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Dark Paths Ch. 01

By: SadieRose



"This is a novel written in collaboration over the past 12 months or so with the lovely Bellora Quinn, who writes her own delicious tales of the lovely Xavier and his friends. (Check out my profile if you want to know more)

"The usual terms apply; copyright for Dark Paths belongs to Sadie and Bellora. Do not take, copy, reproduce or link to this story for any reason without permission from ourselves, or we will come after you with big sticks and make you cry. Enjoy!" -- Sadie xxx 

*

Xavier got a look at the crowd from backstage. Packed! They had to be over capacity. Switchbacks was doing better then good, it was the new 'hot' spot in the city. The Friday and Saturday night shows brought the people in, the strippers joining in the after-show kept them there. It was a good combination for the club and brought in a mixed crowd.

Xavier's newest routine was so popular Zeph was having him perform it both nights. He had first heard the track on a download from the internet; the band, Whipsnade was from the UK, they had split a few years back but the sound was still raw and sexual enough to put the routine straight into his head. In addition the singer was hot enough to make him think of sex even without the bonus of his music. The combined sensuality of the song and the dance Xav had created was a perfect counterpoint to the high energy and sex appeal of the main show. 

The lights went down and Xavier moved out onto the stage. Usually a few layers of clothes were part of every routine, the peeling down was a slow building up to the climax. For this song though, the clothes, or removal of them, was almost inconsequential. The whole dance was a tease. The long-sleeve black fishnet shirt showed more than it hid, and the 'painted-on' leather pants were laced up the sides loosely enough to show a line of skin from hip to ankle. 

The first chords of the song slid out over the crowd and Xavier moved with the music like honey poured from a jar. The clothes came off, the money came in and, not for the first time, Xav was very happy he'd found that video of Whipsnade. 

~~~

"You just gotta see this, man. You'll flip!" Former international porn superstar, now director and agent, Barclay Johnson Francis had a grin on his dark, handsome face that lit up the gloom of the rain-washed street. His lean, ebony-haired companion had allowed himself to be led down this narrow, ill-lit passageway, assured that the Lexus was too wide and there was no-where to turn around at the bottom. He had been in more dangerous cities than San Francisco, he supposed. And if there had been any trouble, he was more than capable of getting himself out of it these days; even 'before' any potential assailant set eyes on his companion. Clay had always been a big guy but now he was a wall of solid muscle. Somehow his casual suit jacket and pants still seemed elegant on him and he moved with a dancer's grace in spite of his bulk. He wore his hair close cropped and bleached blond these days. Rayne Wylde had no complaints. He was used to turning heads but they got double the attention tonight. Clay was well known in San Francisco's gay quarter and clearly his companion for the evening was causing a bit of a stir. Even though Rayne's band had never been huge in the States, people in this part of the city knew who he was. A little huddle of them followed the big black actor and the svelte, raven-haired, English singer down towards the entrance to the club that was their destination for the night. 

The doorstaff were coolly efficient and they were ushered in without having to wait and shown at once to a table in a booth that was already crowded, with a good view of the stage. They were set up for an imminent performance. Rayne had caught a glimpse of dancers on the raised platforms as they came in and now he managed a slightly disparaging laugh as Clay settled in the seat opposite. 

"Cage dancing?" he queried dryly. "I thought you were trying to shock me, babe. You'll have to try harder than that." 

Clay said nothing but his grin grew wider as the MC made introductions and the music began to swirl through the darkness of the club, silencing the chattering audience and drawing their eyes steadily back to the stage. A few still glanced up towards the table where he and Clay were sitting and Rayne suddenly realised why. It had taken his travel-fogged mind a little while to realise why the music was familiar. 

"That's..." he began, lifting an imperious finger towards the stage. 

"Shhh..." Clay reached out and caught his hand, drawing it back down to the table, focussing him. "I told you you'd freak, man!" 

Down below them on the stage, a lean figure melted from the shadows, pretty much as he always used to do himself. Dark Paths had been a traditional Whipsnade show-opener and as Rayne settled back in his seat to watch the kid dance he figured that it still sounded pretty good nearly ten years since he'd written it. And the visual accompaniment was quite a treat as well. 

~~~

There was something weird about the vibe of the crowd tonight. Xavier could feel it creep along his skin as he danced, something expectant, anticipatory; an excited atmosphere that was two notches above normal. The set was coming to an end, he was down to the doeskin coloured thong that matched his skin so perfectly it might as well have not been there. Xavier was already moving toward the back of the dais when a girl from the audience managed to get up on stage with a boost from her friends. 

Security was good but she was fast and she reached Xavier before they reached her. There were any number of choices Xavier could have picked, but he was a pro and he never passed an opportunity to play to the crowd. He let her put her arms around his neck. With a half turn he bent her back toward the crowd far enough that her hair nearly touched the floor and everyone got a great shot of the cleavage on display. With a comic leer he pantomimed a lick between the valley of those pert little tits and heard the noise level go up a couple decibels with shrieks and whoops. 

Security finally got their asses over to him and pulled the girl off. It would have been perfect except she didn't want to let go. She'd gotten her hands wrapped around his forearms and when they pried her fingers off her nails left little half moon impressions, a couple of them so deep she actually drew blood. 

Xavier's smile stayed in place though until he was safely out of view backstage. 

"Jesus Christ, Rodney!" he bitched at the security guy that had stayed with him while the other hauled the girl out. "Could you move your ass any fuckin' slower?" 

"Hey, don't blame me, you're the one let her get her claws in you." Rod said blandly. 

"I'm gonna need a goddamn tetanus shot or something." Xav examined the twin trickles of blood running down his arm as he walked to the dressing room. 

~~~

In the end, Rayne watched mesmerised with his elbows propped on the rail around the booth and his long fingered hands folded under his chin as if in prayer as the pale, sinuous boy writhed and disrobed on the stage below. His ice-green, unblinking gaze followed every slow undulation of muscle and flesh with silent, fascinated appreciation. Clay watched the singer in turn, a quiet chuckle escaping his lips. His young friend was every bit as engrossed as Clay had imagined he might be. It was a pity that PJ was not up to this. The Irishman would have enjoyed the sight of the young dancer giving his all, almost literally, on the stage. 

When the girl scrambled up from the crowd and lunged for the sexy little stripper, Clay laughed appreciatively and shook his head. Rayne licked his lips ever so slowly as he watched the boy bend her back down towards the stage. He was forced to draw his lips between his teeth to hide the extension of his fangs as the dancer leaned forward over her in a suggestive pose, apparently running his tongue into her exposed cleavage. The boy's hair tumbled forward over her neck, hiding his real intent but he pressed her back so far that her nipples escaped the confines of her tight, tiny strapless top. Rayne caught his breath, not sure what he wanted most, the girl or the boy. The young man on the stage was coiled over her so that his spine arched and the watching Vampire could count every vertebra of his back, all the way down between the firm globes of his delicious arse. The thought of stroking gently with his tongue into that smooth, waxed cleft, then turning to suck on the girl's prominent tits almost caused his cock to jump out of the waistband of his low-cut pants. 

When she drove her nails into the soft flesh of his arms he had to look away. He was close enough to smell fresh blood, even above the sweat and perfume of the crowd. It was a scent that called to his damned soul. The flavour of life! 

"Hot stuff, yeah?" Clay called out to him over the fading strains of the music on the club's PA and the shrieks and whistles of the audience. 

Rayne nodded his head rapidly, unable to deny it. He had come here tonight not thinking of where his next meal would come from. Now the lure of blood was reeling him in. 

"Wanna go back-stage and press some flesh?" Clay asked and his companion turned his head, looking at him rather strangely. The unblinking emerald gaze was almost hungry. 

"You can get us in there?" Rayne asked huskily. 

"If you want," Clay laughed more awkwardly. "And you look like you want! Hey, I know a guy who knows a guy who works for the cats that run this joint. I'm sure I can get us back there." 

"What's his name?" Rayne asked, his face devoid of expression. He was looking back down at the now-empty stage again. 

"The guys call him Xav," Clay answered, pushing himself to his feet. "So, d'you wanna go down and say hi?" 

Rayne Wylde rose with him, and his feral smile was answer enough. 

~~~

Xavier washed the little cuts on his arm in the sink at the back of the dressing room. The bleeding had already pretty much stopped. Part of him still wanted to be pissy about it, but he couldn't help laughing when Rodney observed, "Well, you know that little hell-cat would leave scars down your back." 

A knock on the door pulled Rodney away while Xav dried off with paper towels. He went to get dressed, only half-hearing the conversation going on at the door. He'd managed to wriggle into the leather pants just before Rod let whoever it was in. Christ, didn't that asshole know his job was to keep the crowd out where they belonged? He shot Rod a look over his shoulder that 'said' he was an asshole, but when he turned around his stage face was back in place, hands on his hips, the lacing of his fly only halfway done. The pose oozed sex and the look suggested you just might have a chance. 

His eyes were drawn to the big guy first, which was pure preservation. You didn't let a mountain walk in without at least checking it out. His eyes lingered a little longer just because he was so striking with his dark skin and blond head, even though he was older than Xavier normally liked them. Then he looked at the guy that had come in with him, and froze. His jaw didn't exactly drop but his expression went from friendly tease to something approaching shocked surprise. He knew exactly who was standing in front of him; was intimately familiar with that cool, lime-green gaze from the internet video to Dark Paths. 

"Holy shit!" Xavier exhaled, with his typical eloquence and a charming grin to match. 

The pale gaze never wavered for a moment but the sensuous, full-lipped mouth below it curved in a slight, appreciative smile at the younger man's impulsive exclamation. 

"Unholy Shit, even!" Rayne Wylde remarked in a quiet, smoky tone that was unexpectedly lower in timbre than his singing voice. "You know, didn't have to get dressed specially; although the look suits you." 

The singer, in turn, was wearing a fitted black shirt with a hemline that stopped short of his waistband and had the long fingers of both hands tucked into the front pockets of his tight jeans, braced over the eye-catching swell of his crotch. Rayne was not as tall as Xav had imagined he might be from the video, probably only about 5'7", although he made up for the lack of height by way of his other attributes. His expression gave nothing away but he had a strikingly attractive face, a good complexion that didn't need stage make-up, although he 'was' wearing a few strokes of kohl and a shimmer of lip-gloss. He exuded a peculiar confidence that made onlookers take a step back. Somehow his slight stature was easy to overlook in the aura of self-assurance that enveloped him.

Long-lashed blue eyes slid over Rayne in a brief caress. The Englishman's voice was still sexy as hell, even more so with the edgy accent that you couldn't fully hear when he was singing. Xavier's plans for the evening abruptly changed. 

"I was just getting ready to leave..." 

"What?!" Rodney butted in. 

Xavier rather reluctantly took his eyes off Rayne to glance at Rod. "Yeah, well, the trauma of being mauled by the harpy and all that." He waved his hand dismissively toward the hapless security guard and finished lacing up the front of his pants. 

Rod rolled his eyes. "Right. What about the second set?" 

"Cal can fill in." 

"Are you going to tell Zeph?" 

Xavier grabbed the fishnet shirt and shimmied into it. "Nope, you are. You're the one that fucked up after all." 

"Aw fer christsakes Xav, he's gonna be pissed." 

"He'll get over it. Not every day inspiration shows up in person." Xavier looked back at Rayne as he quickly crammed his feet into his boots. "Want to go get a drink somewhere not quite so crowded?" he invited. 

Rodney was rolling his eyes again. "I can't even believe you. You're such a little dick." 

Xavier was already walking toward Rayne and his enormous friend. "Not what your girlfriend was sayin' last night!" he shot back over his shoulder, and then his attention was all for Rayne again. "C'mon. If we go out the back we can avoid most of the droolers." 

~~~

"Are you gonna get some shit off your boss for this?" Rayne asked, with more than a hint of humour in his quiet voice as he kept pace with Xavier in the passage behind the club. It was dark out here but he barely seemed to notice. His eyes hardly left the lean body of the young dancer, his fingertips maintained a gentle contact with Xavier's arm, just about where the girl from the audience had clawed him. Clay followed a bare pace behind them, shaking his head at the turn of events. 

Xavier gave a low chuckle, "I make him too much money for him to give me any real shit." He glanced sidelong at Rayne. It was all just a little surreal, like a fantasy come to life. He looked almost the same as he did in the video and Xavier felt a little stab of heat at the memory of just 'how' inspiring he'd found it. He leaned in a little, so he was closer to Rayne's ear, "Did you like the show?" 

There, that was subtler than 'can I fuck you stupid when we get to your car?'

The singer carried on stroking the backs of his fingers possessively up and down Xavier's slender arm as they reached the end of the passage and stepped out into the light where a sleek black Lexus convertible was still waiting for them. 

"You were fuckin' hot out there," he answered in that soft, even voice that still made so many Whipsnade fans shiver when they heard it. "You could have had any woman you wanted from that crowd tonight." 

"He's playing it cool, baby. He couldn't take his eyes off you," Clay laughed suggestively. 

If Rayne Wylde was irritated by the attempt to undermine his casual manner, he did not show it. A small smile played about his lips and he kept his gaze on Xavier's arm, on the small patch of drying blood in the mesh of his shirtsleeve. 

"I hope you've got permission from my publishing company to use Dark Paths," the singer said lazily, diverting the conversation as Clay opened the back doors of the immaculate convertible. "They'll come down on your head like a ton of bricks if they think you've skimmed them out of performance dues." 

Xav smiled at the comment. Hard to tell if he was only teasing or if there was an undercurrent of peevishness in the tone. 

"The club handles all the licensing requirements," he answered as he slid in next to Rayne. "They provide the entertainment, I'm just part of the decoration." He was busy trying to figure out Clay at the moment. He had pegged the guy as a possible bodyguard. A little well dressed for hired muscle but clothes didn't necessarily mean anything. Now he was reassessing that. Clay had climbed straight in the back with them and wasn't putting out that whole intimidation vibe for another thing, he looked too amused to be on a job. So, what was he? Just a friend... or more? 

There was any number of inane questions floating around in Xavier's head. What was Rayne doing here? Had he heard about show or was it pure coincidence? How long was he in town for? Could he get a better look at the package he'd checked out discreetly in the dressing room? 

What he said was, "I found a video of a concert where you were singing that song. The music was so sensual I had a routine for it almost before the song ended. And the lyrics are just raunchy enough for the crowd to eat it up."

This time the smile was more genuine, as Rayne Wylde settled beside him on the back seat with his elbow on the headrest so that his right hand draped down idly within touching distance of the young dancer's exposed nape. He caressed the exposed skin there as their driver gunned the engine and the car pulled smoothly away into the night. 

~~~

Since leaving the club Rayne had maintained a light, physical contact with Xavier. He found it oddly comforting. Maybe it was the blood? He had grown to understand that he experienced shared emotions and even physical sensations with those who let him take their blood. A little shiver ran through him. If he was bonding with Xavier even before he had tasted the boy... he hardly dared to imagine the mind-blowing potential of making out with the sexy little dancer. And he was sure that he was not reading those signs incorrectly. 

Xavier wanted him. And from the way he had been checking Clay out as they got into the car he was possibly up for a threesome. That idea had potential. He figured that the boy was too young to remember Clay's heyday in porn movies, although to many of Frisco's older gay men the handsome, black stud was an icon. Certainly everyone over thirty that they had met tonight knew him by name and a few of the youngsters did too. 

"We used to start a lot of the shows with Dark Paths," Rayne murmured now, leaning close and keeping his voice low so that Xavier had to move towards him to hear his words. "It always did it for me! When we laid the first tracks down for it I remember thinking that I'd probably never write a better song. You did it justice tonight, sweetheart. It's not got me hard like that for years!" 

~~~

Heat suddenly pooled in Xavier's middle. The little touches and brushes of Rayne's fingers tingled along his skin. 

"Glad you liked the appetiser." His voice was already getting that husky timbre around the edges. This was nuts! He had met Rayne all of ten minutes ago but he hadn't been able to take his eyes off him for more than a couple seconds in that time span. 

"Can I kiss you now?"

Without turning his head the singer let his pale eyes flicker briefly to meet Clay's and the huge black guy uttered a booming laugh and shook his head. 

"Jesus, Wylde! I don't know how you do it but that's mighty impressive all the same! Even PJ couldn't pull them in that fast!" he chuckled. 

Rayne's gaze was back on Xavier's expectant face now and he shifted slightly so that he could run his fingers through the fine downy hair at the back of the younger man's neck, cradling Xavier's head in his gentle hand. The other hand came up to cup the dancer's face, stroking the smooth heat of his cheek. 


Dark Paths Ch. 01



"Do you 'want' to kiss me then?" he asked teasingly, looking Xavier straight in the eyes. 

"Oh yeah..." Xavier grinned back. Who was pulling in who was debatable, Xavier thought, but he let it go, mostly because those soft, tantalising lips were only inches away now. So, he wasn't being all that subtle. He could play coy too when he wanted, but right now he was still riding the crest of sexual energy from the show and Rayne in person was even sexier than in the video. 

The cool fingers that stroked his cheek and slid into his hair sent a little shiver down Xavier's spine. He closed the distance between them with a tender, sweet brush of lips on lips and slid his hand up the outside of Rayne's thigh to just above his hip. The heat of his fingers came to rest on the exposed skin at the top of his low riders. The singer's skin was surprisingly cold there and he stroked more possessively. The one little kiss was like a cool drink of water and Xav just had to have more. His open mouth nudged gently and the tip of his tongue slid teasingly along the crease of Rayne's lips. 

~~~

Xavier's lips were warm and delicious and his tongue a small, writhing serpent moving between Rayne's teeth as he opened his mouth ever so slightly, allowing the boy access. Xavier's hand was like a brand on his hip and the Vampire was aware only of a sense of tumbling into the fire as he let his own lips mesh sweetly with the lithe young dancer's. He let his studded tongue dart into Xavier's hot mouth, tasting him fleetingly before the predictable reaction of his fangs to the proximity of hot blood saw him pull away, sliding his hands down to Xavier's shoulders and inside his shirt. His head was bent, his face burrowing into the hollow of the boy's neck and shoulder, kissing him slowly and precisely along the line of his clavicle and pushing the gauzy shirt back down his arms, baring his upper torso and the firm, dancer's muscles of his biceps. 

"Jeez guys! Get a room or scoot over and let me join in!" Clay laughed, a distinctly mortal hunger sounding in his deep voice now as he moved along the back seat to join them. 

Xavier scooted over, slightly. His head tipped back in response to Rayne's nuzzling, exposing the long line of his throat. He looked at Clay with half closed, come-hither eyes to let him know he wasn't opposed to him being there. 

"How about both? We'll get a room and you can join in?" He smiled, and slid one leg over Clay's knee. He was trying to get his wrists untangled from his shirt when the soft mouth grazing over his throat nipped him, not real hard but hard enough to make him give a little gasp. 

"I got a better idea," Clay rumbled, slipping his arms around the younger man from behind and nuzzling the back of his neck so that the words quivered through flesh and bone there. "Why don't we all head back to mine?" 

"Since that's where you told Valentino to take us when we got back in the car," Rayne chuckled, his voice muted by the proximity of Xavier's throat where he was trying to kiss and lick the boy without biting him too hard. "You are a bad man, Mr Francis!"  

Xavier felt a tiny drop of bitterness at the assumption but he knew it was absurd. He was a stripper they picked up and was acting like a slut on top of it, of course there were going to be assumptions. Hard to not behave like a degenerate though when he'd been hot for the singer since finding that video. And now here Rayne was, peeling Xavier's clothes off and, well, he wasn't acting like he wanted to bother with drinks and conversation either. 

It was a little weird though, this automatic attraction, instant lust. It had been a very long time since he'd just gone off with someone he didn't know. It was like there was already a connection, and that was an insanely stupid thought, but he couldn't shake it. He would happily fall into bed with Rayne and do whatever he wanted. 

Rayne's hand slid down Xavier's chest and heat and desire pulsed through him as if being drawn up to the surface by the simple touch. They hadn't even gotten below the waist yet and it was already like some circuit was made, like he was being pulled under... fed off of. Where that crazy thought came from he had no idea but the next stroke across his skin brought on that sucking drowning feeling even harder and drove a little moan to his lips. A shudder ran down Xav's body and he was suddenly stone-hard behind the laced leather of his pants. 

~~~

Rayne closed his eyes, resting his forehead against Xavier's heaving torso and running his hands gently within the loose folds of the young man's shirt. He sensed a curious conflict of passions in the dancer who seemed to blossom then withdraw as if conscious that things were going too fast. Rayne was aware of it too, but from the moment he had sensed Xavier's essence through his blood he had known that there was desire in the young man; desire for him. Rayne had given this very little thought initially. He was used to it. For most of his adult life girls and boys had thrown themselves at him. And for most of his early teens, older men had thrown themselves upon him, whether he wanted that or not. It was the awareness of that latter factor that checked him now. Suddenly he realised what it was that he could sense in Xavier; the thing that made him nervous. It was an echo of that same emotion he was so often prey to; a sensation that he was travelling too quickly; going too far, too soon. He sat up with a start and rested both hands on the boy's heaving chest, pushing him back, not roughly but firmly enough that all three of them moved apart, conscious of it. 

Xavier looked a bit like the nice, warm, cozy blanket he'd been sleeping under had just been ripped off. 

"Wha...What's wrong?" 

Rayne was blinking at him slowly as if he too had woken from a perplexing dream. He tilted his head for a moment, shaking it slightly then murmured; "You don't 'have' to do this, you know. I mean..." he licked his lips rapidly, that same strange hunger flickering in his eyes. "I mean... I would understand it..." 

It took Xavier a few moments to absorb what Rayne said and then he still did not seem certain where it was coming from. He clearly appreciated the gesture though. The boy made his own choices now but Rayne could feel that it had not been all that long since the choices were made for him. That was probably why he did not make a joke, or try to laugh it off. 

Xavier smiled; "I know. I didn't 'have' to leave the club, or get in the car with you either." The slight bit of tension in the young dancer's shoulders seemed to ease. He probably had not even realised it was there. "And I kissed you first, right?" Xavier relaxed into the seat, some of the urgency - the hurry-hurry-hurry feeling - draining away, if not the desire, or the hard on. "Didn't mean to rush you though," he added, a tad apologetically. 

Rayne's expression also relaxed slightly. It altered his whole face, which softened seductively around the faint smile that was playing at the corners of his mouth. "I'm not terribly good at this kind of thing, believe it or not," the singer murmured self-deprecatingly. 

"Scratch that!" Clay laughed, peering around Xavier's head at the singer. "He's a human fuck-magnet, kid!" 

Rayne shook his head, although the tolerant smile lingered; "I 'meant' communication," he said almost languidly. "I passed 'Shagging' with straight 'A's!" He winked at Xavier to demonstrate that he was not taking himself 'that' seriously and ran his hands over the boy's bared arms once more. 

Xavier chuckled, but it was more because the only time he heard anyone use the word 'shagging' was in movies. Clay still had an arm around his shoulders and leaned back into him comfortably. The heat was still there, just turned down to a slow simmer now. He got to ask all those inane little questions he'd thought of as the car wound through the streets, and he'd answered a few as well. Conversation may not have been Rayne's strong point but he did all right when coaxed along and Xavier was good at that when he wasn't focused exclusively on getting in someone's pants. 

~~~

By the time they were pulling up to a house not too far from the bay the atmosphere was much more laid back. The house (and house was perhaps a moderate estimate for it was more of a small mansion, up on a terrace off the road that curled up above the Bay Bridge) was brightly illuminated when the Lexus pulled up the driveway and stopped alongside the front entrance. 

"Home sweet home!" Clay chuckled ushering his young guests up the short flight of white steps and through a set of elegant glass panelled double doors into a long hallway with white marble tiles on the floor and a flight of crimson carpeted stairs rising to the next level. 

"You didn't tell me you'd bought the fuckin' Grand Hotel!" Rayne commented sarcastically, putting an arm around Xavier as they stepped inside, resting his hand in the small of the younger man's back where he could feel the warmth of Xavier's bare skin against his palm. 

"PJ likes his space," Clay rumbled, hanging his jacket on an elaborate bronze hook in the hallway. "We have nine bedrooms. Which one would you like to play in ladies?" 

Xavier arched a brow but couldn't help the little grin tugging at his lips. Clay's good humor with just about everything was infectious. 

"Who's PJ?" he enquired casually.

"Jesus... how old is this kid?" Clay laughed, but Rayne was already shaking his head, taking control of the situation. 

"He's a good friend, that's all. This is his playground. You'll probably get to meet him later"

"I don't suppose this place comes with a shower I could use?" Xavier asked, not worried but a little wary of just how many guys he was expected to please here. He was not generally overly fastidious but the sweat he'd worked up on stage had dried on his skin, and he always liked to get out of the carefully applied make up and hair products as soon as he could, following a show.

"Walk this way, young man," the big black guy chuckled, setting off across the hallway towards the centrally positioned stairwell. 

Xav followed Clay up the stairs and into a bedroom suite, nicely appointed with an enormous bed and dark, heavy, expensive-looking furniture. He shed his clothes as he crossed the room, letting things fall where they would and somehow even managing to make peeling off the leather pants look graceful. 

He passed Clay on the way through the bathroom doorway and gave him a little wink. Xavier had zero body modesty, as comfortable in his own skin as anything else. He left the door open and went to the glass and marble shower in the corner, adjusted the water temperature, and then stepped under the hot spray. 

Nice, to just let the hot water beat on the back of his neck for a few moments.

~~~

In the bedroom, Clay exchanged a questioning look with his smaller companion. The big black actor was already peeling off his jacket and shirt, casting hungry looks towards the steam pouring out of the shower. 

"He's a sweetheart," Rayne said evenly. "I'm glad you took me down there tonight. So young though." 

"Thought you liked them that way," Clay winked at him. 

"I do." Rayne wriggled out of his coat and unfastened the buttons of his fitted black shirt contemplatively. He cast his eyes up to the ceiling now, following the classic faux-Grecian lines of the coving and the lighting rose. "Are you going to tell him about the cameras?" he asked with a knowing smile. 

"What he doesn't know, ain't gonna hurt him," Clay rumbled, dropping his pants to the ground and following Xavier into the shower room. Rayne Wylde rolled his eyes and shook his dark head. He wandered idly after his friend, still unbuttoning his jeans, too conscious of his own hunger to worry about PJ's hidden cameras. 

Xavier turned under the water when he felt the bit of cooler air swirl in the steam around him as the shower door was opened. With his dark blond hair wet and pushed back from his face and most of the make up gone except for a couple faint traces near his lashes he'd gone rather dramatically from stripper to surfer boy. With the hint of a tan (all over of course) and his even white smile he would have fit right in on some glossy-paged beach mag. His age estimation also dropped a few years and he hadn't looked that old to begin with. 

His smile widened as he took in both Rayne and Clay's curious expressions. 

"Twenty-two." He answered the unspoken question with a little chuckle. 

Barclay looked sceptical but Rayne flashed a feral grin that bared just a brief glint of his wicked dog teeth. 

"You thought exactly the same thing with me the first time, remember?" he said, nudging Clay's arm. "None of you would believe I was twenty years old. Everybody thought poor old Ant had abducted me or something." He palmed a good splodge of liquid soap and began to apply it liberally to Xavier's naked back without waiting for an invitation. Within moments his hands were all over the young dancer's lean, warm body, stroking and exploring him smoothly. Clay moved to face the younger man and soon he had four curious hands wandering intimately all over his naked body. 

Xav leaned back against Rayne, his hands sliding back so he could let his fingertips trace the outside of his thighs. Other then a small patch of gold curls trimmed close to the skin around the base of Xav's manhood everything else was smooth as a baby's butt. The soap made their wet bodies slippery against one another. 

The only part of him that didn't look boyish was now standing to attention from the small, close trimmed patch of dark gold between his legs. His head tipped back when a slippery hand finally slid down his torso and caressed along his shaft. The slight undulation of his body pressed Xav's backside enticingly against Rayne and rolled him forward into the stroking hand in a smooth motion.

Rayne curled around him from behind, a possessive/protective gesture that wrapped Xavier in his slim, pale arms and allowed him to press his face into the hollow of the boy's neck, kissing him there softly and slowly. His hands conjured sensuous magic from the glistening wand protruding from the dancer's rocking hips. At the same time Clay's strong, dark fingers moved between Xav's legs, stroking the sleekness of his slender thighs as he touched his lips to the younger man's torso, drawing gently on the blond lad's nipples with his mouth and tongue. Standing this close to him was like basking in a flame. Behind him, Rayne Wylde was as cool as marble, moving against him in perfect synchronicity so that Xavier was able to feel the unmistakable signal of his arousal rubbing more urgently between the curves of his wet, soapy cheeks. He could also feel that Rayne was clean-shaven all over; his nude body as smooth and supple as new suede.

Xavier hissed in a little breath as a myriad of sensations collided in him. His hands came up to Clay's shoulders to steady himself for a moment and then he couldn't resist sliding them down the sculpted pectorals, fanning his fingers over the dark nipples before travelling lower. 

Xav knew more than a couple of well-muscled studs and Clay could certainly hang in their league. His hands travelled down well packed abs then he circled one hand around the thickening length of cock in front of him and rubbed more firmly against the one pressing up behind. The desire to lick the rivulets of water running down that soft brown skin was too much and he bent his head to trace his tongue down the path his hands had just made. 

That was definitely more then a mouthful Xav had in his hand and his mouth watered for a taste. An electric quiver went through him at the thought and with a soft sigh he slipped to his knees. The flat of his tongue undulated up the underside of the big dark shaft as sweetly as his body had undulated between them. His hands resting on Clay's muscular thighs, a purr of pleasure hummed from his lips against the head of Clay's cock as he teased there. 

"Ahhhhh.... sheeeeeiiiit!" Clay groaned delightedly, stroking his fingers through the younger man's wet, blond hair and working that impressive length of muscle over Xavier's pretty face. Hot lips and tongue worked over Clay's impressive shaft, teasing until he had him slick, nice and wet, and fully erect. His lush lips parted around the smooth dark head and slid down further at the encouraging moan from above. 

Rayne moved to his knees behind the dancer and carried on kissing him hungrily. It was easier to run his lips over the boy's slender neck and his tanned shoulders in this position and he bent his head to kiss the tiny crescent wounds in Xavier's upper arms, which were running with a little blood again under the hot water. His studded tongue caressed them one at a time, tasting and healing Xav simultaneously. 

The sudden drowning feeling was back, sucking Xavier under as surely as he sucked down the thick cock in his mouth. His eyes fluttered shut and a moan vibrated through his chest. He didn't know what the hell it was; the way Rayne touched him set his blood pounding and he couldn't think straight. 

~~~

The passion Rayne imbibed with the boy's body fluids almost blew him away. He could taste wariness and the shadow of past abuse in that brief sip from his companion's body. It was like catching the flicker of words on a page as he skimmed through a book; he saw fragments and nothing more. At the same time he was reading a powerful appetite for sex in the boy. He understood it, because he shared the same conflicts in his heart and his black soul. 

Rayne knew he would have to tread carefully; he needed Xavier and Xavier seemed to want him just as much but he was wary of hurting the kid. The tantalising performance on stage had roused his hunger but now he wanted more. Much more! He just hoped that Xavier wanted it too. From the ravenous way he was lapping on Barclay's big black cock, he certainly seemed to. 

The singer eased away from him again but maintained the contact of his hands on Xavier's body this time. As their lovely young mate tenderly worshipped Clay's magnificent phallus he carried on caressing Xavier's mouth-wateringly delicious body. Stroking his fingers down to the boy's firm, curvaceous arse he eased Xavier forward on his knees so that his sexy bottom was raised and accessible. With a little smile on his face he rested his chin on the boy's shoulder and whispered; "Eleven and a half inches! I bet you can't swallow it all!" 

~~~

Not at this angle, Xav thought but yeah, he could do it. Richard was as thick and almost as long. He didn't bother coming up for air long enough to say so. Instead he spread his knees a little farther so he was lower and inched his lips an impressive distance down the big tool. Going slow, he pulled back some, taking the time to work him up and down several times before he relaxed his throat and slid his lips down to the base. 

"Aaaahhhhh! Uuuuhhhhhh!" Clay moaned long and hard as he felt the boy's soft lips touch down in his crotch and the heat and wetness of Xavier's mouth and gullet around his prominent shaft. He leaned back against the wall, stroking his hands rhythmically through Xavier's hair as he pumped his tool into the young dancer's receptive mouth. 

"Mmmmmhhhh, you are 'good'," Rayne breathed in his ear, then began to kiss his slow way down the boy's naked back, caressing his flanks and his hips, running his long cool fingers slowly over Xavier's thighs as his mouth moved down over each vertebra, slowly and surely, taking his time. When he reached Xavier's narrow hips he lingered a little longer, kissing and suckling on the soft skin at the very top of the cleft between his young mate's naked cheeks. At the same time his hands moved like a spill of silk over Xavier's lean, yet powerful thighs. 




Dark Paths Ch. 01



Xavier's thighs quivered under Rayne's caresses. He had to pull back some from Clay, couldn't keep him in his throat indefinitely, and besides, he was rushing again. Bad habit, and one he tended to revert to when he was either really turned on, with someone new, or in this case both. Most of his teen years had been spent on his knees or with his legs spread trying to get whoever was fucking him off as quickly as possible. He had since learned some of the finer point of taking one's time, but old habits died hard. 

He slowed the frantic pace of his mouth, sliding back and forth with more leisure while he brought a hand up to fondle the heavy balls hanging between Clay's thighs. He moaned huskily around the mouthful when Rayne lipped and licked at the base of his spine and he hollowed his back a little more, the curve of his backside lifting enticingly. 

"Mmmmhhh... you're beautiful," Rayne murmured into the supple roundness of his naked arse, his quiet, husky voice shivering against Xavier's skin as those long, clever fingers kneaded his cheeks. His studded tongue drew a slow line between the younger man's buttocks from his sensitive scrotum to the very tip of his backbone. It lingered playfully on the tight pink pucker of his ring, where the singer applied his lips deftly, sucking and kissing him, taking his time. He wriggled the little silver stud in the dimple of Xav's arsehole, then licked his way higher. 

Clay stroked the boy's face and his wet hair, chuckling appreciatively as he watched them play. He gently bounced the plump head of his fat cock on Xavier's lips and growled; "We're gonna turn into prunes if we stay under here. How's about we take this show into the bedroom, honey?" 

Xavier snaked his tongue out to get one more taste before Clay reached over and turned the water off. He supposed the big guy was right, but he barely had enough blood left in his brain to form articulate speech much less rational thought. He stood, graceful as a cat and followed them both out of the shower. 

A quick dry off and a lot more caressing and petting later the bathroom was left behind in favour of the enormous bed the three fell into. Xavier had gotten distracted with Clay's lovely dark body in the shower but he now had the opportunity to run his fingers over Rayne's lithe frame. The one kiss in the car was just not enough. His warm hands caressed cool skin and his lips sought Rayne's with that same tender sweet fire. 

The singer curled around him, responding to that kiss now; letting his searching tongue snake into the younger man's mouth as eagerly as it had explored his nether regions. His slender arms moved around Xavier's body, hands gliding up above his shoulders and looping lightly around the back of his neck as their lips moved together in wordless communion. Even now, after the heat of the shower, he was cool to the touch. Not cold, but definitely cooler than either Xavier or Clay. When their lips parted briefly he looked into the dancer's eyes without blinking, his gaze solemn and fathomless; pupils wide and dark. 

"You taste wonderful," he whispered. 

Xavier smiled and touched his lips to Rayne's again. "And you are sexy as hell." 

The hand caressing Rayne's hip moved inward, the heat of his fingers curled lightly around his shaft to stroke him. He was going to drown in those green eyes. Everything else seemed to fade away for a moment and he had the feeling he was simply the fly caught in the web, but he didn't care a bit. 

"Do you want another taste?" he asked, with all kinds of suggestion in his voice, while brushing soft kisses along the side of Rayne's jaw.

~~~

"You don't know what you're asking for?" Rayne exhaled, closing his eyes and nuzzling Xavier's damp, blond hair. He felt his fangs extend behind his lips and knew he would give anything for a few brief, delicious mouthfuls of this boy's blood. 

~~~

Xavier knew what he was asking for but, of course, not what Rayne really needed, or how much temptation he was putting in front of the vampire. He did however pick up on the serious note that had entered Rayne's tone and he pulled back a little so he could look up at him. He couldn't help noticing the pinpoints dimpling his lower lip now. 

His first thought was not shock, he knew a lot of freaky people that went for the whole vampire thing, but he was a little startled. He'd been kissing him just a moment before and he would have noticed the fangs. 

"Whoa, how'd you do that?" 

Rayne felt him shift and those acid-green eyes opened at once, swallowing Xavier whole. He consciously relaxed his lips and ran a defensive tongue tip over his teeth, his gaze flickering to Clay who had gone to fetch some champagne whilst they were joined at the mouth, and back to the dancer's startled gaze. Clay was also looking curiously at him now and Rayne shrugged his shoulders and murmured; "They cost me a fortune! Looks good on stage though!" He flashed a demonstrative smile that showed rather more fang than most men were physically comfortable with. 

Xavier was sure, absolutely sure they hadn't been there before, but... what other explanation? The sharp smile was unsettling, but his neither regions didn't seem to mind at all. His hand had stilled but his fingers were still wrapped around Rayne's prick and he gave a few slow sensual strokes now. 

"So does that mean you're more interested in biting me than fucking me?" He teased.

Rayne looked up at him with a more seductive smile this time. His hand snaked up over Xavier's shoulder and long fingers curled around the back of his neck, pulling him lower. 

"Why don't you come down here and find out?" he grinned. "I promise not to hurt you. Cross my heart!" 

Clay moved around behind them, resuming where Rayne had left off in the shower, his tongue lapping greedily between the blond's perky, golden cheeks. When he lifted his head it was to look curiously at Rayne Wylde though, as if he was seeing something that had not previously occurred to him. 

Xavier's kiss was no less full of fire then it had been. He slid his leg over and straddled Rayne's hips, both so he could rub against him and give Clay better access. He couldn't resist teasing his tongue carefully along one of those extended canines. Clay chose that moment to slid a finger into his tight back channel scattering Xavier's senses. He thrust his hips and his tongue at the same time, slicing his tongue on the razor sharp point without even realising it.

~~~

Rayne knew it and his eyes widened instantly, the pupils dilating until they almost engulfed the fierce green of the irises. A long shudder of pleasure ran through his body as he pressed his lips to Xavier's mouth and sucked on his bloody tongue. 

This time when he tasted the boy he didn't get just a trickle of memories with the coppery flow, he was suddenly inside Xavier's head. Sharp and vivid came a little flood of history. His arms were laced into a tight sheath from wrists to elbows, leather belts cinched in tight rings down his body as he was bent over and thoroughly fucked front and back and a pretty thing with pert little tits sucked him off. The intensity of pleasure was almost unbearable.

'Flip...' and that memory was gone, replaced in his mind by a sense of sand and salt in the air, and cool concrete under his naked body as he got the living shit kicked out of him. He barely had time to catch his breath as a booted toe found the softer flesh between his thighs when... 'Flip...' a breathtakingly beautiful blond woman writhed on silk sheets under his skilled tongue. He registered the clean, sharp taste of her cunt for less than a nano second, not even enough time to physically enjoy the feel of her smooth pussy against his mouth, though the experience was no less real for that. 'Flip...' a boy with dark, mahogany brown eyes watched dispassionately as four older men brutally used him. 'Flip...' and he was suddenly much younger, although he had no idea how he knew it; out of his tiny skull on the gods alone knew what and spread naked on a pool table while cameras filmed him getting fucked by a line up of guys.

That last experience was almost too close to reality. Rayne slumped back on the silken pillows and the memories faded as Clay wriggled another finger into the boy and Xavier moaned sweetly into Rayne's open mouth. Rayne whispered his name, running a hand through Xavier's blond hair and reaching down with the other hand to guide his erect sex between the boy's slim thighs. He wanted this kid so badly. If Xavier even flinched he would take it as a bad sign, but already he was beginning to believe that the young dancer was more of a kindred spirit than he had ever dared to hope for. 

"I wanna take you before he does," he exhaled, nodding towards Clay who only grinned like Baron Samedi and worked his fingers more vigorously in the boy's arsehole. "You'll be fit for nothing afterwards!"

~~~

Xav looked at him with eyes dilated with desire; he felt nearly drunk with it. Tilting his hips a bit he felt Clay withdraw his fingers and the smooth head of Rayne's cock pressed up against his tight ring. Clay had stretched him a good bit and the lube eased the way, making him reckless. He pushed back, impatient for the feel of that lovely, hard cock inside him.

The head sliding into his heat made him huff a breath as he teetered between the pleasure and hurt of it, revelling in both. 

"Mmmhh-uuh,... god..." he breathed and pushed back to take more of him.

~~~

Rayne made a long, low, groaning sound deep in his throat and turned his head to the side, letting his dark hair screen his face momentarily so that his lips could part around a soundless 'O' of pleasure. He knew that there was no pulling back. His fangs were fully extended and he was hungry for more than just the boy's naked flesh. But that would do for now. He lay back, letting Xavier ride him. Strong, long-fingered hands gripped the dancer's lean hips and pushed down hard as he bucked upward into his young mate's hot, receptive body, feeling the tight muscles of his willing arse clench around him like iron bands wrapped in warm, wet silk. 

"Oh yeah!" Clay rumbled in an appreciative tone, stroking the blond's firm cheeks encouragingly and moving around to kneel beside Xavier and Rayne, running his massive, black tool over both their bodies as he watched them fuck. "That is hot!" 

Xavier played the coquette for him, batting his long lashes and undulating his body seductively. Leaning back a little more he ground against Rayne, pushing him just that little bit deeper and making him moan. He bent his head to Rayne's chest so he could take a nipple into his mouth sucking on it hard. The singer contorted violently under him, bucking upward like a wild horse between his legs. The noise that was drawn out of him was low and hungry; the growl of a desperate animal. He kept his face turned to the side and his eyes closed. Clay ran a hand through Rayne's lank, wet hair and he rubbed his head into that touch with feline grace. The rumble in his throat became a husky purr of satisfaction as his hips moved rhythmically in the arrowhead of his lover's thighs. As the bigger man's caressing fingers swept the tumble of hair from his pale face he drew his lips between his teeth again, conscious of the involuntary extension of his dog teeth. A trickle of thin, watery blood ran from the corner of his mouth where he nicked himself badly. 

Xavier flowed with his rhythm and saw none of this. He released the one nipple so he could tease the other, flicking his talented tongue over the little bud. When he let that one go and leaned back Clay ran a hand down the smooth planes of his chest and stomach before wrapping his thick fingers around Xav's erect sex. A ragged moan lifted from Xavier's throat as Clay pumped his cock at the same moment Rayne thrust into him. The tip of his straining dick oozed little drops of pre-cum as the pleasure built.

He looked down through half lidded eyes at Rayne again and noticed the thin trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth. Xav reached down and ran his thumb along Rayne's bottom lip gently. 

"Did you hurt yourself?" he asked, low and husky. 

By way of response, the singer swept his studded tongue out around Xavier's thumb, circling and sucking it; conscious of the taste of his own spilt blood on the young man's skin. He ran his hands tenderly up Xavier's thighs to his lean hips and over his slender waist, cupping his ribs and easing the flats of his palms over Xavier's chest, rubbing the boy's erect nipples with the heels of his hands. In silence, with his eyes still closed he took Xavier's thumb all the way into his mouth, right down past the big knuckle at the base, sucking gently; a wordless promise of his talents and his intent. His long dog teeth nipped at the flesh of his mate's warm hand as he suckled. 

~~~

Xavier felt a tingle run up his spine making him shiver as he felt the pin pricks on the fleshy part of his thumb. Rayne must be pretty serious about the vampire thing. Well, he'd done kinkier things, and it didn't really hurt. He wiggled his thumb a little against his agile tongue in imitation of the undulations of his hips. 

~~~

Another little flood of confused memories came with the blood; Rayne found himself flat on his back in a strange room, acutely aware of his own need and the turbulent emotions of his young lover. Confusingly, he could hear that song again - the number he had watched Xavier strip to earlier in the evening - only this time the tables were turned and he was watching himself through Xavier's eyes. Rayne shuddered uncontrollably. Dark Paths had always been an emotive track to perform. He never failed to become aroused when he heard the pulsing intro to that song played live, but this was the first time he had ever experienced it through another man's body as that man masturbated hungrily over him. His pale eyes sprang open and locked with Xavier's and for a brief instant he shared a memory with the boy, a moment of sweet, urgent, orgasmic pleasure. It robbed him of reason. He surged upward into Xavier's lean body, caught in the web of his lover's ecstatic recollection, helpless to fight the savage tide of release that the memory triggered in him. His head was thrown back into the nest of pillows and his lips parted around a frantic cry of passion and surrender. 

"Sweet Jesus!" Clay exhaled fearfully at the sight of the inch long dog teeth revealed by his climactic utterance. 

Xavier had no time to think or anything. He was caught up in the stroking grip Clay had him in and done in by the sudden frantic thrusts between his legs. "...oh... fuck...." His lean muscled body tightened and he gave a wordless cry as the warm jets of pearl white shot from him, across Rayne's stomach, the first strong spurts making it up to his chest.

He leaned forward, hands braced on either side of Rayne's shoulders, head hung and sides heaving like a sprinter's.

The singer's lean, white arms snaked up around his neck, pulling him down into a deliciously lethal embrace. Rayne was still shuddering as he began to lick Xavier's sweat jewelled neck, running the silver stud in his tongue lightly over the supple flesh; breathing him in; tasting him. He kissed lower, licking the pearls of semen from his mate's hot skin and letting his tongue shiver over the boy's erect nipples. 

"Uhhh...nnnnuuhhhhh!!" he exhaled weakly. "Want you!" 

Xavier made a soft sound and he bent his head to nuzzle at the tender skin under Rayne's ear. "You have me, babe," he breathed. "Take what you want."

Rayne shuddered again, a long, urgent frantic quiver of energy that vibrated through his entire body as he fought the primal instinct that told him to feed and not to stop. He was not ravenous, but the boy tasted so sweet and seemed so unafraid. His memories tinged the honey of his blood with a darkness that made the Vampire beneath him feel less alone somehow. He wanted to lose himself in another person, to feel joined with Xavier on the bed. Wrapping his arms and legs around the boy Rayne rolled and took the young man under him. Xavier's back hit the soft mattress and a soft breath escaped him. There was a surprising amount of power in those skinny arms and legs and the lean body pinning him. A spike of hot need filled him, centered in his middle and his already stiffening cock. Few things got Xavier going like being pinned down. He looked up at Rayne Wylde with half closed, fuck-me eyes.

"Do it!" he panted rapidly. "Do me now!"

To Be Continued...

DARK PATHS -- CHAPTER ONE

© 2007/8 SADIE ROSE BERMINGHAM & BELLORA QUINN 



Dark Paths Ch. 02



"This is a novel written in collaboration over the past 12 months with the lovely Bellora Quinn, who has written many more delicious tales of the sexy dancer, Xavier and his friends. Her details are on my profile page so go and check her out and give her some feedback if you enjoy this story. And we sincerely hope that you do.

"The usual terms apply; copyright for Dark Paths belongs to Sadie and Bellora. Do not take, copy, reproduce or link to this story for any reason without permission from ourselves, or we will active the surface to thieving-arse missiles in your precise direction and expand your anal sphincter in ways you've probably never imagined before. Enjoy!" -- Sadie xxx 

*

It was the rumble of Clay's husky voice, reminding him that he was not alone with the kid that stopped Rayne biting Xavier then and there. His friend's powerful hands ran up his arms to his shoulders, massaging him almost cautiously and drawing him back.  

"Take it easy, tiger!" the bigger man urged and he knew from the sudden wary edge to the man's words that he had seen enough. Rayne felt cold inside. He had known Clay long enough not to fear him but he had no idea how much of a wedge this revelation would drive into their friendship. For the moment he was just grateful that Clay had not over-reacted. Perhaps he owed that much to their history. Whatever it was, the words stayed him briefly and he moved to his knees between them, eyes closed, kissing his way down Xavier's lean, downy torso into the hot well of his groin. Half-turning he then bestowed his kisses on Barclay's powerful, sculpted triceps and abs, biting his stiff, dark nipples and letting his tongue trail down that firm, chocolate-dark body, right to the base of his shaft. He stroked Xavier's upward curving cock in one skilful hand whilst his lips worked over Clay's magnificent erection, soothing both of their anxieties simultaneously. Rayne felt his fangs recede as he concentrated determinedly on satisfying them both. 

Xavier had managed to stifle the soft whimper at being let go, and it turned into a sigh of pleasure as those long fingers wrapped around him and stroked. The sight of Rayne's soft lips stretched around Clay's dark pole was exciting, making him throb in Rayne's stroking hand. Xavier caressed his arm and Clay's taut thigh next to him. He lifted up so he could kiss his way along the back of Rayne's arm and across his shoulder and then inhaled the delicate, minty scent of his hair. His tongue came out to trace the shell of Rayne's ear while he got a closer look at the way the smaller man slid Clay deeper into his throat.

Xavier's soft moan vibrated his lips where they touched Rayne's skin. 

"Mmmm.... I can tell you like that as much as I do," Xav whispered across his ear. Trailing soft tender fingers down Rayne's smooth shoulder and supple back he circled a fingertip in the little hollow at the base of his spine. "Will you let me fuck you?"  

Rayne knelt up a little, his jaw slackening enough to release Clay so that his lips slid back to the hood of his glistening shaft. The silver stud in his tongue flickered back and forth just beneath it, making the bigger man groan hungrily as Rayne considered this proposition. From the flashes of recollection he had shared with the boy he had presumed that Xavier would be completely submissive but the urgency of that whispered suggestion told him more than a hundred fragments of memory. He was no blushing virgin and Xavier had a lovely cock. Rayne already had a good idea how it would feel inside him but even so, as he curled his hand around Clay's pulsating sex and kissed the leaking head, his green eyes slid sideways to meet Xavier's curious gaze. A little smile curved his lips as he nodded his head. 

"Sure," he whispered, a small, husky sound that was muffled as he took Clay back into his mouth and his long black lashes shuttered that acid-pale stare once more. 

"Get him ready for me, baby," Clay rumbled with a broad white smile, stroking Rayne's silken, black hair, then reaching out to caress Xavier's cheek. 

Xavier came up on his knees so he could reach Clay's lips. He kissed and bit his new friend's bottom lip lightly before moving to make a trail of kisses down Rayne's back. Such a sweet ass the singer had! He would have been happy with anything tonight, but this was a special treat.

His hands caressed over the smooth skin. He took his time with his kisses and little nips and licks until he couldn't wait any longer and ran his tongue up and down that delectable crack. His fingers circled Rayne's hips as he wriggled the hot tip of his tongue into his tight puckered hole. 

The singer quivered again, caught between the two men, engaged in a couple of his favourite activities; giving head and having his ring vigorously rimmed. Xavier's breath was quick and hot between his cheeks and the boy's tongue teased and tickled him with so much skill that he relaxed at once, reassured that he was in the hands of an expert. His lips stroked Clay's slowly pulsing shaft greedily and he ran a hand between the porn star's muscular thighs, steadily milking his heavy balls whilst rocking his arse gently back into Xavier's grasp, riding the surge of his lapping tongue. 

"Mmmmmhhhh..." he growled in a low, needy tone, hoping that the sound alone would convey his pleasure. 

It did. And it sent urgent quivers up and down Xav's back. One hand reached for the little tube of lubricant Clay had used on him earlier and left on the bed. With hardly a pause Xav replaced his wriggling wet tongue with a hot slippery finger. He knew exactly the right way to stretch and tease and curl the pad of first one and then more of his fingertips over the smooth spot inside until he knew that Rayne was more than ready. The singer moved fluidly as he was touched and teased, squirming onto his side, then sinking down on his back beneath them both, spreading himself with the flexibility of an acrobat. His head tilted back so that he could take Clay into his mouth again. Encouragingly he ran the sole of his right foot up and down over Xavier's flank as the younger man knelt between his thighs.

Xavier eased his rigid cock into the singer's snug channel steadily, but with no rush. He was always a considerate lover. He bent to kiss and nibble along Rayne's shoulders and the crook of his throat while he pulled back slowly and then drove forward again. Harder this time, because he felt that was what was desired of him; a shunt at the end of the thrust that sent quivers through them both. He fucked like he danced, smooth and hard and grinding, utterly focused on his partner.

Under him, Rayne exhaled urgently with each thrust, circling his lean hips to press down on his mate's sex each time he was impaled. Clay gripped his hair, surging between his lips in perfect synchronicity, looking down at Xavier with an appreciative smile on his dark, handsome face. 

"God you feel wonderful..." Xavier whispered over his skin as he stroked in and out of him. He dragged his lips and the tip of his tongue down Rayne's chest, tasting him and breathing him in before sucking and nibbling the stiff peaks of his nipples. Having come once and got the edge off, he could go all night... usually. But the way Rayne squeezed him and writhed under him and looked so damn sexy, taking Clay's monster down his throat, was edging him up again already. 

Warm, skilled fingers wrapped around Rayne's erection and fisted him in time with the hard thrusts of Xavier's hips. The thick shaft pulsed under Xavier's strokes, he moved his thumb repeatedly over the sensitive underside of his head, sweeping up over the tip and swirling the slick drops of pre-cum around the ultra soft skin there.

His teeth grazed the taut nipple in his mouth, sucking hard, and then his tongue laved it. His breath was hot over the wet spot he made when he lifted his mouth. What an erotic picture, this beautiful creature under him, his body gripping him so tightly... Xavier's hand moved a little faster, the deep thrust of his hips quickening. 

"... oohh, baby, I can't wait to make you come again!" he breathed in a husky timbre. 

Rayne Wylde made a small sound that could have been agreement but could also just have been forced out of him by the urgency of his mates' thrusting cocks. In Xavier's hand his erection jumped violently and a spill of pearly pre-cum seeped from the straining slit. His head tipped right back between Clay's legs so that he could rub his cute little nose against the black stud's enormous, low-hanging balls. At once the bigger man eased up off him whispering; "Uhhhh... suck 'em for me, honey!" 

Clay knelt over Rayne on the bed, his muscular body and ebony skin glistening with moisture as the singer's soft, skilful lips drew gently on the looser flesh of his shaven ball sac and his jaws parted wider, swallowing those big hot nuts one at a time.

Rayne lifted both his legs, scissoring them around Xavier's lean body as the younger man pulsed between his thighs. He pulled Xav into him urgently as he rode on the beautiful dancer's straining cock and his vigorously pumping hand. A long, low, needy groan escaped him, along with another slow flood of semen. Rayne's sex twitched violently again in Xavier's sticky hand and his slender body contracted fiercely around the fabulous member scratching an itch of need, so deep inside him. He cried out again, with less inhibition this time, almost ready to explode for the delicious stroking sensation in his loins. 

The hand touching him so expertly slowed, slid down around his shaft, more like a caress then a stroke now, easing him back from the edge. Xavier's warm tongue traced lazy teasing circles around his nipples.

Such lovely pale cool flesh wrapped around him, Xavier thought. He had to wonder how Rayne could be so cool when he was burning up. He slowed his rhythm for a minute... two, and then slowly began to build once more, driving harder and faster until they were close. Then he changed pace again. He kept up the tease, bringing them up and easing them down several more times and he found to his delight that after a time he'd warmed his lover up quite well. 

He could keep this going; he was after all trained by some of the best, and he loved to give pleasure, but the sexy little moans and soft sounds of delight emitted by his lover had gone from needy to nearly frustrated. Xav knew the steel-hard pole in his pumping fist was aching for release... not to mention that his own need was getting almost unbearable. 

This time when he built the pace to a heated, frantic frenzy he didn't back down. He spread his knees, changing his angle to drive that much deeper into Rayne. He warped one arm around Rayne tightly, pulling him in with each thrust. Bending his head and bowing his body, his lips sucked at the tender skin of Rayne's throat as his hips bucked and a light sheen of sweat turned his tanned skin to honey gold. 

"...Mmmrrrrrrraaaaaaaah!!" The scream was muffled into the side of Rayne's throat as Xavier spilled his hot young seed into the tight sheath gripping him. 

"Rrrrrrrrrggggghhhhhhh... yeaaaaahhhhh!" Clay roared, exploding into the singer's mouth, unable to hold back any longer. 

Rayne tried to find words as Clay pulled out of his cream-filled maw but discovered he'd forgotten how to speak. He swallowed hard instead, fighting to catch every last trickle and spurt of salty goodness from his friend's clenching balls. He was shuddering uncontrollably as Xavier bent over him, his knees drawn back and his heels pressed into the dancer's naked back just below his shoulder blades, bracing himself hard as he felt boy's thrusts quicken inside him again. The young dancer had not lost his erection and he was not slowing this time; nor showing any signs of stopping at all, in fact. His clever tongue was sending delicious tendrils of electricity from Rayne's erect and painfully sensitive nipples to his bucking groin. Clay had moved around behind the blond and was slowly rubbing against him now, running that big, wet, slippery love muscle up and down between Xavier's pert cheeks as he watched them bobbing urgently between the singer's slim thighs. 

Amazingly Clay was showing no signs of wilting either, even though men had been known to drown in less fluid than he had just ejected from that powerful tool.

"Jesusssss!" Rayne growled, his tongue still greedily seeking out every last trickle of cum in and around his mouth as he felt Xavier's clever hand pulling vigorously on his twitching cock again. The head of the boy's gorgeous fuck rod was impacting on his sweet spot with every thrust and sending powerful aftershocks through his loins that almost drove him crazy with desire. "Uuuuhhhhhhh... sweet fucking Jeeeesus!" 

He tried hard to keep his jaws together as Xavier curled into him, licking and nuzzling at his neck. Even with his face turned right into the pillow he could still feel the blond all over him, rubbing him and touching him outside and in until he wanted to scream because it felt so good. Xavier smelled so hot and delicious and the pounding of his heart driving the blood through his young body was like a tribal drum beat in Rayne's head. 

The cum had just been an appetiser, and he knew it. As Xavier stabbed up hard inside him and held his hot cock in there, flooding him again with his invasive heat, Rayne felt his body jolt furiously. He exploded in the boy's hand sucking in a sharp breath that whistled like a boiling kettle in his throat, a long, sharp, helpless keening note that shook him physically from head to toe. He was out of control and he knew it. The waves just kept coming and he gripped Xavier's shoulder and his damp blond hair tightly in both hands as the massive sexual quake rocked his senses. Xavier's face was buried in the hollow of his neck and he did not see the impulsive extension of his mate's magnificent dogteeth. The first he knew of them was when Rayne Wylde sank them smoothly into his jugular and began to suck ravenously on his slender neck. 

Xavier felt the sharp canines sink into him on a sort of distant level. The endorphins pumping through him after such an explosive climax had him almost high. He hung limply in the Vampire's tight embrace, if not between his legs. Each draw of that succulent mouth seemed to pulse through him and made the little aftershocks in his still-hard cock throb.

He moaned, melting against Rayne, pliant and submissive; too caught up in the delicious warmth to worry over much about such things as blood loss. The love bite was actually very erotic. He moved his head slightly, stretching the long line of his neck and opening the wound ever so slightly more, sending a hot gush of thick blood into the Vampire's eager mouth.

Rayne stretched and undulated against Xavier like a lithe little cat rubbing up for attention. He rolled the blond onto his side and moved up over him, trying to contain the fountain of crimson that erupted from the bite. Generally he tried to ascertain with a bedmate if he or she had any issues with blood clotting but it was a bit too late for that now. Clay, who had been vigorously stretching Xavier's ring again, his view of all this obscured by the curve of the young dancer's naked back, now protested a little at the shift of position. His murmured objection tailed off as he spotted the steady stream of blood that ran down the blond kid's bare chest from the point where Rayne was hungrily kissing his neck. 

"Holy Jesus!" the big guy whispered in horror. "What in fuck's name are you doing to him?"

Xavier's arms slipped from around Rayne's body, falling bonelessly to the bedspread. He paled under the tan of his skin, and the body that was so hot moments before began to feel cool. A little whimper escaped him as he teetered on the brink between conscious and unconscious. That strange dark pull he felt with Rayne was sucking him under like a tide pool he couldn't escape. Drowning! He felt like he was drowning in heavy syrup, so sweet he didn't care. 

Each pump of his strong heart sent a new glut of blood, and a fresh string of memories. It was as if his life was laid out, bared, fanned like the pages of a gritty, tragic book for Rayne. 

The Vampire's consciousness flashed on a beautiful young woman with pretty blue eyes, the same as her cute, blond son's. She took him to see the ballet and he loved to watch the dancers; transfixed by their lithe, flexible bodies and the bright colours and exotic plumes of their stage garb. He was torn from that bright spot of happiness into a dark pit of pain and despair. A hard hand held him face down on a mattress; his mother's boyfriend's hand. He was a kid, maybe eight years old. He couldn't see much in the dark room but he could feel the dirty bastard's hands on him, smell the stale scent of tobacco and beer and sweat. 

That was replaced by another horror. This time he was thirteen, kneeling on the living room floor, panic gripping him. His mother lay unmoving, unresponsive as he tried to bring her 'round. She was cold, not breathing; the belt still tight around her upper arm, a blood-filled syringe hanging limply from the crook of her elbow. This mainline was her last.

There was a swirl of half-remembered faces; social workers, then a foster family. In an attic bedroom an older boy gripped his hair and pumped his cock down his throat. He hated the boy and wanted him desperately at the same time, the throb in his groin a hard guilty ache.

The memories started to speed with his heartbeat. Only tiny snatches coming now in a rushing tumble. Money and drugs coming easy; a great many faceless older men eager to open their wallets and their pants; it all rushed past in a warm tide. Rayne fell back from Xavier, on his knees, catching his breath although he knew it was not even necessary. Some habits were hard to break. His pulse was racing with the young dancer's as he touched his lips to the bite wound that was already healing on the boy's neck, stunned by the memories; unsure for a moment if he was seeing Xavier's past or his own.

Then Clay's powerful hands were on his shoulders, not consoling but pulling him clear of the kid and virtually throwing him off the bed. Rayne bit his tongue and the insides of his mouth involuntarily as he crashed to the floor and the bigger man sprang up to loom over him. Barclay might not be a young man but he was still no weakling. 

"What the hell did you do to him, you crazy bitch?" he yelled, shaking his head as the slender Englishman reeled on the sumptuous rug at his feet. 

Rayne was struggling to stay calm, though he raged inside at this rough handling as the memories that were not his own still jostled in his head. He knew there was still blood on his face from the bite and tried to wipe it away. 

"He's gonna be okay," he slurred, still feeling drunk from the rush of emotionally charged images. "I didn't hurt him."

He was used to some transference during a feed but the pictures in his head were rarely this strong. Usually he could block them out if he chose to. Either Xavier was a potent empath or the similarity of his past recollections to Rayne's own had broken through his emotional shields. He could not be sure without talking to the boy. 

"Go check on him. It's nothing more than a scratch, I swear!" 

Clay was already turning back to the pale, breathless blond boy on his bed, concern in his dark eyes; his erection rapidly wilting. Behind him Rayne slumped supine on the floor for a moment, closing his eyes and willing his pulse to slow down. 

Xavier vaguely felt the hands on him. Soft, gentle hands, and so warm. The fingers touched his throat and he winced a bit. Must be the biggest hickey ever. He opened his eyes and tried to focus. His pupils were dilated so far they must be dark pools, ringed with blue. Everything looked gray and slightly fuzzy around the edges.




Dark Paths Ch. 02



Clay lifted his shoulders and his head lolled drunkenly; his limbs wouldn't quite obey when he tried to move. 

"'M-ok..." he managed to mumble out, so maybe Clay would stop trying to wake him. All he wanted to do was sleep. His thoughts were confused. He felt drunk. Did they slip him something? He didn't think so but... wait. Rayne had bit him. Bit him pretty damn hard. He tried to think about that and put it with the sticky spill of red drying on his throat and chest. Fuck. 'Was' he ok? 

He kept trying to get his head clear, but it was too much like hard work and finally he gave up. "Jus lemme sleep." 

Mercifully the man listened; ceased trying to get Xav up. He pulled the edge of the blanket over him and Xavier instantly curled into a ball under it.

~~

Clay sat by him for a little while, stroking the boy's hair. To his relief Xavier did not seem to still be bleeding. At least Rayne had spoken the truth there. Perhaps it was no more than a nick in a susceptible spot, but he could not comprehend why the boy was suddenly so listless. He fetched a damp towel from the bathroom and washed the drying blood from his skin, trying gently to get it out of his blond hair. His searching fingers found a couple of small indentations in his skin, still an angry red, but the flesh was reassuringly unbroken.

The older man shook his head at that. If Rayne had not broken the skin, where had all that blood come from? He turned now to look at the slender Englishman, still sprawled on his back on the rug. Rayne Wylde was watching him solemnly, his pale eyes unblinking. A little trail of blood still ran from the corner of his mouth where he had bitten himself as he went down. There was more on his chest and his hands. Xavier had bled profusely over him as he lay beneath the kid. It didn't make any sense. 

"What the hell 'are' you?" Clay whispered huskily. He had never been afraid of anyone before but there was something not quite sane in the gaze that fixed on his face. Suddenly Rayne's submissive beauty was a lethal thing and he found himself doubting how far he could trust his young friend. "Did you do this to him?" he demanded.

"He'll be okay," Rayne exhaled, still gazing at him from that point on the carpet, his slight body rising and falling vigorously as if he had just run two hundred metres full pelt. "He just needs to rest. Maybe if you got him some chocolate?" he suggested almost as an afterthought. "The sugar will do him good. A nice mug of hot chocolate, yeah? The proper stuff!" 

"What did you do to him?" Clay moved from the bed to crouch beside the naked Englishman. He was still wary but also conscious that if Rayne was going to attack him too, he could have done so several times by now.

"I took his blood," the young man whispered huskily as if this was a rational response. "I took it, Clay. He's probably in shock." He lifted a hand to his face, turning his head slightly and catching his breath. "Christ! The stuff I saw! It'd shock anyone!"

"You're making no sense, Rayne. Why'd you bite him?" Clay asked incredulously. "I mean I know some guys have a kink for biting and being bitten but what the fuck...?"

Slowly, Rayne Wylde rolled onto his side and lay there with his arms wrapped around his head for a little while in silence. At least he mumbled; "I'm not going to hurt you, Clay. I never meant to hurt either of you. He'll be okay... just... get him the fuckin' chocolate, all right?"

For a moment Clay did not move, he crouched within reach of the dark-haired man on the bedroom floor, bewildered by this shocking confession. "Why'd you do it, babe?" he whispered at last. "Tell me that at least." 

"Because I need it," Rayne answered, his voice strained and irritable. "I need it, Clay. I can't function without it. Don't ask me any more just yet. Make sure the kid's okay." His hand shot out as Clay moved to rise, catching the bigger man's wrist in a grip that Barclay could not break, try as hard as he might. "He's..." the Englishman's quiet voice failed him briefly as he struggled to sit up, his pale eyes shimmering. "He's... J-Just be gentle with him, okay. Whatever Paddy told you about me... well he's had it just as bad. Don't push him into anything."

Instead of fighting the fingers around his wrist, Clay rose slowly to his feet, drawing the other man up with him. Rayne was staring back up at him now, pulling him into that unbroken gaze. He felt like a rabbit caught in the glare of a car's spotlights, unable to tear himself away. 

"What happened to you, honey?" he cajoled, unable to believe that the sweet, fucked-up boy they had sheltered all those summers before, down in the South of France was some kind of psycho. "What made you bite him?"

"I can't help it," Rayne answered him with a little shrug. "It's like being addicted to coke, only ten times as bad. Clay, if I tell you the truth you've got to promise that you won't try to have me committed. Because it 'will' sound crazy, I promise you." 

"You're some kind of vampire-freak?" Clay asked him disbelievingly. 

"Something like that," Rayne mumbled, shaking his dark hair as if he was embarrassed. "Sweetheart, go and get the chocolate. I swear on my life, I won't hurt the kid. But he needs a lift, yeah?" 

Slowly, Clay moved him to the edge of the bed and Rayne sank down there, releasing his arms at once and curling up again as if he was in pain. The bigger man shook his head. "Okay... I'll get the chocolate, honey. But if I hear screams I'm coming back up here with a hammer and meat skewer. And if he's hurt when I get here..." 

"He won't be," Rayne said atonally. 

"He better not be!" 

"Clay?" 

"Yeah?" the big man turned in the doorway, his expression still wary. 

"Just fuck off and get that chocolate, right?" 

~~

Rayne rolled onto his back as he listened to the sounds of Clay's hurried footsteps on the stairs. Of course his old friend might just call the cops and have him locked up but right now that was a risk he was ready to take. He was not about to leave Xavier alone. Stretching out one cold, long-fingered hand he stroked the boy's damp hair awkwardly. 

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," he whispered almost inaudibly. "I'm so sorry. It's okay now." 

Xavier lay quiet and still under Rayne's fingers, his skin still much too pale. Eventually though his shallow rapid breaths became deeper and more even, and his heart began to slow its racing beat. He opened his eyes as if his thick dark lashes were an effort to lift. 

Fathomless green eyes watched him with... concern? The corner of Xavier's mouth lifted in a sleepy half smile. "Sorry... didn't mean to just roll over an' go to sleep on you." 

"You get all the rest you need," Rayne answered him quietly. "Clay's gone down to fetch a little treat, if he's not managed to get lost in this fuckin' great barn of a place!" His lips twitched around an expression that might have been a smile but it was there and gone so quickly that it was hard to say. His gaze moved restlessly over Xavier's face, drinking it in like an artist about to commit the delicate features before him to canvas. His fingers twined loosely in the younger man's hair. "Do you feel okay?" he whispered at last, a tad suggestively. 

Xavier didn't miss the tone, but he no longer felt exactly up for a marathon. Still... he could be tempted. 

"I feel alright." He lifted his hand to trace his fingers lightly along Rayne's jaw. It felt like he was trying to lift lead and he chuckled inwardly at himself. So tired he could hardly move, and 'still' insatiable. That made him remember; he moved his hand to the side of his throat but didn't feel any wounds or the stickiness of blood. "Did you bite me?" 

It almost felt like a dream now.

"Just a love bite," Rayne whispered languidly, rolling onto his side to kiss Xavier's face, touching little butterfly kisses across his brow and down his cheekbone. "We were so hot and sweaty it probably felt a whole lot worse than it was. Do you forgive me?" He folded his arms across Xavier's chest and rested his chin on them, peering down at him mischievously. The tip of his studded tongue flickered between his lips briefly, moistening them. 

Never one to miss an opportunity Xavier smiled, "Oh...well, I don't know. I think you might have to make it up to me." 

Rayne's expression was almost feral as he stroked his hands slowly out towards Xavier's shoulders. He bent his head, drawing the tip of his tongue slowly down the blond boy's slim torso from his clavicle to his sternum as if it would magically unzip his mate's body and release the sweetness within. He began to kiss Xavier's belly searchingly as his fingers wandered back up to tease the younger man's sensitive nipples, running deliberate rings around the stiff, dark peaks as his lips worked on the softer flesh beneath his lover's ribs where Xav's heart was beating ferociously again.

If he had not already fed that might have been too much temptation. As it was, it probably looked dangerous enough because he heard a crash from the doorway as Clay dropped the jug of hot chocolate and the stack of glasses. He did not have the time to sit up and protest before the big man crossed the room with the speed of a hunting cat and grabbed him by the arms, dragging him off the bed. Rayne yelped incoherently at him but wound up on the floor in any case. 

"Are you okay, honey?" Clay demanded, but his concern was entirely focused on the startled Xavier. 

"um... yeah. Are 'you' OK?" Xavier asked a bit warily. He'd sort of missed the first time Clay had tossed Rayne across the room like a rag doll. His eyes went to Rayne at once. There was definitely a bit of sparkle in his green orbs, he did a good job of not looking pissed, but Xav could see the hostility simmering there. Not that he could blame him after being unceremoniously dumped on the floor like that. 

Clay was running soothing hands over Xavier like he might break if he was handled too roughly. He was pretty sure the big guy wasn't going to start tossing him about as well, but he didn't want to make any sudden moves and find out.

"Er... what's going on here?" 

Barclay was looking intently at him, as if searching his body for some hidden sign and the big fellow seemed to relax as he realised that his young house guest was unmarked. Almost embarrassed by his astonishing outburst he smoothed Xavier's hair protectively and fired another suspicious glance at Rayne. The singer had not moved from the floor although he was watching them both with a wary, incredulous half smile on his face. 

