A Royal Craving (12 page)

F
or two hours, Prosper worked in the library, organising paperwork for the treaty signing and talking over the finger food options with Eamon, for the following celebration party.

His business completed, he found himself alone, with time to kill. He delved into one of Parry's proposed favourite novels.

He had barely begun chapter three when the right door opened and Parry poked his head in, looking hopeful.

His twin cast an eye around the room and stepped inside.

“Are you looking for someone?” Prosper asked, to test Spencer's theory. He did not raise his eyes from the book, choosing not to make a show of the knowledge his lover had shared.

“Spencer. I hoped to speak with him,” Parry admitted.

Prosper was intrigued to hear that it sounded like the truth. Or at least part of the truth. “He left with Jael and Asher, two hours ago. Elenor is having a distressing labour,” he said, by way of explanation.

“Oh.” Parry nodded and took a seat. “Then I shall wait,” he decided, patting his knees, as he tried to avoid his brother's scrutiny.

Prosper glanced over, inspired by Parry's nerves. “Have you seen Davian this evening?” he asked.

Parry started, speaking in a cracked, nervous voice, “Sorry?”

“Spencer had hoped to catalogue the library. I thought Davian might stop by to assist him,” Prosper mentioned, wondering when his brother would confess his feelings.

Parry twitched and curled his hands against his knees. “Why is Davian purely assisting?” he enquired.

Prosper looked up and replied. “Spencer has never held a book, much less read one in its entirety. I believe he plans to read as he reorganises the library,” he explained, in delight. “He and Davian have bonded over his request to take over the job. I believe Davian was only too happy to have some free time on his hands. Spencer believes he has someone he wishes to spend it with,” he hinted.

Watching the confusion and worry cross Parry's face was priceless, but he did not relish it. The worry clearly implied that he did not know who had stolen Davian's affection. Yet, his companion knew from one moment of observation.

“You can be quite innocent sometimes, Parry, do you know that?” Prosper asked, glancing over the book at his twin. “It is rather surprising, but delightful too,” he commented, convinced Parry had rearranged the library to keep Davian close. Only the prankster of the family would think to rearrange the entire library to manipulate someone.

“I have no idea what you mean, but it sounds insulting,” his brother pouted.

Prosper resumed his reading, choosing to ignore him. The fact Parry bit his lower lip and patted his knees to an offbeat rhythm, practically screamed his guilt. Prosper was convinced he had hit the mark.

An awkward silence fell between the twins, as Prosper read and lounged on the sofa.

Parry stuck to his word and waited for Spencer's return. The atmosphere grew thick and strained, as unspoken words lingered in the air.

“I thought you said he would not be long?” Parry wondered, breaking the silence after merely ten minutes.

Prosper shook his head and glanced at the clock by the table. Spencer would not have had time to tend Elenor yet, after the long carriage ride to the city. “He should return soon.” He chuckled, praying there were no complications.

Parry met his curious gaze.
“I have to say, Prosper, I do not approve of the new you. You are too happy for my nerves to take,” he disapproved.

Prosper could not help it; he started laughing.

Parry huffed and sank into his seat, to fold his arms over his chest.

Two hours later, the library door opened to the relief of both brothers. Prosper felt Spencer's presence the moment he entered the house; a new and pleasant sensation.

When he found his boy pulling off his jacket, only to see his shirt covered in blood, Prosper panicked. He stared until the ability to move returned.

Spencer sank onto the sofa beside him and lay his head back, with a sigh.

Prosper practically pounced on him, while staring in mortification at the volume of blood that soaked his clothing. “Spencer! Little one, talk to me. What happened?” he asked, worried, as his hands explored his body, feeling for wounds or injuries.

“He cannot hear you, Prosper.” Parry frowned, as he sat forward in anticipation.

As Prosper's hands slipped to check his human’s waist for wounds, Spencer started laughing. “What on Earth are you doing?” he asked, opening his eyes.

“You are not injured?” Prosper asked, in confusion.

Spencer touched his face. “No, love. I am fine, as is Elenor. No wonder she had such trouble; she gave birth to twins.” He beamed, tiredly. “I am sorry I worried you,” he apologised, “but I thought you would rather I let you know the news, before I had a bath.”

“Yes.” Prosper fully agreed with that choice. “And I am afraid you have a matter awaiting your attention. My brother is desperate to speak with you,” he informed him, with a nod in Parry's direction.

Spencer arched his eyebrows and looked around his shoulders to see Parry, who smiled weakly. “Then I shall talk to him first. That should help him get to the point,” he teased.

Prosper almost agreed, until he looked him over with a troubled frown. His voice, sounding tired, combined with how he looked, said Spencer needed taken care of before he could play therapist. But he was torn; it made sense that Parry would hurry through his news, if they spoke first.

