Crimson, Volume 1

by Sax Alexander

  Though William moved quietly, Alec’s head cocked immediately. “What did you do to me?” His voice sang with raw hurt.

  He knelt by the quivering body, resisting the urge to run a soothing hand through Alec’s hair. He looked every bit his young age as his wounded eyes met William’s gaze.

  “When you drank from me you also ingested a serum developed by GenTech. It weakens your natural abilities, dampens your strength and agility, and will greatly hamper any efforts you make to put someone under your control. Don’t worry, it’s only temporary.”

  Alec’s expression flickered before smoothing into a numb impassiveness. “So you... you wanted me to bite you.”

  “Yes. I goaded you into it. I knew that biting you would rouse your instincts, and that combined with the sexual lust would override your rational desires, at least for the moment. Long enough.”

  “Are you going to kill me now?” The flat, unemotional quality of Alec’s voice made William frown.

  “I have no wish to hurt you, Alec, and I know you have to no reason to trust me—” Alec’s hollow laugh cut him off. “But there was no other way to ensure you would hear me out.”

  “So what do you want? Not me obviously.” The bitter jab made William flinch. “Did you come to take me back there? To that lab?”

  “No. I swear it. I would never do that.” Uncertainty flickered in Alec’s drooping eyes, as if the quiet conviction in William’s voice confused him more than it reassured him.

  “I would rather you kill me than take me back there.”

  “I know. I saw what it was like. Before my brother died, he sent me the recordings of the experiments, all the notes, everything.” Alec’s face twisted and he glared bitterly at William. “I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t change anything. But I’m sorry.”

  “You belong to GenTech too. You’re one of them. Don’t pretend you didn’t know what was happening.” Alec pushed himself up with effort and sat back on his heels, his wet cheeks slowly rising to William’s view.

  “I didn’t know until then, and by then it was too late. Too late for you anyway.”

  “So why are you here now? Why did you come after me if not to kill or capture me?”

  “Because it was the only way I could find the other ‘escaped test subject’, as my brother put it. It was the only way to find Chas Kader. I knew if I wanted to get to him, I had to find you first. And he is on his way, isn’t he? That disturbed ex-boyfriend you mentioned?”

  Alec seemed to shrink in on himself. “You’re fucking crazy. He’ll eat you alive.” Alec gave a short, wild laugh. “You think you can trick him like you did me? He’ll kill you before you even have a chance. Or you’ll wish he had if he does let you live.”

  “I’m willing to take that chance.”

  “Why? For revenge? Because he killed your father and brother?” Alec sneered. “Your family tortured him for years. And worse, they fed innocent people to him to sustain him. And then they threw me in there with him, and look what he did. They deserved what they got and worse!”

  “Yes.” William smiled coldly. “I feel the same way, actually. What I can’t forgive is what he did to my mother. I saw the video of that too. She knew nothing of what they did. And what about what he did to all those innocent people you mentioned? Maybe he didn’t have a choice there, but he showed his true colors in his... method of disposal. What is he doing now? And what about what he did to you? Did you ask for this?” Alec said nothing, only watched warily, and William shrugged. “Besides, he came after me first.”

  Alec’s eyes widened. “He came after you?”

  “Yes, but I was in Tokyo and he was here, so that bought me time. I had warning, and I had the money and the means to disappear too.”

  “So you decided to get him first.”

  William hesitated, studying Alec carefully. “Yes.”

  “So you were just using me.”

  “Not just.” Hurt washed over Alec’s face again. “I saw what you went through, what my own flesh and blood did to you, and the entire time your strength never wavered, nor your compassion for others. That fierce light in your eyes, I wanted to see it for myself. I wanted to make it up to you.”

  “Right.” Anger chased away other emotions, and Alec looked William full in the face. “By making me weak? Useless? What am I supposed to do now?”

  “I told you that it’s temporary. It will wear off. And I have another serum to counteract the one in your blood now.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  “To bring Chas Kader to me.”

  “You must know I can’t harm him.”

