by Scarlet Blackwell, J. L. Merrow, Josephine Myles, Erik Orrania, Nix Winter, Stevie Woods
Jewls inched just a little farther away, but there was only so much give between him and the oak pillar. With the red velvet drape to hide his face in, he cried softly. “I have always trusted, Ionwe,” Jewls said, not really following why that would matter.
“I love you,” Rand promised. He pressed kisses to Jewls’ shoulder, nuzzling in under the thick red hair. “You’re beautiful. You’re brave. You’re going to fit perfectly to my body. We will dance in the rain.”
Jewls looked up, violet eyes glittering with tears. “How can you love me? I’ve never seen you before.”
“But I have seen you before. I have seen you perform at ten festivals. I have desired you for years. I will not hurt you, Jewls. I will protect you and love you.”
Rand motioned and a silent servant moved close, carrying a tray with a silver container of warm, scented lubricant. The prince took the container and motioned the servant away. He set it on the tall bed, thumbed open the cover and sank his fingers into the sweet grease.
“What if it doesn’t work? What if the rain still doesn’t come?” Jewls whispered, so very uncomfortable with being unsure.
Rand kissed his neck again, hid his face against Jewls’ neck. With the clean back of his hand, he moved hair, finding his way to the virgin cleft of Jewls’ ass. Jewls gasped started forward, but ran into Rand’s unmovable arm. A single firm finger circled around the tender pink entrance of Jewls’ body. Jewls rose up on the balls of his feet, mewled, wiggled, but the finger pushed into him anyway, slicking him, explaining to his body what was to come. There was no room to kick or struggle and one finger became two, spreading reluctant virgin flesh for the prince. “Now that doesn’t hurt, does it?”
“No,” Jewls whispered, hiding his face so that Rand couldn’t see. “It’s strange.”
“Yes,” Rand agreed. He moved his fingers, fucking Jewls tenderly, until the stubborn bard started to relax a little, at least to not pull away as much. “I may have a servant insert a large bit of this slick oil into you when I am to visit you. This is not the only time I will sow my seed into you, Jewls. Every month on the full moon, I will come back to you, ride your beautiful body so that the Gods are pleased with us. Do you want me to slick you as I’m doing now, or have you bend over and a servant gently insert my promise to attend to you.”
“No, no servant,” Jewls begged, though Rand felt Jewls’ body heat as he spoke, felt the beautiful red head’s cock jump and twitch.
“You’re an entertainer. Everyone will find you so beautiful as you’re being fucked today. Your pleasure will make the Gods even more pleased with us.” Rand looked right into Jewls’ eyes, studied him. “You want me to bind you, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
The powerful prince picked Jewls up, easily moving the Bard to the center of the bed. His cock brushed over his beautiful captive husband as he moved to the head of the bed. He guided Jewls arms up, fastening them in velvet cuffs. At the same time, on impulse, he grabbed a silk cloth and covered Jewls eyes. Jewls mewled, twisting in his restraints, his own cock swaying against his tight belly. “Please!”
“I intend to please you, my love, many times, even when the moon is not full,” Rand said. He took hold of Jewls’ legs, pulling them up over his shoulders as he lifted slender hips. “You’re more beautiful to me, more beautiful even than rain. For the good of our countries and these people, do you consent to suffer for my pleasure?”
“Yes,” Jewls said, loud and clear, the required ritual response. There had never been any question about which of them would be taking in the other. “I plead with the Gods to restore their favor to all people.”
Rand took hold of Jewls’ hips, a tender and gentle grip, but both of them knew that neither of them could falter. What was to come would come. The thick head pressed to Jewls’ tender entrance, the sensitive pink pucker that he’d guarded against all comers for all his life. Now it surrendered as it must to the thick implacable member. He was spread open, burning no matter how he tried to relax. Deeper into his most intimate space, Rand took him, so slowly, entering a body that could never be virgin again, that could never unhave this experience.
