Page 46 of Lay It Bare

Rei

The sound of the front door opening and closing woke Rei out of the light doze he’d been waiting in. He slid from bed and padded naked through the hall to the living room. Sevastyan was just rounding the corner from the entry area, pulling off the jacket he’d been wearing beneath his coat when he left. Rei slid to his knees, palms on his thighs.

Sevastyan smiled at him and finished pulling off his extra layers, dropping them over the arm of the couch. “Still awake?”

“Dozing, master.” Rei kept his eyes on Sevastyan.

His master went down on one knee, slid his hands into Rei’s hair and leaned forward, breathing him in. Rei bent his head towards Sevastyan’s caress. The other man’s lips pressed against his forehead, then lifted his chin and pressed against his lips.

Sevastyan tasted like someone else. A different flavor of toothpaste lingered on his tongue. There were hints of chocolate and alcohol on his skin and his hair smelled of shampoo and conditioner not in the condo.

Rei’s eyes fluttered. There were bite marks on the side of Sevastyan’s neck. His hand started to rise towards the marks. He stopped himself, returning his palm to his thigh.

“At ease,” Sevastyan murmured. “Did you eat?”

“Yes, master.”

“Lisa asleep?”

“Yes, master.”

Sevastyan guided Rei to his feet and pulled him in against his chest. “Drink tea with me.”

Warmth spread through Rei’s chest. Sevastyan ran his hands down Rei’s back and reached for his discarded clothes. He grabbed his discarded sweater and pulled it over Rei’s head. “The kitchen will be cool.” He led Rei towards the kitchen.

Rei eased his hands through the ends of Sevastyan’s sweater’s sleeves. They were long on him, but smelled like Sevastyan. “How was the evening?”

Sevastyan smiled again, one of his real smiles, his eyes cast down, not really watching his hands as they filled the electric kettle. “It was good. I got to do something good, for once.”

Rei waited. He wanted to ask, but his training was too good to let him.

Sevastyan finished filling the kettle and returned it to its dock, turning it on. He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter. Rei settled near the wall, turned towards him.

Sevastyan’s eyes were on everything in the room except Rei. “There was a man who hurt girls. More than girls, but especially girls. He’s not going to do that anymore.”

Rei gripped his hands in front of his hips and twisted his fingers together. Something was both good and off with his master. He understood anger. He knew Sevastyan’s depressive episodes and his grief, his long bouts of frustration and rage, but this was new. Sevastyan never took pleasure in killing, even when it was justified. It always made him reserved and hard, then passionate and desperate in bed, like he was trying to pray to the gods through Rei’s body. “You killed him?”

“No.” Sevastyan looked straight at Rei for the first time. “He’s with the authorities here. The evidence is clear cut. He won’t get out of prison before he’s a decrepit old man, if even then.”

Rei frowned. “You . . . you did that? You planned this? I didn’t have a mission . . .”

“It was a favor. To a friend.” Sevastyan dropped his eyes again. “Their mission.”

“Friend?” Rei hated the waver in his voice.

Sevastyan didn’t have friends. He had people he hated a little bit less than everyone else. He had allies. He had . . . whatever Alexi was. He had contacts. Under his legal cover, he had “friends” in quotation marks, but Sevastyan didn’t consider any of the many people in his digital Rolodex friends. That word was reserved for those who might come close to the heart, and the truth of Sevastyan’s existence. You couldn’t be friends with someone who didn’t know what you were.

Only Rei knew Sevastyan.

“Friend.” Sevastyan looked away. “From a long time ago.”

The kettle bubbled away. The silence, for once, was awkward.

Rei dropped to his knees. “It’s not my place to question, master. Please discipline me.”

And it wasn’t. Even if he was shocked, he shouldn’t show it. The wrong person might see and Sevastyan’s position could be at risk. Rei had to be unshakable.

“I shocked you, and you were at ease,” Sevastyan said. He took one of Rei’s hands and slapped it, hard enough to sting, but not hard enough to hurt even two minutes later.