Iron Cross: The Dartmouth Cobras #6 by Bianca Sommerland Page A

speak to me.”
    Raif sounded worried. Tyler opened his eyes and shook his head. A cool sense of calm spread through his veins as he let himself feel the pain in his arms and the weight of Raif’s boots. “I’m all right.”
    “Are you? Tell me what you’re thinking.”
    Deeper and deeper. He wasn’t sure he could answer, because he let himself be the thing he’d been asked to be. His tongue felt thick in his mouth. “I don’t need to speak. I’m here. I’m a good footstool.”
    “You are.” Raif’s soft voice with his lulling accent, the weight of his boots leaving, then his hand on Tyler’s cheek. A water bottle against Tyler’s lips. And sweet, cool liquid filling his mouth. “A quality piece to be cherished.”
    Tyler didn’t see a cleaner dusting him off anymore. He could see Raif, rubbing him down with oil and using that voice to tell him how solid he was. How good and strong he was. Chicklet made him feel good and strong, but then Laura needed her. Laura needed her a lot.
    A footstool.
    “Tyler? Hey, you okay, man?”
    A foot— that was Luke. Luke couldn’t see him like this. Luke wouldn’t get it and he talked to Luke about everything, and the worst thing would be to have something he couldn’t talk to his best friend about.
    “I—”
    Raif cut Tyler off. His tone was hard. “Ramos, if you please?”
    “ Niño , not now.”
    That was Ramos. The team was here. What the fuck was he doing becoming a thing where people could see him and wonder what the fuck was wrong with him ?
    Luke let out an angry sound. “Sir, this isn’t—”
    “This is a scene you are not part of. Come.”
    Tyler turned his head a little and saw Luke moving away slowly. Then there was someone else.
    “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Zovko? This ain’t right.”
    Scott. Tyler’s two closest friends had seen him now. And they didn’t get it. Not that they should have to. Tyler was being punished because he’d fucked up, and they’d never fuck up like this. He didn’t want his friends worrying about him. But he wanted to show Raif he could do this.
    But he couldn’t do both.
    “Demyan, stay out of it.” Now it was Mason talking. The whole team seemed to be there. And Tyler wasn’t a sub in front of the whole team. He only did this around the ones who understood and they didn’t and how the fuck was he supposed to deal with that?
    “Not fucking happening, Mason. How about you do your fucking job?” Scott sounded like he wanted to hit someone. “Does he look like he’s okay? This asshole just gets to grab random subs because he got more points than the rest of us? Is that how we’re playing now?”
    Their voices faded. Raif pulled Tyler to his feet and standing felt wrong. He wasn’t ready to stand. To have to be real again.
    “Let us go see your Mistress. She will be impressed at how well you’ve done.”
    Words. Raif was saying shit, but they were only words. Chicklet was with Laura and she’d forgotten him. And Raif had just made him look pathetic in front of everyone.
    But Tyler had asked for it, so he’d be good. He lifted his head to meet Raif’s eyes. “I think I want to go home. ” All right, just kinda good. “And I think you need to stop fucking touching me.”
    Raif’s eyes hardened. His gaze dropped to the front of Tyler’s boxers. “Do I? Because I think you needed exactly what I gave you. A little discipline, perhaps?”
    Okay, yeah, his dick was fucking rock hard. But it wasn’t because of Raif. Couldn’t be, no matter what his voice did to Tyler’s senses. No matter how much he’d wanted to please the asshole during those few minutes that had seemed so perfect. He was hard because…well, because the punishment almost hadn’t been one. He’d accepted that he was a sub a couple years back, and the weird-ass scene had triggered that part of his brain.
    Which he’d shut down now, thank you very fucking much. And he wouldn’t make the mistake of interrupting