Reluctant Partnerships

by Ariel Tachna

  Chapter 8

  Orlando refused Raymond’s offer to accompany him home, not wanting to waste time with the small talk that would surely follow if Raymond went with him. Raymond would want to see the work they had done on the house, to hear about their plans, and normally Orlando would be happy to show him. He was incredibly proud of the work he and Alain were doing on their home and of the plans they were making to work as foster parents to children orphaned or displaced by the war.

  Any other day, Orlando would have delighted in showing Raymond the improvements they had made to the tumble-down farmhouse they had purchased, but not today. Today he needed his lover, and that meant refusing Raymond’s offer.

  “I’ll be fine,” Orlando promised. “I’ve done enough displacements that I don’t need an escort. Cast the spell.”

  Raymond did not looked convinced, but he did not argue either, casting the displacement spell and sending Orlando to the courtyard of his home. Within seconds, the door opened and Alain came out, crossing to where Orlando stood and enfolding him in his arms. “I should have gone with you,” Alain said.

  “She wouldn’t have been comfortable with that,” Orlando said, his voice muffled by Alain’s neck as he clung to his lover. “She was barely comfortable talking to me, and you didn’t need to hear everything Thurloe did to me.”

  “I could have sat in Angelique’s office,” Alain said. “I would have been there when you finished.”

  “Raymond was already there when I got done talking to Pascale,” Orlando said. “He sent me straight home, and we have privacy here. At Sang Froid, there are always people around.”

  “Do we need privacy?” Alain asked, his voice lightly teasing.

  “We do,” Orlando said, though he was sure Alain could already feel his need. “I need the reminder that you love me.”

  The words had barely left his mouth before Orlando felt a surge of love and desire through their bond, Alain’s emotions written on Orlando’s mind as clearly as his own. In silence, Alain led Orlando inside, closing and locking the door behind them, shutting out the rest of the world. For the next few hours, no one mattered but Orlando. Alain had fought too hard to bring his lover peace not to do everything in his power to restore Orlando’s sense of well-being now.

  “Do you trust me?” Alain asked, pushing aside the dark hair to nuzzle Orlando’s neck.

  “Yes,” Orlando gasped, the feeling of Alain’s lips on his neck proof of his words. The memory of Thurloe biting him had haunted him for so long that any reminder of that moment had been enough to kill his ardor until he finally broke the chains of that nightmare several months after he and Alain had made their Aveu de Sang.

  “Then come upstairs to our room with me and let me make love to you,” Alain requested. “Let me make you feel good again.”

  Orlando wanted to tell Alain that was not necessary, that being there in his wizard’s arms was all it took to make him feel good, but Alain’s lips closed over his, kissing him with such fervor that Orlando did not want to pull away even long enough to answer. Instead he backed toward the steps, drawing Alain with him, soft, needy sounds escaping as desire mounted between them, resonating through their bond in the ultimate feedback loop that more than once had left them both insensate by the time they finished making love.

  He suspected he would need that tonight.

  They stumbled up the steps to the master suite—or what would eventually be the master suite—on the second floor. At the moment, it was more of an open loft than a suite, but their bed graced the center of the room, and that was all that mattered for now. Orlando tugged at Alain’s clothing, but Alain stilled his hands. “Trust me,” he said again. “I know what you need.”

  “I need you,” Orlando said.

  “And you’ll have me,” Alain promised. “But you think you want to rush, and that isn’t what you need.”

  “It isn’t?” Orlando asked archly, but Alain was right. He needed a long, drawn-out session to restore his balance.

  “No, it isn’t,” Alain said, pulling the sweater over Orlando’s head and tossing it in the general direction of the laundry hamper. “You’re going to lie down on our new bed and let me make love to you properly.”

  “Still mostly dressed?” Orlando teased, relaxing into their banter. He glanced toward the antique bed they had found in a shop outside of Créancey and marveled again at their luck. The heavy wooden frame with its partial canopy looked out of place in the unfinished space that would be their bedroom, but the dark, carved wood would go perfectly with their plans for the suite when it was finished. He looked forward to a lifetime of sleeping in it with Alain on the mattress next to him.

  “Some people have no patience,” Alain huffed, softening the words with a tender kiss. He unbuttoned Orlando’s shirt, sliding it off his shoulders and sending it to join the sweater on the floor. Instead of finishing the process of divesting his lover, he lingered over the smooth skin of Orlando’s chest, savoring every inch of his lover’s body. He and Orlando had made love in many different ways—slow, fast, tender, frantic, athletic, languid—and Alain treasured each one for the proof of their devotion to one another, but today only one way would do: as slow and tender as possible.

  Orlando’s back arched into the loving caress as Alain licked and sucked at his skin. Memories of Thurloe’s abuse flitted through his mind, called up by his conversation with Pascale, but here with this man, they had no power to hurt him. The Aveu de Sang might not control Alain’s actions the way it controlled Orlando’s, but Orlando did not need that assurance to feel safe with Alain. He tasted his lover’s heart each time he fed: the wizard had no cruelty in his soul.

