Page 88 of Doubts of the Egoist
A metallicCLICKnext to his ear brought him out of his dazed state.
The tension snapped. Yugo smirked and stepped away to look down at his accomplishment. Kuon blinked.
“Just as I thought, it suits you perfectly.” The Black Duke nodded his approval, but a wicked glint in his eyes contradicted the tender touch of his icy fingers.
Kuon reached up to touch a leather collar wrapped around his neck, found a chain connected to it with a small padlock. A grunt of disbelief caught in his throat. “Yugo, the joke has gone too far. Take this off and give me back my clothes. I’m freezing, and we need to talk.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. It’s warm enough in here; you won’t freeze,” Yugo spoke deliberately, as if explaining something obvious to a toddler.
Kuon scowled. “That’s not funny.”
“Who said I was joking?” Yugo kept smiling, fingers slowly wrapping the chain around his fist, loop after loop, and then he yanked it down. Leather sank into Kuon’s neck;the vertebrae in his neck popped. His knees buckled and he collapsed to the floor on his hands and knees.
Blood drained from Kuon’s face, and he looked up, outraged.
“If you fuck with a dog, you become its bitch. Bitches don’t wear clothes or talk. They sit quietly, chained to a kennel, licking their Master’s boots, and letting him decide what to eat and who to breed. But don’t worry, I take good care of my dogs.”
Without waiting for Kuon to process his words, Yugo strode over to the bed, dragging his prisoner behind him.
The chain jerked. The collar sank into his throat. Kuon slumped to the side, forced to crawl after Yugo, leaving wet smudges on the polished floor. The air scratched his throat, harsh and hostile. Black specks clouded his vision, triggering a severe headache. A violent cough shook his chest. His fingers curled around the collar, struggling to relieve the pressure on his windpipe and throbbing veins.
Unnervingly calm, Yugo looped the chain around the pillar and secured it with a snap hook. Whiskey splashed out of the bottle, but he didn’t notice it.
“From now on, this is your place.” With a flourish, Yugo pointed to the duvet on the floor, spilling even more amber liquid on the gray silk sheets. “But if you’re a good dog, I might let you sleep at the foot of the bed.”
“Yugo, stop, this is not a solution. I’m sorry if my actions hurt you, but I really thought you didn’t care,” Kuon croaked, sitting on his ass on the floor and rubbing his neck. He felt no fear, only utter exhaustion. The pressure in his head crushed his brain, and the harsh, blinding light made his eyes burn and water. “Let’s talk, okay?”
“Hurt me? You can’t hurt me.” Yugo crouched in front of him, elbows resting on his spread knees. Amber liquid lapped inside the bottle, rattled by the movement. “But you can disappoint.”
“This is stupid. You have no right to be angry.” Kuon gritted his teeth, fuming with adrenaline and rage.
“I have every right to be angry!” Thick, blue veins in Yugo’s corded neck engorged, crawling up to his temples. Just like that, the calm mask slipped from Yugo’s face, revealing the hell sizzling beneath. “Did you forget who I am? Did you think you could walk away from me and sleep with someone else? Make a fool out of me? I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours, but I’ll make it very clear. You’re mine. If you’re being fucked, I’m being fucked. And nobody fucks me.”
Kuon knew he shouldn’t give in to the provocation. Yugo didn’t look drunk yet, but considering how much alcohol he had consumed, there was no way it didn’t affect his judgment. Keeping quiet and waiting for the shitstorm to pass would be the smartest thing to do, but the hurt and indignation made Kuon shoot words back before he could stop them, “So you can fuck whoever you want, but I can’t? How is that fair?”
“I’m my own man, but you are…” The low baritone trailed off. In disbelief, Kuon watched as Yugo’s taut muscles rolled under his skin in a vain attempt to suppress the unsustainable madness bubbling beneath, tearing at the thin layer of his humanity. The sight should have alarmed Kuon, but all he felt was mortal fatigue.
“Who, Yugo?” Kuon jeered, wanting to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. In retrospect, the time he’d spent questioning his feelings and trying to find himself in Yugo’s world seemed naïve and futile.He had never intended to let meout of his grasp. I never had a choice, only the illusion of one.
Despite Yugo’s harsh words, Kuon had no doubt that the man cared for him in some twisted way. It wasn’t love, but he had taken the trouble to put on this show for him only, where he had almost succeeded in convincing Kuon that his opinions and wishes mattered. Where he could make decisions for himself. For whatever reason, Yugo would rather see him living a happy life with the illusion of free will than rotting in a cage. But even a sweet lie was still a lie, so Kuon asked, “Your fuck hole?”
“You didn’t want to be anything else, so this is all you get. As your master, I have the right to check what has been done to my property.” Yugo raised his hand, pressed his thumb against Kuon’s lower lip, and pulled it down. He pressed so hard against his chin that Kuon was sure he’d leave a bruise. “Open your mouth.”
CHAPTER 24
“You’re drunk orabsolutely out of your mind if you think I’ll let you humiliate me like this.” Kuon slapped Yugo’s hand away, even though he wanted to punch the bastard. Ignoring the malicious squint of the gray eyes, he stood up and reached for the snap hook. Unlike the collar, the simple mechanism had no lock. All he had to do was pull down the metal slider that concealed the inner hook to release the chain. He was fiddling with the secured link when aTHUDand aSPLASHpreceded a harsh, overpowering stench of alcohol slamming against his senses. In a flash, Yugo reached up, grabbed the chain, and ripped it away. The carabiner slipped from Kuon’s fingers and clicked back into the frame. Pain flared between his forefinger and thumb as the metal gate pinched his skin.
Kuon snatched his hand away. The damaged skin turned white, then flushed red. He ignored the pain as Yugo regained control of the chain.
“Oh yes, you will let me do whatever I want. Fight or don’t, it’s up to you, but you know better than anyone how useless it is.”
The duvet under Kuon’s feet was too soft and slippery for him to get a proper foothold. Still, he lunged, grabbed the chain next to Yugo’s fist, and pulled. “Let go.”
“As you wish.” With a wry smile, Yugo dropped the chain at the same moment his foot tripped Kuon’s ankle.
Fuck…Kuon yelped in surprise as his body lost balance, falling backward. The thought that his corneas might not survivea second hit made him lose all pride.
“Yugo!” Kuon’s hand shot up reflexively. Yugo grasped his wrist preventing him from slamming against the ground. Staring into the gray eyes, Kuon let out a long, relieved breath, unsure whether to thank or curse the bastard.
