“Tell me how you felt just before you left the apartment,” Everet ordered, as soon as Kane sat down next to him.
“Why?”
Because I told you to.
Everet bit back the words. Pain didn’t give him the right to be a jackass. “Because if we can work out what made you do the wrong thing, we have a better chance of making sure you to do the right thing next time you feel that way.”
Kane shifted uncomfortably in his seat. A second later, he was on his feet. “We should go. I don’t want to be late for work.”
Everet caught hold of Kane’s wrist when the other man would have walked past him, heading for the door. “Tell me how you feel right now,” he ordered.
“Angry,” Kane spat.
“Good.”
Kane hesitated. He tried to snatch his hand out of Everet’s grip on him but failed. Everet wouldn’t have let him go for anything.
“You want me to be mad at you?” Kane demanded. “Well, in that case, well done.”
“I want you to be honest with me,” Everet corrected. “Did you feel the same way last night?”
Kane shrugged.
“You’ll have to do better than that.”
Kane huffed. “Yeah, okay. I was pissed off then as well.”
“And afraid,” Everet added.
Kane tried to pull his wrist out of Everet’s hand again. Everet remained perched on the edge of the sofa, keeping his back as still as possible while maintaining his hold on his submissive. It wasn’t difficult to keep his grip, especially when Kane had yet to put any real effort into shaking it off.
“You were afraid that you liked sharing my bed more than I liked having you there,” Everet said.
Kane stared at a blank patch of wall alongside the window and made no reply.
“I love having you sleep next to me. I like keeping you close. You never need to doubt that or to doubt that I want you to belong to me. Any mistakes you make won’t change that.”
Everet had no idea he intended to say all that before the words hit the air. Perhaps the adrenaline from his injuries had altered his ability to control his tongue. Still, every syllable was true. He couldn’t deny any of it.
Kane still didn’t look toward him.
“Next time you feel angry or afraid, I want you to tell me rather than run away. Do you think you can do that?”
Kane shrugged.
“You can shout it or stamp your feet. You can lunge at me and try to claw my eyes out if that’s what you need to do. But, whatever happens, I want you to stay alongside me and let me know how you feel.”
Another shrug.
This time Everet returned the other man’s silence with more of the same and sat there, still as any statue in the fancy human museums. Kane remained on his feet in front of him, pulling ever so slightly against Everet’s hold on him, constantly testing to see if Everet still wanted to keep him there.
It might have been a minute or an hour. Time didn’t matter as they mentally stared each other down, waiting to see who would give in first.
Finally, the pressure against Everet’s hand eased. Kane stopped leaning away from him. More incalculable time slipped past.
“I’ll try,” Kane muttered.
Everet smiled and squeezed the other man’s wrist, in what he hoped felt like a reassuring way then released him. “Good.” Everet stood up. “Let’s get you to work.”
“Are you staying with the cleaning team?” Kane asked.
Are you staying with me? Please?
“Yes.” What other answer could he give to that kind of silent plea?
Kane seemed to relax slightly. He wanted his master close to him.
Everet didn’t tempt fate by grinning like an idiot, but his lips twitched into a small smile. It was probably tiny, even as baby steps went, but it still felt good to consider that some sort of progress had been made. As Everet led Kane to his duties and took up his post watching over him, his T-shirt rubbed against his whipped back like wire wool dipped in saltwater.
He squared his shoulders and pushed aside the pain. It had definitely been worth it.
* * * *
“Everet, may I speak to you for a moment, please?”
Kane looked up from his duster just in time to see Ori beckon Everet across to the other side of the hallway, attempting to put several yards between Kane and his master.
“Of course, sire.” Everet smiled slightly as he joined Ori.
Kane straightened up, all thought of dust-free surfaces forgotten. His eyes narrowed as he glared at the back of the swan’s neck. He had no right to speak to Everet in private, let alone practically throw himself at him.
Anger twisted and swarmed within Kane, green-eyed and furious. Everet wasn’t Ori’s master. There could be no possible need for Ori to wander around pestering men who were supposed to be watching over their own submissives.
Kane turned away from the table he’d been working on. He made no attempt to be subtle as he observed every detail of the other men’s softly spoken conversation.
Ori stood far closer to Everet than he needed to. From the way Everet bowed his head to put his ear nearer the swan’s lips, Kane knew that Ori had to be talking really quietly. Kane had used that trick himself, dropping his voice to a seductive whisper, when he wanted to get a prospective sugar-daddy leaning in close. He knew how to spot a slut making a play for a guy.
Everet should have had more sense than to fall for it, too.
Kane tossed his duster on the floor and folded his arms across his chest. The conversation continued for several minutes. Neither man so much as glanced in Kane’s direction. Well aware that his existence had been forgotten, it took all of Kane’s self-control to remain on his side of the hallway.
