Page 16 of Dark Possession

“Yes, thank you,” he answered stiffly.

Toran paused and studied his face. He put down his fork. “You do know I am not going to hurt you. I wouldn’t do that to you. When you and I finally....make love, it’s not going to be anything like what you experienced in the showers.”

“You mean how you tricked me into walking straight into a gang rape so that I would be forced to beg you for protection?”

His anger peaked and the words poured out of him. Instantly, he wished he could take them back. The thunderous expression on Toran’s face was terrifying. The big man stood abruptly and the table shook with the force.

Jesse instantly contracted into himself. He remembered the beating he had received the day before and imagined how much worse it would be coming from a man as big as Toran was. His meaty fists would do so much more than bruise. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. Please don’t hurt me, please-”

“Stop it!” Toran boomed as he grabbed Jesse by the shoulders and lifted him from the chair. The boy gasped in horror as he was spun about and lifted. Toran didn’t throw him or push him down though, he picked him up and sat him down in his lap with a hard ‘thump’ on his ass that shocked Jesse right out of his hysteria.

The boy stared up at Toran with a pale face. He flinched when the other man laid a palm on his bruised cheek, but he didn’t pull away. There was no point in trying. A beefy arm was wrapped around his waist like a steel vise holding him seated across Toran’s thighs. He wasn’t going anywhere until Toran let him go. He tried to remember how to breathe.

“I don’t want you to be afraid of me. Tell me how to make you unafraid,” Toran commanded him.

Jesse blinked and inhaled. He shook his head, “I don’t know.”

Toran frowned at him. Slowly his brow relaxed. “I will be gentle with you. We will go slowly. I want you to know you can say whatever you like and I will never hurt you for it. I will kiss you now, to show you I am not angry, and because I want to.”

Jesse’s mouth flew open in a shocked gasp as Toran’s hand wrapped around the back of his neck and pulled their faces together. Their lips bumped clumsily. Jesse jerked back, but Toran didn’t allow him to retreat. He held him tightly in place as his mouth and tongue explored Jesse’s. When he pulled back, his hand moved around to cup Jesse’s face. The boy was breathless and flushed and embarrassed.

Toran smirked at him, “I’m proud that you are perceptive enough to realize how I manipulated you last night. And I know that if you are intelligent enough to figure out what I did, you can also understand why I did it.”

He fixed him with a penetrating gaze as he rubbed his thumb gently back and forth over Jesse’s cheek. “Removing the hypothesis that I am simply a sadistic bastard, is there another possible explanation for why I appeared to abandon you in the showers?”

Last night, his pride had been shattered and he had been terrorized and beaten and violated. Jesse hated the question because he wanted to be angry with Toran and he wanted to blame him for what had happened. It was easier than facing the truth that it likely would have happened regardless, but Toran had been clever enough to make sure it happened on his watch. He didn’t want to admit that Toran had done him a favor, twisted as it was, so the boy remained sullen and stubbornly silent.

Hmm?” Toran asked, tipping Jesse’s chin up with a finger and forcing their eyes to meet.

He sighed and dropped the act, “You knew it would happen whether you were there or not. So you made sure it happened while you were there so you could help me, if I asked you to.”

“That’s right, because if it happened when I wasn’t around….”

He let his voice trail off and the insinuation sink in. Imagining what might have happened with no one there to stop it, the horror of all those men who’d been waiting to get a piece of him, it made Jesse burst into tears. The crying hurt his ribs and his eyes and the pain just made him cry harder. Toran let him bury his face in his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around him and rocked him gently.

“There, there sweetheart, I’m here now. I’m going to protect you, keep you safe. None of those men will ever touch you again, not as long as I’m around, I promise.”

But who would keep him safe from his husband? Toran, who would keep him as a pet and a plaything, who would use him up and throw him away once he was done? Who would save him from the terror and desperation of being at a man’s mercy and never knowing what the next day might hold?

Toran’s promises would have been comforting to anyone but Jesse. He had heard it all before from the men who came to visit his mother. They all swore they loved her, would do anything for her, would come back and take her away from everything. Their promises were like the candies they sometimes pressed into Jesse’s tiny chubby hand- sweet on the tongue and gone just as quickly.

When he finally gained control over himself, he breathed a soggy sigh. “What do you want me to do?”

“Hmn, nothing but be your beautiful self, eat all your supper and then climb into my lap for a snuggle before bed.”

Jesse sneaked a peek up at him through wet, clumped eyelashes, “Don’t you want to-”

Toran’s look was scorching, but he shook his head and pressed his finger to Jesse’s lips to silence him. “I’ll decide when you’re ready and you’re not ready for that yet. Eat your dinner.”

“Ok,” he said in a small voice and slipped off Toran’s lap and back into his chair at the table. The pork was a little cooler, but still just as tender and juicy. There were two full, meaty chops, and once he finished with the first one, his appetite began to wane. Toran had told him he wanted him to eat all of his supper, but what if he couldn’t? He looked up with worried eyes, “Toran, can I save some for tomorrow?”

Toran looked at his plate, then shook his head, “No, the pork will spoil and make you sick. Try to finish off the meat at least, you need the protein. You can save the vegetables and potatoes if you like. But, if you were worried about going hungry, don’t be. I got you something today.”

He took the lid off yet another metal container and in it was some fruit, a loaf of french bread and a jar of jam. It was incredibly thoughtful and very generous. Jesse could have easily subsisted off the hearty dinners Toran brought him, but it appeared his husband did not want him to go hungry during the day either.

“Thank you, that's very kind. You didn’t have to do that.”

“Of course I did. I want you to have every comfort. I want my wife healthy and well-fed, with rosy cheeks and a plump bottom. My motivations are really quite self-serving, I assure you,” he said with a wink, and even Jesse was forced to crack a smile.