Discovery

by Thianna Durston

  Opening the door, Aaron walked over to his uncle’s side table and poured out a glass of water from the pitcher there, as well as grabbed the cough medicine and spoon sitting nearby. “Here, Uncle,” he said, sitting down on the bed next to him. With the coughing, it took a while but finally Davis got the medicine down and some of the water.

  “Must talk.”

  “Wait till you’re better,” Aaron encouraged, his hope shrinking that they could put this off as Davis shook his head.

  “No more time. You have to know—” Another fit of coughing broke out. “—You have to understand.” Grimacing, Davis shook his head even as he coughed up some blood.

  “Uncle!” Aaron leapt to his feet, distressed as he hadn’t realized things were that bad. His stomach rumbled and his upper jaw ached again, but he ignored them.

  Davis waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “I’m dying, Aaron. I know it and you know it. And there are things to…say…” His eyes closed and he flumped against the pillows. Almost terrified to, Aaron leaned forward and placed his fingers at the vein in Davis’s throat. It throbbed with movement and he let out a sigh of relief. Not dead. Still alive. Just passed out.

  Putting the glass and the spoon back on the table, he let himself out, closing the door behind him. He left a note on the board to his cousins to keep any noise down as their uncle wasn’t feeling well. While Aaron had worked hard at keeping his relatives fed this week, he just didn’t have the energy at the moment. They could find something on their own. Leave it to Will and he’d have peanut butter and ham on Ritz crackers.

  Smiling at another good memory, he took the stairs down, his body aching. Walking up to Jaret’s door, he entered, surprised to see the man already up. “Oh!”

  Jaret smiled at him. “I wanted to get a start early tonight. As soon as the sun goes down.”

  “Oh. I was hoping…” Aaron waved toward the bed and Jaret chuckled.

  “Want to suck me?”

  “You know I do.”

  Walking up to him, Jaret leaned down and kissed him softly. Aaron felt the brush of his lips just before he pulled back. “I’m worried about what’s going on out there,” he explained. “From what you’ve said, usually this many predators don’t make their way to your land. I want to keep my eye out for any tonight.”

  “I appreciate it. But, um…” Aaron looked around. Jaret hadn’t done much with the room. In fact, all he saw was the rucksack the man always had with him. “Do you have any of that elixir stuff?” He looked into the other man’s eyes and saw understanding.

  “No. But I’ll come back with some. I promise.”

  Nodding even through his disappointment, Aaron leaned forward to kiss him. Of course, he had hoped Jaret would have some. He’d followed the man for half of last night because he’d had a shot of energy and had wanted to see how he took care of the predators, but finally came home without seeing anything. Of course, then he hadn’t known about the bloodless beasts. Surely Conner was wrong. There had possibly been a huge blood stain wherever the animals were found. If they dug up the dirt, they’d probably find it.

  “You gonna be okay?”

  Realizing he’d let his mind wander, Aaron nodded. “Yeah. Gonna get to bed early tonight. Davis wants to talk to me tomorrow.” Jaret startled for a moment and Aaron could swear he saw relief in the other man’s eyes. What the hell? Did he know just how close Davis was to death, too?

  “If you need me there, let me know,” he said softly.

  “Thanks. Well, you’d better be off. You’re our good luck charm,” Aaron teased. “Not one of our stock killed since you came on board.”

  After a little more teasing and several long kisses, Aaron finally went into the bathroom as Jaret went up the stairs. This was the difficult part. The wait. Just last night, he’d decided on following Jaret. Somehow the man got the elixir at night, which was odd, plus all the strange things with the predators. He just wanted to follow him and…Ah, hell, who was he kidding? Aaron just wanted to be near him. From the way he felt, he didn’t think he would outlast Davis by much and wanted to spend as much time with Jaret as it was possible to do.

  He took a quick hot shower before changing into clean clothes. The ceiling creaked over head with his cousins’ movements and it felt like forever before they finally settled down. Even with as bad as his body ached, the internal pressure let up a bit once the sun was down. Plus, he had a little adrenalin going through him with what he was about to do. Aaron had always done the right thing. And he knew exhausting himself further wasn’t right. But it was what he needed and tonight, he could care less if he was in the wrong.