  “I know.”

  “I don’t know where he sleeps. He doesn’t tell me things like that.”

  “I know.”

  “Then what do you expect me to do?” Alec exploded. He tried to lunge up but his legs gave out again, and he collapsed back down on one knee, his face twisted in pain. “You... this... it really is killing me, isn’t it?”

  “No, Alec.” William crouched, and then lifted Alec’s chin until their gazes locked. “If it will help you trust me, then drink from me now. I injected myself with the antiserum earlier. It’s in my blood. You’ll be strong again. Stronger than normal. This serum works the other way, temporarily enhancing your abilities.”

  “No way!” Alec recoiled, pupils dilating in panic.

  “Think! If I wanted you dead, you already would be. You were asleep half the night and all day. I could have done anything I wanted.”

  “Why should I trust you? Why should I help you? You lied to me. You made me think you really...” Alec’s voice cracked, and William’s hand reached for him again, stopping short as Alec shrank away.

  “That wasn’t a lie.”

  “Right,” Alec scoffed. “Then why didn’t you tell me who you were right away?”

  “Because I knew—”

  “You knew I’d run far away!”

  William bowed his head. “Yes.”

  “That was my choice to make. You made me care about you, and all you cared about was your revenge, and when you finally have it you’ll go back to your fucking company and its dirty labs and everything will start all over again. For all I know, you plan to take us both back there!”

  “Do you really care what happens to Kader? He is a monster.”

  “Yeah, just like me.” Alec bared his teeth, but the effect was ruined when two fat tears slid over the curves of his cheekbones.

  William swallowed hard, his chest aching with sympathy and guilt. He brushed away the moisture with his thumbs and cupped Alec’s face to draw him close. “You’re not a monster. You’re the furthest thing from it, and I’m sorry I lied. I knew you would fear me... hate me. I knew you’d never let me close. Don’t run away from me now. Please.”

  “I can’t... I can’t trust you again.” Alec’s heartbreaking gaze made William’s heart pound. He wanted to kiss away that wounded look that was a mix of longing and despair. But the boy’s eyes began to shine with that internal glow again, and William realized that his racing pulse was having an effect.

  “But you’re hungry now, right? You need to drink,” William murmured, his warm breath washing over Alec’s face. “You’re young so you need it every day, your metabolism races so fast, so hot. Even though you hate it. Even though you used the dating site to make it all seem less cold, less impersonal, more human. You need it. You can’t even starve yourself because if you try, you’ll lose control, won’t you? You’ll give in to your instincts.”

  Alec made a soft, choked sound and tried to look away. William didn’t allow it, holding Alec gently but keeping their gazes locked together, his own filled with sorrowful compassion. “Don’t,” Alec begged softly.

  “I’m giving you permission. Drink from me, Alec.” Alec shook his head, tears slipping unchecked down his cheeks. “It’s all right.” William’s low, soothing voice didn’t seem to calm him. Alec grabbed the front of his shirt with both hands, a desperate grip that matched the
haunted look in his eyes. “Just drink, and then you can leave. You can disappear again, and I won’t come after you if that’s what you want.”

  “William.” His voice was thick and rasping, full of a heavy longing that Alec struggled to control. His expression flickered between doubt and fear and hunger, shading into a kind of heated lust when William bared his throat again, tilting his head to the side to expose the marks from the night before.

  A hissing inhale was the only warning before Alec bit, the sharp canines piercing his flesh again with a brutal pain that almost instantly blurred out, becoming fuzzy at the edges as if a strong dose of morphine had been administered at the same time. William could still feel it underneath the erotic haze that seeped through his pores, inhabiting his every nerve ending.

  Last night, the sensations had lasted only a few seconds because Alec had passed out from the effects of the serum. Tonight, though, it made Alec fiercer, brighter, his innate essence let loose and expanding as William’s blood hit his system and raced through the maze of veins that sustained him.

