His Caress of Shadows (The Kaldr Chronicles Book 4)

by Kody Boye

  “It’s not my money I’m worried about,” I replied. “It’s my life.”

  Neither of my companions said a word.

  “Anyhow,” I replied, starting forward and passing both men before they could say anything further, “let’s keep going. I’d rather crawl into bed than face anything else the day might have to offer.”

  “You know you’ll probably have to go to the university tomorrow to meet with whomever’s handling your dissertation,” Guy said.

  “I know.”

  I didn’t want to worry about that.

  Right now, all I wanted was to get home, get settled, and prepare for anything else that was likely to come.

  10

  We arrived at the house just in time to be greeted by none other than Scarlet Jane and her ever-faithful companion, Shadow.

  “Scarlet?” I frowned, stepping forward. “What’re you doing here?”

  “I got assigned to your relocation,” Scarlet replied, crossing her arms over her chest and nodding as she took note of both Guy and Aerick as they approached from behind me. “Besides—I’m the one who has your key.”

  She dangled, from a single gold chain, a key that possessed everything the next six months would be made of—our home, our lives, our futures. I nodded as she extended it toward me and accepted it with little more than a thanks as I turned to look at the red townhouse that lay atop a slight swell in the hill to our right.

  “Well?” Guy asked, pressing a hand against my shoulder. “You’re the one with the key. You go first.”

  With a nod, and with trepidation I felt was unwarranted considering that I was being handed the key to our new home and more, I took the steps that led up to the front porch and smiled as I struggled to keep my hand from trembling. It was almost impossible to get the key in the lock, but when finally I did, I turned it to the left and nodded as I opened the door.

  “Home sweet home,” Aerick said, stepping forward.

  The house was lavishly decorated. With brown concrete floors that had seemingly been polished to perfection and granite counter-tops that existed within the kitchen and sectioned off the living room, the furnishings were nothing short of immaculate. From leather couches, to a flat-screen TV, to white paint with red accents and a set of hardwood stairs that led to the second floor to the right of the entryway, the home was nothing short of perfection.

  “Shit,” Guy said, looking around in awe. “This is more than I expected.”

  “Leather couches?” Aerick asked. “Hell yeah! This is some fancy shit.”

  “The Agency is trying to provide the best for its clientele,” Scarlet replied, shrugging her hands into her pockets and nodding as Shadow cast a glance back toward the motor home that idled curbside. She turned her attention on Guy and tilted her eyes up to face his. “Now that you’re here,” she said, “there isn’t really much more the Agency can provide. Your lease is on the kitchen table, your extra keys are on the rung. Your car, Guy, was salvaged from the Fredericksburg Automotive Department and is currently parked in the garage.”

  “Thank you, Scarlet,” I said, tempted to step forward and wrap her in a hug but unsure if I should. I decided to refrain from doing so and instead reached out to shake her hand, which she ignored completely and instead took a step back.

  “Come on, Shadow,” Scarlet said, turning and making her way toward the motor home. “Let’s go.”

  “Farewell,” Shadow said, nodding at Aerick, Guy and I. “And good luck.”

  With that, the two took their leave, making their way down to, and then into, the motor home. A short moment later, they departed, leaving the three of us to our new home and the futures that we could carve out within it.

  With nothing to do but relax, Guy settled down on the couch and spread his arms out along the back of it. “Join me, boys.”

  We did, I on one side and Aerick on the other, and the two of us nestled into Guy’s side and sighed as we began to decompress from the stressful ride from Dallas and the nightmarish walk through Austin. Already my head was beginning to spin, my eyes drooping ever so slowly. Aerick seemed ready to pass out, but did little but roll his head around so he could tuck it against Guy’s shoulder.

  “Work your magic on me,” he mumbled.