“Perhaps you should change first? You smell of blood.” He disapproved of the stale scent that assaulted his senses.

“Am I making you hungry?” Spencer whispered, accompanying his words with a light kiss.

Prosper responded instinctively, holding his shoulders as he deepened the kiss. “Insatiable,” he confessed. “But perhaps you are right. If you speak with my brother first, I can keep you for the rest of the night,” he bargained, since that did seem the sensible plan.

“Am I not always yours to keep?” his lover tormented.

Prosper adored that look and wished he could act upon it. Instead, he rose to his feet and smiled at his lover. “I shall run your bath, while you talk,” he offered, leaving them alone.

A
s Prosper left, another person entered the library. Davian looked to Parry and seemed to panic.

“Davian, would you mind bringing me a cup of hot chocolate? It has been a long night and I am cold,” Spencer asked, hoping that would keep Davian out of the room while Parry talked freely.

“Of course.” He nodded and met Parry's gaze. Then he hung his head and left, muttering to himself.

The pain in the Prince's eyes intrigued him. Spencer wondered if this was the way of vampires. They were cold, alone and spirited, until they found the one soul that connected to theirs.

Prosper said that his life had been full of darkness and self-hatred before he came along; was the same true of Parry?

“I never thought I would do this, but I am asking a human for help,” Parry admitted, with a heavy sigh.

“You wish to court Davian,” Spencer said, beyond having to guess.

Parry confessed, “Yes.”

He took a deep breath, contemplating the possibilities and came to a conclusion before speaking. “I am glad you have admitted that. But there is one problem – Davian.” He warned that it would not be easy. “He has spent his life being told that loving another man is sinful. Until now, I suspect he believed it and that is why he hesitates to confess his feelings for you.” Spencer needed him to understand that Davian could not freely give what Parry wanted.

“Is there a way I can help him?” Parry wondered.

He genuinely seemed to care for Davian and his well being, so Spencer spoke honestly. “Tell him how you feel, that it is not wrong. Tell him that it is perfectly natural for humans and vampires alike,” he offered some advice, hoping Parry took it.

Spencer kissed his cheek, to ease the inner turmoil he could sense below the surface. It seemed that and his words were enough, as Parry rose to leave, without another word.

At the door, he stalled and turned. “Thank you, Spencer. I am sure, feeling as you do for my brother, that you understand what Davian means to me,” Parry said, with a faint smile. “It is the first time in my existence that I have experienced joy, simply from being with another person. But I do not know how to tell him that, without frightening him,” he confessed, then shrugged. “But I will find a way,” he promised, before leaving.

Spencer got to enjoy two minutes of peace and quiet, after Parry left, before the door opened and Davian walked in.

“I hope it is strong enough,” he said, handing over his cup.

“Thank you. As long as it is hot, I do not care how it tastes,” Spencer promised, with a smile. He took a sip and warmth spread down his throat. “Perfect, thank you,” he admitted. It was sublime, to sit and enjoy a hot drink. After his second sip, he patted the sofa, to invite Davian to stop hovering. “Tell me your troubles,” he asked, hoping to help.

“Master Parry is making me nervous. He continues to make advances toward me, despite my telling him I am not inclined that way,” Davian objected, with a look of desperation that frustrated him.

Why did Parry have to fall for the innocent one? And why had he become everyone's favourite agony aunt?

“Davian, do you find him attractive?” Spencer asked, deciding to be blunt. Sidestepping around the issue had got Parry and Davian nowhere. They needed someone to lay the facts out and force them to see sense.

Davian gulped hard and looked around, as though to check no one could overhear him.

“It is a simple question,” Spencer complained, frustrated that his own sexuality seemed like an illness that might infect Davian. “Forget that Parry is a man, a vampire and a Prince. Think only of him as Parry…his smile, his laugh, his eyes…and tell me if you think he is attractive?” he demanded, waiting for the answer that would solve everything.

For a full minute, Davian frowned and looked confused, staring at the floor. Finally, slowly, he nodded.

Spencer guessed he would not get another answer. “Good. Then tell him. If you wish to kiss him, either ask him or take a risk and kiss him whether he wants to kiss you or not,” he encouraged, unsurprised that Davian looked positively scandalised. “I promise that it will be worth it. If there is a spark when you kiss, there is nothing to fear. Parry will never hurt you,” he promised.

“But,” Davian lifted his gaze from the floor and peeked at him from behind blonde eyelashes, “What if I hurt him?” he asked, shyly.

Spencer wanted to scream Hallelujah. “If you are honest, then you will not.” He promised that too. How could he hurt the one he loved?

Spencer gave him a light pat on the arm and sat for a few moments more, bone weary.

While Davian fretted and thought over his words, the door opened and Prosper stepped inside. “Your bath is ready and I must insist you come at once,” he demanded, sweetly.

