Kellen felt like he was the one being tamed. No matter what anyone else said, Rhys was the one who was doing the taming, and Kellen was just going along with it.
The monster? Him. And the tamer? Captain Rhys Thatcher.
Kellen opened his mouth as another forkful of food came towards him, and Rhys chuckled.
"You’re being such a good boy, Mr. Woods." The whispered words had Kellen nearly choking. Coughing, he tried not to spit food everywhere, while Rhys, in concern, tried to pat his back. "Are you alright?" He asked, and Kellen glanced up at his big, yellow eyes and wanted to yell at him.
He was the reason Kellen had reacted this way!
Hill’s chuckle beside him told him that she knew that as well, but was holding her tongue.
"i-I’m fine. Went down the wrong pipe." Kellen told him, and Rhys tsked.
"We can’t have that. You need to let me know ahead of time. I’ll be gentle." Kellen was almost at his limit.
It had been like this the whole hour.
For the whole hour the Captain had been saying the most outrageous things to him, and then shoving a forkful of food into his mouth so he couldn’t protest. Honestly, it was a surprise that he’d only choked once in response to the things that he had been saying to him.
Kellen could feel his whole body tingling. He felt like if the Captain touched him in the wrong way right now, he might embarrass himself.
Huffing, frustrated, and not sure why, Kellen closed his laptop once he’d gathered himself enough. He checked the time, and closed his eyes for a moment, before turning to the man beside him.
"I have to get going now. I need to talk to Brent before our next class." Rhys frowned. Pouted, actually. There was only a plate of food left, done intentionally on Kellen’s part. The man hadn’t eaten while he’d been feeding Kellen. Kellen had hoped that he would have, but it was clear that he had been so focused on that, that he’d neglected himself.
Gesturing to the plate left with his head, Kellen tucked his laptop into its bag before slinging it on his shoulder.
"You should eat that. You haven’t eaten the whole time I’ve been here." Rhys’ eyes warmed.
"I have been eating. I’ve been eating up your enjoyment of the food." Kellen flushed.
"That doesn’t keep your body functioning. Make sure to eat it. In fact, send me a picture of the empty plate." Kellen told him, and Rhys stared at him. Kellen gave him a look when he didn’t respond and Rhys laughed.
"Alright, Mr. Woods. I will do as you say. You’re so controlling of me." It sounded like he was chastising him until Rhys bent forward, his lips brushing against Kellen’s ear. "I like it." He whispered and Kellen’s lips turned down in a frown as his face warmed.
"W-Well, it would be bad if you didn’t like it. I’m only going to get worse." Kellen warned, and Rhys pulled back, a smile on his face.
"Oh, I’m quite excited. I can imagine that your Mother is completely whipped by your Father, and I’m excited to emulate them." Kellen’s heart raced in his chest.
Unable to stop himself, Kellen bent forward and pressed a kiss against his cheek.
"I’m glad I came here. Now, help me get my cane, will you?" He asked, embarrassed, and Rhys sat frozen.
Hill’s chair moved behind him, and she moved to get his cane. She handed it to Kellen, her brown eyes sparkling.
"You can’t pull that kind of action and expect a normal reaction, Kellen. Look at him. He’s frozen in bliss. It’s so nice to see him like this." Hill chuckled as Kellen took the offered cane. It was also nice to see that given everything that was going on, she didn’t look too exhausted.
No, it was Pamela, who had come back about half an hour into the ’feeding session’ that had looked like she needed to sleep for a week. Her bags were giant under her eyes, and her hair was in just a ponytail. Even Hill was walking on tiptoes around her, as if something else had gone on when he hadn’t been looking.
No doubt it had something to do with Rene.
He just had no idea what it was that had happened, and now wasn’t the time to ask.
"Pamela, is everything going alright on the PR side of things? How is the public taking the shooting?" Kellen asked while Rhys was still in lala land.
Pamela, who had been seated in a different group on the other side of the room, jerked, before stumbling to her feet, grabbing her tablet, and moving towards Kellen.
"Stay seated! I’ll come to you!" She declared, almost desperately, and Hill snorted.
"She doesn’t take injuries well." Hill whispered quietly enough that Pamela wasn’t able to hear it. Kellen was appreciative of the information. It was something new he had learned about Pamela.
"I will stay seated." He told her, having no need to try and work her up more. The woman looked like a grain of rice could ruin her whole day. Maybe he should send some coffee, or treats her way. He’d message Hill about it after he left.
"Yeah. And it helps that everyone knows we are protecting your Father right now too. Mr. Woods is a widely known member of our city. And someone who has been the face of our city for almost two decades. He is beloved. So most are forgiving us, but not forgiving who did this. No one has come forward yet, but there are only a few groups that we can think of, and your Mother did give us a few names to look into. They aren’t coming up with anything, and when we contacted them, most were devastated that he was attacked." freewёbnoνel.com
"Good. Pamela, I appreciate all that you’re doing. You should take a nap in an unused Guiding room, or, better yet, book a guiding session with me. You look exhausted, and that could cause you to slip up. Do not make me bench you like I did Casper." Kellen warned, and she blinked several times, before she glanced at Rhys.
"I’ll let him do it." He warned, and she sighed. Kellen watched as she closed her eyes, took a deep, calming breath, before she opened them again. The pink had dimmed slightly.
"Alright. I hear your warning. I don’t have time right now, but I’ll make sure I take something to help me get some sleep tonight. I just...haven’t been sleeping well." She muttered.
"If you’re worried, sleep in the Guild Tower. I’ll bring you some of my Dad’s calming tea suggestions." Kellen told her, and Pamela’s tight, tense expression softened.
"With that leg? No you will not. It’s not that kind of worry, Kellen, but I appreciate your concern. I’ll be better tomorrow, for your sake." She told him, and Kellen stared at her. He scanned her, and Pamela turned red as he did so.
"Well, I’ll take your word for it then. If you look worse tomorrow, no exceptions, I’m going to take you to a guiding room and I will put you to sleep. One way or another." Hill laughed as Pamela went white. Rhys even chuckled.
"Mr. Woods, don’t threaten to knock out my lieutenants, please. It gives us a bad image." He teased, and Kellen sniffed.
"I wasn’t saying I would knock her that way, but if that makes you take care of yourself, I will take full advantage of it." Kellen declared, before sighing and pushing himself up from the giant pillow.
His thigh protested, and through clenched teeth, he got on two feet.
All three of them hovered around him, and Kellen couldn’t help but laugh.
"Wow. I have so many Espers who are worried for me. I’m spoiled." He joked, and Rhys grumbled.
"You have more than that, and that already makes me worried. Now, go speak to Guide Jameson before I decide that you don’t need to teach your second class." Rhys told him, and Kellen sighed. He stared down at the man who remained seated, and with one glance around the room, he pressed his lips against the Captain’s.
It was quick, fast, and made Kellen’s cheeks flush. Rhys was frozen stiff.
"You wouldn’t stop me from doing my job, would you? Now, have a good rest of your day everyone. I’ll see you, Rhys, after work." Kellen said, his face warm. He shuffled towards the elevators as Hill whistled.
"Oh, he’s going to be like that for the rest of the day. Everyone, now’s the time to make mistakes!" Hill joked, and Kellen shook his head, smiling. It quickly took away his embarrassment at the act. He’d never kissed him like that without it being related to guiding. But he just couldn’t help himself.
The man had been teasing him for an hour. This was at least what he deserved.
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