He wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, but didn’t trust his voice so glared instead.
Pavel shrugged like it was no big deal he wasn’t going to respond, and then balled up the lab coat and chucked it over Zane straight into the fireplace. “The temperatures will drop within the next hour. I suggest you get yourself dressed and back to your car before then. The fire should keep you warm until you’re ready to peel yourself off the floor, but don’t linger too long.”
Zane blinked at him.
Wait.
Was he seriously about to just—
“I’ll see you in class Monday, Doctor.” Pavel turned on his heels and wandered off, disappearing between the stacks without so much as a second glance back at Zane who was still a puddle on the ground.
It was absolutely asinine, but Zane found himself angrier about that than anything else the man had done to him.
Screw the video.
He was going to plunge his dagger straight through Pavel Hart’s left eye.
Just… as soon as he regained feeling in his legs.
Chapter 7:
The bruises were gone by Monday morning, thank the gods. Zane had spent the entire rest of the weekend holed up in his room, telling everyone to fuck off because he was busy studying for exams.
In reality, he’d mostly spaced out.
The events of Friday night kept returning to him unbidden, no matter how desperately he struggled to purge them from his memory. It hadn’t helped that every time he so much as glanced into a mirror he’d caught sight of the purple and blue blotch beneath his chin. He had a scar there from when he was younger, the bruise covering part of it.
There’d been similar marks on his knees and the back of his neck, but by the time he’d forced himself out of the shower and into his school uniform Monday, they’d faded to practically nothing.
He’d made it through his first three classes but the anger hadn’t abated. The science lab he was currently in was more of a study period than anything, with students in various groups around the room, some working on actual lab work, others going over projects assigned by other science professors.
Zane would have skipped the class altogether, but he needed to focus, and he’d hoped being surrounded by fellow students would do the trick.
It wasn’t.
The worst part of it all was that his minor injuries weren’t even that big of a deal. Being chased through the forest for a little sexual excitement—even though it hadn’t originated as his own—also wasn’t the most horrible thing he’d ever endured. Hell, one time Kazimir had blindfolded him and pretended to be a robber.
This was hardly the first occasion Zane had been forced into sexual relations with someone.
He may have even been able to get over it, forgive and forget after a bit of petty revenge. The Devils of Vitality were all messed up in one way or another, and Zane had never tricked himself into believing he was an exception. Even though it’d been humiliating and confusing, the orgasms had been phenomenal enough that he really could turn the other cheek, so long as Pavel was willing to apologize and explain himself.
Except.
That bastard hadleft him there. Like used trash. Like just another tarnished and drenched page from one of the rotting books. Like he was nothing. Worthless.
Royal Zane Solace was so far from the meaning of worthless it was laughable. And infuriating. Did he acknowledge that he probably shouldn’t be so hyper-focused on that part of the events? Yes. But could he help it? No.
The orgasms had been great.
The aftercare had been shitty.
And Zane was in the process of considering breaking into the guy’s club to slit his wrists when the chatter in the lab turned into a hush.
Hefelthim before the first person whispered Pavel’s name, like this weight on his shoulders and a chill trailing up his spine. Stubbornly, Zane refused to look, keeping his attention on the holopad on his desk he was scrawling notes on. The two of them didn’t have any classes together, despite Pavel’s cryptic parting comment the other night, so there was only one reason he could think of for the other Retinue member to be here.
A strong hand dropped to his shoulders but he gave no reaction, flipping through the pages on the smaller holographic device he’d been reading from.
“Morning, Doctor,” Pavel’s voice reverberated throughout the room, and it was obvious by the gasps that Zane wasn’t the only one who heard the hint of possessiveness in it.
