“Did I look fragile up on that stage in the club?Did I look like the kind of man who’s afraid of a bit of rough play?”
“That was wrong,” Luther snarled.
“No, it—”
“He was hurting you!”Blaine roared.
“Because I wanted him to, because I like it!”Marrick yelled.
“Humans have to be looked after and—” Luther began.
“And lions need to learn to grow a pair and think for themselves!What about what we do together every night?”They’d made progress during those long sleepless nights.He’d felt it in every scratch they layered on his skin.They’d started to see him as something better than they’d first believed him to be, something stronger than what they thought a human could be.
Luther looked down.“That was wrong, too.It can’t happen again.”
Marrick swallowed rapidly.If that was how they really felt about him, there didn’t seem to be anything left to say.He turned away from them both and strode toward the front door.
Blaine stepped in front of him.He didn’t reach out to hold on to him.It was as if he thought he was too fragile even for that.He just blocked his way.Marrick heard Luther step past them and shut the door leading out into the hallway.
“I’m not staying here for this,” Marrick snapped.
Luther leaned back against the closed door.Blaine didn’t move an inch.“You can’t leave.”
“What?Are you going to keep me prisoner?”Marrick asked.In spite of everything, the idea appealed.A locked room.Cuffs.Chains.Cages.It would be perfect.Except it wouldn’t be like that.It wouldn’t be like living in a kinky little fantasy.There would be no pain, no bondage, nolifein the existence they had planned for him.It would be like being back in hospital, with the whole world telling him what he was and wasn’t strong enough to do.“The only way you’re going to stop me leaving is to tie me up again.”
Some stupidly hopeful part of him actually thought they might say that would be fine with them—that they might realise they were acting like idiots and brush the whole stupid thing away as a moment of silly panic.
“That can’t happen again either,” Blaine announced.
The door handle rattled.The door swung open an inch before it was stopped short by Luther’s back.When Luther stepped aside, Arslan opened the door properly and stepped into the room.
Arslan looked at each of them in turn, seeming to quickly take in every detail.“What’s going on?”
“I’m leaving,” Marrick said, before either of the lions had a chance to speak.
“No, he’s not.He—” Blaine began.
“He has the right to leave whenever he wishes,” Arslan cut in
When Blaine would have spoken again, Arslan held up a hand.“The matter is not up for debate.”He turned back to Marrick.“You wish to leave?”
Marrick couldn’t meet Arslan’s eyes, but he nodded.
“Collect whatever you wish to take with you.”Stepping back, Arslan held the door open for him.
When Marrick came down the stairs with his bag a minute or two later, the door leading into the den’s meeting room was closed, and Arslan was the only lion in the hallway.His car keys were in his hand.
“I can get a taxi,” Marrick said.
Arslan didn’t even bother to argue about it.Taking Marrick’s bag from him, he simply carried it out and put it in his car.The bike was already in the back.
Great.Because an awkward car ride was just what he needed to make his day perfect.
Barely holding back a sigh, Marrick slumped into the front passenger seat, doing his best to jostle neither his head nor his shoulder in the process.
When Arslan slid into the driver’s seat, Marrick expected him to just start the car and get them on their way, but Arslan turned to him instead.“You’re hurt.”
Marrick ground his teeth together.“I’m fine.”
