Chapter 59
Testing the NeuroManipulator was much more difficult now that I couldn’t physically touch him without experiencing excruciating pain. I had to always make sure my fingers didn’t accidentally brush his head when using the device.
Working on dismantling the chip proved to be even more difficult, as every time I tried to run tests on it, it punished me.
Turns out they had wired it to fire if I made any attempts to remove the stupid thing, so Jay needed to handle most of the testing for me—without actually touching my arm or the device at all.
“Honestly, I think you might need to just cut it out…” I muttered by the time Friday rolled around.
I was a massive bundle of nerves.
Not only was I expected to do the demonstration in front of the entire campus, but Jay had been able to convince Luke to be our ‘volunteer.’ He’d said it was a show of good faith in the product, and floated the idea of inviting the press to televise the event.
If the world saw Luke Stevens willingly lie in the chair to have his memory altered, it would go a long way in helping to convince people it was ‘safe.’
Seb has backed the idea, saying from a marketing standpoint, it was genius.
We’d gotten the manipulator to the point where I felt comfortable using it to alter Luke’s memories enough that he would be more susceptible to suggestions from us.
Even if I could just get him to think it was his idea to have a more extensive session with the manipulator after the demonstration, I would have free rein to work on him until I was able to reverse all the legal bullshit he’d done to make himself the sole shareholder of Neurovance.
The idea of screwing around with the brain of the most powerful CEO in the western hemisphere without his full consent was enough to send my heart pounding out of my chest. Couple that with the restrictive chip that was still implanted in my arm… Well… I was an anxious mess.
The chip was cruel and unusual punishment. For how stressed I was, all I wanted to do was curl up in Jay’s arms and have him kiss and soothe me until I calmed down. But we couldn’t.
I hated not being able to touch him.
I’d only had the privilege of his hands on me for a short while before I’d been implanted, but it had been enough for me to become completely addicted to him.
I missed him.
I missed his soft lips and the tender way he used to brush my hair back when he knew I was nervous.
I missed the way he would press his warm, hard body up beside me while we played Stardew.
I missed the way he fucked me so hard I forgot about all the things that made my mind spiral.
We couldn’t even sleep in the same bed anymore. We’d tried the first night, but after being woken up by the device burning through my nerve endings every time we ended up tangled together in our sleep, I’d started sleeping in my own cube again.
“That’s going to hurt like a bitch…” Jay’s brows were pinched together, and his eyes were haunted.
“Yeah. But I don’t know what else we can do. Nothing we’ve tried has worked to disrupt the signal… We’re going to need to try more invasive methods.”
I shivered just thinking about how much it would hurt to cut the device out of me, but I was at my wits’ end.
It didn’t just punish me for touching Jay. It fired off for all kinds of things.
If I brushed against people by accident, it zapped me.
If I ventured near restricted areas on campus, it began to burn.
Worst of all, if Luke ever requested a meeting with me for an update on the manipulator, any delay at all resulted in mind-numbing, excruciating pain.
It was like an electric dog collar. I didn’t even want to know what would happen if I tried to leave campus. I assumed it would burn so bad I might black out.
“I have to assume it’s going to fire off if I try to use the manipulator on Luke in any way that he might perceive as ‘harmful,’” I muttered. “We need to get it out now if we’re going to do this.”
For what felt like the thousandth time, Jay reached out to cup my face, only to stop short. We both flinched as his hand hovered inches from my cheek.
My face burned with the desire to turn my head into his hand and accept the comfort he so badly wanted to give me.
I hated this.
“I don’t… I don’t know if I can hurt you like that, Milo,” he whispered. He looked absolutely tortured at the thought.
“You have to.” My voice was equally as soft. We stood there, staring at each other, Jay’s fingers still hovering so close I could feel the heat of his palm.
I swallowed. “Just… do it as quickly as you can. The pain won’t kill me… I don’t think… It wouldn’t benefit Luke if his… employees died from the implants…” I said ‘employees’ like it was the lie that it was.
I wasn’t an employee anymore. I was a prisoner. I just couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud.
“Are you sure that it won’t? Kill you, I mean?” Jay’s face was tight with worry, and I knew he was thinking about his dad.
I bit my lip, hoping I was right.
The few times I had taken too long to go to Luke when summoned, it had hurt so bad I’d worried I might actually die… but… so far I hadn’t, and we were running out of time and ideas.
“I don’t know. Like… 90% sure? If I pass out or something, I guess stop, and we’ll have to figure something else out. But this might be our one chance to use the manipulator on him; we have to try.”
Jay stepped closer to me. His hands twitched with the need to hold me.
My whole body was screaming at me to wrap my arms around his waist and bury my face in his chest, but my arm throbbed at the thought.
It was as if even thinking about touching him triggered the device, and it heated slightly in anticipation.
“You’re so brave, Milo,” he whispered, and my cheeks flushed.
“No one has ever accused me of that before.” I laughed softly, but Jay’s expression darkened.
“You are brave, Milo. What you’re doing here is incredibly selfless and… I don’t know many people who would have the balls to fuck around with Luke’s head like you’re about to do. You’re fucking incredible.”
I shrugged, feeling my face turn an even brighter shade of red at the praise.
“Well, I can’t just leave you here, imprisoned by him. You don’t deserve this. Neither does Sebastian. If I can free you, I have to do it.”
Jay closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath before nodding once.
“Alright. But you’re taking a painkiller first… and I’m getting you something to bite down on…”
He began rummaging around in one of the drawers under the large black desk in the center of the lab.
He handed me a bottle of Neuroprofin, being careful not to let our fingers brush, before unbuckling his belt.
I watched him slide the black leather out from the loops of his slacks, and I felt my cock twitch and my mouth water.
If we were successful, whatever pain I was about to endure was going to be so worth it if it meant I got to feel him inside me again.
I gave him a shy smirk when he caught me staring, his head cocking to the side in amusement.
“If you get this thing out of me, after the demonstration I… I want to…” My face was burning again at how bold I was being.
“Yes?” Jay purred, stepping in closer to me, his eyes darting down to my lips. “You want to do what, Milo?”
“I want t-to… suck you,” I whispered, and he let out a low rumbly growl.
“Fuck…” He closed his eyes again, like he was physically restraining himself from fisting my hair and forcing me to my knees… not that I would be against that at all. “Baby, you can’t say shit like that when I can’t touch you… It’s fucking cruel.”
I let out a nervous laugh, rubbing the spot on my arm where my chip was already burning slightly, just from thinking about how good it would feel to have Jay’s cock in my mouth.
“Let’s get this thing out of me then, so you can do whatever you want to me again.”
He chuckled softly, shaking his head in amusement.
“I’ve corrupted you. Such a willing little cock slut.” He smirked, hovering his mouth so close to mine I could feel the soft feathering of his breath.
I laughed softly. “Only for you.”
His entire face lit up, and he bit his bottom lip.
“Well, the feeling is mutual, sweet boy. I’m yours, for as long as you’ll have me.”
He was looking at me with so much tenderness and something close to awe on his face.
No one had ever looked at me like that before, and my whole body tingled with warm feelings of pleasure and joy.
I felt like I wanted to tell him that I might be falling in love with him… but it didn’t feel fair when we still couldn’t even touch or kiss each other.
As much as I wanted to know if he felt the same way, I wanted to wait until we could touch each other again before saying anything like that.
The thought just made me more determined.
I jerked my head to the surgical chair and gave him what I hoped was a brave look.
“Let’s do this.”
Jay stared at me for one more long moment before finally nodding in resignation.
“Alright, Milo. Get in the chair.”