Chapter 7 - Predator #2
Whatever he did, he needed to get away from Adathan.
Quick. “Be right back,” he said as he stood up.
He walked to his suitcase and took out his sweatpants.
They were loose and thick, so hopefully they’d help conceal whatever was going on down there if his body kept acting up. “I’m just gonna get changed.”
William stepped into the bathroom and locked the door. He took off his pants and glared at his unwelcome erection, which was now at full mast.
What are you, some kind of animal? A fucking predator? A deviant piece of garbage?
The string of insults made no difference.
He plopped down on the edge of the bathtub and buried his face in his hands, huffing a bitter laugh at his stupidity. How had he thought he could secretly rub one out with Adathan in the other room? Trying not to think about Adathan was the surest way to make his face pop into William’s head.
“I’m so fucked,” he whispered under his breath.
He pictured his high school math teacher as he grabbed his sweatpants and put them on. To his relief, it worked—his dick instantly started losing interest. The man was the most unalluring human being William had ever met. Looks and smell.
He flushed the unused toilet and headed to the sink, glaring at the pathetic loser in the mirror as he washed his hands.
A creep who got turned on by the prospect of a vulnerable slave jerking him off stared right back.
He would have to accept Oliver’s offer to give Adathan a home, after all. Adathan wasn’t safe with him.
He buried his shame deep, deep within himself as he exited the bathroom. He threw his pants on top of his suitcase and walked to the sofa, sitting as far from Adathan as possible. “What’d I miss?”
“There was a giraffe fight.”
“A giraffe fight? How does that work?”
“They swing their necks at each other,” Adathan said, replicating the movements with his arms.
“Huh. Sounds weird.”
Adathan chuckled. “Yeah. It was.”
“What were they fighting about?”
Adathan leaned back, resting his cheek against the backrest as he gave him a lopsided smile. “For the right to copulate.”
William’s heart skipped a beat. “Bet they didn’t bother asking the potential mate’s opinion on the matter.”
“Giraffes can’t talk,” Adathan teased.
“Talking isn’t the only way to communicate.”
Adathan seemed to ponder William’s statement for a moment. “You’re right,” he said before looking back at the TV.
On the screen, monkeys jumped from branch to branch as if they were playing tag. William was almost envious; their existence looked so simple. No guilt. No shame. No regrets.
William tensed as Adathan scooted closer. There was no doubt about it this time—nothing William had done could have been misinterpreted as an order to snuggle up to him. “Is it something you’re familiar with?” he asked as naturally as possible. “Reading body language?”
Adathan beamed. “Of course! Learning to anticipate our masters’ desires from their body language is a crucial part of our training.”
William’s emotions had been all over the place since they met, but still. It was difficult to believe Adathan was truly adept at reading body language. If he were, wouldn’t he have stopped invading William’s personal space by now?
“And what happened when uh . . .” William began against his better judgment.
“Hmm?”
“You didn’t anticipate correctly?”
“I was punished,” Adathan said matter-of-factly.
Anger blazed through William, ignited further by the shame he still hadn’t processed. “Well, I’m not like them, got it? I’ll never punish you. Ever.”
Adathan’s smile didn’t budge as he gazed at him, his silence stretching too long for William’s comfort. “At first, I didn’t understand why you were so unwilling to punish me. It made even less sense that you were concerned about my injuring myself. But now I get it.”
William perked up. “You do?”
Adathan nodded. “You don’t possess a lot, so you cherish the things you have.”
William gaped. “No!” He shook his head. “That’s not it! You’re not a possession! You’re a—”
“Person. I know. I see it now; I’m a person, just like you.” Adathan scooted even closer, trapping William between his body and the sofa’s armrest as he reached for his hand. “And I have you to thank for it. I’m grateful.”
It was all bullshit—Adathan couldn’t undo years of brainwashing just like that—but it was still a step forward, and William would do his damn best not to let his skepticism show. “I didn’t do anything special,” he said nonetheless. He’d merely been treating Adathan like the human being he was.
Adathan cocked his head. “I know you don’t want me, William. Yet, you’re still doing everything you can to make me feel at home. If that’s not special, then I don’t know what is.”
“That’s not true—I do want you.” Fuck, that sounded so wrong. “I mean, you deserve to be happy.” And safe from abuse. “Everyone does.” Almost everyone.
William would very much like for Eden Serviteurs’ CEO to suffer abuse.
Adathan squeezed his hand gently. “The world would be a much better place if everyone were like you.”
William winced. “Please, you don’t know me. I’m far from perfect.”
“To me, you are.”
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know you notice more than most, but you don’t use it to do harm.”
William huffed to hide his surprise. “So, anyone who’s not a straight-up villain is perfect? That’s a pretty low bar.”
Adathan’s eyes crinkled. “There’s no such thing as villains. People are complex entities driven by as many sets of motivations as there are individuals. However, most will put their own desires first. You don’t.”
William nearly rolled his eyes at what was clearly a direct quote from one of Adathan’s lessons. “Yeah, well, that’s where you’re wrong.”
“Oh?”
“I always put myself first.”
“Is that so?” Adathan said, the mischievous spark in his eyes making William’s heart skip a beat.
Adathan inched closer, his gaze locked onto him like a predator eyeing its prey. Pressure rose in William’s chest, his thoughts scattering as he tried to make sense of Adathan’s shift in demeanor.
Adathan looked at his lips for a second, then back into his eyes. “If that’s the case . . .” He trailed off, giving a smile that had no right to be so alluring.
If that’s the case what?
Adathan placed two fingers underneath William’s chin, his touch sparking jolts of tingles across his skin. William opened his mouth to say something—to put an end to whatever was going on—but Adathan spoke before he could.
“Then you must be getting immense pleasure out of making me consume only what I enjoy the most.”