Jewls cried out, bucking in sudden fear, but the experienced prince held him, held his legs so that they stayed on his strong shoulders. Deeper, penetrating, forcing him open, forcing his whole body into surrender, until he was deep inside the bard. “Relax, Jewls, please, you’re so tight, so hot. It feels so good for me. I wish it to feel good for you. I will always love you,always care for you. Accept me, please.”
The burning lessened as Rand held his taken ground. Tears ran down Jewls’ cheek, under the silk, but he nodded. “Most Honorable-husband, my master,” Jewls whispered.
Rand groaned, a trembling hand moving to stroke Jewls’ very hard cock. “That’s my beautiful bard, my master, my heart.” He growled, shifting, so that he lay behind Jewls, arms around him. This second penetration went smoothly and Jewls’ breath caught, sped up as Rand took him the second time. He melted back against his husband, forgetting all about rain, about his duty as a bard, only the heat of his lover mattered. Kisses warmed his throat, his shoulder. Hands still bound above his head, he relaxed into being fucked by this prince. Passion rose. His first ejaculation with another person, with a lover, came way too quickly. His body arched in Rand’s embrace, clenched tight on the thick shaft still holding possession of him, but he was coming back to awareness when Rand’s orgasm left him clinging to Jewls, crying against his shoulder. “Jewls!”
He’d waited all his life for this, for this union. He slipped his wrists free of the bonds and ran his hands over Rand’s arms, reaching back to touch his hair, caress and encourage him. “I will love you always, in every realm where the sun shines, there my love for you will always be.”
Rand clung to him. “I was so afraid you would reject me!”
“No, it was for you that I waited,” Jewls said, realizing that this was true.
Rain pattered, slowly at first, hitting the dry marble of the Queen’s balcony, then louder, soaking the land beyond.
The Gods were happy.
The Hunter & the Hunted
by Stevie Woods
I knew he was nearby, I could sense him. I could smell him. It wasn’t the fear that I scented from most humans when a vampire was close. This human wasn’t afraid of us at all. He sought us out because to him we were the hunted and he the Hunter. He had been chasing me for many months now and time and again I let him get close, let him become more desperate. Then I would let him believe he’d caught me – but only for a short time. I enjoyed this game, though, of course, to him it was no game. He had only one desire now, to wipe me from the face of the earth. At least that was what he told himself, yet when I touched him I knew different. I had a hold over him that he didn’t want. And that was why he hated me, because somewhere deep inside he kept another emotion hidden.
When he first tracked me down and thought of me as just one more target, just one more tick on his scorecard, I dismissed him as just a fool who thought too highly of himself. There had been Hunters almost as long as there had been vampires and while some of them were very good, the majority was not as clever as they thought. I had lost count of how many Hunters I had killed across the centuries and I was only one vampire. I doubt anyone knew how many we had killed over the years, but neither did I know how many of my kind theyhad killed. The risk of death didn’t stop them coming. I never really understood how these men – and women – were recruited, why they were willing to spend their lives pitting themselves against creatures so much more powerful than they were.
This one though – Aaron Beamish – was special. We vampires might not have any kind of hierarchy, we all lived solitary lives, hunting where and when we wished without having to account for our actions to anyone, but that didn’t mean there was no communication between us. Eventually, what one knew we all knew, especially if it concerned a danger to us all. The Hunters were a topic of high concern, especially a H
unter like Aaron Beamish. He was too good, too dangerous and no matter that his name had been at the top of our ‘wanted’ list for some time, he was still alive, still hunting, and vampires were still dying.
He became of more interest to me a few months earlier when it seemed I had become his latest target. I could clearly visualize the first time I had seen him. He wasn’t easy to forget. A tall man at six feet, though I was an inch taller. He had dark brown hair, longish but not as long as I’d have liked it. I enjoyed a man with long hair so I could wind my fingers in it to pull his head back as I fed. His eyes were lighter than I expected with his hair so dark. They were pale green with brown flecks as I discovered when I got a good look at them. His face was angular, his nose narrow over a generous mouth. He wasn’t exactly handsome, but somehow he was very attractive, at least to me. I planned to enjoy his body very much before I drank from him.
