Page 16 of Martyr

A few weeks ago, when this all began, Nix had admitted to them he’d enrolled in Foxglove because of his cousin's dying wishes. He’d made it sound like it’d come from a place of caring, like she’d wanted him to step out of his shell and live a more fulfilling life. It’d been believable enough, West hadn’t’ questioned it.

“Branwen always loved it here,” Nix surprised him by admitting.

“She was a student?” He hadn’t known. “I’ve never heard of her.”

“Yeah, well.” He shrugged.

“Have you tried to find her friends on campus?” West shook his head before Nix could answer. “Never mind. Of course you have. Is that it? Is that really why you came here? For her? For closure?”

He nodded and grew silent.

West had never lost someone important to him before—through death or other means. There’d only ever been a handful of people who had ever mattered. The last time he’d comforted someone who was grieving, he’d been a child. He didn’t even know if he’d been helpful toward Lake during that period. He had no clue how to reenact anything he’d done if even he had been.

“Should I distract you?” he asked, grabbing onto the arm of the chair and turning it the rest of the way. “Would that help?”

Wasn’t a distraction always the best solution? Whenever there was a particularly hard problem, he stepped away from itfrom a bit and came back to it later once he’d calmed down and the frustration had abated.

Nix’s expression morphed into one of suspicion. “West…”

“You said you prefer it when I’m honest,” he reminded, coming to a decision for the both of them then and there. “I’m going to continue to be so. I’m not a soft lover. I won’t be soft with you tonight.”

“Wait, West, I don’t—”

He lifted him up and turned, carrying Nix to the other side of the room. Every time the man struggled in his hold, he whacked him across the ass, laughing when that turned Nix spitting mad in less than ten seconds.

Yeah, this was good. This would do the trick. He’d distract Nixie from whatever his cousin had done to upset him, even if he had to turn his ire his way. It’d be fun. Electric.

West tossed him down onto the bed and grabbed his pants, tearing him off of Nix’s body even as the other man kicked and hissed at him. Then he climbed on and pinned Nix’s thighs beneath him, hooking his fingers in the band of his boxers. He stripped him down quickly, knowing the faster they got this part over, the better.

“Want to take that off yourself?” He motioned to the shirt as he dropped the boxers to the ground and stood at the end of the bed. “I’m afraid I’ll hurt you if I do it.”

Nix was fuming, glaring at him with bright red cheeks. He sat up on the bed and grabbed fistfuls of the comforter, but he was smart enough to know it’d be a waste of energy to try to make a run for the door. “No you aren’t. You don’t give a shit if you hurt me!”

West clicked his tongue and brought a finger up to his lips. “Shh, are you trying to wake the others? What’s wrong? Is having me here not good enough for you? Need Yejun and Lake here to join in on the fun for it to be worthwhile?”

He blanched and seemed to recall they weren’t alone in the house. “No.”

“You sure? Because I can always…” West took a step toward the door and Nix practically scrambled after him, latching onto his wrist.

“No,” he wet his lips, “please.”

“Begging?” West shook his hold loose and scowled. “Already? That’s no fun, Nixie. They’re not even here, by the way. Lake and Yejun are at the Club House. There’s a meeting and I was supposed to go with them, but someone couldn’t be trusted on their own, so here we are.”

Nix licked his lips. “West, please. I’m tired and my neck hurts. I just want to—”

“Now who’s the liar? If you wanted to sleep, you wouldn’t have left Lake’s room. You came here to snoop, babe.”

“No!” He shook his head vehemently. “I—”

“Relax, I’m not mad about it. You said you heard the music and got curious? Can’t blame you. I wouldn’t expect to hear classical music in this place either. This,” he pointed over at one of the floating speakers hovering above them, “is the beiska playing now. Do you like it?”

“I don’t know very much about instruments,” he admitted.

“That’s okay. I can teach you.” West made an upward motion toward him. “Your shirt, Nixie. I won’t tell you again.”

Slowly, as though he actually believed he could change West’s mind if he prolonged things long enough, Nix pulled his shirt up and over his head.

But he couldn’t hide the resignation on his face, even if he was complying.

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