He did not seem to be hurt and when Clay looked his way he obliquely remarked; "I promised, didn't I? You reckon I'm the sort of bastard who breaks his promises?" 

This was getting really weird. Xavier wasn't hurt, as far as he could tell, but Clay was acting like he'd seen something a lot more worrisome then just a love bite. He was watching Rayne as he touched his neck again but found nothing but a slightly sore spot. When his fingers went over it an odd shiver went down his spine. His features softened slightly with desire and he felt his cock swell. At the same time he had the weirdest sensation of his mouth filling with the coppery taste of blood. He should have been repulsed but it didn't bother him at all. 

'What the fuck...?'

He wasn't sure if he should be afraid of the singer now or not, but he did know he wanted him. Every time his fingers brushed that little sore spot it made him want to lay back and let him have whatever he wanted. The thought should have made him scared but it only made him hot. 

"What promise?" Xavier didn't like the feeling that he was missing something. 

I promised not to start without him," Rayne answered with a little grin for Xavier. At the same time Clay growled; "I warned you to keep your fangs out of him. I don't get this weird shit with you two pretending nothing's going on here. I know what I saw!" 

"Check him out," Rayne Wylde said, a little more frostily now, pushing himself to his feet and sauntering around to the edge of the bed. "Is he bleeding?" 

Clay shook his head automatically but his expression did not change. He was still watching the beautiful singer like he was a poisonous snake. 

Xavier wasn't watching him like that though, his eyes held considerably more heat as he gazed at Rayne. When the singer came to a stop at the edge of the bed Xavier slithered from Clay's arms like a piece of silk and stretched out on his belly toward the singer, which put him right at hip level. 

His hands caressed a path up the outside of Rayne's thighs. "You can bite me anytime you want, sweetheart. I don't mind," he said as he kissed a line over the curve of his lover's hip. 

Rayne looked down at him with a smile that could only be described as feral. There was nothing fraternal about it, for sure. 

"There," the singer murmured to Clay, without looking up at the man. "You heard him. He doesn't mind." 

As Xavier stared up into his eyes the dark-haired man's smile grew broader and his elegantly pointed dog-teeth extended smoothly. It was not a massive difference, only about half an inch, but there was no pretending that it hadn't happened. 

"Jesus Christ!" Clay exclaimed in an awed tone. 

Xav blinked slowly. A ribbon of fear uncoiled in his middle and he felt the little hairs on the back of his neck raise. The reaction was instinctual, something primal that refused to listen or be controlled by the rational voice in his head that said there was no such thing as vampires. Perhaps if he'd felt it earlier he might have backed off, at least been more cautious. Now... now that little bit of fear only made him more excited. He wanted Rayne even more then he had earlier, the need seemed to thrum in his blood, making him heedless of anything else. 

He slid his hands up to Rayne's waist, pulling him slightly forward, and licked a warm wet line up the underside of his shaft. 

Cool, long-fingered hands moved almost mechanically to cup his face and the singer's smile grew more proprietary as he stroked them into Xavier's tangled blond hair, caressing the boy's scalp. His green eyes moved up to meet Clay's anxious, defensive stare. Slowly and appreciatively he licked his lips, and the smile grew wider as Xavier's clever tongue and warm, quick breathing stimulated him to full readiness. "That feels 'so' good," Rayne exhaled in a low, tremulous voice. 

Xavier hummed his pleasure around his mouthful, his hands urging Rayne closer towards the bed. As Rayne came forward, Xav pushed himself slowly back on his hands and knees, never breaking contact. The position put an enticing temptation right in front of Clay's face, but Xav was fully occupied with working his suckling lips down to the base of Rayne's cock. 

He opened his throat and took him in all the way, moving up and down on him rhythmically. An occasional short wave of dizziness rolled over him, easily ignored in the face of his mounting desire. 

"I don't know what you're getting so upset about," Rayne murmured to Barclay in that fragile, husky voice that told the older man his stunning English friend was becoming uncontrollably aroused. Rayne Wylde nodded down towards Xavier who was still greedily gulping him down. " 'He's' not upset. He seems to quite like it, in fact. Uuuuuhhhh!!" 

The singer shuddered, dropping to his knees on the edge of the bed and twisting a hank of blond hair slowly around his fingers as he began to buck steadily into Xavier's open mouth, entranced by his earnest, hungry face. He closed his eyes, still getting little emotional aftershocks from the boy, enhanced by this powerful physical connection; the mingling of Xav's saliva and his semen. When his green eyes opened they were staring back at Clay, wide and unblinking, like firelit jewels in the paleness of his face. 

"Fuck him," Rayne whispered urgently. "He wants you to mount him and screw his arsehole hard!" 

"Jesus!" Clay exhaled incredulously, shaking his head a little. His cock was stiffening traitorously though, tempted by the firm golden peaches swaying seductively before him.

Xavier's fingers tightened perceptibly on Rayne's hips, and he gave a soft moan when Clay's warm hand touched his cool skin. Little sounds of encouragement vibrated in his throat as that hand stroked over the curve of his backside and up and down his flanks. He shivered as his cheeks were parted and he felt the smooth pressure of that thick, lubricated cock at his opening. A whimper escaped as the head of Clay's thick phallus pushed slowly past his tight ring, and he had to come up off Rayne when Clay gave him more. 

That was one big boy hammering down his back door. Clay inched forward and Xavier groaned with the burn and stretch, struggling to accommodate him. The mix of pleasure and pain didn't dampen his hunger any and he wrapped his tongue and lips around Rayne again, just as soon as he could control his muscles. 

Clay reached for the lube once more as the boy's tight ring gripped him in its hot embrace. He pulled out, ignoring the little whimper of disappointment from the sexy blond. Slowly he squeezed a glob of gel into the boy's gaping hole, working the cooling wetness into his clenching passage with his sex. He took his time, easing his rod in and out a couple of inches either way, letting the Astroglide do its work. When he lifted his head, Rayne was watching him with half-hooded eyes, his body completely relaxed and his long fingers flexing in Xavier's damp blond hair as the boy's mouth drew greedily on his hard cock. The blond's slim, naked hips rocked back and forth, keeping time. 

"Enjoy it," Clay growled at the singer. "When I'm done with this little honey, your ass is next!" 

"You won't have the strength, old man!" Wylde teased huskily. He looked down at Xavier, waiting for the boy's eyes to meet his own. The words didn't leave his lips but he thought; 'Are you okay with this?' 

Xavier had stopped wondering what was going on. The question that whispered in his head with Rayne's voice was just one more layer of weirdness he wasn't going to try and figure out. The only trouble was, he didn't know how to answer, not with words anyway. Instead Rayne got a soft wave of emotions; fire, heat, wanting, the feel of being impaled on that enormous rod, the salty taste of his own cum on the boy's tongue, the sweet musk of his scent in Xav's nose. 

The dark and wounded things lay deep and silent and un-bothersome at the moment. There was only the aching need between his legs and the desire to push Rayne back up and over that edge of pleasure again. 'Yes, he was perfectly all right with this'. 

The singer kept his hands on Xavier's blond head. Somehow the slow caressing touch on his skin helped him to feel his young lover's pleasure and to share it. The boy's arousal was like an itch deep inside that he ached to scratch. Clay's slow, deep, bearlike growls of satisfaction rumbled in his chest. Over all of that Xavier's need trickled like water from a spring, bubbling and teasing inside him until he thought that, had he been a mere human, he would probably have been finding it very hard to breathe right now.

As it was, his fangs were already proving an inconvenience. He didn't mean to scare anyone but try as he might he could never hold them in check when he was aroused. It was becoming a total pain in the arse! Now he drew his lips between his teeth and bit down hard on them in an effort to make the bloody things retract. His own watery blood appeased them slightly but the pull of Xavier's lips on his sensitive flesh and the sight of Barclay's long, thick, mahogany tool sinking deeper between the dancer's firm golden cheeks with every thrust drove him to the edge of reason. Rayne moaned like a creature in pain and the sanguine fluids trickled from the corners of his mouth until he could only feel disgusted with himself. He turned his face away, feeling no better than an animal. Frustration gnawed at him and would not let go. His fingers tightened in Xavier's hair and he pulled the young man's pretty face roughly into his bucking crotch, holding him there as his cock jumped violently in the boy's mouth and released its worthless seed.




Dark Paths Ch. 02



Xavier only just managed not to choke on the load delivered into his throat. He swallowed quickly as Rayne relented and let him come up a little. For a half a second he felt the bed move with gently rolling waves and the salty smell of the ocean filled his head, so oddly disorientating because he'd never been on a boat in his life. A wave of frustration, regret, and pleasure hit him like a fist and he lifted his mouth off of Rayne in a wordless cry; the echo of that pleasure spilling from his mate, firing off his own trigger. His body clenched and shuddered through the orgasm, spilling in creamy ropes onto the covers beneath him.

Clay pulled him close and pushed deep, riding the waves of the blond boy's climax with a sequence of low, animalistic grunts as Xavier's tightening body milked him, squeezing and pulling on his sensitive tool until the sounds in his throat became one long groan of guttural pleasure. His balls clenched fiercely, sending hot, erotic fireworks flashing through his body from his crotch and he hosed the sexy youngster's innards over and over, grinding his hot groin in slow circles against Xavier's smooth, golden ass. His fingers tugged the young man against him rhythmically and he felt the sexy little dancer grip him, again and again, then release suddenly and sink down into the tumbled bedclothes.

Rayne Wylde bent down over him, kissing the back of his neck and murmuring softly to him. The huskiness of the singer's voice told Clay that he had already come hard in the boy's mouth. The big, black porn star felt his heart soften as he watched Rayne stroking Xavier's lean body. He remembered a time when the singer had been younger than Xav, wide-eyed and somewhat in awe of Barclay and his well-hung friends. That naiveté had been short-lived but so sweet while it lasted. For a moment he saw a mirror of that touching sweetness in the way these two looked at one another. It soothed his heart and eased some of his anxieties.

End of Chapter Two

© Sadie Rose Bermingham & Bellora Quinn 2007/8



Dark Paths Ch. 03



CHAPTER THREE -- A NEW MORNING

© Sadie Rose Bermingham & Bellora Quinn, 2008 

 "Welcome to Part Three of 'Dark Paths' the continuing evolution of Rayne & Xavier's passionate and bloody relationship. Many Thanks to all the people who've taken time to let us know how they feel about the story. You keep us going.

"The usual copyright restrictions apply. All words belong to Sadie and Bellora (with the exception of the lyrics to 'Shake That' which are the intellectual property of Marshall B Mathers III, Nathaniel D Hale, Steven Lee King and Luis Edgrado Resto - © songs of universal inc. & shroom shady music, 2005). No unauthorised reproduction or redistribution of this material is allowed, in any format. Ask, or incur our wrath (and as our partners will probably tell you, our wrath is not a thing to be lightly incurred or easily recovered from!!) 

"Enjoy!!" 

*

Xavier woke in a pile of warm blankets feeling slightly hung over. Which was weird because he hadn't been drinking last night. Still, he was dehydrated as hell, his tongue felt glued to the roof of his mouth. The thought of a tall glass of icy orange juice was enough to send a shiver down his spine. A glance to either side showed he was alone in the room. 

Disentangling himself from the covers he also noticed he was sticky with dried sweat and other fluids. Fortunately he already knew where the shower was. Getting there, on the other hand, proved alarmingly difficult. Blood loss and getting fucked raw all night had taken quiet a bit out of him. Still, he was young and healthy and the hot water pouring over his body quickly revived him. 

Soapy white lines trailed down his golden skin and rinsed down the drain. His sore ass reminded him he'd definitely played the roll of slutty twink to perfection. Damn Clay and his big dick anyway, he could keep that monster to himself. He shut the water off and got out, drying himself with one of those big fluffy towels in front of the mirror. Lifting his chin to one side he looked at his throat. There were two barely noticeable dimples in his skin; he had to look hard to even see them. No bruising, not even a hickey! That was something anyway, after Rayne had treated him like a friggin' Red Cross Happy Meal. 

Xavier stopped his thoughts short and looked in the mirror. Where the hell was all this grumpy crap coming from? He hardly ever indulged in getting down on himself. He wasn't a brooder. He finished drying himself, pulled a comb through his drying curls and then walked back out into the bedroom. 

Leather was never comfortable first thing in the morning, but he didn't feel right going through someone else's drawers so he wriggled back into his pants, the leather instantly moulding to him like a second skin. He left the fishnet shirt and boots on the floor and wandered downstairs barefoot, following his nose toward the kitchen. By the time he got there he didn't want OJ any more, he was craving strong black coffee

The kitchen - source of the aroma that drew him on - was set within a large, airy, open-plan breakfast room with the utilities and steel fronted cabinets at one end and a balcony with a view down to the (currently mist-shrouded) waters of the Bay at the other. The textured grey tiles were warm underfoot, as if heated from somewhere below. The white, vaulted ceiling and walls arched up over his head, twinkling with recessed lights that gave the whole room its bright aspect. 

A young Latino man was currently at work on the griddle, flipping eggs and frying bacon and other variously delicious smelling things. He was naked, from the low waistband of his pale blue jeans up, with a long black pony-tail and an impressive tan. Clay was at the coffee maker, a glass and chrome contraption as large as a suitcase that looked like a futuristic nuclear powerstation in miniature. He was fully dressed in pale slacks and an open shirt and looking infuriatingly fresh considering the exertions of the previous night. Wetness from the shower still glinted in his close cropped, ivory hair and he was whistling cheerfully.

On the balcony in a comfortable looking leather wing chair was an older man clad in a knee-length white towel robe. He was lean and solemn faced with long, salt and pepper hair drawn back in a loose bunch at the nape of his neck. Currently the newspapers open across his lap claimed his full attention. A pair of golden, wire-framed glasses perched on the prow of his impressive nose. 

Of the singer, Rayne Wylde there was no sign at all. 

Xavier moved from the arched doorway into the room. 

"Good morning," he said to Clay, causing him to turn and look over his shoulder. A small somewhat hesitant smiled touched Xav's lips. Morning was always a tricky time. He'd had declarations of love, propositions from sugar daddies, and been told to get the fuck out before wives or girlfriends got home; the last more often then not. He didn't really expect that from Clay, but you never knew. If he was about to get tossed out he hoped he'd at least be able to snag a cup of coffee first, and breakfast smelled damn good.

"Hey honey!" the muscular black guy greeted him with what looked like a genuine smile. "Don't 'you' look great in the morning? You want breakfast or just something to drink while you check out Chavez's ass?" 

He winked at the young Latino who seemed to be in charge of food. The lean, firmly muscled youth at the griddle blew him a kiss without missing a flip.

The bit of tension in Xavier's shoulders eased and his smile grew a little more relaxed. "Coffee would be great," he said, coming further into the room. The guy at the grill looked up casually, then back down at the food but his head came quickly back up for a longer look. Xavier tried not to smirk as he took the proffered mug from Clay. 

"Thanks." He sipped tentatively, then drank deeper as the rich flavour of dark roast slid over his tongue. Xavier sighed appreciatively. Dappled morning light streamed in though the window, playing off the highlights of gold in his dark blond hair and sliding over his smooth skin. Not even a hint of shadow touched his cheeks and the only thing that saved him from looking like total jailbait right at that moment was the cut little body he sported and the cocky confidence he wore like a badge of honour. 

Chavez the chef seemed to appreciate it for sure. He was not the only one discreetly checking Xavier out though. From the balcony he now became aware of the steely blue eyes watching him contemplatively over the lip of the San Francisco Chronicle. The face that framed that watchful gaze was one of those ageless visages that could have belonged to a man of forty or eighty. The fading colours of his long, straight hair suggested an older man but there was a twinkle in his eyes that belied it right away. 

Those blue eyes only left Xavier's face when Clay returned to the table and set down a bowl-sized cup of black coffee by the fellow's right hand. Xavier's bed mate bent and kissed the top of the older man's head, murmuring something briefly to him as he released the cup and saucer. The older guy, whose build still vaguely hinted that once there had been a fairly buff and well-worked body beneath his loose robe, now lifted a hand to touch Clay's cheek affectionately before returning his attention to Xavier. 

"Don't stand there like a stork," he said at last, beckoning to the blond boy. His accent carried faint traces of Ireland and Europe, interwoven with a Bay Area drawl. "You're making my neck ache. Come and sit down, let's get a better look at you."

Clay was already taking a seat to the fellow's left, with his back to the balcony railing and he pushed the opposite chair back towards Xavier with his foot now in a lazy approximation of an invite.

Xavier stepped outside with his coffee in hand. The air held just a bit of crispness this morning, tightening his skin and making his smooth nipples into little pebbles. He sat in the offered chair and set the mug down. Putting one elbow on the table so he could rest his chin on his palm he gazed at the older man with sexy half-lidded eyes. 

"Getting a better look?" His lips curled; not exactly flirtatious, just knowing. 

"I could look at you all day, Baby," the older man assured him with a smile that was just as calculating as Xavier's. "You're a sight for sore eyes." 

He sat back, folding his paper and resting it on the corner of the table. Long, tanned fingers pushed his glasses up into his salt and pepper hair. 

"I've seen you before," he said at last. "You dance at... Switchbacks is it? You're a great little mover." 

Clay was grinning like the Cheshire Cat behind a glass of fresh juice. 

That actually managed to surprise Xavier. He wasn't sure quite how to respond but was saved from having to do so as Chavez brought out a large tray piled high with food. He set it down in the centre of the table and placed plates and silverware in front of everyone. 

"Help yourself, sweetheart." Clay said. "Keep your strength up." He winked conspiratorially. 

Xav was not shy when it came to food. He had a bottomless pit for a stomach and kept pace with Clay no problem, eating as much as the much larger man. When he finally slowed down to nibbling on a piece of toast Clay had to chuckle. "Were you on the verge of starvation, or do you eat like that all the time?" 

Xavier shrugged, "If I don't eat like that I start dropping pounds. The customers want to look at cut, not scrawny." He took another little bite of toast and dropped the crust back on the plate. "Um, where did Rayne go, by the way?" he asked, licking the traces of butter from his fingers.

The other two men exchanged a knowing look. Clay reached for some more toast and the bowl of kedgeree in order to avoid having to actually speak. His companion just smiled and shook his head. 

"Mizz Wylde is a law unto herself," he said mysteriously. I believe she had an appointment this morning. Something to do with a TV show?" He looked a question at Clay, who shrugged roundly, mouth still full. 

"Uhuhh," he answered ambiguously.

The older man held out his hand at last. 

"We haven't been introduced," he said with an apologetic smile. "I'm PJ... or Paddy, I don't mind which. This is my house and a part of my film studio. Rayne is staying with me while he's in Frisco... 'if' you were thinking of hanging around 'til he comes back?"



Xavier wandered around the room slowly; nothing else to do at the moment. He'd been given leave to do what he liked, watch TV, listen to the stereo, whatever. Right now he was just checking things out. Whoever PJ's designer was had good taste. Dark wood floors, over sized furniture in cream and brown with gold and blue accents, nice art on the walls, no cheap shit. Everything spotlessly clean. 

The plasma screen took up nearly the whole of one wall, the rest of the electronics were discreetly tucked away behind panelling and glass doors. The speakers must be hidden in the walls somewhere. Very neat! 

He turned when he heard the soft pad of feet coming into the room. Not who he expected; Chavez smiled at him, even white teeth brilliant against his tanned skin. 

"Just checking if you need anything." 

"Nope." 

Chavez sat on the arm of the couch, watching Xavier as he resumed his slow meander about the room. "Barclay says you're staying a while." 

Xavier glanced at him but didn't say anything.

"Do you want me to send someone to pick up a few things, something else to wear?" the young Latino enquired, the polite edge to his voice suggesting that this had maybe been someone else's idea.

Xav looked down at himself, bare except for the tight leather pants. "Don't like what I've got on?" he asked dryly. 

Chavez grinned. "You can walk around naked for all I care, only thinking of your comfort, man." 

"Hmm, I suppose I should go get a few things." 

"You can go shopping if you want, I'm sure Barclay wouldn't mind if..." 

"No thanks." Xavier cut him off flatly. 

Chavez only grinned wider at that. "No need to be proud, man." 

"Nope, I'm just not a whore." 

Chavez snorted softly, but the smile he gave him was a little more genuine. "You clean?" 

Xavier stopped his wandering and turned to face him. "I look like a junkie to you?" 

"Maybe. Hard to tell sometimes." 

It was Xavier's turn to snort, but he answered; "Yeah, I'm clean. Not that you should believe me if I wasn't."

Chavez grinned at him, unfazed. "Well, I don't believe nothin' til I seen the tests, but Clay trusts you well enough to do you bareback. But then if you take a guy you've only just met without a rubber there's some that would say you're asking for an invite to hell... or lookin' to dish it out!" He fished a set of keys from the pocket of his snug jeans and twirled them around his index finger adding as an afterthought; "Is PJ right? Are you a dancer?"

Xavier arched a brow at him, "Now, why is it that you know such intimate little details, but not the big ones, I wonder?" No answer seemed forthcoming, but he did manage to make those dark eyes look a little uncertain. "Yeah, I work at a club. Let's go!"  

~~

Xavier gave directions as Chavez drove. The little motel dive he'd been holing up in for the last couple days looked even more bleak in the bright light of day. At least the car was less likely to disappear from the lot. Chavez looked like he didn't want to get too comfortable while Xavier went about stuffing some things into a bag. 

"Nice place." Chavez said dryly. 

"It's temporary." 

Back in the car Xav pulled out his cell and listened to the messages that had piled up. Josh had left a dozen; everything from pleading to threatening to taunting. He deleted them all and put the phone away. His mood had shifted though, and he was quiet and pensive during the drive back. 

"You okay, man?" Chavez asked him at last, stroking his fingers distractedly around the tactile swell of the gear-shift on PJ's convertible Lexus SC 430 as he stared ahead through the tinted lenses of his shades. "I wasn't meaning to run you down over the room or anything. We all been through lean times, y'know? If you need a hand up..." 

He left the invitation open, perhaps remembering how defensive Xav had been about the offer to go shopping. All the same he glanced at the blond beside him with a quick, reassuring smile.

Xavier turned his head slowly to look at him. "I picked the rat hole because I got kicked out of where I was staying, and just haven't decided what I want to do yet, not because I can't afford better," he said evenly. "I already told you, I'm not for rent, an' I didn't try an' hustle your friends." 

Chavez shrugged. "Okay man." 

Xavier sighed tiredly. The little dimple marks on the side of his throat itched and he rubbed them. He got the oddest sensation, sort of like a mix between sexual desire and wanting a fix... that same kind of craving, that made it hard to concentrate on anything else. He hadn't had that feeling in a long time, and it made him a little twitchy. He took his hand away from the bite mark and the feeling died down a bit. 

They rode in silence for a while, then Chavez asked, "That one that left all the messages, he the one that kicked you out?" It had been hard not to listen, the angry voice had been pretty loud while Xavier checked his 'phone. 

"No. He's the 'reason' I got kicked out," Xavier answered miserably. "Stupid bastard." 

"What happened?" 

Xavier gave him a look. "Are you always so damn nosy?" 

Chavez gave him that unfazed look and Xavier had the feeling it made a lot of people want to just smack the shit out of him. 

He put his hand on his chin and looked out the window. "It's a long story. Don't know exactly what happened. Josh and I have history, but I dumped him. He showed up at the club a couple days ago, said he wanted to talk. I think he must have slipped me something, I don't know. He says I asked him for it. I woke up at his place and my whole world was fucked. Everybody's pissed at me." 

The Hispanic guy tapped his fingers lightly on the steering wheel as if listening to an inner tune. He shook his head slowly, still watching the traffic. 

"Were you... with someone, in a relationship? Is that what he fucked over?" he asked carefully. "Is that why you weren't playing safe with Barclay and Wylde last night? You figured you'd nothing to lose?" 

Xavier did the slow head turn again and looked at Chavez. He didn't glance back at him this time, just kept his eyes on the road. 

Xavier sighed. "Yeah, I was with someone. I've been with Kat for almost three years. Never cheated on her, stayed clean." He chewed his thumbnail absently. "I didn't know what happened with Josh, I couldn't deny what I couldn't remember. So, she dumped me. I thought maybe I would just let her cool off, go back and try an' explain." Xavier snorted derisively. "It took me a few days to figure out that I hadn't just decided to take a little trip on my own. I was gonna call Katya and try and talk to her but before I did Josh really fucked things up for me. That motherfucker took pictures of us, of 'me', of what I did that night, off my head, with a bunch of other guys. He sent them to her, and she blocked my calls." He sighed again, resigned. "So, she won't have anything to do with me, and that dumb fuck keeps calling thinkin' I'm gonna go running back to him or something." He turned to look out the window again, falling quiet for a moment. "Could be worse I guess. I went and got tested, poked, prodded and cultured. Least they didn't give me nothing." 

The Hispanic youth nodded his head thoughtfully. He did not seem riled by Xavier's response though and only mused; "Yeah, I figured something like that. I'm not judgin' you man. But you wouldn't be the first. I'm not worried for Wylde; that dude thinks he's fuckin' immortal. Batshit crazy, if you ask me! But Clay's my buddy, I owe him my life and I don't wanna think some kid's gonna mess him up. Maybes you'll find out if you choose to stick around, but we look out for one another at PJ's. 'kay?"



The cab took Rayne Wylde down to the Embarcadero and he walked back up from there towards the Channel 7 studios on Front Street, mostly because he needed to clear his head after the hectic events of the previous day. He had spent nearly twenty minutes in the shower this morning, just letting the hot water stream over him, washing away the stickiness of last night's urgent, fabulous sex. Harder to shift was the lingering awareness of the young dancer's fragmented memories. He was still shuddering as he got out of the shower cubicle and roughly towelled himself down. The boy's recollections had triggered his own dark thoughts of his youth and Brian; memories he thought he had buried firmly when he became a vampire but that still surfaced to trouble him from time to time. 

At least the early sunlight was bright and warm this morning, maybe the walk would heat his blood up and instil some positive vibes. He could not let the past weigh him down today. It had been a long time since he was last on TV; this concession would cheer up the Board at SOLD who were about to release a retrospective Whipsnade B-side collection; Destiny Reversed. The band had already vetoed the idea of a singles collection, viewing it as a sign that they were irrevocably over. Destiny Reversed was their compromise position. Not that any of them seemed particularly interested in getting off their arses to promote it. Oh no, that was all Rayne's job, or so it seemed. 

This morning he would do a short interview for one of the ABC media shows and record a couple of solo Whipsnade flip-sides. He didn't really mind. It might even be a bit of a laugh. Hardly anyone in the USA knew who Whipsnade were in any case!

Lan, a cheerful Sino-American boy with narrow hips and sleek, indigo coloured hair, took Rayne up to the recording studio, cooing enthusiastically over his long, tailored, black-velvet McQueen coat. In make-up a teenage girl named Chelsea messed with his floppy, sable hair and gushed endlessly about his 'fabulous skin'. His eyes flickered restlessly from her copper curls to her perky, braless tits. Chelsea's nipples were like ball-bearings under the fine material of her tight, low-cut magenta jersey. They rose and fell before his eyes every time she paused for breath and he wondered idly what they would taste like. 




Dark Paths Ch. 03



Consequently his dick was half-hard behind the hemline of his fitted black shirt as he perched on a stool in the glass walled studios to get the feel of the borrowed guitar. Rayne only partly-listened to the sound engineer explaining what a ball ache it had been to get hold of a left-hand strung Fender at such short notice. He retuned it twice by ear as the fellow rambled on and strummed through a few partly remembered melodies. The familiar vibration against his thigh did nothing to alleviate his hard-on. 

A silky voice spoke in his ear, asking if he was ready and he blinked, conscious of a sudden prickle of energy that raced through his skin, raising the fine hairs on the back of his neck and forearms like a warning signal. He lifted his head at once, searching out the creature that had triggered his defences. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't human!

Mahogany coloured eyes looked back at him, dark and fathomless. One ebony brow lifted ever so slightly, as if Rayne had just done a curious trick. The soft mobile looking lips smiled, though there was something hard and artificial in the expression. The face the smile belonged to was smooth and youthful but a strong jaw and less than delicate brows and cheekbones kept him from being a pretty boy. 'Gorgeous', but definitely not pretty. 

~~

"Are you ready?" the vampire repeated, the slight smile on his lips now slightly mocking. He'd known what Rayne Wylde was since the singer hit town. After the business with Khaled Zelarin in London, most of the world's Undead knew of Jabez Everman's only surviving Fledgling. The only reason he hadn't immediately detained Wylde was because he knew the Englishman would eventually come to him, and because Wylde was a youngster as his kind measured time. Fledgling vampires were still almost human; they often didn't understand Undead society or even respect their Elders in this day and age. Such respect had to be taught and was often learned the hard way. Cole Lagrado looked forward to Rayne Wylde's first lesson at his hands.

~~

Rayne bristled like a small, feral cat defending its patch. His pale green eyes did not blink as he stared back at the being that made his skin prickle and his teeth itch. A few years ago he might have made the mistake of thinking that this was just another handsome, charismatic media mogul looking for an easy ride but time and experience had taught him to read the warning signs. He was far better attuned to the resonance of other Undead beings now. Just because this one looked civilised it didn't necessarily mean he played by the rules. 

The younger vampire ran his fingers up and down the fret-board of his borrowed instrument almost like a child with a comforter. They formed instinctive chord shapes and he coaxed a ripple of sound from the Fender without lowering his gaze for a moment. Even with an audience he was not about to turn his back on the creature that stared at him like a he was an intriguing new plaything. He knew from past encounters just how lethal complacency could be. 

"I'm ready," he answered; outwardly cool, although the tightness in his gut told another story. 

The older vampire gave a small nod of his head, but instead of moving away he stepped closer to the glass partition wall that separated them, resting his hands against it lightly. 

"I hope you enjoyed the club last night." His voice was warm and genuine-sounding, even as he indirectly let Rayne know that his every move was being watched. "Come see me when you're finished here. Ask for Mr. Lagrado. They'll direct you." He gestured dismissively towards his human entourage then turned and left the studio without a backward look. 

For a moment the singer stared into the empty space where he had been, not sure whether he had just been issued with an invitation or an order. Then the floor manager was counting him in and he let the music take over. His fingers worked the strings deftly and he dropped back into the song, putting everything else to the back of his mind as the words to 'Hoodlum Lovesong' rose instinctively to his lips. He improvised the elaborate middle eight, chuckling inwardly as he imagined how his fellow songwriter, Sean Courtney, would berate him for ruining his perfect guitar solo. 

Rayne's singing voice was husky from lack of use and instead of 'Life's Perfect Victim', which had been the band's only number one single (even though he personally hated it) he moved from the understated urban beauty of 'Hoodlum' into the quiet gothic splendour of 'Dark Paths'. Bizarrely the huge Whipsnade show opener worked nicely as a subtle unplugged number. It felt more like poetry when he played it this way. 

He was thinking of the shards of memory he had gleaned from Xavier's head last night as they surged on the bed together; the strange, pure recollection of the boy masturbating furiously to these words, spilling his seed to a paean on bloodletting and self-abuse. It seemed profoundly appropriate.

When he wound it up there was a ripple of quiet applause from the crew. The sound-editor was less impressed and asked if he knew anything more cheerful. Rayne winked at him, unperturbed, and winged a punky version of Beyonce's 'Crazy In Love' by way of response.

The interview that followed was pure pop trash and he could do it in his sleep. The glossy girl reporter flirted with him shamelessly and he enjoyed himself, teasing her. 

"Are Whipsnade planning a reunion tour?" 

"Not unless hell's frozen over and no one told me!"

"Are you gonna record solo?" 

"No one else wants to work with me, so I guess so!"

"Do you have a girlfriend, right now?"

"Not 'right now'. Why? Interested?"

He had almost forgotten about the post-interview appointment with the mysterious Señor Lagrado until he was making his way back down to the foyer once the show was in the can. A hand rested lightly on his arm and he turned to see cute little Lan looking at him with a gleam in his dark, oriental eyes. 

"Mr Cole will see you before you go," he said, leaving no space for argument in that statement. "His office is just through here."

Rayne thought about just making a run for it but his curiosity was already piqued. He followed Lan through a dark, varnished wooden doorway into a room that seemed to belong to another building. The modern glass and sleek design ended abruptly at the door, replaced by heavy dark wood and leather furniture. The lighting was dim; thick curtains hung over the room's only windows. 

Lagrado was seated behind what was, no doubt, an antique desk. He was also not the only Vampire in the room. Two more, one male, one female lounged about; the way their eyes tracked Rayne's every move belying their apparently casual disinterest. 

Lan closed the door behind Rayne and made his way over to Lagrado, sitting on the floor beside him with a cheerful, utterly uncoerced look on his face. The vampire stroked his fingers through the boy's hair absently, as if he was a favoured pet. 

"Have a seat, Mr. Wylde." Lagrado's smooth purr broke the silence in the room. Rayne glanced quickly from his host to the pair who flanked him. They both looked immaculately groomed and well fed, like a pair of huge, contented lap cats. He wondered if they had ever learned to hunt for themselves or if Lagrado lured the food in for them to keep them loyal. From the expression on young Lan's face the boy had no qualms about his role. Unless, of course, he did not know what his employers were. 

It was beyond the singer how anyone could fail to sense that these creatures were Undead, but the boy was a pretty airhead. Maybe he just liked being a plaything for a rich, older lover. He would not be the first.

Rayne folded his arms across his chest and smiled thinly as his gaze returned to Cole Lagrado. The smile did not reach his cool, green eyes. 

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather stand," he said in an even voice. 

'All the better to run like fuck!' added the sarcastic little voice in his head. He ignored it. 

Lagrado smiled, without flashing any hint of fang. 

"Are you enjoying your stay in our city?" he asked, in such a way as to imply the city itself, and all its inhabitants belonged to him. 

Rayne managed not to smirk. Jabez had told him often enough not to offer insolence to his Elders but in his short and eventful Unlife he had been bounced off walls by bigger and meaner Vamps than this one. Being a cheeky little bastard had always been second nature to him. 

"Oh yeah, I usually do," he replied sweetly. "It's such a great place to have fun, after all. So many... temptations. More than enough for everyone, yeah?"

The Ancient chuckled, low and warm; sounding very human. 

"Insolent..." the woman to his right observed in a bare whisper; no hint in her tone of whether she was disapproving or amused. She watched Rayne with glittering, dark eyes. 

"Perhaps, Patrice." Cole Lagrado said blandly. 

The Vampiress turned her head toward her Master, tilting her dainty chin. 

"You are not going to punish him?" Definitely there was disappointment in her tone now. 

"Tch... he is a guest." Lagrado stood slowly, dismissing her argument. "I agree, Mr. Wylde, plenty of temptations. That little dancer that took your fancy, for instance." He flowed around his desk; the languid movements were effortlessly casual. "However, some would argue whether there is more than enough," he said without inflection, leaning back against the edge and smiling at Rayne again. This time, the hint of a sharp canine flashed between his lips. "Some here are also 'old fashioned' about hospitality." He lifted his hand and gestured airily, "I won't bore you with the details concerning territories and agreements... suffice it to say you've already stepped on toes, albeit perhaps unwittingly." 

The smiled slipped from his face and the dark eyes that looked back at Rayne were flat and cold as a shark's. "I suggest you keep your stay short, and confine your feeding to your 'own' entourage." The smile came back, at the flick of some inner switch. "Of course, if you don't have anyone 'suitable' with you, we can offer you certain choices." 

Rayne's eyes widened briefly at the obvious allusion to Xavier. He wanted to ask how this creep knew about his connection with the dancer but the warning lights flashing in his head kept his lips sealed for the moment. If it was just 'him' they were watching there was no need to drag anyone else into this just yet. 

He had known Vamps like this in London. Or, at least, he had before Jabez sorted them all out and established the current pecking order. Coming up against Lagrado now, without his Sire to cover his back, was something of a shock but he kept his cool. Just about! 

"I've got a bit of business to see to out here," he answered casually. "Can't just drop it and run back to London with no good reason. Not that I would, anyway! I, umm... appreciate your hospitality though," he added with a wry, self-conscious smile. He pulled himself up to his full height, all the while conscious that the older Vampire was still effortlessly taller. Not for the first time Rayne cursed his wretched genes. 

"Good." Cole made a slight gesture with his hand and the boy bounced to his feet as if he was on an invisible string. "Lan will show you out then." 

The door was opened; the interview over. Summoned and dismissed, just like that. 

Rayne was actually at the door when the mental controls that had kicked in automatically to prevent him making a scene and, potentially, a complete tit of himself were over-ridden by a sudden twinge of curiosity.

"Just a minute..." he said, glancing back over one shoulder at the assembled Vamps, who were still grouped by the desk like an ensemble shoot for the Addams Family movies. "You said I'd stepped on someone's toes. Would you care to let me know exactly what I'm supposed to have done?" He pressed a smile into service although he was conscious that his fangs were extending slowly. Irritation always did that to him. "I'd hate to think I was 'accidentally' offending someone."

Lagrado's expression was the patient, slightly patronising mask of a parent explaining politics to a child. "You can equate it to trespassing and poaching, Mr. Wylde. Each city has a Master, some more then one. Believe me, as soon as a strange Vampire enters their territory they will know. If the stranger does not seek them out within the first night it is considered... impolite."

For a moment or so, Rayne was utterly still, his body language completely neutral, his face providing no clues to his mood or his thoughts. Only his eyes betrayed the irritation Lagrado's remark had fired up in him. The icy green of his gaze darkened briefly as he considered his words. It was tempting to tell this pompous arsehole just where he could stick his territorial rights but he could guess that he probably would not walk out of this building undamaged if that happened. 

At last he flashed a faint smile that did not reach his eyes. 

"Well, I've found you now," he said coolly, although his blood was running hot in his veins. "You must forgive me, I'm a foreigner. We do things a bit differently back home."

His host returned a smile just as cold. "Of course." 

Lan grabbed Rayne's hand. His own felt warm and nervous as he tugged Rayne out the door after him. 

The singer had no desire to hang around, but he took his time, determined not to let them see they had rattled his nerves nearly as badly as the boy's. His fingers curled tightly around the small, hot hand in his own as they descended to the foyer and walked to the main doors. 

"I know that all music industry execs are notorious bloodsuckers," he said in a low voice as they reached the exit, resisting the young man's strenuous attempts to pull free. "But trust me, hanging around with those creeps up there is gonna seriously shorten your life-expectancy, Lan sweetheart."

So saying, he drew the boy's fingers to his lips, kissed them very briefly and let him go. As he passed out through the glass doors the breeze caught his hair and the tails of his long black coat and made them flutter like ragged banners proclaiming his freedom. Rayne Wylde strode down the steps and back out onto the street with a look on his face that boded ill for anyone that crossed him. 



Back at PJ's Chavez showed Xavier where he could put his stuff. No one seemed to be around yet, but that wasn't exactly unusual. Apparently Chavez either didn't mind keeping him company or had been assigned the task and didn't know how to refuse it gracefully, Xavier wasn't sure which. He also asked a lot of questions. Some of them Xav didn't mind answering, others he avoided. His companion must have sensed Xav was getting annoyed with the twenty questions routine though, and switched tactics. He asked Xavier to dance for him. 

"What? You want to see the stage show, or you want a lap dance?" Xavier asked with a little knowing smirk. 

"Both! Whatever you want, man." 

Xavier fussed a bit over picking out the music, selecting some of his lighter routines; standard club shit, meant to get blood pumping and the crowd turned on. He stepped through JT's 'Sexback' like a slick modern Gene Kelly, then switched to smooth and cool gansta mode through 'Shake Your Money Maker'. It was easy enough to keep Chaez entertained; he knew how to cater to his audience though. He pulled Chavez off the couch when the thumping strains of Eminem's 'Shake That' came though the speakers. 

Chavez was shaking his head and laughing that he couldn't dance like that, but that was OK with Xavier because this routine was meant to be more funny than sexy. 

He pantomimed most of the song, switching between the roles of Eminem, Nate Dogg, and the stripper with such ease and professionalism, it was hilarious to watch. 

'There She Go, Bumpin and Grindin That Pole...' Chavez got to be the stripper pole while Xav did the bump and grind. 

'Shake That Ass For Me, C'mon Girl Shake That Ass For Me...' and Xav grabbed Chavez's hips and made him shake it a bit making him laugh. 

'Now I Hope You Don't Get Mad At Me But I Told Nate You Was A Freak, He Said He Wants A Slut, Hope You Don't Mind I Told Him How You Like It From Behind...' Xav had timed it so he took a turn around Chavez and ended with his hips pressed to the other man's backside for a second, hands on Chavez's shoulders. Then he moved off again. 

It was funny, Xav played the clown just as easily as he did sexy numbers. He had Chavez holding his stomach laughing by the time the song was over. 

As they chuckled and clung to one another, catching their breath the sound of clapping broke into the lull between tracks and they both looked up with a start. PJ McNamara was leaning in the doorway, sans reading glasses this time, observing the routine with a small smile playing on his generous mouth. 

"Encore!" he exclaimed, throwing up his hands. "You're quite a mover, young man. That warmed my blood, no mistake!"

Xavier watched PJ enter the room with slightly guarded eyes. In Xavier's experience older men with money fell into one of two categories, they were either easy marks, or predators. PJ did not strike him as an easy mark. 

PJ settled himself into an overstuffed chair and Xavier knew which set he wanted to do. He went and changed the CD to the 'Morphine Drip' set. These were all back room songs, Zeph wouldn't let him do them on stage, except one. The melodic tones of 'Dark Paths' seemed to seep out of the speakers and Xavier moved across the floor with it, managing to ooze sex and dark forbidden things in equal measure. 

At the club he had to follow the rules, but he didn't have to worry about that here. PJ got the full show, the way it was supposed to be, hot enough to set the room on fire.

As he writhed and gyrated across the room, the older man never took his eyes of Xavier. His gaze was not that of a hunter, it was the keen, observant stare of a collector or a cataloguer. He was taking on board the moves that the boy made and the way he interpreted the music. PJ's lips twitched slightly as he watched, but not mockingly. He knew the song well and had watched his other house guest move to that same pulsing, sensual rhythm live on the stage on a couple of occasions, but never quite like this! 

Chavez came to sit on the arm of the chair beside him and they exchanged a brief, knowing look now. PJ rested his hand lightly on the Hispanic chef's slim thigh, not in a predatory way but with a genuine sense of companionship. Chavez tugged on his ponytail affectionately. 

"He's hot!" the lad said as the song shuddered to a close. 

His companion nodded; "Very much so!" 

Xavier had stripped out of his shirt during the performance, and stood catching his breath and getting his scattered thoughts back. The song always did strange things to him; made him think of shadowy parts of his life he didn't want to think about and at the same time got him unbearably hot and hard.

Rising to his feet PJ came towards Xavier and rested both hands on the young man's shoulders. He was tall and had clearly once been quite a muscle stud but there was a lean quality to his frame now, a spareness that made his tanned features look slightly aristocratic. His pale blue eyes were curious and kind though.

Xavier stood very still, waiting. He hadn't quite got himself all collected yet and his expression had lost some of its guarded edge. He looked back at PJ with a kind of blankness in his eyes, expectant...pliant. It wasn't quite 'I don't care what happens to me' but very close. Then he shook it off and the cocky smile was back in place and he leaned in a little closer to PJ McNamara. 

"Like the show?"

"Baby, that little performance was just too cruel to put before a dying, old man," the older fellow answered, but softly and not in an accusing way. The Irish brogue was back in his voice now, trickling like a spring. "It put fire in my belly and that's the truth. I've been wanting to come and see you dance ever since Barclay first told me about the show but come the night and I'm never quite well enough, unfortunately. It was sweet of you to bring it to me here. I can surely see what I'm missing now. You make me wish I was twenty years younger again."




Dark Paths Ch. 03



PJ touched the backs of his fingers very softly to Xavier's cheek and shook his head in apparent wonderment.

The cocky grin had slipped, to be replaced with a slightly puzzled frown. "Dying?"

PJ had opened his mouth to answer when he was interrupted by a phenomenal crash from somewhere out in the hall. It sounded as though someone had just ram-raided the front door. Chavez sat up on the arm of the sofa and craned his neck, peering through the window into the expansive front gardens. 

"Car's okay," he said in answer to a question his boss hadn't asked. "Either we're under enemy assault or Wylde's back. Same thing, really!" He shrugged and sank back down again into the embrace of the recently vacated chair.

Several interior doors slammed in quick succession then the double doors to the lounge swung open and the singer burst in looking slightly dishevelled and still wearing his long black coat. He seemed to relax when he saw them though.

"Oh... you're here!" he exhaled looking oddly relieved.

"And where else would we be?" PJ looked mildly amused by this eccentric entrance, not as irate as Xavier supposed anyone else might be if a guest treated his house that way.

"I..." Rayne held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "I dunno... where's Clay?"

"Studio," PJ said returning to the chair and pulling Chavez out of it casually in order to flop down there himself. "Auditioning for the next shoot. You know he likes to watch the auditions."

"I thought you did too," Rayne smiled at him fondly, then his eyes moved curiously to Xavier as if he was wondering what the kid was still doing here. If he 'did' think it, at least he wasn't crude enough to put it into words.

"It's bad for my heart!" PJ declared, laying his hand flat to his chest in a dramatic gesture, though his blue eyes still smiled.

Xavier knew a snub when he saw one. Usually it wouldn't have mattered one bit to him, but it bothered him this time. Mostly because the second Rayne had come through the door the pulse in his throat had started to throb, and that was odd in itself because usually if he had the hots for someone the throbbing was considerably lower. 

Xavier played it cool for the moment though. He snagged his shirt and slipped it back on, then dropped onto the sofa and kicked back. 

It was a little thing but the singer did not miss it. He glanced enquiringly from PJ to the blond and back again.

"You been doing some auditioning of your own while I was out?" he chuckled knowingly. "You dirty old bugger, he's young enough to be your grandson!"

"Or young enough to be one of your not inconsiderable by-blows, honey," the older fellow flashed back dryly. "Except I guess he ain't because he's got too much class for that!"

From his perch on the chair arm, Chavez licked the tip of his finger and scored an invisible point.

Xavier rolled his eyes, not really appreciating being talked about like he wasn't there. However, there 'was' one thing he wanted to clear up; joke or not. 

"That was just some fun, not an audition. I don't need a job." 

"He's teasing, honey," PJ soothed with a genuine smile for the boy. "I don't operate like that. I 'do' like to watch though. Hope you don't mind. And after that dance routine, if you ever 'did' need a job I'd take you on-board right away."

Rayne looked curiously at the older man, an odd little smile playing about his lips but for once he said nothing, merely shrugged off his coat and slung it over the back of the sofa, collapsing there as if he was mortally wounded.

Seeing Rayne suddenly relax, it occurred to Xavier to wonder what had got him so uptight when he stormed though the house a few moments ago. "Why were you so worried about knowing where everyone was?" 

The singer had stretched his arms out along the back of the sofa and let his head roll onto his shoulder to study Xavier thoughtfully. Someone had been watching them at the club the other night, and without Clay's security guy picking up on it! Rayne didn't like the idea of that one bit. Either they had been followed there or Lagrado was being literal when he referred to 'his territory'. Whichever way he was determined to find out.

"Sweetheart, do you know who 'owns' the club where you dance?" he asked more seriously now. 

That was not a question Xavier expected, but he answered anyway. "Zeph runs the place, but the business is owned by a corporation called C.L. Entertainment...why?" Xavier wasn't sure he cared why. He was watching Rayne's half closed sexy eyes and the lazy smile on his lips and wondering if he could get to taste them again.

Those full, pale lips framed the words silently; 'C L Entertainment... C L... Cole Lagrado'. Rayne shook his head slowly, not wanting to get angry in front of the boy. In all probability the staff at the club never had direct dealings with the guys at the top of the food chain (quite literally at the top of the food chain in this respect!) He slumped back into the soft caress of the sofa cushions rubbing the stiff muscles in his neck with a groan. 

"I think I just met your boss," he told Xavier at last.

Xavier wasn't sure quite what to make of that. He was sure he didn't mean Zeph, so that must mean whoever owned Switchbacks. And that still didn't answer the question why Rayne was so anxious to find PJ... make sure he was alight... Xavier glanced over at the older man sitting next to Chavez. Someone threatened him, maybe? But who and why, and what did that have to do with C.L. Entertainment? Or him? All good questions, and all ones Xavier wasn't sure he should ask now. 

He licked his lips with the tip of his tongue. "You don't sound happy about that." He observed.

Rayne looked over at him with an odd sort of smile, almost an unhappy smile, if that was at all possible. He heaved a sigh. 

"The guy struck me as a bit of a creep," he breathed evasively. "I didn't like the idea of you belonging to somebody like that. That's all."

Xavier bit back the automatic reply that he did not belong to anyone. It would only sound like a case of 'the lady doth protest too much'. Besides, he was inordinately pleased that Rayne had thought about him, and that he didn't like the idea of Xav belong to a creep. He forgot all about wondering how Rayne could have connected the guy to the club, or what it had to do with him being worried about PJ's whereabouts. 

With a grin he leaned over and kissed Rayne's forehead. "Very chivalrous." 

Rayne Wylde ran one hand gently up his breastbone in the open neck of Xavier's shirt, taking his time, enjoying the hot, moist feel of the dancer's skin. His fingers caressed the younger man's neck and travelled smoothly back into the sweat-damp curls of his blond hair where they lay against his nape. He tilted his head, studying the faint swell and blush of the two small bite marks he had administered the night before. Curious that. They ought to have healed by now. He drew Xavier down towards him, touching his lips to the marks every so gently, cooling the heat of the boy's skin with his mouth. The area around the bite was almost feverishly hot to his probing tongue. 

That was unusual. Sometimes Feeders liked the sensation of being bitten so much that they took active steps to keep the wounds visible, agitating the skin or even cutting themselves so that they did not heal so quickly. He did not think that Xavier seemed quite so unstable but didn't know how to ask the question on his mind. 

From the armchair, PJ drawled; "Oh for the love of Mike, will you guys just find a room or something. This is mental cruelty!"

Xavier lifted half-closed eyes to Paddy, pupils already slightly dilated, and quirked a grin at him. "Weren't you the one that was just saying how you like to watch?" He wasn't really interested in putting on that much of a show but he had to tease him back a little. 

The singer was lipping wetly at his earlobe now and stroking his hands possessively over the lean, hot, well-muscled body beneath Xavier's shirt. For whatever reason the kid was still here, he was kind of glad. At least here he could keep an eye on him.

"Has he shown you the infamous 'weapon of ass destruction' yet?" Rayne snickered playfully in Xavier's ear, feeling his own sex rise in response to the boy's renewed horniness. "I swear, that's what's killing him! Every time Paddy-boy gets a hard-on the amount of blood it diverts from his other vital organs is enough to bring on a coronary!"

"Doesn't 'anyone' in this house have 'any' respect for his elders?" PJ sighed, shaking his head though there was a mischievous twinkle in his steely blue eyes even so.

"You'd prefer we treat you like a doddering old man?" Xavier asked, though his attention couldn't have been more distracted with Rayne breathing in his ear. Teeth nipped lightly at his earlobe and that just about undid him. A shiver went down his spine and a little sigh of pleasure escaped him. Right then he didn't give a damn who wanted to watch. He turned his head to catch Rayne's lips in a hot kiss.

"Jesus! Kids today, they're so frickin' sharp they could cut 'emselves!" PJ settled down in his chair with a grin, adjusting himself deliberately. In spite of all his protestations of incapacity the sight of the sexy duo on his sofa writhing against one another was making him indecently hard. 

Chavez was still perched next to him on the broad, cushioned chair arm, leaning back lazily as he watched Rayne and Xav making out on the settee. His boss stroked a warm hand slowly up his thigh to his crotch, rubbing it up and down the Latino youth's prominent, denim-clad bulge. The young chef uttered a low groan of pleasure as Paddy stimulated him deftly.

On the sofa, Rayne's mouth worked soundlessly on Xavier's soft, hot lips. The silver stud in his tongue clicked on his mate's teeth as it flickered rapidly in and out. His hands groped hungrily down to Xavier's hips, reaching for the button of his fly. His own erection was straining against the crotch of his tight jeans as he fondled the dancer and eagerly unzipped him

"Are you okay to fuck here or do you want to be more private?" he murmured huskily into his young lover's mouth without breaking the contact of their lips. The tip of his nose rubbed insistently against Xavier's, so close that when he opened his eyes his long lashes briefly brushed his mate's skin.

The question took a moment to process, Xav was so surprised by it. It was nice to be asked. Of course, the long slender fingers gliding over his jutting erection made it difficult to think. He was actually torn, the natural exhibitionist in him wanting to stay, the part that worried about who might join in wanting to go elsewhere. His fingers trailed lightly down Rayne's body to pop the button on his jeans. 

"I'm good either way, up to you." 

With a husky laugh, the singer snaked his arms around Xavier and pulled him into an astonishingly powerful hug, given his slight physique. He twisted deftly from the waist, easing the pair of them down onto the sofa cushions with himself on top. Soft, cool lips explored the younger man's neck again, tickling and whispering almost wordlessly as if his mate was singing to himself as he carefully unwrapped his prize. 

"Christ! You're on fire!" Rayne chuckled, debating whether or not he should throw caution to the wind and prolong the presence of Xavier's bite marks. PJ, unlike Clay last night, would not be shocked, although he might not approve, especially if they got blood on the brushed suede. That little TexMex hotpot currently sitting in the Irishman's lap would freak out though. "I am 'so' glad you are still here." 

Xavier slid his hands down Rayne's smooth back and wrapped one leg over the back of his thigh. 

"Cleared my schedule just for you," the boy said with a low chuckle. His hands caressed Rayne's cool body, fingers brushing over his nipples and down his ribs. His skin looked golden next to Rayne's pale cream. The way Rayne Wylde kissed and licked over the bite mark on his neck made Xavier shiver and moan, his body throbbing with need. He lifted his hips to push his swollen cock against the singer; maybe not as impressive as Clay, or apparently PJ, but very nicely proportioned to the rest of him, and just as pretty. 

He kissed and licked his hot tongue over the side of Rayne's throat and spread his legs for him. So pliant and submissive in Rayne's hands, but still responsive to every touch and stroke and kiss. Xavier had a true gift for paying attention to exactly what his partner wanted and needed. He knew, almost before they did, what their mood was and how to give the most pleasure. His teeth bit lightly at the base of Rayne's throat and his soft lips caressed the spot while his hands caressed the Englishman's naked back and cupped his cheeks. 

"Jesus! That feels sweet," Rayne murmured, pressing his lips to Xavier's cheekbone so that the words quivered into his skull. 

Rayne kissed his way down now, stroking his lips over the boy's neck; his breast bone; flicking those pert nipples with his tongue and reaching for his mate's hands, drawing them back down from his arse and pushing them up slowly above Xavier's head. He was gentle but insistent, kissing the sides of the boy's heaving torso and nuzzling into the deep hollows of his pits, licking and kissing him there, then stroking deeper with both hands. His thumbs circled down into the valley between his lover's hips and his mouth roamed restlessly south onto the firm plain of Xavier's naked belly. 

Xavier's fingers had curled over the arm of the sofa, keeping them raised where Rayne had put them. The rest of him didn't stay quite as still, the little flexes and rolls of his muscles moving him like a slow dance under Rayne's ministrations. Unlike many males his age that just wanted to hurry and get to the bottom line, Xav definitely enjoyed every bit of sensual attention. 

"You have 'such' a beautiful body," Rayne exhaled passionately, his mind wandering, as restless as his caressing tongue. "You are 'so' wasted on that creep!"

"I don't belong..." Xavier had to suck in a breath as Rayne breathed over the tip of his leaking cock and swiped his tongue across it. "... to him, you know. Never even...oh..." Those soft lips caressed him teasingly. "...met him." Xavier exhaled and dug his fingers into the arm of the couch.

The singer's breath was a sweet breeze on his wet, leaking cock as he whispered; "Good! Let's keep it that way for now, shall we?"

As if to affirm his moral possession of the young man under him he kissed slowly down the underside of Xav's magnificent young shaft and took the dancer's hot, throbbing balls in his mouth, sucking on the softer, looser flesh of his scrotum. His gentle hands squeezed and fondled the boy's firm, naked arse, then slid to his thighs, tugging Xavier's jeans right down to his ankles.

"Let's get these off," he exhaled, lifting his dark head and moving to his knees, his own lust rising hard and glistening from the open fly of his pants as he helped Xavier strip for him.

Xavier eagerly wriggled out of his pants and then sat up to help Rayne do the same. Sitting in front of Rayne while he was kneeling above him presented the perfect opportunity that Xav just couldn't resist. He kissed and lipped his way over the smooth flat plane of Rayne's stomach, just as the singer had done to him a moment ago, and nuzzled lower to take in his slightly musky scent. 

With a little moan he licked up the underside of Rayne's shaft. His tongue circled around the silken skin of the head, tasting him thoroughly before parting his lips around him and sliding him into the heat of his mouth. Xav's hands slid up Rayne's body while his mouth slid half way down, back up, then down to his root. 

The singer's lean body shuddered involuntarily and his cool, deft fingers crept through Xavier's blond hair, massaging his scalp. The slow, reflexive movements of his hands mirrored the rhythmic caress of Xavier's lips and tongue on his cock. Low, hungry moans rose in his throat as the younger man swallowed him. The twin tugs of Xavier's mouth and his tight pharynx on his sex set him rocking gently, pulsing in time with the nod of his lover's head. 

"Uhhhhh.... so good!" Rayne exhaled gratefully, head bowed so that his black hair tumbled forward like fronds of dark silk shrouding his pale face and extended fangs. "So-o-o good, Xav."

Xavier's hands wandered over his cool body, stroking and caressing soft skin and lean muscles while his hot mouth worked him. The fingers in his hair urged him on, and Xavier kept him in his tight grip, bobbing rhythmically until he felt Rayne tensing slightly, his hips moving a little faster. He slipped back a little, keeping just the first few inches of him in his mouth while he swirled his tongue over sensitive ridges and rolled his pretty baby blue eyes up to Rayne's green gaze. Did he want to get off like this, or want more? Cum in his mouth now, and then get more?

Rayne answered that question without words. His dark head tilted back and the veil of his hair tumbled away as he worked his jolting sex in Xavier's mouth; his teeth clenched fiercely as he struggled to hold off. At the last instant he pulled out and sank to his knees, tugging Xavier's mouth onto his. There was no denying those dog-teeth now, but he was careful, almost delicate, working his tongue between the boy's lips. His fingers reached for Xavier's, guiding them to his wet, throbbing cock. At the same time he closed his free hand around the younger man's beautiful erection and began to milk it vigorously.

Xavier groaned into the singer's mouth, his pulse and breath picking up as he bucked into Rayne's stroking fist. He matched him for a few moments, hand sliding up and down Rayne's wet hard prick. With a flexible twist of his hips he lifted his lower body and laid back at the same time, rubbing their body's together for a minute and then angling Rayne's throbbing cock down lower. He rubbed the smoothness of his head between his cheeks and against the small pucker of his anus. His mouth kissing him and his hand fisting his cock was making him unbearably horny and wanting to rush now.

To his infinite frustration, Rayne steadied the pace again, making him wait; making him suffer. He pried Xavier's fingers free with a small, breathless smile of acknowledgement and kissed his way quickly down again, going lower this time. His hands pressed lightly on the backs of his mate's well-muscled thighs, levering them back towards Xavier's stomach as he applied his lips and searching tongue to the golden crevice between his smooth cheeks. Humming contentedly to himself, he kissed the clenching, needy rosebud of pink flesh in the depths of the valley and gently worked the little silver stud in his tongue down into the heart of it. He carried on wriggling it seductively until his tongue was able to follow it into the yielding heat of his playmate's fluttering ring. 

Keeping one caressing hand in the crook of Xavier's right leg he released the other and wrapped it back around the blond boy's hot, pulsing cock, stroking the oozing head with his thumb as his tongue wiggled deeper and he began to french-kiss his lover's gorgeous arse, long and slow.

From the other side of the room a respectfully husky, Irish brogue commented; "I do love to watch professionals at work!"

Xav half wanted to protest that 'professionals' but it was hard to protest anything in his current state. That lovely slippery tongue wriggling inside and pushing the metal bead in and out of his ring was doing wonders to edge him. The skilled hand stroking him had him writhing on the cushions in no time. The room began to drop away as the heady rush took over, where the lust got to the point where nothing else mattered and he would do almost anything. He felt his channel opening further to Rayne's probing tongue, a surge of blood making his stiff cock even harder. His sides lifted and fell as he panted. "...oh, yeah... ah, mmm, I'm gonna cum." 




Dark Paths Ch. 03



Rayne stroked him harder, faster, and that was it. He shot off like a rocket, ropes of pearly cream spurting over his chest and stomach as he twitched and moaned through a trembling orgasm. 

The catalyst for this explosion nuzzled his jolting balls and kissed his ring with a little murmur of appreciation. He prowled between Xavier's thighs like a panther, tongue caressing the dancer's toned and currently heaving belly and chest. Rayne lapped the cum off his skin as delicately as a little cat, still taking his time, savouring every drop and splatter of his mate's delicious outpouring. 

"You are so fuckable, sweetheart," he crooned hungrily. "So sweet and tasty and downright shaggable!"

Sharp white teeth snipped and worried at Xavier's nipples and the spill of Rayne's straight, black hair tickled his torso and throat as the singer rubbed that gorgeous, upright member between his cheeks. He was probing and nudging, just teasing at the moment, letting Xavier feel him tapping at the back door.

Xavier moved with Rayne, hands caressing his sides and back, his thighs caressing Rayne's and urging him. Much to Xavier's frustration he wasn't quite done teasing him yet. Xav slid his hands up into Rayne's hair when he lifted his head, and Xav caught his lips in a searing kiss. 

His voice dropped to a husky murmur along Rayne's lips, "You want me to beg? Is that it?" He peppered sweet hot little kisses along Rayne's jaw. "Please..." He breathed along his skin, stretching the word into a sultry entreaty. "Please fuck me, Rayne. I want to feel you slide into me, fill me... please!" 

Rayne's mouth was close to his ear, his breath quick and intense there as he sighed; "God I love it when you beg!"

His lips moved to Xavier's mouth and the look in his eyes said that it was not a serious remark, although there was nothing light hearted about his physical intent. Lean hips moved steadily between Xavier's hips, driving harder, positioning himself so that the next thrust drove him in. His back teeth came together with an audible click and he thrust again, tilting his head back. His dog-teeth extended smoothly even as his cock slid back so that just the head was gripped within Xavier's tight ring. He closed his eyes and pushed deeper into the clinging wetness of his mate's body, exhaling a little "ohhh..." of pleasure.

Xavier expelled a hard breath, sparks of heat chasing up his middle in waves. Rayne still held his legs bent and pushed up, but he'd spread him wide enough that Xavier could put a heel on the back of the couch cushion and get a bit of leverage to lift and thrust to meet him. His head tipped to the side, coming off the edge of the couch just a bit and stretching the long line of his neck, though not exactly in conscious invitation. His angelic features were composed in lines of passionate bliss and as he turned his head he caught a glimpse of the scorching look on Chavez's face.

His mate was oblivious to everything but the overwhelming source of heat and pleasure beneath him. Rayne fought the instinct to bite with every ounce of his will. He was not desperately hungry; he did not need the blood AND he had an audience. It was madness to do what his body was urging him towards. 

But Xavier seemed to want it so badly. It was not just in the pose of his beautiful body; Rayne could feel the need in every beat of his heart, in every hungry breath. It was a powerful enticement and one that he simply could not resist. 

Stroking his hands firmly over the dancer's heaving torso and up to his neck, cupping his face and caressing his sweat-damp hair, Rayne bent into the curl of his naked body. He let his tongue trace a slow, wet trail from the boy's collar bone to the curve of his earlobe, bypassing the throb of the carotid artery in his throat and crossing the more tempting pulse of the external jugular. Gently he caught Xavier's right earlobe between his teeth and tugged it into his mouth.

Xavier shivered, his eyes fluttering shut at the sensations rolling over him. He realised, with something of a start, that he wanted Rayne to bite him; to sink his teeth into him, almost as much as he had wanted the singer's cock in him. He didn't know why and didn't question it; logic and reason had nothing to do with the desire. 

He felt his pulse quicken as Rayne drew his tongue over it. His heart thudded in his chest with more than the effort of their entwined bodies. He moaned sweetly as Rayne pulled and worried at his earlobe. His one arm circled Rayne's body loosely, caressing his back and shoulders, while the other slid between their grinding bodies to stroke his shaft slowly. 

The singer pushed deeper and faster into him, releasing the tender lobe of flesh and letting his lips trail wetly across Xavier's cheek to his mouth. His tongue stud clicked on the younger man's teeth as it flickered between his jaws and the tip of his small, pointed nose rubbed insistently against Xavier's as he kissed harder. He was thrusting smoothly between his mate's thighs now, exhaling little moans of appreciation with every stroke; wanting to bite; 'longing' to bite.

Instinct? Empathy? Whatever it was that made Xav so sensitive to his lover's needs, and whatever strange connection he had with this mate in particular, that need to bite echoed in him; something even more primal than the thrusting between his legs. He'd nicked his tongue on a sharp canine accidentally the night before, now he did it on purpose, giving Rayne a small taster, as both appeasement and incendiary device. 

The swirl of blood that travelled from Xavier's mouth to Rayne Wylde's carried a hundred thousand tiny subliminal messages that entered the Vampire's already hyperactive nervous system and hit the superhighway to his fevered brain. This was not telepathy, it was more akin to being briefly plugged into his lover's body and sharing the moment's emotions, reactions and impulses. Most of it didn't make sense in any way shape or form, but what it did do was to amp up his already powerful connection to the younger man's psyche. 

It was as if a little voice in his head was screaming; 'DO it! Bite me! Bite me now!'

Rayne snaked around him lasciviously and, possibly for the first time in his life, did as he was told.

Xavier's eyes flew wide for a second, a startled "Ahhhh!" sliding from him as Rayne's canines broke his skin; then they fluttered shut once more. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears, feel it throbbing against Rayne's lips. He was far more aware than he had been last night of what Rayne was doing, as if he could feel the singer inside him in more ways than one. 

The little flashes of memory were not as hard and fast as they had been last night. They were less memory than a feel for the boy. Life had taught Xavier to be jaded and untrusting, but he still wore his heart on his sleeve; was still easily hurt. It made him an easier target for the set up and betrayal he had endured. Wounded, flawed, raw inside, he was almost a professional victim, and there were a whole lot of sharks in his life that scented that about him like blood in the water. But he survived. He was not weak. He could take care of himself. 

Xavier felt Rayne swallow and it was like an electric circuit was suddenly completed, he could feel not only his own pleasure but his lover's pleasure; his mindless, ravenous need. 

That hungry passion spiked into his middle. His legs folded around the backs of Rayne's thighs, pulling him in with each smooth stroke of his hips. Every sensation seemed turned up, amplified beyond normal; the hard shaft butting persistently against the tight bundle of nerves deep inside sent him spiralling up and up. 

"...unhhh-uh!!...unhhh!!..." he moaned as he came again in a warm tide. 

Rayne moved with him, feeling the boy's clenching chute pull him deep as the climax shuddered softly through him. He loved the feel of being way inside another being at the moment of release; that point where mankind was most energised and yet most vulnerable. 

"Mmmmmmmmmhhhh..." he moaned, his mouth still pressed to the warmth of Xavier's neck; tongue working slowly over the twin pulses where his flesh had been punctured. The broken skin tasted sharp like iron and the blood had it's own curious sweet-sour flavour. It revived his senses, though he took little more than a few mouthfuls. 

Rayne was beginning to believe that it would be all too easy to overdose on the boy lying beneath him, curled around his body like a climbing vine. He felt a curious oneness with Xavier, as if they somehow shared a common element. It was bizarre, since he knew that until that night in the club he had never even seen the kid before. 

Vigorously he thrust his hips again, pushing deep and hard, over and over. The taste and 'feel' of his lover drove him crazy with a need of his own. He wanted to lick every drop of spilt cum off the dancer's chest as it rose and fell urgently, but first he needed to come himself and the tightness of Xavier's spasming arse around his restless dick was starting to pull him off now. 

"Uuuuhhhhh... ohhhhh!" he groaned incoherently as the floodgates opened and he emptied his balls into the gorgeous, sexy blond boy beneath him. 

Xavier's arms and legs felt like water. He pushed his fingers into the soft sable hair above him, framing Rayne's face for a moment with his hands. He eyelids felt heavy and it was an effort to lift his head to kiss him. He didn't feel the same listless draining he'd felt last night after Rayne had bitten him, but the sort of half-drunk, buzzed feeling was there, making him languid and blissfully contented. 

Twin trails of red trickled like tears from the puncture wounds in his neck, but they didn't gush like a fountain as they should have. Just the two little droplets of blood, and that was all. 

END OF "DARK PATHS" CHAPTER THREE

© Sadie Rose Bermingham & Bellora Quinn 2008



Dark Paths Ch. 04



© Sadie Rose Bermingham & Bellora Quinn 2007/8

CHAPTER FOUR

"LOSER MAKES BREAKFAST"

 "This chapter should have been posted last week but as I started my day job last week as well it kind of got deferred, so apologies. It's here now and we hope that you enjoy it as much as the previous three. To make up for the slow build up here's a few pages of uninterrupted, gratuitous, luscious sex for you all. 

"The usual terms and conditions apply. Dark Paths and its inhabitants are the intellectual property of Sadie Rose & Bellora Quinn. Please do not take, copy or redistribute all or any part of this story without prior consent from the authors or we will be forced to rip off your extremities and feed them to you with a hot chilli dip made from your own wee!" 

Rayne dipped his head and licked his neck briefly, then touched his mouth to Xavier's and bestowed a long, slow, infinitely grateful kiss upon the young dancer. He rolled to the side, still holding the boy close enough for their mouths to remain joined and curled against him languidly. By rights he should at the very least have been short of breath but he seemed as calm as if he had just woken from a deep sleep.

From the other chair by the window, curled in PJ's still powerful arms, Chavez exhaled; "Jesus! That was hot!"

The Irish porn director just chuckled appreciatively and shook his head.

Xavier had sort of forgotten about their audience. He had settled against Rayne contentedly, feeling oddly coddled, protected even. He couldn't have explained it because there was nothing Rayne did or said that was overtly territorial, not even a subtle tightening of muscles or change of breathing, but when Chavez spoke it felt like a sign had suddenly been hung around his neck. 'Mine! Keep out! Property of Rayne Wylde.' The thought was so funny Xavier's lips curled into a lazy grin. 

Ridiculous of course, Rayne obviously hadn't minded sharing last night with Clay. Maybe he didn't like Chavez? Or maybe he just didn't feel like sharing today. Xavier wouldn't mind if Chavez wanted to fuck him, he supposed. He was pretty damn sexy. He didn't really like the idea of getting passed around like that, but he'd do it. 

He waited passively in Rayne's arms, waiting to see if Chavez would come join them now, or if Rayne was going to invite him over but the singer seemed impervious to anything but the two of them. He was snuggled up to Xavier' side, basking in his post-passion glow, occasionally kissing or licking the boy's neck where he had bitten him. 

Chavez seemed almost intimidated by their intimacy for he stayed rooted to his chair arm, PJ's arm looped around his lean body, not holding him there but clearly offering some kind of emotional comfort. He had not taken his eyes off them however and was still shaking his head. In the end it was the older man who came to join them, crouching by the sofa and gently stroking a hand over Rayne's tangled hair. 

"That was something else, baby. Something else!" PJ exhaled huskily. 

Rayne turned his head, nuzzling Paddy's palm almost affectionately. The singer could be abrupt with most people but with McNamara he was puppyishly tender for once. Or maybe it was just the afterglow of fantastic sex that mellowed him. His own hands were still roaming gently over Xavier.

Xavier's body responded to Rayne's caresses almost against his will. Sleepy and sated, but not totally wrung out. He looked up at Rayne nuzzling PJ's hand and his eyes were drawn surreptitiously to the front of PJ's pants, since he was almost level with his crotch and the outline straining against the seam. One blond brow arched. Oh, hell no! He could feel his ass twitch and clench just thinking about it. 

Rayne's lips lightly touched his ear as, almost inaudibly, he exhaled; "And he's not even fully hard!" 

Xav chuckled, and it was a warm sound, almost tactile. He reached out and touched the outer curve of PJ's thigh, just a soft caress, friendly, curious perhaps... He still felt slightly floaty from whatever it was that Rayne did to him. More then just the afterglow of sex, it was kind of like being drunk. 