  Though I wasn’t the recipient, I still felt the tangible essence of chilled air as Guy began to siphon the weariness from Aerick’s bones—as he worked, through the process of guiding one hand along his arm, his magic across Aerick’s tissue. His hand eventually slithered under Aerick’s shirt, where he placed his hand flat on his abdomen before leaning in to press his lips against the Howler’s jugular.

  “Unh,” Aerick grunted. “That feels good.”

  “I know it does, baby,” Guy replied, his deep voice raising the hairs on my arms and neck. “Just relax. Let me take care of you.”

  So he did—leaning back and allowing Guy to prey upon his most vulnerable of spots, on the most delicate of his features. His teeth appeared from between his lips and slid over the gentle folds of Aerick’s stubbly flesh and his tongue ravished the main vein that ran along his neck.

  Aerick, in response, snaked his hand over Guy’s back to tangle his fingers in the man’s shirt.

  Having just fed, and not needing sustenance in the slightest, I continued to watch the two men engage in the feeding ritual, my only bother that of the erection slowly beginning to tent my jeans.

  When it was all said and done, Aerick was fast asleep—and Guy, invigorated by the effects of the feeding, turned and pressed a long, hard kiss against my mouth.

  “Jason,” he whispered.

  “Yeah,” I replied, leaning back as he braced his body above mine.

  “I want to fuck you.”

  I wasn’t able to resist.

  11

  He led me into the master bedroom at the top of the stairs and pushed me across the California-king bed. His feverish passion visible in the bulge against his jeans and the curls of his lips, he crawled atop me, laced our fingers together, and forced my hands to either side of my head before leaning forward and kissing me.

  “God,” he whispered, sliding his tongue over his lips. “I feel so alive.”

  “You happy to be back?” I asked.

  “More than ever,” he said.

  I wrapped my legs around his waist and met his mouth with my own, melting into his embrace as he continued to ravish me with his mouth. His lips met my neck, his teeth nipping at my flesh, then his tongue trailed down my jugular until it met my collarbone. Here, he pressed his lips against the exposed portion of my chest, grinding his body against mine and making me whimper in anticipation. He freed his hands from mine and began to trace them along my hips, then beneath my shirt, then along my ribcage until he lifted my shirt and began tonguing my nipples into submission.

  I groaned.

  He chuckled.

  He gently bit down on one nipple and nearly made me howl with the sensation of chill meeting heat.

  “Fucking hell that’s cold,” I whispered.

  “Lemme turn it up for you then, baby,” he growled.

  He slid his lips around my areola and teased my nipple with the tip of his tongue, channeling hot fire into my body that caused me to groan from the effort of his actions upon me. I reached up and tangled my hands at the back of his shirt, then cupped his ass as he continued to grind against me. I then pulled, in one brief action, the shirt from my head before rolling my hips and forcing him onto his side, then his back.

  I snaked my fingers through the loops in his belt until I came to his buckle, then freed him of the wretched contraption with one simple tug.

  He smiled.

  I grinned.

  I unzipped his pants and nodded as his bulge came into view.

  After liberating him of his jeans, I reached out, took hold of his rigid cock within his briefs, and squeezed.

  “It ain’t gonna suck itself,” he said.

  I leaned forward and pressed my mouth against the outline of
his cock.

  He groaned.

  I slid my fingers into his underwear until my hands palmed the curves of his ass, then began to finger his crevice, sighing as his cock pulsed beneath my lips and his groans filled the small space around us.

  I took the waistband of his underwear between my teeth and pulled his briefs over his rigid cock.

  His erection slapped into view a moment later.

  As greedy as I was, and as horny as Guy happened to be, I couldn’t refuse him any longer.

  I took him into my mouth and swallowed him to the base.

  “Shit,” Guy groaned. “Shit.”

  I bobbed my head along his length, slicking his shaft with my tongue and taking him into the depths of my throat. He began thrusting, then, not bothering to wait until I got into the swing of things, and took hold of the back of my head to hold me to the base of his cock as his solid eight inches pulsed at the back of my throat. I groaned along his cock, inspiring moans of pleasure from his person, and grasped the hard globes of his ass as he continued to ride the sensations of my throat around his hardness.

