From Afar Page 7

  “What the hell did he mean by ‘He is Raphael’s’? And why did you agree with him?”

  Raphael scrubbed both hands over his face and gathered his patience. As a new vampire, Aleric’s emotions would mirror those of an adolescent—temperamental and volatile, quickly shifting from one extreme to another—except stronger and more powerful. Hell, Raphael had practically been able to taste Aleric’s indignation when Roman had made that statement. But at least Aleric had waited until they had returned to the carriage before voicing his question. An argument in front of Katerina would not have been the most prudent of actions.

  “Because you carry my blood. It’s just a phrase used to describe the fact that I turned you. Like I explained earlier, almost all the vampires you saw tonight are Katerina’s. She turned them, so they are hers. I turned you, ergo you are mine.” But Roman, at least, had understood that Raphael had also been staking his claim on Aleric. Not exactly the wisest thing to do, especially without asking Aleric’s permission, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself.

  “Oh, well then…” Aleric’s lips twisted in a grimace of one dissatisfied at having their argument taken away from them. Shifting on the bench, he reached down to adjust his prick. The once blatant erection had gone down slightly on the walk to the carriage, but there was still more than enough rigidity to the length to tent the placket and serve as a heavy reminder of just how affected Aleric had been by the visit.

  It’s what you wanted him to see.

  But I didn’t want him to like it so much.

  He turned to look out the window and let out a sigh, one that only hinted at the desolation inside him. Katerina had been subtle, but her message had been clear. Upon leaving, she had even told Aleric, “I do so hope this visit will not be your last.”

  Fortunately, Aleric had not replied with a yes or a no. Had continued to hold his tongue, merely tipping his head in acknowledgement. But she wanted him. No doubt about it. If he returned, she would extend an invitation to join her clan. A simple courtesy and nothing more. Not that Aleric would refuse the invitation, but if he did, Raphael doubted Katerina would take no for an answer. She had barely been able to take her eyes off him.

  Not that Aleric had noticed. Eyes wide, his prick hard, a flush of desire staining his cheeks, and nearly panting for breath, his attention had been fixed on her vampires from the moment they had walked into the billiard room. His arousal such a physical force, Raphael had not been able to help but be affected by it, even with the strain of meeting with Katerina and maintaining a polite façade fraying his nerves near to breaking.

  Leather creaked as Aleric shifted on the bench again. His knee bumped Raphael’s. Aleric’s quick intake of breath was clearly audible even above the sounds of the horses’ hooves pounding against the street as the driver took them swiftly to Mayfair. Another bump against Raphael’s knee, and Aleric pressed his calf against his. The slow rub of soft wool against his stocking-covered shin spoke louder than words that Aleric wanted his attention.

  Desire flared under his skin. He could not have tamped it down if he had tried. Even the knowledge that Aleric only wanted him because he was there, to serve as a convenient vessel to sate his lust, could not dim the need building swiftly within him.

  He looked to Aleric. The man’s silver-blue eyes were glazed with passion, his lips parted, exposing the sharp tips of his fangs, as he stroked his erection through his trousers.

  Reaching up, Raphael closed the thin shade on the window in the door, blocking out most of the moon’s light, but not all of it. The silvery light seeping around the edges was just enough to cloak the interior in shadow, but not full darkness.

  The soft swoosh of Aleric’s palm sliding over his trousers ceased. Both of them sat still, not moving a muscle. Raphael let the anticipation build until he could feel the waves of need rolling off Aleric, lapping against his skin, fueling his own.

  Would it ever be like this with another?

  Never.

  A beckoning flick of his head, and Aleric shot off the bench. The carriage shook as he landed on Raphael, knees straddling his hips and arms braced on either side of his shoulders. Aleric slanted his mouth over Raphael’s, his fangs smacking against Raphael’s teeth. Before Raphael could even begin to savor the harsh kiss, Aleric dropped his head to nuzzle Raphael’s neck. Raphael tipped his head back, granting access as Aleric frantically dragged his lips along his jaw and up to nip at his ear. A shiver racked his spine. His now-hard cock twitched against the placket of his breeches.

  “I can’t stop thinking about being with you.” A bit of confusion underlined the passion soaking Aleric’s low voice.

  Raphael caressed his sides, felt the tremor shake the man’s body. “You mean you can’t stop thinking about sex. It’s to be expected. All your senses, all your instincts are heightened, strengthened. Lust is just one of them. With time, you’ll grow accustomed to the desires, to the constant need, and be able to temper it.”

  “I do hope you’re right.” The quick puffs of Aleric’s hot, moist breath fanned his neck. He shifted closer, pressing full against Raphael. “It’s disconcerting, to say the least, to have such little control over myself.”

  “Don’t be disconcerted. There’s no need. I’m here for you.” Raphael’s words turned into a groan as Aleric ground his hips, rubbing their hard pricks together.

