He wrapped him in a tight embrace, uncaring that he smeared his back with the sticky spending. So what if they got dirty? That only meant using the shower again together. That process had become routine now, even though Mateo didn’t need the help. It was fun and led to wonderful things, like mutual blow jobs while hot water sprayed them.
The sound of voices coming up the stairs roused him. He suddenly felt very possessive, and using slightly less than his normal speed, he rose with Mateo still impaled and raced him out to the hallway. He didn’t stop until he had them in the bathroom.
Mateo lifted his head and peered at him with sleepy eyes. “You’re awfully fast.”
He pressed a kiss to the boy’s nose. “I’ll try to fuck you slower after the shower,” he said, deliberately misinterpreting the observation. “That’s assuming you can get me off again while we wash, using that bratty mouth of yours.” He grinned to make it clear that he was kidding. “Otherwise, I’ll be too eager and come quickly like a teenager.”
Mateo gave him a lazy smile in return. “You’re insatiable, but I’ll see what I can do.”
* * * *
“Are you trying to make Petru jealous, then?”
Christos gave Malcolm a confused look. “What? Why would I want to do that?”
The man shrugged. “No reason. And if not, you should try to wipe that well-fucked look off your face. It’s making me long for my own boy, to be frank.”
“Fuck you,” he said without heat, because he was well-fucked and nothing was going to take that glow away, not even talking to the Asshole-Formerly-Known-As-Petru.
Val sighed. “I should do this on my own. You two are a major distraction. Plus, I’m not fucking my husband currently, due to his condition, so I’m not particularly interested in hearing about your respective sex lives.”
Malcolm’s expression grew somber. “Sorry, laddie. Is there something amiss?”
Val opened the door to the old weapons room. “No, Harry has cleared us for gentle stuff, but it freaks me out. I keep thinking I might be poking the kid or something.”
Malcolm laughed at that. “I don’t think that’s a real concern.”
“My mind gets that, but my dick shrivels at the thought. The only way I can pacify Mackie is to give him a blow job—which is great fun, don’t get me wrong—except,” he added with a shake of his head, “then I get this weird feeling that the kid is watching me.”
“You’re a head-case for sure, Val, my lad.”
“Don’t I know it. A few more months and this whole problem goes away—if things go well.”
“Then it will be diapers and feedings that get in the way of sex,” Malcolm reminded him. Which was better than letting Val start to swirl around the drain of doom.
Christos got how his shipmate felt about the sex, however. In a totally unscientific way, it made sense. It didn’t help that among their kind, breeding females lost all interest in sex until their babies were weaned. It was one of the reasons males tended to turn to one another for release. His shipmates were in unchartered territory when it came to procreating with humans. That led to thoughts of what it might be like to be in Val’s position. What if Mateo didn’t run screaming from him when he learned about his true nature? Would he agree to take his blood and become a changeling? And how would it feel to see his son growing inside his lover’s body? Of course, there was always the chance that he might turn out like Will and be the one to become pregnant. The idea made him shudder. It would be an honor to produce a queen, but still, he liked his innards just as they were.
This is all too soon. He and Mateo had barely started their relationship and there would be no future for them at all unless they put a stop to Dracul for good—hence this little confab.
Petru was lounging on his hard bed, reading as usual. It was a good thing he enjoyed the activity so much, because there was fuck-all else for him to do. Alex didn’t allow any electronic devices, including a TV, for fear that the guy would find a way to either contact Dracul or break free of his confines. Petru straightened and put the book aside when Val opened the door. “The Queen?” The look of anticipation on his face was both creepy and reassuring at the same time. If his devotion to Annika was faked, he was giving Tom Hanks a run for his money.
“Yeah, yeah,” Val said. “She sends her regards and all that. Plus”—he pulled a piece of wrapped parchment paper out of his pocket—“snickerdoodles.” He tossed the gift onto the guy’s lap with obvious disgust.
