by Jana Downs
“Don’t move, naughty boy,” Damian commanded now that Ally was a hairsbreadth away from touching. He groaned as he watched the vampire pleasure himself. His heart skipped a beat as the flurry of movement increased to a nearly impossible-to-follow speed. “Tell me you like it,” Damian bit out. The gun put pressure on Ally’s skull, but he didn’t need the encouragement.
“I like it. Gods, I like it.” He moaned as Damian’s cock twitched. Without warning, the sticky liquid that Allasandro was intimately familiar with shot from the purpled tip of Damian’s arousal and splashed Ally’s lips and face. He blinked as the spunk warmed his face. Tentatively, he reached his tongue out and licked some off his lips. In the fantasy, he all but purred at the flavor, but he didn’t really know what the taste would be. Damian cupped his cheek and stared into his eyes. Those blue-black orbs seemed to see to his soul.
“You’re mine now,” the vampire stated, running a finger down the sticky mess on the opposite cheek.
Ally closed his eyes demurely. “Yes.”
* * * *
Back in reality, Allasandro shuddered through an orgasm so intense that his balls ached from drawing up so hard. The washcloth dropped out of his mouth as his spunk shot in long pearly ropes onto the floor of the shower.
“Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God!” The loud litany echoed off the bare walls of Salvatore’s bathroom. He leaned helplessly against the shower stall, breathing heavily. “Shit,” he whispered. The best orgasm of his life had just occurred by fantasizing about his best friend’s father. He was such a freak. The loud banging on the bathroom door took him away from his self-chastisement.
“Stop masturbating in my bathroom, you pervert!” His prince’s amused voice punctuated the loud knocks. “I told you to take a shower, not drown your cock in my bathtub.”
“Yes, my prince!” Allasandro called back, shutting off the water. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his hips. He was never thinking of that vampire again. Never. Never. Never.
He quickly put on the fresh clothes he’d brought for his shift. He’d gotten back from his little trip with Dageus late last night or early this morning, depending on how he looked at it. Of course he would’ve been here earlier had he not left directly from dropping Damian and Dageus off at Damian’s penthouse apartment to go to the club since it was his one night off. He’d arrived back at Alex’s luxurious home just in time for his shift to start with Druas this morning. Alex’s house hosted not only the majority of the Entertainer line of vampires, with the exception of Damian, but a plethora of Jaguar shifters, some other vampires who were guests in Entertainer territory, and now the Ravyns, since Alex and Dageus’s joining. Salvatore had told him to shower when he’d gotten there. He hadn’t planned on getting busy with himself, but his mind had constantly returned to Damian. Not even the sweet honeys at the club had eased the ache that vampire had created. Which was ridiculous because he was off-limits.
“I think Dageus’s gay thing is rubbing off on me,” he admitted as he sat down to his lord’s game table to play chess.
“Gay thing? Rubbing off?” Salvatore’s red irises were practically dancing with amusement. He moved his knight and put his hands back in his lap. Druas stood by the door, pretending not to hear what Allasandro had said. There were no secrets between the Ravyns since it enabled the channel in which they shared energies to stay unblocked so that they could share power, but it was nice that Dru was trying to be polite.
“Yeah. I just had the most homoerotic fantasy I’ve ever had.” He moved his castle. It was his favorite piece. Allasandro patterned his life the same way the piece moved. Backward. Forward. Sideways. Always in a straight line. He was a straightforward sort of guy. It was something the Demon Prince respected about him.
“Fantasies don’t mean anything, Allasandro. They’re just tools to increase pleasure.” Allasandro frowned at Salvatore’s words and directed his concentration on the Prince’s hand as it moved another pawn in direct line of one of his piece’s attack range. Allasandro knew there was a trap there somewhere. He just didn’t know where it was.
“But don’t fantasies mean that you want something? I mean, like a subconscious yearning or something?” He avoided Salvatore’s trap but stumbled into another by moving an adjacent piece. Salvatore took his queen.