Spencer passed his cup to Davian. “Feel free to finish it,” he offered, as he had left half a cup and Davian may need the comfort.

The lad stared at his cup and tried to hand it back.

Spencer pressed it forward. “They say that chocolate is quite
enticing
when sealing a kiss,” he hinted, with a wink. He turned and accepted Prosper's outstretched hand, laughing when strong arms swept him off his feet. He held on tight and closed his eyes to enjoy the embrace.

P
arry lay on his bed, merely minutes after speaking with Spencer, lost to his thoughts. He stayed silent, despite a knock at the door, staring at the ceiling as he considered how to make his confession to Davian.

He had called Gustavo days ago, before Spencer entered his life, to discuss his situation with Davian, but for all his wise years – as a human and as a vampire – he had never once explained his choices as succinctly as Spencer had. A human boy, with no real knowledge of the world, had succeeded where numerous vampires had failed. And it did not even surprise him.

“Parry,” a quiet voice called, from the doorway.

Stunned, he sat up and stared at Davian, standing in the doorway of his bedroom. When he did not react to his presence, the lad stepped inside and closed the door.

“May I speak with you?” the servant asked, sounding braver than Parry.

“Of course.” He nodded and watched his progression toward the bed.

Davian stalled at the bedpost and held on with both hands. “Do you recall offering to fulfil a wish?” he asked, his eyes on the floor.

“Yes.”

“I.” He stalled and licked his lips, with no idea how inviting it proved. “I would like to use that wish, but I cannot, if you wish to discuss it. I-I do not want to think, tonight…only…only feel,” he clarified.

As Parry suspected he knew what this meant, he waited until the lad looked up. “Sit,” he asked, stunned that he obeyed.

“Would it be too bold,” Davian began, glancing up shyly, “if I told you my wish?” he asked.

Parry could see the difficulty the human had, and chose not to be petty or play games. He would not make him say the words.

Davian met his gaze, fear fresh in his eyes.

The only way to extinguish it would be to act. Parry leaned it, giving him time to anticipate his move. Their lips met and Davian closed his eyes, touching a hand to his arm. When he licked soft lips and they failed to part for him, he lowered his mouth to the servant's neck and kissed the beating pulse.

Parry savouring the way Davian shivered at the contact. With a gentle push and a light, tormenting nip over an erratically beating pulse, he eased his human onto the bed and straddled him.

“A much better position,” he approved, leaning over and fastening his lips to Davian's neck. He did not want to give the sweet boy too long to consider that there might be blood involved. He did not want his human fainting.

Davian moaned, his body reacting to the stimulation, as his erection pressed against Parry's hip. He tilted his head back, as a hand lifted delicate fingers into his hair. “Please,” he begged.

Parry could not refuse such an offer. He bit into the unblemished flesh and fed on Davian's blood. A current of fireworks exploded in his mouth; sensations, scents, tastes, emotions, thoughts. They flooded his senses and screamed of Davian.

He drank greedily, allowing the release of a groan of pleasure, as he moved their bodies into closer contact. Davian surrounded his every sense, as he took his essence into him.

Parry used his mind to remove their clothes, only caring about the blood and Davian. The two were intermingled in his mind as one entity; one scrumptious morsel of man.

Getting harder by the minute, their bodies flush, both aroused, he could not stop his instincts. His brain crowed that his human was hard and desperate. They shared that condition, as he ground his hard on against Davian's and rejoiced in a heartfelt moan of appreciation.

He pulled back from feeding, interested in the physical reaction he received. They were naked now, their hard cocks nestled against each other, as they rocked their hips to attain some friction.

Parry wrapped his hand around the large shaft he had only ever imagined touching, desperate for more. Davian proved bigger than Parry thought and, despite being a virgin, his hips and eyes said he had natural talent in the bedroom.

He touched the young servant expertly, letting his hand play out the fantasies that had only ever been in his mind.

Davian stared at him with those pleading eyes, upping the pace with his own thrusts. “Parry…please…” he said, his thoughts leaking into Parry's brain, before he could comprehend it.

Davian could not take more. He did what he never wished to do; he begged. Only this was not like his nightmares, where he begged Parry to stop tormenting him with emotions he thought the vampire incapable of. This time, he begged for more; to be loved, to be wanted. He begged for the release that only Parry could give him.

He groaned, as he heard those thoughts from the lad.

Parry would not be cruel. He knew from his own senses that the lad remained a delicate virgin, who had never kissed anyone. Not for want of girls trying, if the memories his blood showed him were correct. Davian had simply been raised to wait for marriage.

Until he began working in this house, Davian had believed everything he had been taught. Nothing had prepared him for falling in love with a vampire.

“This is a first for both of us.” Parry warned that he would never rush them, while trying not to falsely believe this could be more than just an experiment. “I will take care of you,” he promised.

Davian nodded, nothing but trust in his eyes.