BLOOD LUST
J.P. Bowie
57
“Okay…” Tommy looked at his vampire friends as they left the multiplex. “What d’you think?”
“Of the movie?” Roger quirked an eyebrow. “Not the worst I’ve ever seen.”
“I liked it,” Micah said, hiding a smile. “I really liked that scene where the elevator doors opened and that huge—”
“Not the movie!” Tommy yelled. “Jeez, for mind readers you’re really slow, you know?”
Roger and Micah laughed together and Roger punched Tommy on the arm. “Oh, sorry,” he said when Tommy winced. “Forget sometimes…”
“Yeah,” Tommy muttered, rubbing his biceps. “I know…vampire strength. So okay, you knew I wasn’t talkin’ about the movie. I repeat, what do you think we should do about this demon threat? I’m not going to back down about helping, guys. You better let Marcus know that, and when I tell Ron and the others, they’re going to be just as pig-headed as me about it.”
“
If
you tell them about it…” Roger gave him an exaggerated stare.
Tommy immediately closed his eyes, tight. “Oh no you don’t! You’re not gonna do any of that vampire voodoo on me!”
Micah chuckled. “How are you going to drive that big Harley of yours with your eyes closed?”
“Come on guys,” Tommy whined, not opening his eyes. “No fair!”
“If you knew how dumb you look right now.” Roger sighed loudly. “Everybody’s staring at you, Tommy. Give it up.”
“We won’t zap you,” Micah said.
“Promise?” Tommy opened one eye carefully.
“Promise, now come on…” Roger grabbed him by the arm “We’re going back to my place and Marcus will fill you in on what they’ve discussed.”
“I’ll ride with Tommy,” Micah said.
“Okay.” Roger grinned at them both. “Guess I’ll just have to fly home alone.”
www.total-e-bound.com
BLOOD LUST
J.P. Bowie
58
“See you later.” Tommy fell in step alongside Micah. “Sure you want to take the long way there?” he asked.
“I love motorbikes,” Micah told him, “and it’s not often I get the chance to ride one.”
“You wanna drive?”
“No, no, I’m happy riding pillion.”
Tommy handed Micah the passenger helmet from the top box then sat astride his black Harley. “I know you guys don’t really need one, but…”
Micah grinned. “I know. I don’t want to get you pulled over.” He settled himself behind Tommy and placed his hands on either side of Tommy’s waist. He hoped Tommy wouldn’t wonder why he was holding on. He had no need to out of safety, but for what he had to do, he needed the contact.
Fortunately, Tommy didn’t seem to notice, even yelling “Hold on!” as they cruised out of the parking garage. So Micah held on, inching closer so that his chest was pressed to Tommy’s back. He rested his chin between Tommy’s shoulder blades and initiated a subtle thought transference.
By the time they reached Marcus’ home up in the hills, Tommy had completely forgotten the reason for Andrew being there, but he did remember with a start that he’d promised Alex he and Andrew would be at the Blue Moon so Alex could finally meet Andrew.
“Shit,” he muttered, glancing at his watch. Almost ten. “Uh, Marcus, this is going to sound rude…” His host smiled at him while Andrew and the others waited for him to continue. “Uh, I kinda promised Alex—you know, the guy I work with at the station—that we’d meet him at the Blue Moon. He’s been buggin’ me forever about meeting Andrew and now if we don’t show he’s going to be royally pissed, so would you mind if we, uh… left?”
“Not at all,” Marcus said, gracious as ever.
“Hey, why don’t we all go?” This from Roger, and Tommy could see right away he had devilment in his eyes.
“Uh well,” Tommy muttered, hedging, “Alex is kinda shy. I don’t know, all of you at once…” He knew his excuse had sounded lame but hoped they wouldn’t see through the lie.
Alex was anything but shy!
www.total-e-bound.com
BLOOD LUST
J.P. Bowie
59
“Shy, eh?” Roger was laughing. “You’ll have to do better than that, Tommy.”
Damn
.
This is right up Roger’s alley. He’s gonna tease the hell out of Alex and he won’t have a
clue what’s happening—or will he?
The thought of Alex actually realising that Tommy’s boyfriend and the other guys there were vampires made his blood run cold and his face flush with heat.
“Roger…”
Marcus to the rescue, thank God
…
“I think for Tommy’s friend’s first meeting with Andrew it should be as low key as possible,” Marcus said in a tone firm enough to bring even Roger to heel. “Don’t you agree?”
