He might have dressed Rin just now, treated him gently, but it’d been because he’d wanted to, not out of any actual kindness toward Rin. Kel did what he pleased when it pleased him, which meant if he chose to strangle Rin right here and now, he could do it without batting an eyelash.
And he’d get away with it afterward too.
This wasn’t the first time Rin was recalling this, reminded of the power imbalance between them at the last second, just before he tipped over the proverbial line and took things too far. He had to do a better job of remembering that he and his brother weren’t the only ones on this planet pretending to be something they weren’t.
“There,” Kel tilted his head, staring him down as he kept him close, “that. That flash of fear you just felt. I’m sorry you’re not happy with my plan for you. I’m sorry if I hurt you just now.”
“Liar.”
“I’m not finished,” he said tightly. “I am sorry you don’t seem to have grasped the situation you’re in, so allow me to show you some kindness and help you out.” He walked forward a step, the move bringing Rin’s back to the wall for the third time. Kel settled over him, using his entire body to keep him pinned so there was almost nowhere they didn’t touch, and then he pulled his hand out of his hair and captured his jaw instead. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. But do I care that I did? Not really. You didn’t bleed and you’re in one piece. That’s good enough for me.
“It’s unfortunate that you aren’t satisfied with the betrothal, it would have been better if you were,” he continued. “But does that make me reconsider? No, not at all. You’ll be well kept, and now a million doors that were once closed to you will be opened.”
“I don’t want it,” Rin stated, but his voice had dropped and the words came out nothing more than a harsh whisper, little more than air spoken an inch away from Kel’s hovering lips.
The Imperial Prince grinned, viciously, beautifully, and then he licked at the seam of Rin’s mouth, just a single flick of his tongue, there and gone. “If you didn’t want to be plucked, you shouldn’t have stood out in a crowd. If you didn’t want me to crave that sweet, sweet ass of yours, you shouldn’t have been so good at taking my dick.”
“Neither of those things were in my control!”
“And neither is this,” he replied. “I’m not used to wanting things because everything has always been handed to me before I even have to ask. But our time in the library made it clear to me that I want you. Which means I’ll have you. Ihaveyou,” he corrected.
“The time in the library where you almost drugged me against my will?” Rin reminded coldly. But if he thought putting things into perspective was going to get through to someone like Kel, he was a moron of the highest degree.
“I didn’t have to drug you today,” Kelevra said. “Progress.”
“That’s—” He gave him a blank stare. “You’re certifiably insane.”
“You already know what I am,” Kelevra corrected. “I’m acting according to my nature. It’s not my fault you’ve found yourself bound to a Devil.”
“Yeah,” he pushed at his chest but Kel didn’t let up, “it actually is. All of this? Your fault. So do me a favor and release me, then give your sister a call and cancel this whole sham of a betrothal before—” Rin didn’t get to finish, crying out when his hair was pulled again, this time harder than the last. He growled and glared, his head still tipped back forcefully. “Fucking prick.”
“Devil, Flower,” Kelevra drawled. “Your Devil.”
“I’ve already got one of those, thanks anyway.”
Wrong. Thing. To. Say.
Rin found himself on the ground, right in the middle of the shower section, in full view if anyone chose to enter the locker room.
The Imperial Prince was on top of him, securing him to the tiled floor with his muscular body, seemingly uncaring that he was ruining his suit between this and the water from the shower.
The ridiculousness of that notion—that here he was, thinking about the guy's expensive clothes—was not lost on Rin.
“If you tell me who they are,” Kelevra said, and his voice was off, deeper than Rin had ever heard it before, “I promise to make it quick.”
“Make what quick?” Why was he asking?! He didn’t want to know. He already knew that was a thing he did not want to know.
“Their death.”
Yeah. Hadn’t needed to hear that. Rin gulped and Kel’s gaze shot toward the motion, taking in the movement of his throat with more intensity than was necessary. If this were his brother, Rin would know exactly what fucked up thought was going through his head, but with Kelevra…He’d thought he’d pegged him. How wrong he’d been.
“Let me up,” he forced himself to make his tone gentle, easy, the exact opposite of everything he was currently feeling. The alarm bells were full-on blaring now, even more so than when he’d realized Kel planned to screw him in the stall. Thank Light no one had come in while they’d been doing it.
Wait.
No one had, right?
Rin inwardly cursed. Focus.