“Check,” Salvatore murmured, referring to the game. “Well, it seems like you’ve already made up your mind on the subject. I just find it hard to believe that you go from seducing hordes of women to wanting men over one fantasy you had in my bath chambers.” He paused, something awful occurring to him. “Oh god, it wasn’t about one of us was it?” he asked, horrified.
Allasandro burst out laughing. “Hell no! You’re all family, for gods’ sake!” Big guffaws of laughter filled the room. Druas even joined in. They sat there and laughed until tears ran down their collective faces.
Salvatore wiped his eyes. “Wow. I needed that. Now, back to your fantasy. Was it anyone we know?”
The laughter died off Allasandro’s face. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Both Druas and Salvatore blinked. That was not like the carefree man that they all knew. Normally, he would make a joke out of the seriousness of any situation or something equally amusing. He looked downright solemn. Druas opened his mouth to demand an explanation, but Salvatore held up his hand for silence. He wasn’t ready.
“Very well,” Salvatore said. He winked at his surfer-blond Ravyn. “Checkmate.”
Chapter Three
Damian stared at the well-muscled warrior in front of him, searching for a hint of his son beneath the hardened exterior. Kalel, no, his name was Dageus now. Dageus was not the boy Damian had known six years previously. He’d truly become one of those elemental beings from the parallel universe of Demontia known as demons.
“You’re looking at me strangely.” The warrior’s voice was soft, unsure of his welcome. It was so at odds with the tough exterior. He looked like he was stronger than Alex now.
Damian’s office did not have the homey feeling of a living room, but Damian hadn’t really had a suitable alternative. The cool gray walls and ultramodern furniture made the whole space look sterile and professional. Not exactly the room he wanted to have a heart-to-heart with his missing child after six years, but Damian wasn’t ready to go into the softer part of the house yet. The bedrooms were too close to the living room and he didn’t want to explain the shrine he’d made to his son in that space. Not until he knew this man’s heart.
Like most grieving parents, he’d sectioned off a part of his penthouse just to Kal’s memory. Kal’s bedroom was untouched, everything exactly as he had left it. Vampire businessman extraordinaire he may be, but Damian wasn’t willing to chance this new Kalel saying something unkind about the way he’d allowed the house to turn into a tomb. It hurt too much to think about.
“You look different. When you were eighteen, you looked more like a child, but now…you’re all man,” Damian replied to Kal’s earlier words, sipping his teacup of Earl Grey. He was British, and he didn’t care how long he lived around the whole lot of French and Italian vampires, he wasn’t giving up his tea. The mere thought of coffee made him want to sniff in disdain.
“You were supposed to come home weeks ago.” Kal’s green-and-gold eyes were filled with deep longing, but Damian didn’t know for what. “I wanted to see you.”
“I was busy doing some work and arranging a lineup of acts for the vampire Council’s entertainment in France this winter,” he lied smoothly. He wasn’t lying about the work he’d done. He was just lying about the reason he’d stayed away. He’d been hiding in New York.
At first, Kalel’s return had made him want to race to his adopted son’s side, but there had been so much drama surrounding him and Alex the first few days he’d been back in this realm, and then Damian’s insecurities had bubbled to the surface. What if Kal blamed him for the kidnapping? What if he didn’t care about Damian anymore? What if he’d only returned to be w
ith Alex and still wanted Damian out of his life? When Maddy, his and Alex’s Maker, had suggested that he go to New York until things were settled and do some much-needed field work there, he’d jumped at the opportunity.
“It was very important work,” Damian added at the stunned look on Kal’s face. The warrior looked like he’d been slapped.
“More important than me?” That softly spoken question was Damian’s undoing. The words were choked. The tears that shimmered in his adopted son’s eyes broke his heart.
He set his cup down and stood, reaching for his son across the small glass coffee table that separated them. He pulled him into the circle of his arms and into the first hug they’d shared in six years.
