1 comments/ 10846 views/ 12 favorites Jamie and Andrew Ch. 01 By: macpedroso Introduction - Please note you can skip the intro but it will answer questions that may come up as we get into the story. ***** Welcome to Unison Island. Back in the first century (0000) the first vampires, witches, psychics and shifters tried to live normal lives integrated with humans. This became more and more difficult as their varying abilities made them stand out (e.g. Vampires only go out at night, shifters disappear once a month). They tried moving away from humans and forming their own communities, but this led to them being hunted and sometimes killed. Humans didn't like anyone who they didn't understand and therefore declared the stand alone villages that refused all communication with others as dangerous. They decided to try and wipe out those villages causing battles that the humans almost always lost. But casualties were heavy for both sides and many paranormals died as well as humans. Finally a person from each community got together and after months of searching they found an island that lay forgotten within what is now known as the Bermuda triangle. Months were then spent contacting all the paranormals of the world and offering them the sanctuary of the island. Everyone who wished to leave the mainland were welcomed with open arms. There were of course people who wanted to stay and see if things improved with the humans. Those people were bound to secrecy with magic but told they would be welcomed on the island any time. The witches laid spells and enchantments on the island, securing it from ever being found by any humans. They also used magic to change the seasons and daylight. They made it so that each season lasted three months, this meant that planting and harvests were regulated and the island always had good crops and so plenty of food to feed everyone. They made sure that day and night lasted twelve hours each. This meant that vampires always knew that the sun would gradually set between 8 and 9pm, and would slowly rise between 8 and 9am, giving them an hour to get to shelter before they could be burnt. At first all communities stayed in their own parts - psychics together, witches together, etc. over the years this changed as people started meeting their partners or mates in other species. Hybrids popped up all over and at first they were shunned, but by the year two thousand attitudes were starting to change, although every place will always have bigots and purists and other extremists. The people who had set up the island built a central building and met up three times a year to ensure all was well. After a while the central building expanded and was soon a town that housed a central high council that governed the island. The council was made up of two representatives from each species. Each community had a small council of elders and they had one senior elder who would report to the high council. Now the high council is in a city, Unison City, as well as housing the high council and it has four universities, one for witches, vampires, psychics and shifters. Children can be sent to finish their education by their parents (or guardians) and the high council will pay for their expenses while they're there. Witches and psychics were found to be great healers and so it was accepted that they would travel away from their own kind to aid other communities. Communities now have a witch and/or a psychic healer living with them to help with bad injuries or sicknesses. The universities teach everything from healing (for psychics and witches) to advanced shifting and how to become an Elder. At certain times each year the high council send teams out to search out any people who may have been born with abilities since the move to the island. They may be newly developed or may be descendants of the people who stayed behind. The teams are made up of a Senior Elder from all four species. Sometimes the Elders will bring their mates/partners but the main team is always the four elders and any others are just there to support them. They try and encourage any people they find to at least visit the island and see if they would prefer life there. The offer was always left open but all visitors are asked to sign a magic statement that make them incapable of talking about the island to any humans if they return to the mainland. The teams also try to find any new technology or medicines that have been not be already found of invented on the island. This means that the island has technology such as helicopters, telephones, TV, internet and other such advances. I hope you enjoy reading about the Island adventures. *** Jamie and Andrew Chapter One Andrew woke up and rolled slowly out of bed, he didn't want to get up but he knew he had work and needed to get ready. Using his vampire speed he had a shower and got dressed. He knew he needed to feed but he had forgotten to restock his supplies last night. He could get a bottle of blood at work and therefore decided to wait. He wrapped his slight form in a fur-lined coat to ward off the chill of the winter evening, being a vampire was great but still didn't fight off the cold. As he was getting into his car he started to feel an itch between his shoulder blades. He had the feeling of being watched but when he looked around he couldn't see anyone. He shrugged to himself and set off for work. He always marveled at the scenery as he drove through the countryside surrounding the community of Chapmistres View. His house was set in a small wooded area which afforded him the privacy his new clan knew he craved as he was painfully shy and nervous of crowds. It was only a short drive to the guard's headquarters where he worked as an administrator in his own office and he could probably have walked it but he liked to drive and it was snowing heavily so he was grateful for the car heater. As he approached the bridge that marked the edge of Chapmistres View town center he noticed another car in his rear-view mirror. As he watched the car sped up and rammed into the back of him. He swerved trying to regain control of the car and hit a patch of ice, which sent him spinning over the side of the bridge into the river below. The river was not usually very deep but with the rain and snow they had been having it was deeper than usual and more than enough to envelop his small car. He fought the water pressure and managed to get the door open. As he pulled himself onto the river bank another set of hands reached out to pull him up. He lifted his head to thank his helper only to receive a punch to his face that sent him flat on his back. He rolled to avoid the next punch and came to his feet. He then realized his attacker was not alone and that another was behind him. The first attacker came at him again and he saw a flash of metal before he felt a cut stinging his arm that he had put up to defend himself. Knowing that only a silver knife could penetrate a vampire's skin he started to fight in earnest knowing that if they cut him enough he could bleed to death before his vampire body could heal itself or if they hit his heart he would die instantly. He quickly realized that the two he was fighting were also vampires as they dodged or blocked most of the punches and kicks he aimed their way. After a few more minutes he realized that the vampires must be trained fighters as they were quicker and much stronger than he was. By the end of the fight he was curled up in a ball as they kicked and stabbed at him. Then they were just gone. Andrew lifted his head and looked around but he couldn't see them and assumed they thought they had done enough to make sure he bled to death before anyone would find him. With painstaking slowness he pulled himself up the river bank to the road, after finding it deserted he started painfully crawling the last short distance to the edge of the town. The first house he came to had a light on outside and he headed for that light. When he reached the door he started to pound on it with all his remaining strength until his vampire hearing picked up the sound of footsteps from inside. As the door began to open he passed out cold. Jamie and Andrew Ch. 02 Healer Casey Baker woke to hear banging on the front door of the house he shared with his brother. Groaning he looked at the time and saw it was 10pm, he'd been asleep only half an hour as the clinic he ran with his twin brother had been overrun with a nasty virus that was infecting the witch population of the community. He dragged himself out of bed and shoved his arms into a robe from the back of the bedroom door. By the time he got to the door the knocking had stopped; he opened the door and found a crumpled form on the doorstep. Taking a cautious step towards the figure he opened his mind trying to sense if there was anyone else waiting in the darkened street. When he was satisfied it was not a trap he knelt beside the form on the ground, taking in the shape and the uniform he realized it was one of the male guards. He had started to drag him into the house when he saw the blood track that had been left by him crawling up the front steps. He got him inside and shut the door, and then he turned him over to survey the damage. He was shocked when he finally saw the person's face. He recognized Andrew straight away. He opened his mind and mind-linked with his twin who he knew was either at or near to the guard headquarters. "Jamie, where are you? I need you home now" He sent via their link. "What's up Case? I'm at the guard headquarters already, you know I get here early to try and see that cute admin vampire Andrew that joined us recently. He's late tonight but I know he will be here soon." "No he won't because I have him here, now get back here pronto and tell Jackson the young vampire he sponsored has been hurt." "HURT!! What is going on, what do you mean Andrew's hurt?" Casey cut off the link to his brother and focused on the man bleeding on the floor in front of him. He had multiple stab wounds to his legs, arms and his face. Knowing vampires could heal themselves given time he was not overly worried about the shallower wounds, however even a vampire could bleed to death before the wounds could heal if they were severe enough. He ran to the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit and a bowl of warm water with cloths. Sitting back on the floor beside the late night visitor he began by using a short spell to strip Andrew down to his underwear without having to move him. He found the larger wounds and used spells to seal them as best he could. He knew he had to stop all the bleeding for the vampire healing to start taking effect. When he was just starting to wash the smaller cuts and dress them with bandages his brother came rushing in the front door. "Oh God!" He cried and dropped to his knees on the other side of Andrew. He quickly assessed what Casey had already done and joined his brother in cleaning and dressing the remaining wounds. They finished cleaning the wounds and Jamie carried him upstairs while Casey got the guest bed turned down and made sure all the blackout curtains were shut. They used a quick simple spell to conjure clothes for Andrew as they knew he was very shy and would be embarrassed to be only in his underwear when he woke up. "What happened?" Jamie asked while they moved a chair near to the bed so one of them could watch their charge. "I don't know. I heard a banging on the door and opened it to find him passed out on the doorstep." "I'll stay with him," Jamie said shooing his brother out the door "you've been up all day and I'm supposed to be on shift now anyway. I left a message for Jackson as his assistant said she had been told not to disturb him while he was in a council meeting." "She won't last long then will she?" Casey said with a small smile as he exited the room, he knew how seriously Jackson took his responsibility to Andrew and he would have wanted to know immediately when something happened to him. Jamie fixed himself a coffee from the small guest kettle in the room and as an afterthought he ran down to the clinic and got a bottle of blood from the refrigerator, he then settled down for a long night. *** Jamie woke with a start and it took him a moment to realize why he was dozing in a chair. He looked over at Andrew to see him moaning and tossing round as though fighting off attackers. He knelt by his side and called to him softly trying to calm him without waking him. When that did not work he tried being more firm, shaking him firmly till he opened his eyes and was looking wildly around the room. Andrew's eyes finally rested on Jamie's "Where am I? How did I get here?" He asked in a rough voice that sounded painful. "You passed out on the doorstep," Jamie replied. "Do you remember anything about this evening?" Andrew shut his eyes in thought then shook his head frowning "All I remember is leaving home for work," he glanced at the clock on the wall and tried to get up. "I've got to get out of here, I'm late." He swayed on his feet and would have fallen if Jamie had not caught him and laid him back on the bed. "The only thing you're doing is going back to sleep. Casey and I did not clean you up so you could start bleeding all over again." He looked closely and saw Andrew was pale even for a vampire. "When did you last feed?" Andrew frowned as he thought, "last night before sleeping sometime, I usually grab some blood at work." "Lucky for you I treat stubborn vampires all the time, you lost a lot of blood and need to feed, I have some blood here." He opened the bottle before helping Andrew to prop himself up on the pillows. Andrew tried to take the bottle and drink it down in one go, but he started to gag so Jamie took the bottle from him and allowed him to take small sips until the bottle was empty. With a sigh Andrew sank back onto the cushions and let sleep claim him. *** The next time he woke Andrew found he was more alert and finding himself alone he took stock of his surroundings for the first time. He was in a comfortable bed dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a baggy blue t-shirt. The room he was in had blackout curtains drawn and a small light on the bedside cabinet cast a soft glow. Also on the cabinet was a bottle of blood and a note which told him that Casey had clinic and Jamie was in bed next door. It also said Casey would check on him between patients. He checked the time as he drank the blood and saw it was nine in the evening and so the sun would be down (he had been asleep through the reminder of last night and through the following day). He used the furniture to get himself upright and to reach the window; he then opened the curtains to look at the night sky. He jumped at a knock at the door, Casey poked his head in and seeing him up he smiled and entered the room. "I see you're up and around at last" he reached out to lift Andrew's top but the vampire moved back quickly till he was against the wall. Casey arched an eyebrow at him, "I need to check all your wounds, I don't bite!" He bared his teeth in a wide grin "that would be your domain! Besides I already saw most of you when I cleaned and bandaged you yesterday." Andrew still stared fearfully at him so after waiting some more he muttered a quick spell that had Andrew's clothes disappearing (except for his boxers, he wasn't that mean) and left him spluttering oaths and blushing a lovely shade of red. "Now let's be seeing you, I haven't got all night you know. I go off shift in an hour then Jamie takes over. I'm sure he would love to examine you again." He grinned at his patient's outraged expression and went about unwinding the bandages from his chest. He knew Andrew was even shyer around Jamie and would not want him seeing him undressed. Finding all the wounds healing fine he returned the clothes and took a seat in the chair by the bed. "Now Jackson should be here soon, he called last night when he finally got Jamie's message and had fired his latest assistant. He..." they were interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Casey jumped up and hurried to the door. When he saw Jackson he grinned. "Jackie," he gushed knowing the elder vampire loathed that nickname. "How nice to see you." Jackson just glared at him then raised an eyebrow waiting for an invitation to enter the house, as a vampire he couldn't enter without permission. Casey finally rolled his eyes "Please come in, Andrew is in the guest room upstairs." He turned after shutting the door and led the way back to Andrews's room. Once inside Jackson went straight to Andrew and drew him up so he could look in his eyes to check his condition. When he was satisfied he was just low on blood but not severely hurt he let him sit back on the bed and sat beside him. Casey retook the chair by the bed and Jackson looked at Andrew. "So what can you tell us about what happened last night?" Jackson asked laying his hand on Andrew's shoulder. "The first thing I remember is waking up and taking a shower; I skipped feeding at home as I had forgotten to get in any supplies and was going to grab something from HQ before my shift. "I was just driving over the bridge when a car hit me and sent me straight over the side and into the river. As I was getting out the car someone grabbed me and dragged me out and onto the bank. Then that person and another person started to lay into me. "When I tried to use my strength I realized they were vampires too and that they were older and more experienced than me, which isn't too hard considering I've only been training in self-defence three months. I was almost managing to hold my own until one pulled out a silver knife and started to stab me with it. I managed to curl up, but I don't remember anything else." He slumped down onto the bed laying crossways with an arm over his eyes looking exhausted from retelling his story. Casey took up the story and told of being woken by the banging and he and Jamie healing him and bandaging him up. "As soon as we had him clean and bandaged, Jamie carried him up here. Jamie then watched him and fed him when he woke enough to drink till his shift finished at sunrise and Andrew here was in his day sleep." At the last bit of his story Andrew sat back up. "Jamie carried me up here?" he asked horrified that the big male witch had seen him hurt and unconscious, not to mention that he had had to be carried to bed like a child. "Yes," Casey replied smiling at the look on the young vampire's face. "He said to tell you blue is definitely your color," looking pointedly at the blue t-shirt he was wearing, which Jamie had chosen. Andrew went bright red and lay back down on the bed. Jamie was the first gay male Andrew had ever met who was so open about his sexuality. He was big and strong. He always wore tight clothes that showed off his body, his hair was long and he had some intricate tattoos on his arms. Jamie was always at HQ when Andrew arrived for work and was always trying to engage the vampire in conversation. Andrew knew he was just being friendly but he got a funny feeling around the male witch and tended to try and avoid him. The whole community knew he had transferred from neighboring clan but they didn't know why and Andrew wanted to keep it that way. As though he had heard his name, there was a knock the door and Jamie poked his head around. Seeing Andrew was awake, he came into the room and looked him over. "I see your doing better, Gorgeous," he smiled waiting for Andrew to move his arm and look at him. When their eyes met Andrew felt like a shock had gone through him and his eyes widened. Hurriedly trying to think of what to do he sat up and nearly knocked Jackson off the bed. Jamie laughed as Andrew apologized to Jackson and they both righted themselves to sit side by side on the bed again. "I'm told I have you to thank for getting me up here last night!" Andrew said shyly to Jamie, "thanks to both you and Casey I've healed a lot faster than I would have otherwise." Jamie smiled and nodded to accept the thanks, then he turned to Casey looking suddenly very serious. "Hey Case, we got two vampires who've just been brought in and I think you and your visitor here should see them before you turn in for the night." He nodded at Jackson then took his place in the chair so he could sit with Andrew while the others went to the clinic. Jamie and Andrew Ch. 03 Chapter Three -- Explanations Jackson and Casey hurried out the room and down to the clinic. Inside they found a small team of vampire and witch nurses working on two young vampires one male and one female, who looked as though they had been in a fight. "What happened here?" Jackson asked with authority ringing in his voice. Being the senior elder in the vampire council meant that all vampires within the community answered to him instinctively. The female vampire managed to raise his head and answer in a whisper "We were coming into town when we were run off the road and attack by two older vampires with a silver knife. Henry covered me with his body so he took the brunt of the attack. They only stopped because someone heard us shouting and came to see what was going on. Sir" She added looking directly at Jackson "I recognized one of them as I saw his face during the fight. He is from the Delaney clan to the west. He is an elder there, his name is Samuel, he came to the community a while back." After she had finished she lay back down and before Casey or Jackson could ask anything else she passed out. The vampire nurses had started blood IV's into both vampires to help them heal more quickly and the witches used magic to heal the deeper wounds. Jackson and Casey returned to Andrews's bedroom to find him fast asleep again with Jamie watching over him, so leaving them in peace Casey took Jackson to the living room where they could talk without being disturbed. "What's going on with this Samuel?" Casey asked as he headed for the adjoining kitchen to make some coffee. Following him Jackson helped himself to a bottle of blood from a small marked refrigerator; he then leaned against the kitchen counter to gather his thoughts. "Well Samuel came to the vampire council first about three months ago, his clan borders ours and their clan membership is significantly lower than ours. They wanted to know if we would be willing to allow them to hire some of our vampire members as they are having trouble with their other neighboring clan, the McClens, and they need more people to help with defending themselves." Casey nodded thinking that few people would want to leave the community here as everyone was treated well. Jackson continued, "When he came to the council he wanted to offer for some of our male vampires to join their guards and some witches as healers. We told him he was welcome to make his offer to some of our men but they had the choice of whether to take him up on it. He offered several man wealth and prestige in his clan if they would go with him, all declined and the council refused to let him approach the last two. He also approached several women as apparently he is looking for a wife as well. One was Sara, the female vampire currently in your clinic, she declined because she was promised to Henry who is her mate, the other victim in your clinic and their link had already started to join them together. Another female he offered for was Alice and when she said no he tried to persuade her by showing her what he personally had offer. He kissed her and when she took offense he tried to coerce her. Andrew stepped in to defend her, he told Samuel that he wasn't much of a male if he had to force women just to kiss him and that he should learn how to treat woman before trying with another one. I think he was acting on instinct, as you know he is usually shy. And to make matters worse Samuel recognized Andrew as Andrew transferred from his clan; he called him a few rude names and told him he was no match for him as he was an elder. A few of our other guards heard the commotion and backed Andrew up. Samuel was asked to leave and he left swearing we would regret out choice to not help his clan. It seems he has decided to take his vengeance the coward's way by sneaking in and taking out his frustrations on the ones he feels have wronged him. In the case of Sara I would guess that he would have taken her, if Henry had not been with her at the time. And in the case of Andrew he probably meant for him to be killed as he did not like that one of his people got away even if he didn't like him much" Casey moved into the lounge and sat in silence digesting what Jackson had just told him. The vampire came and sat opposite him and seemed to be trying to decide something. "There's something you should probably know," he took a deep breath before continuing "The last two men Samuel wanted to offer for were you and Jamie, he had heard of how good you two are at healing, especially being twins and that you can join your magic. But the council said no as you're our only healers and we need you both. In addition, we believe he had an ulterior motive in asking for you two. There are rumor abroad about his sexual appetites and we believe he wanted you two so he could bed you as twins and more. He has been asking questions at the vampire research facility about how the blood bond works. He wanted to know about bonding more than one person and about bonding with someone who isn't your mate." Shocked Casey stared at him certain he must be having a joke at his expense, but the more he studied Jackson's face the more he saw he was serious and actually seemed to be holding back some anger too. "I know all there is to know about the blood bond as I have been doing a research project on it in my spare time, as you know because the council had to give permission for me to contact the research facility. Do you think he'll come after us?" "I don't know, but you need to be careful. I can have a guard assigned to you if you want for protection." "I do not want one of your guards hanging around me twenty four seven and I rarely leave the house except for medical emergencies so I should be fine. I have my magic to fall back on if I need to protect myself, Jamie works three nights a week at the guards HQ so he should be well protected there and here he will be with me." "Your magic will not be fast enough to beat a vampire!" Jackson looked at him in challenge. Casey bristled at the insult "I can take down a vampire if I need to..." he barely got the words out before Jackson had him off the chair and pinned to the floor. He stared up into his face; he hadn't even seen him move. "Vampire's move faster than magic spells can be said" Jackson sneered at him with their faces close together. Casey just looked him with one eyebrow raised, then with a pop he disappeared. Jackson looked around in surprise to see Casey sitting on a chair nearby watching him. "How did you do that?" Jackson asked getting up; he made some show of straightening out the clothes he was wearing before picking up his drink and sitting down again. Casey shrugged, "It is a power given to me by the witches counsel to get me to any emergency quicker. That way I can treat people on the edges of town. I am the only one with it, Jamie only has the magic he was born with, his duties only include running the clinic here and at guard HQ in the evenings. Jackson opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by a cry of alarm from upstairs. They both bolted up the stairs and burst into Andrew's room to see Jamie trying to hold him down as he thrashed around in his sleep. "Help me!" Jamie called and redoubled his efforts as Andrew nearly threw him off by hitting him in the eye. Jackson quickly went to Jamie's side and held Andrew down easily by his arms. Jamie immediately starting chanting a simple calming spell until Andrew finally opened his eyes to focus on him. When he stopped struggling Jackson let go of him and sat on the end of bed but stayed within reach in case. Andrew looked at everyone crowding in his room again and blushed red, "Sorry I must have had a nightmare!" Jamie sat at the head of the bed and when Andrew saw the bruise forming on Jamie's