Page 22 of Oh, Sacred Dark
“Any hobbies and stuff?” Tyler prompted.
Roman took his time chewing his next bite. “Not really.”
Tyler wanted to push—Then what did you do all day? Look for victims? Aid in Chaos Magic?He managed to hold his tongue, though, breathing through the knee-jerk suspicion.
“Well, maybe give that some thought. Everybody of age contributes to the community somehow, you know? You can study, or do odd jobs, or do craftmanship. It’s up to you, but it’s gotta be something.” Tyler tried not to make it sound like an admonishment.
“Okay,” Roman said easily.
“Cool. Anything you wanna know or have doubts with?” Tyler asked. It was clear Roman had been making a lot of assumptions, too, about how things worked here. Surely he hadsomequestions.
“No. Thank you,” Roman replied, and Tyler had to push his irritation down.
“All right.”
They didn’t talk for the rest of the meal, Roman not making an effort to start a conversation, not even a little small talk about the weather. He didn’t appear distressed or shy or awkward, just…disinterested.
Once again, Tyler was left wondering how the fuck he was supposed to take care of a person that emoted as much as a rock ninety-nine percent of the time.
**********
Kay was, in theory, totally Tyler’s type. He was confident, independent, and had a whip-like sense of humour that had Tyler actually cackling a lot of the time. As a sub, he was sweet, not needing anything too high on the pain scale, which fit Tyler perfectly. Back when Tyler was young and trying to figure out what really worked for him, he’d had a few partners who needed pain to reach subspace, and it had never clicked with him.
Tyler wouldn’t define himself as a service Dom—he liked watching his subs bend to his will a little too much for that—but he was definitely on the softer side of the spectrum.
Kay seemed to mesh with that. Their scenes were good—a little kneeling, a little teasing, some bondage. There had been a fucking great scene when Kay had sat on his dick for more than an hour as they watched TV, squirming just enough to keep Tyler hard and not much else. He’d been loud when Tyler fucked him after, and it had been one of the best orgasms Tyler had ever had.
And yet…something just wasn’t quite right.
Kay was one of those subs that didn’t need to go down a lot to stabilise, and Tyler was the kind of Dom that wanted to see a sub godeep.
Scening with Kay scratched an itch for Tyler—he got to do something for him, give him exactly what he needed even though it wasn’t enough for Tyler. They both knew it wasn’t a long-term thing, and it was just enough for Tyler not to need anything else.
That night, though, when Kay left after their scene, there was something restless and pacing inside Tyler. He’d never feltworseafter seeing Kay, but he had to admit that the feeling buzzing inside him was the opposite of what he’d been looking for.
Maybe he should have insisted on more aftercare. Kay didn’t need it, buthedid.
He took a long shower, trying to clear his mind. For some odd reason, Roman’s distraught face floated behind his eyes, the way his voice had begged when he’d saidI’m sorry.
Tyler scrubbed at his shorn scalp, shaking his head. Maybe that was what was throwing him off—the unfinished business with Roman, the worry that he was either failing the sub or his coven by not picking up on what Roman was trying so hard to guard.
If Archie knew how affected Tyler was becoming, he’d yank Roman from right under him, and understandably so, too. Maybe Tyler just wasn’t the right man for the job.
Tyler growled under his breath. The idea of passing Roman over to someone else made him sick to his stomach.
Tyler just had to work harder at figuring Roman out. At puzzling out why Roman acted so differently from Cross even though they came from the same situation. At what the subneeded.
Maybe then Tyler would finally be able to get a good night’s sleep.
**********
Archie had once told Tyler about how the first thing he had Listened to had been the flowers in his dad’s garden. It had been peaceful to tune into the flow of their cells, how they worked together like the gears in a clock. They’d been overwatered, and his dad had smiled when Archie told him this.
Listening was a gift.
Tyler wondered if it was the same for Roman, or if something else had spoken to him first. Maybe he was more in tune with the warm bodies of creatures, or the pulse of people’s emotions.
Whatever the case, Tyler didn’t think it would be a bad idea to suggest Roman help at one of the many small vegetable patches that dotted the community—projects that residents engaged with to source some of their food as locally as possible.
