by Nicki Ruth
“What are you thinking about?” Cade asked, breaking the silence, eyes reflecting the flickering flames.
Jason hesitated. “I was thinking your hair looks a mess.”
Cade grinned and ran his fingers through his tangled locks. Jason admired the gold highlights glimmering under the firelight and reached over to smooth an errant strand. Cade rummaged through his bag then turned to him with a comb and a grin.
With shaking fingers, Jason plucked the comb from Cade’s hand and moved behind him. First, he undid the braids then began pulling the comb through dampened hair. Jason went slowly, careful not to get the comb snagged on knots. Cade’s hair was long, down to the middle of his back, and thick and heavy.
He started at the crown, moving downwards to the ends which curled under the comb’s ministration. Repeating over again, he combed through Cade’s golden mane until it smoothed and gleamed. His licked his lips admiring his work, wondering how one man’s hair could look like fine-spun gold.
Cade twisted to look at him. Jason flushed then leaned forward and pressed his lips against Cade’s.
It was a fleeting kiss; gently he licked Cade’s lips, which raised into a smile. Jason sat back to look at them, moist and full, waiting on him to caress. He raised his gaze to see Cade watching him with a predatory intensity. Instantly, his cock grew hard in his pants, but he remained still, unsure what to do next, yet wanting so much to happen.
In one move, Cade grabbed a fistful of his hair, arching him backwards. Cade nuzzled his neck, breathing him in.
Jason groaned at the feel of Cade’s lips on his flesh, licking and tasting him. He reached up and tugged at Cade’s tunic. He wanted to feel his chest against his again, to lick and bite and savor. He wanted Cade’s warmth, his fire.
Jason took Cade to the ground with him, holding him close and capturing his lips to explore his mouth. Cade’s fire lingered just beyond the reach of his tongue, ready to devour him. And he wanted to be devoured.
Cade groaned, tightening his grip in Jason’s hair, grinding their hips together. Jason gasped when he felt Cade’s desire hard and heavy against him. With frenzied hands, their clothes were soon stripped from their bodies, Cade still pressing into Jason from above as they each explored the other with fingers, lips, and tongues. Growing delirious with pleasure, Jason felt his body about to explode. Cade pulled back and looked down at him, his golden-green gaze hungry for more than primal desire. Jason protested and tugged him back into his hold, but Cade made a low sound in his throat that vibrated against Jason’s chest and inched down Jason’s body, his lips marking his path.
Jason grew loud, crying out as Cade took him into his mouth in one smooth motion, his tongue coiling unnaturally around his cock. He struggled to breathe, hoping to last longer but Cade’s mouth mercilessly sucked and teased him. He clawed at Cade, desperate, pleading, babbling wildly until his orgasm rolled over him and burst into Cade’s wet mouth. Cade moaned, swallowing all of Jason’s spent passion. Jason’s mind seemed to drift in and out of reality, clouded with his delirium.
So, when he opened his eyes and saw the golden stare of a scaly, near translucent horned beast nuzzling and chuffing at him, he laughed, reaching out to touch the creature as exhaustion claimed him.
∞∞∞
Cade shook Jason awoke and handed him his clothes without a word. Jason fumbled around, but Cade insisted they begin the rest of their journey. He didn’t say much, though there was much he wanted to talk to Jason about. He’d mulled over the events of the previous day, wondering why he was so drawn to Jason and chastising himself for taking things so far. It was just his excitement at finding him, his kin, after all these years, surely. But what if it was more?
He glanced over at Jason as they rowed to a pier hidden within a murky mangrove, the air humid and thick around them. Jason had been fidgeting and frowning at him the entire journey. Was he upset about the night before?
“How were you made vampire?” he asked instead.
They’d stashed the boat and continued on foot. It would be a half day’s hike to home. Jason visibly brightened at his words, and Cade felt an inward stab of guilt. He let himself get so caught up in his thoughts about Jason, he’d neglected to actually talk to him.
“Um. Well, there’s not much to it. My sire found me and gifted me. That was close to a hundred years ago,” he said, looking at his feet.
