by Deja Black
“I can be strong enough for the both of us. Rest with me.” Dan tightened his arms around warm skin, and together they did.
DAN WAS asleep, but he felt eyes on him, felt himself being watched. He could see nothing, but he could hear rustling, slithering, like the movement of a heavy body crawling toward him, little creatures scurrying to avoid its path.
“Daniel,” a voice whispered. Bitter. Cold. “I will have you.”
The words were singsong and no less frightening than before, but Dan was stronger now. He wasn’t weak anymore. Slowly, he was beginning to learn how much power he possessed, had always possessed. He was more, and in his arms, he held the world, and he wouldn’t let him go, no matter what.
“The watcher will not always be there.”
“No, he won’t, but I will, you fucker. I will,” Dan released into the darkness.
DAN AWOKE, his muscles sore and tender from sleeping on little more than a couch. Sure it was big—plush, even—but it wasn’t a bed, and Aiden wasn’t a lightweight by any means. Dan slid his fingers down said heavyweight’s torso, reaching for his cock. Wrapping his hand around it, he thumbed over the slit again and again, enjoying the pleasurable grunts the man gave.
“Aiden?”
An aroused Aiden responded, “Yes, Daniel.”
“I’ve been thinking about your body a lot.”
“Oh, you have, have you? And what have you been thinking?” Arms, legs, hips moved sensually against each other.
“I’ve been thinking about your melons and how I want a taste. May I taste you, Aiden?”
“We still have a lot to talk about.”
“Yeah, we’ll talk. Right now, I want to enjoy you. Stand up, baby.”
“Just like that?”
“Yeah, just like that. I’m trying out that owning you part. When you’re ready, you can explain the claiming you, mating you part. Right now I want to devour you. Don’t make me repeat myself.”
Aiden’s laugh was soft.
“What happened to the almost-shy, had-to-be-protected-by-wolves Daniel?”
“He got chased by zombies at a club and decided he had enough of the world and its creatures fucking with him. And those wolves are my family, dumbass. We’ll be adding that to our list of topics.” Dan slapped his butt, the flame of it leaving blushing stripes across Aiden’s skin, and Aiden rocked into the strike, his mewls like music to Dan’s ears. “Yeah, thought so. Up, honey. Turn around.”
Dan’s tone had not invited questioning. Fighting back had turned him on, made him wake up thirsty to sample more of Aiden. Maybe he had a little of his father in him after all. Something had to rub off.
Aiden climbed from the seat and rose to his full height. The vulnerability that shone in his eyes did not match the confident expression on his face. Had it been there all along? Had Dan mistaken it for anger? Aiden had expected him to be stronger long ago, and Dan had failed him. He wouldn’t fail him again.
“Turn around for me.” Dan waited. “Bring your body back and spread your legs. Feed me your ass.” He had been anticipating this. He had nearly salivated over the thought of it, especially when Aiden had swayed back and forth while preparing breakfast. Finally, this was a moment where real life was so much better than what he could imagine.
“Oh, Daniel. Right there. Gods. Uhm.” Sounds erupted from Aiden as he rocked himself against Dan’s lips.
It was just what Dan thought it would be—heavenly. Aiden’s Santa Fe omelet had nothing on his ass. Dan dipped his tongue into the salty divide, savoring his cinnamon spice. Cinnamon was fast becoming his favorite flavor. He could see himself sprinkling it everywhere just so he could simulate Aiden’s taste anywhere he wanted. Oh, yeah. That whimper almost made up for the nightmare at Play. He reached between Aiden’s legs and gave those large hanging balls a squeeze, gripping them tighter and tighter.
“Damn, Daniel. I can’t—I’m going—Aarrgh.”
The growls made him proud, and Aiden’s cries would make him blow any minute. Kneading his cock, Dan gave him one good pull and twist, and shoved his face all the way in, savoring the scent of Aiden, reveling in the soft cries he wrung from his body.
Aiden’s violent tremble while he exploded triggered Dan’s own climax roiling within, and he screamed his joy, too caught up in the moment to regret the wetness inside his pants, too eager to have more of Aiden Kavanagh.
