Born to Please [Pleasure Vessels 1] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (14 page)

“I don’t know. I feel a little queasy.” He also looked a little pale, but Alec didn’t say so. “This reminds me too much of the punishment and pain-training rooms.”

“I’m not into the whips-and-chains stuff. Why would they make you train for it?” Alec asked, trying to keep his mind off of his fear.

Payne tapped his fingers nervously on his pants leg. “A lot of owners don’t like to admit their true tastes. We’re trained for all situations. That’s why.” His color really wasn’t getting any better.

Alec reached out and grabbed his arm. “Hey, stop for a minute and look at me.”

Payne stopped and turned to face him. “What?”

“Take a deep breath. If this is too much, I can send you back to wait in the lobby,” Alec offered. He would cushion his lover as best he could. This place had obviously inflicted some trauma on him.

Payne shook his head. “I’m all right. I’m just thinking too hard about what happened and not about what I have to do. I’ll refocus. I’m sorry to make you worry.”

Alec rubbed Payne’s arm in comfort. “None of that. It’s all right to be scared. I’m pretty freaked by this place as well. It’s not natural, and the horrors that have gone on here are enough to give anyone nightmares. No one is blaming you for being unnerved.”

“Thanks, Alec,” Payne said. He sighed and leaned into Alec, snuggling close. Alec immediately wrapped his arms around Payne’s shoulders. “You know, the newness will wear off.”

Alec blinked. “What?”

“The newness, the infatuation. What happens when you wake up one day and don’t want me to be a partner anymore?” The vulnerability in the question struck Alec.

“Look, I’m thinking of this as an arranged marriage of sorts. Happily enough, it’s turned into something that is ten kinds of rare. You care for me, and I care for you. There isn’t going to come a point when I shrug you off like an old coat.”

“But what if I fall out of love with you?” Payne asked, clearly pushing. Alec’s heart constricted at the thought.
Damn. It shouldn’t hurt so much to think of him walking away
.

He swallowed. “Then I guess you’d leave me.”

“You’d let me? Just like that?”

“Just like that. I don’t want you unwilling, Payne. I thought I made that clear.” As much as it would kill him to do so, he would walk away and give Payne the tools he needed to make it on his own.

Payne hugged him tightly. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.”

Haven’t I said it over and over, sweetheart? When are you going to believe me
? “You ready to go on?”

Payne nodded. “Let’s do it.”

* * * *

Payne pointed out the procedures that had been performed on him with a rioting stomach. He really, really wanted out of the lab, but if this helped Mr. Kane get whoever had killed the Vessels, he was going to put up with the discomfort.

He pointed to a procedure in the book Mr. Kane had put in front of him. “This one was done on my sister when she slapped her education specialist when she was eight. She couldn’t form complete sentences for a week.”

Mr. Kane let out a string of angry curses. “Animals,” he snarled under his breath. He scribbled something on the massive ledger he was keeping records on.

They were only a quarter of the way through the book, and Payne was already exhausted. All the procedures were summarized in this book in neat little paragraphs that failed to convey the true extent of the pain they caused. Even the little “side effects” warnings were mild in comparison to the reality.

A familiar voice rumbled from the doorway. “What are you all doing in here?”

Payne looked up in time to see the security team they’d come in with step in between Trainer J and the rest of the lab.

“Jack?” Mr. Kane asked, his brow furrowing. “How is this possible? Jack Raines?”

“David Kane,” Trainer J said, his mouth dipping down into a frown. “I didn’t expect you to be involved in this.”

“Involved in what exactly?” Mr. Kane asked. “I’ve taken over the lab to find out what they’ve done to the place.” He paused. “How did you get here? The last time I saw you, you were just a kit in Brazil.”

“Father?” Alec asked from his place a couple of computers over. “What is going on?”

Mr. Kane waved the security guys off. “This is one of the shifters from the clan I told you about. He was the son of the chieftain there.”

