Chapter 8: 7. PLEASURE

Archangel St. Michael, Cozza, 1650

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Monday morning, Isaac woke up with an entirely sore body, an aching head, and found that the person he'd spent his night with was already gone. When he walked to the bathroom to examine his body in the mirror, he counted at least four noticeable marks from the previous night: two on either side of his neck, one on his chest, and one on his inner thigh.

Damn bastard. He not only left me to pay for this room on my own, but he also left me a bruised mess?

Before he could finish cursing the other boy, he found on his nightstand a note written in small, neat writing.

Turns out I had enough money left on my card to pay for the room. You owe me one.

♡ Josiah

He scoffed at the little heart he used to sign his name. What could the virtually flawless Josiah Beckett possibly want from Isaac? He should've just taken his fifty pounds, at least then he'd get something of use. He read further down.

Also, my night could've turned much darker had I not run into you. So, uh, thanks for keeping me company, I guess.

Hell, he was the one who told Josiah to stop thinking in the moment, but he now realized the severity of the aftermath. He let the guy he hated most hold, caress and taste every part of him because he was weak and tempted by the idea of mind numbing pleasure.

How were the two expected to act around each other from this point on?

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✦ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"Isaac, you're back! How was your visit?" Ash asked with strong curiosity in his eyes. "Care to tell me about this person you needed to see so badly?'

"It's no one of importance, Ash." Isaac hesitated when he realized the reality of his own statement: William was no longer a part of his life. Surprisingly, it hurt much less than it did the first night. "If the teachers ask where I am, can you tell them I won't be at class until around noon? Just tell them I'm feeling sick or whatever, it doesn't matter. I don't feel like going." He was also hungover.

"I guess I can. Is something wrong?"

"Just your usual migraine."

"Must've been a terrible ride then, huh?"

"Yes, it was very long and quite hard indeed," he sneered. Ash may have been referring to the train ride, but he wasn't. "It had me screaming."

Despite his blatantly suggestive tone, he didn't bother to tell Ash the truth. He deemed it wise to not reveal that he got wasted to the kid who threatened to throw him into a river if he did.

Ash scrunched his face, considerably less sympathetic than before. "If you're in a lot of pain, you should probably just rest for the day."

"Trust me, I would if I could. But I think if I miss another full day without a valid excuse they'll take away my off-campus privileges for sure. If there's one thing I don't need, it's to feel more imprisoned than I do already."

"If you insist, Isaac. See you later then?"

"Yeah, see you."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✦ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Isaac regretted leaving his room the minute he arrived at class.

Turns out, he forgot that midday was when physical education began. By the time he found himself being miserably sorted into a football team, it was too late to escape. To add onto his misfortune, he also forgot that Josiah was in many of his classes, gym included. As expected, Josiah paid him no attention, and Isaac returned the favor. Since they were separated into different teams, they had no need to physically interact. Yet when the game began, Isaac reluctantly found himself in a similar situation as his first day at Eton, eyes hopelessly enthralled by Josiah's elegance and grace on the field. But that's all there was to it obviously, Isaac merely found his intricate movements fascinating, not the subject himself. He was simply captivated by the astounding agility of the long, slender limbs that had once been wrapped around him so tightly.

Isaac tried his best to control his gaze, ensuring the other boy was too busy in his sport to notice when he couldn't help himself. Rather than participating in the game of football, he absentmindedly played a game titled "How many indirect glances can he give the surprisingly passionate prefect without him realizing?"

Despite his careful calculations, there was one odd moment in which their gazes corresponded. Isaac was sitting on the bleachers watching the game when Josiah managed to score the winning goal for his team. Naturally, Isaac's attention was drawn to the star player—as was everyone else's—but what was weird was when directly after his goal, Josiah's first instinct was to look back at him. The hangover must've gotten to Isaac's head, but from the smirk on Josiah's face he felt as if he knew his eyes were on him the entire time, and enjoyed every second of it. It was that moment their eyes met briefly, before Josiah's attention darted back to his cheering teammates as if nothing happened.

After the game, Isaac found himself in an even worse situation in the locker room when he was changing back into his uniform.

"Bloody hell Isaac! I didn't know you were a masochist."

Goddamn, he thought. He also forgot that Josiah had bruised him like an overripe peach.

"I wouldn't necessarily say a masochist as in I'm into chains and whips and whatnot," Isaac laughed, "I guess I just prefer...more energetic lovers? It's more fun that way."

Isaac spied Josiah in the corner of his eye, and grew irritated when he remembered the smug look he gave him from the football field.

"Last night, I told the person I was with to be very rough with me, so I might look a bit damaged."

Josiah visibly flinched at his words, and Isaac made sure to subtly direct his gaze once more towards him.

"He tried to be dominant but honestly, I think I've had much better experiences."

