“Wodell is not your land. This is your land, Teddy.”

Tedrey felt a pinch at his heart.

He did not carry on this particular discussion.

“This is not smart,” he whispered.

“I have missed you,” Faunus whispered in return.

Tedrey closed his eyes.

This was a mistake, for when he did, Faunus caught his ankles and yanked him across the cushions, so when Tedrey again opened his eyes, Faunus was all he could see.

Faunus’s voice had dipped lower when he asked, “How often has he fucked you?”

Oh no.

He should not be there.

But now it was more, for they should not be speaking of this.

“We have this time, let us not do this,” Tedrey suggested.

“How often?”

“Faunus.”

Faunus caught him in a light hold at the front of his throat.

“How often, Teddy?”

“He now finds me…lacking,” Tedrey admitted, and watched his warrior’s eyes flash. “So, none at all. But you should not ask such, Faunus. It will only serve to upset you.”

“None at all?”

Of course, Tedrey could not find attractive, say, a fellow teacher.

Or perhaps a quiet purveyor of rugs.

No, he had to find attractive a possessive warrior.

“None at all,” Tedrey confirmed.

“And he trusts that you are still on his lead?”

Tedrey pressed his lips together.

“He makes you suckle him,” Faunus growled.

“Can we not talk about this?” Tedrey asked.

“Yes, we can not talk about this,” Faunus murmured. “For I’ve got something better to do with my mouth.”

Tedrey’s sarong was then flipped up, Faunus’s head dipped down, and Tedrey’s head fell back.

Yes.

This was much better.

“I want you to stop what you are doing with this Rising and allow Lorenz to find you a safe place until this is over,” Faunus declared.

Tedrey lay with the back of his head resting against his warrior’s thigh. Faunus was sitting up, his back against some cushions that were set to the wall, his long legs stretched out. Tedrey was reclining perpendicular to him with Faunus as his cushion.

“I cannot stop now,” Tedrey denied.

Faunus didn’t reply.

Tedrey turned to his side and lifted up, propping himself on his elbow.

“My friend, please understand, this is something I must do,” he said.

“I am not your friend, I am your lover,” Faunus retorted.

He was definitely that.

“Yes, you are,” Tedrey agreed, and rested his hand on Faunus’s bare thigh. “And as such, I am asking you to understand and do not push about this.”

“A Go’Ella had something to share.”

Tedrey stared up at Faunus, his hand dropping away.

“I’m…really?”

“One of the ones you said belonged to one of the priests in the necropolis.” A look transformed Faunus’s face that, if Tedrey didn’t know him, would have him moving away. “He would make her darken her hair and then he would debase her as the ‘Firenz whore’ who would be slave to him when the Rising took control of all lands. This, although she was fair. And Airenzian.”