“She needed to learn,” I pressed, my voice tight.
“She did,” Carver agreed. “And you taught her. But that’s not what I’m talking about, and you fucking know it.”
The room was silent. Everyone was watching. Waiting.
“Baiting the tiger, Carver.” Morpheus sighed.
Carver ignored him and leaned forward, his eyes never leaving mine. “I watched you last night. Watched the way you looked at her. The way you held her throat. The way you didn’t let go even when she was turning purple.” His smile widened. “I’m talking about the way you enjoyed it. Gotta admit, I got off on it too.”
My blood ran cold.
Fuck.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, but the words sounded hollow even to me.
“Yes, you do,” Carver replied, his voice calm. Matter-of-fact. “You’re a sadist, Nano. You get off on pain. On control. On breaking people.” He tilted his head. “And last night, you finally let yourself feel it.”
The silence in the room was deafening.
I wanted to deny it. Wanted to tell him he was wrong.
Wanted to stand up and walk the fuck out.
But I couldn’t.
Because he was right.
“How long?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Since the night you almost killed a club whore. It took me, Vortex, and Scythe to pull you off her,” he said. “You think I didn’t notice your erection? Or heard you spend the rest of the night jacking off in your room? My room is right next to yours, brother. You were up all night replaying what happened, weren’t you?”
“He’s right, Nano.” Vortex sighed. “You think we don’t see the way you watch people? The way you catalog everyone’s weaknesses? The look in your eyes when someone’s in pain?” He shook his head.
I swallowed hard, my throat tight. I didn’t want to talk about this. It was none of their business.
“So here’s my question, brother,” Carver added. “What are you going to do about it?”
I stared at him, my mind racing.
What am I going to do about it?I’d spent years burying this part of myself. Years pretending I was normal. That I didn’t get hard watching people break. That I didn’t fantasize about control and pain and submission. But last night had changed everything. Last night, I let myself feel it. Let myself enjoy it. And now there was no going back.
“She’s mine,” I said, the words coming out before I could stop them.
Morpheus groaned. “We know.”
“What?” My head snapped to his.
“Fuck.” Cerberus chuckled. “You may be one of the smartest fuckers in this room, boy, but you’re fucking stupid if ya think none of us saw or smelled her wet pussy. Bitch was gettin’ off just as fast as you.”
“Hottest fucking thing I saw in a long while,” Garotte muttered, shifting in his seat as a few of the brothers nodded.
“Problem is,” Carver interrupted, the smile fading from his face as he turned to Morpheus, “putting a sadist and a masochist together is dangerous. Nano leans toward the extreme, and if not monitored, that could be deadly. As for her, I have no way of gauging her pain tolerance.”
“I say we throw them both in a room and see what happens.” Scythe grinned.
“We can’t do that,” Carver stated with all seriousness. “It would be like throwing gasoline on a raging fire.”
“Explain,” Morpheus said.
