RW1 Ravyn's blood (9 page)

“It’s all right, my dearest. It’s all right. I have you. You’ve returned to us. I’ll never let you go again.” The vampire seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, and tears of relief slid down his face as he spoke. “Where have you been, sweetheart? Where have you been to pack on such muscles?” he asked appreciatively, still babbling. Dageus had no idea what he was talking about. He was talking like he knew him.

“God, I’ve prayed every day for six years that you’d return to me. Six long years, I’ve missed you. I should have made you my Bride the moment I knew you were my mate. I should’ve told Damian that you were my mate.”

Dageus remembered vaguely that a vampire’s Bride was the equivalent of a Shifter’s Mate, a soul mate, as hokey as that was. Why was the vampire talking about that in regard to him though? His head was spinning.

“Have we met before?” he asked, looking once again to the ice-blue eyes of the one who held him.

The vampire’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Kal?”

Dageus shook his head. “My name is Dageus.” Hurrying footsteps greeted his proclamation.

“It’s true! You found him!” Maddeline exclaimed joyously, throwing her arms around Dageus’s limp form. Dageus glanced at the petite vampire who had begun the dance. Her dark-blonde hair teased his nose with the scent of peppermint.

“Sweetest Kal! You’ve returned to us at last.” Another voice. The voice of Santiago, the head of the line. How the hell he knew that was anyone’s guess. Dageus frowned. The vampire’s dark hair was the same as it had always been. He stood above him, stroking his sweaty hair.

“The way you two danced tonight was beyond anything you’ve ever done,” Santiago continued, “I’d never imagined you two achieving that sort of singular partnership.”

“Does Damian know yet?” Maddeline asked, interrupting Santiago’s tirade. There was a long pause.

“No,” Alex said at last. “Not yet.”

Maddeline’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, not yet? You haven’t even told him that his adopted son who’s been gone for the last six years is back yet?” Dageus struggled to sit up, even as his head pounded.

“Wait, I think there has been a mistake,” he said weakly. Maddeline smacked Alex’s arm when she saw Dageus sway.

“I can’t believe you actually fed on him in front of all those people. You should be ashamed of yourself, Alex! Santiago, go get him a glass of orange juice.”

Dageus tried to push away from Alex, only to be settled more firmly into his lap. A glass was pressed to his lips, and the cooling liquid helped clear his head.

“Thank you,” he whispered. He looked into Alex’s eyes, and the world stopped turning. His heart skipped a beat at the searing look Alex gave him.

“Leave us,” Alex whispered to the other two fretting vampires. They exchanged a look before bowing out. “Darling, where have you been?” There was an edge in Alex’s voice, something very close to hurt.

“Demontia,” Dageus answered automatically, wanting desperately to wipe the sadness out of his beautiful eyes.

Alex’s eyes bulged. “You were in the demon realm? How did you get there?”

Dageus shook his head. “I don’t remember. I feel like I’ve always been there.” He paused. “I think that there has been some sort of mix up. My name is Dageus. I’m the fifth Ravyn.”

Alex looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “Dageus? Your name is Kalel. I’d recognize you anywhere.”

He shook his head again. “No. I promise my name is Dageus, and my brothers are probably searching frantically for me right now…I…” Dageus hesitated, debating whether or not to share his greatest secret. “I dreamed about you though.” He added the last with no small amount of embarrassment.

Alex cocked one eyebrow in question. “Are you attempting to tell me that the chemistry we shared on the dance floor was from your unconscious mind?”

Dageus nodded. “It’s the only explanation. I mean…I am a demon after all. Creatures of magick sometimes experience moments of clarity when it comes to their destinies.”

Alex looked at him strangely and took his chin in his hand, making him meet his eyes. They stared at each other for a long moment before Alex lowered his head down to Dageus’s sweet lips. The kiss sizzled.

Mewling noises sounded from Dageus’s throat as Alex fed off his mouth. Their tongues danced against one another just as their bodies had in the theater. Dageus and Alex moaned in unison as Dageus turned into Alex’s embrace, bringing their bodies closer together. Dageus’s sweet ass pressed against Alex’s groin, straddling his waist. Alex made quick work of the button on his fly, and the hiss of the zipper was incredibly erotic to Dageus’s ears. As cool air licked at the center of his desire, he moaned again.

Alex broke the kiss to chuckle. “No underwear.” He smirked. “I knew it.”

Alex caught his dick in his firm grip and rotated his wrist in a circular motion on the head, causing Dageus to cry out. This is so wrong, Dageus thought. I shouldn’t want…shouldn’t need his touch this badly. If it was so bad, why was he so very hard and wanton? He knew if he found the act that abhorrent he would at least feel some sort of remorse in his actions. He moaned as Alex crushed his lips back on Dageus’s own as he ground his hips into Alex’s grip.

“What the fuck is that?”

Dageus’s eyes snapped open, and he tore his mouth from Alex’s. His cheeks flushed red as he met the eyes of his brothers.

“Oh shit,” he said aloud. He thanked his lucky stars he was covered because at the moment his desire was trapped between his torso and Alex’s. This would be infinitely worse if his body was bared to his brothers’ gaze. He groaned again. This could not be happening.

“Dude…that’s a dude!” Allasandro said stupidly. Yeah, he wanted to die. Right now. Please
,
Dageus thought, his cheeks on fire.

