Neither of those scenarios sounded fun.
Bay had another choice here it seemed. His grandmother or Sila.
Was he really going to choose Sila though?
“That still doesn’t explain what youdoplan on doing with the video,” Sila pointed out, though he was fairly certain he’d caught on. He wanted to hear it though. If they were going to stand here like this, Bay was going to have to air all his dirty laundry for Sila to even consider moving forward.
The fact that he was spoke volumes about who he was as a person, but damn the professor for being right.
He’d poked and prodded all the correct buttons where Sila was concerned. It’d been a while since he’d recognized the signs he was becoming dependent on the older guy. Whenever he didn’t know where Bay was or what he was doing, Sila felt anxious. Bay was to blame for some of this, of course, but Sila wasn’t innocent. He’d known something was happening to him, and he’d made the decision not to end things.
On some subconscious level, he’d even been aware what the professor might be up to. He’d turned a blind eye so that later, if he decided he no longer wanted Bay after all, he could claim he’d had no idea.
But even if he hadn’t. No one had ever managed to get the upper hand on him before. Instead of enraging him or bruising his ego, Sila found himself going the other direction. It was sexy as all hell that Bay was that clever and manipulative.
“It’s leverage,” Bay told him. “Same as the footage you have of the Seaside. Now I can’t leave you, and you can’t leave me. If either of us try, we’ll blow up our own lives.”
“Can’t leave you, huh?”
“You could kill me,” he said. “But Berga knows we’re involved now, and did you notice the way he was looking at me before he left the hospital? If anything happens, he’ll suspect you first and foremost and then you’ll have the entire Brumal to contend with. You really think the Imperial Prince will be able to protect you?”
Kelevra might try, considering Rin, but that would only result in chaos, and not the fun kind, because there was no way his brother would be able to walk out of it unscathed.
“What happens if you decide to leave me?” Sila asked. “Sure, I could leak your videos, but what’s to stop you from then releasing mine?”
“I’m never going to leave you,” Bay stated. “I said it before, but you didn’t believe me. You also told me you weren’t going to leave me, but I didn’t believe you either. This takes care of that for the both of us. Puts us at ease, don’t you think?”
That was all sorts of fucked up brilliance and Sila…He was impressed. He didn’t want to be. He wanted to snap the other man’s neck so this would be over, but at the same time, even the thought of killing Bay had his chest tightening uncomfortably.
He couldn’t do it. He didn’t want him to die.
He didn’t want to lose him.
“Touche.” Sila felt his body relax, the imminent threat over. “You’re very clever, Professor.”
“I’m not the youngest member on staff at a place like Vail through luck.”
“Clearly.”
“Are you still mad?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to—”
“Let’s clarify a few things,” Sila cut him off. “It’s cute that you’ve been topping from the bottom, baby, and I don’t really mind. But it’s still the bottom. I’m still the one in charge here.”
“I promise not to ever try to manipulate you again,” Bay said, only for Sila to cluck his tongue disapprovingly.
“Where would the fun be in that? Keep doing what you’ve been doing. Forever is a long time. Want me to want you that long? Make me.”
“So long as you constantly breathe life into my undead body?” Bay smiled. “Deal.”
“I make you keep feeling, you make me want you back.” It wasn’t bad. He didn’t come out short and he got what he wanted out of it.
“Do you love me?”
Sila considered. “I like you. You’re mine.”