“You wanted to become a vampire?”
“No. I was dying. My father had compassion and saved me.” The warmth in his voice was hard to miss.
Cade frowned and stopped. “You were dying?” His blood chilled, and a fierce, angry snarl sounded in his head.
Jason came to a stop beside him and looked up. “Yes,” he said without expression and continued walking.
Cade clenched his fists, wanting to tear into something at knowing he’d almost never met Jason. “How did that come to be?” He caught up with Jason and pulled him to a stop. “Tell me.”
Jason‘s eyes bored into his, and he tipped his head to the side. “Why?”
Why? Cade felt his anger rising. He had a right to know! Didn’t he? He took a breath. “Jason, I just want to know about anything that can help us figure out your lineage,” Cade replied tensely as he struggled to tame the scales shifting beneath skin.
Jason sighed and looked away. “I was on a ship. It got attacked. I was hurt. That’s it. Nothing special.”
“Jason—”
“Cade! I don’t want to talk about the time I almost died. Would you?” Jason snapped and started off again.
Cade grimaced. He deserved that. “Tell me about your sire,” he called after Jason. “What’s he like?”
Jason turned to him. “My father is ancient and powerful. He wouldn’t like to hear that you kidnapped me. In fact, he’ll probably bleed you dry and pound your bones to dust.” A smug smile played on his lips, and he crossed his arms over his chest, chin up.
Cade paused then grinned. “The leech won’t be coming for you, Jason. You better get used to that.”
He was about to follow up with another crack about leeches, but he saw Jason’s stricken, ashen face as the acrid smell of fear invaded his senses. Cade reached out to him when he noticed Jason’s breath starting to come in fast and shallow. “Breathe, Jason . . .”
Jason slapped his hand away and stumbled from him.
“Jason,” he called, just as Jason doubled over, wheezing.
“It’s okay. Breathe.” He stroked Jason’s back.
After a few moments, Jason straightened and turned to level him a scathing look. “Fuck off, Cade,” he snarled, flashing his fangs. His voice was like steel, hard and unyielding. Without another word, he turned and marched off through the brush.
Cade let out a heavy sigh. What the hell just happened? He was messing up today.
∞∞∞
Jason walked the rest of the way, shivering. He didn’t feel cold, rather it was a chill that had seized his heart, its icy fingers choking him.
Would his sire come for him?
Why would he? He’d been nothing but a nuisance to Alexios. And now with his new deformity, of course he wouldn’t. But hadn’t his father always been there for him, keeping him safe, training him, allowing him to have his way and feed whenever he desired?
He shook his head. No, Cade was right. It would be just like before. He’d be left behind. Discarded and forgotten. His heart skipped a beat, and he bit his lip, clamping down a sob that clogged his throat.
He couldn’t believe Cade could be so cruel. Well, how could he have known? He didn’t know the man. But after what they’d done the night before, he’d thought . . .
Instead, Cade ignored him the whole day and threw in his face that he was not wanted. This, after he kidnapped him and beat him. Jason could feel himself unravelling, so he pierced his arm with his fangs to distract himself.
“I still have Damurian blood for you to drink if you need,” Cade said, coming up alongside him. He reached into h
is bag and pulled out a bottle.
Jason gave him another scornful look and snatched the bottle from his outstretched hand. Maybe he would try the blood. He swallowed it and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, tossing the empty bottle back to Cade and not breaking his stride. After a few minutes, he paused then doubled over, retching. He heard Cade curse behind him as he tried to catch his breath.
“Did it go bad? Do you need me to catch you something fresh?” Cade asked, reaching for him, but he hesitated and pulled back.
Jason groaned as his stomach continued to revolt.
“Jason?” Cade came closer.
“I’m fine, Cade,” he said gravely. “Just fine.” He straightened and stepped past him.
Cade took hold of his arm, forcing him to a stop. “You’re not fine. You’re pale and shaking. Do you need me to get you more blood?”
Jason tried to shrug him off but Cade’s grip on his arm was firm and his gaze
unflinching. Jason tensed and faced him. “You gonna offer me your vein?”