Petru, on the other hand, was delighted with the treat, likely because his Queen had thought of him. He immediately stuffed one into his mouth. “Hmm.” His moan was practically orgasmic.
Val glared for all of them. “If you’re done coming from your sugar fix, I need to go over the last five sites I’m monitoring to find Dracul.”
Petru didn’t look happy, but he didn’t press the point. He put the rest of the cookies to one side. “How may I be of assistance?”
Val lifted the tablet in his hand and showed the screen to the guy. “I got these images for the one located in the Niger Delta. As you can see, there are a lot of men milling about in red berets. What do you think, mercenaries that Dracul has hired?”
Petru took the screen, stared at the images, then shook his head. “No, these are definitely local militants. They fight for ideology as well as money. That’s the last kind of person Dracul wants to deal with. Devotion to wealth, he understands. The rest?” He shrugged. “It’s a distraction that he won’t permit his soldiers. And this particular location wasn’t that well-stocked, as I recall.” He handed the tablet back. “I think you can cross it off your list of possibilities.”
Val grunted in response. “That’s what I thought too. It’s something, I suppose.”
“I am at your service,” came Petru’s smug reply.
Christos’ hands itched with the desire to slap the guy silly. His post-Mateo-fucking buzz was getting killed by being in this fucker’s presence. There had to be more to this visit than this. “So far it sucks. You must have something more and better for us to go on.”
Petru gave him the once-over. “Hello, Christos. It’s been a pleasure seeing you again. You’re looking relaxed today, I must say.”
His hand fisted and his nostrils flared with the compulsion to use it. “I’d be even more so if I pound your face into a bloody pulp.”
Petru lounged against his wall. “Hm-m. I see that living with goats all these years hasn’t made you better company.” He lifted his hands. “What do you want from me? It’s not as if I was privy to his Plan B. I don’t think he had one, not really. We never thought Alex would have the balls for a direct assault or that the castle would be overtaken, regardless. All these other sites have been dormant for years and a reflection of Dracul’s greedy nature more than anything else. Why have only one of something when you can have a hundred?”
Christos ground his molars in frustration. “That may be, but once he had to make a decision about where to run, he would have gone with what pleased him most. Tell us what he likes.”
“Beating pretty boys while he fucks them raw.”
“Not. Helping.”
Petru rolled his eyes—proof that he was more stupid than any of them thought, because he was so begging for a punch to the face. “Very well, let’s go with his perverse nature and how he always fancies himself the smartest person in the room. Which to his credit, he usually is.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean when it’s at home?” Malcolm asked.
Petru sighed. “I don’t know…that he’d go to the least likely place. We all hate how hot this planet is, right, and gravitate toward colder places for the most part? So you’d think Dracul would want Siberia or Nepal. But I would focus on Syria and Mexico next, merely because they are less obvious choices.”
Christos hated to admit it, but the fucker had a point. He himself had made a home in Greece in part because he didn’t expect Dracul to go looking for him in such a warm climate. The heat and
bright sun were easier to get used to than dealing with endless war. Claude had headed for the African continent for much the same reason.
“It does have some logic to it,” Christos said. “The fucked-in-the-head kind, of course. Still…”
Petru smiled. “There you are. You will tell the Queen how helpful I’ve been?”
“Sure,” Val said. “I’ll make sure she knows you’ve been a good little narc.”
Petru sneered. “There’s no need to be rude about it. I am trying to reform in her service.” He paused and lost much of his bravado. “Ask her to come visit me?”
“That will be up to Will.”
Something sly crossed Petru’s face. “That goes without saying.”
“I’ve had about as much of this as I can stomach,” Malcolm said, turning to leave.
Christos gladly followed him, waiting only until Val had secured the door before crossing the room. “Shall we go see how Tony is coming with his projectiles?” Although he wanted to race back to Mateo’s bed, he worried that he was overtaxing the human. It was best to keep busy with other matters.
