42. Onyx #2
He might’ve been mostly cold on the outside in response, but he was far from a psychopath himself.
“Again, difficult to say for certain,” Dominic said.
“The nature of our childhood relationships were different, which may have caused me to place value on her that I did not place on him. For all that she is the daughter of a powerful arm of the Bancroft family, if there is one who could be called to be a good person, it is she. Hence why she is the one to carry out my instructions regarding you and not another.”
Onyx nodded. Dominic had said something similar before, but he hadn’t fully grasped it then.
Now he did, and he wondered just what his sister would say if Onyx was the one to kill her brother.
Would she really be willing to help him, knowing that?
Maybe the Bancroft gene would let her do as much.
“What’s her name?” he asked, realizing he knew nothing about her but probably should learn a little.
Dominic smiled. “Sophia,” he said. “Lady Sophia Bancroft.”
A knock on the door preceded Shane opening it and stepping inside.
“Shane.” Dominic nodded.
Onyx finished his food, which had been partially left untouched during the conversation, and got up. He’d need a few minutes before he could do any heavy exercise, but he was relieved to get off the floor for a little while.
“See you,” he told Dominic. He turned to go, hesitated, then turned back to kiss Dominic lightly on the lips before joining Shane at the door.
Shane held the door open for Onyx to pass by before closing it after him. “How you holding up?” he asked on their way to the gym.
Onyx scowled. “Dinner party tonight. I have to be on my absolute best behavior. I don’t even know what that means, by the way, other than ‘do exactly what I say’ and hope that he gives good directions.”
Shane slanted a look at Onyx. “He didn’t tell you anything more than that?” he said, a note of surprise in his voice.
“Absolute best behavior. That’s all.” Onyx shook his head. “But I have to be there because it’s some Council thing. I think I’m fucked.”
Shane huffed an irritated sound, opening the door to the gym to let Onyx pass through ahead of him. “Well, I’m no expert, but I can tell you what I’ve seen,” he offered. “Of how slaves act in formal settings, I mean.”
Onyx went to the ring, stepping into it. He didn’t particularly want to learn how to act like a proper slave, but he also didn’t want to make this situation worse, either. The fact that the Council was showing any interest in him whatsoever was a bad thing.
“Yeah,” Onyx said. “I mean, I saw the slaves at the last dinner party. They just didn’t have any personality at all.” Maybe that wasn’t entirely fair, but they certainly hadn’t seemed to when they were around their masters. “I mostly plan on staying by Dominic and keeping my mouth shut.”
Shane nodded, following Onyx into the ring.
“That’s really the most of it, keeping your attention entirely on Dominic, waiting for any signals he might give you.
Or at least looking like that’s what you’re doing.
Kneeling any time he stops for too long or sits down.
” He frowned. “It’s a dinner party, so he might expect to feed you. ”
Onyx scowled again. “Yeah. And I guess I have to go along with it. My only other option was to be on display." He sneered. “And I’m not doing that again. So I guess I get to be fed again.”
Just like the early days…
He didn’t let his thoughts linger there. Fuck. He wasn’t ready for this.
Shane gave him a sympathetic look. “It’s just for the night?” he said, turning it into a question at the last minute.
Onyx nodded unhappily. “Yeah. I guess the Council just… wants to see what’s going on here.” He sighed. “Fuck.” He started to stretch. “More katas today?”
Shane nodded, starting his own stretches.
“Yeah, we’ll do this one, and when you’ve got it, we’ll start with sparring in a few days.
” After warming up, he climbed out of the ring to fetch the staves, handing Onyx’s to him when he got back to the ring.
“Run through the three that you know, quarter speed.”
Onyx took the now-familiar staff, sliding his hands into position on it.
He started the first kata, taking his time as he moved through the patterns and forms of it.
This really would be good distraction ahead of the party, something he needed, instead of sitting there thinking about psychopaths and the Council and what they might want with Dominic.
And Onyx.
Shane had few corrections to make until Onyx was well into the third set of movements, and even then, there weren’t very many. He took his time, stretching out the lesson and putting extra focus on precision as they worked through the forms of the new kata.
Onyx had picked up the structure of the movements and forms, so adding the fourth kata was more adding additional styles of strikes and blocks to what he already knew. He picked them up quickly, too.
They were still working by the time Dominic appeared in the doorway.
Onyx was reluctant to stop, even when Dominic interrupted, but he knew better than to stall tonight. “Shower here or in your room?” he asked, coming out from the ring.
“In the room,” Dominic said as Onyx approached. “I have your clothes ready.” He drew Onyx in for a light kiss before guiding him out of the gym and to his bedroom.
Onyx’s outfit had been set out on his side of the bed, a slim fitting gold sleeveless top along with black leggings with gold inlaid on the outer seams that went with Dominic’s black suit with gold trimmings.
Onyx glanced at the bed and the clothes, noting the absence of any sort of plug or cock cage with relief before vanishing into the bathroom to scrub himself clean.
He dried off thoroughly before returning to the bedroom, picking up the shirt and making a face.
It was fancy, though that didn’t make it instantly uncomfortable, at least.
He started to dress, glancing over at Dominic. “You never told me what you expect me to do,” he remarked. “I mean, behaving, sure. But I don’t know what that means.”
Dominic hummed thoughtfully. “In a word, you must act adoring. Eyes on me, unless they’re on the ground. When I touch you, lean into the touch, only slightly. Enough so that it appears that you desire more.”
Adoring.
Onyx wanted to throw up.
He didn’t want to be an adoring pet, one who looked to Dominic and hung on his every word, eager for every scrap of attention he could get. But he gritted his teeth and nodded, because he understood that things were shaky right then. If the Council was involving itself in this…
“I will indicate to you whether you are to kneel or stand. When we are walking, remain just a step behind on my left with your eyes down. I will feed you during the meal; you must not resist it. And ignore anything that is said, especially if it is said about or to you,” Dominic instructed further.
“Yeah, okay,” he said. “Dominic…” He paused, unsure. “I can’t promise perfection, okay? I’ll do what I can, but I don’t know what I’m doing. Not really.”
Dominic nodded. “There are times when you will be my fiery and barely-leashed tiger,” he said.
“Unfortunately, this cannot be one of them. And these are things that we have not practiced. I had not expected them to be necessary for some time yet. I do not expect perfection, and you will not be corrected for errors, only deliberate missteps. I gave you my word on that before, and I give it again. I do not and will not punish you for things outside of your control.”
Onyx nodded reluctantly. He could appreciate that, at least, and realistically… He was spooked. That was enough to have him planning how to obey properly, even though it ran so counter to everything he knew and wanted.
Of course, this could’ve been a trick, a way to force him into doing something he didn’t want to do, but he didn’t think so. He was fairly certain Dominic’s agitation at the entire situation was genuine.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll do my best.”