emotions pushed at him from all sides, making him feel a little claustrophobic. He reinforced his mental shields, his hand instinctively flying up to his thaal. Fuck. Stop being so pathetic, damn it. He shouldn’t need the comfort of his Master’s mark as soon as he was out of his comfort zone, especially since he’d come here to prove to his Master that he didn’t need him.
Forcing himself to let go of his thaal, Eridan moved forward, toward the bar. Ordering a random drink, he looked around, trying to distract himself from the onslaught of other people’s emotions. There was a surprisingly large number of adults in the club, despite it catering to apprentices and initiates. He wondered if those adults were Masters or members of the servicing department. Since everyone was wearing casual clothes, it was hard to tell. Either way, no one seemed to care for rank, which was both very freeing and weird, considering how much one’s rank was important in the Order’s social ladder.
“You look like you’re new here,” the guy beside him said, making Eridan flinch.
He turned his head and eyed the guy. He looked a little familiar—Eridan must have seen him around the town—but he was pretty sure they had never spoken. He looked around Eridan’s age, maybe a little older. Curly dark-brown hair, sharp amber eyes, a strong jaw. He was tall and broad-shouldered with some nice muscles. He was very handsome, and didn’t seem like a creep, but he wasn’t really Eridan’s type. Not that he had a type, but theoretically, he wanted to sleep with someone… older. More built. Besides, he didn’t like brown hair.
“Not interested,” Eridan said, turning back to the crowd.
The guy snorted. “Has anyone told you that you need to work on your social skills? Not everyone who talks to you wants to bone you, friend.”
Eridan made a skeptical noise. “People come here to hook up.”
“Do they? You don’t look like you want to hook up. Your body language is all wrong. You look like you’ve come here for some unpleasant task.”
“One doesn’t necessarily exclude the other,” Eridan said, flicking his gaze to the tall man some distance away who was staring at him. Those pecs were nice. But his face… hmm… too soft and friendly. It was off-putting.
“It’s pretty damn sad if you really think that. You should hook up only if you really want to. But then again, wanting apparently isn’t enough, either.” A wave of bitterness rolled off the guy.
Eridan shot him a curious look. There was a story there. “What is your name?”
“Kyran,” the guy said. “Yours?”
“Eridan,” Eridan said, trying to hide his surprise. It couldn’t be some other guy named Kyran, because every child brought to the Order got a unique new name. It was a pretty freaky coincidence that he’d stumbled into this guy just after Javier told him about him. But then again, Hronthar was a pretty small town.
Kyran glanced at him and snorted. “So you’ve heard about me, I take it.”
Eridan just nodded, not knowing what to say.
For a while, they stood at the bar without talking, nursing their drinks. Finally, Eridan’s curiosity got the better of him. “Did your Master really take advantage of you?”
Kyran’s jaw worked. “No, he didn’t. That’s bullshit. Have you met my Master? He’s the gentlest, kindest man in this whole fucked-up place. He wouldn’t have been able to take advantage of me even if he wanted to: he’s half my weight. And no, he didn’t fucking groom me, either. If anything, it was I who took advantage of him.”
Eridan looked at him with interest. “What do you mean?”
Kyran heaved a sigh. “I literally climbed naked into his bed and put his cock into my mouth while he was sleeping. If there was coercing, it was done by me. But the Chapter doesn’t give a shit about the truth when they have their own agenda. My Master annoyed too many of those assholes with his reforms.” There was fondness in his voice, and annoyance too, as Kyran launched into a tirade about his ridiculously idealistic Master, but Eridan could barely hear what he was talking about.
I climbed naked into his bed and put his cock into my mouth while he was sleeping.
The mere idea… was outrageous. Outrageous and wrong. Outrageous and wrong and arousing.
If he dared to do that to Castien, his Master might literally kill him.
“It’s more than just idle curiosity, isn’t it?” Kyran said, probably noticing the speculative look in his eyes.