Twice Bitten

by Rayna Vause

  “Good plan. I knew I kept you around for a reason.”

  “Uh, thanks—I think.”

  Danny took the bedding, set up one of the recliners just how he wanted it, picked a movie, and then handed it to Kier. “Are you sure I can’t talk you into watching a movie with me?” he asked as he snuggled in, ready for explosions and adventure.

  Kier shook his head. “I’ll get you set up before I head to bed.”

  Danny tamped down a flicker of disappointment.

  Kier got the system up and running, then handed Danny the remote. He touched his hand to his forehead one more time.

  “Are you sure you’re feeling well?”

  Danny reached out and laid a hand on Kier’s arm. “Yes. Never better.”

  Kier scanned his face once more, concern flashing in his eyes.

  “If you need anything, just call for me.”

  “Yes, yes. I will. Go to bed. Sleep well.”

  Kier nodded, then headed for the door.

  Danny watched him walk out of the room. A minute later, Danny clenched the arms of the reclining chair as the room spun. His entire body broke out into a cold sweat, and he began to shiver violently. Danny’s heart hammered, and breath raced in and out of his lungs. As he pushed up from the chair, a blinding pain slammed into him. His knees buckled and he hit the floor.

  “KIER!”

  At Danny’s agonized cry, Kier rushed back into the den in a blur of speed. He found Danny curled on the floor, writhing in pain.

  “What happened? What’s wrong? Talk to me, Danny.” Kier knelt at Danny’s side. Heat pumped off Danny’s flushed skin. He reached out to touch, but his hands hovered, then clenched. He didn’t know if touching him would help or cause him more pain.

  “Kier.” Danny gasped and snagged his hand, his grip tighter than normal for a human. Terror and agony shone in Danny’s wide brown eyes.

  Kier cradled Danny to him, at a complete loss. “I knew something was wrong. Dammit, I should have called Sharon the minute I noticed your fever and had her come check on you.”

  Danny rolled on his side and buried his face in Kier’s lap, clenched his hands in his shirt. “God, make it stop. Please.” Danny moaned, his breathing hissing out. Kier stroked his hands through Danny’s hair. “God, Kier. What’s happening to me?”

  “I don’t know, love. But I’m going to get you help. We’re going to fix this. Try to slow your breathing a little.” He kept his tone calm and even as sweat rolled down his back and his hands trembled. He eased Danny back down onto the rug and pushed up to his feet.

  Danny’s hand latched on to his ankle, his grip vise-tight. “Don’t leave me.”

  He knelt and cupped Danny’s cheek. “I’m not going far. I need my phone. I left it in my bedroom. You hang tight. I’ll be back before you know it.”

  “No, please.” Danny’s voice broke, and Kier’s gut clenched at the scared, desperate sound.

  “Dan, I’ve got to call Sharon. She’s the only one with a shot at making you better right now.” He eased his leg from Danny’s grip and put his preternatural speed to good use. He made it to his bedroom and back in a flash. He fisted his hand, released it, then shook it out to stop the fine tremor that had set in. He swiped to unlock his phone, then jabbed at the screen, grateful for favorites and speed dial. Sitting on the floor, he pulled Danny to him so that he could cradle his head in his lap again. He growled under his breath as he waited for a response. “Answer the phone, dammit. Come on, Sharon. Where the hell are you?”

  “Hello to you too. If you must know, I was in my lab. What can I do for you, oh impatient one?”

  “You’ve got to get over here. Something’s wrong with Danny.”

  “What are his symptoms?” She shifted into doctor mode without even pausing. A small bubble of relief floated up in Kier.

  “Pain. He’s in a lot of pain. He’s burning up.”

  “Dizzy.” Danny moaned and Kier rubbed Danny’s chest.

  “Walk me through it. When was the onset?”

  “We’d just gotten home. He seemed a little fidgety but fine. Just before I headed to bed, I noticed he felt a little hot. I hadn’t been out of the room for more than thirty seconds when I heard him yell my name. I came back and he was on the floor writhing in pain. I don’t know what to do for him. You’ve got to help me, Shar.”