“I suppose so.” Roger’s pout brought chuckles from the others. “Marcus, you really are a party-pooper at times.”
“Some would see it as diplomacy, Roger, and perhaps even tact.”
“
Whatever
…” Roger shrugged. “Well, have a good time, you two,” he said, “though it won’t be nearly as much fun without Micah and me there to supply the laughs.”
The Blue Moon was crowded when they arrived a little after ten-thirty. Tommy could see Alex through the press of people standing at the bar talking to two men. Tommy stiffened with shock when he recognised one of them.
“What’s wrong?” Andrew asked.
“That tall dark-haired guy talking to Alex… He was at Lorna’s the other night. Arturo or something. Yeah…he was like helping the old lady.” Tommy had to admit that his mind was fuzzy when it came to remembering just what had happened at Lorna’s, but Arturo he remembered very well. “He tried to put the make on me.”
“And the other?” Andrew was looking across the bar at the two men, a wary expression on his aquiline features. “Something about him doesn’t seem quite right.”
The man in question was also tall with long blond hair that hung about his shoulders.
He had a loud laugh and his gestures seemed exaggerated. From the look on Alex’s face Tommy could tell his friend wasn’t entirely enthralled by the blond man.
“Looks like Alex needs rescuing,” Tommy muttered, pushing his way through the crowd. But by the time he reached Alex the two men were gone.
“Hey, Tommy…” Alex beamed at him. “Thank fuck, I thought I was going to be stuck with those two all night.”
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BLOOD LUST
J.P. Bowie
60
Tommy gave Alex a quick hug. “Yeah, I saw you looking less than interested in whatever they were laying on you.”
“Bullshit mostly…” Alex’s eyes strayed over Tommy’s shoulder and fastened on Andrew. “Oh, now…
now
I know why you’ve been keeping him all to yourself. You lucky dog, you.” He thrust his hand past Tommy’s arm. “I’m Alex, and you have got to be Andrew!”
“I am very pleased to meet you,” Andrew said, taking Alex’s hand in his.
Tommy didn’t miss the slight shiver that coursed through Alex’s body when he made contact with Andrew’s cool flesh.
Never fails
, he thought, watching Alex fall under the spell of Andrew’s charisma.
“So, did the dark-haired guy tell you he was over at Lorna’s the other night?” Tommy asked sharply, dragging Alex’s attention away from Andrew with some difficulty.
“Huh? No, he didn’t mention that, but then why would he? We didn’t get around to exchanging family names.” Alex stared at Tommy. “He was there?”
“Did he at least tell you his name?”
“Yeah, Arthur or something.”
“
Arturo
. He’s not on the up and up, Alex. I hope you didn’t agree to meet him later…”
“Are you kidding? He hardly said a word. It was the other one did all the talkin’. Yak, yak, yak, and all about himself.”
“What is his name?” Andrew asked quietly.
“You know, that’s the one thing he didn’t tell me, and sorry, but I wasn’t interested enough to ask. The guy was built and good-looking and all, but getting past all that self-adulation would be way too much hard work.”
Tommy and Andrew exchanged glances and in that look Tommy knew Andrew was on the alert. Arturo’s nameless friend was not likely to be on their buddy list anytime soon.
Alex’s apartment was only two blocks from the Blue Moon, an easy walk. He’d done it hundreds of times. But tonight, the darkened streets appeared even darker, the streetlamps dimmer, and no matter how fast he walked, the distance to his apartment building never seemed to diminish.
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BLOOD LUST
J.P. Bowie
61
“Crazy,” he muttered to himself. “Must have had one too many beers. Now I’m imagining things.”
A few yards ahead two men waited, motionless, their body language, while not exactly threatening, still aggressive enough to put Alex on the defensive. They were blocking the narrow sidewalk, and it meant either Alex would have to step out onto the street to avoid the two men, or he would have to pass between them—something he didn’t like the idea of one bit. Still, he wasn’t about to back down.
Within a few feet of them he recognised them. The guys from the bar—the one who couldn’t shut up. What the hell did they want?
“What’s up, guys?” he asked, his voice steady and friendly enough.
“We wished to talk more with you,” the mouthy one said with a faint smile.
“Why’d you leave the bar then? Seemed to me you were in an awful hurry to get outta there.”
“Your companions were not to our liking.”