eye his eyes went wide with shock. "Oh God did I do that?" he cried in alarm, his eyes fixed on Jamie and his hand reached out to touch the bruise. The minute his hand made contact with Jamie's skin he felt a shock go through his hand and he snatched it back quickly. Casey saw Andrew's reaction to touching Jamie and decided to get Jamie out so he could check his eye and fill him in. "Jamie, I need to fill you in on a few things, so be a dear and come with me. Jackson you can keep an eye on Andrew a while can't you? He still needs observation for another night and day yet." Before Jackson could answer he was pulling Jamie out the door and trying not to laugh at the furious look Jackson was sending his way, he had obviously seen Andrews's reaction too. "What was that all about?" Jamie asked pulling his hand back and frowning at Casey's laughing face. "I think Jackson is still getting used to being a sponsor to someone so young and thought I was going to look after his charge for him." Casey chuckled heading back towards the clinic. "What did you mean fill me in on something?" "Jamie you know all there is to know about vampires, we both learnt from mom before taking over ten years ago. Andrew is still young by vampire standards, he was kicked out of home before he could be taught all he needed to know, so he is still learning and Jackson keeps forgetting there are things that he needs to tell Andrew. Vampire politics is one of them. What do you remember about vampire mating habits?" As he spoke Casey sat at his office desk in the clinic and brought up the records of the two vampires that had been brought in that night. Jamie took a seat at his desk and looked at the ceiling as he thought. Casey liked to test him occasionally especially about vampire physiology so he wasn't surprised by the random question but he felt the answer to this question was important. "When a vampire meets his or her future mate they instantly recognize them. When the blood bond is finalized there is a mind and life link between the mated pair. If one is killed the other dies too. The mind link means they can communicate with each other where ever they are" He opened his eyes and looked at Casey, "Does that about cover it?" He smiled and then asked "What about when one mate is not a vampire?" He frowned, "I didn't know vampires could mate with non vampires. I mean yes a vampire can take non -- vampire lover. But I didn't think they could be attracted to a non-vampire as a mate." "Well I've been doing some research," Casey sat back comfortably in his seat "a vampire can mate with a non-vampire and feel the same recognition as they would with a vampire mate. However, the non-vampire half of the couple would only feel a subtle attraction and it would be up to the vampire to convince the other person they are meant to be together. Once they are blood bonded they have the same abilities as a mated vampire couple with the mind and life link and as an added bonus the non -- vampire's life expectancy is extended to the life of the vampire without them having to be changed. In addition, the non -- vampire will get better health and much faster healing capabilities. The down side is that the vampire will feel the recognition strongly and want to act on it, but the other person will not realize what their feeling and either ignore it or misread the situation. Of course if the vampire is still young then they may feel the recognition and not know what it is, so they may be afraid to act on it but that is a whole other problem. The last and most important point though is that vampires can blood bond with others who are not their mates and they can take more than one mate as the emotional bond that causes the vampire to be protective of their mate is not there to prevent it. That then means that the vampire can control their mate telepathically by punishing behavior they don't like. A forced blood bond is illegal within vampire culture but it does happen still occasionally. Now lesson over, I need to bring you up to date on a vampire that is intent on doing an end run around mating law and is intent on forcing the issue with a few females and males, ourselves included." *** While Casey was filling Jamie in on Samuel, Jackson was filling in Andrew and giving him a lesson in vampire mating habits at the same time. "So you see," Jackson continued "Samuel is angry at you for showing him up and so is trying to save face with his clan by having you beaten up or possibly killed." "That is not the only reason he hates me, you know!" Andrews head still was throbbing and all his joints were stiff and aching. All he wanted to do was pull the duvet over his head and go back to sleep but instead he had to sit and be told a crazy vampire wanted him dead. "What do you mean?" Jackson asked. Andrew looked at him and took a deep breath before continuing "When I applied for a transfer to this clan I told the council that my family had disowned me due to the fact I was gay." Jackson nodded and motioned for Andrew to continue, "That was the truth but I was not asked how they found out I was gay. I had been a junior admin assistant for the elders of our clan since I was sixteen, when I turned eighteen Samuel requested I join his admin team he said he wanted to help me advance in the admin department, said I had potential." The curl of Andrew lip as he said 'potential' gave Jackson a bad feeling about what was coming next. Andrew saw the look in his eyes and nodded "I can see you've probably guessed what came next, Samuel tried to seduce me, said he liked young pretty boys. When I continued to refuse his advances he tried blackmail me by saying he would ruin my career if I didn't do what he wanted. When I still refused he tried to force me to submit. He had me trapped in a closet (Ironic I know) in the council building and had me half undressed when a female colleague found us. To save his reputation he had it put out that I had seduced him and when my parents found out they disowned me and threw me out with only the clothes on my back and the money in my account." When he finished his tale Andrew hung his head as he did not want to see pity in Jackson's eyes. Jackson was furious; the abuse of power Samuel had used was massive and had ruined this young man's life. At only 19 Andrew should still be at home with his parents until he decided to travel for work or education, or until he met his mate. A vampire did not choose their mate, fate did and that meant that their mate could be male or female. This usually meant that vampires were more amenable to all relationships regardless of the sexes of the couple. "Why would your parents worry about you being gay? A lot of vampires are." Jackson asked frowning. "I am an only child and they were banking on me to carry on the family line with children of my own. My family is very old but my parents only had me recently and they had already picked out a mate for me from another old family." "Your family may be old but your parents have not been taught much about vampire physiology. Only destined mates can have children together, it was a precaution placed on us by our creator to ensure we didn't just go around impregnating anyone to increase the vampire race. In addition, if your mate is a male, as you believe he will be, and he happens to be a non-vampire there is still a chance you could have children." "How" Andrew asked finally looking up. "Well when a male vampire blood bonds with a male non vampire the exchange of blood sometimes has an extra effect. The non-vampire will sometimes develop a womb and will therefore be able to bare young. Although delivery is messy and is usually done by c section. It has not happened for about five hundred years but it is possible." Andrew face went through a range of emotions from hope to relief to many others that went too quick for Jackson to name. Eventually it all seemed too much and Andrew broke down. Jackson held him until he finally cried himself into a fitful sleep. Jamie and Andrew Ch. 04 Author note: to denote when two people are speaking with their minds and not out loud the dialog have ** either side. *** Casey and Jamie knocked and came in the room, "Jackson, the council called and said your presence is required as soon as you're free as a situation has risen." Casey delivered the message in a mock formal tone and then added with a scowl, "The person said that I should ensure you got the message immediately or there would be and I quote 'consequences if I delayed'. What did he think I was going to do, make dinner before passing on their message?" Andrew stirred as Jackson frowned, "By the tone you just repeated I would say you spoke with Elder Rickman, he sometimes seems to forget he is not a Roman captain anymore." Andrew stared at him in wonder as he made his goodbyes and headed off to make his way to the council building. Andrew switched his gaze to Casey and asked, "Roman captain?" Casey laughed, "Yes most of the council elders are well over a thousand years old and so they have lived through a lot of interesting times. Rickman and Jackson are the eldest members and they are almost 2000 years old. This community was built about a thousand years ago and has only expanded since then." Andrew and Jamie looked stunned and Casey couldn't help laughing. He had always been a curious child and so he had learned the history of the community and its residents. Jackson was a good friend of their mother's and although Casey had always found him bossy, he had been a great source of information, when they could talk without butting heads. Today had been the longest conversation he had ever had with Jackson without ending up in some sort of debate or outright argument. Andrew was starting to look tired again and when Casey glanced at the time he saw it was getting on for 2am. "You need to get more sleep to help you heal." He turned to address Jamie, "Get him some more blood from the kitchen and then you can take first watch while I'm getting some sleep, I'm so glad we had some volunteers tonight or we would never have covered you at the guard's clinic." He turned and left the room, leaving Jamie and Andrew looking at each other. "I'll be back in two sec's" Jamie said rushing out the room to follow Casey's instruction about the blood and cursing himself for not thinking of it first. As soon as Jamie was gone, Andrew tried to get out of bed. He really needed to clean up, he felt sticky and dirty, but he did not want to have anyone help him. That would be too embarrassing. He managed to get himself up right and was halfway across the room holding onto the furniture before he began to feel dizzy and was just about to fall when Jamie came back in the door. Jamie took in the scene in a second and dropped the bottle he was carrying on the floor as he grabbed Andrew and took his weight. "What are you up to?" He asked angrily, helping Andrew back to sit on the edge of the bed. "I need to wash up a bit and wanted to get there before anyone had to help me." Andrew replied once he was sitting and had his head down between his knees to relive the dizziness. "Well for a start you have not had enough blood to be up and around unaided at the moment. And secondly do you even know where the bathroom is?" Andrew took a deep breath and raised his head to stare; he had not even thought that he didn't know the layout of the house. He smiled ruefully at Jamie and shook his head carefully, "No I don't know where the bathroom is, but if you'll help me get there I really need to wash, I feel all sweaty." Jamie helped him up and with an arm around his waist escorted him out the door and down a long corridor. The bathroom was a large room at the end and was large enough to house a toilet, large bath tub (with what look like bubble jets inside it) and a large shower cubicle that had multiple showerheads in it and looked like it was big enough for a football team. The whole room was tiled in pastel colors and the floor were a rough type of tile that Andrew had never seen before. Jamie helped him to the wash basin, gave him a wash cloth and towel and then left him to wash on his own (telling him he would be right outside the door and to call if he needed him), for which he was very grateful. Andrew completed his wash feeling much more refreshed and looked longingly at the shower before knocking on the door to let Jamie know he was ready. Jamie soon had him back in bed and he was drinking a bottle of blood while Jamie was chatting to him about various things going on around the community. Andrew had not really made any friends in the community even though he had been there three months now. The only people he really knew were Jackson, Jamie and his work colleagues. He preferred things that way; people couldn't hurt you if they didn't know you and if you didn't care what they thought. He missed his sister and he wished he could contact her but he knew his parents and everyone else from his old clan would not let him have contact with her. His parents had always been cold towards him. No matter how well he did in school, they always pointed out where he could have done better. Then he had been outed and to make matters worse he was accused of practically molesting an elder of their council. That was the last straw and they kicked him out that day with only what he could carry. When he applied to the nearest community, Jackson had taken him under his wing. Still being young Jackson decided to become his sponsor, which meant he was in charge of Andrew's education in vampire culture (which was obviously seriously lacking) and also for making sure he was kept safe within the community till he was settled. Jackson had become like a father figure that he had never felt like he had before. Even as gruff as Jackson could be, he showed more interest in Andrew and his wellbeing than his own father ever had. He came out of his trip down memory lane to find Jamie staring at him, "You were in a world of your own" Jamie informed him. He then proceeded to insist that Andrew lay back down and get more sleep. Andrew fell asleep with the sound of Jamie telling him stories of what he had seen happen in his lifetime in the community. Andrew woke in the early morning before sunrise to find Casey asleep in the chair by the bed and Jamie curled up asleep on a blanket on the floor. Jamie must have sensed the movement as he opened his eyes and smiled when he saw Andrew was awake. "Hey sleepyhead," he said sitting up and rubbing his eyes, "I must have dozed off while Casey and I were talking. Are you hungry? I have some blood here," he stood and picked up a bottle that was on the side table. Andrew tried to sit up in the bed but he was trapped by the tangled blankets. As he squirmed, Jamie reached out to help him and caught his foot on the edge of the bedside rug. Andrew suddenly found himself with Jamie laying full length over him, cussing up a storm. Jamie scrambled off Andrew. "Are you ok? Did I hurt you?" Jamie asked frantically. He grabbed Andrews face to look into his eyes and see for himself that he was okay. As they looked at each other time seemed to stand still, Jamie started to lean in and Andrew met him halfway but as their lips met, a shock went through both of them and it caused Andrew to jerk back. His eyes were wide with shock and he quickly looked down at his hands trying to stammer out an apology. Jamie was just about to try and find out what was wrong when he heard his brother through their mind link *Don't push it at the moment Bro,* he said and caused Jamie to jerk his head back. How could he have forgotten that his brother was in the room? When he looked around he saw his brother had slipped out of the room and was looking in from the doorway. Jamie nodded to him and he slipped away without Andrew noticing. Jamie got off the bed and after helping Andrew untangle himself from the blankets he handed him the blood to drink; Andrew refused to look at him at all. Before he left the room he dropped a brief kiss on Andrew's cheek and left; looking back once he was at the door. Andrew was staring after him, bottle in one hand and the other hand on the cheek Jamie had kissed. Jamie needed to talk and found his brother in his bedroom where he entered without knocking. *I need your help Bro,* he stated using their mind link as he knew with his vampire hearing Andrew could eavesdrop if he wanted to. *I'm assuming you mean Andrew?* Casey said laying aside the book he was studying from. Jamie joined him on the bed moving the book aside and nodded, *I want him like I've never wanted anyone. But anytime I get near him he runs. Even before this when I was running the clinic at the guard's headquarters he would only speak to me if I asked him a direct question and then would run out the room. If I thought he wasn't interested I would leave it but for some reason I believe he is interested and I can't seem to let go. I have a need to always know where he is and what he is doing. I want to touch him all the time even though I know he will try to run if I do. What's going on Casey?* Jamie had put his head in his hands by the end of his speech. Casey seemed to think before he responded, *Just by looking at Andrew you can see he is starved for touch and from what I found out about his history he has never been shown what real unconditional love is like. If all you want is a fling then I won't help you, I think he deserves much better than that. However I can see his attraction to you and I don't think it would take much to turn that into much more. If however your feelings are as strong as you seem to be telling me they are, I will help you when you have thought a few things through.* *I don't know what's going on with me but I know I don't want to hurt him in any way. I want to protect him and keep him safe, that feeling has gotten worse since he was hurt. Just seeing him lying on our floor when I got home was terrifying. I know you know something; I feel it in your voice, please tell me what I'm missing* *Yes I've realized something you haven't but I'm not telling you,* before Jamie could protest Casey held up his hands and continued, *This is something you have to realize for yourself. If you think back over the last few days and our discussions since Andrew got here, coupled with your feelings as you just described them to me, you'll realize what I mean.* Jamie thought hard, he remembered his feelings when he had heard Andrew was hurt and how his heart had nearly stopped when he had seen him on the living room floor bleeding. He thought about his need to be near him and to make sure he was ok all the time. He finally remembered the feeling of Andrew's lips on his when they had kissed just moments ago. He then started going over his last conversation with his brother that had centered on the Samuel situation and vampire mating. His thoughts stalled and he looked up at his brother in total shock... VAMPIRE MATING ... MATES... OH SHIT... Jamie and Andrew Ch. 05 Jamie stared at Casey, "You really think I'm his mate?" "Yes I do," Casey replied, "But I don't think he realizes it." Jamie thought about it for a while and the more he thought the more he found he liked the idea. He had wanted to settle down for a while but had yet to find anyone who seemed to fit with him long term. He remembered the first time he saw Andrew; he had just opened the clinic at the guard's headquarters for the night and Jackson brought Andrew in as part of his orientation of the building. He had immediately been captivated by the young vampire, his long black hair had been pulled back into a long braid and he seemed to find the floor very interesting as he didn't look up at any time through the introductions. He found that he wanted to find out more about this man so he started getting to the guard's clinic early and making sure he was around the staff room when Andrew arrived. He would try talking to him but Andrew made it difficult, he would only answer a direct question and seemed to find the first excuse he could to leave the room. Jamie had always been a man that took no for an answer and would move on to the next challenge. However, this time he found himself trying harder and harder to get Andrew's attention. He started getting Andrew's evening blood for him and having it waiting for him when he arrived. He made regular visits round the offices doing a blood delivery, using the excuse that he was trying to ensure all the vampire administrators were taking care of themselves and not working too long without a break. Andrew was always polite and cordial but he could never draw him into conversation. Looking back now he could see that Andrew was almost scared of him, he was pushing too hard. "What do you suggest Case?" he asked his brother, speaking out loud as he thought Andrew would probably be asleep by now. "I suggest you start very slowly, from what I know and have observed he is starved for a loving touch. Start small, he seemed to like the kiss on the cheek you gave him as an afterthought before you left his room." Jamie thought back and realized he had not even thought about it when he had given the kiss. "You mean treat him almost like I would you or any of our close friends, a hug on meeting, a pat on the shoulder, that sort of thing?" "Yeah, now you're getting the idea. Just monitor his reactions and back off if you need to, but I don't think you will have to." Jamie headed for his bed with a new sense of purpose and a plan in mind. Andrew would not know what hit him come night time. **** Andrew woke after sunset to find Jamie sitting by the bed reading a book apparently so engrossed in it he hadn't noticed Andrew waking. Andrew cleared his throat, "Hi Jamie," and Jamie gave a start and looked over. "Hey there, you're awake again, I don't know how you can tell me and Casey apart when we're not side by side, other people can't," he gave Andrew a big smile and patted his hand that was on top of the blankets "There's a bottle of blood in the kitchen, I thought you may want to get out of this room for a while, maybe even get a wash?" Andrews face brightened immediately at the thought of getting out of the room and even more at the prospect of a wash. He nodded and Jamie helped him to ease himself out the bed and slowly test his stiff muscles. Once out of the room Jamie headed in a different direction than last time, "Where are we going?" Andrew asked hesitantly. Jamie smiled, "We're heading for a different bathroom, this one has a few extras." After they walked past a few more doors Andrew found himself looking into a huge bathroom. "The shower is walk-in and has a seat so you will not have to worry about your stiff muscles stopping you from enjoying it for as long as you wish to." Jamie said grinning, "Now can you undress yourself or shall I help you? I am really good at it and I promise to behave myself!" Andrew went a deep shade of red and Jamie laughed as he was ushered out the door. Andrew stripped and sat on the shower seat. He reached for the shower controls and moaned appreciatively as the warm water starting pulsing down on his sore muscles. Vampires may heal quickly but they still had to suffer the aches from severe wounds, especially if silver was involved, and they still needed to replace lost blood. As Andrew tipped his head back his thoughts drifted to Jamie and the brief kiss they had shared last night. Andrew remembered the feel of Jamie's soft lips as they touched his, he also remembered the shock that had gone through him as they touched. He couldn't think what had caused the feeling, it made him want to grab Jamie and push him down on the bed, then make him submit to him. He laughed at himself even if he had done that, then what? Why would Jamie want an unexperienced virgin? He had heard about Jamie's reputation, he liked to flirt with everyone and was always out on a date with a different man, usually a witch and usually very good looking. He knew Jamie was way out of his league. When he opened his eyes and began to wash he saw what thinking of Jamie had done. His shaft was standing to attention and felt harder than he could ever remember. Bringing to mind the feeling of Jamie's lips again Andrew began to stroke himself slowly. He imagined that it was Jamie's hand on him, kissing him and whispering dirty things in his ear. His other hand slipped down to massage his heavy balls while he tried to keep his moans of pleasure as quiet as possible. His orgasm caught him by surprise, bursting out of him and painting the shower wall opposite him. It left him feeling week and out of breath but satisfied. Realizing how long he had been in the shower he quickly washed and rinsed himself before drying and getting redressed. When he opened the door he found Jamie leaning against the wall reading a book, he blushed wondering if Jamie had heard him. Jamie looked up and smiled as he tucked the book in his back pants pocket. "Shall I give you a proper tour now you're feeling better, Sir" he said grandly holding his arm out to Andrew. Andrew grinned with him and took his arm, ignoring the now expected shock that went through him at the contact. They started in the clinic where Jamie showed him everything including all the store cupboards and offices. He continued to act as crazy as usual and had the staff laughing as he introduced them with names such as "This is Lady Dora, she's a senior nurse," and "Ah here comes Lord Ben, our newest nurse". Everyone took his antics in good humor and they finally left the clinic and headed for the main house. After a tour of the dining room and a small games room that held a pool table they ended up in the large kitchen. Jamie headed for a small marked fridge and got a bottle of blood. He poured it into a glass and put it in the microwave to take off the chill. He then presented it to Andrew with a florid bow saying "Your food Milord." Andrew couldn't help himself; he burst out laughing and found he couldn't stop. Jamie started at the laughing vampire before him, he had always though Andrew was cute but when he let go and laughed like that he was beautiful. All he could think was "I must make him mine." Casey came into the kitchen holding two empty cups. "What's so funny?" he asked as he placed the cups into the dishwasher. Jamie tried to look innocent while Andrew tried to explain around still laughing. "What you doing now Bro?" Casey asked looking at Jamie. "Nothing, nothing at all. I'm just looking after our guest" "Well take him down to the training room and help him loosen those stiff muscles, he's being released before sunrise. Oh and he's your new bodyguard." Jamie and Andrew both stared at Casey in shock. As Andrew started spluttering out questions Casey looked at his twin. "Remember you wanted to spend more time with him? Well I called Jackson and set it up so his office will be moved to an empty space adjoining your clinic at the guard's headquarters. His nights off will be changed to match yours." He said through their mind link. Jamie's face cleared and he turned to make himself a sandwich to hide the grin that was spreading on his face, as Casey explained it again out loud for Andrew. "I'm not a guard, I'm only an admin assistant," Andrew protested. "We know that but you have the perfect excuse to be in and around the HQ. Normal guards may pop in and out but the admin staff are there all night dealing with things. You can swing past here and pick up Jamie on your way to work and drop him off on your way home. He usually walks but that's not safe at the moment. Your days off I'll leave up to you to arrange between yourselves but you have to be together if Jamie leaves the house as he can't be on his own in the community. Andrew, you will be resuming work tomorrow and I thought you may want your own clothes so that's why I'm releasing you before sunrise. Jackson dropped off a new car for you, I'm afraid your one is a write off between the impact and the water damage." A flash of pain going across Andrew's face had Jamie laying a hand on his shoulder. "That car was all I had left of home. I saved to buy it and it was the first thing I bought myself." Andrew screwed his