Nicolas

by Dianne Hartsock

  “Angelo mio,” he murmured, nuzzling his neck. His hands trailed down Jamie’s back and undid the ribbon tying his long braid. Silken tendrils curled around Nico’s fingers and he bunched them in his hands, tilting Jamie’s face upward. Fear and arousal warred in the blue eyes. He planted kisses along his jawline, nibbled at his perfect lips. “You’re more lovely than I could have imagined, my angel,” he said and pressed their lips together.

  He tugged the red hair. “Open for me, Jamie,” he said and swallowed the young man’s gasp as Nico slid his tongue between his parting lips. Sugar and warmth jolted his heart, sending his pulse hammering. He moved his head and deepened the kiss, needing more of Jamie’s sweet taste. Shifting, he slid his cock alongside Jamie’s, freeing a hand to rub and tease Jamie’s nipples. The young man’s panting turned to guttural moans and Nico’s heart raced with joy. So responsive! He needed to take Jamie to bed—now. Show him the pleasures his body was made for, bring him to the shattering release he’d so long been denied.

  He broke off their kiss, leaning their foreheads together while they both caught their breath. Clasping Jamie’s hand, he nudged him backward. “Take me to your bed, little angel,” he urged, rejoicing when Jamie moaned with need and wordlessly led him from the room.

  The main cabin remained warm, but the bedroom proved chilly. Jamie dropped Nico’s hand and hurried to the large four-poster bed to throw back the heavy quilts. Nico put a hand on the small of his back, stopping him. He held Jamie’s luminous gaze for a moment before saying, “For the next hour or so you’re mine, darling. Let me—”

  A cough rumbled in his chest and he turned his head. Jamie put a hand over his heart, concern sweeping his pretty face. “Maybe we should wait….”

  Nico covered his hand, pushed it downward to his fully erect cock. “Do you want to wait?”

  Jamie’s eyes darkened and he sent Nico an impish grin, shaking his head. “Not one second more.” He moved and covered Nico’s mouth with his own, kissing him hard.

  Nico permitted it, Jamie’s fire licking along his nerves, igniting desires he usually kept in tight control. Picking the young man up, he crawled to the center of the bed and pinned Jamie on his back beneath him. He gentled their kisses, stroked Jamie’s tongue with his own, savoring his taste.

  Jamie laughed, a happy sound, and pushed up on his elbows, raising his chin as if offering his body for Nico’s pleasure. Cristo! He was breathtaking, red hair spilling onto the pillows, his few freckles stark on his creamy skin. Nico wanted to lick them off his cheeks. Instead, he slid his tongue down Jamie’s warm neck, pressed his lips to the strong pulse in his throat.

  So much life in this vibrant body in his arms! He could feel the blood rushing in the vein under his tongue. Rolling to his side, he slipped his arms under Jamie’s back and held him still while his hot gaze slid to his chest and the thrust of rosy nipples, sweet and tempting, making his mouth water. He grazed a bud with his tongue and his body shuddered right along with Jamie’s, the young man’s groan shooting a burst of heat straight to his cock, hardening him almost painfully.

  He sucked, nipping a little, loving Jamie’s breathy moans. He slid a hand down his back and over the sweet curve of his hip, cupping the rounded ass. Jerking Jamie closer, he shifted on the bed and ground their cocks together, moaning at the delicious friction. It wasn’t enough! He needed to see him, know his taste.

  Drawing back, he looked down at Jamie’s pale cock alongside his own engorged shaft. He palmed Jamie’s tight balls, then took both their dicks in his hand, licking his lips at the pearl drop forming on Jamie’s rosy head.

  Jamie’s gasp of pleasure brought his gaze up. The young man leaned on his elbows, watching, face flushed with desire, lust in his eyes. Grinning, Jamie jerked his hips upward, thrusting his dick into Nico’s hand, crushing their cocks together. Good God! Jamie wanted to play. What a delightful lover, almost as if he’d been made especially for him—

  Nico froze at the thought, fear dousing him in ice. His gaze ran over Jamie’s exquisite body, laid out like a feast for his pleasure. What had he done? He needed to get out of there, right now. Cristo! He’d let it go too far.

