by Lily Harlem
“Come on, then.” George slid his hand upward to my waist and circled it. “Let’s go that way.”
I allowed him to tug me close and steer me to the end of the bridge. A night bus drove by; a flash of red, its engine loud. Behind it was a black cab, its yellow light on, showing it was available.
As we went down the stone steps, a sense of deja-vu washed through me. I’d been here so many times, but never in reality, or at night…or with vampires.
“And what happens here?” Lloyd asked, coming to a halt as I did.
“This is where I lose track of the prisoner and a man appears, a truly handsome man with an alluring smile and red roses for me.”
“Red roses?” Oscar said with a sharp laugh.
“I’m female, remember.” I paused. “And what have you got against red roses?”
He shrugged with a half smile still on his face. “Nothing if you like them.”
I didn’t answer, instead I stared at the spot my father always appeared. Now it was a neat gravel path with a small wall on one side leading to a grassy bank. Gone were the cobbles, the dirt, and the ravens overhead.
“He shows up here.” I pointed. “And distracts me. In my last dream he told me he’s coming for me soon. It was the first time he’s ever said that.”
“Let him fucking try.” Rhys folded his arms and glanced around. “I dare him.”
“Rhys,” Lloyd said. “Be careful.”
“Well, the sooner it’s done, the better.” Rhys huffed.
“Darius,” George said, “in your last dream, you mentioned Master Benedict—was he on the bank or still in the boat?”
“Just here, with my father.”
All four vampires stared at the point on the ground I’d indicated.
“He stood there?” Lloyd said. “Master Benedict.”
“Yeah.”
“Wow.” Rhys nodded. “Cool.”
“And can you remember what he said?” George asked me. “If anything.”
“Yeah, kind of.” I rubbed my forehead. “My father said he would make it as painless as possible for me if I surrendered. I guess he was talking about possession.” I gulped. “Benedict appeared and told him to step away from me.”
“I take it that didn’t happen,” Lloyd said. “A demon doesn’t obey instructions.”
“Actually it did happen, because Benedict argued with my father when he said I was of no concern to him.”
“Oh?” George raised his eyebrows at me.
“Yeah, he said Darius is my concern.”
“Master Benedict actually said your name?” Oscar asked.
“Yep, and then my father rushed to him, or something did and they appeared to fight, but it was like that swirl of air in the alley, Oscar, a twister or a cyclone type thing, made of black smoke and roaring.”
“Fuck,” Lloyd muttered.
“Yeah, fuck. Master Benedict is trying to protect Darius for a good reason.” George stared to the left and frowned. “What’s that?”
“What?” I asked.
“Over there, I can hear something.”
I strained my ears. Nothing.
“Shit, he’s here.” Oscar suddenly stepped before me, his broad back blocking my view of the Thames.
“Surround him,” Rhys said, hemming me in against Oscar, Lloyd and George.
“What’s happening?” I asked, but as I’d said the words I knew. Clouds had masked the pale light of the moon, the temperature had dropped and a shroud of heavy darkness had fallen.
“Your father is here.” George clasped my arm. “Do as we say, we will protect you.”
Fear gripped me, and my belly tightened. A gust of wind skittered dust and litter around my feet. I clenched my fists, heat building in my chest and arms. A nasty taste filled my mouth again, and a rancid scent invaded my nose—I recognized both of them.
“Over there,” Rhys said. “Look.”
I glanced over his shoulder. The same twisting swirl of air I’d seen before was growing, and it was getting bigger by the second.
“You got a plan here, George?” Oscar shouted above the noise of the howling wind.
“Keep him locked between us,” George said. “He can’t penetrate our love for his son. He’ll feel that and give up.”
“It’s going to get pretty damn violent in a minute,” Lloyd yelled as the whirl doubled in size, gathering up gravel and stones from the path so it was hard and lethal. “Protect his head.”
George rested his hands on my crown. Oscar reached behind himself and gripped my waist.
I was cushioned between their hard, tall bodies. Protected by their strong hands and limbs. The noise of the whirling wind was becoming deafening, I could sense it growing too. Heat and power coming off it and filling the air around us. Trees nearby shook, the ground seemed to tremble and a horrible fizzing sensation filled my ears as if the pressure had changed.
“Fuck!” George muttered. “How much bigger is this thing going to get?”
Several stones were flung our way, moving like bullets and bouncing off Oscar and Rhys.
“It’s okay,” Oscar said. “Keep him tight between us.”
The heat inside my chest was boiling now. Growing to furnace levels. My arms hurt with the scorch in my nerves. I flexed and unflexed my fingers then slid my hands over Rhys’s left shoulder.
I couldn’t contain the boiling surge in my veins, and with a moan I let it fly, blasting sparks toward the stony twister.
“Darius,” George gasped. “What the…?”
“We need…to get rid of him…” I managed. “Once and for all.”
I shot more sparks at the coil of rapidly spinning debris. They hit the stones, sending them flying out to the sides and rolling onto the ground. The thing stopped growing as I fired more sparks, brilliantly bright and orange they lit up the air and twisted with it in a dancing flame.
