Clarice barely spared Nick a snotty glance before snorting. “Him?”
“Yes, Nick and I have already ordered. We planned on eating alone.”
Her glare should have drilled him six feet under, he was sure. Todd returned the favor. Huffing, Clarice flounced away.
“Do you want me to return to your apartment?” Nick’s eyes were lowered, his tone neutral. Todd had already come to learn Nick would revert to his training as a slave almost immediately if he didn’t know what to do or how to act.
“It’s our apartment, Nicky. And no, I do not want you going back there.”
Nick’s eyes were bright and liquid. “Don’t you want to spend your day with the lady?”
Todd laughed. “Lady? Nicky, you’re funny. She is about as far from a lady as I can think of. No, I do not want to spend time with her.” Todd scooted closer to Nick, took his hand, and gently stroked his thumb over Nick’s knuckles. “Yes, I slept—had s*x—with her. I was lonely and incredibly drunk. It was a few years ago, and I’ve regretted it ever since. I’m not sure I even remember most of it, and I’m very sure I didn’t enjoy it very much.”
Todd’s stomach unclenched when Nick’s lips started twitching to a smile. “Yes, I’ve been with others, men and women, and it was mostly because I was lonely at the time. And maybe had a few drinks in me. The day I brought this”—Todd reached out with his free hand and ran one finger over Nick’s collar, satisfied with the shiver and deepening smile—”to your village, that ended. When I said it’s just you and me now, I meant it.”
“You brought it yourself? I thought it came by courier.”
“Yeah, the courier was me. You think I’d trust that to some guy I don’t know who works for the highest bidder?”
Nick blushed, an honest-to-goodness blush. Todd gave Nick’s hand a squeeze and moved his chair back when he saw Julia heading toward them with their food. She winked at Todd, refilled their coffee cups, and set a small brown bag filled with coffee beans at his elbow before leaving them to finish their meal.
“I don’t want that kind of life, Nick. I never did.”
“I heard you say your father wanted you to do this, take me.” Nick put a forkful of pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup on them into his mouth, and his eyes widened and lit up.
Todd sighed. He’d been waiting for this, knowing Nick had overheard that conversation. A part of him hoped Nick might have forgotten it. “You know, when you’re eleven and your dad says this is what you’re going to do someday, you don’t question it. When you’re eighteen and you know you have this responsibility, you sort of start to see you can’t ditch it, but you don’t have to do it how your dad would have. When you’re twenty-eight, you figure out you can tell the world to go screw itself and yeah, gotta do this thing, have this person depending on you, but can do it your way.” He poked at Nick’s plate. “Am I making sense? Eat your sausage.”
Nick obediently took a bite of sausage, gasped, and burst into a huge grin. “This is good!”
Todd dug into his own breakfast.
“I get it, I think.”
“Good.”
“We were bonded, no one asked what you wanted, they certainly never asked me. You had to take me, decided you really wanted to and it might not be bad?”
Todd smiled and nodded. “Yeah, that’s exactly it.”
“Do you eat this food all the time?”
It took Todd a moment to decipher Nick’s question, asked through a mouthful of pancakes, sausage, and eggs.
“Yep, and you do, too.”
“I’m going to get fat.”
That made Todd laugh. “You’ll work it off. Don’t worry.” Nick’s eyes dropped to his plate, and Todd braced for another tentative question.
“You asked me which I liked better, men or women, but you didn’t tell me which you liked better.” Nick’s voice was soft. His gaze bounced to Todd’s face and then back to his plate.
Todd decided this might be something he never broke Nick of, no matter how hard he tried and no matter how often he told Nick to look at him when they spoke.
“Honestly? I’m not sure I care either way. Both do it for me; both have good and bad points. I didn’t care if you were male or female, Nick. I care about you.” Motioning between Nick and himself, Todd grinned, relieved when Nick’s shoulders relaxed, his face softening, and he looked pleased with Todd’s words. “It’s you and me. No one else. The rest doesn’t matter. We’re in this together. Okay?”
Nick nodded enthusiastically, too busy chewing to speak. Todd appreciated the wide smile and dimpled cheeks. When their meal was done, Todd tucked the bag of coffee beans into a pocket inside his jacket and headed off to the main market, Nick in tow. Todd had to keep one hand on Nick’s elbow to get Nick to walk beside him, not trail a step or two behind. If he was behind Todd, it was certainly going to make him harder to keep an eye on, and it made it almost impossible to carry on a conversation. Todd made a mental note he needed to break Nick of that habit, too. It wasn’t always going to be necessary, and in some cases it might be dangerous if they couldn’t watch each other’s movements.
The open-air booths of the market had anything and everything anyone could want. Many of the more traditional shops didn’t allow slaves, other than in designated areas, and didn’t sell clothes and supplies if they thought they were being purchased for a slave. The open market was easier. Todd could pick out clothes, boots, and other supplies for Nick and have them sent to his apartment. No one asked or cared if it was for him or Nick. They were close enough in size that it wasn’t going to be immediately obvious who Todd was making his purchases for.
