by Aliya DalRae
Chapter Thirty-Seven
M erlin shook his head. “How many times are we going to have this conversation?” he asked. “I don’t know how to explain it, to be any clearer than I’ve been already. You and me? Not gonna happen. I don’t know what’s gotten into you tonight, but this is unacceptable behavior for a Soldier. You’re not supposed to be in the manse. Not without a summons, or at the very least an invitation from one of the Warriors, and you’re definitely not supposed to be in the residential wing.”
Martin leaned into him, stroked his cheek with a shaky thumb, and Merlin pulled away, inadvertently widening the gap in the door. He stepped through, made to close it in Martin’s face, but the Soldier followed him in, shut the door behind him, and sealed them in together.
“Why can’t you admit it?” He stood over Merlin now, his grey-green eyes sparking.
“I’m not going to ask you again.”
“Damn it, Merlin. Why can’t you admit it? Admit that you’re gay? I feel the attraction and I know it’s not one sided.”
Merlin closed his eyes and turned away, pouring every ounce of energy he possessed into maintaining his calm. “To be homosexual, or heterosexual for that matter, implies one has an interest in sex. I don’t.”
“So, you’re saying you’re asexual?”
Merlin threw his hands in the air and turned to face Martin, the Shade be damned. “Why does everything have to have a label with you? I am what I am, and what I am is not interested in sex. With males, females, ostriches, none of it. I’m. Just. Not. Interested.”
Martin closed the distance between them in two steps, which forced Merlin to take a step back. The wall prevented him from further retreat, which he would gladly have taken as the Soldier now loomed over him, his smoldering eyes a swirling sea of peridot emotion. Merlin’s breath caught as Martin lowered his lips to his, close, but not touching. His breath was sweet despite whatever he’d consumed, and Merlin longed to feel that sweetness on his tongue, to taste him, to possess him.
“You’re saying this does nothing for you?” Martin’s voice was husky and low. “Or this?” He pressed their hips together and Merlin could no longer deny his desire.
“You need to leave.” The words were there, he knew they were the right words, but even to his own ears they sounded very much like, “Stay.”
Martin slid down Merlin’s body, his erection rubbing Martin’s through the fabric of their clothes, sending shocks of ecstasy through Merlin’s belly. He closed his eyes, fighting the Shade even as he longed to give in to what Martin offered.
Martin cupped him, stroked his cock through his pants, bringing Merlin to the cliff’s edge. All he had to do was take that step, throw himself over into that freefall of orgasmic bliss. But he fought it, held himself back, because it could not be. It just could not. He stroked the cuffs on his wrists as they warmed, a reminder of all the reasons why, but it did nothing to counter the joy of feeling Martin’s hands on him.
“This doesn’t feel like an uninterested male,” Martin whispered against his groin, his hot breath soaking through the cloth to wrap Merlin’s sex in a suggestive cloud of promise.
Merlin put his hands on Martin’s shoulders, to push him away or to pull him in closer, he didn’t know. He was shaking, his eyes screwed tightly closed as the Shade fought the cuffs for control. Oh, how he wanted to open them, to see Martin kissing the front of his pants, begging to be allowed inside, but if he did… aww, shit.
He felt the extra room as the button on his jeans was undone, the zipper lowered. What had been a warm sensation became molten heat as Martin released him from his pants and slid soft, wet lips around his cock.
Merlin’s lids flew open and the ambient light in the room winked out, drawn into his eyes as he gave in to the sensations he’d denied himself for a millennium. His hips thrust of their own accord as Martin worked him with his tongue, his mouth a silken glove made just for this purpose. Then he sucked, just the slightest pull, and Merlin was undone. He pulled Martin’s head closer as the male drank him in. Somewhere in the room a lightbulb exploded, then another, the sound of glass tinkling against the hardwood floors masked by the groans of two males long denied of each other.
