“Don’t be afraid, Zane.”
“You keep saying that.”
“You keep needing to hear it. I won’t hurt you, bashert. This will take some getting used to, yes, but we’ll get there. Eventually, this won’t be so foreign for you.” The corner of his mouth turned up subtly. “Perhaps even one day you’ll bathe me in return.”
“Don’t hold your breath.”
“No, that’s your role.” Pavel stood with a flourish. “But that isn’t the game tonight.”
“Is that what this is?” Zane swallowed the lump in his throat, watching the other man cross the room to grab a navy towel off a wall hook. “Another game?”
“Apologies,” Pavel came back over, “that was poor wording on my part. I’m not toying with you. That’s not what this is.”
He hated it but…He needed to ask. “Promise?”
“Only you would find being viciously fucked against your will more comforting than being pampered at home.” Pavel motioned for Zane to stand, helping him out of the tub before toweling him off. “I promise. I’m not doing this to manipulate you. I’m doing it because I want to.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re important to me and I want to show it. Acts of affection are surprisingly second nature to me. I wasn’t joking. I’ve fantasized about doing tiny acts like this just as much as I have about fucking you on my cock. I want to make you breakfast in the morning and kiss you goodbye at the car before we head off to our separate classes. I want to meet for lunch and gossip about all the idiots we’ve had to endure so far that day. I want to take you to nice candle-lit dinners, go on long drives on the coast, and come home to matching pajamas.”
Zane shivered and practically pleaded, “Tell me about the other stuff. Talk about that. Please.”
Pavel searched his expression and then sighed, taking his hand to lead him to the attached room. He urged him down onto the end of the bed and momentarily stepped back into the bathroom, returning with a wireless hairdryer.
It was quiet when he turned it on and pressed Zane’s head forward a bit so he could start drying his hair with skilled fingers as he finally spoke again.
“I want to do other stuff too,” he admitted softly, his tone such a juxtaposition to the words pouring out of his mouth. “I want to chain you to the bed and keep you there for days, completely at my mercy. You’d only be able to eat, drink, or sleep when I allowed it. Or even in this big house. I’d lock you inside and never let you leave. Trap you so thoroughly you’d have no other choice but to accept me and everything I have to offer. We’ll play like that sometimes, but it's only part of it. Only part of the way I want you.”
Pavel turned the blow dryer off and then set a single finger beneath Zane’s chin, easing his head up. His gaze was stormy and filled with passion, but they still weren’t glowing. “Breathe, baby.”
Zane realized with a start that he’d been holding his breath, and he inhaled deeply on command.
“Chains and orgasms are nice, but I’ll teach you all the other ways you can gain pleasure. I’ll teach you what it means to be part of a family.”
His hand came up and grabbed Pavel’s wrist, but when that merely earned him a stern look, he found his fingers loosening and his arm dropping back to the bed.
“Good boy,” Pavel praised, bending down to give him a kiss, just the barest brush of his lips against Zane’s. “Come downstairs with me. I’ll cook you dinner, and then after we can snuggle on the couch and watch a movie. You like movies.”
Due to his packed schedule, Zane only allowed himself to watch one once every month, but he did really like them. “How do you know that?”
Wouldn’t a stalker look at the facts and conclude otherwise? Zane rarely watched them, so wouldn’t it be more logical to assume he wasn’t a fan? What made Pavel so sure he’d pegged him when no one else ever had?
Pavel brushed his thumb over the curve of Zane’s cheek, as if he simply wanted to touch him and didn’t care where. “You get this excited little look on your face when you’re preparing to put one on. You gather all your favorite snacks and bring a blanket, get all cozy before pressing play. It’s a cute, endearing ritual. I’ve found myself mimicking it at home. We can do movie nights together from now on though. I made sure to get a big enough blanket for us to both fit under.”
Zane did do all of that, but only in his living room at the Little Palace. His private one, located in his private rooms. “How do you know all of that?”
“Simple.” Pavel lost some of that soothing vibe. “I hacked into the cameras.”
“The…cameras…?” There were cameras in his room?!
“You didn’t know.” It sounded like Pavel was caught off guard by that realization.
“No!” No, he had not. “Was it Lyra?” He swore. “Don’t answer that. Of course it was her.”
Pavel tipped his head. “You don’t like the fact that you were being watched?”
“Absolutely not! I feel violated and disgusting.”