Val shrugged. “Sure, why not?” The experiments were going on in Harry’s lab across the narrow hallway. Within seconds they’d crowded in.
Harry looked up from where he tinkered with some chemicals that hissed and popped. “Gentlemen… Is there anything new with our incarcerated friend?”
“He might have actually given us more useful information,” Val replied. He headed to a bench in the far corner where Tony was doing his own fiddling with mechanical components.
“I do trust you are being careful with my patient, Christos,” the older man said pointedly in his direction.
Pausing in his tracks, Christos tried not to squirm. He was doing nothing wrong. “I’m being very mindful of his recent sickness, if that’s what you mean.”
“It is. But also remember where he comes from. Survival sex has become second nature to him.”
It was like a fist to his gut, raising his own worries. But he stood tall and looked the man in the eye, because he had thought of little else before and after he’d bedded the boy. “This isn’t some means of passing the time, Harry. I am committed to doing what’s right by him. I, ah, love him.”
Jesus, that had been hard to say to anyone other than Mateo and he wanted to take the words back as soon as they’d left his mouth. He didn’t. The world didn’t crumble around him and the more he sat with the public acknowledgment, the more natural it felt. It helped, too, that none of his shipmates laughed or dismissed his claim as implausible.
Malcolm slapped him on the back as he passed by. “Breathe, laddie. Being in love with a human won’t kill you. There’s a lot of that going around these days, and thank fuck for it.”
Harry smiled. “Well, that’s an entirely different matter. Hang on tight. You’re going to have a bumpy ride,” he said, using his best Bette Davis impression.
Christos grimaced and decided to change the topic. “How is it coming, Tony?”
“Pretty good.” He held up some tubular contraption that was obviously a relatively small, short rocket. “This is the delivery mechanism.”
Christos got closer to inspect it, jostling Val and Malcolm for space. “Hard to believe that can hold enough explosive to penetrate an underground bunker.”
“It’s all in the mix, gentlemen.” Tony grinned. “I’ve been using some of the seeds from our ship that we saved to find something that packs more of a punch.”
“I bet Emil would be helpful in that regard,” Val interjected. “Marius tried much the same…the motherfucker,” he muttered.
Christos might have been out of the game for a long while, but he had stayed in the loop. He knew all about Marius’ bombing of Boston and how Emil had found a way to stop him. “Then we know we have something to neutralize it if it gets out of hand.”
“Exactly,” Val agreed.
Tony looked affronted. “It won’t. I know what I’m doing.” He eyed Val in particular. “You just have to give me a place to try it out on.”
Val sighed. “Working on it.” He turned to Christos. “I’m going to hunker down in my office tonight and focus on those sites that Petru mentioned. I trust you and Claude have the club covered?”
“Naí.” Mateo had been invited to spend time with some of the hybrids in the family living room and Christos said as much. “Monitoring the club activities will give me something to do. I don’t share his enthusiasm for video games and movies,” he added. He didn’t care about having the duty, boring as it was. It beat hanging around waiting for Mateo to come to bed.
Putting his device away carefully, Tony stood. “I’m going to hang over there, myself. The boys are pretty good and behaving, especially around Mateo. They understand to act like normal human boys and are used to doing that back home. There’s no harm in my keeping tabs anyway, though.”
“Thanks for that. I appreciate it.” Eventually, if things continued on their current path, he’d have to tell Mateo the whole truth. But he wanted to control the when and how that information got conveyed. God help him if it slipped out in some other way. Mateo might not recover from the shock.
His friend smiled. “We all like him, you know. Annika’s approval in particular is a good sign. Don’t wait too long bringing him into the fold.”
Christos scowled. “It’s far too soon for that. We have to finish with this nonsense first.” He didn’t add that he was concerned that Mateo might never accept him as he was.
But that was a worry for another day.
Chapter Ten
“It’s a pretty quiet night, all things considered,” Claude shouted into Christos’ ear. That was the only way to be heard at this point. The music was at full volume as some of the boys went through a routine on the dance floor that had the members out of their chairs and throwing money.
