Puffing out an amused sound, Kiz clarified, “My home, um, well, a animal like…a elephant?”
Raph smiled as he hugged his mate harder. “So,” he said, turning Kiz to see where he’s brought them. “How do you like the view?”
Raph could hear the smile in Kiz’s voice as he said, “My father like view too.”
“What about you, Kiz?”
“Yes,” he breathed, stepping forward. “I… I like to touch water. That okay?”
Letting go of Kiz, Raph told him, “Do as you wish. I’ll let you have the full experience and let you take off your shoes on your own.”
Kiz covered his mouth as he laughed. Raph wanted to comment on his viscer’s obsessive need to hide his laughter. It wasn’t right for people to hide their real laughs. Raph wanted to push it into his mate’s head to laugh loud and proud.
Watching Kiz sit and remove his shoes, Raph stood by, transfixed, as Kiz set his shoes aside and began to meticulously roll up his pant legs. Raph then jumped into gear when Kiz finished, rushing over to help him to his feet.
When Raph reached out a hand, Kiz peered up at him with a look that made it hard for him to breathe. When Kiz finally grabbed a hold of his palm, Raph’s skin prickled over his entire being.
When he had Kiz on his feet, Raph followed him down the beach like a puppy, not caring when he walked into the surf fully clothed in an Armani suite.
Kiz laughed as the cool water washed up onto his feet. He ventured out, wading through the water like a small kid—the wonder in his eyes sparkling in the moonlight, highlighting his innocent curiosity.
Raph had thought Kiz sexy when he’d first spotted his viscer in the bar. Now with the look of utter enjoyment having taken over his features made Raph realize that Kiz really was both handsome and beautiful all rolled in one.
Handsome outside with a beautiful inner soul. Lovely out and strong within…
He’d tapped into Kiz’s head back in the forest and had learned it’d been the first time Kiz had seen a tree. Raph had been so worried when he’d heard Kiz gasp, he couldn’t help but reenter Kiz’s brain. And when he had, he’d fed on Kiz’s childlike innocence. He had touched the tree and felt certain it was saying hello. The thought had made it almost impossible for Raph to keep his hands to himself.
Now he knew fate really did have it wrong. No one as sweet as Kiz should be paired with someone as monstrous as him.
I wish Father see this…
As the words floated into Raph’s head, it was followed by Kiz wishing, especially, to show his brother. Kiz thought that if Koro saw what Kiz was seeing, his brother might like Earth more—and perhaps Kiz as well.
Raph frowned and was about to ask why he wanted Koro to like him so much. Instead, he decided to be more delicate. He didn’t want to come right out and say, I was reading your thoughts even after promising I wouldn’t…
Thinking quickly, Raph asked, “Do you remember much about Tibu?”
“Tibu?” he said absently with a shrug. “Reese’s and Pieces.” He stopped before bursting out laughing. “Sorry, that candy.”
Then like magic, his smile faded. “I remember bits and pieces,” Kiz said, a sudden edge to his tone. “No-ting worth to speak about. I like Earth better.”
“What do you like about it?” Raph asked, getting sidetracked. I’ll ask about Koro later.
“I like freedom.” Kiz laughed, kicking his leg up and splashing himself. “Here I say and do what I like. I no know if Earth has word. Tibu like, um, government total control?”
“Totalitarian?” Raph supplied.
“I not know,” Kiz said, his gaze becoming less focused. “I remember Father always in trouble. I no meet him till I eight human years. He in trouble for his sciency stuff. He write paper they got mad at. He sent to camp.” Kiz paused. “Only reason he not killed because he knew people in high places—as Earth people say.”
“That must have been hard.”
Kiz shrugged. “I think it hard on brother. Koro blame our dad for our mom die. Father came back home after camp, and few months later Mother got sick.”
At the seriousness of the conversation, Raph decided to change it. “I collect clocks.” They fell silent for a time, before Kiz doubled over in laughter, making Raph frown. “Why is that funny?” he asked in a serious tone.
“You not try to make me laugh?”
“No. what’s funny about clocks?”
