Dracul's Revenge 01: Dracul's Blood (14 page)

“Oh my.” Nik’s breathing hitched as Bobby rubbed his fingers over Nik’s rosebud, playing with the nerve-endings hidden there.

Wetting his fingers, Bobby pressed one into Nik’s hole while he swallowed Nik’s cock down to the root.

“Bobby,” Nik shouted, rolling his head from side to side, hands grasping Bobby.

Bobby hummed his approval, bobbing his head up and down. He made sure he kept the suction hard and solid, letting his teeth scrape along the sensitive flesh. Two of his fingers slid into Nik’s ass, filling his lover. Twisting his fingers, he managed to hit Nik’s gland.

“God.”

Nik rocked between Bobby’s mouth and fingers. Bobby drove his lover higher and harder, demanding Nik give him everything.

“I’m gonna…”

DRACUL’S BLOOD

Carol Lynne and T.A. Chase

90

Warm salty-bitter liquid flooded Bobby’s mouth as Nik stopped talking and started coming. He plunged his fingers deep, moaning around Nik’s cock as the man’s inner muscles clenched around him like a vice.

Every bit of tension disappeared from Nik’s muscles. The man lay on the bed like a limp noodle. Bobby licked him clean before climbing out of bed and heading to the bathroom.

“What about you?” Nik waved a hand in his direction.

He shot a glance over his shoulder as he cleaned his hands and brushed his teeth.

After wetting a cloth, he returned to wipe Nik down.

“Don’t worry about me.” He stripped and tossed his soiled underwear and pants at his laundry basket. “You’re so dead sexy. I came when you did.”

Nik blushed and sat up. “What do we do now?”

“Now, you go grab a shower and get dressed. My lieutenant has requested your presence in her office this morning.” He pulled a new pair of pants out of his closet and tugged them on.

“Am I in trouble?” Nik shot out of bed and practically raced towards the bathroom.

“In trouble? Why would you be in trouble?” Bobby frowned as he checked his shirt and tie in the mirror, making sure they weren’t too wrinkled.

“Because I lost that research yesterday.”

Nik leant over to turn the water on. Bobby couldn’t resist reaching out and pinching one of those firm cheeks. Nik squeaked and whirled around, losing his balance, but grabbing the towel rack just in time to steady himself.

“Watch it, honey. I shouldn’t have done that. Forgot about your head.” His fingers lingered inches above the wound on the back of Nik’s head.

“It’s okay.” Nik waved Bobby’s concern away, seemingly more worried about the lieutenant than his wounds. “Is she mad at me?”

Bobby shook his head. “No, I think she’s more upset that you were injured. Her anger is focused on me because I involved you. The lieutenant doesn’t like it when civilians get hurt in the course of an investigation.”

“I’m sorry.”

DRACUL’S BLOOD

Carol Lynne and T.A. Chase

91

“Quit apologising. You didn’t ask to be attacked or deliberately entice someone to hurt you. The only thing you did was your job. It’s not your fault or mine for that matter that there’s a crazy person out there who will do whatever he can to keep his crimes hidden.”

He snatched up his suit coat from where he’d draped it over the chair.

“Take a shower and get dressed, but don’t get your stitches wet. I’ll make us some coffee and breakfast. Do you like pancakes?”

He caught the nod Nik sent him before the man stepped into the shower.

The coffee brewed while Bobby whipped up some pancakes and sausage. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d made breakfast before going into the precinct. Usually he would stop at one of the bakeries and grab a turnover. Yet something told him Nik didn’t eat much or often, and he wanted to take care of the professor.

Snorting softly, he poured some batter onto the griddle, careful not to splatter it on the towel he’d tucked into his waistband. Bobby admitted he’d never wanted to take care of any of his lovers before. Oh, he’d liked most of them and maybe even been in love once or twice, but his feelings for Nik were different, and there wasn’t time to analyse any of them just then.

The pancakes came out perfect, and he’d just slid them on the plates as Nik joined him in the kitchen. Bobby pulled out a chair and gestured for Nik to sit.

“Here’s your coffee. I didn’t know how you took it, so there’s creamer and sugar on the table.”

He got the butter and syrup out along with the strawberry jam one of his elderly neighbours gave him. Everything was on the table and he sat, noticing how Nik studied him.

