Love's Abuse

by Flynn Eire

  “Jesus, you’re so strong and fast,” he gasped, reaching with his other hand and grabbing my ass, pulling me closer. Then he lowered his voice. “Helios, I’m almost there I think. I want to come.”

  “Anything for you, Rune.” And it was the truth. I would give this man in my arms anything and everything I could. I rubbed myself against him, using the speed I now knew turned him on so much, and took him somewhere he’d never been. He cried out my name moments later, twitching between me and the tree when my fangs grazed his neck. That really did it for him.

  He would be the perfect mate for me. I knew it with all my heart.

  When he was spent, I leaned back slightly, giving him soft kisses as he swallowed down lungfuls of air, smiling like a goof. “Does that count as gentle, normal, rough, kinky, or over the top scary?”

  “Normal kinky,” Dimitri offered, clearing his throat. “But he didn’t even go under your clothes so that’s what? Like second base? I’d think that’s a form of gentle too maybe.”

  “Cool.” Rune pulled my head down for a scorching kiss before ducking under my arm. He stumbled a bit as he picked up his sword, still a little light-headed from his orgasm. I watched him, so in awe with how well he was adapting to all the changes he was making. He truly was a fighter.

  All the favors I’d traded in and strings I’d pulled to get Cadric here had really been worth it. Rune had just required the right push to get what he’d needed. He’d obviously been wanting the help all this time. I was glad someone could finally give it to him.

  I sat off to the side, drinking a beer, and watching Dimitri and Matteo instruct Rune on the proper way to swing his sword. The air around us was vibrating with his joy as he easily maneuvered the metal. He was a natural.

  “There is not beer or drinkable liquids in your cooler,” Alexander hedged as he sat next to me. “I did not mean to pry. That cooler was closer when I picked up the leather cases and I was thirsty. What is in there, Helios? And why do you have injectors?”

  “That was the next part of my surprise,” I muttered, blocking my lips with my beer in case anyone was watching us. “Not everyone can become Wyrok just because they make it to a certain age. There are particular markers in their genes if they will ever become strong enough. We developed a drug a while ago that will allow a warrior or councilman the chance to feel what it’s like to be Wyrok to test them. Some people don’t handle that much power well, Alexander.”

  He nodded, understanding that strength and power could bring out the best or worst in people. It was the proverbial double-edged sword at times.

  “I’ve been informed you were approached about becoming a councilman, Alexander.” I saw his head snap in my direction, his eyes narrowing. “And you turned it down. Now that I have seen the way you look at your mate, I cannot help but wonder if it had anything to do with the offer coming a few years after Dimitri’s arrival here. Would you have accepted had you not met him?”

  “No—yes—no.” He bit his lip and shook his head before sighing, running his hands over his head as he bent down. “I do not know. The world of our politics bores me to tears. I have been on enough security details over the years to see the ins and outs of what our councilmembers do to know I am not suited for that life. Would I maybe have been convinced to serve my people that way if not for my Dimika? That, I cannot say, but it would not have made me happy.”

  “You do not have to be on the council to become Wyrok when you cross the line into ancient,” I hedged. “I have been asked to assess how you would handle the drug and the power—either keeping your name on the list of candidates for down the road or not.”

  “What does that entail?” He lifted his head, staring at me suspiciously, but still, I caught him glancing at the cooler curiously.

  Who wouldn’t be curious?

  “The effects last a few hours, and you’ll move and have power closer to mine,” I explained, shifting my seat on the fallen log to face him. “They asked me to test Matteo as well so you won’t be doing it alone hopefully.”

  “What’s passing and what would you consider failing?”

  “Let me get this out all at once.” I called Matteo over and re-explained what I had started, smirking when everyone’s eyes went wide at the possibilities.

  “Can I try?” Dimitri asked, a wide smile on his face.

  “No, sorry. You’re way too young,” I chuckled. “You have to be at least several hundred years old or the stuff can drive you totally bonkers.” I focused on Alexander again and rubbed the back of my neck. “They didn’t have this exactly in my day, it was a shit-tasting drink passed down that was mixed together that’s supposedly the same thing. I obviously passed, but I remember wanting to go out and slay every Zakasac that instant because surely I could take them all.”