WHEN THE two moved to Aiden’s bedroom, the California king had more than enough space for the two men, but Dan didn’t want the space. He wanted to be near Aiden, in Aiden. Not yet, though. He was good for the moment. Yeah, earlier had been pretty nice.
“Would you like me to return the favor, Daniel,” Aiden asked. He apparently liked being held, because he was in Dan’s arms again, with Dan’s fingers fluttering up and down his skin, his mouth tasting, teeth nipping.
“No. I want to continue holding you.” A kiss on Aiden’s shoulder. “What’s wrong with this? Not good enough for you?” Another kiss, followed by a sweet nip.
“I’m not saying that.” Oh, the breathlessness in Aiden’s voice was making him ache. “I just. I don’t usually just lie here. It may be corny, but I’m the watcher. I take care of others.”
And that right there made just lying with him so much more.
“I know, Aiden. You take care of mankind, you work at the hospital, and you police your brothers. Who takes care of you? Who watches out for you, Aiden?” Dan figured that in Aiden’s centuries of living, no one had been there to take care of him. He would. His father’s words made sense now. He would be the leader, be the champion for Aiden. He would watch over him, keep him safe so the battle he fought was no longer one he fought alone.
“No one ever has, Daniel.” The grief in those words The grief in those words tore at Dan’s soul.
“I will. I am your coimeádaí, Aiden. I will watch over you.” Dan kissed him on the surprised O of his lips, enjoying the sight of the big and mighty Aiden made speechless, if only for a moment. Licking his lips, he savored the cinnamon taste of his lover.
CHAPTER 16
“LET’S GO for a ride on that bike of yours. Do you have a helmet?” Dan asked while they lay together watching the third season of Phineas and Ferb. He was grateful for Netflix and Amazon. He could watch his show again and again, all day if he wanted. The sad thing was that he even owned the box sets Conner had teased him about.
“Anything to get away from this obsession of yours. My guess is that you have posters somewhere too. As for the bike, you do realize you would have to ride in the, uhm, bitch seat?”
“It’s sad that you don’t know genius when you see it. It’s complete satire, the world’s problems and stereotypes challenged in twenty-two minutes. I’ve had entire lessons devoted to a few of their episodes.” Aiden’s hesitation was cute, but if this sandman was going to be his, he would have to at least be aware of his likes and dislikes. Phineas and Ferb, with its zany characters and outlandish inventions, was definitely one of his likes. Besides, Aiden saw his dreams anyway, had walked through many of them. He had to know.
“Pity for your students.” Aiden sighed as he wrapped himself in a tight pair of dark denim pants, biker boots, and a navy blue Henley. As for his hair, he let that hang free. For Dan’s part, he threw on a comfortable graphic tee, one of his Jimi Hendrix shirts, a pair of black cargoes, and sneakers. He didn’t own any biker boots, but to get closer to Aiden, he would be investing in a pair soon. The helmet pictured a hand with bits of sand lifting to pursed lips. Dan shivered.
Tossing his keys in his hand, Aiden walked out the door of his home, Dan following close behind.
“Interesting art.”
“The helmet? It’s inspired by Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. Love that guy. He gets it. What about your wolves? I mean, your family.”
Dan smiled at Aiden’s correction. They would still need to talk about Aiden’s issue with Dan’s pack, but at least they were making progress if he felt the need to correct himself. “They
won’t be far behind, but they will still be there.”
“All right, then. Where to?”
After a quick ride on Gene Snyder Highway, then a sprint down Route 264 to Indiana, Dan and Aiden found themselves on a bench overlooking the waterfront. For a while they just enjoyed the ice cream from a nearby ice cream parlor. Dan had a thing for cinnamon now—no guesses why—so he chose the snickerdoodle and white chocolate, while Aiden enjoyed his plain vanilla.
“Vanilla?” Dan questioned.
An eyebrow lifted, Aiden responded, “Yeah, so?”
“Vanilla. There’s nothing vanilla about you.”
“So maybe that’s why I wanted it.” Aiden turned back to the water.
They were both quiet for a moment, just sharing without words, and it was nice. Dan could get used to it. “Tell me something. My father knows about you, has known about you for a while. I’m guessing since he met you at the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“So why not tell me, clue me in on what was happening?”