  Alain’s lips closed over one dark nipple, sucking on it lightly, and all thought of anyone but his lover fled. He stroked his fingers through Alain’s short hair, loving the texture of the soft strands against his skin. He wanted to guide Alain’s head to the other side of his chest, but he recognized his lover’s mood through their bond. Alain’s determination was clear as day in his mind, so Orlando let it go. Alain had never been a selfish lover. Orlando would get what he wanted eventually. He simply had to wait long enough, a challenge in itself when Alain set out to drive him out of his mind with pleasure.

  “Lie down,” Alain urged, pulling back to strip his own shirt and sweater over his head. “We’ll be more comfortable in bed.”

  Orlando did as Alain suggested, smiling as Alain turned on the portable heater. Orlando would not feel the chill of the room, but Alain did not have a vampire’s protection against the elements. Usually, they snuggled together under the covers. If Alain wanted the heater, it meant he wanted the freedom to look as well as touch, the duvet pushed to the bottom of the bed so nothing interfered with his ability to love Orlando thoroughly.

  A quick spell followed, warming the sheets. Alain could not cast a spell directly on Orlando, one of the downsides of the partnerships, but his magic could work on Orlando indirectly, like in warming the bedding. “Pants on or off?” Orlando asked as he toed off his shoes and sat on the edge of the bed.

  “Leave them on,” Alain replied. “I want the pleasure of peeling them off of you later.”

  Orlando smiled indulgently and lay down on the bed, waiting for Alain to join him.

  A few moments later—and several articles of clothing fewer—Alain climbed onto the bed next to him. Orlando could not resist, reaching out to stroke through the tangle of hair on Alain’s chest, following it down over a tight stomach to the nest of hair at his groin. Alain groaned, but to Orlando’s surprise, he let the vampire touch as he pleased. Usually when Alain took control as he had today, he batted Orlando’s hand away whenever Orlando did anything that might speed up the proceedings or challenge Alain’s control of the situation.

  As much as Orlando enjoyed teasing Alain, as much as he sometimes needed to be the one in charge of their lovemaking, today he needed the oblivion that could only come from giving himself totally into his lover’s hands. So after
a few strokes of Alain’s erection, he let his hand fall to his lover’s thigh, maintaining the connection but returning control to Alain.

  “Ça va, angel?” Alain asked, leaning down to kiss Orlando softly.

  Orlando did not reply in words, his mouth opening beneath the kiss as he sucked lightly on Alain’s tongue. He wrapped his arms around Alain’s shoulders, drawing the wizard’s heavier frame down on top of him. Once he would have panicked at being pinned to the bed, but beneath Alain’s body, he felt shielded rather than smothered, Alain’s broad back a barrier between him and the rest of the world. Alain shifted, settling more comfortably atop Orlando. The hair on his chest rasped against Orlando’s nipples, and he gasped into the kiss.

  Alain lifted his head and grinned down at his lover. “Did you like that?” he teased, rubbing their torsos together again.

  “Yes,” Orlando hissed. “So much.”

  “Then I should do it again,” Alain said, moving back and forth so slowly Orlando swore he could feel each individual hair as it tantalized his nipples. They tingled, adding to the growing ache in his loins. He wrapped his legs around Alain’s hips, hoping the contact of cloth with skin would remind Alain he was still half dressed. Orlando had no real desire to rush their lovemaking, but he did want to get rid of the clothing between them.

  Alain lifted off Orlando, wringing a moan of protest from him until he felt Alain’s hands on his chest again. Strong fingers massaged the muscles, hard palms rubbing over his nipples with each motion, leaving Orlando gasping at the stimulation. He closed his eyes, the better to absorb all the delicious sensations. “Please,” he whispered.

  “Please what?” Alain asked, his hands pausing.

  “Kiss me.”

  “Here?” Alain asked, swiping one thumb across Orlando’s lower lip. “Or here?” His other thumb slid over Orlando’s nipple.

  “Either,” Orlando moaned. “Both.”

  Alain chuckled. “Greedy,” he said as he bent to suck on Orlando’s lower lip, leaving it plump and glistening, a temptation nearly too great to ignore. He loved kissing Orlando, as much or more as he loved everything else they did together, but Orlando needed more than that today. He kissed his way down Orlando’s neck to his collarbone and then to his chest. Settling his weight against Orlando and framing his lover’s chest with his arms, he lowered his head to lick and suck and do everything he could to make Orlando feel good.

  Orlando moaned softly as he undulated on the bed, the hot pressure of Alain’s mouth driving all thought from his mind. He stretched his arms over his head to grasp the ornate curves of the headboard, his back arching into Alain’s caress. Alain’s fingers found his other nipple, tweaking the little bud to full tautness. Orlando’s head tossed on the pillow as need swamped him. He pushed the feeling out through the bond, hoping it would encourage Alain to hurry, but all it did was elicit a return wave of desire and a slight increase in the intensity of the caresses.

  “I love you,” Alain said, lifting his head to meet Orlando’s darkened gaze.

