Cancassi hums, amusement dancing in their copper eyes. “And I will gladly keepbothof you up, if you’d like.”
Maybe that’s exactly what I need. I can’t help but grin as I rub my scruffy cheek. Guess I won’t be catching up on sleep tonight after all.
“Alright,” I say. “Where to?”
AFTER WE FINISH EATING, Olbric and Cancassi take me back to Olbric’s casting room. It still smells of sex, ropes and restraints strewn across the floor and bed. I may have interrupted them earlier, but they don’t miss a beat as they pick up right where they left off. Except nowI’mthe one at the center of their attention.
Between the two of them, I’m shot so deep into conspace that I can forget about the strangeness in the baths. I’m suspended and teased, toyed with and fucked until I’m begging for release. Conduiting for either of them is a pleasure, but conduiting forbothof them tests my endurance in a way I’ve been craving.
I lose myself in it, and by the time Cancassi leaves us well after midnight, I’m covered in rope marks and welts. I’m so exhausted that I can barely keep my eyes open as Olbric helps me over to the bed before I collapse on top of it.
Then, I feel a damp cloth start to clean me, swiping over the welts Olbric’s flogger left on my back before cleaning the mess Cancassi left between my legs. I moan at the gentle care, my eyes so heavy it’s impossible to keep them open. Yet as tired as I am, I still manage a quiet, “Thank you.”
Olbric hums contentedly as he leans down to press a kiss to the back of my neck. “I’m glad we could help.” He falls quiet for a moment as he wrings out his washcloth before nudging me to roll over. I obey the wordless order, shivering as he starts to clean my abused cock.
“Are you alright?” he asks.
“I’m going to be sore for days,” I murmur, though I’m not at all mad about it.
“Good. But that’s not what I was asking.”
I swallow, my eyes sliding open to meet his concerned look.
“You looked... terrified when you showed up, Dom. Did something else happen with Arlon?”
I shake my head. “No, no. Nothing like that. I just... dozed off. Had another fucked up dream.”
Olbric tsks, tossing the washcloth into the basin before he lays down beside me, one arm curling across my chest. “Do you want to talk about it?”
He always asks. Never demands, like Arlon and Gal do. I roll to face him, bringing our noses just shy of touching. His hazel eyes are full of understanding as one hand reaches out to stroke my cheek. I sigh as I lean into his touch, letting my eyes slide closed. Gratitude and love fill my chest in that way that only he can cause.
“I must have dozed off in the baths earlier, and... a memory from the silver hit me,” I say, though it’s not the full truth. Nothing likethatever happened while I was trapped in the silver. “It just shook me, is all.”
Olbric’s thumb traces the bow of my lip before he leans forward to kiss me. It’s soft and gentle, and it helps ease some of the tension from my shoulders.
“The hard truth is that those memories won’t die easy, if ever,” he says, his brows knitting. “In the months after the Black Burrows, I’d get hit so hard by a sound or smell that it felt like I was still there. Hell, even Thaddius’ accent set me off one time.”
I drape my arm over his waist, pulling him close as I twine my leg around his. In the aftermath of the Black Burrows, he used to wake from nightmares too. Yet even now, I can almost feel that shadowy touch against my cheek, the heat of a breath that wasn’t mine.
“Did you ever... see things? Feel things?”
Olbric’s smile is strained. “Sometimes. I still get phantom pains in my shoulders, though they healed ages ago.”
That should be comforting, but my worry still lingers. I’d been left alone in the silver for so long. All that fear, all that nothingness feels like it... broke something in me, and my memories of that endless stretch have all blurred together. I don’t remember what I said to Olbric when I dream walked to him, can’t remember details of the visions I saw of Galiva and the others. Yet that voice... I remember that voice vividly.
You should never have come here, Dominai. You have to go home.
But Iamhome now. So the fact that I’m still hearing that command makes me uneasy for a lot of reasons.
I heave a heavy sigh before I shake my head, putting on a small smile. “Sorry. I’m not trying to dredge up bad memories.”
Olbric’s nose gently brushes mine. “It’ll get easier to talk about with time,” he says before his smile turns wry. “Ask me how I know.”
I tighten my arms around him, pulling him snug against my chest. He smiles against my collar as I brush my lips against his forehead.
“I love you,” I murmur.
Olbric hums contentedly as he kisses my neck. “I love you, too.” He sighs against my skin before asking, “Will you stay with me tonight?”