“What?”

“Do you always eat breakfast like this?” Nik nodded towards the pile of food he’d made.

Bobby’s cheeks heated. “Not all the time, but usually it’s just me, and I can never make food for just one person. I tend to cook enough for several people as you can see.”

“Thank you for taking the time to feed me.” Nik stroked his fingers over the top of Bobby’s hand.

“You’re welcome. Now eat up.”

DRACUL’S BLOOD

Carol Lynne and T.A. Chase

92

A comfortable silence filled the room while they shared breakfast. Nik insisted on rinsing the plates before stacking them in the dishwasher. Bobby peeked at the clock as they grabbed their stuff and headed out of Bobby’s apartment.

He pulled out his phone and punched in a number.

“Jablonsky.”

“Hey, partner. We’re on our way in.” He unlocked the door of his car and held it open for Nik.

“Okay. I’ll let the lieutenant know. How’s the professor doing?”

Bobby glanced over at Nik as he slid behind the wheel. The cut stood out on Nik’s pale skin, and there was a slight grimace of pain quirking the corners of the man’s mouth.

“He’s feeling a little pain, but he took some medicine and should be okay.”

“Glad to hear that.” A voice murmured in the background. “I have to go, Bobby. I’ll see you when you get here.”

“Bye.”

He closed his phone and set it in the console between him and Nik. The car rumbled to life as he turned the key.

“You can put on the radio if you want.” He backed out of his spot and headed to the gate.

Nik tuned the radio to a classical station. Bobby winced, but didn’t say anything. He should have known Nik would like the old stuff. Reaching over, he gripped Nik’s hand and brought it over to rest on his thigh. Nik twisted in his seat to look at Bobby.

“Do you really think my attack was about your case, and not just a random mugging?”

Bobby thought about it for a moment before he nodded. “They didn’t take anything except your backpack. They could have pushed you inside and stole the expensive stuff in your house.”

“I don’t have any expensive stuff,” Nik pointed out.

“You have a computer, right?” At Nik’s nod, he said, “There you go. You have things that any mugger could pawn for money. Your attacker didn’t. He was looking for something specific, I believe, and it must have been your research.”

Nik rubbed his forehead with his free hand. “I’ll have to go back to the library and do it all again.”

DRACUL’S BLOOD

Carol Lynne and T.A. Chase

93

“Well, you’re not going anywhere without me.” A thought hit him. “Did you call the university and let them know you’re not going to be in today?”

“Yes. Sheila said she’d let them know. I should feel good enough tomorrow to go back.”

Traffic was rather light, so they got to the precinct with time to spare. Bobby relaxed.

The lieutenant hated tardiness, and Bobby had seen how she dealt with tardy detectives.

After parking, they headed inside and up to the homicide floor. Jablonsky waited for them at their desks. Bobby picked up his files on the Thompson and Vanderlist cases.

“Professor Nikolay Radin, this is my partner, Detective Kenneth Jablonsky. Jablonsky, this is our expert witness, Professor Nikolay Radin.”

Nik and Jablonsky greeted each other and made small talk until the lieutenant stuck her head out of her office door and gestured to them.

“Showtime,” Jablonsky muttered as they wound their way through the maze of desks to where their boss waited.

“Shut the door and close the blinds, gentlemen.” The lieutenant motioned to the chairs. She held out her hand to Nik. “Professor Radin, I’m Lieutenant Molly O’Donnell. I want to thank you for all of the work you’ve been doing on our behalf. I’m sorry you were injured.”

Nik blushed, but shook the lieutenant’s hand. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“Okay, niceties taken care of. I’d like you to bring us up-to-date with what you’ve discovered in your research.”

Bobby nodded towards the chair closest to her desk, letting Nik know he should sit there. Jablonsky took the chair nearest the door, which left Bobby sitting next to Nik.

Nik glanced at Bobby before returning his attention to his lieutenant. “With my research stolen, I can’t give you specific dates, but I can give you an overall summary of what I’ve found so far.”

“That’s fine.” The lieutenant sat back in her chair and smiled, putting Nik at ease.

“Well, we know the seal on the cask is made up of two different crests. The Knights of Paiderastia stamped over Radu cel Frumos personal crest. For this discussion, I think it would be easier to examine the crests separately.”

