Necessary Passion [Alchemy Mates 3] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (9 page)

A few minutes later a knock sounded on the door an instant before Andren popped his head into the room. “Sky, he’s asking for you.”

Sky jumped up and practically ran into the other room. Andren’s amused chuckle followed his progress.

Aidan lay sprawled on one of his sofas from the practice room, still shirtless and pale. His hands were even shaking from blood loss. Sky felt a twinge of remorse over the fact that he was the cause of Aidan’s condition.

His eyes speared Sky with an intense look of anger mixed with concern. “They told me Jessup did this. How?”

“Jessup was a studier of vampire magicks back in our fledgling days. He is obviously still practicing the art, if this situation was any indication. He set the trap somewhere in my estate. Most likely along the road we travel on. The magick must’ve attached itself to us as the targets and was triggered by the event. Jessup probably didn’t want it to happen because it would increase our power if it did. I imagine he was putting the spell in place as a fail-safe to keep us from competing.”

“What event?” Aidan growled. Despite himself, Sky shivered at the sound.

“You admitting your affections for me and agreeing to let me love you until this is over. He obviously wanted to disqualify me by having me turn my only human servant.”

“Son of a bitch!” Aidan struggled to sit up. “I can’t believe he did that! That dirty, dishonest, blood-sucking leech!”

Sky crossed the scant three feet between them and gathered him up in his arms. “It’s smart to fight dirty, but I agree with you.” He pressed a kiss to the tender side of his throat. “I’ll finish healing you tonight,” he promised. He turned his attention to their guests. “Thank you, Lucian and Andren. I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done. Will you please spend the week with us? I’d be very pleased if you did.”

“We’d love to,” Andren answered, winking at his brother and wrapping his arms around Lucian.

“You two can have my room,” Aidan offered quietly.

Sky frowned and looked down at his lover. “You don’t have to give up the green room, jäger. I have many guest rooms to choose from.”

Aidan shrugged. “It’s the best room in the house other than your room. My brother deserves it, and I don’t need it.”

“Why don’t you need it, jäger?” Sky asked, confusion marring his brow. He hoped this wasn’t yet another scheme for Aidan to put distance between them. The next thing he would volunteer to do was sleep in the stables in an effort to do just that. He sighed. He hoped the progress they’d made before the spell had kicked in meant something. With Aidan he could never be sure. His thoughts ground to a halt at the hunter’s next actions.

Aidan smiled and cupped his cheek. “Because tonight I’m sleeping with you.”

Sky couldn’t help the answering smile of pleasure that lit up his face.
Finally
.

* * * *

I’ve fallen off the train to lunacy and am loving every minute of it.
Aidan settled himself into Sky’s luxurious bed as the thought ran through his mind. He felt nervous for some reason, but it was edged with an anticipation that was very intoxicating. Lucian and Andren had long since retired, and Aidan had gone upstairs to wait on his vampire after supper. The damn man had made him wait a while already due to his preoccupation with the upcoming battle and the strategies that he could use to win.

The door from the hallway opened, revealing Sky’s gorgeous body wrapped in a silken robe. Aidan shivered and felt his body stir at the sight. Sky hesitated as if unsure of whether or not to enter his own room. Aidan beckoned him forward with a wave of his hand. Sky slid into bed before Aidan could blink. Cool vampire arms drew Aidan into the circle of his arms, and Sky kissed his temple.

“Thank you for staying with me,” Sky whispered. Aidan snuggled into his embrace, nipping his chest as he worked his way down.

“I am so tired of this distance between us, Sky. I want to feel you all night. I want to wake with you,” Aidan replied, his own voice tight with emotion he wasn’t ready to acknowledge yet. “Kiss me, vampire.” The command seemed to incite the big German noble because Sky wasted no time in doing just that. They kissed for endless moments. The silken slide of their tongues intoxicated Aidan, and the softness of Sky’s lips on his was enough to make him voice what had been circling through his blood since he’d gotten the balls up to acknowledge the pull between them.

