Текст книги "Alasdair"

Автор книги: Ella Frank

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Текущая страница: 4 (всего у книги 15 страниц)

“YOU HAVE CHANGED these past few weeks, Alasdair.”

The serious tone in Vasilios’s voice as they left Leo and reappeared outside the Adjudication Room had Alasdair bracing himself for whatever might follow. He already had a severe case of fucking blue balls after having been denied a release, and as he looked at Vasilios, he wanted nothing more than to be finished off by him—and his sire knew it.

“Always so sure. That was my agóri. A picture of contentment in who and what he is. But lately…” He paused, and his knowing eyes shifted to the wall Leo was behind. “Lately, you have changed.”

Alasdair bowed his head respectfully. And when Vasilios placed a finger under his chin, raising it, and moved in so they were a whisper apart, he caught Alasdair’s lips in a kiss designed to make him want to weep. He remembered a similar one from the night Vasilios had finally come to him. The night he’d made him his.

 “What is so special about this one, Alasdair?”

Alasdair thought about that first night when he’d noticed Leo and tried to pinpoint what he’d felt the precise moment he’d seen him. But when Vasilios’s lips brushed over his again, nothing was in his mind but the male seducing him.

“You are so quiet lately. In your mind and your voice. As if you are hiding something from me. I don’t like you blocking me out. It troubles me.”

It troubled him too. But he had nothing to say. All he had were questions, and he wasn’t ready to share them yet. Or risk his life, for that matter, over a strange fixation with a human.

Vasilios moved his mouth over to his jaw and slowly kissed his way up towards his ear. Desire shot through him as those tantalizing lips continued to weave a spell over him, and his cock strained against the confines of his pants.

“Se thelo, file mou,” Vasilios rasped in his ear, and Alasdair’s hands clutched at the arms of his suit. “But you want the one in that room, don’t you?”

He thought about lying for a second, but when the tip of Vasilios’s tongue flicked over his lobe, all other thoughts left his mind.

“I am not averse to the thought of the both of you in my bed, Alasdair. Although I am not pleased with how taken you are by him. I believe that is something I need to think on before I allow him to join us. Until then, if you choose to dip your dick inside him, do it away from this lair. Away from where I have to hear you.”

The bite of jealousy in his sire’s words was evident. Alasdair had never before taken a yielding on, so the emotions running through both of them were new and…unfamiliar.

“I have not yet taken him as a yielding.”

“But you want to. Alasdair, with as long as we exist and thrive upon the Earth, it makes sense that we would need something different time and again. I understand that. What’s important is that you know whom you come back to. Whom you belong to. I’ve never had reason to be concerned in the past. You’ve never doubted this before. Are you doubting it now?”

Alasdair shook his head. “No. Of course not.”

Vasilios crossed his arms over his chest. “I hope not. You seem to be faltering of late. Do not forget: There are many degrees of closeness. Remember your promise the night you were turned. Remember your vow. That cannot change because something shiny has caught your eye. You and I, we live in a state of symbiosis. There’s intimate, and then there’s life. We are of the life variety. You live because of me, and I because of you. Try to remember that and things will remain pleasant for you.”

As Vasilios walked down the corridor, Alasdair watched him go. The male still had the ability to arouse and put him in his place all at the same time, and as he rounded the corner out of Alasdair’s view the words, If you forget whom you belong to, ómorfo mou agóri, things will be unbearable, lingered inside his mind.

Alasdair closed his eyes and tried to get his fucking head on straight. What was the matter with him? He needed to pull his shit together before he faced the human again.

ELIAS FONTANA, THE director of the National History Museum, glanced at the clock on the corner of his desk. It was a George III Walnut Bracket Clock, circa seventeenth century, one of his most prized possessions, and it currently read ten thirty p.m.

He scrubbed a palm over his face and stretched his neck from side to side in an effort to ease the tension knot that had formed there. For the past two years, he and his staff had worked nonstop to get their latest exhibit off the ground. He was tired and stressed, but they were now ready to unveil the exhibit: The Gods and Myths of Ancient Greece.