A loud roar of thunder rolled overhead, then there was a streak of lightning, cracking from east to west as if trying to rip apart the night sky.
I was breathing hard with the effort of releasing yet more sparks. The taste in my mouth was so revolting I had to stop myself from vomiting.
Lloyd broke away, then raced toward the stony wind. He stood before it, chest puffed up, arms held high. “With the glory of love and respect, your evil will not reign. Be gone, demon. There’s nothing for you here, and I say that from my heart with the unwavering support of the mighty Master Benedict who stood in this very spot with the same message for you.”
Thunder bellowed again, ringing through my ears and vibrating through my chest. George had his arms around my body now, holding my back to his chest. His cheek was against mine.
I dropped my hands, exhaustion flooding me.
Suddenly the howling wind stopped. The remaining stones fell to the ground, rolling and rattling over the pathway and grassy bank then coming to a halt.
“Go. Do not return,” Lloyd shouted, triumph filling his voice. “There is nothing here for you.”
“Everything is here for me!”
My father’s voice, full of rage, screamed through the air.
And then silence.
Stillness.
“He’s gone,” Oscar said. He was breathing hard.
“Don’t fucking come back!” Lloyd shouted at the sky, then turned to us.
“Darius,” George said against my ear. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, but it’s hard work…releasing all that energy.”
“It leaves you drained, doesn’t it?” he said, spinning me to face him.
“Yeah.” I wrapped my arms around him, glad of the support his strong, solid body gave me.
He set his lips on the side of my head. “I’ve got you, it’s okay. Lean on me all you want, my love.”
I closed my eyes and pulled in air, steadying my breathing and waiting for the ache in my arms and chest to subside. He smelled of soap and it was the perfect scent after the stench of my father’s energy.
“Ev
erything is here for him,” Rhys said. “Did you all hear him say that?”
“Yeah,” Oscar muttered. “He’ll be back for the body he wants.”
“But can’t have,” Lloyd said, his voice nearer now.
“Was that always the plan?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” George said, cupping the back of my head and holding me closer so my face was against his neck.
“To surround me. To use love to protect me.”
Silence.
I raised my head and looked at George. “It’s a nice idea and might keep him away from me, but how will that defeat him?”
George sighed. “How can we fight wind and stones? Our speed, strength and fangs aren’t effective against that.”
I shrugged. It had been my sparks that had gotten rid of him, I was sure of it.
If I hadn’t done that, would he still be here?
“We need him to come in a physical form to defeat him once and for all,” Oscar said.
“A body?”
George nodded.
“But he hasn’t got one,” I said, “isn’t that why he wants mine?”
“Yours is different, yours is perfect, the one he’s designed for himself,” George said. “We need him to get another host and come for you then we can kill it and him.”
A wave of shock filled me. “But that means another person has to die to save me. I can’t have that. I…that goes against everything I believe in, everything I was taught about right and wrong. We have to—”
“Shh, it’s okay, we’ll figure it out.” George held my face in his hands. “I promise, we’ll work it out. No one innocent will die, Darius.”
“How can you promise him that?” Oscar huffed.
“I can and I have,” George said, lowering his face to mine. “I will not let your pure soul be tarnished, Darius.”
“We won’t let it,” Lloyd said, clasping his hand on my shoulder.
“We should get out of here.” Rhys stepped away and glanced at the messy scattered stones, then the river. “Master Benedict isn’t here. There’s no lingering energy.”
“No, but he was.” Lloyd pointed at the prison. “He was incarcerated in there before he was hung, drawn, and quartered, and his heart staked for the ravens to feast on.”
“I hate that.” Oscar pulled a face. “Don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Rhys said, folding his arms. “But it’s history, and a history we seem to have been drawn into.”
“We’ll come back in daylight when it’s open for tourists,” George said. “Get inside and see what we can find out.”
“Master Benedict’s death is well documented at The Order,” Lloyd said. “Do you really think we’ll find anything new?”
“We won’t know if we don’t look.” George wrapped his arm around my waist. “But right now, we have to get our guy home to bed.”
Half an hour later I was in a lush penthouse apartment in Greenwich. It was sleekly designed with heavy black drapes, black pile carpet and dark walls. The lighting was muted, the kitchen devoid of any implements, gadgets or food. The only organic thing in the place was a spider plant set in the middle of a glass table.
“Come through here,” George said, tugging me to a doorway. “You need to rest.”
I wasn’t going to argue with that. It was the middle of the night and due to that and the release of sparks, I was tired.
He shut the door on Oscar and Rhys. Lloyd was loitering outside the apartment, keeping a watch out for danger.
“Do you all live here?” I asked, looking at the large bed covered in pristine black silk sheets. It looked as though it had never been used.
“When we’re in London.”
“It’s nice. Dark, but nice.”
“We like dark.” He chuckled. “Suits us.”
“I guess.” I removed my jacket, then stripped off my t-shirt.
“Fucking Hell.” George stared at me.
“What?”
“You have no idea, do you?”
“What?” I tossed my t-shirt onto a chair.
“The effect you have on me, on all of us.” He gestured to my body. “You’re all our dreams and fantasies wrapped up in one glorious package. And the fact we’ve waited so long for you, it just makes you more enticing, even more fucking sexy.”