  Ignoring Jamie’s frantic questions, he rolled off the bed and crossed the chamber in quick strides. He pulled on his clothes in the bathroom that Jamie had washed and folded for him, feeling Jamie’s gaze from the doorway, but brushed past him without a word.

  “I don’t understand.” Jamie’s voice had grown soft, sounding tired while he watched Nico lace up his boots at the door.

  Nico flicked him a glance, saw him shivering in the cold seeping through the cracks of the door. “Go warm up by the fire,” he said and stood, pulling open the door. After stepping through, he slammed it behind him.

  Snow swirled from the leaden sky. Snowshoes hung on the porch wall, and he strapped on a pair, knowing he wouldn’t get far without them. He’d have someone in town return them later. The steps were icy, but once on the snow he made quick time, his churning emotions lending him speed.

  Fear tightened in his gut. How could he have let his guard down like that? Damn! But maybe Piter hadn’t been aware of his interest in Jamie. In fact, he hadn’t sensed the Krampus’s presence all day. He might not be around anymore. Nico let himself hope for an instant, but then shook his head. Believing in hope where it concerned Piter was a dangerous path to take, full of pitfalls and pain. He’d felt the creature closing in on him two days ago, sensed his lingering presence on the dock and here in the cabin last night. But Jamie hadn’t mentioned seeing anyone besides Nico recently. But would he have told him if he had?

  Nico scrubbed a hand over his hair in frustration. The Krampus was about, whether as a monster or in the guise of a man. He felt it in his bones. The creature kept on his heels all year, but at Christmastime he was especially cruel, undoing all Nico’s good works, hurting anyone he grew fond of. They were linked, and Nico would do anything to break that terrible bond. Better to find the creature sooner than later and end this nightmare.

  Nico stopped on the crest of a hill to get his bearings. He faced east, so if he headed slightly south into the trees he should reach the town of Alpena by nightfall. Snow continued to fall from the gray sky, and he grimaced. Why hadn’t he started when he first woke up that morning? He’d been a fool to stay.

  Hunching his shoulders against the cold, he strode down the slope and tried not to think of stricken blue eyes and tears on Jamie’s face.

  Chapter Four

  JAMIE TIED his hair off his face and checked the results in the mirror. He couldn’t do a damned thing about his mouth, but at least the severity of the braid emphasized his high cheekbones and somewhat firm chin. The bulky clothing would hide the rest. His stomach clenched and he grabbed on to the sink as bile rose in his throat. Nico had wanted him! At least for a moment. But he must have been revolted in the end, to leave like that.

  Impatient with his tears, he jammed a snowcap over his hair and tried not to listen to Patrick’s voice in his head. His boyfriend had been blunt, that last time….

  “FUCK, JAMIE! You sound like a girl when you sigh like that. Stop it,” Patrick snarled, raising his head to glare at him.

  “Sorry.” Shit. He’d forgotten to be quiet, lost in the pleasure of Patrick’s mouth on him.

  Patrick slapped his thigh painfully. “Roll over.”

  Jamie twisted onto his stomach, burying his head in the pillows in humiliation as Patrick fucked him hard, perhaps pretending Jamie was someone else, a man he wanted.

  HE SWALLOWED hard past the lump in his throat. None of that mattered now. Nico had left wearing only jeans and a coat, hat and gloves. Not enough for a winter on the Great Lakes. He exited the bathroom, overheating in the warm great room. Crossing to the fireplace, he put in several large logs anyway. Maybe the house wouldn’t be freezing when he returned. His boots had dried, and he pulled them on over thermal socks, tucking the thick waterproof pants down over them.

  After shrugging
into his heavy coat by the door, he pulled the scarf up to cover his mouth and chin, then slid on goggles and thick gloves. Nico hadn’t been gone long, but Jamie was anxious to follow. He picked up his pack and hurried outside. Dressed as he was, Nico would already be feeling the cold.

  At least the man had been smart enough to put on snowshoes. Strapping on the remaining pair, Jamie then slung his pack on his shoulder and grabbed up a set of walking poles. Wind buffeted him as he stepped off the porch, and he lowered his gaze to the snow-covered fields stretching beyond the cabin. A faint trail of footsteps headed toward the forest and he trudged after them.

