The Brotherhood - Single White Fang Part 12

When David nodded, he continued. "I knew you would find your heart's mate there that night. You did not need Amour Magique for anything but to come into your own. To strip away the secrets and fears in both your hearts."

He offered David's hand to Jory. "Now, the both of you. Move along, if you will. I fancy a gin and tonic. I need to rest just a bit."

David frowned, worried. "Liam? Are you all right? You sound tired."

Liam patted him. "No fear. I will be just fine." He yawned, barely covering his mouth with his hand. "I am just a little divided right now, that is all. Go. Leave with my blessing and that of Amour Magique. Find your happiness." He smiled. "You deserve it."

David stole a glance at Jory. His man. His lover. A vampire. There would definitely be more questions later, and they might just open that trunk after all, but at the moment, they had better things to be doing -- namely, each other. He gave Jory's hand a tug. "Come on," he said. "Time for us to be in bed."

Jory slipped off his chair, eyes twinkling. "It's way too early to go to sleep."

"Who said anything about sleeping?" Sneaking a quick grope of Jory's a.s.s, David winked naughtily. "I don't plan on falling out until the morning light."

"Now that's my kind of plan!"

Chapter Eleven

"This far? Can you trust me this far?" Jory pressed David into the wall. They'd made their journey in short steps: from the dance floor of Amour Magique to the exit, from the parking garage to Sweet Rose, on the long drive back to Jory's apartment with David navigating, and from getting out of the truck and into the building itself.

Each step had been littered with a minefield of kisses and gropes, eager hands hungrily grabbing at anything within reach.

David knew he'd have bruises, but these were the kind he didn't mind.

The thought tickled him. Being with Jory, technically a dead man, made him feel like he'd never been more alive. Was it the bond they shared? Call it love if you wanted to; the word sufficed.

Or did it? David wasn't sure. It seemed to go deeper than any hearts and flowers he'd ever seen on a greeting card.

"I can trust you this much and more," David managed to get out before Jory's mouth was on him again, tongue invading and hands absolutely everywhere. The loving a.s.sault didn't bother him a bit; in fact, he gave in to the friendly fire force just as he had every stage of the way getting here -- with one exception. He'd had to tease Jory away from inducting him into the delights of "road head," because he really didn't think he'd be able to maneuver the old truck during an o.r.g.a.s.m.

G.o.d, Jory had pouted so prettily at that one that David had almost given in. If his c.o.c.k had had a vote, he'd have been one happy man traveling through the streets of Charleston. Didn't matter, though. They were here now, or almost here, at the entrance to Jory's apartment. They seemed to have run into a delay at the stairwell.

"Inside," David said between kisses. "Come on, Jory. Don't want to -- oh! -- put on a show. Do we?"

Jory chuckled as he nibbled a trail of light bites up David's neck. For a second the thought gave David the creeps as a little voice bounced around in his head screaming, vampire, vampire, vampire! After a moment's thought, he told it to go screw itself.

He had more delightful things to do. Namely, Jory.

"Jory, come on."

"Nah." Bite, bite, bite, never breaking the skin. "This bother you?"

"Nope," David answered honestly. "Kind of revs me up."

"Mmm." Jory undulated against him, letting David feel how hard he'd gotten. "Does a lot for me, too. How's this for an object lesson? Or do you want the visual aid?"

David gasped out a laugh. "Inside!" he insisted. "I want to see your apartment."

Jory put both hands on the wall, framing David's head. "So you're saying you want to take a closer look at my etchings?"

His grin was dazed, but still the same infectious one David had fallen in love with.

"Oh, now, for shame. You can dig up a better line."

"I've already come up with something. Isn't that enough?"

"Smart mouth." David shut it with a smooch, a good hearty one, enough to keep Jory quiet for at least a minute. Possibly more, once Jory got his hands involved in the act, stroking down David's sides and making those small, whimpering moans.

"You," Jory gasped, once free. "G.o.d, I don't even have to pretend to breathe around you. It's like my body remembers how to be alive." He paused. "It's been forever."

David touched his lover's cheek tenderly. "Do you miss it?" he asked. "After a hundred and forty-some years as a vampire, how can you even remember?"

Jory grasped his hand and began to stroke each finger, up and down, slow and suggestive, as if each were a small c.o.c.k.

David shuddered violently. Each touch did go straight to his erection. Was it a vampire thing or a Jory thing?

"Careful, there," he said, his voice hoa.r.s.e. "If you don't want me to go off like a firecracker, we've got to save some of the show for inside, like I keep saying."

