Page 27 of The Devil's Mercy

A pod needed sex to dissipate and flow energy properly between them, so it wasn’t like Aodhan could have ordered Mercy not to sleep with whichever unlucky bastard got chosen. But then he’d met Cal. Had felt the tight grip of his hole around his cock, heard the soft, mewling sounds he made when he came.

He liked Calix Valimir. Liked the way he begged and cried all pretty. Liked how he craved to be hurt.

Liked that his dark pieces matched so perfectly with Aodhan’s and Mercy’s.

But more than that, he liked the way the guy talked and how he presented himself. How he tried to come off as a badass and strong, when in reality, he was lonely and broken inside.

Weightless. Floating without a tether, with nowhere to go and nothing to bind him.

Aodhan used to be like that.

He knew what it was like.

He knew that kind of quiet torture.

The fact that Calix had endured it, all on his own, was admirable. But no matter how proud of him he was for it, that didn’t mean Aodhan was above using that weakness to his advantage.

“If I recall correctly,” Zane said, “Connects need their mates to give permission for a bond to be set. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re confident you can get that from this person?”

“I’m confident it doesn’t matter.”

Mercy said it did—constantly, like a damn broken record—but Aodhan felt otherwise.

“What’s consent really?” He stood and stalked to the other side of his office, glaring out the window at the bustling streets below. On Vitality, where his brother lived, it was no doubt raining, but here the sun was out and the weather was warm.

People were taking advantage, those dressed in office wear and kids from the nearby college traveling from one building to another, probably for lunch.

He should end this discussion and get to the cafeteria before all the good options ran out and he was forced to pretend like he didn’t mind eating vegetables as a whole meal again. Sometimes, he wished he could shed this whole tedious façade, do away with the nice guy act and just be.

Existence came with a price, though, one he paid in false smiles and smooth talking.

And what was the prize in all that? First, it’d been Mercy.

Now it was going to be Cal.

“Permission for something to happen or be done,” Zane smartly defined.

“Funny.”

“Whatever you do, make sure it doesn’t bleed into my affairs.”

“Just tell me not to piss off Mom and Dad.”

“I don’t care what they think,” Zane stated. “But don’t do anything to tarnish the Solace name. It’s already hard enough to deal with them after I ditched it. If something happens and they no longer have their golden boy to fall back on…”

Aodhan rolled his eyes. “I’ve literally never taken their wants into consideration.”

“Oh, I know. We all do.”

A couple crossed the street directly in front of the hospital, holding hands, and Aodhan’s gaze tracked them as they entered a small soup restaurant famous for its fried dumplings.

Cal liked fried dumplings.

Mercy preferred them boiled.

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