“What does it look like!” he snaps back.
I step up to him and he backs up until he hits the door. I trace my finger along the metal around his neck. He snarls at me but doesn’t move his hands from hiding his junk to try to push me away.
My senses flash at me in fear, warning of silver. I frown. I’m pretty sure it’s iron. It can’t be the dreaded metal anyway, because I’m touching it and it’s not burning me. I ponder it some more. Is it silver inside? Coated in iron? I blink at the horror of it. Wearing that around your neck must be extremely uncomfortable. Every part of me wants to take it off of him but there doesn’t seem to be a fastening. Just a welded seam. The horrendous thing has been welded on to him.
His comment about pets echoes around and around in my mind. Was that really what he was to the hunters? A pet that they collared?
“We’ll get that off of you tomorrow,” I promise him.
Callum’s workshop is bound to have tools capable of the job. Fitz’s eyes widen with what looks like horror. He doesn’t look happy with my offer at all.
“No!” he exclaims. “It keeps my beast side at bay! I don’t want to be a monster like you!”
That’s a lot to unpack, and it’s all grim. So, he truly is a hunter. They weren’t forcing him to do it. He believes shifters are monsters that deserve to die. He voluntarily wears a collar to suppress his wolf in an attempt to be human. He tried to kill me just because I’m not human. All pity from a heartbeat ago vanishes as if it never existed. All that is left is a bitter taste.
“Get in the fucking shower!” I snarl.
He flinches and finally obeys me. Which is a damn good thing as I’m seriously about to lose my shit. What a vile little creep. I keep my eyes on him as he showers. Who knows what he is going to try next. I glare at his back as the water cascades down him. Scars cover his back in a criss-cross pattern of lines.
What the hell? It looks positively medieval. Like someone has taken a whip to him, but that can’t be right. And to scar like that, silver would have had to have been involved. A whip with silver tips? My whole body shudders. I’m losing my mind. That can’t be true. There must be another explanation. Some weird hunter cult shit or something.
My gaze drifts lower. His ass is incredible. Firm enough to bounce a quarter off as well as being a nice juicy handful. My cock stirs. I can’t believe I had him a few short hours ago. He was under me all hot and tight and making delightful noises.
I snatch my attention away. He is a bigoted hate crime perpetrator, I remind myself. It’s understandable if my instincts get confused, he is a hot omega, but I can’t let myself forget what he is. An evil human hunter disguised as a shifter.
With that thought in mind, I risk leaving him unguarded for a few heartbeats while I race to my bedside cabinet and back. My cuffs are meant for fun and are covered in pink fluffy fake fur, but they will do.
He finishes cleaning himself and I shove him down onto the floor so I can cuff his hands to a pipe that runs just above the skirting.
He eyes me balefully as I strip for my own shower. I ignore him and step into the cubicle, leaving the door open so I can watch him. The water feels amazing. I let the heat soak into me and wash some of the tension away. As I open my eyes to check on Fitz, I catch him staring at my dick. His eyes are wide and he looks completely transfixed. It takes him a moment to realize he has been caught. He turns a wonderful shade of fuschia and looks away.
Part of me wants to preen at his obvious appreciation. Part of me is disgusted by being ogled at by a murderer. I sigh heavily. The boy is a complicated nightmare.
I dry myself before unlocking him and chucking him a towel so he can do the same. After swiftly drying himself, he holds the towel awkwardly over his cock with his cuffed hands as he follows me into the bedroom. For some reason, I dig out one of my plain white tee shirts and uncuff him just long enough so that he can put it on. I shouldn’t care about his comfort. There is no need to be nice to him.
The tee shirt hangs to the top of his thighs and is utterly enticing. Semi-clothed is much more erotic than naked. Something about the tease, the promise of a flash, is so alluring.
Annoyed with myself, I snatch my attention up to his face. His vivid green eyes are regarding me warily and his silver hair is all tousled and damp, sticking up every which way. I swallow. Why the fuck does he have to be so cute?
“Go to sleep!” I snap.
His eyes widen, and he drops to the floor lightening fast. Curling up into a small ball. I stare at the sight while my guts twist into knots and my heart clenches. He looks utterly vulnerable. Small, helpless. At my mercy.
“On the bed,” I clarify.
The carpet is thin and I’m not such an asshole. He sits up and stares at me in surprise. I point to the bed to make myself perfectly clear. Very, very slowly he makes his way towards it. He places his bound hands on the bed tentatively as if he thinks the bed is going to bite. Then he looks over his shoulder at me as he cautiously places his knee on the mattress. He looks like he is expecting me to rescind my command at any second and beat him for daring to touch my bed.
It suddenly hits me why he is being so reticent.
“Believe me, I have no intention of going anywhere near you with my cock ever again!”
He flushes and drops my gaze but not before I see his flash of hurt. I blink in surprise. He is insulted by that? That is not what I was expecting. He scrambles into the bed quickly and lies on his back. I’m still staring at him when, without me saying anything, he raises his hands above his head so I can cuff him to the headboard. My throat tightens and I need to swallow.
I secure him to the headboard quickly, while holding my breath so I don’t breathe in any of his delicious scent. Fresh from the shower, he smells amazing. Hurrying over to the other side of the bed, I flick off the lamp and sink back against the pillows.
A long silence stretches. I’m absurdly aware of him lying beside me. Am I ever going to be able to sleep? His presence is all-consuming.
“Was I that bad at it?” he whispers.
