Last Chance (13 page)

Stu strode up to Aric, removed the pencil from his hand, and set it next to his notebook and glasses. “Cor found out information about Johan that might prove useful.”

Aric sucked in the edge of his upper lip. Interest sparked in his eyes, but he kept the insolent tone in his voice. “So tell me. You're dying to.”

He related what Corbin had discovered, leaving out where his brother had found the information. He curled his hand around Aric's forearm, refusing to release him. “I brought you a present.”

Aric glared at the hand holding his arm. He lifted his chin, stubborn defiance screaming from the depths of his hazel eyes. “Look. I told you—”

“Yeah, yeah, we're a big mistake. This present isn't a love token.” He reached inside his shorts' pocket and pulled out a plastic saltshaker. “Here, take it. It could save your life, and that's more important than declaring my undying affection.”

Aric took the offered gift and held it up to take a good look at it. “What the hell is this going to do?”

“Evil spirits hate it.” Stu grinned.

“Is this some kind of joke?”

“No, no…” Stu shoved his hands in his pockets. “I'm dead serious. It'll repel him or at least render him weak enough to give you a chance to get the hell away.”

Aric gave the salt another look-over, this time with great care. “Interesting. This ordinary crystal, eh? It has a very immutable quality to it.”

The scientist in Aric came out, to Stu's delight. “What do you mean?”

“If you dilute salt in water and let it evaporate, it will reform into its perfect square crystal. Its essence doesn't change.” He stuffed the shaker in his lab coat. “Johan is going to come after me, isn't he?”

Corbin had speculated the strix might want another fuck, but maybe it was more than that. Stu spoke his thought out loud. “Maybe he wants you as his mate.”

Aric blanched. “Why? I don't get it.”

“Neither do I. Must have been quite a screw.”

“Fuck you.” Aric turned his rigid back to him.

“Hey, wait.” Stu rested his palm on Aric's shoulder, and the warmth permeated his hand. He'd been flippant and insensitive, partly out of jealousy, and now he regretted it. “That was uncalled-for, but…you won't let me in. Not even a crack.”

Aric twisted around, shrugging his shoulder to loosen Stu's grip. “We came together because of my situation. You know nothing about me or my world, and believe me, you don't fit in.”

“Our bodies fit. I like you. A lot.”

Aric bristled and wrenched his arm free. “You have a warped sense of attraction. You're a fucking football player, not some male Buffy.”

“I'm a Kresnik. I can't turn my back on you, and neither can Cor. It's how it is, like it or not.”

“Well, I
don't
like it,” Aric snarled. He reached for his notebook on the counter and held it to his chest, turning his back to Stu. “I'm so close, so close. If I had more time…”

“Face it. You don't.”

Aric turned, suddenly in Stu's space. The notebook slipped and made a loud
thump
as it hit the floor. Aric bent to pick it up, but Stu stopped him by gripping Aric's shoulder.

Aric shook off Stu's grasp, placed the notebook onto the counter, and turned back to Stu with his arms crossed. “What makes you think you'll be able to outsmart Johan?”

Stu shrugged. “I have certain abilities I haven't told you about.”

“Don't tell me.” Aric groaned. “You can shape-shift.”

“Not exactly.
It's complicated.”

Aric put his hand to his head and rolled his eyes. “Fucking Christ, complicated isn't half of it.”

“Every Kresnik has an animal spirit. Cor's is a fox. He has the fox's intelligence. And its cunning and resourcefulness.”

Aric frowned. “And you?”

“My animal spirit is a lynx. I can run and—”

“Leap tall buildings in a single bound,” Aric grumbled.

Stu laughed and shook his head. “I'm no superman.”

“You are on the field.”

“It's why I'm able to outsmart my competition and get to the ball first.”

“What good will any of this do against a supernatural dickhead?”

“We can kill him.”

Aric stuck his hands in his lab coat, looking doubtful but utterly adorable. Stu wanted to kiss him but thought better of it. At least for now.

“And if you do succeed, then I'm free of my affliction?”

His voice was so low, Stu had to strain to hear him.

“I think so.”

“What? You
think
so?”

“According to the ancient text, yes, you'd be free. But who knows how accurate those books are? Creatures evolve just as humans do. Therefore their powers can morph and change.”

Aric threw up his hands in frustration. “Great. Just great.”

Smiling at the temper tantrum, Stu stepped closer to Aric and caught his wrists. “We'll figure it out, okay?”

Aric lowered his eyes. Stu let go of one wrist and brushed his finger lightly over the delicate skin along the curve of Aric's neck. His mouth hovered near the shell of his ear. He stole a quick stroke down Aric's tense thigh before leaning in. Aric stood completely still, as if waiting, holding his breath. In anticipation?

Stu studied Aric's wan complexion, his thin frame even thinner. “You're pale. You need blood. Take mine. It's more nourishing than your own.”