  The heavy suck at the curve of his shoulder made his groin throb with a sympathetic intensity. It was as if the two points were connected, and William’s own limbs grew weaker as Alec pushed him down to the floor. For a swift moment, the teeth retracted, but only so Alec could lick the trailing blood and have the satisfaction of plunging back with gleeful force into the twin holes. William’s hips bucked up in helpless response.

  A throaty laugh vibrated against William’s throat, and Alec ground down with deliberate provocation. William grunted, his hands settling at Alec’s slim hips and holding tight. His eyelids fluttered as his eyes rolled back, light-headed from the sudden loss of blood that Alec was still draining out of him with long, strong pulls that seemed to go on forever.

  The room spun around him as William forced his eyes open. How much had Alec taken? How much would he take? William was numb to the thought of him taking it all. Let him if that’s what he wanted. He laughed, a short, breathless sound that made Alec growl. Feverish now with fresh blood and the serum pumping through his body, Alec’s hot hands slipped beneath his shirt and traced a burning path over his stomach and chest.

  His shirt disappeared in a flurry of ripped cloth and flying buttons, and that heavy, erotic suction at his throat finally eased. It wrenched a sound of protest from his lips, and Alec grinned down at him, his pink tongue darting out to lick the blood away from his lips.

  His fly was ripped open with equal lack of warning and easy strength, his slacks shredded and left as rags beneath him. Alec’s eyes flared with lust as he took in the sight of William’s erection, resting thick and heavy against his stomach, every aching throb from the wound at his throat making it twitch in response.

  With agile grace, Alec bent over him, his vibrant, heated gaze watching William as he crawled down his body and bent that dangerously sweet mouth to his cock. Like a brand, his lips circled into a pout and pressed a burning kiss to the head. William’s body tensed, his muscles tight and strained as Alec teased him as he had teased Alec the night before.

  He slid lower onto his belly, the curve of his round ass visible when William raised up on his elbows and watched Alec slide his tongue around his testicles with a slow, deliberate twist and then suck his balls one after the other into his mouth.

  Alec’s eyes narrowed in wicked amusement when William couldn’t hold back a soft moan, but William retaliated with a smirk of his own. Like a striking snake, teeth sank into his thigh, deep into the artery and sending a gusher of lifeblood into Alec’s waiting mouth. William’s cock throbbed with painful intensity, coiled lust and pleasure gathering and spreading from his groin.

  The punishing bite didn’t last long. Alec raised his head, letting the blood drip down his chin, but he licked this wound closed, tongue lapping until the blood flood slowed to a trickle then stopped, and the flesh closed over with new, pink skin. The bite at his neck still bled and it drew Alec up like a cat to cream. He made a sound almost like a deep purr as he licked there too, sucking a red kiss mark over the healed flesh and giving a mocking little smile as he rose back up.

  He stood fully, allowing William to watch him as he pulled off his shirt, pushed off his jeans and kicked them away. His slim, toned body looked deceptively tender, vulnerable almost, against the backdrop of the sleek furnishings of the apartment. As he stared down at William silently, even his eyes seemed filled with a haunting vulnerability, large and shining, pupils blown wide. The impression lasted only a brief moment, and then he was on William again, one hand bracing on William’s chest as he took William’s cock with a slow but steady glide down the thick shaft. The hot, tight walls of his ass clenched around him, and William’s teeth ground together as the overwhelming sensations tried to force out the sounds of his pleasure.

  Alec seemed to sense his efforts because he laughed again, low and sweet. Both hands came down to William’s shoulders, and he began to grind his hips. Sweat broke out on William’s forehead and his upper lip, a moist glow across his chest, tricking down between his shoulders while Alec rode him relentlessly.

  They moved together, William thrusting up into that perfect ass whenever Alec slowed to tease him, to back him off from the climax that was building to an almost impossible height. And then Alec would move, faster than what should be possible, in preternatural control, denying him release yet again with the tight grip around the base of his cock.

