Ficorpio
Chapter 1
Elliot Mercer had been sold out by his own artist manager.
He knew he couldn’t drink another drop. He pushed himself up, intending to get to the restroom and make himself throw up, only to have someone catch him by the arm.
“Hey now. Where do you think the ice prince is going?”
Elliot’s fingers curled into a fist, then slowly loosened. He drew in a deep breath and forced himself to think clearly. If he swung first, his career would be finished.
There wasn’t a single person in this room he could afford to offend.
“Tsk, tsk. Look at that. Our beauty’s mad.”
The rich brat holding him stared at Elliot’s cold, expressionless face. Seeing that Elliot was furious but holding it in only seemed to excite him more.
“Even angry, you’re still gorgeous.”
“Miles. Let him go.”
The man who had been sitting quietly the whole time finally spoke. He crushed out his cigarette in the ashtray, exhaled the last of the smoke, and let his gaze settle on the two men facing off across the room.
Elliot glanced at him once, then walked straight out.
Miles clicked his tongue in disappointment, his fun ruined. “Since when did you start playing the gentleman, Adrian?”
Adrian Vale rose a second later and headed for the door after him. Realization hit Miles at once.
“Oh, I get it. You want him all to yourself.”
Adrian looked back with a faint, warning sound in his throat and lifted a finger to his lips.
“Shh.”
Behind him, the rest of the privileged heirs were already laughing. Taking the hint, they turned their attention to a few more compliant companions and went back to entertaining themselves.
Elliot had just finished throwing up. He splashed handfuls of water onto his face, but the dizziness still wouldn’t leave. Bracing both hands on the sink, he stared down at the basin. Water beaded along the sharp lines of his face, slipping down past his jaw. The corners of his eyes were flushed red, as if he’d just been crying.
“You okay?”
Adrian stepped closer and offered him a handkerchief.
In an instant, Elliot straightened and gathered what little dignity he had left. He took it from him. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“You’re Elliot Mercer, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Nice name. And you’re even better-looking in person.”
Elliot lifted his head. The moment their eyes met, a wave of discomfort crawled over his skin.
Adrian took another step forward, openly studying his face. The longer he looked, the more he seemed to like what he saw—especially the tiny beauty mark beneath Elliot’s right eye.
Beautiful.
Elliot saw him closing in and instinctively tried to step back. But he had barely moved half a step before a hand landed against his lower back.
“What are you doing?”
“Relax, sweetheart.”
His attempt to struggle was shut down with humiliating ease. Adrian twisted one of his wrists behind his back and pinned him against the wall, then lowered his head into the curve of Elliot’s neck and inhaled.
“So pale.”
Elliot could hear his own breathing turning ragged. Panic surged through him. He fought harder, but the grip behind him was like iron.
“Let me go. What the hell do you want?”
“What do you think I want?”
He leaned close enough for Elliot to feel every word against his skin.
“Whatever the men in that lounge wanted—so do I.”
Elliot shuddered and tried desperately to turn his face away from him. “I’m not for sale.”
“I know,” Adrian said calmly. “That’s why I’m planning to take what I want.”
The words hit Elliot like a physical blow. He had never met anyone so shameless.
“Let go of me!”
“Tsk.”
From this angle, Adrian had a perfect view of the beauty mark beneath Elliot’s eye. Taking full advantage of the fact that Elliot couldn’t move, he leaned in and kissed it.
“Your eyes are stunning.”
Elliot’s irises were pale, almost translucent up close, clear enough to catch the light like glass. And with the slight upward tilt at the corners, set against that cold, distant face, they were devastating.
“Stop fighting. Save your strength.”
He paused, then said lightly, “I’ll give you two choices. Pick one, and I’ll let go. Sound fair?”
Elliot shut his eyes for a moment, trying to steady his breathing. “What choices?”
“First, you come with me, and I keep you.” Adrian’s voice remained maddeningly casual. “Second…”
He let the silence drag.
“You go back into that lounge and entertain all of us for one round. After that, I’ll let you leave.”
Something in Elliot snapped.
He struggled violently, and Adrian lost control of one of his arms for a split second. Elliot swung without hesitation and landed a punch hard into his stomach.
“You sick bastard—go to hell!”
Instead of getting angry, Adrian laughed.
“So you’ve got a temper too. I’ve got to say, even the way you curse is a turn-on.”
Then he moved fast.
He hooked an arm around Elliot’s waist and kissed him hard on the mouth.
Elliot kept his lips clamped shut, refusing to give him even an inch. Adrian pinched him sharply, and the burst of pain tore a cry from him. In that instant, Adrian forced his way in, claiming his mouth completely.
Elliot bit down on the invading tongue with all the strength he had.
Adrian jerked back with a hiss. “Fuck.”
Then he grinned.
“Feisty, aren’t you, sweetheart? You bite too.”
By then Elliot had lost all sense of restraint. Career, consequences, none of it mattered anymore. He lunged for the door.
