Sabrina's Clan (12 page)

“I had a migraine,” he said, instead. “A bad one, like Mom used to get.”

He evoked his mother’s memory deliberately. Graham had been her older brother and when he
could
bring himself to speak of her, he always grew upset. The memory would distract him, now.

Graham drew in a rough breath. “You’re over it now?”

“I got to the board meeting, didn’t I?”

“You have to take better care of yourself, Jacob. Your health is important. And I’m not just thinking of the corporation now, when I say that.”

Jake gripped the phone, the slim edges digging into his fingers. He knew what Graham was not saying. He was talking about Brandy. God damn him to hell. Would Graham ever stop using her to keep Jake in line?

“I’ll be in tomorrow,” Jake said roughly and hung up before he said anything else or heard Graham’s response. He tossed the phone in the drawer and slammed it closed.

Then he opened the drawer again and shut the phone off. Then he slammed the drawer again and put his back to it.

He was back to breathing hard. He let his head roll back and blew out his breath.

You’re more than human, now. When you’ve accepted that, you can find me here.

Fine. Tomorrow, he would go in the office and be the most sincere heir apparent they’d ever seen. After five, though, all bets were off.

Screw ’em.

* * * * *

New York was too crowded. Nyanther was used to living where there were twenty-six people per square mile, not twenty-six
thousand
people per square mile, as there was here.

When he had first landed in New York, on Monday, he had been on edge, registering every little movement and noise and processing it. Not even a vampire could keep up that level of alertness for long, though. His senses had grown numb after a few hours of it.

So when he moved out of the apartment building door and climbed down to the sidewalk, he barely noticed the people hurrying past. This street was one of the last remaining cobblestone roads in Soho, a narrow lane with parking on only one side, quaint old lamps and tourists. It reminded him vaguely of the older areas in London, except for the distant spire of the Empire State Building he could see at the end of the street, peeping over the top of the buildings.

That was when Jake grabbed his arm.

Nyanther jerked around, his hand reaching into his jacket, then saw who it was. He let the knife go. “It’s not the weekend yet.”

Jake nodded. He was wearing another suit. The tie was loosened and the top button undone. “It’s Friday and I just put in eight hours at a desk with my name on it. I kept wondering when someone would step through the door and tell me it was all a cosmic joke.” He swallowed. “You’re right. I don’t belong there, Ny.”

“It’s your human role,” Nyanther told him. “None of us feels completely at ease pretending to be human. I can only tell you that it will get easier.”

There was strain showing at the corner of Jake’s eyes. “I don’t know if I can do it,” he said hoarsely. “This isn’t some kind of nine to five job I can leave at the office and go hunt on weekends. If my uncle gets his way, this is going to be my whole life. He was so pathetically grateful I showed, I felt sick. How can I let him get his hopes up?”

“I don’t know,” Nyanther said truthfully. “I’ve only had to play this game for the last thirty years and I didn’t have any family left to let down.”

Jake shook his head. “It’s impossible,” he said bitterly.

“We’ll work it out,” Nyanther told him. “Today is just the beginning. Play the game and give yourself time to figure it out.”

Jake curled his hand around Nyanther’s neck. His flesh was warm and Nyanther drew in a breath as his heart started to beat heavily. He didn’t move. He was afraid to.

Jake kissed him, right there on the street. Of course, this was New York, but it was Jake kissing him out in the open, he of the complicated family and self-denial.

It was a clumsy kiss. Hurried, intent only on delivering a message. Even so, Nyanther’s whole body came alive and on-line. Suddenly, he was hearing everything. Seeing every movement. He could almost
feel
Jake’s heat and aroma, playing against his skin.

“Inside…” Jake said urgently, his head close to Nyanther’s.

He fumbled the keys and almost laughed at himself. Such a human weakness! His fingers felt thick and uncooperative.

They climbed the stairs to the third floor without speaking and slipped into the silent apartment. Nyanther picked up Jake’s hand and drew him along the corridor, past Sabina’s room.

That
was a conversation for later.

He pulled Jake into his borrowed room and shut the door. “I have a roommate,” he explained. “She’ll be home later.”

Jake nodded. “Welcome to New York apartment life.” He crowded closer.