“Nothing is more important than you.” Damian’s deep voice cracked, and he was forced to clear it. He kissed Kal’s forehead as his son squeezed him so tightly that his sides groaned from the pressure. His son had definitely grown strong in their time apart.
They stayed that way for countless minutes, comforting and getting comforted from the presence of the other. After another moment they gradually eased their grips. Both had tears in their eyes when they at last pulled apart. Damian lightly stroked Kal’s chocolate and auburn hair.
“I’ve missed you, father,” Kal whispered.
“Missed you, too, son,” Damian replied, tightly. He pulled back fully. “Now, let me look at the warrior you’ve become.”
“I’m still dancing,” Kal corrected. “I’m a dancer and a warrior.”
And he was. The first performance of Alex’s new play with Kal in the role of Amadeo had been a smash hit, and it was only the second month of performances. Damian had always known he had a raw talent for the art. Alex had honed that raw talent to a performance of movement that was almost an erotic religious experience. Speaking of Alex…
“Are you still planning on being with my cradle-robbing brother?” he asked before he could stop himself.
Kal’s eyes sparkled with fear. They weren’t on safe subjects anymore. “Yes, Father. We’re wed as vampires do. But I’d hoped… I’d hoped that we could have a wedding from my demon culture, too.”
Damian nodded curtly. “That would be appropriate.”
“I want your blessing, Father. I want you to stand beside me when I marry him.”
Damian’s eyes met his son’s. The look he found there was not one of a fresh-faced eighteen year old asking his permission. There would be no compromise. If Damian wanted a relationship with Kalel, this was nonnegotiable.
“You have my blessing, Kal. I will stand beside you wherever you wish.” He made the declaration easily. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, risk losing his son again. Even if that meant he had to put up with his brother claiming his ward as his own. Kalel favored him with a brilliant smile. It was then he knew he’d made the right decision.
* * * *
They laughed the night away. It wasn’t until dawn was kissing the sky outside that they realized how much time had actually passed. It was good getting to know one another again.
“My brothers are absolutely insane. I love them all so much. I can’t wait for you to meet the entire crew and… Oh! Prince Salvatore is going to be thrilled to meet you! He loves all your performances. He actually has them all on disc. How he got them into Demontia is anyone’s guess. I mean, they don’t exactly ship UPS to the other universe do they?” Kal gushed happily. He’d long since left his uncomfortable chair for the plush carpet of the floor. Damian contemplated moving them to the other living room, but he didn’t want to interrupt their camaraderie for even a second.
“Those are probably the last ones I did. I haven’t been performing much lately. The business end of things has taken priority for me.” Damian reached out and messed Kal’s hair playfully.
Kal frowned. “What do you mean you’re not performing? But Damian, you love it!”
“Alex stopped dancing for the longest time when you were taken,” Damian reminded gently. Kal shook his head.
“But he was heartbroken, and being on stage reminded him of me, but even he couldn’t deny his passion of the stage forever.” He paused. “Why did you stop?”
Damian gave a shrug that meant everything and nothing at once. “I lost my passion for my art, little one,” he offered, using Kal’s childhood nickname. “Santiago can’t even stand to hear me anymore. He says my voice has no feeling.”
By the time he’d finished, Kal’s eyes were a curious shade of spun gold with only a few flicks of green. He seemed distressed. Passion was everything to the Entertainer line of vampires, and to know that Damian had lost his… The older vampire would have to reassure the younger man somehow to get him to let the subject drop. Kal glanced in his direction before concentrating awfully hard on his feet. He seemed to reach some kind of decision as he returned his gaze to the vampire. “Father?” he questioned. Damian regarded him wearily, noting his innocent expression.
“What is it, son?”
“You need a boyfriend.”
Chapter Four
Dageus came slinking into the weight room half an hour late. He looked beat.
“’Bout damn time, Dageus,” Tony barked. The leader of the Ravyns was not known for his tolerance of tardiness. Dageus was just lucky that he hadn’t been late for guard duty instead of their morning workout. “You,”—Tony’s eyes turned on Allasandro—“keep up the reps.”