Cade’s face grew hard. “The day a leech’s fangs break my skin is the day I burn it to ash,” he sneered in revulsion.
Jason winced then glowered at him. “Thought so.” He brushed past Cade, who let him go.
Jason felt empty, but he didn’t dare allow Cade to see the anguish he was in.
Chapter 8
Cade cursed himself the rest of the way as they walked in silence. He hadn’t meant to be so harsh. Yes, he despised vampires. They were responsible for some of the most atrocious crimes against his people, and he didn’t overstate his feelings; he would rather see them all rendered to ash than have anything to do with the bloodsuckers. The blood of vahanas was aphrodisiac to vampires, and they’d near hunted them to extinction.
But Jason was vampire, and the reason he was still alive, according to him. Would he refuse Jason his blood if he really needed it? Cade groaned at the thought.
There was something Jason was keeping from him. He’d paled after talking about his sire. Was he afraid of him? Cade didn’t care to know much about vampires or the relationships they had with each other, but they swarmed like a hive of hornets. Jason may be tainted with leech blood, but that didn’t mean Cade should be callous. His thoughts continued to focus on Jason, so he didn’t notice that the man of his musings had come to a sudden stop.
“Something is . . . here,” Jason whispered, gazing up into the trees.
Cade tripped over a root. Damn. He hadn’t been paying attention. He was about to ask Jason what he sensed when a large hairy body knocked him off his feet, sending him crashing through the brush. He rolled from under the branches that had fallen over him, but the hairy beast pounced again.
It was a gorgyn. A beady-eyed, vicious carnivore with two-foot long incisors made for cleaving flesh from bone. The largest of them could be as big as a small vehicle. And despite their size, they were stealthy, often waiting lengthy periods under the cover of brush for unsuspecting prey.
How had he allowed himself to become prey?
The beast roared, its pointy teeth narrowly missing Cade, who scrambled to his feet but was quickly knocked over again. The beast lunged for his throat, but he grabbed onto it and tried to bend its head back. He wrestled with it and was readying his flames to fry the beast, when it squealed and lurched upward, then slumped heavily onto Cade’s chest, pinning him to the ground.
He twisted his head to the side to see Jason standing nearby, his staff bloodied at one end and a bewildered look on his face.
“Were you seriously having trouble with that thing?” Jason asked with raised brows.
Cade grunted and tried to heave the massive beast off his body, but his arm slipped, slick with its blood, and the gorgyn’s weight slammed back down unto his chest. He groaned and hefted again, managing to roll it off him.
Jason didn’t try to help.
“Thanks,” Cade grumbled, rising to his feet.
Jason casually cleaned the blood off his staff and replaced its retracted form at his hip.
Cade frowned. “That ugly thing was a gorgyn. They usually don’t roam in this territory.”
Jason breathed out loudly and tipped his head backwards. “Why don’t you just fly us to wherever we’re going? Wouldn’t that be faster, and we won’t have to deal with . . . that?”
Cade walked up to Jason and grinned. “I figured you wouldn’t want me carrying you. Unless you planned to fly there yourself?”
Jason gave him a withering look, his lips pulled back as if to bare his fangs, but Cade stopped him by taking Jason’s hand into his.
“I’m sorry. For everything. For taking you against your will, for raising my hand against you, and for anything I’ve said that caused to you to be upset.” Cade paused and brushed his lips against the underside of Jason’s wrist. “But I’m not sorry for the other things that happened between us.”
Jason stood unmoving, wide-eyed and red-faced.
Cade tightened his grip on Jason’s hand and placed it against his chest. “And thank you for just now. I should’ve been paying attention. But you’ve been so distracting these past few days . . .”
It seemed like time stopped for Cade, and the only thing that tied him to the present was the feel of Jason’s warm hand in his. The forest was quiet as though it, too, held a collective breath. He waited for Jason to say something, but he lowered his gaze. A brown curl tumbled over his forehead, and Cade watched as a seed puff floated past it, landing on Jason’s shoulder before taking to the air again.
