“You didn’t even know he existed,” Minnow reminded him. “You can’t claim responsibility for things that happened before you knew him.”
“No matter how fucked up I get, I’d never hit on Church.” His feet found purchase on the branch below him again. “I’d never kiss him.”
Ohhh, fuck.
Rodrigo was almost to him, but Minnow couldn’t figure out what he was going to do other than fall with him. They needed to talk him down.
“Loïc kissed you, Mister Leduc?” she asked.
Rodrigo made a sound of disgust, but didn’t say anything.
“He knows people can’t touch me, so why would he think that was okay?” Severin shook his head. “I didn’t know he was so fucked up. I guess he was with Martine so long he doesn’t know right from wrong. He thought he’d be able to stay if he seduced me.”
Severin blew out a breath and shook his head, making the branch he was hanging onto creak alarmingly.
“You were right, you know,” he told Ro. “When you said he was drowning and he’d drag me under. I had to cut him loose, but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel like shit about it.”
Rodrigo was only a branch below him. “Come on. I’ll guide you down.”
“No.”
“Sev, it’s not safe up here.”
“So climb back down, you little cunt.” Severin’s lips drew back from his teeth, and this time it wasn’t even a pretend smile. “Do I look like I want help?”
“If I was drunk and up a tree, you’d help me down.”
“You would never do something this stupid. You wouldn’t have a brother who joins you for a swim then kisses you and grabs your dick. You have a real family full of people who are related to each other and don’t fucking fuck each other!”
“Only the being drunk in a tree part was within your control. If Fidel came onto me, I’d be worse than drunk and climbing trees.” Rodrigo shuddered.
“My whole family is fucked up.” Severin closed his eyes and swayed, and Minnow reached out as though she could catch him if he fell. “There’s something wrong with all of us right down to our fucking genes.”
“No, there’s not.” Rodrigo grunted with the effort to get one branch higher. “Martine was a fucking sicko, but that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. You and Loïc have to deal with what she did to you, but that’s not a problem with your genetics. That’s just the shit your brain has done to help you cope.”
Severin scowled and made a chopping gesture with his hand, almost losing his one-handed grip on the branch. “No children, Miss Korsgaard. Not from me.”
He was going to fall. He was going to die. She stood there watching helplessly, staring at him as if she could hold him up with her mind. Her breath came in short gasps and she was having trouble thinking past her vision of his head split open and his brains spilling out everywhere.
“Whatever you want, Sev. I’d be more than happy to impregnate her. Hell, you can hold her down for me.”
Minnow grinned up at him, trying to look flirtatious instead of blotchy and panicked. “You coming down to hold me down, Mister Leduc?”
“No kink! I’m hammered.” He jabbed a finger at her. “There are rules, Miss Korsgaard, but just remember, from now on I’m using condoms with you. Remind me when I’m sober.”
She bit her lip. “If you fall out of a tree, condoms will be the least of our concerns, Master.”
“And she’s on the pill,” Rodrigo reminded him.
“True. But when you start trying to impregnate her, I have to start using condoms.”
Rodrigo laughed. “Like you’ll be satisfied with that?”
“I’ll have to be, for the good of humanity. She has such a sweet little cunt, though,” Severin said, sighing. “Promise me, Miss Korsgaard.”
She forced a suggestive smile even though she could feel tears trying to start again. Every time there was a crisis, their relationship ended up on the chopping block. She couldn’t deal with that uncertainty today. It was hard loving someone who made it clear she was on thin ice, even if the situation wasn’t her fault.
“Come down and I’ll promise you anything you like, Master.”