eyes shut to try and stop the tears and was shocked when he felt himself being drawn into warm arms. When he opened his eyes he found Jamie had pulled him against his warm chest and was laying his chin on the top of his head. He turned into the warmth and soaked up the scent of Jamie feeling himself relax. Jamie pulled back after a few minutes and Andrew saw Casey had slipped out at some point. He couldn't understand it he didn't usually let anyone touch him but Jamie kept doing it and he found he wasn't panicking like he normally would. "Come on," Jamie said interrupting his thoughts, "let's get to the training room and see what you're made of." He led the way down to the basement of the house and Andrew saw it had been converted into a fully functional gym complete with two of every type of exercise equipment Andrew could name and a few he couldn't. "Casey set up this place for the two of us so that we are never far from the clinic and anyone can come get us if they need to." The two of them settled on adjacent treadmills so they could continue talking as they warmed up. From there Jamie led Andrew through a few free weights, always watching to make sure Andrew didn't overdo it. Vampire Andrew may be but he was still a young vampire and as he had found out when fighting, age meant strength to vampires. Andrew was feeling better all the time, they stopped after half an hour for a quick drink, him blood and Jamie water, then exercised another half an hour of various resistance machines. They jogged around the room slowly to cool down and then stretched before heading for the adjoining shower. Jamie looked at Andrew and considered asking him to share a shower so he could 'make sure he hadn't done any damage' but he thought that might be pushing his luck, so he sent Andrew in first with strict instructions to be careful and call him if he needed help. After they had both showered and changed into clean clothes kept in the gym they headed back to the main lounge and picked a few DVD's to pass the time with. They were halfway through watching Die Hard two when Casey found them sitting comfortably side by side on one of the couches laughing at what was on the screen. "Glad to see you two are getting on so well," Casey said slyly causing Jamie to blush, "but Andrew needs to go home to sleep in his own bed so he can be in his own clothes for work tomorrow." Both men were sad to part ways but Jamie knew it was for the best and he would see Andrew again that night for work. They saved their spot on the DVD and headed for the driveway to see what car Jackson had chosen for Andrew. When they saw it Andrew looked at it in shock, "How did he do that?" He asked a slight catch in his voice. Jamie frowned, "Do what, it's a nice car I suppose but he could have gotten you anything, you know a convertible or even a range rover to deal with the snow if it gets deeper. This is a normal estate car, it will have problems if the snow gets deeper and won't have as good traction on the river road if the river floods out as a range rover would have." Andrew shook his head, "I don't care about any of that, Jackson has found an exact duplicate of my old car. The only difference is this is new and my car had a few scrapes and dents on it. I will have to remember to thank him when I get home." Jamie smiled and wondered how much input Casey had had into what car Jackson got. For all their arguing Jackson and Casey still spoke regularly and they did listen to each other even if they didn't always agree. Jamie watched as Andrew got the car running and told him when he would pick him up later. Within a few minutes he was gone and Jamie was left staring at an empty driveway. Casey came out to find him and sent him to bed; he climbed the stairs in a daze and found himself going to the bedroom Andrew had used because that is where he had slept mostly while Andrew had been there. He walked over to the still unmade bed and picked up the pillow absently fluffing it. As he put it back he caught Andrew's scent on it and found himself calming. He stripped off and got into the bed. Hugging one pillow while resting his head on another he drifted off to sleep and had really good dreams for the day. **** Across town Andrew was wandering around his house and for the first time since arriving he didn't feel settled there. He wanted to go back to Jamie's house and curl up in the warm bed he had been using with Jamie sleeping nearby in the chair. He shook his head at himself; of course Jamie wasn't going to sit with him forever that was stupid. He forced himself to strip and get into bed. After the intense workout he and Jamie had done he was asleep quickly. **** The next night Andrew picked Jamie up and was treated to non-stop questions from the witch on the drive to work. Finally Andrew had enough when Jamie's questions started getting into his love life (not that there was anything to tell). "So Jamie," he said turning in the seat slightly so he could see Jamie's expression while driving, "Are you going to tell me about your first time. When, where, who and how was it?" He saw the shocked expression on Jamie's face, but before he could congratulate himself he saw Jamie's face change to open and trusting. "Of course, I've been asking you questions only fair you get to ask too. Although what made you think of that question beats me," He said with a leer at Andrew, who rolled his eyes. "Right my first time, let's think. When: I was eighteen, where: unfortunately it was the back seat of a car, corny I know. Who: was my then best friend Ray and it was fumbled, uncomfortable and we swore never to try again as we were better friends than lovers. The two lovers I have had since then got better but the feeling was never there and I'm still looking for that perfect someone to settle down with. He needs to be able to put up with me being a healer. My boyfriends both dumped me for the same reason, I worked nights, I was on call and I would be late for dates or have to cancel at short notice. The longest lasted three months before he told me to choose him or healing." By the end of Jamie's short explanation Andrew was staring in shock at him while still trying to pay attention to the road, "You've only had three lovers, what about all the dates I hear about you going on? You're the hot topic of gossip between the female vampires in the admin section of HQ all the time. I'm always hearing about which witch (no pun intended) you have hanging off your arm at any given time." It was Jamie's turn to stare at him, "People think I'm always on dates?" He asked shocked. "I go out on a Saturday night only as that's one of my nights off, the other is a Thursday and I spend it catching up on emails and my share of any chores. I go out to the bar with a few friends, drink a few beers and catch up on what's going on during days when I'm asleep. I don't have a different date each time either, I have five friends who I go out with and as I don't have a car they take turns being the designated driver and picking up the rest of us to make sure we all have a way home if we're too drunk to walk. Yes most of my friends are witches but I have a few vampire friends, Rachel is one and Timothy is another. You probably know Tim he's Rickman's second on the council. He's a lot more fun than Rickman but of course being a vampire I can't out drink him. You vamps are so lucky that you can drink all you like without getting drunk." Andrew was trying to process what Jamie had said, only three lovers and no dates for a while by the sound of it. He couldn't believe how wrong Jamie's reputation was or was it just the women's way of exaggerating things because Jamie was out of their reach being gay? "I'll be sure to correct them next time I hear them," Andrew promised impulsively before he thought about the fact that that would mean he had to talk to his colleagues instead of avoiding them. But he discarded that thought when he saw Jamie's smile. "Thanks, although I don't mind being thought of as a bit of a party guy, I am not a slut and never will be," he almost added that he only has eyes for Andrew now anyway but thought that would definitely be pushing his luck. **** A five hours later Jamie was most of the way through his clinic but he hadn't had a break. There seemed to be a virus going through the vampires of the community. This was very unusual as vampire didn't usually get sick. Usually at this clinic he was there for the guards if they managed to hurt themselves while out on patrol and for the witches that had chosen to work nights instead of days and couldn't get as far as the clinic on the outskirts of town on their breaks. He had contacted the clinic to find Casey had the same problem there. Casey thought the virus had a magical origin and that it had mutated from the one that had been going round the witch community earlier in the week. He gave Jamie the spell that he had found in their mother's spell book that seemed to cure the virus but left the person rather weak. Casey had also warned him that the spell took a lot of energy to perform but Jamie had refused when his brother offered to send him a volunteer nurse, as all the regulars were busy. His experience with the volunteer nurses was not good, they were usually inexperienced and sloppy, which meant he had to spend more energy sorting out their mistakes than if he had just done it himself in the first place. Also he could hear the fatigue in Casey's voice through their link. His brother had been up all day and now he had to work at night too as he had more experience with strange viruses and vampires than any of the regular staff. Jamie had told his brother to make sure he rested and returned to his work with the new spell in mind. What Jamie had not expected was the influx of patients when the guards started coming in in twos and threes, then threes and fours. Soon he was treating them in groups as this slightly reduced the risk to himself but it was still draining. He finally sent the last group on their way after seven solid hours of work. He tried to contact Casey through their mind link but got no answer so he called the clinic and was told his brother had finally been sent to bed by Dora, one of the senior nurses who had taken on the role of watching out for them when their mom had died. He thanked the person on the phone and went to update his records before he went to find Andrew. He went to sit at his desk just as his vision greyed. The world went black and he fell to the floor hitting his head on the way down on the corner of his desk. Jamie and Andrew Ch. 05 **** Andrew heard a bang come from the office adjoining his and rushed to get in there wondering what had happened since he knew the last patients had left and Jamie should be alone. He cried out when he saw Jamie lying on the floor with blood running down his face. He knew not to move him but beyond that he was clueless. He heard footsteps then there was a crowd of administration staff gathering round them all shoving and shouting. This pulled Andrew out of his panic and some of his first aid training from when he had joined the community came back to him. (All vampires needed to know basic first aid according to Casey as they were working and living with witches that could get hurt or ill at any time.) He saw Tim in the crowd and grabbed him, "We need something to stop the bleeding, then get rid of this crowd and get hold of Casey." He rattled off the things in quick succession. Tim immediately yanked a clean square of cloth out of his pocket and handed it to Andrew, then turned and started ushering people out the door of the office telling them they would all be told how Jamie was but they need to give him space to be treated. Andrew was holding the cloth to Jamie's temple and was glad to see the blood flow slowing down. With his free hand he grabbed the phone from the desk and dialed the clinic. "I need Casey at the guard's headquarters now," He stated to the person who answered without bothering with a greeting. The person on the other then told him Casey was unavailable and could he tell them what the problem was instead. This infuriated Andrew, "I'll tell you what the problem is! Casey's brother is lying bleeding and unconscious on the floor of the guard's clinic and you're wasting precious time arguing with me. Get Casey here NOW!" and with that he slammed the phone down cracking the casing in the process. Tim came back in the room at the noise and bent to help Andrew hold the cloth to the wound, but as he reached for Jamie Andrew let out a low growl that had Tim moving away quickly and taking up a position at the door to make sure no one else tried to barge in other than Casey. Both Andrew and Tim jumped when Casey appeared in the middle of the room out of thin air. He was only wearing sweatpants and t-shirt and had obviously just got out of bed. "What happened?" He demanded as he got down on the floor by Jamie and ignored Andrew's growl except to slap him on the back of his head. "I asked you a question Andrew! What happened?" Andrew shook his head to clear it and quickly told Casey that he had found Jamie like this after hearing a bang from the office. Casey glanced around and saw the blood on the corner of the desk; he shook his head in resignation. "He is just drained from using too much magic. I told him to call for a back-up volunteer nurse if he needed help. It looks like he passed out and caught his head on the desk." He muttered a spell and removed the cloth from the wound. The wound had closed over and looked to be at least a day old already. "I can't do more than that as I'm tired myself and I need my energy for the transport. I'm taking him home, Andrew, you can meet us there if you wish too. I know you and Jamie are friends and you can see for yourself he is fine." With that Casey laid a hand on Jamie and they both vanished. "Well that was a surprise"! Tim said from the doorway, but Andrew didn't answer. He was already heading for his office to grab his things so he could get to the clinic. **** He arrived at the clinic and left his car parked across the driveway. "Where is Casey?" he demanded of the first person in uniform that he saw. "He is in the main house," the person replied and before he could say any more Andrew was heading for the connecting door. Much to the nurse's surprise he put in the code that he'd seen Jamie use the night before and quickly disappeared inside. He stopped on the other side of the door and took a deep breath, the house was too big to try looking for Jamie so he opened his other senses and he soon picked up the scent he associated with Jamie. He followed it up stairs and found Jamie in the same bedroom he himself had been in. Casey looked up from his post by the bed. "What took you so long?" he asked, and then waved away any answer. "Never mind, I need to go back to bed, which means you're in charge of watching him. Just make sure if he wakes up at all you give him water to drink to keep him hydrated and keep talking to him as he'll probably be disorientated and may panic." With that he started to walk out the room but was stopped by a question Andrew just had to know the answer to. "Why is he in this room? Why isn't he in his own bed?" Casey looked back from the door, "This is where he slept today after you left. I found him here when I went to wake him up for his shift. He was hugging the pillow just as he is now." Before Andrew could ask anything else Casey slipped out the door and closed it behind him. Andrew sat in the vacated chair and picked up a book that had been left on the bedside cabinet. **** After what seemed like hours but was actually only about an hour and a half Jamie started to stir. Andrew jumped up to grab the glass of water Casey had left with a straw in it so Jamie didn't have to sit up to drink. Jamie opened his eyes but didn't seem to see anything, he accepted the straw when Andrew held it to his mouth and drank when he was told to. When Andrew set the glass back he knocked the pillow Jamie had been holding and it fell off the bed. The effect was immediate, Jamie's eyes went wide and his voice came out as a whimper. Andrew leant close and realized it was his name Jamie was saying and then he remembered what Casey had said about talking to him. "Hey Jamie," he said taking Jamie's hand and keeping his voice quiet and calm "I'm here, no need to panic now." Jamie calmed instantly at the sound of his voice, he couldn't say why he had said what he had but he was grateful it had worked and Jamie seemed better. He tried to move his hand but Jamie wouldn't let go, Andrew could have easily broken the hold but he worried that may agitate Jamie again so he sat on the edge of the bed hoping Jamie would fall asleep and he could free his hand and return to his chair and get some sleep. What he didn't plan for was the minute he sat on the bed Jamie's arms came around him and pulled him down so they were lying together. He heard Jamie's sound of contentment before he heard the deep breaths that meant he was asleep again. Andrew was at a loss, he knew if he moved he would probably wake Jamie up again. In the end it was decided for him as his body gave into sleep between one thought and the next. Wrapped in Jamie's arms he felt safe and comfortable for the first time he could ever remember. **** Jamie came awake slowly, he didn't want to let go of the dream he was having. He was dreaming that Andrew was in his bed sleeping next to him and he ached with the knowledge it might never come to pass. He finally opened his eyes then shut them and tried again. When the image before him didn't change, he silently reached out for his brother, "Casey what happened? How did I get home? And how did I manage to get Andrew into bed?" At the last comment he felt his brother's shock and got the message he would be there as quick as possible. A few minutes later Casey came in the room and saw the scene before him. "You make a cute couple," he sent to Jamie not wanting to wake Andrew and spoil the moment. He quickly filled Jamie in on the night before and scolded him for not being more careful about how much magic he used. "What if Andrew hadn't been there? How long could you have laid there before someone found you? You need to take more care; you're not super witch you know!" "I know, I'll be more careful, I promise," Jamie replied, "Now how did Andrew get here? And by here I mean in bed with me." Casey shrugged, "I told him to follow from the HQ to here and then I left him on guard duty with instructions to give you water if you woke and to talk to you if you panicked. I didn't tell him to get into bed with you. You'll have to ask him about that yourself." As Casey was talking Andrew started to stir, after sharing a brief look with Jamie Casey slipped out the room so as not to embarrass the young vampire. "Well hi there handsome," Jamie greeted a sleepy Andrew with a bright smile. At first Andrew looked confused then he started to look panicked and as Jamie had expected he tried to get up. Jamie was having none of that and made sure to hold him tighter, he knew Andrew could break free if he really wanted to but was banking on him not wanting to hurt him in the process of trying. To his relief Andrew settled back on the bed and Jamie pulled him back onto his chest. "Casey already told me how I got home. You going to tell me how I got you into bed and of course tell me how to do it again when I'm conscious next time?" Andrew winced slightly and took a breath before answering, "You woke for some water and I knocked a pillow off the bed. Before I could pick it up you had grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the bed instead. Then you wouldn't let go." By the end of his explanation Andrew was blushing and Jamie loved how he looked when he was all red. "Well, since Casey tells me you came to my rescue and now you had to put up with my snoring all day the least I can do is say thank you." Without any warning Jamie leant down and kissed Andrew. At first Andrew stilled not knowing what to do but then his body took over and his mind shut down. He melted into Jamie and when Jamie's tongue sought entrance he opened his mouth. As they kissed his instinct to take charge rose again and he put his hands on Jamie's shoulders to push him back on the bed. Jamie went willing and helped to pull Andrew on top of him. At the feel of Jamie under him it was like a dam had been burst, Andrew attacked Jamie's mouth with more passion and when he felt Jamie's hardness rubbing against him, he ground down with his own till they were both groaning in pleasure. A knock at the door startled them both apart and they lay catching their breath and rearranging the covers to ensure their arousals were not obvious before calling out for the person to come in. Jackson came into the room and stopped when he saw the two of them in bed. A smile spread on his face "It's about time you two got together!" He stated and then turned to Jamie ignoring Andrews shocked expression. "I heard what happened and wanted to check you were okay," he said to Jamie. Jamie smiled and assured Jackson he was fine and there would be no lasting damage done. Jackson was turning to leave when Andrew spoke up, "What did you it's about time we got together?" Jackson turned back to the bed, "Anyone can see you're mates. Just one example is your reaction to any other man going near Jamie; you scared Tim last night when he tried to help." Andrew frowned trying to figure what Jackson meant, meanwhile Jackson had taken a step nearer the bed and had raised an eyebrow at Jamie. Jamie guessed what he had planned and nodded slightly. Jackson leant down and hugged Jamie tight. As soon as Jackson's arms made contact with Jamie, Andrew let out a low growl. Jackson stepped back smiling having made his point. "I'll leave you two to talk," he grinned and quickly left the room. "Well that was the most I've ever seen Jackson smile at one time," Jamie said as a way of breaking the silence that followed Jackson's departure. Andrew seemed to jump and focused his eyes on Jamie. "Did you know?" he asked. Jamie thought carefully about his answer "I had my suspicions. I spoke to Casey after that first kiss; he made me look at why I was pursuing you so much. Usually if someone says no I shrug my shoulders and move on to someone else to hassle. But with you I just couldn't seem to leave you alone. I feel relaxed and happy when I'm around you, I don't like it when I'm apart from you. When I touch you or especially when you kiss me like you just did, I feel things I've never felt with any other person. Casey was the one to laugh and point out what everything I was saying added up to. He also pointed out that if I carried on as I was I would scare you away, so he told me to treat you as I would any of my close friends and slowly bring you round to more that way. I didn't intend that the first time I get you into a bed I would be unconscious." By the time Jamie had finished and was hanging his head to avoid Andrew's eyes, Andrew didn't know whether to be angry, embarrassed or happy. After a bit more thought he settled on embarrassed, as Casey had worked out what he and Jamie hadn't and happy as he had never thought to find a mate and it explained his reaction to Jamie. Slowly he reached out to touch Jamie's hand which caused Jamie's head to snap up. "You should know I've never had a boyfriend or even a girlfriend. Until you I have never even been kissed, what I'm trying to say is I would understand if you wanted someone more experienced. I'm sure..." Jamie interrupted Andrew's babbling with another kiss, when they both came up for air he said, "I love the fact that I will be the one to teach you all about pleasure and love. We can take things as slowly as you want and you can call a halt to anything, anytime if you're uncomfortable. Deal?" Andrew's smile lit up his face, "Deal," he said and pushed Jamie forcefully back on the bed for another kiss. Things were going just fine until there was another knock on the door; both men growled in frustration and laughed as they made sure their clothes and the covers were straight before calling out to the person to come in. Casey came in and stopped dead at the sight of them in bed and both looking very flushed. "Well, I don't need to ask if you're feeling better then, do I?" he said to Jamie. "I came to tell you that I have covered your shift for tonight and Jackson still wants Andrew to keep an eye on you so he is off as well. Jamie, you need to rest tonight so no leaving the house." "Yes mom," Jamie said sarcastically, but really he was pleased about this turn of events as it meant he had a whole night with Andrew. Casey looked between the two of them and rolled his eyes before setting off for bed. Andrew immediately reached for Jamie and pushed him down on the bed. Before Jamie was all the way down, Andrew had Jamie's shirt undone and off. He leant over and started laying kisses over Jamie's chest and running his hands over every available patch of skin. Jamie's head fell back, the sensations going through him were too many to name. He had never felt this way about anyone before, hell if anyone else had tried to push him down on a bed or any other surface he would have pushed back and made sure he was on top and in control at all times. With Andrew it was very different, he wanted to be under Andrew and make him happy, he felt no fear in allowing Andrew to top as he knew Andrew could be trusted with everything, even his heart... Jamie and Andrew Ch. 06 Andrew woke up with Jamie wrapped around him. He smiled as he remembered the previous night when he had found out Jamie was his mate. They had made out for a while then finished watching a DVD in the living room. They had decided to wash and dry Andrew's work clothes so that he could stay with Jamie for the daytime and Andrew had been awed when Jamie had led him to his bedroom instead of where they had slept yesterday. Jamie's room was big and had its own bathroom. The bedroom walls were a pale shade of orange with a lilac border. There was a small couch in one corner with a round coffee table in front on it. The majority of the room was taken up by the king size bed; it had a black wrought iron bedframe with silky red sheets over what looked like a nice soft mattress. Jamie had laughed at the look on Andrew's face and promptly pushed him onto the bed. After a quick wrestling match Andrew had Jamie pinned naked to the bed. He could see how tired his mate still was and so he rolled them so Jamie was snuggled up next to him with his head on his chest. It wasn't long before Jamie's breathing evened out and he was asleep. *** Andrew couldn't believe this handsome male wanted him. Jamie looked so relaxed and innocent asleep, Andrew knew his mate probably wouldn't appreciate that description but it was true. Jamie must have sensed he was being watched because he started to stir and snuggled deeper into the crook of Andrews's neck. Slowly he opened his eyes and Andrew loved the way Jamie's eyes seemed to light up from within when they met his. Andrew felt Jamie's waking hardness pushing into him so he slowly started to move causing Jamie to gasp as he turned and their shafts met; rubbing together until they were both leaking enough to ease the way and cause less friction. "Faster, harder," Jamie begged trying to move against Andrew but Andrew had him pinned tight and he was setting a slow pace. "No my mate, I want to make this last as long as possible. But by all means keep begging; I may relent." Jamie opened his eyes long enough to try and glare at Andrew but Andrew gave a sudden thrust causing Jamie's eyes to shut tight again as his head kicked back and a moan left his lips. "Moaning is good too." By this time Jamie was beyond coherent speech, Andrew could feel his body vibrating from the pleasure and he could feel Jamie's struggle to reach that final pinnacle. Suddenly Jamie bucked once then opened his mouth in a silent scream as he came hard between their bodies. Andrew drew in two quick breaths before he reached his own climax and added his cum to what was already on