"Aww... he wants to play," Rayne chuckled in a soft, husky voice. "Maybe he's lookin' for a Daddy after all."

"Seems to me he found what he was lookin' for just then," Paddy murmured, brushing the backs of his fingers over the cautious hand on his thigh. He lifted his gaze from Xavier's questing hand, looking intently at Rayne. "I hate to break up the party, but that got me hotter than any scene I've filmed for a movie in the last five years."

Rayne drew in a deep breath and sighed almost contentedly. He pushed himself up until he was sitting facing the older man with Xavier still lying between them. Almost casually he reached out and ran a bolder hand over the prominent bulge in the crotch of his friend's trousers, slowly tracing it down the inside left leg of Paddy's loose pants. His caressing fingers worked their way almost to PJ McNamara's left knee before he was stroking the thigh inside the man's slacks. Almost at once he let go and returned the tip of his index finger to the silver button on Paddy's fly. 

"Sweetheart," Rayne whispered into Xavier's ear. "If you ever wanna know what fifteen inches and change looks like, the secret's right behind that little button there."

Xavier traced his fingers down Rayne's arm. He wasn't one of those guys that lusted after a huge dick, but he was curious now, and that perverse part of him liked it that they'd turned PJ on so much. Xavier reached Rayne's hand and with unspoken accord he tugged the edge of PJ's pants one way while Rayne popped the button and they both peeled the open garment down.

Chavez had moved to the arm of the sofa whilst Rayne was teasing the boss and he fired a look at PJ now although he didn't say anything. His tanned, handsome face was unusually flushed though. Paddy held his stare and nodded casually towards Xavier, who was momentarily preoccupied with the novelty of undressing him. Rayne was kneeling beside him on the sofa now, chuckling softly as the notorious porn director's slacks cascaded to the ground. Even before his cock nodded upright, free of the restrictions of clothing, they were all able to admire the thickness of it. 

"Christ!" Rayne Wylde laughed huskily. "I've seen smaller salamis hanging in the window of that deli on Front Street! You're not losing weight off your cock, are you Mac?"

"It's got a preservation order on it," Paddy rumbled softly, with a lazy smile. "When this frickin' virus finally takes me, the Natural History Museum is gonna hang it up as an exhibit."

"The 'Un-natural' History Museum, surely?" Rayne teased him, sliding one arm around Xavier and stroking Paddy's phenomenal weapon with his free hand. "What d'you reckon to that, heh? I nearly lost my lunch the first time he waved it at me!"

What Xavier thought as he looked at that huge piece of meat was 'no fucking way is that coming anywhere near my ass'. He would have thought that just looking at it, but he hadn't missed what PJ said either, he'd said he was dying before, and Xav had though maybe cancer or something, but now he knew better. 

"I don't think even the XL Magnums will do it for you." Xavier said a little wistfully, caressing the inside of PJ's thigh. 

Paddy bent and kissed him lightly on the forehead by way of response. "Not since I was 15 years old!" he chuckled sadly. "Right now I sure wish they made an XXL."

"Or even an XXXXL," Rayne Wylde teased gently. He was still stroking Paddy with a slow hand. 

From the armrest, Chavez looked daggers at him but Rayne was oblivious. The fingers of his right hand were playing with PJ's cock head and the left were tenderly rubbing back and forth over the wetness between Xavier's firm, bare bum cheeks, circling his well-fucked ring seductively. 

A little shiver went down Xavier's spine at the touch and he gave a soft husky moan, leaning back into Rayne a little more. His cock stirred and rose again, ready for more. For whatever reason Xavier happened to catch Chavez's eyes just then. Hungry look, definitely, there was heat there and a lot of it, but something else too. He wasn't sure what that look was supposed to mean. 

Xav slid forward some, moving sinuously across the couch, like a tawny cat. He ran his hands up the tops of Chavez's jean-clad thighs. "You're looking a little over dressed," he informed Paddy's chef, flashing a charming smile full of promise. 

Chavez was impossibly horny, his tight jeans could not hide it. He tried to blank the invitation but his lips twitched upward even so, finding Xavier's expression just a little too inviting to tough out. 

"Compared to you two everyone's overdressed," he commented almost breathlessly. His gaze flickered briefly to Paddy, then back again. 

His employer was kneeling on the edge of the broad, cream coloured sofa now with Rayne astride his thighs. The singer's arms were around Paddy's neck and his mouth was pressed hungrily to the older man's lips, kissing him with a lustful tenderness at odds with his customarily cool demeanour. 

Xavier's hands slid around Chavez's hips and he leaned in slowly, giving a lot of opportunity for the other man to pull away, but he didn't go anywhere. Just watched Xav with dark eyes, that little hint of a smile still playing around the corners of his mouth. Xavier's lips brushed his, so soft it was almost just the warmth of them that touched him. He pressed his lips a little more firmly, moving softly over Chavez's mouth, running the tip of his tongue lightly along the crease, very sweetly asking for admittance. 

"Jeez Louise!" Chavez chuckled softly as he relaxed into the kiss. "I dunno what he did to you but it sure sweetened you up, honey!"

He stroked his hands tenderly over Xavier's lean hips, working his firm ass cheeks with dextrous fingers. The blond felt so hot and horny pressed against him that Chavez couldn't find the will to resist. 

Xavier kissed him again, deeper and hotter this time, sliding his hands up into Chavez's hair, inky dark, like cool smooth silk between his fingers. Whereas he'd been very submissive with Rayne, passively letting him do whatever he'd wanted, he was slightly more aggressive with Chavez, sensing different needs in just that one heated kiss. 

His hands kneaded down and tugged Chavez's shirt from his pants, then slid under to caress warm skin. Xav brought them around to the front and pushed under and back up his chest. He broke the kiss long enough to flip the shirt off his back in one smooth pull. He gave Chavez a knowing smile that said without words, 'well, I am a stripper after all'. And then he was kissing his way down the side of Chavez's throat and the smooth curve of his richly coloured chest to pull one dark nipple into his mouth on a hard suck. 

"Oh baby!" Chavez exhaled, running warm, long fingered hands slowly over the blond's smooth, golden-skinned shoulders, delighting in the heat of his sweat-damp skin and heady scent of his post-orgasmic body. He pulled Xavier against his torso, stroking slowly down his naked back and groping eagerly for his peachy cheeks. "Are you insatiable or what? And am I glad about that!"

"I just want to see if you're as spicy hot as you look." Xavier said with a grin and let the tip of his tongue trail slowly downward. He brought his hands up to the button of Chavez's jeans and deftly popped it open, making sure the flats of his palms pressed and caressed what was underneath. He unzipped him slowly, like he was unwrapping a present. The thin dark line of a treasure trail started below his belly button leading down to a neatly trimmed border with a little Aztec sunburst tattoo just rising above the hairline and Xav dipped his head down to nip the skin there lightly. He tugged the edges of his jeans, urging Chavez to lift up and then peeled those tight Levis down to his thighs. The Hispanic chef was pale and smooth between his tanned thighs and firm, high ass cheeks though he clearly drew the line at waxing his balls, which were tidy but darkly furred.

"Ooo boy, au natural." Xav purred, running his fingers up the underside of Chavez's uncut shaft and wrapping around. He felt his companion tense as his fingers skated over his heavy ball sac then relax again as they began to stroke his stiffening cock, which was long and lean like the rest of him but with a plump, blushing, heavy head like a fer-de-lance. 

Chavez caught his breath as he was enclosed then exhaled it in a little sigh.

At the far end of the sofa the roles were also being reversed as Rayne cradled Paddy's impossibly long rod in both hands, playing his lips almost tenderly over the head and whipping it lightly with his tongue. The older man was stroking his hair and positively purring with delight. 

"Crazy!" Chavez whispered, looking from the pair of them, back to Xavier. "Your limey loverboy is crazy, Chiquito! Like I said before... he thinks he's immortal."

Xavier wasn't so sure Rayne was crazy. That last bite had been... had done... something to him. Logically he knew there were no such things as vampires, not real vampires anyway. Still a little flicker of concern passed over Xavier's features. No, he didn't want to think about it. Didn't want to think about anything right now, so he concentrated on the warm body in front of him, the hint of musk in Chavez's scent as Xavier nuzzled low on his body. 

Xav's hands danced lazy circles over the smooth skin of the other man's hips, and thighs. He slipped a hand between his legs and cupped his balls gently, then stroked along his shaft. With his other hand he kneaded one cheek of his round, muscular ass. He placed soft kisses along his lean tanned chest, his fingers teasing between Chavez's cheeks until he was circling his crinkled hole. He kissed his way up to Chavez's shoulders so he could whisper in his ear. "Will you let me fuck you?" 

The handsome Hispanic chuckled softly; "You touch me like that and I'd let you do just about anything, man. But you wear a rubber, okay? I watched what Wylde did to you, and 'he' might believe he's gonna live forever but that don't mean 'I' have to believe it, you dig?" 

Xavier gave a small shrug of his shoulders, "Sure." 

Although, if he was expected to pull one out of his pocket they were out of luck!

Chavez read the look on his face expertly and a slow smile flashed the whiteness of his teeth. He leaned back to shuck off his shirt and nodded towards the open fly of his faded Levis.

"Slip your fingers in my front left pocket, chico," he invited. "See what you find in there."

Xav dived in, undaunted by the challenge and soon had a selection of brightly coloured little squares tumbling through his fingers. He snared one, opened it and rolled it on with a practised stroke as his mate wriggled out of his snug blue jeans. 

"Ok, all wrapped, now come here," he said with a grin and pulled Chavez close again, on to the couch, knees on either side of his hips. 

Xav caught his lips and explored the inside of his mouth and tongue like he might not ever get another taste. His hands roamed over the other man's warm skin and he leaned back, stroking over that nicely rounded ass again, teasing his fingers inside until he had Chavez panting and rocking his hips. He could just settle Chavez into his lap and onto his hard cock but he wanted more leverage so he repositioned him. Putting Chavez's back against the arm of the couch, he knelt between those smooth thighs and entered him by slow degrees. 

Little flexes of his hips and buttocks brought him in and out of that tight grip. Even with the bit of stretch his fingers had given, it was a tight squeeze. Xavier hissed in a little breath as the ring clenched around his head, shivers running down his lean muscled back. He thrust in a little harder because he couldn't help himself. Then stopped again for a second or two while Chavez murmured in Spanish and combed his fingers into Xav's hair. 

Once he had worked his cock all the way inside, he began to move in a slow grind against Chavez, hands gripping his narrow hips. With Chavez leaning back against the arm of the couch arching his belly upward, it put temptation within reach for his flexible little body and Xavier took advantage of that. He curled his body forward and wrapped his soft lips around the head of Chavez's cock while he impaled him from beneath. 

"Holy Fuck!" Chavez whispered, shaking his head in a daze of arousal. "How the hell you get down there, Chico?"

He was curling his back against the cushioned arm of the sofa, one foot braced against the couch back and the other angled loosely around Xavier's slowly grinding hips, rocking himself urgently against the younger man and shaking his head restlessly. His hands pressed down, light but firm, on the back of Xav's head now, urging him lower still.

"Ohhh baby, that feels 'good'!" he panted appreciatively.

Xavier would have answered, but his mouth was currently occupied. He was simply that flexible. He'd discovered a long time ago that he could suck his own dick. Going down on Chavez while he was in his lap was no problem, especially with the extra pressure being applied to the back of his head. His mouth slid up and down on that turgid pole while his hips began to buck harder from underneath. 

Insatiable as he was he'd already cum twice and the rubber gave an extra layer of control. He was going to fuck Chavez until he wrung him dry and made him cum as many times as he could and then he still might not be done. It was certainly not going to take long to get his first result. PJ's lean and luscious chef was writhing incessantly on his cock, panting like a bitch in heat.

"Ahhh... ahhh... uhhhhh... Joder... joder!" Chavez gasped, undulating rhythmically between the stoking sensation in his sensitive ass and the delicious suction around his furiously throbbing prick. Watching Xavier and Wylde make out had been enough to make him desperately horny and now he was ready and willing to explode. "Oh man! Oh man! Gonna cum!" he groaned deep in his throat. 

The bitter salt hit the roof of Xavier's mouth in a hard jet. He swallowed before the next came, and the next, stroking his mouth up and down, milking him until his frantic thrusts slowed and he'd gotten all he could from him. Only then did he let Chavez slip from between his lips. He kissed a trail up his heaving chest, arms wrapped around his waist, until he nuzzled at his throat. He held onto Chavez, sweetly tender now, letting him come down though his hips never really stilled completely. 

When he'd given him a chance to breathe, Xav kissed him slow and lingering. 

"So sweet..." he murmured against his lips. "Turn around for me, babe." 

After that blissful blowjob, Chavez would probably have done just about anything he asked. Still panting urgently he returned the kiss and rolled smoothly onto one elbow, pulling himself to his knees and leaning against the back cushions of the sofa with a contented smile and a wriggle of his lean, bare arse. His eyes widened briefly as Xavier slid smoothly into him again and he checked out Paddy and Rayne who were sprawled in a lazy 69 at the other end of the long couch, with the little singer lying on top. Rayne's lips and mouth were wrapped around the upper eight inches of the older man's monster erection and his left hand worked the lower half steadily whilst the right massaged Paddy's balls. Rayne nodded his head slowly, humming quietly to himself the whole time.

PJ's face was buried between his mate's pale arse cheeks, lapping at him greedily as the nude Englishman straddled his head. Rayne's tuneless noodling peaked in a little moan from time to time as Paddy was hitting all the right spots. 

Chavez looked back over his shoulder languidly at Xavier. 




Dark Paths Ch. 04



"Twenty dollars says he can't touch base," he chuckled, his eyes dark and horny.

Xavier kissed lazily along Chavez's shoulder, his hands caressing down his sides and hips. 

"I don't ever bet money," he said. And, frankly, he didn't know if anyone could swallow all of that huge prick. He thought about his own limits; thought maybe... wouldn't be comfortable at all, but maybe... "I'll bet you breakfast in bed tomorrow morning, that he can." 

Rayne pushed his floppy forelock back from his face with one hand and squinted up at the pair of them incredulously. He shook his head slightly and Paddy moaned at the electric sensations that sent rippling through his shaft. Then Rayne was back down on him, swallowing deeper. The muscles and veins of his slender neck stood out in stark relief against his pale skin as PJ's enormous cock stretched his throat; his adam's apple bobbing determinedly. 

"You're on, so long as I can have your ass for breakfast!" Chavez winked at Xav, rubbing himself up against the sofa cushions as his wide eyes flickered from Xavier to Rayne and back again. "That is freaky, man! So hot though! Oh Xav, c'mon... give it to me, chico! They're making me horny!"

Xavier was more then happy to oblige. His hands caressed Chavez's lean flanks while he picked up his speed and force, the smooth roll of his hips pounding into him with each thrust. Xav kissed and nibbled along his shoulders, little moans and growls of pleasure purring from his throat. 

He brought a hand around Chavez's hip, fingers wrapping and stroking along his hard shaft and teasing over the head. The fingers of Xav's other hand came up to tangle in his dark hair, tugging into a grip just this side of painful. It turned Chavez's head so he could watch Rayne and Paddy. Xavier bit lightly at Chavez's earlobe. "God... you feel so good, so hot... you gonna get off watching him take that thing, baby?"

Chavez rolled back against him, smoothly, riding each stroke and turning his head a little further so that his lips collided with Xavier's. His breath came fast and urgent now and he nodded rapidly. 

"Jeez, I feel it coming just thinking about it!" he panted. "To have that in you... Madre de Dio! I know there are guys that can do it but..." he lost the trail of his words and fought to kiss his mate again. 

Xavier tugged back a little harder on the fist full of silky hair and brought his lips down across Chavez's in a searing tongue tangling kiss. 

Xavier had the feeling that Chavez would have given a whole lot to trade places with Rayne, and it had nothing to do with lusting after that big cock and everything to do with who that cock belonged to. This, however, was about as close as he was going to get. 

He felt the sexy body under him go taut, caught the moan rising from him with his mouth. From the corner to his eye he watched Rayne swallow another inch. Xavier's pulse sped and his body tightened, and he tripped over the edge in a giddy rush, spilling hotly into the condom sheathing him with a long moan, hips bucking hard and fast. 

Chavez twisted about, pulling him down, hungry for his mouth and to their left, close enough to touch, Rayne Wylde dipped his head still further, vanishing behind the silken shroud of his ebony hair. Paddy's hand caressed his dark mane and he growled softly now, his solemn, silver-blue eyes following the line of his lover's slender back; the rise of his angular shoulder blades and the slow nod of his head. 

Rayne made a small gurgling noise and came up for air with a gasp. The pupils of his pale eyes were wide and black like the eyes of a cat in a darkened room. For a moment he was completely unfocused, staring at nothing, lips slightly parted, flexing his jaw. 

"Did you get down?" Chavez asked eagerly, wriggling into a sitting position and pulling Xav into his lap as he did so. "Paddy? Did he touch base, man?"

"Are we a sideshow now?" PJ McNamara rumbled, still visibly aroused as Rayne wriggled off his chest and knelt beside him, pushing back his forelock with a determined hand. "Honey, you don't have to rise to this."

The singer took a quick breath and seemed to return to life. He fired a calculating glance at Chavez now and said; "Fifty dollars says I can do it, but if I win you pay me 'and' Xav gives me breakfast in bed 'and' - if I'm feeling generous - you get to watch!"

He stretched his jaw again and went straight back down, arching his back with feline flexibility. 

Xavier leaned back and let Chavez wrap himself around him. Had he been a little less sated right then, a little less contented, he might have protested being tossed in as part of the deal. But, there were worse things than serving up his body to either one of them as a prize, and right now he was in too mellow a mood to mind. 

Rayne and Paddy were loosely coiled together now. The bigger man sprawled easily across the sofa cushions, half in and half out of his clothing. Rayne Wylde straddled his left thigh and got to work on him once more, his back to the other two in what could have been a deliberate snub but was more likely to be single-minded determination to prove Chavez wrong. 

PJ McNamara groaned huskily as Rayne nodded lower, letting his hands glide smoothly over his young mate's shoulders, fingers flexing and massaging the singer's neck and back as he worked his soft lips up and down. Paddy began to undulate beneath him, urging himself up to meet each inclination of Rayne's head. 

"Oh baby!" he whispered huskily. "Oh baby! This is the best thing to happen to me for weeks!"

Chavez shook his head with an incredulous smile. 

"Crazy!" he whispered into Xavier's ear, rubbing himself lazily against the dancer's hot body. "He's insatiable!"

"You said the same thing about me." Xavier murmured, a languid expression on his face as he watched Rayne and PJ. Rayne's backside was swaying temptingly in front of him, rubbing himself along PJ's thigh. He leaned forward, unable to resist, and caressed his smooth skin, bent to kiss and nibble along the edge of his back just above the swell of his ass. Or arse, as the sexy little Brit would have it, Xav thought with a grin. His lips brushed at the base of Rayne's spine, tongue dipping into the little dimple at the top of his crack and wriggling encouragingly. 

"You 'are' insatiable, baby," Chavez laughed at him huskily. "And crazy! You and that Limey freak-out are a good match!"

His hand stroked lightly up and down Xavier's lean, well-muscled thigh, cupping and caressing his sculpted backside as he watched the blond licking and tickling in Wylde's swaying crack. 

Rayne came up again, sucking in a longer breath this time. 

"Sweetheart, that feels amazing, but you are totally distracting me and I am 'this' close!" he exhaled glancing back over his shoulder with a smouldering look in his eyes and his index finger and thumb held about an inch apart. His lips were slick with semen and saliva and he wiped his chin on the back of his hand, flashing a quick, feral grin at the younger man and his Hispanic companion. "Is he paying you to sabotage me, huh?"

There was a flicker of... something, in Xavier's eyes. Then he grinned, gave the pert adorable bottom in front of him a last quick kiss and pulled back. "Sorry babe, didn't mean to distract, just giving you incentive to win." His heated gaze watched as Rayne slid his slick lips back down on PJ once more and his jaw ached just watching him manoeuvre that massive tool. 

PJ grinned at him as the singer curled back down into his lap, swallowing greedily.

"Honey... when he's finally gotten down there, then you can warm up his sugar candy ass for me!" he chuckled, winking at Xavier knowingly. 

Rayne came halfway back up again but this time the glare in his eyes was entirely levelled at Paddy McNamara. Chavez laughed until his sides hurt, tugging at Xavier and trying to pull the blond back into his arms again.

Xavier let himself be pulled into Chavez's arms but arched a brow at him. "Laugh while you can sweetheart, but you're still about to lose a fifty spot and my sweet ass to warm you up tomorrow morning." And that sounded entirely too much like Rayne had just used Xavier's mouth to speak because his was otherwise engaged. 

Chavez did not seem to mind too much, for his mouth quickly pressed onto Xavier's and he pulled the blond more urgently against his groin. As their lips parted he groped for another of the fallen rubbers and murmured; "Better take full advantage of you now, I guess!"

To their left, Paddy let out a long, low groan of astonishment and delight, caressing Rayne's hair with trembling hands as the singer nuzzled his belly tenderly.

"Oh baby, you'd better come straight back up or I'm gonna burst right there in your throat!" he warned, suddenly holding painfully still beneath the young Englishman.

Rayne took his time coming up, lifting his head slowly and meeting Paddy's wide, admiring eyes as he released the other man's humungous tool, caressing the throbbing vein that ran up the underside of his straining cock with the studded tip of his small, wet tongue. His mate whimpered with helpless desire as Rayne teased him.

Chavez hadn't really lost at all, Xavier thought with an inward chuckle. If anything he was even more turned on by it. That was evident enough from the renewed erection rubbing between his cheeks. Chavez rolled him forward onto his knees and Xavier was quickly impaled with that latex-clad lance. The suddenness of the single smooth stroke didn't hurt, thanks to Rayne's earlier stretching, but it forced his breath out in a surprised huff. 

Chavez straddled him at once, circling his hips steadily, pulling back then grinding his way deeper. He growled softly like a wary cat, finally getting to enjoy the intense heat and pleasure of Xavier's body. 

As Rayne pushed himself to his knees, catching his breath and glancing back at them, Chavez fired a look at the singer that was a definite challenge. Rayne Wylde rose to it, prowling forward on hands and knees, tilting his head and reaching out with one hand to cup Xavier's flushed, well satisfied face. He touched his mouth hungrily to the blond's lips and kissed him long and hard, his tongue flickering into Xavier's mouth, still briny from PJ's precum.

"Do you like that, sweetheart?" he whispered huskily into the cavern of the boy's parted jaws. "Does he feel good inside you?"

"Mm-hm" Xavier hummed against Rayne lips, driving his tongue back into his mouth. 'Not as good as you, not as big as you, but good.' He wouldn't say that out loud though. Chavez was not without talent, and he was making good use of a fast hard rhythm. 

Rayne blinked slowly at him as their lips disengaged. He was not entirely sure what had just happened then but he was left with a delicious memory, not even his own, of fucking deep into Xavier; of being Xavier and taking him deep, and loving every moment. Rayne caught his breath although he did not need to. 

Something very odd was going on here. Not unpleasantly odd, but bizarre nonetheless. He did not sense that Xavier was unhappy with Chavez but...

Paddy stroked his thigh enquiringly, his hand hot and needy on the cool skin of his leg and the curve of his backside. 

"Baby?" he whispered hungrily. 

Rayne looked to him with a smile. "It's okay, sweetheart. I'm coming."

He turned back briefly and cupped Xavier's face, touching noses with him and snatching a kiss from those gasping lips as Chavez began to buck harder behind him. 

Then he was gone, prowling over Paddy like a little panther, bending to kiss his once-muscular body with a curious tenderness as he straddled the older man's hips and that massive weapon lying proud of his belly.

Xavier rolled his hips against Chavez, pushing back into him with every forward thrust now. Chavez's hands slid up his body from his hips to his shoulders, pulling back as he slammed forward. Sweat began to sheen them both as they worked furiously toward another orgasm. Both of them watched Rayne and Paddy entwined together. 

Xavier's fingers gripped the edge of the cushion under him, and his head dropped between his shoulders as Chavez vigorously worked him from behind. He slid a hand down his body to stroke his drooling prick and fondle his balls. Chavez leaned into him, and Xavier let him push his shoulders down to the couch. It changed the angle that Chavez's cock slid into him and Xavier groaned, stroking himself faster. 

As Rayne and PJ kissed one another, slow and intimate, the older man gripped the singer's firm cheeks and pried them apart firmly, stroking Rayne's little pink pucker gently until it opened up for him. He pushed the middle finger of either hand in slowly, almost to the third knuckle then drew back as Rayne writhed on his thrusting fingers, the circling of his eager hips helping to stretch his ring. He crouched over PJ McNamara now, squeezing a trail of lube onto the thick, tan-coloured member between his thighs. His deft hands stroked and caressed Paddy's erect length until it was standing upright, slick with lubricant. He reached back and worked a drizzle of clear gel down his crack letting Paddy rub it gently into his clenching hole with the first two fingers of either hand. Rayne moaned softly as he was breached and stretched. 

"Enough, honey?" his lover asked tenderly. 

"Mmm-hhhhmmm... nearly there," Rayne crooned in a low tone. He squeezed lube into the palm of his left hand and made a fist, getting the clear gloop all over his long fingers then tucked all four fingers tightly together so that his hand made a kind of swan's bill shape. As the older man removed his fingers Rayne eased his hand between his cheeks and pushed all four fingers slowly up his own arsehole. He began to pump his long-boned hand steadily up his chute, stretching himself good and slow until his hand was in his ass past the third knuckles. The fingers of his free hand were curled around the mast of Paddy's thick, fifteen inch cock, pumping and stroking it just beneath the fat, mushroom helmet, rubbing the purple dome slowly on his balls and that miracle inch beyond his clenching sac. He whimpered, frustrated that he could not get his fingers in deeper.

Chavez gripped Xavier's lean hips hard and pumped into him, furiously turned on by the sight. His cock stroked urgently inside the horny blond dancer, each thrust driving him closer and closer to the brink. 

"Rrrggghhhhhhhh! Ma-an! Gonna...gonna...!" Chavez broke off, panting and groaning incoherently as he filled the latex sheath with his hot Latino seed.

Xavier sank down onto the wide couch with Chavez sprawled across his back. They both lay panting in a damp heap. Chavez kissed and nuzzled his neck and cheek from behind and Xav turned his head more so he could kiss him back until his cock started to soften and he pulled free. 

While they were finishing Rayne and PJ were getting down to business. Xavier looked up to see Paddy angling himself up and Rayne looking like he was about to sit down on a fence-post. 

"God..." he breathed. 

PJ's knee was near Xavier's face now. He tentatively reached over to stroke his hand over his shin, and the inside of his calf, and when PJ didn't seem to mind, he caressed his way upward, placing small kisses along his leg, up over his knee until he reached the point where Rayne's legs straddled him. 

"Help me, babe," Rayne whispered to him huskily. "Line him up, will you? If I get this wrong, gawd 'elp me but it's gonna hurt!"

He was panting eagerly as he pulled his hand back out of his well-stretched ring easing the head of Paddy's huge, glistening knob back towards his gaping hole. It looked like torture but he seemed more than willing. 

Xavier lifted his eyes to PJ's and he didn't see any objection there. He hesitated for just a moment and then slid his hand along the slick length of his cock. Looking was of course different then touching, it was something of a surprise that his fingers didn't wrap all the way around. 

A little bit of anxiety uncurled in his belly. He wouldn't have risked fucking PJ, but surely he wouldn't get anything just touching him... 

He brought his hand all the way up in a long stroke and back down and up again, just for the novelty of feeling him. His fingers slick with lube, he lifted his hand from PJ to massage between Rayne's cheeks, pushing his fingers inside to feel just how ready he was. He withdrew, guiding the smooth cap of PJ's erection to take their place. Xav leaned over so he could lick up the underside of Rayne's prick at the same time that PJ breached him. 

Rayne Wylde sucked in a sharp little breath, his head was tilted back, almost between his shoulder blades and his dark hair tumbled down against paler skin. The small, fragile sound he exhaled was neither masculine nor feminine but somewhere exquisitely balanced in-between. He rested his hands on Xavier's arm for balance, gripping tight for a moment as he rocked himself backwards gently onto PJ's vast protuberance, swaying his hips almost languidly and using the motion to slowly, smoothly work that huge beast inside him.

Tiny gasps and gurgles of sound escaped his lips as he began to rise and fall rhythmically together with the easy back and forth motion of his hips. The caress of Xavier's clever tongue on his own rock hard shaft elicited a sequence of almost sweet little squeaks and whimpers from his throat.

"Mmmmmmhhhhh, angel!" Paddy sighed, the words a low rumble in his chest. "Sweet angel, that feels amazing. Keep going, honey. Keep working it down on me, baby. So tight! So good and tight!"

At the same time he stroked Xavier's hair appreciatively, loving the sight of the sexy golden-skinned blond boy on his knees licking on the leaking, swollen cock of his slender, milk-white lover.

Rayne laughed breathlessly, opening his eyes for a second to glance down on them both then closing them tightly again. "Around 'you' even a savvy bottom like Luke Savage would feel tight!"

He stroked the backs of his fingers gently over the pin-prick bite marks in Xavier's neck as the boy kissed and lapped at him.

Xavier shuddered in a sinuous movement that ran down his whole body. The touch scattered every thought and ruined any chance of finesse. Xav wrapped his lips around Rayne in a hungry plunge, a long needy moan reverberating in his chest. He felt Paddy's fingers tighten in his hair as he sucked Rayne down to the base. He stroked his own throbbing cock, rubbing the silky smooth head along Rayne's thigh. 

"Oh Christ! It's like he knows what I'm thinking!" Rayne moaned hoarsely, nodding down towards Xavier's bobbing head. Paddy chuckled, then the chuckle turned into a throaty cry of appreciation as Rayne moved even lower on his cock. Warm fingers caressed the pulsing junction of his stretched ring and Paddy's hot, thick shaft. Chavez was on his feet now, standing beside them, admiring the feat of physical engineering going on between Rayne's thighs and stroking him gently between his cheeks. He bent his head and began to lick and kiss the spot his fingers had been caressing. 

Rayne's hand stroked the back of Xavier's neck firmly and he began to thrust, circling his hips and bucking steadily into the blond's seductive mouth. 

"I am gonna fuckin' explode... any fuckin' minute!" he growled hungrily. 

Xavier hummed around him, caressing his balls with one hand. He moved up and down on him in short quick bursts that pushed the sensitive head of his cock through the ring of his throat repeatedly. He could feel him building almost like he could feel himself building. Xav drew a deep breath and held it just before Rayne's hand trembled on the back of his neck and he pulled him in tight, holding him in place.

"Aaaahhhhh!! Sweet Jesus!" Rayne yelped, his whole body jolting furiously as he hit his peak deep in Xavier's throat, with PJ only halfway into him. 




Dark Paths Ch. 04



Xavier swallowed, eased back up when Rayne let him, caressing him with mouth and tongue until he'd drained him of every delectable drop and Rayne's fingers slackened their hold. He came off of him, breathing hard and nearly drunk with desire. 

Paddy McNamara swore incomprehensibly as he felt the younger man tighten around him. His hands gripped Rayne's lean hips and he thrust upward hard as the singer's fierce rectal grip on his cock released briefly. Rayne Wylde made a noise like a train slamming the brakes on. His head was thrown back once more and his teeth were gritted so hard that Xavier could hear them grinding. 

Then Paddy was sitting up, moving Xavier and Chavez out of his way by means of sheer physical presence as he pulled Rayne into his embrace and turned, keeping the smaller, slighter man under him. He reached for the lube, injecting a good blast of wetness into his mate before he resumed and his mouth fastened onto Rayne's as he eased one of his lover's knees back to his shoulder and began to stroke slowly inside him. 

"Holy shit!" Chavez exhaled, pulling vigorously on his cock as he watched and listened to the heartfelt moans rising from the singer's breast as he was taken deeper and faster. 

Xav twisted around again, sliding his lithe body between Chavez's thighs. He licked a wet line up his tightly drawn nut sac. Chavez angled his reddened cock toward his mouth and Xav slipped his lips around him at the same time he shifted his body around so he was in a better position if Chavez felt like reciprocating. 

Chavez slipped happily back down into the 69 and sucked on Xavier's firm young balls with a will, pumping his hand steadily up and down the hot, hard length of his new friend's beautiful cock as he pulled and licked on the delicious nutsac hanging beneath it. His hips rocked eagerly back and forth, grinding his groin in the blond's face and pulsing within the sweet suction of Xav's soft, wet lips. The sofa pitched and vibrated with the force of a small quake as PJ thrust hard between Rayne Wylde's wide spread legs. Each deep stroke of his long, hard piston drove another breathless cry of acknowledgement from his mate's throat. 

The taste of Chavez mingled with the taste of Rayne already on Xavier's tongue. He could watch Paddy and Rayne as Chavez vigorously pumped between his lips. It was hot, yes, but Xavier also picked up on the tenderness, bittersweet, between them. For a second he could almost feel what it was like to be impaled on the huge tool between Rayne's thighs. 

He shivered, body rolling with the feel of Chavez fisting him fast and tight. He didn't think he had anymore left in him but he could feel his balls drawing up tight, the surge making his dick even harder. He moaned desperately around the cock in his mouth as he bucked and shuddered though another quaking orgasm. 

Chavez pulsed eagerly, already close to exploding as Xavier sucked sweetly on his length. His hands rolled over the younger man's hot body restlessly and he nuzzled the dancer's firm balls as he stroked his lips to the very base of Xavier's rigid cock. 

Beside them on the sofa, Paddy was almost curled around Rayne like an enormous, human shell. When he was younger, that body must have been quite something. Even now he was still nicely defined. The urgent thrust of his hips drew clean lines in the musculature of his buttocks and thighs. Rayne snaked around him like a grappling hook, riding each thrust with an answering groan that vocalised the sheer effort of taking his mate more than words. PJ's mouth covered his, stifling even that outlet for a little while. Rayne's hungry moaning reached a quavering peak and his grip tightened briefly then released. Paddy exhaled a long growl of satisfaction and pulled his smaller body close, holding him fast as he drove himself deeply into Rayne, keeping his massive length in there for as long as the singer could bear it. 

Finally Rayne's hands slapped against his burly shoulders and he murmured something too low to hear. PJ rose to his knees at once, easing out of him slowly. 

"Oh baby, I love you!" he purred appreciatively. "You are 'so' good to me."

Chavez uttered a sound somewhere between a groan and a sigh around Xavier's cock and jetted hard into his suckling mouth. Xavier stroked his hands over the smooth caramel coloured skin, caressing him with his mouth until his bucking hips slowed to a stop and then released him. 

He lay back on the sofa cushions and didn't want to move. A sleepy satisfied smile played about his lips and his eyes were half closed as he looked around the tangle of limbs and bodies sprawled on the couch. 

Chavez stroked a hand up and down his sweat soaked back, murmuring against his belly so that he felt the words through his skin; "Mmmmmhhhh that was 'mazin'! So good!"

Almost gracefully, Paddy rolled off Rayne and off the sofa, landing softly on the plush carpet and slumping back against the cushions with his eyes closed. The singer curled around his head like a child around a favourite toy, nuzzling his cheek and whispering to him huskily in a voice too soft to hear. He was loose-limbed and exhausted but the affection he showed for the older man was beyond doubt. Paddy reached up and stroked his hair fondly, then tilted his head back to kiss Rayne's mouth gently. 

Xavier lay still, letting his well-sated body cool down. He was wrung dry and his ass was a little sore. Probably not as sore as Rayne had to be, but still... if someone suggested another round Xav would absolutely turn him down. 

Probably! 

Maybe? 

He closed his eyes. The conditioned air was cooling him off pretty quick, his damp skin drying enough to almost make him shiver. He felt sticky with sweat and semen. For just a second he confused the metallic taste in his mouth for blood but knew it was Chavez and Rayne's come. He shook himself out of his drowse. 

He slid his hand up Chavez's bare thigh and patted his butt. "What are you making for dinner? I'm starving." 

"What did your last slave die of?" Chavez laughed breathlessly. 

Beyond him on the sofa, Rayne stretched out one small, white foot and stroked Xavier's shoulder with his toes. His cheek was laid against the top of Paddy's head as the big guy sprawled on the floor, leaning back on the settee with his own eyes closed. Paddy had one knee drawn up, screening that monster cock from view. Rayne's eyes were open now though, and a luminous, icy green colour. His expression was almost smug.

Xavier turned his head a bit to nuzzle along Rayne's calf but he gave Chavez a lopsided grin and arched one brow at him. "Well, I figured dinner is the least you could do since you lost me in your little bet." 

Rayne smiled lazily, sinking back onto the soft, plump sofa cushions as he sighed; "I am so gonna enjoy working up an appetite for my breakfast, Chavez-chico!" 

He blew Paddy's handsome Latino chef a languid kiss as he subsided. PJ McNamara laughed quietly to himself, thoroughly satisfied.

End of Chapter Four

© Sadie Rose Bermingham and Bellora Quinn, 2007/8. 



Dark Paths Ch. 05



© Sadie Rose Bermingham & Bellora Quinn 2007/8

CHAPTER FIVE – NOWHERE TO RUN TO

"Here we are on chapter 5 already! We decided this week that our characters were pretty exhausted from all the sexual shenanigans so we've given them a little rest as this story is supposed to have a plot as well as lots of hot boysex! There is some slightly gratuitous (but very satisfying) violence in this chapter and a little non-con activity as well, so if that kind of thing makes you grind your teeth, look away towards the latter part please. 

"Thanks again for all the kind comments and nice votes thus far. Hope you enjoy this latest instalment. The usual terms and conditions naturally apply. Please don't copy or redistribute our work in any way shape or form without asking our permission first. We don't often bite but when we do it bloody hurts!"

For non-British people and the uninitiated, "Gardener's World" is a long-running BBC horticultural TV show, beloved of British pensioners (and my husband!)

*

Chavez did end up making Xav dinner, he even spoiled him a bit and made just what he wanted. The next morning when Xavier slid under Rayne's duvet they fucked like bunnies for two whole hours before Rayne finally tapped into those sensitive bite marks that just refused to heal and drank his promised breakfast in bed. 

Over the next few days a routine developed. Xavier went to Rayne's room in the morning, not too early because they were usually up late the night before. They would tumble across the sheets in a passionate tangle that invariably ended with Rayne taking his blood. Then Rayne kissed him and went about his day, sometimes going out, sometimes just disappearing into the expansive, sprawling house, usually in company with PJ.

Xavier was left to do as he pleased, watch TV, play video games, swim in the pool, and when he got bored with all that he'd find Chavez or Clay, or both, to talk to, tease, and play with. A few times he'd sat talking with PJ too. They all seemed to like him well enough. Chavez seemed to think he was amusing and whenever they were together there was generally a lot of joking around and laughing. Clay actually seemed to like talking to him and always looked pleasantly surprised that Xav didn't just parrot back stupid shit he'd picked up from the TV, but actually had his own opinions. PJ just seemed pleased whenever Xav cuddled up to him. 

At some point Rayne would come and find Xavier, either in the room he was using or somewhere else in the house, and they'd end up wrapped around each other again, whether the Vampire wanted his body or his blood or both. Xavier didn't have to coax Rayne to bite him anymore (whether by accident or design). Rayne was altogether more relaxed about it, though he voiced concerned that the marks he had left did not ever go away entirely. He tried biting Xavier at the crook of his elbow instead, and those marks lingered too. 

The really strange thing was that Xavier started to crave Rayne's bite almost as much as his body. He had never been a slut for pain before, and the bites did hurt, but it was such a fucking turn on. His body reacted if he even touched the marks on his neck. When Rayne bit him it got him so hard it made him dizzy. If he was already close to orgasm it would send him soaring over.

So the bites were not really an issue. Somewhere in all of this craziness Xavier just accepted that Rayne was the real deal. He didn't ask a lot of questions and Rayne didn't offer too much information of his own accord, but it wasn't really necessary. It was something about the blood; every time Rayne drank from him there was an electric connection, mostly one way, but Xavier also picked up odd bits and pieces from Rayne. Enough to feel traces of his hunger, his need. Enough to know what he was, though he couldn't have explained verbally to someone else, nor would he have tried to. It would just have sounded crazy.

It was crazy, the whole damn thing, but Xavier simply didn't care. There were no illusions between them, both were a little too jaded for that. Rayne was using him quite shamelessly and Xavier let him and just enjoyed the ride. It was like an unspoken but well-understood agreement between two like-minded creatures. Though it did sort of prickle Xavier that other than for the slaking his lust or his thirst Rayne pretty much ignored him the rest of the time. 

Rayne was appreciative enough of Xav's pliant, naked body in his bed and a hot, willing meal when he needed it, and Xavier's insatiable sexual appetite was being kept well-sated, but when they weren't fucking like a pair of wild animals Rayne, to all intents, avoided him. It might not have been so bad if he wasn't the only one that noticed. Xav could not even mention Rayne's name in front of anyone in the house without getting a sympathetic look and skittering avoidance of the subject, like he was some love struck calf or something. It was frustrating as hell, because that was not how he saw it. Xavier had been here before. He knew exactly what the score was, and exactly what would happen when it was time for Rayne to pack up and leave. The singer was thoroughly unsentimental. He had never given the slightest hint in his words or behaviour that what they had was anything more than an extended fling. 

Right now, Xav just wanted to make the most of that.

~~~

Rayne had been lurking for most of the afternoon in PJ's office, which was more of a chill-out room than a workstation these days, although it was equipped with a laptop and enough audio-visual hardware to give Bill Gates a three-day hard-on. It also had an ensuite sauna and massage room, which the singer enjoyed. Rayne rarely felt warm, unless he was feeding or making out, sharing another person's heat and energy. The sauna helped in that respect. And it was good for his skin. The vigorous rub down that he got each afternoon from Paddy's skilful Danish masseur loosened muscles that he hadn't even known existed. If he had been out during the day to one of the studios, or doing a photoshoot, he liked to relax in here afterwards. Never the most sociable of creatures, Rayne found the media merry-go-round tiresome of late. It would be good to go back to England and retreat into the anonymity he was trying to create for himself there, but in the meantime PJ's place was a sanctuary for him. 

Whenever the thought of going home crossed his mind he was nagged by the memory of that conversation with Cole Lagrado. The Vampire Master had not been in touch since their testy exchange at the recording studio but Rayne could not get the Elder's veiled threats out of his mind. He did not worry so much for himself but the idea that Lagrado might harm his friends was an irritant he could have done without. On the afternoon before he was scheduled to fly back to London, Rayne and PJ were relaxing in the steam room as usual, enjoying the companionable silence and the cleansing heat, when the older man brought up another thorny subject. 

"When are you gonna tell the kid?" he asked gruffly. 

"Tell him what?" Rayne tilted his head back to look at Paddy, lounging on the adjacent bench. 

"You know, what! When are you gonna tell him that you're going home?" PJ wanted to know. 

For a moment Rayne looked discomfited. He lay back then and closed his eyes. "I'll tell him tonight."

"And what then?" his friend persisted. "What am I supposed to do with him once you've gone?"

"You're not his minder. If you want him to go home, tell him." Rayne sounded irritable and PJ knew that he didn't want to think about the matter. Which was why he carried on pushing it. 

"You're just gonna dump him? No explanation?" 

"He knows the score, he's not a child!" the singer exhaled, turning sinuously to lie on his stomach on the towel, glaring back at the other man. "He knows what I am. I didn't have to tell him, he just understood. He'll understand this too."

"He's hooked on you," PJ said observantly. "Like a drug. He just keeps coming back for more. You always told me that you didn't go to the same feeders day-in day-out because they can get hooked. What was different about him?"

"I figured he could take it," Rayne said bluntly. "There's something about him, Paddy. I can't put my finger on it, but he is different."

"But you're still gonna walk out on him?" The big fellow shook his head grimly. It wasn't really a question. He knew Rayne too well by now. In the intervening years since the shy, defensive twenty-year old had first run out on him back in France, the paths of PJ McNamara and Rayne Wylde just kept crossing. The first time it happened it had been a shock for both of them, but now Rayne was no longer trying to hide from him. It still worried the older man that he was always alone though. Paddy had hoped that by now Rayne would be strong enough to let down his barriers and allow someone to get closer.

"I'm not his wife. I'm not his fucking keeper," Rayne snapped, breaking into his reflections. "For Christ's sake, Paddy. I can't adopt them all, I'd need a warehouse! He might pine a bit but he'll get over me."

PJ gave him a look that said otherwise. Rayne scowled and buried his head in his folded arms.

"Stop that! He's not in love with me and I'm not taking him with me, that's final!"

When the older man still said nothing Rayne lifted his head wearily and looked into those shrewd, steely blue eyes. The look acknowledged their bond, a trust that Rayne Wylde put in few people. 

"Will you keep an eye on him for me?" he asked at last, yielding to the non-verbal accusation of negligence. "Not adopt him, but... just make sure he's okay once I've gone."

PJ McNamara sighed and rolled his eyes. 

"Sure I will. You think I could turf him out after the way you've been with him since you brought him home? He doesn't deserve that!" 

"I owe you," Rayne said quietly. 

"You always have done. I look forward to the day when you finally pay me back for all the favours I've done you over the years. That will be one mighty fine day!" Paddy chuckled sadly. He knew that it would never come, and in his heart he had no desire for payback. He only wanted to see his boys well and happy. Rayne was more sorted now than he had been twenty years ago, back when they first met, but PJ was not certain that he was happy. He wondered if anyone could ever make Rayne feel that emotion long-term. 

"C'mere," Rayne murmured suggestively, rising to his knees and leaning forward to plant a kiss on the older fellow's lips. "I know what I can do for you..."

They did not need the masseur's attentions that afternoon. They were far too busy for that.

~~~

Xavier sat on the floor, knees bent back and ass between his ankles in what looked like a thoroughly uncomfortable position though it didn't bother him at all. He was stuffing the scattered clothes he'd picked up from around the room into his backpack. He took a last look around, making sure he'd got everything. For the first time since he'd been using this room everything was picked up and tidy. 

It felt sort of wrong to just leave like this. Like he was sneaking out with the silverware or something. It was just… he didn't do well with goodbyes. And he knew Rayne was leaving. He felt it in his blood. 

Clay and PJ had hinted to him, kind of heavy-handedly, that he could stay on. Which was nice of them, but sooner or later they were going to get tired of mothering him. He'd rather go now, on his own terms. He thought about leaving a note, at least, but what was he going to put in it? "Thanks for a lovely time. Safe trip." Right! There was nothing he could think of to write that wouldn't sound cheesy or laughable. Still, he couldn't shake the wrong feeling at just going off without even saying goodbye to anyone. 

Ah well, they'd probably be relieved not to have to go through any awkwardness. He knew Rayne would be. 

Xav timed his exit perfectly for a moment when he knew no one would be around to see him slip out. There was a cab waiting for him down the street, just as he'd instructed. 

The little flea-bag rat-trap he was staying in was all the more shabby and depressing with the contrast of PJ's sumptuous home behind him. Xavier dropped his bag on the floor and flopped back on the bed. Maybe he should have said goodbye. Something, at least. Ah well, what's done is done. 

He rolled over on his side and curled up. He could hear the people in the room next to his arguing; the steady hum of traffic on the street; a wailing siren in the distance. He lay there for a while, listening to it all, then sat up with a disgusted snort. It was still early, just about dinner-time. Clay might have gone up to look for him by now, since he never missed a meal. Or maybe Ray would have, since he didn't like to go hungry either. 

Xavier shook himself angrily. He wasn't going to sit here and think about them - think about Rayne leaving - and feel sorry for himself. 

He got up and took a shower, blow dried his hair and tamed his curls into something a little more club-worthy. His fingers worked the back of his mane into messy spikes, the smoothed forelock falling to one side of his face. He took the time to line his eyes, paint his nails and put a bit of gloss on his lips, then got dressed. Carefully he pulled on a pair of jeans that clung to his hips like they were trying to drag him to his knees, a clingy tee shirt and red and black striped arm warmers. Looking through his bag for anything else that might suit he pulled out a long, thin scarf of some silky material that had runners of metallic thread all through it. He'd stuffed it blindly into his bag with a bundle of other stuff when he'd been getting ready to leave PJ's. 

For a moment his heart skipped a beat. It was Rayne's, or had been. He wasn't sure if the singer had given it to him, or loaned it, or it had just found its way into his bag. Xav had spent a few hours tied up with it one torrid afternoon when Rayne had discovered how hot being restrained got him. He wound the scarf once around his neck and went out. The fabric lay feather-light over the bite marks on his neck; unexpectedly stimulating. 

He hit three different clubs before he started having fun. A half dozen Screwdrivers and several shots were helping things along. Xav lost himself in the mass of writhing bodies, moving to the music. Hot sweaty torsos pressed into him, moving with him for a little while until he gyrated on. He was popular onstage or off. The way he moved drew attention like personal gravity. A heavy beat pounded at him. The guy in front of him slid closer, moving his thigh between Xavier's legs as they danced and cupping his ass to draw him closer yet. He ground his erection again the guy's leg, slid long hands around his neck and kissed him just because he was cute. Then he moved on. The guy tried to not let him get away but the crowd soon swallowed him up. 

Hands slid over Xavier from behind, around his hips and under the edge of his shirt, cool fingers fanning over his taut belly. For a second he was sure that cool touch belonged to Rayne. He turned into the embrace, fully expecting jewel green eyes to be looking back hungrily at him. 

The eyes weren't green, they were a dark velvety brown, the body much taller and broader than Rayne's. Those cool hands were on his back now, pulling him in tight. The smile the guy gave him made his heart pound; a flash of sharp canines there for just a moment. He was being led towards the edge of the crowd. Xav wasn't sure why he followed but he couldn't seem to break away. 

It seemed like one moment he was dancing in a sea of hormonally charged bodies in the club and the next he was in the parking lot, being hauled into the back of a sleek car. He wasn't smashed, just a little drunk; not sure how he lost time like that. The car pulled away almost instantly. 

The guy with the dark-chocolate eyes and the sharp, feral smile was cupping his chin with one hand, like he might kiss him, but he didn't. It was more like he was inspecting him. 

"You belong to Wylde?" he asked, though it was one of those questions that wasn't really a question. 

"Belong to?" Xavier laughed. "I don't belong to anyone." 

The chuckle that rolled from the stranger's throat was coolly mocking. 

"I don't make mistakes. You are the whore that's been warming his bed."

Xavier grabbed the hand holding him by the bony wrist and pulled out of his grasp. He got the distinct impression that the guy let him do it. 

"I'm not a whore either. Lemme the fuck out of this car." 

That earned him another cool chuckle and Xavier suddenly felt the little hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Something wasn't right. 

The guy pulled on the end of the scarf, tightening it. Xavier couldn't help the little gasp and the flood of heat that made his dick hard as the fabric rubbed against the bite. His captor kept the pressure on, just this side of cutting off his air, while he moved his other hand to Xavier's throat. He ran a thumb over the twin marks on Xavier's neck and grinned as his quarry tried not to shiver and moan in response. 

"You have been tasted, no need to pretend."

Warning bells were going off like crazy in Xavier's head. He could not figure out why. So far the guy was creepy but hadn't done anything bad. He'd never talked with Rayne about keeping the vampire thing to himself. There didn't seem to be a need to talk about it. For one, it was nobody's business, for another most people would have just laughed if Xav went around claiming he'd had a sexy tryst with a Brit vampire. Still, something told him it would be prudent to play dumb. 

"Yeah, so what? You obviously paid a dentist to cap your teeth too. Everybody's got their kinks. Not against the law to pretend you're Count Dracula." 

"Tch, such lies. You know what Wylde is. The question remains, what else might you know?" 

Yeah, this didn't sound too good. Panic gripped Xavier. He leaned toward the front seat and yelled at the driver; "Stop the fucking car, now!" 

The driver didn't flinch, didn't even acknowledge him at all, like he was deaf. The guy in the back with him reached over and grabbed Xavier's shoulder. Xav lunged for the door handle and the fingers on his shoulder tightened painfully and yanked him back. Xavier turned, swinging a blow at him wildly, which was easily deflected. His captor hit him then; drew back his hand to deliver what looked like a casual slap, like the kind of thing you'd see in a movie when someone got too hysterical. It felt like he got hit with a brick. His head snapped back hard enough to crack against the window. Xavier saw stars for a couple of seconds.

"Do not struggle. You will not be hurt, so long as you stay calm. Mr. Lagrado would simply like to ask you a few questions and then you will be released, unharmed."

Xavier knew bullshit when he heard it. He struggled, hands fumbling for the door-catch again. That radar deep inside, the primal instinctual part of his soul that thousands of years of evolution had built and a scant few hundred years of science and reasoning had not been able to erase was screaming for him to escape; to do what ever he needed to get away. 

Fingers wrapped in his hair and yanked his head back. He was pressed into the seat. The face hanging over him was something out of a nightmare, twisted into a rictus grin of horror like some medieval demon. The Vampire hissed, thin lines of saliva stretching down from his fangs and Xavier screamed. Terror was coursing through him. The hand on his throat squeezed, cutting off his air and his scream like a thrown switch. That unyielding hand came down again and this time the stars were blotted out by sudden darkness and he cascaded down into still, quiet unconsciousness. 




Dark Paths Ch. 05



~~~

The absence of clutter in the room which Xavier had claimed for his own told Rayne more than words, more even than his finely tuned senses. The boy's delicious scent was still there but faint and subtle like something caught on a breeze then lost again. He opened a cupboard door and saw what he was expecting to see; empty space. 

The coverlet on the bed was hastily smoothed. He sat down there and stroked a hand restlessly over the pillow, plucking a short, fine, blond hair from the soft linen and running it between his fingers then discarding it. 

"Damn it!" he exhaled, shaking his head. 

~~~

"What d'you mean, gone?" Clay looked up from the TV with surprise as the singer hovered in the doorway of the dayroom, a grim look on his handsome face. 

"I mean, exactly what the word fuckin' means, idiot! He's gone. He's not here. He's taken his stuff and he's gone. He jumped the gun, I told PJ he wasn't stupid. He knew the party was nearly over and he's just cleared off."

"Did he take your wallet?" Clay asked with a little quirk of his lips. 

"No! He's not like that!" Rayne shook his head impatiently. "Bloody little shit though!"

The bigger man laughed softly. 

"You're priceless baby! You were ready to shoot off back to London without saying a word and you're pissed because he's run out on you first!"

"Bollocks, I'm not!" Rayne narrowed his eyes. "I just wanted to tell him to be careful. It's not safe out there."

"He's streetwise," Clay said amiably. "I think he can figure out what's safe and what's not."

The slender Englishman shook his head again, irritably. He half turned back into the hallway as if he expected something to have tried to creep up on him there. 

"You don't get it, do you?" he muttered. "Christ, Clay! You watched me bite him. You know what I am, even if you're brushing it off as a weird fetish. PJ's accepted it for years, so has Mikka. Do you think I'm the only one, huh?"

"You're talking crazy," Clay said quietly, returning his attention to the newscast on screen. 

"I'm trying to tell you something important, something that might keep you safe," Rayne hissed impatiently. 

"That Frisco's over-run with blood-suckers? You've been watching too many late-night movies, Wylde." Clay tilted his head, looking back at the younger man with a mixture of affection and sadness. "Too many disco biscuits, baby."

"Yeah? Well when some toothy fucker comes for your throat out of a dark alley somewhere, don't come crying to me about it!" Rayne snapped back at him and went off to find Chavez. The Latino boy had gone with Xav to pick up his stuff and might at least remember where the boy lived. 

~~~

Chavez seemed despondent about Xavier's disappearance too and was oddly quiet on the run downtown. Rayne was not complaining, his own thoughts were still turbulent. He had not forgotten the look in Cole Lagrado's eyes when he spoke of 'his property' so casually. 

The rooming house was a dive, there was no polite way of describing it. Rayne spent several minutes hammering on the door before Chavez persuaded him to give it up. They went to the club where he had watched the boy dance on the night they met, but the guys at the bar told him that Xavier wasn't scheduled to work that week and hadn't been seen for a few days. He signed a couple of autographs and made his excuses. At the door one of the security guys, whose face was familiar from that night in the dressing room, stopped him and mentioned the names of a couple of clubs where Xav liked to hang out when he was off the clock. 

For the next four hours they moved from venue to venue, checking out the dancefloors and the chill-out rooms. At 2am they called it a night. There had been no sign of the boy at all. 

"San Francisco's a big city," Chavez sighed as they got back into the car. "He'll probably be okay, man. You know, I'll look out for him the next few days, so will Clay. He talks tough but he's a pussycat."

"I know he is," Rayne said grimly, still staring out into the night and wondering which pocket of darkness had swallowed Xavier so completely that he could hardly even feel the boy's presence in his head. He wanted to believe that everything would be okay but he had a bad feeling in his gut. A very bad feeling. 

~~~

Rayne did not rest for the remainder of that night. PJ sat up with him and they played cards half-heartedly. The old man promised that they would make sure Xavier was fine, and even try to get him into a better apartment. Rayne felt a little happier about that but he was still concerned. 

His Lufthansa flight back to London was via Paris and left first thing in the morning. Paddy held him close for a long time before he got into the waiting car and Chavez drove him to San Francisco International. There had been no talk of Vampires but Rayne whispered; "Be careful. Please, be careful," to the older man before PJ let him go.

"We'll be fine, sweet thing," PJ assured him, kissing him on the nose. "You call me when you get back and I'll update you."

Rayne never made the call, because he didn't get that far. 

~~~

He generally travelled light, just a couple of small cabin bags, so he had a little time to wander around the airport hall before check in once Chavez had left him at the airport. He was browsing a souvenir shop admiring a reproduction oriental Katana that he thought Simon would have liked when he felt the first prickle down his spine, an uncomfortable sensation like someone was sticking tiny pins into him. The singer looked up with a frown, pushing his elegant, black framed sunglasses up into his hair and looking around. He wasn't certain but he had the uneasy feeling that he was being watched, and not in a good way. 

His gaze took in fellow shoppers, most of them suited business travellers this early in the morning, but a fair few holiday-makers in garish shorts and tee-shirts too. One traveller stood out from the crowd. He was tall with immaculately close-cut grey-blond hair and a dark, almost empty stare behind his semi-translucent shades. One of Rayne's English friends, Lord Dominic Warren, had the gift of seeing psychic energy and he swore that Vampires and all the Undead had auras like interference on a badly tuned TV set. Rayne could not see this creature's aura but he could feel it, like white noise in his head. This close he could almost taste it, metallic like raw meat; like blood. The stranger's attire was smart without being formal; dark pants and a loose black jacket over a slightly paler charcoal sweater. All the garments were well cut and very expensive. The delicate green chiffon scarf he wore loosely knotted under the roll neck of his jersey stood out as the only item of colour. Sunlight glancing down through the high glass roof of the concourse picked out the delicate threads of silver and gold running through it. 

Rayne experienced a moment of chill that gripped at his intestines and then anger swallowed it. He knew that scarf was meant as a message the moment he set eyes on it. When he was packing earlier he had not missed it, but he remembered bringing it with him to Frisco. He had worn it at the studios the day he met Lagrado. It was a Jean Paul Gaultier, a one off; a present from the French designer years ago when Whipsnade first became famous. And there was only one way that this smug, suited, Undead bastard could have acquired it. 

Rayne put down the Katana and pushed his way through the crowds toward the other Vampire with murder in his vivid green eyes. 

~~~

About the same time that Rayne and Chavez were giving up on searching the clubs for him, Xavier was waking up in an unfamiliar room. His jaw ached and he brought a hand up to gently run over the low throb on that side of his face. For once he was glad to find himself unfettered when waking up in a strange bed. 

"My apologies for Steffen. I'm afraid he was a little over zealous in subduing you. It wasn't my intention that you should be harmed."

Xavier found the owner of the dark, syrupy voice. It belonged to a man sitting comfortably in a chair in the corner of the room. Intensely black hair, dark eyes that looked almost coal-black in the dim light, a trim, medium build, casually but expensively dressed. He looked Hispanic, but Xavier was used to seeing Mexican and South American ancestry in the residents of his home city. There was something just a little different in these features, the face a little narrower, the brows and nose more sharply defined. Mediterranean, maybe? Something not south of the border but a little farther away. 

To his right, standing near the wall in an easy stance, hands clasped lightly in front of him, was the guy from the club; Steffen. He wasn't smiling. The smug look was gone completely. He didn't look chastised though, just bored. Definitely giving off the hired-muscle vibe.

"My name is Coelho Lagrada-Diaz, I'm hoping you'll be my guest for a little while."

"Right!" Xavier answered. "Listen, I'm the fuck outta here. This is bullshit!" 

He got up, and his head immediately started pounding. Fantastic. 

"I'm afraid I can't let you go," his captor told him softly. 

"Fuck off!" Xavier headed for the door. Who the fuck did this guy think he was? 

Steffen unfolded from where he leaned against the wall. Xavier only got two steps before the massive Vampire grabbed him. His arms locked around Xavier's body like steel bands and he turned so that Xavier faced Cole Lagrado again. 

Lagrado shook his head, as if he were truly regretful. 

"There is no need to make this unpleasant, Xavier. You would have sought us out soon or later anyway. Mr. Wylde has been indiscreet, and now has abandoned you to your own devices. This creates a problem for both of us. It would be much easier to simply kill you, but there are complications that might arise if we were to do so."

Xavier stared at the guy, not a clue what to say. What do you say to crazy people, after all? Telling them they're nuts obviously wasn't the wisest course of action and arguing with them seemed equally pointless.

Lagrado suddenly rose and moved to stand in front of him. Xavier blinked twice. His heart was thumping against his ribs like a caged thing; that creepy crawling feeling of panicked fear dancing all over his skin. He'd moved so fast it was hard to follow, Xav's brain refused to register it. In contrast, as the Vampire stretched a hand towards him now he seemed to move in slow motion. Lagrado grasped the end of the fine, green scarf and pulled it gently from Xavier's neck, letting every inch of the fabric slid along the bite mark underneath, watching Xavier shudder and writhe in Steffen's grasp. When he'd pulled it free he laid his fingers against the little pin-points dimpling his captive's skin. 

~~~

If the boy weren't marked Cole could easily have ignored him, or killed him, depending on how things panned out. If the boy was simply a feeder he wouldn't have thought twice about it. But, he couldn't kill another Vampire's favourite. If he did, he'd owe Wylde a blood debt. The hell of it was, Wylde seemed ignorant of a lot of vampire customs. He probably wouldn't even realise this. However Cole couldn't take that risk, or the off-chance that Rayne Wylde wouldn't discover his error and come back to collect his debt. So many of these little customs were designed to keep all out wars from occurring between Vampire Clans. Even if Wylde never made an issue of it, someone else, someone with the weight of more years and experience might make it an issue. Vampire politics was a complex game. How easy to use the killing of this one marked boy as an excuse to try and usurp him. Essentially calling him out for breaking Vampire Law.

He couldn't kill him then, but since Wylde had abandoned him, or was apparently planning to - if his sources were correct, and he was confidant they were - then he had the right to make sure this boy didn't cause any trouble. 

His fingers trailed lightly over the pulse beating like a frantic thing in the human boy's throat, upward and along the smooth line of his jaw and the dusky purple bruise there. 

"Steffen is quite taken with you," he said quietly and casually. "You will be given to him."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Xavier demanded incredulously. "I'm not staying here. You can't give me to anyone. Does the word kidnapping mean anything to you? Aiding and abetting? You may not be up on your American history but it's been almost a hundred and fifty years since you could own people here, dickweed."

~~~

Cole Lagrado looked amused, but Xavier was pretty sure a lot of it was feigned. The Vampire clearly wasn't used to people talking to him with anything but deference.

"I assure you, the slave trade thrives in this country, although I will grant you it is no longer limited by race. Whether you are treated like a slave or a favoured consort is up to you." Lagrado looked from Xavier to Steffen now. "Take him to Jeanette. Perhaps he will learn from her that it isn't wise to be disrespectful to one's Elders."

Steffen kept his face carefully blank, but it was obvious he was not overjoyed about this order. He didn't dare argue though. He was not happy that his newly promised pet would be punished, but he wasn't pissed enough to risk punishment himself. He shoved Xavier toward the door. Once in the hall he forestalled any potential struggles with a warning. 

"Jeanette is one of the starved ones. She will act as a revenant; crazed, mindless. I can control her, but it will take all of my focus. If you scream and struggle it will make controlling her more difficult. Stay calm and I will be able to keep her from ripping your throat out."

"Has anyone ever told you you're astoundingly bad at not creating panic?" Xavier managed to gasp as he was propelled along the hallway and down a flight of stairs. 

The basement (of course it would have to be a basement, wouldn't it?) did not open up into a room like one would expect, but a hallway lined on one side with steel-reinforced doors. Xavier was brought to the third of these, although dragged was more accurate. Fuck it if he was going to co-operate! 

Once inside a switch was flipped and a single, bare, overhead bulb cast harsh light down. Straight away it showed there was a woman in the room, fastened to the wall with what looked like thick tractor-tire chains. Although, 'woman' was being kind. She had obviously been female in life, but now was little more than a decaying corpse in chains. The sweetly rotten smell of putrefying flesh was gagging. Xavier might have vomited if he hadn't been in shock. Every horror movie he'd every seen was wrong. There was no way makeup and effects could capture the reality, the sickly colour, the smell of a real dead body. 

Terror, sharp and bright flashed through Xavier. These people were not just your average crazies. No, this level of craziness went far beyond anything in Xav's experience. Before he'd even fully managed to take in the horror chained to the wall before him, the head slowly rose, milky eyes fixing him with a rabid stare. The creature opened a ruined mouth, parched lips blackened and drawn back from its jagged, ruined teeth, and snapped at him like a mad dog on a chain. 

Xavier felt the air compress in his lungs. He couldn't move, couldn't scream, couldn't think. His mind still hadn't been able to catch up, to force this nightmare to make sense, and then suddenly it did with a snap. He was being dragged toward the horror. 

"NO! No-no-no… don't!" He tried to claw his way out of Steffen's grasp, kicking and throwing all his body weight into trying to get away. The thing on the wall lunged to the end of its chains. A sound that was part animal, part nothing he'd ever heard before issued from its throat. Xav was screaming 'NO!' in a repeated litany like a chant that could somehow keep him from being drawn any closer. 

His arm was grasped and extended, he could see the maw of the dead thing snapping and then it latched on at the crook of his elbow, sinking its teeth in and shaking his arm like a dog that wanted to rip flesh from a carcass. Xavier's screams echoed around the room. 

"God, oh god, don't let it touch me! Don't let it touch me!" The hands that grabbed him were not bony, they were cold and waxy, almost slimy as if the skin was congealing on its bones. Xavier reached a level of horror he'd never imagined possible 

The overpowering smell of it, the agonising feel of its rotting lips touching his skin; he was going crazy. It couldn't be real, couldn't be happening, but it was. He could feel the warm spurt of his blood pumping from his arm, the thin, blackened lips moving against his warm flesh as it slurped and swallowed. He struggled reflexively but couldn't break its grip, or Steffen's.

When he thought for sure he was either going to puke, pass out, have his mind snap, or all three at once, Steffen finally yanked the thing off of him. It snarled and snapped and tried to clutch Xavier but he somehow stumbled back. Steffen grabbed him by the arms and half dragged, half carried him from the room. The thing continued to make those inhuman, animal sounds of hunger and rage, only partially cut off by the slamming door that closed it up in its prison again. 

Steffen let Xavier go then, dropping him in the hallway, and he fell on his knees, retching up the contents of his stomach. When he had stopped heaving he realised he was babbling incoherently, sobbing like a child. Blood ran down his arm in little rivulets. Steffen crouched over him with a sneer of disgust and picked him up. Xav had neither the strength nor presence of mind to try and fight him off. He was taken back up the stairs and carried into a different bedroom than the one he'd awoken in. This one had no windows and the door clicked shut and locked after Steffen had deposited him wordlessly on the bed and left him alone with his fear. 

By the time Xav had calmed down enough to take inventory, the wound on his arm had closed though his flesh still looked sore and angry. Xavier guessed that it was about an hour later when Steffen finally returned. There was a feral look in the vampire's eyes, a hungry look that Xav recognised. 

~~~

The vampire on the concourse at San Francisco International smiled at Rayne pleasantly as he approached. He did a very fine job of feigning cool nonchalance but he couldn't do anything about the aura of nervous fear he gave off. Rayne could taste it and his fangs extended automatically. The strange vamp waited until Rayne was just within striking distance before speaking. 

"Mr. Lagrado wishes you farewell and safe journey, Mr. Wylde," he declared, moments before the small, angry Englishman's left hand wrapped itself around the trailing ends of the scarf tied loosely at his throat and yanked his head down to shoulder height. At the same time Rayne Wylde's right knee came up hard and connected with the softer tissues of the tall blond vampire's groin.

"Suck my dick, you cold-blooded bastard!" Rayne hissed at him as he went to his knees with an astonished groan that told the smaller Vampire that no one had treated him with quite such blatant disregard in a very long time. 

Once upon a time, Rayne might have worried about that. Blondie was no Ancient but he was older, and probably stronger. The element of surprise would not last forever so he needed to capitalise whilst his opponent was still distracted by the pain coursing through his mangled genitalia. 

He crouched automatically, putting on a show of mock-concern. 

"Oh my god! I am so sorry! Did I hurt you?" he exclaimed in a stagey tone designed to carry and put other passengers at their ease. He was already projecting; his thoughts telling anyone close enough to have witnessed the assault that this was really nothing for them to worry about and it would all be taken care of. Passengers bustled on around him, seemingly unconcerned that he had just attempted a non-surgical castration on the man kneeling before him. In a lower register for his victim's ears alone Rayne growled; "Where is he? Tell me now and maybe I won't strap you to the wheel of a 747 and leave you for the fuckin' carrion chasers!"




Dark Paths Ch. 05



The urge - no, the all-consuming compulsion - to grab the smaller vampire and pummel him into a unrecognisable pulp was so strong that Lagrado's creature almost couldn't control it in time. He could not create that kind of spectacle in such a public place or Cole Lagrado would have his head, literally. 

"Concern? How touching!" he wheezed through gritted teeth. When he moved, it was with that blinding speed all but the weakest of them were capable of, turning at the same time so the scarf came off and Rayne was left holding it, a puzzled expression briefly gracing his handsome face as he found himself alone. Prowling around behind him the older Vampire growled softly and impatiently.

"You cross into an Ancient's territory, uninvited and unannounced. You not only hunt without permission but you mark your mate. Then you abandon your marked human in our city. You offer insult after insult and expect no retaliation?" He snorted, a very human gesture, suggesting that he was perhaps not so old after all. "Be grateful Cole Lagrado's only punishment is to take the boy."

Rayne half turned, tracking him purely by the feelings of anger and frustration he emitted. His fingers remained curled around the delicate wisp of emerald and gold, still rich with the scent of Xavier's skin; his blood. Were it not for that he could have left it; and if this creep had not so casually referred to Xavier like some kind of offering. He had seen too many innocents go down that route with the Old Ones and it never ended well. Soft, pale lips drew back from his extending fangs in a slight, warning snarl like a dog whose boundaries have been violated. 

"I've told your boss and now I'm telling his trained monkey, I don't ask anyone's permission for anything," Rayne hissed softly. "Now if any of you creeps have hurt so much as a hair on that boy's head, I am going to break some bones. Punish me if that's what gets you hard, but leave him out of it. It's not his fault."

He shivered all the same. There was no expression on the blond's face but something in his manner, in the way he felt... it sent chills through him. Rayne was a good judge of his own kind, generally. He had a feel for the ages and skills of his fellow Undead that even his Sire, Jabez openly admired. But he had no time for them, to his Ancient Mentor's eternal frustration. It was true that Jabez Everman also shunned most of Vampire-kind but he was over three and half thousand centuries old and it did not pay to provoke him. Plus, his mortal bodyguard Mersen was almost as lethal as a whole cadre of Undead. Any Vamp that got within a hand's distance of the Everman was doing well. Doing well, that is until Jabez got hold of him!

In London these days Rayne's blood ties to the semi-mythical Everman protected him from all but the most lethal opponents. After they had combined to teach Everman's own Demonic Sire, Kal Zelarin a lesson he would spend the remainder of his Unlife regretting, they discovered they had earned a massive quotient of kudos among the British Vampire coteries. Here things were a little different. He wished now that he had paid more attention to the stuff Jabez and his human ally Dominic Warren tried to teach him about Vampires and their ways and the whole complex pecking order. It was so boring though. The Vamp politics just sent him to sleep. It was like the Royal Family only ten times more insular and with even more archaic regulations. Of course the Royals probably wouldn't rip out your lungs and eat them if you crossed them (with just one notable exception, that he knew of!)

This cocksucker at the airport had talked about him marking Xavier and he supposed that was right. It was unusual for him to leave visible bite marks on a lover and he certainly had not done so on purpose but Xavier seemed to have no problems with it. And the boy's increased sensitivity to his touch had been immensely rewarding in bed, he had to admit. It was almost as if they moved with one accord. Actually, when he thought about it like that, it was a bit creepy. He pushed the idea away and focused on Blondie, who still had not tried to rip him to quivering pieces. 

Interesting.

"I don't do gratitude," he sneered at the glowering Vamp now, tempering his sharp tongue slightly. "But I'll make a tiny little allowance because I hate to put anyone's nose out of joint and I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to do that on purpose, all right? I'm a dozy Brit, we have different rules where I come from. I didn't think I was robbing from anyone's table. So I'd be very grateful if you guys would let the boy go. Okay?"

He held his hands out to his sides in an open, placatory gesture that was probably not the best defensive posture under the circumstances. But hey, he was standing in the middle of one of the world's busiest airports. This cold-blood was hardly going to eviscerate him here with so many witnesses.

"Okay?" he invited again when the other Vampire seemed to be having difficulty controlling his breathing. 

The vampire's expression changed ever so slightly. As if he had been trying to peer into Rayne and now had what he wanted, but what he saw wasn't what he'd expected to see. 

"You can not be that naïve," he muttered, almost to himself. Then he heaved a small, completely unnecessary sigh. Old habits died hard, especially for those not yet a few centuries old. "Even if it were up to me, which it's not, he can't just be let go. You marked him…" 

When he saw that Rayne's expression did not change he rolled his eyes. "Don't you know anything?" 

He laughed because it really was rather ironic. The huge insult Cole Lagrado had dealt this small vamp, that was barely more then a fledgling, didn't even ping his radar as an insult because he hadn't a clue what he'd done. He was simply concerned his lover should not be hurt. 

"The mark…it's a blood bond. Like saying this is mine, tagging him as your human servant or as a favourite. It tells other vampires he's under your protection and not to feed from or harm him. That Lagrado has done so, and has since made him Steffen's pet, says you're no threat, your mark means nothing." He paused and chuckled humourlessly again. 

Explaining the insult was just so ridiculous. The very reason he was sent, with that scarf as a message, was so that Wylde would know of the retaliation. He had no hope of winning if he challenged Lagrado, so he was supposed to get on the plane with his tail between his legs knowing he'd been effectively bitch-slapped for his insolence. Having to tell him all this took the sting out of it. Cole would be all sorts of put out if he knew.

He should stop here, the messaged had been delivered, and made abundantly clear. His job was done. But he couldn't resist adding; "You only have two choices, Wylde. Get on the plane and it's a draw. Or try and negotiate for your boy." With that the blond vampire moved away, leaving Rayne standing there speechless, for once, and very, very pissed off.

Rayne quivered almost imperceptibly as the words sank in. The milling airport crowds melted into mindless background noise, as irritating as the drone of insects but of no more consequence. He had eyes only for this smug, slightly incredulous creature standing in front of him, laughing at him. Fucking well laughing at him!

He could, and had, put up with a lot of shit but he saw no reason to take that one lying down. Lagrado was a serious motherfucker but this one? The singer doubted Blondie was more than bait. Cole Lagrado wasn't going to waste serious Vamp-power just to send a message. And he'd been brought up to always reply to messages. It was only polite, after all.

"Oi, Mr Know It All!" he said coldly as the blond turned to walk off. 

For a second the tall, fair-haired show-off hesitated, and then he turned. The pause was his undoing. 

Rayne was not where the messenger had left him. As he turned back again to face in the direction he had been headed, the singer appeared in front of him. He was like a wraith, moving so fast that his opponent only had the sense to take a single step back before the sharp point of the ceremonial oriental knife Rayne Wylde had been admiring when he first became aware of his shadow punched through his heart and out through his back. 

It made one hell of a mess of his nice suit. 

As the blond went down with a grunt of pain and surprise, Rayne Wylde stood over him and said; "Tell your boss, 'that's just a little warning, in case I find out you've damaged what's mine'. If you survive that long, anyway. If not, I'm sure he'll get the message."

He was gone before the blond could get a hand to the hilt of the katana in his chest. By the time the mesmerised travellers realised what had happened and started screaming that there was a wounded man lying on the ground in their midst, Rayne Wylde was in a taxi heading back into the city. 