  Stepping into the hallway, he was relieved to see no light coming down the stairs. Maybe they’d all finally gone to bed. Knowing that more than likely at least the three youngest would be playing games on their cell phones no matter how tired they were, he hoped they wouldn’t hear the floor boards squeak. Each step creaked under his feet, but he ignored them, getting to the top and heading directly for the mud room. The living room seemed lighter for some reason. He was even able to see the stain on the area rug where Adam had fallen and knocked his head on the coffee table, leaving a tremendous amount of blood behind. Davis had freaked out, which was strange because he’d definitely seen worse, but he had sent Aaron downstairs and hadn’t let him back up for hours. And he never explained why.

  Shaking his head at the strange memory, he closed the door between the living and mud rooms and with a sigh of relief, grabbed his boots. It took a while to get Krage tacked up, but the horse was eager for another trek out at night. Of course, the thing was to figure out which direction Jaret had taken. He didn’t want to do this only to never find the man he was looking for. Last night had been a disappointment.

  The sound of whinnies caught his attention and worried about their loose horses, he figured he could check on them first before trying to track the other man. It was a full hour’s ride to their herd and he spotted Blaze first, grazing off to the side. The horse nickered at Krage as they stopped next to him and Aaron hopped off, leaving the two together. Where was Jaret? He stood up tall and looked around, but at first all he saw were their horses who seemed spooked. They had huddled into a tight bunch, looking prepared to run away at any moment. He’d never seen them do that before.

  Slight movement out of the corner of his eye made him reach for his gun. Only to realize he hadn’t even thought to bring it. “Fuck.” Stalking toward him—or actually Blaze and Krage—was a huge cougar. Before he could sound an alarm that would have his horses running away quickly, Jaret came out of nowhere.

  Faster than he could have imagined, the man tore around the herd heading straight for the cat. Moving as fluidly as the mountain lion did, he sped up, a growl leaving his mouth. Wait. A growl? Nothing that alarming could have come from him. Sure, he’d heard Jared growl in annoyance or to tease him. But the sound that just left his throat was menacing. Obviously the cat thought so to as it whipped around and let out a roar. It hunched down and Aaron felt completely useless at protecting his lover until the cougar suddenly flumped to the side. Blinking in confusion, he looked again even as his heart beat so fast in his ears, he couldn’t hear anything.

  Strange sensations overtook him as Jaret looked up and nodded at him, as if this was all supposed to make sense. His fingers tingled and he flexed them over and over, his upper jaw throbbing painfully, the ache increasing exponentially as Jaret picked up the lion. A low rumble filled the air but Aaron wasn’t sure where it came from and he couldn’t look away from the man walking toward him.

  “Inhale, Aaron,” Jaret said in a seductive tone. Unable not to obey, he did.

  In an instant, everything changed. Over the sound of his own heartbeat, another drowned it out. The pumping of blood through a heart. The scent of fur and dust and most of all, the elixir filled his nose and his jaw tightened so much he felt it would crack. His whole body shook and his eyes dropped to the animal in Jaret’s hands. He…wanted it. He ju
st wasn’t sure why.

  When Jaret reached him, he jerked the animals head back with a snap, ending its life. Before Aaron could even piece together why that seemed wrong, the scent of the elixir filled his nostrils. Agony seared through his mouth as something tore through his gums. Logical thought was gone and he acted on pure instinct. Yanking the animal from Jaret’s arms, he sank his fangs into its throat. Warm, luscious elixir entered his mouth and he drank and drank and drank.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Watching Aaron drink blood created a rather unexpected reaction in Jaret. He had seen countless vampyr and drakyl feed. From humans. And yet, watching them was nothing in comparison to seeing the man he cared for drink the lifeblood out of the creatures Jaret handed him. Last night, when Aaron tried to follow him, he had the feeling it wouldn’t be the only time and the first thing he had done tonight was find a few predators and hypnotized them into sleep. He was actually surprised the cat hadn’t gone after them. The three coyotes lay there, ripe for the taking. Instead, the dratted thing had gone after Blaze.