 Any other time before an opening like this, Leo, Paris, and he would head over to The Dirty Dog to celebrate the long, arduous hours they’d put into creating a piece of history. At the same time, they’d commiserate over the social lives they’d neglected to do so. But the pub wasn’t in the cards tonight because one key person was missing—Leo.

Elias stood from behind his desk and placed his letter opener back on the inbox tray. He’d finally finished catching up on his mail after having neglected it for the past week, his mind having been preoccupied. He buttoned his suit jacket then switched off the lamp that sat opposite the clock and looked at the date displayed. It was the last day in October, and it’d been nearly two weeks since his friend and colleague had disappeared.

He’d known Leo for a little over ten years, ever since he’d walked into the offices at the university he’d worked at and asked for a course outline for his bachelor’s degree in archaeology. Elias remembered the fresh-faced kid like it was yesterday. He’d been young, seventeen at the most, while he himself had just celebrated his twenty-seventh birthday. Over the next four years, Elias had watched him become one of the brightest students he’d ever had the privilege of teaching.

Around the same time Leo had graduated, he’d finished his master’s degree in ancient history and moved on to pursue what he really wanted: to work in one of the top museums in the country. It wasn’t until a couple of years later that Leonidas Chapel walked back into his life and interviewed for a job as one of his curators.

Now, that man was missing.

Elias crossed the office to the door and took his coat off the antique rack in the corner. Then he folded it over his arm, and as he reached for the handle, the door was pushed open.

Standing in front of him was Paris Antoniou, the museum’s head registrar. His wild, sable-colored hair was tied the best he’d been able to manage at the nape of his neck, and he had a pencil stuck behind his ear. His black T-shirt with his favorite band’s logo across the front was covered in dust, and beneath the neckline was a quarter-sized hole. He had a white glove on one hand, and in the other, he was clutching a piece of paper in a death grip.

“I think I may have something,” he said, pushing past him into the office.

Sighing, Elias replaced his coat on the rack and switched the light on.

Paris held the piece of paper out to him. “I was going through—”

“Snooping?” Elias interrupted.

“No. I was going through some of Leo’s things while I was down in his dungeon packing up…well, you know. You’re the one who told me to go and do it.”

Elias took a step forward and reached for the paper. He’d hated giving Paris the task of clearing out Leo’s office, but after two weeks of no phone calls and the police getting involved, it’d seemed time to box things up.

Leo’s handwritten scrawl was all over the paper. There were three dates, all fairly recent, starting towards the end of September.

9/25/15, 1:13 a.m. – Strange dream tonight. I was standing in a huge room at an altar or something, and there was a light. A bright, blinding light. And I was holding something in my hand. A scroll? A map, maybe? Usually I wouldn’t care about writing it down, but it felt so real that I want to keep a record. – Leo

10/02/15, 2:13 a.m. – Tonight I had the same dream. The light, the altar, the rolled-up paper in my hand. I still have no clue what it means. I need to look this stuff up online, see if I can find anything. Maybe I should’ve stayed at the pub longer tonight for my birthday. Then I might’ve dreamed something more exciting. Or sexy. I’m probably exhausted from the past few weeks finishing up this exhibit. Note to self: Tell Elias to pay me more. – Leo

Elias glanced at Paris, a wary look in his eye. “Okay. He was stressed and having dreams. I don’t think the police can do much with ‘huge room,’ and ‘a big, bright light.’”

Paris rolled his eyes and stepped beside him, turning so he too was facing the paper. Then he pointed to the final date. “Read that one, smartass.”

10/09/15, 3:13 a.m. – Okay, this is getting strange now. Same room, same light, but this time, I recognized the scroll in my hand. It’s the Scriptures of Delphi that I’ve been reading about. Vampires and gods... Hmm, sexy combination. Maybe I just need to get laid by a hot guy so I stop imagining strong, dominant males.