The longing in his voice was obvious and my cock stirred. Ever since I’d been close to George at the photo shoot I’d had a craving for him. We’d touched, our cocks pressed close, lips hovering, but it had been so teasing, so elusive. The promise of pleasure had been very much there, but there’d been no satisfaction.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” I said, popping open the button on my jeans and not hiding my appreciative perusal of his body, head to toe and up again.
“I’m glad you think so.” He pointed to the bed. “Shall we?”
I swallowed and clenched my ass as a shiver of desire traveled the length of my spine.
“We don’t have to do anything,” he said. “But I would like to hold you.” He smiled. “Perhaps steal the kiss that nearly but not quite happened.”
I nodded. “Yes, I’d like that.”
He pulled off his waistcoat, setting his pocket watch on the bedside table, then removed his pristine white shirt.
I drank in his body. His torso was similar to mine. In fact, everything about him physically was similar to me. Lean and strong, skin a little pale, only the smallest smattering of body hair. We’d look good together on the campaign shots for Loyalty and Deceit, that was for sure.
“You orchestrated it that day, didn’t you?” I said, removing my jeans.
“What day?”
“At the shoot. I was supposed to be working for Rolex.”
He smiled and pointed to the corner. Another glass table held a slim silver laptop. “Marvellous invention, the world wide web.”
“But how…?”
“The advantage of not sleeping is it gives you plenty of time to learn. I chose to learn about computers, hacking, using information technology to my advantage. It suits us well, it means we always get what we want.”
I was impressed even if it wasn’t particularly ethical.
“Are you complaining that I was your co-model that day, Darius?”
“No.” I tugged at my socks. “The only thing I’m complaining about is it took this long for us to be alone together.”
He stepped up to me wearing only tight white underwear, which did nothing to disguise an impressive wedge of flesh beneath. “It makes me so happy you feel the same as me, Darius.”
“Which is?”
He hesitated with his palms resting on my shoulders. “Attraction, longing, desire.”
“Love?”
“Yes, and love. At least on my behalf.”
I stared into his eyes, remembering the promise he’d made me, and how he’d protected me down by the Thames, and how long he’d been searching for me. “My love is growing for you, for all of you.”
He closed his eyes, inhaled, then opened them again. “You make me happier than I ever thought I would be again.”
I smiled, leaned forward and kissed him. It was a gentle kiss, exploring the sensation of his lips on mine, his taste, and how he moved his mouth in time with my own. I slid my tongue in, found his, and tangled it gently, loving the slow pace in which he kissed me back. It wasn’t frantic, it felt indulgent and dreamy as though we had an eternity to kiss each other.
“Let’s take this to the bed,” he said, hooking his hand beneath my elbow. “It’s been waiting for you.”
“What has? The bed?”
“Yes. Why else do you think we bought it? It’s all for you, Darius. All of it.”
“Oh, I see.”
He lay down and I did the same. He hovered his face over mine and set his palm on the center of my chest. “I love to feel and hear your heartbeat.”
“Hear it?”
“I have very acute hearing. I’d hear the heartbeat of a mouse on the other side of the a
partment.”
“Wow, that’s incredible.”
“You think?” He swirled his fingertip over my left nipple.
My flesh tightened beneath his touch.
“It’s a pain in the neck,” he said. “Hearing everything all the time is noisy. I crave silence.”
“And do you ever get it?”
“Yes. We’ve got a place in Russia. Siberia to be exact. In the winter we spend time there. For miles around nothing but snow which falls almost silently. Perhaps you’d like to see it.”
“Sounds cold.”
“We’d light the fires if you were there.”
“You don’t for yourselves?”
“No.” He brushed his lips over mine and moved his attentions to my other nipple. “We’re always the same temperature, no matter where we are or what we’re doing.” He kissed me again, slipping his tongue between my lips.
I closed my eyes and gave myself up to him. George’s kisses were intoxicating and his body touching mine had given me a serious hard on.
He slipped lower, tracing a circle around my navel, then sliding his hand over my boxers.
I groaned, his cool palm on my cock was exactly what I wanted.
“You were hard like this on the shoot,” he murmured.
“Yeah, for you.” I began to explore his body; the width of his shoulders, the shape of his biceps, the dip of his back and the curve of his buttocks.
“I thought I was going to come in front of everyone,” he whispered. “Right there, on top of you, everyone watching. I wouldn’t have cared, I’m a believer in doing what feels good.”
“It did feel good. Too good.”
He squeezed my shaft, his thumb tracing my slit through the material of my underwear.
I groaned and my balls tightened.
“We need to get naked,” he said.
Suddenly he shifted upward, whisked off his boxers and then mine. “That’s better.”
The sheets were smooth on my bare ass and my cock so hard it felt like granite.
“What do you want to do?” he asked.
I beat down a wave of nerves. “Whatever you want to do.”
“Good answer.” He grasped my cock. “Your dick is amazing.”
“So is yours.” I glanced down and saw his hard on tapping up against his belly. I gripped it the way he was mine. It was the first time I’d held another guy’s penis.