  The snow lightened under the evergreens, but Jamie frowned as the clouds seemed to lower in the sky. An icy blast of wind shot through his layers of clothing, chilling him to the bone. Bits of ice struck against his jacket, and he bent his head against the sleet coming off Lake Huron. His heart clenched with worry. Nico wouldn’t last long in this weather, and the man had already fought off pneumonia once.

  “You didn’t have to leave,” he mourned. He wouldn’t have begged. The desperation he’d been putting off snatched his breath, but he shoved it away. After Patrick’s betrayal, his friends had rallied behind him. William had forced him to seek help for his depression. Another failed relationship. Even his parents offered sympathy. He hadn’t cared what happened to him. He hadn’t wanted to live, and it was a hard struggle away from the brink. He would never allow himself to go to that dark place in his soul again. Never let a man torment and control him like that.

  But Nico had seemed different, his touch so gentle, his kisses knitting the fragments of his heart together.

  “He did care,” Jamie soothed the anguish in his chest. He sighed, knowing acceptance was his only choice. “I’m just not what he wants.”

  He tried not to think about how much that hurt.

  Pushing on, he had to squint to follow Nico’s trail. Snow had begun to fill in his footsteps, but this sleet threatened to obliterate them. He frowned, worried as the wind picked up, howling through the treetops. He stopped in sudden fear. Nico had been more or less heading toward town, but he’d then veered to the right, disappearing into the thickening trees. Where was he going?

  He followed the faint trail, heart hammering as the cold crept into his bones. Certain he’d find him crumpled in a heap on the snow, he hurried forward and almost missed where Nico had turned off yet again, his trail leading to some large boulders on the side of the hill. Jamie’s pulse leaped. Maybe he’d found shelter.

  Nico’s footsteps stopped at the rocks. The snow had obviously been trampled, but where had Nico gone? Jamie circled the tumbled boulders, puzzled, and screamed instinctively when something grabbed his ankle and jerked him to his knees. Heart hammering against his ribcage, he looked down and caught back a cry on seeing the gloved hand pushing up through the snow. He sprawled on his stomach and began digging. The snow was loose, and in a short time he uncovered a cavity beneath one of the boulders.

  Relief left him weak when Nico blinked up at him, but it was short-lived. His eyes seemed overbright, feverish, and though his lips were white with cold, sweat beaded his forehead.

  “Nico, are you all right?” he asked, frantic when there was no response. “Here, take my hand. Come out of there, honey.”

  Nico reached for him and then curled in on himself as a ragged cough wracked his body. In a panic, Jamie grabbed him under the arms and dragged him from the tiny shelter. When Nico was free, Jamie had him sit on one of the lower rocks. Nico struggled to keep open his heavy eyelids, clearly exhausted. Jamie feared he was running a fever as well. He dug in his pack and removed heavy gloves and hat and a thick scarf. After taking off Nico’s wet things, he exchanged them. Nico’s coat and the sweater under it seemed dry enough. He paused with the thermal underwear and wool socks in his hands. The thought of removing Nico’s boots terrified him, but there was no choice.

  He knelt in the snow and unlaced the icy boots and slid them carefully off Nico’s feet. Rolling down the wet socks, he eased them over the toes. The tips had a bluish tinge, but still no sign of the frostbite he feared. Working with care, he helped Nico stand long enough to pull off his wet jeans and shimmy into the thermal underwear and nylon pants he’d brought.

  Jamie frowned, uncertain. Nico’s feet must be freezing by this time. “Sit down, baby,” he murmured. Kneeling, he gently rubbed each of Nico’s feet, concentrating on the toes. Despite the falling snow, he had to get him warm or they’d never make the two miles to the doctor’s cabin. He jumped at Nico’s barking cough. In desperation he lifted his layer of sweaters and pressed Nico’s feet against his stomach.

  So cold! He sucked in a breath, his hoarded body heat whooshing out at the slabs of ice pressed to his abdomen. A painful chill seeped into his bones and he whimpered a little, but waited the slow minutes until the icy touch lessened. Enough. Pulling Nico’s feet free, he put on the dry socks and Nico’s boots, lacing them tightly. The snowshoes followed, then he took Nico’s hands in his.

  “Baby, please stand,” he begged, hauling the taller man up with him. Nico leaned heavily on his shoulder and Jamie slid an arm around his waist. God, he still seemed cold, shivering in the icy wind. Fear slipped up his spine. “Please, Nico, try to walk. The doctor’s cabin is only a few miles from here. We can make it by nightfall if we start now.”

