Coming Together: With Pride (28 page)

"You can't go yet."

Victor sighed as a well-muscled arm snaked its way across his middle to hold him captive on the bed. He draped his free arm—the one not pinned beneath his lover's body—over and entwined his fingers with the other man's. The roughness of his skin was like a beacon to his heart, but it was one that he could not heed this time. He had spent entirely too long here already. He drew the man's hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss on his knuckles before sliding out of bed.

"You know I can't stay," he said as he pulled up his jeans. The man on the bed rolled onto his back and gave Victor a wistful smile. Beneath the veneer of baby blue eyes, Victor saw the pain of another parting. "I'm sorry, Daniel." He leaned down and kissed the man's forehead gently. "I love you, but I cannot stay."

"I know. When will you be back?"

Victor pulled away with a reluctance that left his heart feeling like it weighed a ton in his chest. "I don't know. Markus knows I've been leaving London every few nights, although he doesn't know where I go. I only pray that Kristoph hasn't caught onto us."

"He hasn't shown any signs of such," Daniel said as he sat up. "Victor?"

Victor watched the bed sheet settle into a pool of gray silk in Daniel's lap, ineffectively covering the contours beneath. It was an enticing sight that drew Victor's attention away from danger and back to his lover's bed. Daniel smiled and slid over as Victor's jeans returned to the floor. Slipping under the sheet, he pulled Daniel beneath him, their mouths meeting in a heated kiss.

"Make love to me, Vic," Daniel pleaded in a whisper.

Victor pulled away from Daniel's lips to trace a line over his chin, down his throat, across his chest. Daniel shifted beneath him, allowing Victor to settle between his legs as his kisses continued in a downward path. Victor closed his eyes as he inhaled deeply; the combination of sweat and his lover's arousal was a heady concoction to his already-overloaded senses. Daniel knew he couldn't resist one last time, and this night was no exception. Victor opened his eyes and looked up, only to find Daniel's blue gaze locked onto his own emerald one.

"I want you," Daniel mouthed silently.

Victor slid his tongue across his lips and looked down. Daniel's cock was hard beneath him, and the tip glistened with his arousal. Victor slid his tongue up the rigid length, drawing a throaty moan from his lover. Daniel's hands entwined themselves in Victor's hair. Several ebony strands slipped free to mingle with the blonde hair surrounding Daniel's cock. It was an entrancing sight, but the taste outweighed all else. Victor curled his fingers around Daniel's shaft and gave it a firm stroke from base to tip. Daniel's hips left the bed as his back arched, and a gasp escaped his lips, followed quickly by another deep groan. Victor smiled and slid his lips over the tip of Daniel's cock.

"Oh, God," Daniel breathed. He gripped Victor's head and began making slow, sweet love to his mouth.

Victor stroked the shaft as he sucked on the tip, drinking every drop that leaked from the small slit. He probed it with his tongue, which in turn rewarded him with a jerk of Daniel's hips. It was a weakness that Victor thoroughly enjoyed playing with. When Daniel's moans became more frantic, more desperate, Victor slipped two fingers into his mouth to wet them. When they made contact with Daniel's entrance, Victor opted to tease him for a bit. He pushed them in to the first knuckle and smiled when Daniel sucked his lower lip between his teeth.

"Please, Vic," Daniel begged him. "Don't tease me this time. I need you."

Victor pushed his fingers in deeper, and Daniel's hips rose. Victor pulled them back out and slid his mouth off of Daniel's cock. He moved to kneel between Daniel's legs and leaned to reach the small bottle of lube on the nightstand. As he started to sit up, Daniel caught him. The lube dropped to the pillow beside Daniel's head, forgotten, as Victor pulled Daniel into a kiss. Kissing him was something Victor could never tire of, yet he pulled away slowly. He sat up and slid two slick fingers into Daniel.

"Oh, yes. Please, Victor..."

Victor removed his fingers and stroked himself to full hardness, slicking his shaft as he did so. He pressed the tip of his cock to Daniel's entrance and pushed forward. Daniel's eyes widened as Victor penetrated him completely, impaling him on the rigid flesh. Once he was buried in Daniel's body, Victor stopped—partially to allow Daniel to adjust and partially to keep from losing control altogether. Making love to Daniel always seemed like the first time, even though they had been together for over one hundred years.

Daniel locked his legs around Victor's waist, pulling him in and holding him tightly. Victor began to move, slowly at first but picking up speed as Daniel began to relax. The heat, the velvet tightness, enveloped Victor in the most tangible form of Heaven he had ever known. With every move, with every stroke inside Daniel's body, he felt his soul melt into Daniel's, becoming one with the man he loved.

As they moved together, their rhythm a loving one, the need built inside Victor as quickly as his impending orgasm. He knew Daniel felt it as well simply by the way his blue eyes glazed over as they both neared climax. When Daniel clawed at Victor's arms to pull him down, Victor went willingly. His strokes inside Daniel increased, and Daniel met every one. His body tightened around Victor's cock and beneath Victor's body, signaling that he was close.

Victor slid an arm under Daniel's neck and pulled him up to sit on him, still deeply impaled. When his cock bottomed out in Daniel's body, Victor descended on his neck, teeth bared. His teeth pierced the tender flesh of Daniel's neck, and Victor growled as he came, releasing his seed deep. Seconds later, he felt teeth within his own throat as Daniel's cock convulsed between their bodies. When they released one another's necks, they met in another kiss.