  “Okay, just stay calm. We’ll figure this out.”

  Kier clenched his jaw. He hated this. Hated to see Danny suffer, hated that he had nothing more to offer than comfort. He couldn’t just sit here listening to every whimper and groan. Each pained sound out of Danny hit him like a hammer to the chest.

  “God, Kier, make this stop. Please.” Danny’s agony-filled eyes met his.

  Kier opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and just growled. He had nothing. No answers, no solutions. He pinned the phone between his ear and his shoulder and reached out to take Danny into his arms. “What’s happening to him, Sharon?”

  “It’s possible his condition is progressing. Keir, I think the vampire that attacked Danny was genetically manipulated. It’s possible that his attacker’s blood is still attempting to convert him, but the problem is that whatever was done to that vamp weakened his blood. So it was powerful or different enough to trigger a process that never should have gotten started with such a small quantity of blood consumed. Plus, it’s making the conversion process drawn out and excruciating.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” he barked.

  “It’s almost like they were trying to figure out how to change a vampire back into a regular human.”

  A chill ran through Kier. His voice went low and quiet. “Purity?”

  “Probably.”

  He glanced down at Danny curled into the fetal position in Kier’s lap, his whole body shaking.

  “Fuck. Okay, enough with the science lesson. What do I need to do for Danny right now?”

  “I don’t know for sure, Kier. I’m still studying this. We can try getting some of your blood into him. A little pure vampire blood might counteract the effects of the tainted blood.”

  “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to be turned.”

  “We both know a true conversion takes more than just a tiny bit of blood. Just try it. I can’t see it hurting anything. Honestly, Kier, I’m flying blind here, but during initial conversion the fledgling needs to ingest pure vampire blood multiple times. Danny hasn’t had any since the attack, and that definitely wasn’t pure blood.”

  “Would more of the mixture that we’ve been giving him help?”

  “Maybe, but I’m guessing warm and straight from the source would be better. Sort of like the difference between giving a drug by IV versus orally.”

  Kier eyed Danny, not sure how he would respond to this suggestion. “Hold on a sec.” He set the phone down and cupped Danny’s chin, encouraging him to look at him. “Dan, I want you to drink some of my blood.”

  Danny wrinkled his nose. “Why?”

  “Sharon thinks it might help. She thinks pure blood might make a difference. Just a little. Not enough to turn you. I promise.”

  Danny buried his face against Kier’s chest and said nothing. His entire body tensed as a fresh wave of pain rolled through him. “Fine. Let’s do this,” Danny groaned out as the pain ebbed.

  “This better damn well work,” Kier muttered. He willed his fangs to lower, bit into his wrist, then offered it to Danny. “Danny, open your eyes. I need you to drink.”

  Danny cracked open an eye, took one look at the blood oozing from Kier’s wrists. He curled tighter into himself for a second, then grabbed Kier and pulled his arm close to his mouth.

  He swiped his tongue over the trail of blood. Crinkled his nose.

  “God, it’s like licking pennies.”

  “Danny, shut up and drink.”

  Danny grunted, then placed his mouth over the cut and sucked.

  For a brief moment, heat and pleasure overrode panic and worry. For months Kier dreamed of
having Danny’s mouth on him, drinking from him. The fantasy never involved Danny writhing in pain nor Sharon yelling in his ear. But he wouldn’t forget the moment of pure pleasure feeding Danny brought him.

  Kier snapped back into the present when Danny started coughing. Kier patted his back. “How are you doing?”

  “Stomach feels weird. I don’t want to drink any more.”

  Kier nodded. He licked the wound so it would heal, then pulled Danny tighter to him and just held him. They sat that way for a minute until a small, female voice shouted for him.

  “Kier, dammit, pick up the phone. Tell me what’s going on.”

  He snatched his phone up from where he’d dropped it on the carpet and hit the speaker button. “Sharon, I’m here.”

  “How’s Danny?”

  He stroked Danny’s head, his arm, his hip. With each stroke, tension drained from Danny’s body. His muscles started to relax, and his breathing slowed. Heat no longer poured off him, and his trembling slowed to a stop.