  “Basically you pass by wanting to use the new power for good, not world domination,” Rune surmised, shooting me a wink.

  “Yeah, goals of world domination would be a very telling sign a person would be a problem if they ever became ancient,” I drawled, rolling my eyes.

  “Shit, I’m out,” Nate grumbled, blowing out a loud breath so his lips flapped. “I totally wanted to rule the world and have a harem of all kinds of sexy men to please my mate and bring me bonbons while rubbing my feet. Damn, that sounded so good.”

  “That does sound good.” I winced when Rune cracked me. “What? He said sexy men to please his mate. That’s you in that analogy.”

  “I don’t want other men if we mate. I don’t want us to play around or have what Nate and Matteo have.” I saw hurt in his eyes, and instantly, I was on my feet, hugging him tightly.

  “I would never share you, love. I was only teasing.” I kissed under his ear as I whispered how much he meant to me until he calmed down. While I didn’t need to wear kid gloves with Rune, there were times and triggers I would have to be careful of… And this was obviously one of them. I should have known that given his past and how he’d let just about everyone use him trying to find someone to care for him.

  “Sorry. I shouldn’t have freaked out like that.”

  “Never apologize for telling me how you feel. I’m glad you’re always honest with me.” I showed him just how much I meant that with my mouth on his and I felt him relax against me. Another thing I adored about Rune was he didn’t hold onto things, like that misunderstanding. I explained and that was the end of it.

  At the rate I was going, the list of reasons I loved him was going to be taller than I was. I needed to mate that man. That idea had me smiling as I sat back down, pulling him with me and settling him between my thighs.

  “Anyways. I thought we could keep working with Rune a bit and then I’d ask you and Matteo if you wanted to try it as long as we were alone out here without prying eyes. You don’t have to, and there’s no shame in saying no. It will not be a mark against you or—”

  “Give it to me,” Matteo demanded, interrupting me as he dropped his sword and moved closer. “I have to know now that you opened this gigantic can of worms. I never thought becoming ancient could have a negative effect on me or I could go dark side. I have to know. Not for the Wyrok or whatever. Nate could have just mated a ticking time bomb according to you.”

  “Hey, shut it,” Nate chastised gently. “That’s my mate you’re talking about there. You have the purest heart, Matteo. I’ve seen you as no one else has and I know that there’s no way you of all people go all Darth Vader on me just because you turn old fart.” He winced and looked at me. “No offense.”

  “None taken since I’m in better shape than all of you combined,” I drawled, rolling my eyes. Yeah, that still didn’t make me want to go ouch or anything. Little turd.

  “Whatever, we should still know,” Matteo argued as he stormed over to the cooler. He brought it back and shoved it in my hands. “Do it.”

  “So much for swords class,” I grumbled, opening it up. “I’ve never offered this to mated men before. I hadn’t thought of this reaction.”


  “You’re not mated,” Alexander chuckled as he held out his arm as well. “My mind went to the exact same place as Matteo’s. I do not care what you report back but only of Dimitri’s safety.”

  “You can be an idiot, but you’re far from a potential evil mastermind,” Dimitri chuckled, shaking his head.

  I glanced at Rune and winced. “Sorry. This wasn’t my plan.” I sighed and pulled out one of the vials before loading out the right dose. Then I shook my head when Matteo moved his arm closer. “Goes in the neck. It gets in the body faster that way and into the brain. It’s going to hurt.”

  “Do it.” He dropped onto his knees next to me and stared at Nate. “I love you with all my heart.”

  “Fuck, Matteo. You’re not going in front of a death squad. You’re gonna turn into Tarzan,” Nate assured him, but I saw worry in his expression.

  I injected Matteo and then refilled to hit Alexander next. I put it all away and sat back, ready to watch the show I’d seen before, still pouting. This was not how I’d seen my first date with Rune going. I’d wanted this part to happen once he was tired and done with training.