~~~

He went to PJ first and warned his friends to get out of San Francisco. Initially this request was treated almost as light-heartedly as his lack of understanding of Vampire legislation back at the airport. It took a serious argument and several acts of unpremeditated violence to emphasise just how much danger they were likely to be in. By this time there was an article on the mid-day news bulletin about a stabbing at San Francisco International, with police speculating about how a man could come to be stabbed through the chest with a 16" knife without there being any witnesses to the assault. To add to the difficulties the SFPD were already experiencing, the victim had disappeared too. One spokesman was already dismissing it as a prank, but in the lounge of PJ McNamara's house overlooking the bay three pairs of eyes turned slowly to look at Rayne Wylde. 

"Now do you believe me?" he demanded, shaking his head impatiently. "This is real. I didn't want to drag you guys into it but Lagrado already knows I'm involved with Xavier and I'd lay a penny to a pound that he's figured out I'm in deep with you lot as well."

"Why'd he take the kid?" Clay wanted to know. 

"Because I'd bitten him, stupid!" Rayne shook his dark mane again, rolling his eyes. "In their eyes it puts a 'Property of... do not touch' sticker on him."

"So why'd they take him then?" That was Chavez. 

Rayne was at least a little glad that he wasn't the only ignorant one playing this fucking game. He took a deep breath. 

"They're throwing the ball back into my court." he explained patiently. "Either I can let it go and walk away, which is what I think they were hoping I'd do. Or I can go back there and give them seventeen shades of shit about it."

"And what will they do then?" PJ asked solemnly from the sofa where he had been listening to all of this with a frown. 

"I..." Rayne closed his mouth and looked away. Without turning his face back to Paddy, he murmured; "I dunno."

"You are not doing this on your own, honey," Clay told him at once. 

Pale eyes the colour of new leaves flickered up to meet the bigger man's silvery gaze. Rayne shook his head. 

"Barclay, they're fuckin' Vampires!" he said vehemently. 

"Well we get us a fire truck full of Holy Water and we go give the fuckers a good hosing," the burly former porn star responded defiantly. 

Rayne tried to suppress the smile this brought reluctantly to his lips but he could not hold it in. He looked away instead. God, he loved these guys. They were all batshit crazy, even PJ, but they were loyal as a bunch of old hounds. The idea that they'd walk into a nest of Vampires to help him out armed only with a string of garlic and some Holy Water touched and frightened him a little. 

"You're not running away this time," PJ said mildly. "So neither are we."

"Could you at least try to lay low?" Rayne begged him, coming back to his side and kneeling at his feet. He put his head in the older man's lap and Paddy's fingers ran softly through his hair. 

"If that makes you happy, baby boy," PJ whispered to him, "that's what we'll do. But if you need us, don't you dare try to keep us out of the loop. We're not spring chicks but we know a few tricks, honey."

"Paddy, he's not like me," Rayne said miserably. "He doesn't see people as… human beings. He just sees them as something to use; something to feed from. He's dangerous, and he's not alone in this city."

"And neither are we, baby boy," PJ reassured him. "Don't you worry. We can take good care of ourselves. But don't you get hurt, and you make sure that boy is okay. You got me?"

Rayne lifted his head and nodded wearily. "Gotcha."

~~~

Xavier watched Steffen approach with cool, guarded eyes. He held his arm, cradling it and rubbing the place where he'd been so savagely bitten, even though there was no longer a gaping wound there. "What was that thing that bit me?"

"A vampire." Steffen answered, one brow arched slightly, as if Xavier should know this. 

"You're a vampire. That thing…" Xavier shook his head. "Why did it look like that?"

"She was punished. Not allowed to feed, for a long time. The younger ones have difficulty keeping their forms, and their minds if they do not feed."

"If her mind's gone why keep her like that? Why not just… end it?" 

Steffen tilted his head, looking at Xavier curiously. "Two reasons. She is useful as she is to punish others, as you have seen for yourself, and she is not broken beyond all hope. With enough time and blood she could be as she once was, whole and sound."

Xavier shuddered. He sincerely hoped he would not be feeding her again. 

As if reading his mind Steffen said, "You will not be punished again, unless you do something to earn it."

Xavier's eyes came up at once and locked with Steffen's. 

"Why are you doing this? What's this got to do with Rayne? If this is some kind of… of… I don't know what… he's leaving anyway, probably today or tomorrow. Just let me outta here, alright? I won't tell nobody. I swear. I won't say a word about any of this. Who would believe me anyway, right? Please, just let me go." He couldn't seem to stop babbling. 

Steffen had moved to the bed and now reached for him. Xavier pulled back, scrabbling backwards across the narrow mattress. Steffen lunged and Xavier evaded. It was like Steffen was moving through jello or something. Xavier knew how fast he was, he shouldn't have been able to keep out of his reach. He caught the look in the vampire's eyes and his confusion cleared. There was excitement gleaming there alongside the hunger. He was doing it on purpose. Playing with him like a cat plays with a captured bird. Pissed now, Xavier willed himself to stay still. 

"Bet you liked to pull the wings off of flies when you were little. Fuckin asshole!"

He hit the floor so hard it felt like a truck had smacked into him. The wind got knocked out of him and he struggled to get air as he tried to curl over and protect vital areas. Steffen had him pinned flat though. He'd just managed to get a thin breath into his lungs when a rough hand pressed hard between his legs. His nuts felt lodged about mid gut and the shaky breath turned into a painful cough and gasp. 

He was not surprised at all that Steffen's next move was to claw his jeans open and yank them down. He was flipped onto his belly, one hand fisted in his hair and yanked his head back while the other groped between his legs. 

Cool lips moved along the curve of Xavier's neck in a softly malicious caress. 

"The craving to be bitten will not go away Xavier, it will only get worse." Steffen's wet tongue licked over the marks. "You will come to beg me for this." 

He plunged his razor sharp canines into the pulse point at the same moment he sank his cock into Xavier's fear-clenched body, ripping his way into the terrified mortal with no regard for his pain.

Xavier's cry of agony underscored Steffen's groan of pleasure as he swallowed the warm, salty flow flooding into his mouth. The blood was so strong and sweet it sang along his tongue. The beautiful lithe body beneath him went slack and pliant as he fed deeply and fucked Wylde's boy-toy with abandon. 

Xavier didn't fight. No point. He knew he wasn't strong enough to break Steffen's hold, and he also knew that struggling would only turn the fuckin' bastard on. When he'd been working, he'd had guys pay him to set up a scene, act reluctant and fight a little. This asshole wasn't getting the extras if he could help it. Besides, if he tried to relax it wouldn't hurt as much. The bite sent ghosts of electric current through him, his dick, being shoved into the soft carpet under him, started to respond. 

Steffen suddenly lifted his bloody mouth from Xav's neck with a reluctant snarl. He wanted to finish him, drink him to completion, and only with effort did he keep himself from doing so. He slammed into the boy's unresisting body and the ecstatic release of his seed into the prisoner's tight channel only exacerbated the desire. He had to clench his teeth to keep from biting into the delicious column of his throat again. 

Steffen pulled himself up and off Xavier reluctantly. The blond boy's sides lifted and fell in shallow but steady respiration, he was conscious but listless from the blood-loss. Steffen picked him up, not bothering to either pull his jeans up or take them off. He dropped Xav back on the bed, semi naked and pulled the blanket over him carelessly. 

When he left Xavier heard the lock click as the door closed behind him. He turned his face against the pillow determined not to cry.

~~~

Rayne took a cab back down to the studios. Chavez offered to run him but Rayne felt happier knowing that the guys were all together. He would have been happier still if he'd have been able to persuade them to go to Paris and join Mikka there. PJ argued that he wasn't up to a journey like that, which in turn worried the singer that he wasn't up to running from Vampires either.

And if he messed this up, they'd have to run like the devil was after their collective arses. 

He made a call on his mobile as the cab nudged its way through the mid afternoon traffic downtown. It was about 10.30pm in Britain and he hoped fervently that Jabez's tame vampire expert, Lord Warren had not taken to having a mug of cocoa and an early night since he became entitled to claim his Senior Citizens' bus pass. When the call was finally answered it took a little while for him to make himself heard over the sound of extremely loud dance music. 

"What the fuck is going on over there? Where are you?" he yelled into the slender clamshell mobile as the sound levels on the other end of the line gradually came down enough for his caller to make himself heard in response. 

"Club Amnesia, I'm on Ibiza!" Lord Warren yelled back at him, dispelling any thoughts that the Vampire might have had of him retiring to a life of comfy slippers and Gardener's World. The old bugger sounded a bit loaded as well. Trust Dom Warren to be tripping his tits off on the one night Rayne really needed him to have a clear head. 

"Jesus Christ!" Rayne groaned. "Can you talk?"

"Can I walk?" Dominic sought clarification. "I'm not some stupid teenager, Wylde. I can manage a little club night, I think!"

"I need to ask you something?" Rayne shouted at him. "Oh fuck this... can't you go through to the terrace or something and ring me back? This is important."

He got out of the cab when the jam proved impassable and walked the last half-mile towards the studios where he had last encountered Cole Lagrado. Fear kept him alert but also fired up his natural adrenaline. He was ready for a fight when his mobile chirruped at him enquiringly and he flipped it open, swinging into a side street and leaning in the shadows of a fire-door as Dominic's familiar, slightly aristocratic tones rambled blissfully in his ear about the delights of Club Amnesia. 




Dark Paths Ch. 05



"Warren, shut up will you! I need to ask you what you know about a Vampire. You used to live in Frisco, didn't you?" he cajoled.

"A long time ago, darling," his old friend crooned back over the distant swirl of ambient house music. "I was younger than you."

"Do you know anything about a guy called Lagrado?" Rayne pressed him. "Does the name mean anything to you?"

For a moment the only sounds he could hear were the distant pulse of traffic in one ear and the ripples of music in the other. He opened his mouth to ask if Dominic was still on planet Earth. The old bastard might be a bit spacey but he still knew more about Vampires than just about anyone living or Undead that Rayne had ever met. Rumour had it in certain circles that he had even killed a few of them. Rayne knew it for the truth, he had watched. Fuck it, he had helped!

"Do...?" he began again, but the older man's voice cut him off, suddenly very serious.

"Coelho Lagrada Diaz?" he queried, his accent suddenly more Spanish than upper class English, although that could well be the Ibizan influence. "He is in San Francisco? I thought he was dead."

"He is. Just not dead enough!" Rayne said grimly. "He's calling himself Cole Lagrado. He's taken someone I..." the Vampire swallowed, suddenly feeling his throat tighten at the thought of Xavier with that cold hearted bastard. "He's crossed a line, Dominic. I need to know something, 'kay?"

"Fire away," Warren called, a little less cheerily than before though. The pall of gloom cast by mention of Lagrado seemed to have crossed oceans and continents and even ruined Dom Warren's night. 

"If I... If I had marked someone, left my bite on them so that other vampires could read it and then some Vampire took that person... took them and... you know?"

"Fed from them?" Dominic prompted diplomatically. 

"Yeah... if they did that. What can I do about it?"

"Hang on... you marked someone?" his friend demanded, suddenly distracted by this revelation. 

"It was an accident," Rayne said evasively. "I didn't mean it to go so far. We just got a bit... hung up on one another. This Cole guy, he warned me off when I first got to Frisco, gave me that 'King of The Vampires' spiel and I told him to fuck himself, like you do. I figured I'd be gone before he could get too pissy with me."

"And you figured wrong?" Dominic finished for him. "And now he's taken your boyfriend as payback, huh?"

"How come you always figure it's a boy?" Rayne asked dryly. 

"Is it?"

"Ummm... yeah."

"Well then!" Dominic cleared his throat. "You know that technically you can haul his arse over the coals for what he's done, don't you?" 

"In what way?" Rayne was perplexed. 

"He's violated your blood rights," Dominic said practically. "You've got the right to declare a blood feud against him."

"Oh yeah, me and whose army, exactly?" Rayne laughed humourlessly. "Dom, he practically warned me off his territory when I got here. He's hardly going to run away screaming if I tell him I'm declaring a blood feud."

"I'm sure he's not the only Master Vampire in San Francisco, darling," Lord Warren intoned loftily. "You need to track down others, be nice to them. I know you find that difficult but try. Get them to feel sorry for you. If you can find one that likes the look of you, all the better! They're venal creatures on the whole, no offence."

"None taken, I think…" Rayne squinted incredulously at the 'phone then put it back to his ear. 

Warren was saying; "Play for the sympathy vote. Get them to help you take him on."

"I was thinking more along the lines of, 'Find his lair, get in there, remove some skulls and burn the place down'!" Rayne said a little recalcitrantly.

"On your own?" Dominic sounded sceptical. 

"I'm not totally incompetent," Rayne protested, more defensively. 

"If you succeed and he survives he'll hunt you to the ends of the world," Warren pointed out. "If you actually manage to kill him, then other Vampires will hunt you for the same reason. Why do you imagine that Jabez does not involve himself in the affairs of your kind? You will live longer if you leave well alone."

"He's got Xavier," Rayne yelled into the phone. "Are you fucking listening to me? I can't just leave the kid there and walk away. It's my fault he's in this mess to start with."

"Wait for me to come out there. I'll help you," Warren promised.

"No time," Rayne exhaled. "The longer I wait the more chance he'll be dead by the time I get in there. And the more chance Lagrado's gonna think I'm chicken shit! I'm not gonna give him the satisfaction, Dom."

"I'm still coming out there," Warren said coolly. 

"Good, well when you do, track down a place called the Happy Pig up in Oakland and ask for Pat Goodfellow, tell him you've got something for the bites." Rayne said, itching to make a move. "He'll know you're a friend that way."

"Bites?" 

"My friends are undercover. Lagrado knows about them. If he can go after Xav, he can go after them as well. Pat Goodfellow is PJ McNamara. You know who he is, don't you?" Rayne asked sarcastically. He could imagine how Warren's mouth was watering from here. Dom was certainly old enough to have watched and appreciated Paddy's movies; the ones he'd starred in as well as the ones he merely directed! "He knows what's going on and where the studio is that Lagrado bases himself at. He'll help you if he can."

"Happy Pig?" Lord Warren repeated incredulously. "Lord and Lady, Rayne. If I didn't love you like a son..."

"Cut the crap, you're after my arse like all the rest!" Rayne forced a laugh. "I've got to go, Dominic. I need to find out if Xavier's still alive."

"Take care, darling," the voice on the other end of the line said, mellowing now. "I don't want to have to go looking for your remains with a dustpan and brush. Be polite. Don't give them cause to take you down. Vampire honour is a curious thing. They'll probably draw the line at killing you outright but that's not to say they won't be tempted."

"I'll be good as gold," Rayne promised sweetly, with his fingers firmly crossed. 

He ended the call before Lord Warren could get mawkish and turned off his phone. Then he crossed the road and walked two more blocks to the public foyer of the ABC studios, took a deep breath and walked up the steps and into the building.

~~~

Once within the cool, claustrophobic environs of the studio Rayne made enough of a fuss at reception that three clones he recognised straight away as Undead were sent down to pacify him, or failing that, he presumed, just get rid of him. He resisted fairly strenuously and from their reluctance to get too close he figured they'd already heard about his tangle with their Mr. Blond at SFO. He wondered if the smug cunt had made it back in one piece, but not enough to ask. 

"I just wanna talk to Lagrado, okay?" the singer kept shouting at them now whilst they avoided his attempts to make physical contact but still blocked his frequent efforts to get to the office door before them. "What? Is he running scared now?" 

Rayne looked up and around for the security cameras that he presumed must be in place in a building like this. He put his hands on his hips and yelled; "Lagrado! I know you can see me. Stop fucking about and let me in or I'm gonna mess these kids of yours up so bad they won't know which end to shit out of!"

The male went for him then, but Rayne was half expecting it and he dodged the barrel run and stepped right into the path of one of the females. She bared her fangs and hissed at him and he returned the snarl with venom, lifting his hands and backing her to the wall where he rested them on her breasts with a deliberate sneer. 

She knocked him across the room for his audacity. He was picking himself up as the cool voice came across the intercom; "Bring Mr Wylde to my office."

Rayne dusted himself off and looked daggers at the bitch who'd floored him. 

"Well!" he prompted. "You heard the man."

~~~

Cole Lagrado watched on the closed circuit monitor as Rayne Wylde threw his temper tantrum. Monette, Jason, and Audren had him penned up in a room and were managing to keep him there. It had taken some doing to get him there, he fought like a little demon. Even now, if he got desperate enough, Cole had to wonder if the three would be able to keep him pinned down there. He was half tempted to do nothing and find out how resourceful the other vampire proved. However, he was more curious to find out exactly why Wylde hadn't just got on his plane and left. 

One human, even a favoured one, was not worth the monumental risk that Wylde seemed willing to make. He had fully expected the little Englishman to gnash his teeth a bit at the airport, but ultimately to leave feeling disgruntled. However, the younger vampire kept surprising him. 

He pressed a button on the intercom unit. "Bring Mr. Wylde to my office."

~~~

Rayne was unceremoniously herded into Lagrado's suite. It was much the same scene as the first time he'd been there, with the only real difference being the number of vampires in the room. Cole Lagrado dispensed with any pretence of pleasantries on this occasion. 

"After your little stunt at the airport I'm surprised, to say the least, to find you here, Rayne."

The singer managed a cold smile that looked suspiciously like a sneer. There was a flicker of fire in his vivid green eyes though as he stalked towards Lagrado, close but not quite close enough to touch.

"You thought that fey piece of shit you sent after me would frighten me off, did you?" he laughed humourlessly. "Oh come on! What do you think I am, Mr Bigshot? You wanna play games, then play them with me... don't pick on kids that don't know any better. You know damned well why I'm here!"

Lagrado gave him a chilly look and a smile that flashed a bit of fang, the only hint of his annoyance with the Englishman. 

"You came to get your boy back? How sweet, that you care so much about your mortal plaything. And he has been insisting so strenuously that you don't give a damn; that he wouldn't lure you back. Yet, here you are playing the unlikely paladin." 

Rayne's back teeth came together with an audible click. His pale eyes narrowed to feline slits and the little hiss of fury would not stay in him. 

"He's not some fucking pet for you to play with and patronise!" the smaller Vampire growled. He was still on the move, prowling restlessly, conscious of the fact that Lagrado's small entourage were watching him and waiting for him to make a move, just as he was waiting for one of them to move on him. "He's got a mind of his own. Just because he's not clung onto life for a few hundred years, that doesn't make him your inferior. Quite the fuckin' opposite, I'd say! Just let him go and we can sort this out between us, yeah. Vampire to Vampire. That's what you want, isn't it?" 

His relentless pacing brought him around to stand just in front of Lagrado, facing the Ancient and looking up into his dark eyes. It was a source of minor irritation that the bastard was taller than him, but then, most people were. He could take that.

Cole was silent for a little while, studying him as if he was an insect that had crept out of his salad during lunch. At last he sighed wearily and told Rayne, "I've already given the boy to Steffen, and he is enjoying Xavier far too much to just let him go."

One of the vamps standing to one side, a tall blond who had not been involved in trying to subdue him in the foyer, stirred slightly. His smile turning into a taunting leer when Rayne glanced his way. He stroked the tip of his tongue suggestively down one elongated fang as if still savouring Xavier's taste. 

Rayne's lips curled around an answering sneer. He did not take his eyes off the bull male whom he presumed must be Steffen, but in a low tone he murmured; "We'll he's just going to have to find himself a new toy, isn't he? The boy is mine. There are people who know I'm here, Lagrado. Not just stupid mortals, either! People who know the score here." He turned his head now so that he was facing the Vampire Master again. "I'm not looking for an all out war between Vampires in this city, Mister Lagrado. But we can go that route, if it's what you really, really want."

He held his ground defiantly, and held Cole Lagrado's dark, emotionless eyes, refusing to flinch. If he looked away, or faltered at all now he and Xav could both be dead within the hour.

Cole's eyes narrowed and again there was a pause as he regarded Rayne with curious interest. If their situations were reversed, if someone had dared touch what was his, dared offer him insult, no matter the provocation, he would have rained hell on that person. Retribution would have been swift and merciless; a matter of personal honour and a demand for the utmost respect. He could not have allowed even the slightest grievance to pass or his enemies would see it as a sign of weakness, use it as a crack in his armour. That ruthless cunning was what made him a powerful Master of this city. 

Lagrado could have made a declaration of war for such an infraction, and with so much at stake. He did not understand why this whelp that had nothing to lose, except perhaps a little pride, would be willing to throw his Unlife away over a lover he had already cast aside. 

He was either stupid or… or, he really did believe the drivel he was spouting. Was he foolish enough to love this mortal, perhaps? Cole thought, perhaps he might be. It was the only logical explanation for his presence here, and it gave Cole a huge advantage. Any motivation other than power or survival was superfluous to a Vampire, and he was going to enjoy teaching Rayne Wylde this lesson. 

Lagrado's face changed, the skin seeming to thin down over the handsome, Mediterranean features revealing something skeletal and monstrous, and very, very old. The hand that grabbed Rayne's throat was simply there, tightening around his windpipe in a motion that was so fast it was as if the other vampires in the room were mere mortals. Rayne did not need to breathe but having his throat ripped out would still hurt like hell and take a good while to heal. 

Lagrado's open-mouthed snarl, like the jaws of a ravenous wolf, suddenly hovered too near. His eyes bled to black and the tangible sense of his power beat down on Rayne like hammer blows. The weaker vampires in the room cowered back in discomfort and subservience. 

"Threaten me again, in my lands, when you are at my mercy, and I care not who comes. They shall take only your remains with them, if they live to do so," Lagrado snarled.

He threw Rayne aside like a child's toy, flinging him back into the waiting grasp of his enforcers with a casual flick of his wrist. 

"Bring him!" he snapped, and his face and eyes smoothed swiftly back to normal as he strode to the door. "You wish for your mortal playmate's release, Wylde? Then as Vampiric Law dictates, I will release him, but you shall take his place."

As Rayne stumbled back from the Ancient rubbing his throat and blinking the stars from his eyes, only just keeping his feet thanks to his innate sense of balance, he was not sure if he imagined it but did the awe-struck lackeys hesitate to lay their hands on him? He wondered if the smug blond from the airport had died and hoped sincerely that he had. 

Then, making up their minds, they seized him and almost towed him off his feet. He put up a fight at once. 

"Hey! Cut that out! I can walk, just show me where to fucking go!" he barked at them, struggling uselessly as they carted him down the corridor after Lagrado. 

~~~

Xavier lay on the bed unmoving. It hurt to move. Bruises decorated his supple body in vivid splashes on his face, ribs, arms and legs. Being dragged down a flight of stairs, smacked around, shoved and kicked all had left their mark. He certainly had not been treated in anyway gently since being thrust in the back of that car outside the club. Even if he hadn't ached so badly, he still felt weak and dizzy. When he sat up his head swam and nausea gripped him. 

After that first time, when Rayne had drunk too much from him, he had been careful to not bleed Xavier so far, only taking a few mouthfuls each time. When he was finished the punctures from his sweet little fangs healed almost instantly, the holes closing and becoming small red dimples in his flesh. The bites he'd received from the other vampires had closed over but were not healing so well. 

The one at the crook of his arm where Jeanette had ripped into him still looked like a rabid dog had attacked him. It was an angry claret and purple mess, the skin swollen tight over the wounds and hot to the touch. The others were also vivid red, some looking like the vampire had not just sunk fangs into him but bitten down, like they had wanted to take a chunk of his flesh along with the glut of blood. Those had been agonisingly painful and still hurt to the touch. None of the other bite marks gave him that shivery feeling of tail-tingling pleasure that he got from touching the marks Rayne left on him. They just hurt. 

He still didn't know exactly why they had taken him, but he was smart enough to figure it was in retribution for something. The cruelty was methodical, the intent both to hurt and terrify him, and it had worked remarkably well. 

He heard the lock on the door turn and struggled to sit up, pushing himself as far back as he could, huddling uselessly against the wall. Spilled blood and semen had dried on his skin and scented the room. Blood, sweat, sex and fear hung like a heavy perfume in the air around him. 

His heart was beating too hard, too fast. There was more than one coming into the room this time and his spirits sagged. He was already weak from blood loss, how much more could they take from him before they killed him? Then Rayne stepped into the room and his heart gave a sickening, yearning lurch. He was still here; he had not gone after all. The oddest mix of surprise, relief, and anxiety raced through him at the familiar sight of his beautiful mate. 

~~~

Rayne could feel the others at his back as he was shoved into the dimly lit cell. The only light in the small room came from outside on the corridor and he seethed at the idea that these bastards could treat another living creature this way, shutting him up in the darkness like an animal. But then, they were not alive, in any normal sense of the word. The fact that neither was he escaped him for the time being as he went down on his knees beside the rough pallet where his naked lover was sprawled.

It was instinct, his mouth moved at once to the bite marks all over Xavier's lean, bruised young body, kissing him tenderly and running his tongue over the rents and puncture marks inflicted by cruel teeth and what looked, in the case of the wounds on his arms, like claws. 

"What the hell have they done to you, angel?" he breathed at last, his lips coming to rest by Xavier's ear.

Xav turned his face into the crook of Rayne's neck; all he could do, despite the desire to wrap his arms around him and cling like a frightened kitten. He didn't need to tell Rayne what they had done. It came to him in little flashes through the traces of blood he'd cleaned from the wounds. Snapshots like flipping through a photo album. The hurried pack up at PJ's, thinking Rayne would appreciate not having to put up with a long maudlin good-bye. Going out to get drunk and lose himself in the beat of music and writhing bodies, Steffen's cool hands and sharp smile. The car; that first hard crack of being hit and the flood of panic that came with it. Being dragged into the basement; the rotting thing they let feed on him there. Steffen's fist twisted in his hair, teeth and cock both sinking into his struggling body… It took only a few brief seconds for the last twenty-four hours of horror to sink in. 




Dark Paths Ch. 05



Rayne's expression slowly hardened as he processed the bombardment of images.

"You shouldn't be here," Xavier whispered hoarsely. "They are fuckin' bat-shit, Ray." His lips brushed Rayne's cheek, almost as cool as the skin they touched for a change. Even as he spoke the words, the profound mix of relief and anxiety Xav felt washed over Rayne. 

'Please, please don't leave me here.' whispered in his head.

Rayne's lips strayed to meet his, kissing and silencing him. He ran his hands gently up the boy's slender arms and burned inside as they reached the tight iron cuffs around his wrists, holding him on the bed, chained and accessible for his cold-blooded keeper. Lagrado's threat was still fresh in his mind whilst he kissed and soothed Xavier as gently as he could, trying to shield the boy from his rising fury. 

...you shall take his place!

'Well, if that's what it takes to get you out of here!' Rayne sat back on his heels, stroking his fingertips tenderly over the young man's tear-streaked face. 'Maybe that bastard won't be so hot for another Vamp tho! Let's see how he likes it cold!'

He half turned to look over one shoulder at his fanged escort in the doorway. 

"Give us a minute here, will you? If we're not gonna see one another for a little while we ought to say goodbye in private, yeah?"

There was a round of tittering laughter and jeers but Cole actually granted Rayne his request, sending the others back with a short gesture of his hand and closing the door. 

"Rayne, you gotta get out of here. They're going to hurt you." 

Rayne bent over him and kissed him again, long and slow, taking his time. This might, after all, be the last time. He shuddered at the idea but pushed it away quickly, not wanting Xavier to feel his nerves. 

"Don't worry about me," he whispered into the dancer's soft, cold, bruised mouth. "Let's just get you out of here, okay? I can take anything they wanna give me, but I won't let them hurt you any more, I promise."

He licked and kissed the boy's wounds incessantly, determined to heal him as well as he could before they were parted. The fitter Xav was the more likely he was to get away from here, to make a full recovery. 

Xavier's lips curled in a little smile. He had barely the energy to move and yet the soft brushes of Rayne's lips and his tongue were sending little tingles of excitement through him. When Rayne brought those soft lips back to his again there was more heat in Xavier's response. He tried to bring his hand down so he could sink his fingers into the dark silk of the singer's hair, momentarily forgetting about the shackle on his wrist that jerked it back just short of its target. 

"I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye." Xav gasped between breathless kisses. "Just… not good at that stuff, you know?"

Rayne smiled; a genuine twitch of his lips this time. He rested his forehead against Xavier's, drawing himself up so that he could put his arms around the boy. It would be good to get the cuffs off him but they were deadlocked, not just fastened with a ring and screw like some of the play-manacles. These guys were serious if they'd chain a slim, beaten human boy like that. Unless they were expecting someone, or something, to break him out! He ached inside for the simplicity of his first few days with Xavier. Why did being Undead have to be so fucking complicated?

"It doesn't matter, sweetheart," he breathed now, exhaling his words into the boy's mouth under cover of another kiss. "I'm not that hot at them either. And I'm not ready to say goodbye just yet, but fingers crossed we can get you out of here, yeah? And when we do, I want you to get as far away as you possibly can. Don't go to Switchbacks, don't go to your apartment, don't go to Paddy's place okay? They're not at the house. Do you understand me, Xavier? These bastards mustn't find you again."

His lips lingered briefly on the younger man's slightly open mouth then moved back to his neck, kissing the rawness of the bite mark beneath his ear lobe.

Rayne didn't bite him, not deep. The tip of one sharp fang scratched him and the warm tingle of pleasure became a hot wash of desire. Xavier moaned softly with it. The door opened, and as the light filtered into his cell Xav got a mental flash of something. 

It was a road sign; a motel he knew off the interstate. A jovial image of a cheery looking Hog, belly deep in muck, jaws parted in a porcine grin. 

Oakland. 

The Happy Pig. 

Rayne's head came up sharply and he turned to look over his shoulder as if he heard something beyond mortal ears. The scratch he had made was gone, as well as almost all sign of the other scratches and bites. The only ones left were the original marks Rayne had made and the bruises, which were slowly fading. 

They came back in force. Six, including Lagrado and Steffen, who looked very unhappy. He moved toward Xavier, key in hand. 

"Throw the boy out." Cole Lagrado said as he smiled at Rayne. It was not a pleasant expression. "You've bartered your own freedom for his, Rayne. I hope it makes you happy. You shall be my servant until I say otherwise." A nod of his head and four vampires converged on Rayne with shackles in hand. 

"What?" Xavier demanded as his own cuffs were removed. "Wait…" 

Steffen hauled him up and shoved him toward the door.

"Wait a damn minute!" 

Not one of them paid him any attention. 

Rayne was on his feet although he did not put up a fight as they caught his arms and put the irons on him. There was a keen, desperate look on his face for a moment as he called Lagrado's name.

"Hey! Cole! Slow down... Are you gonna give the kid something to wear? I mean, I know it's not the middle of winter or anything but those night mists are a bastard! And you don't expect him to get very far with bare feet, huh?" he prompted scathingly.

The Ancient looked for an instant as if he would have liked to melt Rayne with his stare but in the end he merely snapped his fingers at the Vampire called Steffen and growled; "Bring the mortal suitable garments. Wylde clearly has belated concerns for his whore's modesty."

The singer's lips parted on a fanged snarl and he would have gone for Lagrado then but the pair holding his chains yanked him back like a vicious dog on a short leash. 

"He is NOT a whore!" Rayne growled at him. 

"Oh forgive me!" Lagrado sneered in response. "A whore gets paid for his services, doesn't he? My mistake! Get Wylde's pet slut dressed and throw him out. Now!"

Rayne was seething but somehow managed to keep his cool as Xavier struggled to pull on the clothing they brought for him, desperate to cover his body, especially from Steffen's leering, hungry gaze. He tried to get to the boy but was pulled back once again. 

"I want your word that you won't follow him once he's out of here?" he panted, still straining against the shackles and the chains that his gaolers clung to valiantly. He knew Vampires this well at least. They would hold to a promise but you had to word it correctly or they would jump on any loophole like terriers on a rat. "You're not to kill him. I'll do what you want but you've got to let him go, alive, do you swear to me? On behalf of all of your... people? He won't be followed and he won't be harmed?"

He thought that Steffen and Cole exchanged a look at that but the older Vampire finally nodded his head. 

"The boy will not be followed by any of my... people," he said with only the slightest disdain.

"And you'll let him get out of here alive? Unmolested?" Rayne persisted, shaking his hair back from his eyes. There was a suspicious glint in them now. Trust had never come easily to him and he saw no reason to trust this particular serpent now.

"Agreed." Cole said simply.

"May I kiss him goodbye?" The singer's voice was suddenly husky and he coughed quickly to clear it. 

"Is that not what you were doing before we entered?" Steffen snarled at him, clearly unwilling to prolong the charade. "Or was that a farewell fuck?"

"I dunno about you, mate but I last a fair bit longer than that!" Rayne flashed back, licking his fangs as Xavier tried to run to him, clearly distressed now and wanting to be held. 

As the boy's arms folded desperately around him he snatched a kiss, and lightly snagged Xav's lower lip, sucking briefly on it to heal the hurt. 'Front pocket. Take it.' The impulse flashed through Xavier before their lips parted. He pushed a hand into the pocket of the singer's tight jeans and made a bold show of groping him as they kissed again. When his fingers slid out, they were curled discreetly around Rayne's slender cellphone and he shoved his hands into the pockets of his own pants right away, hiding it. Rayne Wylde managed an appreciative chuckle and winked at him as he was yanked back from Xavier for the last time. 

"Go." he breathed. "It's been a blast, Xav but when you get out of here I want you to forget I ever lived. Run like hell, and don't try to get back in. Got it?"

Xavier nodded because he had precious little choice at the moment. 

Steffen grabbed Xavier again and hauled him out, back down a different corridor. He was literally thrown from the building, shoved out the back-alley door so hard he stumbled and dropped to his knees. The door was slammed shut and locked, and Xavier was on his own, free. 

He looked up at the building and tried to put thoughts of what they might be doing to Rayne right now out of his head. He didn't run, but he didn't hang about either. He did not trust a bit that he wouldn't be followed. Not that there was a whole lot he could do about it if he was. It wasn't like he would be tailed by a regular human; he'd probably never see them coming, or even be able to lose them if he were being followed. Still, he took the minimum precautions; zigzagging his path and switching cabs three times before settling in for the drive up to Oakland. He hoped PJ would not be too mad at having to stump up for the cab fare.

There was no way Xavier was just going to leave Rayne there. He knew he couldn't do it on his own, but maybe if he had help. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and flipped through the contacts, found PJ's number and pressed 'call'. 

It rang once. "Rayne?"

"It's Xavier." And now, just how was he going to explain all this?

*

END OF CHAPTER FIVE

© SADIE ROSE BERMINGHAM & BELLORA QUINN 2007/8



Dark Paths Ch. 06



Chapter Six &Ndash; Crime &Amp; Punishment

"Welcome to the sixth instalment of Dark Paths, the latest labour of love in the lives of Sadie and Bellora. We have been working hard to bring you this chapter as soon as possible so we hope that it lives up to the expectations of our lovely readers. We feel it is only fair to warn you that this chapter contains some non-consensual activity and quite a lot of violence, but no Vampires or humans were killed during the production of Chapter Six. The usual terms and conditions apply; copyright belongs to Sadie Rose and Bellora Quinn and we will let the dogs out if we catch anyone breaking and entering our intellectual property. Enjoy!"

*

"Are you okay, angel?" PJ's concern sounded genuine over the phone. "Is Rayne with you? Did they hurt him?"

There was the sound of muffled conversation in the background as he seemed to relay what he knew to the others. Xavier felt his throat tighten and had to take a deep breath. He wasn't going to cry like a idiot. 

"I-I'm okay. Can't talk right now." Although, he was pretty sure any cabby in this city had heard crazier shit than tales of abduction and vampires, Xavier was feeling paranoid at the moment. "I'll tell you everything when I get there." 

A little under an hour later he was walking up the steps into a Bed and Breakfast motel just off the Freeway. PJ, Clay, and Chavez were seated about on the wide porch. Xavier came up the steps looking shell shocked and roughed up, but otherwise all right but Clay was on his feet at once when he saw how disoriented the young dancer was and noted the bruises on his handsome face. He caught Xavier before the young man stumbled and fell into his arms and the others were beside him in an instant, shocked and full of unexpectedly-gentle concern. 

"Jeez! What happened?" PJ wanted to know. In his heart of hearts he had only half believed Rayne's tale of Vampires and abduction but now a cold spike of fear hit him in the chest. 

"I don't know, I don't know!" Xavier choked out, just because he was confused. "Rayne traded himself for me. I couldn't do anything, they threw me out, even if I could've stayed I don't know what I could've done."

"You're not making much sense, sweetheart." Clay said gently.

Xavier swallowed hard, choking back frustrated tears. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He started from the beginning, with the club, and Steffen. He glossed over some parts, but it was pretty easy to fill in the blanks. 

"…and then the guy says Rayne's gonna take my place, that he's not letting him go. They are all outta their fuckin' skulls crazy. We have to get Rayne out of there before they hurt him bad."

Now the two older men exchanged a look that went over Xavier's head. Chavez moved in and put his arms around the kid and Clay pushed himself to his feet slowly. PJ murmured; "So he wasn't exaggerating. These guys do not sound like reasonable people."

"Maybe he was right and you should head on out to Paris," Clay sighed, folding his arms and looking down seriously at the Irishman. "Take the boy with you, in case they go back on their word and come looking for him."

"I should take the boy?" Paddy looked amused. "And what are you planning to do, Action Man? Go in there with all guns blazing. You think I'm gonna let you do all that alone?"

"We got some favours we can call in," Clay responded with a tight, humourless smile. In that moment, with that grim look in his eye, Xavier could begin to imagine what a formidable figure the big, black former porn star had been as a younger man. He might be carrying a little weight now that he was in his forties but a lot of that bulk was still muscle as Xav could testify. "If this Lagrado wants to mess with one of ours maybe he should realise that we don't back down without a fight. But I'd be happier knowing that you and Xav were safe in Paris with Mikka to watch your backs."

"Uh-huh," PJ shook his head and chuckled wryly. "You don't get rid of me that easily. I mightn't be super fit any more but so long as I can hold a weapon I'm not going anywhere." He reached out to stroke Xavier's hair, aware that the Dancer was upset and only just holding it together. "Come on honey," he said, coaxing the boy to his feet with Chavez's assistance. "Let's get you into a hot tub and get you to bed. Are you sure you weren't followed back here?"

"No." Xavier murmured, "Not sure of anything right now. I walked the opposite way for a while, and changed cabs a few times." He shrugged. Exhaustion tugged at him. Getting clean sounded fantastic, so did food, and a bed. It felt terribly selfish when all he could think about was what might be happening to Rayne, but if he didn't eat or sleep he was not going to be much help. He let Chavez and Paddy lead him up the stairs. 

Xavier felt hollow as he stripped while Chavez plugged the drain in the tub and got the water running. He was swaying on his feet. He caught the look Chavez was giving him. 

"What?" 

A glance in the mirror told him what. His usually golden tan skin looked like pale ashes and the bruises from fists and a few boots were a dark purple contrast. He looked pretty well worked-over. His eyes slid away from the glass and Xavier gingerly got into the hot water. 

To his relief they didn't make him talk about it. They were both men of the world and it didn't take a genius to figure out that Xavier had taken the works during his brief stay with Lagrado and his henchmen. PJ looked concerned and distracted as they got the younger man into the steaming tub. Chavez took control of the issue and stripped to his shorts, climbing into the huge bathtub with him. 

"Go rustle up some food," he suggested to his boss, who nodded sagely and left them to it. 

Chavez must have seen the moment of anxiety in Xavier's eyes as he climbed into the water, for he knelt back and kept his hands on the side of the tub in clear sight. That look told him more than words what Xavier hadn't said.

"It's okay," he murmured, as gently as Xav had ever heard him speak. "I'll keep my shorts on if that's what you want. But you're gonna flake out in here and I don't wanna let you drown after what you've survived, okay? Let's just wash you down, huh? And once you're clean it's up to you if you wanna sleep alone or not. But nothing needs to happen, okay? You understand?" 

A flash of irritation crossed Xavier's face. "Stop it. I don't need the kid glove treatment, alright? I'm fine." 

Chavez didn't reply, but he stayed where he was. Xavier cupped his hands and brought the water up to wash his face. His hands shook like a feeble old man's and it had little to do with the exhaustion he felt. He kept seeing that thing in the basement, it's dead eyes looking at him, the greenish grey of its putrid skin. He could feel the liquid sliminess on his skin where it had grabbed him and pulled him up close, smell the cloying stench of death and rot. 

The smell clung to him; a phantom only he could sense. If his stomach was not already so empty he would have retched over the side of the tub. As it was he forced down the gorge that rose in his throat and grabbed the soap to scrub the scent and feel of slime from his skin. He wanted to scrub his skin raw, but his efforts were more listless than vigorous. The heat of the tub was getting to him, making his head swim, and Chavez swayed alarmingly in front of him. 

He slid back against the side of the tub, trying to make the dizziness go away. "Chavez… I'm gonna…" he started to warn him but wavered out of consciousness before he got the words out.

"Fuck!"

The other man was over him at once, disregarding his companion's earlier defensive outburst and sliding his arms around Xavier's limp body, pulling him up so that he lay with his head tilted back over the lip of the tub. Miraculously he managed to get the dancer out of the water without slipping up or braining the pair of them. 

"Someone get a doctor!" he yelled through into the next room where he could vaguely hear Clay talking on the phone. "Quick! This is serious!"

He laid his head on Xavier's chest listening for his heartbeat, feeling for his pulse, which was faint and rapid like the flutter of insect wings under his fingers. The kid was too pale; too cold. It wasn't right.

The next couple hours were a circus. An ambulance was called. Upon the paramedics' arrival and assessment of Xavier, suspicion immediately fell on Paddy, Clay, and Chavez, who could not exactly explain how he came to be in this condition. The signs of blood loss were immediately apparent, although where he had lost so much blood from was not. Xavier had no visible flesh wounds, but the bruises pointed to an internal bleed. He was put on oxygen, hooked up with a saline IV and provided with a transfusion of blood. Standard trauma procedure for a gunshot or stab victim, but Xavier wasn't either. They had him on the stretcher and were loading him into the back of the ambulance when he came to. 

He immediately refused transport and started to freak out about the IV. While they were trying to calm him and convince him he needed to go to he hospital they also discreetly questioned him about his friends' involvement in his injuries. Was it an accident? Did someone just get a little too rough? 

Even disorientated and panicked he had enough presence of mind to come up with a quick story. It turned out that it was a good thing PJ, Clay and Chavez hadn't come up with some elaborate cover, because then there was nothing to contradict Xavier, who told them he had been out club hopping and got jumped, before heading out here to meet his friends. It was actually close to the truth, which always made for the most convincing lie.

In the end he absolutely refused to go to the hospital, despite the urging of everyone around him. The pint of blood and saline revived him considerably. The paramedics insisted he must be bleeding internally and Xavier just as vehemently insisted that wasn't the problem. They couldn't force him to go when he was lucid and able to get off the stretcher on his own; which he did, only wobbling a little. 

Finally Paddy pulled him aside. He hoped he could get the boy to see sense if he talked to him one on one so he didn't feel so cornered, and also reassure him they weren't going to disappear on him if he went for a check-up. 

"It's not that, PJ. I can't go, trust me. If I'm admitted they'll start digging into my medical history." Xavier paused. "There isn't anything recent but if you OD few times too many your name gets in the system. I'm not gonna get thrown back in Psych because they think I'm suicidal and did this to myself somehow." 

It was perhaps a little paranoid, but Xavier had good reason to be. His last hospital stay they had deemed him a danger to himself and locked him up for a ten day psychological evaluation in which he was forced to admit to being suicidal when actually he'd just been stupid. They kept him in the hole until they ran out of questions, then booted him out with a handful of psychotropic prescriptions. 

Xavier knew he was not suicidal or nuts, although the second was looking somewhat debatable right now. Regardless, he wasn't going to risk getting locked up again. "Please don't make me go. There's nothing wrong with me. They just took too much, you know that." 

For a moment PJ McNamara looked down seriously into his wide, earnest eyes. He seemed to deliberate but at last he pulled Xav into a warm bear-hug of an embrace and murmured into his hair; "Okay honey, so long as you promise me faithfully that you're not gonna flake on us again tonight, I'll keep you here with us. I won't be responsible for you dropping dead though. You get me? If I think you're slipping away again you go straight to the ER."

In the back of his mind he was also recalling a similar episode, many years before, sitting on a hospital bed. Then it had been the 20-year-old Rayne he was watching, with his wrists and hands bandaged like a prize fighter, head down, floating on a sea of sedatives, telling him determinedly that he was okay and he could handle himself. Time slipped by but these kids didn't change. He could not comfort Rayne tonight but he could take care of the boy. And he knew that he would do that.

Xavier relaxed against that broad chest with a sigh of relief. The paramedics reluctantly left. That settled, there was nothing left to do but go back inside. Now that the excitement was over Xav inquired about the food PJ had been working on tracking down. His appetite at least hadn't suffered! He ate whatever was put in front of him in his usual manner - like a half starved wolverine - which seemed to reassure everyone that he might not be so badly off after all. 

Clay was on the phone for most of the time whilst he ate. Finally it was determined that nothing much could be done in what remained of the night. They were going to have to wait on reinforcements. While they waited Xavier got some much-needed sleep, sliding in with Chavez. His body temperature was still a little lower then normal and Xavier wrapped himself around the warmth Chavez offered and quickly fell asleep. This time it was a normal, if exhausted sleep.

~~~

Rayne was not having as peaceful a night.

His arrival in San Francisco, and the subsequent snubs he had - however inadvertently - dealt Lagrado had not gone unnoticed by other powerful vampires in the area. Neither had Cole Lagrado's retaliation. The Vampire Masters watched and waited, seeing if they could scent weakness in Lagrado, or if he would cross any lines. Either could damage his power structure in the city. So far he'd been very conservative in how he had handled the situation. 

He was playing by the rules. There had been no deaths. Rayne Wylde's public humiliation would restore any face he had lost. A Council Gathering had been called and would meet the following night. In the meantime, Cole allowed Steffen to entertain himself with the singer, as compensation for losing his pet.

In the end, getting Xavier out of Lagrado's clutches seemed to have been the easy part. Once the boy was hauled out of the cell and the curious crowd dispersed, his captor seemed almost to lose interest. 

One of the vampires had remained, the one who'd seemed most upset at the idea of Xav's release and as the singer was dragged to his knees and forcibly manacled to the wall of the small, windowless hovel which had been his lover's prison, he watched eagerly. Once the struggle had been won by Rayne's captors and the singer was pulling on his chains with sheer bloody minded determination, Lagrado made his exit. He patted the other on the shoulder with a humourless smile and said; "He's yours. For now! Don't damage him too badly, he has an audience with the Elders tomorrow night."

Steffen's soulless dark eyes regarded Rayne impassively as the door closed on the room. The cruelty in Steffen was innate; becoming a vampire had only magnified his disregard for his victims. In life he had brutally tortured, raped, and killed dozens of young boys. Cole Lagrado had appreciated his inventiveness as a killer and knew that the brutality he employed would serve him well. He employed the mortal Steffen as one of his enforcers, and after watching him work for several months he had Turned him, granting the tall muscular enforcer a long Unlife in which to practice his fondest desires. Steffen now had the weight of two centuries worth of perverse crimes behind him. 

He had also a burning resentment for the Englishman chained in front of him. He'd barely had a taste of Xavier, thinking he would have more time; months, perhaps, to draw out and savour the boy's terror before breaking him. To have so sweet a treat snatched from his hands rankled in the worst way. 

He moved closer, reaching a hand down to caress the side of Rayne's face. "Your boyfriend's screams were very sweet. So endearing, the way he tried not to struggle."

The singer stared back up at him, cool and unblinking in the darkness. Rayne's night vision had improved 100% since his Turning and the darkness no longer held any fears for him. He endured the older Vampire's touch in silence, assessing him. Often other Undead guarded their thoughts and memories around their own kind. Steffen did not, He was practically broadcasting what he was to anyone capable of receiving it. Rayne knew he was doing it on purpose; he guessed the effect it was supposed to have. 

"So... you get off on hurting and scaring defenceless little boys, do you sweetheart?" he sneered at last, in a low, husky tone. "That's a fine use of an Unlife, I don't think."

At the same time he was thinking; Good boy, Xavier. You hit a nerve there.

Steffen gave a low chuckle. "It is indeed a fine Unlife, whether you consider it so or not." His fingers slid deeper into Rayne's hair and tugged back sharply. "Shall we see if you have more fight then your mortal boy? Should I remove your chains? I'll even let you have a head start; see how fast you run."

Rayne's eyes widened slightly, and shifted to take in the narrow parameters of the cell in which he was locked with this... as a committed vegetarian in his mortal life, 'animal' was too kind a word to use on Steffen. His lips curled back from extended fangs and he uttered a little hiss of cynical laughter. 

"Did you let Xav off the leash then? I don't think so. Bastard!" His fingers tightened around the chains that ran from his cuffs to the wall and he pulled himself up until he was sitting, facing Steffen, back to the wall. "Go on then, big fella. I dare you to slip my lead. I took one of your boys out at the airport. Do you think I'm gonna sit on my arse and cry cause you've locked me in the dark?" 

"Oh, but I did give him his opportunity to run." Steffen leered at Rayne, his fangs extended far enough now to look wickedly sharp. "He preferred to lay down and spread his legs. He liked my bite, but then you made sure he would crave it, didn't you?" 

Rayne's fingers tightened around the chains and he jerked down hard on them, wanting nothing more than to punch the smug look off this bastard's face and feed him his own god-damned fangs. The moorings in the solid stone wall held though and he snarled back at Steffen, a sound all the more menacing for the softness of its tone. 

"You don't know the first fucking thing about what him and me have done together," he growled furiously. "Don't even talk about us in the same context! If he seemed willing then you can bet he'd got you figured out. He knew a fight would turn you on and he couldn't win it. Me, on the other hand..." Rayne left the remark unfinished. He didn't have enough words to tell this evil bastard what he wanted to do in retaliation for the hurt and humiliation Xavier had suffered.

Steffen's chuckle this time held a little more humour though it was just as mocking. "You think you could fight free? Maybe you will be fun after all." He reached and unlocked one of the cuffs around Rayne's wrist, grabbing it in a bone-crushing grip in case his new toy decided to swing at him before he got the other wrist freed. 

Rayne caught a little hiss of indrawn breath at the pressure on his slim wrist and writhed around so that he could draw one knee up keeping it between himself and his captor as Steffen wrestled with the lock on the other cuff, single-handed. As the metal bracelet clinked open, Rayne's hand flew for his face, clawing at his eyes and simultaneously he kicked out and upward, his heel connecting with linen and soft flesh between the bigger Vampire's thighs. He half turned, on his side, trying to wriggle down between Steffen's legs whilst the pain was still preoccupying his gaoler's mind.




Dark Paths Ch. 06



Steffen let him wriggle away, not only because he needed a second to swallow down the pain, but because that was part of the game. Let Wylde get away from him, let him run a bit, let him think he had a glimmer of hope. 

Rayne almost fell off the rough pallet and dirty mattress on which Xavier had been imprisoned. He rolled as soon as he hit the floor and kept rolling until his back was up to the door. He got his fingers to the handle but Steffen moved as soon as he reached for it. He was disconcertingly fast for such a big Vamp, even in agony, which he must have been. The singer let go of the handle and moved again, trying to keep behind, or just offside of him. His prison was not the biggest of rooms but there was space enough to pass at arm's length which was all he needed for the time being. 

"Okay... let's see how fit you are, sweetheart!" he panted ducking a grasping hand and swinging around sharply to his left to come behind his assailant again. 

Another manoeuvre like this brought him back to the door and this time he gripped the latch in both hands and rattled it furiously, finding it locked. That bastard Lagrado had locked them in when he left. Which meant he was probably watching what went on, somehow.

Rayne turned fast with his back to the door, eyes searching the ceiling for cameras. Eyes that should have been watching the more immediate threat.

Steffen smashed into Rayne from the right and the strength of the older vampire took him off his feet. They hit the floor hard and Steffen did not waste time gloating. He bit Rayne, sinking his teeth into the tender skin of his throat. Not for blood but to cause maximum damage. The bite was not a simple puncture wound but a savaging. Steffen latched on and shook him like animal with prey between its jaws. Hands that suddenly felt like iron claws ripped and stripped away his clothes. 

The shock came more from the speed of the attack than anything else. Initially, Rayne was too dazed to respond but as Steffen's jaws closed on his throat and he threw his head from side to side like a dog trying to tear off a haunch of meat, the smaller Vampire struck out at him, his furious cry half-strangled in his throat. All he could think of as his assailant clawed the shirt off his back and those grasping hands lunged for his pants was how the hell Xavier had withstood this bastard for more than half an hour! 

"No!" he gurgled, thrashing and kicking out desperately as Steffen wrestled with his fly, then clawed at the material so violently that the buttons flew in all directions and the seam tore right down between his thighs. "You fucker! D'you know what they cost?" he yelped, as his throat was briefly released and Steffen concentrated all his efforts on tearing his pants right off. 

At the same time, Rayne could feel the immense surge of energy that suddenly diverted into his body's instinct to heal. It was as if someone threw a switch shutting down a quarter of his physical strength. His throat felt tight and sore as the flesh knitted. Then a new pain ripped right through his left hip as Steffen wrenched his legs open wide and hard. Rayne's fangs extended automatically and he reared up from the ground, trying to fight free, trying to bite, trying to do anything but play the good little victim. 

"You do not taste nearly as sweet as your mortal boy, Wylde, but you put up a much better fight!" Steffen laughed as he finished ripping Rayne's clothes away. He went to flip him over; it was much easier to control arms and legs when he took them from behind. In his haste he was careless and Rayne took the opening, sinking bared fangs into his arm. 

The pain sent a surge straight to Steffen's cock. Rayne's struggles already had him excited; this put him over the top. Steffen's fist came down in a vicious backhand, knocking Rayne loose from his arm. He flipped the smaller vampire over and slammed his head against the floor. Either blow might have killed a mortal lad, but he didn't need to be as careful with Wylde. Pinning the slender, struggling body beneath his bulkier frame he wasted no time stabbing his cock urgently into Rayne's tight channel. 

The first punch broke bones in his neck and he reeled, falling back, feeling sick to his gut. Even as his ever-efficient nervous system set to work repairing itself, he felt strong hands slam his skull against the stone. He wanted to tell his body to hold on, to wait and mend things afterwards, but it was like trying to stop the tide coming in or the sun setting. Steffen broke him and his persistent body tried valiantly to fix the damage. 

And Rayne got weaker. 

Even so, Rayne fought against him for every inch and every stroke, though he must have known how it inflamed the older, stronger creature. It was no longer in his nature to submit mildly to injustice. As a mortal he had let men get away with it because he had no idea how to stop it happening. Since he had been Turned no ordinary human would have got away with the treatment Steffen meted out to him. No few Vampires would have suffered for trying it. But this one was tough. Rayne knew the moment he was brought down and his attacker began to beat and strip him that he would not win a physical fight with this creature. He screamed and swore all the same, kicking out and trying to twist away from under Steffen's body and his rough handling. It was insanity but it had to be done. He could not lie back and take what Steffen wanted to give, not without trying to draw blood, at least!

The worst thing of all was, Steffen could see what this was doing to him. And he kept on doing it. It was firing up his boner as he dragged the small, English Vampire's limp, virtually naked body back roughly towards him, over and over. Each time Steffen impaled him on that thick, pulsing member Rayne bit down hard on his lips to keep in the scream of rage and frustration that wanted to tear itself free. Blood spilled from his mouth and ran down his chin, dripping to the floor as Steffen thrust hard, taking him from behind like a wild beast. The urgent strokes, pushing deeper inside him, stretching him and forcing him until he wanted to howl with a combination of fury and disgust, nevertheless stoked an unwanted flame in his loins. 

He bucked crazily, absolutely desperate to get free, to get this bastard out of his body. It no longer mattered if he even survived the attempt, he was determined that he would not cum with this animal's cock inside him. 

Steffen was almost drunk with lust. Not only could he mete out an almost unlimited amount of punishment and not have to worry about damaging a fragile victim beyond repair, but Wylde's furious struggles pushed him higher and higher. He twisted his fist into Rayne's hair, forcing his head down again whilst he drove into his victim's body again and again. 

Ignoring the Englishman's attempts to claw his hand away he snaked one arm around Rayne's hips, the hand groping his crotch obscenely. He chuckled nastily in his unwilling mate's ear. "Two of a kind! Your boy liked it rough too." 

Steffen's hand squeezed painfully tight and his thrusts quickened. He groaned with satisfaction as Rayne bucked hard under him. 

"Ahh, that's it, give me a good ride." He had no intention of making this last long enough to bring Rayne off. The humiliation would be sweet, but he'd rather leave the other vampire frustrated. "Your pet was so eager to spill his hot seed with me." That part was further from the truth. He had felt the boy begin to respond, however unwillingly, but Xavier had been in too much pain, and suffering from excessive blood loss, to have even got close to orgasm. 

Steffen's rapid, urgent huffs of breath turned into victorious little grunts as he powered harder astride his reluctant mate and came in a copious, if not joyful, spill deep inside Rayne's nude, struggling body.

Rayne shuddered involuntarily, huddled on the floor of the cell where Steffen dropped him as he yanked his rod out, gloating silently over the act he had just committed. He felt dazed and dirty. His throat was too tight and too dry as he croaked; "That all you've got? Heh... no wonder Xav wanted out of here. You must have been a real fuckin' disappointment to him after me and the boys! A proper 'three minute hero'!"

He rolled onto his knees and tried determinedly to pull himself back towards the door handle, even though his head was still spinning from the violent contact with the floor. His lips were bleeding where he had bitten himself and would not stop no matter how much he licked them. 

Not good. Not good at all! He needed an escape plan and his brain was refusing to co-operate. 

Steffen did not bother with a verbal response. He did, however, deliver a kick to the gut hard enough to lift Rayne off his knees and move him further away from the door. Before Rayne could react, he kicked the smaller vampire again, this time higher in the body and kept up the rain of blows. Ribs snapped like dry twigs under his heavy boot, though Rayne barely made a sound. He was biting down on his lips again, eyes closed tight as he rolled on the ground, hugging himself desperately, trying to shield against the attack but too weak to fight it.

"You got a mouth on you that just don't quit." Steffen snarled. He grabbed Rayne's hair and dragged him back to the manacles fixed deep into the wall. He ignored the small gasps and whimpers from his bleeding victim. Forcing his hands above his head roughly, Steffen got him shackled again before using his own key to exit the cell. The door clicked shut and locked, leaving Rayne alone in the darkness to heal the damage he'd absorbed tonight. 

Rayne curled his fingers around the chains, gripping them tightly as he curled around the pain in his gut on the filthy mattress. He flinched as the door slammed shut and the tumblers of the lock fell. His back teeth were clenched hard and his eyes closed, trapping the treacherous tears that only came now that he was alone. 

That big, brutal bastard had a point, he supposed. He never did know when to shut the fuck up!

Shivering in agony he sprawled on the hard, rancid-smelling mattress and tried to close his senses down. It took a long time to shut out the pain and humiliation; longer still to shut out the memory of his Uncle standing over him, belt in his hand, telling him to strip and spread or he knew what he'd get.

