Page 61 of Reforging Onyx

“Okay. Take it out,” Onyx said.

Dominic grasped the base of the plug and pulled it out of Onyx’s hole with only a bit of resistance. “Wash it off,” he instructed, holding it out for Onyx. “And I’ll put it back in in the office before your tutor arrives.”

Onyx pulled up his shorts, then gingerly took the plug. He went to the bathroom so he could clean it off, then returned to hand it back to Dominic. He didn’t want anything to do with it, but at least he wouldn’t have to deal with it again until the afternoon — and he was much less anxious now, knowing that Dominic couldn’t change the size and shape.

Assuming he hadn’t been lying.

“What am I doing all day?” Onyx asked, resigned to a morning of boredom.

Dominic slid the plug into his pocket. “A book or music in the morning. Lesson after lunch, and this evening is not yet planned out. Did you desire to do something specific?” He grabbed his laptop and unfinished coffee and gestured for Onyx to lead the way out of the bedroom to the office.

Onyx nodded, following Dominic toward the door. “I don’t know. Maybe I can test out what she teaches me,” he said dryly.

On Dominic, preferably.

Dominic chuckled. “Much too short of notice to have a magic day today, but I can move some things around and do it in a couple of days.”

Onyx perked up at that. He was still surprised that Dominic wasn’t holding the last time against him, but he wasn’t going to bring that up. “I won’t hurt her,” he promised. “When we do lessons for real. She might get a little hot, but I won’t touch her. Neither will my magic.” He could promise that much — probably — but he couldn’t promise not to hurt Dominic.

He submitted to the other witch when he had to, but the hatred still ran deep within him. With how often Dominic manipulated him or forced him into doing things he didn’t want to do, how could he pass up an opportunity to break free?

Maybe he still was a little suicidal.

Maybe he always would be.

But if he went down in a blaze, he wouldn't wake up again. Fire destroyed everything, including vampires.

“A discussion we can have at a later time,” Dominic said. “What book are you listening to?”

Onyx grumbled, but he followed Dominic into his office instead of arguing. He grabbed the headphones from their usual spot and went to sit down by Dominic’s chair. “Oh, it’s nothing you’d be interested in." It was based on one of the games he played, and he felt silly for enjoying it as much as he did.

Dominic would probably think it was stupid. He could find out in a heartbeat what it was; he’d purchased it, after all. But even though the other witch arched an eyebrow, he didn’t press further as he opened his laptop and got to work.

The morning passed relatively quickly, and Onyx ignored both Dominic and his business associates as he listened to his book. It wasn’t until the Bancroft witch touched his shoulder to let him know that it was time for lunch that he pulled the headphones off and zoned back into the moment.

He stalled while eating, though, not looking forward to having the plug being put back in. The whispers of cracks in his psyche still lingered as memories brushed against his mind, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t escape them completely.

For all that he’d wanted the magic lessons, Onyx was reluctant to pay the price for them.

Dominic finished his lunch first and set the plate aside, taking the plug out of his pocket and lube out of his desk. “Your tutor will be here in half an hour,” he said after a glance at the clock.

Onyx reluctantly ate a little faster. This was the lesson he’d fought to have, so he didn’t actually want to miss it. And he definitely didn’t want to stall to the point where Dominic would try to do something like forcing him to take the plug while the Thorne witch watched. “Yeah, okay." He eyed the lube and plug.

Dominic chuckled. “The more that you wear it, the less distracting it will become,” he pointed out. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Onyx scoffed at that. He didn’t think it was ever not going to be distracting. He’d never gotten used to the last plug, though granted, that had been considerably bigger. This was small enough to where he might be able to forget about it if he was distracted enough.

Maybe.

“I’m ready, I guess.” He sighed, slower to drop his shorts and bend over for Dominic.

What would happen if Dominic chose now to break their arrangement?

Onyx started to tense at the thought, but he forced himself to relax as much as possible as Dominic slid the lubed-up plug inside of him.

“I still don’t like it,” he muttered as he pulled his pants back up.

The plug shifted inside of him, a taunt…