At this, the other boys in the locker room laughed.

"Jeez Isaac, you're tough to please aren't you?"

"I'm serious! You should've seen me after I met up with this one—"

"You know, Harley," Josiah interrupted. He threw his gym shirt to the side. "Intercourse is a two way street. Have you ever considered that your lover for the night wasn't turned on enough to obey your every command? Or are you too ignorant and selfish to think about the pleasure of other people?"

The explicit attitude surprised Isaac. Intrigued, he wanted to see how far he could push Josiah before he broke. "Personally, I think he was enjoying it quite a bit. In fact, he enjoyed it so much he insisted we go at it the entire night—even joined me in the shower afterwards. Not that it's any of your business, but I'm sure I'm very good at satisfying others."

"That's not up for you to decide now, is it? I think for you to know this you would need to ask your one time lover."

Isaac gathered what was left of his uniform. "I'm just basing my judgement off of his rather loud and admittedly sexy moans. That and the fact that he fucked me in every position and every place imaginable. If that's not proof of his intense pleasure, then I don't know what else is, Beckett."

"Now if you'll excuse me, unless you enjoy verbally attacking me while we're both half naked, I need to finish getting dressed."

The prefect grimaced.

The other boys around him stared and gaped. Isaac didn't intend for their conversation to get so heated and detailed, he just wanted to piss Josiah off in return for his unexpected glance.

Great, now everyone knows too much about my sex life.

"You know, those details were rather specific," an irrelevant boy told him after Josiah left, "I think you enjoyed it a lot, no?"

"Buzz off, Adam." he replied before heading towards biology.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✦ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"Class, you'll be excited to hear about the annual end of the year excursion we send you guys on for our final project!" Professor Taylor exclaimed. "You'll be camping up in the woods for three days. We tried to pick a place where there's plenty of wildlife and plant-life. The project is heavily centered around botany, so we made sure to pick a beautiful lodging place for you guys this year."

Students cheered at this, because if there was one thing everyone could agree on, it was an excuse to leave Eton being an excuse to celebrate.

"And we figured that since you guys are almost in your final year, you're probably mature enough to pick who you lodge with. Are we correct to assume this? Or will we regret it?"

Everyone nodded their heads eagerly, already making plans with other people through sheer eye contact, and probably telepathy as well. Isaac made his plans with Asher, his closest and pretty much only friend at Eton, with a simple side glance.

"With that, we have finished our lesson for today. Class dismissed"

Isaac got up from his seat excitedly. He had never been more ready to begin a class project in his entire life.

"Except you, Mr. Harley, I need you to stay to discuss your specific trip rules."

"Um, okay."

They waited awkwardly until the room was empty. "The headmaster has notified me that you have a stricter set of expectations to follow given your past offenses."

"Oh." Isaac's stomach dropped when he heard those cursed words. "Like what?"

"To begin, you have a curfew at the twentieth hour, one hour earlier than the rest of your class."

Isaac gave a weak smile, "I understand."

"And to make up for the several punishments you've avoided, you are to help with the kitchen and cleaning staff."

"I see. Is that all?"

"Yes, I think."

"Okay. I'll be going now. Thank you for telling me, professor."

"Hang on! My apologies Isaac, it seems I've forgotten one."

Isaac stopped in his tracks to listen.

"Because you require extra monitoring, you will room with a prefect rather than someone of your choosing."

"...Who will that be?" He already had an idea, but he dreaded the answer.

"If I can recall correctly from my meeting with the headmaster this morning, we decided on Josiah Beckett."

"I don't know what would make you think that's a good idea."

"I myself was...surprised when the...headmaster told me he's a good influence." There was something bitter in his last words, almost—sarcastic, though it was quickly hidden. He chewed on the end of his pencil and thought carefully.

"Say, Isaac...is there something going on...something that I should know about?"

Fuck, did he know?

"I-I don't understand, sir," he stuttered, "what are you referring to?"

He paused and readjusted the glasses on his face.

Why does it look like he's struggling to speak?

"Never mind. You're free to go."

"Yeah..." he muttered before making a beeline for the exit. Odd.

He'd been looking forward to this excursion just five minutes ago, now he just wanted to ditch it. He hated Eton and its ridiculous headmaster who felt it necessary to treat him like a toddler. He considered himself filled with both anger and frustration.

But despite his excuses for the unexplainable feelings within him, Isaac knew deep down he wasn't filled with rage. He knew he deserved it all. The strange feeling he'd never felt before was genuine fear, fear he didn't even feel when confessing to William. He was scared of sharing a room with Josiah, because the chances of them being alone together were nearly a hundred percent. He was scared of how they would interact once more in the dark, shut off together from the rest of the world. But what he feared most of all was the excitement he felt throughout his body at the thought. He knew what he desired to experience again, and he was utterly terrified.

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