Only when the nightmares finally retreated did he slowly, and painfully begin to heal.

~~~

Xavier had slept poorly. He couldn't seem to get warm. He tossed and turned and nightmares plagued him. It was only toward early morning that he became more peaceful, after having kept Chavez up most of the night as well. He had curled into a tight ball at the centre of the bed, the blankets wrapped around him in a cocoon. Xav woke suddenly, alone in the room. Struggling to shrug off the blankets he bolted upright. He had been dreaming again. Vague shadows, Rayne chained, bloody and hurting. 

His heart still beating hard he staggered up and to the bathroom. He took a leak and washed his face. Spotting his clothes on the floor he wrinkled his nose. He didn't want to wear those clothes again. The might have traces of vampire slime on them. 

A look around the room located a bag that had to belong to Chavez. He didn't think the Mexican boy would mind if he borrowed a tee shirt and a pair of jeans. They were a little big, and a little long, but not that bad a fit. He had just finished getting dressed when Chavez returned. 

"I borrowed some clean clothes, hope that's alright."

The young Hispanic man looked him up and down with an open, friendly, appreciative smile. 

"They look better on you than on me, man!" he laughed. "Help yourself. When we're not hiding out any more you can get PJ to buy you something that fits. What you were wearing was pretty messed up but I didn't want to trash it without your say so." He hesitated a little, then quietly added; "You had a rough night?"

Xavier rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, trying to ease the tension there. "Rayne had a worse night than me," he murmured. 

It wasn't just that he knew how Steffen would be with him, he had felt it in his dreams. It wasn't mind reading or telepathy, it was just a feeling. A bad one. "I need to talk to PJ and Clay." 

Chavez led the way down the hall, where the two older men were both in PJ's room. Clay was on the phone again. To Xavier it looked like he hadn't taken the damned cell away from his ear all night. He was just finishing up his conversation and closed the phone as Chavez and Xavier came in. 

Xavier looked a bit better then he had the night before, there was colour in his face at least and he wasn't weaving on his feet like a strong wind might blow him over. The improvement stopped there though. He still looked tired, his eyes… when people talked about someone looking haunted you could look into Xavier's eyes and know what they meant. 

He didn't bother with a good morning, politeness could wait. 

"We have to do something. We have to get Rayne out of there." Xav swallowed hard, knowing he sounded stressed and on the verge of craziness. "That… that fucker hurt him, I know it." 

The older man looked him up and down, gravely but suprisingly - given the abrupt nature of his entrance - not with any disdain or impatience. He looked as if he was assessing Xavier's state of health before dropping a bombshell.

"We'll get him out of there, once we know where there is, just as soon as we've got the wherewithall to take those bastards on," he told the blond youth, and his Cali accent had slipped almost completely. The Irish lilt had a hard edge to it though. 

Clay rubbed his forehead and rumbled; "Link at Studio 7 reckons Lagrado has access to a whole network of tunnels under Sydney Walton Square. There are access points all over the city so his people can come and go without being seen by the guys at the Studio. One of his Hispanic engineers reckons they even call ABC 'Ajuntamente Broadcast Coelho', Lagrado's in so deep there. It's all a cover for something, or so Link's buddies figured. They thought it must be gun-running or prostitution and they kept well out of it."

The burly ex-porn-star looked exhausted, as if he'd slept even less than Xavier. His expression was still keen though.

"Did anyone come up with leads on the other matter?" PJ asked, without taking his eyes of Xavier. He could see the frustration in the boy's face but held up a hand for silence.

"The bloodsuckers? Well, y'know I had to be careful what I asked. Don't want these guys thinking I'm getting loony-tunes in my old age!" Clay laughed humourlessly. "But, yeah... there's rumours that his friends have a kind of club down there; again the guys I spoke to thought it was kinky sex, even maybe a bit of snuff. They take street kids, whores, the ones that won't be missed if their fun gets out of hand. Again, if anyone asks questions the party line seems to be that Mr Lagrado gave the kids money to go home to Pokeass, Nevada or wherever the fuck they came from, and sort out their lives. Very neat and tidy!"

"So he comes out of this shitheap smelling of Calvin Klein" PJ muttered, shaking his head. "He's in deep with the networks and we all know that the media people run this city. Anyone that tries to dis' him gets a heavy media dirty tricks campaign and has to run for the hills before even their nearest and dearest try to lynch them. He doesn't even need to get his hands dirty." He sighed deeply. "We need to get into those tunnels. Any ideas, Mr Gavrilov?"

The look in his eyes now told Xavier straight off that Lagrado wasn't the only one they had been busy investigating.

Xavier was not exactly surprised, but he did wonder how deep they'd dug. Not that there was anything he wouldn't have told them anyway. Well, maybe a few things. He did a quick mental inventory of what had probably been easy enough for them to find out. If they started with where he worked they would have been told he stayed away from the drugs, he didn't take clients on the side, and he'd worked there for about a year. Before that, he'd worked at a less trendy club, and from there it wouldn't have been too hard to find out he'd been a hustler and an addict. Beyond that… he wasn't sure if they could have dug much deeper. His mom had died, he went into the foster care system, ran away when he was fifteen, lived on the street for a while. They may or may not have found out about the pornos he'd been in. He'd purposely kept tight-lipped about that, considering he'd been underage, and he'd left the city in a hurry before the producer could kill him for fucking his girlfriend and stealing his dope. And so here he was. 

"I can take you to the building where they were." Xavier said, focusing on the present. 

If PJ noted the hesitation before he answered, he said nothing about it. He seemed on the verge of asking another question when the phone in Xavier's pocket bleeped imperiously, a little chirrup of sound and the dancer remembered that he still had Rayne's cellphone. Chavez had taken it from his jeans pocket last night in the bathroom and put it by the bed, and he had picked it up and tucked it into the pocket of his borrowed pants almost without thinking. It was still switched on. 

He pulled it out and stared at it for a moment. The instant of mindless hope that the caller would be Rayne himself was pushed aside as a stupid impossibility. Why would he ring his own phone, even if he had managed to get free? The caller ID on the readout screen said 'LADY W'. 

"You gonna answer that?" Clay asked him with a little frown. 

At the same time, PJ murmured; "That's Ray's cell?"

Xavier nodded to them both, still looking at the phone as it rang again. He flipped it open, "Hello?"

There was a pause and then a very proper sounding voice said, "This isn't Rayne?"

"No."

"To whom am I speaking, then?"

"Who is this?" Xavier asked, not impolite, just cautious. 

"Xavier?"

"How do…" He shut up, and then figured what the hell. The caller was somebody that had to know Rayne, his number was in Rayne's phone, it stood to reason. "Yeah." 

"Oh hell," the speaker said, a little breathlessly. There was a lot of commotion in the background, then a clunk like a car door closing, and things were suddenly quieter. "Please tell me that he's sorted this business out and the only reason he isn't answering his calls is because he's asleep beside you?"

The tone of voice was more optimistic than confident. 

Xavier debated playing stupid, he didn't know who was on the other end after all, but it seemed rather silly. His caller obviously knew something was happening. Rayne must have called and told him, how else would he know who Xavier was? 

"No." And Xav suddenly found his throat a little thick at the thought of where Rayne was instead. "No, he isn't here." He cleared his throat. "Who are you?" he asked again, still sounding politely neutral, if not borderline hysterical. 

There was a little pause on the other end of the line. Xavier thought that the caller caught his breath, then, rather more gently he answered; "My name is Warren; Dominic Warren. I'm a friend of Rayne's from England. He called me yesterday, in rather a state. Your name was mentioned. He seemed to think that you were in some kind of danger." Dominic took another breath, as if steadying himself. In the background Xavier could hear something that sounded like the engine of a car revving up. "Look, I'm just leaving the airport now. Are you all right, darling?" he asked in a solicitous tone. "Are you safe? You can talk to me."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Which was mostly true anyway. How much had Rayne told this guy? What did he know? Why had Rayne called him in the first place? "Look, let's not play the guess-how-much-I-know game, okay? Rayne must of trusted you enough to call you and tell you what was happening, and if you immediately hopped on a plane to get over here you must know it's not bullshit, so…" Xavier took a deep breath and reached a decision. "Rayne must have talked to you just before he met up with Lagrado. The first thing I knew about it was when they came in to where they had me locked up and Rayne made a deal, he traded himself for me. He got them to let me go, and give me some clothes and promise not to hurt me on the way out or follow me, but that's it. He didn't try for any other conditions, no kind of limits on what they can do to him, not even a time limit. So now they got him and that bastard said he was going to make him his servant, and he put him in chains, and they got this… this thing… like a starved rotting thing… and that sadistic fucker Steffen…" And he couldn't seem to quit now that he'd let a little bit out. It was just too much, everything that had happened, everything that had been done to him. He hadn't had time yet to assimilate it all and put it behind him. Now it all came flooding out of him.




Dark Paths Ch. 06



In the room Clay's eyes widened a little at this part of the tale, the stuff that Xavier hadn't told them last night. PJ was looking curiously at the phone, his expression saying plainly that he was suspicious and had a few questions of his own.

In Xavier's ear the soothing voice; that bizarre, cut-crystal English accent that was as different from Rayne's lilting Estuarine drawl as Xavier's own, neither denied nor confirmed anything. He simply said; "Xavier, I'm in a cab leaving San Francisco International now. Rayne asked me to meet up with a friend of his at a place called... The Happy Pig?" He sounded slightly incredulous. "Do you know it? Can you meet us there? We'll try to help you, I promise."

"I'm there now." Xavier said numbly. He felt a bit like he was surfacing from something. He couldn't believe he'd run off at the mouth like that. Usually he played it so close. 

"You're with McNamara?" The caller sounded both relived and - Xavier couldn't be sure but he thought - a shade envious as well. "That's... great! Look, hang on Xavier. I'll be there in about 30 minutes, traffic permitting. Don't do anything rash until I get there. I promise you I'll do everything in my power to help."

"Okay." Xavier said, and Dominic hung up. He was left looking a little befuddled, with the phone in his hand and three curious faces looking at him. 

He closed the cell with a little snap. "That was a guy called Dominic Warren. He's a friend of Rayne's, I think. He said he's on his way here, to help."

"He knows where we are?" Clay asked, perplexed by this. 

Xavier nodded. He pointed towards PJ; "He knew you were here."

"I don't like this." Barclay was on his feet, moving towards the door. "It could be trouble. What if they tortured him? What if they come after us?"

"Why would someone ring and tell us he was coming if he was gonna kill us?" Chavez fired back at him with a nervous laugh. 

"He has a point," PJ mused. "Rayne doesn't know how to fight these bastards. He'd be here with us if he did and we wouldn't be jumping at shadows. Where is this Warren dude?"

"On his way here from the airport." Xavier said distractedly. He was looking at the phone in his hand, turning it over between his fingers like a worry stone. The conversation bothered him now. He'd felt he could trust the guy on the phone, and that was extremely weird. People usually had to work hard before he trusted them, yet he'd babbled out a bunch of stuff to a complete stranger. "He's not a vampire though." Xavier said. How he knew that he had no clue, but he would have bet on it. And he was not a betting man.

They did not have to wait long for confirmation. A little before 1pm, a cab pulled up in the parking lot and as the driver huffed and puffed, extracting three large, samsonite cases from the trunk, his passenger slipped out of the rear door and stretched in the sunlight. The stranger ran a sun-tanned hand through the riot of silver and gold curls at his crown and tugged the travel creases out of his crisp, white linen shirt. He was tall, easily PJ's 6 foot plus height, but not as big as the vast bulk that was Clay. Nor did he have the muscle of either of those men; his build was lean and trim like a dancer or a distance runner, enhanced by the snug fit of his light blue, designer jeans. There was a small, black holdall slung over his left shoulder and he wore large, open, frameless sunglasses and a number of colourful, braided wristbands. 

Xavier remembered that Rayne had some similar to these, along with his silver curb bracelet. He had played with them idly as they curled around one another in bed. Xav felt a little pang of loss and desperation.

Clay and PJ rose from the veranda to greet the newcomer but only the big black moved forward. As if by some unspoken command, PJ stayed at the top of the steps. The stranger held out his hand at once but Clay did not take it. 

"Dominic Warren," the man introduced himself in that crisp, perfect English accent, like something from a period drama where the men wore top hats and the women bustled around in crinolines and curtseyed all the time. He smiled warily. "I know this must seem a little strange but Rayne did say that it was a matter of some urgency. He seemed to think that you had a problem. A rather nasty problem. One that bites?" He hesitated then added, rather less formally; "Forgive me, but aren't you Barclay Johnson Francis?"

He pushed his shades up into his hair, pale eyes twinkling with astonishment and no small amount of hero worship. 

"Goddess! You are!" he exclaimed without giving Clay the chance to speak. "I have... positively drooled over so many of your movies! Oh my!"

On the veranda, PJ cast a small, sidelong look at Xavier, who had come to join him there. There was a half-incredulous smile just at the edges of his generous mouth. "This is our vampire hunter?" he murmured without moving his lips.

Xavier's expression was a mite more dismayed than PJ's. He wasn't sure what he been expecting. Someone built like an action hero, maybe, with a Uzi strapped to his back, cris-crossed with ammunition, stakes and mallet in one hand, machete in the other. Perhaps unrealistic, but it would have made Xavier feel a whole lot better. He took a step forward, drawing Warren's admiring gaze from Clay, "Um, you said on the phone that you could help?"

Dominic's pale, clear gaze moved at once from the impressive bulk of Barclay to the lighter, pensive form of the boy on the steps.

"And you must be Xavier," he said, abandoning the mild histrionics of a moment or two ago. "Oh yes, very much his type. Beautiful, in fact." He drew a short breath and exhaled it in a little sigh. "Yes, Xavier. I hope that I can help."

"I hope so too." PJ was still standing at the top of the short flight of steps with his arms folded across his broad chest looking down on them. 

For a moment Dominic's eyes widened again and he shook his head slowly. 

"Goodness... I didn't recognise you for a moment," he breathed at last, visibly flustered again. "I mean... I read that you'd been sick... I'm so sorry. I... oh my Lord and Lady! You actually look very well..."

"Let's skip all that, Lord Warren," PJ McNamara said amiably enough, demonstrating that he knew as much about British Politics as their visitor knew about the US Porn Industry. "I'm fit enough for the task in hand. The question is, as Xav delicately managed not to ask, are you?"

The willowy Englishman drew himself up to his full height with a little smile and narrowed his gaze on PJ as the cabbie was struggling up the steps with the last of his cases. 

"I think I might pleasantly surprise you, Mr McNamara," he replied in a steelier tone, retrieving his wallet from the front pocket of his jeans and unfurling several large denomination notes which he passed to the cab driver without even looking at the man. "Appearances can be frightfully deceptive, as I've found to my advantage time and time again."

The driver fired a look at Warren, then checked the notes and brightened visibly. He was in his vehicle and gone before the crazy Englishman could change his mind. 

Xavier, with a typical lack of patience, said "Great! Why don't you tell us how exactly you're going to do that on the way. I know where the building is, we can get in the car and go now!" 

For this Xavier got three similar looks, in various stages of patronisation that told him without words that they weren't going to be rushing off any time soon. Only Chavez kept a carefully neutral expression that said he would go with the flow, as usual. 

"Xav, we can't just go off half cocked here…" Clay started reasonably.

Irritation prickled up Xavier's back. "We got to move! Don't you get it? They are not just hangin' around sipping tea and playing cards." 

He said this last part in a near-perfect imitation of Lord Warren's clipped, cultured tones. It would have been pretty comical under any other circumstance. 

"There are guys that will hurt you because they can't handle booze, or because they got pissed, and there are ones that just get off on it. These guys like to hurt… and I left him there," he raged; which was where the near frantic need to hurry was coming from. Never mind that he couldn't have done a damn thing even at full strength, much less that he'd barely managed to stagger out of the alley they'd tossed him out in and make it back here.

PJ and Clay looked at one another again, rather more helplessly. The stranger had been watching Xavier throughout and his expression was rather more serious now. Ignoring the sipping tea jibe, he set a hand on the back of Xavier's neck, his fingers moving soothingly there. 

Xavier stiffened but didn't pull away, torn between not wanting to be soothed and desperately needing to be. Surviving trauma was nothing new for Xav but the guilt that came with leaving Rayne behind was, and it was eating him up. 

"Xavier darling," Warren said, in an entirely reasonable tone. "If we run in there without a plan then we run the risk of winding up in exactly the same mess Rayne is in. Except that he is one of them, and we are not. We can't help him if we're dead. Now I know that you're worried about him but you have to trust me on this one. Whilst they would have no qualms about squashing you or me like flies, they are very unlikely to kill him. True Death, Vampire to Vampire, is not an easy option for them, it violates their codes on so many levels. Now I know you don't want to hear this, but the hurting is something he can take. I've seen him do it. He'll be strong and he'll do it for you, my darling boy. What we must do now is make sure that he doesn't have to be strong for very much longer. Okay?"

No. No! Nothing was okay! Xavier swallowed back the words. 

"Fine. Tell me what the plan is then." He forced the response out slowly but the impatience was still there, just beneath the surface. It was very clear that if he did not like what he heard, he was going to be done with listening, and short of tying him up and locking him in they were not going to stop him from going off on his own. 

"This is not the place to talk business," Lord Warren exhaled, bending to pick up one of his cases. 

As Clay lifted the other two, he uttered a little grunt of disbelief. "You planning on staying a year or is this just you travelling light?"

"You don't think I'm going to come all this way to take on a vampire like Lagrada Diaz with just my looks and my charm do you?" the older fellow chuckled wryly as Clay led the way back to PJ's rooms. Paddy put an arm around Xavier's shoulders and squeezed him consolingly as they went. 

"It'll work out, hon. You're not on your own now," he said, almost tenderly in a low voice that was for Xav's ears only.

Once they were there, with the doors locked and Dominic had expressed an ironic appreciation of the motel's 'faux-rustic appeal', he crouched and unfastened the barrel locks on his cases. As he lifted the lid, Clay who was still hovering over the fellow, sucked in a sharp breath.

"Jesus Christ! How in Hell did you get that lot through the SFI scanners?"

The others moved around to examine the contents of the first case, which seemed to be mainly made up of military hardware set into precast foam packaging to keep it stable in transit. There were handguns with night sights and the broken down components of what looked like a pair of high-powered semi-automatic rifles in there. Dominic knelt down and opened the other cases, which held more parts and ammunition rounds the like of which they had never seen outside an action movie. The ammo-cartridges were made of glass, or some kind of hard perspex and the rounds they contained were clear and filled with a slightly luminous substance that looked like mercury. The final case held a series of long, slender chromium rods and a range of spikes and blades with a tubular, grooved fitting at the base designed to screw onto another appliance. As Chavez reached out to touch one of the rifle butts, Dominic slapped his hand away lightly. 

"What's the point in having Diplomatic Immunity if you can't make practical use of it?" Their visitor looked up at Xavier now and winked at him. "Is this more the kind of thing you were expecting, darling?"

Xavier blinked at all the stuff and looked at Lord Warren with a judicial eye. He must know people in some very high places to have been able to get weapons of this calibre and quantity into the country. "Yeah, that's a little more what I had in mind." Xavier said at his driest.

Dominic Warren closed the cases and spun the locks on them then pushed himself to his feet with a little smile. 

"I need to have a shower and get changed," he said, running a hand through his silver curls again. "I've been on the go since last night... that's yesterday afternoon in local currency! And then I need to make a couple of phone calls and acquire a suit."

"Suit?" PJ looked sceptical. 

Warren was already exploring the en-suite and his sing-song voice echoed back blithely from the bathroom. "I can't go buttering up Master Vampires looking like I just fell off the Greyhound from Tucson, Arizona. For God's sake!"

Chavez, who was still sitting on the edge of one of the beds staring at the cases, now shook his head and murmured; "He is one crazy fucker!"

~~~

Lagrado stood before Rayne Wylde looking immaculate in fitted black trousers that hugged his hips and crotch suggestively and tucked smoothly into supple, knee-high black riding boots. His tailored black shirt was open to the navel in a style reminiscent of the mid 1970s and he wore a three-quarter length black jacket open over the ensemble. In his right hand he carried a proper, leather-bound hickory-shafted riding switch which he tapped against the top of his boot from time to time like an intermittent heartbeat. Rayne was painfully conscious that the struggle with Lagrado's young enforcers, then later with Steffen, had left him bloodied and dishevelled. His shirt and pants were torn and there was still blood on his skin. In this sumptuous room, surrounded by ancient and powerful Vampires some of them, like Lagrado himself, probably over half a century old, he was painfully aware of the fragility of his continued Unlife. 

"You are here because you have shown us absolute disrespect, Mr Wylde," Lagrado addressed him coldly. "It is my task today, as the Master of this region, to bring you back into line. What makes you think that a creature less than twenty years beyond the Veil may ignore the rules of his elders and betters; rules that were set in place for the benefit of all our kind; rules that have been adhered to by Vampires in this great country for centuries?"

Rayne seethed silently, his entire body bristling with hostility. They could see and feel it in him and he sensed the hunger in their watching eyes but his own gaze was fixed solely on Lagrado. 

"Get real, Old Man," he hissed through extended fangs. "Move on! This is the 21st Century. People have the freedom to make their own choices; set their own rules. Get used to it!"

There was a low rumble of… something like anticipation from the assembled Vampire Elders. Some leaned forward in their seats to get a better look at the insolent British Fledgling, or maybe to better witness what Lagrado would do to punish him hard for his wayward behaviour. 

"You are no longer mortal, Mr Wylde," said the older Vampire impassively. "Their petty rules no longer apply to you. Mortals believe, in their supreme ignorance, that they run this city. The Mayor and the officials, they all puff themselves up with their own self-importance. So long as they make money they are happy men and women. Their police have no power. They are merely fat, indulgent windbags with no real authority. All they are is food, Mr Wylde. But we…" and here he paused to gesture around the room including his peers in this generalisation; "we have the real power, my young friend. A power so great that we can make a man disappear and no one will question it; even a man of your moderate fame and immoderate reputation. And we maintain that control through strict discipline." He stroked Rayne's cheek with the paddle of his riding whip. It was a flexible switch such as the race-riders used in the days before plastics and polymers, hand-stitched and well maintained. He could smell the polished leather binding and feel the almost suede-like texture, like human skin against his own flesh. Lagrado held his eyes with that bottomless, dark gaze, breathing the words; "You have been brought here before us to learn some discipline, child."

"In your dreams!" Rayne sneered, sounding braver than he felt right now. 

Lagrado glared at him, those empty eyes suddenly cold and hard.

"When you came to this city I gave you a warning," he reminded his young hostage. "Show me some respect, or go home. You are still here and still you deliberately offer me offence. I have been patient with you. I respected your marking of the dancer. He was released as you requested and still you bait me, Mr Wylde. My patience is not without limit. Today you will be punished for your insolence. Today, it will be my pleasure to teach you humility."

"You'll try, you mean!" Rayne snarled at him, his eyes flashing true anger and a little fear, searching now for potential escape routes or something he might use as a weapon. There were no windows visible in this panelled room. Although he had lost his bearings in the elevators, he suspected that they were still below ground. The only door he could see was the one through which he had been dragged, now guarded by the pair of muscle boys who had hauled him down here from his cell. The walls were banked on two opposing sides with carved benches rising from front to back so that all the seated Vampires could watch the entertainment unimpeded. At the head of the room was the long, polished table behind which Lagrado had been seated when he was dragged into the chamber. It and the seats were the only furnishings. The floor was smooth, polished maple, as were the wall panels. The light came from recessed fittings in the panels above head height. He felt the cold, bone deep as his mind cancelled the options for fight or flight one after another.

And then there was heat again. Cole Lagrado moved faster than even his sharp eyes could see. The crop struck him across the face from left to right. As the assembled Elders murmured their satisfaction, he reversed the stroke, lashing the other cheek with a stripe of heat that burned Rayne's blood. He stood his ground but he could already feel the blood trickling slowly down his face. His audience grew restless as they scented it. Fangs extended and he felt the hunger in their cold eyes as they watched him, eager to see his reaction. 

"Is that the best you can do?" he forced out, trying not let them hear the tremor in his voice. He was shaking with impotent rage as much, if not more than fear. 

Lagrado shook his head with a slow, humourless smile. 

"Oh no, Mr Wylde. That was merely for my own amusement. I have a far more meaningful punishment for you, boy."

Rayne's lips curled back from his small, but lethal fangs. "Bring it on!"

Again the Ancient Vampire tapped a little rhythm on his boot with the crop. He did it when he was excited, Rayne thought curiously; it was a signal, a code for his growing eagerness to inflict pain. He tensed for another blow but it did not fall.

"Show every Elder in this room absolute obedience and servility and I will let you go free," Lagrado told him at last. 

Rayne looked around the room, taken aback by this. He mentally counted at least twenty heads; mostly male although there were a couple of females in the assembly too. They all stared back at him eagerly, regardless of their age or gender.




Dark Paths Ch. 06



"How?" he asked Lagrado, unable to disguise the loathing in his voice.

"However they command," Cole Lagrado said earnestly. "They are your masters now. You are merely their servant. Give us satisfactory service and absolute, unquestioning submission and we will take you back to the airport and allow you to board a flight home to your weak and impoverished island where you may wallow in filth with your human friends to your heart's content, if that is your desire."

Rayne bit his tongue on the insult that sprang to it. 

"I have to do anything they ask?" he queried atonally.

"That is the definition of servility, yes," Lagrado exhaled impatiently.

"And if I don't?"

Those cold eyes glittered again. 

"If you resist I will punish you."

"I think I'd rather be punished," Rayne told him vehemently. He was hinging this argument on the rather tenuous theory that Lagrado would not kill him. He was a fellow Vampire, no matter how lowly and disgusting to them. And at the moment he was too entertaining to be put down like a lame dog; certainly judging by the rapt attention of Lagrado's peers.

"You do not know how I intend to punish you yet," the Ancient responded in a smooth, icy tone.

Rayne just fired an insolent look at him, waiting. The bastard would tell him. He was itching to do it.

"Very well," Lagrado sighed at last, as if this was something Rayne was forcing him into against his better judgement. "The rules I set out are very simple. Do as I tell you without question or argument, acknowledge me always before these highly esteemed Elders as your absolute Master. I want them to hear you call me Master, Mr Wylde, I hope you understand. And if I am satisfied with your obedience I will not exact my punishment on your human friends."

Rayne had been focussed on the neutral view of the panelled walls as he listened to this nonsense, forcing himself to remain cool and not lose his temper. But when the final words sank in his head came up at once. He glared at Lagrado, almost consumed by incredulous rage.

"WHAT?"

"You heard me, Mr Wylde." Lagrado stroked his blood-smeared cheek with the paddle of his crop, almost tenderly. "Satisfy my demands or you will watch as I bring those you care for so sentimentally to heel in your stead. As mortals they will not be asked to serve, just used as we see fit; for food, or sex… or any form of entertainment we can devise. Perhaps we should arrange a hunt. There has not been one in the Bay Area for so many years. I'm sure it would draw participants from as far afield as New York and Vancouver, Miami and Anchorage."

"No!" Rayne barked hoarsely at him, interrupting his flow. "No, you can't! You promised!"

"I can, Mr Wylde and I will, if you continue to defy me." The ancient Vampire Master smiled almost pityingly at him. "Perhaps we will begin with the pretty dancing boy. He has already been so entertaining. I only promised that I would let him walk away unharmed and that he would not be followed. I gave no word that I would prevent others from hunting him in the future. I know that Steffen, for one, would be delighted if I were to take the boy from you and present him as a gift in return for his loyalty. We will let you watch, never fear. And I will be sure to let him know that you are watching."

"No!" Rayne growled at him again, then more urgently. "Please!"

"That's more like it," Lagrado looked surprised but contented. "See," he announced to his assembled friends. "We have no need to use violence. It is far more beneficial to find our rebel's weakness and manipulate it deftly. Mr Wylde's weakness is for pretty boys with no morals. He has a misguided sense of responsibility towards mortal fodder. His Sire has failed to teach him that he is no longer weak and easily seduced as humans are. He longs to still be one of them, to be loved and accepted by the cattle that he used to graze among. He does not understand that he is now a wolf in their midst. You don't, do you, Wylde?"

Rayne just stared back at him, stunned and angry. Jabez had not been lax. He had warned Rayne about this time and time again but his wilful Fledgling had refused to listen, refused to take it on board. Yes his friends were human, but it was no crime. Jabez Everman associated with Mersen, his mortal bodyguard and Lord Dominic Warren the Wiccan Vampire specialist and they were both human. It was not a crime.

"I asked you a question, boy!" Lagrado slapped him with the crop and stopped his wool-gathering. "You are weak, aren't you? You bluster and fake and try to impress us but you have no skill, no experience, no power and no big strong friends to hide behind out here. Is that not the truth?"

"No," Rayne protested almost inaudibly. 

Cole Lagrado hit him harder. 

"Remember your place, slave! You will answer me as Master. Do you understand?"

Again the younger Vampire just glared at him through tears of helpless rage that blurred his vision and turned the world into a vague, red-hazed blur. Lagrado slapped the whip into the palm of his hand impatiently, then hit Rayne again, the leather biting into the skin of his jaw just to the right of his mouth and leaving it tingling like he had received an electric shock.

"Maybe when the dancing boy has been gang-fucked and cut for us all to feed from, we will return to the house of your friends and collect that big black fool you are so fond of. Do you think he will be a good candidate for us to hunt? Maybe not fast enough? He is not young, but he will feed us well. Lots of hot blood in that one; plenty of meat! The comely Mexican boy then? I bet he can run! We will have some hot sport in the desert with that one."

Rayne shook his head in dismay. They had been watching him all too closely and he had never even seen them. Bitterly and silently he cursed his own stupidity.

"Please don't hurt them?" he implored in a voice that was little more than a whisper. "Please! I'll do whatever you want, but leave them alone."

Lagrado came to him at once, caressing his face almost tenderly. He bend his head and licked the drying blood from Rayne's cheek as gentle as a lover, stroking the singer's dishevelled, ebony hair as he did so. 

"Better," he sighed into Rayne's ear. "Much better, child. But you still forget your place. You still forget that I am your Master. How can we train you to remember? That old man you call your friend, the creator of so much mortal obscenity, he is weak and contaminated from lying with so many boy whores. No use to us as food or sport! Maybe if we bound him and cut off his famous member to use as a dildo when you entertain us, it would remind you who is your Master now." He caught Rayne's chin between his fingers and thumb, jerking the young Vampire's head up so that their eyes met. Rayne's tears had dried and there was a kind of numb resistance in his gaze now. "What do you say, slave?"

"No!" Rayne swallowed hard, hating himself, struggling to speak words that damned him to hell but might yet save his friends. He could not watch Xav or even the sharp and sarcastic Chavez hunted and used for sex and blood by these creeps. And he would not see loyal Clay or his beloved Paddy broken and humiliated like that. He closed his eyes and shut the doors on his pride. "Please… M-Master! Please! I'll do as you say. Please leave them alone. Please Master, I beg you."

Lagrado sighed, a deep, pleasurable sound. 

"Ohhhh… Much, much better!" he exhaled, stroking Rayne's hair and face, almost petting him like a faithful dog. "You are a stubborn boy, but you can be educated. If you wish to beg, however, should you not get down on your knees, slave?"

Rayne's eyes opened; a hint of fire still flickering deep in that sullen, defeated emerald glare. There was a moment when the entire audience chamber would have held it's breath (if most of it could remember how to breathe in the first place) and then he slowly and stiffly went down on one knee.

"Wait!" Lagrado's iron grip on his right shoulder stopped him and Rayne looked curiously up at him, as did the murmuring Elders who clearly wondered what he was planning now. Lagrado's fingers released him and stroked slowly and seductively into the open neckline of his torn and blood-stained shirt. Dark eyes surveyed him hungrily. "Much better for our purposes if you remove your clothes before you kneel in humility and supplication before your Masters. Don't you think so, slave?" He bestowed a feral smile on his clearly recalcitrant captive. 

Some of the watching Vampires laughed and applauded at this. Rayne swallowed an impertinent retort. He could not help but think of the fear in Xavier's eyes as they negotiated his release and the painful bite marks all over his young, nude body as he lay, shackled to the bed in that squalid room. He would not allow the boy to suffer like that again, not if he could avoid it. 

"If that is what you want, Master," he managed to force out, though the words almost choked him.

"It is. We shall find music… I am sure your pretty dancing boy has demonstrated how a whore should shed his clothes for the delectation of an audience!" Lagrado snapped his fingers before Rayne could think of a suitably tart response and moments later the slow, hypnotic pulse of an all-too-familiar refrain filled the room, seeping from hidden speakers in the walls. The introduction to the album edit of Dark Paths was like a slow heartbeat, like the pulsing of blood in a sleeper's veins. 

Rayne clenched his teeth and his fists knowing that this was all arranged carefully to humiliate and unsettle him. He was angry now, but some of the control Jabez had struggled to instil in him - often slowly and painfully - when he was a very young Fledge came back to him. If he disobeyed it would be Xavier here in his place, he reminded himself. He could not let that happen. 

And he had done worse things in his life than perform a striptease for a bunch of randy old men.

Closing his eyes he rose to his feet again, letting the music flow into him, soothing him and controlling him. He stroked his hands into the open neck of his shirt, pushing harder to force the remaining buttons from their holes. He caressed his body slowly, sliding the material down off his slim shoulders. In his mind he was back on stage, teasing the fans; flirting with the audience, half-undressing, listening to their screams and howls of encouragement. Seductively he licked the tip of a finger and stroked the wetness over one erect nipple then the other, loving the feel of it on his sensitive tits. His hips swayed sensuously and he ran a hand down his flat belly to the waistband of his jeans, curling the fingers over the bulge of his crotch and down between his slim thighs. He stroked himself there, tossing his head back and moving his lean hips slowly as if a lover was between his legs. His hands crossed over, gliding back up his arms and pulling down the ruined shirt until it fell to his waist. He held out his arms, hands lowered to his sides and let the garment drop to the ground, then spun around deftly.

Rayne was a good dancer, he had no illusions about that. He had natural rhythm, although he had been in receipt of professional training too when Whipsnade were first setting foot on the ladder of fame. There had been an enforced spot on TV's Strictly Cum Dancing as well, which was a source of much amusement in the Whipsnade camp. He still recalled one of the judges, a sharp-eyed, middle-aged lady choreographer with a loose tongue, telling him after his Paso-Doble, with a glint in her eyes, that he had a body made for sin. Damn right, he did! 

His hands roamed all over his bare torso now, up the curve of his neck and into his hair leaving it even more tousled and unkempt than it had been after he was knocked about by Lagrado's heavies. Then he stroked them down smoothly over his heaving chest, his belly, his angular hips and drove the fingers of the left hand firmly down beneath the waistband of his snug, black jeans, cupping his balls and stroking his cock blatantly as he swayed for his deathless audience. 

Withdrawing his hand, he slowly loosened the buttons of his fly and unhitched the buckle of his belt. Both hands now slipped into the open crotch of his pants and eased them down so that he was flashing just his shaven mound and the root of his cock. He rolled his head slowly on his limp neck and let his hands stroke back up to his erect nipples again, impossibly horny. The song made him think of Xavier and the nights of slow, sensuous pleasure he had spent in the boy's warm arms. He was on fire. When this was all over he was going to wrap himself around the dancer and fuck the gorgeous blond boy until he had no strength left in his body. 

Rayne drove his left hand back into the front of his open jeans and the right down the back simultaneously in time to a surge in the music. He rubbed a slow finger up and down his cleft, letting them guess what his hands were doing in there. Slowly his left hand eased his cock and balls out of his open fly and his bucking pelvis bounced them teasingly for his appreciative admirers. 

They were appreciating it too. When he opened his eyes lazily, a number of males in the audience were openly touching their cocks through their pants. Even one of the females had a hand up her skirt and was diligently fingering her clit. He stroked his hands down his thighs, easing the loose denim down to his knees then sank to the ground, kneeling with his thighs wide apart, the first two fingers of his right hand sliding between his lips so that he could suck them with an ingenuous smile. He leaned right back now, wriggling his shoulders down to the heels of his black boots and letting his dark hair sweep against the floor between his feet. The wet fingers of his right hand probed his ring, easing slowly in and out and he bucked his hips as he frigged himself, clutching and caressing his balls as he rose and fell, writhing on the floor, feeling the song reaching it's tidal crescendo. 

As the rolling music peaked, he came up and forward onto his hands and knees then dropped to the floor as the sound crashed down into emptiness and a gentle surge that would carry him to the end of the routine. He writhed onto his back, stroking his naked body eagerly all over and drawing his knees up to his chest to slide the jeans right down to his ankles. Then he lay back again, feet together and knees spread wide, undulating as if a powerful mate was bucking between his open legs. He could smell how eagerly some of these bastards longed to be his mate. A few were discreetly masturbating now at his artistic depiction of how he might later serve them. 

Good! he thought grimly, easing his booted feet out of the denim and kicking his jeans away casually as the music subsided, leaving him spent and near nude, sprawled on the smooth, cold, wooden floor. It was fine to let them get preoccupied with the idea of sexing him. Sex was an easy concession for him. He had been fucking men for favours all his adult life and for much of his teens as well. It might keep them from thinking of other, far nastier things to make him do. 

As he lay there, slowly writhing like the victim of an electric charge, limbs still twitching spasmodically long after the current had ceased to pulse through his body, the sound of Cole Lagrado's boot heels clicked closer across the polished floor. He schooled himself to greet the Ancient Vampire with appropriate submission. Lagrado did not give him the chance. He kicked the naked Fledgling fast and hard, driving the toe of his boot in just beneath the ribs where Steffen had struck into him the night before and Rayne coiled defensively like a snake found beneath a rock. The blow drove the air from his lungs so that he could not even scream. No more than a whimper of confusion and agony trickled from his lips. 

"Get up!" Lagardo bellowed at him. "Get on your knees, now!"

Rayne yipped, a short, hurt, puppyish sound and struggled away from him, trying to get to his feet. He wanted to run away but it was enough of a struggle to get upright. His left side was burning; it felt as if his ribs were all broken again, even though he guessed that the kick had been too low for that. Pain rippled through him like a hot knife dragged against his skin. Lagrado snatched a handful of his hair, impatient with his slowness and dragged him to the required position, then struck him across the face once more with the crop. 

"I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" Rayne screamed, his tongue freed by the clean burn of the whip across his left cheek.

Lagrado thrashed him again, cutting deep this time. He felt the slow, hot trickle of blood. 

"WHO AM I?" the Ancient roared into his face like a desert wind.

Rayne flinched from him, too hurt and shocked for anger. That would come.

"Master!" he yelped automatically. "Please! I'm doing what you said, Master!"

"Insolent little bitch!" Lagrado kicked him in the gut and he doubled up, forehead on his knees, clenching his teeth against the pain inside until he felt the enamel grind to powder where they met. He was jerked upright by the hair again almost immediately. "Did I instruct you to pleasure yourself?"

Rayne blinked at him, feeling too slow, too stupid. The pain fogged his reactions. He could taste the iron tang of blood in his oesophagus, never a good sign. Numbly he shook his head. Cole Lagrado sighed his impatience and struck his face again. 

"Stupid, stupid little slave!" he hissed. "Shall I have my boys go and fetch the dancer back here? Shall we see how obedient he can be? He's a younger bitch, maybe he'll be easier to train, yes?"

A surge of cold terror welled up in Rayne's chest, quelling his pain like morphine. He caught hold of Lagrado's long coat tail as the Ancient turned to walk away. 

"No!" he cried out desperately. "Please, Master! Don't! I'll be good, Master. I promise! I didn't understand that I wasn't meant to touch myself. You didn't say!"

The waiting elders let out a collective murmur of admiration at this. Very slowly, Lagrado turned and looked down on the pretty creature bleeding and grovelling at his feet. There was naked disgust in his dark eyes. Rayne felt his heart stop. 

"Let me make things plain for you, slave," he said coldly. "So that you comprehend me and there shall be no further confusion. When I tell you to do a thing, you will do just that. You will not improvise, you will not embellish and you will not disregard my orders. Do you understand?"

He emphasised the question with three concurrent slaps of the whip. Rayne put his hands up to shield his face at last but they were pushed away roughly. 

"NO!" Lagrado screamed at him in a fit of fury. "No! No! NO! Useless! You are wilful, pathetic and utterly useless to me! You cannot even take the punishment you deserve without resisting me."

He slashed indiscriminately at Rayne's face and torso as he roared this admonishment. "Stupid, gutless, wayward little SLUT! That's all you are, isn't it? ISN'T IT?"

"Yes Sir!" Rayne was already nodding frenetically at the first demand. "Yes Sir! YES SIR!" he screamed as his captor continued with the vicious beating. He was just frantic to make it stop. They had not fed him and he was sure that the slow, dull pain inside was internal bleeding. With every drop that they spilled he would grow weaker. Lagrado would not even give him pause to heal himself. 

"NO-O-O!" the Ancient snarled in utter frustration. He lost all patience and kicked the singer to floor. "WHAT AM I?" he bellowed, standing over Rayne Wylde like Colossus as the Fledgling huddled on the ground shaking and retching blood. He delivered another kick to emphasise each word. "WHAT. DO. YOU. CALL. ME?"




Dark Paths Ch. 06



"Master…" Rayne choked out, his voice little more than a whimper of anguish. "Master… Please!"

"I did not hear you." Lagrado put the sole of his boot against Rayne's right cheekbone and applied just enough pressure to cause pain. "Speak up, slut!"

Rayne closed his eyes. His head hurt; his gut ached; his nose was bleeding but then just about everywhere was bleeding by now. 

"M-Master…" he groaned more loudly. "I'm sorry!"

Lagrado's boot pushed his face away but the Ancient did not kick him again. 

"Good," he said more rationally, in a calmer tone. "Better. But it should not take you so long to remember next time. If it does, maybe I shall send for the dancing boy anyway and you will be the first to spill his blood if you know what is good for you. Now get up, you're making a mess on my floor."

"Yes Master," Rayne exhaled with a supreme effort. 

It took him forever to drag himself to his knees. He was constantly tensed for another thrashing or another round of verbal abuse but to his surprise, Lagrado only watched him impassively. When he was finally upright, swaying slightly from the loss of orientation, the older Vampire's hand came down towards his head and Rayne flinched but did not even lift an arm to stop it. Instead of the expected slap for taking too long, his hair was stroked gently and the Ancient caressed his bloody cheek where the spill of gore was already turning to carmine dust. 

"Good boy," he said, as if to a favoured hound. "Much better! You see, I do not enjoy punishing you, child. It hurts me to see your beauty marred by blood and bruises when it could bring so much pleasure instead. If you obey me without question I can be a kind Master; even a loving Master. Do you understand now, slave?"

"Yes Master," Rayne said breathlessly. He was in agony and just wanted to lie down and close his eyes but he did not dare to move without being ordered to do so. 

"Good boy," Lagrado murmured soothingly again. "Next time I give you an order it will be easier to obey, will it not?"

He nodded miserably. "Yes Master."

Cole Lagrado stroked his hair again, then he turned to the enthralled bank of spectators with his hands held wide, a broad smile on his handsome face. 

"You see, my friends, how easy he is to train! In just an hour I have brought the Everman's bitch to heel. Once one knows the buttons to push, he may be manipulated as easily as a well-schooled dog."

