Queermance Anthology, Volume 1

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Queermance Anthology, Volume 1 Page 11

by Queermance Anthology- Volume 1 [MM-FF] (v5. 0) (epub)


  ‘Drink?’ Connor asked from behind him.

  ‘I’m not biting you,’ Lex said firmly.

  ‘Curses, you’ve seen through my cunning plan,’ Connor said, waving a hand lazily in the air. Grinning, he strutted nonchalantly into the vampire’s personal space, almost daring Lex to step away. A rich cascade of stringed music filled the air and then Lex felt Connor’s firm body press up against him. Strong hands encircled his waist, drawing him into an embrace that warmed his soul as much as his body and his feet followed Connor’s in a slow dance as they lost themselves in the ripples and eddies of melody and harmony that swirled around them. Lex wasn’t sure exactly when his lips found Connor’s, and then his teeth were scraping against the taller man’s as they all but devoured each other14. As his hands worked their way across the smooth skin of Connor’s back, Connor’s hands found his face, holding him still as Connor gently explored his mouth, the other man’s tongue touching the tips of Lex’s fangs inquisitively.

  Pulling back, Connor licked his lips thoughtfully. ‘I taste the blood of an… Englishman?’

  ‘I’m Canadian,’ Lex said with a grin, ‘And the blood in the cocktail was probably Australian.’

  ‘Is there a noticeable difference?’

  ‘If the person was a walking stereotype, then maybe,’ Lex said. ‘Can we talk about something other than my diet?’

  ‘How about we just not talk at all?’ Connor suggested, stepping forward again and kissing Lex deeply.

  They made it to the bedroom, leaving a trail of discarded clothing as they went, and sometime later, the earth moved for Alexander Cranbourne15. Neither of the men spoke - neither of them felt the need to. Connor’s bed was an oversized four-poster deal, with the wispiest of canopies giving the illusion of privacy without feeling claustrophobic. A sated Connor had peeled the condom off his lover, licked Lex clean and dropped the shrivelled latex receptacle onto a folded piece of tissue, which he left on the bed side table. Snuggling up against Lex’s body, Connor’s even breathing told the vampire the other man had drifted off to sleep16.

  He dozed for a while, but he’d hadn’t been awake long enough to feel sleepy yet. Dropping a kiss on Connor’s forehead, Lex slipped from the bed and stepped out onto the balcony, which ran along the north side of the building. Up on the sixtieth floor, Lex could barely see the ground as the grey mist of autumn hung heavy in the air, clinging to and chilling his body as he pushed through it.

  ‘I like living up high,’ Connor had said when he’d led Lex through the lobby of the high rise tower. ‘It gives me a feeling of peace.’

  And it certainly was peaceful. When he’d been alive, Lex used to love sitting by the window in an aeroplane, just when the sun was rising and the plane was flying above the clouds, the morning light catching the gently rolling sea of white that stretched out as far as his eyes could see. There had been a sense of stillness, of peace in those quiet moments before the breakfast trolley rattled around and the inevitable child at the front of the cabin started crying. It was a pause in which he could catch his breath before life began for the day, high above the drudgery of the world. Standing on the balcony he could almost feel it again. Almost. There was certainly a peace and a pause. If he was lucky, there was a distinct chance at a beginning too. His breath however, had long since fled and it seemed unlikely he’d ever catch it again.

  Feeling the cold the air seeping into his bones, Lex headed back inside and stepped into the shower, allowing the hot water to heat his flesh to a semblance of body temperature. He didn’t need to be warm, he knew. He just liked the feeling. When he was warm, he could almost forget that he was, well, not naturally so - or not naturally anything, as it could well be argued. Stepping out of the shower, he glanced at his non-reflection in the mirror and searched through the cupboards for a towel, finding a soft white one as fluffy as the clouds he missed. He also found an ovate gold sculpture, inexplicably 17 being used to weigh down a stack of hand towels.

  Towel thrown over one shoulder, Lex stared into the penthouse loft, with its oversized furniture and lonely inhabitant, his form indistinct behind the gauzy curtains that surrounded the generously proportioned bed. Lex knew how the story went. He also knew exactly where Connor had left the keys that would allow him to control the lift, so he wouldn’t have to climb down the fire escape.

  Some uncounted hours later, the sun had risen unnoticed behind blinds that had been carefully lowered over windows and glass balcony doors, and Connor stirred, blinking sleepily as the world came back into focus.

  ‘You’re still here,’ he said, almost surprised.

  ‘And you’re an ogre,’ Lex said, running his fingers across Connor’s buzz cut hair.

  ‘Do I look like an ogre to you?’

  Lex shrugged. ‘I guess so. You are an ogre so you must look like one.’

  Connor sighed and allowed his head to rest on Lex’s bicep. ‘What gave me away?’

  ‘I found an egg in the bathroom.’

  ‘Ah. I don’t have many of those left 18,’ Connor said, closing his eyes and snuggling closer. ‘So what happens now that you know my deep dark secret?’

