Page 16 of Sanctuary After Dark

My brow furrows for a moment while I try to ignore the pressure in my chest from the sudden emotion at them already thinking about getting things for me to make me feel comfortable. I focus on something else he said instead. "Gar?"

Lincoln hums in answer as he finishes his bagel and tosses the paper plate onto the coffee table.

"Garfield. He's Raven's Master and one of our oldest friends. We grew up together, not far from here, actually. You'll get to meet him today when they get here. He goes by Gar because his parents apparently hate him for giving him that name." Lincoln snorts a laugh and sits up a bit to grab his coffee again and finish it.

I'm about to respond when I hear movement and look up to see Lucas walking into the living room. Unlike his brother, he's wearing a worn t-shirt and a pair of blue plaid sleep pants. Lincoln grins at him when he walks over and collects the paper plate and the empty mug.

"Morning, gorgeous. Elias made coffee." Lincoln smiles at him. I'm surprised for a moment when Lucas leans down and gives him a chaste kiss before straightening. I was not expecting that at all. But I also try not to judge people either. They seem happy and that's all that really matters.

"Good morning. Did he? Well, it's because he's a good boy. I could already tell that about him." Lucas smiled and looks over at me just in time to see me try to hide my face by bringing my hands up to my cheeks to hide the blush. "Good morning, sweetheart. Thank you for making the coffee. Can I get you a refill while I get mine?"

Peeking out from my sleeves, which I had clutched in my hands, I smiled a little and nodded. "Good morning. I can get it. You don't have to do that."

Lucas frowns a bit before grabbing my mug from the table.

"Nonsense. You look really comfortable. I don't want to disturb that. How do you take your coffee?"

"Um… four sugars and some creamer, please."

"Good boy." He takes Lincoln's from his as well and heads into the kitchen to get us all some coffee. It doesn't take him long at all to come back out with three mugs of coffee on a tray with a bowl of yogurt, granola, and fruit on it. Once he hands us both our mugs, he sits down between Lincoln and I. I watch as he takes a sip from his mug and just sighs happily for a moment before turning towards me.

"Are you settling in alright, Elias? Do you have everything you need?"

Holding my mug between my hands, I smile softly and nod.

"Yes, thank you. The room is really nice. It's more than I expected, honestly."

Lucas nods for a moment before he sets his mug down and grabs his bowl of yogurt, mixing it up.

"We want you to be comfortable here, Elias. It was no big deal at all to make sure of that."

"I'm fine with just the basics. You didn't need to go to all that trouble..."

Lucas stops and looks over at me for a moment. Just studying me with an expression in his eyes I can't quite decipher. I shift uncomfortably for a moment under his gaze before looking away. They really didn't need to get all the extra stuff for me or give me such an extravagant room. I would have been fine with a basic room. As long as there was a bed and I had access to a bathroom.

"Sweetheart, look at me."

My gaze travels up to him slowly. He had set his bowl on his lap and had his full attention on me.

"You let us worry about that. It was no trouble at all, and it was honestly more for us, anyway."

Wait… what? My brow furrows in confusion because I don't understand how that works. How was them giving me such a big room and making sure I had extra pillows and blankets and even body wash for sensitive skin for them?

Lincoln takes a drink from his coffee and just smiles over at me.

"We're Daddy doms, squirt. We love to take care of people. Making sure that you're comfortable is something we love to do. It's been a long time since we had a cute sub to take care of, and while you're here, you're under our protection and care. If we hadn't provided you with comforts and made sure you had everything you needed, then it wouldn't have fulfilled our need to care for you. We understand that we're not in a dynamic, but it's still our job to care for you while you're here."

Blinking while I try to process what he's saying, I open my mouth to say something and then close it because it doesn't make sense to me. I still don't understand why they wanted to do those things for me.

"But… we're… we're not having um… sex."

They aren't getting anything out of this like the use of my body, so they shouldn't want to do things for me. I can handle all of that on my own. Unless they want me to give them my body as payment. That thought has my heart racing a little and my palms sweating. The anxiety hits me suddenly as my throat dries and I try to suck in a breath. I don't want to do that anymore. I thought I was done with that when Alec rescued me. But now I'm back right where I started.

"Hey, hey, hey. Elias, sweetie, breathe. It's alright."

I feel firm hands take the mug from my hands, and they shake as the anxiety hits me in my chest, making my heart ache. I grip my shirt and shake my head because I don't want to do that. They'll see my body and how broken I am and throw me out. Or I'll tell them no and they'll get angry with me. Alec promised I would be safe here. He promised no one would hurt me.

A finger tilts my head up under my chin, and I look into sapphire-blue eyes. It's Lucas. I can tell from what he's wearing. He kneels on the floor in front of me and holds my chin, making me look at him.