“No, Eridan,” Castien said sternly.
“Just one more time, Master,” he said, painfully aware he was practically whining. It was embarrassing, but he wanted this so much. “You said it wasn’t a merge, so it doesn’t count, right? We don’t have to go deep if you don’t want to.”
Castien finished braiding the thaal into his hair and let the gemstone settle against Eridan’s neck. “I said no,” he said coldly. “Go to your room and meditate.”
Shooting him a half-pissed, half-baffled look, Eridan strode out of the room. He marched into his bedroom and slammed the door shut. The thud of the door rattled the windows but failed to give him any satisfaction, his entire being still crawling with need.
He fell into his bed with a groan of frustration. “I hate you,” he growled into his mattress before flipping onto his back and shoving his pants down. He was already hard and aching. He stroked himself hard and fast, trying to sate one need with the other kind, biting his lips and trying not to make any noise.
He didn’t think of anything. He definitely wasn’t thinking of Castien. His Master was a cruel, manipulative asshole who refused to give Eridan what he needed. Eridan hated him, and his stupid blue eyes, and his broad shoulders and muscular chest—
He moaned, feeling himself getting slicker, both his cock and his hole. He shoved two fingers into his hole and groaned. He almost hoped his Master would enter the room and find him like this, finger-fucking himself and trying to sate the hunger inside him. Castien would probably just give him an unimpressed look and raise a haughty eyebrow. You are pathetic, his Master would say, watching Eridan impassively. I thought I trained you better than that, but like all throwbacks, you are nothing but a wet cock slut.
Eridan’s eyes rolled back and he came, squeezing around his fingers and shuddering through choked-off sobs as his cock spurted ropes of come.
When the aftershocks of pleasure died away, he stared at the ceiling, his face hot. Had he just really masturbated, imagining his Master criticizing and humiliating him?
What was wrong with him?
Chapter Eight: The Servant and the Apprentice
The next few months passed in a blur. Hronthar was buzzing with the news of Prince-Consort Mehmer’s death. Although only people close to the Chapter knew the truth, there were all sorts of rumors afloat.
Castien remained frustratingly hard to read, sometimes almost affectionate with him and sometimes cold and harsh. Eridan alternated between being pissed off at him and feeling things no apprentice should feel for his Master.
He had also developed embarrassing, irrational animosity toward Javier, something he had tried to hide but apparently failed to, because one day Javier confronted him about it.
“Look, what is your problem?” Javier said, frowning at him from his seat on the couch.
Eridan crossed his arms over his chest. “No problem,” he bit out with a smile that probably was as fake as his cheerful voice. “Master just isn’t home.”
“He told me to wait for him,” Javier said, watching him curiously.
“You have been waiting for an hour. Don’t you have anything better to do with your time than wait for your employer to fuck you?”
Javier cocked his head to the side, his shoulders relaxing. “Ah. I see now.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Javier gave a shrug. “You are not the first apprentice who has gotten a little possessive and insecure over their Master. It happens.”
Eridan scowled. “I’m not possessive. And why would I be insecure? I know my place. I am my Master’s first and only apprentice. You’re hardly the first servant he has ever had.”
The look Javier gave him was pitying.
Eridan flushed, deeply uncomfortable. Don’t say that, he pleaded mentally. If they didn’t talk about it, it wasn’t real.
“You’re lucky I like you, Eridan,” Javier said after a moment. “You should be more careful. Others wouldn’t be as understanding.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Eridan said.
Javier shook his head with a sad smile. “Have I told you about Kyran?”
“No,” Eridan said, confused and relieved by the change of subject.
“He got transferred to the servicing department just a few months before you started your apprenticeship under your Master,” Javier said. “He was an apprentice before.”
“What?”
“The scandal was hushed up, so I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of it.” Javier winced. “Kyran was discovered in an intimate situation with his Master. The fallout wasn’t pretty. Although Kyran said it was consensual, Master Blaine was demoted to Master Acolyte and forbidden from any contact with him.”
Eridan wrinkled his forehead. He had obviously known that any fraternization between a Master and their apprentice was very frowned upon, but he hadn’t realized the consequences would be that bad. “That seems a little harsh if it was consensual. Just because of their age difference? Why is it such a big deal when Calluvians can live up to two hundred years?”