Night Train to Venice

by Caroline Valdez

  Alex was ready to spring if necessary. Malcolm was prepared to back him up. Dante straightened and stood tall, eyes straight ahead. Damned if he was going to let these vampires know he was intimidated. He just hoped his knees would hold up under the onslaught of fear. He regretted not having a weapon on him.

  One by one the vamps in the room voted aloud. When the final voter uttered onore, indicating he or she would honor the request, Dante thought he might well pass out from relief. He was thankful he did not. He was also grateful no one had the extra sense that would have alerted him or her to the treasures strapped around his waist.

  The verdict that they would honor his request having been decided, Alex nodded, and before the doge could request the usual ransom—as it was called—he stepped to the pool table. Pulling a small, black velvet bag from his pocket, he loosened the strings and a pile of gold coins slid out. They gleamed and shimmered under the lights, beautiful against the burgundy felt. Alex dropped the dark bag beside them and waited.

  Low growls and murmurs of approval went through the room. Arms folded across his chest, lo Greco nodded to his billiards challenger. The man reached for the coins, returned them to the bag and left the room.

  Dante assumed this was the council treasurer.

  The duke addressed Alex with a new measure of respect. “Your generosity indicates the high regard you hold for this human. Now that we have settled the issue, won’t you join us for the evening? We have wine and cheese for our new friend, the very human Italian, and blood—artificial or human, of course—of any type you and Malcolm prefer.”

  Because he hadn’t fully recovered from his anxiety attack, Dante wanted to leave right then, but realized it would be in poor taste. Plus, he wasn’t sure his two defenders had located a blood source yet and they could use an infusion now—providing it wasn’t poisoned.

  When his friends murmured their appreciation and expressed their desire for artificial blood, Dante saw faces fall. The anticipated entertainment of watching them fang and drink from human volunteers had been foiled.

  Apparently, lo Greco had thought to reassure his guests on the safety of the offering for he motioned to one of the female vamps, and she opened the bottles and poured a small amount from each and drank it without ill effects. He himself opened a new bottle of wine, decanted it and poured a glass for Dante, who swirled it, smelled its bouquet and sipped. He was the only one in the room who could have served as taster. Anything other than blood would have made the vampires ill.

  He sampled the cheeses and drank the delicious red wine, while his friend and his lover downed a thicker, darker liquid from goblets and spoke in low tones with the congenial duke and others. Welcome strength returned to Dante’s knees, but he noticed Alex and Malcolm remained within touching distance of him. He sensed they remained on their guard despite appearing relaxed, and he was convinced Alex detected some threat, however small.

  It was evident the undead believed the cover story that they were here on vacation, and Dante found he enjoyed conversing in Italian about his previous visits to Venezia while growing up. When he told today’s story of the pigeons in St. Mark’s Square and his naïveté, laughter rumbled through the vamps he was sharing his story with.

  “No one ever gets it,” one young vamp said with disdain. “You’d think some human would notice and wonder, wouldn’t you? Instead, they’re all blissfully unaware we exist.”

  “Maybe it’s better that way,” an older voice countered. He turned to Dante. “I’m sure your friends know how dangerous it might be for you if you exposed us.”

  Dante’s throat tightened up and it was hard to speak. “You can’t live with vampires, as I do, and not understand that.” Forcing a pleasant look on his face, he added as he directed his gaze at Alex, “I wouldn’t want to lose an amazing fuck, either.”

  The undead threw his head back and laughed. The conversation turned to mundane things. It turned out there wasn’t much nightlife for humans in Venezia or its islands, but they mentioned interesting things to do after full dark, chuckling because they were interesting things for vampires. Dante found himself chuckling across the way at Alex because they knew a few such things to do in the dark, too.

  Later, he was standing near Alex, hearing a conversation he and Malcolm were having with some of the other vamps, when he felt a cold finger brush his neck from below the ear to across his pulsing carotid. He went stiff with alarm. It was the duke, and his charisma once again pulled Dante in. The scar only added to his handsomeness. He rolled Dante’s wrists over and murmured, “No marks.”

