Their Precious Own

by Lia Black

  “Stack of credits. I think he managed to sell the rest. From the amount and the condition of the money, I’d say he’d found a chemist.”

  “A chemist?”

  Peterson was standing just outside the door of the trailer and he startled Kayle when he spoke. “A chemist is just that— someone who can manufacture drugs out of nearly any chemical. Usually, those chemicals should never be introduced into a living body. Derek, we’re not looking at a lab rat here are we?”

  “Lab rat?” Kayle asked Peterson over his shoulder.

  “Experiments. Gotta’ test the drugs. Sometimes crime syndicates will employ chemists and give them test subjects from their pool of undesirables and marks.”

  Kayle felt dizzy. Not only did they have a serial killer to pursue now, but they had to worry about the possibility of Kayle’s supplements being distilled and sold as street drugs. He flinched when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder and turned his head, meeting Derek’s steady gaze.

  “This isn’t your fault,” he said.

  “Easy for you to say,” Kayle sighed, looking down, his eyes going everywhere but the body.

  “I’m taking a risky but educated guess here,” Derek turned, crouching near the body once more. “But I’m thinking that this guy knew about your supplements.”

  “How?”

  “The only people who knew you were here early on were the police. You were attacked by cops and this guy was with them. He’s a junkie, lots of old needle scars. His fingers have that greenish tint from chemical burns caused by Raddix compound.”

  Peterson spoke up behind Kayle once more. “So he has a dealer who’s a chemist—no other way to get Raddix. He probably mentioned that you were around so the chemist gave him a little extra job to do.”

  “But how could they know I was an… incubus?” Kayle hesitated on the word until Peterson moved out of earshot.

  “Gilchrist knew,” Derek answered, his voice low.

  “You don’t think—?” Kayle held his tongue. He wouldn’t put the implication into words that didn’t belong to him.

  “I don’t know what to think right now,” Derek sighed, sounding understandably weary.

  “Regardless, the fact remains that two men are dead because of me, and many others will follow because I’m here.” Kayle realized his tone was biting, but he couldn’t understand how Derek wasn’t blaming him as well. True, he wasn’t the one murdering prostitutes, but Ramon had been killed, a new and very dangerous drug was about to hit the street, and all of it was directly related to him being here. He should have gone back to Apex, but it was selfishness and a foolish heart that kept him here. What a mess it had all become.

  Derek stood up, dusting across his hands across this pant legs. “Send a message to your father. Tell him to cancel the supplements. That eliminates any more risk of them falling into the wrong hands.”

  “And just how am I supposed to survive?”

  “You’ll feed from me.” Derek’s tone left no room for discussion.

  Kayle swallowed down the protest forming behind his lips. There were too many people within hearing range to start this argument here.

  “And when you are talking to your father, ask him to have the Director run some random drug-testing though the department. I have a feeling that if Meyers and Sapetti are hanging around junkies, they can’t be that clean themselves. That’s enough to get them kicked off of the force, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Variants or you.” Derek turned on his heel and headed out of the trailer. “We’re done here,” he said to Peterson.

  Kayle stood frozen, his head whirling with what he was certain was impending madness. He was going crazy. Isn’t that what happened when one suppressed their nature for too long? He turned quickly and nearly ran into Dr. Ray, who was standing outside the door.

  “Oh, hello Kayle,” she said wearing her professional smile.

  “Dr. Ray. Cal. Willim.” He greeted them all in turn before rushing past them after Derek. “Excuse me please.”

  Derek was already heading down the metal stairs that ran up the side of the building when Kayle caught up to him, one platform below. “Derek.”

  Derek looked up, meeting Kayle’s eyes through the metal mesh. “You coming?”

  Kayle’s voice caught and he nodded, the metal stairs clanging against his shoes as he followed Derek down to ground level.

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  Derek was acting a lot more composed than he felt. In the passenger seat, Kayle fidgeted as he looked out the window, needling between his teeth with one, long claw that was absent glamour.