This time, Kiz’s laughter was more subdued. Raph immediately let his embarrassment die when he noticed Kiz hadn’t covered his mouth. “Nothing,” Kiz said, facing Raph. His hair whipped about him in the light breeze, making Kiz look like a sea nymph. The species were typically small, but Raph loved tall, sexy men to bend to his will. “I just find funny we go from talk about my dead mother to clocks collecting. I no see that coming.”
Frowning, Raph hadn’t seen it like that. They’d been sharing, and he thought giving some information about himself and not his race was relevant. “I’m sorry.” Raph bowed his head. “That was very rude.”
“No,” Kiz sighed. “It not. We not real talked of you.” He paused and corrected, “Talk about you. We not talk much of you.”
“Huh? I feel like all we’ve done is talk about me.”
“Really?” Kiz said, tilting his head back, sounding amused. “It felt same for me.”
“Well, you mentioned you liked to crochet. What else do you like to do?”
“Um,” Kiz said, sounding thoughtful. “Oh! I like to drawing. But I no any good. I not being modest. Stick people and bubbly letters are my…specialty.”
Raph let loose a barking laugh. “Well, you’ll have to draw me sometime.”
Appearing mischievous, Kiz said flirtatiously, “I know not how draw clothes, so…”
“As long as you draw me like a peace sign and show it off to your friends, I’ll be content.”
At Raph’s words, Kiz’s face scrunched in confusion. “You want me draw circle ‘round you?” Raph had to bite back his laughter. “I no get it.”
“Imagine,” Raph began as he extended his arms above him, hands clasped. “No circle. Just me with my legs apart and my—” He paused, trying to come up with a word that Kiz would understand.
“Oh!” Kiz shouted. “I get it.”
“Get what?” He wanted to hear naughty words come from Kiz. The other-worlder had been so timid in the beginning, but now he was hanging out with people he didn’t know and kicking the shit out of werewolves.
Kiz is changing. Raph couldn’t decide if he were changing for the good. Am I a positive influence? Or am I—
Kiz giggled. “You may be big—” He motioned to Raph’s crotch. “—but I not think you penis will pass as third leg.”
Raph’s lips slowly curved into a smile. There he was—Raph’s naughty Tibutanian.
“Yeah, but your friends don’t know that.”
“Shut up,” Kiz said with a wide smile.
Raph blinked. “Did you really just tell me to shut up?”
“Yes.” he smiled flirtatiously. “What you do about it?”
The grin on Kiz’s face made Raph want to sing. Especially when Kiz thought, Wow, what gotten to me? I wanna kiss. Kiss me, you idiot! Come on, self, open mouth and command Raph to kiss you!
Raph materialized behind Kiz at hearing his viscer’s scattered thoughts. Latching onto Kiz, he flashed them both back to dry land.
Lust crashing over Raph, he groaned when he felt it double fold from still being mentally linked to Kiz.
He then felt like he’d gotten sideswiped by a bulldozer at the next wave of longing sliced through him. Oh, he touch me. Touch me all over!
Both he and Kiz went jelly-boned at the same time, falling onto the sand. Getting lost in the sensation, it finally became too much, making Raph pull away from Kiz mentally, panting desperately for air.
“Fuck, Kiz,” he said, still gasping. “Is that what you are feeling all the time?”
Wriggling in his grasp, Kiz m
anaged to turn to face Raph with a pained expression. “I so hot, Raphael.”
“What should I—”
“Hey, you kids! Get the fuck off my beach!”
Letting loose a sound that wasn’t at all human—or angelic for that matter—Raph turned to Kippy and shouted, “Go the fuck away, Kipper!”
“No,” Kippy said, flopping down on the other side of Kiz. He then went as far as to toss not only his arm over Kiz, but his leg. “Let’s fuck him together, Raph.”
Seeing red, Raph flashed Kiz to his room at Hell’s Mouth while he planned how he was going to kill Kippy.
“What the fuck is your problem?” he growled, thinking of how to grab Kippy’s throat and the amount of pressure it took to crush the male’s windpipe.
“I told you I was going to make your life a living hell not even an hour ago.”
When he missed Kippy’s jugular, Raph cursed when the god flashed behind him and whispered, “I was up in the house and felt lonely. Bring Kiz back. I wanna play with him.”