“You didn’t even meet them.” Alex eyed the men warily. “Anyway, it’s late and I have to work tomorrow, so if you don’t mind…” He stepped to the side to pass by, but the one called Arturo gripped his arm and swung him round to face the blond man.
“Hey!” Alex tried to wrench his arm free.
Jesus, this guy is strong
. Alex was no weakling.
His job as a firefighter and his daily workouts kept him in superb shape, but he couldn’t remember ever feeling quite so helpless as he now did in Arturo’s grasp. “What the hell do you guys think you’re doing?”
“I told you we wish to talk further with you. But I am being rude. I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Dakar.”
“
Lord
Dakar,” Arturo growled. “Kneel before your master.”
“What?” Alex almost laughed, but instead had to bite back a cry of pain as Arturo twisted his arm and forced him to his knees. Alex couldn’t believe how strong the man was.
He felt like a wimp—something he’d never experienced before. “What the fuck kind of asshole game are you two playing at? Is this some kind of kinky role-playing shit you’re into? ’Cause I’m not, so cut it out.”
Dakar chuckled. “This is no game, Alex. This is recruitment.”
“
What?
” Alex gaped up at him.
www.total-e-bound.com
BLOOD LUST
J.P. Bowie
62
“You will join the army I am creating in order to defeat the vampire hordes that infest this city.”
Alex stared at Dakar, his mouth slack with shock. “Are you nuts?” He gasped involuntarily. “Vampire hordes? Everyone knows there’s no such thing as a vampire, never mind a horde of ’em. What the hell’s the matter with you—with both of you?”
Alex’s mind raced with all kinds of scenarios. Okay, these two were totally insane, or this was some kind of reality TV moment when some guy would step out of the shadows and yell “Cut!”, or he was delirious and none of this was actually happening… But the cold, hard stone under his knees told him he wasn’t hallucinating and when he looked from one sneering expression to the other, a real fear clutched at Alex’s heart. These men, whatever they were, were dangerous—insanely dangerous—and he was in a shitload of trouble.
“Look around you,” Dakar was saying. “You walk on this street every night, do you not? You are wondering why it is strangely darker than usual, why it is empty of other humans who might come to your aid. That is because I will it so—because I rule the night just as I now rule your future thoughts and deeds. You are mine, Alex Benson, mine to do with as I wish, to control you, to bend you to my will. You are young and strong. You will make a fine warrior, an ideal addition to my growing army—”
“You must be nuts!” Alex spat. “If you think for one minute that I’ll—”
Dakar smiled down at Alex’s defiant expression and laid his right hand on the young fire fighter’s head, gently caressing Alex’s short, dark-brown hair.
“I repeat, you are mine, Alex. Now, and forever.”
And under Dakar’s touch, Alex felt his will to fight slowly slip away. Gazing up into the demon’s amber eyes, he whispered, “Yes, my Lord Dakar… I am yours.”
Dakar nodded. “So it begins,” he murmured.
www.total-e-bound.com
BLOOD LUST
J.P. Bowie
63
“So what did you think of Alex?” Tommy asked as he and Andrew dismounted from Tommy’s bike.
“A very nice man.” Andrew smiled at his lover. “Even if his flirting is a little obvious.”
Tommy chuckled. “Yeah, I won’t have to ask him what he thought of
you
. Looks like I might have to stake my claim a bit more firmly.”
“No need,
édesem.
” Andrew slipped an arm round Tommy’s waist and pulled him close while they walked up the steps to their apartment. “Although I’d rather you didn’t bandy the word ‘stake’ around quite so freely.”
“Huh?” Tommy stared at Andrew’s smiling face for a moment or two before the penny dropped. “Oh, yeah…” He laughed. “Got it.” He unlocked the door, immediately drawing Andrew into his arms as they entered the apartment. “
Szeretlek
,” he murmured after kissing Andrew’s waiting lips. “Sorry, I mangled that a bit. It’s not the easiest language in the world, is it?”
“I’m sure my English is far from perfect,
édesem
,” Andrew whispered, his full lips brushing Tommy’s mouth. “I’m glad you remember the important words. I love you too. But there is something we need to talk about.”
“Oh, oh…”
“Nothing that affects our relationship. Well, perhaps that is not exactly true—it could affect us both if what I suspect is reality.” He led Tommy over to the couch and together they sat down, their arms comfortably around one another. “The men who were with Alex tonight… I sensed something strange about the tall one with blond hair. I think I know who he is.”