AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Nathan has a promise to keep.
Every time the burner phone buzzes, Carter’s stomach fills with ridiculous butterflies. Like the kind a teenager gets. It’s ridiculous. And embarrassing, because Casey is totally onto him if his smirk whenever Carter glances at his phone is any indication.
It’s late. He and Casey spent most of the day talking about everything and nothing. About their pasts more than anything. Casey didn’t talk about what happened to him at the place he was before, and Carter didn’t ask. They act as if he left the cell they met in and went straight to Benny.
They didn’t crawl into bed until both were having trouble keeping their eyes open, but now Carter is lying there trying not to freak out as the minutes tick by without an update from Nathan. He still has two hours before he needs to really worry – he has an alarm set for 5 minutes before the deadline - but this is the longest Nathan has made him wait for a message. He’s sort of freaking out about it.
“Still no text?” Casey asks, probably because Carter is fidgeting with the phone against his chest as he waits impatiently.
“No…”
“I’m sure he’s just busy. There’s plenty of time.”
Carter swallows hard. “I know.”
“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
Carter stares up through the dim lighting of the bedroom, focusing on the chandelier above the bed. He chooses to play dumb. “Hmm?”
“Nathan." Casey turns to face Carter, cheek against the pillow. Carter can feel him staring. "You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
“I-” Carter can’t get himself to say it. He peeks over at Casey, not sure if he feels better or worse that there's no judgment on his friend's face. “Maybe. A… little. Does that make me terrible?”
“No.”
"Really?"
"Yeah." Casey smiles softly. “Tell me about it.”
“About loving him?” Casey nods. “I don’t know. It - it happened slowly. They didn’t tell me the truth right away. I don’t know if Benny mentioned that or not, but they tried to keep me in the dark about all of this at first. I thought I was a slave. I mean, Iwasa slave, for all intents and purposes. It wasn’t until after the party where we saw each other, after Nathan punished me and I got hurt really badly, that he told me the truth.”
Casey slowly nods. “I was wondering. You didn't seem like you were acting that night.”
“I wasn’t. I was terrified.” Carter releases a shaky breath. “I thought you were going to die. I was watching what they were doing and I - God, Casey, I thought for sure you’d die.”
“I thought so too…”
“I’m really fucking glad you didn’t.”
Casey forces a smile that looks more like a grimace. “Don’t change the subject. Tell me about you and Nathan.”
"It just…happened. He could be so kind sometimes. Gentle. He'd hold me. Take care of me. He gave me a day off once and we cuddled and watched Harry Potter and he made me laugh. And sometimes he'd give me my consent in the bedroom, and we'd have sex that was… good. Perfect, really. I just - I don't know. I fell. At some point, I fell for him."
"And he fell back?"
Carter shrugs. "He says he did. I don't know. Part of me still worries that was just part of his act, you know? Like he acted in love with me because it'd make me feel better."
"That's so not true."
"What do you mean?"
Casey laughs. "That man looks at you like you're the fucking sun. When you asked him to wait earlier and ran up to him, I could see it. Clear as fucking day. He must either be a damn good actor or his men are fucking idiots because he's very in love with you."
"Yeah? You think?"
"Totally." Casey scoots closer on the bed, grinning like a total goof. "Is the sex good? I mean, the consensual stuff, obviously."
"Oh my god,so good."