“I can’t answer for your father, Daniel. I can suspect he wanted the choice to be yours.”
“My choice?”
Aiden sighed and turned to completely face Dan. “Daniel, when you claim me, mate me, I will become your family.” He groaned. “This is hard for me. I look at the way you love Conner, Jeremiah, Shelly, and I don’t want you to feel you have to choose, but my life, this time that I am experiencing, is almost at a close. Without a mate, my time draws to an end. It could be a hundred more years. It could very well be a few months, but the light in me is dimming.” As if to emphasize the point, Aiden flickered yet again. “With your added soul, your sharing, you and I may never end. I can’t promise you the same for your family. You may very well watch them live, grow old, and die.” Aiden’s eyes glazed over, the color transitioning again and again from blue to green, the glow apparent once again. “After so many years, seeing friends and lovers lost to me, I don’t know if I could allow such a choice for you only to have you hate me centuries from now. And then what of the power you hold? What will happen to me when you cannot contain it because you resent me, resent losing your family?”
Dan was quiet for a moment, thinking. He knew his family, knew their love for him would never dim no matter how long the years were, but it was a lot to think about. Outlive them? How did something like that work?
“You’ve been at the hospital for a long time. Why doesn’t anyone notice you don’t age, realize that there’s something a little Peter Pan about you?”
As they talked, a couple walked by, the woman trying desperately to hold on to a very happy little dog’s leash and keep up with what had to be a feisty two-year-old. Why did people love those pocket puppies so much anyway? The little girl was definitely a cutie, though, with tiny golden ringlets haloing her head. Dan felt sorry for the mother. A guy powered on, ear melded to his phone, totally ignorant of what was happening behind him. Dan shook his head.
Aiden followed his gaze. “I’m a sandman, Daniel. I can access that part of the brain that they’re not aware of, use it to blur their reality.”
The man looked at his phone, quizzically taking it away from his ear. He turned back to the woman. Laughing, he picked up the little girl and tickled her, which freed the woman to give the dog some time to take a piss.
Aiden’s lips curved slightly as the family disappeared from view. “If I wanted to blend in, make them forget me, I could. Think about your club night out. By the way, getting a little old for that, aren’t you, Tolliver? Trying to hold on to your youth?”
“Fuck you very much, Aiden.”
“Hopefully sometime soon, keeper.”
Before Dan could lose the track of conversation they were on—before visions of his dick plunging into Aiden’s ass distracted him—he chose to redirect. “Aiden.”
“Yeah, okay. Loved the shirt, by the way. Tell Shelly it was a first-rate pick. Why, I could nearly see your nipples through that flimsy fabric. What is that anyway? Silk. You wear silk shirts? Really?”
“Aiden,” Dan ground out.
“Fine. So, you slept. I peeked. The people you were gyrating that beautiful body of yours for were drunk, or high on something other than your typical marijuana. Little happy pills for that group these days. Anyway, it wouldn’t be hard for Keith to see through them, use them to get to you. I’m guessing that he was going to have you held until he could get there to acquire you himself.”
“Goddess Moon, he could do that?”
“He was doing it. If not for your wolves, your pack, being there, Dan, he would have easily reclaimed you.”
A shiver ran along Dan’s spine. “If he can do this, why isn’t my family susceptible to him? Why aren’t they able to be controlled?” Dan’s heart was beginning to race now. He didn’t want to think about what could have happened. True, he was better, stronger. Still, in a battle against people, as well as Keith and the monster he had become—no, the monster he always was—he would be lost.
“Humans, Daniel. Humans are susceptible to us. Weres, fairies, others are not. It is why the Earth is such a pleasure ground for so many different deities.”
Dan took a moment to allow Aiden’s words to sink in. “Aiden. Wait a minute.” He stood and tossed his napkin into the trash. “Shelly was there too. Other than being almost as afraid as I was, she didn’t appear affected. So maybe it’s more than that.”
“I said human, Dan.”
Wait, what? “Do you mean—?”
“No, I’ll not say anything else about that. That’s between you and your deirfiúr. Yeah, you work that out, okay?” Aiden’s snort was derisive as his gaze fell back to the lazily moving water. A barge drifted by at a snail’s pace, the ripples it left behind slow enough to indicate how heavy it was.