Adrian caught his wrist and yanked him back. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Chapter 2
Elliot didn’t even think before throwing another punch. Adrian blocked it easily enough, but Elliot had never been this enraged in his life. The man had kissed him again and again, toyed with him, humiliated him, and now Elliot hit with everything he had, holding nothing back.
Adrian could fight—more than well enough—but he clearly didn’t want to hurt him. He took several blows he could have avoided. By the end, even he was losing patience.
His expression darkened. He brought the edge of his hand down hard against the back of Elliot’s neck.
Elliot went limp in his arms.
Adrian carried him out of the private members’ club. The second he stepped outside, one of his men got out of a waiting car. Adrian handed Elliot over and gave his orders as he spoke.
“I’ve got something to deal with first. Take him back to the estate and keep watch.”
The man nodded at once. “Got it, Mr. Vale.”
“And one more thing—no medication. Nothing. If he wakes up, I don’t care how much trouble he makes. Calm him down however you have to and wait for me to get back.”
Adrian didn’t return until late that night.
He had been fully prepared to come home to a room in ruins.
Instead, when he walked into the bedroom, all he found was a cold-faced beauty with reddened eyes.
Elliot sat on the edge of the bed, his wrists tied with rope. The moment he heard the door open, he closed his eyes.
Adrian crossed the room and untied him. “Don’t want to look at me?”
Elliot tried to pull his hand out of Adrian’s grasp, only to have the movement used against him. With one shove, Adrian forced him backward onto the bed.
Adrian buried himself greedily against Elliot’s neck, breathing him in.
“Stay with me.”
Elliot didn’t move. He didn’t answer either.
He wanted to negotiate.
He had been dragged straight into a wolf’s den, and fighting blindly would only leave him with even less control than he had now.
“I don’t want to be with anyone.”
His voice was low and steady, but every muscle in his body was tight.
“Let me go,” he said. “And I can pretend none of this ever happened.”
Adrian laughed under his breath. His voice had the kind of deep, velvet tone girls online would swoon over, but all Elliot felt was disgust.
“You’re so naive.”
He lifted the hem of Elliot’s shirt and slid his hand underneath, slow and deliberate. “You’re in my hands now. What makes you think you get to negotiate?” His fingers moved higher. “You have one choice left. Be good and let me have you.”
Elliot must have been out of his mind to think reason would work on him. Two sentences, and Adrian had already driven him past calm. When Elliot shoved at him, Adrian caught both wrists and pinned them down.
“Tsk. Easy, beautiful. Keep fighting me like that, and tonight’s going to hurt a lot more for you.”
“Go to hell.”
Adrian gave a soft hum. “No one’s ever talked to me like that before. Coming from you, though? I kind of like it.”
Elliot struggled hard, but he was no match for a man like Adrian—someone who trained seriously, fought seriously, and knew exactly how to overpower him. Adrian pressed a kiss to the pale bone at the back of his neck, then spoke against his skin while Elliot kept thrashing beneath him.
“Baby, I’ll give you one last chance. Say yes. Stay with me, and I won’t touch you tonight.”
“In your dreams.”
Adrian stroked the split in Elliot’s lower lip—the one he’d bitten open earlier. “Stubborn. I’m starting to wonder how long that backbone of yours can last.”
The next second, Elliot twisted and sank his teeth into the web of Adrian’s hand.
Adrian hissed.
But he didn’t yank away. He let Elliot bite him until blood welled up.
When he finally pulled back, he didn’t even glance at the wound. He seized Elliot’s chin and forced his face up.
“If you bite me again,” Adrian said quietly, “I’ll have someone force medication down your throat, then I’ll throw you to them and let them take turns with you.”
Elliot’s breathing turned ragged. The threat hit exactly where it was meant to. He went still.
The last layer of cover had already been stripped away. Elliot buried his face in the pillow and clenched the sheets so hard his fingers ached.
“No more fighting?”
“Relax,” Adrian murmured. “Otherwise you’re the one who suffers.”
For a long moment, Elliot said nothing. His face stayed pressed into the pillow. Then suddenly it was like all the air had gone out of him, all the fight leaking away at once.
His voice came out hoarse and scraped raw. “I’ll do it…”
Adrian paused. “What was that?”
He turned Elliot over in his arms. “Say it again.”
Elliot covered his eyes with the back of his hand and repeated it blankly, like the words no longer belonged to him.
“I said I’ll do it…”
Adrian smiled, satisfied.
But he didn’t keep his promise.
Right in front of Elliot’s frightened, unsteady gaze, he moved to continue what he’d started.
“What a shame,” Adrian said lazily. “Your last chance expired. I changed my mind.”
The instant Elliot realized he’d been played, he lashed out with a kick. Adrian caught his ankle in one hand. Elliot fought violently, twisting and struggling so hard Adrian couldn’t get a hold on him properly.
