Page 56 of Psycho
Lucas tried to take it all in. While the color palette was very monochromatic, there were several pieces of art, ornate gold mirrors, and a strange collection of trinkets. But the piece that snagged Lucas’s attention was the collection of swords, knives, and other weapons arranged over the fireplace like an art installation.
Lucas’s gaze went wide. “Are those actual weapons?”
“You don’t like it?” August asked, frowning. “Noah and Adam thought you’d find it too much. We can change it to your taste if you like. The black just makes it possible to cut the noise.”
“The noise?” Lucas echoed, beginning to prowl the space.
“Harsh lights, sound, too much color, it all makes my head noisy. Makes it hard to think. I find the absence of color soothing.”
Right. August didn’t like being overly stimulated. It made sense with all the things going on up there. “I like it. It’s very…you.”
“I like being surrounded by my favorite things. My father calls them my treasures. Things I found over the years that I immediately took to. Things I refused to part with, no matter what.”
“Like me?” Lucas said, regretting the words almost immediately.
The way August’s gaze snapped to him, raking over Lucas with possessiveness, made him harden immediately. “Yes. Exactly like you.”
“Are you going to put me on one of your shelves?”
August shook his head. “No, I much prefer you in my bed.”
Lucas prowled closer. “I’m pretty sure I still owe you from this afternoon.”
“As much as I want to cash in that IOU, I think maybe we should deal with the shoebox in the room.”
Lucas swallowed hard, glancing over at the box. “I know I need to handle it. I know. It just hurts. I know that doesn’t make me sound very tough or manly, but the pain isn’t just physical. It’s…psychic. I don’t just feel their physical pain, I feel their emotional pain, their exhaustion, their terror, every regret they’ve ever had in that moment.”
August leaned forward and kissed his forehead. The gesture was so spontaneous, it made Lucas’s heart skip. “About that. I have an idea. But you would need to trust me.”
“I do trust you,” Lucas said, surprised that he meant it. Maybe not surprised. It was clear Lucas would never be the object of August’s temper or rage, but that didn’t mean he was trustworthy. But Lucas did trust him. With his life. And his heart. And, apparently, with his head.
“Let’s go in the bedroom.” August grabbed the box from the table and led Lucas to another lush room.
This room was also dark, the walls a dark green, like some exotic plant found deep in a rainforest. The sheets were a stark white but the coverlet a patterned black velvet. Like the other room, it had wood accents, broken up only with the plant life surrounding the space. He hadn’t expected August to have plants or anything that required care. “Do you take care of all these yourself?”
August nodded. “They’re good for oxygenation and purification. Why?”
Lucas looked at the healthy greenery. “Plants require a certain amount of babying.”
August scoffed. “Keeping plants alive is a formula. As long as I know the steps required, I can give them what they need. And with a photographic memory like mine, I always know what they need.”
Lucas chewed on his bottom lip for a moment before he asked, “Is that what you do with me? Apply the formulas you found in your relationship books?”
August set the shoebox in the center of the bed. “There’s no one simple formula for you. I’m constantly having to test the theories and see what you respond to best.”
Lucas studied August, his stomach dipping at his blunt explanation. “So, I’m like a science project?”
August sat on the edge of the bed and dragged Lucas between his spread thighs. “What you are is mine. It’s my job to make you happy. I lack the capacity to do so on my own. I can’t love. I can’t feel guilt or empathy or remorse, any of the things that might help me understand what you need. All I have is research and context clues, which I’m not very good at interpreting. But I can give you what you need. I’ll do whatever it takes. But I can’t do it without help. Testing my theories is all I know.”
Lucas’s heart skipped at August’s explanation. He carded his fingers through August’s hair. “You’re surprisingly sweet for somebody who ‘lacks the capacity’ to make me happy on your own.”
August wrapped his arms around his waist and just held him like he had earlier in the library.
After a few minutes, Lucas pulled away. “What was your idea?” Lucas’s eyebrows shot up when August stood and began to undress. “I thought we were dealing with the box first?”
August smirked. “We are. I just figured you’d want to be comfortable for this next part.”
When August was in his underwear, he looked at Lucas expectantly. He sighed and stripped down, crawling onto the bed, careful to avoid the shoebox, as he settled between August’s legs, his back to August’s chest. “Now what?”
