With a grim smile of satisfaction, the man who looked like Tommy turned on his heel and left the room.
When Dakar exited the elevator, Arturo was waiting for him in the lobby.
“What now, my liege?”
“You will await my orders. I will contact you when I am ready to move against the vampires.” Arturo nodded, then followed Dakar as he strode through the lobby and out into the parking lot. As the demon sat astride Tommy’s bike he smiled at his minion. “Never would I have thought this could be so easily done. The gods of the Underworld must have sent this vessel to us.”
“A very pleasing vessel, my liege,” Arturo said, smiling and licking his lips.
“Yes, one that should have no problem getting what he wants in life, although…” His brow puckered in a small frown, “I sense a naivety in his persona that I must remember to affect if I’m not to raise too many questions from his friends, especially his vampire lover.”
He chuckled. “That should be an interesting coupling.” He revved up the bike’s engine.
“Goodnight, Arturo. I’ll be in touch.”
Arturo watched him speed away, a scowl replacing his smile. Dakar’s mention of
”coupling” with the vampire had not pleased him. Arturo, a sub-demon, knew he was www.total-e-bound.com
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considered unworthy of anything more than assisting Dakar in the task set him by Lord Kardis, but that did not stop him from wanting more.
As foolish as he knew his longing to be, Dakar remained foremost in his desires. Just the thought of having the handsome demon in his embrace, in his
life
, was enough to inflame Arturo’s blood with passion so intense and dizzying, his vision blurred and his cock grew hard as steel pressing against the denim fly of his jeans to an almost painful degree. Dakar should be his, not some cursed vampire’s! If Lord Kardis knew of Dakar’s wish to have sex with a vampire, he would be furious. Such unions were forbidden, although the scent of a vampire was known to act as an aphrodisiac, even on demonkind.
But Arturo would not, could not, betray Dakar. Occasionally his liege allowed him some intimacy, always brief and always one-sided, but it gave Arturo hope that Dakar would look on him with more affection, and perhaps one day, even with love.
When Dakar entered the restaurant, the vampire, Andrew, was sitting at the bar talking with the manager. Another mortal.
How interesting
… Ron.
“Hey, Tommy.” Ron gave him a wave.
The man they knew as Tommy returned Ron’s smile and ambled over to the bar. He gave Andrew’s cheek a peck and sat on the stool next to him.
“What’ll it be?” Ron placed a bar napkin in front of him.
“The usual.”
“Comin’ up.”
“How was your friend’s sister?” Andrew asked.
“She’s good. We hadn’t seen each other in a while so there was quite a bit of catching up to do.”
“Am I keeping you from your friends, Tommy?”
“No, of course not.” He leaned over to kiss Andrew on the lips. “There’s no one I’d rather spend time with, you know that.”
Andrew started back in surprise.
“What’s wrong?”
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“You are usually shy about showing such affection in public.” Andrew’s smile was teasing. “And you’ve just kissed me twice. Have you already had something to drink?”
“Just a beer earlier.” Dakar filed away that piece of information then picked up the glass Ron had set in front of him. “Cheers.” He took a long sip and grimaced.
“Something wrong?” Ron was frowning at him. “It’s your usual brew.”
“No, no…it’s fine.” He took a longer sip and put the glass down.
Gods, but this stuff is vile. Would it seem too strange if I asked for a glass of wine instead?
“Well, you will insist on drinking it, even though you’ve been invited to join the wine club,” Ron said.
“Yeah, well maybe I’ll give it a try.”
Both Andrew and Ron chuckled at his remark. “Have you forgotten? You have already given it a try.” Andrew squeezed Tommy’s shoulder. “And you told us there was no way you’d give up your beer for it.”
“Right…”
I’ll have to be more careful of the little things
. He was aware that Andrew was watching him, a speculative expression on his face.
“Are you all right, Tommy?”
“Yeah, never better.”
Something is wrong
.