 “Look at the date and the time, Elias,” Paris said, pointing to each.

As the pieces of the puzzle Paris was pointing to started to fit together, Elias’s chest tightened. Each date Leo had written down was a Friday. As was the day he had gone missing. Add to that the times he’d been having the dreams.

Elias remembered that the police had said that all the clocks in Leo’s house had been stopped on 4:13 a.m.

His mind raced with the possibilities, both feasible and not so feasible, and his lips moved, but no words came out.

Paris was right. He had found something.

It was time.

It was happening.

And the piece of paper in his hand might be the only link to finding their friend alive.

AS SOON AS he was alone, Leo pressed his hands to the wall surrounding him, frantically running his palms over the supple leather surface. Maybe I missed something, he thought as he searched for a lever or some kind of hidden panel. He needed to get out of there. Now.

Before Alasdair came back to “dispose” of him.

Why the hell is this happening to me? He still didn’t have that answer. One minute, he’d been at work, getting ready to launch the biggest project of his career, and now, there he was, trapped in a warped kind of nightmare, staring at all of his most sinful desires—

Ohno. No, no. He couldn’t, and wouldn’t, fantasize about someone who wanted him dead. No matter how sexy he was.

I need to get out of here. He’s messing with my head. 

As he moved his fingers over the curved wall, he shoved the image of the two males aside and instead started to think about his friends. What would they be thinking right now? Elias and Paris?

God only knows.

They’d known him his entire adult life, and he’d never just…disappeared.

If I were in their position, what would I be thinking?

He had no idea. It wouldn’t be anything good though. That was for damn sure.

Resting his forehead against the surface, he cupped the back of his neck, frustrated at his hopeless situation. 

It was all so strange. Surreal, even. And none of it made any sense. Then again, his world now involved vampires, so sense seemed to be a pretty big fucking leap of sanity in an otherwise insane reality.

And why is Alasdair hell-bent on thinking I’m hiding things from him? 

There wasn’t anything exceptional about him, unless it was his expertise in his chosen occupation they were after.

That has to be it, right? 

Both men had spoken Greek, a language he was fluent in due to his upbringing and his studies. And the coins on the wall… Leo assessed the one right in front of him again and ran his finger over it.

Yes, they are definitely from the Archaic period.

For the last two years, he, Elias, and Paris had been working around the clock on their exhibit. What would they want with him in correlation to that? It still didn’t make any sense.

When he came up with nothing, he let out an annoyed sigh. He wasn’t hiding shit, and no matter what he told Alasdair, he wouldn’t believe him.

Hell, at this point, he wished he could think of something convincing to get this over with. But then he’d be dead, and he wasn’t quite ready for that yet.

“See? I knew you’d be a fighter.”

Leo’s spine stiffened at Alasdair’s voice.

“Turn around.”

“Fuck off,” Leo retorted, sick and tired of being toyed with. Having expected harsh retaliation, he was dumbfounded when a deep laugh filled the room.

“Turn around, Leonidas,” Alasdair instructed again, and then, inside his mind, he added, Or would you like me to make you?

Clenching his fists by his sides, Leo reluctantly did as he was told. Alasdair stood before him, his hands behind his back. He was sexy as sin, and the smug expression on his face told Leo that he knew it.

“Have you come to get rid of me?” Leo asked, unable to stop himself. What did he think he was doing, provoking the guy? But there was an anger radiating inside him that hadn’t been there before. It was making him brave.

Stupid, but brave.

Alasdair brought his hands out from behind his back, and Leo immediately stepped away, unsure of his intentions.

“No need to run. I already told you I am not going to kill you…”

As his voice trailed off, Leo could practically hear the word yet begging to be tacked onto the end of that statement.

“Give me your left wrist.”

Leo dropped his gaze to the object Alasdair was holding and shook his head. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“Do I strike you as the jovial sort?” he asked, taking another step forward. “Now, let’s try this again. Give me your left wrist.”