them. Jamie finally got the strength to weekly slap at Andrew's arm "Don't think I didn't hear that moaning comment, just you wait till I can think again, I'll show you who's going to be begging and moaning!" Andrew went to fetch a wet cloth from the bathroom and helped Jamie clean up so they could cuddle a while. Just as they were dozing off again Jamie's alarm sounded through room and made Andrew jump so violently that he had to grab Jamie so he didn't fall out of the bed. This caused Jamie to laugh so hard he had tears running down his face. He finally managed to mutter the counter spell to stop the noise and they both headed for the shower. They managed to shower without getting into anything as they both needed to get to work. They had just finished dressing when there was a knock at the door. "Come in, Casey," Jamie called out without asking who it was. "Hey J, just wanted to make sure you were fit for work tonight. Did you get enough sleep?" "Yes I got plenty of sleep and I'm fine for work. Don't worry; I think Andrew will be keeping an extra eye on me this time." Jamie flashed a smile at Andrew, who was nodding at Casey to show his agreement. Casey rolled his eyes "Ok but you take it easy and if anyone comes in with that virus you call the clinic and ask for back-up." With that he left the room and closed the door behind him. They chatted all the way to HQ and were holding hands as they entered the building. All conversation stopped as they entered the staff room and they looked around in confusion at the silence till they noticed everyone was watching them. "What's everyone staring at?" Andrew asked perplexed at people's reaction, while Jamie tried to pull his hand away as he thought he knew what was going through people's minds and he didn't like it. Andrew refused to let his hand go and he looked around the room, his gaze fell on Rosie the woman who held the office by his. "Come on Rosie what's up?" "Well it's just you two look very cozy together considering you normally run out the room every time Jamie enters it." She looked pointedly at their joined hands. Andrew blushed, "Well that was before I realized Jamie was my mate. Now I am quite comfortable with him." He turned and smiled at Jamie then pulled him into a hug. Their colleagues crowded round to congratulated them but one voice was suddenly heard above the others, "You're going to mate with that witch whore?" Everyone stopped and turned towards the voice. The crowd parted to show a male vampire named Simon watching the couple with disgust and disbelief written all over his face. Andrew stepped in front of Jamie and faced the hostile vampire, "Since when is it any of your business who I mate with?" He asked coldly. Simon looked from them to the others in the room. "Come on, everyone knows this witch's reputation around the community. He has a different man on his arm every weekend. He was out this last Saturday with his latest conquest." "No he wasn't," Came a loud voice from the doorway. Everyone swung round to see who had joined the group now. Standing in the doorway was Tim, Rickman's second on the council. He walked into the room and stood beside Andrew shielding Jamie. "Jamie was out with me last Saturday and as you all know I'm straight and happily mated." He looked directly at Simon, "I hope you're not trying to say I'm cheating on my blood bonded mate? Especially since you know that's an insult to me and my mate." Simon looked from Tim to everyone else in the room, and after seeing he had no support, he stormed out of the room. Andrew turned to hold Jamie and bury his face in Jamie's neck. He had only ever stood up to Samuel before tonight and after how that turned out he tended to avoid confrontations, but when Simon had insulted Jamie, his instinct had been to defend and protect his mate. Now it was over, he just wanted to crawl away and hide. Jamie's arms came around him, "Come on babe, don't spoil your performance by hiding now." The words were spoken directly into Andrew's ear as Jamie laid kisses down the side of his face. He took a deep breath and lifted his face to look at his amused mate. He rolled his eyes at Jamie's expression before turning to face the crowd again. Tim was looking pleased, and no one seemed to be laughing at him. Tim stepped forward, "Just so you know I was telling the truth, Jamie was with me last Saturday and we met up with the gang at the pub..." he trailed off when Andrew waved a dismissive hand at him. "Jamie already set his reputation to rights with me, not that anything he has done before we were together matters anyway." Rosie stepped forward again, "Well ignore Simon anyway, he's just jealous. He told me he's been looking for his mate for over two hundred years and never found the person. We are all happy for you both. It has been fun watching Jamie trying to get your attention though. It will be a shame to lose that entertainment" She started laughing when Andrew blushed. "But," she continued after a moment, "I can see some better entertainment coming our way." She was looking over Andrews shoulder at Jamie who was trying to look innocent. "You do know he loves playing jokes?" Andrew glared at his mate but couldn't maintain the expression in the face of Jamie's twinkling eyes. They both grinned at each other. "I think I can give as good as I get," Andrew replied to Rosie without turning. "Well, as much as I would love to stay and see what else happens tonight I have business here and then I need to get back to the Council Building." Tim drew everyone's attention as he handed a folder to Andrew, "Rickman asked me to drop this paperwork off to you on my way in tonight. He said you'd know where it all went and could you please copy and file it all?" "Tell him I'll have it done as soon as possible." After a few more questions from their colleagues the couple finally managed to get to their work. The work in the clinic was slow so Jamie set up a small desk in the corner of Andrew's office and tried to catch up on paper work. Instead he spent most of his time watching the young vampire slog through piles of work. At midnight he went to the staff room and retrieved his lunch and a bottle of blood for Andrew. Back in Andrew's office Jamie stepped up behind Andrew and started to massage his stiff shoulders. Andrew sighed and melted back against him causing Jamie to smile. He started laying kisses down the side of Andrew's neck and then gently nipped at the edge of his ear. Between one breath and the next Andrew was out of his chair and had Jamie pinned to the desk. He kissed him with a sudden hungry passion before trailing kisses across to Jamie's ear. "Never bite a vampire unless you want the favor returned tenfold," Andrew panted in his ear. "Well I did bring you a bottle of blood but if you want it straight from the source," Jamie replied breathlessly. He then tipped his head back exposing his throat to Andrew in invitation. Andrew jerked back in shock. "Jamie, do you mean it?" The hunger and strain was clear in his voice. He wanted nothing more than to sink his fangs deep into his mate's neck, but he knew that once he had a taste he would want more and he couldn't take it if Jamie changed his mind after. Jamie looked deep into Andrew's eyes as he answered. "I want nothing more than for you to feed from me. I offer my blood freely and without any conditions. I know this will start the bond because we are mates and I hope to complete the bond when we're ready, but until then!" he tipped his head back again and waited. Andrew didn't hesitate, he used his vampire speed to run and lock both the doors and then pinned Jamie back tightly against the desk with his hips. He ran his hands over as much of his mate's body as he could and then put his lips by Jamie's ear. "Do you know the spell Casey used to strip me to my boxers when I was hurt?" He asked in a voice full of controlled desire. He saw Jamie's lips curl into a smile before they started moving in a silent spell. All their clothes disappeared and reappeared folded neatly on Andrew's chair. "Oh, I can see you're going to push your luck often, my mate," Andrew purred before resuming running his hands over Jamie's now bare skin. He ran his hands down Jamie's front and wrapped his hand around the hard leaking cock he found there, relishing the indrawn breath and the moan of pleasure this got. Jamie's hips started pumping involuntarily so Andrew used his free hand to hold him still. "Do you know what effect a vampire bite has on their mate? Even without the blood bond, a bond has already started to form." Jamie's only answer was a whine of frustration; he grabbed Andrew by the hair and pulled him down to his neck. Andrew ran his tongue over Jamie's thundering pulse point causing Jamie's erection to jerk in his hand. Without warning Andrew struck sinking his fangs deep into Jamie's neck. Jamie jerked once then wrapped his arms around Andrew to pull him tighter to him. Andrew fought to control how much blood he took. The first taste of his mate's blood was like a fine wine and he wanted to drink his fill. But he knew that if he took too much it would leave Jamie too weak to work for the remainder of the night. He sucked slowly drawing out the pleasure and enjoying the slow burn going through his system. After a few minutes he started to stroke Jamie harder and faster causing him to gasp. Jamie opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out, he then jerked once in Andrew's hold before coming hard, hitting Andrew in the chest. Andrew removed his fangs and licked the wound closed. He then grabbed his own cock and started a fast hard rhythm. He came after only a few strokes and sprayed his seed over Jamie's spent cock and thighs. He had to grab the desk to stop himself from falling into Jamie as his vision greyed for a few seconds. "Oh God!" Jamie gasped, pulling Andrew close for a long kiss, not caring a bit about the taste of his own blood or the fact they were getting stuck together. "That was fucking fantastic." Andrew laughed at Jamie's words. He reached over and snagged his boxers from the clothing pile then used them to clean them both up so they could dress. He then sat Jamie down at his desk and made him start eating his lunch, while he went to unlock the doors. Jamie ate his lunch slowly with one hand while he used the other to keep trailing a touch over the bite on his neck. Each time his fingers brushed the spot an echo of pleasure shivered through him. He heard Andrew unlock the doors and then come to stand behind him. "Are you ok?" Andrew asked as he ran a hand over Jamie's head, the concern was evident in his voice. Jamie looked up at him and then pulled him down for a slow loving kiss. "OK doesn't even come close. I have never felt anything like that before but," he tossed a sultry look at Andrew "I have a feeling I will be feeling it a lot now". Andrew grinned and was leaning in for another kiss when a knock sounded at the door. Andrew answered the door and found Jackson outside. As Andrew showed Jackson into the office Jamie cleared the last of his lunch off the desk. "Jackson, nice to see you. I was just having lunch with Andrew but I'll let you two have some privacy." Jackson stopped him leaving saying, "No Jamie I think you had better hear this too." Jamie returned to stand by Andrew who took his hand and squeezed it in reassurance. Jackson took the guest chair in front of Andrew's desk and indicated the other chair to them. Andrew sat and pulled Jamie down into his lap. The scene should have been funny, although Andrew was taller than Jamie, Jamie was more muscular and it was hard for Andrew to wrap his arms around his mate. But Jamie needed the comfort of his mate because from the look on Jackson's face this was not going to be good news, so Andrew wrapped around Jamie as much as possible and waited to hear what had happened. When they were all settled, Andrew noticed the unopened bottle of blood on the desk. "Please help yourself if you're hungry," he said to Jackson indicating the bottle. "Isn't that your lunch? You need to eat regularly you know." "Oh," Andrew blushed, "I had my lunch thanks!" Jamie's hand went automatically to his neck and Jackson noticed the movement and smiled when he realized Jamie had been Andrew's 'lunch'. "I see," he said as he took the bottle, and the couple blushed. He drank down half the bottle in one go and then set it down. "Right, I thought you may want an update on the Samuel situation" Andrew flinched at the mention of Samuel's name and Jamie frowned at his reaction but before he could comment, Jackson continued. "We managed to bribe a few people in Samuel's community. Samuel is telling everyone that Andrew is his mate and that we as a community are keeping him against his will. As you know it's an offence to deliberately keep mates apart and he is playing on that to get his community up in arms against us. I should also warn you Andrew that your parents are on their way here. They should be here within a week. They have assured their community that they will bring you back with them." At this Andrews breathing sped up. "Don't worry," Jackson hurried to reassure the young vampire. "They can't force you to leave. They can, however, request to see you and to see for themselves that you are not being kept here by force. You are over 18 and here under my sponsorship, they will be leaving empty handed and with a sharp lesson in parenting if I have anything to do with it. What you two do to prepare for their arrival is of course up to you." Jamie caught the unsaid suggestion that if they completed the blood bonding Andrew's parents would then have no leg to stand on. "My parents kicked me out with nothing but the clothes on my back because they found out I was gay. But now that my potential mate is an Elder it's ok! All they are looking at is the social standing they will gain from me being bonded with an Elder." Andrew was shaking with rage. He was no longer the shy vampire Jackson and Jamie had met. He was now a vampire that was ready to defend his mate, even if it was against his own parents, trying to take him away from Jamie. Suddenly he felt Jamie shaking and realized that his mate was crying quietly and trying to hide his face in Andrew's chest. Andrew met Jackson's eyes and Jackson nodded silently before slipping away. Andrew slowly stroked Jamie's head and down his back trying to calm him down. "No one is ever going to take me away from you or you away from me. You are my destined mate, some vampires wait and look for years and never find their mate. I am 21 years old and I have you now. I will never let you go" At his last words Jamie looked up and Andrew leant in to give him a soft kiss. The kiss soon deepened and when they separated they were both flushed and panting for breath. "Your place or mine? I don't want to be separated from you right now," Andrew said holding Jamie tightly. "Mine is nearer," Jamie answered in a voice rough from his crying. He leaned in to kiss the side of Andrew's neck. "Now," Andrew growled. He lifted Jamie to his feet and then waited while Jamie locked up the clinic and made sure everything was put away for the day. They didn't speak as they headed for Andrew's car but they didn't let go of each other's hands until they had to. Back at the house they quickly filled in Casey on what was happening, and then they headed for Jamie's room to make out. They relaxed in bed watching a DVD on a small portable player. Jamie fell asleep halfway through cuddled up to Andrew's chest with an arm tightly round him to ensure he didn't move away in the day. **** At work a few nights later Jamie was at his usual desk in the corner of Andrew's office. He found that doing his paperwork with Andrew nearby was relaxing and people knew where to find him as the clinic had an adjoining door. This particular night Jamie was having a problem with his concentration, Andrew had been being very secretive recently and when Jamie confronted him about it, all Andrew had said is that he was working on a surprise. This had helped the worry but Jamie was now very curious instead and was finding it hard to concentrate without knowing what was going on. All Andrew would say was not to plan anything for their next night off together. Tomorrow was their next night off and Jamie was so wound up that he finally pushed his work aside with a huff. Andrew who had been watching his mate from his desk started laughing. He knew his mate was insanely curious but he wasn't budging. He had given Casey the keys to his house and in the morning Casey would set everything up while he and Jamie slept. "Finished your work, Love?" Andrew asked trying to smooth out his expression. "Yes thank you, DEAR," Jamie said in a snooty voice, dragging out the last word sarcastically. This made Andrew laugh even harder until he suddenly felt ice cold water fall on his head. He looked up and saw a small upturned glass suspended in midair above his head. Jamie and Andrew Ch. 06 With a pop the glass disappeared and was replaced with a full one. Andrews eyes widened in mild panic (that water had been very cold). "No please, I'll stop laughing, honest!" The glass disappeared and he looked at his mate who was doubled over with laughter. Jamie suddenly found himself pinned backwards over the desk, he had been using, with Andrew rubbing his wet hair on him. "Get off, get off!" Jamie cried, trying to wiggle free. When Jamie was good and damp, Andrew let him up. "I believe it is time to head home," he said with a smirk. Jamie glared at him then muttered under his breath. Two things happened, firstly Jamie was instantly dry and secondly another glass of water appeared and tipped itself over Andrew's head. "Yes let's get home," Jamie said between giggles, as he headed out the door at a fast run. Andrew gave chase but made sure to stay just behind Jamie to continue the game, he liked to see his mate laughing and having fun. As he approached a corner in the corridor he heard a thud and a yelp. He put on a burst of speed and rounded the corner to see Simon pinning Jamie to the wall by his throat. Jamie was gasping for air and clawing ineffectually at Simon's hand. "Let. My. Mate. Down. Now!" Andrew said in a cold voice that spoke of suppressed fury. Simon's head spun to look at Andrew and his eyes went round when saw the rage on Andrew's face. "This witch ran straight into me!" He spat as he let Jamie fall to the floor in a heap. Andrew immediately crouched at Jamie's side trying to hear what he was saying. "I apologized immediately but he wouldn't listen. He said he was going to snap my neck." Jamie croaked in a low whisper. "He's lying of course," Simon scoffed, starting to look a little wild around the eyes. "He would say anything to get back at me for calling him a whore, which he is." "You know he is my mate and yet you still put your hands on him in anger. I will be reporting this to Jackson and you know what the punishment will be," Andrew said, without turning from Jamie who had started coughing and was in obvious pain. Simon went pale (even for a vampire) and started to shake. "You don't need to involve Jackson. He'll go mad. He is mad. I'll apologize and stay out your way. I promise!" He was babbling by the end. "If I don't tell Jackson then Casey will when he finds out. Actually, I'm assuming Casey already knows and is on his way?" He raised an eyebrow at Jamie who nodded to show he had already mind-linked with Casey to get him there. Andrew turned to Simon. "You should know that twins can mind-link the same as mates can, and I'm sure Casey will want a word with you." As he spoke Casey and Jackson came barreling down the corridor. Casey pushed Andrew to the side and knelt by his twin to assess the damage. He immediately started chanting a soft spell and the lines of pain faded from Jamie's eyes as the bruise on his throat started to fade from purple to yellow. Meanwhile Jackson had pinned Simon to the wall with a glare. "Explain Andrew!" he demanded not breaking eye contact with Simon. Andrew quickly filled Jackson in on what had happened and all that had been said, including what Jamie had accused Simon of saying before he got there. Jackson turned to Casey. "Can he talk?" he asked referring to Jamie. Casey shook his head, "No his throat will be sore till at least tomorrow, magic can only do so much. But I can talk for him." Jackson nodded. "What happened when you ran into Simon?" he addressed the question to Jamie but turned to Casey for the answer. Casey repeated everything Jamie told him through the mind-link. "I came round the corner too quickly and ran straight into Simon. I apologized immediately but Simon pinned me to the wall by my throat. He said that I was a witch whore and that I was not good enough to mate a vampire. He said he was going to snap my neck and put me out of my misery. Then Andrew came round the corner and the rest you know." Andrew was getting more and more angry listening to Casey's account of what Jamie was saying. He turned on Simon, "You know Jamie is my mate and yet you still threatened him. He has done nothing to you but be kind and generous. Why?" Everyone turned when the sound of someone clearing their throat was heard from a nearby doorway. Rosie was watching them all timidly but she looked determined and took a deep breath before speaking. "I can help with some of things you've all been speaking about," she said quietly and moved nearer to Jackson who turned to fully face her so he could hear her. But he did pin Simon to the wall with a hand on his chest to ensure he didn't move. At Jackson's nod Rosie continued: "Simon knew exactly what he was doing and Jamie is telling the truth as I heard the thud of Jamie running into Simon and came to the door to see what was going on. I heard Simon telling Jamie he would break his neck. Also, Simon has been bitching about Jamie and Casey since he arrived in the community. He says that the twins are both witch whores who use magic to seduce unwilling men, and then wipe their memories with more magic to stay out of trouble. He says they should be run out of town or even better they should be put down so no one has to suffer any more with their presence." By the end of her statement she had shrunk back against Casey who had turned slightly from Jamie to put an arm round her. Jackson and Andrew both looked like they were ready to explode. Simon had been glaring at Rosie and when she finished he started ranting at her, "You bitch. I should have been quicker to snap that whore's neck and then I could have come after you too. You will regret the day you stood against me. Samuel has promised to get me made an Elder as long as I keep that wimp Andrew away from anyone who could take his innocence while he's here. Samuel will be coming to get him and will be taking me with him when he goes back to his community..." He trailed off as he suddenly realized what he was saying and that everyone glaring at him with varying degrees of anger. Jackson had gone red with rage and his hand was now round Simon's neck and getting tighter. Andrew was trying to rise as well to get to Simon but Jamie was clinging to him and it would hurt Jamie to try and move him. "You would think to insult and threaten two men who are essential to this community and whom I have raised as my own since their mother died. They have saved more lives than you will ever know and you would want to harm them or cause them to leave us? Lastly you would work for an enemy of our community, to help him harm another of our community? One that is here under my sponsorship and protection, one who I would treat as my own son. For this crime against our community I find you guilty and unworthy of living, so ..." With his last words he changed his grip on Simon's neck and snapped it with one sharp movement. As Simon went limp Jackson took a silver knife out of an inside pocket of his jacket, with one efficient thrust he drove it into Simon's heart and Simon turned to dust. Casey looked up briefly before muttering a spell causing the dust to lift up and float to the nearest bin before dropping in. "No need to give the cleaners more work!" he stated before turning back to Jamie. "I'll take him home. You and Andrew can meet us there but he will be put to sleep as soon as I get him on a flat surface." With that statement Casey placed his hand on Jamie's shoulder and they both disappeared with a small pop. **** Later Andrew was sitting on the couch with Jamie's head in his lap. As Casey had promised Jamie had been asleep on the couch when he had arrived with Jackson close behind him. Jackson had insisted on going over any conversations Andrew had ever had with Simon. When he was finally satisfied he had got everything Andrew remembered about the other vampire he had left to ensure he got home before sunrise. Casey had gone back to bed as soon as Andrew had arrived saying if he and Jamie kept getting him up early he was going to start getting Jamie to cover some of his shift so he could sleep. Before he left Casey told Andrew that everything for the next night had been organized and that he would make sure Andrew's house keys were on the kitchen side so he could pick them up tomorrow. Andrew had watched a DVD with Jamie asleep on his lap until it was nearly sunrise. He had then carried Jamie to bed passing Casey going to work on the way. He lay in bed with his mate cuddled to his side and thanked whoever was listening that he hadn't lost Jamie that night. Jamie and Andrew Ch. 07 How to seduce a witch. Jamie woke the next evening with a dry throat but otherwise none the worse for wear. He looked up at Andrew, whose chest he was resting on. His mate looked so young when he slept. Over the last week Jamie had grown to love his mate and he knew Andrew would protect and care for him. He also knew that in return he would protect and care for Andrew with everything he had. He started laying kisses on Andrew's chest and slowly moved down towards his stomach and the half hard length that waited him there. Andrew moaned but didn't wake up until Jamie took his whole length in his mouth at once. Andrew shot awake and his hands latched onto Jamie's head fisting into his hair. Jamie used his hands on Andrew's hips to encourage him to thrust into his mouth. Andrew was hesitant at first but his body's needs soon took over and he started moving harder and faster, going right to the back of Jamie's throat. He stiffened and Jamie swallowed quickly as his mouth was filled with his mates cum. When he had swallowed all there was he kissed his way back up Andrew's body. As he reached Andrew's face he found himself being flipped onto his back. Andrew quickly kissed his way down Jamie's body, even licking up the puddle of pre-cum Jamie's hard cock had left on his belly. When he reached his goal he started by licking from the base to the tip, paying special attention to the glands. He then moved down and started sucking on Jamie's balls, pulling one and then the other into his hot wet mouth. This may have been his first time doing this but recently he had been doing a lot of research on the internet and he wanted to try everything he had seen at least once. Finally he attempted to take as much of Jamie's cock into his mouth as he could. Jamie was fisting his hands in the sheets in an effort to keep control and not let his hips move. But as Andrew took the head of his cock deeper into his mouth it was too much. Jamie thrust up once and came hard. Andrew only choked once then managed to swallow all of his mates offering. When he finally moved back to face Jamie he found his mouth taken in a steamy kiss. Jamie then looked deep into his eyes before pulling his head down to his neck. "Why not have breakfast in bed?" Jamie whispered in Andrews's ear. Andrew smiled to himself before licking across Jamie's neck where his previous bites could still be seen. He sank his fangs in slowly then drew long pulls on Jamie's intoxicating blood. Jamie started to moan and writhe under Andrew as pleasure seeped from the bite down through his body. By the time the pleasure reached his groin Jamie was achingly hard and leaking