Stu knelt and positioned Aric so that he leaned against the wall for support.
Aric looked over at where Corbin lay sprawled on the cement floor. “Oh God, is he…?”
“He'll be okay.”
“You sure?”
Stu nodded. “He's in a meditative state so he can heal. He'll come around.”
“And so it's up to you to kill Johan.”
Stu peered at Aric, his jaw tight with tension. What was with Aric's hesitation? “He's a fucking vampire. He has to die.”
“Uh…” Not looking at Stu, Aric gnawed at his lower lip.
Then their eyes met.
“Hey, what's going on?”
Aric reached for Stu's hand. “Do you have to? He's suffered enough without us condemning him.”
Stu glanced at the strix. “He was going to kill you if you didn't go with him. It's my duty. It's what I am.”
He let go of Aric's hand and removed the stake from his pack. Made of exotic black heartwood, it was sharpened to a fine point. Frowning, he turned it in his hand. Suddenly Aric grabbed his arm so hard, Stu almost dropped it.
“Don't kill him!”
Stu cupped Aric's cheek. “I must. We don't know if the serum will work on you. If it does, that's great. But if not, we need to kill him before you turn.”
“If that works, you mean. You said yourself there was no guarantee. And if it doesn't work, then you'll have to kill me too.” Aric lowered his eyes.
Stu's heart turned over. “Never!”
“You said it. It's your duty. I'd be one of them.”
Stu was mystified by Aric's insistence on saving the vampire. He gripped the stake, needing to break the spell Johan had woven around Aric. “His persuasive voice has swayed you.”
Aric's defiant eyes challenged him to a verbal battle. “I'm not bewitched, for Christ's sake.”
“He's tricked you. That's what they do. He's evil, with no conscience. He's better off dead.”
Aric's eyes darkened. “If the serum doesn't work, then promise me you'll put a stake through my heart too.”
The thought sickened Stu. “I can't…”
“Don't you see? Once, he was just like me. We're the same. Maybe he can be redeemed. If the serum works on me, then it might work on him as well.”
“And if it doesn't? He'll harm again. I can't allow that.”
But Stu was confused. If the serum didn't work, Aric would become a strix, and he'd be duty bound to hunt him down. But in his heart, he could never kill him. Aric would never be a monster in his eyes. Is this how Aric was seeing Johan?
Aric carded his fingers through his hair, holding it away from his face. Concern etched tiny lines across his forehead. “Look. You'll have to watch me closely until we see the serum's effects.”
Stu bit his lower lip. The serum
had
to work. He'd accept nothing less. “How do you feel?”
“Kind of light-headed, a little strange.”
Aric rubbed his arms. “I don't feel the urge for blood, though. We'll have to check my markers at the lab as soon as we can get out of here.”
“Can the effects be seen quickly?”
“Yes. I tested it on my blood samples. It stopped the morphing process almost immediately.” Aric stood on his feet and swayed and placed his hand on the wall for support. Stu jumped to his side and held on to his arm, steadying him.
“Take it easy.”
“So what about him?”
Aric tilted his head toward Johan. “What are you going to do?”
“If the serum doesn't work, he'll have to be killed.”
“Whatever you shot into him is powerful stuff. Can you keep him sedated? And the salt…that should keep him from using his full powers. Give it at least forty-eight hours.”
Stu hated the thought of disappointing his brother, whom he loved, and Aric, the man he'd come to care for so deeply in the short time he'd known him. Corbin wanted the vampire destroyed; Aric wanted the vampire redeemed. “I don't know what's right anymore.”
Aric caressed his face, and the sensation sent Stu's head spinning. His insides turned to liquid from Aric's touch. His body craved more of what only Aric could give him. That, he believed in.
“Stu, do it for me.” Aric's plea went straight to Stu's heart. “Don't you see what this can mean? You'd be a healer instead of a killer.”
Aric submerged himself in the soothing bathwater until it came up to his chin. Releasing a long, contented sigh, he let his hair float around his face and closed his eyes. The sound of the water coming from the shower was a faint noise in the background.
He thought of the events of the last two days. The results of his blood tests were positive. At the very least, his cells had stopped morphing, and several indicators pointed to his cells returning to normal. He would be able to reverse the effects of his affliction. To what extent, though, he could only guess. Stu had cajoled Corbin into going along with Aric's scheme of trying to save the vampire-strix. He'd injected the serum into Johan yesterday, despite Corbin's skepticism.
Aric let the hot water relax his muscles. He stayed in quiet repose until he sensed a shadow leaning over him. He opened his eyes, and as always, his heart did a funny little hop when confronted by Stu's heated gaze. The sight captured his breath and held it prisoner. Stu's masculine beauty never failed to thrill him. Chiseled pecs framed two perfectly round nipples. Lean but powerful thighs nestled the thatch of gold curls, his cock and balls hanging delectably near Aric's mouth. Aric grinned and patted the edge of the porcelain tub.
