“Mmm. It’s really good,” Adathan said.
William took a sip. Velvety milk blended with the nutty, caramel notes of coffee and Irish cream, filling his mouth with bliss.Really goodwas an understatement. “I made you a decaf, otherwise you’d probably end up sprinting across the ceiling.”
Adathan giggled. “That sounds fun.”
William still remembered when he and Oliver first had coffee. They’d turned into two hyperactive daredevils with too much energy for their own good. “You can experiment once we get home,” he said with a grin. “There’s plenty of caffeine in my kitchen.”
Adathan breathed a dreamy sigh as he watched William drink his cappuccino. He really was too easy to please, but right now, William didn’t care.
“So...” Adathan began after a moment of silence.
“Hmm?”
“Have you given my question any thought?”
William raised an eyebrow. “Your question?”
“What you like to do to relax?”
Oh. Right.
William took a sip and shrugged. “Guess I like reading from time to time.”
Adathan joined his hands with a big smile. “I enjoy reading too! What are your favorite genres?”
“I read mysteries mostly. What about you? Did you get to read a lot of books while you were in training?”
“Yes! Acquiring a wide variety of knowledge is an important part of our training.”
William felt his hope reserves fill back up. If Adathan were educated, it would be even easier for him to integrate into society as a free man. “Really? Like what?”
“General knowledge that allows us to better serve our masters. For instance, familiarity with the different cultures, religions, and social etiquettes from around the world. We also read about history, science, gastronomy, nature, pets, healthcare...”
So far, so good.
“. . . music, literature, psychology, sex—”
“They made you read about sex?” William blurted stupidly. Why was he even surprised? Of course they made them read about sex.
Adathan took a sip. “Mm-hmm! Sex is a natural part of life.”
He wasn’t exactly wrong, but sexual abuse wasn’t. William was willing to bet there was no mention of consent whatsoever in those texts, or any depictions of safe and healthy practices for that matter.
“Do you like sex, William?”
William choked on his coffee. “That’s not—”
How the hell was he supposed to tell Adathan that friends didn’t ask each other whether they liked sex? William was far too blunt. He’d only make Adathan feel self-conscious about his ability to behave like a normal person.
Oliver had a natural talent for this sort of thing. William would have to ask him to coach Adathan on appropriate conversation topics later.
Until then, William’s objective to make Adathan feel comfortable was still a priority, so he reluctantly answered, “Y-yeah. As you said, it’s a natural part of life.”
“I like sex too.”
William’s breath caught, a rush of heat shooting up his neck. His gaze dropped to Adathan’s mouth, his pulse quickening as Adathan’s tongue poked out and traced his lips—slowly, so very slowly. William took a sip of his cappuccino, but it did littleto distract him from the way Adathan tucked his hair over his shoulder, revealing the curve of his smooth, delicate neck.
William leaned forward as tingles stirred in his lower abdomen. What was wrong with him? Adathan was brainwashed. He was used. He was abused.