He executed a short bow and the assembled Vampires rose to their feet as one and burst into spontaneous applause. Rayne ground his teeth in silence and imagined ripping out Cole Lagrado's tendons and stabbing him through the heart with his bare hands as the bastard writhed on the floor. He kept his head bent though and remained on his knees. At last the laughter and clapping subsided and to his relief, Lagrado summoned his lackeys to take Rayne back down to his cold, bare cell.

~~~

Xavier paced while Dominic was in the shower until Chavez told him to knock it off. Then he stood sullenly by the window and contemplatively chewed his thumbnail. The waiting was still killing him, but one thing had brightened him up. Dominic had said Xavier was going with him to talk to this vampire Elder. Xavier being marked gave him a certain measure of safety, a thin margin to be sure, but better then any of the others. 

But first they needed to go shopping. Ordinarily the prospect of a necessary shopping spree would have piqued Xavier's interest, but right now he just saw it as one more delay. 

Dom would get a suit, Xavier something less subtle. Impressions were important, doubly so in vampire politics, and Xavier was to be decoration. That wasn't a problem. Hell, if he'd been allowed to they could have just gone back to his apartment and picked out a dozen suitable outfits. 

They headed down town and went to purchase the suit first. Fortunately Dom's height and build both made it so virtually no alterations needed to be done. It was like they used his exact measurements to start as base. Even so the time it took for Dom to pick out what he wanted had Xav wanting to pull his hair out. Finally, after an interminable amount of time and an obscene about of money they were done. 

Then they headed a few streets down to Noir Leather. This was the first time Xavier could ever remember that he was in and out of the store in only twenty minutes. Having an excellent eye, knowing what would look best on him for the occasion, and having an open ended pocket-book helped a great deal. 

The pants were a butter-soft rust coloured suede that looked sprayed onto his body and rode so low his hip bones protruded just above the waist. The shirt was gossamer thin silk in a shade of cream that showed off his tan to best advantage even if he was paler then usual. He might have picked something more revealing but the long sleeves and clingy material at least hid most of the bruises. He came out of the store looking like a walking wet dream. 

"Okay, can we go see this vamp Elder now?" he asked plaintively. 

Dominic's smile was certainly appreciative but not in the leering way he had become used to from certain older men over the years. There was a look of almost pleasant surprise on his face.

"One more thing," he said, making the younger man grind his teeth in frustration. "Can you handle a shotgun?"

"Well, there's not much to it, is there. Point and shoot." Xavier said. Which was true, with a shotgun he'd need only point in the general direction of what he wanted to hit. He left out that he'd never even touched one before.

Dominic pursed his lips though, thoughtfully. 

"Perhaps we'd better stick to something more simple," he sighed at last, seeing straight through this attempt to bluff him. "I'm not going to take responsibility for you possibly wiping yourself out, but perhaps we need a bodyguard as well. Someone who does know how to handle a gun. I'm not taking you in with me unarmed though. Just in case Diplomacy only gets us so far."

He touched his fingertips to the inside of Xavier's neckline, brushing lightly against the two small, sensitive bite marks on his skin. 

Xavier felt the tingle go down his spine like electric current. His sky blue eyes became more guarded at once, even though he didn't pull away. The touch seemed innocent enough, but felt much more intimate. Dom might as well have stuck his hand between Xav's legs to cop a feel. 

"Oh my," the older man murmured almost reverently, drawing his fingers away from the bite marks at once. Then, as if to demonstrate that he meant no harm by his action, he tugged down the collar of his shirt to show Xavier the sequence of double-point marks on his neck and left shoulder. "We have a curious bond, you and I," he whispered. "The Vampire whom Rayne calls his Sire gave me these. All but this one..." And he touched the marks that were almost at the meeting of his prominent collarbones. "They are much older. We are touched by infinity, you and I."

He flashed Xav a conspiratorial smile and turned his collar back up smartly. 

Xavier managed to rein in his jaded side and not say "whatever". On the way back to the car though his curiosity did get the better of him. 

"Rayne seemed… um, kinda worried, I guess… that they didn't go away," he ventured with a thoughtful little frown. "The bites from the other vamps all went away, not a mark. Weird, huh?" 

"He gets that from his Sire, I expect," Dominic Warren did not look at him but something in the way he held himself suggested all the same that he was paying very close attention. "Jabez only marks as a sign of protection. Some Vampires do it... I don't know, to show off, I suppose; to demonstrate that they have sway over mortals. Two of the marks I have were inflicted that way, in the course of battle. One of the others is from the Everman, an indicator that I am his. The other was from a friend, a good friend. I'm still foolish enough sometimes to half believe he did it as a sign of his regard for me, but..." The Englishman caught himself and sighed rather more impatiently changing the subject. "Feeding marks will generally fade with time. Occasionally one Vampire's marks will override any others that might be inflicted. It's rare but I have heard of people who were marked through sustained feeding and intimacy with one Vampiric partner. I've never known Rayne to mark a human though and he's fed from me often enough."

The thoughtful little frown on Xav's face stayed as he mulled over that little titbit. Why had Rayne marked him then? Because he thought Xavier needed his protection? Or… or, something else? He almost asked the question out loud, then decided better of it. "Can you hear him inside your head too?"

Dominic smiled more broadly at that. 

"Life might be easier if I could," he chuckled. "Rayne Wylde is a law unto himself, it would be useful to know what he's thinking sometimes. Though it's interesting that you can hear him. Is it just when he's with you, or can you hear him now? And do you hear other people, or is it just him?"

He stopped walking and turned to look curiously at the younger man. 

"No, I can't," Xavier answered, to both questions. He thought about it for a second and added, "Not words anyway. I've heard him, like he was talking in my head, a few times. But only when we're, uh… close. I could sort of feel him though, last night… I had dreams." He swallowed hard and shook his head, conscious that this sounded a bit screwy. 

For a moment Dominic looked as if he might have reached out to put an arm around him but he checked himself at the last moment. His long hands sketched a vague pattern on the air between them.

"It could simply have been that you were preoccupied with him, worried about having to leave him behind," he suggested carefully. "The mind can play tricks on us. Sometimes it shows us what we want to see, at others what we're afraid to see."

Xavier gave Dominic a very direct look. "No, it wasn't like that. I can tell the difference.. I called it a dream, but it wasn't really. I know what happened to Rayne last night; not all of it, not in perfect detail, but enough. I can't even say I saw most of it, but I could feel it. He was in pain, and he was scared." He looked away and started walking again, his body stiff with tension. 

The older man caught up with him in a few easy strides. He fell into step beside Xavier, glancing at him contemplatively. 

"You know that you can shut it out if you don't want to feel it, don't you?" Dominic said now. "I'd have thought Ray would have shown you how to do that if he figured you were channelling. Although he was the world's worst. It took me years to teach him how to shield. Everyone with a hint of empathic ability was getting a blizzard of emotional garbage from him every time he lost his temper. And he was soaking up peoples' moods like a psychic sponge and getting increasingly paranoid about them, even when their feelings were nothing to do with him. According to his friend, Simon, he used to do it before he was Turned as well. They always put it down to too much cocaine before!"

Xavier was shaking his head. "I don't know what you're talking about. I can't just shut it off, its like saying make your heart stop beating, or don't think about a red hammer. You just thought about a red hammer, didn't you? Same thing."

"Come here," Dominic half turned as they passed a bench set back in a tree lined square off the street. He sat down on it, patting the seat beside him, inviting Xavier to sit but leaving him enough space that it did not need to be on intimate terms. "Don't be shy."

Xavier wanted to grind his teeth. Why were they wasting time? He impatiently walked over to the bench and sat down. Immune to his youthful impatience, Dominic told him to close his eyes and pressed his finger firmly to Xavier's forehead between and a little above his eyebrows. 

"When we walk into the den of an Elder Vampire, probably as soon as tomorrow," he said quietly, "that creature may well - given that he will probably be many hundreds of years old - be able to key himself into our thoughts and emotions. Or he might, if we were unable to contain them. Concentrate on my fingertip, Xavier. Think just of that, nothing else."

"You know, you are completely bat shit, you…" Xavier's voice cut off abruptly. With a little gasp he grabbed Dominic's wrist and yanked his hand away. He opened his eyes, blinking in a panic, heart thudding in his chest. 

Xavier had a natural empathy that went beyond what most people had. The cloud of emotions that people carried around with them were like a constant background buzz, a white noise of emotions that was easily ignored. It became stronger when he was intimate with someone, but only recently, with Rayne, had it developed into an actual communication. The thing was Xavier hadn't been aware of that background buzz of emotions until Dominic shut it off. It was like suddenly being plunged into a sensory depravation chamber. The constant sifting and sorting of people around him he used like a guide without even knowing it was just all of a sudden gone. Worse, he couldn't sense Rayne at all.

"What did you do to me!?" He was looking around, at people walking past, like they were all blank to him. He felt like he'd been struck blind and deaf without warning. Then, slowly, the buzz started to fade back in. The white noise he'd never even really noticed before came back like a comforting blanket. Xavier took a shaky breath. He was still holding on to Dominic's wrist, though not tightly. He let him go. "Don't do that again." 

The lean sun-tanned Englishman looked back solemnly at him completely unruffled by this little outburst. It was as if everything Xavier did fascinated him, yet was kind of expected. 

He pursed his lips thoughtfully for a moment then said; "I didn't do anything to you Xavier. You did it yourself. It's all about concentration, darling. You can shut it out, you just need to focus on one thing to the exclusion of all the other nonsense. And you can let it back in again just as easily. Think of it like opening and closing doors in your mind. When you've practised it hard enough you can tune in to one particular thing and shut everything else out."

He sat back with a sad little smile then, as if he had already guessed what Xavier might want to tune in on. 

"Alright, just… whatever. Lets just go." Xavier got up and, after a moment or so, Dominic followed suit and they resumed their walk back to the car.

On the way back to the motel Dom advised Xavier to practice shutting others out, Xavier gave lip-service that he would and Dom just shook his head like he knew what was going on in Xavier's. As they were pulling up outside the Happy Pig Dominic got the phone call he'd been waiting on. They finally had an audience with an Elder, a Vampire named Iannopoulos, who would speak with them later in the evening. It was clearly sooner than Dominic had expected, but they still had about six hours to prepare. Xavier suddenly got butterflies, a feeling like stage-fright, which was weird because he never got it normally.

Finally they were doing something!

*

END OF CHAPTER SIX

"DARK PATHS"

© Sadie Rose Bermingham & Bellora Quinn 2008 



Dark Paths Ch. 07



By Sadie Rose Bermingham & Bellora Quinn

© 2007/8 

CHAPTER SEVEN 

EVERYTHING HAS A PRICE

Welcome all to Chapter Seven in the dark and deadly tale of Vampires and cruel Blood Lust in sinful San Francisco. Our story is a little over half-way home now, many thanks to our readers for their patience and tolerance. What I have come to think of as the BDSM arc is now reaching its conclusion, as some readers will no doubt be glad to hear. In chapter seven Xavier has an intense psycho-sexual experience at the hands of a handsome, manipulative Ancient Vampire and Rayne may be on the verge of freedom if he pleases his captors well enough. But is he climbing out of the frying pan and into a deep-fat-fryer? 

A warning to the uninitiated, Dark Paths is a Vampire novel. The Bad Vamps are very bad indeed (sometimes the good ones are a bit snarky as well) and the events portrayed in this and some earlier chapters contain violent and non-consensual activities that some readers may prefer not to read. To the reader who was disturbed by my reference to 'very satisfying violence' at the beginning of Chapter 5, it alluded to the scene between Rayne and the vampire at the airport and not to the non-con scene later in the chapter, I assure you. Ray and Xavier are very dear to us and we hate to hurt them without good reason, but we are writers and the evil characters are our babies as well as the good ones. We in no way condone the activities of some of those characters, nor would we encourage their use in real life. To those of you who have enjoyed the story so far, I hope you will continue your journey down our Dark Paths.

xx.Sadie & Bellora

Copyright for this work belongs, as ever to Sadie Rose and Bellora Quinn. We will set the Legal Vampires on anyone found using our material without prior consent. 

*

Following on from his humiliation at Lagrado's hands and boot heels, Rayne was half-walked/half-dragged back to the cell in the basement by two of the Ancient Vampire's undead lackeys. They snickered like children all the way down to the basement about which of the Elders was most likely to take up the offer to have Rayne as a slave. Their discussion of the potential candidates was couched in terms that left Rayne in no doubt that he'd rather have Steffen as a mate again. 

As they chained him on his pallet, snapping the manacles tightly around his wrists and neck, he was listless and unresisting though. Exhaustion and hunger had muted his rebellious rage.

"Can I have my clothes back?" he asked in a dull monotone when they were done with their task. 

"Not unless the Master thinks you should have them," one of the Vamps laughed harshly. 

"And given what they're planning to do to you, I doubt you'll need them!" the other pointed out in a snide little voice. 

He rolled over and wrapped his arms around his head, curling up small, ignoring their continued lewd remarks about his lean body and how certain Elders would find that nice ass of his irresistible. After a little while they grew bored of his refusal to rise to their baiting and left him alone to concentrate on channelling the remainder of his strength into healing the cuts and bruises Lagrado had left on him during the afternoon. 

If he had thought to get a peaceful night he was bitterly disappointed. Steffen returned for him after a couple of hours spent shivering in the darkness. Frustrated by his pet's reluctance to put up a fight for him tonight and annoyed at the news that he would soon have to share Rayne's body with others from outside the coterie, he relieved his tension by kicking, beating and biting the naked Englishman savagely. Then he unzipped his pants and mounted Rayne Wylde, forcing his trembling victim onto his knees, up against the cell wall as Rayne clung to his chains for balance. Rayne bore it silently with his face buried in the crook of one arm, fangs extended and sunk into his own flesh to keep himself from screaming as the bigger, more powerful vampire was thrusting vigorously inside him.

After an ordeal that seemed to go on interminably but probably lasted less than twenty minutes, Steffen grunted his satisfaction and Rayne felt the bastard's long cock jerk and twitch inside him as he climaxed copiously. The slender Englishman curled up in the corner of his cell once his cruel assailant had withdrawn. Steffen retreated, grumbling that Rayne was no fun now that Cole had broken him.

Just fuckin' go away, Rayne thought fervently. Fuck off and leave me alone!

To his surprise, Steffen did not try for another jump and once the door of the cell had clanged shut and the echo of the keys in the lock died away, he was left in the pitch darkness to fight the sobs that were rising in his throat. It had been over twenty-four hours now. Surely the others would have taken his advice and got away and he was glad of that, in one respect. On the other hand, it meant that he was alone. That if he was ever to get out of this mess he would have to do something drastic for himself. 

At the moment it seemed impossible. 

Some - older - Vampires were able to turn themselves to mist and drift out through the tiniest of cracks in the walls but he had no idea how to even begin such a transformation. Others could turn themselves into vicious animals at will, but such a change took massive amounts of blood energy and concentration. Rayne had managed to turn himself into a small bird on two separate occasions but the endeavour had left him drained of strength for days afterwards. It was not so much the taking of bird-form but the turning back that was the killer. He had been warned that many young Vampires, inexperienced and trying such a dangerous game alone, had been caught in their shifted form, unable to raise the energy to return to a human shape, and killed by accident, or even by design.

He was weak enough in human form. How easy would he be to crush as an exhausted little bird, trapped in this dark cell? How quickly would death come and how much did he yearn for it?

He had only been two days without feeding, which was tolerable under normal circumstances but his body had been called upon to heal itself time after time since he allowed himself to be taken prisoner. There was only so much that any Vampire could do, deprived of blood and proper rest. The damage Steffen had caused was mending too slowly and he was unable to quell the pain until it did. Rayne shuddered again, cold to the bone and hurting intolerably. He could not even summon sleep to shut it out. True Death would be a merciful release, he decided grimly.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE HAPPY PIG…

"Jesus! I don't remember casting for a pimp and a harem boy?" PJ McNamara laughed when he saw Dominic and Xavier get out of the cab as they returned to the motel after their little shopping trip in the city. 

"Thank you very much for that!" Dominic Warren exclaimed. "We're supposed to look sophisticated, and - in Xav's case at least - just a little bit alluring. It never hurts to have some eye candy to distract your opponent with. Elian Iannopoulos is rumoured to have a bit of a taste for stunning young men, so whilst he's drooling over Xavier I can probably talk him into just about anything."

"You have a pretty high opinion of your negotiating skills, Lord Warren," Clay remarked sceptically. 

"That's because I know I'm the best," Dominic winked at him playfully. "Tell you what Mr Johnson, if I don't broker a deal to get Wylde out of there tonight, I'll let you put me over the hood of that Chevy over there and fuck me in the arse until I scream for mercy."

Clay still looked doubtful. "What if you actually manage it?" he asked, folding his arms. 

Dominic pretended to consider for a moment, then declared: "If I do broker a deal with him... I'll let you put me over the hood of that Chevy over there and fuck me in the arse until I scream for mercy!"

PJ laughed out loud at this and even Clay was forced to crack a smile. 

"Come on," Warren said to the big black minder. "I'll show you how the boy's toys in my suitcase work before we head out. How's that?"

Chavez jumped to his feet eager to be included in this lesson but PJ stayed behind on the veranda looking solemnly at Xavier. 

"You okay, hon?" he asked more seriously. "You up to this?"

Xavier shrugged his shoulders eloquently. "No big deal. I just hope we're not wasting our time."

As the afternoon wore on into evening, Xavier's anxiety level crept up as his mood plummeted. It was bad enough that he couldn't eat. He sat at the table with the rest and simply looked at the food, not seeing it. A hard knot sat in the pit of his belly; cold rage and humiliation, lapping at him like waves from the other end of the chain linking him to Rayne. Something bad was going down.

"Xavier?" 

He looked up and blinked at the faces looking at him, realising that Dominic had said his name more than once. His eyes were wide and the pupils dilated, his breathing a little too fast and shallow, his skin cold and clammy. He couldn't see what was happening to Rayne but he could feel it, and was edging toward shock because of it. 

"You need to shut it out, like I showed you this afternoon." Dominic said, kind but firm. He meant to show that he understood but it wasn't enough to be understood right now. Xavier needed more than that.

He got up without a word and walked out to the front porch. Xav needed the fresh air, and the quiet. Shutting Rayne out felt like betrayal, as if he was abandoning him. Again! But, if he didn't find a way to deal with this he wasn't going to be in any shape to go with Dominic and they would be leaving soon. He sat down on a cushioned chair and closed his eyes with a heavy sigh. 

I'm so sorry Rayne, but I have to be able to think straight. Xavier closed his eyes on the threat of tears and then he concentrated on shutting out all the white noise until everything in his head was still and quiet, even the small, cold, frightened presence he knew was coming from Rayne. That was the hardest thing to do.

He thought he had been sitting about five minutes when he heard the door open, and was a little startled to find he was stiff from sitting without moving. A glance at the clock showed him that more like an hour had gone by. He wasn't any less worried, but at least his head was clear. 

He stood up as everyone came out onto the veranda. It was time to go and meet the Vampire Elder they hoped would help them get Rayne back. He had been waiting for this, even pushing for it, but now he just felt scared. The guy was a Vampire after all. What if he turned out to be a friend of Lagrado's? What if he just killed them, or handed them over to Cole again?

A car came to collect them, a large, innocuous looking sedan with a human driver, or so Dominic assured him. The older man was not happy about this, preferring to make his own way to the Vampire's demesne but Iannopoulos was having none of that. He laid down the rules over the phone. Two humans, no weapons and he would give his word of honour that they were free to leave him unharmed. 

All the same, Warren returned to his room before the car got there and came back with an object that looked like an insulin pen and a chased silver crucifix pendant with four tubular arms. The two short cross pieces unscrewed and were hollow. Dominic placed a pair of capsules in each and screwed them back down. Then he pressed a catch on the back of the pendant and the lower part slipped away revealing a four-inch stiletto blade. 

"Long enough to pierce the heart," he said quietly. "There is wormwood on the tip. Not fatal to Vampires but it can slow them down."

He looped it over Xavier's head and let it hang down over his vest. 

"If we're lucky he'll just think it's amusing," he said with a tight smile. "Look offended if he does, okay? He'll probably let you keep it just to salve your male pride. Oh... FYI, the caps in the arms of the cross are potassium cyanide. Don't take one unless the situation is absolutely irretrievable, all right?"

He tucked the pen into his own jacket pocket.

Xavier looked at him like he was nuts, but didn't say anything. He just followed Dominic down the step to the waiting car. PJ patted his arm on the way down but he could not even meet the older man's eyes. The whole situation felt too surreal.

Xavier tried not to fidget as they rode in the elevator to the top floor of a newly renovated downtown apartment building. The doors glided silently open into an unoccupied hallway in faceless cream and gold. Two enormous men who could not have looked more like stereotypical bodyguards in their black suits and earpieces guarded the door at the end. The only difference being that these two happened to be Vampires. Xavier could easily tell the difference now, though he wouldn't have been able to explain how to anyone else. They seemed to shimmer to his eyes, as if they were giving off heat.

The corner penthouse apartment might as well have been wallpapered in thousand dollar bills. It screamed of luxury and money in every well-appointed corner. A far cry from the dirty brick building he'd been kept in at the behest of Cole Lagrado. The floor to ceiling windows on two walls of the immaculate room they were shown into looked out over most of the city. So much for Vampires cowering away from the light. This luxurious sitting room was bathed in it. The man standing before them looking out turned slowly now as they entered. He was tall, at least 6'3" and quite young looking in spite of pale, immaculately cut hair, that looked like silver in the evening sunlight. The loose, open-necked shirt and leather pants he wore were certainly tailored and fitted him to perfection, although his feet were bare. He looked curiously at Lord Warren for a moment then smiled almost knowingly but his eyes roamed over Xavier rather more slowly. 

Xav did not miss the subtle quickening in the crotch of their host's tight leathers as he held out his hand in greeting. Nor the fact that he was impressively hung!

"Lord Warren, I have heard a great deal about you. I am interested to know why you would seek me out. And also to know who your delicious young friend is."

Warren shook his hand quickly and firmly and glanced towards Xav. 

"Elian Iannopoulos, this is Xavier Gavrilov. I think that the three of us may have a mutual interest and I wanted to put a proposal to you."

"Xavier," the word dripped from Elian's lips like honey. His burning gaze consumed Xav now and he extended his fingers towards the young man. "How delightful to meet you. And how stunning you look, I must tell you. Good enough to eat... very, very slowly. One lick at a time."

Xavier knew the game well and only needed a moment to decide which tack to take. Haughty and aloof, seductive and interested, or coy and innocent. If he pegged this guy right, and he usually did, choice number three would push his buttons the most. He lowered his eyes, dark lashes fanning out on his pale cheeks. He put just the right amount of reluctance into his touch as his hand was taken. Xavier suddenly seemed much younger than his twenty two years. 

He lifted his eyes again slowly; such a vivid and startling shade of blue. "Dominic thought you might help us, Mr. Iannopoulos." Xavier said, with just the right hint of a plea in his tone. It was a calculated risk, but not a big one. Iannopoulos knew they were here to ask for something. Tipping their hand already wouldn't be a big deal and Xav looking at him with those big blue eyes set on 'break-your-heart stunning' just might help.

"My friends call me Yiannis, Xavier Gavrilov," Iannopoulos responded smoothly. The handsome Vampire was just about everything that Steffen had not been. He lingered over the handshake, keeping Xavier's hand in the firm, cool curl of his own strong fingers for just a little longer than was polite but his smile was kind of bewitching. There was a sense of mischief in his light grey eyes and more than a hint of seduction too. Yiannis made no secret of his attraction to the young mortal standing before him. He was hungry for more than blood. "And what do you suppose that I could help you with, child? I mean… I know what I would like to help you with, but I suspect that by the arcane laws of your country you're far too young for those kinds of things." 

Dominic cleared his throat slightly and the Vampire looked at him with a smile that said; Be patient, my friend.

"Come, both of you. Sit down. Partake of our hospitality. It is rare that humans seek me out," he said out loud. "Certainly rare that I am visited by one of your reputation, Lord Warren or one of your companion's stunning loveliness."

Xavier tried not to grit his teeth at having to go through polite niceties when all he really wanted to do was get straight to the point. He behaved himself though, sitting next to Dominic like a pretty ornament while drinks were served and a few more pleasantries exchanged. 

This was not at all how he'd envisioned this meeting. It was all so… normal; so civilised! Xav's impatience was chaffing by the time Dominic finally got around to laying out the particulars. How Rayne, who Dom mysteriously called the Everman's Fledge, whatever the hell that meant, had inadvertently stepped on toes and gotten himself in a spot of trouble.

Xavier nearly choked. A spot of trouble? No shit! 

Dom told the Vampire about how Cole Lagrado had taken insult and how Rayne was now being detained over a misunderstanding, when he was expected back home. Detained! For god's sake! It all sounded so calm and reasonable. Xavier wanted to jump to his feet and scream at them to hurry the fuck up. Bad enough that his shielding meant he had no idea what was happening to Rayne.

"Lord Warren, I believe that matters may be more serious than you originally perceived," Elian responded with a sigh that penetrated Xavier's frustration and made him fret even more. He stretched out on the lounger across from them, elegant as a reclining panther and sipped from a glass of something that looked like red wine though it clung to the sides of the vessel in a distinctly viscous way. "Lagrado summoned the city Elders to a meeting this afternoon. Well, we were initially told that it was a meeting. When we got there we discovered that it was more of an... informal introduction to your friend, Mr Wylde." The Elder Vampire smiled and shook his head. "He's quite something, I'll say that much. Very feisty, but how long it will be before Lagrado beats that out of him is another question. Whatever the matter, I believe that your friend's Fledgling is subject to... indefinite detention. Coelho finds him... amusing."

The little pauses were more than just dramatic tension. His eyes moved to Xavier's each time he held his breath, watching the boy, drinking in his growing frustration. Dominic made a little hissing sound through his teeth and shook his head. 

"That's bad," he mused. "Very bad. If Jabez were to discover what had become of his Fledge, I can imagine that he would cause no end of problems here in San Francisco. I was hoping to resolve matters here without recourse to bloodshed. You heard, I am sure, what became of Khaled Zel-Aahren in London?"

Elian said nothing but his expression suggested that he recognised a threat when he heard one. 

"And you are the Everman's law-bringer are you, Lord Warren?" he asked mildly, sipping from the glass again. He licked the redness slowly from his lips. "Are you going to force Coelho's hand?"

"I prefer not to resort to force without good cause," Dominic answered, sitting back in the chair. His pose was outwardly relaxed but there was a little tension in the line of his mouth and the play of his long, nervous fingers along the chair arm. "I was rather hoping that, with your assistance, we might negotiate Wylde's release."




Dark Paths Ch. 07



"Let us cut to the chase, shall we? Before your companion does something rash." His eyes settled on Xavier again.

Xav stopped fidgeting at once, forcing a relaxed casual pose he did not feel at all. He had let the Elder Vampire poke at him. That was not good. Xavier looked away and he heard Elian's soft chuckle.

"You want me to assist in negotiating Wylde's release. This will not be a simple matter, I assure you. Coelho's pride is involved. It has always has been his weakness. To buy Wylde's freedom will cost a great deal, and money will not tempt him. So, before we get to that let's discuss my compensation." 

Dominic looked meaningfully at his young companion, then said; "Name your price, Elian. I came to San Francisco for Wylde and I intend to leave with him at any cost. Of course," he added with a knowing little smile. "I have no doubt that the Everman will be immensely grateful for any assistance we are offered. Even to the point of ensuring that our benefactor perhaps gained influence in this city. I think you understand what I mean by that. But if it's short term-gratification you seek..." He left the sentence unfinished but put his hand very purposefully on Xavier's bare arm, stroking it briefly before he leaned forward to retrieve his own wine glass. 

Thankfully it just had wine in it.

Xavier shot him a scathing glance, but controlled it quickly. Seemed PJ wasn't that far off the mark earlier when he commented on their newly acquired attire. Xavier had had his suspicions about this meeting, but he'd been so distracted he hadn't really thought about anything except trying to help Rayne. From the look in Elian's eyes he'd probably be trying long and hard tonight.

"The Everman's gratitude and this tasty morsel for going against Coelho. A tempting offer…" Elian purred with a calculating smile.

"I don't believe this shit." Xavier shook his head bitterly. "Don't fuckin' talk about me like I'm not sitting right here," he warned both of them and then levelled a finger at Dominic Warren. "And you've got no right to try and bargain me off. I am not your lap dog and I am not your whore, so fuck off!" 

There was silence for three whole heartbeats while both of his companions sat, visibly stunned at the sudden outburst. Then Elian laughed, a genuinely hearty sound. 

"Well, the boy has a spirit after all! And here I thought you brought me just a pretty empty headed plaything. Not that I would have minded." He smiled at Xavier, his most charming smile. "The deal remains, Mr. Gavrilov, whether you make it or Lord Warren. If you come to me willingly I swear to you that I will prize Rayne Wylde from Coelho's hands and bring him here before you."

Xavier regarded him shrewdly, all pretence stripped away. The feigned shy innocence vanished to reveal the smart street-savvy kid that had seen too much and done too much to be anything but slightly jaded. "For how long?" 

Elian's smile widened, and a brow arched appreciatively. "A month."

Xavier snorted. "No fuckin' way. I'll stay with you tonight, and tomorrow night if you get Rayne free and if you don't hurt him. After that you let us go. No tricks! Both of us get to go free, for good."

"Very sure of yourself, aren't you?" Iannopoulos remarked urbanely, ignoring Dominic's little hiss of protest at Xavier's outburst.

"I've met Cole Lagrado and his friends. If you are even considering going against him it's not because of me," Xav sneered, shaking his head. "This Everman dude must be one scary motherfucker if you're more worried about him than Lagrado. I wouldn't flatter myself. It's him you'd be doing this for. I'm just the icing, right?" Xavier stood and walked slowly toward him. Only Xavier didn't just walk, he glided with a grace and beauty that was almost feline and oozed sensuality with every step. "You can have me anyway you please, as long as you get Rayne out and I can walk away with him in the end. Deal?" 

There was a painful expression on Dominic's face now. The older man all but put his head in his hands and howled with frustration but Elian's smile did not waver. In fact he began to laugh softly.

"One scary motherfucker!" he repeated, clearly amused by this. One long finger pointed straight at Xav. "You are feisty, like your mate. Delicious and feisty. I can only begin to imagine what you and Wylde were like as sexmates. Although tonight, and tomorrow night I will get a sweet taste of what you are like in any case. It will not be easy to get your friend out of there, I think that you will have to work very hard tonight to convince me that what I am doing is right, Xavier Gavrilov." 

The finger circled slowly and without warning the Elder Vampire was on his feet, moving restlessly around Xavier. His hands ran over the young man's lean body, stroking his face and running down his neck, over his chest. He tapped the crucifix pendant with a beautifully manicured fingernail. 

"What is this? Is it supposed to intimidate me, child?"

Xavier had nearly forgot about it. 

"It was my mother's," he lied easily. He leaned back slightly, letting his backside enticingly brush against Elian's groin. 

Dom, who had been staring at him intently, turned away very fast, putting a hand to his mouth to stifle a laugh. The Vampire enfolded Xavier, pulling him close. His mouth fastened softly over the twin bite marks as if claiming them for his own and he stroked them with his tongue. 

"So, do we have a deal?" he purred in Xavier's ear as the boy shuddered in his arms. "I will take you tonight until you cannot recall your own name. Tomorrow I will make a play for your foolish mate. And tomorrow night I will make love to both of you in my bed until the sun rises."

Xavier thought about that, or tried to. It was rather hard to think as heat spiked into him directly from the Vampire's lips and surged straight to his thickening cock. That wasn't exactly the deal. He hadn't promised his seductor Rayne… but… he felt the smooth curve of Elian's canines slide over his skin, teasing over the bite marks and his knees went weak. 

"Umm… yeah!" Xavier panted a little breathlessly.

Dominic nodded his head too, a look of relief on his face that was mingled with concern for his charge. As Elian's hand snaked down between the boy's thighs, deftly exploring the effect his kiss was having, the older man cleared his throat. 

"So... errrm... that's sorted out then?" he ventured when the Elder fixed him with an almost mischievous stare over Xavier's shoulder. "You... you're happy with the... ummm... the arrangement?"

"I'm delighted with the arrangement, Lord Warren," the Vampire purred, licking Xavier's neck and pulling his head back gently to kiss his bared throat. "Quite delighted!"

"And... er... you've got a plan to get Rayne out of there?" Dominic averted his eyes, conscious that the obvious pleasure Xav was getting from this exchange was becoming contagious. 

"A few of Coelho's chosen have been invited to the Master's lair tomorrow afternoon to bid for covering rights to his new pet," Elian rumbled hungrily. He nuzzled Xavier's collarbone and pulled up the snug vest the boy was wearing to his pits, exposing the dancer's smooth, well-toned chest and abdominal muscles. His cool hands caressed the boy's skin and he pinched Xavier's erect nipples firmly between forefinger and thumb. "Such an angel!" he crooned. 

"Cover...?" Dominic coughed and blinked at him.

"The face of an innocent does not become you, Lord Warren. You know what the word means." Elian folded himself more possessively around Xavier and looked seriously at the older man. "Lagrado enjoys humiliating his male toys but he prefers the females in his bed. However he is not unaware that there are jaded sodomites among his Peers who would give a great deal for the novelty, not to mention the pleasure, of fucking Jabez Everman's first acknowledged Fledgling for nearly 100 years. Given the noses Wylde has put out of joint since he was Turned, I would imagine quite a few among the Vampire Masters of San Francisco would be keen to see his standard lowered. I consider myself honoured to be invited to bid for him. From what I have seen of Wylde thus far, he is a pretty little creature. And dangerous too, which makes riding him all the more of a challenge." He turned his head, kissing Xavier's ear seductively and whispered; "I'm sure you can tell me all about that later, sweetling."

Xavier closed his eyes for a second as a fleetingly dismayed expression crossed his features. He already knew how Rayne was being treated. That he was going to be sold off to the highest bidder shouldn't have bothered him anymore than the rest, but it did. The fact that Elian sounded as though he would have enjoyed winning the breeding rights to Rayne Wylde without their added incentive made him feel queasy. 

He quickly blocked out the prickle of anger that wanted to rise up. He couldn't afford to get angry. Not yet. He pushed the worry and the anger away, leaving room only for the way his body responded to the Vampire's touch. With a little bit of a start he realised that he wanted Elian to bite him… he was craving it. He lifted his arm, bringing a hand up to caress the back of Elian's head and when the Vampire's long, cool hand slid between his thighs again Xavier rolled his hips into the touch, a soft little moan sighing from his lips.

His Vampiric keeper curled around him more intimately and from the grazing sensation of sharp teeth against his neck he knew that Elian was just as eager to taste him as he was to be bitten. 

Dominic seemed to sense it too for he was edging towards the window, suddenly anxious. He murmured; "You have something to offer Lagrado in return, I take it? Something that will ensure that you make the winning bid?"

Elian chuckled languidly. He was kissing Xavier's throat again and his fingers were toying with the fastening of the younger man's tight pants.

"Why don't you let me worry about that, Lord Warren?" he suggested. "If you want my advice, you should let my driver take you back to your cosy hideout in the hills and get a good night's sleep. Or if you prefer I could have one of my people book you a room in one of the hotels I own. I am sure we could arrange adequate entertainment for you."

From the expression on his face, Dominic knew a polite dismissal when he heard one. He gathered himself and made a move towards the door. 

"I'll... I'll just go back to the others, I think. Thank you for the kind offer but it's been a long day and I'm still a little bit jet-lagged." He hesitated, still visibly concerned. "Are you okay, Xav? I mean... if I go?"

Xavier flashed him a look that clearly said it was a little late for such tender concerns now. He doubted getting cold feet would avail him much. 

"I'll be fine, go ahead." 

He sincerely hoped the moment that Dominic was dropped off they all had the sense to change location. Xavier didn't wait for his escort to leave before he turned in Elian's caressing embrace though, and slid his own arms around the vampire's neck. He nuzzled along Elian's firm jaw and kissed his lips tender-sweet.

"Sweet Lady, watch over him and keep him safe," Dom whispered casting his eyes upward as he turned the door handle and was immediately confronted by the huge Vampire bodyguard who had escorted them up from the car. 

"Sleep well, Lord Warren," rumbled a voice that he felt in his bones rather than heard. He did not look back. The sound of rustling clothing and low, urgent moans from the room behind him told him that Yiannis was already unwrapping his gift.

ALONE… ALMOST!

The shirt was already gone, and his pants were halfway down his thighs. Xavier was a little less hasty and had only finished undoing the buttons of Elian's expensive, cream-coloured shirt. His warm hands slid inside and over the Vampire's smoothly muscled torso. Hot kisses trailed after his fingertips along Elian's collarbone and down his chest. He pulled one nipple into his hungry mouth in a hard suck, rolling his tongue over the tiny nub. 

"Hehehh... you are eager, my little angel, aren't you?" Elian purred, his mouth roaming greedily over the dancing boy's soft, hot flesh. Without hesitation he reached down with one hand to free the fastening of his leathers and let them fall. Strong hands manoeuvred Xavier back towards the lounger and he dropped the young man down on it firmly, ripping off his pants and prowling over him like a big cat over prey. His tongue lashed Xavier's heaving torso and powerful hands pushed at the smooth insides of his thighs, forcefully urging his legs wide apart.

Xavier lifted his knees submissively, at his most exposed and vulnerable. He was not fully erect but his cock was definitely interested in what was going on. His gaze wandered curiously over the Vampire's body. Iannopoulos was nicely sculpted. Not perfectly ripped, but very fit, and the thick curved shaft that jutted from his open pants looked fit for its task as well. It was meaty and longer than the span of Xavier's hand, he figured.

Xavier slid a hand over his own torso, a fingertip teasing lightly over his nipple. His eyes were half lidded and he fixed the Vampire with his sexiest come-hither stare. 

"Mmm-hmmmm! Such a beauty!" Elian growled huskily, letting his powerful body move languidly between Xavier's thighs and up against his belly and torso without entering him. His long, heavy, circumcised cock rubbed back and forth between the firm peaches of his mate's exposed backside and he possessed the boy's throat with his lips and teeth again, definitely nipping and nibbling hungrily now. "And I was thinking that maybe I would have to force you to submit to me. You must want him back very badly, this troublesome Fledge, Wylde!" He laughed; a deep, seductive chuckle of sound against the curve of Xavier's earlobe and licked the twin bite marks again enjoying the way that the boy wriggled and gasped when he touched them.

"He's a friend, I wouldn't just leave a friend with those assholes." Xavier murmured. 

He felt Elian laugh along his skin again and shivered. "A friend. That's precious." 

"Would you just shut up?" Maybe not the smartest thing to say to a Vampire that had his lips on your jugular but Xavier had come here to trade and he was not going to discuss how he might or might not feel about Rayne with Elian Iannopoulos.

"You have a lot of spirit," Elian chuckled, biting him a little harder, letting those vicious canines break the skin in the exact spots where Rayne had marked him. He drew back and licked at the blood that welled to the surface, watching Xavier shudder with a combination of anguish and need. "I always appreciate that. But here in my territory you will not tell me what I may, or may not, do or say? Do you understand me, angel?" 

His tone was not harsh but there was a warning note behind his words.

Xavier quivered and moaned as the needlepoints pricked him. His hips rolled up automatically, rubbing his suddenly very erect cock against Elian's belly. 

"How about helpful suggestions?" Xavier exhaled huskily. 

The Vampire seemed to curl over and around him, covering Xavier's mouth with his lips, sliding his tongue between them and giving the young man a taste of his own mortal blood as he gripped the blond's lean hips with both hands. His powerful fingers pried Xavier's firm cheeks apart roughly and he pressed his leaking cock-head against the exposed pucker of Xavier's ass and bucked upward firmly into the dancer's hot, smooth, toned body, loving the way that Xav undulated like a serpent as his passage was roughly breached and entered. 

Xavier's back arched and he gave a little pain-filled cry at the quickness of the entry. He sucked in a hard breath and released it with a whimper, his body quivering now for an entirely different reason.

"Here's a helpful suggestion for you, child," Elian breathed into Xavier's open mouth. "If you want what you came here for, you'll tell me what I want to hear. And right now I want to hear you begging me for more."

Xavier might have complied easily enough if he'd been given a little preparation, or at least a little lube. As it was, the last thing he wanted was more of that fat tool shoved in him dry. He closed his eyes. 

"Please…" He swallowed hard and brushed his lips over Elian's, hoping for a few seconds more to adjust. "…mm-uh… more, please. I want more," he breathed, hoping he sounded eager enough.

"Yes you do!" his captor agreed with a lascivious smile. "You are astonishingly snug given the company you keep! But don't you worry, I will persevere!"

Xavier tossed his head, moaning helplessly as the vampire sunk within him. He too would have thought, given as much fucking as he'd been doing lately, he wouldn't be so damned tight.

"uuuh… fuck!" He shuddered as the head of the vampire's long cock bumped his prostate. His own rod stiffened, little drops of precum forming despite his discomfort. Just as he was struggling to adjust, his tormentor pulled out of him and rolled them both onto the floor with Xavier on top. His fingers snaked through the young man's soft blond hair and he writhed his hips and belly upward, forcing Xav's mouth down onto his cock.

"Suck it! Make me wet," he growled eagerly. "You have a long night ahead of you, so take your time and do a thorough job."

Xavier's soft lips wrapped around the silken head and his eyelids fluttered closed again. He braced his hands on the Vampire's firm thighs and caught his breath for a second. After all, he had been told to take his time. 

Saliva began to pool in his mouth, hot and slippery, and he inched his lips ever so slowly down the hard cock in his mouth. His tongue laved the underside as he took him halfway and came back up, keeping his glide slow and sensual. He was not only practised, he enjoyed giving head, every bit of the taste and feel of a man's hard cock in his mouth. He swirled his tongue around the head, bathing him in his warm wet maw, and then went down again. This time he took Elian all the way, the tight constriction of his gullet opening and yielding. Xavier's hands kneaded Elian's thighs softly, creeping inward to the juncture between so he could cup and caressed the large, hairless balls hanging there. He moaned softly as he nodded up and down in a smooth rhythm.

His mate rose and fell steadily under him, blessedly silent for once. His long fingers alternately gripped at Xavier's hair or slid through it to caress the back of his neck. Elian twisted sideways beneath him, sighing with tremulous pleasure at the brush of the boy's sweet mouth and angel's tongue on his needy rod. He wormed beneath Xavier, his sex turning slowly between the young man's industrious lips. A firm hand gripped the boy's lean left calf, lifting his leg so that the Vampire's head could get between his thighs. He lipped sensuously at the tender flesh of Xavier's inner thighs, licking him there, trailing his tongue higher between the young man's well-muscled legs, lapping slowly and teasingly at his balls and perineum.

Xav had a moment's worry about sharp fangs so close to such highly sensitive areas. Funny how he'd never worried about it with Rayne. The wet tongue that laved over his sac chased those considerations away though. 

Sliding his mouth up until he held just the head between his lips Xavier wrapped his fist around Elian's shaft and stroked him, sliding his thumb along the underside over that most sensitive bundle of nerves and feeling him jolt and twitch eagerly in response. 

The Vampire licked his slow, wet way up between Xavier's clenching ass cheeks, prising them apart with his deft fingers to work the tip of his wriggling tongue into the dancer's sore, stretched ring; still gaping from Elian's rough entry minutes before. He tongued his saliva into the young man's hot, raw passage then sucked the first two fingers of his left hand and eased them into Xavier's ass, touching him slowly and seductively inside. 




Dark Paths Ch. 07



"Mmmhhh... that feels so good, child," he whispered, breathing the words over Xavier's twitching sphincter as he humped his long, luscious cock a little deeper into the dancer's suckling mouth. "You give exquisite head, my angel. Let me feel your throat around my glans before I slide it back deep into your fuckable ass and give you what you long for."

His fingers thrust and twisted inside the boy, caressing his moist fundament, groping for the firm nub deep in his silken fuck tunnel that would make Xavier as helpless as a sex-doll and needy as a whore in his strong embrace.

Xavier swirled his tongue around once more before sliding Elian deep into his throat. His soft lips tightened around the shaft as they touched down on his smooth-shaven base. A moan quivered through his filled throat as long fingers stroked over the smooth gland inside. His cock felt like a steel pole jutting between his thighs, a thin trickle of precum wetting his head. He felt the moist tip of Elian's tongue lick up the drops greedily, lashing quickly over the silken smooth head of Xav's aching cock while his fingers stroked within. 

Xavier's moans were needy little sounds, his hips pushed back, riding Elian's fingers.

Cool lips embraced his throbbing cock head. Elian stroked steadily between his jaws, enjoying the boy's rising passion. The gyration of his hips seemed to commute itself through Elian's tall, spare, tightly muscled frame and soon they were squirming and thrusting with delicious abandon on the soft white rug like the sigil of two dragons swallowing each others' tails; an unbroken chain, feeding on one another's' arousal. Each in turn was taking the pleasure to higher and higher peaks. 

Elian maintained control, withdrawing from Xavier's mouth before his lust could find consummation there. His fingers slid wetly from the boy's clenching hole and he licked Xavier greedily between his firm, smooth cheeks, adding his own wetness to the delicious human musk as he steered Xavier onto his hands and knees.

Xavier felt a stab of frustration, he knew by the feel and taste of him that Elian had been edging close. Xavier's own rampant cock was twitching at the abandonment of Elian's mouth. He slid a hand down his body, stroking his aching prick as the Vampire's clever tongue wriggled in his hole again. 

The slap that landed on his ass was very loud. Xavier yelped in surprise and flinched away, more from the unexpectedness of the blow than actual hurt.

Elian slapped him again with a little chuckle. 

"You are such a bad boy, Xavier. No wonder the old man left you with me, you must be driving him crazy with lust you little tease!"

He parted the blond's firm, golden butt cheeks with both hands and wriggled the head of his leaking prick slowly into place against Xav's glistening hole, watching it open and close like a little mouth, gasping with need. Gripping the boy's slender hips he pushed himself in again, deep and hard.

Xavier groaned throatily. The entry was smoother this time. Spit and spunk easing the way, along with desire. His lean body writhed under the bigger man, his fingers tightening around his cock again as he stroked, hungry now for release after being teased so thoroughly. His head dropped forward as he fell into the rhythm of being fucked hard and fast from behind. 

Elian uttered a sound that was half-laugh, half pleasurable growl as he straddled the boy more possessively, bucking deeper, increasing the urgency of his stroke within Wylde's pretty little concubine. He curled over the sexy young dancer's arching back and licked the nape of his neck as Xavier lowered his head. From the twitch of his shoulder and the judder of his lean frame he knew that his human mate was fisting his cock and let the boy get close before snaking his arms around Xav's body, pulling the youngster up onto his knees. 

"No." He whispered the word but it might as well have been a command. Watching Coelho do a similar thing to Wylde today had been arousing but this was a hundred times better. "When I want you to touch your cock," he growled quietly in Xavier's ear, "I will tell you."

Xavier made a sound that was nearly a wail of disappointment. He had been very close indeed. His head was spinning with the sudden denial. 

The Vampire's powerful hands raked down his lover's chest and caught Xavier's wrists in an almost painful grip, drawing both hands back behind him and holding them level with his own thrusting hips so that the blond youth was pinioned astride him, virtually sitting in his lap. Touching his lips to the sensitive bite marks once more, Elian fucked his throbbing sex all the way up into Xavier's writhing body letting his heavy balls bump steadily against the boy's clenching nuts before he sank his fangs into his captive's neck.

"Ahhh!" Xavier yelped. The pain of the bite was exquisitely sharp. His whole body stiffened, and then a hot wash of the most delicious pleasure rolled over him and he was melting against Elian's impaling body. "Ooohh…" he breathed. The flex and roll of his hips rode the Elder Vampire, grinding his sweet rounded cheeks into Elian's bucking groin. Being restrained only added to the fire. 

He had been so close only moments before. His cock stood ramrod stiff from his body and his balls felt tight and heavy. The smallest touch would have set him off. The Vampire sucked greedily at his slender neck and another hot gush of warmth spread out over him, the long hard phallus pounded into him and Xavier came with a desperate, shuddering cry. 

He had come a couple times from Rayne's bite without his cock being touched, still he was caught by surprise and too late to even try and control it. With no choice he let go with utter abandon, the white ropes jetting from his cock head in spurt after delicious spurt as he moaned his pleasure. He knew that the Vampire might punish him for it. The dominance and control he'd shown so far gave Xavier plenty of warning that he'd probably want to make Xavier beg before being allowed to come. He couldn't help it though, and if Elian got upset for fucking the come out of him it was his own damn fault. 

Elian felt the boy's snug, wet chute suck him in and squeeze his sensitive sex with enticing vigour as Wylde's little dancer came like a fountain, riding him feverishly in the quest for his own selfish pleasure. It felt so delicious that he did not have the heart to chastise the boy. Although he did drive his twitching shaft up hard two or three more times, enjoying the suction of his young mate's climactic passage as he injected his seed into the youth with a roar of approval.

Releasing Xavier's arms, he sank onto the boy's back and licked at the blood dripping from his pale, hot neck as he rolled the dancer to the floor and curled around him.

"Beautiful," he sighed appreciatively. "I could get used to having you in my bed, Xavier Gavrilov. Perhaps I will keep you when all of this business is concluded and Wylde has returned to England."

Xavier was floating on the high of orgasmic release and the warm buzz that came with being bitten but even so the Vampire's words sent prickles of alarm racing through him. 

"No! You promised you'd let us go." In his head he said the words vehemently, but they came out of his mouth rather more groggy and desperate sounding.

"I promised nothing of the sort," Elian rumbled contentedly, rubbing his potent body stealthily against the young human in his arms. "I promised that in return for the favour of Jabez Everman and a night of incredible passion with you I would try to ensure the release of the Wylde creature from Coelho Lagrada-Diaz. I will do that. But I did not promise to release either of you, Xavier. If I decide to keep you, who is going to argue with me? Your boyfriend has been foolish enough to argue with one of our kind, I doubt he will be so foolish a second time!"

He licked the young man's neck again and rubbed himself up more urgently between Xavier's buttocks. His cock quickened at once, already up for more action with the pretty dancing boy.

Xavier huffed out a breath as he was vigorously entered again. A scathing denial was on the tip of his tongue, but he checked it before it got loose. He could argue their agreement now, which would only antagonise the Vampire and possibly even make him change his mind about helping at all, or he could bide his time. If Elian got Rayne free from Cole Lagrado and then tried to welsh on the rest of the deal they could figure out what to do then.

"Good boy," his Undead mate growled hungrily in his ear taking Xav's silence and lack of resistance as a sign of his submission. He rolled onto the young man and began to thrust into him fiercely once again. "You know which side your bread is buttered. I like that in a human slave."

He nipped Xav again, not biting deeply but just letting him feel the pressure of those dangerous fangs on his skin, puncturing him and taking the twin beads of blood that answered the call. His cock pulsed steadily in the wetness of his mate's well-inseminated anus as he licked and sucked on the young man's neck.

Xavier bristled and again a hot objection rose to his mind if not to his lips at being called 'slave'. Impetuous and sharp-tongued as he could be he was not stupid, he knew when to keep his mouth shut. His body's reactions were not so easy to control. Angry and worried as he was he couldn't stop the tingling response, especially when Elian drew blood and shivers coursed down him, making his traitorous cock twitch and stir once more. 

Xavier whimpered, eyes closed and legs spread as the bigger man pinned him to the floor, his bucking thrusts driving Xavier's stiffening prick into the soft carpet underneath. He was taking it slower this time, if not less vigorously; drawing out his pleasure as he used Xavier's tight young body. Long minutes went by and the slow and deliberate stimulation of his prostate and cock had its effect, as did the helplessness of being pinned to the floor and the occasional pin picks from those needle sharp teeth. 

Xavier couldn't stop it any more than the first time. He felt the shiver of pleasure that coursed from his colon to his groin, the tightening tingle in his balls, and spurted his seed as Elian drove harder and faster inside him. 

"Uuuhh! Uuuuh! Oh, fuck… ohhh fuck, yes!" he panted. 

This time Elian Iannopoulos did not come in him. He rode the waves of pleasure emanating from Xavier's trembling body, pulsing in him rhythmically until the young man's cries of unfeigned ecstasy faded into little gasps and moans under him. The boy was so warm, and so delicious. And the night was still young. 

Smoothly the Vampire pushed himself to his feet, slipping out of Xavier's twitching ass, still hard and glistening. Bending to run his fingers through the dancer's unruly blond hair, he caught a handful and pulled the boy to his knees with it.

Xavier knew what was desired and obediently opened his mouth. He ran the flat of his tongue up the underside of his mate's slippery turgid staff, tasting the bitter salty mix of come and his own musky flavour. The plum of Elian's engorged head slid between his lips and Xavier took him down with deep sucking strokes of his soft mouth. 

"Mmmmm...." Elian rumbled hungrily, pulsing between the boy's lips, still tugging on his fair curls. He loved the feel of the boy's silky tresses between his fingers almost as much as the pull of Xavier's skilful lips on his cock. "That is good boy. You are well trained!"

Xavier seethed but showed no outward indication. Just get Rayne free you fucker, he thought as he sucked hard and fast enough to hollow his cheeks. He was experienced in how to get a guy off as quickly as possible, the quicker you could turn the trick the better, and he applied himself with diligence to that task, blocking out all else for the time being. 

Elian took his time, but when the explosion came he pulled back, stroking his shaft and ejecting his seed, with a cry of satisfaction, over Xavier's face and into his half-open mouth. He stroked the boy's blond curls almost affectionately. 

"You are so pretty," he crooned. "Come to my bedroom now, sweet thing. Let's see how you like to play nasty games, shall we? I imagine the English creature has taught you plenty of intriguing perversions in his bed. And you enjoyed every moment given your devotion to him. I will enjoy extracting the details from your mind and inflicting them on Wylde tomorrow evening, once he is mine. Never fear, Xavier, I will let you watch me fucking your pretty boyfriend."

He kissed Xavier's mouth and licked his semen-covered face lasciviously.

Xavier rose slowly but his mind was already rebelling. He would not let the Vampire in his head. He could keep him out the way Dominic had showed him. He would not give him even one intimate little detail. He repeated and strengthened his resolve over and over as he followed Elian into the bedroom and was swiftly pushed down and spread out over the bed. Elian Iannopoulos could have his body, but not his mind. Never that!

He managed to keep this resolve over the next few hours as the handsome Vampire fucked him as if he would never tire, and never be satisfied enough. Fortunately Elian seemed both amused and intrigued that Xavier could keep him out. Even when Xavier was brought to another shuddering orgasm, he did not let the shield slip, would not let Elian penetrate into his thoughts and emotions the same way he penetrated his lean warm body. Unfortunately, although his cock seemed inexhaustible Elian's patience was not. 

So far this night he had only bitten deeply the once, drinking a satisfying gout without taking too much. The rest were all little nips and nicks, a few drops licked from his skin. Now he flipped Xavier to his back and grabbed a fist full of silk blond curls, pulling his head back to stretch his neck in a long line. He let Xavier see the wickedly sharp extended canines and he hissed menacingly before he struck. He bit him deep and savagely with a low growl of satisfaction as fresh hot blood flooded up into his mouth.

Xavier gave one terrified scream, his hands clawing futilely at Elian's naked back. The pain of the teeth sinking into him was nothing compared to the mental battering ram that broke apart his inexperienced shielding and ripped those things that he had so determinedly tried to keep from the Vampire out of his memories. The scream died to a desolate sound that was very close to a sob. In his short mortal life he had been forced into sexual situations many times, but he had never felt more violated then he did now with Elian Iannopoulos raping his unguarded mind.

Elian seemed almost disappointed in him when he finally rose from gorging on Xavier's blood and emotions. He spent himself in the boy one final time, uttering a low growl of lust and satiation as he sank down, curling around the shuddering, weeping creature beneath him.

Beyond the tall, arched windows of his elegant yet not ostentatious bedroom the inky darkness of the night sky was slowly melting into a cool, pearl grey, whispering of the coming dawn. The Vampire rolled off him and stretched his long, lean limbs with a lasting sigh. 

"Wylde's cerebral control is intermittent and it is not strong," he murmured huskily as if this thought had been preying on his mind even during the night of seemingly endless passion. "He did not teach you that little trick, child. If you stay with me, I can show you how to close your mind to all but the very strongest of probes and keep your shields intact." He stroked Xavier's hair, observing the young male as he lay curled up like a wounded animal, trying hard not to cry out loud, his face buried in his arms. "It would please me to take you from him. Truly he is not worthy of you, Xavier. But you should rest now. Tonight when I bring your pathetic mate to you he will need your remaining blood. I saw the hunger in his eyes this afternoon as he cowered at Lagrado's feet. They have starved him and forced him to heal himself over and over until he can barely think of anything else but blood. It will be interesting to see if he can keep himself from ripping out your throat."

THE HIGHEST BIDDER

Rayne Wylde was tired and still in very real pain when they came for him the following morning. Barely able to stand, he was taken to a stark, white-tiled chamber where he was washed inside and out and his body powdered and oiled. Clothing was provided although he quickly figured, examining the tiny pair of black, clingy shorts and the open fronted black mesh shirt, that nakedness would be just as easy for his tormentors to deal with. 

Finally, clad in the revealing garb and a pair of knee-high, flat-soled, lace-up black boots he studied his reflection and thought that he resembled nothing so much as an undersized wrestler. If there was a competition to find the world's puniest wrestling star then he was it. He would have laughed if it hadn't hurt so much.

He was taken to a different chamber once he was prepared; a smaller audience room than the one where he had been humiliated yesterday. There was a long, open-ended leather sofa and a couple of deep, comfortable looking chairs at one end and a polished wooden desk at the other. Cole Lagrado was sitting behind the desk and three other Vampires occupied the chairs and the lounger. They all looked with interest and no small amount of lust at the semi-clad Fledgling.

"Very pretty," the one on the sofa said appreciatively. 

Rayne looked him over, keeping his face devoid of expression. He could tell straight away that this was an old, old Vampire. His aura was deep and full of shimmering shadows. Perhaps he was older even than Lagrado, but he maintained a polite deference... no, not deference but he was pacific in the presence of the more dominant Vampire. From his appearance he had probably only been in his twenties or early thirties when he was Turned and his attire was casual; an open necked shirt and dove grey jacket over black leather pants and boots. His pale hair was short around his ears and the nape of his neck but a little longer on top and he was clean-shaven and quite smart yet Rayne could imagine that he was not afraid to get his hands dirty.

He cast his eyes over the other two, who were both younger vampires. One, who looked about 19 under his lick of butter-coloured hair, was actually nearer two hundred years old. He was a bit scrawny but there was a keen, almost maniacal look in his pale blue eyes that Rayne found disturbing. His mode of dress was a confused mish-mash of different styles, all of them outmoded. He found himself thinking that just as not all gay men were automatically stylish, neither was it true that all Undead were effortlessly glamorous. This one was neither. In spite of his apparent youth he dressed like his grandfather and seemed as if he should be about 50 years old; pinched and tired and probably a bit mean-spirited to boot.

The third was sitting back, at ease, in the chair by the door. He wore black chinos and a dark shirt, buttoned right up under a sleeveless leather waistcoat. His dark hair was buzz-cut close to his scalp. The bearing and look were both military but something about him gave Rayne the creeps straight off. His eyes were kind of dead; emotionless. Physically he seemed to be a man in his mid to late forties but he was the youngest of the Turned; Undead for less than a century, by Rayne's skilful calculation. The young Englishman felt a shiver of pain in his gut when the third Vampire looked at him. He was not sure how he knew it but his senses were telling him that this bastard liked it to hurt. Blood and screaming both did it for him, but he fed on fear as well. He and Cole were well matched.

"Come to me," Lagrado said coldly. He had risen and was pointing with his crop to a spot by his right foot.




Dark Paths Ch. 07



At once Rayne drew his eyes away from the others and came to stand before his captor. Lagrado was looking him up and down with a small, crooked smile that said he liked the way his new plaything was decorated. 

"On your knees," he emphasised, tapping the whip against Rayne's thigh.

The singer bit down on his lips, maintaining his silence. After yesterday's nightmare he just wanted to get whatever was planned for him over and done as soon as possible and with as little violence. He was not sure his body could take any more aggression. 

Awkwardly he went to his knees and Cole stroked his hair in that irritating imitation of tenderness. 

"Good little whore," he sneered softly. "Were you an obedient slut for Steffen last night?"

Rayne swallowed a choice retort. 

"Yes Master," he said atonally instead. 

Lagrado caressed his cheek with the whip. 

"I think he was rather disappointed in you. He was hoping you would put up a better fight."

"I'm sorry, Master." Rayne's voice shook slightly. "I was tired and hungry. I'll try harder next time."

"I trust you shall, or it will be your human mate back in his bed tomorrow night," Lagrado said coldly. "But we are not interested in your excuses, slut. I have a small gift for you."

"Thank you, Master," Rayne looked up at him incuriously, burning inside at that threat against Xav. He vowed silently that Steffen would have the boy again over a pile of his smoking ashes.

The Ancient turned back towards his desk and picked up a thick, black leather strap with a heavy silver buckle and a couple of dog tags. He showed his captive the tags. One of them was inscribed with the words 'My Name Is Slutboy. I need to be fucked in my mouth and anus. Please beat me if I fail to satisfy.' the other read 'This whore is the property of Cole Lagrado. You may use him as you desire.' The smirking Ancient let him read them then pushed Rayne's head forward and stroked the tumble of hair away from the nape to put the collar around his neck. He fastened it tightly. Rayne huffed softly, catching his breath. 

"Now you can be in no doubt of your place, whore," his keeper told him, tugging steadily on his hair. "What do you say to me?"

"Thank you, Master," Rayne responded in a voice that was little more than a husky whisper. 

When he lifted his head the pair sitting in the armchairs were grinning at his continued humiliation. The Vamp on the sofa however was watching him with something akin to concern. A little frown creased his brow. Rayne looked away, not caring what he thought or wanted to see.

"Kiss my boots, you worthless slut," Cole said dismissively. 

Another little quiver of resentment shuddered through Rayne Wylde as he bent slowly and painfully down to the ground. He touched his lips to the soft leather of his Master's boots and struggled to shut down the towering inferno of rage inside him. He forced himself to focus on the memory of Xavier's dirty, frightened face, the way it had been when he found the boy in the cell that was now his own prison.

Cole pushed him away with his boot. 

"You disgust me!" he hissed in bitter recrimination. "Go to my Peers, to your Elders and Betters and grovel for them. They have come to sample your sweet delights so you had best not disappoint them or I will have you stripped and whipped for their entertainment instead." He clapped his hands together to get the attention of the others. "Gentlemen, you have been selected today in repayment for your services to me in the past! I will permit you to sample my new slut before you are offered the chance to bid for a night of unlimited amusement with him. The highest bidder gets to use my little bitch all night, wherever and however he desires it. I will leave it to you, my friends, as to how you ensure his full compliance. He is not to been killed or left permanently marked but otherwise you may handle him as is your wont."

"Master?" Rayne looked up at him, eyes wide with alarm. "Please! Did I do something wrong?"

"Be quiet, wretch. Learn your place!" Cole snapped at him. "It is my prerogative as your keeper to rent your worthless body to my associates and friends for their pleasure. If you please them, Slutboy, you please me. Do you understand?"

Rayne felt the floor lurch under him. He thought that he would retch but held it at bay. 

"Yes Master," he forced out, swallowing bile. It would be horrible but he could take it. He had done so as a mortal, it should be easier now. It didn't feel that way though.

Cole stroked his hair again, almost gently.

"Did you truly believe that you would have the pleasure of servicing me alone, Slutboy?" he whispered. "I should have thought that your collar tags explained thoroughly what your duties were to be."

"Yes Master," Rayne nodded, quivering at the idea that Lagrado would just sell him to anyone who wanted him; Bastards like Steffen and the military-looking Vampire, who just liked causing pain and seeing their victims struggle and scream. And then he felt angry at the thought that his captor would do the same with any human slave, boys and girls who could not fight back or heal the damage done to their bodies as he could.

"Go to them and let them sample the pleasures of your sweet, dirty mouth before they bid for you," Lagrado said as casually as if he was asking Rayne to polish their shoes. "Gentlemen, you have fifteen minutes apiece with the whore. Enjoy!"

In the end Rayne was far more entertaining than Cole had hoped he would be. He had mastered the art of shutting out bad things many years before he was Turned. He knelt before the three Elders and took them silently in his mouth one after the other, giving them what they wanted. The scrawny one, whom Cole addressed as Corcoran, was easy enough. He was small by Vampiric standards and from the way he stiffened as Rayne's hands freed him from his pants, he liked the feel of a young man's mouth on his cock. Once Rayne was sucking and nodding steadily on him he was like modelling clay in the hands of a craftsman. His spill tasted stale and musty though, as if he never bothered to rouse himself to the hunt or even to start his heartbeat. He would be lazy and possibly easy to manipulate but also spiteful and cruel to anyone in his care.

He took the Old One next, the one on the sofa, whose solemn, light grey eyes never left his face as he worked on the obscenely beautiful shaft of meat between the Ancient's thighs. He was the only one to introduce himself formally before the act took place. 

"My name is Elian Iannopoulos," he breathed. "You are so very beautiful, Rayne Wylde. I was not prepared for you to be so beautiful."

Rayne blinked at him for a moment. He had presumed that they all attended the circus of his humiliation yesterday. Maybe Elian had not been paying attention. His manner was just languid enough to suggest that such a trivial piece of nonsense was beneath him. Rayne bent his head and unzipped him when no command was forthcoming. He stroked the handsome Elder's rigid, nine inch cock with his lips and tongue, wrapping his fingers around it and fisting it gently before sliding it into his mouth. It felt good there and he nodded down deep on it, losing himself in the task as Elian stroked his hair and face and whispered eager words of encouragement to him. 

"Ohhh... you are so good!" he exhaled when the deed was done and Rayne was choking down the thick, rich flow of his cum.

"Thank you Master," he murmured at last as Elian's cool hand slid inside the neckline of his mesh shirt, caressing him appreciatively.

When the Ancient one gently pushed him away, he went on his hands and knees, a shade reluctantly, to the third of the Elders. The crop-haired fellow rose to his feet, unzipping his own pants and pulling out a cock that Clay would have been envious of. 

"Hope ya'll haven't worn his jaw out," he chuckled in a gruff, Texan-accented voice.

"I think you'll enjoy him, Marshall," Elian laughed; a curiously melodious sound. He stretched out on the sofa to watch, his fly still unfastened, as Rayne began to kiss the stiffening cock in front of him, touching his lips tenderly to the youngest Vampire's huge bone. His tongue worked around the fat mushroom head, lapping at his slit then a rough hand gripped his hair and Marshal grunted; "Open your mouth, whore. I wanna fuck ya'll not marry ya, ya li'l fairy!"

He pushed his sex into the singer's mouth and began to buck urgently. Rayne put his hands against the creature's thighs for balance but they were slapped away roughly. 

"Don't touch me, faggot boy! I'm warning ya. If I want ya to touch I'll tell ya'll how and where."

Rayne's hands slid down to his thighs at once and he moved his knees a little further apart to brace himself as the one they called Marshall tugged on his hair, pulling his head back so that he could fuck his sex into Rayne's throat. The Englishman gagged on his cock a couple of times, unable to control the rate at which his mate was entering him. Marshall did not seem to care. In fact it seemed to excite him more watching the slender Englishman choke on his erection. His cock lurched quickly in Rayne's mouth and he pulled it out and ejaculated on the singer's face.

"Ya'll is someways older than I normally like 'em," he said casually. "But yer a purty l'il thing, I'll say. Ya'll keep y'self nice and slim and clean. I like that. I bet your boy-pussy is good an' tight, yeah?"

Privately, Rayne thought that after what Steffen had done to him the last couple of nights it was unlikely but he just murmured; "Yes, Master."

"Ya'll call me Boss, faggot boy," Marshall said, tugging at his hair. "Sure is getting me hard agin seeing you wearing my splooge on your purty face like a medal. Say 'I wanna suck on yuh big cock again, Boss'. Go on, say it!"

"Marshall!" Elian exclaimed almost incredulously. 

"What's up old man? Just cus it takes ya'll forever to unload in the bitch, if I c'n git it up again he c'n take it, yuh?"

The older Vamp looked a question at Cole Lagrado who was watching almost disinterestedly from his position, leaning on the desk. The Master Vampire shrugged now and looked at his Rolex. 

"He's still your ride for ten minutes, Marshall," he said impassively. "Do whatever you want to him."

Rayne fumed a little at that, but Marshall already had him by the hair again and was forcing that impressive shaft into his mouth. He sucked and swallowed it hard this time, getting it down a little better. His assailant quickly picked up a rhythm and fucked his throat rough and fast. Rayne kept his eyes closed this time, gulping and drooling around that big cock, almost light-headed from the lack of oxygen even though he did not need it.

Marshall did not shield when he was aroused. Rayne was already aware that he had been thinking of something else during the first oral rape. The second attack took a little longer and this time he got disturbing flashes of Marshall's thoughts. The bastard was thinking about a pregnant college girl who was tied to his bed back at his apartment. He was thinking about how he had stripped and raped her teenage boyfriend in front of her, then positioned the boy's cock in her pussy before sliding his own back up the boy's ass and fucking them both. He had bled the father of her unborn baby to death in front of her and fed the body to his hounds, but was keeping the girl for his own pleasure. It felt so good to bite her full breasts and suck her milk along with the blood as his cock pumped her pussy and ass. She was ungagged, he loved listening to her screaming as he did her. Whilst he stroked his cock in and out of Rayne's mouth he hummed to himself, deliberating how he would thrust his fist up her cunt when she was about ready to drop and rip the child from her womb. Maybe he would eat it while she watched and screamed. 

Rayne's jaw clenched and he could not help himself. He bit the bastard's cock hard, wanting to rip it off with his teeth. Above him he heard Marshall howling in agony and there was a sudden flurry of activity as the others saw blood and realised what he had done. He opened his mouth to catch his breath and the rapist's punch knocked him halfway across the room. 

"L'il fucker!" Marshall was screaming, his face almost scarlet with fury and pain. "Yeaaaarrggghhh! Jeeeeesus!! Give the fag bastard to me, Cole. I'm gonna teach that l'il fairy bitch a lesson he ain't gonna forget in a long time!"

Corcoran was looking admiringly at the damage to Marshall's impressive dick (which had wilted seriously since its encounter with Rayne's teeth). It was already healing but Marshall was making a meal of it. Cole had not moved from the desk but was glaring at Rayne as the one called Elian helped him to his knees.

"Are you all right?" the pale haired Ancient asked quietly and Rayne looked at him, surprised to see a twinkle of amusement in his grey eyes. He had zipped his fly defensively though.

The singer nodded, licking the trickles of blood from his lips. "Yeah, better for that… Master," he added quickly.

Elian caressed his cheek and pulled him to his feet. "I like you. You've got spirit," he whispered, patting Rayne on the arse approvingly.

"Bring him to me, Yiannis," Cole said in a frosty tone. 

"Spike the l'il bitch!" Marshall was ranting furiously. "Burn his faggot ass!"

"Oh Marshall! You wanted to fuck his faggot ass a few minutes ago. Pull yourself together man," Elian laughed bitterly. He seemed unperturbed by his fellow Vampire's anguished rage.

Rayne came to Lagrado a little unwillingly, rubbing the stickiness of his victim's blood and semen off his face. He held the Master Vampire's furious glare defiantly, dreading the punishment. 

I'm sorry, Xavier. I'm so sorry! he thought disconsolately, praying that PJ had got his young mate far enough from San Francisco for safety. 

"What was that about?" Cole demanded, his hand moving faster than a striking cobra. He slapped Rayne's face hard, then gripped the collar around his neck before he could flinch away. "What do you think you were doing, you little fool?"

"He asked for it, Master," Rayne panted, as Cole pushed him to his knees. 

The insolence earned him a harder blow and he moaned a little, reeling from the force of it. 

"Marshall is asking for your True Death as punishment for the injuries you inflicted, Slut. Shall I grant his wish?" Lagrado asked. He did not raise his voice but somehow that cold, low tone was worse than had he ranted and raged. "Shall I take you to the place of burning, high in the hills where no one but us will hear your screams? After today's little display it would give me enormous pleasure to see you impaled upon a six foot metal spike in the desert, writhing in agony before the paraffin is sprayed over your flesh and we set you alight."

"Coelho!" Elian exclaimed, sounding shocked by this threat. "Please, he is just a boy. Young and impulsive! He is right, Marshall should have shielded his thoughts. We all shared them."

Lagrado ignored him. He was staring at Rayne as if the hurt had been done to him personally. The Englishman shuddered helplessly. The threat was serious enough. It would kill him, he knew. If they let the fire burn to its conclusion, he would die. It would also take hours and he would feel the pain for every moment until he crumbled mercifully to ashes. He held his tongue, refusing to plead. The glare he fixed on Lagrado was heartfelt and promised a dire and painful vengeance should the opportunity ever arise.

"Give him to me!" Marshall raged, still clutching his wounded parts, but now slumped back in the chair. "Let me have the punishin' of that l'il fagbitch!"

Cole straightened, his expression harsh and icy. "You forget your place, Marshall," he stated angrily.

For a moment they were all silent, even Marshall. Then the Master Vampire said; "He is mine to punish as I see fit."

"His collar gives me the right to beat on him if he don't give me satisfaction!" the injured party argued petulantly. 

"He gave you satisfaction twice over, Marshall Withers. Your satisfaction still decorates his face and hair." Cole's dark eyes narrowed as he stared at the frustrated Elder. "Now his punishment is down to me. I could defer the bidding on his body and declare that he belongs to Marshall until he has paid with his blood for the injury he caused." 

Lagrado glanced at Elian who shrugged and said; "Unfair on the rest of us, Coelho. It is an injury that is almost healed already. Not as if he actually bit it off!"

"Yiannis!" Marshall complained bitterly. 

"Don't be such a baby!" Elian retorted. "You let yourself get nipped in the nuts by a mere Fledgling and you expect us to feel sorry for you? The boy is right, you did ask for it. You saw yesterday how tender his young heart is towards the suffering of mortals, yet you baited him with it. Were he older and stronger it would have served you right if he ripped out your manhood and swallowed it!"

"Wish I had!" Rayne muttered under his breath. 

"Silence, Slut!" Cole ordered without turning to look at him. "I did not request your opinion."

"Let us bid for him, Coelho," Elian coaxed, his voice so soothing that Rayne found himself wondering what history these two had. The others seemed in awe of Cole Lagrado but Elian was his own man; respectful yet not afraid.

He found himself hoping that the Ancient would win the bidding war. If he was to be sold off to another Vampire then Elian Iannopoulos seemed infinitely more appealing than the other two. He crossed his fingers and bent his head, not wanting to watch the expression on Cole's face. The Master could still overrule them and sign his death warrant. He had not forgotten the look of feverish ecstasy in Lagrado's eyes as he spoke of spiking and burning. 

"Very well," Lagrado said gravely at long last. "It is fair, as you pointed out. You may proceed with your bids and I will consider them."

Marshall rose stiffly from his seat, his hand still cupping his balls as he growled; "Lagrado, I have a pair of very fine healthy college girls for ya'll. Blonde cheerleader bitches, very fit an' young with big, round bouncing titties. They's jist burstin' with hot blood; good for sexin' or feedin', or just for the chase. Or if ya'll prefer, ya could keep them whores and breed them. I know how ya'll love to watch their teen bellies swell and listen to their little screams as them dhamphir spawn start tearin' and bitin' their way out of their mommas' sweet l'il pussies."

Rayne put his hand over his mouth, feeling physically sick. Even Elian looked mildly disgusted and shook his head. The blond, Corcoran was hard in his pants though. Cole merely raised an eyebrow. 

"Tempting," he responded. "Do you have these whores in your keeping now?"

"I can have them in your bloodstock portfolio by nightfall, Sir," Marshall promised with a lewd grin. He tucked himself away tentatively and zipped his fly still wincing at the pain. He glowered at Rayne Wylde as he did so.

"A mouthwatering offer," Cole concluded with a chuckle. "Does anyone wish to raise Marshall's bid? Yiannis? Corcoran?"

The scrawny blond, Corcoran was rubbing himself as he wheedled; "I bid a full month's takings from my strip club, X-Calibur and the use of a pair of my boy strippers for the night. Any pair you choose, Master Lagrado."

Cole paced the room between them seeming to think about this. 

"And if my taste is not for boys this night?" he enquired, still clearly dwelling on the blonde cheerleaders Marshall had offered him.

"I have a young girl at one of the clubs. She is just fifteen, being groomed for the streets, but as yet no customer has used her and my men there prefer the boys." Corcoran smiled coldly. "If I get to use the English slut for two moons and the twenty eight nights between, she is yours to keep."




Dark Paths Ch. 07



"Is she virgin?" Cole asked him. 

"I believe so, Master." Corcoran said in an oily tone. 

Rayne shuddered again. He liked the idea of being the blond's slave for a month even less than the thought of a night of pain with the sadist, Marshall. He looked imploringly at Elian now, even as Cole turned to smile at his peer invitingly. 

"Yiannis?" 

The handsome Ancient, who had returned to the sofa as they bargained, stretched and yawned as if the proposals bored him. He sat forward now, looking up keenly at Cole Lagrado. 

"The concept of fucking the Everman's bitch is tempting," he said as that melting gaze roamed hungrily over Rayne's body, undressing him without touching. "I have heard many rumours of his abilities in bed. Delicious, exciting rumours. And if he can take Everman's cock without complaint he is a fine catch indeed."

He rose and came to stand before Rayne, stroking his hair as Cole had done, possessively. Rayne turned his face, nuzzling Elian's hand. Of the three options this one was the obvious favourite. He could almost imagine yielding himself to this handsome devil. Until... in the moment of flesh brushing softly on flesh, Elian let him share an intimate fragment of memory - a tease - no more. Rayne felt the spike of Xavier's reluctant desire as the boy lay naked and splayed beneath this man, giving his young body willingly in Elian's bed. He was rocked by the memory of sweet, hot blood and Xavier's cries of helpless ecstasy as he was fucked to orgasm, the first of many.

Fury rose in him like a wildfire as Elian's hand lifted from his cheek and just as quickly the memory was gone. Rayne's heart raced. The echo was a fresh one, so fresh that he could still taste the salt sweat of Xav's naked body and smell the briny tang of the boy's hot cum. Elian had fucked him during the past 12 hours, which meant that he was probably still in the city. Rayne closed his eyes, dreading what the trade-off would be. He would try to kill this bastard with his bare hands if Xavier was hurt.

"What do you bid for his sweet body in your bed, Yiannis?" Cole taunted. "I know that you want him."

"I do." Elian was looking at Rayne with heat in his keen grey eyes. "I want him, Cole. I will have him, and in return I will give you Lord Dominic Warren."

Cole's gaze was flat and hard; professionalism warring with a fierce excitement that made his cock rise. 

"NO!" Rayne's eyes went wide with horror. Cole slapped him back down as he tried to get to his feet, submission cast aside. 

"Be quiet!" he barked. "The decision is not yours to make. Remember your place, bitch!"

Rayne collapsed onto his knees, trembling uncontrollably. He could not stem the tears that ran down his face. 

"The notorious English Vampire Hunter?" Cole mused, turning the words over in his mouth. "He is here in San Francisco? How is that I do not know of this, Elian?"

"Warren is very good," the handsome Ancient chuckled, clearly amused by his compatriot's irritation. "He approached me directly with a gift last night. He wants the Everman's Fledgling."

Cole looked incredulously at Rayne and shook his head. 

"Where is he now?"

"Patience, Coelho," Elian breathed. "First things first! I take my pleasure with Everman's delicious little bitch tonight, and then I will give you Warren."

"You would ask me to wait?" Cole was almost quivering with frustration. "What kind of talk is this Yiannis? I thought we were friends?"

"We are friends, Coelho. Be patient," Elian purred. "Do you doubt my word of honour after all these centuries, brother in blood?"

"I have never doubted you, Yiannis," Cole said warily in a way that suggested he had certainly thought about it a few times. He was so eager though that Rayne could scent it. "Where is Warren?"

"I do not know," the pale haired Elder replied simply. "But he will return to me if he believes that I have Wylde. And then I will have the sorcerer bound and brought to you in chains. I pledge this."

"NO!" Rayne screamed at him again. "I won't do it! I will not serve you, not even if you send me to hell!"

Cole turned smoothly towards him and Elian Iannopoulos looked on impassively as the Master Vampire kicked and punched his insubordinate slut to the ground, cursing him bitterly in his own tongue. He was blinded by his hunger for the infamous English Vampire Hunter. Dominic Warren would die a slow, painful death at Coelho's hands and his own honour for this act of treachery against the insolent Fledgling would be appeased.

"You will serve me," Elian told Rayne Wylde coolly now as he lay sobbing on the floor at the Ancient's feet. "Because I still have something that you want. He lies bound and naked on my bed, aching with the pleasure of my insatiable lust for him last night. He cried out again and again for the rough joy of my sex thrusting within him and my fangs in his flesh because he believes in his trusting heart that his submission will win you your freedom."

Cole laughed viciously as he realised what his companion was talking about. "You have his boy-whore? Delicious little fool! You two deserve one another." 

As he spat on Rayne the younger Vampire coiled and went for Lagrado, fangs bared, snarling like an animal as the blood hunger came down on him. Without a doubt Cole would kill him for the act of insubordination but he did not care. Maybe Dom could get Xavier out of this mess, but only so long as he remained a free man. If Rayne died there could be no trade. 

He never sank his fangs in though. 

Strong hands gripped his elbow and his collar, dragging him off Cole Lagrado. Elian's powerful arms snaked around his thrashing body, pinning him and restraining him effortlessly.

"Stupid! Stupid child!" he panted in Rayne's ear. "Do you think you can stop this? Cole will give you to me outright in order to get his hands on Warren. Do you really want to see your pleasure boy again before you die? Think!"

Rayne seethed with impotent rage in his arms, blowing like a winded racehorse. He still struggled relentlessly.

"You treacherous bastard!" he panted. "I won't let you do this!"

"You can't stop it, child," Elian taunted him silkily. "Lord Warren knew that the price of your freedom would be his own life when he brought your dancing boy to me and bribed me with the promise of your young slut's blood and his naked submissive body." He chuckled at Rayne's incredulous glare. "Oh yes... what do you think of your fine English friend now? Is he more deserving of his fate, do you believe?"

Rayne closed his eyes tightly and clenched his teeth. He would not break down and weep in front of these bastards. Never! But he could feel his heart breaking slowly. Truly he could trust no one. 

"Hahah! You are a clever one, Yiannis," Cole laughed vehemently. "Such a snake! Take the insolent whore. He is yours! He was more trouble than his worth to me anyway."

"You will have Warren here in your playroom by midnight, brother," Elian said confidently. "I swear it upon my own blood. Now, do you have some hobbles and a leash and muzzle for my new pet?"

*

END OF CHAPTER SEVEN

DARK PATHS © SADIE ROSE BERMINGHAM & BELLORA QUINN 2007/8



Dark Paths Ch. 08



CHAPTER EIGHT – IN THROUGH THE OUT-DOOR

© Sadie Rose Bermingham & Bellora Quinn 2008/9

Congratulations to all you lovely people who have managed to read thus far, and to those of you who harangue us on a weekly basis for the conclusion of this story, here at least is an increment bringing you a step closer to the final denouement. But sincerely an apology; it's taken forever to get chapter 8 online and I hope that it is worth the wait. We had a little re-write crisis half way through but now it seems to be flowing much more seductively. I hope that you agree. 

I will apologise in advance for my Portuguese (or the lack of it) but the parallel amused me. 

As usual, we ask that no unauthorised copying or redistribution of our work be undertaken without first asking one of us. If we find out that you've whipped our stuff without asking we will find ways of making you hurt that Cole Lagrado hasn't even begun to imagine. 

To everyone else… enjoy. xx Sadie & Bellora

DOMINIC:

When he was dismissed from Elian Iannopoulos' apartment Dominic Warren eschewed the offer of a ride home. He needed some air and the space to get his head clear. PJ and Clay were not going to be happy about him leaving Xavier behind. Hell! He wasn't overjoyed about it either but the way he saw it, if he denied Yiannis, then the Vampire Ancient was perfectly capable of ensuring that neither he nor Xav saw daylight ever again. One did not argue with a vampire of Elian's capabilities. 

So Lord Warren walked briskly back down to the esplanade and en-route he considered his options. And he made a couple of calls that he had thus far been trying to put off. 

~*~

When a City Cab finally got him back to the Happy Pig, Lord Warren had reached a decision. 

"Do you have anywhere else that we can go to?" he asked PJ seriously as he walked into the porn director's suite without knocking. "Somewhere that no one would think to look for us?"

Clay and Chavez were on their feet at once. Clay, he noted, was armed although he did not draw the small handgun from his hip pocket right away. 

"Where's the kid?" Barclay wanted to know. 

"We had to revise our plan," said Dominic carefully. "He's quite safe. And don't keep a loaded weapon in your pants pocket, darling. It's really tempting fate!"

PJ looked alarmed. "You left him there?"

"Yiannis wanted security on the deal," the other man reassured him, feeling less confident than he probably sounded. "It's perfectly understandable. And Xav was fine with it."

"That boy would walk into hell to get Wylde out of this mess!" Clay barked at him. "This is an insane plan!"

"Yiannis has promised to get Rayne out, tomorrow. I will go back there for him tomorrow evening and bring him, and Xavier, home." Dominic drew a long breath. "I just think that it would be... sensible to move our location."

"You don't trust this Yiannis guy then?" Clay was shaking his head. 

"He's a vampire," Dom Warren responded sagely. "A old and very cunning vampire too. One never turns one's back entirely on the Undead, remember that Mr Francis."