  “He’s better. It seems to be working.” He blew out a long, slow breath. Thank God. Kier closed his eyes and took a few steadying breaths to calm his own system. “Do you think I should bring him over to see you?”

  “No. I’ll come to you. I want him to rest for now, but I do want to look him over and take some fresh blood samples. We need to see if his blood is changing, and if so, how.”

  “Good idea.” He closed his eyes, breathed out. “I’ll see you in a bit, Sharon. Just come to the rear entrance.”

  “You got it. Call me if anything changes.” Kier disconnected the call, dropped the phone, and just sat holding Danny. A second later his eyes shot back open when Danny clutched his thigh. Danny had gone chalk white, sweat ran down his face, and his dark chocolate eyes flared wide.

  “Bathroom. Now.” That’s all he got out before slapping a hand over his mouth. Kier scooped him up, and in a blur of movement, whisked him down the hall and into the bathroom in time for Danny to be violently ill. When he finished, Danny slumped onto the floor. He placed his forehead against the porcelain toilet bowl as shivers racked his body.

  Kier filled a small cup with water and handed it to Danny, who rinsed his mouth out, then held the cup aloft for more. After chugging three cups of cold water, he rolled his head so that his temple still pressed to the cool bowl. “Shoot me now. It’s more merciful than forcing me to go through more of this.”

  “Just hang in there, Dan. We’ll get whatever this is figured out. Stay here. I’m going to get you a change of clothes and call Sharon again. Do you still feel sick, or do you want to go lie down?”

  Danny closed his eyes for a moment. “I think I’m okay. The pain, the sickness, the shakes, it’s all gone. All I want to do now is sleep.”

  Danny’s shoulders sagged. He looked tired, sweaty, and defeated. Kier rubbed at the tightness in his chest. He hated seeing Danny this beaten down and vulnerable. Kier bent down, lifted Danny into his arms, and carried him into his bedroom. Moments after he tucked him under the covers, a light snore emitted from Danny.

  Kier stared at the pale sleeping face of the beautiful man who he couldn’t manage to cut out of his heart. He brushed his fingers over his hair, his cheek. He walked out of the room, pulled the door closed, and braced himself against the wall as his knees went weak. He buried his face in shaking hands and blew out slow, shuddering breaths.

  “Shit— Shit.” He wiped a hand over his mouth, then sucked in two more breaths before shoving away from the wall. He went to retrieve his phone, snatching it up from where he’d left it, and dropped onto one of the recliners.

  He tapped Sharon’s number. She picked up in one ring. “What happened?”

  “I’m pretty sure he puked up a lung, and I’m not sure how much, if any, of my blood stayed in him, but whatever this was seems to have passed. He’s out cold at the moment.”

  “Stay with him tonight, Kier, just in case this starts again.”

  “Of course, but I pray to God it doesn’t. It kills me to see him like this.”

  “I know it does, but we’ll get him through it.”

  “How’s the research coming? Are we any closer to a fix for this?”

  “I wish I had good news for you, but I don’t. I’ve never seen anything like this. If I’m right and his attacker was genetically altered in some way, then I have no way of knowing what’s going on in Danny’s body. Which means I’ve got no idea of how long or even if I can find a way to cure him.”

  Kier’s stomach sank. “So what you’re saying is that conversion is looking more and more like his only option for survival.”

  “If I could get more information about what was done to his attacker, maybe I could give you better news. Otherwise, and I hate to say this, we may need to start talking to him about turning.”

  Kier slumped in his chair. “Fuck.”

  DANNY AWOKE wrapped in warmth. The awful sickness from last night seemed to be gone and, so far, he had no aftereffects. He expected to at least have sore muscles or a raw stomach, but no. He snuggled in deeper under the thick quilt, opened one eye, and saw a hand. He blinked and realized that his head rested on the solid muscle of Kier’s arm. Danny smiled, adjusted again. In response to his slight movements, Kier curled around him, slid his other arm around Danny’s stomach, and then pulled him close. He closed his eyes and basked at being in Kier’s arms again. He reveled in being pressed tight to his warm, firm body. God, he’d missed this. Missed being held close, missed mornings of lying in Kier’s arms. It had taken him weeks, but the first thing he’d admitted to himself after leaving Kier was that he simply missed the man’s presence. He missed how just being with Kier could make everything all right.

