Page 35 of Reforging Onyx

Well.

Someone who’d raped him multiple times, who’d kept him from dying when it had been all he’d wanted to do, yet somehow remained the only one he wanted to be around.

It didn’t feel fair.

“What would I even do with acquaintances?” Onyx asked. “Sit around and have tea or some shit?”

Dominic laughed. “Well, I had intended that if things went well, inquiring as to whether they might be able to come to the house at times, and perhaps spend time playing games in the rec room, or some other such activities.”

Onyx frowned. “Oh.” He still didn’t think he could ever sit and play games with an uncollared witch who so easily called Dominic Onyx’s master. “Maybe someone else. Not him. Not…” He made a frustrated sound. “They’re going to expect me to be like they are. And they gossip about everything, about everyone, and I don’t want to figure out how to navigate people like I’m in school or something!”

It wasn’t until he said those words that he truly understood what had gone wrong. It went back to all the things he’d never learned how to do, all the things he reacted violently to because he didn’t understand them. It reminded him of everything he’d lost and would never have.

“I admit that I’m not as knowledgeable about viable alternative candidates. I invited these two over primarily because I am well acquainted with their owners. But I shall see what I can do about finding alternatives,” Dominic replied.

Onyx shuddered, the reminder of Tristan’s owner making his skin crawl. He didn’t think he could stand to be around the slave without thinking about the master, and what if Tristan tried to talk about the things Nathan did to him? It wasn’t like Onyx could advise that he just find his balls and kill him. That would end things pretty much immediately.

“Shane’s fine,” Onyx said. “I know… I know you’re pissed at him, but…” He let out a slow breath, not quite looking at Dominic as he added quietly, “It wasn’t his fault.”

It hadn’t been.

Shane had tried to treat him like a person.

Maybe that had been the mistake.

Dominic pursed his lips. “He allowed a volatile situation to escalate catastrophically and did not call me until well after the emergency was underway. ‘Pissed’ is a weak term to cover how furious I am at him.”

“He still called you,” Onyx muttered, which he was more than a little furious about himself. “He could’ve let me die, and he did everything he could to make sure I didn’t.”

Why was he defending Shane? He was still mad at him too, wasn’t he? Except the night before, Shane had been the one to help him calm down, and he couldn’t say he was really angry at him anymore. Just… resigned.

Dominic made a noncommittal noise. “Which is why he’s still alive.” He twisted on the bed and locked eyes with Onyx. “Understand me, Onyx. Nothing and no one will take you from me.”

Unease and a little bit of dread raced through him at the words, and Onyx fidgeted uncomfortably. “Yeah. I kinda figured that part out, thanks.”

He was going to belong to Dominic forever. The vampire blood meant he’d never age, and Dominic… Dominic had no intention of ever letting him go.

Dominic held Onyx’s gaze for a heartbeat longer.

Onyx’s heart rate picked up. “I get it." Because Dominic was fucking obsessed for reasons Onyx would never be able to understand. He could wax poetic all he wanted, but at the end of the day… it didn’t make any sense.

“Good,” Dominic replied, a faint smile ghosting over his lips. He dropped a quick kiss onto Onyx’s mouth before getting out of bed. “What would you like for breakfast?”

Because this was just another normal day, no matter how much Onyx might’ve fallen apart. Life would continue, whether he wanted it to or not.

And that life would be with Dominic.

Chapter 17

Dominic

The days since the dinner had passed uneventfully, even if Onyx was clearly growing restless and bored. He’d mentioned returning to the rec room by himself, but Dominic had shut that down with a mere look.

It appeared that Onyx hadn’t quite gotten the message, though, because after he finished eating that evening, he asked, “Dominic? Do you think that maybe I could just hang out with Shane tomorrow instead of sitting in your office all day? I’m so fucking bored.”

Dominic gave Onyx an unimpressed look. “The last time I left the two of you alone, some rather questionable actions got taken. Which, given everything I’ve been given to understand, started when the two of you were ‘just hanging out.’”

Not to mention taken several years off of his life. His first instinct upon seeing the state that Onyx had been in when he’d arrived had been to gut the werewolf right then and there for allowing it to happen.