Twisting, Raph lunged just as Kippy space jumped out of his reach. “I can play this game all night, little boy.”
Glancing up with what he was sure was a feral expression, Raph unhinged his jaw, showing off his fangs. He planned to play the game just long enough to rip off Kippy’s head.
Chapter Fourteen
Kiz waited in his bedroom all night for Raph to return.
When morning came, he was still too vamped to sleep. So he decided he wanted to do something out of his norm. On his days off he liked to crochet while a movie played in the background. But tonight, he felt like changing things up a bit.
The exploration of his sexual fantasies would have to wait—assuming Raphael showed his face again.
When the words sexual and Raphael entered his head, his insides solidified, making it hard for him to do anything other than collapse on his bed and masturbate.
“No!” he shouted as he jumped to his feet. “I go to gym and beat crap out some’ting.”
Once in the hall, he wanted to curse when Koro’s bedroom door opened, his brother poking his bald head out. “Oh, you’re back.”
Wanting to roll his eyes, Kiz held back, knowing it would set Koro off on a tangent. Instead, he stared blankly at his twin and said, “Yeah.”
“Um,” Koro began, opening the door wider till he stood awkwardly just inside the threshold. “You mind if we talk for a minute?”
Feeling a wave of shame hit him, Kiz nodded. “Yeah. You wanna go in room?”
Kiz tilted his head in confusion when Koro leaned his head slightly of his room, his bloodshot eyes twitching as he looked up and down the hall. Kiz couldn’t help but notice his twin’s cheeks were sunken more than normal.
“Is you all right?” he asked nervously. He’d never seen his brother like this.
“Huh?” Koro said edgily, eyes cast down at his black boots then back to Kiz. “Yeah—just—”
Koro stopped. His jaw dropped. His hand rose, his index finger pointing at Kiz. “You—you, your hair!” Koro jerked away. “You had sex with a man!”
Kiz’s control snapped. “What your problem, Koro?” He then switched to Tibutani. “Ever since we moved to Earth you’ve become a complete dick. I’m sick of you always putting me down.”
“You broke the law!”
“Is that it?” Kiz said angrily. “You’ve hated me all these years because I’m gay? Well, get the fuck over it, asshole! So what that I like to lay with men. I don’t give a shit what you or anyone else says. I like it. It feels amazing. And what happens between me and my mate is our business. Not yours!”
Koro’s eyes widened for a second as he breathed in English, “Mate? That patron fuck is your mate?”
Holding his head up high, Kiz said, “Yes. I his.”
“You’re…his,” Koro said. Then seeming to jolt out of his daze, he shouted, “Kiz, no! He’s yours! I could forgive you for fucking another guy because fate is a coldhearted bastard and settled you with a male mate. But you saying you belong to a guy is just—”
Kiz growled, feeling more frustrated than he ever had. “I not mean it like that. I not his property.”
“But you are!” Koro screamed. “You’re the girl. Kiz, he owns you.”
“Raphael not own me!” Kiz tried to keep his body from shaking. “And even he did, I no care.” He paused. “I-I love him.”
“Love isn’t real, Kizia,” Koro said nastily, his vision falling on Kiz’s hair. “Now you’ve crossed the line of no return… And your betrayal to our family has already ruined us.”
Feeling himself mentally shutter, Kiz was certain to keep his outer appearance neutral. Hurt swirled inside him. Kiz wanted desperately to get along with his brother. Like it’d been before Kiz had been outed to the Tibutanian government. Before Kiz had told Koro and their father that he liked males. And before Koro had distanced himself from Kiz when they’d been children after their mother died.
Koro’s furious expression went over Kiz’s shoulder a second before he shouted, “Kiz, look out!”
Feeling something connect with the back of his head, he fell forward, landing on his face, his teeth chomping on his inner cheek. Feeling his head spin, he was distantly aware of the sounds of men grunting.
Kiz shook his head as he looked up finding a man going toe to toe with his brother.
“Stay out of this,” the man snarled. “This is between me, the demon, and the demon’s mate.”
“Like I’m going to let you take my fucking brother, you piece of shit,” Koro said, shocking Kiz. “He’s mine to torture. You can go suck a cock, ass sniffer.”
