RW1 Ravyn's blood (16 page)

It would’ve been funny, but Dageus felt a little cheated by the display. With a sigh, he rolled to his side to dislodge the now dead weight on top of him. He managed to shimmy out from under the vampire and looked down on him in repose. Dageus smiled. Alex really was cute when he slept.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Alex came awake a few moments later to the soothing whisper of Kal’s voice. His head was reclined in the Ravyn’s lap, and Dageus stroked his hair with a look of pure devotion on his face.

“You’re beautiful when you’re sleeping,” Dageus said, his voice gentler than Alex had ever heard it. “Are you all right?” Alex nodded, unable to speak past the embarrassment clogging his throat. He had never passed out from sex before.
Ever
.

“I’m sorry if I frightened you,” he said, straining to sit up. His vision swam, and his head lolled back against Dageus’s thigh.

“Shh, don’t try to get up so quick,” Dageus chastised, leaning in and placing a kiss on Alex’s lips. “You haven’t fed tonight, have you?” Alex sighed and shook his head, which caused his vision to swim. “Why wouldn’t you feed on me when we were having sex?” Dageus demanded, his green eyes sparkling with hurt.

“I wanted to make love to you as a man,” Alex confessed. “I didn’t want to confuse you with my other nature.”

Dageus growled. “I’m a freaking demon, for God’s sake! Don’t ever deny me like that ever again. I wanted, I needed you! I felt cheated when you denied me.” There was an underlying hurt in Dageus’s voice, which gave Alex pause.

He rolled to his stomach before hesitantly sitting up. “Did I hurt your feelings by not feeding on you?” Dageus nodded, his eyes prickling with tears. Alex sighed. “Come here, lover. Let me fulfill your desire and mine. I was foolish to deny you.” Dageus slunk forward and leaned back against Alex’s chest.

“Do it,” Dageus commanded breathlessly. Alex needed no further encouragement. His fangs throbbed in anticipation. He tilted his lover’s neck to the side and held him around the waist as he placed kisses along the line of his throat. Dageus’s breath hitched, and he began to pant. Without ceremony, Alex bit down and allowed the blood to well up into his mouth like a fount. Dageus gave a little whimper. Whether it was in pleasure or pain, Alex couldn’t be sure. The Ravyns next words were a welcome surprise.

“I love you,” Dageus whispered. Time had slowed to a crawl as he lay passively in Alex’s strong arms. As far as the vampire was concerned, it could go on like that forever. “God, I love you,” he repeated, his eyes unfocused, and Alex knew he should stop feeding so deeply. Dageus wasn’t used to giving his blood to vampires. He just tasted so damn good. Like ambrosia or something equally as addicting. “I love you, Alex.” Dageus sighed quietly. With a groan of utter contentment and surrender, he relaxed into unconsciousness. Alex kissed the sleeping man’s forehead. Now they were even on the ‘passing out because of something wonderful’ front.

Alex was the most content he’d been in his whole life. For once his darling wasn’t disappearing by daylight but was content to sleep in his arms. His head was tucked into his chest, and a half smile was formed on his lips. Alex almost cried at the beauty of the moment.

“I love you, my Kal,” he whispered reverently to his sleeping man. “Soon you’ll remember what it is to be my Bride again. I’ll make you remember.” Dageus sighed sweetly and cuddled closer. Alex pressed that precious skull against his heart and hoped the morning would never come.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Druas was humming a fine tune when Salvatore and Tony came around the corner, carting five bags of marshmallows. “Find them?” They both nodded happily. Salvatore was looking forward to their little event.

They were planning on camping out on the roof tonight and drilling the youngest Ravyn about tonight’s escapades. They had been told “s’mores” were necessary for the event, so therefore Salvatore had insisted they go and get the ingredients. They were slowly beginning to find their way around the grocery store. They still weren’t sure if it was a good idea to use an old grill as a fire pit, but they were determined to try.

“When is Dageus due home?” Dru asked, throwing another pack of graham crackers into the cart. Salvatore chuckled.

“He was due home two hours ago,” Tony grumped, tossing Hershey’s bars as they passed.

“His date must’ve gone well,” Salvatore offered with a grin.

Tony sighed. “I’m glad our brother has finally found his desires, but I’d be even happier if he wasn’t involved with that vampire. I just don’t like the way he is around Dageus. He treats him like a long-lost possession.”

Salvatore agreed, but he didn’t voice it. He didn’t want to doom the fledging relationship between Dageus and Alex before it had a chance to grow. If the Ravyns knew of his discomfort, they’d stop at nothing to get their brother away from the vampire’s embrace.

“What sort of weird hold does that vampire have over him? He’s the loyalest of all the Ravyns! Or he was before Alexander came along…” Druas growled out.

Uh-oh
. The Ravyns started to turn their minds to a singular path in which they’d all come to the same conclusion. He really should say something to discourage their obvious dislike of the vampire. Salvatore, however, remained silent. With a snap of his wrist, Tony flicked open one of the six phones they’d purchased to keep in contact in this expansive world. Converting some of the royal treasury from gold and gems into cash had been a pain in the ass, but Salvatore had insisted after their first incident in the grocery store.

“Hey, you’ve reached Dageus. Leave a message.”
Beep
.

Tony growled and snapped the phone shut. “His phone is off. Damnit.”

Druas sighed. “Did you really expect it to be on?”

“What if we needed him?” Tony demanded angrily. “What if Desmond’s cronies showed up? We’d be a Ravyn short!” Druas nodded his own temper spiking.

“Our first duty is to our Prince,” Druas growled. Said Prince gritted his teeth in irritation as they spoke about him like he wasn’t there.