  I pulled off.

  He leaned back.

  I swallowed him to the base and then slid my tongue up to the flared head of his cock, allowing the tip to dance over the weeping head.

  “Shit, J,” he gasped. “You give fucking good head.”

  “I bottom even better,” I said. “You ready for me?”

  “Ready ain’t the word to describe it, babe.”

  I spit on my hand, slicked his length, then shucked my pants and underwear before straddling and then allowing his cock to slide within my crevice, grazing my entrance and causing the sphincter to contract.

  “See if there’s lube,” I said.

  He reached for the bedside table and fingered the knob on one of the drawers while still riding the crack of my ass. He withdrew, in but a moment, a packet of lube, and squeezed it out onto one hand before sliding it into my crack and then penetrating me with a single finger.

  I groaned.

  He grunted.

  He leaned forward, kissed me, then flipped me onto my back so he could slide a second finger into my ass.

  As soon as the lube was gone, he took hold of his cock, slapped my entrance with his cockhead, and waited for my body to naturally open itself before sliding in.

  “Fuck,” I groaned. “Fuck.”

  “Been a long time since you had this big dick in you,” he replied, leaning back and allowing himself to sink in inch by little inch. “You like it?”

  “I love it,” I gasped.

  He grinned as he filled me, leaning forward and bracing one hand beside my head as the other took hold of my jaw and tilted my face up. His cock sinking inside me, his breath hot on my face, he ran his tongue along the curve of my jaw before sliding it between my lips and kissing me.

  A moment later, I felt him bottom out.

  He withdrew, then thrust back in.

  The motions began anew, with him drawing out and then thrusting back in, the flared head breaking free and then reentering with the rapid pace he knew I liked. I wrapped my legs around his waist to draw him deeper into me. He obliged by taking hold of my legs and pushing them forward, thereby submitting me to his control as he drew his knees alongside my ass and began to thrust into me.

  “You like it?” he whispered, leaning his head down and drawing his teeth along the curve of my neck.

  “I love it,” I whispered.

  “Tell me how much you love it.”

  “I fucking love it.”

  “What do you fucking love?”

  “My cock in your ass.”

  “You’re gonna love this then.”

  He leaned back, pulled himself all the way out, then thrust himself back in.

  I howled in pleasure.

  “Fucking hell, J,” Guy laughed. “You’re gonna get the cops called on us.”

  “Just shut up and fuck me.”

  So he did, thrusting into me as fast as he could, alternating his paces from long and quick to slow and hard. He did this for several long minutes, he bracing my legs on either side of his head and me jerking my cock with sheer abandon, before pulling out and jacking his cock.

  I opened my mouth in eager anticipation.

  He jacked three times before he exploded, covering my face in his come and causing rivulets of his juices to run down my face and into my mouth.

  I came not long after—three hard bursts that caused me to jerk my hips out of sheer reflex, each blast coating Guy’s six pack.

  “Shit,” I gasped, falling back.

  Guy jacked his cock a few more times, thumbed the head of his piece, and groaned as he settled down beside me, his chest rising and falling in quick secession.

  “Wow,” he said.

  “Wow is right,” I replied, reaching out to press a hand against his face. “You busted my ass real good.”

  “Want me to do it again?” Guy asked.

  “Round two?” I asked, lifting my legs as he knelt back up and lined his cock back up to my ass. “I think I could manage that.”

  He entered me and let me ride the waves of pleasure.

  12

  Guy and I’s coupling hadn’t woken Aerick, as by the time we crawled out of the shower and peeked around the corner to look down the stairs, we found the younger man to still be sleeping on the couch—snoring contentedly after having walked nearly three hours to our new home.

  “You’d think we’d’ve woken him up,” I mumbled, shivering as Guy drew up behind me and snaked a hand around my waist.