Chapter 3
At last, Adrian’s temper snapped.
He let go, grabbed his phone, and made a call. He only said one sentence.
“Bring it up.”
By then Elliot had wrapped himself in the blanket and retreated to the corner of the bed. A knock came at the door almost immediately.
Adrian’s patience was gone.
“So what’s it going to be? Do you want me to let them come in, force this down your throat, and make you obey afterward? Or are you going to cooperate now?”
He leaned in, pressing harder. “The ending is the same either way. One of them just hurts less.”
Elliot glared at him and said nothing.
“I’ll count to three. Then you tell me your choice.”
“Three…”
“Two…”
There was no one.
Before Adrian could say it, Elliot closed his eyes and slowly loosened his death grip on the blanket.
Before it could slip all the way off, Adrian lunged forward and pinned him down.
“You really are beautiful,” he murmured, almost in admiration. “It’s addictive.”
When Adrian bent to kiss him, Elliot turned his head away.
That small act of resistance seemed to anger him all over again. Adrian caught his jaw and forced his face back.
“Don’t make me angry.”
His mouth was pried open. There was nothing but the taste and heat of the man invading him.
Elliot’s chest heaved. One hand still braced against Adrian’s chest in useless resistance, but he couldn’t push him away.
The more he resisted, the rougher Adrian kissed him. Harder and harder, until both their mouths tasted of blood.
Adrian’s tongue had been bitten open.
He touched the burning spot with one finger, his voice dropping low again. “Even now, you’re still this vicious.”
Elliot refused to answer. He shut his eyes and stopped reacting altogether, no matter what Adrian said or did.
That, somehow, only seemed to put Adrian in a better mood.
He carried Elliot into the bathroom and bathed him.
“I already spoke to your artist manager,” Adrian said. “You won’t be taking any jobs for a while.”
At last, Elliot reacted.
He sat in the bathtub, damp and silent. The small mole beneath his eye stood out more sharply through the steam, set against the red at the corners of his eyes, making him look heartbreakingly beautiful in a way that almost felt dangerous.
Adrian meant to take away his freedom.
And Elliot had no way to fight him.
“Sir, could you come back for a moment?”
Adrian took the call from one of the security men he’d left at the estate, still turning pages in the file on his desk. “What is it?”
“The man you brought home refuses to eat. He seems to have a fever too, and he won’t cooperate with treatment.”
It had already been a full day, and Elliot was still resisting.
The guard hesitated before adding, “Sir, we’re not exactly gentle. If we force medication down him, we might hurt him.”
“I know. I’m coming back now.”
Elliot lay on the bed, his lips dry and pale. The fever made his sleep shallow, restless. Adrian sat down at the edge of the mattress. Elliot’s lashes trembled, then his eyes snapped open, wary the instant he saw who it was.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
Adrian reached for him. Elliot turned his face away. “Get off me.”
His voice had gone rough from the fever, from not eating or drinking all day.
Adrian braced one hand on either side of him, caging him in completely from above. “I hear you’ve been throwing a fit and wrecking your own body.”
“No food, no medication either. Hm?”
He bent lower and lower until his lips brushed Elliot’s throat as he spoke.
Elliot knew struggling was pointless. He closed his eyes and endured it. Adrian, however, had no intention of letting him off that easily. He caught Elliot by the chin and forced him to turn back.
“When a pet won’t behave, I have plenty of ways to deal with it,” Adrian said with a smile. “And if it’s you, I might use methods that are less than humane.”
Elliot gave him nothing.
Adrian continued casually, “I’ve heard people with fevers run hot. I’ve never tried that before. Want to test it out?”
At the sound of a belt buckle coming loose, Elliot’s fingers twisted tighter in the blanket.
“Look at me.”
Adrian forced his eyes open. “Do you want dinner, or do you want sex?”
In the end, Elliot gave in.
He had no appetite to begin with, but under Adrian’s pressure he took a few perfunctory mouthfuls of plain rice porridge.
“That’s all you normally eat?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Fine.”
Adrian had the medication brought in and personally held it out to him. “Take it.”
Elliot only looked at him.
“What, do you want me to feed it to you?”
“I hate taking medicine.” Elliot could count on one hand how many times he’d willingly done it. Unless he truly couldn’t endure it anymore, he would rather die than swallow a drop.
Adrian let out a quiet laugh. “Who spoiled you into this?”
“Take it. Don’t make me say it a third time.”
Elliot ignored him, got to his feet, and tried to walk away.
That movement snapped the last of Adrian’s patience. He seized Elliot’s wrist and flung him onto the sofa. The dull ache from the impact only made Elliot angrier.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he spat. “Stop trying to control me.”
Adrian smiled in spite of his irritation. He pinned Elliot’s wrist above his head, frost settling into his eyes even as the corner of his mouth curved. “Do you know I recorded a video last night?”
“Superstar Elliot Mercer—you wouldn’t want your fans seeing you like this, would you?”