49. Kyle

CHAPTER 49

Kyle

W hen Kyle shoved open the door of the Master's office without knocking, the reproaching words he'd intended to deliver – and the exertion he'd planned to use to haul Theta bodily off his man – faded to nothing. For there was no one in the room but Akira, who knelt dejectedly by the desk with his head bowed.

Kyle breathed out his name and fell to his knees beside him, cradling him against his chest. But Akira didn't lift his chin. Didn't even look at him. His eyes were glassy and distant, and the front of his clothing was soaked.

Stars. Theta had left him alone like this ?

"Akira," Kyle murmured again and again, crushing their bodies together and nuzzling at his hair until the man stirred. The scent of brandy was so strong it made his eyes water. "Akira!"

Nothing.

"Come back to me, sweetheart. I'm here."

"Sir?" The Master's voice was barely a whisper.

"Yes, pet. Sir's got you."

Akira relaxed into his arms, or as much as he could with his wrists restrained, and rubbed his face along the curve of Kyle's neck. Something unintelligible was mumbled into his skin.

Kyle peered around Akira's hunched back and was relieved to spot the marking on the handcuffs that indicated they were Coterie standard issue. That meant, for safety reasons, they could be unlocked with the House's master key. Manoeuvring them both so Kyle could reach into the highest of the desk drawers drew a soft complaint from the other man, but Kyle soothingly shushed him while he fished around blindly in the drawer. His fingertips traced the shape of the small key and chased it into a corner so he could lever it out.

Yet when his hands were freed, Akira gave an agitated moan. "No," he gasped against Kyle's jaw, his breath thick with brandy. He struggled to keep his arms stretched behind his back despite Kyle's efforts to move him into a more comfortable position. "He put me here, he'll still want-"

"I don't care what he wants," Kyle said. He kept the anger from his tone: this wasn't about Theta. It was about Akira.

It had always been about Akira.

"When Theta comes back, you're going to tell him no," said Kyle.

Brown eyes snapped to his, wide and fearful. Akira shook his head fretfully, his breathing releasing in quick pants. "No, no, no, I can't, I…"

"Listen to me, sweetheart." He drew Akira's head up, lifting his chin with a firm finger beneath it. "He doesn't deserve you. He's done nothing but exploit and abuse you, and you're too good for him. You get to say no whenever you want. Because you're strong and clever and beautiful and precious and mine, you hear me?"

"Yours," Akira whispered.

"That's right."

"But the money."

"You let me worry about that," Kyle told him. Some of the Lower gangs were willing to offer loans, and he'd heard the leader of the Carrion was a bit of a pushover: he could probably negotiate some generous payment terms and get the credits needed to pay off Theta. Kyle didn't mind working for free for a while if it meant Akira was no longer under the control of the fucker who had disappeared to the stars knew where. "I promised you I'd give you what you needed, didn't I?"

Akira nodded against his hand.

"Then trust me when I say that Theta is not what you need. He cuts you down, pet, when you deserve to flourish. You're the Master of House Epsilon. You don't kneel to anyone."

"Except you, Sir?" He sounded tentatively hopeful.

Kyle swallowed past the lump in his throat. "If you want."

" Yes, " said Akira, his voice coming out stronger that time. Their gazes caught, and he could see how brightly the other man's eyes burned with conviction. "I want."

Kyle grinned, pulling his man onto his lap so more of their bodies could touch. His fingers roved down his arms, smoothing out the creases that Theta had left in his shirt, and Akira finally allowed himself to bring his hands around in front of him to clutch at Kyle.

"Kiss me," he demanded, and Kyle readily obliged. The kiss was both tender and fierce, a merging of breaths and unspoken emotions. It told of their shared history and future hopes, wrapping around them like a quiet promise and lingering long after their lips parted with soft echoes of intimacy.

"Does this mean I get two whores for the price of one?" Theta drawled from the doorway. Despite the mocking words, the man looked irate, his lip curling and his eyes repeatedly returning to the discarded handcuffs. "Get back down on the floor, Epsilon."

Akira shuddered beneath his hands, but pride swelled through Kyle when the man raised his chin with none of his earlier passivity or deference.

"No."