“You said you knew her uncle that day we were there,” Dan continued as he watched the ripples dancing in the water. “How long have you known them, Aiden? How long have you known Shelly?”
“Long enough. Forgive me, Daniel, but I feel that is something you and Shelly should share alone.” Aiden opened his fingers and his napkin drifted on the wind and landed softly in the trashcan. “Preternatural beings? We have no control there. Blame it on genetics, I don’t know, and I’m a doctor.” At Dan’s smirk, Aiden’s voice rose. “Yes, Daniel, I am. It’s true that I’m not human, but it is that extra awareness that I bring to the table that allows me to help those in need. I have certainly lived long enough to know what I am doing with the human body, but it is the mind that needs my help the most. Who better than me?”
That was a question Dan wasn’t even going to touch right now. “Okay, well. Then tell me this.”
“Yes?”
“You’re the watcher. Why weren’t you watching me the other night? If I am your coimeádaí and mean so much to you, then where were you when I needed you?” Dan couldn’t leave the hurt out of his voice. True, Aiden had said that he didn’t want him, that he was ready to welcome his end. He got that. But to leave him at Keith’s mercy?
“You weren’t the only one experiencing his share of trouble that night, Daniel. Keith knows my weakness for humans. That night the ER was overflowing. There were accidents, fires, children suffering from severe injuries. Children, Dan. I couldn’t leave them, couldn’t direct my energy out to track him or track you when there were so many who needed me. I was distracted caring for others when you were out there being trapped by one of my brothers.”
Aiden’s eyes were shadowed as he looked at Dan, the glow around him dimmer. Dan could see Aiden’s lightning-bug feature all the time now. There were moments when it seemed it was growing, reaching for him, tiny sparks licking along his skin. Others? Its wattage waned, the brilliancy became murky.
Minutes passed. “If he’s able to do that, able to use the subconscious to harm us, what makes me any safer now than I was before? My father agreed to let me stay with you in your baile when only recently the best place for me to be was with the pack. What has
him convinced that you are the right choice, that I am any safer with you? Hell, I have to wonder what’s changed your mind since the day you practically ran from the compound.” A pause. “You want me now, want me to claim you when you wanted nothing to do with me before? How can I trust this, trust you? Why should I believe in you, have the faith my father apparently has in your ability to get me through this?”
“Is it my turn now?”
Dan said nothing. This time he looked out toward the water, admired the city skyline as he waited for Aiden to tell him something that would justify his decision to go through with this craziness.
“I can’t answer for your Alpha. I can only answer for me. I have decided to stop being afraid. My whole being is driven with thoughts of you. I want you, think of your taste, your scent, the sound of your voice, the hidden viper in you ready to attack.” Fingers traced Dan’s cheek, heat lingering behind. “It enflames me. Dan, I haven’t felt so much, been twisted around so much, in years, in centuries. I can’t even remember. The moment when you, uhm….”
Aiden’s cough forced Dan to glance at him, notice the flame that covered his face as he tried to finish that sentence. He curled his lip, a hint of a smile easing over his face. He should torture the man, wait him out, but he took pity on him.
“When I ate your juicy ass, Aiden?” He laughed.
“Uhm, yes. That. I’ve never… I’ve never had anyone do that for me. Never let anyone get close enough to.”
“Wait, are you a virgin? How in the hell have you made it this long looking the way you do, smelling the way you—”
“Shit, Daniel. No, I’m not a virgin. I’ve fucked plenty in my years, but with you, it’s different. I’m different.” His beautiful eyes were piercing but afraid. “And at first that scared me. Me, a sandman, terrified of a human? Terrified of giving more than I have ever given. Afraid of wanting more. I had decided I had enough, Daniel, and when the setting of my sun is so within reach, your presence shook me, shook my decision. You make me want, want so desperately, so hungrily.” Abruptly Aiden stood, putting space between him and Dan. “Shit. Damn. Fuck.” His gaze sought Dan’s. “I want you, Dan. Need you. I’m through trying to hide from it. When I spoke to you, felt the fear in your voice, I made my decision.”