  Of course, in retrospect, it had worked out perfectly. There had been no time to think about his choice, no instant to worry if he should wait until Davis explained everything to Aaron. No. There was just the time it took to carry the cat over. And finally, nature took its course. By the time the lion was bereft of blood, Jaret had the three dogs waiting and thrust the first one forward. By coyote number two, he had slowed down. Savoring the blood as it entered his mouth, rather than sucking greedily. Knowing that meant his lover was finally satisfied—though technically he would never truly know satisfaction until he’d bled a human—Jaret grabbed the last animal and quickly drank it down. By the time he was done, Aaron was taking the last few pulls from his own. Tossing the coyote down where the other animals lay, Jaret walked behind him and as soon as Aaron dropped the dog, he wrapped his arms around him, locking the other man’s arms to his sides.

  It was difficult to tell how a newly changed drakyl would act. Even satisfied, he could decide to go drain the entire damned herd of horses. Not only would Aaron feel horrified when he’d come out of his blood lust, but Jaret had too much love for the beasts to allow them to become the other man’s meals. He was well fed. Whole. There was no logical reason to allow him to go on a rampage.

  A low moan, tinged with a growl, left Aaron’s throat making him smile. Leaning in, he inhaled Aaron’s scent. The most overpowering tang was lemon. But underneath it still hung the vanilla cigar and peppermint traces he loved. The growl grew. And changed. As the aroma of lust filled the air, Jaret’s body rose to meet it. His cock already pressed at the zipper of his jeans when Aaron swung around. For one brief moment, Jaret saw the man as he would be forever after feeding. Murky red eyes, flared nostrils, and fangs covered in blood that hung over his bottom lips.

  “Oh fuck, you’re gorgeous,” Jaret murmured, leaning forward and licking the blood off one of the fangs Aaron would learn to control. The growl that came from the man in front of him was no longer muffled, nor mixed with a moan. It was pure, feral desire. And Jaret met the growl note for note, their chests reverberating with the sound even as everything else disappeared. He never consciously noticed the horses running away, nor their squeals of fear. All his focus was on Aaron and the feeling rising within him. Everything else was gone. The only thing that mattered was the man in front of him. By instinct, Jaret knew this would change his life.

  Strong hands grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled, ripping the thing to shreds. Fire lit him up within as he responded in kind. Their hands ripped and tore until the only thing either of them wore were their boots and their hats. The former wouldn’t get in their way and the latter fell off when he tackled Aaron to the ground. The scent of warm blood combined with the natural taste that came from the man underneath him. Joined with the sharp fangs that pricked his lips, Jaret was sure this couldn’t get any better.

  Until it did.

  Flipping them over, Aaron rose up a little, smiling down at him, his expression feral and downright hot. With sharp nips, he kissed down Jaret’s neck, nipping at his adam’s apple, chest, and abs, pausing to drag his fangs along the creases from his waist to cock. “Fuck,” Jaret growled. The chuckle that rumbled in Aaron’s chest had to be the sexiest sound he’d ever heard.

  “That’s the idea.” Startled by the deep voice, Jaret stared at him, astonished into not moving for a moment. Was this Aaron’s new voice? He’d heard that some drakyl, when they changed, their voice changed as well, but before Aaron he’d never cared to notice. Looking up toward him, Aaron’s mouth formed into a smirk. And wasn’t that just the sexiest thing he’d ever seen? Holy shit. Aaron before the change had been sexy. Aaron the drakyl was pure sex.

  “Well, don’t keep me hanging,” Jaret said, panting in desire. His cock stood out proud from his body, dripping pre-cum with the foreskin already pulled back. It was ready for Aaron any which way he wanted.

  “On your hands and knees.” Groaning at the lust roaring through his own veins, Jaret turned quickly, vaulting up onto the position commanded. If he’d thought about it, he would have assumed he would be the one fucking Aaron, but right now, all he felt was need.

  The growl that came continuously from his lover grew as warm hands pulled his cheeks apart. “Fuck,” Aaron growled. “Mine.”

  The word shocked Jaret, almost out of his frenzy, until Aaron spit and he felt the liquid land on his puckered hole. Two strong fingers pushed through the outer ring, the discomfort zapping along his nerve endings even as his desire ratcheted up. It had been a long time since he bottomed but, dear one, this was right.

