Necessary Passion [Alchemy Mates 3] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (11 page)

“Sky, stop,” Aidan panted, his eyes wide with pain. “It’s too deep. You’ll sever the cord. Stop.”

Sky stopped, panting. His entire body throbbed with the aftereffects of the spell. “Painful” didn’t begin to describe the sensation. “Agony” was a better descriptor. Aidan didn’t look like he felt much better than Sky. His face was a sickly shade of white.

Sky made a noise of frustration. “We’ll just have to deal with it until we go to the challengers’ ring. We’ll have a few days beforehand to bring any other grievances we have against Jessup. I’ll demand that he remove them then. Until then we’ll just have to be conscious of its presence and trim it back every so often so that we can remain in sync.”

“Sounds like the only option we have,” Aidan muttered, clearly frustrated by their predicament. “You took a lot of that, didn’t you? The same way you took my fear the first night.”

Sky nodded. “Yes. That is true. I did.” He removed his hands from Aidan’s firm chest and stretched his shoulders. His muscles were tensed from the mental pain from the moment before.

“Stupid stubborn vampire,” Aidan grumped, stepping around Sky so that he was at his back.

Sky paused his stretching and half turned his face toward the hunter. “What is it? What did I do to offend your delicate hunter’s sensibilities this time?” He tried to keep his tone light and teasing, but felt he’d probably failed to sound anything other than exhausted at the prospect of doing battle with Aidan yet again.

“I could’ve handled it,” Aidan said, grabbing Sky’s shoulders and kneading the tense muscle he found there. Sky groaned. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d had his shoulders rubbed in such a fashion. “You don’t need to protect me all the time.” The words were in the signature MacGregor growl, but there was a tenderness beneath them that Sky relished hearing. His Aidan was starting to be wooed whether he acknowledged it or not.

“It is my pleasure to protect you, jäger,” Sky murmured. He bit on the inside of his cheek to keep from groaning again. Aidan had very talented hands. His lips upturned at the corners of his mouth in a semblance of a smile. Well, he amended, he knew already that he had talented hands, but he hadn’t expected Aidan to use them quite like this.

“Your affections take some getting used to,” Aidan rumbled, kneading away the knots in the muscle.

“My love is something I hope you grow to appreciate and return over time,” Sky corrected gently. He didn’t want Aidan to fall into old habits of denial. He needed his lover to understand that his love existed both outside and inside the bedroom.

“I return them more than I should already,” Aidan murmured, pressing a kiss to the back of Sky’s neck. “Walking away from you will be difficult.”

“But you
will
walk?” Sky asked. He’d promised himself that he wouldn’t ask yet, promised himself that he would be patient. Whoever said that love was patient had obviously never experienced the phenomenon.

Aidan paused his ministrations. “I don’t know. Truly, I don’t. I wish I had an easy answer for you, Sky. I don’t want to hurt you. But you’ve been a constant presence in my heart and in my head for so long I don’t know if I would choose this given the opportunity. The intensity between us is unnerving. Doesn’t it concern you that our minds will never fully be our own? Or that our positions are vastly different? You’re a vampire, and I, your blood servant. I don’t know if I could be with you forever, knowing that you’re above me. I want an equal, a partner.”

Sky swallowed. It wasn’t what he’d been expecting to hear. He’d expected Aidan’s emotional denial of affections and stubborn distrust of all things that he considered “unnatural” by his MacGregor standards. His reasons were actually legitimate. “I would turn you if you let me.” The words just came out of his mouth before he could think them through first. “I would move heaven and earth for us.”

Aidan considered him a while before he spoke. “Even if it meant giving up your title and fleeing from your homeland? Would you do that for me? Lose your challenge and leave with me? If I was turned I would truly be an exile from all that I know. Is your commitment as great?”

Sky closed his eyes and looked for the answer behind his eyelids. Finally, he sighed. “I cannot stop being who I am. I care about you deeply, but to condemn my people to less than the best leader would be a stain on my conscience that I could not wipe off.” He paused. “After the challenge I would turn you. I would elect a successor and leave if that would make you happy.”