"But Rayne is one of them too," Chavez pointed out. "You trust him?"

Dominic looked shrewdly at the Hispanic youth. For a moment he held his tongue then shrugged evasively; "I've known Rayne since he was Turned. He's... unusual."

"Unusual enough for you to fly halfway around the world to help him on the basis of a phone call," PJ commented, pushing himself to his feet. "But I've known him longer than you have Lord Warren and he was kind of Out There as a mortal too" He exhaled a long, weary breath. "So… we gotta run?"

"Yiannis sent a car for us. He knows where we are," Dominic said casually. "Put it like this, I'd rather not sit around waiting to see if anyone pays us an unscheduled visit," 

"I have a couple of friends in the city that owe me favours," the ageing porn director sighed. "I'll give them a ring."

So it was that by midnight - as Xavier was being taken by Elian for the sixth or seventh time and Rayne Wylde was curling up in the chill darkness of his cell, regretting his impulsive offer to take the boy's place - their friends slipped quietly from the passenger doors of a cab down on the edge of the Western Addition, just off Divisadero. Silently they melted into the darkness between a pair of shadowy, late nineteenth century buildings; three of them carrying large Samsonite cases, the fourth looking warily behind to check that they were not being followed.

THE NEXT MORNING:

At 11.30 precisely the next morning two men strode through the arrivals hall at San Francisco International airport. One was short and wiry, his iron-grey hair closely cropped in a military buzz-cut and his neat moustache the same. He wore mirrored shades and a dark, close-fitted jacket and pants with many pockets, that would probably have been considered combat gear if they were khaki instead of charcoal black. The small man carried a long, narrow, black canvas bag over one shoulder. His companion drew the eye by his sheer size - and the watching eye mysteriously slipped over him and away just as quickly. He was well over six feet tall and broad in the shoulders but narrow of hip and waist, clad in a perfectly tailored charcoal grey suit, cut to show off his physique. Most striking of all was the long, straight fall of pure white hair, tumbling down his back to his waist, smooth as a freshly ironed curtain. In spite of this feature there was nothing remotely feminine about the tall man. His strong boned face was the colour of old gold, chiselled and handsome, with a prominent nose and a firm jawline. Eyes the colour of sunlit amber glittered keenly beneath a smooth, high brow. He might have been any age from thirty to sixty, it was impossible to tell.  

He had no luggage, nor did he seem inconvenienced by this. As the mismatched pair walked out onto the concourse, the smaller man hailed a cab and they headed downtown.

Just around the time that Cole Lagrado was meeting with three of his Peers, trying to assess who most wanted his allegiance and attempting to strike a bargain over the wilful Fledgling he had inherited, that Fledgling's Sire sat down in a cafe on the Embarcadero opposite Dominic Warren. Lord Warren was trying his very hardest not to fling himself at the huge, white-maned Vampire. The hunger lurked behind his eyes like a persistent fog.

"You should have called me first," Jabez Everman said softly as the lean, nervous, besotted mortal sitting across the table from him in a booth to the rear of the restaurant, stirred his tea for the fifteenth time. "Yiannis is a clever fellow but he has his own agenda. Not a sociopath like Coelho Lagrada-Diaz, but even so."

He sighed impatiently. By the rear doors his mortal bodyguard Jonjo Mersen paced a few steps back and forth, describing a small triangle on the tiled floor as he kept a shrewd eye on proceedings. Dominic glanced at the smaller man knowing that, however innocuous he might seem, he was probably armed to the teeth and, given the circumstances, not just carrying weaponry that was fatal to humans.

"I needed to assess the situation before I called you," Lord Warren argued quietly. "I have the hardware in place to take them on but my friends don't have the tactical experience for this kind of battle. They're loyal and brave but they're not mercenaries."

His gaze flickered to Mersen who was still pacing casually by the door, never taking his eyes off the principal. Hard to believe really that this small man could inflict so much damage, but Dominic had seen him in action. It was impressive.

"I understand, Rabbit," said Everman impassively. His use of Dominic's childhood nickname told the mortal that he was not seriously angry about being summoned although his expression remained severe. For his own part, Lord Warren only permitted a handful of people to call him by that name and most of them were family or close friends. He felt a little rush of warmth inside. "You hoped that the vampires would fight among themselves and eradicate the problem for you. Lagrada does not work that way. He will make things difficult for Yiannis if he does not co-operate. Their truce is an uneasy one. Elian Iannopoulos is an older vampire, he has no love for Lagrada-Diaz. He considers the fellow a coward, one who hides behind others whilst he extends his reach over the city."

"Why is Elian Iannopoulos not the Master of Frisco then?" Dominic wanted to know. The question had been troubling him since his meeting with the Ancient on the previous day.

"Yiannis likes to operate alone," his companion explained with a small quirk of the lips that softened his severely handsome face for a moment. "As do I. I could have been Master of any number of cities in my time, and so I have been. But generally such a title brings more trouble to my door than plaudits. I can live without that, Rabbit, as I am sure Yiannis would agree."

"So he makes a show of bending his head to Lagrada-Diaz and resents him for it?" the mortal speculated. 

Jabez Everman looked back at him shrewdly. His almond-shaped, amber eyes shimmered like a desert sunset; serious and unblinking. Dominic felt himself begin to drown in that gaze, then it flickered away from him casually, watching Mersen pace his small, precise triangle of the tiled floor.

"Do you think he resents it?" the vampire asked at last. He answered his own question before Dominic could open his mouth to speak. "I believe that, to Yiannis, Coelho Lagrada-Diaz is no more than a speck of fly shit on his sleeve. He tolerates the fellow because it is his prerogative to do so. Did you know, by the way, that Coelho is Portuguese for Rabbit?"

He smiled again, pleased with this piece of deduction. Dominic laughed incredulously. 

"My Portuguese isn't that hot, Jabez. Are you trying to suggest that we have some common ground?" he chuckled.

"It was a nickname, the same as it is for you, Lord Warren," the Everman purred, still smiling contemplatively at him across the table, making Dominic wish with all his heart that this was a social meeting and they could forget about warring vampires and just go to bed. He wanted Jabez inside him more than anything in the world right now. Jabez Everman clearly had other matters on his mind. "Don't you wonder how a fearsome opponent like Lagrada-Diaz came by such a nickname?"

"I presume it has other connotations in his homeland," Dominic laughed and shook his head. "I don't know, Jabez. Tell me."

"His family name is Diaz," Jabez said quietly in a tone that prompted his companion to demonstrate that he was not completely ignorant. 

"From the Latin, dies. It means Days, I know that," Dominic sat back in his seat. "How does this have any relevance to our dealings with him?"

"When he became as he is now, he was one of those who turned his back on the light," Jabez Everman explained patiently. "At the same time he turned away from his traditional name. Lagrada-Diaz; loosely translated it means 'the place where the sun is launched...' the point of daybreak, I suppose." The vampire shrugged his shoulders slightly as if apologising for his lack of linguistic skill. Dominic nodded, encouraging him to go on, which he did. "He shunned the daylight, hiding himself away in the tunnels and passages of his family's vast estate near Braga. There he lured others to him, and he Turned or bred many creatures that would come to serve him. In Braga they called him Lagrada da Noite, the Birth of the Night. But those who grew to hate and fear him called him Coelho, the Rabbit, because he would not show his face and he hid underground, coming to the surface only to destroy those who opposed him, and breeding others just like him."

"Woah... woah, woah!" Dominic Warren sat forward as something occurred to him. "He's Nocturne?"

"He will not walk in the daylight," Jabez said pacifically. "I cannot guarantee that it will harm him. It is what he believes."

"But if he's spent centuries in the dark, or in artificial light…?" the mortal narrowed his eyes shrewdly. 

"Technically we only have to lure him into the light to weaken him," his companion agreed with a wry smile. "Before we do that, I would prefer that we address the whereabouts of my troublesome Fledge."

Dominic steadied himself with a long intake of breath. 

"I... er... I'm not altogether sure where he is right now, but tonight should hopefully be a different matter," he said with a forced brightness that his Undead companion unfortunately saw clean through. 

"And where will he be tonight?" asked Jabez Everman coolly.

"Um... well... if everything goes according to plan, he'll be with Yiannis." Dominic looked uneasy again. 

"Then that is where we shall begin." Jabez said decisively. He gestured with a raised finger in the direction of his mortal bodyguard. 

At once Mersen was by his side, still wary for any suspicious activity in their vicinity. Even through the mirrored sunglasses Dominic was conscious that the small, dangerous Irishman was giving him the evils.

"Do we have night hunting equipment?" Jabez was asking. 

"I have the night-sights, Boss," Mersen answered gruffly. "And about five boxes of the exploding rounds."

Dominic rose to his feet with a grave smile. 

"Gentlemen," he said with a magnanimous gesture. "I think I may be able to raise your contribution there."

XAVIER:

Xavier woke not knowing he had fallen asleep. He hadn't meant to, but he had been exhausted. He shifted on the bed and realised his wrist was chained to the bedpost. 

Great! He seemed to have traded one prison for another, albeit a more comfortable one. He shouldn't have come here with Dominic. Lord Warren could have convinced the Elder vampire to help Rayne without him. He was supposed to have been just eye candy, not the deal-sealer. He snorted, guessing that it had been rather naïve of him to think so, but Dominic had seemed like a nice guy and he hadn't been thinking about anything but doing what ever it would take to get Rayne away from Lagrado.  

Little irritants began to make themselves known. He had to piss. He was sticky with dried sweat and semen. He was hungry and thirsty. 

He tested the give in the chain. He could get off the bed but that was all. Goddamn it, it would serve the smug bloodsucker right if Xavier pissed on the floor. Bastard! He pulled on the chain, tried to compress the bones of his hand in order to get it through the manacle but the cuff was too tight. The chain actually led behind the mattress and the idea occurred to Xav that he might be able to somehow get the bed frame apart and maybe slide the chain off that way. 

He shoved the mattress off and flipped the box spring up. The frame was made of solid cherry, the joints screwed in place. Unless the vampire had a screwdriver hidden in the nightstand he wasn't going to get the frame apart. He didn't get a chance to look. The door came open and the burly vampire that had been guarding the door last night came into the room.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Redecorating. What the hell d'you think I'm doing?" 

The big vampire stared at him, not knowing how to respond to sarcasm. Xavier was guessing he was hired muscle both before and after he was turned. 

"You got the key?" Xavier asked, looking innocently at him. "I gotta piss."

The big guy's expression changed slightly, the confusion clearing as his eyes slid over Xavier's naked body. Xav sighed; he was not going to do this guy any favours. If he wanted it he was going to have to fight for it. The vamp came closer, but didn't try anything, he just took the key out of his pocket and slowly unlocked the cuff on Xavier's wrist. Must have had orders from Elian to behave, Xavier thought with no small amount of relief.

He was allowed to use the bathroom, and the vampire even let him take a shower, although he wasn't allowed to do it unobserved. When he asked for something to eat and said he was thirsty, he was out of luck. Apparently Elian hadn't expressly told his guards whether he could have food or not, so it was not. Xavier tried to reason with the bonehead and then cussed him and called him an idiot, but got nowhere. The best he could do was grab a drink from the sink faucet in the bathroom before he was hauled back to his new prison. Then he was chained back to the bed, the box spring and mattress were replaced on the frame and he was left alone. 

He watched the day go by outside, wondering if Elian had got Rayne free or not. He also finally let his mind touch on something he'd been avoiding. The revenant, the starved rotting thing that had fed from him… Elian said they were starving Rayne. Was that what he meant? That Rayne would be like that thing? Would he bring back a crazed decaying corpse? 

Xavier shuddered. No! No, he couldn't do that again. 

He touched the cross that hung around his neck like he was a devout Catholic. He wasn't. He wasn't even Christian. But this was one cross he could believe in, or rather what was tucked away inside it. Xavier shook his head. He could not let something dead and rotted touch him again, not even if it was Rayne. 

RELEASE:

Lagrado's men shackled Rayne for the journey back to his new keeper's lair. Tight iron bands were fastened around his ankles over the thin, supple leather of his boots, attached to one another by a very short length of chain so that his stride was no more than a foot in length. His arms were wrenched behind him and laced from the elbows to his slim wrists into a sheath of something that felt like kevlar, strong, bullet-resistant material that would hold his struggles for the time it took to transfer him. A double cuff was then locked into place around his wrists and another chain attached from this device to the hobble between his feet. 

Rayne thrashed and hissed at them as the burly pair held him down and secured him. In turn they taunted him with threats of the things that Elian would do to his ass once he was naked and chained to the Elder's bed. Rough fingers seized a handful of his dark hair and jerked his head back hard. When he opened his mouth to scream abuse, the other thug forced a rubber-clad, iron bit-gag between his teeth, hooking it behind his extended fangs and buckling the restraining straps tightly at the back of his head. His curses were muffled and incoherent from then on but no less vehement. 

When they blindfolded him he felt cold fear grip his heart. Nothing freaked him out quite so much as not being able to see. His other senses, whilst enhanced by Turning were never quite enough to compensate. Rayne pleaded with them now, begging them wordlessly to take the blind off but he was ignored. 

Strong hands pulled him to his feet and he was walked, slowly and awkwardly from the room. He could hear that his fate and Warren's were still being discussed. One of his guards asked a question and Elian answered it; "Take him to the car and put him in the trunk. There are restraining rings welded into the chassis there. Secure him from his collar and fetters, that should be sufficient to hold him for a short journey."

Then he was dragged, stumbling and muttering wordless venom, from the audience chamber and out into a long corridor. At one point, from the disorienting sense of movement even though he was standing still, he knew that they were taking him up - he thought it felt like up - in an elevator. Then suddenly he was stumbling on a short flight of steps and a door opened letting him feel the momentary relief of cool, fresh air on his face. 

He heard a bleep and then a solid 'thunk' as the car was unlocked and the boot lid rose smoothly, almost inaudible to mortal ears, but he was conscious of it. Rayne struggled as they pulled him towards the vehicle and in the end they hefted him off his feet and dumped him unceremoniously in the broad, deep trunk of the car. Chains were hooked onto his collar and attached to a loop in the bodywork of the vehicle so that he could not get up again. His feet were restrained in the same way and then the lid was slammed down. 




Dark Paths Ch. 08



Rayne felt the vibrations run through every nerve and fibre. He was conscious of the change in light and atmosphere as they locked him down in the darkness. A sick wave of claustrophobia and fear ran through him and he retched uncontrollably, unable to swallow properly with the bit between his jaws.

As he lay there, struggling with the wrist restraints, thinking that if he could get them off then he might get loose, he heard faint voices and the car lurched; doors slammed and the engine was gunned into life. Rayne fought the wrists cuffs and the sheath around his lower arms even harder. The thought of Xav and Dominic suffering for him was a constant waking nightmare now. He could not just lie here and accept his fate - all of their fates - he had to do something.

They did not seem to have been driving long when the vehicle came to a halt and he felt movement as the occupants got out. He heard someone say; "That should do it, we're far enough from ABC now, get him out."

He panicked for a moment, suddenly convinced that they were just going to drag him from the car and execute him. Then the lid of the trunk opened and he was released from the restraints inside and lifted out. Firm, gentle hands untied the blind as he was set on his shackled feet and he blinked against the sudden incandescent flood of light. 

It took him a few minutes to focus on the face of Elian Iannopoulos, who was observing him gravely. 

"Put him in the back," he said smoothly and walked around the immaculate cream coloured limo to get in the other side. One of his thugs pushed Rayne towards the car and forced him in the rear passenger door then got in after him. There was another of Elian's goons at the wheel already. 

"Take the gag off," Elian said impassively and was obeyed without question. 

The vampire Cole Lagrado had addressed as Yiannis was tall but not overly muscular. Next to the two who accompanied him he looked slight, but it was clear from their body language who was in control. The two gorillas did his bidding without a moment's hesitation. 

Rayne huffed for breath as the bit was removed from his mouth. He was shuddering with combined anger and terror, caught between the two older, stronger Vampires with no way of running. 

"What do you want?" he croaked, struggling to speak with his fangs still fully extended. "What do you want... to let Xav go and leave the others alone?"

Elian reached out and touched his cheek, looking into his eyes, his dark grey gaze solemn and mesmerising. Somehow that was even more frightening than Cole's threats and hostility. 

"You are so hungry, aren't you Rayne?" he whispered almost tremulously. "Don't worry, child. I will let you gorge yourself before I take you. I want you at full, beautiful strength in my bed. Our lovemaking will break all records for passion and longevity. Who knows, if the human boy survives your hunger I may even let him watch as you give yourself to me."

"You are sick!" Rayne hissed at him, struggling to breathe. 

"It is our nature to feed," Elian purred in a soothing tone. "You should not fight it, Rayne Wylde. You will not be long for this world if you do. I am not the sadist that Coelho is, but he is correct when he states that humans are beneath us. They are fun to feed from and to mate with. Sometimes they even have other uses but they are not our equals, Rayne. The Everman must have told you this. Surely?"

The singer shuddered, his voice heavy with contempt as he snarled; "Well I've lasted long enough without using them as fodder the way you bastards do!"

"And you hurt when they are in pain, don't you?" Elian murmured, still stroking his neck and his body tenderly. "It hurts you so much to see them suffering. And when you let yourself feel that way it leaves you vulnerable to older, smarter vampires like Coelho. You have to cut yourself off from them, Rayne. If you want to survive there is little point in you binding yourself to a mortal. They will fade and die in the end and you will be alone. What use is that to you?"

He sounded so sane, so rational that for a moment Rayne just stared at him, unable to even draw a breath. When Elian said the words they made perfect sense. He had already watched beloved friends die, unable to do anything to save them. And it did hurt. Fuck it! It hurt so much that he wanted to die with them. 

Rayne closed his eyes, fighting the tears that came with that release of emotion. He turned his head away, letting his lank, dark hair screen his face. He could feel the cool weight of Elian's hand on his belly, stroking lower and lower. 

"Shhhh!" the Elder sighed in his ear. "Don't cry, sweetling. It will be all right. I will take good care of you, just wait and see. We will drain the pretty boy together and make gentle love to him so that his last moments are so sweet, so filled with tenderness. It will be a merciful ending to a sad young life, Rayne. A life filled with so much pain and fear. Boys like him, they have no idea how to escape that cycle of pain on their own, as well you know. Don't you, Rayne?" His hand slid down between Rayne's thighs, caressing him more intimately through the filmy material of his brief, tight shorts.

Rayne squirmed helplessly, his head falling back against the soft leather rest as Elian fondled him to full erection through the silkiness of the insubstantial garment. He felt hypnotised. The Elder's words sent a ripple of horror through him but at the same time he longed for that gentle touch to continue. He wanted the strength and security of those strong arms around him. If they let Xavier go, wouldn't he just stumble back into the clutches of men who would only abuse him? 

"No!" he panted desperately. "I can't!"

"He will thank you for it, Rayne." Elian leaned over him, kissing his throat above the line of the collar. His deft fingers stroked the silk and lycra slowly up and down over Rayne's throbbing cock. "He will look into your eyes with such gratitude as you release him from the suffering he has known all his life. He will understand then, that although you have compassion for him, he is not worthy of your heart. That you are not like him, so much as you both might wish it was otherwise."

A slow tear ran down the younger vampire's cheek as he writhed under his captor's touch. It was horrible but so true. He could feel when they were together how much Xav's life mirrored his own. The boy had been used and abused so much. If they could not be together, how would he survive alone? 

And something curious happened then. It was almost as if he could feel Xavier in his head. And being aware of him there helped. Until it happened he had not been able to explain the listlessness he had been feeling. Whilst he was trapped in Lagrado's cell he had felt so lonely, so hopeless. And suddenly that emptiness was filled as if a door had been opened into a dark chamber in his mind filling it with light. 

"Stop that!" he exhaled, a little more forcefully, opening his eyes. 

Elian sat back, looking at him curiously. The vamp bodyguard on his right was grinning from ear to ear, clearly enjoying watching his boss arouse Rayne Wylde. 

"You don't like it?" the Elder purred. "Your body tells me otherwise."

"I won't help you to kill him. Xav's tough and he's brave and even if his life has been shit, he's come through it!" Rayne growled softly. "He's not complacent like some of you old bastards! And even if I'm going to lose him one day soon, I'd take Xavier to be by my side above a hundred of you!"

Elian looked stunned for a moment, then recovered quickly. He snorted softly through his nostrils, sitting back in his seat, his hand withdrawn from Rayne's trembling body. 

"Well then..." he exhaled as if coming to a decision. "If you wish it to be so, you shall have your chance. I will give him back to you. You may be with him, once I - and a selection of my most trusted and best-endowed followers - have fucked you for a night. I promised your sweet boy after all that I would let him watch as I used you the way you and your movie-star friends used him."

The sarcastic edge in his voice was undisguised. Rayne rolled his eyes. 

"Do whatever you want to me, but leave him alone," he retorted wearily.

"Oh I will leave him entirely to you," Elian laughed coldly. "But if you will not feed from him, Rayne Wylde, you will feed from no one. Do you understand? He can watch as you starve and soothe you with his sweet body until the day comes when he can no longer bear to look on you." 

Rayne's eyes widened as the true horror of what the Elder was telling him hit home.

"You... you can't!" he protested. 

But the car swung down into the subterranean parking lot under Elian's apartment building at that moment and the darkness swallowed the rest of his argument.

XAVIER:

Xavier heard movement in the outer rooms of the apartment. Some short time ago he had determined it was pretty much useless to continue the mental shielding. Elian had already taken what he wanted from his memories and it was only keeping him from feeling Rayne. He let it go and reached out, almost immediately touching the cool presence he knew was Rayne Wylde. It made him smile. At least he knew he wasn't dead. Well, not really dead anyway. 

He sat up on the bed and the door opened. The relief he felt at seeing Rayne made him grin even though he knew they were still in trouble here. The relief that he wasn't bones and rotting flesh actually made him a little dizzy. 

"Rayne!" There was a lot more happiness in that simple declaration then the situation warranted but Xavier couldn't help it.

It didn't even matter right now that Rayne appeared to be dressed as a stripper. The singer was chained and looked exhausted and a little grey around the edges but his smile came on automatically at the sight of Xavier alive and to all purposes unhurt.

"Alright sweetheart?" he asked huskily. "They're not treating you too bad are they?"

As Elian let him shuffle closer to the bed Xav could see other little differences. His pale eyes were bloodshot, almost colourless, and red-rimmed as if he had been crying his heart out. The normally smooth line of his jaw was unshaven, not a full two days worth of stubble but definitely a hint, and there was a peppering of silver in his shaggy black hair that had certainly not been there before. He looked almost twenty years older.  And the weary smile had fangs.

Xavier's smile faded around the edges with concern, but not fear. 

"I'm alright," he answered breathlessly. 

The changes in Rayne were disturbing, but not entirely unexpected. They had starved him, and Elian hadn't let him feed yet either. Xavier reached and traced his fingers lightly along Rayne's cheek. He had far more confidence in the vampire's control than Rayne himself did. 

"I made a deal to get you out of there. He said he'd let us both go…" Xav trailed off, realising how stupidly naïve he sounded, but he had to offer the explanation anyway. 

Rayne made a small hopeless sound that was part laugh, part sob and turned his head away. He looked imploringly at Elian even though he knew that it wouldn't wash with the older vampire. His new keeper chuckled softly, strolling to the bedside and kneeling on the edge of the mattress. He leaned across to stroke Xavier's hair.

"Now you be a good boy," he said in a mildly patronising tone. "Your poor little friend is exhausted and extremely hungry, Xavier. Because I'm an absolute angel I'm going to give you and loverboy a little time together and I want him in better shape by the time I come back here. Do you understand that?"

Xavier controlled the impulse to knock his hand away. Not yet. They just needed a little time and they would think of something. And Rayne needed to feed. Xavier nodded his head, keeping his eyes lowered; the very picture of submission. Actually he just didn't think he'd be able to hide the anger in his eyes. 

When Elian left them, Xavier reached automatically for Rayne again. "I'm sorry! It wasn't supposed to go down like this. Dominic said I just needed to sit there and look pretty, I wasn't supposed to be part of the deal. Neither were you."

To his distress, Rayne pulled away from him. Although his arms had been released from the sheath his wrists were still cuffed in front and his ankles remained hobbled. He shuffled towards the full-length window at the far end of the room and sank down on the low, deep, cherry-wood sill there, resting his cheek against the cool glass. Rayne forced himself to concentrate on that and not the alluring warmth of Xavier's body or the quickening rate of his young heart. Even with half the width of the room between them he could smell his lover's blood and feel the urgent drumming of his pulse. 

"Dom shouldn't have brought you here," the vampire said huskily, at last. "I thought... hoped he had more sense than that. Now we're all dead, Xav."

"Hey…" Xavier called softly, but was ignored. Desolation and desperate need emanated from his companion in waves so strong Xavier wouldn't have needed an empathic bone in his body to pick up on it. As it was he was having a hard time not getting sucked down into that resolute depression along with him. "Rayne, c'mon… don't give up. You just need to feed, and you'll feel better. Don't let that asshole get to you. You can control it, and just take a little at a time like before," he cajoled. 

As Rayne turned his face back towards the boy the tears that rolled down his cheeks were tinged as red as his hungry gaze. Thin trickles of watery blood ran from his lips where he had bitten himself in his hunger and frustration. He shuddered like a caged animal, knees drawn up to his chest and his manacled arms hugged around them, fighting the impulse that raged at him to pounce and to bite and take all that he needed. 

"What if I can't control it?" he panted, shaking his head slowly. "I can't do that to you, Xav. I can't take that risk. If I knew that I'd hurt you... Wouldn't be the first time..." 

Words failed him and he lowered his forehead to his knees disconsolately.

"And you think it's going to be easier a day or two from now, is that it?" Xavier demanded dryly. He let out a slow breath. "I don't want to die Rayne." His throat felt dry and tight as he said it. "You think that bastard is going to be content to just wait until you break? He's not going to just let you stay curled up in a ball over there. When he comes back he'll up the stakes. He'll punish me… and push you until you can't take anymore."

For a long time it seemed that he would get no response at all. Rayne remained hunched like a bird of prey in the window refusing to look at him, much to Xavier's frustration. When he finally did lift his head however there was more control in his voice and the craziness in his eyes was quieter.

"If Dom comes back here for you he's a dead man," he said atonally.

"Oh, he'll come back alright, but not for me." Xavier laughed bitterly. "He's the one that made the deal with Elian. The Everman's gratitude and influence in San Fran, in exchange for getting you away from Cole Lagrado. And who is this Everman dude, anyway? I was just… icing." Xavier shrugged. "When I realised that, I tried for damage control. I got Elian to agree that he'd only keep us two nights. He's obviously reneging on that deal, but Dominic doesn't know that. He's got no reason to think Elian won't hand you over tomorrow." 

Rayne sucked in a quick breath through his clenched teeth. Concern flickered across his exhausted face and was gone just as quickly.

"We have got to get out of here," he exhaled. "It's more than just you and me. Elian's promised to give Dominic to Lagrado in exchange for me. If he really has been in touch with my Sire then all hell's gonna break lose when Jabez Everman gets here. If he was bluffing and we can't help him then he's dead. I have to feed and from more than just you, sweetheart. I don't doubt that Elian's taken from you and I can't heal you from even a small bite. I can't even heal myself properly right now. If I bite you this minute I might have drained you by the time I'm strong enough to stop the bleeding."

Xavier looked for a moment like he wanted to argue the point a bit more, and then slowly let it go, looking defeated. Across the room from him Rayne rattled the wrist cuffs irritably. Even at full strength the restraints would have taken some breaking. Now his gaze roamed the room distractedly, searching for something...

Xavier watching him knew he was looking for a way to get out of the cuffs, just like he himself had. Only this time an idea occurred to him that hadn't before. He took the cross from around his neck and pressed the hidden catch that released the blade. "Can you use this?"

The gaze that fixed him was one combined hunger and profound admiration. Rayne was on his feet almost before he remembered that his ankles were virtually cuffed together. He crashed to his knees but crawled hurriedly across the floor to the bed and put his fettered hands in Xavier's lap.

"Can you pick a lock, sweetheart?" he asked hopefully.

"Maybe." Xavier murmured. "It's been a few years." He set to work on the lock. He had to wonder, even if he did get it undone, what good it would do? They were still stuck in this room, and they might be giving away their only weapon. Oh well, it felt better then doing nothing. 

The cuffs may have been reinforced steel, but the lock was a simple one. After a few minutes and a lot of finesse and concentration Xavier had it. A few more minutes and he had the ones around Rayne's ankles released as well. It was harder to work on his own. Not only did he have to work one-handed but also it was a newer lock, harder to pick, and the longer it took the more nervous he got. He kept feeling that any second Elian would come through the door… and then he got it, the lock clicked open and the cuff fell free. 

Rayne had been massaging the life back into his hands and feet as Xavier worked on the last cuff, his hungry gaze moving constantly to the door then back to the naked blond youth on the bed. As soon as he was free the vampire was on him, nuzzling his neck and throat and pressing him down onto the mattress. He licked his way almost tenderly to Xavier's ear. A hot bolt of desire flashed through Xavier instantly. He slid his arms around Rayne, a soft mewl of pleasure humming in his throat. Rayne's body, his touch, and his scent were all so familiar, and his own flesh responded with thrumming eagerness to be with him again. Xav's lean thighs parted to accommodate him and his right leg slid over Rayne's left almost automatically, his foot sliding down the back of Rayne's calf in an inviting caress. Xavier's face turned into his shoulder to kiss and nuzzle him in response as his hands caressed the length of Rayne's smooth back comfortingly. He could feel the hard knots of tension there as Rayne struggled to suppress the instinct to bite. His lover's skin felt like fine tissue paper, cold and slightly loose under his hands and lips.

Even so, the lean, exhausted Englishman answered his touch with lingering caresses of his own. His chilly hands slid eagerly over Xavier's heaving torso and down to his slender hips, his own pelvis moving in time with the slow undulations of Xavier's body. The thin, flexible material of his black shorts did nothing to hide the automatic response to this brief, sweet intimacy.

"Did you miss me, then?" he murmured hoarsely into Xavier's ear. 

Xavier chuckled softly. "Oh yeah." He caught Rayne's eyes as he lifted his head to look at him and he swallowed, his own eyes becoming more serious. "Yes, I missed you." He kissed him, his soft warm lips feeling very hot against Rayne's cool mouth. 




Dark Paths Ch. 08



His lover's sharp little fangs nicked his lower lip as they kissed softly. Rayne pulled away from him at once, still tense, his expression profoundly sorrowful.

"I don't want to hurt you," he muttered, shaking his head as if he could throw off the hunger like a dog shrugging off water. "We have got to get out of here, Xav before I kill you or he does. I think I've got an idea."

"Well… fill me in, hun." Xavier said, trying for a light tone, but he was tense too and still full of need. 

Rayne touched his fingers to the silver crucifix delicately. 

"Can I have this?"

"What are you going to do with it?" Xavier asked, even as he was handing it over. A fleeting thought went through his head about the pills it also contained. He had thought about them when he had wondered whether he would be confronted with a rotting corpse again. If whatever Rayne had planned didn't work, if Elian kept them and kept starving Rayne, he was giving up that last option. 

"Let him think I drained you. When he comes in for a closer look I'm gonna cut his fuckin' ice-cold heart out," Rayne Wylde said vehemently. "Then I'm gonna fuckin' eat it."

Xavier looked dubious but said nothing. He did not want to put any doubt in his lover, but even at full strength Elian Iannopoulos was stronger. He was ancient, and someone did not survive that long without considerable power. Xavier was more then a little afraid of what might happen if Rayne tried to kill him and failed. 

As the vampire moved to touch the blade to his lips he remembered something. "Wait, Dominic said there was some gunk on the blade."

"What's it tipped with?" Rayne asked, eyes widening as he lowered the crucifix automatically.

"Fuck, I don't know. Some shit he said would paralyse a vampire. Worm guts or something."

Rayne looked sceptically at the sharp little blade in his hands. He sniffed at it cautiously then sheathed it again and looped the chain over his head. With shaking hands he removed the collar that Lagrado had put around his neck. It took most of his strength to pull off the dogtags and snap one of them into two ragged halves. 

"I'm not taking any chances," he said, wielding one of the jagged pieces of metal determinedly. "Don't look at me like that, it'll only be a surface scratch. It should heal itself in no time. I need to get your blood on me, then I want you to put the cuff back on, unlocked, and play dead."

Xavier was even more sceptical. The Elder vampire might, and that was a slim might, think he was dead when he walked in the room, but even a cursory examination was going to blow the ruse. Oh well, it was the only plan they had so he was going to have to go with it. 

Xavier tried to hold his arm steady for Rayne to slice him. "Alright, just hurry and do it." 

To his consternation, Rayne caught him gently by the hair, tugging his head sideways and jabbed his neck with the point of the broken tag, twice in quick succession. 

It did not create the same shivery sensation being bitten did. It just fucking hurt. 

"Ow… goddamn it!" He automatically reached up to cover the wound but Rayne grabbed his wrist before he could touch it. Twin trickles of bright scarlet were running in rivulets down his neck. Xavier watched Rayne staring at the trickles of blood and for the first time was uneasy with the vampire. 

His lover's mouth was twisted in a painful rictus grin, lips pulled back and teeth clenched tightly. The pupils of his pale eyes looked like pin-pricks, they were so focused. 

"Rayne..." Xavier implored softly. He tried to gently dislodge himself from Rayne's grasp. His lover made a sound that was almost a keen of anguish and pulled him closer, his grip tightening until it grew painful. "Rayne! Stop!" Xavier gasped and he was suddenly looking up at the ceiling, pressed down into the bed with Rayne on top of him breathing like a freight train. Xavier's heart was pounding in his chest, the pulse in his throat leaping like a small, terrified animal trying to get out of a cage. "Ray… stop! Please…" 

Rayne's soft, cold mouth fastened onto the twin wounds and he began to suck gently, ignoring Xavier's protests as the blood washed over his tongue, into his mouth. He grappled for the wrist cuff and looped it back around the blond boy's wrist without closing it. One knee moved between Xavier's thighs, pressing higher, spreading him as he yielded to the call of his mate's blood. 

"Ohhhh... Good!" the vampire panted, his body shuddering as he licked his young lover's neck with long slow strokes of his tongue. "Need you so much!"

Xavier shivered as Rayne's lips roamed across his cheek and down along the line of his jaw. As his tongue caressed over the twin marks on Xav's neck, a soft moan escaped him despite his fear that Rayne might lose control at any moment. He could feel the vampire's ravenous hunger like a beast just waiting to turn on its master and maul him. He feared the strength of that instinctive pull to bite and feed at will that he felt in Rayne, and at the same time he was seduced by it… longed for it. His own tenuous grasp on his self-control loosened and he pressed his hips harder against Rayne, rubbing his erection against the one barely contained behind Rayne's thin shorts. The tension in Xav's body seemed to drain out of him and he became more pliant under Rayne's hands. 

"Mmm…" he hummed softly, "…alright then, if you insist."

Rayne was already nuzzling and licking ravenously on his neck and throat. The vampire could taste his lover's frantic pulse and it drove him on. The kissing and slow, insistent rub of Xavier's naked body only fanned the flames of need higher. At the same time he was conscious of what Elian had told him in the car. It was true, boys like Xavier returned time after time to men who would use them and hurt them for their own ends, just as he wanted to do right now. After the time they had spent together at PJ's house Rayne could hardly believe that Xavier didn't know what he was. And yet here he was, having been exposed utterly to the brutality of vampires at their worst, lying on his back and begging for more. 

He felt sick with longing and with horror. Maybe, just maybe, Elian had been right. Boys like this were used to feeding the machine. 

Boys like you! his subconscious reminded him and he felt the surge of nausea again. 

Rayne curled into the seductive hollow of Xavier's slim neck and pale, golden shoulder, breathing him in, trying to keep the breaths slow and controlled. If he lost control then he would lose Xav. It was as simple as that. He would feed and he would fuck and he would not stop until the boy beneath him was dead.

"I want you," he whispered huskily. "I want to be in you. I want you so much."

Once Xavier stopped struggling, Rayne's grip on his wrist loosened and Xavier brought a hand up to cup his cheek tenderly, the fingers moving of their own volition into his hair to caress soothingly. He wanted Rayne too, but part of him was still trying desperately to tell him it was utter madness at the moment. They needed to get out of here! They needed a plan! Rayne did not need to have his willpower tested, weak as he was. 

The hell of it was, Rayne had been ready to leave him a couple of days ago. Xavier had walked away first. There was no real reason they should both even be here, other than the impossible circumstances that had thrown them back together. 

"I want you too." Xavier whispered, turning his head to softly kiss below Rayne's ear.

He could feel that Rayne's need was genuine. The way he rubbed insistently against Xavier over and over was a constant poke in the side (quite literally). He was hard and hungry both for blood and sex, his hands running seductively up and down his lover's warm, smooth flanks as if he could absorb Xavier's life force just by touching him. Rayne was caressing him like he was a delicious morsel just waiting to be gobbled up. 

His cool, pale lips parted and Xavier felt the rapid huff of breath against his skin when Rayne's mouth stroked slowly down from his neck to his chest, roaming the flat, open spaces where it was harder to bite accidentally. His studded tongue flicked at Xavier's left nipple teasingly and he straddled the younger man, letting his crotch rub slowly over Xav's exposed groin as he lifted his lips (and his teeth) away from the temptation of that stiff, enticing bud of flesh.

Xavier shook off the manacle circled loosely around his other wrist and brought both hands up to caress and stroke over Rayne's soft cool skin. He knew without any doubt what Rayne had been through at Cole Lagrado's hands. The abuse and violence he had been put through himself would have been enough to make most people wonder how they could be so passionately entwined just then. Xavier couldn't have explained it, other than to say that he needed this connection right now almost as badly as Rayne did. 

Though he did not hunger for blood, he craved this simple intimacy, and he understood with crystal clarity how much it was costing Rayne to be so very careful with him right now. His head practically ached with the weight of that knowledge. 

Rayne's hands traced the curves of his delicious backside as Xavier writhed around him, touching him almost tentatively yet with a powerful desire that he could almost taste. The vampire swallowed, feeling his mouth start to water at the idea of losing himself in the boy's hot, abundant body. A gentle finger stroked down Xav's soft, warm channel and Rayne circled the tactile nub of his tightly puckered ring. 

"Does it hurt?" he whispered, letting his lips move back to the boy's earlobe and lipping at him gently there. "Are you still sore?"

Xavier's face was turned in profile; his eyes shuddered behind long silky lashes. 

"Only a little." He lied, because he didn't want Rayne to stop now. It was nothing he couldn't work through, and the tender concern was enough to make him melt inside.

"I'll try to be gentle," Rayne promised breathlessly, his lips describing silent words on Xavier's cheek as he nuzzled the fragrant softness of his lover's blond hair. "But I've missed this... missed you so much."

One hand snaked down between their colluding thighs and he tugged at the waistband of the tiny shorts that barely restrained him, freeing himself with a short, fervent sigh of delight. His cock was a heavy, silken weight on Xavier's bare belly, moist and restless, moving against him almost relentlessly as he sought Xav's mouth again, kissing him so hard that those sharp little fangs nicked the softness of his lips. 

Xavier framed his face with his hands and yielded to the fierceness of that desire with languid sensual kisses. He lifted his knees higher, spreading his thighs invitingly. His fingers slid into Rayne's hair and his kisses took on a fierceness of their own. He could taste the bloody hint of copper on his lips and could no longer tell if it was his own or Rayne's blood. He supposed it didn't matter. Whether it was the blood or the passion he managed to convey how much he missed and wanted Rayne as well. 

Steffen had taken him brutally, Elian had been less vicious but he had still taken what he wanted. Xavier hadn't given them anything. He gave to Rayne though, he gave himself wholly without barriers and that was something he'd never really done with any partner before. 

Rayne moved up over him, planting his hands either side of Xavier's ribs as he stared down on his lover, aroused and amazed by the boy's indomitable willingness to be with him. He licked his lips, painfully conscious of the taste of Xavier's blood on his mouth. Redness glistened like a new coating of gloss on the younger man's soft lips and Rayne's pupils dilated hungrily at the sight. 

"Ch-rist!" he exhaled forcefully. "I can't hold onto this, sweetheart. I'm gonna lose it. Do something for me, yeah?" 

He reached for the discarded wrist cuffs, passing them to Xavier as he rolled off the blond and flopped down on his back on the bed, struggling to breathe normally when all he could smell was blood and cum. Turning his head so that those green eyes stared helplessly up at Xav, he groaned; "Cuff me to the bed. It might not be enough but I'm willing to chance it if you are."

Xavier shifted on the bed and, a tad reluctantly, took the cuffs. Reluctantly because he was going to have to work on the lock again to get him loose, and they had no way of knowing how long before they were interrupted. Ah well, they'd already risked this much this far…and he wanted Rayne so badly. He straddled Rayne's hips and clicked the cuffs in place above his head. He leaned in to kiss him again, soft and hungry, in a reversal of where they had been a moment before.

Xavier moved downward, kissing a slow line over Rayne's throat and the centre of his chest. His hands caressed down his body in a slow sliding motion. He took his time and he could feel the tension in Rayne the moment the cuffs were back in place. He knew his lover, unlike himself, did not care at all for being restrained. Maybe he could make Rayne forget about that for a little while, he hoped, as he let his lips stroke wetly over Rayne's taut quivering belly and stone-hard cock. 

Rayne froze for a second as the manacles clicked back into place. He tugged on them experimentally but the exhaustion of the last few days meant that he would probably have to push himself to the limit to break free of the shackles. The sight of Xavier crouching over him, gently kissing and caressing his trembling body, was distraction enough. His fingers curled around the chain connecting his wrist cuffs and he writhed between his lover's slim thighs, crying out with a pleasure that was only slightly tempered by regret at not being able to touch Xav as they made love together.

"Oh Jesus! That feels so..." He lost the rest of the sentence as the touch of Xavier's mouth drew the air from his lungs in an ecstatic rush.

Xavier hummed his agreement as he worked his lips and tongue down Rayne's shaft. He moved slowly up and down, drawing on him with gentle suction as he fondled and caressed the heavy globes of his balls. Rayne's little sounds of pleasure and the way his hips rolled let him know how much his efforts were appreciated by the little vampire. So did the little salty bursts of fluid across his tongue as he continued to nod up and down on him. 

Rayne turned his head into the crook of one pale, bare arm, biting himself to keep from crying out as Xav's soft mouth alternately drew on him and drenched him, giving him more joy with those simple, oral caresses than he had known in years. He ached to feel the young man's body moving in time with his own. When Xavier released his cock from the tender suction that held it captive and prowled like a hunting cat along the length of his caparisoned body, Rayne pulled on the cuffs for all he was worth. He was on fire, ravenous for the taste of his sweet, naked mate. The lust for blood was like an ache in his empty veins. Rayne wanted to throw him down and plunge into him like a diver into a clear, warm, welcoming pool. 

When Xav had Rayne wet and slick with saliva and cum he moved back up his body, kissing a trail up his torso until he straddled his hips again. Teasing his tongue across Rayne's lips he reached back and angled that turgid cock between his cheeks. As hot and ready as he was he still felt the burn as he pushed down and the head of Rayne's dick pushed past his ring. He stopped, his limbs trembling slightly and his eyes closed. After a moment or two he moved again, breathing deep and going slow as he impaled himself inch by slow inch.

As he felt Xav begin to slowly slide down on his throbbing shaft Rayne bucked like an unbroken colt, working his hips eagerly between the younger man's legs, driving his bolt deep and hard into the receptive heat of his mate's enticing body. 

"Oh... oh my... oh motherfuckin'god!" he groaned, in awe of the spell Xav's tight, sexy arsehole worked on his twitching cock. 

Fingers gripped the chains tightly and he used them now to brace himself as he thrust upward hard from the gut, moving his body in unison with Xavier's slow, smooth descent and rise on his aching dick. Rayne caught his breath, so overwhelmed by temptation that he could have wept. His eyes closed and he bit down hard on the cool flesh of his own arm once again.

Xavier's eyes opened so he could watch his beautiful lover. He had no doubt the cuffs were a good idea now, he didn't think Rayne would have been able to resist feeding on him if he were free. 

His hands swept over Rayne's bare chest in slow gentle caresses, fingers fanning out over his nipples as he rose and fell. He always felt like he was dancing in this position and he did so now, making each heated squeeze and thrust count for all he was worth. He slid a hand down his own torso, fingers lightly playing over the achingly hard rod jutting straight up from his groin. Any more and he was gonna cum too quick. 

His lean thighs gripped Rayne's hips and rode him with consummate skill while he looked on with hungry eyes. After a while he picked up his pace, coming down harder to met Rayne's increasingly desperate thrusts. He leaned forward slightly, changing their angle and letting his lover get deeper still. Every thrust hit up against that sweet spot inside. Xavier's hands fisted into the sheets on either side of Rayne's heaving body, his toes curled and his head dropped between his shoulders bringing his lips close to Rayne's again. 

"Uhhh… so-o-o close, I'm so close," he whispered, his lips just barely brushing over Rayne's. His lean young body tightened. "Ohh, I'm gonna come…uuhhhn!" 

"Hold it! Hold it! Hold it, please!" Rayne was surging furiously against him, painfully close but also ravenously hungry. His eyes glittered through the sweat damp cascade of his heavy forelock as he stared up into Xavier's slightly unfocussed gaze. "I want you to cum in my mouth," he exhaled, as the glint of his tongue stud flickered like a shooting star between slightly parted lips. Xav heard it click against his extended fangs as he whisked it back into his mouth. 

Xavier bit his bottom lip hard and squeezed his eyes shut, holding himself back by a thread. He ground against Rayne's thrusting cock harder and faster, his breath coming in short panting gasps until he felt Rayne's whole body go taut beneath him and he drove up so hard it made Xavier cry out. He barely managed to keep from blowing it as the warm pulses of Rayne's cum spurted deep inside him. He lifted off him far sooner then he normally would have, crawling two hurried paces on his knees until he straddled Rayne's heaving chest. 

Three quick hard strokes over his lover's soft, cool lips was all it took. Xavier's head tipped back, his teeth clenched tightly together to hold back the ecstatic cries of relief that rose from his chest. 

Rayne collapsed back into the soft caress of the mattress and pillows, his body quaking violently, hands shaking too much to grip the cuffs. He was spent and starving, thrown to the far extremes of hunger. When Xav shimmied up astride his chest he longed to run his hands slowly up the blond boy's thighs and pull him into an embrace that would end in ecstasy for both of them. 

Almost clumsily Xav managed to manoeuvre himself into position; although nothing that boy did could ever truly be described as awkward or clumsy. Still, they tumbled together and Rayne's lips parted to receive and embrace him, drawing him in, sucking long and slow on the delicious, salty heat of his sex. 

He could hardly refrain from whimpering with pleasure as he felt Xavier's gorgeous cock lurch and swell in his mouth. The waves of frantic relief emanating from his lover echoed his own as Xav spilled violently between his jaws, moving delicately between the pillars of his extended fangs. He was almost guided into the chasm of Rayne's throat by those two glistening, white dogteeth. 




Dark Paths Ch. 08



"...uuhhhh!" Rayne gulped ravenously, his eyes closing blissfully as the sweet/salt gift of his lover's cum rolled over the back of his tongue and down his throat. It soothed an itch inside him, not quite enough to take away the craving for blood, but it left him feeling less hungry; less nervy. 

He sucked on Xav gently now, like a sleepy child on its comforter, as his lover clung to the rail of the bed head above him, groaning ecstatically. 

Xavier's sides rose and fell like bellows and a sheen of perspiration made his skin glisten. The only thing keeping him from collapsing was his grip on the headboard. He'd been fucked raw all night, in just about every way imaginable, by a creature with hundreds of years' experience behind him, and Rayne was still better. Mind blowing! 

He didn't have a whole lot of time to contemplate that, however. Reluctantly he disengaged gently from the caress of Rayne's mouth, and with shaking fingers took the pendant back from around his neck. His kissed his lips once, sparing one more tender moment and soft smile before he set to work on getting Rayne out of the manacles yet again. 

Rayne's fingers curled around the rail above his head, clinging to it like a lifeline as his lover worked on the locks for the second time that evening. His eyes were closed but he could still feel Xav on his skin; breathe in his hot, delicious, well-fucked scent and sense the turbulent whirlpool of emotions churning in his breast as his heart pounded away. 

The lightly salty taste of Xavier's ejaculate was still swirling around over his tongue and in his mouth. It kept him from the edge of a violent blood-hunger, but he knew that before long he would still have to feed, no matter what happened. 

"You are so good to me," he growled huskily as the blond youth crouched over him, frowning sweetly at the stubborn lock.

Light blue eyes the colour of clear summer skies flicked to his, a curiously unreadable expression there for a moment before he gave him a small smile. His eyes moved back to his task and the lock clicked open. Xavier breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled the iron bracelets free and bent to kiss Rayne lightly. 

With a renewed sense of their dire situation Xavier lay back and let Rayne arrange him once more against the pillows with the manacle around his wrist but not clicked closed. He kept his worried thoughts to himself, there was no need to express the anxiety when Rayne was well aware of the precariousness they faced. Focusing on what little plan they did have Xavier slowed his breathing and relaxed back on the bed as much as possible. It was going to be very difficult to just lie there and play dead, but he was determined to try. 

Rayne slipped the manacles back onto his own wrists and loosely around his ankles. The anxiety in his face softened as he ran a hand slowly over Xavier's chest and belly, moving downward. 

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," he murmured huskily. "I really didn't want it to come to anything like this. And I know what fuckin' bastards they can... we can be. I'm such an idiot. And you've been so smart, so strong for me. Jesus!" 

He lowered his head, eyes closed, concentrating on the feel of Xavier's heartbeat. It was steadier now but still too fast under his caressing hand. Rayne felt weak and dazed. In his cold heart he had almost accepted that they were going to die here but sitting with Xavier's earnest, rapid pulse against his palm he could not let that happen. 

"When we get out of here I'll let you make it up to me." Xavier murmured back, a tender smile touching his lips. "I'll take you to bed and won't let you get up for a week."

Rayne's sorrowful expression said if we get out of here but he was good enough at least to keep the words to himself this time. 

The door opened and it was a good thing Rayne blocked him, it gave enough time for Xavier to close his eyes and let his expression go slack. He had no idea if his little act would be convincing, but lying absolutely still and hardly breathing was the best he could do.

Rayne dipped over him briefly, licking at his neck again then rising and half turning to face their nemesis, his expression carefully schooled to a perfect approximation of contrition.

"What have we here?" Elian murmured, bending to kiss the blood from his cold lips. "You started without me after all. He must be truly irresistible."

"You can do as you like with me," Rayne told him in a low voice, a hint of a warning growl there in spite of his resolve to be good. "But Xavier is mine. He carries my marks. Warren had no right to give him to you and you had no business using him like you did."

He shifted around, uncomfortable in his chains. Elian touched a fingertip to the crucifix around his neck. 

"He gave you a little gift before you drank from him?"

"I took it, to show how useless it would be against our kind," Rayne sneered, shaking his head. His hand still rested possessively on Xavier's chest and he willed the boy's heartbeat to slow even further now.

Yiannis cast a coolly appraising eye over the limp form of the beautiful blond boy on his bed. It was a pity really; the dancer had been very satisfying. He would have liked to enjoy him for a bit longer. 

"I think the matter of whom he belongs to will be a moot point shortly." His eyes came back to Rayne. "If you drank from him as deeply as I did, he's already dying." 

He reached for Rayne, already dismissing the mortal boy's imminent death as unimportant. "Come Rayne, forget the child. I've freed you from Coelho's not so tender mercies. It's time you showed a little gratitude."

Rayne turned his face away, unable to look at either of them. His tongue flickered across his lips, still tasting Xavier's blood there. He felt sick as he let the older Vampire paw at him. Defensively he drew up his loosely manacled hands to his chest, covering the crucifix that hung around his neck. He could still feel Xavier's urgent heartbeat and taste the boy's fear as he was certain Elian could too.  "I can't win, can I?" he responded bitterly. "I'm still a fucking slave no matter who claims to own me."

Elian looked at him as if he'd said something precious. 

"Of course, that is the way it has always been," he answered gently as he moved over the smaller vampire. "The strong always subjugate the weak. Isn't that how you treated your mortal boy? As if he were merely useful to you, taking what you needed, and he so sweetly offered? And when his life was what you needed, you took that too…" Elian slid his hands over Rayne's hips and thighs, moving in to fondle and stroke the growing bulge beneath the thin shorts. "Perhaps a few centuries from now your perspective will change, and we might have this conversation again with a different conclusion."

Rayne slumped back against the softness of the mattress and pillows beneath him. Already aroused by the contact with Xavier, he struggled now to shut out the touch of the Ancient's too-gentle hands on his body and the insidious promise of his words. He could not imagine being so callous that he could think of another living creature as dispensable. 

But then he was not a living creature. And everything the older Vampire did reminded him of that. He had to put an end to this, as soon as possible. No matter how kind Elian pretended to be towards him, if he yielded it meant the end for him and, more seriously, for Xav. At the same time he knew that if he let Elian push his knees back to mount him his line of attack would be compromised. And if he begged the older Vampire to unfasten the shackles on his feet Elian would know that they had already figured how to pick the locks. 

Fear and rage took over and weakened by torment and hunger he panicked and slipped the cuffs, snatching for the heavy pendant that lay on his breast. 

Rayne had the element of surprise. The stiletto blade was sprung and arcing toward Elian's chest before the Elder vampire reacted. The blade penetrated, sinking between his ribs an inch before he grabbed Rayne's wrist and sunk another half inch before he halted the progress. The gash opened, pouring blood as he yanked Rayne's wrist away. In a blink he had a snarling thrashing mass hurled at him and they tumbled off the bed and on to the floor. The Elder vampire could still hardly believe the attack. Or that the fledgling had been canny enough to try and trick him, the unlocked cuffs falling away as they fought.

Even more shocking was how close he had actually come to succeeding! Elian was crushing Rayne's wrist in his grip, trying to break his hold on the blade. His guards had heard the commotion and now burst through the door. They were immediately on Rayne. 

Xavier had bided his time, he knew he was more likely to get in Rayne's way than actually help him, but when the body guards came in it was time to act. In the corner of the room an ornamental table stood holding a vase. Xavier grabbed the table and swung it like a bat at the back of the head of one of the large vampires. It connected beautifully and smashed into pieces. 

Unfortunately it did not do the damage it might have to a mortal man. The vampire turned on him, snarling with fury and flung Xavier back with a casual sweep of his arm that sent him crashing into the far wall. 

Fury drove Rayne now and though he could not see what was happening on the other side of the room, he sensed it. Stupid of him to believe that they would be alone in the penthouse really. He saw that now, but reason was beyond him. The hilt of the knife was still wrapped in his tightly curled fingers. As the bodyguard tried to pull him off, and Elian fought to push him away, he struck out again and again at the older creature, screaming with a bloodlust he could barely contain each time the blade punctured soft tissue.

"Gonna fucking kill you! You are fucking dead! Dead!" he shrieked as the blows landed. 

Elian punched him, hard, in the face and the bodyguard wrapped one beefy arm around his neck and hauled him off. Rayne's teeth sank instinctively into the forearm across his throat and he was slammed to the floor, the heavy weight of the guard landing squarely on top of him. Elian aimed a hard kick at his side and then stepped on the struggling Fledgling's hand, grinding his heel and cracking bones until he released the crucifix. 

"Shiiiiiit! You miserable fucker!" Rayne cursed at him, still struggling for all he was worth, but there were two heavy, strong bodies holding him down now. Elian bent and picked up the blade. 

With an almost dismissive flick of his arm he brushed the two bodyguards off Rayne and flipped the little vampire to his back, falling on him like a hawk diving onto its prey. His handsome, serene features were twisted into a mask of black rage. 

"I should kill you," he hissed furiously. "Cut your pretty little head from your scrawny neck, ever so slowly." 

Rayne went for him again, snarling like an animal and Elian backhanded him hard, rocking his head back on his neck with a blow that certainly would have killed a mortal. The older Vampire looked distastefully now at the cross with the bloody blade protruding from its end. 

"Treacherous boy," he growled, though his tone was suddenly milder. He held Rayne down tightly. "Bring me the mortal. I will show him what I think of this pathetic little rat-sticker." 

"NO!" Rayne screamed at him, and his struggles renewed tenfold, but Elian had the upper hand. One of the bodyguards snatched Xavier up from where he lay crumpled by the wall. The world spun in dizzying circles for the blond boy as he was dragged over to Elian, and if he'd had anything in his stomach at all it would have come up. 

The burly vampire guard held his arms behind his back and Elian grabbed his very exposed parts none too gently. Xavier yelped in pain and fought the blackness that swam behind his eyes with desperate panic. 

"Seems you are not so near death after all. Maybe you will not be so clever as a eunuch, eh?" Elian pulled the tender flesh in his grasp forward and brought the knife up to meet it, keeping one knee firmly planted on Rayne's chest. 

"No! Nononononopleasedon't!" Xavier almost squeaked. "Please please don't!" 

Elian hesitated. If he followed through with this threat the boy would die of shock and blood loss within moments. He should not let his anger deny the pair a proper punishment. He slowly withdrew the blade. The tight squeeze he held Xavier's balls and cock in loosened slightly and became a rough caress. 

"I told you to make sure you took care of your lover Xavier. You failed to do that. Since you don't seem to want him, I will give you one more chance. Please my guard, Mikhail instead. Now!" 

Xavier gasped as he was shoved to his knees, fighting back the tears of pain that stung his eyes. With shaky hands he reached to unfasten the pants of the man that a moment ago had held him still while his boss threatened to castrate him. The vamp leered at him showing a lot of long, sharp teeth.

"NO!" Rayne bellowed at him again, finding the vocal reserves that had once stood him in good stead as a mortal. "Leave him alone! Xavier, don't! Don't do it." 

His groping hand found the chain and the wrist manacles that had slipped from his arms during the struggle and now he swung the heavy iron cuffs with all his remaining strength at Elian's head. They struck home with a solid crunch and he renewed his resistance at once, trying to grab for the crucifix, determined to hurt their captor even if he could not kill the bastard outright.

Xavier had only a second to decide what to do, and although his rational mind warned that only more pain and possible death would come from continuing to fight, the instinctual side was faster to act. He jabbed a fist into the vampire's vulnerable crotch. Apparently not even being Undead made a difference when it came to getting punched in the nuts. They guy went down with a wheeze clutching his crushed testicles. 

Xavier immediately scrabbled backwards. His hand landed on the crucifix at the same time he saw the other bodyguard leaping toward him. Xavier did not have time to wonder why the burly vampire seemed to be moving at mortal speed. Everything just seemed to happen at once.

The cuffs Rayne swung connected with Elian's head. Xavier turned towards them. The bodyguard leaped. Xavier raised the blade clutched in his grip and plunged down toward Elian's back. The heavy body slammed into Xavier from behind like a train wreck. The blade slid smoothly between Elian's ribs to the hilt and a hiss of fury escaped the Ancient Vampire's lips as he tried to twist around to find out what impertinent insect had attempted to sting him. Blood was streaming from the deep wound already slowly healing in his scalp. And then the wormwood injected into his heart kicked in.

The next several moments Xavier missed; he couldn't have said what happened. He was flat on his back on the floor. Rayne was out from underneath Elian. The bodyguard was holding the twitching, thrashing body of his employer in his arms, sucking on the wound in his back and spitting out the residue as if it was snake venom.

Rayne caught hold of Xavier and hauled him back towards the tall, narrow window, keeping himself between the boy and the trio of vampires. The one Xav had nutted was now glaring at them with real hatred in his eyes as he curled around his pulsating bollocks on the floor. 

"Nice move!" the breathless Englishman panted, casting a glance at his young partner in crime. 

Xavier was looking for an escape route. The three vampires were between them and the door. The balcony offered no way out either, unless they planned to jump to their death. Rayne might survive it, Xavier wouldn't. 

"They're gonna kill us," Xav murmured. 

Rayne gritted his teeth. The younger vampire was looking seriously unwell. The blood was still streaming from his nose and upper lip from the beating Elian had given him; the wounds resolutely refusing to heal. Still he was reluctant to concede defeat. Pulling himself to his feet, using the long, heavy drapes for support, an idea came to him and he hauled harder on the curtain, bringing the whole shooting match down on himself and Xavier, drapes, metal curtain pole and all. 

As the groaning bodyguard recovered and came limping after them with murder in his eyes. Rayne turned back to face him, swathed in dark material and wielding the broken curtain rail in both hands. 

"Stay behind me!" he yelled at Xavier as he ran towards the attacking Vampire, using his own impetus and that of the bodyguard to impale the creature through the chest on the jagged pole. 

It went down with a crash, taking Rayne with it as he struggled to get his weapon free. Already the second Vamp was on his feet, standing over the writhing body of his employer and Master and glaring at the pair who had caused so much devastation in such a short space of time. These guys were clearly not used to being disobeyed. 

The light seemed to dwindle in the room as Rayne wrestled on the floor with the felled Vampire and his colleague moved towards Xavier with bloodlust in his glittering eyes.

Xavier saw what Rayne was doing, the charge was meant not only to take one of their obstacles out but to move them toward the door. If they had one less against them this might have worked. The door was right there, just a short dash… and they didn't have a chance to make it. 

Xavier threw his arms up defensively as the vampire came at him. Teeth sank into the muscle of his forearm and the vampire shook his head like a vicious dog. Xav screamed with the sudden pain of it. 

Rayne was fighting the pole free even as the second bodyguard went for Xavier, fangs bared. He let go of his weapon and struggled to his knees, trying to get to him before he struck. And as he did so the world exploded around them. 

The windows burst inward from beyond the balcony where he suddenly saw the reason for the fading of the light. It was not the sun going down, there was a window-cleaner's hoist poised on its guy ropes just outside. Clay and Chavez were manning the ropes whilst Dominic and a small but achingly familiar figure trained a pair of incredibly futuristic looking assault rifles on the scene inside. He barely recognised his old friend; gone were the pristine suits replaced by pale jeans and a dark tee-shirt. Lord Warren's usually immaculate wave of silver hair was windblown into unruly curls. A smudge of grease smirched his handsome face and the customary teasing smile was replaced by a grim look of pure determination. There was a hard edge to his mouth and his eyes were screened by mirrored shades, as were those of his companion in arms. 

Rayne felt a hot wave of gratitude and relief wash over him when he set eyes on Mersen. And then he looked beyond the small, Irish psychopath who had his rifle sights trained on the vampire attacking Xav, to the tall, white-haired, semi-messianic figure between Mers and Warren. 

Jabez!

He had never in his life been so relieved to see his Sire as he was tonight. 

"Shoot the fucker, Mers!" Rayne screamed at him. "Do it now!"

The blast from the high-powered semi-automatic in his hands not only blew the bodyguard away, it sent him crumbling to dust in moments. Rayne stepped forward, taking Xavier in his arms and shielding him as Dominic opened fire on the other bodyguard, struggling to rise from the floor.

Elian Iannopoulos suddenly rose from the ground like he was pulled up on strings. He did not look well. His pale skin was a mottled gray and his veins were visible just under his skin, black and writhing with the poison coursing through his system. The flesh on his face had thinned back into a tight mask over his skull. 

Yiannis smelled death in the air, the possibility of his own, final end. The possibility was as interesting a thing as had happened in centuries. And all for the sake of one mortal boy. It was too ironic not to laugh. 




Dark Paths Ch. 08



Xavier shuddered in Rayne's arms. Blood was pouring from the gashes in his forearm where the vampire had bitten him but he didn't feel it yet. He was still on the idea that he was not being ripped to shreds. Rayne held the boy tightly, whispering consoling nonsense in his ear the whole time, stroking him and feeling the shudders course through his lean, nude body. He closed his eyes.

Jabez would be furious with him, but hopefully not as furious as he was with Iannopoulos.

A hush settled on the room as the dust of the two extinguished vampires settled with it. Now the tall, white maned Ancient stepped down from the hoist and picked his way through the broken glass like a white panther (which Rayne knew to be one of his shifted forms). He ignored his trembling Fledgling and the naked boy completely. 

"Yiannis," he said in a deep, sonorous tone that carried throughout the vast bedchamber, "You have something that belongs to me. I have come to retrieve it."

Yiannis laughed again, a rueful chuckle, sharp around the edges with bitterness. "It took you long enough to come and claim him, Jabez. Take the ungrateful wretch then. For once I will agree with Coelho, he is more trouble than he is worth." The words were not spoken with venom, they sounded tired, and maybe slightly disappointed. Elian had after all gone to the trouble of procuring him, and not even gotten to try him, except for that sweet mouth. That reminded him…

As Rayne moved past Elian with his arms still protectively around Xavier he snagged the boy's arm, lightening quick. It was certainly a risk with those weapons trained on him, but he was betting they wouldn't risk hitting Wylde and the kid after going to the trouble of mounting a rescue. 

"Not him. He stays." He glowered at Rayne. "He still owes a debt for my freeing you from Coelho." 

Rayne's head came up and he glared at the older Vampire, fangs extended again. He pulled Xav back towards him, perhaps a little more forcefully than he had intended and a tug of war ensued over the boy. 

"You've got a fuckin' nerve after what you promised Lagrado!" Rayne snarled. "He's mine and he's coming with me! I didn't make any deal with you, Elian. And you've had your fun with Xavier already. Enough is enough!"

There was another tense moment in the room. Elian's eyes flicked to the assault rifles, as if debating, and finally he released Xavier's arm reluctantly. The boy immediately wrapped his arms around Rayne again.

"You can hardly blame me for wanting to keep him." Elian said mildly. His reaction showed that unlike Lagrado this wasn't about pride or territorial rights for Yiannis. It was all just a game. Something to keep him amused. 

"You've 'ad your fun!" Rayne was still glaring at him. "Don't push it!"

"We shouldn't hang around up here," Dominic called from the window. He was still watching the door in case there was any further interruption from one of Elian's guards. 

"That's right," Rayne sneered, his eyes still fixed on the older Vampire. "Cos you're expecting a visitor, aren't you Yiannis? An old friend, coming to get what's owed him!"

Elian's indolent smile became more calculating. "Ah yes, the Sun is almost down… Coelho will be here soon… are you sure you don't want to stay? You and your boy can reminisce with Steffen. Perhaps he will bring Jeanette on a leash too. He won't come here without a sizeable entourage." And now it became very obvious just how calculating and manipulative this master Vampire could be. He had planned this, to a degree, guessing that Dominic would not trust him, would come back with force. If Dominic was still here when Coelho and his group arrived, there would be a blood bath, the outcome of which did not matter at all to Elian Iannopoulos. If Coelho was killed it would be a coup. If he killed Dominic Warren instead Lagrada-Diaz would crow about it for a long time, and likely remember who had delivered the sorcerer up to him. 

Even if they left this minute Elian stood to gain, as Coelho was certain to give chase.

At the mention of Steffen and Jeanette Xavier had gone very still, a soft sound catching in his throat. He had no energy left in him to think about the possibility of revenge. He had no desire to face the man that brutalised him or the one that ordered it. He couldn't even make his mind think about being near the rotted corpse thing that was Jeanette. He'd had enough, he wanted out of here. His clothes had been tossed onto a chair in a corner and he slipped from Rayne's arms to go and get them, literally preferring to walk across glass than stay another minute in a room where Cole Lagrado was expected. 

"Let's just go. Can we go now?" Xavier said rapidly as he shimmied his bruised body as quickly as he could into his clothes. "Rayne? C'mon, let's leave…" He was still shaking, couldn't seem to stop. He was hurt, and scared. The pleading note in his voice though was because he had the sneaking suspicion that Rayne was now actually thinking of staying to face Lagrado, and Xavier wasn't about to leave without him again. 

"Are you going to explain that remark, or do we have to speculate until Lagrada Diaz arrives and attempts to mow us down?" Rayne's tall, imperious sire asked coolly. He had said very little thus far and now all eyes in the room moved towards him at once.

His Fledgling shrugged awkwardly. 

"Cole's coming here for him," he said, pointing at Lord Warren with a serious look on his exhausted face. "Elian made a deal with him. Lady Warren was my bride-price, if you like."

Dominic caught his breath, a short sound that was half gasp, half laugh. Jabez was not laughing though, there was imminent thunder in his narrowed amber eyes.

"Is this true?" That gaze moved to Elian's cynical face at once.

The wormwood poisoning his system had metabolised already and like a man smoothing the lapels of his suit Elian was just as suddenly normal and healthy looking again, his smile making his handsome face attractive. 

"That Coelho knows Warren is in the city, yes, that is true. That he is paranoid and mistrustful of me enough to come here instead of waiting for me to bring the mage to him, most definitely true," Yiannis said, unperturbed. 

A soft snort came from Xavier. "Figures. You're lucky you're a vampire you slimy bastard. If you went around reneging on all your deals in the street someone would'a put a cap in your ass an tossed you in the Bay a long time ago."

Despite the tense mood there were a few snickers. 

Surprisingly, this muttered comment was the first to put a dent in the cool façade Elian had been projecting. "And what would you know of honour? The get of a whore! A drug addict! A stripper and a catamite yourself. There is no dishonour in not keeping a deal made with a mortal, or an enemy." 

Xavier's eyes were hot with hatred, not for the words he said, but because Elian had raided his head for that information and they both knew it. Then his expression smoothed, and he tilted his head slightly. 

"At least I'm honest. I can say I'm afraid. You, on the other hand, are stalling us hoping these guys will stay and kill Cole Lagrado for you. You're not just a slimy bastard you're chicken shit too!" 

Elian's smile was very sharp, almost a snarl, but he did not move. His eyes flicked from the impudent boy to the guns and back and then slowly his expression changed to one of surprise as he took in Xavier's stance and bearing. Not one of aggression, but braced, ready… anticipating. 

"You're baiting me," he said, and almost sounded delighted about that. "My, but you really are a treacherous boy. You would do well as a vampire," he chuckled. 

Rayne moved between them again, shaking his head slowly. 

"Don't even think about it!" he warned, his voice lowering to a growl that said, weak or not, he would fight to the death to prevent Elian Turning Xav.

Jabez had already returned his attention to Lord Warren. 

"You should get out of here," he advised gravely. "Take the boy and go back with McNamara in the car. We will wait for Lagrada-Diaz."

"No. No fucking way. I'm not gonna go sit it out and wait to see who lives and who dies." Xavier said. 

Rayne caught his upper arms and shook him, possibly the first time the younger Vampire had ever been rough with him, outside of their lovemaking.

"This is very simple," he yelled. "You go. You live. That should be all that fucking matters, Xav. You know these guys don't fight clean. Go down with Dominic to the car and let us sort this out."

Xavier ignored the way Rayne's grip sent shards of pain through his injured arm. The vicious bite Elian's goon had given him had stopped gushing blood, but the wound wasn't closing. He brought his hand up to brush his fingers along Rayne's cheek. 

"Haven't we already played this game? You're not going to toss me out while you take the fall, again." Xavier said stubbornly. "Have you noticed you're not healing either? You need to feed. The only way I'm leaving is if you come with me." 

His mate's forehead touched his own and Rayne leaned into him as he absorbed the words. The vice-like grip on the boy's arms slackened and the Vampire pleaded with him; "Xav, I can't protect you here. I can't even protect myself. If anything else happened to you and it was my fault... I feel sick thinking about it, sweetheart."

"All the more reason for you to come with me." Xavier said. "Either come with me, or they can give me a gun and I'll stay. I'm not leaving you behind again."

Across the room another argument was breaking out to add fuel to the fire. 

"I'm staying right here," Lord Warren was insisting. "If it comes to a fight, you guys need someone who can shoot straight!"

Mersen gave him a look that was, fortunately for the older man, shielded by his mirror shades. The Irishman said nothing but he didn't need to. 

"Both of you. Quiet!" Jabez intoned crisply. 

The tall, long haired Ancient put a hand on Xavier's shoulder, not pulling him away but making it plain from the firm gesture that he expected to be followed. Now he looked up at Dominic seriously. 

"The boy needs someone to protect him," he declared. "Someone who has experience of fighting the Undead. We brought arms in the lift contraption. We have enough to defend this position. You still have weapons in the car. Take Xavier down to the basement and keep him safe. We will join you there as soon as the situation with Coelho has been stabilised."

Dominic opened his mouth to argue but Jabez had already turned away from his mortal lover and was staring intently down at Xavier. His eyes were the colour of newly forged gold, blending darkness and light simultaneously. The expression on his handsome face was tolerant yet impossibly solemn.

"Child, you will go with him," he said purposefully. "I will carry no passengers with me here tonight. If you cannot fight you will die. And the dead will be disposed of. When our kind declare war we leave no traces for the mortal law enforcers to pick over. Do you understand?"

Xavier stared back, wanting to say…something, but he couldn't seem to get his tongue unglued from the roof of his mouth. He looked into the vampire's eyes and was drowning in pools of molten gold. His own eyes looked back like a doll's eyes, pretty and blank. He nodded as if his head was on a string. 

Rayne knew what his Sire was doing and he was powerless to stop it happening. He tried his hardest to smile as Xav let himself be ushered out into the lobby, for the kid's sake as much as his own. It was for the best, he really did believe it. But he could not get over the horrible feeling that this might be the last time he ever saw Xavier's face. As the door closed he shut his eyes, cursing silently.

"I'm doing this for him," Jabez said frostily, breaking his contemplation. "And I meant what I said about passengers. Bailing you out is becoming trying. This time you keep up or you get left behind."

"I didn't ask you to come here," Rayne said atonally. 

"No, but you phoned Warren and you knew what would happen if it came to an all out war," Jabez turned his back on his Fledgling, his expression unreadable. 

Mersen was on the hoist, already explaining to Chavez and Clay how the guns operated. As Rayne walked out to the broken window, still seething silently, the little Irishman thrust a weapon into his hands. 

"The kickback is minimal but the ammo is frickin' lethal," he said curtly. "Designed it me'self. It'll explode on impact so make sure that what you hit is what you intended to hit."

"Explode...?" Rayne looked a question at him. 

"Aim for the head," Mersen advised. "Try not to do it at close range though, it'll probably take yours with it."

"Jesus!" The little vampire peered down the sights speculatively. 

"You ever fired a gun before?" Mersen was loading another weapon, slotting the long, clear-glass bullets into the breach carefully as if they were solid gold. 

"Apart from on the funfair as a kid?" Rayne shook his head, feeling sick. He had killed Vampires before but not like this, not in such a clinical, production line fashion. 

"It'll be a short learning curve then," the terse little mercenary flashed back at him. 

And then, outside their window, darkness began to fall and the waiting was brought to an end.

GOING DOWN:

Xavier lost time again, like he had at the club. One minute he was in the bedroom, and the next he was standing with Dominic at the door of the apartment. He struggled hard against the drowning feeling that wanted to suck him down, the compulsion that carried him forward like a docile lamb. He managed to stop and look back over his shoulder by sheer force of will, his worried eyes seeking out Rayne and locking with his for a moment. He managed to convey in that one glance how immeasurably unhappy he was about this, and then he was in the elevator, stepping out into the cool gloom of the parking garage with Lord Warren. 

"Damn it!" He cursed on a sharply indrawn breath. He felt like he'd just broke the surface from a long dive. 

"I love him to bits, but I fucking hate the way he does that!" Dominic almost put the words into his mouth as he swept the arm not occupied by a weapon around Xavier's shoulders and scooped him out of the elevator. Somehow the profanity sounded out of step with his cut-crystal accent.

Xavier didn't pull away but he stiffened slightly. He hadn't exactly forgiven Dominic for offering him up as bait, even if he had gone along with it. The older man's expression told him that Dominic was conscious of his feelings but Lord Warren did not try to apologise or make any excuses. He too seemed irritated at the way in which Jabez so casually dismissed them. They walked down the row of parked cars to a black SUV with equally black tinted windows. As they approached, the driver's door opened and PJ stepped out. Xavier brightened a bit, offering a wan smile, genuinely glad to see the older man. He took another couple steps and threw his arms around him in a spontaneous embrace. 

"Good to have you back, Tiger!" Paddy sighed into his hair, holding him tightly for a moment or two. "We missed you, honey."

Xavier's lighter mood did not last long. They got into the car and Xav immediately tried to talk them into letting him go back up. He might as well have saved his breath; neither man was going to let him out of their sight. 

"You heard what Jabez said," Dominic told him seriously as he slipped into the driver's seat before PJ could claim it back. He was playing with the ignition and getting a feel for the controls as PJ hopped up into the third of the front seats by the passenger door and offered Xav a look of quiet solidarity. 

Xavier was so fed up with being treated like a kid he was choking on it. He had survived the horror and brutality that Cole Lagrado had put him through, let Iannopoulos treat him like a piece of meat to get Rayne free, and had made a decent showing in a fight with three vampires armed only with some furniture and the equivalent of a pen knife! Yet he was sent away like he was less than useless and was being babysat by Nanna and Pop! Despite being very glad to see PJ again he sat sullenly in the car and seethed silently at having to sit like an old lady while his friends might be dying. He was so angry and frustrated he could almost cry, as if it would do any good. Instead he held out his arm while Paddy used the vehicle's first aid kit to clean and bandage his wound. 

There was a pistol lying on the dash in front of him that Dominic had given him as soon as they got into the SUV. PJ finished strapping his arm. And then they had nothing to do but wait, mostly in silence, Dom and PJ occasionally making polite small talk, each surveying the low-lit basement carpark through the tinted windows, alert for the slightest movement. 

Xavier said nothing after having given up trying to convince them to let him go back. It must have been at least twenty minutes, maybe longer, since they'd come down to the car. Xavier was trying hard to pick up any little bits he could from Ray, but he got nothing. He was not to know that his friend was shielding his own thoughts and emotions in order to be virtually invisible to the intruders on the upper storeys of the apartment block.

A sound outside the car drew his attention, his head turned toward the passenger side window just as the driver's side exploded inward in a shower of glass. There was a short burst of gunfire from the muzzle of Dominic's rifle, but the assailant was too close. A hand grabbed the muzzle of the gun and yanked it out of his grasp. Lord Warren swore virulently and powered up the engines of the heavy black car, throwing it into reverse and sending the SUV backward in a cloud of tyre smoke and exhaust. 

They travelled about twenty meters in a straight line, then something heavy landed on the roof, buckling it inward. Xavier grabbed the pistol next to him as the butt end of the rifle smashed down in a clean arc through the broken window, slamming into the side of Dominic's face. The older man crumpled over the steering wheel with a grunt of pain and surprise. 

PJ fired past him through the window before Xavier had a chance to take aim and then the door was jerked open and Warren was pulled from the vehicle. It happened so fast! They couldn't risk a shot with Dom in the way. Xavier and PJ both scrambled out the other side, using the still smoking SUV for cover. 

The vampire dropped like a stone from above them, no sign of Dominic. Steffen grabbed PJ by the throat, as he was closer to the back of the car. Xavier brought the pistol up but he already had PJ in front of him, blocking his shot. It was only then that Xavier realised who it was that had his friend. He felt the air seep out of his lungs. 

Steffen had Warren's assault rifle in one hand, the muzzle jammed up under PJ's chin. Xavier pointed the pistol at the vampire's head. They were only a few feet apart. 

"Drop your weapon." Steffen snarled. 

Xavier stood frozen, his hand remarkably steady considering the stark terror gibbering inside of him. 

"Do not be foolish. I will kill him." Steffen said evenly. 

"Ignore him Xavier. Shoot the fucker!" PJ said grimly.

Xavier didn't move, but his eyes slid to Paddy's serious blue-grey eyes for just a second, long enough to register the dread and also a sense of resignation in his gaze, and then they flickered back to Steffen. 

"Let him go. Let him go and I'll put the gun down." 

Steffen's laugh sounded more like a harsh caw. He jammed the muzzle of the shotgun gun harder under PJ's chin. 

"I'll kill him and take my chances. Decide now. Drop the weapon or he dies this minute." 

There was tense moment of utter stillness. Xavier could hear his own uneven breathing and the beating of his heart. He looked at PJ again and then back at Steffen. He believed the vampire would kill his captive, and he was not ready to see his friend's brains blown out with a high-powered rifle. He swallowed hard and lowered the gun, dropping it from nerveless fingers. He couldn't let PJ be killed. 




Dark Paths Ch. 09



DARK PATHS – BY SADIE ROSE BERMINGHAM & BELLORA QUINN © 2008/9

Ladies and Gentlemen of the audience, our story is nearing its finale. Again, we would like to give our congratulations and thanks to everyone who has stuck with us this far, through the darkness and the violence in hope of a bit more hot sex. Our protagonists would like to point out that it's quite difficult to have hot sex when you're hurt and exhausted, but they're working on it! But I digress... Lagrado is coming and outside the darkness is falling. I think it's safe to say that there's going to be a fair amount of violence and gory retribution in this chapter too but there will be a conclusion of sorts as well. We both sincerely hope that you all enjoy it and find it worth waiting for. 

As usual, the characters and events of this story are the intellectual property of Sadie & Bellora. Please do not reproduce or redistribute this material in any form without first asking our permission. For one, it's polite and we like politeness. And for another, we'll get very tetchy on yo asses if you don't... and you really don't want that to happen. xx S&B

And so, without further ado...

CHAPTER NINE – TO THE GRAVE

Cole Lagrado did not trust Yiannis. He had not liked the fact that the Elder vampire would not tell him where Dominic Warren was hiding, and he did not believe for a moment that Yiannis did not know. In fact, he was almost certain that he would find the mortal mage with Elian Iannopoulos. Consequently he arrived early for their appointment and brought a dozen of his vampires with him. They separated quickly once inside the building where Iannopoulos had his apartment, dividing up all possible routes to the ground floor; elevators, service hoists, and stairs. Each was remarkably clean of surveillance, which only served to make Cole even more suspicious. Something did not smell right. 

At the top floor he paused and turned to his lieutenant, Steffen. 

"Wait here," he said, posting an enforcer at the elevator to make sure it stayed clear. 

He did not wait for an invitation to enter the apartment. The main door was kicked open, splintering on its hinges as his people poured into the suite.

The curtains in the open plan apartment were all drawn (conveniently hiding the damage... and the snipers lurking behind them) and Elian Iannopoulos looked up from his apparently casual pose on the lounger as his uninvited guests burst into the room. 

"Coelho," he remarked smoothly. "What a surprise. You could have called up and I would have come downstairs to greet you."

Behind one set of curtains, Mersen crouched with Chavez at his side, both squinting down the sights of their rifles through chinks in the curtains. Clay and Rayne were poised behind the other curtain, the big black armed with a pair of hand guns and Rayne gripping a rifle in both hands to try and stop them shaking. He was painfully conscious of the fact that he had never shot anyone in cold blood before. Ripped them apart, yes, but not like this. 

Hanging from a belt that he had purloined from Chavez before they split up was another ingenious little toy, one that he preferred by far. It looked like a glue-gun but was loaded with a hollow needle filled with acid. Mersen had assured him that, injected into the base of the skull at close range it would melt the head of a vampire faster than he could heal it. Rayne could think of quite a few Undead that he'd love to test the theory out on right now. 

He knew that Jabez was out there somewhere, lurking almost silently in the shadows, waiting to pounce. The warning to be careful what he aimed for was a serious one. Now hunger was forgotten as they assessed the very real and present danger. There were at least six vampires in the room, spreading out, feeling for trouble. Cole Lagrado made seven and from the commotion they had heard lower down as the vampires made their way to the penthouse, there were probably more circulating in other parts of the building. 

He saw one of the wary creatures circle too close to the curtain hiding Mers and Chavez and suddenly an explosion rent the stillness of the room and the vampire's scream was cut off as his skull exploded in flames. 

Even the stoical Clay turned a little paler under his gleaming blue-black skin. 

"Effective!" Rayne conceded almost soundlessly. And then he had one in his sights and he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger as all hell broke loose in the room.

Gunfire was suddenly returned, the heavy curtains were ripped down from their moorings. Cole Lagrado ignored the assassins for now, in favour of the smug Ancient. His weapon came to hand and he took aim at Elian with a snarl of hatred on his face. 

As he did so a long low growl echoed his own and something roughly the shape of a white panther and the size and weight of a Hummer sprang from the shadows with jaws and talons fully extended. It dropped onto Lagrado like a hawk onto prey, ripping into the vampire with savage hatred. 

"What the fuck was that?" Clay exhaled, taking a pop at another vamp that got too close to the alcove where he and Rayne were holed up. 

"Go Daddy!" Rayne Wylde said with a cold, fanged smile. 

On the far side of the room a vampiress pounced, shifting shape as she went for Jabez Everman's thrashing panther form. Mersen's rifle moved with her and she exploded into flames before she even reached the fight down on the floor.

Elian watched the battle with a dispassionate eye, carefully staying out of the line of fire. The tide had not yet turned one way or the other, and yet when he saw the gun barrel levelled at Rayne Wylde with a clear shot he found himself moving. He hit the gun hand as the shot was fired, the bullet lodging just north of Rayne's head instead of right between his eyes. Perhaps it was merely the heat of the battle but he found it rather satisfying as he broke the neck of Coelho's man and dropped him to the ground. 