“I belong to you,” Aidan promised between kisses. “Only you.” Sky growled in encouragement and began stripping off the few clothes they’d worn to bed. Soon they were both gloriously naked.

“Fuck me, vampire,” Aidan demanded as Sky kissed his way down his chest.

Sky chuckled. “In a minute, jäger. I want to savor you.”

They made love slowly. It was no longer the vicious coupling of before but the soft, sweet meeting of two bodies. Aidan gasped against the hard planes of Sky’s chest, nipping the heavy muscle there, and Sky pushed his cock into the deepest recesses of Aidan’s body. He wanted his vampire’s flesh in his mouth. He nipped harder, causing Sky to gasp.

“Take from me, jäger,” Sky encouraged. His voice was a soft growl of approval. He reached to the dresser and picked up the small pocket knife he had there before reaching up with one hand and slicing the flesh just above his heart. Aidan put his mouth to the wound and sucked. He wondered briefly if Sky felt as good now as Aidan did when the vampire did it to him. He laved the wound with his tongue.

“I love feeling you, Sky,” he whispered. It was on the tip of his tongue to say something else, but he knew it was just because of their lovemaking that he wanted to shout his love words to the rooftops. “I love your touch so much I hurt.”

Sky jerked and came hard, his hands bruising Aidan’s hips as he came undone. The guttural praises in German coupled with the sensation of the vampire’s pleasure splashing the inside of his passage had Aidan arching and crying out in answer. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he orgasmed hard enough that he saw stars.

“Damn, love.” Sky chuckled. “I came hard.” He laughed again. “And a bit prematurely at that.”

Aidan nipped his chest once more. “I want you to feed on me, vampire.”

Sky smiled, looking like he was in heaven. “With pleasure.”

* * * *

Aidan moved his king one space to the right as Andren contemplated the board. They were sitting in Sky’s massive library in front of the roaring fire. It had started to snow at some point during their sleeping hours, and it was decided right after breakfast that Andren and Lucian weren’t leaving for a bit. That was just fine with Aidan. He needed something to buffer the new level of closeness that he and Sky had achieved last night.

“Check,” Andren rumbled, moving his bishop so that it lined up with Aidan’s king. Aidan grumbled. Playing chess while one was half-distracted was not the best way to win against one’s opponent. He put his hand on the king and went to move it back into the position he had it in originally.

“Don’t do that,” Andren admonished. “I’ll checkmate you. Where is your head, brother? You’re a better player than this.”

That was true. However, telling his younger brother about his dilemma with the vampire who had made him his servant didn’t seem like a very MacGregor thing to do. “It’s nothing. Just not in the mood for chess, I suppose.” He sat back in the high-backed armchair and searched for a way to get out of the mess he’d cornered himself in.

Andren gave a wide grin. “Your distraction wouldn’t have anything to do with the gorgeous specimen of German manhood who is currently discussing traveling arrangements with my mate downstairs, would it?”

Aidan gave his younger brother a look which would have withered other men. There was a time when Andren would’ve been cowed by such a look but no longer. Unfortunately, the boy was now immune to his brother’s warnings. Andren just raised his eyebrows.

“No. Absolutely not. As soon as this business with Jessup is concluded, we can both go our separate ways,” Aidan denied. There was no reason that Andren should be contemplating a romance where none was present…really.

“Uh-huh. Giving up your room because you want to sleep with a vampire doesn’t smack of ‘soon to be over,’ brother,” Andren argued, sitting back in his chair in a mirror image of how Aidan did just a moment ago.

“We need to be close. It’s necessary to win this contest.” It was what was keeping Aidan from going out of his mind with these needs and urges. Every second spent in Sky’s company only seemed to further entangle them and make Aidan want to try this relationship out in more ways than was necessary.

“Being the lover of a vampire has its rewards, Aidan.”

Oh no. Here comes a lecture from my junior. Great
.