I didn’t know then who he was. Even when I knew I underestimated him.
My first sight of him was across the dance floor in a small club. The place was full of hot, sexy men, gyrating to loud music before me, yet my only interest was in this one man who leaned against the bar. He drew me like the proverbial moth to a flame. I should have remembered what happened to the moth.
He was sipping his drink but his eyes were on me. As I approached him, he put his glass down and smiled at me. I smiled back and let my gaze drift over him, my message clear. He flushed but held my gaze. I was confident that I had an easy target for the night. I even thought that if he was good enough, if he satisfied my body as well as my hunger, I might keep him for a night or two. Sometimes, it was too easy.
“You’re not dancing?” I asked, brushing against him.
He drew in a breath. “I was thinking about it, until I saw you.”
I smiled. “You have a different activity in mind now?”
“Maybe.” He pressed closer. “What’s your name?” he asked.
“Damian.”
He grinned, as if at a private joke. “Seems appropriate,” he said, looking me up and down.
I presumed he referred to my looks and attire. I have dark hair and eyes and I was dressed all in black. Yes, very appropriate. “And you are?” I asked.
“Aaron.”
Could it be him? I dismissed the chance as being infinitesimal.
“Now the introductions are over, you want to go somewhere?” I asked.
“Where?” He raised an eyebrow and looked merely amused. I preferred the arousal.
“Washroom or alley out back,” I almost growled.
“Out back.”
I draped my arm around his shoulders keeping him close as we wove our way through the crowd. The alley behind the club was cleaner than some I had seen, but still the smell assaulted my senses. I ignored it and concentrated on my companion instead. I sensed his excitement, his sexual need was coming off him in waves now, but there was something else too that I couldn’t quite pin down. It didn’t matter. I was the hunter, he was my prey. I pushed him back against the wall and he went easily.
“Face the wall,” I said.
“No, I want you to suck me first,” Aaron demanded. “I want to watch my cock slide down your throat.”
Why not? Tasting his semen before his blood would be an aphrodisiac. I smiled and went to my knees. He was already opening his pants. I pulled his cock free and flicked my eyes up at him. His eyes were heavy-lidded as he watched me. His cock was full and heavy, just waiting for my touch. I licked the tip and he sucked in his breath. I licked some more before putting my lips over the bulbous head. I sucked him slowly into my mouth. The taste of him exploded in mouth. I wanted more. I wanted it all.
“Yeah, like that,” Aaron muttered as his hands slid through my hair. I swirled my tongue around his cock, allowing my teeth to graze him slightly. I could take a little blood from him now. One of my fangs pierced him, just enough for a drop of his blood to – drip away as I was abruptly pulled off his cock.
“Your time’s up, vampire,” he said harshly and I was shocked to see a stake in his other hand. I had let my confidence blind me to the possibility. I was a fool.
My hesitation might have killed a lesser vampire as Aaron swept his weapon toward my chest, but instead the stake found only the night air.
Aaron staggered forward and I lunged for him, intending to finish it quickly. I’d have preferred the sex first, but my main concern was to feed so I went to grab him by the throat. However, he was surprisingly fast as he ducked out of the way and I slammed into the wall. I heard the harsh breathing behind me and swung to find the stake winging its way in my direction with unerring accuracy. I caught the sharpened wood out of the air and threw it far out of his reach. He cursed, but reached into a back pocket and pulled a small gun. I raised an eyebrow but did not move.
“It has silver bullets, I assume?”
“It’ll hold you long enough to stake you,” he said coldly.
“Only if you hit my heart.”
“I’m an excellent shot.”
He should never have engaged in conversation with me. He lost the momentum and I laughed as I leapt high in the air, grasping the drainpipe far above him.
“Fuck!” he shouted as his bullet struck the wall where I had been standing.
I looked down long enough to see him scrambling for a better position for a second shot at me.