"Spoilsport." Jory drew one fingertip into his mouth and sucked, lashing the callused pad with his tongue. David had to draw in a deep gulp of air and hold it, shaking, until the urge to come in his jeans ebbed away.

Jory looked up, unashamed, eyes twinkling. "You liked what I just did. Go on, deny it."

"If I said no, would you try it again? I have nine left."

"Hon," Jory said, leaning in, feathering over David's lips, "we have all night, and I haven't gotten started yet. You have at least nineteen more, unless there's something you're not telling me about, and there's at least the big number one. Plus its close neighbors two, three, and four."

David felt a delicious shiver run down his spine. "You mean ... r.i.m.m.i.n.g?" he asked in a whisper. "You've done that before?" "Love it." Jory pretended to nip at David's finger. David shook again, a little worried about how much this was working at his pleasure centers. He wondered if, deep down, he might be in denial. Sure, he'd seen the altered face, had even touched it, but what if there was a little part of him still convinced Jory was playing games?

"Jory," he said, pushing the man away just a bit. "Jory, hold on for a second."

Jory made a moue with his lips, but to give the man credit, he did stop -- after a quick nuzzle to the back of David's hand and a brief peck on the palm. He laced their fingers together. "What is it, lover?"

David felt warmth roll through him at the word. If he hadn't taken a leap of faith, he wouldn't have been here right now, hearing the man he cared about more than anyone saying those sweet words to him. Shame he had to ask. He didn't want to ruin the moment.

All the same, he had to be sure. "Show me again," he said, keeping steady. "I want to see the real you."

Jory blinked almost comically. "You want the vampire part of me?"

"Is it a part of you, the whole you, or something else?" David shook his head. "It turns me on."

"Does it?" Jory leered, reaching to touch David's c.o.c.k. "Oh, yeah. Seems to."

"Jory, please." David tangled a hand in Jory's tumbling curls to hold his head still. "I just need to see it one more time, to convince myself that you're real."

"I won't hurt you. Please don't think I will. Have I been biting too much?" Jory looked sheepish. "Sorry about the nibbles.

It's kind of a personal kink." He rubbed the tip of his nose. "If I could blush dark red, I really would be right about now. But I swear, it's not about drinking you. I just want to taste you, and this is the only way."

"I know," David whispered. "I trust you this much, remember? If I didn't, I'd have already run. Just let me see one last time.

That's all I'll ask, I swear it."

Jory untangled himself from David's grip. He took in a deep breath and ... changed.

David watched in fascination. It wasn't a short, brutal twist, but a slow-motion shift, a bit like someone molding candle wax.

His eyes glowed a bright gold, and he was done. Jory, the same man David had fallen for, but at the same time ... not.

Once again, just as he had in Amour Magique, David reached out to touch.

"Don't cut yourself again," Jory warned. "Fresh blood shakes my control."

"Is it hard?" David swatted the other man before his broad grin erupted into a leer and his touch into a grope. "I know one part of you is rock-solid." A thought occurred to him. "Do you have super-strength or something? The ability to get it up and keep it up for hours?"

"Never tried." Jory grimaced. "It's pretty hard to find someone willing to give me more than one try. Vampires? They aren't the most social creatures on the planet."

"You mean there are other kinds of things out there? No, no, not that you're a thing," David hastened to add. "There are other types of humans who are different?"

"All sorts." Jory shed his vampire face for the vulnerable human one, his eyes warm hazel again. "Elves, trolls, werewolves, you name it. Dragons, even." He glanced up hesitantly. "Most of them hang out in Amour Magique. You might have guessed it's a pretty unique place."

"I had a notion it would be." David cupped Jory's cheek, stroking it with his thumb. For the moment, their fires were banked. "Is it all right to be talking about things out in the open?"

"What, here?" Jory glanced around. He grinned crookedly. "Most of my neighbors are pretty much nocturnal, too. h.e.l.l, half of them are probably still at the club, trying to score."

David felt a cold chill. "You mean the other Brothers might be getting chatted up by nonhumans?"

"Hey!" Jory looked stung. "I'm plenty human. I may not breathe or have a heartbeat, and I have a blood habit, but I'm still a man."

"Pretty strange kind of man," David said gently, keeping his hand where he'd placed it. Jory's skin felt so smooth and silky beneath his hand. "Do you think they'll be okay, though? I trust you. I know you. They might not be so lucky."

To his mild surprise, Jory chuckled. "Don't worry about your group of friends." He rubbed his cheek into David's palm.