Briefly, the young English vampire's pale eyes met his own in a moment of silent acknowledgement. The room was a scene of total destruction. Smoke blew on the breeze from the shattered windows. Clay, grim-faced and solemn, put a terminal bullet in the skull of the creature Elian had felled but he too fought shy of raising his weapons against the Ancient. 

In the centre of the room, beyond the foot of the bed, Jabez and Lagrado rolled and snarled in a tangle of powerful limbs, talons and fangs. Both Vampires had shifted now, Coelho's form that of a huge grey wolf, certainly larger than any found in nature. The white panther was stalking him, bloodied jaws gaping in a feral snarl, all four paws stained red with the gore of his opponent. But he was rent and bleeding himself, his handsome hide torn in the fight.

Mersen manoeuvred around them seeking a clean shot that would not also wipe out his boss. Chavez stuck to him like glue, guarding the Irishman's back determinedly. They had already wiped out at least five of Lagrado's vanguard and a couple had retreated seeing that things were going badly. The Hispanic youth was taking potshots at one who had shifted into a form that resembled a cross between a wildcat and a pterodactyl. She kept on dive-bombing them from the relative safety of the vaulted ceiling until Mersen lost patience with her and with Chavez for wasting expensive ammunition and swung his barrel high to fell her with two deadly shots to the head and back.

Lagrado took that moment to charge, but it was a desperate strike. What had seemed a more than ample reconnaissance group had been reduced to dust around him with alarming speed. His jaws locked onto flesh and he shook his head, ripping and tearing, trying for maximum damage. He felt the other beast bite down on him as well, only Everman's fangs had found the more vital area of his throat. No, he did not need to breathe, even in this form, but having his throat ripped out would severely hinder him. 

He held on for one reason. Another powerful wolf was about to leap on the great cat's back. If he got hold of the back of the neck he might snap it, that would at the very least force Jabez Everman back into human form. 

The second wolf did not get the opportunity to try for glory however. Elian caught the beast mid leap, hurling it across the room where the violence of its impact with the formerly immaculate cream coloured wall sent it quivering into the shadows with its tail between its legs. 

"No... no..." he scolded. "No ganging up! Lagrado holds this city on his own, or he dies." 

"Why can't you do stuff like that?" Clay asked Rayne, more bemused than afraid by this point. 

The little English vampire laughed breathlessly, leaning against Clay's broad back to reload his weapon. "Who says I can't? Do you feel safer now?"

His companion looked dubiously at him. But then they were under attack again as the second wolf, frustrated at being thwarted decided to go for easier meat. It sprang and brought the mortal down. Clay struggled to force one of his handguns between the creature's jaws to stop it snapping at his neck. As they rolled together on the floor, Rayne discarded the rifle altogether as too clumsy for the task and snatched the modified hypodermic from his belt. He waited until the wolf rolled to a crouch over its struggling quarry and came in from behind whilst it was demolishing Clay's gun between powerful jaws. 

The needle punched into the back of its neck just beneath the cranium. For a moment nothing happened and Rayne was just scrabbling backwards on his arse, reaching for the rifle again when the wolf began to jerk spasmodically. It's jaws flexed and it drooled a bloody mass of gore and saliva then began to shrink before their eyes. The fur contracted around slowly melting muscle and skin. It's eyes rolled frantically in it's head as it uttered a long, strangled howl of anguish and then the head itself began to disintegrate, falling in on itself and collapsing onto the struggling body of its astonished victim. 

Clay slapped the cascade of melting fur and flesh off his burly chest with a disgusted oath. He rolled clear and threw up at once, shaking his head furiously as if he could get the sight out of his mind that way. 

"Eww!" Rayne said in a small voice, not sure if he was appalled or impressed by the effectiveness of this new toy.

Blood poured in a fountain down the chest of the grey wolf that was Cole Lagrado; poured so heavily he was losing the energy it took to stay in this form. He was forced back into his human body, still being mauled by the white cat. His hand clawed ineffectively at the beast as he thrashed under its greater weight. The cat's head pulled back and took the entire front half of his throat with it. 

Cole's body spasmed, arcing in a bow on the floor. He aged a hundred years in the space of just a few moments. Now it was not simply a fight between him and the other vampire, he had to fight his own body that threatened to cast him into a state of torpor in order to begin the regeneration process. With a startling realisation he saw that he was beaten. He had lost everything. The world greyed and then turned black. His shrivelled body lay still and unmoving, even the brightly coloured gore drying and turning to dust. 

There was a single vampire left from Cole Lagrado's contingent. He now threw himself to the floor with his hands raise for mercy, pleading; "Don't kill me, don't kill me..."

As the panther slowly shifted back to human form too, Mersen moved to cover him, pulling the Ancient's long coat around his blood soaked shoulders. Jabez knelt for a while with his hands on the slowly withering body of his vanquished opponent, head down, long white hair streaked with crimson blooms. Chavez, who was taking his role as Mersen's lieutenant very seriously, stood over the cowering survivor and probed the back of his skull with the muzzle of his rifle to make sure that he understood his situation perfectly.

As Clay picked himself up and dusted bits of melted vampire off his clothing, his cellphone began to play Kylie's 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' and he answered it quickly, looking embarrassed as the others rolled their eyes.

"How many came with you?" Mersen was asking their captive as Rayne sat down on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands, exhaustion and hunger finally beginning to blur his vision.

"He did what?" Clay barked into the cell at the same time. "Where's the bastard taken him?"

At once Rayne's head came up again. He knew without asking that the big man was talking about Xav. His shields crumbled and as he began to calculate who was missing from Cole Lagrado's closest followers a cold sense of dread filled him at once. Where was Steffen? Surely a creature who loved to inflict pain the way Steffen did would be here tonight? 

"What's happened? Where are they?" he demanded as Clay closed the call, looking stunned, and relayed PJ's news.

Elian Iannopoulous eyed the cowering vampire, then glanced at Rayne. 

"Steffen has the boy then? How interesting." He turned his head slightly. "He must be very desperate, or perhaps he just wants to make his last victim count." A little pause, and then he twisted the knife. "Maybe you should have let the whore stay here after all." 

Rayne didn't bother with personal remonstrations this time. He went for Elian with his fangs bared. After the last few days that was a jibe too far and he was not going to stand here and take it. He was just sorry that he had blown the acid dart on another vampire or it would have been in the smug Ancient's right ear by now. Let Iannopoulos wipe the floor with him, he was past caring. 

He went for the throat, eyes blazing. 

Elian caught Rayne about the neck, jerking him right off his feet. One hand slid up his back and lodged in his hair keeping the smaller vampire from biting him. It did not stop Rayne trying and he snapped and clawed at Yiannis for almost a minute like a little dog held in the air by it's owner but still trying to fight.

"Tch... no control at all. Is this your way of begging me to go and rescue him for you? It's rather lacking in finesse, if you ask me." Mindful that Jabez was still watching intently Elian did not throw the fledgling across the room, but he was sorely tempted. "You're wasting time. How long do you think it will take Steffen to feel safe enough to stop? And do you really think he will simply sit idle and wait when he has such a pretty diversion at hand?" 

He finally shoved Rayne away, hard, but not hard enough to cause damage. Clay caught the younger vampire before he fell but held onto him not wanting to see him throw himself at Elian again. He suspected that the Ancient might not be so tolerant a second time. 

"Your blood tie is strong enough, go and find him." Elian invited, exasperated. 

The challenge was nearly enough to make his opponent rise. Rayne closed his eyes and both Ancients felt the shimmer of energy in the room as he reached for the level of consciousness that would let him shift his form. Jabez was on his feet in an instant, catching his fledgling by the chin and lifting his head. 

"NO!"

Rayne shuddered and opened his eyes, but there was no fight in them, he was just too tired. The energy diffused and he slumped into his mentor's bloody arms shaking his head. 

"Little fool!" Jabez said in a grim tone, but his expression told another story. There was a weary tenderness in his eyes as he looked down on his sole surviving Fledge. "Do you think I came all this 

way to see you die in your motley bird form on some godforsaken roadside?"

Elian looked at Rayne and his Sire and knew that he was asking the impossible. Oh, the Fledge might be able to track Xavier still, but not in time. If Rayne had fed before now things might have been different but Elian hadn't let him... or rather, the Elder had given him an impossible choice to make. And so... Elian sighed heavily. 

"Fine, I will retrieve the boy then." 

Elian Iannopoulos had quite possibility the smoothest transformation process of any vampire. There was no awkward rearranging of limbs, no melting down and reforming, it seemed as if he simply flowed from one form into another like water from a pitcher to a glass. In the few strides that took him from his living room to the balcony he shifted from human form into a large snowy owl without pause and without any hesitation between walking and flying. 

The beautiful bird of prey did not look back as it soared through the broken window, over the edge of the balcony and off into the night. The owl used little effort in its flight; large silent wings carried it along on eddies and currents of night air. He drifted over the city and out across the bay, shunning the harsh cries of the curious gulls that came close but not close enough to run the gauntlet of his fearsome talons. His wings carried him higher into a quieter, hillside area, following instinct and the soft pull of the boy he sought. 

PJ &DOMINIC:

Beyond the ruined people-carrier, in the smoke-filled basement, Dominic Warren scrambled from vehicle to vehicle to reach PJ where he lay on the concrete floor, groaning and cursing alternately. Lord Warren was bleeding from the blow to his head and also from a nasty looking bite mark on his neck, but he managed to get to his feet now as the stolen SUV screeched out of the basement carpark.

"Fuck!" he swore with more feeling than the other man had ever heard from him. "I think he's got the kid."

"What do we do?" PJ had managed to pull himself to his knees but he was hurt and Dominic was torn between hotwiring a car and going after the boy, or getting him out of here. Either response meant leaving Jabez and the others to get away on their own, which had not been the plan. Furthermore, the rest of their arsenal was in the trunk of that hijacked vehicle.

"Come on," the Englishman said determinedly, crouching to help PJ to his feet. "Where's your gun?"

Paddy pointed back towards the spot where the SUV had been idling moments before. His rifle had skidded under a parked BMW and Dom grabbed it now and used the butt to smash the driver's side window. 

"What the f...?" PJ exclaimed. "You can't do that, man!"

"I just did," Dominic was already in the car and had half the dash in pieces as he picked his way through the security wiring. "Get in!" he ordered as the 3.6 litre engine growled into life. "Oh for fuck's sake, Patrick! This is the 21st century, the owner's probably got more insurance than British Airways!"

XAV:

Steffen kept the rifle pointed at Xavier and drove with the other hand. The boy had put his seatbelt on and sat white knuckled as Steffen pushed the powerful SUV to greater and greater speeds, forcing it to the very limits of it's ability. Xavier clenched his teeth and had to squeeze his eyes shut as they took a hairpin turn fast enough that he was sure they were going to roll. 

"If you wanted to keep me alive for some reason it's not going to work if you wreck."

"Who says I want you alive?"

"Well, you haven't killed me yet." Xavier pointed out, more blandly than he felt. 

"Yet... indeed." Steffen said. "Your friends have killed Lagrado."

That was news to him but Xavier found no time for exultation. 

"Is Rayne alright?" He asked it before he could stop himself.

"I do not know, nor do I care." Steffen sneered. 

"Let me go. All they wanted was Lagrado dead. If you just disappear no one will go after you."

Steffen gave a short bark of bitter laughter. "The new Master of the city will not allow the previous Master's associates to live. You are my bargaining chip." 

"You are a complete idiot, do you know that?!" Xavier snapped, and tried not to shriek like a girl when they clipped the front end of a parked car and barrelled through an intersection on a red light. "If you just let me go they won't come after you. You keep me and they will hunt you down and kill you just like Lagrado." 




Dark Paths Ch. 09



"If they are unwilling to bargain I will indeed most likely die, but not before I enjoy killing you first," Steffen told him coldly.

Xavier did not need to hear that. They had headed out across the Bay Bridge onto the interstate and the car was powering up into the hills now. Traffic was lighter. He saw his chances of being rescued dimming, his chances of surviving - even if the others did catch up - even slimmer. In a desperate move he grabbed the wheel and pulled. The SUV's tires squealed in protest, the front end came around hard and the offside tires came up off the ground. For a second it seemed the vehicle would stick it, and then gravity did its thing and they were rolling into the median. 

If Xavier hadn't been belted in he probably would have been seriously injured, if not killed. Amazingly he came out of the roll unharmed. He wasn't going to stay that way long though, he thought as he scrambled to release the belt and crawl out of the wreckage. He had barely gotten free when a weight fell onto him from above. Steffen grabbed him and rolled him furiously onto his back. 

The vampire's face was a mask of blood and rage. He sat on Xavier's chest, one hand clamped on his throat and punched him with the other. Xavier might have been more interested in the explosion of pain along the side of his face if he weren't so preoccupied with the fact that he couldn't breathe. 

It just wasn't fair. He had come so far, skinned by with only a hair's width to spare so many times now. It wasn't right that he should die like this; the life being slowly choked from him while an enraged vampire beat on him. His arms were flung out to the sides, his hands failing around in the tall grass for anything that might help him. 

Luck, or whatever powers that be, were still smiling on him. His hand closed on something cold and hard. The dark of the night sky seemed to close in around Xavier. His fingers curled around and clutched the cold metal. He brought his arm up and fired at the same time. 

The bullet hit Steffen in the side of the head, and fortunately the gun was not loaded with those nifty exploding shells. The vampire reeled back. Xavier drew great heaving gulps of air, unable to do more then sit up and point the gun with a shaky hand at his attacker. Steffen moved and Xavier pulled the trigger again, this time emptying the clip into him.

Steffen swatted the pistol away like Xavier had been shooting him with a squirt gun. Xavier was still coughing and trying to draw a decent breath as a car pulled over. A good Samaritan jumped out. 

"Hey! Are you guys alright? Hang on, I'll call 911..."

Steffen stood and the guy's eyes grew big as he looked over the tall vampire and really took him in. The vampire smiled, reached out and snapped the guy's neck without a moment's hesitation. He grabbed Xavier by the back of the neck and hauled him up, shoved him into the unfortunate man's car, and moments later they were speeding down the highway again. 

Xavier slumped in the seat, too battered and dazed to even think about escape at this point. The vampire still drove recklessly, but after a short while he slowed, heading off the main highway and onto a secondary road. Xavier recognised the area. They were heading toward a vast area of state land. It was the type of place people went camping, stepped off a trail, and a week later helicopter crews found them. If they were lucky. 

Steffen parked the car and got out, pulling Xavier out too. He shoved him along toward the dark trees and underbrush. Even had Xavier not just been in a car wreck and a battle for his life this would not have boded well. He was a city boy; the first root snagged his foot and sent him to his knees. Steffen yanked him up and pulled him along another couple of feet before a fallen branch tripped him. With a short impatient growl he grabbed Xavier and slung him over his shoulder, making haste deeper into the woods. 

Xavier did not take this docilely. He kicked and struggled, cursing colourfully. It seemed like a long time had gone by, but it was hard to tell, and even harder to tell how far they'd come. The vampire moved remarkably fast despite the underbrush and Xavier's struggles. He finally came to a halt and threw Xavier to the ground. 

Xav landed with a huff of breath as the wind was knocked from him. He tried to get up and found it was an effort just to roll to his side. Steffen stood a short distance away, he was kicking the ground and only when he bent and pulled open a rusted metal door did Xavier realize he was uncovering some kind of underground hidey-hole. That did not even bear thinking about. He was so not going down into that hole. No fucking way!

Calling on his last reserves of strength, from who knows where, Xavier shoved himself to his feet and bolted. 

Steffen watched him go, grinning. He let the boy run, unable to deny himself the pleasure of a chase, and then he was off after his fleeing gazelle. 

Xavier hauled ass as fast as he could, darting blindly though the trees that slapped and tugged at him. In the back of his head he knew it was a futile effort, there was no way he could out run the vampire and no way he could hide from him. He was only delaying the inevitable, but it wasn't in him to just go docilely to his fate. He jumped over a fallen log and skidded in the dried leaves, scrambling to change direction. He kept running, legs moving as fast as he could push himself and lungs burning. In the dark he nearly ran into a large branch that had fallen, almost impaling himself on the jagged end.

He had to stop for a second, hands on his knees, gulping air. He felt a faint cool presence brush feather light in his mind and knew immediately it was Rayne. Not that he had any time to really think about it, but there was the same sense of relief he'd felt earlier when he'd stopped shielding and known Rayne was alright and was comforted by it. It wasn't like telepathy, they couldn't actually communicate this far apart, it was just a feeling and Xavier took what momentary comfort he could from it. 

The branch sticking out of the ground gave him an idea. He couldn't keep running, Steffen was bound to catch him sooner or later. He grabbed the branch and broke it free. 

Something heavy dropped from above almost directly behind him. Startled, he bolted again, only this time he didn't get nearly as far. A heavy hand hit his shoulder, spinning him around. Xavier swung the branch like a Louisville Slugger and it impacted with the side of Steffen's head. 

The vampire grabbed the makeshift weapon and ripped it out of his hands. Despite being injured and exhausted his prey actually gave him a good run for his money, Steffen thought. Which made it all the sweeter when he finally brought him down. The boy tried to run again when he tore the branch out of his hands. Steffen grazed Xavier's hip with his powerful fingers and spun him around before he dropped atop him, pinned him to the ground. Steffen was hard and excited from the chase and his prey's struggles beneath him only exacerbated the situation. He ground his hips down, biting lightly at the boy's slender throat. 

"Get off me!" Xavier panted, chest heaving with the effort. "Get the fuck off me!" 

The boy's voice was high and afraid and only fuelled Steffen's desire further. He clawed his tight pants open and pulled them down his narrow hips. 

Xavier shoved and hit him, bucking his body and trying desperately to fight free. When he had been locked in a room with this fucker, wounded and terrified, he'd though his best chance of survival was to be passive and offer no resistance that would only excite the monster. Now he knew others were looking for him. Knew they would find him if only he could stay alive that long. He hadn't managed to run far, and his attempts to fight him off only seemed to amuse and inflame the vampire, but they did buy precious time. But now he was caught, and his time was running out. His captor hit him hard with the back of his hand and the world seemed to tilt and spin madly. 

Steffen flipped Xavier over, shoving him face down in the dried leaves and dirt. He did nothing to muffle the boy's screams and curses, there was no one out here to hear them except for him and he delighted in his victim's cries of rage and pain. 

A warm flow of blood ran from Xavier's nostrils down his chin. A hand fisted in his hair and pulled his head back sharply to hold him still. Xavier struggled and as he did he knew he couldn't prevent what was about to happen. He stilled suddenly, and tried to reach for the calm Dominic had been trying to teach him so he could shut Rayne out, he could do that at least. But he'd waited too long and his thoughts were too scattered. 

Steffen opened his fly and eagerly rubbed his excited cock over his captive's smooth pert buttocks. He shoved his hard member savagely into the boy's rectum and laughed cruelly at the scream that tore from his lips. 

DOMINIC:

In the hotwired Beamer, PJ was clinging to the dash and the suit hangers in an effort to stay alive as Lord Warren floored the accelerator. The mad old bastard drove like such matters as speed limits and traffic lights were an irrelevance. Busy interchanges, Give-Way signs and pedestrian crossings were ignored as he forced the unfortunate vehicle through impossible gaps in the evening traffic.

"Have you any idea which way they were headed?" he yelled at Warren, freaked out by the Englishman's singlemindedness. 

"This way," Dominic said, his gaze narrowed as he swung the wheel and the car banked sharply left into a one way street. 

"I... uh... I don't think we have the right of way down here," PJ ventured, shaking his head. "How the fuck do you figure they came this way?" 

"Same way a vampire would track his victim, I can see aura traces from the kid," Dominic told him mysteriously. "But more importantly, the SUV got hit and it's leaking oil or water or something... leaving a trail a blind grandmother could follow. They're not going to get far."

A light began to flash on the dashboard as the stolen BMW headed out on the I80 towards the Bay Bridge, still following the intermittent stream of fluids from the SUV. Warren had the headlights on full beam and was blissfully immune to the barrage of horns and abuse this attracted from fellow road users. 

"Buggery!" he muttered to himself, letting the speed drop to a rather less hair-raising 70 mph as they cruised across the Bay in the gathering darkness.

"What's up?" PJ was still scanning the road ahead for any sign that they were getting closer. 

"There's no fuel in this bloody car," Warren cursed, slapping his hand against the steering wheel. "We're not going to get much further. Where the hell are they going?"

He put his foot down again, impatient with the lack of pace. PJ reached into a pocket for his cellphone and called Clay's number, deciding that it was only fair to let his buddies know what was happening.

*~*

Some three or four minutes later, a black BMW with a broken window executed a perfect U Turn on the Interstate, nearly causing several different accidents as it swerved back down the highway in the wrong carriageway to the point where the trail of fuel left the road and vanished into the scrub. It was there that Dominic and Paddy had their first real shock. 

Even discovering that the body lying sprawled next to the abandoned vehicle was not Xavier did not totally alleviate the heartstopping sensation. PJ slumped against the flanks of the upturned SUV as Dom crawled around peering into the wreckage for any signs of life. 

"They've gone," he huffed at last, looking irritated. 

"On foot?" Paddy speculated. 

"I doubt it. This poor bugger didn't walk out here all the way, he's not dressed for a hike. He got out of a car and..." Dom pulled a finger across his throat indicating a teminal outcome. "I reckon they took his wheels."

He wrestled with the catch on the trunk and managed to force it open. Several boxes of ammo fell out and he jumped back like a startled rabbit, but fortunately none of it exploded. Resolutely he gathered as much weaponry as possible and threw it into the Beamer whilst Paddy stared at him incredulously and made a point of checking his watch.

"Well... better to go prepared than show up unarmed and get wiped out like this poor sod," Dominic argued defensively. "Look... if he was going to kill the kid he'd have done it in the parking garage! The only way we can help him is to keep chasing."

By the time Dominic had rigged a contraption from the hoses and spare gas canister on the SUV to siphon fuel into the BMW PJ was practically ready to rip the other man's throat out himself. 

"He could be dead by now!"

"If you would give me a fucking hand, this would not take so long," Dominic reminded him, struggling to lug the heavy canister across to the Beamer. 

"This is America, there's probably a Gas Station about five minutes down the road," Paddy argued. 

"And if there isn't, we're royally fucked and so is Xav!" Dominic tilted the can and transferred the contents into the fuel tank of their stolen vehicle.

"That poor kid!" PJ growled at him. "Christ that vampire bastard could have done anything to him by now."

"If he was going to kill him he'd already have done it," Dominic reiterated with a shake of his head. "Load the weapons if you're not going to help with the gas, Patrick! I am not going to drive into another ambush unprepared. This time that fucker is going to eat some lead... or whatever the fuck it is that Mersen puts in these damned cartridges!"

PJ looked at him incredulously and stomped back around to the trunk to punch exploding bullets into the breach carriages of the guns. 

"Carefully!" Dominic's voice piped back at him. "Jesus, Paddy!"

Within fifteen minutes they were on the move again but to Paddy McNamara it felt like half the night. Fortunately, Dominic no longer had any reservations about putting his foot down and he pushed the Beamer to its impressive limits now. For once, his companion had no complaints. 

The BWM pulled off Interstate 80 without warning and took a backroad, curling up into the hills. PJ had stopped asking how Dom knew where he was going after the first attempt at an explanation bewildered the bejaysus out of him. Something about colours and airwaves and some mystical bollocks that the big Irish American would have laughed out of town if there wasn't a young life at stake. 

When the road they were following became little more than a dirt track leading to an abandoned vehicle, Dom stopped the car and reached wordlessly for one of the rifles. The other vehicle stood with it's doors still open, the engine pinking as it cooled down. Warily, the two men eased out of the Beamer with their weapons primed, ready to shoot anything that moved. Unusually Dominic had not even bothered with instructions this time. They both knew what to expect. If the vamp was still here they would have to fight him. He was not going to leave them for dead a second time. 

Once Dom could be sure that his quarry was no longer in the vicinity of the stolen car he waved PJ back, conscious that the other man was exhausted and still hurting after his clash with the vampire back in the parking lot. 

"Stay with the car," he whispered. "If anyone friendly follows us up here let them know I'm armed. If anyone else follows us, you know what to do? Don't let them take the car, we still need to get him back."

"You're sure you can do this alone?" Paddy was sceptical. He had seen Dominic's determination but the Englishman was one little old guy... hell they both were, he conceded. "What if he gets you?" 

"Get out of here," Dom told him. 

"But the kid...?" 

"Just get out of here! If I'm not back in an hour, and there's been no trouble, get the hell out of here and let the others know where we went down." The expression on his face warned against any further arguments. 

PJ bit his tongue and let him go. Then he phoned Clay again, from the inside of the car, without putting down the gun and tried to explain where they were. 

SHOWDOWN:

As Lord Warren came to a wooded area halfway up the steep incline, the owl glided through the trees overhead, silent as a ghost. He passed over the lean figure of the English sorcerer as he made his cautious way through thick underbrush, his weapon cocked and ready. They were following the same thread of course. It wound through the trees like a softly glowing ribbon, warm and pulsing with life. The trail was almost a scent in the air... spicy cardamom and rich vanilla. 

If the owl could have grinned, he would have at that thought. Xavier wasn't very vanilla but that was his scent all the same. The warmth of that aroma was suddenly interrupted by sharper smells; the hot musk of the rutting male and the copper tang of spilt blood. 

Elian dropped from the air and was walking in his human form before he had even lost momentum. Steffen had the boy pinned down in the dirt, his arms pinioned behind him so sharply it would have dislocated the shoulder of a less flexible person. His jaws were buried deep and working hard at the crook of the boy's neck as his hips pistoned above Xavier's naked buttocks. He was feeding as much from the dancer's pain and terrified struggles as he was on his blood. 

Steffen's head suddenly came up, eyes wild and fangs bared like a dog on the scent, turning toward Elian with a bloody snarl. Their eyes locked and Steffen saw his own death in the handsome face that stared back impassively at him. The Ancient's smile was as cold and cruel as his own. He had been found and the desperation of his plans were all for naught. He was going to meet his true death here, of that he had no doubt. With that thought foremost in his mind he flung Xavier's shuddering body aside and hurled himself at the older, stronger vampire fearlessly.

Elian caught him mid-charge. They twisted, and Steffen tried to lunge for his throat. Elian grabbed his face with one hand in a crushing grip, feeling the skull crack under his powerful fingers. 

"I wonder, Steffen...should I toy with you, as you like to toy with your victims?" he growled low, lifting his hand so that the younger vampire hung like a rag doll, his kicking feet barely scraping the ground. "Should I prolong this torture for days, or weeks even? Break you, as you have broken so many others; so many sweet-tasting mortal boys?" He looked coldly into Steffen's dark eyes seeing defiance there and a little resignation, but no fear. That was good. He made up his mind quickly. "Or, perhaps not." 

In an unimaginable demonstration of strength he tore Steffen's head clean from his shoulders with a twist and flick of his bare hand. The younger vampire's truncated heart-cry echoed in the hills for little more than a handful of seconds as he met his end. 

Dusting his hands together as Steffen crumbled like ashes from a fire, Elian heard the sounds of Dominic Warren approaching through the undergrowth now. The fellow travelled softly but not soft enough to elude a vampire's sharp ears. Elian moved to Xavier's side as the mortal came into sight, hurrying a little more at the terrible cry he had just heard. 

Elian reached down to help the human boy to his feet but the moment he touched him Xavier flailed at him. 

"Don't touch me! Get the fuck away!" Xavier yelled in a choked voice as he tried to get to his knees and pull his clothes back on at the same time. 

Elian hesitated; softly coaxed; "Let me help you, Xavier."

"No! Fuck off! I don't need your help." He had managed to get his pants up and he lurched to his feet. Blood was seeping from the deep and terrible bite at his neck, soaking into his shirt, but Xavier didn't notice it. He just wanted to get out of here. Get away from these people. Find a place he could curl up alone and sleep. He was so damn tired.




Dark Paths Ch. 09



Elian glanced at Dominic. "You have a vehicle nearby, I assume? You did not fly here on your broomstick little witch?" 

Dominic treated him to a wary look. He had not lowered the rifle in his hands but now he nodded acknowledgement and Elian returned his attention to Xavier.

"I did not come all this way to watch you stumble around in the dark and die slowly," he told the boy.

"Fuck off. I don't need you." Xavier had managed a few steps, but the effort was taxing. He hurt, everywhere. Another step and he stumbled, going down to his knees.

Elian reached for him again, this time not letting the child swat him away. 

"Lemme go! Get your hands off me!" Xavier twisted in the vampire's grip. "Get the fuck off of me!!" 

Xavier twisted in Elian's grip, struggling to pull away as Elian brought him in close. The double click of the safety catch on Warren's rifle was loud in the stillness of the mountain night. Quietly the old man said; "Put him down, you heard the lad. He doesn't want your hands on him. And I don't quite blame him."

Elian turned his head and looked angrily at the mage. He had not released his hold on Xavier but he said; "The boy will bleed to death before you get him back to the city. I cannot carry him there in my shifted form but I can help him now, if you will trust me."

"Give me one good reason why I should do that?" Warren demanded, circling him with the rifle still trained on the Ancient vampire. "When you were prepared to sell me off to Lagrado in order to get your jollies!"

"I trusted in your supreme cleverness to see a way out of the situation, and you did not disappoint me," Elian purred, shaking his head. "If you shoot me now with those lethal bullets of yours you will kill the child also."

Xavier slapped and pushed at him again, cursing almost incoherently. Elian caught his hands and restrained him gently. 

"Let me heal him," he said coolly. "I give you my word upon my Unlife and the bloodline that created me, in the eyes of your Sacred Goddess, Lord Warren. I shall not bite him."

"If you try it, I will kill you," Dominic answered, to his credit his voice only trembled very slightly. "Heal him and step away from him. Let me take him back."

"It will be so." Elian returned his attention to the young man in his arms. "Stop your struggles. You are bleeding too much." He lifted Xavier up, holding him tight against his chest as he bent his head toward his neck. He could feel the boy's heart pounding like a wild and trapped thing as he touched his cool lips to the wound.

"No! Don't!" Xavier's struggles became frantic, but he had neither the strength nor the energy to sustain it long. He whimpered as the vampire's gentle tongue lapped at the ragged punctures and tensed for the pain of fangs sinking into him, but it did not come. 

Elian kissed and licked the wound until the blood stopped and the rents mended. It took several minutes and the task did not seem to displease him. He made a pleasurable sound in his throat as he lifted his head, licking his lips to savour every sweet drop. Xavier hung limply in his arms. He panted raggedly and was trying hard not to sob. Elian shifted him easily, sliding one hand under his knees so he cradled the youth in his arms like a child. 

He turned to Dominic who was still pointing the rifle at him. "Let me carry him back to the car," he said softly. "I am stronger than you and it has been a long night for us all."

He could see the mistrust in Lord Warren's moss green eyes but the man knew he was being held at bay. All the time that Elian had Xavier in his arms he was effectively safe. He trusted that Dominic would not shoot him whilst the boy was still at risk. Elian took the lead, back down the hill, following the traces of Dominic's passage from the car and the mortal followed, keeping him carefully in his sights. At the edge of the tree line just before they reached the car Elian stopped, looking back at Dominic seriously. The sorcerer sensed a shimmer in his aura as if something had just happened but so quickly and subtly that he was not aware of it. He blinked like a man coming awake after a power nap.

"The news of Coelho's death will spread very quickly," Elian said in a low tone. "There will be a power struggle over his place as Master here. More death is coming, and on a much vaster scale. Be sure you and yours do not get caught in the crossfire, Lord Warren," the vampire advised now. It was a very diplomatic way of telling him to leave, and leave quickly. 

Elian set Xavier on his feet and the boy gasped in pain. The fresh bruises, overlaying ones only days old, were just beginning to bloom. In the momentary distraction Elian moved, seeming to simply vanish for a second then re-emerge someplace else. Before Dominic had time to even draw another breath the ancient vampire grasped him from behind, gripping his arms so tightly that he could not even raise his weapon. Elian nuzzled softly at his throat, letting the sharp points of his canines scrape ever so gently over the skin. "Unless you would like to stay... and be my guest..." he chuckled warmly, and then he once more disappeared, this time seemingly for good.

Dominic exhaled softly, hardly daring to look around. Then he was beside Xavier, helping the boy to stand up.

"Oh sweetheart," he sighed heavily. "Dare we hope that a peaceful night and a comfortable bed can be ours before the sun rises? Let's get you back to somewhere warm and familiar and check you for damage, and maybe get something chronically alcoholic to drink? How does that sound?"

Xavier just nodded woodenly and followed as Dominic led the way out of the trees. 

PJ was out of the car as soon as he saw them coming and wrapped his arms around Xav, overjoyed to see the boy alive and able to walk. 

"They're moving out," he told Dominic over the top of Xavier's head, still stroking his hair fondly. "Lagrado's dead, and most of his cronies. Clay's gonna meet us at the Marriot Courtyard down in San Bruno, he's already booking flights for the morning and it's handy for the airport. I think it would do us all the world of good to get out of Frisco for a little while. But at least we can relax for tonight, yeah?"

"I think so, yes," Dominic nodded, relieved.

Xavier picked his head up from PJ's chest. "You're leaving?" It was the first he'd spoke since giving in to Elian and his voice was low and hoarse, his throat felt scraped raw.

"We figured it was for the best," the bigger fellow answered amiably. "You know you're welcome to come with us. My friend Aldo has plenty of space at his place in Italy. And he'd love you, I know it already."

"Oh..." Xav breathed, still in that softly resigned tone. "Um, I don't have a passport." 

"Let us worry about that," PJ chuckled, "I'm sure the Lord will intervene on your behalf if you ask him very nicely." 

He winked at Dominic and the Englishman managed a weary smile. 

"We'll think of something," he said, reaching over to ruffle Xavier's hair as if he was a child (which compared to himself and Paddy the lad practically was!)

Xav let himself be guided to the car and PJ settled into the two seater BMW. Xavier was going to have to sit in his lap, but he didn't mind. He lowered himself stiffly, a low groan passing his lips as he touched down. He turned slightly, getting comfortable, or as comfortable as possible anyway, and leaned back against Paddy's solid chest putting his head on the older man's shoulder. They had hardly gone two miles before Xavier was asleep.

PJ was not too far behind him and Dominic patted his arm from time to time, keeping him awake. He said nothing but the big fella's condition was worrying him and he just wanted to get Paddy and Xav back to civilisation as quickly as possible and get a doctor to check out the pair of them. He pulled out onto the highway and floored the accelerator and they ripped away into the California night. 

~*~

The suite of rooms at the Marriott Courtyard which had already been allotted to Mr McNamara's party when they turned up in a couple of taxi cabs, faced inward off the road and onto the floodlit gardens. Clearly PJ's people had used the hotel before since there were staff on hand bringing food and running hot baths when they arrived and the hotel management did not turn a hair at their dishevelled appearance or the fact that they appeared to be carrying weapons. Clay later explained that he'd told the hotel bookings clerk they were running late off a movie shoot and had to come as they were in order to make their flight to Italy in the morning.

For now Rayne did not care what anyone thought, he just wanted to feed and sleep, in that order. No... first he wanted to know that Xavier was okay, and then he could feed and sleep. Since the aftermath of the fight at Elian's apartment he had been restless. Every time he reached out for Xavier he met a wall of fear, except for the last time when – most disturbingly of all– there had been nothing. Even knowing that Clay had spoken to PJ on the phone and been assured that they were bringing Xav home, he could not relax. Something bad had happened and he would not rest until he saw the truth in Xavier's eyes. 

So when a comely, young, blond man turned up in his room and proceeded to remove his shirt with a most inviting smile, Rayne was initially rather perplexed. 

"Who exactly are you?" he asked warily. 

"I'm Troy, honey" the lad replied, lying down on his bed and looking up at him expectantly. "Mr Francis said you like to bite, is that right?"

Rayne blinked at him. Right now he was just about disoriented enough to take the kid up on that offer but he stepped back and poked his head around into the next room off the courtyard instead. Clay was just stepping out of the bath, his blue black skin glistening invitingly. 

"There's a half naked kid on my bed says you sent him," the vampire remarked atonally. 

"You need a good bath and a massage and you need to feed," Clay responded, making no effort to cover himself. It was nothing Rayne hadn't seen before in any case. 

"I'll wait for Xav, thanks," Rayne swayed as he spoke and Clay was under him before he went down, scooping him up and carrying him through to the tub. 

"What's he gonna think if he shows up and you look like you've been pulled through hell backwards by the nuts, huh?" the big guy growled, shaking his head. "Come on, let's get you undressed and in that hot tub and Troy can rub you down. He's real good with his hands."

In the end he did not have the strength to argue. It was easier to let Clay strip him and get him into the bath. Rayne sank down under the water and switched off there. He nearly gave Troy heart failure. The poor kid thought he'd drowned until Clay stepped in and helped to get the singer upright again. There was room for all three of them in the tub and once he was in proximity to the mortal pair it was harder to resist what they were offering. As Troy worked on the knots in his back, he bit down deep into Clay's muscular neck and succumbed to the call of his blood. 

It would have been easy to relinquish all his self-control and just gorge himself but having Clay there held him in check. He took enough but not too much, switching back and forth between the pair once he had enough strength in reserve to heal the bites he inflicted. Troy was deliciously compliant; seemingly of the opinion that if Mr Francis figured it was okay then it was okay. But when the lad's hand moved lower, clearly keen to offer more than just a Welcome Break, Rayne stopped him. 

"It's okay... I don't need you to..." He caught his breath and Troy did too, the disappointment all too clear in his dark eyes. 

"If you're sure, honey," he murmured, rising to his feet as Rayne got up too. "I'd be more than happy to."

"Some other time, maybe?" Rayne managed a smile. 

"I'll go see if your friend wants any help," Troy grabbed a towel and winked at him playfully. "See ya later, maybe?"

"That was... not like you," Clay remarked, climbing out of the tub after him and towelling himself down slowly. 

"Yeah, well I've not exactly been myself lately," Rayne murmured, still sounding a tad preoccupied. He pulled on a complimentary robe that virtually drowned him and wandered out to the courtyard, looking up and down impatiently. "What the fuck is keeping them?"

He got no reply because Clay had stretched out on the bed in his room and was already drowsing, finally exhausted by the feeding session in the tub. Rayne's hand went to a pocket he didn't have, looking for cigarettes he didn't have either and he cursed colourfully. The sound of a lighter flickering behind him made him turn and Mersen passed one of the pair of Players he had just lit up across to the little vamp. 

"Feeling better?" the Irishman asked. 

"I will when the others get back with Xav," Rayne sucked on the filter and paced irritably again. "Where's Jabez?" he exhaled, glancing at Mersen whose close cropped hair still glistened from the shower, though his wardrobe was just another version of the stuff he had been wearing when he burst through the window; a fresh tee shirt and neatly pressed combat pants. 

"Across the garden in the room at the end with the Hispanic kid," Mers responded with a half-grin. "He took a bite off me but the boy seemed pretty determined to give him the rest so he packed me off to make a few travel arrangements. That Chavez is a good kid; a fair shot as well."

"He's full of surprises," Rayne said cynically. 

Mersen glanced up at the vampire's drying hair. "You're keeping the silver streaks, are you?" 

Self consciously, Rayne stroked a hand through his unruly mane. He hadn't even looked in a mirror since he arrived here, to be honest. He probably looked a sight and the idea of confirming it was still a bit scary. 

"They haven't gone?" he asked. 

Mersen pulled on his cigarette and shook his head gravely. "It looks good on you though. Kind of celtic." He winked and turned away as a commotion began in the hallway that led back down to reception. 

Rayne was on his feet and running before he had even stubbed out the smoke in his hand. 

~*~

Xavier woke as they were pulling into the parking spot at the Marriot. He came awake reluctantly and felt every single muscle in his body as a dull ache. Being tossed around and beat up by vampires was so not healthy. He got out of the car and caught his reflection in the mirrored doors of the parking garage elevator. Fantastic! Nothing like being conspicuous. His shirt was torn and had dirt and blood all over it. His face was dirty too and one cheek was a lovely shade of eggplant. The pants were missing the top button and the knees were stained dark. He didn't even want to look at his eyes, they looked far too hollow and guarded. They would be lucky to get to their rooms without someone calling the cops. 

Dominic seemed unconcerned with appearances, he was more interested in seeing if they could find a doctor that would make a house... or rather, hotel call, with no notice and without questions. Good luck, Xav thought, none too optimistically.

"I don't need a doctor, I'm fine." Xavier told him numbly. "I just want a shower and bed." 

And to see Rayne.

He got that wish as they were being escorted through to the rooms. PJ seemed dead on his feet, just ready to collapse onto a bed and close his eyes. Dominic was using a tone of voice that said he was not used to being argued with on the Maitre d'. Lord Warren stated imperiously that he would need a medic on hand, and also someone to return his car to the parking lot in Elian's apartment block before he flew back to England in the morning.

A small tornado in human form came whirling down the corridor towards him and Xavier barely had time to register it as friend or foe before it wrapped itself around him and a familiar, comforting London accented voice was crying out his name.

"Xavier! Xavier! Christ almighty, what happened? Are you okay?" Rayne demanded, pulling him close as if he never intended to let go

Xavier groaned as his bruises protested the exuberant welcome, but he hugged him back and buried his face into the curve of his neck. 

"I'm okay," he lied, although he neither looked nor sounded precisely okay. "Are you okay? You look better." Rayne looked well fed, actually. The redness was gone from his eyes and that junkie stare, though his black hair was still streaked with silver. Xavier felt a momentary stab of jealousy for his ability to heal so quickly. 

"I'm fine." Rayne answered, which also wasn't precisely true.

Neither one seemed inclined to let the other go anytime soon, but Dominic gently pointed out that they should at least move out of the hallway, and ushered PJ past. They followed, making their way down the hall and into the suite where Clay and Mersen were waiting. Xavier had a smile and a hug for Barclay; smirked when he heard how Chavez was otherwise preoccupied and was infinitely grateful that Dominic and Clay had PJ to fuss over. 

Rayne followed him quietly into the bathroom when he said he was going to take a shower. Xavier stripped out of his clothes, bunching them up and throwing them into the corner. He was quiet as he adjusted the water temperature and stepped under the spray, just standing there, letting the hot water pour down on him relentlessly. Rayne almost seemed to sense his reservation and he hung back for once, but when Xav slumped exhausted against the wall of the shower cubicle he murmured; "Do you need some help in there?" 

If Clay had asked, or Dominic, or even Chavez, he would have said no. He looked at Rayne through the steam and streaming water and nodded his head. 

"Yeah..." he said softly. He'd been running from one emergency to the next for hours, days actually. The blood loss wasn't helping but he hadn't lost that much to Steffen, it was mostly battle fatigue that had him so weary he could hardly stand.

Steady arms were around him almost immediately. Rayne did not even bother to shrug off the oversized hotel robe. He pulled the younger man into his arms and curled about him, more gently this time. Xavier put his head on his shoulder, closing his eyes as everything seemed to catch up to him at once. 

"Iannopoulos killed Steffen," he said flatly. He'd never been glad someone was dead before, even now he wasn't really glad, just relieved that the ordeal was finally over. He'd also never seen anyone killed before his eyes, and in the space of little more than an hour he'd witnessed Steffen brutally murdering a man on the roadside and then watched as Elian killed Steffen in much the same manner. Those things were going to stay with him for a while. So was what Steffen had done to him. 

He shuddered in Rayne's arms at the water poured down on his back. There had been several times he had wanted to break down since this all started and he'd pretty much held it together. His breath hitched in his throat as another shudder ran through him. 

"You wanna lie down?" Rayne whispered at last, touching his lips to Xavier's ear. "We don't have to do anything. I just want to hold you, if that's okay?"

Xavier nodded again, his head moving against Rayne's shoulder. He took a deep breath, swallowing down the tightness in his throat. 

Rayne helped him finish washing and turned off the water. He was wringing out the ruined robe and Xav was towelling off when the boy said, "I could have shot Steffen, in the parking garage. I had the gun pointed at his head...but he had PJ. I was afraid if I shot him it wouldn't kill him before he killed PJ. I couldn't let him... you know, blow his brains out. So, I dropped the gun." He said it almost apologetically. An explanation for why he'd let Steffen get the drop on him.

For a moment the small English vampire looked back at him seriously, shaking his head that he thought that he had done the wrong thing but Rayne only said; "We shouldn't have put you in this situation. None of us should. It's not your fault, sweetheart. You're both alive, that's all that matters right now."




Dark Paths Ch. 09



Xavier just nodded and followed Rayne into the bedroom. It felt incredibly good to lie down. Even better when Rayne slid next to him. He thought he would fall right asleep but now that he could he found it easier to hold off. For a few minutes he lay facing Ray, his fingers lightly tracing over his face, his neck, his shoulder, and back up. He lifted a tousled lock of Rayne's hair, streaked with a glint of silver. "Is it going to stay like that?" he whispered.

"What, you don't fancy the more mature looking bloke then?" Rayne pretended to look hurt, but he couldn't stop the twitch of his lips that gave the game away. "Honest answer? I've no idea."

"I like it." Xavier decided. He kissed Rayne's lips gently.

His mate responded, with evident relief. Rayne had been holding off from too much intimacy too quickly, unsure how Xavier would react. He did not have to ask what had been done to the boy, the shields were down between them now and had been since he knew Xav had been taken. It was why he could not concentrate on feeding or personal grooming or anything at all until he knew for sure that his lover was safe.

Jabez would give him grief tomorrow about not feeding properly but it was a secondary concern right now. So long as he was no danger to Xavier, Rayne was content for the time being. 

His mouth took possession of Xavier's and he curled gentle arms around the young man, stroking him ever so tenderly, afraid of hurting him where Elian had been unable to heal the deeper bruises and muscle damage.

"I was so scared for you," he whispered hoarsely into Xav's mouth. "I wanted to come after you, but..." He looked away, hurt and embarrassed that he had not been able to help his young mate after everything Xavier had been through for him. 

"You're here now, that's what matters, right?" Xavier said, almost echoing his own words from earlier right back at him. 

He closed his eyes, snuggling up close to Rayne. Sleep pulled at him but his mind kept skipping and jumping to odd bits and pieces of the last few days; trying to put things in order and make sense of illogical things. Cole Lagrado was dead. Steffen was dead. He and Rayne had somehow survived it all and they were free. 

So was Elian Iannopoulos. 

That could be a problem. A very big problem, especially for him. Xav hadn't really given PJ an answer when the older man had invited him to go to Italy with them. He didn't have much of a choice though. When Elian had held him in the woods and touched his lips to the wound on his neck, he had felt the ancient vampire's ravening desire for him. The hunger was more than just wanting to feed from him or fuck him. There was an almost grudging admiration that the vampire had let him feel, and he had somehow conveyed through the blood contact, that after many centuries alone he would not have been opposed to making Xavier as he was. He showed Xav how it would be to have a strong and beautiful companion forever at his side; to Turn him. The idea was both seductive and terrifying. 

All the way back to the car as Elian carried him in his arms, still dazed and in shock, the Ancient had whispered in his head a seductive enticement, a vision of how it would be to live eternally as his mate. And all that way Xavier had silently resisted. The vampire's last thought, as he set Xavier on his unsteady feet, was that if Elian Iannopoulos wanted to Turn him, Xavier didn't have any more choice in the matter than if he had wanted to kill him. 

It had chilled Xavier to the core. He'd stood weaving on his feet. Dominic just stood there looking at them as if they were still walking, nothing amiss, and cold panic gripped Xavier's heart. He reached for the only defence he could think of. 

"You can't. I still have Rayne's mark. That means I belong to him, and you can't touch me!" He had said it with far more confidence then he'd felt. 

Elian chuckled softly and Dominic seemed to wake from wherever he'd been as the handsome Elder turned his head to look at the Englishman seriously and issue his suggestion that they should leave right away. 

As afraid as he was, a tiny smile tugged at Xavier's lips now when he thought of certain other things. Rayne had made some awfully possessive comments back at Elian's apartment and whilst he was Lagrado's prisoner. He wondered if they were just for the benefit of listening vampires. But then, here he was tonight, with eyes for no one but Xavier. His smile broadened at that as finally they drifted into sleep, twined easily around each other.

END OF CHAPTER NINE

DARK PATHS © SADIE ROSE BERMINGHAM & BELLORA QUINN 2008/9

To be concluded...



Dark Paths Ch. 10



(c) SADIE ROSE BERMINGHAM & BELLORA QUINN 2008/9

THE EPILOGUE – 40,000 FEET

So here we are, finally at the end of our little adventure in San Francisco with vampires and smut and heavy SM a-plenty. It's been hard work and contentious, it's also been a lot of fun to write and work on and we hope that those of you who've got this far have enjoyed the journey. After the gore and exhaustion of the last chapter we wanted to spoil you this time, so the epilogue is a lovely bit of fluff that made us laugh our (real and proverbial) socks off while we were working on it. We hope that you enjoy it as much as Bellora & I enjoyed our first collaborative experience creating it. 

In fact we enjoyed it so much that there are murmurs about a potential sequel... now wouldn't that be nice? 

Remember smut lovers, we worked our fingers to the bone to knock this story out so please ask if you want to copy or reproduce it in any way as our lawyers get paid in blood and they always win! 

xx Sadie & Bellora



WAKE-UP CALL...

Sometime during the night Xavier had stretched out. He woke in the morning slightly disorientated, it took a moment for him to remember where he was. Turning his head he saw Rayne was still there, and still sleeping. Xavier smiled, thinking he'd give him a nice wake up call. Very carefully Xav pulled the sheet covering his hips down. His lover was semi-hard already in his sleep. Sliding down a little lower Xavier breathed warmly over Rayne's hip and brushed his lips feather-light up the length of his shaft. His tongue was hot and wet as he licked over the silky smooth head.

The singer was sprawled loosely on his back, head turned a little towards Xav, lips slightly parted. He was completely lifeless and quite cold to the touch since he and Xavier had slipped apart into their own spaces during the night. 

Xavier's heart gave an instinctive lurch. It was more than a little disconcerting to find your lover lying next to you, dead - er, undead, he quickly reminded himself - first thing in the morning. Xav could imagine a shrink having a field day with this and he firmly pushed away all sorts of weird and disturbingly unwelcome thoughts of necrophilia that tried to assert themselves in his head. He slid his hand up Rayne's smooth, cool chest and tried to ignore the fact that he couldn't feel a heartbeat under his palm. He tried to convince the little hairs standing on end at the back of his neck that Rayne was not really dead, it just seemed that way. Xav resisted the urge to give him a shake. After all, he was trying to wake him pleasantly, but if the vampire didn't open his eyes and say something soon it was going to be hard not to flip out.

Rayne made a little growling noise deep in his throat, the first sign of any kind of life he had exhibited since Xavier woke, but it was encouraging at least. His long eyelashes flickered and his fingers crept to Xav's hand, moving it lower again. 

" 's better," he commented hoarsely.

Xavier grinned, feeling a slight flush of relief, and a bigger flush of heat. He cupped those lovely, heavy balls in his warm hand, rolling them lightly as his mouth closed over the head of Rayne's cock. The soft sound of appreciation from above encouraged him, as if he needed it. He swirled his tongue around, getting Rayne nice and wet and paying particular attention to all the sensitive spots he knew so well by now. Xavier groaned softly in his throat as he took him down a little at a time until he had his nose buried in soft flesh at the hairless base of his lover's erection. 

"Well... you're feeling brighter this morning!" Rayne exhaled softly, stroking one hand down through Xavier's untidy blond hair and easing his hips up off the mattress in time with the younger man's slowly nodding head. After a few delicious moments of this he reached across with the other hand, patting Xav's thigh. "Scoot this end up here, sweetheart," he invited. "Let me 'ave a taste of you while you're doing that."

Xav was more than happy to comply with that request! He swivelled around without even taking his mouth off Rayne's dick. His tongue licked down the length of Rayne's curving shaft to his balls. Gently he pulled one of the soft, heavy orbs into his mouth and then the other. 

The vampire shivered with pleasure, sliding beneath Xavier as he moved around on the bed, returning the favour with a passion. His cool lips kissed and caressed the young man's hot, heavy balls and his pierced tongue worked on the ultra sensitive miracle inch between his clenching scrotum and still-tender arsehole. He could tell, even without the empathic link he seemed to have with the boy, that Elian Iannopoulos had not kissed him here last night. Rayne concentrated on making up for that. His tongue worked in slow circles around the flexing ring of muscle. Xav was still a little loose after the rough treatment Steffen had dished out just a few hours ago and his lover was gentle with him now. 

Rayne rolled onto his side so that they both had more freedom of movement. He thrust a little more urgently in Xavier's accommodating mouth, his hand gently pumping Xav's throbbing cock as he resumed his steady rimming of the boy's raw, pink rectum.

So damn good... Xavier lifted one leg and put his foot on the headboard, spreading nicely for Rayne. He relaxed his throat, letting Rayne thrust into him deeper, his own hips matched each of Rayne's strokes. The vampire's clever little tongue was both arousing and soothing. A sensual morning sixty-nine was exactly what the doctor ordered. Xav wanted to stay in bed all day. 

Almost the moment he thought it, there was a gentle tap on the patio door from the courtyard. Xavier lifted his head as the door slid open enough for Rayne's handsome and somewhat slightly scary sire to stick his head inside. He surveyed the tangle of limbs on the bed impassively and said; "Don't get too comfortable in there. Mersen's booked us on a flight out of here at 10.30 and the boy still needs to get a passport." He didn't linger, but he left the door open halfway so they wouldn't just ignore him and go back to what they were doing.

Rayne slumped back into the rumpled bedding with a little groan of dismay, shaking his head slowly. 

"I fuckin' hate it when he does that!" he snarled softly in a tone of voice that suggested this was not the first time his mentor had spoiled his fun on purpose. "Bollocks to him! It's only ten past six!"

He curled around Xavier again, this time spooning up to him and kissing the back of his neck affectionately. 

They had lots of time. If the flight was at 10:30 they could get there at 9:30-ish, it only took about an hour to get to the airport. They didn't have to leave for a while yet. 

Xavier relaxed back into Rayne and he stretched his neck in a long line when the vampire continued to nuzzle him there. 

"Breakfast?" he offered sweetly, and then moaned when Rayne's teeth nicked his skin. He felt slim, cool fingers wrap around his cock as he sucked and licked at the shallow wound. Xavier rolled his hips back, pressing his firm bubble butt into Rayne's crotch invitingly. 

"Uhh...yeah..." He shivered as Rayne nicked him again, his hips moving in time with his stroking fist. His mate pressed his cock head up firmly between Xavier's cheeks this time, thrusting steadily in rhythm with the younger man, yet without entering him.

This time the knock came from the inner door, and Clay didn't wait for an invite either before sticking his head in. 

"Are you ready yet?"

"Almost there..." Xavier panted breathlessly, and groaned his disappointment when Rayne stopped pressing against him with a long, low moan of frustration. 

"We nearly were, before you stuck your fuckin' great big oar in!" he grumbled huskily.

"I need to take Xavier's picture." Clay said unrepentantly.

Xavier knelt up on the bed at once with his knees spread wide and struck a pose with one hand behind his head and the other wrapped around his prick. "So take it."

Clay chuckled appreciatively, looking him up and down with a shameless smile, clearly unfazed by the boy's rampant exhibitionism. 

"I see you're feeling better already, tiger!" he remarked, winking at Xav. "Actually it's for your passport, and whilst I think certain customs guys would actually get off on that shot, they're gonna need a booth picture, head and shoulders only. But when we get to Napoli you can strike all the poses you want for me, honey. Sorry guys, I'm under orders," he added with a little shrug of apology for Rayne, who was still glaring at him venomously.

When he retreated to let them dress, the little Vampire coiled around Xavier whispering; "There's room for two in one of those fuckin' photo booths, yeah? And we're gonna have to wait a few minutes for it to develop. No point in wasting time, is there?"

"I'm sure it'll take at least ten... fifteen minutes to get the right picture." Xavier grinned and kissed Rayne, but this time they got up before yet another one of their friends came to interrupt. 

Xav ended up in borrowed clothes again, the ones he'd left on the bathroom floor weren't fit to wear. Clay went with them down to the lobby where they had one of those idiot booths conveniently located for travellers. Xavier actually got two decent pictures that could be used before things got interesting. 

In the third picture his eyes were a little more dilated and his lips were parted. The next his head was tipped back, a very pleasurable look on his face. The next showed his arms wrapped around Rayne's back, fingers buried in the singer's tousled hair. The next involved considerably less clothing and the one after that was just a tangle of limbs and various body parts as they writhed on the tiny seat together. 

Clay was suddenly talking to someone just outside the booth and then Dominic tugged aside the curtain. Five or six strips of photos were in the drop slot and Rayne and Xavier were pressed up against the wall of the booth entwined around each other, still joined at the mouth and all points downward. 

"I'm going to need Xavier to come with me to get this done." Dom somehow managed to look impassive in the face of the semi-nude contortions of his two young friends. (Although he had pocketed at least two of the photo strips as evidence, or possibly even blackmail!)

Rayne made a little whining noise like some machinery that had gotten stuck somewhere. He extracted one hand and held it up with all digits except the middle one curled into a tight fist. 

"No I will not give you a minute," Dominic responded, completely undeterred. "Hand him over, darling. Unless of course you'd prefer to leave him behind when we fly out of here?"

Rayne's lips parted softly and wetly from Xavier's mouth and he exchanged a long, wordless look with the younger man, then sighed impatiently and tugged up his pants. Xavier was not capable of coherent thought at the moment, much less getting anything done. He was so goddamn horny and the tightness of the borrowed jeans he had on didn't do anything to hide the sizeable bulge he sported. 

~#~

Dominic had arranged a meeting with a friend of a friend of someone's brother in the consulate, who was not best pleased at being called before 6am on a Saturday morning to arrange emergency travel documents for some Limey Aristo's 'long lost nephew from the sticks'! Although the fellow seemed to cheer up a little when he clapped eyes on Xavier. He could not take his eyes off the boy for most of their meeting. 

"Thank you old chap," Dominic beamed effusively at him once he had fast-tracked all the paperwork and had his office rustle up a passport for the bemused young man sitting beside Lord Warren. "You've been an absolute sport."

"Not at all," the consular dogsbody responded with a glazed smile. "Now I've met your... uh... nephew, I can see why you're in such a damned hurry to get him home to be... uh... to England."

In the taxi on the way back to the hotel, Dominic passed Xavier his small, dark red, European passport and flashed a knowing smile at him. "Well, that was a piece of cake! I knew the minute he set eyes on you that the old queen would be putty in our hands. And you didn't even have to suck his cock, which is always a bonus! We might even have time for a bite to eat before we hit the road, darling."

Xavier was not entirely sure if he was joking.

~#~

Back at the hotel, Rayne had packed and been in to see Paddy (who was feeling much brighter after a few litres of saline, some strapping for his ribs and a decent night's rest). Now he was splayed on the bed trying not to listen to the howls of lustful enthusiasm coming from his sire's room across the courtyard as Chavez continued to entertain the older vampire.

When Dominic and Xavier returned they came in carrying a couple bags each of bagels and donuts, and a couple of purloined carafes of coffee. The moment Dom mentioned food Xavier had remembered that the last time he'd eaten was almost two days ago. Stuffing himself with carbohydrates and caffeine before they had to leave for the airport sounded like the perfect plan. They laid the spread out on the table and Xavier immediately confiscated a Boston cream and a blueberry bagel before pouring a steaming cup of coffee to wash it down. He was just licking the chocolate from his fingers and looking suggestively at Rayne, thinking they might be able to sneak back into the bedroom for a few minutes when they were informed that their pre-booked limo had arrived. 

Ten minutes later, all eight of them piled into the back of the car, the driver threw their luggage in the trunk and they were on their way, with something of the feel of a school excursion in the air. Xavier settled into the seat, kicked back comfortably and watched out the window. Rayne had reclined next to him, conveniently forgetting his temporary fit of pique that his lover had abandoned him for the apparently more seductive lure of the patisserie counter. He had his earphones in and his eyes closed, though he kept his hand running lightly up and down Xavier's back in time to some tune only he could hear. 

"Where are we going again?" Xav asked. He'd forgotten already. Last night, he thought, PJ had said but he couldn't remember.

"Bella Italia!" Chavez declared with a grin. "You ever been to Italy, hon? It's a gassa!" He was virtually dancing in his seat in spite of the fact that he must have been up for virtually the whole night riding Jabez Everman's cock. 

Xavier had a few crude remarks he'd wanted to tease Chavez with but he'd kept them to himself, mainly because Jabez intimidated the hell out of him, and that was such a rarity he wasn't sure how to deal with it. 

"Nope!" he answered simply. He'd never been out of California, actually but Chavez didn't need to know that. 

Under the circumstances he was not exactly as thrilled by the prospect as he might have been. He was going primarily because if he stayed, alone, he had a feeling it would only be a matter of time before Elian Iannopoulos paid him a visit. It felt like he was running, and that didn't sit well with him. Of course, the big consolation was that he'd have more time with Rayne. He shied away from thinking much beyond that. It was an extended vacation with an uncertain future. 

The airport was a fucking nightmare; long lines and way too many damned people. Xavier was usually pretty laid back but the combination of annoying crowds, too much caffeine and being thwarted not once, not twice, but three times already this morning in the quest for a badly needed orgasm had him edgy and irritable. Of course, picking up on Rayne's mood was not helping. 

As soon as they got their boarding passes and were settled in at the gate to wait, Xavier slipped off to the men's room. He was captured en-route by a small, hungry English vampire that plainly had more than just blood on his mind. 

"Do you really need to go that badly?" Rayne asked under his breath, the first thing he had said directly to Xavier since they were dragged out of the photo-booth earlier in the morning. "Only I have a better idea."

He linked his arm through Xavier's and steered him across the busy concourse and down a side passage, into a doorway with a discreet little sign above it indicating that it was a chapel of some kind. 

"Trust me," Rayne whispered, noting his expression. "They're always deserted. The last thing anyone wants to do before they get into a metal tube that might crash and kill them all is get closer to God, yeah? They'll be close enough afterwards... or not!" 

He snickered almost nervously and nudged the younger man through the door into a soothing, mint-green room with comfortable chairs and a couple of vases of flowers. It was empty just as he had promised and Rayne had him up against the wall even before the door swung to behind them, his hands groping for Xavier's fly buttons as his mouth took possession of the boy's lips again. He kissed Xav like it was the last thing he would ever do and he needed to make the most of every nano-second.

Xavier was just as eager; his fingers just as quick to get Rayne's fly undone. He thrust his tongue into Rayne's mouth and moaned when the vampire pushed him back up against the wall aggressively. His warm hand was in Rayne's pants, stroking along his stiffening prick. Rayne's lips moved to his neck and Xavier kissed along the outer curve of his ear, tracing it with the tip of his tongue. He was so hard already it was almost painful. 

"I want to come so bad," he murmured huskily.

Rayne's lips traced the line of his lower jaw back to the lobe of his ear and dropped to his neck and his collarbone. His hands were pressing up beneath Xavier's top, stroking the firm planes of his abdomen and chest with one hand and the delicious curves of his arse with the other. 

"Turn around," he exhaled ravenously, moving smoothly to his knees and touching his lips to Xavier's hot, twitching shaft so that his mate was in turmoil over where he wanted to be kissed (and licked and sucked) next. Rayne solved the problem neatly by wrapping his lips around the young man's throbbing cock head and suckling tenderly on it whilst his fingers pumped urgently on Xavier's aching shaft and jolting balls. 

Xavier's legs were splayed, his pants around his knees, his fingers sunk into Rayne's hair where he caressed him. "Oh, fuck..." he breathed. His hips began to move slowly. "God you give good head." Fantastic- wonderful- mind- blowing- want- you- to- fuck- me- until- I- can't- walk- straight head

, he added silently. 

Rayne let his lips slide to the very tip of Xav's cock, sweeping it seductively with the little stud in his tongue before he whispered the words again. "Turn around!"

Xavier shivered with lust at the cooling touch of that breath on his wet cock-head. This time he turned, pressing his burning face against the cold, green wall whilst Rayne's fingers gripped his hips and buttocks and the singer's clever tongue did the most wonderful things between them, licking and probing at his ring; resuming where he had been interrupted this morning on the bed. He kissed Xav hungrily there, working the wetness of his mouth over the sweet little orifice that already tasted less raw and sore after the tenderness he had lavished on it earlier. 

He rose to his feet, spitting into his palm a couple of times and rubbing the moisture over the throbbing glans of his own eager shaft. 

"Sweet Christ!" Rayne breathed, nuzzling up eagerly against the nape of Xavier's neck and tasting the heat of his flesh again. "Gonna screw you so fuckin' hard, Xav! Jesus, I want you!"

He pressed up against the young blond, slowly sliding himself into the boy's sweet, hot passage, feeling that tight chute finally embrace him as he rubbed himself full length over Xavier's delicious, half-naked body. His arms pulled tight around the boy and for a moment he drowned in the pleasure of being inside him. 




Dark Paths Ch. 10



And at that point the door creaked softly behind them...

Both of their bodies froze in place. A little old lady with a poodle perm stepped into the chapel and for a moment she actually did not see them. A second later she did and her expression was so shocked Xav wondered if they could go to jail for murder if the old bird dropped dead of a heart attack. The horny male part of him not only didn't care he was calculating whether or not they had time to get off before she ran and got Security. This could not be fucking happening. 

"Oh Jesus!" Rayne's voice quivered, caught between laughter and despair. It came out as a tiny, fragile thing and he buried his face in Xavier's hair so that the boy felt his next words burrowing into his skin like insects. "If I move I'm gonna come!"

And then she shrieked and made up their minds for them as she grabbed one of the ornate flower vases and hurled it at them along with a torrent of abuse. The drenching certainly helped to cool their ardour a little. Moments later they were still struggling to make themselves decent as they fled down the corridor, dripping and covered in flowers.

"Please... please... please... don't let her be on our flight!" Rayne begged as they ran.

"Pleasepleaseplease don't let her go to Security!" Xavier added. 

Despite the added layer of frustration at being thwarted yet again they looked at each other and grinned. The irony was not lost on them that only now that they were fleeing the chapel were they thinking to pray. 



Trying to look as nonchalant as possible with dishevelled wet clothing and flower petals still clinging to them they slid into seats near PJ and Clay. Instinctively they separated a-ways. Rayne borrowed Clay's sunglasses and Xavier snagged the baseball cap Chavez was wearing. 

"Can I see this for a minute, please?" he murmured. Sticking it on his head backwards he slumped down in the seat. "Got some gum? Thanks." With a magazine in his hand and the occasional blown bubble he could have passed for at least five years younger and looked the very picture of a bored teenager. 

Chavez tugged curiously at the damp sleeve of Xavier's tee and Clay leaned sideways to sniff at the flower still caught in Rayne's hair. The big black exchanged a bemused look with PJ. When Jabez returned from an impromptu stroll around the shopping mall he too looked a little puzzled although he came the closest to cracking a genuine smile since his arrival in San Francisco. 

PJ and the guys exchanged quite a few looks and smirks but clearly decided it was more than their lives were worth to ask what the hell they had just missed. Fortunately the remaining thirty minutes or so until boarding time passed by uneventfully. Apparently the lady that caught them in their own private state of ecstasy was either too busy praying for their mortal souls or too embarrassed to have gone to Security. Or if she had, they didn't look too hard because no one had come up to them by the time they were boarding the plane. 

She did not seem to be headed for Europe either and it was with some relief that two members of Mr McNamara's party were ushered forward into First Class. Rayne dropped down more cheerfully into a window seat and stretched out. Xavier wriggled in beside him. 

"Now this is more like it!" the singer chuckled, and began to investigate the buttons on the seat arms and the contents of the various in flight entertainment packages. He leaned closer, running his hand lightly up Xavier's thigh and reaching for the blond's stiffening package and whispered; "I bet you've never had sex at 40,000 feet before?"

Across the aisle from him, Dominic pulled down his sunglasses and plugged in his own earphones. He fished a small bottle of whisky from one pocket of his jacket and a little bottle of pale blue pills from the other and knocked a couple of the latter back with a good swig of the former. 

To Chavez's disappointment, the Everman slid in beside Lord Warren and began to stroke the back of the older human's neck soothingly. One by one the little group settled in for the long flight, some of those who had done it before appreciating the fact that they were going to lose a few hours in the process and preparing to catch some more sleep. 

And then the engines were turning and the captain was making his announcement. Dom curled into Jabez's powerful arms and closed his eyes, murmuring something about not wanting to know how high they would be going, thank you! The flight attendants were scurrying into position, rapidly demonstrating the correct way to panic if the plane suddenly dropped out of the sky. 

Rayne curled his hand around the back of Xavier's head and pulled the boy's mouth softly onto his own, distracting him from the buzz of take-off for a moment as he let his tongue slide into his lover's mouth. Xavier was distracted easily enough and responded with the heat of their now very extended period of foreplay. Fortunately their party had the first class cabin to themselves. All the little plastic shutters on the windows were down and just a few dim lights from overhead made it feel nice and cosy. Xav was quickly swept up in the kiss and couldn't care less who heard what or happened to glance over at them. He melted against Rayne, twining his arms around him as they made out and he explored the inside of his clothes. His little coos and purrs would be lost under the noise of the engines anyway, he figured. 

Rayne eased the seat arm between them up and pulled his sexy young mate hungrily into his lap, kissing his neck and stroking his tongue up to the softness of Xavier's earlobe. Nipping and sucking on it, he tugged the fly of his lover's pants open yet again, curling long, cool, clever fingers around Xav's protruding boner. He rubbed seductively on the blond boy's fantastically hard cock, stroking the wetness of his pre-cum slowly down the shaft and working the slipperiness vigorously all over him.

"You are so fuckin' hot!" he sighed into Xavier's ear, feeling like he was going to explode if they could not fuck one another this time.

Xavier wasted no time getting Rayne's pants undone as well. As the plane made its steady climb Xavier rubbed the underside of his cock along the underside of Rayne's and kissed the singer with a steadily growing hunger. He was wondering if he could get away with taking his pants off entirely when the seat went back. 

"Oh, that's better," he purred, grinding his hips into Rayne's as he lay astride his lover. 

The lean, horny Englishman pulled him down so that they were virtually lying in the semi-reclined seat, holding one another so close that they only took up a single berth. Rayne wriggled down still further now, prising up the hem of his lover's tee shirt and taking Xavier's throbbing cock-head in his mouth as he had done in the chapel. He was humming softly in the back of his throat as he sucked on the delicious thickness of Xavier's rock hard tool. One hand crept back up his lover's chest and stroked the curve of his neck then his fingers were pressing against Xav's soft lips, demanding entrance as he nodded lower on the boy's pulsing, thrusting dick.

Xavier opened without hesitation, taking Rayne's fingers into his mouth and fellating them as skilfully as he would have done his cock. He felt Rayne's other hand tug on the belt loop at the back of his jeans and his smooth, perfect little ass was exposed a second later. The fact that they were technically in a public place was the furthest thing from his mind. All that registered at the moment was the incredible feel of Rayne's mouth sucking him. He moaned softly and sucked on the fingers in his mouth in time with the bob of Rayne's head on his cock. 

Rayne's lips opened wider and swallowed him deeper, lipping gently at his slowly pulsing shaft. He withdrew his fingers from the seductive wetness of Xavier's mouth, determined to waste as little time as possible now that a home run was actually in sight. 

His spittle-wet fingers pressed gently and firmly at Xavier's yielding rosebud, sinking into the supple warmth of his rectum and pushing deeper between his creamy cheeks. He felt Xav rock back and forth between his hand and his lips; a restless, rhythmic motion like a wave on the sea, and he thrust his fingers steadily in and out of the boy's clenching passage. His tongue caressed the long, sensitive vein running down the underside of Xavier's straining cock. His mouth was open now and he just nodded into Xav's quickening strokes, letting his mate's pulsing head push against the roof of his mouth as he stroked the boy with his tongue stud.

They might have been home in his bed, or on the sidewalk of a busy street for all he cared right now. His world shrank to the silken weight of Xavier's cock in his mouth and the tight, moist opening between the blond boy's bared cheeks.

Xavier gripped the back of the seat. Whimpered with growing pleasure, his hips rocking in a steady rhythm as he fucked Rayne's mouth, a rush of heat flashed through him as Rayne stroked his sweet spot inside. As if afraid of being denied yet again his balls were already drawing up tight. 

"Ah! Ah! Oh, fuck...Ray, so damn good..." His hips jerked like a misstep and he came hard, the strong pulses of the orgasm squeezing Rayne's fingers tightly as jet after jet of hot sperm shot into his mouth. 

Rayne made a soft, hungry noise around his jolting cock as he rested his forehead on Xavier's belly, swallowing slowly, conscious that last night's cursory feed was nowhere near enough. The rich, sweet taste of Xav's spunk was a reminder. He felt his fangs extend involuntarily and pulled his head back, licking his lips and kissing the boy's soft belly. 

His hands pulled Xavier back down into the circle of his arms and he pressed his mouth to the boy's lips again, loving the rapid huff of his lover's breath and the drum of his heartbeat. Rayne kissed him for a long, slow time, enjoying the soft caress of Xavier's warm, wet mouth on his own. He stroked his hands down into the backs of the boy's jeans, pushing them lower and resuming his exploration of Xav's urgently fluttering ring. 

"Roll over," he whispered huskily in the boy's ear, lulled by the rich, delicious taste of his sexy young mate and the gentle thrum of the 747's massive engines. "Turn towards the window and spoon up to me. Let me get inside you, sweetheart. I want you so much!"

Xavier rolled to his side. They were reclined, but not all the way flat so he was half laying half sitting in Rayne's lap. He hadn't quite caught his breath yet when Rayne slid into him and an involuntary groan slipped past his lips. His head tipped back to Rayne's shoulder and he reached a hand back to caress along his flank. Rayne caught his breath and pushed deeper so that he was quickly buried to the hilt in Xav's soft, warm body. He curled around the boy and rocked against him, taking his time. 

"Uhhh... that is... uhhhh...!" he moaned, unable to put his feelings into words. 

Xavier moved with him perfectly, knowing exactly how much to roll his hips, when to squeeze, when to move with or in counterpoint to his rhythm. He hadn't lost his erection from the first orgasm and was rapidly building toward a second. His eyes closed, loving the way his lover felt inside him. He brought one leg a little forward to brace on the back of the seats in front of them and it changed the leverage, sending new jolts of pleasure through them both. 

"Yeah... oh, fuck yeah... fuck me baby...mmmh!" 

Rayne curled around him, moving in perfect sync with him, his hands drawing the material of Xav's tee up to his chest so that they could lie skin to skin, writhing together on the seat. He nipped, then bit deeper, sucking on Xavier's neck as he drove himself hard into the blond's impossibly hot body. When Xavier began to beg for it, he almost lost control, he was so close. His fingers snaked around the young man's rigid cock, tugging and squeezing on it in time with his vigorous thrusts, his low moans of ecstasy muffled by the heat of Xavier's sweat damp flesh. Rayne licked the curve of his neck and buried his face in the soft blond curls at his nape, driving his hips into Xav's firm young peaches and grinding deeper with each stroke. 

"Uhhh... sweetheart!" he panted helplessly, feeling himself tipping over the edge as he bucked against the boy. "Gonna come! Gonna come so hard!"

Xavier was incapable of coherent speech, he managed only a few murmured words of encouragement mixed with a string of soft moans and sharper cries as Rayne brought him closer and closer to the edge again. When he felt his mate's sharp teeth sink into his neck his bite flooded Xav with a curious ecstasy. Whereas usually it thrust him over into orgasm this time it held him there right on the edge, like being right at the crucial second before release but instead of only a moment it lasted for long minutes while Rayne fed. It was the sweetest torture, edging to the extreme. 

By the time Rayne licked the last drops from his neck and buried his face deep in his hair Xavier was beyond ready, his whole body was buzzing. He heard Rayne murmur he was about to come and the sudden hard strokes slamming into him were all he needed. 

"Ahhhhhhrrrrrh!" he growled out, panting hard as he came like a freight train, his come shooting in molten streaks from his body. 

Rayne pressed home, sinking into him and holding his hips tightly as he burst, jetting in spurt after hot, tingling spurt inside the boy. He felt Xavier's snug young hole clench and suck on his aching cock as the blond began to come again. 

"Uhhhh... ohhhhhh... ohhhhhh!" Rayne whimpered and panted into his hair, folding around him and pulling him close. He could not believe how good it felt or that he had just thrown caution to the winds and fucked the sexy little dancer hard in such a public place, where all his friends and the cabin crew could hear them screwing like wild animals.

None of that mattered. He kissed Xavier's neck tenderly, sighing with pleasure as his twitching prick began to stiffen in his lover's slippery chute again. Rayne Wylde eased back and forth slowly in the hot spill he had just pumped into the younger man, wrapped around him, utterly possessed by him.

"You make me so fuckin' horny," he panted softly.

"Mmmm-hmm," Xav agreed contentedly. The flight was about twelve hours, he was thinking. They might come up for air in two or three. Until then staying impossibly horny sounded just fine to him. 

There was a scuffling sound from a few seats back and Rayne tilted his head back to listen. He could hear Clay making soothing noises and Chavez groaning; "But I wanna go see what they're doing!"

"Give them some space. If they want us to play with them they'll let us know," PJ chuckled. 

Rayne kissed Xavier's neck and whispered; "We've started something now!"

He peered over his shoulder at the soft wet sounds coming from just over the aisle. His handsome sire was leaning back in the slightly reclined seat, his eyes closed and an expression of pure bliss on his face. Bent over his groin, Dominic took his mind off the fact that they were trapped in a tin can 40,000 feet up over the North American landmass by feasting on the long hard tool jutting from the Elder vampire's open fly. He was curled over with his head nodding rhythmically in the Everman's crotch as Jabez stroked his curls.

Xavier chuckled softly at Rayne's observation. Inciting lust was what he did for a living, so there wasn't any real embarrassment over their shameless behaviour. In fact he got off on it. Slipping off of Rayne's gently thrusting cock he turned in the seat, nudged Rayne back and straddled his hips so he sat facing him. Reaching down to guide him back in he sank slowly down on his hard prick and kissed him in a long slow tangling of tongues while he rose and fell in a sensual rhythm. When the kiss broke he happened to glance over the aisle and the little 'oh' of surprise he made was somehow both comical and sexy. That was one obscenely large cock Dominic was salivating on. 

"Don't stare, it makes you look like a proper size-queen!" Rayne tickled him gently under his clenching balls and stretched out in the drop-seat under him, thrusting his lean hips upward steadily between the boy's smooth, warm thighs. "Mmmm... that feels so good though!"

From his elevated perch astride the singer, Xavier could also see that about four rows back, Chavez was refusing to let matters lie with Clay. The sexy Hispanic youth had his shirt off and was sitting in the big black porn star's lap, eating his face shamelessly. 

Xavier grinned and looked down at Rayne. They certainly had started something. At the moment though he was only interested in the sexy vampire under him. He leaned forward, hands on either side of Rayne's head as he bent close and rolled his hips with each of Rayne's thrusts. He kissed his lips with tender heat, "I think they'll wear out before we do... you've had me hot and horny all morning."

"Mmmmm..." Rayne sighed pleasurably, rising and falling under him, his long fingers tracing gentle patterns on Xavier's semi clad body. "I'll play for as long as you want me to, sweetheart. I mean... they can hardly throw us off the plane mid flight, can they?"

He pulled himself up to suckle and bite gently on Xavier's nipples, caressing his arching back tenderly. Xavier responded with a soft moan and a quickening of his hips as he rode Rayne's hard shaft. He'd already had two earth shaking orgasms in quick succession so the next he was willing to slow down and wait for. Everything else faded again as they spent the next hour or so finding out how many different positions they could achieve in their marginally more spacious accommodations. 

He heard Chavez come with a whoop of ecstasy, and then Clay's long, rumbling growl and thought he heard Jabez and Dominic panting and groaning at the peak of their respective explosions, but it was all sort of distant. Xav was very into Rayne (at one point literally, with the lithe Englishman sprawled in the nude beneath him, one knee crooked over Xavier's shoulder as the blond pounded him hard) and they shuddered through at least two more delicious climaxes before exhaustion forced a little break. Xavier lay, still mostly naked, on his side with Rayne curled around him from behind. In a drowsy haze of post-orgasmic bliss he didn't even stir when he felt someone gently drape a blanket over their sweating bodies.

When the plane landed in Paris they finally had to get dressed to make their connection to Naples. It felt strange to be clothed after so long with nothing more than the other's skin against their own. Rayne nuzzled him intimately as they waited to disembark, immune to the incredulous grins of the flight attendants, his arms folded comfortably around Xavier's middle as he stood close behind the younger man. Xav half-turned in his arms so that they could kiss some more. 

"I trust you enjoyed your flight, sirs," the tall, blond attendant murmured as they disembarked. 

"I think that was probably the best time I've ever had so far off the ground," Rayne said with an appreciative laugh.

They were at the Transit Lounge when Xavier realised that Jabez and his sidekick, Mersen were not coming with them to Italy. Dominic was wrapped around the tall, white haired vampire shamelessly eating his face. If Jabez Everman was embarrassed by this demonstrative behaviour he certainly was too polite to let it show. As ever, Mersen was more interested in the comings and goings of the other passengers, and glared at them if any dared take too much interest in what his employer was up to with Lord Warren. They quickly got the message and looked elsewhere. 

"Try not to get into any more trouble whilst you're out there," Jabez warned his Fledgling solemnly once he had possession of his lips again. 




Dark Paths Ch. 10



"Dom's coming with us, he'll keep an eye on us, I'm sure," Rayne told him cheerfully. "Besides, what sort of bother can we get in during a stay in a villa in Naples? It's not exactly vampire central, is it?"

"Trouble has a way of finding you," Jabez reminded him with a glint in his curious golden eyes that said he was only half-joking. "Don't go looking for it. And stay away from San Francisco for a little while, that goes for the boy too."

"That's gonna be difficult, since he lives there," Rayne reminded the older vampire, pulling his arm a little tighter around Xav's waist. A glance into Xavier's wide blue eyes told him that his lover was suddenly thinking about what they had run from. 

Lagrado was dead, and Steffen too but there were plenty of vampires in Frisco waiting to step into their shoes. Elian had not lied when he warned that there would be a war over who should become the next Master of that turbulent city. Maybe Lagrado's successor would be Elian Iannopoulos himself. What would that mean for all of them? True, he had saved Xavier's life, but at what cost?

PJ had not missed the seriousness of the Everman's warning either and from the look on his face he was thinking along similar lines. Rayne could see that he was pale beneath his Cali tan; their recent adventures had taken more out of the older man than he was ready to admit. 

"Do you think it might be advisable to move my centre of operations to the studios in Paris?" he asked Jabez now. 

"I think that would be a sensible idea for now," the vampire responded evenly. "You have accommodation here?"

"My partner is working out here at the moment," PJ said, nodding thoughtfully. "I can join him, once we've had a little break in Naples."

"It'll be good to see Mikka again," Chavez piped up, a broad smile on his face. "I've missed him."

"We all have, chicolito," PJ chuckled fondly. "Maybe he can take a little time off and come join us at Aldo's place." 

His smile said that he would be glad if that was the case. Paddy and Mikka had been apart for too long and the handsome porn director was missing his glamorous Finnish lover. 

Xavier's thoughts turned inward while they waited to board their connecting flight. He had pushed thoughts of the future and past both out of his head since reuniting with Rayne, and had steadfastly concentrated on the here and now. Dwelling on the past had never got him anything but melancholy and worrying about the future was just too much to deal with at the moment. Jabez Everman's warning to stay away from the place he thought of as home forced him to think about a few things he'd rather not. Mainly, that there was no guarantee that a month or two, or even longer, away from San Francisco would mean he could safely return there without the threat of Elian Iannopoulos seeking him out to either kill him or turn him. 

Not a pleasant realization. No one wanted to think about never being able to go back home. No, he refused to believe that. Elian would forget about him, surely. A centuries old vampire living a powerful and glamorous life certainly had plenty to occupy his attention, not to mention he must have dozens of lovers to choose from if he wanted a companion. 

He was safe, and when it was time to go back home he was certain he wouldn't run into any more bloodthirsty acquaintances. Xavier clung to that. He had to believe it, because any other alternative he wasn't yet ready to face. 

Rayne's arms were around him again, pulling him close as if sensing that he was, perhaps, a little too quiet. If he guessed at Xavier's thoughts he did not try to prise them out. Instead he touched his lips softly to the younger man's mouth and slowly Xavier's arms came back around him, holding him and drawing him into a longer, deeper kiss. 

In the background, the announcer called that the Air France flight to Naples was now boarding and their friends picked up their belongings and began to make their farewells. Wrapped around one another Rayne and Xavier were already flying into the future on wings of their own making. 

THE END

DARK PATHS (c) Sadie Rose Bermingham & Bellora Quinn 2008/9