  Nico simply looked at him, his face lined with fatigue and sorrow. “No, Jamie, it’s too late. We’re being stalked.”

  Jamie stared at him a second, then shook off the superstition that had momentarily seized him. The wolves hadn’t come off the mountains yet, though he thought Nico alluded to something darker. “Doesn’t matter,” he urged. “We’ll try, anyway.”

  Nico’s lips firmed suddenly and he nodded. “Very well, mio caro, I’ll go with you.”

  Jamie’s heart stumbled at the endearment falling so easily from Nico’s lips. If only it were true. But he hadn’t time to dwell on that. Right now he had to get Nico to a warm place, out of the snow, or he wouldn’t live to see the morning. They moved one stumbling step at a time, Jamie’s heart twisting at every rough cough or stifled moan from Nico, shivering against him. He grew desperate at their slow pace, but at least they were making some kind of progress.

  Agonizing minutes crawled into an hour, Jamie starting a dangerous sweat under his layers of clothing from the added exertion of half carrying his suffering guest. But then Nico slumped to his knees, head bowed while a barking cough shook his body. Jamie knelt in the snow, lifting his goggles to look deep into Nico’s feverish eyes. The hazel gaze showed no recognition, only pain, and then the heavy lids closed, and Nico collapsed.

  God, what was he to do? Sleet mixed with snow pattered against his back and fear jolted through him. He could never carry him. His gaze went to the surrounding trees. Maybe he could find two broken branches and drag Nico to the cabin. Pulling his pack from his shoulders, he dug in a side pocket for his knife, then lifted his head. What…? He blinked at a faint sound on the wind, the improbable tinkle of silver bells.

  He waited as the chimes grew closer, and then a snowmobile emerged from the trees and swept toward them. Jamie shook his head, wondering why he hadn’t heard the roar of the engine before, then forgot the question as the vehicle came to a stop beside them. The driver lifted his goggles, and Jamie’s mouth fell open at the glitter of amazing green eyes.

  “You!” He instinctively drew back, shielding Nico with his body. The stranger’s low chuckle made his stomach churn.

  “You remember!” He sounded pleased as he dismounted and walked up to them. Jamie rose to his feet and the man crowded close, his warm breath brushing his cheeks. He licked his lips as his gaze seemed to strip Jamie naked. His voice dripped honey tinged with desire when he spoke. “I, for one, can’t stop thinking about you.” He peered behind Jamie. “What have you done with our lovely Nico?”

  Jamie fought off the irrational fear whispering in his mind. This was the man he’d dreamed
of the other morning. But how could he be here? Was he real? Jamie had never seen him before. He wouldn’t have forgotten those striking eyes and face.

  Dread slithered along his nerves. Had the man been in his room after all? How had he gotten in? Jamie’s heart lurched. Had he somehow been drugged?

  The man watched him, amused, and leaned forward, pressing his mouth to Jamie’s through his scarf. “Shall I show you just how real I am, baby?”

  The sensual tones wound through Jamie, draining his strength and leaving him panting with want. Damn, the man was dangerous. Could he be using hypnosis? Jamie felt bewitched. But he also sensed the falseness behind his smile and clung to that despite his traitorous body’s reaction.

  “Can you help me get Nico to the doctor’s? The cabin’s nearby but I don’t think he has the strength to walk any farther,” he asked, not trusting the man, but he had few options at the moment.

  Brilliant green eyes looked into his and his scarf was tugged from his face. “I can, but you will owe me something in return.” The man gripped his chin and kissed him, a hard thrust of tongue and a nip on his lips. He pulled away and smiled at Jamie’s obvious confusion. “I’m Piter Rupert, by the way, an old friend of Nico’s.”

  Jamie blinked at him, unwilling to make him any promises, even at the risk of Nico’s health. There was something about the man he found frightening.

  Piter gave him a knowing look and put a thumb on Jamie’s bottom lip, pulled it gently down and kissed the tender lining. Moving his head, he drew the full upper lip into his mouth and sucked, plucking a response from Jamie’s dick. He laughed under his breath when Jamie jerked his head to the side. “We’ll discuss this later, darling. For the moment, help me get Nico on the snowmobile.”