DRACUL’S BLOOD

Carol Lynne and T.A. Chase

94

As he began, Nik’s fingernail automatically went to the sore patch of skin on his thumb. “The Knights of Paiderastia were once wealthy, powerful men who, according to the texts I’ve uncovered, found spiritual fulfilment through their love of boys. Ancient Greeks and Romans found the act of pederasty quite acceptable. It was all very civilised at the time.

A wealthy man would gain permission from a boy’s father to bring him into his household.

He’d oversee the educational upbringing of the young man. In some cases, the relationship between the boy and the man was strictly spiritual, in others, sexual.”

“Are we talking about paedophilia, Dr. Radin?” the lieutenant asked.

Nik nodded. “In today’s legal terms, yes. But once again, it was an accepted practice in Ancient Greece. Through the years, society began to change their minds on the morality of the practice, at one point making pederasty illegal. This appears to be the time frame when The Knights of Paiderastia society formed. Whether or not the men involved still believed in the religious aspects of the practice is unknown.”

Nik took a breath. He wasn’t sure if he should share the information Professor Lattimer imparted regarding the society, since he had nothing to back it up. “From what I understand, The Knights of Paiderastia are still active, at least in the United States and Europe, my guess is worldwide.”

The lieutenant sat up straight and narrowed her eyes. “Go on.”

“I’ve been thinking about the society, and I believe the memberships are passed down between generations. Their existence is too secretive to allow outsiders to join. I think it’s the reason most people have never heard of them.”

The lieutenant nodded and reached for her cup of coffee. “And the other crest?”

“Radu cel Frumos was the half-brother of Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad the Impaler, but most importantly, Vlad was the ruler the book Dracula was modelled after.

Radu was a member of The Knights of Paiderastia as well as several other powerful men at the time. In his youth, Radu was kept by a sultan at the receiving end of a pederast relationship. Although related, Radu and Vlad Tepes were enemies, especially after the death of their other brother, Mircea, and their father Vlad Dracul II, when Vlad Tepes was granted ruling power over Wallachia.”

Nik shut up when he saw he was beginning to lose focus. The lieutenant hadn’t asked for a history lesson, he had to remember that. “There’s a journal in existence that was written by Radu’s young servant’s ancestors. Evidently stories were passed down in the family, and DRACUL’S BLOOD

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one of them chose to record these stories. The New York Public Library was in possession of the journal until a few years ago when it was stolen from the archives. I believe the journal is the key to understanding what’s going on.”

“How so?” the lieutenant questioned. “Although we now know the cask originally came from Radu, what would that have to do with the murders happening now?”

Bobby jumped in. “The victims are being drained of their blood. We still don’t know why, but we believe it has to be connected to the cask and the history of Radu’s relationship with his brother, Vlad the Impaler.” Bobby cleared his throat. “We also think The Knights of Paiderastia play a large part in the murders. When I went to question Mr. Vanderlist, I noticed a cigar box on his desk with a sterling silver crest adorning its top. The crest was that of The Knights of Paiderastia.”

Lieutenant O’Donnell narrowed her eyes. “You’re walking a fine line, Marks.

Vanderlist has connections that could have us both walking the beat if we’re not careful.”

Bobby nodded. “I realise that, Lieutenant, but it’s a lead I need to follow. I’d like permission to search Morgan Thompson’s house again. If I’m right, we’ll find something that links him to the Paiderastians.”

The lieutenant tapped her pen on the desk as she considered Bobby’s request. “We haven’t released the crime scene yet, so access isn’t a problem. The political implications should you find something connecting one of the wealthiest men in the city with a society of perverts could be damaging.”

Bobby nodded once again. “I understand that, but our job is to find the hows and whys of this case and to bring the whos to justice. We can’t do that if we’re constantly worried about pissing the rich and powerful off.”

“I’d suggest you work quickly before your investigation is jeopardised.” Her gaze swung between the three men in the room. “I’ve got to give the higher ups a full rundown at the end of the day.”

Bobby stood, and Nik followed suit. “We’ll head over to Thompson’s now.”

Nik followed Bobby out of the office with Jablonsky bringing up the rear. Once they were back at the side by side desks of the two detectives, Nik spoke. “I want to go with you.”