“We should petition the other brothers to move against Alex. If we all confront Dageus at once then we can convince him to leave that mess and that vampire.”

“Enough!” Salvatore snapped. “I don’t want to hear any word of this anymore. If you made such a petition, I would veto it. Period. You are conspiring against your own brother because he has taken a lover that you disagree with. By doing this you are violating the sacred laws of brotherhood. Don’t betray him because he has found a lover who distracts him. Our Ally-cat is distracted quite often by the attentions of willing females, is he not? How many times has he been out of reach because he’d lost himself in the arms of a woman?” The two brothers looked at their feet, ashamed. “I’m sure Dageus will be back soon enough. Now let’s start the damn s’mores.”

The night turned into day, and the Ravyns began to worry as the last vestiges of light faded from the sky and turned to darkness once again. Dageus had missed three shift changes already. Their phone calls went unanswered.

“Should we head to the theater? Practice starts in half an hour,” Germany suggested, as the clock crept dangerously close to midnight. Salvatore finally relented with a wave of his hand. He’d never expected Dageus to neglect his duty so deeply.

“Druas and Tony, stay with me. Germany and Allasandro, bring home our brother.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Dageus came awake slowly. He was warm and content buried beneath the heavy quilt of his lover’s bed. He sighed in contentment. Something teased at the edge of his memory, like a quickly forgotten dream.

“God’s blood, child, you make me happy,” Alex said, rubbing the taut muscles of Kal’s shoulders. Kal groaned in relief.

“You make me happy, too, Master.” He sighed as he hit a particularly tight knot of muscle.

“I want you to come live with me, Kal. I want you to be mine. Forever.” Kal’s eyes shot open in shock.

“Really?” he questioned, his voice brimming with joy. Alex chuckled.

“Yes. Really.”

Kal went silent as the Master of Haven worked the kinks from his shoulders. The night’s practice had been a particularly rough one. They often were when Santiago ran the practices.

“Kal, I love you. We’re going to have to go to Damian soon. Tell him what we’ve been doing.” Kal laughed and rolled to his back.

“You really want to tell your brother what we’ve been doing?” he asked suggestively. Alex slapped his chest playfully.

“You little imp,” he said in a mock growl. “You’ll show your Master some bloody respect.” He attacked, tickling and nipping at Kal’s exposed skin
.

“Kal, are you awake my love?” a voice questioned gently, bringing Dageus out of his reverie. The fact that he’d called him the wrong name didn’t even register.

“Yeah,” he whispered, inhaling the now-familiar scent of his vampire.

“Practice is fixing to begin. I suggest you rouse yourself. Santiago is chomping at the bit to get us started.” The last of Dageus’s sleepy mind came to awareness.

“Practice? I thought we didn’t have practice tonight?”

Alex chuckled. “We didn’t have practice last night. You’ve slept the day away, pet.” Dageus’s eyes widened in horror.

“
Oh shit
!”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Where on earth is Kal?” Santiago demanded as he glanced up to see the Master of Haven scowling in a chair in the front row of the theater. “And you are late, Master,” he added as Alex’s frown deepened. Santiago raised an eyebrow in question. “Your foul mood does not give you permission to miss out on this vital practice. Disrobe, my son, and begin your stretches.”

Alex growled and ripped his shirt over his head.

“He left,” he gritted out between clenched teeth. Santiago chuckled and began to tap out a rhythm for Marisilla to follow.

“I gathered as much from your soured countenance. Explain to me why he left.” Alex bent from the waist, stretching the backs of his thighs and his calf muscles. He hissed at the movements. He’d obviously taxed himself last night. Santiago gave him half an hour before he would be complaining loudly in several languages. “He raced from my chambers at a quarter ’til eleven, shortly after he woke. He didn’t even say good-bye! I’ve never seen anyone dress so quickly or so haphazardly. Bloody Hell! He barely got a shirt on, my shirt I might add, before he raced out the bloody door.”

As usual, Santiago didn’t seem to respond to the comment. He was as calm as a lake frozen over on a still winter day.

“Your pride has been stung, has it?” Santiago asked as he swatted Marisilla on the ass with his step cane when he got off count in his routine. “If I wanted to have this section made into a comedy, I would’ve had Damian do it. Do not bumble so awkwardly through it. It must be liquid, graceful. You are being a rock. Be moveable, you imbecile.” The side commentary at Marisilla was said in like fashion, calm and detached, yet the words contained such a bite that even Alex winced.

“I just don’t understand why he raced out,” Alex stated awkwardly. He felt lost as he finished his sentence. “How could Kal just run away without even a proper good-bye? He didn’t even look back when he raced out the door.” He bit into his bottom lip. It was a display of insecurity that he’d possessed since he was human. Six hundred years had done nothing to get rid of the quirk. “What if he regretted our night together?”

“Stop it,” Santiago commanded, cracking the cane against the floor of the stage. Alex’s head snapped up. Santiago was looking off the side of the stage, but it was to Alex he spoke.

“You have to trust in him, Alexander. You have to trust in him as he trusted in you all those years ago. He is young and new to your lifestyle. He is a part of that brotherhood of Salvatore’s, and most of all, he is terrified of your growing relationship. What you cannot seem to understand is that Kal does not remember the first time he experienced the rush with you, the desire with you. He doesn’t remember the conclusion he came to after he was faced with losing you. He doesn’t remember the devotion he gave you. Stop comparing him to what he was. Woo him, and stop feeling sorry for yourself. Now”—Santiago began another set of taps on the floor—“act four, scene three. Solo act at the first half before Dageus comes in. We’ll be ready for him when he gets here, at least musically. One, two, three…”