Martin continued to work his magical tongue against Merlin’s skin, but it was too much. Merlin had to pull away, but the loss of contact left him feeling cold and alone. Martin rested his head against Merlin’s thigh as the Warrior fought to push the Shade away, to come to grips with his emotions. When he opened his eyes, he saw Martin looking up at him. The Soldier smiled, and Merlin’s heart nearly stopped. Maybe not so alone.
“We made the earth move,” the Soldier whispered, his lips playing soft kisses along Merlin’s shaft, making him twitch and gasp. “I knew we would.”
He stood up and planted a kiss on Merlin’s lips, soft at first, then hungry, his tongue delving, searching, and Merlin no longer thought of the Shade. It was a problem for another time, and if he ended up dying tomorrow because of the choices he made? Right now, in this moment, he was okay with that.
For now, there was only Martin.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
A fter the Soldiers left, Viper commanded that Sasha redouble her efforts toward the special weapon they’d been working on while he went to talk with the Warlord. The weapon he’d been working on, she should say, as her task had been to get Merlin’s cuffs up and running at full potential. Now that the Kurai Senshi knew he was in Fallen Cross, Sasha imagined the time for concealment was past. Now they needed to focus on defense, which was what she did now.
For there was no doubt to her or Viper that the Dark Warrior who rescued those Soldiers was Merlin. Neither of them had a clue why he would have been in town. From what Viper muttered on his way out the door, the Warrior hadn’t been off the Compound since automobiles were invented. Still, for the sake of the Soldiers, it was a lucky thing that he chose tonight of all nights to take an excursion. The bad news being that the Kurai Senshi chose the same night to make their presence known.
She picked up one of the larger bulbs from the velvet cloth and turned it in her hands. Without Merlin there to work with them, as he often did, it was hard to say if the enchantments and charms she placed on the bulbs behaved the way they were supposed to.
However, based on their last experiment, they were close. With the situation escalating, she had no choice but to lay the magics on all the bulbs before her and hope for the best. If they had time later, and Merlin was available, they would give them another test. Knowing Viper, they would make adjustments right up until the Kurai Senshi attacked. At least this way, they had about an eighty percent chance that it would have the desired effect. Better than zero, she supposed.
Several hours had passed since Viper left her to her work. When the door burst open, she didn’t bother to look up, assuming it was him based on the method of entrance. He wasn’t known to enter quietly or gently for that matter, and so she was used to hearing doors bang, among other things.
“Where’s Viper?”
That question did cause her to jump, as it obviously wasn’t the Vampire she expected. Instead, another young Soldier, about the same age as the two who had been there earlier, stood just inside the room, a large duffle bag slung over his shoulder. He wore his brown hair buzzed, as the Soldier Kyte did, and he was leaner in build, but his hazel eyes reflected an irritation the other Soldier lacked.
“Sorry,” he said. “I was ordered to report with my supplies. I’m Oz,” he added when she continued to stare at him. “I guess we’re making contact lenses.”
He didn’t sound very happy about the prospect, but with all the young males had revealed, she understood why.
“Your little business has been commandeered,” she said, looking back at her work.
“What would you know about it?” he asked, choosing one of the many tables at random and dropping his bag on its top.
Sasha shrugged. “I know only what the others said. You have a product which, on the
market, I’m sure makes you a pretty penny. Now you get to work twice as hard for none of the money. I’m guessing that makes you angry.”
Oz grunted but didn’t respond otherwise. He unzipped the duffle and began to pull things out and arrange them on the table. When the bag was empty, he threw it under the table and plopped himself in one of the chairs.
“Do you know exactly what Viper expects?” he asked.
Sasha glanced up and shook her head. “I’m afraid not. Last I saw of him, he was off to talk to the Warlord about your little adventure tonight.”
The male rubbed his chest and scowled. “Yeah, well, that conversation is what landed me here in the first place. My ribs are barely healed, I’m tired as fuck, and I have absolutely no desire to sit here all day waiting for Lord Viper to decide to turn up again.”
