Suddenly, Flix’s arms wrapped around his waist, and furiously, Aneski twisted and shoved him away.
“Get off me!”
“You kept me locked up for three weeks,” Flix reminded, “yet you can’t even last one?”
Ani stilled. “Will you let me go after that? After a week?”
He quirked a blond brow, which was answer enough.
If Flix did have a timeframe in mind, he wasn’t going to share, but it also wasn’t a week. All signs pointed to him fully intending to keep Aneski in this one room for the rest of eternity and that was absolutely terrifying.
“I’m going crazy here!” He tried to move for him, but Flix merely retreated until Aneski ran out of chain. He struggled for a bit, the Brumal member watching him all the while, and then deflated all at once. “Flix. Please.”
“You beg me so often, you know that?” Flix leaned back against the dresser. “If you’re not begging me to release you, you’re promising to give me things. Aren’t you embarrassed? Is this how the leader of the Shepards should act?”
“Screw the Shepards,” he stated. “We aren’t Brumal. We have gambling dens and act as loan sharks. Would you prefer me to be a thug? How would that help me in this situation?”
“Ah, so you’re playing a part to try and get me to drop my guard then?”
“No,” he realized his mistake and groaned. “No, that’s not it at all. Flix—”
“Enough.” He made to move for the door. “I’m going to be late to class now, thanks to you.”
“Flix, wait!” Ani scrambled over the bed, falling in his haste to land on the other side. There was barely enough chain for that, and the leather strap ended up pressing against his windpipe, cutting off his air supply.
Flix was there in a second, helping him back onto his feet, plopping him down on the edge of the bed. He tugged the leather away enough to check him, growling at what he saw. “It’s going to leave a mark.”
Aneski coughed. “Only for a little while.” It would fade.
His eyes narrowed. “Did you do that on purpose?”
“What?” He shook his head wildly, grabbing Flix’s wrists to prevent him from leaving. “No! No, of course not! It was an accident!” When it became clear the older man didn’t believe him, Ani grew desperate. Latching onto Flix’s shirt, he pulled him closer. “Tell me what I have to do, okay? Just tell me, and I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“You think it’s that simple?” Flix demanded. “What could you possibly do for me that would prove without a shadow of a doubt that you’ll never do something that stupid again? There’s nothing.”
“I don’t want to die,” he insisted, but that only made Flix snort.
“According to you, you didn’t want to die that day either, yet that didn’t stop you, now did it?”
“I miss my friends,” Aneski dropped his forehead to Flix’s stomach, moving his arms to hug him close. “I miss my art. I’ll go insane trapped in here. You’re stripping away who I am.”
“And when you cuffed me to a wall? Away from my friends? From the things I enjoyed doing?”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you aren’t.”
He made another sound of frustration and glared up at him. “You’re right, I’m not. I’m not sorry I kidnapped you because you deserved it. You’re also right about what you said the other night. For almost a year after you abandoned me, I chased after that feeling I had with you. I tried all sorts of toys, but nothing ever felt the same. I was so desperate I gave up and started fucking other people in the hopes—”
Flix’s hand shot out, squeezing around his throat. “Careful, Tiny Terror, my patience is already worn thin.”
He grew quiet, tears spilling down his cheeks.
“You thought you could use me,” Flix said. “You thought you’d become my Onus and use me to find your brother and punish him on your behalf. That you could do all of that, make me yours, and then walk away the second you were finished.”
Ani sucked in a breath. How had…Shit. There was no point in even denying that he’d thought about it.
“So what if I did?” he ended up saying instead. “You would have deserved it. You should know what it feels like to—”
