Hallowed Bond (Chronicles of Ylandre Book 2) by Eresse Page B

him on the couch.
    “I paid Ithan a visit,” he said.
    Riodan caught his breath. “Saints above,” he whispered. “What-what did you do?”
    “I nearly strangled him,” Dylen readily admitted. “But I thought that was too easy an end so I thought of beating him to death instead.”
    “You didn’t…” Riodan half-bleated.
    Dylen shook his head. “I decided to give him a chance to explain his side.” At Riodan’s incredulous gasp, he put a soothing arm around his shoulders. “He admitted that he gave you a philter to make you more receptive to his overtures. When you asked him to stop he thought you were just stalling, that you were still too tense. And he didn’t expect you to pass out. The drug was supposed to make you amorous, not lose consciousness.”
    He held on to Riodan more tightly when the latter began to shake violently and tried to rise from the couch. “You have to hear this,” he insisted.
    “What?” Riodan said disbelievingly. “Listen to a detailed account of how he violated me? I can’t believe that you did!” His eyes beginning to tear, he averted them.
    “I almost didn’t,” Dylen said. “I was ready to tear his head off.” He lifted a hand and cupped Riodan’s chin, compelling the youth to look at him. “While he was preparing you, you began to weep and plead for help. And then you fainted.”
    “Which is when he raped me,” Riodan spat out bitterly. “When I couldn’t do anything to stop him.”
    “But he didn’t.”
    Riodan stared at him. “What?”
    “He didn’t go on, Rio,” Dylen said emphatically. “He couldn’t. Not when he heard you crying for help and saying how sorry you were. To me .” He paused to let the information sink in. “It struck him finally that he was forcing himself on you. That you really didn’t want to couple with him. And, that if he continued, it would make him a rapist.”
    “But I felt something… enter me—inside me—” Riodan stuttered. He took a deep breath. “How do you know he was telling the truth? He was probably just so afraid of you.”
    Dylen shook his head. “I have my ways. Trust me when I say he didn’t take you.
    And as for you feeling something… Well, he prepared you, didn’t he? I think that’s what you remember—his fingers stretching you.”
    “But it felt like more than that. Bigger.”
    “How would you know? You’ve never had anything up your arse before. One finger is intrusive enough; what more two or three?” Riodan considered this then slowly nodded in agreement. Dylen continued. “But you can confirm this for yourself. I didn’t ask you at the time because I assumed that he had raped you. Now I want you to think back. When you woke up, were you in pain? Was there any discomfort at all? Did anything leak out of you?” When Riodan’s eyes widened in obvious contrary recollection, Dylen smiled faintly. “The lack of seed aside, even if you had been willing, you still would have felt something—an ache or soreness. Anal penetration always leaves some discomfort, but especially after the first time.”
    Riodan gazed at Dylen. “I didn’t feel anything,” he whispered. “No pain, no discomfort. Not even the-the stretching. I was slippery from the oil he used but there was no—Nothing leaked from me.” Riodan gulped. “He did tell you the truth. He didn’t—I was not—” He heaved a shuddery breath. “Merciful Veres…”
    He turned and buried his face in Dylen’s shoulder as sobs wracked his body, the full import of his discovery hitting him with storm force. Dylen held him, rubbing his back soothingly. He did not notice how much time passed, and it was only when he felt his arm begin to cramp that Dylen loosened his hold on the younger Deir. By now Riodan’s sobs had subsided, and he seemed to be calming down at last. Dylen squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.
    “He didn’t rape you,” he reaffirmed. “Thank the Maker for that. But it doesn’t change the fact that he