Andrew knew instinctively that Tommy was not himself. They teased each other about Andrew’s mind-reading ability, but he never took advantage of that ability, only using it if he felt Tommy was out of sorts, or when they were making love and he could playfully banter with his lover’s lustful thoughts.
This was different. He had gently probed Tommy’s mind and found a barrier there that had never existed before. As if he was deliberately blocking his thoughts from Andrew—but why?
Is he still upset about the conversation I had with Marcus?
“Is Jean-Claude in the back office?” Andrew asked Ron, knowing exactly where his fellow vampire was.
“Yeah, he’s double checking my figures before I make the night’s deposit. You need him?”
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“Just a word before we go home.” He picked up his wine glass and slid off the stool.
“Be right back,” he told Tommy, who smiled and nodded.
As Andrew walked into the small hall separating the restaurant he heard Ron ask Tommy, “You okay?” and he paused to hear the mumbled reply of, “Yeah, fine…” before knocking gently on the office door and slipping inside.
“Jean-Claude, I need your help.”
“Of course.” The slim, fine-featured vampire rose from the desk. “What is it, Andrew?”
“I’m not sure, but I grant you permission to try and read Tommy’s mind.”
“What—but why?”
“Because something is not right with him, and when I tried a mental pulse it was immediately blocked—almost as though he had suddenly become resistant to my searching his thoughts. Not something I ever do for idle enjoyment. I respect his privacy, but something is definitely wrong with him tonight. You can do it from here if you like.”
He watched with apprehension as Jean-Claude concentrated for a moment or two, hoping he was mistaken, but then Jean-Claude shook his head.
“I cannot,” he murmured. “You are right. He is deliberately blocking all our thoughts, and he is very strong, very determined that nothing breaches his mind.”
“What can it mean?”
“Where was he earlier?”
“Visiting a friend. Lorna, the sister of a fellow firefighter, Alex…”
“Nothing very sinister about that.”
“No, but he has not been the same since he returned.”
“I’ll come out to say hello. Perhaps I can determine something more if I am face to face with him.”
Andrew nodded. “Good idea. I know you will agree that something is troubling him.”
Dakar shifted uncomfortably on the stool. He had made a mistake by blocking his thoughts from the vampire. In doing so, he had caused him to be suspicious and it was too soon to alienate him. He needed to get to know these vampires better, discover their strengths and vulnerability, particularly Andrew’s. He could not afford to lose Andrew’s trust before he had formulated a plan—and before he had succeeded in taking the vampire for his own needs.
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Concentrating, he pushed his darker thoughts to the back of his mind. When Andrew, accompanied by Jean-Claude, came back into the restaurant he gave them both a big smile.
“Talking about me were you?” he asked in a teasing tone. He felt the mental pulse as both vampires searched his mind.
“
Can’t wait to get you home and have you fuck me silly
…”
He almost laughed aloud as Andrew and Jean-Claude exchanged surprised glances.
Jean-Claude’s expression was one of embarrassment mixed with titillation.
“
Wanna join us Jean-Claude? You and Ron?
”
Andrew’s chuckle was a little forced. “Tommy!”
“Well, serves you right for readin’ my mind, guys.” He was letting Tommy’s persona take over and it seemed to be working well.
“Glad to see you’re more like your old self,” Ron remarked with a grin.
“Oh, I was just kinda depressed. Lorna’s got herself tied up with some weirdos. They’re into tarot reading and séances and the like. I couldn’t wait to leave, to be honest.”
“Does she know what she’s doing?” Jean-Claude asked. “Séances can sometimes be dangerous.”
Pleased that he seemed to have averted any more mind probes, Dakar said, “She says she does, but I don’t believe in that stuff anyway. Do you?”
“Absolutely.” Jean-Claude raised an eyebrow. “You, who knows what we are, does not believe in the supernatural?” he added, lowering his voice so that the few remaining diners could not hear their conversation.
“Well, yeah… I believe in you guys, of course. Seein’ is believin’ as they say.”
“Séances can be quite remarkable,” Andrew said, “depending on the strength of the medium, of course, and their ability to control the situation. But amateurs can sometimes get more than they bargained for.”
