Cake (12 page)

I felt full and warm…and oh God, so fucking horny. I willingly extracted my fangs from the bloodied throat and was amazed when they actually started to recede of their own accord. I licked greedily at the small dribbles of blood left on the skin until Marcus caught my face and stared at me intently, dropping Lorne’s almost lifeless body and leaving him laying face down in the alley.

“
What?” I asked, as Marcus continued to stare at me.

“
You missed a drop.” I got round two of the tender and fuzzy Marcus, and I was weak in the knees when his lips left mine. “I want you under me. Give me leave, my Little One.”

“
No.”

“
It will not be like before.”

“
NO.”

He caressed my hard-on through my leather pants. “Then let me take care of this. This is a side effect of feeding.”

Realization hit me hard. “You fed each time before you would come to me, you sick, twisted, fu…uuuuhhh.”

The bastard knew I wouldn’t fight him for long, once he started. He was good, and he knew it. I ended up leaning on the brick wall, barely able to stand on my own two feet. Opposite, across the nine-foot alley, was the body of the man I had just killed, who’d originally had me killed. And lurking somewhere behind us was another vampire, who was getting more of an eyeful than I wanted to give. How fucked up is that? But at least I had my shirt.

Please…please…please.

“
Who are you begging, fledging? You do not know, really. But you are being too loud. We do not need to draw suspicious eyes out here.” Having come up to us, Claudius pinned my shoulders to the wall, leaned in, and by pressing his mouth against mine, he made sure that no more sounds from me drew curious glances our way; as if there was someone else out here in the back alley with us.

I tried to push him back, but he caught my wrist and slammed it above my head. My other hand was in his hair when he grabbed for that one, and I managed to yank some dark strands out before he hissed and manhandled it up to meet the first. Now I was stretched out like a smorgasbord…two sides, gents, no waiting.

Whatever pity or self-loathing I had faded along with my anger. It felt like my eyes were on fire. One blink and I could see clearer and brighter. I couldn’t say much to Claudius, because he had his tongue down my throat. I tried with all my force to get my arms off the wall, and I succeeded in moving them a couple of inches when Marcus did something wicked with his tongue to another part of my body. I lost all concentration and would have fallen over if Claudius hadn’t been pinning me there.

“
He would do this for you any time you asked. He would do so much more…” I blinked at him, still seeing with that crystal sight and watched as he flinched and faltered under my gaze.

“
Marcus. Marcus?” Claudius kicked him in the thigh. “MARCUS!”

Marcus pulled his head back.

“
What…what are you doing?” I gasped. “No…Don’t stop…don’t stop now. Please.”

“
Hush, I will finish you. What is it, Claudius?”

“
Look at his Flame.”

“
Marcus…Marcus…please, don’t leave me like this. I’m so close…”

“
Hush, Little One.” Marcus stood up and caught my chin in his hand. He tilted my head, and I was looked at from every angle. “My, my, my. I knew he was special. I corrected his vision when I first took him. Could this be a simple side effect?”

I really didn’t care what had taken their interest in my face. It felt like my skin was getting ready to burst open, and I needed him back down on his knees before me.

“
Marcus!”

“
Well, it is said that passion and anger are closely related,” Claudius stated matter-of-factly. “If his eyes turn a hint of violet at the critical moment, then you will know for sure.”

“
Would you be so kind, Claudius?”

They traded places so easily I didn’t have time to get my hands free. “No, you promised. I’ll kiss him, I don’t want him down there,” I yelled, trying to release my arms now from Marcus’s hold.

Marcus leaned in close until his lips were just a whisper away from my ear. “I said, hush, Little One. We have been here too long with a corpse. Claudius will be good for you.”

It didn’t take me long to discover just how good Claudius was. I don’t know how he did it, if he put a binding on me or what, but I couldn’t make a sound. The only noises to be heard were those of the city and the steam escaping from the manholes.

“
Do not try and prolong it. We need to move from this place. We can carry on once we get home, but I need to see your eyes, my Little One. Do not look away when your climax hits you.” Just to make sure, Marcus plastered his forehead to mine. “You always look undeniably beautiful. You have asked for me twice, even though you probably did not mean to. I am not too proud to take it. Look at me, my Little One. Do not look away.”

I didn’t care what was wrong with my eyes. I wasn’t worried with what had gotten them all concerned about them. All I could focus on was the attention I was receiving. Oh my God, Claudius was talented. His technique was so very much different than Marcus’s, and within seconds of his oral administration to my cock, I exploded.

That crystal vision I had became brighter and even sharper. I could see the vein in Marcus’s neck pulse as he stared back at me. I could see the minute pores in his skin, begging to be punctured. I felt my fangs descending, slowly, touching my lip and stopping. I licked my lips. I could almost taste him.

“
Be careful, Marcus,” Claudius warned, getting to his feet and tucking me back in. “He is ready to rip your throat out. How much did he get from Lorne? Sixty?”