Salvatore’s eyes were bulging, and a look of incredulity was pasted to his face like a photograph. Disbelief shone easily through his eyes. It wasn’t everyday that one of his Ravyns was caught in such a blatantly sexual position with another man. After a moment, he shook his head as if to clear it. “Boys.” Salvatore cleared his throat, seeing the abject horror in Dageus’s face. “Give me and Dageus a second.” The Ravyns looked at one another and then walked back the way they had come, looking back over their shoulders in disbelief as they did.

Alex turned Dageus’s chin so that their eyes met, deftly fastening his pants back in a semblance of order. Dageus just squeaked in answer to his silent declaration of love.

“Are you all right, pet?” he asked, running a finger down his face. Dageus was sure the panic showed all over his face as he looked up at Alex. Up until this point he hadn’t felt any sort of fear in the vampire’s arms, but now it was a living, breathing part of him. His brothers knew his secret.

“Do you want to explain this to me?” Salvatore asked. His cheeks were heated from watching the exchange. “I mean, you’ve never expressed interest in a male before, uh…” Dageus groaned aloud at the delicately put words. Salvatore blushed deeper. “Well, you don’t really need to explain that–just–who are you?” He stumbled, directing his question to Alex. The Master of Haven gave the demon a calculating look. Finally, after a significantly awkward pause in which Dageus buried his face in Alex’s neck, he spoke.

“I am Alexander, Master of Minnesota.”

Salvatore looked relieved. “I was hoping it wasn’t just one of your minions that had messed with his mind. Thank God. Would you mind releasing him from your Thrall now? He’s beautiful, but he sort of has an obligation to fulfill. He is my fifth Ravyn, after all.”

Alex looked at him strangely. “I don’t have his mind in Thrall. He belongs to me. My lost lover, Kalel. Though he doesn’t seem to remember it.” Alex gave him a sweet smile. “I intend to remedy that as quickly as possible.” Salvatore’s mouth dropped open.

“Excuse me?” Salvatore growled low in his throat.

Alex looked him full in the eyes, and they had a sort of “man of the house” pissing contest that only people who are used to getting exactly what they want can participate in. Dageus sighed and struggled to unwrap his legs from around Alex’s waist.

“I think that’s my cue to leave,” he murmured. Alex tightened his grip around his waist, and he seemed to panic at the thought of Dageus going anywhere.

“What do you mean leave? You just got here!”

Dageus went to give a scathing remark at his hurried reply but stopped short when he saw the near tears building in Alex’s striking blue eyes. On impulse, Dageus gripped his cheek and tipped his chin so that their lips were scant inches apart.

“
Je t’aime, mon coeur
.” He spoke softly. He didn’t know where the words came from or what language it was in, but he spoke them with a reverence that defied explanation. Alex’s eyes widened in surprise, and he closed the distance between them and gave him a sweet, chaste kiss.

“
Je t’aime aussi, mon petit
,” he replied with a soft smile in his voice.

Salvatore watched the exchange in silence. In a hard voice, he finally spoke as the two lost themselves in each other’s touch once again, completely forgetting the gaze of the Dragon Prince. Dageus promised himself that he’d reply. In just another minute. Just one more minute.

“That’s enough, Dageus,” Salvatore said sternly as they fell into a passionate kiss. They ignored his command and gripped onto one another in a passion-born embrace.

Salvatore sighed. “You asked for this, Dageus.” He heard the Prince mutter before he felt the beginnings of real power race towards him. The Prince stretched his long-unused powers toward his Ravyn and tightened the metaphysical rope that bound them together until it was a painful reminder to the warrior who it was bound to it. Dageus cried out in pain and fell hard to the floor. Alex was too shocked to even bother to catch him. Salvatore raised a brow as Dageus crawled toward him on his knees, small sounds of pain emitting from his throat in regular intervals. Dageus knew that it was the first and only time he’d ever had to remind one of his Ravyns of their duties. For extra measure, Salvatore struck out once again to punish him, and Dageus convulsed on the floor, his eyes rolling back in his head as his body shook and twisted as currents of electrical energy flowed from Salvatore into him.

* * * *

“Stop it!” Alex demanded in a panic, observing the convulsions of his dearest.

His own power rose to meet Salvatore’s. The power of the two clashed in the air above Dageus’s head. Salvatore growled, and the rest of the Ravyns ran to him, flat out from across the darkened stage. They surrounded the two warring beings, and power was a thing so palpable that it thickened the air with a humid quality. Dageus continued his thrashing on the floor. Frowning, both men forced their power a notch higher. Dageus cried out and gripped his head as the power pinged off his mind like hammers on the inside of his skull.

“Boys. Assistance. He’s attempting to claim your brother.”

Inhuman snarls were being issued from the Ravyns. They all reached for Dageus at Salvatore’s words, running their hands over his bare chest in soothing gestures and making guttural noises that may have been a language. He reached unsure hands toward them, and one of them allowed his brother to grip his forearms as Dageus allowed them to pull him into their combined embrace. Alex hissed, flashing his fangs, and sank his power deeper into Dageus. Dageus cried out.

“You’re hurting him!” The Ravyn with the surfer-blond hair screamed in Alex’s direction as blood began to drip from Dageus’s nose. The dark-haired one whispered something in that rhythmic guttural language, and the one who’d yelled at him quieted. Alex felt them gathering their powers to thrust him forcibly from Dageus’s consciousness.

“Wait,” Dageus muttered. “Stop. Stop, my brothers. He hasn’t hurt me. My Prince,” he pleaded. “Make them stop.”

Salvatore made a noise of displeasure low in his throat. He sounded downright dangerous. “Strike him, my Ravyns.” He commanded. Dageus cried out in panic this time, ripped himself from his brothers’ arms, and threw himself in front of Alex.