“My father will not want to know. He will bury any reports you write, and he’ll bury you if you try to help me. When our time is over, you say that Daniel Burrows has a confused designation and was unresponsive to treatment, but for reasons of confidentiality you can’t be more specific. It’s a complicated case best dealt with by those above your rank. You do that and we’re—” He pauses to take a breath. “I’m yours.” For as long as he gets the Dominant.

“What if that’s a death sentence? What if that is the worst possible thing I can do for you?”

Daniel snorts. “Let’s not be melodramatic. The worst thing that can happen to me is getting nothing out of this. You heard Dr. Chang. I’m already close to death. My life is already decided. I belong to my father until the day one of us dies. You’re not changing my future, Commander Stone. I hate to burst your bubble, but you are, at best, a pleasant interlude in the shitshow of my life. You want to help me, make it good for me. Give me something to remember when—” He gasps. Once again, he can’t say more. It’s too awful.

“Alright. I swear,” Liam whispers, solemn and regretful enough that Daniel believes him.

That kills the conversation for approximately three miles. Daniel’s never had the chance to have an honest conversation about this with someone before. His brother should have been the one, but he was null, clinging on to that by a thread, as far as Daniel could tell, and he didn’t want to hear anything about submissive desires and inclinations. His brother was his best friend, and now they don’t even speak to each other. What is there to say when they’re both drowning in different ways?

“I wasn’t attracted to men before this,” Daniel confesses. “It didn’t make sense to me that they could do that to a person. How can giving someone enough hormones and drugs turn them gay? Remake someone on such a fundamental level?”