Nyanther put his hand on his chest, halting him. “Give me a minute.”

“You?” Jake smiled, as if he had made a joke.

“You surprised me,” Nyanther admitted. “Let me adjust.” He dropped his hand. “There’s a thing about vampires…about triggering our defenses. I was ready to tear your throat out, there on the sidewalk. It takes a moment to get those instincts to shut down.” He grimaced. “Humans
are
food to us, especially when we’re in that state.”

Jake shoved his hands into his pockets, the jacket pushed back behind his arms. His cheeks were touched with red. “Newbie, remember?”

Nyanther nodded. “That’s why I am explaining, even though it feels to me like you would feel discussing sex with your uncle.”

Jake grimaced. “You won’t have to explain again,” he said roughly. “Does that mean…do you need…blood?”

Nyanther could feel his teeth descending by themselves. “That was where I was going when you arrived,” he confessed.

“I interrupted.” Jake took off his jacket and tie and unbuttoned the shirt. “Can you feed from me?”

Nyanther couldn’t help but watch as his tanned chest was slowly revealed. He was in spectacular shape. Jake filled all his spare hours with physical activities that would tax the average office worker and it showed.

Jake dropped the shirt. “It only seems fair you feed from me, as I dragged you up here.”

“No, you didn’t,” Nyanther said quickly. He moved closer. “You’ll like this,” he warned.

“I will?”

Nyanther grabbed his head and shoulder and bit. He
was
hungry and it was making him move faster than he would have preferred. If Jake had been a stranger, he wouldn’t have cared.

The blood filled his mouth. Hot. Spicy. Human thought faded as he fed. He fought to hold onto sentience so he could withdraw as soon as he’d taken just enough to satisfy himself and keep the cravings at bay for another few days.

He let his teeth withdraw.

Jake moaned, sagging in his arms. “Oh my god…!” he breathed.

“Keep still,” Nyanther told him. He licked the wound, taking up the last delicious drops of blood and healing the tear.

“Burns…” Jake muttered thickly.

“Healing, speeded up a hundred times.” Nyanther hefted him. “Take your weight,” he said gently. “You’ll be able to stand, now.”

Jake found his feet and straightened. His eyes were sleepy, hooded over. “I’m so horny, I could drill through steel right now. Is that normal?”

“There’s an aphrodisiac in a vampire bite. It makes a victim biddable.”

Jake pressed his hands to his stomach, down low and close to the bulging tent in his trousers. “How do you not end up with humans trailing after you, begging for more, all the time?”

Nyanther put his hands on either side of Jake’s face and looked into his eyes. “I make them forget. I can make you forget, if you want me to. Do you believe me?”

Jake’s gaze was caught in his. Nyanther could feel his mind, the swirling thoughts. Right after feeding, like this, was the only time he could touch another’s mind and only if they were human. It was a survival thing.

“I believe you. Don’t wipe the memory,” Jake breathed. “I want to keep it. I want to remember this.”

“Does your neck still hurt?”

“No.”

“Good.” Nyanther kissed him, taking his time with it, letting it build and grow. Jake was still feeling the effects of the aphrodisiac, which would take several minutes to fully evaporate from his system. He took control of the kiss, grabbing Nyanther and pressing his body against him.

Nyanther could feel his cock, mashing up against his own. They were both rampantly erect and throbbing.

This time, it was Jake who groaned. He was breathing heavily. “I can’t figure out if it’s so good because it’s you, or because you’re a man…or because you’re not a man.”

“Does it matter?” Nyanther asked curiously.

“They’re all you, so no, it doesn’t.” Jake kissed him again, savoring it.

Nyanther touched his tongue to Jake’s lips and this time his mouth parted, welcoming him inside.

His flesh under Nyanther’s hands no longer felt heated. Nyanther was hot with lust and blood, his heart working overtime. Jake’s skin was pliable, not with a woman’s softness, but with the malleable solidness from the muscles beneath. He smelled heavenly, reminding Nyanther of the taste of his blood.

He pulled away, reining in his growing urgency. With hands that shook, he undressed.

Jake watched with interest. He had already removed the last of his clothing. His healthy human flesh almost glowed in the late afternoon sunlight.

