2. Toby

The way Blaise melted under the smallest amount of praise had all my blood rushing south. Fuck. With how he'd reacted when I'd tackled him in Mori's office a few weeks ago, I'd suspected he had submissive tendencies.

But this…Following my orders? Meekly waiting for me to tell him what to do?

It had me wanting to discover what other things we might have in common.

I didn't know what Blaise had in mind for tonight, but I could almost guarantee it wouldn't be what was running through my mind. As a Dom, my first priority was making sure a sub was comfortable and relaxed.

Not exhausted and mentally whipping himself over his past actions.

I understood why he was—what Blaise had done to Bailey was moronic—but none of us could claim we'd been saints in the past, myself included. When you lived for centuries you were bound to fuck up. Add in our extra powers, massive egos, and selfish tendencies, and those mistakes tended to be correspondingly larger.

The point was, you had to move on. Bailey had forgiven Blaise, and Harlow was well on the way there.

The only one who was nowhere near finding forgiveness was Blaise himself.

It wasn't how he'd reacted when I'd pinned him to the ground that had piqued my interest. Sure, it'd had my Dom instincts rearing, but that wasn't what had made me sit up and take notice of this quiet giant of a man.

No, that'd happened when Harlow had launched himself at us both in a fit of rage. Blaise had had a split second to decide who to shield.

He didn't choose himself.

He chose me.

He chose to protect a stranger over himself. That was what had really caught my attention. What kind of supe did that? Was it because he was just that nice a person? Was he trying to prove he could do the right thing? Or was it because he didn't believe he was worth saving?

Whatever the reason, I'd made it my mission to find out. Broken supe boys were my addiction, one I never intended to quit. Helping them heal, showing them the right path to take, it was what I did.

From the way Blaise kept turning up night after night, he knew I had something to offer him. Something he couldn't get from anyone else.

I watched from the corner of my eye as River appeared, his attention immediately zeroing in on his twin. Just like he did every night, he tried to engage Blaise in conversation, the frown on his face deepening with each clipped response from the bigger man. Twins they might have been, but identical they weren't. The only thing they shared was their unusual slate eye colour.

I felt for River. For both of them. I knew all too well what it was like to see a family member you loved suffering. To want to reach them but not know how.

I'd been failing my cousin for centuries—for so long I feared our relationship was irreparable. He was almost a stranger to me now, a fact that fucking gutted me.

I wasn't letting that happen to River and Blaise, not if I had any say in the matter. Maybe that was why I was this way. I'd failed Sebastian so spectacularly that I was determined not to do it with anyone else.

"Found a new playmate?" Mori muttered, joining me where I was counting up the till.

Over two centuries ago, Mori had been one of my broken boys. Torn between his duty to his father, loyalty to his brothers, and the quiet life he secretly craved, he'd found himself on my doorstep. Kneeling on my floorboards. In between my sheets.

It wasn't a relationship—far from it. Weknew we wouldn't work in the long run, neither of us willing to let the other take complete control. While Mori was able to let go of it long enough for a scene, I was not.

"None of your business," I replied curtly.

That was enough of an admission to satisfy him. He knew better than the others that I didn't gossip about my personal life. The supe community had enough drama going on without adding mine to the pot to be discussed and digested by all.

Mori smirked and clapped me on the shoulder before stalking off. He didn't get far before River, his mate, was leaping into his arms. While they were busy kissing like they didn't spend twenty-four hours a day together, I studied Blaise again.

His head was lowered, the club lights illuminating the soft wave in his chestnut hair. Shadows filled the hollows below his grey eyes, testament to how little sleep he was getting. Supes didn't need as much rest as humans, but whatever Blaise was managing clearly wasn't enough.

There was no denying that Blaise was a handsome man. Catnip to guys like me. Who didn't want to have a man twice their size kneeling for them? Bound and waiting for their orders?

That wasn't what this was about though. The physical attraction was there, but that wasn't what drew me to the mage.

It was his jagged edges that needed to be soothed. The confidence that hung around him in tatters. The quiet desperation for someone to guide him. Someone to show him how to live. How to breathe.

That someone was going to be me.

The men I helped never stayed, but that was okay. I gave my partners the confidence to be who they wanted to be and to seek the happiness they deserved.

That happiness never involved a future with me at their side. In the past, I'd been foolish and naive enough to think that might be the case, but history had taught me otherwise.

I was the man who fixed them, not the one they chose to spend eternity with.

Mori and River disappeared out the side door, making me smile wistfully. Even Lucifer's son had been that person for a short time. Now Mori had an eternity of happiness ahead of him with his fated mate at his side.

I didn't begrudge him his happiness—it was what I'd always wanted for him. It was, however, yet another reminder that I'd never be the one someone chose. Demons and angels might think we had the better end of the bargain, knowing we could choose our mates.

That was where they were wrong though. It was all very well me choosing someone to spend the rest of my days with, but they had to choose me too.

And they never did.

Slamming the till shut, I turned to face Blaise, catching him in the act of checking me out. His cheeks flushed, his chin dipping downwards.

