“Don’t fret. I’ll give you a choice, same as before.”
“I said no.” Last night had been…He’d need at least several more days to process all that it had been and how he truly felt about it. But first, he needed to get this man out of his house so he could either scream or cry or…He didn’t know what other options there were but he was sure he’d think of something as soon as he regained the ability to think at all.
“Too late,” Rin motioned to his own neck. “Already collared you.” Then he slipped a hand into his front pocket and held up a tiny black key for Bay to see. “If you want to remove it, you’re going to have to do so yourself.”
Bay held out his hand, but Rin clucked his tongue.
“No,” he motioned with his chin. “Come get it.”
“After what you did to me, we both know that’s not possible.” Bay wasn’t sure he’d be able to stand, let alone walk the seven feet it would take to reach the doorway.
“Won’t know until you try.” When Bay merely glared at him, Rin sighed and slid the key back into his pocket. “Choices, Kitten.”
“This is insanity!” Bay dropped his head into his hands and inhaled to try and calm his racing heart. “You got what you wanted. I promised you I would stop, didn’t I? Why are you still doing this to me?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“No!”
Rin was quiet for a moment and then, “Interesting.”
“No, it is not!” Bay slapped at the mattress, hissing when he ended up hitting the cut on his hand. There was a bandage wrapped around it he hadn’t noticed before and he stared at it.
“If you reopen your wound, it’s up to you to patch it back up yourself,” Rin warned. “I’ve done my part in taking care of you.”
“What does that even mean?” Bay asked in exasperation.
“I brought you home, cleaned you off, tended to your wounds…Oh. There’s water on your nightstand. Have you had any yet? You probably should. You left a lot of fluids behind in the forest.”
At first he thought Rin was messing with him again, but it became apparent he meant everything he was saying.
Bay’s fingers went back to the metal loop hanging from the leather around his neck. “Are you…Treating me like a pet right now?”
Rin cocked his head.
“I’m not some animal.”
“Of course not,” he said, and there was a very real thread of disgust in his tone then. “I wouldn’t harm a helpless creature like that.”
“But you’d hurt me?” Bay demanded.
“You like it.”
“What if I didn’t?”
“Then I like it.” He shrugged, like that was answer enough. “If it helps, there’s only one person I think of as anything other than an annoyance. The fact that I even wanted to tuck you in and bandage your wounds already sets you above the rest.”
“Why?” Bay asked. “Why didn’t you just put me in my car and leave me there?”
“I don’t know,” Rin admitted. “That’s why I’ve extended our playtime. So I can find out.”
“I don’t want that.”
“You could change your mind.”
“I won’t.”
“Are you sure? Hear me out first.”