When Nyanther was finally naked, Jake let out a slow breath. “Wow…” He came closer and traced the markings on Nyanther’s chest. “They look….very old.”

“They are.” He turned Jake around and pressed up against him from behind and enjoyed the way his cock was nestled against his ass. The soft touch was maddening. “Watch me,” he breathed in Jake’s ear.

He pressed his hand against his belly, just above where his throbbing cock jutted almost perfectly upright. “Watch.”

“Another lesson?” Jake asked. He tried to make it sound light, only Nyanther could hear his heart thundering and the thready pulse beating under his hand. The tiny flex of muscles under his fingers, reacting to his touch.

“Yes, another lesson,” Nyanther murmured. He began to stroke the flesh, in big circles and small, keeping his hand moving, drawing closer and closer to the base of Jake’s cock, while avoiding touching it.

Jake stared down at what he was doing, mesmerized. His chest rose and fell rapidly. His hips gave a little twitch, almost as if he was trying to encourage Nyanther to take him in his hand.

Nyanther smiled to himself and curled his hand around the beating, heated shaft.

Jake hissed. “What’s the lesson?” he asked. His voice was hoarse.

“Watch.”

He slid his hand up until the edges caught the flaring head and bumped over it.

Jake groaned.

Back down again, with a little more pressure. Then up.

“You’re killing me.”

“Not yet. But I will.”

He increased the rate of his stroking, watching Jake carefully. He began to tremble and his eyes started to close. His breath told Nyanther he was close.

That was when he let him go.

Jake cried out in soft protest.

Nyanther turned him again, so he was facing him. He dropped to his knees and took Jake into his mouth.

Jake cried out again. Louder this time. His hands gripped Ny’s head, trying to steer him so he could thrust deeper. Jake was controlled by his building climax, deaf and blind to anything but this new pleasure.

Nyanther didn’t spare him. He drove him right up to the edge and then over it. Jake shuddered and groaned and came in a hot spurt, jerking in hard thrusts.

Nyanther gave him no chance to recover. Jake knew what he was, so he didn’t have to disguise his strength. He picked Jake up and put him on the bed on his hands and knees, even as Jake was still shaking from the orgasm.

There was an old tube of lubricant in his duffel bag, one that lingered from some other encounter. He was grateful he had never gotten around to putting it away, now. He squeezed the gel onto his fingers and stood behind Jake, appreciating the view. “The lesson was for you to know how much you could like it,” he said and brushed his fingers through Jake’s cleft, making him shift and hiss.

“I liked it,” Jake said, his voice low.

“You’ll like this, too,” Nyanther promised him. He pressed deeper, spreading the gel. He pushed up against his ass and felt Jake press back. Most men professed horror at the idea of anal sex, except when it came down to it, they instinctively knew what to do and they responded the same as any other man. Nyanther had never understood men who professed repugnance for sex with another man. It was a modern idea that had taken root among humans who should know better. Sex with a man was as natural as sex with a woman, only different. Not better, just different and equally as enjoyable with a skilled partner.

He pressed his fingers deeper, feeling the tension in the ring of muscle. “Relax.”

Jake snorted. “With you doing that? Not happening.”

Nyanther smiled and pushed deeper, pressing inside him. He waited for the muscle to release around him.

“Fuck…!” Jake said breathlessly.

He worked the muscle, stretching it, easing more fingers inside. His own cock was beating against his belly, impatient for release. He could feel the need to hurry in his runaway heart and his shallow breathing.

He withdrew his fingers and gripped Jake’s hips and pressed the head of his cock up against him, letting him feel the blunt end against him.

Jake was panting, his head hanging.

Nyanther pushed inside, moving with infinite slowness this first time. Humans didn’t heal like he could. As Jake adjusted around him, he eased deeper, even though what he really wanted to do was slam into him and take him with a pent-up need that was raging through his body, a sexual fever instead of blood fever and just as intense.

He ground his teeth together and pushed deeper, until finally, he was all the way in, his cock squeezed by virgin muscle.

“That’s…it’s….” Jake shook his head. “Indescribable.”

“There’s nothing like it,” Nyanther agreed. He reached under Jake’s hip and gripped his cock. He wasn’t surprised to find it rock hard and throbbing once more. Jake hissed at his touch.