"They're all there under Liam's eagle eye. I'm not saying things won't happen, but that incubus is going to make sure they all have the best night of their lives."

"Incubus?" David's mind changed tacks quickly as a flash in the wind. He remembered the dark man mentioning Liam was an incubus. "So he's ...?"

"Oh, yeah. Older than Methuselah. He's been around since the Garden. Maybe longer." "The Garden was real?"

"In a way," Jory allowed. "Look, I'm not an expert on Liam. All I know is that he's old, seriously old, gay as they come, and he has a habit of meddling with humans when he could be partying twenty-four-seven. Meddling being a good thing. He likes to share the joy. He was born to be a yenta." Jory frowned. "If he was actually born. There's some debate over that."

David was still somewhat shocked. "Incubus ... a s.e.x demon?"

"If you want to think of him that way." Jory twisted and bit at David's thumb. A gentle nip, reminding him of where they were, and why. "Do you really want to think about him right now?" He rubbed himself against David. "Do you really want to think at all?"

"I have to. This isn't any small thing, Jory. All of what we've built together started so fast, and I've barely had a breathing s.p.a.ce between finding out what you are and what you could do to me. I've had to adjust pretty d.a.m.n quickly, no matter how calm I seem. You're a lot to handle ... but I've coped. I've accepted you when everything sane would tell me to run for the hills. I couldn't not take you for who you were, no matter what else you might happen to be. More, from all we've shared together, I know you won't hurt me."

"I won't. Promise on anything you hold holy, I would never cause you pain. Never, never." Jory was in David's face. "How do I convince you of that? I'm not like that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Tommy."

David put his hand on the back of Jory's head, touching their foreheads together. He shook them both gently, back and forth. "No. You're better. You don't have any choice about being what you are, and you still treat me like I'm precious. He was just a sorry-a.s.sed human, with no reason to act like he did, but that didn't stop him. If it were a choice between him and a vampire?" He smiled. "Well, look at who I'm with right now."

"You could be a whole lot more with me," Jory purred. "Want to?"

"Let me in," David said, echoing their catchphrase. "On a bed, with good soft light, and some country playing in the background."

"The Southern Queens?"

"Are they men or women?"

"Indeterminate." Jory pressed in for a sweet kiss. "I've got their CD in my player. All I have to do is turn it on. Press the switch. Kind of like this." He cupped David's c.o.c.k and gave it a light squeeze, then a good, firm grope. "Oh, no, wait. That's already on. Let me test it to be sure ... yep, ready to shake, rattle, and roll."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Jory freed one hand long enough to rummage in his pocket. He came out with a cartoon character key chain with a half- dozen keys on it, fumbled a bit, then held one up in triumph. "How about this?"

David took the thing from him, warming it in his palm. "Cold," he explained. "I thought you didn't like keys."

"When they were opening up a part of my past I wasn't ready to share yet, I didn't." Jory draped himself against David.

"Now, I am. The door's just to your left. Open it and let us in."

"Is that a vampire thing? The whole permission to come inside."

Jory came up grinning so hard his nose wrinkled in a way that was almost impossible not to kiss. "Nah. It's just polite."

"Oh, you --" David grabbed Jory and began mock-wrestling with him. They tumbled across to rest with Jory's back against his own door, both breathing heavily. "I make you forget you're not alive?" he asked shyly.

Jory's eyes drifted half shut. "I can imagine I'm myself again," he said, simple and to the point. "Hungry and h.o.r.n.y as I remember being in the tents on Gettysburg, so sure I would die the next day and wishing like h.e.l.l I had someone warm to wrap myself around. I didn't have anyone back then. Now, I do." He nudged David. "Open the door."

David palmed the key back to Jory. "You let us in."

Jory looked at David oddly, then nodded. "Into the belly of the beast," he said, wiggling around to face the lock. "You ready?"

David pressed his hardened p.r.i.c.k to Jory's tight a.s.s. He rocked forward and back, setting up a slow rhythm. "I'm more than ready."

The tumblers clicked. This time, though, Jory relaxed, as if he'd finally crossed the finish line of some race. He pushed the door open slowly. "Come in, David. You're welcome here."

David followed Jory, who walked a few steps ahead, glancing around. "It's not much."

"Neither was the trailer. I think we made that pretty memorable."

"Point. You want another great memory?" David felt himself tensing in the best possible way. "Yeah. Please?"

"Your wish is my com--" And the rest of what Jory might have said was cut off by his frantic a.s.sault on David, as if they only had a few minutes left and had to make the most of them.