again. Andrew reached down and started to stroke him hard and fast, while also increasing the intensity of his bite on Jamie's neck. Jamie's mouth opened in a silent scream as he came hard for the second time that night. "There's more where that came from, my mate" Andrew purred into Jamie's ear as his mate panted to catch his breath. "Are you going to tell me what this surprise is then?" Jamie asked when he could talk again. Andrew smiled "First we need to shower, then we need to dress and then you need to eat..." Jamie jumped on him and pinned him to the bed. "Are vampires ticklish?" he asked with an evil grin, before he began to tickle every part of Andrew he could reach. Andrew curled into a ball to try and protect himself and to block Jamie's hands. "I give, I give" He gasped laughing. He could have gotten away from Jamie very easily if he had wanted to but he felt using his vampire strength would have been cheating. "I won't tell you what the surprise is but I will tell you that it is at my place. Now you need to eat" He got out of bed intending on going to the kitchen to get Jamie food and serve him in bed like Jamie had him. As he approached the door he saw a note pinned to it address to him. He pulled in down and unfolded it to read: Andrew What better way to start a romantic evening than by serving him in bed. So I took the liberty of preparing Jamie's favorite food. Just lay this card on the bed, touch your finger to it and repeat the words written on the back out loud. Have a great night Casey xx Andrew grinned and sauntered back to the bed. Jamie watched as he laid the card on the bed, placed on finger on it and read the words on the back out loud. The card started to glow and then rose into the air to hover over the bed. It slowly started to transform into a sliver tray. On the tray was a small vase with a single red rose in it. Also on there was a glass of orange juice, a plate of waffles and some syrup. "You got help from Casey I see!" Jamie said as he reached for a note that had appeared taped to the glass of orange juice. Jamie Enjoy the food and the rest of your night. I assume Andrew has already eaten or if not will do so when you're finished eating Love C xx Andrew and Jamie laughed over the note while Jamie devoured the food and downed the drink. "Right, last one in the shower has to wash the winner's back" Jamie shouted jumping out of bed and running to the bathroom. Andrew put on a burst of vampire speed and easily beat Jamie to the bathroom and even had the water running ready for them. "That's cheating" Jamie complained as he brushed his teeth at the sink before moving to join Andrew in the shower. "So is taking off while still talking" Andrew shot back with a raised eyebrow and pulled Jamie under the water and gave him a steamy kiss. **** Jamie kept up a constant stream of questions, trying to get more information on the surprise, during the entire drive to Andrews's house. When they arrived he dragged Andrew up to the door and waited impatiently for Andrew to unlock it. As soon as he had the door open Andrew swept Jamie into his arms. Jamie gave a yelp and wrapped his arms round Andrews's neck. "What are you doing?" he squealed. "Just hold on and enjoy the ride" Andrew laughed as he pushed the door open the rest of the way. He was pleased to hear Jamie's gasp of pleasure and surprise as they crossed the threshold of his home. Magical lights had appeared leading the way along the main corridor towards the bedroom. On the floor was a trial of red rose petals, creating a red carpet for them to walk on. Andrew slipped Jamie's shoes off and set him down on the petal trail. He then gave him a soft nudge to get him to move forward and follow the trail laid out for him. As Jamie set off Andrew quickly toed off his own shoes and followed his mate to see his reaction to the rest of the surprise. As Jamie entered the bedroom he felt more of Casey's magic flare to life. Small lights floated in the air creating a candle light atmosphere that highlighted the red silk sheets that adorned the big bed in the center of the room. Jamie moved slowly into the room in a trance. Next to the bed, which was also covered in a light smattering of rose petals, was a round table that held a platter of fruit, a bottle of champagne with two glasses already filed and a chocolate fondue. Andrew came up behind his mate and led him gently towards the bed and the chocolate. After he had Jamie sitting on the edge of the bed he dipped a strawberry into the chocolate and held it to Jamie's lips. Jamie's eyes met his and he saw tears shining in them before he closed them and opened his mouth for the food. Andrew slipped the fruit halfway into Jamie's mouth and tapped his chin to get him to bite. As he chewed Jamie opened his eyes again and met Andrew's gaze. He saw a whole host of emotions, the upper most were uncertainty and what he thought looked like...love. As Andrew watched a single tear escaped Jamie's eye and he wiped his thumb tenderly over Jamie's cheek. "What's wrong Love?" he asked, worried he'd made a mistake with this surprise. Maybe Jamie thought it was too soon? "I love you" Jamie blurted out before he could change his mind and chicken out. He then watched as Andrew's face lit up with joy. Andrew felt the elation flow through him and he threw his arms round Jamie's neck causing both of them to fall flat on the bed. "I love you too! Andrew gasped as he covered Jamie's face with kisses. Jamie laughed with happiness and drew Andrew into a long kiss that quickly turned passionate. When they broke apart Andrew looked into Jamie's eyes and taking a deep breath for courage he said "I love you so much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Please will you bond with me?" Jamie smiled and answered without hesitation "I will gladly bond with you and I will be honored to be by your side forever" Andrew gave a small yell of triumph before pushing Jamie back onto the bed and claiming another hot kiss. "I need to touch you please!" Andrew said in a voice full of need and restrained control. Jamie grinned then muttered their by now favorite spell. Their clothes disappeared and reappeared folded neatly on the floor by the door. Jamie relaxed back on the bed, he moved his hands over his head and spread his legs. He let all the love he felt for his soon to be bonded mate show in his face, as he said "I'm yours now and forever, please take me and complete the bond" Andrew stared down at his perfect mate. His man was big, strong and what everyone thought of when they thought of an alpha male. Yet here he was willing to submit to Andrew because he knew that to complete the bond Andrew needed to be inside his mate. They had spoken about this time coming and Jamie knew Andrew was a virgin, however Andrew also knew that Jamie had never let anyone inside him either. Therefore at this time they were both virgins. Since Andrew knew all this was new ground for both of them he vowed he would take it slowly. He started by picking up some more fruit and dipping it in the chocolate, but instead of feeding it to Jamie he trailed the fruit over Jamie's body leaving a trail down his chest. He then leaned forward and started licking the chocolate off working his way down until Jamie was giggling from the feel of Andrew's tongue on all his sensitive places. By the time Andrew reached Jamie's groin they were both rock hard and leaking. He gave a swift lick to Jamie's cock to clean off the pre-cum before moving lower to suck on his balls that were heavy and had a musky taste overlaid by a taste that was uniquely Jamie. Sliding his arms under Jamie's legs he raised them enough to allow a pillow to be slid under his mate butt raising it up so he could reach his pucker with his tongue. He kept flicking his tongue over the opening until it was twitching and Jamie was begging for more. He reached down and under the bed to where he had stashed a tube of lube and a silver knife. He tucked the knife safely at the edge of the bed and flicked the lid off the lube. Jamie was moaning in frustration at the loss of Andrew's mouth on him. "Now Love, please, don't stop. I need you now" the words kept tumbling out of his mouth as he begged and pleaded for Andrew to do something, anything. He felt Andrew's fingers slick with lube circling his pucker and before he could begin begging again one finger breached his virgin hole. He gasped at the full feeling of that single digit and had to force his muscles to relax as Andrew moved slowly, pushing in and pulling gently out. Soon Jamie was begging for more and the slow process was repeated with two and then three fingers. Andrew couldn't believe how tight Jamie felt around his fingers. As soon as he felt Jamie was ready he reached for the lube again and greased up his aching erection. He started to slowly push into the tight hot sheath of his mate and gasped at the slick heat that slowly encased him. Jamie gasped and tensed at the first penetration of Andrew's cock, he felt his mate freeze and he took some deep breaths to help his muscles relax. As soon as he had relaxed Andrew slowly pushed in more until they were fully joined. Andrew drew Jamie's leg around his waist so he could lower himself down and capture his lover's lips. He started a slow rocking motion and remembering something he had researched he kept subtly changing the angle he was rocking at until he heard Jamie's gasp of pure pleasure. "Yes just there... Don't stop... Please ... Please... More" The words kept coming as Andrew pulled back and thrust forward hard ensuring he hit that special spot each and every time. As he increased the speed of his thrusts he watched Jamie thrashing and pleading beneath him. When he couldn't hold back any longer he reached for the knife and slashed a short cut across his own shoulder. He then dropped down and sank his fangs into Jamie's neck while simultaneously bringing Jamie's lips to his shoulder. He felt Jamie flinch once before latching onto his shoulder and drinking the blood he was offering. Andrew felt the bond snap into place and he felt Jamie's surprise and then pleasure as the mind-link connected them. Jamie suddenly stiffened and as he came he let go of Andrew's shoulder. The contractions of Jamie's muscles around his cock sent Andrew hurtling over the edge. The mind-link sent the pleasure from each of them back to the other, keeping their orgasm's going until they both collapsed in an exhausted heap on the bed. Andrew lapped at the bite on Jamie's neck to ensure it closed and he felt the slash on his shoulder already knitting itself together. As he felt himself slip out of Jamie he felt Jamie's flinch of pain. He moved off his mate and knelt to the side "Turn over Love and I'll make you feel better" Jamie turned onto his front and he felt Andrew parting his cheeks. He then felt his mate's tongue lapping around his sore hole and the pain soon lessened to a dull ache. "Remember vampire saliva has healing properties for small things" Andrew said using their new mind-link. Jamie smiled and using the mind-link too he replied "I remember". Jamie started to yawn and Andrew drew him over him so his head was resting on his mate's chest. The last thing he remembered was Andrew laying a small kiss on his head and a feeling of love and safety before he drifted off to sleep. Jamie and Andrew Ch. 08 My mind to your mind Andrew woke with a start from a light doze and smiled to see Jamie still sleep on his chest. He looked around to try and see what had woken him and he nearly shot out of the bed when he heard a voice in his mind that definitely wasn't Jamie's. "Jamie," the voice said, "wake up. I need help at the clinic." The voice was getting louder and louder towards the end. Eventually he felt Jamie stirring and Andrew heard him replying "Okay, Okay, Case. I'm awake, what's going on? Why aren't you asleep?" "Sorry to interrupt your evening but I have three witch nurses off sick and three new cases of that magical virus just came in. I need you and your magic here." "I'll be right there!" Jamie assured his brother cutting the connection and turning to Andrew. "Sorry Babe, but I need you to drive me back to my place. Casey needs..." Jamie trailed off when he saw Andrew didn't seem to be listening. "Babe! What's wrong?" he asked laying a hand on Andrews shoulder. Andrew shook his head. "Casey needs you back at the clinic because he had three nurses off sick and three new cases of that magical virus." Jamie's eyes went wide as Andrew repeated what Casey had said. "How could you have heard all that?" He asked shocked. "I don't know but I do think we should call and ask Jackson to meet us at the clinic so I can talk to him while you work." Jamie agreed and Andrew made the call while Jamie extinguished all the magic in the house as it would be drawing slightly on Casey's magic to keep it going and his brother needed all his energy. After dressing they made the short drive to the clinic in silence as they both tried to work out what may have happened. When they arrived Jackson was already in the reception area and Andrew stopped to fill him in while Jamie went in search of his twin. **** Jamie found Casey in an examination room treating a sick vampire, "Hey Case, I'll take over you get to bed. You'll be needed in the morning for the day clinic." Casey agreed but before he reached the door Jamie stopped him. "By the way Bro, when you get up for work come find me before you start. We need to talk about a few things." He then turned back to his patient and Casey headed for bed. **** Andrew had filled Jackson in on what had happened after he and Jamie had joined. Now he watched as Jackson paced back and forth in obvious thought about this new situation. "The only explanation I can think of is that because Jamie and Casey are twins you all share the mind-link. Tomorrow night try and talk to Casey before he goes to bed and ask him about his mind-link with Jamie. Then we will arrange a time for all of us to meet and discuss what you three come up with." Andrew nodded as the older vampire took his leave to return to his duties, but not before he reminded Andrew that if he needed him again he was always only a call away. Andrew headed for the door that connected to the house and after entering the code, he decided to head for the training room while he waited for his mate to finish his work. **** Jamie came to find him two hours later looking exhausted but pleased. "We finally sent the last one home, feeling tired but healthy." He told Andrew around a yawn. Suddenly he found himself swept up in Andrew's arms and he was being carried out of the training room towards the kitchen. Andrew deposited his mate in a chair and rummaged through the cupboards before finally settling on doing some toast with jam on it and a glass of orange juice. He set the food and drink in front of Jamie and watched while he ate it in a trance. When the food was finished he scooped Jamie back into his arms and headed upstairs to Jamie's bedroom. After stripping him he got Jamie tucked up in bed but when he went to let go so he could get undressed too he found Jamie had latched onto his arm and was not looking likely to let go. "Jamie, Love? Let go so I can strip. I can't sleep in these clothes" Andrew cajoled quietly into Jamie's ear. Jamie finally opened his eyes long enough to meet Andrews, he smile tiredly "You're not leaving?" He asked sleepily. "No. I'm never leaving your side unless I have to, ever." Andrew assured him, finally getting his arm free and starting to strip. When Andrew got into bed, Jamie snuggled up to him and kissed his chest before falling into a deep sleep. **** Andrew woke to hear Casey calling Jamie again so he replied using the mind-link, "He's asleep, Casey, and is exhausted. I'll be out in a moment." Andrew felt Casey's shock through the link before he broke it and tried to get up. He gently moved Jamie's arm and slipped his pillow into his mate's arms when he tried to grab hold of him again. He pulled on his clothes and quietly went out the door. Casey was pacing up and down the corridor and when he saw Andrew he tipped his head towards the stairs indicating for Andrew to follow. They headed for the kitchen and Andrew filled Casey in while the witch made himself breakfast. Casey joined him at the table with his food and ate while he thought. "Firstly, let me apologize for cutting your evening short although I didn't know you had a bonding planned. I had to have Jamie here as I couldn't cope alone. "Now as to this new development I may have a theory but we will need to talk to Jamie as well when he is awake to test it. My theory is that because Jamie and I are connected mentally as twins, just as you and Jamie are now connected mentally as mates. When Jamie and I were children we had no control over our mind-link. Any and all thoughts we had were shared between us. Thoughts could start with one of us and finish with the other. Essentially we were one mind in two bodies. As we grew older we learned to separate our thoughts and we started to have our own opinions on things. Eventually we learned to close our minds to each other unless we needed to communicate. I think the blood bond between you and Jamie is at the middle. "Although you both have your separates thoughts, your minds are still open to each other and so your thoughts are also open to me. Before you both go to work tonight we can all sit down and speak. Then Jamie can run you through some basic mind exercises to help us separate each other. It shouldn't take you long to be able to control your mind like we do, so you can connect to me or Jamie at will." Andrew's mind was whirling with all the information Casey had given him. After a few minutes silence he nodded. "I think I get it. We'll see what happens tonight." With that he headed back to bed while Casey headed for the clinic. He cuddled Jamie back into his arms and fell asleep happy with his mate. **** Jamie and Andrew were woken that night by Jamie's magic alarm. Jamie shut it off and snuggled back into Andrew's body, not wanting to get out of the warm bed. "Come on you two, up you get," Casey's voice echoed in both their heads. They both sighed and untangled themselves. "Be there in fifteen minutes, after we've showered." Andrew sent to Casey and guided a still sleepy Jamie towards the bathroom. After a quick shower they met Casey in the kitchen. Casey set food in front of Jamie and a glass of blood in front of Andrew. Jamie looked at the glass of blood but Andrew cut him off before he could offer his blood. "No Love, after the bonding last night your body needs to adjust first. You'll be fine by morning or we can wait till tomorrow night." Jamie nodded reluctantly and started to eat while Casey filled him in on his conversation with Andrew, including his theory and what he thought needed to be done. Jamie frowned, "I guess I hadn't thought about our mind-links overlapping. But it may come in handy someday." Andrew finished his blood and laid a hand on Jamie's knee. He felt a shudder go through the bigger man and Jamie leant against him till they were touching shoulder to ankle. Casey made his excuses and headed for bed; Jamie finished his food and cleared the table. When he sat back down he sat opposite Andrew and held out both his hands. Andrew took the offered hands and raised an eyebrow. "We're going to do the exercises Casey told you about this morning. This will be a crash course in mind-links," Jamie linked their fingers together. "First try and tell me something with your mind." Andrew tried to tell Jamie he loved him but he found his message rebounding back as though it was hitting a wall. He looked at Jamie in shock but Jamie squeezed his hands in reassurance. "Good now it's your turn. I want you to picture a wall of solid stone and imagine it built high around your mind. When you're ready squeeze my hands." Andrew closed his eyes to better concentrate; he imagined the solid wall and then pictured it surrounding his mind, protecting it. He squeezed Jamie's hands and waited. Suddenly he felt a presence outside the wall. He found he could fell that it was Jamie but he couldn't hear what it was that his mate was trying to say. Jamie was pleasantly surprised at how quickly Andrew had grasped the concept of blocking his mind. He was proud of his mate. He squeezed Andrews's hands to get his attention. "Well done. Now that you know how to block anyone from your mind you need to know how to let in someone you trust so they can speak to you. I want you to picture two doors in your wall, one with my name on it and one with Casey's name on it. When you feel me outside my door I want you to open it." Andrew nodded and when he had pictured what he'd been told he squeezed Jamie's hands. He felt Jamie's presence almost immediately and he opened a door to allow his mate in. "Well done my Love. Now two last things. There will be times when you don't want to be interrupted, like if you're in a meeting or asleep. All you have to do then is imagine a do not disturb sign for each door and not allow us in if we contact you. However, there may be times when one of us needs you in an emergency. I am going to warn you this will sound very loud in your head. Now picture the do not disturb signs and do not allow me in" Andrew did as he was told and when he felt Jamie's presence he ignored it. He then felt the presence at his minds door getting slowly stronger as though Jamie was beating on the door. Suddenly the door gave way and he heard Jamie's voice shouting in his mind "I love you" over and over again. He let out a yelp and yanked his hands out of Jamie's so he could clap them over his ears. Jamie stopped his assault immediately and waited for Andrew to calm down. "That was very loud," Andrew whined. "Yes, but in an emergency it is needed," Jamie stated firmly. "Now you try to do the same to me." Jamie took Andrew's hands again and waited. He felt the presence of his mate at one of his minds doors but ignored it. The presence slowly grew until the door opened with a bang in his mind and Andrews's voice came through clearly "I love you too". As soon as Jamie squeezed Andrews hands the shouting stopped. "You've done really well, you have a wonderful imagination." Jamie glanced at his watch "we'd better get going or we'll be late for work. When we stop for lunch, I'll show you some fun things the mind-link can be used for." Andrew blushed at the leer in Jamie's voice as he said 'fun things' and they headed out to the car, grabbing their coats and shoes on the way. **** When they arrived at work they were met by Jackson. When Andrew saw the scowl on the elders face he pulled Jamie behind him and faced Jackson. "What's happened now?" He asked tensely. "The council has received some information and has come to some decisions. Why don't we go you your office?" As they turned to head down the corridor Andrew noticed another vampire, who had been standing behind Jackson. He held his silence till they were all inside his office. Jackson wheeled the guest chair over to a couch that was in the corner of the room. The mystery vampire took up a position at the door and he and Jamie took the couch. "Now firstly you need to know the latest information we have received. Andrew, your parents will be here within forty eight hours so please be prepared. Also Samuel has put out an intention to bond announcement inviting everyone to his bonding celebration, to be held in one month. His intended mate hasn't been named." Jamie felt Andrew starting to panic through their bond. So ignoring the others in the room he moved to sit on Andrew's lap and buried his face in his mate's neck. Andrew's arms came around him and held on tightly. "Don't worry Love, we'll face this together." Jamie sent to try and calm him. Jackson had gone quiet when Jamie moved and he now watched the two men. "I'm glad you two bonded, it means that if Samuel tries to claim either of you the vampire high council will not uphold his claim." Jamie glared at him, "We bonded because we love each other, not to make Samuel's life harder or yours easier." Jackson held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I know that, I was just pointing it out as another point in your favor. By the way have you worked out what happened with your mind-link?" Jamie stayed cuddled up to Andrew as between them they updated Jackson on Casey's theory and how the mind exercise had worked so far. Jackson was as impressed as Jamie with Andrew's quick progress. When they finished their update Jackson took control of the conversation again and continued with what he wanted to tell them. "With what happened with Simon the council has decided to increase the protection on you both. Therefore please turn and meet Thane." Jackson pointed to the vampire who was on guard by the door. "From now on he will drive you both everywhere. If for any reason you need to separate for your jobs, he will accompany Jamie, as we are sure Samuel wants Andrew alive and so won't harm him. On the other hand he doesn't know about your bonding yet, and he would have no way of knowing that by possibly killing Jamie he would also be killing Andrew." Jamie and Andrew were staring in shock as Jackson continued to list more security precautions. "Jamie, your clinic is being moved to the council building where there is better security. Transport is being laid on to ensure your patients can get to you. "Lastly Andrew, you will be moving to the council building too. Not long after you arrived I put your name forward for a promotion, based on what my investigator found out about how well you worked in your last job and what I've seen of your work here. The council unanimously agreed to make you my second, they liked your work ethic and they admire your diplomatic approach to dealing with people. I also believe they think you will be able to handle me better than my last second." The last was said with a small smile. By the time Jackson had finished, Jamie and Andrew were staring at him in shock. Jackson took that as an opportunity to take his leave and remind them that as of the next night they would need to be ready to start work in the council building and therefore they needed to move all their stuff tonight. He told them he had left a truck as their disposal and that Thane had the keys. As soon as he was gone both men turned to stare at Thane who looked at his feet. "Since you're here, you may as well be useful. Can you please me some coffee from the staff room so we can have a few minutes alone to process this?" Jamie said trying not to sound like a resentful child, but knowing he failed. Thane quickly agreed and left the room looking for the staff room. Jamie looked at Andrew and reached for him with his mind. "Time to try a few of the tricks I showed you earlier. We're going to wake Casey up the hard way, since I have a feeling he has something to do with this." He used a few images to show Andrew how they could link their minds together and then they sent their combined thoughts out towards Casey. They met Casey's mind wall that showed he was asleep and Jamie took Andrew to where he knew Casey left a 'door' for him and started using his mind to bang on it. Andrew quickly picked up what he was doing and joined in the banging. "What is going on? What is the emergency?" Casey's voice in their minds was worried but still thick with sleep. "What do you know about the guards' clinic being moved?" Jamie fired at his brother immediately. "Jackson wants to make sure you're safe after the attack and he asked if he could temporarily move the clinic. I said there shouldn't be a problem as long as the patients had a way to get there. He then said he would put on transport and I told him he should be the one to tell you. Now if that is all you woke me up for I need to sleep." Andrew interrupted them to ask, "What did he say to you about me?" "When I asked him about separating new mates, he said you would be working in the council building as well. He didn't give me any details just that if for any reason your work separated you from Jamie he would ensure there was another with him at