  Orlando had not doubted that since the first time Alain said it, so the intensity of the declaration struck him as odd. “I love you too.”

  Alain shook his head, not in denial of Orlando’s words, but because the vampire did not understand the reason behind Alain’s sudden need to say them. He reached for the button on Orlando’s pants, wanting skin on skin now. “You went to Paris today, knowing what talking to the new vampire would do to you. You opened up and shared your own pain with her in an attempt to make her feel better about her situation. You are the bravest, strongest person I know.”

  He pulled Orlando’s slacks and underwear free, leaving him as naked as Alain was, and covered his lover fully with his body. “I keep thinking I can’t possibly love you more than I already do, and then you go and do something like this, and I fall in love with you all over again.”

  “All I did was talk to her,” Orlando protested.

  “No, you shared a part of yourself with her and gave her hope she might have a future after all,” Alain disagreed.

  “How do you know? You weren’t even there.”

  “Because I know you,” Alain insisted. “You agreed to talk to her, which means you did everything you could to help, even if that cost you.”

  “He can’t hurt me anymore,” Orlando said. “Jean destroyed him a century ago, and not even the memories can stand up to being loved by you.”

  “Then let me love you so well you’ll never have a bad memory again.”

  It was exactly what Orlando needed.

  “As long as you don’t make me wait too long,” Orlando agreed.

  “I won’t,” Alain promised. He would draw this out as long as he could, but he would not make Orlando wait for it. As long as he kept himself under control, he could bring Orlando to release multiple times, the magic of the Aveu de Sang feeding the desire between them far beyond normal physical limits. As long as one of them stayed aroused, the other would respond and keep responding. Alain intended for this to be one of those times.

  Pushing back onto his knees, he nuzzled Orlando’s iliac crease, inhaling the scent of musk and man. Orlando moaned above him, spreading his legs to give Alain access to his body.

  Alain took his time, rubbing his face over Orlando’s skin, but the need he could feel through their bond was too strong to ignore for long. He turned his head, licking his way up the long, slender shaft to the weeping tip. The flavor was as complex as the man, and Alain lingered there, sucking lightly as Orlando twisted and groaned his pleasure. Eventually, though, he wanted more. His lips drifted down Orlando’s cock, his tongue cradling it as he relaxed his throat and took his lover deeper.

  Orlando began to move beneath him in time with his bobbing head, the little noises he made driving Alain’s need. He fondled Orlando’s sac, working it in time with his mouth, hoping to wrest the first climax of the afternoon from his lover’s body.

  Desire bubbled up in Orlando’s balls, fed by Alain’s mouth and hands but also by Alain’s palpable desire to feel Orlando come undone beneath him. Another time, perhaps, Orlando would have held back, but he needed the reaffirmation of Alain’s love and their bond too much to delay now. When the head of his cock hit the back of Alain’s throat and the wizard swallowed around him, Orlando let go, his climax flowing out of him in long, powerful waves.

  Alain kept sucking, drawing out Orlando’s orgasm as long as he could. When his lover lay replete beneath him finally, he urged Orlando to roll onto his stomach. Even now, he felt the twinge of anxiety, swiftly smothered, that passed through his vampire at the position. “Nothing you don’t want,” Alain murmured, kissing the curve of Orlando’s arse.

  Orlando knew that, but hearing the words eased his instinctive reaction nonetheless. Thurloe had always taken him from behind, the impersonal position adding to the sense of violation, but Alain would never violate Orlando’s trust. He had proven it so many times that Orlando no longer questioned it. Whatever happened next, it would be as tender and loving and wonderful as everything else Alain did to Orlando’s body.

  “I trust you,” Orlando said, relaxing onto the bed and giving his body over to Alain as fully as he had given his heart.

  Alain breathed a sigh of relief. Orlando had always been the more dominant of the two of them, the combination of his vampire instincts and his past driving him to top most of the time, even now. Not that he ever refused if Alain asked to switch roles, but Alain asked only rarely. He nuzzled the skin of Orlando’s buttocks, licking over them lightly in preparation for more. He did not think Orlando would refuse him, but this would be the first time he had asked to love Orlando this way, and anything that pushed Orlando’s boundaries was always a cause of hesitation. That was why, nearly two years into their relationship, he had still never rimmed his lover.

  He could feel Orlando’s desire reawakening in response to his own, but his vampire had not yet reached the point of true need, and Alain wanted that before he tried somethin
g new. Kissing his way up Orlando’s back, he spooned his lover against him, nuzzling the back of his neck and rolling him onto his side so he could continue the amorous assault.

  The change in position settled Orlando’s nerves. He loved the feeling of Alain wrapped around him from behind, although they slept with him behind Alain as often as the other way around. Lying as they were, he could feel Alain’s erection nudging his backside, but that held no fear for him now. On the contrary, the thought of feeling the hard shaft inside him stirred his desire again. Determined to hurry Alain along, he rubbed his hips against Alain, groaning when Alain’s cock slotted its way into his crease, riding against his entrance. “Now,” he pleaded.