Already, I could feel myself falling. Whether it was when he'd shielded me that day in Mori's office, or when he'd marched into a room full of ghasts and demons to try and save us all, something had sent me down that slippery slope. It was stupid. Ridiculous. After six hundred years of this behaviour, I really should know better. I should guard my heart before I even went into these situations.

But this wasn't about me. It never was. It was about helping these men to be better, to learn how to love themselves.

The fact that I often learned to love them too was irrelevant. Inconsequential. My role in this wasn't to find happiness, it was to teach them how to.

So it was okay, I reassured myself as I sauntered over to Blaise. This mage was likely going to be the next in the long line of men to leave a wound on my heart, but that was fine.

Maybe this time the lines I drew would be enough to remind me not to step over them. To remember that Blaise would be my sub, not my boyfriend. Not my mate. Not my happy ever after.

Then, when our contract was up, he'd be happy. I could watch him walk away knowing I'd done what I did best.

I just had to pray that the cost wasn't going to ruin me in the process.

Blaise didn't say a word as I led him up to my flat. He stood in my doorway, his head still bowed and shoulders hunched.

My lips twisted. His pose wasn't born of subservience, but of nerves. That wouldn't do. If this was going to work between us, Blaise needed to feel comfortable, and I needed to feel certain that he would speak up if we tried anything he didn't like.

It reassured me that my plan for the evening was the right one. My priority was to get him to relax around me. I'd promised him an orgasm, but I was going to make sure it was the most relaxing damned orgasm he'd ever experienced.

Then, hopefully, he'd get some uninterrupted sleep.

Skirting around him, I closed the door. "Are you familiar with the traffic light system?"

His gaze didn't move from my floor, but his cheeks reddened slightly. After a pause, his head gave the tiniest shake.

Blaise's lack of experience didn't worry me. I suspected he knew more than he was letting on, but that was fine. If he wanted me to take the lead then I was very happy to do so.

"Come sit," I said, indicating my comfortable corner suite.

A tiny furrow appeared on his forehead. "Aren't we going to your bedroom?"

I smiled, speaking over my shoulder as I made my way to the sofa. "Eventually, if we're both consenting. But before anything happens, we need to have a conversation about limits and expectations. It'll be better if we're both comfortable while we do that."

Blaise didn't move towards the sofa, but his body was far from still. His hands were twitching at his sides while a million emotions filtered through his facial muscles. The heat in the flat was rising too, a clear sign that he was close to losing control of his powers.

None of that worried me. Well, if he accidentally set fire to the flat, I was going to have to write a big cheque to Mori, but hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

Getting up from the sofa, I moved towards the trembling man. Not wanting him to feel crowded, I stopped a few feet away. "Blaise, look at me."

It took a few moments, but eventually his smoky grey eyes met mine.

My breath hitched as the force of his gaze hit me. It wasn't that I hadn't made eye contact with him before, but this was the first time we'd been up close. In my space.

Alone.

I had no idea why something as simple as staring into his eyes had my heart trying to beat out of my chest. Schooling my expression into one of neutrality, I praised him. "Good boy."

Blaise swallowed. "Why d'you keep calling me that?"

"Do you not like it?"

"I didn't say that," he muttered, the temperature rising along with the blush on his face.

"Are you sure you want to be here?" I asked seriously. "There's no pressure, Blaise. If you want to leave, the door is just behind you. I won't stop you walking through it. There's no hidden test. Any of the others will tell you I always say what I mean."

Actually, what Mori would say was that I thought filters were for air conditioners, not people. That didn't come into play in these situations though. Not with a sub in need. I'd never risk upsetting or hurting them.

Blaise's inner turmoil played out clearly on his face. I'd seen it so many times before. He wanted to submit, but it went against everything society said a man should be. I'd have loved to say that, as supes, toxic masculinity didn't come into it. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. If anything, being supernatural made it even harder to let someone else take control. We lived in a world where the weak were picked off early and only the toughest could survive.

Blaise had first-hand experience of how fast it could all go wrong. Now, it seemed like he wanted to try something different. Hell, maybe he even wanted to be someone different.

I could help him with that, but he had to take that first step.

"It's okay to want this," I said quietly. "Whatever you want from me, want to do to me, or want me to do to you, it's okay."

"I don't even know what I want."

I smiled encouragingly. "That's what the conversation's for. I can try to help you figure it out, and then all you have to do is feel."

Turning my back on him, I walked over to the sofa again to give him time to decide.

Despite my calm exterior, my stomach was twisting in on itself with the idea that he might leave. For some reason, I was desperate for him to choose this, to choose me.

No, not choose me.I didn't mean it like that. I wanted to help him, that was all.

Before I could spiral fully, Blaise moved.

I held my breath as he crossed the room and perched beside me on the sofa. Our knees brushed, and I felt the heat of him pierce my cool skin.

Forcing down my own nerves, I donned my confident mask and smiled at the stunning mage beside me. "Let's get started, shall we?"