Born to Please [Pleasure Vessels 1] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (13 page)

“I’d like that,” Alec said, unbuttoning his shirt. “I think my parents still keep some clothes in the armoire if you want to change out of your business casual.”

“I’ll get them out if you want to strip down,” Payne offered. He went over to the armoire and opened up the top drawer and found it full of company T-shirts. “Where did our suitcases run off to?”

Alec motioned over to the closet. “They probably hung everything up in the closet, but I didn’t want to dirty any of the clothes I’m going to have to take home and wash if I can help it.”

“Good point.” Payne was not a fan of doing laundry. At the Facility each Vessel had been in charge of doing it once a week at a designated time. Payne had always talked Desiree into doing his load because he always seemed to end up with clothes four sizes too small and then get punished for it.

Even though they ended up naked, neither one seemed inclined to shift their minds toward lusty thoughts. Payne was just too tired from lack of sleep and high anxiety from press events and the news of his fellow Vessels being discarded in a river like bits of trash. He imagined that Alec felt the same.

They climbed beneath the covers of his blue-and-white sheets and Payne couldn’t help but feel a little shy over the fact. He’d been given his own room. He should in theory be rambling off to his own space. However, this big, cold house in combination with the chilling news of the Vessels left him feeling very much in need of some hardcore snuggling.

As he settled into Alec’s arms, his lover’s breath warming his neck, he almost immediately started to drift. “I forgot that I got you your own room,” Alec murmured, kissing the line of his neck gently. “I can walk you over there if you like.”

“I’ll go tonight when it’s bedtime. I just want to sleep here with you if that’s all right,” Payne said.

Alec squeezed him tightly. “That’s more than all right. I like you beside me.”

They stayed that way for a few minutes, and Payne felt himself drifting in a comfortable warmth. He thought of everything that had led to this moment. His Alec was a kind man, a sexy man, too. Their compatibility was undeniable.
Mine
. The voice was right. Alec was his. It didn’t matter that it had only been a few days. “Hey, Alec?”

“Hmm?”

He swallowed. “I kind of love you, okay? And maybe, soon, you could love me back.” Alec stiffened behind him, and he was afraid that he had said something wrong. “You don’t have to or anything. I was just letting you know. I know, um, it’s kinda sudden.”

Alec turned him in his arms so that they were face-to-face. Payne stared up at him, his heart pounding so loud he could swear Alec could hear it. He kissed his nose. “Payne, you beautiful, frustrating Vessel of mine, how am I supposed to give you your space to grow and be independent when you constantly make me want to hold you close?”

“So that means you’ll consider it?”

“Consider it? Payne, I’m half in love with you already. I loathe admitting when my father is right about anything, but he was dead on with you. You and I will get along just fine, sweetheart. I’m not saying I’m there yet. But I will be.” Alec pressed Payne’s head against his chest and breathed deeply. The sound of his heart beating made Payne smile. He really was the luckiest Vessel ever. Alec laughed suddenly. “You’ve ruined the nap. I’m not tired anymore.”

“Sorry,” Payne said, not feeling one bit sorry for saying it. He was the lover of a powerful man who was going to change the way Vessels were treated, and Payne was going to make a difference in the lives of his fellow Vessels by helping him. On top of that, his owner was falling in love with him. Life was very, very good despite the bad news of the day.

Payne took a bite out of the lemon-zest chicken on penne noodles and nearly moaned aloud at the taste. He was going to have to get the recipe from Amber before they left. Alec’s mother was an even better cook than Payne was, and that was saying something. They were all seated around the dining-room table with the exception of the older Mr. Kane. The Kanes’ dining room was just as elegant as the rest of the house. With high-vaulted ceilings and a hand-carved and highly elaborate stone fireplace with a table to match, the place was something out of a high-end magazine.

Alec and he had re-dressed a half hour ago after showering, and Alec was still shooting him heated looks when his mother wasn’t looking. It seemed that Payne’s declaration had done something to raise his libido, because he’d been insatiable since they’d woken up. It was one of the reasons they were eating later. Alec couldn’t seem to get enough.

“Boys, I could cut the tension between you two with a knife. If you don’t behave, I’m sending you both off to bed without supper,” Amber said, clearly laughing at the two of them as she took a bite off of her plate. She pointed her fork at them. “Alec, you are worse than when you brought your first boyfriend home freshman year of college.”

Alec groaned. “Oh god, Mother. Don’t bring that up.”

Payne smiled at their exchange. It was nice to see the two of them interacting. They were really quite cute together. He was grateful that the older Mr. Kane was still locked up in his study making business calls. The man was creepy in a way that was hard to shake off. He looked at Payne like he was an unruly experiment. He half expected the man to want to dissect him. He reminded him too well of the scientists and Trainers that had strapped them down and injected them with this and that in an effort to fulfill whatever reaction they wanted.

The door to the dining room swung open, and Alec’s father walked in as if summoned by Payne’s thoughts. “We need to go, now,” Mr. Kane said, grabbing a roll off the table.

“But, David, we’ve only just sat down—”

“Amber, love, this is an emergency. I wouldn’t interrupt your delicious meal otherwise. Have the droids box it up and we’ll take it with us.” His eyes went to Alec. “I found some discrepancies in the experimentation log. Some of these experiments are—” He searched for a word. “Well, they’re awful. I didn’t okay the correction of behaviors through chemical modification. They even bastardized my alignment procedure. I don’t know what is going on exactly, but it seems that the Facility that Payne originated from is our source. I’m going to find out exactly who is to blame for this, and heads are going to roll.”

Payne’s eyes shot wide. He’d always assumed that his Facility was like all the others.