Isn’t that the truth
…? Dakar controlled the smirk that almost flitted over his face, and pushed the thought away, just in case…
“Well, what say you and I head home, Andrew?” He slipped off the stool and put an arm around Andrew’s waist. “My chariot awaits.”
“And now that you’ve informed Jean-Claude of your intentions when you get me home, I see no reason to hesitate,” Andrew said, chuckling.
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“Yes, well…” Was it possible for a vampire to blush? If not, Jean-Claude was doing a fair imitation of it. “Goodnight, and uh…sweet dreams as they say.”
“They’ll be sweet all right.” Turning on Tommy’s mega-watt smile, Dakar guided Andrew towards the door.
“G’night guys,” Ron called as he made his way to the back office. “See ya!”
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Dakar studied Andrew as the handsome vampire strode across to the living room window and pulled the drapes closed.
He is beautiful, without a doubt
… He licked his lips as he took in the sleekly muscled body under the form-fitting white T-shirt and black jeans. The round fullness of Andrew’s butt made his mouth water with the anticipation of plundering that sweet ass, first with his tongue, then with his cock that now swelled inside Tommy’s chinos. He wondered what vampire blood tasted like, what it would do for him. He knew what he was intending was forbidden, but being with Andrew, breathing in his alluring scent made his blood seethe with a lust he had seldom experienced.
The blood lust. He had heard of it—heard that it could take over a vampire’s senses, drive him or her mad with desire. Dakar shivered at the thought, his need to taste Andrew, to own him, rendering him almost dizzy from the craving he felt building inside him.
Andrew turned to face him, a small smile touching his lips. “Are you going to tell me what’s troubling you?” he asked. “What can be so bad that you felt you had to hide your thoughts from me?”
Dakar returned Andrew’s smile with what he hoped was suitably sheepish while he searched Tommy’s thoughts for the answer. “Well, I hadn’t told you the real reason I was going to see Lorna—see, I wanted her to do a tarot reading for me, give me an idea of what the future held for me, and you…”
“Tommy, was this because of my confession earlier?” Andrew moved nearer and put his hands on his lover’s broad, muscular shoulders. “I don’t want you to worry about that again. We will find a way to make things work. Whatever you want, I will try to make it so.”
Quite the romantic fools, these two
…
Too bad there can be no future for either of them
.
But first, he would enjoy fucking the vampire.
He pulled Andrew into his arms. He cupped Andrew’s butt and ground their groins together, relishing the feel of Andrew’s hard cock against his own. Their bodies writhed in unison while their lips locked in an almost brutal kiss. Dakar fisted his hand in Andrew’s silky hair and tugged hard, forcing Andrew’s head back.
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Andrew gasped, a bemused smile on his handsome face. “So suddenly aggressive,” he murmured.
“Want you—want to fuck you…” The growl rumbled out, so unlike Tommy’s deep but gentle voice and, alarmed, Andrew wrenched himself completely out of their embrace.
“What is it, Tommy? What’s different about you?” Andrew’s steel-blue eyes searched the familiar face, grown suddenly hard and hostile. He probed Tommy’s mind, gently at first, then with more determination when he felt the resistance he’d experienced before. His body tensed in self-protection mode as his mind encountered a darkness he knew didn’t belong in Tommy’s mind. The man he knew as Tommy stared back at him, his green eyes holding a strange blue gleam Andrew had never seen before.
And then he knew. “
Demon
,” he whispered, trying hard not to show his distress.
“You are too clever, vampire,” Dakar said, his voice devoid of any real surprise or admiration. “You have the blood of the ancients in you. It has sharpened your senses, made you an interesting foe.”
“Have you killed Tommy?” Despite his determination not to show weakness in front of the demon, Andrew heard his voice crack with the emotion he felt building inside him.
Tommy dead—no it cannot be!
The demon chuckled. “So in love, are you, with the mortal? He still lives, but for how long depends on you.”
“What do you want?”
“I told you, I want you.”