A nervous flutter started in the pit of Cade’s stomach, but he remained still, afraid that if he moved he’d ruin things again. He really needed Jason to know he was sorry, that if he could go back, he’d do things differently.
Jason raised his head and smiled at him, and Cade’s mouth filled with hot flame. He was giddy to see Jason smiling again.
“Fine,” Jason said, looking at him through hooded lashes. “I’ll give you yet another chance. Don’t disappoint me.” Jason grinned, all the light returning to his yellow gaze.
Cade beamed and squeezed Jason’s hand. Jason leaned in and briefly touched his lips to Cade’s, then laughed when Cade blinked in surprise.
∞∞∞
They continued the rest of the way on foot. Jason, upon reflection, did not want Cade to carry him. Besides, he wanted to spend the time getting to know Cade. The hopelessness that had threatened to crush him lifted when Cade apologized. At least Cade recognized he was being an ass.
Out of his fog, Jason heard the forest surrounding them; the chirp of a rustling bug in the bark, the swish of dancing leaves as they twirled with the occasional breeze, and the still quiet that followed when the hovering mist descended once more, cocooning all in its blanket. Somehow, everything seemed louder, more distinct. Releasing the tension from his shoulders with another deep breath, Jason chatted with Cade, oblivious to the miles they covered.
“So, how did you get away from the mage?” Jason loved a good story and was amazed by the life Cade had lived.
But he was saddened by some of the things Cade had witnessed and endured. Too many times, Cade had been too late to help his kin escape a life of misery and agonizing death as a result of their entrapment in enchanted objects. He shared Cade’s rage at the fiends who’d profited from their suffering—especially when Cade told him another vahana had betrayed them, teaching a mage vahanan secrets and vulnerabilities.
“When I was summoned, I gambled on him being so greedy for my power that he wouldn’t notice the incantation I placed on the necklace he’d bound me to. When he next used it, he unwittingly released me from one of the bindings. I did this a couple times until I was able to break free. Then, I glamoured myself into an old crone and told his men I saw a big handsome man running in the opposite direction.”
Jason laughed. “You would say that.”
“What? You don’t think I’m handsome?” Cade teased lightheartedly.
Jason sputtered and blushed, s
uddenly tongue-tied. “You’re okay, I guess. Too growly and scaly . . .” Jason began, but Cade rounded on him, backing him against the rough trunk of a tree.
“Just okay?” Cade shook his head. “Surely we can do better than that. And growly? I’m drogulis, I roar.”
Then he took Jason’s chin into his hand and brought their faces together. Jason’s heart pounded, eager for what was about to come next. But Cade took his time, stroking his chin and jaw with his thumb. Blond lashes fluttered as he studied Jason’s mouth. A small groan escaped Jason and he inched forward, but as he did, the scent of eucalyptus tickled his nose and a voice spoke from the forest.
“So, this is why you’ve been dallying, Cadeonidas.”
Jason tensed, unsheathing his claws. Cade turned, revealing one of the most exquisite beings Jason had ever seen.
∞∞∞
She stood regally before them, a tall, hooked staff in her hand. Dark-skinned like his brother Marius, Jason couldn’t help but admire how her skin glistened in the narrow streams of light that escaped the forest canopy. She was striking. Her slanted eyes were like large amethysts, sparkling as if they housed the stars of a galaxy. A thick tumble of garnet red locks framed her face and pooled around her waist. Several flat golden circles decorated a leather band that rested against her forehead. Hanging at either side of her face were strands of golden coins that fell to her shoulders, tinkling. A simple shawl draped across her shoulders, obscuring her torso, and a long, slitted skirt revealed a glimpse of her bare legs and feet.
“After all these years, I thought you would’ve been eager to see me,” she said. “But I find you—”
Cade swept her up, whirling them about as their laughter melded together. The woman threw her arms around Cade’s shoulders and buried her face in his neck while he held her close. They stayed like that for what seemed like forever, and Jason clenched his teeth to stifle a hiss at their intimate embrace. A burning sensation flooded his stomach when Cade gently stroke her face after they pulled apart. She gazed at him, then pulled him into an embrace again.