  “So what do you have to do to reach your father?” Derek asked him as they drove.

  “Call. I can use your phone to call him. But I don’t know why I shouldn’t just call him to come take me back to Apex.”

  “Because you are committed to solving this case.”

  “Seems I’m creating new ones along the way.”

  “That’s not necessarily a bad thing. What if it is all related? Maybe some of these prostitutes were addicts who got too far behind in payments for their habits?”

  “I saw nothing in the medical examiner’s report that showed any evidence of drug use.”

  Derek frowned. “Yeah, well, there was nothing in the last one about the mark on Ramon’s foot either.”

  “You’re not suspecting Dr. Ray of falsifying the reports are you?”

  “If she did, then it still amounts to almost nothing. Pretty difficult to prove drug use with no blood.” Derek didn’t want to believe Dr. Ray was involved with any of it— he didn’t believe it, but he had to talk to her about it first. And he was praying that Gilchrist hadn’t been the one to expose Kayle for what he was to Sapetti and Meyers. Right now, however, he had other things on his mind.

  He parked the car in the garage under his apartment building and watched Kayle scoot across the bench seat after him, getting out on the driver’s side. For once, Kayle’s poker face was failing. He looked nervous, and Derek worried that he’d assumed too much.

  They took the stairs, though this time Derek didn’t smoke. Instead, he talked to Kayle on the way up.

  “Look, Kayle, I don’t want to be forcing you into anything here. I want you to stay, I think you want to stay, and I think we both agree, that considering the circumstances, supplements are not the best idea. You know how I feel about you, but I can put that aside right now.” Derek glanced at Kayle as he took each step beside him, but Kayle’s gaze was focused on the ground. Well, hell.

  Finally, Kayle said, “I thought you didn’t like Variants.”

  “I don’t particularly. I like you.”

  “What could you possibly like?” Kayle asked sharply, the frustration evident in his voice.

  “Kayle, whatever it is that you think is so unlikable about you is something I’m not seeing, or at least not seeing the same way. I like being with you, and that means riding with you in the car, sitting on the couch…all the time, regardless of what we’re doing… although, I’ll admit, I’d prefer that most of our time was not spent at crime scenes. Shittiest date ever.”

  Kayle didn’t seem to process the joke. “It’s not just sex?”

  Derek sighed. Kayle had a knack for making things difficult for him by being unintentionally obtuse sometimes. “I’ve gotten one blowjob from you, and while I’ll admit, it’s the best I’ve ever gotten in my entire life, it’s hardly enough to make me want to try and be a better person.”

  “What?” Kayle stopped a few steps shy of the fifth-floor landing.

  “You think I am giving up smoking because of my sexual stamina? Well, I mean, I am a little, but I want to be healthy around you and not smell and taste like an ashtray…that is, if I ever get to kiss you again.” Why was this conversation so much easier in his head? “I don’t want this just to be about sex. But I’m not going to assume you feel the same way, and that’s okay for now.”

  Kayle stared at him long enough and hard enough that Derek had to re
-examine his words in case he’d said something that accidentally offended him. He’d said some pretty stupid things, but as far as he could tell, most of them made him look like the fool between them. Rather than stand around and think about it, Derek opened the door to the hallway and headed down to his apartment, sensing Kayle wasn’t too many steps behind. By the time he finished unlocking the door, Kayle was beside him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

  Kayle could feel that there was truth behind Derek’s words, at least, they were words that Derek believed to be true. The idea of Derek wanting to be with him—wanting him for more than just sex— was almost intoxicating. It felt good, it felt like something he’d always longed to hear from another’s lips, and so Kayle doubted it with every negative fiber of his being. Kayle had never experienced love beyond that of family, but he knew the love his parents had for each other was different; unique even among their kinds. If it was so extraordinary and rare, why would he believe it could happen to him?

  “Here,” Derek handed Kayle his cell phone once they got into the apartment. “Call your father. I’ve told you what I want to happen, but it’s not up to me. Just let me know what you decide to do; if you’re going to stay or go back home.”