“Father went to be with the all-mother a few years ago,” Trainer J, who was apparently named Jack, said.

“I’m sorry to hear that. But what are you doing here? And why are you dressed as a Trainer?” Mr. Kane asked.

“So you didn’t know about this?” Jack asked. His eyes went to Payne, and they softened. It was a look Payne had never seen before. “Hi, Payne. Is your match working out?”

Payne nodded, unnerved. “Yes, sir. My owner is the epitome of kindness. I love him very much already.”

Relief washed over Trainer J’s expression. “Thank God. I was afraid he’d bring you back for a personality alignment and I wouldn’t be there to intercept.”

“Jack, what is going on?” Mr. Kane demanded, interrupting their very confusing conversation.

Jack considered them for a moment before he spoke. “You swear you had nothing to do with the things they did here?”

“I swear, Jack. I would never hurt a Vessel. You know that. I’m trying to figure out who did and plan to bring them up on charges,” Mr. Kane promised.

Jack snorted. “They should be taken out and murdered like the butchers they are,” he muttered under his breath just loud enough for Payne to hear. Louder he said, “A few years ago a group of Vessels escaped the Facility and made their way down to our tribes in South America. My father was outraged at how they’d been treated. When you came with your scientists when I was young, you promised that what you intended to create was a way for human beings to enjoy the same sort of fated mating bonds that we had. It was why father agreed to begin with. For a thousand years, humans had lost their ability to connect, but through a mate bond we hoped that your race would heal. The only thing we asked was that you not allow them to shift as we do because it is a gift that must be trained and guided through another shifter.”

Mr. Kane nodded. “And that is what I did. My wife is a Vessel, and she is the mother of my children. Our mate bond is solid as rock, and none of the Vessels I’ve made can shift.”

Jack shook his head. “You’re wrong on both accounts.”

Shock jolted Payne’s spine. He’d always known he was part-shifter due to the manual he’d had to read growing up on his own biology. However, the ability to change shapes had been disabled. “I can’t.”

“No, you can’t. It hasn’t awakened in you, and it might never awaken in you. But there have been Vessels in the past whose bodies somehow retained the ability. Those are some of the bodies that they’re pulling out of the river. Failed suppression techniques ended in death in ninety percent of the cases studied. The rest are those who didn’t measure up to protocol. I’ve been working for years running an underground railroad for those who failed to live up to Facility standards. We infiltrated your company to set it up. It was my father’s wish that we did so.”

Mr. Kane looked floored. “Why didn’t you come to me? I would’ve stopped it.”

“We had no way to know if you were involved, and we couldn’t risk tipping you off that we were secretly working to export the Vessels from your labs.” He sighed. “We’ve got a colony of over two-hundred Vessels now to think of, and it keeps growing.” He motioned to the labs. “This place is a butcher shop. We’ve shielded the Vessels under our care as best we could, but there was only so much we could do.”

“But some pairings work out,” Alec said. “Not every Vessel who is matched is miserable.”

“Of course not,” Jack said. “When the mate bond is present, it works out fine. It serves the original purpose for which we allowed Mr. Kane to use our DNA to begin with. However, the people here have been manipulating it for years. Ninety-three percent of those Vessels placed aren’t compatible with their owners. When we were ordered from the Facility I knew something was going to be done. I came back to get what Vessels I could out.”

Payne pushed himself to his feet, anger firing in his chest. He pointed a finger at Alec and his father. “How could you have not known about this?” He was furious and had no one but them to direct his anger toward. “All this suffering and you never even suspected?”

“Payne, I told you, I just work the marketing side. We have safeguards in place—”

“Safeguards that only work if the people following them adhere to them! You were so worried about advertising about the luxury and making money that you failed to take in the most basic of concerns for the people whose
lives
you were toying with!” He wanted to hit something, hard. He wanted to burn the entire building to the ground and wash away the horror of his childhood. It hadn’t been as bad as others, but it had been bad enough. The constant fear and the worry over whether he’d be good enough had eaten him alive until the day Alec walked into the room.