  “Hey, look at it this way,” he murmured as he slid up onto the log next to me, leaning his head on my shoulder. “I got the best gift ever, some basic pointers so I can practice on my own, a kinky make-out session, and a never before seen show to find out if two of my friends might be evil dictators on the inside.”

  “So not the worst date ever?”

  “No, but it might be if they fail,” he said under his breath. I wanted to melt right there on the log. I hadn’t thought of that. I really had assumed they’d pass and have goofy reactions like I had, like I’d always seen others have.

  Oh fuck. They both seemed like really good people. Why wouldn’t they pass?

  “Um, so what does it say that everything’s spinning out and I want to hurl?” Matteo moaned as he fell to his side.

  “Give it a minute. That passes,” I chuckled. Wincing when Alexander went down like a rock next. “Yeah, believe me, it was better not to warn you. I knew first and it made me panic to know what was coming.”

  “That might be the drug because I still feel panic clawing at me,” Alexander panted, yanking off his shirt. “And hot. Very hot.”

  “You’re almost done then. Give him some water,” I ordered. Dimitri did for his mate as Nate brought some to Matteo. I watched them sit up slowly and then gulp down a bottle each before blinking around as if they couldn’t figure out where they were.

  Yup, it was working.

  “Dude, is this how you see things?” Matteo whispered, waving his hands out in front of him. “It’s like wow.”

  “Yeah, but probably even more so,” I chuckled. “I am an old fart after all.” I shot Nate a less than friendly look. “How do you feel?”

  “Like I’m king of the world!” Matteo exclaimed as he jumped to his feet. He flexed his muscles, a small giggle slipping out before he focused on me. “Oh, that sounded bad, didn’t it? I didn’t mean it like all Darth Vader kind of way.”

  “So you were making a joke and you don’t feel the need to enslave people?” I asked, already knowing what he’d meant.

  “Nooooo,” he answered his eyes wide. “Why would I want to do that? I fight to save people, man! Do you know how many injuries I’ve had helping keep our people and humans free? That would all have been for nothing just to enslave them now. I just meant like the game when you were a kid, like I’m king of whatever was highest around, but way more, so yeah. Why am I rambling?”

  I couldn’t help the evil smile that formed on my lips. “Oh, did I not mention the truth serum slipped in with the drug? Yeah, we put some in there too. It wouldn’t do much good to have this as a test if people could just lie to us about what they’re feeling.”

  “Dick,” Matteo and Alexander said together. I simply shrugged as Rune, Dimitri, and Nate burst out laughing.

  “But we do like him for Rune,” Alexander argued, clapping Matteo on the back. “We like him for our friend. He’s been good for Rune and we no longer have to worry about our little geek.” His eyes went wide and he waved at Rune. “I mean geek in a good way like I hear the pre-trans say it because they know all the cool toys.” He shook his head and then stared up at the sky. “They should call this drug rambling juice.”

  “Several have,” I chuckled. I hated to kill their buzz as they got used to the drug, but there were some official questions I needed to ask them. “What is it you want to do most with your new abilities?”

  “I want to share them with my, Dimika,” Alexander purred, and in a flash, he moved Dimitri onto his back. “Hold on. We are going to play that part from that movie you laugh at but love.”

  “Great, you give him drugs and I become Bella Swan,” Dimitri bitched, and seconds later, Alexander was climbing one of the tallest oaks by us.

  “Matteo?” I pushed, realizing he hadn’t answered.

  “I don’t know,” he whispered, backing away from us. “How do you not hurt anyone? I used to worry about hurting Nate before he transitioned but this is way worse. I mean, with this kind of strength, I could crush him.”

  “Shit,” I hissed, jumping to my feet. “Matteo, calm down. You won’t hurt us, okay? Just take a few deep breaths and try something easy, get a feel for what you can do.”

  He nodded and did what I instructed before walking over to the truck and lifting the back end with one hand. “Yeah, this is cool.”

  “Now, what do you feel like doing?”