  “I’m not his blood donor.”

  He fingered Dante’s gift from Alex. “Unique. Beautiful. And on your ring finger. Interesting. Do they allow this in the United States?”

  “Do they anywhere in the world?” It was the first time he’d given a thought to wearing the band on his ring finger in public. Feeling unwilling to discuss his relationship with his lover, Dante’s retort was sharper than he’d planned.

  Fortunately, the doge didn’t take offense. He nodded in agreement. “Not that I’m aware. Although there are some places where a man may legally marry a man, are there not? I believe Spain is one and, now, the United States.. While you are in the islands of Venice, however, I suggest you be discreet in public. Men who love men are sometimes attacked here. Sometimes killed quite gruesomely.” A light shudder rippled through his body.

  Dante nodded to indicate he got the message regarding his safety, but a vampire shuddering over gruesome killings struck him as outrageously funny. He’d managed to keep his face serious, but he couldn’t wait to share this with Alex and Malcolm. Lo Greco moved on to speak with some of his followers.

  I’m homosexual, a diamond courier, and the human lover of a gay vampire whose band I wear on my ring finger: all of which puts me at very high risk for death or injury. Considering the threat he believed Alex sensed here, and the high interest in his gorgeous lover by some members of the council, along with their disapproval of Dante despite their vote, he switched his ring to his other hand when no one was aware of it.

  Finally, much to Dante’s relief, Alex decided they could leave. As the doge walked them to the door, he glanced down at Dante’s hands. One corner of his mouth lifted in a knowing smile and he nodded his approval. His whisper reached only Dante’s ears. “You have a really nice ass. Too bad it’s taken. But if you need me—”

  Offended, but fearing to offend, Dante nodded stiffly and moved closer to Alex. He heard the vampires’s muted laugh as he picked up on the movement. Once they were outside and scrambling into the waiting speedboat, Dante felt he no longer carried a heavy stone on his shoulders.

  Adamo returned them to the dock of the hotel he thought they were staying in and bid them goodnight. After they’d entered the lobby, Malcolm went to a window to wait until the boat sped away. He nodded, and they crossed the reception area and exited through a side entrance.

  “For a minute, I was afraid they weren’t going to accept your petition,” Dante said.

  “I don’t understand why they voted,” Malcolm said.

  “Neither do I,” Alex added.

  Dante explained, then he said, “I wanted out of there immediately, but after I got used to the group, I enjoyed myself at times.”

  Alex halted and faced Dante, his emerald eyes almost black with anger. “I would think by this time you would have learned not to trust vampires. They lie. Any one of those undead you were chatting with would slash your throat and drain you on a whim.” He reached for Dante’s right hand, his annoyance deepening. “Your ring is on the wrong hand. Did you see someone you preferred over me tonight?”

  What the fuck is this? For a moment, Dante almost shrank back from Alex, but he’d stood up to a room filled with the undead and he wasn’t going to let Alex intimidate him. “I shifted my ring after lo Greco advised me gays aren’t safe here.”

  Alex was silent as he took in Dante’s words. He looked as if he wanted to either bite
or kiss Dante’s hand, but he released it, apparently remembering not to show their homosexual connection in public. “I saw how they looked at you. Particularly the doge. Perhaps you didn’t realize he’s bisexual.”

  Anger shot through Dante, but he stuffed it down to deal with later. Keeping his voice level, he said, “They thought I was your personal blood source and were hoping you’d share. He was checking me for donor scars when he noticed my ring.”

  Malcolm, turning restlessly to scan the street around them said, “Considering what Dante’s carrying, I suggest we not stand still here any longer. Let’s get moving.”

  Chapter Six

  They’d read about the new steel-and-glass bridge across the Grand Canal, and now they could see it from this vantage point. At night, the lights beneath it colored the glass violet, and against the soft sounds of the lapping of the black water below, it created a mystical image.

  “I wondered if they could build a bridge of glass, but it’s glass and steel with stone in the center and glass steps along the sides,” Malcolm said.

  Alex sighed. “I should not like it because it’s modern in an historic city, but I do. It is very striking and a marvelous feat of engineering.”