Stu sat his firm butt down on the edge. His naked body glistened from his shower, his damp hair curling at his nape. So cute, so sexy, so very enticing. His cock lazily rested against his thigh, content after their sex marathon from the night before. A towel was draped over his arm. Vanilla spice engulfed the mist-filled bathroom. A scent forever absorbed into Aric's skin.
He rested his hand on Stu's thigh, then flung back his hair, spraying water drops all over the both of them.
Stu yelped. “Hey, I just toweled off.”
Aric let his hand curve around Stu's back. His fingers inched lower, then tickled the first hint of Stu's crack.
Stu growled without conviction. “I just got cleaned up.”
“All the better to taste you.”
Aric removed his hand from Stu's ass and got up on his knees. He aimed for one of the perfect circles. The nub puckered at the first encounter with his rough tongue. He leaned back and pulled at Stu's waist, unbalancing his agile lover. As Stu fell on top of him, the water splashed in one giant wave over the sides of the tub, flooding the tile floor.
“Hey, man!” Stu grabbed for him, dragging them both under the water.
They reemerged, laughing, hair dripping in their eyes. Blue eyes blazed with pure lust. “You think you can do something like that and not pay?”
Aric certainly was willing to pay the price. He wrung out his hair, raining droplets on the water's surface as he looked Stu over. “What could you possibly do to me that we haven't already done twenty times over?”
Such a wicked grin.
Stu had proven his prowess in bed and his willingness for sex play. Nothing fazed the guy. Not that Aric was complaining.
Stu stood and helped him to his feet. Facing Stu, he caressed the burnished gold fuzz sprouting on his cheeks. He kissed the underside of his chin and ran his tongue along his jawline. “You taste very, very clean.”
“Let me take you.” Emphasizing his request, Stu ran the tip of his finger down Aric's crease, then stopped at the tight ring of muscle.
Aric squinted and fell back a step, almost slipping before Stu grabbed his arm. Never had he allowed anyone to top him after that one night in Prague. “Uh, not sure I follow you.”
“I think I'm falling in love with you, Aric. I want to know how it feels to be inside you.”
“Love?”
Aric repeated the word, more to himself. Stu was falling in love? Leave it to his ever-so-romantic lover to say it first, though he'd certainly thought he was falling for Stu too. But they had been together only a short time, how could it be love? Wasn't it way too soon for that? Then again, what they had been through in the past few days had brought them closer.
Stu poked the side of Aric's head as he laughed a deep, throaty growl. “Stop, before you drive me fucking insane with all that thinking.” He arched his hips so that his dick nudged between Aric's thighs, a reminder that Aric had better things to do than overthink the situation.
Although Aric still didn't have any idea how they could make a relationship work, now he wanted to try. In an odd way, even though they hadn't known each other all that long, it seemed as if they had been together forever. A good forever. One of those forevers that left a person breathless, but steady on his feet.
Aric swept a loose curl behind Stu's ear. He looked down at their feet beneath the water, then let his gaze roam upward, taking Stu in slowly. The man was fucking beautiful—a Greek god, an Apollo. And to his astonishment, the guy wanted to fuck him.
“Uh, shouldn't we take this slow?”
Stu laughed. “Slow? Too late for that, babe.”
But Aric was still worried that their relationship would harm Stu's chances for a charmed life in the NFL. Before they met, Stu had been a normal, straight jock who dated girls and drank beer with his buds. Somehow, someway, something would come between them.
“What about your coach?”
“Huh?” Stu raised an eyebrow, clearly confused. “My
coach
? What does
he
have to with this?”
“What did he say about us?” Stu had told him what had happened at the bar—how he confessed in front of an audience that he wanted Aric. It didn't take long for the rumor to reach Stu's football coach.
Stu shrugged it off. “Nothing I can't handle. If my teammates can't see beyond my dating you, then I'll quit.”
“But that's—”
“My decision.
I'm not ashamed of us.”
And that confession captured the final piece of Aric's heart.
Stu kissed him, turning his insides into a smoldering fire. Hands roamed down his back and then lower, where fingers pinched his cheeks, sending an exciting ache through him. Aric plunged his tongue in deeper as he twirled the wet blond strands around his fingers. He yanked Stu forward so their chests collided. Stu's skin was moist and warm, like his mouth, and Aric thought of another place where he'd be just as warm and moist. His cock reacted, and begging for attention, it ground against Stu's erection
The incredible attraction for the man holding him in his arms couldn't be explained by simple bloodlust. Not anymore.
A low growl came from Stu's throat, a primitive sound that alerted Aric; Stu wanted to fuck him in the ass. A sudden flash of doubt skittered across his brain. He pulled away from the kiss. “Let's get out of this tub.”