Part 6 (1/2)
”Perhaps you're right. Very well. My own word on it.”
Liam chuckled. ”Are there any deities you swear to?”
Julian laughed back. ”Not as such, no. What if I swear to keep my word by the pain of holy water, the burning of a cross against my flesh, and the threat of a stake through my heart?”
”Lightly spoken, but yes, if you swear by all a vampire's worst fears, then I believe you.” Bree felt Liam lay a small, warm hand on his back, between his shoulder blades. ”Go on with Julian, now,” he ordered gently. ”Let him care for you tonight.”
Bree made a small, sleepy noise and snuggled against Julian's chest. ”Mmm.”
”Drunk as a lord.” Bree could almost see Liam shaking his head, wryly amused. ”You must teach me how to enthrall one day.”
”I shall. Consider it a gift of thanks.”
”I need no thanks except to know that Bree goes into this via free will. Yes, yes, I know, there is no stopping it. However, if he is not prepared well, Bree is the sort who might be determined enough to pierce his own heart with the first sharp stick he can lay hands on and end this new life.”
Julian stiffened. ”You didn't tell me this before I made my oath.” ”Didn't I? My mistake.”
Bree giggled. He swayed drunkenly against Julian, drew back a little, and gazed up into those ultimate bedroom, f.u.c.k-me- now eyes. G.o.d, he could drown in those. ”Less talk, more action,” he whispered. ”Come on, Julian. Let's go.”
Julian smiled down at Bree, reaching to play with one of his earrings. ”Where do you want me to take you?”
”Your place. A hotel. Broom closet. Doesn't matter.”
”So eager. You, Bree, are delicious.” Julian glanced up, over Bree's shoulder. ”Are we finished here, incubus?”
”Our words have come to an end. Keep your oath, and I'll keep mine.”
”Done and done.” Julian pulled Bree into another close, cozy embrace. Bree heard the light patter of footsteps going past them, and a brief burst of noise as Liam opened a door and slipped back into the club.
Then silence.
Bree let out a deep, contented breath. Julian hummed at the sound of Bree's sigh. ”May I?” he asked. Reaching down, he lifted Bree's bare wrist first to his lips, for a long kiss over the vein, the tip of his tongue tracing its pattern, then moved to his ear.
”So beautiful,” he said. ”I never grow weary of this sound. The rush of blood through its myriad vessels. The thundering of a heart wild with l.u.s.t or fear. I will miss yours, when it is gone.”
Gone? Where's it going? Huh. I'll ask later. When I feel like it. Bree s.h.i.+vered happily. He reeled, drunk on the feel of Julian's lips and fingers. ”Kiss me?” he asked, hoping the cool man would play along.
”Gladly.” Julian bent to brush his mouth over Bree's -- but only a brush, not even parting his lips. Bree whimpered, unashamed of sounding so needy. ”Come on,” he demanded as Julian drew away. ”More. Don't hold out on me now.”
”I would rather we find some privacy, before we lose all of our control. Will you come with me?”
Underneath the drunken fugue of happiness, Bree felt his first tremor of unease. The way Julian put it ... it sounded like he was asking for more than Bree to go with him to a room. For half a second, he was tempted to say no. Something Liam had said made him afraid of Julian. What the h.e.l.l had Liam been talking about? He struggled to remember.
”This will not do.” Julian laid two fingertips to Bree's temple. ”Pax.”
Quick as a Popsicle in July, Bree's fears melted away. His heart swelled with adoration, just as his c.o.c.k filled with blood and began to throb, wanting its own share of Julian's touches. ”I'll come,” he whispered.
Julian smiled. ”Good,” he said. ”Very, very good. Take my hand, now, Bree.”
No hesitation. Bree let Julian twine their fingers together, cool against warm, and lead him back to Amour Magique's entrance. Nope, he thought, happier than he'd been in years. Don't ever want to wake up.
As they went inside, the music washed over them in a thick, heady wave. Bree's lips parted in amazement. ”Julian,” he whispered, tugging at the man's sleeve. ”Julian! The club. I can hear its heart beating.”
”Yes. You will be able to, now.”
”How?” Bree shook his head. ”It was all just music, and -- and noise, before.”
”It has not changed. You have. You'll understand soon. Now, walk where I walk. Follow in my footsteps.”
Bree felt the vaguest p.r.i.c.kle of fear at the base of his spine. As if he sensed it, Julian turned around and looked at him with genuine fondness.
The bad feelings floated away. Bree grinned back, wide and loose. ”It's good,” he said.
”Oh, yes. Very good, and it will only get better.” Julian took a tighter grip on Bree's hand. ”Now, come. But one more thing -- do not speak unless I give you permission. Not everyone here would understand what's happening to you. Most, but not all. This is for your safety. Do you promise?”
Bree nodded. Whatever you say, lover. I'll walk in your wake, and I'll keep my mouth shut. I can do that. Got a lot of practice at work, right? Difference is, I want to make Julian happy. That's what matters.
It's all that matters anymore. Huh. When did that happen?
He shrugged. Floating on his own private cloud of bliss, he clung to Julian's hand and followed him through the crowds. They didn't b.u.mp against or into a single man, packed though it was. Bree glanced around in curiosity and saw that wherever Julian moved, the dancers s.h.i.+fted out of his way. Made a path for him. More than a few snuck curious, but definitely awed and seriously respectful, glances at him.
b.i.t.c.hin'. I landed the king of the ball. Bree giggled to himself. Or is that, king of all the b.a.l.l.s?
Julian led Bree back into a darkened corner of Amour Magique, up to a ... bar? Yep, a plain old bar, dimly lit, with a scrawny shrimp of a mostly bald man polis.h.i.+ng gla.s.ses and chatting up his handful of customers. He looked to be having a great time, but the instant he saw Julian, he waved the other guys off and ambled straight over. His look wasn't one of respect, but of amus.e.m.e.nt and a touch of admiration. ”Look at what the black cat dragged in,” he said with a crooked grin. ”So you caught him after all, huh?”
”Tom,” Julian said with a slight nod. ”Yes, I have done what I set out to accomplish. I always do.”
”Yep. You manage to get what you set your mind to having, that's the truth. Kinda b.l.o.o.d.y, though, isn't he?”
”A bit. He's a fighter.”
The bartender -- Tom? -- let out a low whistle. ”No s.h.i.+t? He hit you?”
”Of course not. I believe, from what he was screaming while he pounded the man's head into a jelly, that it was his ex-lover.
A man who had done him great wrongs.”
”Most exes do. You gonna go after him, if he lives?”
Julian smiled. For the first time, his eyes looked to be tinged with ice. ”What do you think, Tom?”
”Think I'd better get a crew out there to mop up the mess.”
”Wise decision.” Julian laid his hand on Bree's shoulder, drawing him protectively close. ”I have struck a bargain with the incubus to take special care of my prize, and I have laid charms upon him, but it strikes me that he seems somewhat more unfocused than even a little blood loss and magic should make him. It has been a long time since I cared if a mortal was ill in any way. Do you have any suggestions?”
”Blood loss, yeah. How much you take?”
”More than my usual amount. Two, perhaps three pints, instead of half of one.”
Tom rolled his eyes. ”Jeeeeeeszus, Julian. Humans don't give up that much blood and walk off whistlin'. You gotta give them something to get their sugar back up and some liquid into them, or they go all woozy.”