  Dante paid little attention to the bridge. His anger with Alex was still hot and he hurried them along to their hotel. Once inside their suite, he went quickly to the room he and Alex shared. The minute Alex stepped in, Dante shut the door and turned on him.

  “You ass,” he said through gritted teeth. He paced, trying to bring his temper under control.

  “What?” Alex’s surprise seemed genuine.

  “Accusing me of fancying someone else!”

  Hands on his hips, Alex said, “I saw how he looked at you. I saw a powerful vampire turning on his charm to draw you into his web. And you let him touch you! I thought you enjoyed it. Then you hid your marriage ring. What else was I to think?”

  Dante let the scorn show on his face. “Thank you. Apparently, I successfully hid the fact his touch scared the shit out of me. I don’t understand how someone as intelligent as you can suddenly be so thickheaded. Get this through that gorgeous skull of yours—I wasn’t interested in him any more than I was in the Count of New Orleans when he came on to me! I was a lone human in a room filled with vampires, and you and Malcolm would have been outnumbered and outgunned had I offended their leader.

  “Maybe he thought his interest might have prompted you to give me to him. Or at least loan me, but seeing your ring squelched that idea right then and there. That’s when he knew what we were to each other and backed off.”

  Alex had misery written all over his usually confident face. Dante softened his voice. “How could you think I’d even lust after another man, much less one of the undead? What angers me the most is that after all we’ve been to each other, you didn’t trust me.”

  Alex said, “The Count of New Orleans had come on to me as well as to you, but was too femme to worry me. This duke is another story—good-looking, charismatic, and powerful enough to be elected head of all the living dead in the more than a hundred isles making up Venice. A simple diamond courier cannot compete. I was jealous.”

  Something clicked inside Dante, making the world turn right again. Emotion filled him to brimming as he stopped pacing and stepped over to Alex.

  Alex captured his mouth, and what began as a gentle kiss built until it was pure passion. Dante didn’t know when it turned to hunger and lust, but with a low rumble that was almost a growl, Alex cupped Dante’s package. “Mine,” he said in a voice hoarse with need.

  “Yes, yours.” Dante rubbed his cock deeper into Alex’s palm and then closed his hands on the Greek’s firm ass. “And this is mine. I want it. Now.”

  “Yes, yes,” Alex said.

  They tore off their clothes and let them fall in a heap. Alex knelt, bending to rest his forearms on the floor. Dante licked his butt cheeks and then spread them and slid his aching, dripping cock into the waiting hole. After he was all the way in and stimulating Alex, he paused.

  “Don’t stop,” Alex said.

  “Why not? I think my attention has wandered to someone else.”

  “Don’t tease me. By the Pala d’Oro, don’t tease.” Alex tried to push back and pull forward, but Dante anchored his hips and restrained him.

  “Who do I love?” Dante demanded, as he closed his hand around Alex’s cool cock.

  “Me.” In the throes of desire, Alex ground it out.

  “Who else?”

  “No one.”

  “Do you trust what I feel for you?”

  “Yes.”

  Only then did Dante relent and allowed himself the pleasure of fucking Alex. In the familiar pattern of being joined as they thrust and pulled back, he sensed their relationship deepen and take on new meaning. He drew the pleasure out until they were on the brink, then he drove in hard against Alex’s backward movements until they exploded.

  After their spasms had run their course, he leaned over and kissed Alex’s shoulder.

  “Jealous, huh? I love that, but love only you, Alexandros Nicolaides. Never forget it.” He smiled as he separated from him. “You must trust me in this.” It was something Alex always said.

  Alex laughed as he got the joke. “I do.”

  “We need to clean up and then I think we need to get out to Malcolm again.”

  §§§§

  Malcolm pretty much figured there’d be fireworks in that room. Dante had been quiet but furious, and when the door closed behind Alex, it didn’t take much imagination to know how things would go. He couldn’t resist a smile. It was about time they quarreled. It wasn’t natural not to disagree with a lover from time to time. And he’d sensed how rattled the elegant Alexandros had been when lo Greco had touched Dante.