  “I don’t know,” he mumbled, carefully setting the truck back down. “This won’t really help me train the post-trans. I’m still kind of worried I could hurt someone.” He blinked at me a moment. “What else do we need done around the camp that I could help with?”

  “What’s going on?” Nate worried as he moved next to me.

  “I think he’s still on the young side for the test,” I explained. “He’s definitely not having a bad reaction, it’s more linear, like he can’t wrap his mind around the concept.” I patted him on the back and nodded to his mate. “Tell him you’re scared you heard something and you’d like him to protect you. It will focus him on you. He’ll be gentle.”

  “I know,” he bristled, stepping towards his mate. “Matteo would never be anything but with me.” I watched as he carefully crouched down by Matteo, and when the vampire jumped, the young post-trans whimpered, “I heard something, my mate. We’re safe here, right?”

  “You’re always safe with me, Nate,” Matteo assured him, pulling the bigger man onto his lap. “I’ve got you, babe. I’m sure it was just an animal.”

  “That was like watching a reel from a bad B horror movie,” Rune chuckled from behind me. “Nate’s huge and he just got scared, whimpered, and dove onto his mate’s lap because he heard a noise in the woods. Yeah, what ax-murderer is stupid enough to come after six vampires?”

  I shrugged as I turned around. “There are some pretty stupid people out there.” I picked a beer out of the cooler and handed him one as well after I twisted off the caps.

  “That’s true,” he agreed as he slid against the log to use it as a backrest. “Still, I think I’m going to give Nate shit for months over his lame performance. He ribs me enough.”

  “About?” I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up even as I sat down next to him. I was starting to wonder if I was really going to dislike Nate or if the kid just stuck his foot in his mouth.

  “Just some crap from when I slept with him and Matteo about how—”

  “What?” I bellowed as the bottle shattered in my hand as I was just about to drink from it. I slowly turned to look at him, ignoring the beer and glass that had landed all over him.

  “Um, so, you didn’t know I hooked up with them once then,” he muttered, wiping the glass off.

  “No, you left that out.” I tried to swallow down my rage but it wasn’t really listening to me at the moment. “Anyone else I should know about?”

  He shrugged,
hanging his head. “You know I was with a lot of people trying to find someone to—”

  “I don’t care if you slept with the entire state of Wyoming, Rune,” I cut in, taking his beer from him and whipping it into the woods before pushing him to the ground, pinning him there with my body. “I’ve had thousands and thousands of years of sex. I promise you I’ve been with more people than you.” I felt a surge of vindication at my overbearing reaction when I saw anger flare in his own eyes at my words. “However, I’m not close with any of those people anymore or having you make friends with them.”

  Immediately his anger was gone. “Oh, yeah—umm, that would suck.”

  “Yes, it sucks,” I hissed, my fangs popping out. “Has Mark or Wally fucked you?”

  “No,” he whispered. “Only Dimitri that I’m friends with. And he only did it because I looked kind of like Alexander from behind.” He turned his head away and I knew it was a sore topic even if they’d obviously worked past it if they were now hanging out.

  “Anyone else I need to know about?” I asked gently as I kissed his neck. He shivered so I kept doing it.

  “You know about Ben and Dean—they’re gone anyways. No. I’m not really friends with anyone else and I didn’t want to mess around with any of my people. There were a few others but they transferred. No one really mattered, or I never mattered to them.”

  “Until me? You meant to say until me, right, love?”

  “I didn’t think I had to say that,” he muttered. “You should know that’s how I feel by now.”

  He was right. There was only one thing to say in reply. “Date’s over. Let’s go.”

  9

  We left Matteo to “comfort” Nate in his fears in the most carnal ways. I had a feeling Alexander was using his own powers to show his mate some new tricks as well. Rune was frowning the whole time we collected our belongings and got in the truck. It turned into a pout on the ride back to the barracks.

  I returned the keys for the truck and then hit the button for my floor—not his—ignoring the funny look he gave me. When the elevator doors opened, I escorted him to my room and dropped everything inside. Next I picked up a couple of towels and led him to the showers.