“
More like eighty. Too much for a fledging,” Marcus answered. “I know that I only invited you to the Birthing, Claudius, but I know now that I will need your assistance. I will not be able to calm him on my own.”

“
And his eyes?”

“
They flashed violet right at release. If I was not looking for it, I would not have seen it.”

“
Well, this has certainly set my agenda for this year,” Claudius said, wiping his wet mouth with the back of one pale hand. “Let us cut back through the club. I will get my little drug dealer snack, and then we can be on our way. Sex’s Flame is still on. If he drank as much as you think, then we might not be able to release him for hours.”

“
Go ahead. We will wait for you by the front entrance.”

I heard all of what they said, but what they meant didn’t really click in until later. I was too busy concentrating on Marcus and his long, delicious neck, his pumping, blood-filled vein. I wasn’t hungry; I just wanted to bite him…and suck him dry.

CHRIST!

“
Let go, let go…please,” I whined. Marcus had my balls in an iron fist and was squeezing them like lemons.

“
Open your eyes.”

I obeyed, but I couldn’t see anything through the tears he’d caused. He dropped my jewels, leaned in, and kissed my forehead. “You did very well tonight, my Little One. I am so proud of you.”

“
What the fuck did you do that for?” I screamed once I’d been released. One minute I’d been in vampire heaven, thanks to that wickedly talented mouth of Claudius’s, and then I wanted to throw up those slimy pieces of cheese I’d scoffed down earlier as it felt like my balls had been twisted up into my gut.

“
What did you do the first time you saw my red eyes?” Marcus’s voice was low and dangerous.

“
I tried to get the farthest away from you, the fastest way possible.”

“
It is the same right now with you, my little fledging. You have no control over many of your gifts at this moment and to take you back into the club with your eyes glowing the way, they are would cause a stampede. We need to calm you down. No hysterics.”

“
Oh…couldn’t you have just used a glass of water?” My voice was still a little squeaky, and somewhat soprano-ish.

“
Time is of the essence. Oh, and you cannot keep that shirt.” Marcus tugged at the front placket.

“
But it’s mine.” I closed my hand over it, holding it shut at my chest.

“
Once it was, now it is his. Everyone was watching you in there. They saw you leave with him. When his body is found in this alley, they are going to recall that this less-than-attractive man had a beautiful young thing on his arm. What I admire about the police in this day and age is that eventually they will find us when we are out hunting, and it would do well not to have any evidence hidden away somewhere.”

“
But it’s mine…it’s all I have left of what I was.” My knuckles turned white with tension as I hung onto my past.

“
This is a memory, a cherished memory from the way you are clinging on to it, but you still have to leave it here.” He poked me in the head as if to drive home his point and pulled the shirt from my shoulders. “I just seem to keep taking things from you, Little One, don’t I?”

The bloodlust, or frenzy, or whatever the fuck they called it, just seemed to drain out of me at that point. I sat down resignedly in the piss and broken glass, and whatever else that got tossed into the alley.

“
I want to go home,” I whined.

Marcus sighed. “You cannot return to your family…”

“
No, I want to go to your home. I could never go back to my home now. I’ve killed someone.” I don’t know why I was looking down at my hands when I said this; I had fanged someone to death, not killed them with my hands. I suppose I expected to see them blood covered.

Marcus reached down and pulled me easily to my feet. He caught me in his embrace and wiped at all the crud that was still hanging off my ass.

“
What’s wrong with my eyes?” I asked.

“
Nothing.” He reached into the breast pocket of the leather coat he was wearing and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. “This is just to make sure your eyes don’t Flame up while we are inside.”

The sides of the glasses were as wide as the lenses. They were a wrap-around style, which was perfect because that would ensure no one would be able to see my glowing, strange eyes from the side. Making sure they fit snugly, Marcus kissed my forehead, took a good hold on my wrist, and pulled me after him into the club.

If I had thought everything was a little too intense before, it was now like standing in the blast zone. My head ached and throbbed in time with the beat, and the bass thumped in my ears, causing them to ring in agony. I tried covering them, but it didn’t help. Wanting to get out, I tried to push past Marcus and race out of the exit door, but he pulled me hard to his chest, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and burying my face in close to his jacket.

“
Shh, we only have to stay here for a moment longer,” he crooned.

Claudius appeared beside us. “I do believe that it is prudent for us to leave now. Whoever was feeding has spread the word that there is a fledging out, and they will be gathering to either take him down, or make him one of their own. Is he well?”

“
He is just a little too sensitive now.”

“
I will go first. I do not know how organized this group is, but you will have to deal with them soon, Marcus.”

Marcus scanned the crowd. “Agreed. The Council gave our House this property before this city was even erected.”

“
The way is clear.”

Marcus let me out of the headlock, and we made our way out into the night.

E
ight

Fla
ming Sex