all times. Now GOODNIGHT you two." With that parting shot Casey broke there connection. Jamie and Andrew looked at one another and eventually Jamie sighed, "Come on Love, looks like we're packing up your office and my clinic. I think there are some boxes in the clinic closet." They were filling the first box with Andrew's things when Thane reappeared with a coffee for Jamie. "Sorry it took so long but a young lady called Rosie felt she needed to interrogate me on what was happening." He looked so bewildered that Jamie couldn't help chuckling. Thane glared at him before shrugging, "Can I help?" he asked. Jamie put him to work in the clinic packing up files, while he started packing up the medicines. **** It took most of the night to move everything over to the council building. They had found that their new offices were at opposite ends of the building so the only time they were likely to see one another would be if one went to the other's office or in the break room during lunch. This upset them a bit but they knew they both needed to be able to get on with their work with no distractions. While they were moving things, a message came through from Jackson saying that due to him being out of town the next night Andrew could have a night off before starting his new job, he also suggested that Jamie take the night off too as he had heard about their bonding night being interrupted. This pleased the mates and they started making plans for their night off. **** After they had finished moving everything Thane had driven them both back to Jamie's place. They decided on a DVD and curled up together on the couch in Jamie's, no their, bedroom. "You know we need to sort out living arrangements," Jamie said, halfway through the movie. "Well, you need to be here and available for your patients. So I assumed I would be moving here!" Andrew replied, he started to bite his lip as he thought that Jamie was going to tell him he didn't want him living there. "You don't mind moving again?" Jamie asked, hope shining in his eyes. "No, of course not. I would love to live here with you. But I do think some alterations would be good too." "Ooooh, I love coming up with new ideas for the house. I designed the kitchen and the training room, you know?" Jamie said, bouncing like an excited child beside Andrew. "In thought the training room was done by Casey?" "No, the room was his idea but I did the design." Jamie retorted. Andrew drew Jamie down so his head was resting on Andrew's lap. They started throwing ideas around about what alterations they would be able to make to the current house. They decided on building an extension onto the main house, with two bedrooms and a small living room so they could have privacy from Casey. There would be an adjoining door to both the main house (lockable from either side) and the clinic (lockable from their side only). Jamie and Andrew Ch. 08 By the time Casey got up for work, Jamie had gone to get some paper and was sketching ideas down with input from Andrew, who was on his laptop answering emails and catching up with a few last minute paperwork issues. Casey looked in on the pair and looked at the sketches "Very nice bro, I hope you two will be happy. I'm heading to get some breakfast, see you two tonight." Jamie and Andrew decided to head for bed where they could stretch out and cuddle up better. Once undressed and in bed Jamie snuggled up to Andrew and started laying kisses on his chest. "How about a last snack before sleep?" he asked, nipping a one of Andrew's nipples. Andrew growled softly and reached under the covers to pinch Jamie on the ass, getting a yelp. "A snack sounds great but first you need to get me ready," Andrew growled in Jamie's ear. Jamie looked up frowning. "Get you ready for what?" "I want you in me when I feed this time," Andrew said, and was pleased to see the lust as well as shock in his mate's eyes. "Are you sure?" Jamie whispered. "Yes, now I assume you have some lube here somewhere, especially as I saw some of your toys when I was looking for a towel the other night." Jamie blushed and nodded, rising up and reaching for the bedside cabinet. Andrew rolled onto his front and looked back with a sultry smile as Jamie moved to kneel between his legs. Jamie started by massaging his mate's lower back, he worked his way down till he ran a single finger down Andrew's crease and over the hidden entrance there. Andrew shuddered and pushed up slightly into the touch. Jamie parted Andrew's peachy globes and leant in to run his tongue over the puckered star. He had to tighten his hold when Andrew started to buck his hips into Jamie's tongue making such sexy noises Jamie was worried they would both cum before they could do anything more. Reaching for the lube he slicked up his fingers and mindful that this was his mate's first time bottoming he drew on his previous experiences to make this as painless as he could. He started by circling a single slick finger around Andrew's hole before pushing just the tip in. Andrew gasped at the sensation of Jamie's finger breaching him for the first time; there was a tiny burn but no actual pain. The burn dissipated and Jamie pushed in further until a whole finger was buried in him. He felt full but there was still no pain, then Jamie crooked his finger and a sharp shard of pleasure shot through him causing him to cry out. Jamie kept up the pressure on that spot as he pulsed his finger in and out. He repeated the same slow process with two and then three fingers. By the time he thought Andrew was stretched enough, his mate was writhing on the bed begging for Jamie to make love to him NOW. Jamie encouraged Andrew to turn over as he wanted to see his mate's face when he entered him. He then put Andrews's legs over his shoulders and started to push slowly into the tight heat of his mate. Once he was fully seated he paused to ensure Andrew was comfortable, then he started to withdraw and slowly push back in. They gazed into each other's eyes as Jamie made love to Andrew. Too soon they realized they weren't going to last much longer and Jamie started to increase the speed of his thrusts. Andrew grabbed him and pulled him down into a fiery kiss before Jamie tilted his head offering his neck. Andrew stuck hard and fast, since they were going to sleep after, he knew Jamie would be safe and have time to replace whatever blood he took. Jamie gasped as he felt Andrew's fangs sink into his neck and when he felt the strong draw on his vein start he also felt his orgasm rising and there was nothing he could do to stop it from overtaking him. He thrust erratically into Andrew as his mate held his head clamped down so he couldn't hurt himself by pulling against the fangs in his neck. He came so hard he blacked out and barely noticed that Andrew had come at the same time splashing his seed between them. Andrew withdrew his fangs and caught Jamie as he collapsed down onto him. He laid him gently on the bed before going and getting a warm cloth to clean him up. Andrew then got into bed and snuggled Jamie back up so his mate's head was on his chest. It didn't take long for Andrew to join Jamie in a calm, peaceful sleep. Jamie and Andrew Ch. 09 Jamie woke at midday feeling as though someone had tied a belt round his abdomen and was pulling it tighter and tighter. He curled up into a ball on the edge breathing through the pain before getting up and moving gingerly to the bathroom. He found a magical-herbal painkiller and felt the magic that infused it working to quickly deaden the pain. When he could move again he went back to bed and allowed the medicine to put him back to sleep. If he still hurt when he woke he would find his twin and ask him for help. *** Andrew woke to the sound of Jamie's magical alarm and turned to find his mate blinking sleepily up at him. Jamie turned the alarm off and snuggled back into Andrew's arms. Andrew started to run his hand down Jamie's back and over his ass, causing Jamie to wriggle in a very invigorating way. He moved his hand round to Jamie's front and found his mate had a very impressive morning wood starting. Getting a firm hold round Jamie's hard cock Andrew leant his mouth so it was near to Jamie's ear. "I want you on your back screaming my name, my mate." He whispered this in what he hoped was a seductive tone. He felt Jamie shiver and he didn't resist when Andrew pushed him over onto his back. Andrew started at Jamie's neck laying little biting kisses down to his collar bone and continuing down Jamie's chest and to his stomach. He gave Jamie's hard leaking cock one quick lick before moving further down and smiling at his mates whimpers. He finally reached his goal of his mate's pink puckered hole and set to work with his tongue to drive Jamie out of his mind. It didn't take long for Jamie to be begging him to "Get on with it" and to be shouting such things as "Fuck me now, Pleeease" Andrew eventually relented only because his own cock was harder than he ever remembered it being and he wanted to be inside Jamie when he came. He grabbed the lube from the bedside table, slicked himself up and kissed his way back up to Jamie's face. After joining their lips in a steamy kiss he lined up with Jamie's hole and slowly sunk into the tight warm sheath of his mate. It didn't take long to the slow pace to quicken and soon he was pounding at Jamie so hard the bed was banging against the bedroom wall. Jamie arched his neck as he screamed, "Please, I'm so close," and Andrew struck fast and sure, sinking his fangs into Jamie's exposed throat. They both stiffened and came together, Andrew carefully at Jamie's blood so as not to take too much, while Jamie screamed his orgasm at the ceiling. *** As they had finally caught their breath, they stayed snuggled up in bed not wanting to move. But then they both heard the mocking voice of Jamie's twin in their minds. "If you two have quite finished shaking the whole house, you're both needed downstairs within the next half an hour." Before they could start to question why they would be needed on their night off, Casey broke the connection. They took a quick shower and dressed before heading downstairs to find out what was going on. They found Casey in the kitchen munching on some snacks, "About time you two surfaced, now maybe I can get some sleep without hearing a lot of banging." He got up and stopped at the kitchen door, "Oh, Jackson said to send you both to the town square and to say congratulations on your blood bonding." Jamie and Andrew were left looking at each other in confusion before Andrew shrugged. "Well we may as well go see what is going on." *** "I've wanted to do that since ... forever." Jamie gave a childish grin as he stepped off the fairground ride. When they had arrived at the town square they had found a private helicopter waiting to take them to a visiting fair ground. The fairground had been paid to stay open all night so that the couple could ride to their hearts content. Other communities that lived nearby had brought their families too and it had turned into quite the vampire night out. Jamie watched the families having fun together and couldn't help being a bit envious, he knew being gay their only option would be to adopt but that would be in the future, they needed to get to know each other first. Jamie looked round as he realized Andrew had disappeared and saw him returning from a vendor with a red rose in his hand. "For you, because I love you" Andrew said with a florid bow. Jamie blushed as he accepted the rose, loving how romantic the gesture was. He was finding that this was another thing that had been missing from his previous relationships. His previous partners had all assumed that because of his size and muscles, he was too macho to be romanced. That was so far from the truth, he loved the endearments Andrew called him, he loved how protective Andrew was of him and he really loved how Andrew mostly took over in bed and gave him more pleasure and love than he had ever experienced. He had always wanted a boyfriend who was stronger than him, who could sweep him off his feet (literally) and give him the same pleasure and romance that he had always tried to give to his partners. He was pulled out of his thoughts by Andrew tugging him over to the ghost train and they had a great time screaming theatrically at all the fake ghouls and monsters that jumped out at them. By the time the ride finished they were laughing hard. "Did you see that vampire with the stupid haircut?" Andrew said, "I can't believe that the humans on the mainland believe we all look like that." "I know," Jamie replied, still chuckling, "and did you see that witch with the pointy hat? I mean come on I'd look stupid dressed like that. I can't believe the stuff humans still believe." They spent the rest of the night going on the various rides and playing some of the fairground games. Andrew won a big teddy on the shooting range and took great pleasure in presenting it to Jamie with a kiss. Jamie in turn won a goldfish on the ring toss and told Andrew he could name the fish when they got home. They shared some hot soup for their main meal, as of course Andrew couldn't eat solid food and Jamie wanted them to have the same thing. After going on a few more rides they decided to call it a night and headed home. **** Back home they fed their new goldfish (called ironically Goldie) and were getting ready for bed. "I had a great time. We will have to find a way of thanking Jackson," Jamie said, as he stripped and got into bed. He then rolled onto his stomach and set his head on his hands to watch Andrew as he stripped. "Yes, I'm sure we'll find some way of thanking him, I'm just glad my parents were delayed and won't be here till tomorrow..." Andrew said as he turned. He stopped when he saw Jamie in bed watching him. A slow smile covered his face as he started to exaggerate his movements, stripping slowly for his mate. Jamie watched as Andrew stripped for him and licked his lips as he thought about what he wanted to do to the body that was being revealed to him. Andrew finished stripping and slowly moved towards the bed, but he was surprised when Jamie rolled off the bed. "Catch me if you can" Jamie called to Andrew as he headed out the door. Andrew stood shocked for a moment before taking off after his brat. Jamie knew Casey was out for the night staying with friends so he ran naked towards the living room and used the couch to separate himself from Andrew as he came into the room. "I hope you know that when I catch you I will take you wherever we are and it will not be gentle!" Andrew said as he stalked him. Jamie tried to stop the images Andrew's words brought to mind and concentrated on which way Andrew was going so he could stay ahead of him. Andrew went left so Jamie went left too and they both ran round the couch, just as Jamie was about to reach the door to the training room Andrew grabbed him from behind. In a blink he found himself pinned to the couch and his mouth was covered by a blistering kiss. Andrew quickly ensured his mate was stretched and prepared before sliding into the welcoming warmth and tightness he so loved. Both men groaned as the pleasure took over and they both moved fast to a shared climax. As they lay recovering Jamie started to chuckle, he had always wanted to be chased and caught, he turned to Andrew and after giving him a passionate kiss he said, "I've wanted to do that since ... forever." Jamie and Andrew Ch. 10 Sorry for such a long delay but real life can be a real pain sometimes. Thank you everyone who messaged me to say they wanted to read the rest of this story and I have now submitted ALL the rest of it to Lit. It should go up in order for you all to read. ***** Chapter Ten - Meeting thes Andrew woke to the alarm and the sound of Jamie throwing up. After turning off the alarm he hurried to the bathroom worried about his mate. He reached for Jamie's hair and gathered it back so it was out of his way and used his other hand to rub soothing circles on Jamie's back till his mate raised his head. "What's wrong Love?" Andrew asked as he filled a glass with water and waited for Jamie to catch his breath. Jamie sipped the water and cleared his throat. "I don't know, last night I woke with a stomach ache and tonight I just made it to the toilet in time. Don't worry I have probably picked up a bug from the clinic, I'll get some anti-sickness meds from Casey before work." "But as my mate you shouldn't get ill. My DNA should have boosted yours to make you stronger, healthier and immune to illness." Andrew tried to keep the worry out of his voice but he knew Jamie would feel it through the bond anyway. "As I said don't worry," Jamie said as he stood carefully holding Andrews arm for support, "it will take a while for your DNA to work its way through my system. Till then I will have to keep relying on the meds at the clinic. Now let's get to the kitchen, I need a nice cup of tea to settle my stomach and you need a glass of blood, since I don't think taking any from me if I'm ill is a good idea." *** In the kitchen Andrew watched his mate carefully but Jamie seemed to be feeling better. He made a note to himself to make sure Jamie had a plain and healthy lunch to make up for the lack of food now. *** Andrew and Jamie walked into the Council Building with Thane trailing them. They went straight up to the reception desk. "Hi. We need to pick up our new ID badges." Andrew informed the receptionist with a smile. The woman returned his smile and handed over their badges, Andrew glanced at his and quickly pocketed it before handed Jamie his. Before they could leave the receptionist called them back, "Elder Langman asked that you go straight to the conference room when you arrived." Andrew nodded but shared a confused look with Jamie, "Why do you think he wants us in the conference room?" Jamie shrugged, "Maybe he wants to do a meet and greet with the other Council Elders. You haven't met all of them and I haven't met any except for Jackson and Rickman. I've never had any reason to meet them till now." When both men looked at Thane he just shrugged and they continued on heading for the stairs. *** They arrived at the conference room and Andrew pushed the door open. Inside the room was dark but as he reached to look for the light switch the lights turned on suddenly. "SURPRISE" Both men jumped in shock as they looked around and saw people filling the room. On the wall opposite the door hung a large banner, on it was written 'Congratulations Jamie and Andrew on your Bonding'. Andrew could feel the emotion pouring off Jamie and reached to take his mates hand both to comfort him and to comfort himself. Jackson detached himself from the crowd and walked towards them. Holding out a hand to each of them he smiled, "Congratulations to you both. You really didn't think you'd get away with a quiet bonding did you? True Bonding's are getting so rare it was felt we had to celebrate." Andrew and Jamie took a hand each and let themselves be drawn towards the crowd. Casey was the next to come forward and he gave both of them a hug before handing them over to the rest of the people. Over the next hour they found themselves being introduced to so many different people they would have no hope of remembering all the names and jobs of them all. Suddenly there was a lot of noise coming from the door. Andrew and Jamie headed over with many other people to see what all the ruckus was about. Andrew stopped a few feet from the argument that was taking place, Jamie pulled on his arm but nothing could get him to move. He felt Jamie's mind asking a question and it took a moment for him to register what the question was. "Andrew, what's up love?" Jamie's concern was evident even in his thoughts. "I know those people, but I don't know what they're doing here. Whatever they want it can't be good." Before Jamie could ask any more questions Andrew carried on towards the door. He saw Thane trying to stop the three people from entering. Andrew stopped just short of the doorway and held onto Jamie's hand as he addressed the people, "Mr. and Mrs. Canfield and Elder Bassington. How can we help you? As you can see you have caught us at a busy time." Andrew felt Jamie jerk slightly as he said the names and he knew his mate recognized them. "These are your parents and the man Jackson has been telling us about?" Jamie thoughts were laced with disbelief. "Yes these are the people who had a hand in making me and this is Elder Samuel Bassington. Please just listen and I think you'll like what you hear." He waited till he felt Jamie's agreement before turning his attention back to the trio who were now standing still in the doorway. Flora Canfield stepped forward first, "Is that any way to greet your parents and your future mate?" Andrew burst out laughing, "I have no parents and no future mate. I do however have a father in this room and a current mate." He felt Jamie's confusion at his words about his parents and saw the confusion mirrored on Floras face. Michael Canfield was the next to step forward, "What do you mean you have no parents? And that you have a current mate? You can't have a current mate because you are promised to Elder Bassington. We are here to take you home, where you can complete the bonding." "Well let me answer your questions in order. Firstly I have no parents because I have disowned you. I have done this legally through the Vampire High Council and I received the confirmation before going to bed this morning. I am no longer tied to either of you. Since I am still under twenty five I know I must have a guardian or be adopted by another family. Therefore I asked Elder Langman if he would do me the honor of becoming my adoptive father. It only took hours for all the details to be sorted and I am now and will always be Andrew Langman. Secondly I do have a current mate and you are interrupting our bonding celebration. This is my mate Jamie Baker." With his last words he indicated Jamie. Michael had become redder and redder in the face as Andrew had kept talking. He now turned towards Jamie and seemed about to lung at him. Thane was quick to step in front of Jamie and Andrew crossing his arms and taking a stance that said he wasn't moving. Suddenly a different voice spoke up, "Andrew I know you are young and impressionable but you are my intended mate and we are here to take you home." The voice belonged to Elder Samuel Bassington and Andrew moved just enough to be able to see the Elder before answering him, "You have been trying to seduce me from almost the first moment I came to work for you. You didn't lie it that I said no and so cornered me when I was alone. Then when we were caught you blamed me and got be thrown out of my home. What part that is the action of an intended mate? Jamie is not just my mate, he is my true mate. I want nothing to do with any of you and you are not welcome anywhere near me or my new family." With his last words he felt another presence behind him, he then heard Jackson's commanding voice, "You will all leave this community within the next hour. After that hour your invitation to remain will be revoked and we all know how painful that will be for you. I suggest you say goodbye to Andrew while you have time." While he'd spoke his hand had come to rest on Andrew's shoulder and Andrew took comfort from the touch. He felt a shooting pain in head a moment before Jamie's hand was pulled from his. He turned quickly to see his mate fall to the floor in a faint. He rushed to his mate's side just as Casey reached the other. Samuels mocking voice was heard over the panic, "Some true mate. If you were truly bonded he would not able to get ill and would definitely not be fainting." "That's not true" Thane's voice boomed out, "There is one reason a true mate of a vampire would faint and I can see from Mrs. Canfields expression she knows what I'm talking about." He turned to Andrew, "Andrew give your mate some of your blood and he will come round." Andrew frowned at Thane but did as he was instructed. He used a fang to nick his wrist and let a few drops of blood fall on Jamie's lips. He was grateful to see Jamie start to stir and lick his lips. Andrew placed his bleeding wrist of Jamie's mouth and gasped as his mate quickly grabbed his arm and held it still so he suck on it. Jamie's eyes fluttered open and he looked up in confusion "What happened?" he asked. Thane answered before anyone else could, "You fainted. Have you felt ill before now?" Jamie nodded, "I had a painful stomach last night and tonight I woke up sick." Thane nodded, "Well looks like more congratulations are in order. The only reason for a vampire's true mate to feel ill is when they're pregnant." That statement was met with gasps of shock and awe. Flora had fallen back against her husband, Andrew looked at them and then turned to Jackson, "Well Jackson, looks like you took on more than you bargained for. You not only gained a son you are now going to be a grandfather. Not bad for less than twenty four hours as a father." Casey was muttering a spell and suddenly an image appeared over Jamie, the image moved till Andrew could see a small light that was pulsing in a quick rhythm. With few more words from Casey the room was suddenly filled with the sound of a fast heartbeat. Jackson took charge quickly, "Casey you had better take Jamie home and Andrew will follow when we have finished here." Casey nodded and promptly disappeared with his twin. Jackson turned to the Canfield's and Elder Bassington, "I suggest you make your goodbyes quickly and allow our security to escort you off Community property. Flora made an attempt to get nearer to Andrew, who was still sitting on the floor. Before she could get near Thane had already helped Andrew to stand and was once again standing on guard at his side. Andrew looked at the couple who had been his parents, he felt sorry for them. They hadn't been bad parents but they had never shown any affection to their children. He may as well have not had parents, just people who fed and clothed him. "Flora, I suggest you and Michael and Elder Bassington leave and don't return. You have no ties here and will never get to see any of my family again. If you continue to try and contact me I will file a complaint with the High Council. No vampire can be forced to mater and no vampire with their true mate can bond with another. Also if you're thinking of trying to get rid of Jamie to free me up to mate, don't forget that true mates also have a life link. If you kill him you hurt me. The link between us cannot be broken so please go away and don't come back." With his last words he moved around them and headed out the room with Thane behind him. When they reached his car Thane took his keys and ushered him to the passenger seat, he then got in the driver's side and started to head for the clinic. I'm going to be a father! The though finally seemed to take root in Andrews brain and he couldn't help but smile for the rest of the ride home. Jamie and Andrew Ch. 11 Jamie opened his eyes as Andrew came crashing through the door of their bedroom. "Hey babe, Calm down I'm fine now." Andrew took a deep breath and seemed to calm himself, before heading to the bed and sitting on the side so he could take Jamie's hand. "You scared me," Andrew stated, as he stroked the hand he held. "I scared myself and Casey. You know we need to talk to Thane, he seemed to know what was going on before we did." "Did I hear my name?" Thane asked as he came through the door. Jamie smiled at the big man, "Yes you did. How did you know what was going on with me?" Thane grinned, "Well that's easy, my fathers were like you two. One was a witch and one was a vampire. So I'm what they call a hybrid, half witch and half vampire." Andrew and Jamie stared at Thane in shock. Andrew recovered first, "But you have fangs and I know you drink blood, I've seen you. I've never seen you do any magic at all." Thane cut off his babbling with a laugh, "Yes I have fangs and I drink blood but I also use some magic and I do eat regular food, just not as much as a non-vampire would." Jamie took a deep breath to process