“I’m sorry,” Alec whispered, shame and pity coloring his expression. “I’m sorry you suffered. I’ll do whatever I can to fix the problem, but I can’t undo what has already been done.”

Payne knew that logically. He also knew that there was no relationship as satisfying as the one between Vessel and owner if the system worked properly. It just hurt to realize that the people supposed to be watching their backs had failed so utterly.

“I want names,” Mr. Kane rumbled. “Jack, if you give me the names of the people and your investigative notes, I will have them brought up on so many charges that by the time they get out of cryo-prison they won’t recognize the world.”

“And the Vessels who have escaped?” Jack asked.

“I have an idea where they’re concerned,” Payne said, speaking up. He ignored the hand Alec offered to him. He was still too pissed off for that. “Alec and I were discussing it earlier, but maybe this idea will work out to the benefit of all of us. We’re thinking of reworking the Facility as more of a matchmaking service. If Vessels don’t want to become Vessels, they can move to a place set aside for them, like the one you have in South America. It might cut into your profit margins.” He spat that bit. “But it will alleviate all humanitarian concerns once the new measures for education are implemented.”

“You’re going to have a Vessel consult on the reorganization?” Jack asked.

“Yes. Payne is going to be the consultant on the project,” Mr. Kane said, looking at Payne with an expression of pride written across his face. “He makes a fine in-law, doesn’t he, Jack?”

Jack nodded. “You’re lucky to have him. Payne is one of my brightest. I was going get him out if you opted for a personality alignment.”

“You were planning on doing that anyway. You encouraged me to opt for it,” Alec said, looking displeased by the idea.

“Payne never wanted to be someone’s pet. I was afraid you’d try to make him be.”

“Well, I don’t want him as a pet.” Alec shot Payne a look that he couldn’t place and turned the screen of the computer toward them. “I found the files that outline which Vessels these procedures were done to.”

“Good,” Mr. Kane said. “Jack, would you like to come with me so we can discuss what else needs to be done with this? I’ll have my security team summon the police, and then you can give a statement.”

“I’ll be happy to. I have some additional demands that come from my council to add to your list of proposed changes.” Jack extracted a small data chip from his pocket. “Most of what you need is here.”

“Excellent. Alec, why don’t you take Payne to see his sister? I’m sure he needs to relax a bit. We’ll need to do a press conference later,” Mr. Kane said, beckoning Jack to follow him. They and half the security team left. The PIs Mr. Kane had brought in were still going through computers and lab reports, though.

“I know the way if you get me to the lobby. You don’t have to walk me,” Payne said. He felt raw on the inside. He just wanted his twin.

“I know I don’t have to, but I want to. Payne, are you angry with me?” Alec asked, following him out into the hallway.

“Yes. I’m furious. It’s not your fault, but I’m so angry at life. I just need someone to direct this toward, and you’re a convenient target,” Payne said apologetically. He took a deep breath in an effort to calm the rage.

He let himself be pulled into Alec’s strong arms, and he rested his head against the firm swell of his lover’s chest. Alec’s touch steadied him. They were bonded, imprinted, joined. It meant something. “I love you. Even angry, I love you.”

“That’s all right, sweetheart. I love you, too,” Alec murmured, rocking them back and forth in a steady motion designed to comfort.

His words sank in slowly, and his heart skipped a beat. “You said you weren’t there yet.”

“There is no point in denying it. It seems sudden to me, but I do, Payne. You make me feel so much more than anyone I’ve ever met.” He gave him a squeeze. “And I’m so sorry you had to go through all this stuff to be mine. Truly. If I could undo everything, I would.”

“Thank you,” Payne whispered. “I really needed to hear that.” He drew back and gave Alec a kiss. “Can I go see my sister now?”