  A soft rap sounded at the hallway door. Malcolm froze. The rap came again.

  Pulling a knife from a sheath at his belt, he glided noiselessly to the door. Using the peephole was dangerous because you could be shot if you were standing in front of the door. So, as he had on the train, he stood to one side and rattled the door chain. He waited. No bullets pierced the wood. No one threw himself at it to break the chain and crash into the suite.

  “Who is it?” If he’d had a beating heart, it would have been pounding at Thoroughbred racing speed just now.

  “It’s Nick.”

  “I thought we left you on the train. Are you alone?” This could be the danger they were anticipating. Nick was supposed to be on the train, but he was here. How in Hades had he known where they were staying?

  Nick’s lighthearted laugh sounded in an otherwise empty corridor. “Of course, I’m alone. Think I’d bring someone else to this reunion?”

  Now, Malcolm risked the peephole. Emotion swelled in his chest at the sight of the man standing there. It was true. He was alone.

  Malcolm slid his knife back into its sheath and opened the door. Nick stepped inside. If he’d expected a warm welcome, he didn’t get one. “Why are you here?”

  Nick seemed surprised. “I have a few days off. I won’t return until just before you board the Orient-Express again. I thought I told you.”

  Malcolm said, “No. You didn’t.” He eyed the small bag Nick was carrying. “What’s in the bag?”

  Nick blushed. “Clean shirts, socks, shorts, and shaving equipment. I…I was hoping I could spend some time with you, but I have a hotel room. If it’s not okay, I’ll stay there.”

  “Open it, please.”

  Confusion spread across Nick’s handsome face, but he unzipped the bag, and Malcolm checked the contents. “Good. It’s just as you said.”

  Nick opened his mouth as if to make some kind of retort, but the door to the bedroom Alex and Dante shared swung wide and they walked out.

  Malcolm sensed Alex change as he became hyper-vigilant seeing Nick. He could be volatile in that mood, and Malcolm suddenly felt protective of Nick. Putting an arm around his shoulder, he said, “Nick, I think you’ll remember Alexandro
s Nicolaides from the Vampire Ball when we first met. This is his close friend, Dante Rocco. Alex and Dante, I’d like to formally introduce you to Nick Samson, my valet on the train. Nick’s the one who provided the blood for us.”

  Alex gave a slight bow, as if to thank him, but Malcolm noticed how stiff it was.

  As they shook hands, Dante said, “I thought I saw you leaving the train when we did, but I wasn’t sure. I only saw you from behind and that view was limited because you were wearing a backpack.”

  There was an edge to Alex’s tone. “You did not tell us you’d seen Nick.”

  “At that point, we were stepping onto terra firma ourselves, and I forgot. I wasn’t even sure it was Malcolm’s friend. Have a seat, Nick. I’m going to have some wine. Can I pour some for you?”

  Nick nodded, and Malcolm sat beside him on one of the couches.

  Alex remained standing. As Dante walked past, he stopped him by taking hold of his hand. “Let’s wait on that wine. A few minutes ago, I felt the same ruffling over my skin that alarmed me in the restaurant. Nothing imminent, just a warning to be aware. ” Then he looked down at Nick and asked in an accusatory tone, “How did you know we were staying here?”

  Malcolm felt Nick’s body tighten. “That’s pretty blunt, Alexandros.”

  Nick answered Alex. “I…I saw you take the speedboat. I wanted to be with Malcolm, so I waited until it returned and asked the boatman where he’d dropped you off. Was there something wrong with that?”

  Alex’s suspicions about Nick’s presence seemed to lighten up a little. “No, but it complicates things for us just now. We’ll have to leave here immediately. Someone may have followed you.” To Malcolm and Dante, he said, “Pack your things and wear warm clothing.” Taking the measure of Nick’s size, he added, “Dante, please pack for both of us. Maybe you have another jacket or a heavy sweater you could loan Nick. I don’t think he’ll be warm enough.”

  “Boy, am I in the dark. What’s wrong? Should I leave?” Nick asked.