The man lunged at Koro, his brother charging to meet the guy in much the same way. But as the two clashed, Koro was shoved back against the wall. Hearing Koro grunt, Kiz jumped to his feet—on pure adrenaline—and ran up behind the guy, wrapping his arm around the broad-shouldered man’s neck.
Succeeding in making the stranger let go of his brother, Kiz got the breath knocked out of him when the attacker backed up to the opposite wall, smashing Kiz against it. “Koro,” he shouted. “Go ‘eget help!”
“And be labeled a coward for running away from a fight?” Koro shouted, running at them, kicking the guy in the stomach. “You’re out of your fucking mind!”
The guy doubled over for a second before slamming Kiz back against the wall again and again.
“Korozia!” Kiz begged.
When his brother didn’t listen, he squeezed his arm tighter around his assailant—having no clue what he was doing. He’d never fought a day in his life. He was a lover. Not a beat the crap out of a stranger kind of man. Even if that stranger had attacked him first.
But because the guy had dragged his brother in to it, Kiz knew he had to do something besides cower in the corner. He and his brother may not get along, but Koro was still family.
Kiz would fight to the death if he had to.
* * * *
Raph had to do things manually and walk up the stairs to Kiz’s room. All his powers allowed him was to space jump into the portal room at Hell’s Mouth. The next time I see Salem, I’m kicking the guy’s ass. Kippy’s too. They were the ones messing with him.
Raph had given up catching Kipper about five minutes in from exhaustion. Kipper had then left him stranded on the beach, his powers blocking him from doing a thing.
Cold and wet, he’d passed out on the beach, waiting for something to happen. When his powers had reappeared, he’d been both relieved and apprehensive. Someone, or something, was blocking him again.
Now with each step he felt sand rubbing his skin raw under his sopping wet clothes. Each time his shoe hit the wooden step it made a squishing sound.
Laboring upward, his body begged him to stop and rest a while. But he trudged on, telling himself to keep going, for the prize to come was well worth the discomfort.
He planned on finding Kiz and taking his viscer into hibernation with him for at least a month. Take him away from meddling gods and
just enjoy each other.
But even though they connected physically, Raph was surprised he enjoyed talking with Kiz. He loved Kiz’s broken English, his accent unrecognizable yet the sexiest Raph had ever known.
“You are out of your fucking mind!”
Hearing the voice carry down the stairwell, Raph couldn’t place it.
Then a voice he most certainly knew called out desperately, “Korozia!”
Nausea swamped in his gut. From the few glimpses Raph had plucked from Kiz’s brain, he’d learned Kiz and Koro’s relationship wasn’t where Kiz wished it would be. Kiz loved his brother, but Koro pushed him away at every opportunity.
Anger spiking his chest, Raph continued climbing, only now on a warpath. Hearing the sound of grunting males—more than just Kiz and Koro—his heart began to beat wildly.
Once he made it to the fifth floor, his eyes darted down the hall. He spotted not just Kiz and his twin, but also another hulking beast-like man that may have matched them in height but far surpassed them in girth.
Seeing Kiz’s white hair draped over the stranger, Raph shouted as he charged forward. “Kiiiiiz!”
Raph perked when he saw Kiz trying to choke the man. The other-worlder cried out when his attacker slammed him back against the wall. The brunt force of the blow made Raph seethe as he dashed forward, ready to slit the man’s throat and watch the light leave his eyes.
As he neared, he was shocked to see how hard Koro was working to try take down their attacker. It was obvious neither brother had much experience with fighting. But Raph guessed they were doing well enough against a man that had to have at least a hundred pounds of muscle in contrast to their wiry frames. Especially Koro with his gaunt cheeks and baggy shirt draped over one of his bony shoulders.
Getting close, Raph was almost certain the man attacking his mate was a hellhound. Images flashed through Raph’s head. They were so unexpected he ran blindly down the hall.
Dwight!
Raph knew the male attacking Kiz was the hellhound Royal had warned him about. The one whose mate he thought Raph had killed.
As his powers took over his entire being, Raph shoved the visions away to focus on the male who was in fact a werewolf-vampire hybrid and whose real mate was at that moment in the building.
Bloodfire Awakening Page 11