Finally, Ori stepped back. Then, of all the bloody cheek, he tilted his head slightly, smiled, and looked up at Everet through his lashes. It was the final straw. No one in his right mind would have allowed another submissive to flirt with his master that way without taking immediate action.
Kane strode across the freshly vacuumed hall carpet, stepped straight past Ori and right into Everet’s personal space. He heard something that might have been Everet starting to ask what he wanted, but Kane didn’t have time for questions.
Careful to keep his hands up higher than the whip had struck, Kane slid his hands around Everet’s neck and up into his hair. Pulling the raven’s head down, he brought their mouths together.
For a second, Everet seemed too startled to kiss him back. Kane made the most of it, thrusting his tongue past Everet’s lips to explore the other man’s mouth with impunity. For once, Kane was the one in control of every detail of what happened between them.
Everet made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat, but he didn’t push Kane away. He slid his arms around Kane’s body and pulled him closer. Kane allowed that, but when Everet demanded that he instantly hand over all control of the kiss, Kane was in no mood to let that happen without a fight.
He nipped at Everet’s bottom lip and squirmed against his body, making it difficult for the other man to get a grip on him. Their crotches rubbed together as he wriggled—he made sure of that. They’d barely had enough time to lose their breath before they were both hard and ready to do far more than kiss.
Kane mentally grinned. Outside his own head, he remained serious and determined. He knew it wouldn’t be long before Everet’s brain caught up with his body. Kane had to make the most of every second before that happened.
Tightening his grip on Everet’s hair, Kane yanked at the thick black strands, using them as leverage as he fought to bridge the gap between their heights a little more perfectly.
Suddenly, Everet stopped trying to embrace him. His hands moved to Kane’s wrists. The raven caught hold of Kane’s arms and jerked him bodily away from him, breaking the kiss and putting clear air between them all the way down to the floor.
“What the hell’s got into you?” Everet demanded.
Kane glared up at him. Could he really be that clueless?
“I think this might be my cue to get back to my meeting,” Ori murmured.
Everet twisted around to look at the swan. Shock crossed his face. He’d obviously completely forgotten Ori was there.
Kane grinned. Success!
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sire,” Everet said, but it was obvious to anyone listening that his mind was elsewhere—that the only man he could think of was a magpie rather than some stupid swan.
Ori walked away. Kane strained his avain senses, listening to his footsteps, they died away, and Everet didn’t glance after him once.
Job done, Kane tried to take a step back. Everet stopped him short, refusing to let go of his wrists. “Where are you going?”
“Back to work,” Kane said, with a nod to the discarded duster.
Everet frowned. “Do you think I’ll give you the afternoon off just so we can get laid?”
“Sweetheart,” Kane said. “If a little bit of frustration would make that happen, you’d have given in days ago. Why would I think today would be different?”
“Then what was this all about?” Everet demanded.
Kane shrugged. “Can’t I just want to kiss you?”
Everet didn’t believe a word of it. Kane couldn’t blame him.
“You said I could do whatever I wanted when I was pissed off with you, providing I didn’t run away,” Kane reminded him.
The expression in Everet’s eyes changed. He still didn’t get it, but he seemed more inclined to smile than to frown. “Are you still in a bad mood?” he asked.
“Nope.”
Everet nodded, as if making a decision. “Good. You did the right thing. Well done. You’re free to get back to work.”
Kane smiled. When Everet released him, he picked up his duster and resumed his duties. He was aware of Everet’s eyes moving over his body every time he bent down to reach a bit of low carving. Everet was just as turned on as Kane was, just as desperate to come as he was.
The raven didn’t take his eyes off Kane once during the rest of the day, and Kane didn’t stop smiling, either. The world was once more just as it should be—with Everet’s attention completely focused on him.
And, just to make the universe an even better place, Kane was able to spend the rest of the afternoon sure that Everet would jump him the moment they got home and closed the bedroom door behind them. Talk about having something nice to look forward to.
* * * *
“You’re going to do something different today.”
Kane froze, his T-shirt halfway over his head. His skin was warm and slightly damp from his morning shower. He still broke out into a cold sweat.
A punishment.
Kane had known it was on its way. He was ready for it. It had taken just four days for Everet’s back to heal. He no longer appeared to be in any kind of pain—not even when he thought he was unobserved.
The raven was fully fit. The evening before he’d been more than capable of pinning Kane to the bed and screwing him just the way Kane loved. And now, he obviously felt healthy enough to exact his revenge on Kane for trying to run away, too.
Kane dropped his T-shirt to his side. “Should I bother putting this on?”
“What do you mean?”
Kane turned toward where Everet stood in the doorway between the bedroom and the living room, already dressed and ready for the day. “The punishment for leaving the apartment without your permission that night,” Kane muttered. “It’ll be a whipping, right?”