Page 43 of Villain
Chapter 12:
“Wait.” Nix scrambled to come up with a logical reason he could give to Lake not to do this, but there was nothing. What could he say to an Imperial? Someone who was used to getting what they wanted when they wanted it?
How had he ended up here?
“Is it starting to feel real, Songbird?” Lake asked, rolling his hips so that Nix persistently felt him while he spoke. “There’s a vast difference between reality and the happenings behind the safety of a screen, isn’t there? You got a taste the other night with West, but—”
“You’re not West.”
“No,” he sounded pleased, “I’m not. Maestro or Lake, I’ll let you choose which name you’ll be screaming in a bit. Either way, it was me who told you this would happen. I’m merely keeping my promise.”
“What does that contract say?” Nix struggled to keep his head clear enough to seek out answers while he still could.
“The NDA?”
“It wasn’t just an NDA.”
“True. The footnotes? You signed your soul away. We own you now.”
“Until?”
Lake paused. “Until?”
“When does it end?”
“When we catch the hacker.”
The pieces came together then. This wasn’t about them wanting him. Suddenly, all the little clues Lake had already dropped like breadcrumbs made sense. The hacker had tried to come for them and failed, but he must still be trying.
“I’m bait.” Nix didn’t like the twist of disappointment that revelation brought him. He’d known there was more to this, that in order for someone like Lake to go this far out of his way there had to be something serious. But still. It stung somewhat. “You’re going to use me to lure out the hacker.”
“He’s interested in the Demons,” Lake confirmed. “He tried to do what you did even, but he failed.”
“He tried to become a King?”
“He wasn’t as brave as you are,” he brushed his fingers through Nix’s hair, “and sent someone else to do the hard part for him. Our guess is he wasn’t willing to reveal himself to complete those final steps the same way you were.”
Right, because no matter how good of a hacker, the app only allowed you to fake your way through the system so far. There was no way to rig going from the Rook tier to King.
“You debased yourself so prettily that first night,” Lake praised. “The second I saw you sitting on your bed, chewing on your bottom lip,” he smoothed his thumb over Nix’s mouth, “I almost came right there and then. You were so naïve, Songbird. I wanted to defile you. I want to defile you still. Corrupt you and make you scream until your voice is hoarse, and the only words you can remember how to say are ‘I’m’ and ‘yours.’”
“That’s…” Scarier than the threat of being stabbed in the jugular with a pen had been. “You sound obsessive. It’s not cute. It’s actually freaking me out.”
“I’m not trying to be cute,” Lake said. “Why would I? I already have you right where I want you. There’s no need for masks between us any longer.”
Nix got the uncomfortable feeling that he was seeing the real version of Lake. A version the other man kept buried beneath that icy exterior. “Something is seriously wrong with you.”
“I think I’ve managed to hold myself back long enough. I could have done this the moment we bumped into each other on campus and I recognized you.”
“Are you asking me to thank you for not fucking me in the dirt?”
“In front of half the student body?” Lake added. “Yeah. Yeah, I am. But since I doubt you’re going to, how about we get things started?”
He growled and tried to lift off of the desk, but was quickly overpowered.
“I warned you it would be like this,” Lake shoved him down, holding him with a vicelike grip on his nape, “didn’t I?” His free hand yanked Nix’s pants, dragging the rough material to his knees along with his boxer briefs.
The first brush of cool air against his backside had Nix making another sound of protest. He planted his palms against the smooth surface of the desk and tried to force himself off it, but only managed to lift himself an inch before Lake had him back down, this time harder than before. He cried out when his cheek connected with the wood, the pain jarring.