Page 10 of Oh, Sacred Dark
He curled up there and Dropped.
CHAPTER THREE
ROMAN
A knock on the door startled Roman. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was just past four in the afternoon—not a mealtime, then.
Fear lanced through him as he scrambled up, straightening his clothes. He’d been washing his underwear and shirts in his bathroom sink, so at least he didn’t smell bad despite how much he’d sweat during Drops.
He surveyed the room quickly, making sure there was nothing out of place, before opening the door.
It was Tyler, of course, with his typical scowl. Roman made sure not to meet his eyes or be disrespectful in any way. It was more than obvious the Dom didn’t like him, but he hadn’t doled out even a single punishment yet.
Roman really wasn’t looking forward to finding out what the Dom would come up with when he did.
“Hey,” Tyler greeted, although he sounded as if someone had dragged him there against his will.
Roman didn’t dare say anything, sitting on the bed and gazing to the side politely, like he’d been trained.
“I should probably show you around,” Tyler went on. “You wanna put shoes on or something? I dunno who you’ve met yet, but I can introduce you to a few people.”
Roman didn’t hesitate to go to the closet and do as asked, but a bolt of fear trembled down his spine.
Introduce?What did that mean? Was he going to be given to another Dom? Or more Doms? Or—
There was no point in thinking about it. It was out of Roman’s control. If he just did what they asked, if he could just begoodfor once, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.
Roman had to pause for a second as they stepped through the Main House door. It was the first time in over a week that he had been outside, the clear sky a dome over him. Roman didn’t know much about the Meliora coven, only that it was in New Hampshire, the main area where people were housed ringed by forest.
It was, admittedly, a beautiful place.
“There’s Milly’s Bakery.” Tyler pointed out as they walked. A few people were sitting at patio tables, some with laptops, others with friends. “There’s a pottery barn to the left there, I don’t know if you’re interested in that. What we call the Art House is deeper to the south—there are classes and programs and exhibitions of local stuff.”
Roman nodded, unsure why he was being told about something like that. He couldn’t imagine what use he could be in any of those scenarios.
“The market is about ten minutes that way. You can spot it easily under the massive canopy. It’s mostly local stuff, so if you want something ordered special, you can ask Joe—he’s the one with the moustache and the yellow hat. You’ll know when you see him, honestly.”
Roman looked towards where Tyler gestured at and wondered if he would become some sort of errand boy. He wouldn’t mind that, if it meant handling food. Tyler obviously didn’t eat at the Main House every day, so maybe he needed someone to cook for him.
That would be a dream come true.
“There’s a big greenhouse over on the east border, up that path, and way beyond that is Connie’s farm. We don’t use cars a lot in this main area, but it’d be a trek to get to her on foot. Biking is good, too, unless the weather is shit.”
Roman folded that little bit of information away. He had liked Connie, hoped he had passed whatever test she’d put him through with all her questions.
Tyler walked Roman around for a while. The area was more sidewalk than road, with smaller, paved paths leading away to different directions. Tyler kept stopping to talk to people, introducing Roman almost reluctantly, who would nod politely and file away who was a Dom or a sub, who appeared friendly and who was a little colder.
Truthfully, everybody seemed pretty open, but Roman didn’t know how to take that. Tyler talked as if it were inevitable that Roman would be part of the community, but he certainly didn’t act like it.
Roman was getting a little fatigued after not having eaten since the previous night when loud barking stopped them in their tracks. Roman stiffened as Tyler made an incredulous sound, but the Dom smiled fondly as Connie rounded the corner with a bunch of dogs on leashes.
“Bubba.” She sighed at one of the dogs. “It’s a plastic bag, baby. It’s fine. Oh—hey, guys. Roman! Nice to see you out and about.”
Roman’s gaze flickered towards Tyler, wondering if that was a dig at the Dom for not letting Roman out, but he didn’t come across annoyed. “Hello,” he dared to say, giving Connie a small smile.
Both Tyler and Connie blinked at him in surprise, and he dropped the expression at once, looking down. He hadn’t meant to be overly familiar.
“Hey,” Connie said again. “What are you guys up to?”
