“What did he say?” Elliot’s voice has dropped, almost too quiet to hear.
“That you’re so deep in denial you’d rather suffer than admit what you want. What your body is starving for.”
I wait, patient as a viper, listening to the heavy silence between them. The air feels charged with Elliot’s panic. I imagine him backed against the wall, cornered by Theo’s understanding—a different kind of threat than my approach.
This is my moment. Caught between two hunters, Elliot will have nowhere to run.
“Well said, Theo.” I step around the corner, making my entrance with deliberate timing.
Elliot freezes, his eyes widening behind his mask. The color drains from his face as he registers my presence. His body tenses like a cornered animal, muscles coiling to flee.
“Going somewhere?” Theo asks, placing a hand on Elliot’s arm before he can bolt. His touch is gentle but unyielding.
I advance slowly, savoring the panic flashing across Elliot’s face. He’s caught between us now, Theo blocking one escape route, me cutting off the other. The red lighting casts shadows across his features, highlighting the conflict warring within.
“Julian,” he whispers, my name falling from his lips like a prayer.
Theo’s eyes meet mine over Elliot’s shoulder, and he winks—a subtle signal of alliance. We’ve never worked together before, Theo and I. We have, however fucked several times. Our approaches to pleasure are typically too different, and that’s why when we fuck it works—his is built on connection and understanding, mine on dominance and control. But tonight, with this prey, perhaps a team effort is exactly what’s needed.
“You ran off before we finished,” I say, closing the distance between us. “That was rude.”
Elliot presses himself against the wall, looking desperately between us. “I’m not—this isn’t?—”
“Still denying your true nature?” I circle to his other side, effectively surrounding him with Theo. “Your cock was hard enough to cut glass when I had you on your knees.”
Theo raises an eyebrow at that, his interest clearly piqued. “You’ve made progress, then.”
I laugh. “Progress and retreat. Our friend here can’t seem to decide what he wants.”
“Or rather,” Theo adds, “he knows exactly what he wants but can’t admit it.”
The game is evolving now. I can see the spark in Theo’s eyes—he will play the role well, the gentle counterpart to a harsher approach. Between us, we might finally break through the walls Elliot has built around himself.
11
ELLIOT
I’m trapped. Julian’s predatory smile tells me everything I need to know—there’s no escape. My back presses against the cold wall as they close in, Theo on one side, Julian on the other. My chest tightens with each shallow breath.
“You can’t keep running, Elliot,” Theo says.
Julian’s eyes narrow, something dark and dangerous flashing within them. “I’m done playing nice.”
Before I can react, Julian lunges forward, grabbing my wrists and pinning them above my head with one strong hand. His other hand grips my jaw, forcing me to look directly at him.
“I tried the gentle approach,” he hisses, his breath hot against my face. “I gave you space to choose. But you don’t want a choice, do you? You want to be taken.”
I struggle against his grip, but he only tightens it, pressing his body against mine so I can feel every hard inch of him. “No,” I whisper.
“Liar,” Julian growls, and then his mouth is on mine, brutal and demanding.
The kiss is nothing like before—there’s no tenderness, no coaxing. He’s conquering. My body betrays me instantly, hardening against his thigh as he forces it between my legs.
“Look at you,” Julian pulls back just enough to speak, his voice razor-sharp. “Fighting this even as your cock tells the truth.”
Theo moves behind Julian, watching with heated interest. “He needs to be broken,” he observes. “Shattered before he can rebuild.”
Something about their clinical discussion of me, as if I’m not even present—just a problem to be solved, a puzzle to be taken apart—hits me with a wave of arousal so intense that I nearly black out.