“Why?”

Instead of answering, Alasdair snatched Leo’s wrist up between cool fingers and shackled it with the iron manacle. As the unyielding metal locked into place, Leo reached for it with his free hand, trying to pry it loose.

“Don’t bother,” Alasdair said and then tugged on the chain attached to the cuff. “There’s no way to break free until I release you.”

“And when will that be?” Leo asked, raising his eyes.

Alasdair shrugged, and the move was so…human that he almost seemed normal. That was until his lip curled up at the side and the razor point of one of his canines became visible, which sent a shudder through Leo’s confused body.

“Whenever I decide.”

“I don’t get it,” Leo muttered, still running his fingers over the metal in a futile attempt to extricate himself. “What do you even want from me?”

Alasdair wound the chain around his hand, and Leo was forced to move with it or stumble. When he was only inches from the vampire, Alasdair whispered, “I’m not quite sure yet. However, as soon as I decide, I will either tell you or you will be dead. For now, you’re coming with me.”

ALASDAIR STRODE ACROSS the room towards the pulley on the opposite wall, dragging Leo behind him. “Pick up the pace, Leonidas. Trust me when I say you won’t like the alternative to walking on your own.”

He glanced over his shoulder in time to see Leo straighten up and start to walk at a normal speed.

“Very good,” he said when they both came to a stop. “You and I are going to go on a little field trip.”

“What?”

“We’re going back to your apartment. I want to know what it is you’re not telling me.”

“I’m not hiding anything. I don’t know how many times I have to say it.”

“You can say it a million times and I still won’t believe you. Stay here,” he instructed, looping one of the chain links over a hook attached to the wall.

On his way to the en suite to change his shirt, Alasdair paused when Leo muttered something under his breath. He then pivoted back around and faded out—only to fade back in directly opposite his human companion.

“What did you just say?” he asked as Leo’s mouth fell open and he backed up to hit the wall.

“N-nothing.”

Alasdair stroked his thumb over Leo’s jugular. “That’s twice now. Let’s not make it three times.”

He thought Leo would cower, but as he looked into his eyes, he saw the pupils…dilate. Vasilios had been right. Although he didn’t want to be, Leo was very much attracted to him. The flushed cheeks, the rush of blood he could hear traveling south, and those heavy, lust-laden eyes. They all gave the human away—and made Alasdair want to fuck him until he could no longer stand.

Yes. He could use this to his advantage

“What’s twice?”

Alasdair flicked his gaze down to the lips asking the question, and when the vein under his thumb throbbed in response, so did Alasdair’s cock.

“That’s twice you have lied to me. Don’t do it a third time. Now. What. Did. You. Say?”

“I-I said,” Leo said, slightly breathless.

Alasdair stroked him again. “You said what?”

“You’re having…I don’t know…some issues when it comes to me. So I said why don’t you ask the suit guy, the one you called Vasilios, to read my mind?”

 Disgusted that Leo was right and he was having issues with him, Alasdair abruptly spun away. He’d never come across someone who could best him, and he was more than a little irritated that Leo seemed to have worked that out.

“I am not having issues trusting you. I am having issues with believing for one second you are who you say you are. And do not speak his name. Not ever.”

“You asked—”

“Stop talking,” he thundered and turned back to see that Leo had indeed stopped talking. “You are very brave all of a sudden.”

Leo raised his arm, the chain rattling. “What have I got to lose? That hook up there isn’t for fun and games, I assume.”

Despite himself, Alasdair wanted to smile for the first time in a long while. “Certainly not fun for you, no. Perhaps, for me.” He pointed to the chain and stated, “That is going to attach to me. Not the hook on the ceiling.”

“To you?”

“Yes. As in, I will be holding it.”

“Like…like a leash?”

Alasdair thought about that for a second and then inclined his head in a slight nod. “Yes, if you want to think of it that way.”

He studied the disgust that twisted Leo’s mouth, but that didn’t stop him from talking again.

