“Holy shit! How many pets have you had?” Ethan cried out as he looked in the trunk. Marcus looked in as well and winced. It was filled with collars of all types. “And what happened to them all?”
Rafe glared at Ethan. “Calm yourself, my little piranha. I haven’t killed off any pets…yet. In truth, I haven’t had what you’d call a real pet.”
“My twin likes the idea of a pet, but doesn’t like the responsibility of caring for one,” Bel teased. “But he does like dressing humans up in collars.”
“And little else,” Rafe added as he dug through the collars. He picked up a leather one with long, metal spikes and held it up to Ethan. He made a face and dropped it back in the pile before picking up a pink one with a gold tag dangling from it.
“I’m not allowing Ethan to wear something that’s already been worn by one of your many sexual partners,” Marcus snarled.
Rafe looked up at his older brother with an expression of false surprise. “But they’ve all been washed.”
Several of them snickered, including Ethan, who was also digging through the trunk with Rafe. Something about Ethan’s enthusiasm and curiosity was sending the most inappropriate tingling through Marcus’s body. He didn’t view Ethan as a possession, but the idea of Ethan wearing a collar that marked him as Marcus’s property held a dark thrill. All the world would know that Ethan belonged completely to Marcus.
Ethan picked up a collar that sparkled brightly in the light, studded with what looked to be rhinestones and fake gems. Of course, they could all be real gems. Rafe had the wealth for it and really was that careless with valuables. Ethan held it to his neck and grinned up at Marcus as if he knew exactly how he was tempting him.
“If we are going to continue with this farce, then I will order a collar for Ethan myself. Something that is just for him.”
Rafe looked up at him as if he’d lost his mind. “It takes time to find a good collar, and you don’t want to just buy one off the rack.”
Ethan gasped and pressed his hand to his chest. “Do I really mean so little to you that you’d buy off the rack for me?”
Winter laughed and Bel made a noise but tried to muffle it by covering his mouth with his hand.
Marcus just sighed. “You’d rather wear one of Rafe’s sex-soaked collars worn by someone that he doesn’t even remember than a brand new one because it’s off the rack?”
“Maybe. These I’m sure were chosen with love and care.”
“And all were special orders,” Rafe added.
“Unlike his partners,” Marcus grumbled, which only made both Rafe and Ethan cackle.
“Fine. Fine,” Rafe finally said. “You want something new and never worn.” Rafe leaned over the trunk and dug down to the very bottom. He pulled out a small box and handed it over to Ethan. “I purchased that a long time ago and was saving it for my own pet, but you can have it.”
Marcus moved closer to Ethan as he lifted the lid. Inside was a collar made of what looked to be incredibly soft leather. Square sapphires ran through the center along the entire length and were in shining gold casings. There was a solid iron ring near the closure that would serve for a leash and a second smaller ring at the front. From it hung a gold pendant with an elegant V stamped into it. For a collar, it was exquisite.
“Are you sure?” Ethan asked softly, even as one finger strayed across the collar in a light caress. “It’s so beautiful.”
Rafe shrugged carelessly. “My lovely Bel is right. I’m more enamored with the idea of having a pet than actually possessing one. Too much work. I’d rather just buy pretty things for people who pretend for a short time to be my pet.”
“Thank you, Rafe. It is very beautiful,” Marcus said, but Rafe was quick to wave off his comments. It stuck with Marcus that Rafe wouldn’t meet his gaze. His motions as he placed all the other collars back and closed the trunk seemed rushed and a little nervous. He had a feeling that there was more to Rafe’s lack of a pet than just being resistant to caring for someone. It seemed a little hard to believe, but he wondered if Rafe was really looking for something closer to what Marcus had managed to find with Ethan.
They continued to talk for another hour, speculating on which of the factions could have been behind the attack on Marcus’s town house as well as the deaths of Percival and Armand. They even wondered if someone on the Ministry could have orchestrated the attacks to secure their own power in the Ministry. But they could come up with no definitive answers until they had more concrete information.