  Apex was his home, it just never really felt like it. No place had, though Derek’s small, but tidy apartment was the most welcoming. The furniture was worn, but clean. There were little touches of things that weren’t Derek, but that were obviously treasures he held dear; likely items his family had kept that had survived the war. The carnival glass bowl where he dropped his keys, on a half-moon shaped table that was pockmarked and gouged. Derek had a reverence for these imperfect things that some would even call ugly. Kayle wondered if Derek could genuinely feel such a fondness for something as ugly as him.

  “Derek— wait,” Kayle called to him as Derek was heading into his bedroom. Derek stopped, turning his face so Kayle could see him in profile. Kayle lingered a bit more to really notice him now. His nose had the rise of an old break. His lips were nicely formed, but marred by a scar that cut across at a diagonal. Derek was an imperfect human, but oddly, Kayle found his imperfections interesting, beautiful in a strange way.

  “I… before I speak to my father, I’d like… I want to…” Kayle ran a hand through his hair, dismayed by how much it was shaking. “Can we take a shower? Together?” His voice came out sounding almost panicked to his ears while Derek’s tone remained steady.

  “If we do, I’ll want to touch you.”

  “That’s… I’ll get out first. I need to… I need to do something.”

  He could tell that he was confusing Derek, and his own thoughts were bouncing off one another in his brain, but thankfully, Derek was playing along, not forcing him to say anything that would sound foolish coming from his lips.

  “Okay. So maybe more washing than touching, and I’ll take my time drying off,” Derek said, his teeth showing as he grinned. He continued into his bedroom as Kayle headed towards the bathroom across the hall.

  Kayle stripped off his clothing, almost in a daze as his mind ruminated through his next steps and all of the possible outcomes. Before he realized it, he was standing in the bathroom doorway in his boxers, staring into the darkened room. He realized then that he’d left a trail of clothing on the floor. So unlike him.

  Derek chuckled, coming up behind him and putting his hands on Kayle’s hips. Kayle stiffened, ready to use the excuse of gathering his clothing to get away from the intimacy of Derek’s touch, but Derek gently moved him aside. He took his time getting around him, brushing up against him and drawing his lips over Kayle’s cheek in a not-quite kiss. It was something that nobody had ever done before. No one had ever touched him just to touch him; sensation was not necessary for his part in the exchange of a meal. But Derek’s hands on him felt good, and the moist heat of his mouth against his skin remained like a light burn after he’d moved his lips away.

  “Come on,” Derek said softly and guided him towards the shower so he could get the water started. He draped one arm casually around Kayle’s waist, his fingertips resting against his skin under the waistband of his shorts before Derek released him to start the shower.

  When they got under the spray, Kayle shivered, although the water temperature was the same as it normally was. As foreign as this sensation was, Kayle tried to use logic in an attempt to quell it. If he followed through with his revelation and Derek rejected him, he either finished the case as a professional— understanding that sex was just a meal— or he returned to Apex early, reported his findings, and continued his regular service in the Sovereign’s guard. Perhaps then, it was not Derek’s rejection that he feared. He had plans for rejection. Acceptance, on the other hand, was an unknown matter entirely.

  Kayle didn’t bother washing his hair this time. Its length took too long to rinse and far longer to dry. As much as he wanted to linger with Derek in the shower, he had other things he had to attend to.

  “Done already?” Derek asked, sounding almost disappointed as Kayle moved the curtain aside and began to climb out of the cubicle. Derek’s fingers slid lightly across Kayle’s back and he had to fight his instincts to keep from turning around, seeking more of the sensation.

  “Yes. Give me five minutes. I’ll be in your bedroom.” Kayle said the words without really thinking about them. It was as if he’d practiced these lines a thousand times, and maybe he had, but only in his imagination over the course of the last couple of days. He only hoped he was doing the right thing.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

  Kayle hadn’t told him no; hadn’t protested or flinched from his touches, so Derek had kept touching as much as he could. With Marc, he was always worried about showing too much affection, but with Kayle, he really wanted to be sure it was enough. He thought he’d gotten his point across earlier, though he’d done kind of a shit job at it. Since then, however, Kayle had been a little skittish and seemed absent, like his mind was tied up with a million things.