“Maybe next time,” I called as I continued to the roof. “I’ll remember your name, Hunter.”
“There will be a next time,” he yelled after me. Even from the roof I could see the frustrated anger in his eyes.
Oh yes, I decided, there would. His skin had tasted of heat and sweat, his pre-come had been both sweet and spicy, and that instant when my fang had broken his skin, that one miniscule taste of his blood… it had been heady. There was power in that man; I had tasted it for too short a time. I’d had Hunters before and I knew their blood was different, wasmore. I wanted him and I was going to have him.
I decided that I would become the hunter now, I would find Aaron and I would have him.
That was how our dance had begun and it was splendid.
I had tracked him down to his abode two nights later and tried to take him there, but he fought me like no other. We’d more or less wrecked his place by the time I finally held him down on his own bed, watching the pulse beat furiously in his neck. He bucked and struggled and any other man would have been tossed off, but I wasn’t a man. I held him tight and I tasted him. He screamed and my nails dug deeply into his wrists as he struggled to free himself. Then as I drank he calmed. It was always that way, but with Aaron I didn’t want that simple surrender. I wanted his struggle, I wanted his passion. I had seen the look in his eyes as we fought and I knew he got off on it. As much as he fought me I believed he wanted this too. Not to die at a vampire’s hand, no, to really know he was alive. He needed to be on the edge to know how much he wanted to live.
I licked his wound to heal it and pulled away. I stared at him, watching as his will returned. There was fear – and excitement in those pale green eyes. And passion, so much passion. I took one hand from his wrists and brushed it across his groin. I had felt how hard he was as I’d pressed him down into the mattress. His cock was no less full now as it pulsed against my touch.
“You want me as much as I want you, Aaron,” I murmured.
He held my gaze and I saw the moment when he acknowledged my words. Acknowledged his arousal at my touch. It both shocked and angered him. He knew it was true and he hated himself for it. And me.
He cursed me and renewed his efforts to be free. I released him and leapt for the open window. “Until next time,” I said.
I heard his shouts and something smashed inside the room behind me and I smiled. I hadn’t taken enough blood that he would crave me, but enough that he would respond when I was near. Most of the newer vampires didn’t understand how to control their prey, they just drank them dry. In too much of a hurry like most of the modern world. I was of an ol
der ilkwho liked to savor blood like fine wine and Aaron was of the finest. I wanted to savor him for a long time.
It took me a while to realize that I was as much caught by his need of me as he was, but while he hated it, I reveled in it.
And this night, once again, he was near me. He would be drawn to me. He knew it, but still he hunted me. I presume he told himself he did so only to be free of me. But he would never be free of me, and, though he wouldn’t admit it, he didn’t want to be. Each time he came for me and we fought, I took a little more blood, tasted more of his skin, enjoyed the slide of his semen down my throat.
This time it was going to be different. This time I was going to take him, make him mine completely and never let him go.
I saw him then, across another crowded club but I didn’t think he was aware of me yet. I followed his gaze and saw him watching as a man – correction, a vampire – moved towards him. I didn’t recognize the vampire but I didn’t get much sense of power from him, he hadn’t been a vampire for very long. I watched them talking, and followed them outside to yet another alley. Aaron was going to kill this one, I knew it. It didn’t concern me. I slipped out of the door and secreted myself. I saw the vampire flick his eyes in my direction presumably sensing me, but not sure enough to investigate. He was more interested in feeding off Aaron.
I supposed I ought to have felt some sympathy for the young vampire, but I didn’t. I just wanted to make sure Aaron was fine. It didn’t take long. Aaron did the same thing he’d tried with me months ago and this time it worked. Aaron pulled the vampire up by his hair and slammed his stake into the vampire’s chest before he could react. He disappeared in a cloud of dust.
“You can come out now,” Aaron said wearily.
I smiled, not at all surprised he had sensed me at the same time as the vampire had, but he hadn’t given the fact away.
I moved toward him. “Don’t bother with the small gun, Aaron. You should know by now I can deflect the bullet.”