m going to let you fuck me after all of this and get away with the things you’ve done. If that’s the case, just get it over with. I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to be.”

“You still think this ends with your death, Detective?” Titus obviously didn’t agree with that assessment. “You’re either failing to see the big picture or pretending not to.”

“I agree to your demands, and you let me live. I refuse, and you put me down. Pretty sure I’m seeing exactly what I’m meant to be seeing.”

“Wrong.”

“Try removing the blindfold then,” he dared. “Maybe that’ll help clear things up for me.”

“Adorable. Should I? It won’t bother me, but you…We both know you won’t be able to handle the embarrassment. Do you really think you can look me in the eye right now? If that’s the case…” His fingers tugged lightly at the knot securing the thick black material over Calix’s eyes.

“Wait.” Fuck. He couldn’t be this weak. This pathetic. And yet… He hung his head again.

Titus was right. The thought of meeting the other man’s gaze made Calix’s heart thump wildly in his chest, and not in a good way. At least right now, there was a shield of sorts between them. A screen that allowed him to lean into the false bravado.

One it’d just become painfully apparent they both knew was an act.

“If you say it, I’ll tell you whether or not you’re right,” Titus darkly promised. “Isn’t that a good compromise?” His hand shifted, roaming up Calix’s side, the pads of his fingers just barely making contact. “Should I help make you more honest? You’ve shown interest in speeding this up. If you want answers so badly, you’ll have to be more willing to engage in a give and take of sorts.”

“Why do I get the feeling that if I agree to that, I’ll be the one doing all the giving, and you’ll be the one doing all the taking?”

“I cangivetoo.” Titus moved closer, until Calix felt the unmistakable bulge of the man’s cock press against his sore ass cheeks. “Would you like that?”

The events of the forest played over and over again in his mind as he considered his options. There was no escaping this, but was there even a chance for him to gain the upper hand when he still felt so left in the dark? At least if this was Aodhan, he’d have experience to help him, but with Titus…

The man had fucked him with a gun one time and hadn’t revealed himself in the process. Aside from that, he’d never made any moves on Cal, hadn’t even flirted with him during their interactions at the hospital and the station. If not for this, for the way he so obviously wanted him now, and remembering how openly he’d talked about wanting to fuck Cal in the woods, he’d never guess the director’s interest.

None of this was fair. And that was the worst part. The part where Calix felt wronged, not because of his current predicament, but because he still didn’t know what was really going on or how deeply the other man’s interest actually ran.

Sick. That’s what he was.

But he wasn’t alone in that.

“If I say no?” He clenched his fists and held himself steady, refusing to give in and rub back against that bulge. “If I tell you to back off and say I don’t want you?”

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