  He didn’t let William touch him, nothing more than his hands on hips to grip and hold and try to move to his rhythm, making Alec laugh with cruel delight. Finally, when William groaned, rasping out something that might have been Alec’s name, the teeth plunged into his throat again. Alec’s hips drove onto his cock with frenzied need, and Alec came, tossing his head back, back bowed, and William’s blood staining his lips as his seed shot against the sculpted stomach beneath him.

  William groaned again as the tight walls of Alec’s ass contracted around his cock, the huge, aching throb at his throat dragging him deep down that hazy well of lust and pleasure. His climax shuddered through him, his hands tightening hard enough around Alec’s hips to bruise if he were human, but Alec didn’t seem to notice or care. And finally, his mouth moved to William’s and they kissed fiercely, an undeniable compulsion of nameless, aching need.

  “Alec.” The word spilled out before he could contain it, and not a second later Alec was across the room, eyes still bright and wild, cheeks flushed, but his expression changing from blind lust to something William couldn’t identify.

  “I’m going.” Alec snatched his clothes up and he retreated to the edge of the room by the open terrace door. He pulled them on as William got to his knees, then to his feet. Alec’s eyes were wary, bruised-looking and shadowed again. “You said you wouldn’t come after me.”

  Swallowing against the tightness in his throat, William nodded. “If that’s what you want.”

  Alec took a step backward, out onto the terrace, and then another and another, and then he leapt easily, landing in a crouch on the high wall. “Chas will show up sooner or later. You’d better be prepared.” Alec stared down at William with dark, troubled eyes. “He’s much stronger and crueler than me, and even with your dirty tricks, you won’t stand a chance.”

  William stepped forward, his hand half raised, a plea on his lips, but Alec had already disappeared over the edge. By the time William looked down, he was gone.

  Chapter Four

  A week later, William’s nerves were on edge. Alec hadn’t returned, Kader hadn’t shown, but William felt eyes on him everywhere. It wasn’t until Kader allowed him to catch a glimpse of him on the edge of a busy square, motionless on the sidewalk as crowds of well-dressed people eddied by, that William knew for sure it wasn’t wishful thinking or his imagination. The sheer malevolence in those cold eyes made his skin crawl. He started toward him, but Kader slipped into the crowd and disappeared.

  Another week later, he’d had more sightings but no clo
se encounters, and William realized that Kader was waiting for something. But what? William made his preparations. He knew without a doubt that Kader would eventually come. He tried not to think of Alec too often or where he might be.

  And then one evening he was there, lounging on William’s sleek sofa, the sun barely gone from the sky.

  “William Maxwell.” The voice was rich, seductive, a smooth baritone that resonated pleasantly in William’s ears; it was also incredibly dangerous. Kader was much, much older than Alec, which was immediately evident and borne out by the unfathomable depths in his dark blue eyes.

  He’d heard it before, seen the good looks and smooth manner that could charm effortlessly until the man chose to reveal the true beast inside, but experiencing it in person was another thing altogether.

  “Chas Kader.” He took a seat himself, in a chair on the opposite of the low table that sat between them.

  “It’s very kind of you to save me the trouble of tracking you down.”

  “Yes, particularly since you were so unsuccessful at it.”

  Kader didn’t rise to the taunt. He merely smiled, inclining his head in acknowledgement. “Fortunately, my adorable little pet was able to do what I couldn’t.”

  “Alec is exceptional.”

  Kader’s expression flickered for a fraction of a second, but he leaned forward, arms resting on his knees, fingers steepling together.

  “You do know he belongs to me? I made him. And I can use him at will. Send him out for the richest blood and drink it secondhand from his white throat. Sate myself in that sinful little mouth and tight, sweet body, so eager and lewd.”

  William smiled easily. “Perhaps that was true.”

  A fraction of a section later, his neck was bent back, Kader’s teeth grazing his bared throat.

  “Was?” The word was humorously yet politely inflected.

  William stared at the ceiling, a small smile playing on his lips. “Where is he, your faithful little pet? Did I overlook him when I came in? Shouldn’t he be curled up at your feet?”