"I love you," Victor whispered.

Daniel smiled and kissed him again. "I love you, too. I always will, Victor."

****

Victor sat up in bed, his body sticky with sweat, the sheet clinging to him like another layer of skin. He ran his fingers through his hair and swallowed the swell of tears. Freedom came with a price; it always had. He dropped onto the mattress with a groan. A shudder ran through him as the dream faded into mere memory. It had been almost six months, yet the dreams still came. How he longed to hear Daniel's voice just one more time.

From his position on the mattress, Victor could see the lingering hint of daylight through the cracks in the walls. Night would come soon and with it, the necessity of feeding. Yet feeding no longer held any pleasure for him, not since Kristoph had taken Daniel from him. Not since his banishment from the clan he'd belonged to since his turning over nine hundred years ago. Yes, freedom did indeed come with a price.

He rolled off of the mattress, settling on his hands and knees on the dust-covered floor of what was once Daniel's bedroom. The house itself had slipped into disrepair and eventually been boarded up, yet the owners never bothered to check the interior for 'tenants.' Victor had remained hidden well enough, unable to leave the memories the walls held.

Daniel had bought the house not long before he met him. Victor had never meant to do anything more than feed, but one night with Daniel turned into another... and another... and another. Before Victor realized what was happening, he'd fallen in love. Then Kristoph had found Daniel and turned him. The one thing that Victor had refused to do, Kristoph had done for him, and then he took Daniel away from Victor for good.

Grumbling, Victor stood on shaky legs and steadied himself against the rotten, exposed wood of the wall. He took a steadying breath and closed his eyes to the vision of Daniel lying in bed. It was a sight that he knew he would never again see, and the pain was becoming too difficult to bear. He often wondered how a vampire could commit suicide, and several ideas were becoming more desirable as each day passed without Daniel at his side.

****

Daniel watched with deep sadness as Victor left their home to feed. Of course, he could go with Victor, but it would do no good. Feeding had become a routine chore for Victor, and Daniel knew his lover's will to go on was quickly waning. It was clear in his eyes. Irises that once held Daniel captivated within their emerald depths were now dull and lifeless. Then there were the dreams. Not a night went by in which Victor slept soundly. Daniel mourned for his lover just as Victor mourned for him.

An hour passed before Victor returned from his hunt and surprisingly, he was not alone. Daniel watched with unease as Markus put out a hand to stop the front door from closing. Victor didn't seem overly concerned as his sire followed him to the bedroom.

"Why are you here?" Victor asked as he collapsed onto the mattress. Markus stopped in the doorway of the bedroom.

"I want you to come back, Vic," he said.

Daniel looked from Markus to Victor and noted the almost obscene grin on his lover's face. It was one of those smiles that warned the bearer wasn't all there. In normal society, it would've been a one-way ticket to the funny farm.

"You banished me for loving someone, and now you want me back?"

Daniel could almost hear the threads of sanity snapping within Victor's mind.

"He was one of Kristoph's," Markus countered. "You knew that and refused to stop seeing him. I had no choice but to banish you. For all I know, he could be hiding and listening to us right now."

"I wish that were true," Victor mumbled from beneath his arm. He moved it enough to look over at the blank look on Markus' face. "He's dead, Markus. As soon as Kristoph found out, he came here. I didn't make it in time. Daniel bled to death in my arms; the slit in his throat was beyond repair."

"I'm sorry, Vic."

Daniel saw the glimmer of a tear before it escaped down Victor's cheek. How he longed to kiss it away, to gather Victor into his arms once more. A sigh from Markus drew Daniel out of his memories.

"So you won't come back," Markus said.

"No. I have no need for politics. Your war with Kristoph and his clan no longer concerns me. I paid my price, as did Daniel. I'm done." He rolled over, turning his back on his sire and former friend. Taking it as a cue to leave, Markus turned and left the house without another word.

Victor rolled over. Daniel ached to touch him, if only to take him into his arms and stop the tremors of heartache. Victor's shoulders shook as the threadbare silk of the pillowcase soaked up his tears. Daniel's chest tightened as his own heartache began to surface once more. There had to be a way for him to reach Victor. When Victor's sobs died out, the room slipped into an odd silence. He rolled over and stared at the ceiling. The look in his eyes was one of finality. Daniel waited, knowing it was only a matter of time.

Victor slid off of the mattress and crawled across the floor. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Daniel knew he was readying himself. A stake of ash wood lay across Victor's lap, the sharpened end a promise of true freedom. Victor turned around and positioned the flat end of the stake against the wall. He then set the point to his heart and with a final prayer, he thrust himself forward.

Daniel closed his eyes at the moment of penetration. He couldn't bear to witness his lover's suicide, despite knowing Victor's pain was at an end. When he felt a presence much like his own, however, Daniel opened his eyes. A spectral figure drifted across the room and stopped before him. A smile he had longed to see once more graced the man's lips.

"Daniel."

Daniel reached out and pulled Victor into his arms once again. Victor met him in a kiss—a kiss that promised forever.

"I love you, Daniel. I always will love you."