  He turned his head and rolled a bit, trying to see Kier’s face. He found stunning blue eyes watching him. Warmth spread through Danny. He smiled, suppressing the urge to roll over so he could stroke his fingers through Kier’s thick, dark hair. He wanted to lean up and kiss Kier’s soft, full lips. But he couldn’t, and he only had himself to blame. Too much movement might bring this magic moment to an end too soon. Instead, he continued to gaze into Kier’s eyes and longed to have him the way he used to with desire and care instead of the watchful wariness now present.

  “Morning. How do you feel?”

  “Hi. I’m feeling well. No remaining ill effects from last night’s little adventure whatsoever.”

  “Good.” Kier shifted his gaze away and eased himself into a sitting position. “Scared me last night. I hated seeing you sick and in pain. Sharon came over and checked on you and took more samples. Do you remember any of that?”

  Danny shook his head. “I remember the pain, but I also remember drinking your blood. I still kind of have a metal taste in the back of my throat.”

  Kier stared down at the comforter. “Sorry I had to make you do that, but it may have helped some.”

  “Honestly, it wasn’t bad as I thought it would be, but it’s no strawberry shake.”

  A small smile played about Kier’s lips.

  “The last thing I remember is you tucking me in bed.”

  “You were out cold after that. You sort of woke up when Sharon stuck you with the needle, but you dropped back out.”

  “What did you guys do to fix me?”

  “Besides the blood, nothing. After you got sick that last time, it stopped on its own.”

  “The fact that I got sick after you fed me. Does that mean my special shakes won’t sit well anymore?”

  “Can’t be certain. Sharon thinks you got sick because you already weren’t feeling well combined with the taste and texture of straight blood. At this point we have to watch and wait. That’s why I’m here. I didn’t want to leave you on your own in case something else happened.”

  “I appreciate it.”

  “Yeah, well—” Kier swung his leg over the side of the bed.

  Before he could stand, Danny put a hand on his shoulder. “I mean it. Thank you for taking care of me.”

&n
bsp; “You’re welcome,” Kier said with a nod.

  “I—I wanted you to know that I missed this.”

  “What?”

  “I missed being with you like this.”

  “Well, the physical parts of our relationship were always pretty damn good.” Kier blew out a breath. “I need to take a shower.” Kier rose and started across the room toward the bathroom.

  “That’s not what I mean. I miss more than the physical,” Danny said. Kier stopped but didn’t look back. “Despite everything, I think I just miss you.”

  Kier looked back over his shoulder. “Why?”

  Danny slid over to sit in the place Kier had vacated. He rubbed the silken fabric of the comforter between his fingers. “I guess part of it is proximity. Seeing you again, I’m remembering the good.”

  “And conveniently forgetting the bad?” Kier’s tone stayed level and revealed nothing of his thoughts or emotions.

  “No. I just—” Danny shrugged.

  Kier turned to face him. “I get it, Dan. I do. You’re scared. We have a history. So you feel grateful and it’s making you think you have real feelings for me when you don’t.”

  “That’s not true. God, please stop assuming you know how I feel.” Danny disengaged himself from the tangle of covers and crossed to stand in front of Kier. He reached out to touch him, then balled his fist and let his hand drop. “Come sit with me. I think it’s time we lay everything on the table.”

  Kier raised an eyebrow at him. “You want to do this now? First thing in the morn—” He glanced at the clock; it read three thirty in the afternoon. “First thing after we get up?”

  This time Danny did reach out. He hesitated a moment, then placed his hand on Kier’s arm. “I do. I want to try and get rid of this underlying awkwardness. I’m hoping that maybe we can try to be friends again. I’ll be around for a while to come, I hope, and I think it would be better for both of us to be able to be comfortable around each other again. The longer we let unspoken feelings fester, the worse it will be.”

  Kier studied him for a long moment. Danny’s stomach danced with nerves. Kier had an excellent poker face. “All right. Just let me use the bathroom first. I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”