  “I took a lot out of him,” Guy said, bowing his face into my neck and kissing the curve of my collarbone. “Probably too much.”

  “He seems to get off on being warm flesh,” I offered, pressing back against Guy’s hard body and sighing as I reached down to lace my fingers within his. “We should probably wake him up and see if he wants to order something in. He’ll be hungry before long.”

  “I know. Let’s just let him sleep for now though. Spend some quality time together.”

  With that said, we returned to the master bedroom and slid beneath the covers as the temperature inside the room slowly began to rise. Naked, save our underwear, and still shivering from exposing ourselves to the near-frigid environment our coupling had created, I eased back against him until my body melted against his and nodded as I rested my head on the pillow beside him.

  “How are you feeling now that we’ve settled back in?” Guy asked.

  “You mean now that I’ve been dicked good and proper?” I laughed.

  “That too,” my boyfriend smiled.

  “I’m feeling a bit better,” I replied. “The sex was good. Took my mind off of everything that was bothering me.”

  “Just good?” Guy prompted.

  “Ok, mister ego. It was fucking amazing.”

  “Thanks,” he drawled, pressing a kiss against my shoulder blade. He let the kiss remain for several long moments before he drew back and set an arm across my waist. “Now that the sex is over, though… you’re back to thinking about everything that was bothering you, aren’t you?”

  “Knock knock, who’s there?” I asked. “Anxiety, that’s who.”

  “You can’t let it consume you, J. You gotta fight it somehow.”

  “I know. It’s just… I’m still so new to this whole thing, and now I have to acclimate to an entirely different world again—this time with me being different.”

  “I can only imagine how you’re feeling.”

  “How did you feel when you first entered the world outside your father’s ranch?” I asked.

  “Scared out of my fucking mind.”

  “How’d you get over it?”

  “It’s a process, for sure. You have to go through the motions. Fear. Denial. Self-doubt. Eventually, though, you get over that stuff and can walk the world freely and without fear of persecution. I’m not saying it’s going to be the same for you, considering that you’re a Kaldr in a world who
will soon know what we are, but you’ll get through it somehow, someway.”

  Someway.

  If only I knew which way that was. Maybe then things would be easier.

  13

  Like I had in previous circumstances when going to the university, I made my way to the nearest bus stop and boarded with trepidation in my heart and unease in my mind. Unaware of how these proceedings would work given that I hadn’t been in school for weeks now, I settled into my seat and tried not to panic as floods of emotion came back to me.

  Michael Kriemer.

  The accusation.

  The meeting.

  The expulsion.

  The mounds of hopeless student debt.

  How the Wipers, or even the Agency, had been able to navigate the systems of government and remove any trace of thousands upon thousands of dollars of student loans I couldn’t be sure. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed too impossible, too unrealistic for it to even occur. So far, though, I hadn’t seen any indication that the Agency would lie to me; and even if they had and I was still stuck with the student loans, they had still managed to get me back into college.

  “And my dissertation with the committee,” I mumbled.

  I tried keep my eyes down and my gaze set firmly on things other than people, but human nature eventually took hold over my person and caused me to scan the world around me. Cautious as I’d been as a gay man, I was even more so as a Kaldr. At any moment anyone could have reason to target me—to attack; to strangle; to kill.

  I sighed, crossed my arms over my chest, and looked up at the display that alerted passengers to the locations that they would soon be disembarking at.

  It went from downtown, through east Austin, to central and then further west.

  By the time we reached the campus, my heart was aflutter and mind abuzz with sensation.

  After taking care to climb out of my seat, I made my way through the thin, claustrophobia-inducing aisle and disembarked on the University of Texas’ campus.

  Being back here, after so much time, after so many hard emotions, was akin to returning to a land where one didn’t belong—where, wrought with tension from a troublesome past, it seemed to want to swallow you whole.