  Lex squinted at the gauzy bed curtain. ‘Well, the sun’s out so I’m not going anywhere. You’ll just have to feed me.’

  ‘I thought you said no biting.’

  ‘Maybe I’m not hungry for blood.’

  Connor frowned, deep creases appearing on his normally smooth forehead. ‘You know, no matter what they say about the Fee Fi Fo Fum business…’

  Lex cut him off with a kiss, ‘You’ll grind your cock into my bum?’

  ‘That was awful,’ Connor said after a moment. ‘That was really awful.’

  ‘Yeah, but I’ve been working on that for the last hour,’ Lex said, flushing slightly. ‘Besides, you’re going to do it eventually right?’

  It wasn’t quite an ever after. But for now, it would do.

  *

  Footnotes

  1. Well, there was one, but no-one believed it was genuine science and The Effects of Haematological Consumption of Recreational Drugs on Homo nosferatu was eventually published in the pulp magazine Cryptids Monthly along with an article about being abducted by Martians, which was completely fictional. Real Martians have three tentacles, not two as the author claimed. Go Back

  2. In actual fact, vampires affected by crystal meth don’t last long. They have a tendency to stumble into the sunlight and leave little piles of ash on the sidewalk. Go Back

  3. This was a misnomer. It didn’t contain blood from anyone called Mary. The blood actually came from a mother of three named Sally, who believed she was giving blood to those in desperate need. To be fair, she was doing exactly that. Go Back

  4. As a strictly room temperature kind of guy, Lex didn’t technically need a jacket. There was such a thing as style, though, and appearances were important. Give up appearances, Lex reasoned, and you’re just that one step closer to walking corpse, climbing your way up to virgins’ balconies for kicks and pretending you could fly.Go Back

  5. They didn’t, but so far no academics have even attempted to investigate that particular phenomenon. Critics would probably suggest a lack of recreational drugs featuring in the study parameters is to blame - if they thought about it at all. Which they haven’t. Go Back

  6. i.e. evidence was present and nigh undeniable, but wilful ignorance and lack of political will to admit that it could be a problem meant vampires still had free run of the night, more or less - as long as they paid their taxes and didn’t draw attention to the fact that they were celebrating bicentennials and beyond. Most forward-thinking vampires bribed officials to update their birth certificates every few decades or so, much in the same way that your mother insists she’s been turning thirty eight for the last five years.Go Back

  7. Half a cow as a standard serving for one.Go Back

  8. Yes, as much as we mock them mercilessly, we all want the amount of money the average yuppie earns and thoughtlessly spends. Admit
it - you just want someone to give you that money for your writing/poetry/dance/video gaming/sleeping skill.Go Back

  9.Unless said vampires were featuring in a story written by a Mormon.Go Back

  10. In truth, Lex looked a little absurd doing this as Connor was easily a head and a half taller than him. Still, neither man noticed, and Lex does have those fangs which protrude more when he’s angry. I still haven’t pointed out how absurd he looked. Well, not to his face anyway. There’s a meme on Facebook he’s desperately trying to trace though.Go Back

  11. In this, Lex was very wrong. There are many things worse than living forever. Living forever and being subjected to an endless stream of holiday photos for example. Or not being able to unsee bleach eel girl. If you don’t know it, don’t look it up. Just… trust me on that.Go Back

  12. And his crotch, although Lex didn’t admit it until quite some time later.Go Back

  13. Lex later discovered they were hidden behind the pile of board games in the bookshelves, and that Connor’s favourite game was Toy Story 3, although Connor told everyone it was DeadpoolGo Back.

  14. Not literally.Go Back

  15. Again, not literally. The earth did move. It always does, but it didn’t move specifically for Lex. At least, not this time.Go Back

  16. Again, I make no apologies for the lack of graphic sexual content in this instalment of Lex’s story. There is video footage, but Lex is stronger than I am and apparently getting bitten would have been the least of my worries if I didn’t hand over the master copy to him. You know, for a dead guy he’s remarkably prudish.Go Back

  17. It was, in fact explicable. A bit like climate change really.Go Back

  18. The problem with geese that lay golden eggs is that the eggs don’t typically hatch into other geese. Actually, that’s only one of the problems. The second problem is that old age catches them up just like anyone else - except vampires of course.Go Back

  Our full ENCOUNTERS collection can be viewed at

  http://www.clandestinepress.com.au/encounters

  First published in eBook form by Clan Destine Press in 2014

  CDP Imprint: Clan Destine Encounters 2014

  PO Box 121, Bittern

  Victoria 3918 Australia

  Copyright © Queermance 2014

  Authors retain individual copyright on their own stories.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (The Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of any book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or the body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.

  National Library of Australia Cataloguing-In-Publication data:

  Cameron, Lindy (editor)

  QUEERMANCE Vol 1

  ISBN 978-0-9923296-8-6

  Cover Design © Jessica Fichera

 

 

 


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