“You lead people…us…I mean, humans, around on a leash? Like what? A pet? A slave? Some kinky fetish deal where you suck our blood dry and then kill us?”

Alasdair stalked forward until Leo’s ass hit the wall. Then he brushed his lips over the neatly cut hair around the man’s ear.

“I assure you, Leonidas. If I get kinky with anyone, they are more than happy to be chained up, hooked up, or fucked up by me. And if I decide to kill them afterwards, they are so high that they beg me for that release.”

Alasdair flicked his tongue over Leo’s cheek, and when he felt him shiver, he didn’t have to be inside his head to know that it hadn’t been from fear.

“Your kind,” Leo asked, and Alasdair heard his pulse skip. “You kill during sex?”

The question was pitched low, Leo’s voice raspy, and when he replied, “Sometimes…” Leo shifted his head so they were practically nose to nose.

This human was curious in the most unusual ways. Asking questions Alasdair would think would horrify him. But the telltale signs of arousal told him otherwise and had Alasdair fighting every instinct he had to keep his teeth off of him.

He’d always been a master at controlling his inner savage, until now. Of course, when it was of the utmost importance, he was finding the challenge difficult. He needed to move.

Now.

“But—” Leo said, stopping when Alasdair shifted away so fast that the breeze from his departure ruffled his blond hair.

“But?” he prodded when he was several feet away.

Leo blinked and then started again. “But the chain. It can attach to the hook on the roof if you want it to. Can’t it?”

Alasdair backed away from the brave and ever-inquisitive human. “Oh yes, file mou. It most certainly can. And that would be a fun game indeed.”

THAT DOESN’T TELL me much, Leo thought as Alasdair disappeared into the en suite, which left him to stare at the ceiling.

He yanked at the cuff on his wrist again and cursed. His heart was working double time as it tried to pump his blood frenetically through his veins while also racing it down to the rock-solid erection straining against his thin pants.

When Alasdair’s breath had swept over him and he’d started talking about death and sex, God help him, his cock had gotten harder with every fucked-up scenario he’d imagined. Then add in the tongue along his cheek and Leo was left contemplating his own sanity if he thought that sex with this guy, thing—vampire—was worth his life.

He was not going to get out of there alive, and as images of what that hook might be used for crashed into his head, he berated his lust-hazed mind. This is where I’m going to die, he thought, and any desire he’d been feeling disappeared as a fresh wave of nausea tightened his gut.

What if Alasdair decided on a whim to hang him up and feed on him until he was drained? Or what if he hung him up and cut him open chest to sternum like they used to back in England…

“Hung, drawn, and quartered?” that silky voice asked as it sliced through the air.

Leo looked over and saw that Alasdair had come out of the en suite in a black, buttoned shirt.

“That’s so messy. Especially the drawn-and-quartering part.”

Leo studied the cocksure walk of the male coming his way and heard himself saying, “You get a perverse kind of pleasure out of this, don’t you?”

“Out of?”

“My confusion. My fear. It turns you on, right? What kind of sick fuck are you?”

“Is that a trick question?” Alasdair asked, unhooking the chain. “I’m not a person, Leonidas. I’m vampire. That’s the kind of sick fuck I am.”

Leo struggled to pull away. “I don’t want to be led from here like a dog. Or beamed up out of here,” he rushed out, thinking they were about to do the vanishing act.

“Unfortunately for you, the last option is the only way out of this room. You’re in luck, though, because that’s not how you’ll be leaving the lair itself.” A grimace cross Alasdair’s features. “We’re leaving via the Walk.”

“The Walk?”

“Yes. And you’re going to shut your mouth and do as I say.”

Leo’s eyes narrowed as he asked, “Or you’ll kill me?” He didn’t dare look away from Alasdair.

He grinned manically. “Now you’re starting to get it.” Then he clamped a hand around his wrist, and before Leo could pull it free, they faded out of his prison cell.