  Derek took his time drying off as he waited for Kayle to be ready for him. He checked himself over in the mirror, finger combing his dark brown hair into some kind of workable shape. Derek didn’t believe he was one of those men who could look at themselves in the mirror and ignore any imperfections. His scars aside, he wasn’t anything special, but then he also didn’t think he was entirely bland. He was never certain if Marc saw him as attractive because they had never formally been anything but partners on the force. They weren’t dating, they were just fucking, and Derek had to admit that sometimes he felt like Marc thought he was doing him a favor, and that if Marc’s wife had declared that she wanted him back, Marc would have trotted back to her like a puppy. But Derek had let loneliness get to him. He wasn’t in his twenties anymore, and sex could only carry one so far. Yet here he was, losing himself emotionally to a creature that was all about sex.

  “Okay to come in now?” Derek called out into the hall.

  “Yes,” Kayle replied.

  Derek decided to keep his towel wrapped around his hips. It helped him to look a little less eager. His pulse was beating along his neck, so loudly that he wasn’t certain if he was hearing the throb from inside or outside of his head. When he entered the room and saw what was waiting for him on his bed, his breath caught, and he had to take a moment and absorb it.

  There was a demon stretched out on his side across Derek’s mattress. His large wings were folded almost demurely, but the four horns jutting from his skull and the patterns of pale stripes and spots over golden skin were anything but subtle. The horns consisted of two long, antelope-like projections from his forehead and two nautilus-spiraled ram’s horns behind his temples. They were all capped with lead-colored cups, likely to keep them from accidentally poking an eye out. Derek had seen Kayle’s fingers, and his toes tapered to long, curving claws as well. Dark eyes watched him nervously beneath silvery lashes and Derek found it ironic that a creature so powerful could be concerned about much of anything. But beneath it all,
it was still Kayle. He’d dropped the glamour, and as Dr. Ray had told him, this was more naked than just being naked. Derek’s mouth was suddenly dry.

  “Wow,” he managed to croak.

  “Wow?” Kayle raised an eyebrow above his inky-black eyes, the red irises glowing dimly.

  “I mean… I wasn’t expecting…” Kayle as an incubus was utterly terrifying and incredibly arousing. There was a trail of white furring from his navel to his cock—not like hair, like actual fur, and the same stuff covered his shins. It made him look more masculine, less like a porcelain doll. “This is you?”

  “Yes. This is me,” Kayle said, beginning to fidget.

  Derek tugged off his towel flinging it aside and stood for a moment, just staring. He couldn’t help himself. He never would have imagined that something—someone—so amazing and exotic would ever be in his life—let alone, his bed. Careful of Kayle’s wings, he crawled across the mattress and put an arm on either side of him, caging him in. “Incredible.”

  Kayle blinked up at him and Derek leaned down, pausing a few centimeters from his mouth. Still the same beautiful lips. “Is it all right if I kiss you?” He could feel the heat of Kayle’s breath on his lips, and watched his vertical pupils expand and contract.

  Kayle offered a small, uneven nod of his head and Derek found his mouth. He hoped that the kiss would not make Kayle too pliant. He wanted him aware of everything; all of the sensations, all of the things he was going to do to him.

  The cave of his mouth was sweet and hot, and the little sound he made as Derek’s tongue swirled against his own shot straight though to his groin. He felt something brush at the back of his legs and realized it was a tail. Chuckling softly against Kayle’s lips, he thought of all of the ways a prehensile appendage could enhance one’s sex-life. With one hand, he reached back and caught it gently in his fist, stroking it lightly. It was smooth and firm, a little like a cock, and Kayle gasped in response, as if that’s just what it was.