this new information and tried to think of what to say. Then he started asking questions, "How old are you then?" "I'm over five hundred years old. My fathers lived in a small village a long way from here but that is a story for another time. I turned up here in Chapmistres View about fifty years ago. Jackson found me and my mate beaten up just over the town border. When he realized I was a hybrid he put me into training. I showed a talent for bodyguard work and so that became my expertise." "You have a mate? Who is it? Do I know them?" Jamie asked getting more animated by the minute. "Yes I have a mate - two actually. And Andrew, I think you know one of them. Edward is on the administration team for the guards. Harry on the other hand is a second on the council." Andrew smiled, "Yes I know Edward. I think he was in competition with me for who could be the shyest. You'll have to fill us in one day as to how you three met." "One day," Thane acknowledged. Jamie took up his questions again, "Can you tell me what to expect? Casey has researched vampires and their mates but this never came up." Thane dragged a chair over and sat beside the bed, "I'm not surprised; there is little information on hybrids around. As far as I know I was the last one to be registered with the high council. It took a while for children from two different species to be accepted." Thane's eyes went sad and Jamie thought he was remembering something he would rather not, "But to your question, the main thing you seem to have already worked out. You now need Andrew's blood to survive and not faint again. You also can't eat normal food while you're pregnant. In essence you become a sort of vampire for the duration of your pregnancy, which by the way is only five months." Jamie was staring at Thane in shock, live off blood? Not eat for five months? Oh Gods! Thane smiled, "I know you're probably panicking right now but it will be easier than you think, especially with your brother's help. Andrew's blood will keep you from fainting again and keep the baby healthy. I'm sure Casey can help you find some vitamin supplements to keep your own health up. Also you can still have what I call drinking food, such as soup and protein shakes. I drink a lot of both as although I can eat normal food, I find liquid easier to digest." Jamie's head was spinning, how was he going to survive five months like this? How could he do his job? Thane continued with his explanation, "You will be sensitive to sunlight but it won't hurt you. It will most likely give you a very bad headache, but as you usually work nights anyway, I think you should be okay. What else is there?" he tapped his chin and Jamie waited, holding his breath at the thought of what else he was going to have to remember for the next five months. "Oh yes, on the plus side you will have advanced healing - even more than you already had as a blood bonded mate - and you should be able to sense the baby. You may have not realized what you were feeling but you will. Andrew, you will be able to sense the baby too." Thane had turned to face Andrew as he spoke and Andrew looked shocked. Jamie then felt Andrew's mind brushing his, he relaxed and let him in. then he suddenly felt another presence. Pushing towards it he found his mind joined by Andrew's and they both felt a small faint presence deep within Jamie's body. Jamie felt tears start to fall down his cheeks and he was grateful when he felt a tissue pushed into his hands. He looked up in time to see Thane mutter a few words and conjure another tissue from thin air for Andrew, who was also crying. Thane must have seen Jamie watching because he grinned. "I said I can do some magic. My talent is calling things from other places. For example these tissues are kept in a drawer by my bed at home. With a simple spell I can call them to me. That goes for anything including weapons. Very useful when you're a bodyguard. I can be searched by an enemy and still have a weapon to hand inside a few seconds when I need it. Jamie was astounded and so completely intrigued that he forgot his tears, he felt Andrew's interest and heard him stop crying too. "I will be protecting you till Samuel is dealt with and stays dealt with. I promise to do everything in my power to ensure nothing happens to either of you or your baby." Both Andrew and Jamie reached out and took the hand Thane held out to them to seal the deal. Thane then declared he was going to guard from outside so the mates could have some time alone to process what had happened. *** The next two days saw things returning to almost what passed for normal at the clinic. The few changes were that Casey and Jamie now both worked the night shift at the main clinic. The guard's clinic and day clinic were taken by two newly appointed senior nurses. This meant that Jamie was able to reduce his work load while his body adjusted to his condition. The first symptom to manifest was mood swings. Staff and patients quickly learned to be careful what they said as he could swing from his usual jokey self to very angry at the drop of a hat. Casey started taking on more of the patients and left Jamie doing the paperwork, this meant that Jamie was in the office and didn't have to interact with many people during his shift. Jamie found the best way he could calm himself was to meditate and listen to the presence within him. Whenever he sensed the baby his mood would even out and he would feel peaceful. Casey made up a liquid vitamin shake that he drank when he got up and this helped to keep his energy levels up, but he still had to drink Andrew's blood before bed to ensure the baby was getting what it needed. His favorite time was curling up with Andrew in bed and just soaking in the baby's presence till he fell asleep. *** Casey was sitting in the office two weeks later, when there was a knock at the door. At his call the door opened to admit a large man in a dark suit. "Jamie Baker? I need you to come. There is an emergency." The man stated. "What has happened? Where is the emergency? Will I need my brother?" Casey asked the questions quickly as he reached under the desk for his bag of remedies. He didn't bother to correct the man about who he was, people were always mixing them up and they both answered to each other's names automatically. As he looked up to demand the man answer his questions he felt a cloth covered hand come around and cover his mouth. Before he could react he had inhaled and was feeling the effects of what must have been some sort of drug that soaked the cloth. As the world went dark he tried to contact Jamie and Andrew but he didn't know whether they heard him or not before the world went dark. Jamie and Andrew Ch. 12.1 Casey started to wake up and instantly found himself bombarded with voices, two of which were in his head and the rest of which seemed to be a short distance away - but behind a door maybe? "Casey? Casey? Where are you? Can you hear us?" Shouted Jamie and Andrew's voices. Wincing slightly Casey carefully opened his eyes only a slit to see what he could of his surroundings. Yep, he was in an empty room, at least he was on a bed and not the floor. Casey quickly answered Jamie and Andrew as their voices were getting progressively louder, "Hey guys, stop shouting, I can hear you, but you're not really helping the headache, I've got." "Casey, you get yourself back here now and tell us what happened." This from Jamie almost had Casey laughing out loud, he sounded so much like the father he would soon be. "I think I'll stay a while. They obviously think they have you and if I remember Thane right I have twenty four hours before they expect me to start fainting or anything. Let me look around and see what I can find out. There may be stuff we can use to get the High Council to do something about these assholes." It took a bit more persuasion but Casey finally convinced them that he would be okay staying a while. But he did agree to keep the mental link between the three of them open at all times. That meant they would be able to hear and see everything he did. That way there would always be three sets of eyes looking and one may notice what another missed. *** It wasn't long before the door opened and he watched through narrowed eyes as a pair of shiny high heeled shoes approached the bed. He jumped when a hand landed gently on his shoulder and he was shaken. "Come on, you need to wake up and eat something or you're going to make yourself sick." The voice was female and then Casey heard Andrew saying it was Flora Canfield. Of course the woman who had given birth to Andrew then thrown him out when he wasn't what she wanted. Now she wanted him back to mate with that Elder, Simon? No, Samuel, that was it. Casey gritted his teeth and made a show of slowly waking up. He opened his eyes and met the gaze of Flora. "Mrs. Canfield, where am I? What is going on?" He tried to sound confused and half asleep. The woman put the tray she was carrying on the floor and sat beside him on the small bed. "I can't tell you how sorry I am this happened." She answered with a dead look in her eyes, "When we returned from your community Samuel went mad. He couldn't believe that Andrew had found his true mate and there was no way to deny it as you're the walking proof. You wouldn't be pregnant if you weren't his true mate. He decided that if you both needed to be kept together then he would have both of you. He has a plan for a joint mating for all three of you. He also wants to include your twin. I overheard him saying he had always wanted twins in his bed, but he is worried about your twin's ability to transport. He is consulting with his contacts to find a way of chaining the ability so he can't use it" Casey was staring at her in shock, mate Jamie and Andrew and him? He could hear faint swearing coming from Andrew and Jamie in his mind. "You do realize that none of us will agree to this idea? Without our consent the mating won't take and we become just mindless slaves. I doubt he wants that." "I know that," Flora said chewing on her lip, "But I don't think he is really thinking now. There are things you need to see and I am hoping you can help me. He said you could have run of the inner compound as long as you're accompanied." Casey frowned, "Why would I want to help you with anything? You wanted to give Andrew to this man as a mate." "No, we didn't want Andrew to be his mate," Casey felt shock go through him at the vehemence in her voice, "But he has threatened our daughter, he has the power to send her away to be mated to almost any vampire Elder he can think of. Most vampires are looking for their true mates and wouldn't think of taking another but some, like Samuel, like to take as many 'mates' as they can. We were hoping that we could play along till we could get our daughter out of the way. But then it was too late." Casey started to think out these new developments, if he could indeed move around the inner compound he could gather some great information before he headed home. "Fine then, let's go for a walk. Maybe some fresh air will clear my head. Who was it that drugged me anyway? I hope it won't affect the baby." Casey hoped he put the right concern in his voice. "Don't worry, the drug is harmless to the baby and besides the baby won't allow you to absorb anything harmful. All it had in it was a sedative. You've been asleep about two hours. The man was one of Samuels's personal guards. Now drink that protein shake, I was told you couldn't eat but you could drink." After Casey had drunk the shake they headed out the door and he had to blink in the light. They slowly walked the perimeter of the inner compound, it gave them time to talk more without being overheard and gave Casey the time to see all the defenses. "I know you can talk to Andrew, is he okay?" Flora asked suddenly. "How could he be okay? You have stolen his mate and his unborn child." Casey burst out turning on her, keeping up the pretense of who he was. She held up her hands in surrender, "But you don't seem to understand. Samuel doesn't realize you can talk to each other through your minds. He's never had a true mate and he has never bothered to find out about them because he just wanted his harem of willing women and men. He hasn't even 'mated' any of them. This means that he will allow you to see and hear things he wouldn't want his enemies hearing or seeing. I hope you're following this or I'm wasting my time here." By the end she was getting hysterical and Casey instinctively reached out and muttered a short calming spell. She looked at him in shock for a moment as she instantly stopped, dropping her eyes she muttered, "Thank you. You didn't have to do that." "Yes I did, I made a promise when I became a healer to help anyone, anywhere, anytime." "Anyone?" she questioned curiously. He wondered where this was going but nodded anyway, "Of course anyone. No one deserves to be in pain. Why do you ask?" "It's just I know a few people who could do with a healer but our witch healer won't touch them and Samuel won't let outsiders in. If I get you inside to see them can you help them?" "I can't say for sure until I see them but I can promise to do my best." Casey was getting a bad feeling about the whole situation, but Flora actually seemed to be genuine and he couldn't find it in himself to turn his back on possibly helping people. As he was thinking this he started to feel giddy. As he swayed Flora put an arm round his waist. "I think I had better get you back to bed and I will come for you as soon as I can." Casey allowed himself to be guided back to the small bedroom and waited till Flora had left before speaking to Jamie and Andrew. "What do you both think?" he asked once he was as sure as he could be that he was unobserved. "Well, I've never heard her be so passionate about anything!" Andrew replied first, "She is probably telling the truth or the truth as she knows it. My parents would do anything to protect my sister, everyone loves Beth. She was always helping the neighbors or helping out at the community school. I actually believe that the worst thing Samuel could do would be to hurt her in any way, the community would hate him for it. But he doesn't seem that stable anyway so..." Jamie agreed, "You be careful there Case and if you think there is any danger then come home and -"he cut off suddenly and Casey heard shouting vaguely coming through the link. The voice got louder as the speaker presumably got near to either Andrew or Jamie. Suddenly he could hear Jackson's voice, "You both tell him to come back here now. The danger is too great and he is not a trained spy." "Calm down Jackson," he heard Jamie saying, "Casey can get out at any time and he will be home within twenty four hours anyway. They will be suspicious if he doesn't start fainting after that amount of time." "Why does he need to do anything more? We know what Samuel is up to. I can get some men together and storm the community within the next few days." "NO," Casey interrupted their conversation, "No one can storm this place. Most of the community has done nothing wrong except believe their Senior Elder, as they have been taught. Plus if there are hurt people here I need to try and help them. Come on, Bro. You know I won't leave them." "I know," Jamie said and repeated everything to Jackson. Jackson grumbled for a while longer but he finally conceded and stayed out of the rest of the conversation. "You need to be prepared at all times," Jamie said, "Don't eat anything and only drink from something they drink from first." Casey agreed then told them he was going to nap till Flora came for him. *** It seemed like he had only just closed his eyes when he felt the warning spell he set on the door alert him that someone was approaching. Flora entered and held a finger to her lips to keep him quiet. Then in a loud voice she started talking, "Samuel has decided to let you see what he has in store for you. He thought that if you see what has happened to others who have not done as he wished you may be more amenable to his requests. Come with me." With her last words she turned on her heel and walked to the door beckoning him to follow. Casey was guessing that this was the excuse she had used to get Samuel to agree to him seeing whatever it was she wanted him to see. He was very nervous about what he was about to see but he knew he had to do it if it may mean helping people who needed him. They headed out and across the grounds again till they reached a small two story building set apart from the other buildings. At the door Flora repeated what she had told him in his room to the guard, the guard gave him a leer and opened the door. The first person he saw was a young woman with a black eye, she was cowering away from the door and glancing fearfully at the guard who had let them in. When the door shut she turned her gaze onto them. Flora held out a hand and waited till the woman took it, "This is Grace," she introduced the woman, "Grace this is Casey. He is a healer and is hoping to help some of you. Can you take us to the worst ones first?" The woman nodded and hurried off not waiting to see if they followed. Casey's horror rose when he saw faces peering out from doorways, there were men and women all with various bruises on their faces and who knew what else on the rest of their bodies. Grace stopped outside a door and indicated it to Flora before running off quickly. They stepped quietly into the room and Casey gasped, on the bed was a young boy who could not be more than eighteen. The pillow under his head was red with blood and he was moaning quietly in pain. Casey rushed to the boy's side, gently he touched his face and let a small amount of magic trickle into his body. The magic had two purposes, the first was to relieve a little of the pain to make the boy more comfortable and the second was to see what more damage was done. "That's Daniel," Andrew told him, "He was my best friend. What has been done to him?" Casey could hear the tears in Andrew's voice and then heard Jamie trying to calm him down. The magic returned a report and Casey was shocked, "This boy has been tortured," he stated turning to Flora and trying to block out Andrew's sobbing without breaking the link, "he's got three broken ribs, a broken right wrist and four broken fingers on his left hand. I can't heal this alone I would need my brother and Daniel here would need on going care to fully recover." Casey let more magic seep into the boy and knocked him out, adding a little extra to stop any bleeding. "I've put him to sleep till I can get him to the help he needs, now let's see who else needs help." Flora pulled herself together and led the way out of the room. In the hallway Casey saw a familiar face and stopped dead. "Ricky?" he called out and the young man who had been moving out their way stopped and raised his head to look him the eye. "Jamie? Casey?" Ricky asked in confusion obviously not realizing which twin he was looking at. Ricky had been Jamie and Casey's neighbor when they were young. He had disappeared when they were eighteen and his parents had received a letter from him a year later saying he was well and settled but didn't want contact with them. Everyone was devastated. "No you can't be here. You can't see me like this." Ricky was getting more and more upset and was trying to back away from Casey. Casey managed to grab his arm and then he saw the tracks on his arm along with bruises on his face and exposed chest. There were also what looked like burn marks on his chest. Casey pushed his reaction down and kept his voice calm. "Ricky, listen to me. Nothing matters to me other than that you're alive. I am going to take you home but you don't have to see anyone but me and Jamie. Okay?" he muttered the same calming spell he had used on Flora and Ricky calmed and stopped struggling. Flora had been looking on in shock but recovered fast, "What are you going to do?" "First, I'm taking Ricky to Daniels room and then you're taking me to see Samuel. It's time he learnt a lesson." Flora seemed to trust Casey's decisions because she helped Casey take Ricky to Daniel's room and after Casey had put him to sleep in a chair by the bed they headed back to the front door. When Casey saw Grace again he called her over, "You're a beautiful woman," he told her as he touched her face, "but I think this will help a bit as well." With a few muttered words the bruise on her face disappeared and she smiled as she must have felt the pain fading into nothing. "Thank you," she whispered before darting away. *** Flora and Casey were escorted into Samuels's presence in his great room. The room had been done up to resemble the throne rooms of the old kings and queens. There was an ornate chair on a dais at one end of the room and a long carpet led from the door to the base of the dais. "Jamie, have you decided to accept my offer and bring Andrew and Casey here to me?" Samuel was smiling in a self-confident way but that smile started to slip as Casey didn't answer and just glared at him. Finally Casey spoke, "Firstly, Jamie and Andrew and I will never accept your offer, so don't waste your time." Casey paused to see if Samuel would realize the significance of what he had said but there was no reaction, "Secondly, you really should employ better kidnappers, and then you can be sure to get the right person next time." Before what he had said that time could register Casey grabbed Flora's hand and disappeared. *** They reappeared in Daniels room. "Grab Ricky's hand," Casey instructed Flora. When she had he grabbed Daniel and called to Jamie, "Bro I need your magic now!" He felt his brother linking their magic over the miles and he grabbed it to fuel the transport. Jamie and Andrew Ch. 12.2 Jamie watched as his brother, Flora and the two unconscious young men appeared in the middle of the main living room. As soon as they appeared Casey fainted, the magic used had obviously drained him completely. Jackson moved with his vampire speed and caught Casey before he could hit the floor. Jamie quickly started to take charge, "Andrew take Daniel and put him in an examination room. If I know Casey neither him nor Ricky will be waking up any time soon on their own. Casey would have known he wouldn't be able to do anything when he got back." Andrew hurried to gently pick up Daniel and headed for the clinic, "Ricky will stay here at the main house so he can go on the couch for now and as for Casey..." Jamie didn't get any further before Jackson tightened his arm's round Casey and interrupted him, "Where is he going to be put? The clinic or his own room?" Jackson's voice sounded strained. "Put him in his room, and if you can, get him to drink a bit from the green bottle on his bedside table. It will help him recover quicker." Jackson nodded and headed out the room. Jamie heaved Ricky onto the couch with Flora's help and made him as comfortable as he could. After a few murmured spells he found that his friend was very battered but nothing was broken. He also found that he had a fair few drugs in his system, Jamie thought for a moment and then muttered a cleansing spell and cleared all the drugs from his body. He moved to the phone and called through to the clinic, "Can you send Thane through to the main house please?" He asked when the night receptionist, Sophie, answered the phone. "Of course, he's right here and on his way now." She answered. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and Thane strolled in. "You wanted me Jamie?" He asked as his gaze flickered to the unconscious man on the couch and to Flora who was standing to one side and looking at him nervously. "Yep, I need your help to get Ricky here up to the spare room next to mine and Andrew's. I'm a bit drained from helping Casey with his transport and I need my magic to help another patient. Thane nodded and moved to join Jamie at the couch, looking down at the figure there Thane chuckled, "He's tiny, don't worry I can lift and carry him myself. You just lead the way and open the doors." With that Thane bent and scooped Ricky gently into his arms. With Jamie in front they headed for the stairs and the spare rooms. Jamie opened all the doors for Thane and in the bedroom he turned down the covers so Ricky could be laid directly onto the bed and tucked in. "Can you stay with him while I check on Casey?" Jamie asked and when Thane nodded he slipped out the door. *** Jamie found Casey tucked up in bed with a hovering Jackson sitting beside the bed. "Has he woken up at all? And did he drink the potion?" He asked Jackson as he moved to check on his twin. "Yes he drank but no he hasn't woken up. Why, should he have?" Jackson asked quickly, leaning forward to try and see what Jamie was doing. Jamie rolled his eyes at how protective Jackson was, he had been like a father to Casey and him since their mom died but he did wish he would lighten up sometimes. They were adults now after all, hell he was even married and pregnant now. "He's fine Jackson. He just used too much magic at once and didn't take enough from me. He probably didn't want to take too much because of the baby." Jackson sat back with a huff and Jamie continued to examine Casey. After making certain he was uninjured other than being drained he started adding his magic to Casey's body. It took a few moments but Casey's eyes started to flutter and finally opened. "What happened?" He asked as he looked around in confusion. "Don't worry, you got them back okay. Andrew is taking Daniel to an examination room and Thane is watching Ricky while he sleeps in one of the spare rooms. From the way he panicked with you I thought it was best to keep it to as few people as possible. And of course you brought Flora Canfield with you so she is in the main living room." Casey was nodding when he finally noticed Jackson was in the room, "What are you doing here?" he hissed surprising Jamie with his tone. "He carried you up here and watched you while I tended the others," Jamie admonished and watched his brother flush, "You wouldn't have needed to be carried if you had taken what you needed from me. Next time you pull a stunt like that, you will regret it." Casey had hung his head by the time Jamie had finished telling him off, he turned to Jackson, "Sorry Jackson, I didn't mean to snap. Thank you for looking after me." Jackson nodded his acceptance of the apology before heading out the room. Jamie rounded on Casey, "You should treat him with more respect you know. He was frantic while you were in that place. He kept trying to demand we make you come back. Then when you did come back he cared for you while I was busy. He may be overbearing and over-protective but he has looked after us since Mom died. Remember he is over two thousand years old, so to him we are probably like babies still. Give the poor guy a break." Casey was staring at his brother in shock, "Since when did you become the sensible one?" "I'm going to be a father. I'm learning that there's a time to be a big kid and a time to grow up. Now you need to go sit with Ricky so I can go see to Daniel. You told him he would only have to see one of us and Thane is with him at the mo." "I can help with Daniel," Casey protested getting out of bed. As soon as he tried to stand he swayed and would have fallen if Jamie hadn't caught him. "You are going to sit in the chair by Ricky's bed and I am going to get a couple of the witch nurses to help me with Daniel. It's only broken bones. I can't heal his mind or Ricky's. That is going to take time and a lot of love and help in both their cases. If he wakes up, let me know, and I'll get here as quickly as I can." Casey finally agreed and Jamie helped him get to Daniel's room and he took over from Thane, who insisted on accompanying Jamie to the clinic. *** Jamie walked in the examination room to find Andrew pacing a hole in the floor, he went straight up to him and pulled him into a tight hug. "He will be fine, Love," Jamie reassured Andrew, rubbing his back to calm him down, "But you have to calm down. He is going to need someone to be there for him. I can heal his body but, as I have just told