Allasandro obediently went back to his task. He pushed the bench press bar up, his biceps straining as he hefted the monstrous amount of weight Tony had instructed them to do reps with. Tony was a hell of a leader. He made sure that he kept the warriors in the peak of physical fitness. Salvatore needed all the advantage he could get against his evil cousin Desmond and his would-be assassins.
“Dageus, take over spotting Ally-cat from Germany. Ger, come over here and spot me while I do some squats,” Tony ordered. He shot a glance over at Salvatore, who was waiting in the corridor outside, reading his latest paperback novel he’d ordered off of Amazon. Two tall Jaguar shifter guards that Alex assigned to look after him while he was in the house and out of the Ravyns immediate care flanked either side of him. Tony still didn’t trust him to be out of their sight though.
“How’s it goin’, my man?” Allasandro grunted out as he hefted the weight back toward the ceiling. It was his third set of eight.
“Good. Spent the night with my father,” Dageus said, smiling.
“Doesn’t look like you got any sleep,” Ally noted, sweat dripping down his temples. He’d been here earlier than they’d been assigned, working out, and now he was a sweaty mess.
“Didn’t. We talked all night. I’m going to sleep so good tonight…” He sounded like he really wanted to sleep then, but both he and Ally knew it wasn’t going to happen. He was on guard duty from noon until he left for dance practice at six. He and Ally now shared the same rotation. Previously Tony hadn’t let them have the same schedule because they were best friends and tended to distract one another, but since Dageus had rejoined Alex’s dance troupe, he had to have the night shift off.
“That’s good.” Ally didn’t know what else to say. Is this the part where I say, “Hey, Dageus, you know your dad? Totally hot. No, I mean it. I want to lick him like an ice cream cone. I know I gave you a hard time for being into dudes and not telling anyone but this is different. I just want to fuck him. It’s not like I’m in love with the guy.” He mentally rolled his eyes. Yeah, that’d go over really well. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about Damian coming to practice at the theater tonight. From what Alex said, the guy wasn’t there that often.
“I’m worried about Damian though. He’s lost his passion for entertainment, and that doesn’t bode well,” Dageus said as they switched positions so he could work the bench press. Ally watched his brother’s pecs and biceps flex as he hefted the bar up and down.
“Sometimes you just have to go through a dry spell. Doesn’t mean he’s lost it, just means he doesn’t have any inspiration,” Allasandro offer
ed as he spotted the guy.
“You don’t understand,” Dageus said, bestowing a look of frustration on Allasandro. “When a vampire loses his passion for his specialization, that is, what his power manifests as, he’s close to the end. They become less and less human until they decide to leave this world. I’m afraid Damian is reaching that point, and he’s not even seven hundred years old yet!”
Ally frowned, considering. “How do vampires die anyway? I know you can cut off their head to kill them, but that’s not exactly self-inflicted.”
“When they’re ready, they open a portal sort of like the kind that Ravyns use when we travel between worlds, except when vampires travel, it’s a one-way trip. Once they step through to the other side, they cease to exist on this plane. Vampires call it going to the Outer Fade.”
Allasandro’s heart fluttered nervously at the suggestion. He didn’t want his recent fantasy to disappear before he figured out how he felt about it. “Well, what are you going to do about it?” he asked. Dageus shrugged.
“I’ll talk to Santiago tonight and see if I can’t get him to agree to host a special performance featuring Damian. He’s head of the line, so if anyone can make him perform, it’ll be him.”
“Speaking of performances, am I coming with you to the theater tonight? I know Ger goes with you sometimes, but I thought it was my turn.” Tony still insisted that the Ravyns traveled in pairs, and, because Dageus was the one most often from home, he was the one typically in need of an escort.
Dageus nodded. “Yeah. You can help me do something else at the theater.”
“What’s that?”
The Ravyn’s green-and-gold eyes sparkled with mischief. “I want you to help me scope out some eligible male side beef while I practice.”