Page 17 of Minotaurs and other Magic

They rounded a corner and entered a square filled with market stalls. People lowered their heads as Rohan walked by. He smiled and nodded and spoke to a few people. Nate felt as though he was on display, paraded through the market for all to see as if he were the minotaur’s pet.

“I don’t know the rules,” Nate whispered.

“And that is why I am keeping you close.” Rohan gave the rope a tug. “You cannot get into trouble while attached to me or my bed.”

Nate glanced around, worried that someone might overhear. But the markets were noisy, and after acknowledging Rohan’s presence, everyone returned to what they were doing.

“I think you like me tied to your bed.” He hoped the intent came through. That if Rohan insisted on teasing him, he’d tease back.

And hopefully, he wouldn’t get in trouble.

Rohan laughed. “I think you enjoy being there.”

Nate had nothing to say to that because he did. Crossing between worlds had unlocked a door inside of himself that he had only ever peeked through and flung it open. It was not hard to walk through at all.

CHAPTER 9

“When you said bath, I thought you meant in a bathroom.” Nate eyed all the tiled surfaces and the steam rising out of what was more like a small swimming pool. It reminded him of the Roman baths he’d seen as a kid.

He rubbed his wrist. The skin was raw in places from the rope, and he carefully stretched his arms.

“This is the bathing room.” Rohan pulled his tunic off and dropped it into a basket. “That is for dirty clothes. You may put your shoes beneath the bench.” He stood there, not caring that he was naked with everything on display.

“So we bathe together?”

“Yes. Do you not? Who washes your hair?”

“Me. I wash alone. Except…” He couldn’t find the word. “After exercising, there are communal showers, but no one is looking or helping.” Most of the time, anyway, but he wasn’t about to discuss hookups.

“Undress, and I will show you how to bathe the Tarikian way.” His dark eyes glinted as if there might be more than bathing.

He’d have welcomed a rule upload along with the language upload.

He pulled off the tunic and put it in the basket, then sat to undo his boots and pull off the socks he’d been given.

Rohan waited. He cracked his neck and then his back. His muscles flexed with each move. He was all power and yet so gentle.

Yet there was a part of Nate that questioned the attraction. The power imbalance. The difference in their…species?

He unlaced his pants and pulled them down, aware that Rohan watched his every move with more than casual interest. He was not that buff, and he’d lost weight over the five. No, six days that he’d been there.

Aside from being an oddity who didn’t belong, Nate wasn’t sure why Rohan was so intrigued. Did it matter why?

Why was he questioning everything so much?

This morning, it had been much easier to pretend he was in a coma or something and that this wasn’t real. But it was, and this was his life for the next year and half a day. And it was better to be a minotaur’s pet than to labor for vampires or humans.

This way, he could teach and learn.

Rohan’s gaze drifted up to Nate’s face. That smile danced over his lips again, and he wasn’t hiding the heat in his eyes.

Nate tossed the pants in the washing basket. “Do you like what you see?”

“I do,” Rohan said with a small nod before turning and walking away. “Follow.”

Nate obeyed.

A man with pointed ears and long brown hair, wearing a simple robe, was in the main room. He inclined his head at Rohan. “I have gathered your favorites. Your new friend will need to make a selection.”

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