“It depends on your definition,” he yelled back. He turned away from watching them because it made him picture Mateo doing the same thing in the near future. Plus, him ogling others made him feel as if he were being unfaithful, as silly as it seemed. He hadn’t appreciated in a thousand years how much of a one-man kind of guy he was.
Then he nodded in the direction of the entrance and wandered over there. Claude followed. In the dark hallway between the front door and the main room, there was a measure of peace and quiet. At least here, he didn’t have to raise his voice as much.
“Val and Alex have this place operating in a well-oiled fashion. These rich men know how to behave, even when they’re liquored up. Alex hasn’t tasked us with a hard job.”
Claude scuffed the toe of his boot against the carpet. “I know. I feel guilty that we’re not doing more.”
“Being in a holding pattern doesn’t give us much choice. Our talk this afternoon with Petru may have yielded some useful information. It doesn’t change the overall problem of whether we attack or wait.”
“Neither choice is ideal.”
Antsy, Christos found himself longing for a smoke. “Is your man over at Our Safe Place tonight?”
“Yeah, he and Mikko put their collective small feet down and demanded some time out doing something useful. Willem and Malcolm and their boys are with them, so I’m mostly okay with it. I hear they’ve hired a bunch of humans to get in more staff anyway, so this may be one of the few chances left for them to help out. Plus, Val has already picked a security company to discreetly monitor the place. It’s not about Dracul. Humans are predators enough and those kids are easy targets.”
Christos tried to imagine Mateo out where he couldn’t lay eyes on him within minutes, and he fisted one hand. It would make him nuts. As Claude had said, forget Dracul. This world held plenty of horrors for the weak and unsuspecting. Not that any of the men and boys he and Claude thought of or worried over could be called that, exactly. They weren’t children and, in the case of Nen and Mikko, were humans with enhanced abilities and some combat training. There was only so much coddling they could do. And yet,
he was glad that Mateo was in the family home, playing games with Matti and Yaro. He was safe, at least for this night, including from the pawing attention of the club members. That would have to be sufficient for the time being.
God, Christos hoped he would keep his shit together once the boy started working. He didn’t like the idea of anyone else so much as looking at him. And his display of jealousy earlier didn’t bode well for the future. Of course, it had also yielded an afternoon of hot sex in various locations, so there was that. He would have to work hard to ignore the leers and the money being thrown at him for more. Mateo was his boy and knew it.
My boy. Yeah, that felt right, even though they were in the middle of a war and the future was uncertain. When had it been any different? One thing he’d appreciated about humans was their resilience and ability to carve out some kind of life, regardless of the circumstances. It was a good lesson to learn from the usually lesser-evolved beings.
One of the go-go boys, Shawn, sauntered by. “Hi, guys,” he waved. “I’m going to take over on the door unless you have any changes to the schedule.”
Christos shook his head. “No. Whatever Val has established stays. Think of us as new and out-of-place decorations.”
Shawn winked. “Naw, you two fit right in.” With that, he wiggled his cute ass to the door.
Claude hummed. “Makes me eager for Nen to get home.”
Christos snorted but, for once, he had someone who would welcome him into his bed and his body, too…if he could wait that long. Shit, how many times had he come already that day and he was still hard merely by thinking of the boy? He sighed. “Mind if I go outside for a smoke?”
Claude shrugged. “Not a problem. There’s nothing happening here anyway. I’m sure I can handle it if one of the club members gets out of hand.”
“Great, thanks.”
He wondered if his smoking bothered Mateo. It hadn’t come up and it wasn’t as if he did it often. It was at most something to pass the time and gave him a mild comfort. Humans had been doing it for eons but had recently realized that it was very bad for their health. Many found it a disgusting smell and Mateo might be one of them. If so, he would give it up. In the space of a few days, nothing had become more important to him than pleasing that boy.
Final Dance Page 17