Hanging back a few steps, he let Nick wander from booth to booth, making note of what Nick hovered over, looked at more closely. The kid was terminally polite, never touching and never making eye contact with anyone. The farther they walked, the more Nick became engrossed in taking in every bit of his surroundings. Wonder and curiosity filled his face and eyes. Todd could see everything amazed and delighted him. As Todd watched Nick move farther and farther away from him, though Todd never let Nick out of his sight, he simply hung back and let Nick drink in everything, experience what he wanted how he wanted.
It struck Todd hard that he was responsible for this change in Nick by simply giving him a small amount of freedom to explore the market booths. The shy, quiet boy of a few hours ago was transformed and replaced by a young man full of curiosity, wanting to know everything, see everything. Todd made his purchases lagged behind Nick, all the while keeping one keen eye on his boy. Nick became so absorbed he never noticed he’d moved so far from Todd, long legs easily sidestepping shoppers, non-slaves and slaves alike, even though his eyes were glued to the goods in the booths.
Todd had brought Nick here and given him a life. He knew that was a gift to himself as much as it was a gift to Nick.
Nick stopped at one booth, intently focused on the goods being offered. Hands clasped behind him, Nick leaned over to see items that were placed near the back. The proprietor watched him, stepping forward, a short whip in one hand. Todd leveled a gaze on the man that made him back off a fewpaces . A girl about Nick’s age, carrying boxes that were probably heavier than she was, came from the rear of the booth. The girl tripped and dropped some of the boxes. The man turned on her, shouting angrily, and slapped her in the face. The girl and the boxes were sent tumbling to the ground.
Nick dodged around the end of the booth and reached forward, arms extending to stop the girl’s fall. The man whirled around, whip slicing through the air.
Todd darted forward, snapping a harsh, “Hey!”
Nick’s arms jerked back to his sides. He turned a horrified, pale face to Todd. Fingers wrapping around Nick’s arm, Todd yanked Nick away just as the whip would have cracked over his hands. Pushing Nick back a few steps, Todd shoved himself between Nick and the man. “He’s mine. You don’t hit him.”
“Keep his filth off my merchandise,” the man ground out. Then he turned to the girl and demanded, “Get that mess cleared up.”
“Come on, Nicky. I’ll spend money somewhere else.” Gripping Nick’s arm hard, Todd hustled him away from the booth. Todd kept his voice low but spoke with authority. “It sucks. It’s wrong. I don’t agree. But we can’t interfere, Nick.”
“I…I’m sorry. I didn’t think, I just—”
Softening his grip and his voice, Todd interrupted. “I know, but you have to remember that. I can’t protect you very well if a citizen accuses you of something I can’t prove you didn’t do or didn’t have a good reason to do.”
Nick nodded. “Yes, Master…uh, Todd.”
Todd smiled. “You’re a good person, Nicky.”
They walked farther into the market. Todd had a specific destination he’d kept a secret. After the incident at the booth, Nick kept close, twice hooking one finger through the tether wrapped through Todd’s belt loops.
Idiot merchants and past encounters were forgotten when Todd rounded the corner onto another street. He grinned when the place he’d been waiting for came into view. Nick was going to love this. He hoped.
* * * *
Todd guided them into a large, nondescript building, gave Nick’s arm a squeeze, and let go after they were through the door. Nick felt the loss of Todd’s fingers against his elbow, replaced by warm, moist air. He got a wink before Todd stepped to a short counter running the length of the inner room. Nick saw that beyond was a hallway, but what it led to or what was there he couldn’t see.
Nick stood to one side while Todd spoke to a woman at the counter. She eyed them both up and down like they were tasty morsels and she was starving. Then Todd handed her money and when he away, a key jangled from two fingers. Nick saw the telltale smirk and a bit of an eye roll. He focused intently on the ground and coughed, covering his mouth with one hand to hide his own smile.
He followed Todd along the hallway. After unlocking the door to one of the rooms, Todd stepped to one side and motioned Nick inside. Stepping in and closing the door, Nick heard the soft click of the lock being turned. There were several large, thickly padded chairs that were long enough that Nick could completely stretch out on them if he wanted to. A cabinet took up one wall, and the floor was covered in thick, plush carpet. There was the gentle sound of water lapping against a stone surface. The room was warm and moist, making his clothes uncomfortable. The air was thick and rich with a heady, earthy scent.
Todd stepped up behind Nick and laid both hands lightly on Nick’s shoulders for a moment before his fingers brushed along Nick’s neck and unhooked Nick’s collar. “We don’t want this getting wet.” He pressed a soft kiss to Nick’s neck where seconds before the collar buckle had been, making Nick shiver. “This will make you feel better. I promise.” Todd gave a playful swat to Nick’s butt. Nick jumped and Todd chuckled, the sound sending a spark through Nick. “Get your clothes off. You can put them in there.” Todd pointed to the cabinet.