Alec’s father pointed at him. “I need you to come with me and tell me which of these were done with any frequency. I need to know which Vessels you know of that they have been done to and if you had any of them performed on yourself. You’re the only inside person I have that has any sort of reliability.”

Payne steeled himself. This is what he’d wanted. He wanted to be an advocate for Vessels. “Whatever you need.”

“Good lad. The outside security and investigative group I hired sent me the logs that someone at the Facility was dumping, and I about shit kittens—”

“David!” Amber exclaimed.

He huffed. “Not now, Amber. I’m extremely agitated, and these boys have heard worse language, I’m sure.” She rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything. He continued, “If they performed half of the experiments we found in the files, we might have our licenses revoked for failure to address biological concerns. The human rights organization is going to have a field day.”

“We’re ready to leave anytime you are, Father,” Alec said, looking grim. “I knew there was something wrong when I went to pick up Payne. They didn’t tolerate him acting human very well at all.”

“It’s disgraceful,” his father growled. “I did not set up Vessels to be treated like lab rats. I set up the Facility to provide true soul mates for people by means of compatibility testing and the reassurance of a shifter’s mate bond. I never wanted our Vessels to be turned into little better than programmed zombies.”

It gave Payne a little hope that the older man was so outraged on their behalf. “It’s nice to know I wasn’t created to be a fuck doll, sir.” Everyone’s eyes turned on him. He cleared his throat, his embarrassment rising. “Sorry.”

“No need to be sorry, boy,” Mr. Kane said. “I thought my son was being too soft on you, and he probably is, but no wonder you have psychological scars, growing up in that environment. I’m going to kill someone. Every experiment I’ve pioneered was for the betterment of the client and the Vessel. This abomination is blasphemous in the worst sort of way.” He waved them toward the door. “There is a car waiting to take us to the airport.”

“All right,” Alec said, pushing back from the table. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to his mother’s cheek. “We’ll see you soon, Mom. If we don’t come back, can you have someone send our things back to my house?”

She nodded and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Of course, honey. You be careful and try to keep your father from getting too upset. His blood pressure has been up lately.”

Mr. Kane snorted. “I’m fine, Amber. You worry over nothing. Get the lead out, Alecander. I’m impatient to get there.”

Payne scooted back from the table and stood. He took a step toward the door only to have Amber grab his hand. “Where do you think you’re going?” she asked. “I think my new son-in-law needs to give me a hug.”

Payne blinked. While it was nice to be a newly acknowledged member of the family, it was strange nonetheless. He hugged her neck, and she placed a kiss on his cheek the same she had with Alec.

She patted his head. “Be safe. Take care of my Alec.”

Payne nodded. “I’m planning on it.”

She released him, and then they were walking after Mr. Kane, who was moving surprisingly fast for a man his age. Alec fell into step beside him and twined their hands. “I’m sorry the first week with me has been rather eventful,” he said.

Payne shrugged. “It’s all right. At least now I can do something about it. I’ve been looking at life out of a fish bowl for years. I’m just happy to be participating for once.”

“I promise things will settle down. We can do the normal couple thing and travel or something.”

“Sounds great,” Payne said, smiling at his lover. He was so considerate of him. “As long as we get to do ‘the couple thing,’ I think I’ll be content.”

Alec winked. “You’re stuck with me.”

“Good.”

“Would you two stop with the star-struck eyes all ready? I understand it’s the honeymoon period with you two, but we have a crisis on our hands,” Mr. Kane rumbled as they descended the steps to the driveway where the black limo waited.

“Dad,” Alec said. “I’m going to have to go with Mom on this one and ask you to chill. Nothing is going to get solved by being angry at this.”

Mr. Kane stopped abruptly, turning around and glaring at Alec, who stood a few steps above him. “Don’t take that patronizing tone with me,
boy
. I don’t think you have any idea what this could do to not only our reputation but to the entire industry in general. I don’t want people to think it is acceptable for humans to treat Vessels like they’re not people just because of this.”

“But, Dad, that’s how we’ve been marketing them for years,” Alec said. “I’m not patronizing you. I’m trying to ask you to have a level head about the situation. I’m telling you that we’re basically going to have to start from the ground up through marketing and reorganization in order to bring the company back up to its former glory.”

“Well, add that to your list of duties. I’m going to be too busy correcting the chaos that these butchers have created with their unregistered experimentation.” He whipped around and descended the last remaining steps. The driver opened up the door, and he ducked inside, clearly expecting them to follow after him.

“Don’t mind him. He’ll calm down,” Alec said. “I haven’t seen him this upset about work in years.”

“Maybe you should advertise it as sort of the ultimate matchmaking service,” Payne suggested, his mind going over some of the things he’d learned about the organizational process. “You prescreen candidates anyway, and that way it’s not like you’re selling people. It’s a fee for a service.”

Alec blinked. “That’s brilliant. We could still charge the same amount.”

Payne nodded. “The only difference will be in whether or not the Vessel wants the match or not. If you drop the personality alignment, it will enable the Vessels to make a choice. Trust me when I say our instincts will tell us in about five seconds whether or not the person is for us.”

“Five seconds, huh,” Alec said, grinning. “Was that the five seconds before or after you bit my head off?”

“Before actually,” Payne snipped. “And the nanos in the brain is going to have to go. That’s fucking sick that you can say a word and take away my free will.”

Alec nodded. “Agreed. We’ll talk that bit over with my dad. I don’t know if he’ll go with it.”

They reached the car and ducked inside.

* * * *

Alec was nearly certain Payne had never been in this area of the Facility. However, the grim set of his mouth said he wasn’t happy about being in the sterile white corridor that was barren of any speck of color from one end of the hall to the other.

“Are you all right?” Alec asked as the security team met his father halfway down the hall with a large purple binder. Their dark-gray uniforms were in stark contrast to the washed-out space.