Sasha chuckled at his choice of moniker for the Warrior. “He doesn’t like to be called that, you know.”
“What?” The male tore his gaze away from some of the equipment on a nearby table to look at her.
“You said Lord Viper. He doesn’t like to be called ‘lord.’”
“I don’t give a fuck what he likes. If he’s not back in the next five minutes, I’m taking my stuff and I’m going to bed.”
Except that last word was cut off along with the Soldier’s air flow. Lord Viper, himself, had returned on a rare whisper and had Oz in a choke hold that she imagined made him wish for a punctured lung. Having grown used to the Warrior’s antics, Sasha went on with her work.
“As I said,” she muttered as Viper took care of his own business.
“When I give you an order, especially one that’s come down from the Warlord, himself, you will fucking wait as long as it takes for me to tell you what to do with said order. And don’t use that kind of fucking language in front of the fucking lady. Capiche?”
Sasha glanced up, unaccustomed to Viper defending rather than insulting her, and saw the Soldier attempt a nod. Viper threw him away from the table and Oz landed on the floor, his hands wrapped around his throat as he sputtered and coughed.
“I shoulda stayed in bed,” he wheezed.
Viper stepped over to him and held out his hand. Oz hesitated, took it and the Warrior helped him to his feet. “Now that that’s out of the way, tell me about these contact lenses.”
As they discussed the ins and outs of how the lenses were made and how long it would take to complete several hundred sets of them, the lights in the lab dimmed.
“Shit,” Viper muttered, interrupting Oz in the middle of some technical description. “Enough with the details. Just get to it. Time’s getting short.”
Oz hesitated, staring at the lights like little aliens were about to explode from them at any second. “Was that them? Was that the Kurai Senshi?”
Viper shook his head, pulled out a cigarette and stuck it between grim lips. “Not the ones you’re talking about,” he said. “But they won’t be far behind. I suggest you get busy.”
And to Oz’s credit, he did.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
M artin was having the most wonderful dream. Merlin had finally come to his senses and they had made love all night long. Another fantasy dream, one that he never wanted to wake from, but he felt himself being drawn from sleep. He fought it, but awareness won out and he jerked awake.
Panic consumed him as he took in the unfamiliar surroundings. He’d done it again. Drank that rotgut moonshine crap of Oz’s and blacked out.
He knew better, damn it. He knew what could happen if he let himself get lost in that intoxicating liquor. He thought he’d learned his lesson when he’d ended up in that skanky ho’s bed. Now, one little rejection from Merlin, and he was right back at it.
He scrubbed the sleep from his eyes, terrified what he would find when things came into focus. Had Oz and Kyte dragged him back into town? He’d been the DD, and then they were attacked. Surely, they wouldn’t have been so eager to head back. Not with the KS running around. So, where was he? What the hell had he done?
Martin swallowed the bile in his throat, looked around as his eyes adjusted in the dark. This room was nicer than the other had been, the sex scent slightly different, more appealing. He rubbed his hands over his head, trying to beat a memory into his brain, anything that would tell him where he was.
He remembered the argument with Merlin, being tossed aside again like yesterday’s trash, even though he knew the male was into him. He’d been angry, frustrated, and when Oz offered him that fresh jar of Vampahol, he’d taken it.
Did he really drink the whole thing?
He vaguely remembered wandering the Compound, trying to get his wits about him, to figure out what to do about the male who was destroying his heart. He walked aimlessly, out in the cool early morning air, somehow ended up in the even cooler tunnels.
Tunnels that led to the manse.
He didn’t belong there, had no right or reason to be there, but somehow he’d managed to avoid getting caught.
He knew where he was going, exactly where he wanted to be, and the liquid courage coursing through his bloodstream was the only reason he’d been able to knock on the door.
On Merlin’s door.
Someone moaned, and Martin screwed up the courage to look at the person sharing the bed with him.