  The man behind him thrust quickly, building from two to three fingers rapidly before removing them. With the amount of lust pouring off the man behind him, he was actually surprised he’d taken the time to do that much. When something much larger pushed against him, his mind shut off as his body just felt.

  He didn’t remember Aaron being so huge, but as he slid inside, there was no doubt the man was endowed. A low wail left him, not of pain, but of need as the movement was too slow. “Please,” he begged. “Fuck me.”

  Sure hands grasped his hips as with a lunge, Aaron was inside. And it didn’t stop there. After pulling almost all the way out, he rammed back in, fucking Jaret hard and fast. Growls, bellows, and shouts filled the air as they fucked. Jaret rutted back each time Aaron thrust forward, each smack of skin against skin sounding like a bolt of thunder in the soundless night. Suddenly, over the lust, beyond the senses, something else arose. It filled every nerve-ending, every part of him. Jaret tried to pay attention to it as it was something he had never felt before, but the unending pounding of Aaron’s cock in his ass made it hard to do so. The man within wanted to come, needed to. But at the same time, he didn’t. He wanted them to go on fucking all night long.

  Unfortunately, drakyl had their limits. Even when filled with blood.

  Loud grunts came from the man behind him as his lunges became more intense. One of the hands grasping Jaret’s hips tightened while the other slipped around him even as Aaron rested along his back, while his cock still rode him hard and fast. Fingers wrapped around his shaft as warm breath ghosted over his cheek. “Come with me, Jaret.” The hand was warm and wet and Jaret had been cresting the need to come for a while now. It felt as though every neuron in his body leapt toward completion, just waiting. As a low wail left Aaron, Jaret’s wait was over as he came, his liquid spattering over the dirt below them as Aaron continued to pound into him for several minutes.

  The orgasm was incredible, but it was what lay beyond the orgasm that made him tremble as Aaron finally flumped on top of him and they slid to the ground. One. They had become one. He and Aaron were joined. While Jaret had heard of the mythical pairing, he hadn’t actually believed it existed. Humans called it soul mates. His kind called it being joined. Of being a part of the other drakyl in such a way that his life was inexorably tied to the other for all time. For some reason, he had tho
ught that would be a bad thing. But it wasn’t. Instead, it came with a sort of peace. As though, as long as he was with Aaron, life was what it should be. Hell, he had travelled the globe for centuries thinking he had everything he needed. He’d been so wrong.

  A nose nuzzled behind his ear making him smile as he spoke. “That had to be the best fuck ever.” No reply came from behind him. When Aaron began to shake, Jaret turned. “Ah, shit.” Horror covered the other man’s face. “It’s going to be okay, Aaron.”

  Yanking back from him, Aaron leapt to his feet, terror on his face as he backed up. “Oh my god, Jaret. I’m so sorry. I’ve never…I mean…I’m so sorry.”

  Turning over slowly as not to scare him, Jaret moved to a sitting position and then to his feet, keeping each of his movements calm so as not to upset the already distraught drakyl. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

  “But I—I’ve never treated a guy like that before. Usually I bottom. Fuck, Jaret. I’m so sorry.” Aaron grasped his hair in his hands and yanked at it, agony on his face.

  Stepping forward with his palms out, Jaret cautiously reached for the other man’s hands, loosening their grip on hair he happened to like. “Shh, it’s going to be okay. Do you remember what happened before we fucked?”

  Aaron blinked eyes that were now back to blue at him, wincing as his fangs slowly retracted. His eyes widened and he gawked at Jaret. “How can you look at me? I’m a monster.”

  Pulling the man close, which wasn’t easy as he struggled against Jaret’s strength, he managed to wrap his arms around him and hug him. “Aaron, I’m just like you are.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re good and nice and—”

  “And a drakyl just like you are.”

  The man he held shivered and lifted his head to look Jaret in the eye. “A what?”

  “A drakyl.”

  “You are not a Drakyl,” Aaron said with a shake of his head.

  “No, but…” Growling softly, Jaret wondered how to explain. “To you, Drakyl is your name. To me, drakyl is what we are. We drink blood to survive, Aaron. The sun can burn and kill us. Our kind stick to the night for a reason.”