Aric bared his teeth, his fangs starting to protrude. “No, never.”

“I give it willingly.”

Aric's eyes widened as Stu leaned in and sniffed Aric's scent. He inhaled the spicy musk clinging to Aric's lab coat, and it almost undid him right then. He went for the direct approach. Subtlety seemed lost on Aric.

“Feed on me. Fuck me. I want you to.”

Aric stepped back as if Stu's touch burned him. “Get away from me. I don't want you. Especially not you.”

Stu held Aric firmly by the wrist. “Because you think I'm straight. That's not fair.”

“It's more than fair. It's already more than I wanted, this entanglement. With you, Corbin, and the whole fucking mess.”

Stu was stronger, and his slayer's blood heated, a possessive need for Aric taking over. On the football field, in his studies—in life—he believed in going after what he desired. And what he wanted now stood in front of him.

He attacked Aric's mouth without a moment's hesitation. The kiss burned hotter than ever, their tongues dueling for dominance. He bent his knees slightly, pushing into Aric's groin. A moan rippled from Aric's throat, the sound making its way through Stu's body. He couldn't walk away. He thrust his tongue deeper. Warm, moist—just right; kissing Aric was heaven.

Their chests pressed tightly together, and Aric melted into Stu's body, suddenly all sweet pliancy. Aric tilted back his head, his eyes shining dangerously feral, his complexion flushed.

“I told you no.” Aric gasped as Stu's hands roamed down his ass.

“Your body betrays you.”

Aric narrowed his eyes, his brows rising as Stu pinched his ass. “Are you sure you want me to fuck you?” Aric said. “Do you even know what it means?”

“Sure. You take me in the ass, right?”

Aric's cheeks reddened, and Stu found it cute and beautiful and an absolute turn-on. “I read a couple of manuals,” Stu confessed, a flush warming his own cheeks. “Went to Fascinations. I wanted to learn a few things before…”

Aric smiled, a rare and wonderful glow lighting up his eyes. “You went to an adult book store, bought gay sex manuals, all in anticipation that we might do it?”

“Also bought these.”
He pulled out a small tube and a condom from his back pocket and handed them to Aric.

“Christ. You
are
prepared.” Aric slipped the items into his lab coat pocket.

Before Stu could answer, Aric had Stu's shorts unzipped and, along with his boxers, pushed down past his knees. Stu kicked them off and slipped out of his flip-flops. Aric swiped his arm across the countertop, sending papers and empty test tubes skittering across the surface. He lifted Stu onto the counter with surprising ease.

Stu's balls hung heavy and sensitive, his cock at half-mast but growing. A man was staring at his privates with lust in his eyes, and he was getting turned on by it. He licked his lips in anticipation of letting this man dominate him.

Aric zeroed in on Stu's cock. “I tried for reason, but you won't listen.”

Stu understood Aric's need for control, but it still startled him how much Aric's personality changed when sexually aroused. Gone was the reluctant nerd hiding behind his smart-ass attitude. Was it the strix's fluids coursing through his veins that made him sexually aggressive when aroused?

Aric's eyes glowed eerily, like those of a bird of prey. He licked his lips, and his fangs gleamed bright white, reminding Stu of the danger of his situation. But he didn't care. Maybe he was a fool for falling into the snare of Aric's tempting body, but he had to find out what it meant to be loved by him.

“Let me give you my strength,” Stu said.

Aric hooked a lab stool with his foot and dragged it in front of Stu. He sat and spread Stu's legs apart. Lust rode up Stu's thighs, and the heat settled in his groin. Dizziness passed swiftly into desire. Aric sniffed his skin as he nuzzled the soft inner thigh and ran his fingers down the corded muscle. Stu jerked, and his muscle twitched as a pinprick of pain bit into his flesh. A strange, unworldly sensation flowed through his veins as his blood was sucked from his thigh. Time suspended. He swayed, and then Aric's fangs retreated, replaced by rough lips skimming down the curve of his leg. Deft fingers feathered heated touches along his calves. He clutched the back of Aric's lab coat, the sensations overwhelming him.

He yanked the rubber band holding Aric's lush hair and let the strands flow through his fingers as they fell in waves down Aric's back. Soft and smooth and sexy, like Aric himself. Aric looked up, and Stu smiled at the healthy color of his lover's cheeks. Blood sprinkled dots of red across his lips. He held Aric's chin and led him to his mouth to lick away the specks of blood. The metallic tang hit the back of his throat, and he savored the taste. He had no idea he could ever feel this aroused, this hot, this insanely horny.

He kissed Aric with a sense of urgency and demand for release.

Deep and erotic, the kiss lingered, neither one breaking away. Stu ignored the dull pain of the sharp-edged counter biting into the backs of his thighs, the dull throb of his lower back as he leaned in for the kiss.