Casey about Ricky, it will take time and a lot of patience and love to heal his mind." Andrew nodded against his shoulder and moved to sit in the bedside chair. The door opened again to admit Dora and Josie, two experienced witch nurses. They were a fair bit older than Jamie and had worked with Jamie's mother before she died. They always had a ready smile but when they took in the young man on the bed their smiles faltered for a moment, then they were back and they were looking at Jamie expectantly. "Well, let's get going lad. There's no need to leave him like this a moment longer," said Dora and Josie nodded her agreement. They worked steadily together, hands clasped over Daniel's body and muttering in unison. Slowly the distortions that could be seen under Daniel's skin evened out and limbs straightened with painful sounding cracks. Daniel didn't even flinch during the whole ordeal and when it was finished Jamie was sweating but felt happy that they had got everything. "Thanks both of you, why don't you head to the break room for a while to rest?" Jamie said to the women and got a grateful but tired smile from each before they left. "I'm going to wake him up, so can you stand at the end of bed so that you are the first thing he sees?" Jamie said watching Andrew carefully to make sure he was handling the situation okay. Andrew nodded and moved to the specified location. Jamie started muttering and worked to undo his brother's sleeping spell, after a while Daniel started to stir. As soon as he was half awake Daniel started to thrash and cry out. Expecting this Jamie had already moved the chair back and there was nothing else nearby that Daniel could hurt himself on. He kept muttering until he felt Daniel really waking up and then he withdrew to a corner of the room so Daniel wouldn't see him. *** Andrew watched as Daniel opened his eyes and his gaze darted around till it found Andrew. "Andrew? What's happening? Where am I?" Daniel sounded like he was about to start panicking again so Andrew moved closer and laid a hand over one of Daniel's. "You're at the clinic in Chapmistres View. My mate Jamie healed you after his brother Casey brought you here." As he spoke Andrew caressed the hand he held and he thought he could sense Daniel's pulse settling slightly. Suddenly Daniel stiffened again and when Andrew followed his gaze he saw Daniel had noticed Jamie. Andrew waved Jamie nearer and put an arm round his shoulders, "This is my true mate Jamie, he is a witch healer and he runs this clinic with his twin brother." Daniel's gaze flitted from Andrew to Jamie and back again, "How did I get out? The last thing I remember is Master telling the guard to take me back to my room and to only help me enough to make sure I didn't die." Andrew winced at what Daniel said but kept his voice calm, "Samuel sent a guard to kidnap Jamie but he got the wrong brother and took his twin, Casey, instead. Casey has the power to teleport so he stayed with the intention of getting as much information as he could before coming home. He managed to see the layout and then he was taken to try and heal a few people. He found you and others that had been hurt. He managed to teleport you and one other out and bring you back here." It seemed that all the conversation had been too much for Daniel because he passed out before Andrew had even finished his explanation. Jamie patted his hand, "You'll probably have to tell him all that again later but until then why don't I make sure he stays asleep so he can rest properly and we can get together with Casey to find out what is going to happen next?" Andrew nodded and watched as Jamie muttered a few words over Daniel. *** Jamie led Andrew back to the main room and called Casey to meet them there after making sure Ricky wouldn't wake up. He had already called Jackson's cell and the vampire was on his way back, with Elder Rickman. When everyone had arrived he started the ball rolling, "Our first priority is getting those people out of that house. From what I saw with Casey they are all being abused to varying degrees and they need saving. How many are there?" he aimed the question at Flora. "I'm not sure I only found out about the place after our visit here. Samuel showed it to me as a threat of where my daughter or even I could end up in the near future or at least somewhere similar. So far I've seen at least twenty men and women there. I tried to treat as many as I could but there isn't even room in that house for them all to sleep in a bed. A lot of the less hurt ones sleep on the floor or on the couches to leave the beds for the ones that need them." Casey spoke up, "We need to get someone inside that house and bar it from anyone getting in. Once we know that they are safe, we can try Jackson's plan of taking the community by force..." Jackson held up a hand to interrupt Casey, "I've had time to calm down since that idea and I have a better one that should stop people getting hurt. But first I need to know, Casey, is a way you can take someone into the house and then come back to take someone else to Samuels's throne room. Have you recovered enough?" Casey looked at Jamie, "Well, can you think of a way of increasing our magic enough, coz I can't do it alone." Jamie though for a moment then smiled, "What about linking my magic to some willing volunteers here at the clinic physically and then linking you to me! I would be acting as a conduit to you." Casey nodded, then turned to address Jackson, "Yes there is a way to do it but I can't hang around. The second person would need to be ready to go as soon as I reappear here. That way I'm not drawing on magic then shutting it off only to draw on it again. I can keep the spell going and just change it to fit the place I need." Jackson gave him a curt nod, "Both people are ready now. I want you to take Adam into the house and then take me to the throne room." Everyone stared at Jackson like he was mad, Casey recovered quickly, "And what can you two do that others can't? Wouldn't Thane be a better choice for the house? At least he is a bodyguard." Rickman laughed, "I used to be a roman captain, trust me I can deal with a few guards if they get past the door. As for what Jackson can do, he has the authority to dissolve Samuel's clan. Samuel must be really out of it to have attacked anyone here in the first place." Jamie frowned, "How has Jackson got that sort of power? He is equal to Samuel as a Senior Elder." "He's not just a Senior Elder," Rickman answered, ignoring Jackson's glare, "He's also a member of the High Council." The silence was so complete a pin dropping would have sounded like a cymbal crashing. "Adam, you know I don't go broadcasting that around." Jamie could feel Andrew's hurt and confusion, "Does that also include not telling your second?" Jamie asked as he curled his arm round his mate where they sat on the couch. Jackson winced, "I know, I have been meaning to tell you, Andrew, but I have gotten so used to keeping it quiet. I find that people treat me differently when they realize what power I actually have on the island. I like the life of a Senior Elder. Most of my work for the High Council can be done from here. I only have to actually go to the city a few times a year now. But Adam is right, if Casey can get me into this throne room. I will threaten Samuel with whatever it takes to get him to understand he has messed with the wrong community. Or of course I could just have him arrested and replace him with someone else. Or even better I could kill him!" "Jackson," Adam's voice sounded resigned, like they had had this conversation already, "You know you can't just kill him so stop trying to shock them." Jackson just shrugged then looked at Casey, "Well. When can it be done?" "Well bro? How quickly can you get the back up here?" Casey asked Jamie. "Oh about five minutes. You get everyone else ready and I'll call through to the clinic." Jamie moved over to the phone. When Sophie answered he started reeling off names, "Hey Sophie. Can you page; Darcie, Callie, Duncan, Bobby and let's see... Oh and Dickey." "Will do Jamie, I assume you're still in the main house?" "Yep, thanks Soph." Jamie smiled as he put the receiver down. He returned his attention to the group and just heard the tail end of Casey's instructions. "- Jackson you need to make sure you're standing right where I have put you. That way I can flash back and grab you without having to look around first. Both of you need to make sure you never let go of my hand till I tell you to. And if I tell you to do something do it. No arguing. Got it???" Both vampires nodded and then they heard a knock at the door. Andrew answered it and the witches Jamie had called filed in. "Right, I don't have time to explain fully but I'm sure you have all heard about Daniel in exam room three by now." At the nods Jamie continued. "Well, we are going after the people who hurt him and that are still hurting others. I need you to help me by linking our magic together. I will then send it to Casey to help him get Elders Langman and Rickman to where they need to be. Everyone got that?" All the witches except Casey moved into a circle, Casey put Jackson in place by one of the couches and then moved himself and Rickman over to another space. Jamie felt the link snap into place with the other witches and then with Casey. He heard his brother's voice counting down, "Three, two, and one." On the last count Casey and Rickman flickered then vanished. *** Casey and Rickman appeared in the living room of the two-story house, looking around Casey saw Grace and called her over. Grabbing her hand he placed it in Rickman's, "No time to explain, please trust him and do what he says. I'll be back for you." With that he disappeared again. He reappeared right next to Jackson, grabbed his hand and winked at his brother before vanishing yet again. They reappeared in Samuel's throne room just as Samuel came through the door. "You, I'll kill you," Samuel growled racing towards Casey. He didn't even see Jackson until he went flying from a fist in the face. "You will not touch him, or anyone else." Jackson stated calmly as Samuel tried to stop the blood running from his nose. "What has this got to do with you? You're in my territory now. You have no authority." Samuel tried to sneer as he spoke but the effect was ruined by the blood that still ran down his face. "Hmmm, well let's see, what has this got to do with me?" Jackson tapped his chin and Casey rolled his eyes, Jackson often had a flair for drama. "You made sure Andrew got outed to his parents. I considered Andrew a son even before it was made official so that's one. You then brought said parents in to my territory to try and get Andrew back, that's two. You kidnapped a man I have raised as a son and threatened him, his brother and his brother's mate, that's three. And finally it has everything to do with me because it is the responsibly of the High Council to punish anyone who commits crimes in another Council's community. I am a member of the High Council and therefore it is my responsibility and pleasure to try and punish you. Oh and lastly I have information about how you have been treating members of your own community." By the time Jackson had finished speaking, all the color had drained from Samuel's face. Casey could see the moment when a small amount of sanity seemed to return to Samuel's mind, but it was too late. "I find you guilty of all charges. Now all I have to decide is on what your punishment should be." Casey watched as Jackson turned to look at him, "Casey, you're the one who was kidnapped, drugged and brought out here. The fact you could get away doesn't take away from what you went through. What would you like to happen to this man? Also remember it is your brother he was actually attempting to take and he was planning on using him to get Andrew and you. Why don't you take a moment to ask them their opinions too?" Casey slowly nodded and moved to the side of the room. Since he was still linked to Jamie so as to be ready for the return journey he knew that both men had heard and seen what had happened. "Well guys, what do you think I should say?" Casey asked. "Well shit, what are we supposed to day?" Jamie asked and Casey heard Andrew agreeing. Jackson had basically placed the man's life in their hands. Casey was fairly certain that if they asked for Samuel to be killed Jackson would do it. Jackson considered all three of them his family and no one hurt his family, at any time, in any way. "We can't ask for him to be hurt," this was from Andrew, "If we do then we are no better than him. What about having him stripped of his position and maybe giving him a job to do so he has to work for a living? Plus dead he's gone and not suffering, alive he can be made to suffer so much more." "I like how you think love. By give him a job, you mean like community service but with pay?" Jamie asked. "Well maybe a bit but harder work than sweeping roads. What about making him work in some sort of home or hospital. That way he would have to care for people he would usually have looked down on?" Jamie and Andrew Ch. 12.2 Casey was shaking his head, "I'm afraid I don't think he's mentally stable. Therefore he would be a danger to anyone he was supposed to be caring for. What about making him work in a fast food place? He would have to serve all the people he would usually have had serving him!" Jamie and Andrew started chuckling, "Oh, that sounds good." Andrew said and Jamie agreed. Casey returned to Jackson, "We have decided what we would like to happen to him, if you agree of course." Casey waited for Jackson to nod before continuing, "We believe a fitting punishment would be for him to be stripped of his position and made to work for a living. Our suggestion would be a fast food place. There he would have to serve the people he would usually expect to serve him. He would also be expected to do all the cleaning, including the fat fryers, which I've heard can be degusting to clean." Jackson was grinning by the end of Casey's request, "I think you, Jamie and Andrew are very wise and will definitely go far in our community in the future. Samuel," he added turning back to the horrified, soon to be ex-Elder, "I hereby strip you of your status of Senior Elder, I further more decree you will never be able to be made an Elder of any community again for the remainder of your natural life. Furthermore as soon as an appropriate job can be found you will be expected to work to make your living and support yourself." Jackson turned to Casey but before he could speak an inhuman howl echoed through the throne room, Casey just had time to scream before Jackson was hit from behind by Samuel leaping at him. Casey was knocked to the floor as Jackson threw Samuel off his back and before Casey could even realize what was happening, Jackson flicked a silver knife into his hand and plunged in directly into Samuel's heart. Samuel stared at the knife for a few seconds before he disintegrated into a pile of ash with the knife sitting on top. Jackson turned quickly to pull Casey to his feet, "Are you okay? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have turned my back on him." He was trying to dust Casey off and apologize at the same time. Casey finally snapped back to what was going on. "I'm fine," he said to Jackson and the two voices in his head. "If you're finished here let's get to Rickman and let him know what has happened. Then we can start getting the injured people out." Taking Jackson's hand and checking the link with Jamie, Casey transported them to the two-story house. *** They appeared in the living room and found Rickman holding a weeping Grace and looking like he wanted to hit something. "Please tell me he is dead." He snarled as soon as he saw Jackson. Jackson nodded and Rickman seemed to relax slightly. Jackson raised an eyebrow, "Tell me what you've found out. It must be bad judging by your face." "I think we need to get everyone here back to our community first and then one of us is going to have to stay here to clean up the mess Samuel has left." Jackson nodded and Casey watched him turn to look at him. "Do you think you can transport everyone here in groups?" Casey thought for a moment, "Bro, have we got enough reserves left?" Jamie replied quickly, "Yep, we're ok. I just sent for more witches as it is almost time for some shift changes here. Remember we got some part timers that do the second half of the night shift?" "Thanks Jay." Casey turned back to Jackson, "Yes, we can transport everyone. Where do you want me to take them?" Jackson seemed to think a while, "I think the conference room where we had Jamie and Andrew's reception would be best, it's big and there's room to get medical staff in if they're needed as well. Actually can you get Jamie to send some of the vampire nurses and any spare witch nurses there to meet us?" Casey relayed the request and nodded to show it would all be set up. *** It took forty five minutes to gather everyone in one place except for the ones that were badly injured and couldn't be physically moved. Rickman and Jackson had been huddled in a corner for a few minutes before they finally broke apart and Jackson came back to Casey. "Right if you don't mind I'll go back with the first lot to stay and organize that end while you get the rest there." Jackson said, "Adam will stay here to sort out the new Council." Casey nodded while he thought out the logistics of how they were going to do this in as fewer trips as possible. "I think it may be best if some of the worst cases are put to sleep and taken straight to the clinic. I've already seen one or two that I know are going to need treatment as soon as we can manage it. I have also told Jamie to call in all the witch nurses we have. Including the volunteers, bank staff and trainees." "I'll bow to your judgment on triage. You're the healer." "Okay, then if you can get the walking people in to groups of five, except the first group of course if you want to go with them. I am going to go and get the five worst ones I've seen to the clinic. It shouldn't take me more than three trips as they seem to be two to a room. I'll be back for you as soon as I can be." With that Casey headed for the stairs. *** It took two hours to clear the house and get everyone to where they needed to be. After Casey had been ordered back to the clinic Jamie sent Dora to supervise the conference room with Jackson and he started trying to help the ones that had been delivered to the clinic. Finally he had most of them asleep and pain free, he would keep them like that till everyone's magic had recovered enough to heal them fully. With a sigh he headed for the main living room where he had left Casey with Andrew watching him to make sure he rested. Flora had been taken back to her community and reunited with her husband. He wasn't surprised to find Jackson there too when he arrived, he was sitting on a couch next to Casey who looked like he had only just woken up from a nap, but needed more sleep. The vampire had been pestering the nurses at the conference room unmercifully to get them to call and find out if Casey was okay. He hadn't calmed down till he had got the news that the last lot had been delivered and Casey had transported home. Jamie flopped down into Andrew's lap and was grateful when his mate enfolded him in a warm hug. "So what did Rickman find out?" he asked and was surprised to hear a snarl come from Jackson. "Death was too good for Samuel," Jackson said as he flexed his fists as though he wanted to hit something. "Adam updated me before I left. There were twenty five people in that two story house, which incidentally was called the harem. Their ages ranged from sixteen to twenty three and they were a mixed of sexes and species. He had collared three shifters with silver collars to stop them from shifting, he had a couple of psychics that he was using to predict the outcome of certain fights, and the rest were witches and vampires. If families crossed him he would take one of their children as punishment and make them serve him. If the family continued to try and disobey him or the child tried to fight he would torture them till they were unable to do anything but cooperate. "His preferred ways of torture were drugs that made the person hypersensitive to any and all stimulation. He would then leave them till they were begging to be taken by anyone to relieve the tension in their bodies. If that didn't work he would turn them over to a few of his guards with the instruction they could be used in any way, but they were not to be maimed - for example they must have all their limbs still attached - and they must be able to serve him still when the guards were finished." Jamie watched as his brother laid a comforting hand on Jackson's shoulder, Jackson seemed to take a deep breath and lean slightly into the touch. "What will happen now?" Jamie asked when he saw Jackson had calmed down. "A new Council will be appointed for that community or the community will be dissolved and the people sent out to other communities. Adam is going to interview as many people as he can and see if anything is salvageable. If he can find suitable people then I have given him the power to register them and set them up with everything they need to be a good Council." The rest the evening passed with quiet conversation. After an hour Casey had fallen asleep and Jackson didn't seem to mind that his shoulder was getting used as a pillow. Andrew was the one to notice the time. "Oh, it's nearly 8am. Jackson you haven't got time to get home now, so why don't you use one of the spare rooms? I think the one by Casey's is free." Jackson glanced at his watch, "I think you're right and thank you I will use the spare room. Do you want me to take sleeping beauty here up to his room?" Jamie smiled at the nick name, he couldn't wait to tell Casey that when he woke, "Yeah you know the way, I'll follow you up and get the doors and blankets." After Jamie and Jackson had put Casey to bed they bid each other goodnight and Jamie headed to his own room. Andrew was already in bed and Jamie wasted no time in stripping and joining him. Curling round one another they sighed happily and slipped in to a peaceful, safe sleep. Jamie and Andrew Ch. 13 Chapter Thirteen - Epilogue The months past with little activity, the only event of note was that Adam found his mate - a shy nurse called Ben, that worked at the clinic. Once the little nurse's abusive ex had been dealt with life returned to what past for normal in Chapmistres view. *** It was early in in the afternoon when Jamie woke to pains ripping through his stomach. A particularly painful spasm made him jerk and he found himself falling off the edge of the bed. Just as he was about to hit the floor he felt arms catch him. He just had time to hear his mate start cursing before another shot of pain caused him to pass out. *** "Shit, Fuck," Andrew swore to himself as he gently got his mate back on to the bed. "Casey I need you in our room NOW." He sent frantically to his brother. There was a small pop and Casey appeared in the center of the room. "What's happened?" he demanded as he ran his hands over his twin. "I don't know I woke in time to catch him as he fell out of bed," Andrew replied. Casey muttered a few spells and then closed his eyes and went silent, Andrew was just starting to really panic when Casey opened his eyes. "He's in labor but the baby can't get out. The baby of course doesn't realize this and is trying to push it's way out. I need to get him downstairs to do the cesarean we discussed, I can't do it alone and I need to get some help." As he spoke Casey was rearranging Jamie on the bed and when he finished he laid a hand on Jamie and grabbed Andrew's hand. In the blink of an eye they all reappeared in a small room in the clinic. Jamie was in a bed and Casey and Andrew were standing by him. Casey ran to the door, "Send Doris and Mabel to me here and be quick about it," he called into the hallway. Someone answered and he came back into the room. A few moments' later two elderly witches came in dressed in the clinic uniform or t-shirt and pants. "Is it time finally?" one asked excitedly. "Yes," Casey answered laying a hand back on Jamie, "Now we do it exactly as we discussed, I will keep Jamie under while you two work. Just be quick, his magic is already fighting mine and I don't know how long I can keep him under." Doris and Mabel nodded and went to work. Andrew moved to the side and watched, he had been told briefly what would happen at the birth but he still wasn't prepared for the reality of how useless he felt. He mate was in pain and being forced to stay asleep and he couldn't do anything to help. He knew that one witch would be using magic to open an incision across Jamie's abdomen, while the other healed any bleeding as they went. After the baby was removed one would heal the incision while the other cleaned and wrapped the baby. Nothing he could do to help with any of that, he didn't have any magic. "Andrew I need your help" Casey's voice brought him out of his depressing thoughts. "I need you to use your mind link with Jamie to keep him calm. He may not be awake but his mind is working and is trying to fight me. His instinct is to fight the pain and to do that he needs to be conscious but we need him calm and asleep. You're his mate his mind should respond to you. Between us we should be able to control him." Andrew nodded and linked his mind with Casey's and then with Jamie's. Andrew could feel the confusion in his mates mind, he tried to send a calming feeling to Jamie. "Come on love. Let the nurses do their jobs and get our baby out. You know how you've been saying you want this over with! You're nearly there. The end's in sight. Just hang in there." Andrew kept sending all the thoughts he could think of and slowly he and Casey felt Jamie's mind calming and Casey was able to keep him asleep, while the nurses worked. "All done." Came one of the nurse's voices. Casey and Andrew jumped as they had been concentrating so much on Jamie they hadn't noticed what the nurses were doing. Andrew nearly jumped again when he registered the cry of a baby echoing though the room. He helped Casey gently wake Jamie up and as soon as he could he turned to get his first look at his child. "Congratulations, you both have a lovely baby girl." One of the nurses said and held the wrapped baby out to Andrew. "I might drop her." Andrew protested as the nurse pressed the baby into his arms. His hands shook as they were repositioned to ensure he supported her head and held her securely. "There, see you're fine," a nurse laughed and both of them headed for the door. "We'll let everyone know and give you have some time before the hordes of well-wishers descend." Andrew looked at Jamie and saw his mate was watching him with tears in his eyes. "I could hear you and Casey but all I could think was I needed to wake up and see what was happening." Jamie said smiling tiredly. "Well we'll be better prepared for next time," Casey said and then laughed at the looks on the couple's faces. "I am not doing that again!" Stated Jamie. Andrew was shaking his head too, "No, no way. Five months of his hormones going haywire was by far enough." Jamie aimed a swat at Andrew but Andrew ducked laughing. "Here hold your daughter." He said passing the baby to Jamie. Jamie looked down on the baby girl and then looked back at Andrew, there were tears in his eyes. "What should we call her?" Jamie asked. "What about Elizabeth?" Andrew suggested, knowing it was Jamie and Casey's mother's name. Both Jamie and Casey shouted yes at the same time and they all ended up laughing and crying. Andrew then sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped an arm round his mate and his daughter. *** Casey looked at his brother and his mate, both looking with awe at their daughter. They made the perfect family picture and Casey knew it was an image he would remember for the rest of his life. *** And so ends Jamie and Andrew's story. Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoyed my tale.