Andren continued. “Sky seems to care a great deal for you. I think it would unwise to disregard your affections with such adamancy given the depth of emotion flowing between the two of you.”

“There is no flow. I feel things for him that are impossible given our differences in stations. I plan to leave here and find another hunting guild in Berlin. I have heard good things, and I’m sure they will appreciate my powers much more than Papa did.” It was the first time he’d spoken his plan aloud.

A tense moment stretched on as Andren digested his words. “I understand wanting to assist in taking out vampires who threaten humans, but the hunting guilds need reformation. They hunt indiscriminately, and you know it.”

Aidan shrugged. “Maybe that is why God gave me the differences he did. Maybe I can lead them in a better path.”

Andren snorted. “The guilds are run by stubborn old men who won’t listen to anything but their own hatred. You have no pull on the continent. Perhaps you would’ve had success in England, but Papa ensured that you didn’t with your exile. They will stick you on a hunting team here, and innocent vampires could die because of your powers.”

“Innocent vampires? Listen to you. You’ve immersed completely,” Aidan rumbled, intensely uncomfortable with the notion. Did his brother have a point?
No
. There was a reason the hunters were invented to begin with. There was a necessity, a need, for them to exist. They had a proud history. They
protected
people.

“Aidan, look at me,” Andren commanded. The tone was almost impossible to ignore. Aidan raised his gaze from the board to his brother. “Last year in London, you fought for me. You saw past what I had become and realize the flaws in the system. I’m a vampire, Aidan. We were taught from a young age that anyone who became a vampire would eventually corrupt, lose humanity, and need to be put down. Am I those things? Am I a demon, Aidan MacGregor?”

Aida shook his head.
No
. Andren was the exception. He was his brother.

“Then by that same logic, you have to understand that most vampires are the same way.” He really hated when Andren spoke logically. “There are some who disregard human life, but that is true of humans as well. You made a lot of progress in the past year. Don’t let the fact that you’re scared of your new union decide your prejudices. Did you know that vampire princes are in charge of taking care of rogues? They have vampire liaisons, volunteers called enforcers, who hunt them down. If you weren’t so stubborn, you could probably convince Sky to let you on with them and police the German states with them.”

“That would require me to stay under his control,” Aidan said. His chest tightened curiously at the thought of the end of this affair of his.

“So what? Lucian is my maker and thousands of years my senior, Aidan. In this life or any other, I will never be strong enough to best him. As my maker, he has the advantage of predicting my power and influencing my reactions. That is power. However, I love him and would be miserable without him. Love doesn’t care about who is in charge, Aidan. Love just is.”

Aidan flicked his pawn across the table and into Andren’s lap. “You have turned into a hopeless romantic, Andren.” He really didn’t want to discuss this anymore, but he had the sneaking suspicion that his brother wouldn’t let up until something was decided with the whole thing.

“I’m happy, brother. Truly happy for the first time in my memory. I think your Sky would endeavor to make you just as happy as I am. We would be close to one another, only ten miles down the road. I’ve missed having family close.” Andren seemed lost in his fantasy.

Aidan rolled his eyes. “I will consider staying if everything goes smoothly through the rest of this experiment. How about that?” Maybe if the hope was there Andren would leave him alone to do what he wanted to do and not keep shoving impossible fantasies into his head.

Andren laughed. “Fine. I’ll get off your case. How are you doing with the vampire battle techniques? Lucian has been telling me that they fight in twos but with one mind. It’s supposed to be a pretty intense partnership.”

“It is,” Aidan agreed. He was relieved to be back on familiar subjects. He could talk about fighting a lot easier than he could talk about his feelings. “We’re going to move on to more active attacks soon. Learning how to absorb a blow and still fight through it has been a challenge.”

“I’m sure you guys will be able to get proficient at it.”

Aidan didn’t have his level of confidence.

The door to the library swung open to admit the nervous Mahogany standing there shifting from foot to foot. “My lord MacGregors, your, um, the Lord Junis and Lord Engleman request your presence in the main sitting room.”