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“I’m going to make this really simple for you, Pauly. Rory is off-limits. You touch him, you come so close you can smell him, or look at him in a manner I don’t like, and I’ll make your life hell. I may have less than a year left in here, but I can make it feel like a lifetime for you. Understand me?”

A garbled sound bubbled up from Pauly’s throat. Sebastian scrunched his face. “Sorry, what was that?”

Pauly choked when he tried again, and his eyes streamed with pained tears.

“Sorry, didn’t quite catch that … Wait … Silly me, it’s my hand, isn’t it, stopping you from talking?”

Pauly tried to nod and clawed desperately at the hand at his throat. Sebastian released his hold, and Pauly slid down the wall.

“Understand me?” Sebastian said.

“Yes,” Pauly wheezed.

“Good, now get out of here.”

Pauly struggled to his feet and bounced from one side of the corridor to the other as he rushed away.

“I’m not getting you drugs,” Rory blurted.

Sebastian chuckled. “That’s the thanks I get?”

“I mean it.”

“Relax. I heard you the first time.”

“Then…why?”

“Tell Captain you’re under my protection. No one will touch you. Get him to see the damn therapist. Whatever the horrors in his past, he doesn’t deserve to suffer like that, night after night, and we all need a good sleep.”

Rory bit his lip, then murmured thanks at Sebastian’s throat. He couldn’t raise his head high enough to look him in the eye.

“And I also warned Pauly off you because I couldn’t stand the thought of you moaning and groaning above me in pain.”

Rory looked up, touched by Sebastian’s words, then Sebastian barked a laugh as a sneer tugged on his face.

“No, don’t give me that grateful look.” He smirked. “I don’t care about you in pain, or care that someone wants to hurt you. I can’t stand you tossing and turning all night, hissing and huffing. There’s two of us in that cell, and I’m fond of sleep. You under my protection, it’ll kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.”

Rory tucked his chin down and sunk his teeth into his bottom lip. Embarrassed heat filled his cheeks, and he hated that Sebastian could see it.

“But that look was cute. You’re a good-looking guy…my type, in fact.”

Rory flinched at the first touch of his cheek. He slid along the wall, but Sebastian mirrored his slide, and Rory stopped trying to get away. He stayed perfectly still as Sebastian cupped his face. His eyes widened, and his heart skipped and tripped with uneven beats. Sebastian must’ve been able to feel it, but he didn’t comment. His expression looked almost soft as he used his thumb to tug Rory’s lip from his teeth. He rubbed over the indents Rory had made, touch so slight it was maddening.

“I can see why Pauly wants you.”

His gaze was intense, and after a few attempts, Rory could finally look at him. The way Sebastian was gazing at him froze him. His striking blue irises were piercing, and his pupils seemed to grow bigger under Rory’s gaze. Something warm trickled into Rory’s stomach. His bottom lip shook. Sebastianpressed his thumb to it once, then twice, before letting Rory go altogether.

Sebastian took a step back, and Rory swayed, slightly dazed with his eyes still glued to Sebastian’s. He had to bite his lip to stop its mad quivering.

“Pauly can’t have you,” Sebastian said softly.

Rory’s breath caught. He swallowed, and the warmth in his stomach began to swirl.

“But that doesn’t mean I want you,” Sebastian growled. “I need a good night’s sleep; that’s all this is.”

Sebastian fixed Rory with a glare, then left without glancing back.

Rory leaned heavily on the wall and closed his eyes.

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