The former hunter wrapped his arms around Sky’s waist and squeezed. “It’s not quite the same, but I thank you for the offer. I don’t know if I’m ready to be a vampire, Sky. And to be with you, that is all I would accept being.”

Sky’s throat tightened to the point where it felt like he was being strangled. Somehow he managed to push his next words out through his mouth. “I will accept your decision either way, as agreed. But know that I want you to stay with me.”

Aidan chuckled and pressed another kiss to the vampire’s throat. “So noted, my lord.” With that he took a step away before walking back around Sky and gathering up their food basket. “Let’s get this practice done with. I am thinking about an early bedtime this morning.”

Sky watched him turn and walk down the hall with all the grace and nobility that belied his commoner’s heritage. Aidan could say what he wanted, but hunter blood ran blue. He swallowed. His beautiful lover would walk away from him in order to find himself. Sky could only hope that this time he would come back. His fists clenched in tight balls at his sides. It was infinitely frustrating courting a man who insisted on being Sky’s equal. But then again, that was probably why they were alchemy mates. For as much as Sky was frustrated with Aidan’s desire to be on equal planes with Sky, he craved it just as deeply. He followed after his lover at a slower place, contemplating what the realization would mean for their future.

* * * *

Aidan might have been awful at taking a blow, but he was born to do
this
. He circled Sky’s mind as they stood opposite one another on the long row between two tables of exotic plants looking for weaknesses in his defense. There was a key to vampire mind fighting, and it was finding a thread that was loose in their mental cords.

“Remember, you’ll be facing another human when we do this, so the mental signature will look a trifle bit different than mine. It will be easier to penetrate and therefore easier to strike. I’m going to be defending mine much the same way I will be defending you when we battle,” Sky lectured as Aidan continued to explore the battlefield.

This was the strangest mode of fighting he’d ever come across, but he supposed that it was the most effective. In a battle between servants, no one died, and there was relatively little risk to the surrounding area. Any human that came across the conflict wouldn’t be struck by the extraordinary speed, strength, and powers of the vampires, and because each line was unique, it also leveled the playing field between aggressive and nonaggressive powers. The human servants fought the same way regardless. What was tested wasn’t the strength of the power but the strength of the mind and bond between the two combatants. It was poetic if one was in the mind for such things.

Aidan had picked up striking relatively quickly and had all but glowed under Sky’s praise.
We should’ve started with this. I’m good at this
. He found an opening and threw his power against it just as he had the door all those weeks ago. Unfortunately, Sky must’ve seen it because he deflected it easily.

“Try not to get that triumphant look on your face whenever you find a weak spot,” Sky admonished, laughing. Aidan grinned.
Bastard. I’ll show you triumphant
. He started his search again and instead of focusing his energy so intensely, he spread it out, covering more area. This way he didn’t make it obvious which spot he was angling for until the last second when he gathered his energy to strike. The seconds ticked by as he searched for the one spot he knew would be weaker than the others.
There
. He struck.

Sky’s feet flew out from under him, sending him crashing to the floor of the solar. Andren whooped in triumph a second before he hurried over to check on the groaning vampire. “Are you all right, Sky?”

Blue eyes looked up at him with equal parts pride and grimace. “A bit of a bruised arse but nothing I can’t handle, I assure you. However, a hand up would not be amiss.” Aidan reached down and pulled the other man to his feet.

“Better?” he asked.

“Much. That was excellent. A few more days of practice and you’ll be flawless. We’ll combine all the techniques I taught you after Christmas and we’ll really see what you can do,” Sky said. He seemed really excited about the prospect. “I think we might have a chance.”

Aidan winked at him. “You had doubts?”

Sky looked flustered for a half second before he blushed. “Not at all.”

Aidan burst out laughing. “I’m sure.”

The vampire play cuffed the side of his head. “Brat.”

