“You can carry mine, too,” Mack says, gesturing to the corner where their bags are. “He’s heavier than he looks. And I don’t want to get piss on the strap.”
Graham grabs the bags and goes first. He doesn’t want to see Mack taking care of the pathetic submissive who pissed himself because another submissive got mad at him.
It’s offensive.
Weak.
Isthatwhat Colton likes? What he’d choose if he could? But he can’t. He’s stuck with Graham. He’s being transferred and everything. Graham puts a hand out on the wall and stops for a moment to get his breath.
“Can I touch your shoulder?” Mack asks, voice laced with concern.
“No. I’m fine.”
“We’ll wait a minute. We still have twenty minutes before we need to be back.”
“You’re too good for him. He’s fucked everyone. He?—”
“Your Dom will be with us soon. What’s he like?” Mack asks, trying to distract him.
“You’ll have Jonah in common.”
Mack grunts. “Well, get moving and let’s get you checked out. You’re about to crash and I can’t carry the both of you.”
Graham laughs and forces himself to keep moving. “And we both know who you’d choose, don’t we?”
Would Colton choose Jonah, too? Will Graham have to watch Colton and Jonah together? What are the odds he’ll come around a corner and see Jonah on his knees getting what shouldbe his from the only Dominant Graham has ever wanted? There isn’t any reason he can expect monogamy from Colton. As if Graham could ever satisfy a Dominant for the long haul.
This isn’t going to work.
“Motherfucker,” Graham hears Mack say just before he faints.
14
They’re on the plane back and Graham is in and out of consciousness. He woke up, started shaking so badly they thought he was seizing, and they gave him an IV with drugs to stabilize him. He pulled the line out and been sedated heavily. Every time he comes out of the dark and regains consciousness, it feels like his skin is on fire. His blood is like ice and if it meant this could all be over, then he’d be pretty happy to just die.
At some point, someone puts a phone next to his ear and it’s Colton saying sweet things to him, promising Graham that he’s going to take care of him, that he’ll be waiting. Graham doesn’t respond but he goes to sleep listening to the sound of his voice.
Colton is going to be the only Dominant for him. The great love of his life that he’ll give his heart and his body to. And for Colton, Graham will just be another submissive he fucked for a while before moving on.
Coltoncan’twant him. Not really. And he definitely won’t once he gets to know Graham. It won’t matter what sort of contract he gets or how much he gets paid, there isn’t enough money in the world to make a Dominant like Colton want Graham for any length of time.
He welcomes the relief of unconsciousness.
Time passes and he hears different people chatting around him, coming to check on him, but he has no idea what they’re saying. It seems like a lot of work to pay attention to the words, so he doesn’t bother. He’s in pain. He needs Colton. And then he remembers the conversation with Jonah and he lets himself drift farther down and away. It’s a horrible shock to remember.
Over and over Graham wakes up, feels pain, longs for Colton, calls aloud for him, and then he remembers Jonah. It raises another question: what’s the point of being in the world when it’s just death and struggle and people doing their duty to placate the special snowflake a few scientists made of him? Why is he here when he’s a burden? What’s the fucking point of it all?
And then he could swear he hears Colton’s voice, so he forces himself to swim back up to consciousness.
“How long has he been like this?” Colton says, and he sounds like he’s in the room with them. He tries to open his eyes, needing to know.
“Four hours.” He has no idea who that is.
“What did he get besides drugs?” Colton demands.
“He rejected most medical treatment. Rejected sex, of course. We need his consent for anything beyond drugs.”
“He clearly isn’t capable of making these decisions if this is the outcome. If everyone knows it, then why—fuck this. I’m not arguing with you. This all ends.Get out.” The rage in his voice, the barely controlled violence drags Graham awake and he opens his eyes.