Long, black hair covered his face, but Martin knew that body better than he knew his own. He’d studied it often enough, even though it had only been at a distance, and never, ever, naked.
Like it was now.
Long arms and legs lay tangled in high quality sheets, his broad chest and narrow hips the quintessential swimmer’s physique. He moaned again in his sleep, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
It wasn’t a dream.
Martin gently lifted the covers and slid down to lay next to Merlin, the male he loved beyond all others. He turned on his side and snuggled his head on that solid chest, placed his arm around him and pulled him in close.
It wasn’t a dream.
Martin closed his eyes and whispered, “I love you, Merlin.”
Merlin shifted in his sleep and said, “Kioshi, aishiteru.”
Martin lay awake for a very long time, holding Merlin close to him, those mysterious words repeating over and over in his head.
Chapter Forty
T he stretch to consciousness was a long languorous trip up a gentle stream of awareness, neither pushing nor pulling Merlin into that state. It simply lifted him up until his mind returned to his body and his eyes fluttered open.
He immediately realized two things. One, he had slept through the entire day without dreaming, and two, he was not alone.
Martin.
The Soldier’s arm was wrapped around Merlin’s waist, their legs tangled together in a lover’s knot beneath the sheets.
And it was heaven.
Merlin stirred and his bare bottom brushed skin, hot, hard and definitely not his own. Martin tightened his hold on Merlin, his hand moving lower until he had a firm hold on Merlin’s cock. His hips rolled as he slid his erection against Merlin’s ass, his hand pumping what it held in slow, languid strokes.
Merlin would have liked to think that, despite a thousand years of celibacy, the previous night’s activities might have enhanced his endurance. However, Martin had a velvet touch, knew when to stroke and when to squeeze, and it wasn’t nearly long enough before he felt his body betray him, the orgasm a stroke or two away.
“Come for me, lover,” Martin whispered in his ear, as his own cock continued its exploration of the crease in Merlin’s ass. “Come with me.”
And that was all it took. Merlin fisted a handful of bedding as they came together, cried out in tandem as their bodies arched into one another, wanting to be closer, needing to be one.
When finally they collapsed, both slick with sweat and love, Martin said, “Good morning.”
“It’s evening,” Merlin said, still awed by experiencing hours of uninterrupted sleep.
“Whatever,” Ma
rtin said, and nipped his ear. “The gods have answered my prayers, and I am the happiest male on the planet.”
Merlin smiled, a genuine smile that started at his mouth and landed solidly in his eyes. When was the last time that happened? Martin laid his head on Merlin’s chest and Merlin wrapped him in his arms. “I’d like to think I had something to do with that,” he said, and Martin bit his nipple.
“You had everything to do with it.”
Merlin’s smile widened, and for one brief moment he allowed himself to be happy.
“Stay here,” Martin said before jumping from the bed and disappearing into the bathroom. He returned a moment later, several towels in hand, one of them wet and steaming.
“Here.” He placed a dry towel on either side of Merlin, then rolled him to his side. Merlin felt the warm cloth on his back, his ass, as Martin cleaned the remnants of their lovemaking from his skin. Once dried, he rolled Merlin to his back, and proceeded to wash his belly and all parts below.
Merlin folded his arms behind his head and watched Martin work. “Are you always this attentive?”
The male smiled at him, gave his cock a snaky lick, and threw the washcloth toward the laundry hamper. “When I have cause to be, yes.”
He straightened the covers and crawled back into bed, curled himself into the crook of Merlin’s arm and kissed his chest before covering them both with the duvet.
It was kind of him, sweet even, but Merlin lamented the loss. He’d liked the feel, the scent of the aftermath of being together. It made it real for him, was something he wanted to hold onto.
Because there was no way he’d be able to hold onto Martin.
They snuggled together and were quiet for a while. Martin drew circles on Merlin’s stomach while Merlin stroked his hair. He’d taken to wearing the sides high and tight, and it felt like a soft brush when Merlin ran his hands through it, enjoying the sensation.