Aidan leaned forward and pecked the vampire’s lips. “You’re adorable.” That just seemed to fluster Sky more.

“S–Shall we continue?” Sky stammered. Aidan smiled wide.

“Absolutely.”

* * * *

New Year’s Eve

“It’s certainly embedded in there,” Lucian murmured, staring at something Aidan obviously couldn’t see. They were scheduled to leave tomorrow, on New Year’s Day.

Sky sighed. “I had hoped that you might be able to remove it or see something I didn’t.”

“We’re still a powerhouse,” Aidan said, shrugging off the concern he could hear lacing both of the older vampires’ voices.

There was no point worrying about the strange spell that had attached itself to their bond. Apparently it was burrowing deeper into the link. It wasn’t quite to the alchemy-mate bond beneath the master-servant chord, but it would reach it within the month. Things would get worse for their relationship after that until they wouldn’t be able to tolerate one another’s presence. At least that was what Sky had been telling him in the weeks since they’d discovered the spell attached to their bond. They’d been trimming away on it regularly, but it wasn’t until recently Sky had discovered the spell deepening.

This consultation with Lucian while they were packing to go to the challenge was a last-minute decision on Sky’s part. Aidan really thought it was unnecessary. By vampire standards, Lucian and Sky were on par with one another in age and power. Aidan hadn’t thought it necessary to seek out his brother’s lover and worry them both needlessly, but he’d been overruled by Sky’s fretting. The vampire had kept him awake every day since Christmas with his nightmares about the challenge and the potential threat to their relationship.

It had definitely evolved into a relationship now. He was past the point where he could deny that part. When he’d given his word to Sky, he’d meant it. Until he left the house and Sky behind, he was fully and absolutely immersed in his vampire. They slept, took meals, bathed, trained, and rode together when the weather permitted it. In other words, they spent every waking moment together, and Aidan had gotten some of the best memories of his life while staying at Sky’s estate. A hunter’s life was not one of leisure, and Aidan had always assumed he’d get bored quickly as a noble. However, if he was with Sky it didn’t feel like empty hours.

Sky interrupted his thoughts with a sigh. “Powerful though our pairing may be, I am still not sure how we’re going to fare with this spell attached to us. I worry about our future, Aidan.”

Aidan bit his tongue to keep from pledging to stay in Sky’s future. He needed the time and the distance to really make that decision. He didn’t want to enter into a relationship with Sky lightly only to panic and shy away like he had been since the beginning. If he wanted to commit, he wanted to do so fully. “We’re bringing our grievances against him in a few days’ time, Sky. There is no use worrying over the spell until we know it hasn’t been removed. We fight well together and we will meet with success if you’d stop with your worrying and whining. You’re going to make Lucian and Andren nervous wrecks as well and then what? They’re our seconds, and they have to have a little confidence in us to make this whole wheel turn. Please, calm down, love.”

“Why don’t we leave you two alone?” Andren asked, intervening smoothly as Sky opened his mouth, no doubt to deliver a scathing rebuke of Aidan’s very good points.

“An excellent suggestion, Andren. I think I’ll write some correspondences on the stationary you got me for Christmas,” Lucian agreed. They made themselves gone rather quickly, leaving Sky and Aidan alone in the main hall.

Aidan went to the window that looked out into the garden. The snow had stopped falling finally. They may actually be able to get the carriages out tomorrow after all. Sky had been considering just taking a few horses and packing light, but maybe they’d be able to take a few trunks of things as well, not that Aidan needed it. He was used to traveling light, but Sky was awfully particular about his things.

“I don’t want to fight,” Aidan said finally. “I want you to relax, but I don’t want to fight. I know the urge is there, but can we just acknowledge the anger and skip over it for the time being? I’m really tired, and with everything that’s going to happen…” He trailed off, unwilling to finish the thought. They would have their contest, and then he would be faced with the decision to leave or to stay with Sky, and it wasn’t something he really wanted to think on.