  With a tug on Aleric’s hair, he brought the man’s mouth back to his. There was nothing quite like kissing Aleric. The way it made him feel, as though he had found home. His heart clenched at the prospect of losing Aleric, but he pushed aside the despair, focused on the man in his arms. Determined to gather as many memories as he could of Aleric, for they would need to last him an eternity.

  He grabbed Aleric’s arse, fingers pushing the soft wool of his trousers between his firm cheeks. Tongues twining, lips crushed together, they ground against each other, working each other into a fever pitch. Fluid seeped from the tip of his cock, dampening his breeches. Every move they made caused the slick satin to rub over the head of his cock in an agonizingly sweet caress.

  An impending orgasm gripped his spine, teased his ballocks. Not yet! He wanted to be inside Aleric, wanted the man beneath him, but the cramped confines of the carriage would pose a challenge.

  But he couldn’t leave Aleric untended to—he had given the man his word, after all, that he’d be there for him. He could well remember that overpowering, yet confusing constant need, during the initial weeks after he had been turned. Raphael worked his hands between their bodies, jerked on the placket of Aleric’s trousers. One tug and the ties of his drawers snapped in two. Twisting his head, he broke the kiss and pushed on Aleric’s broad shoulders. “Get up. Turn around.”

  “Why?” Aleric moved to lean back down. Raphael had to lock his arms straight to hold the larger man back. Turning Aleric into a vampire had not only amplified his emotions but his physical strength as well, leaving Raphael with the distinct impression Aleric could have broken his hold in a trice if he so chose. He stared at Raphael for a moment, his lips wet from their kisses, his chest heaving, his muscles hard as iron beneath Raphael’s hands. Then dawning comprehension replaced the bewilderment on Aleric’s face. “Oh, you want to bugger—”

  “No. Not here,” he said with a quick shake of his head. “Something else. Just get up before we reach Mayfair.”

  Aleric complied, stooping low to keep from knocking his head and shoulders against the carriage’s ceiling.

  “Bend over. Brace your hands on the bench,” he said, tugging Aleric’s trousers and drawers to his knees. The instant Aleric complied, Raphael pushed aside the tails of his shirt and coat and palmed the firm cheeks, spreading them wide, exposing his entrance. Aleric’s ballocks were drawn up, his cock swinging so high Raphael couldn’t see it between his muscular thighs. He wanted to push Aleric to his knees and take him. To bury his cock deep within him, make Aleric beg for more. Beg him, and only him for more.

  His grip tightened, finge
rs digging into smooth skin. Then the carriage turned left, the motion jolting him to his senses.

  Not here. He wanted Aleric in his bed. Wanted to spend the rest of the night with the man in his arms and under him and above him. Wanted to savor every moment he had left with him.

  Raphael let his breath fan the exposed crease. The tight ring of muscle quivered.

  “Please,” Aleric whispered, the sound threadbare and breathless.

  One swipe of his tongue and he painted a line from the base of Aleric’s ballocks, over his entrance, and up to the top of his arse. Then he dropped back down, pausing to mouth his ballocks, before working his way up to that sweet hole.

  He kissed and licked, thoroughly wetted Aleric, prepared him for what would come once they reached his townhouse. Aleric’s low moans filled the closed carriage, urging him onward. Crammed uncomfortably in his breeches, Raphael’s cock was so damn hard it hurt. He spread his own legs wider, trying to ease the pressure, and continued to torment Aleric.

  Light, little flicks. Long, lush drags. Occasionally nipping at each firm cheek then rimming the perimeter. The tight ring of muscle relaxed beneath his attentions, opening for Raphael. Soft, pliant, achingly empty and ready for him.

  That orgasm gripped him anew, like a hand closing around his ballocks. He felt the tension in Aleric’s body as he reached for completion, every muscle tightening, trembling with the effort, needing the climax that had been building for hours.

  Raphael reared back. “Did you like what you saw in the billiard room?”

  Aleric’s pants filled the silence. “Yes.”

  “We can return if you’d like. I’d wager most of the room would be willing to bend over for you.” He needed to know. Needed to hear it from Aleric’s lips. At this moment, did he need Raphael, or would any prick soothe the itch?

  Aleric shook his bowed head.

  Raphael stabbed his tongue into Aleric’s hole. Aleric gasped, pushed back, eager for more. But Raphael pulled back, made him wait. He couldn’t explain where this perverse need came from, why the stiff jab of irritation bit into his spine. It was as if Aleric’s every pleasurable sigh somehow suddenly sparked resentment within him.

  “Are you certain? Those three vampires caught your attention. Perhaps you’d prefer to be locked between two, stuffed full with cock.”

  The way Aleric’s entire body shook, one quick quake, was answer enough. But Raphael needed to hear the word.

  Using his thumbs, he spread Aleric wide, tugging on his entrance, stretching him. “Yes?”

  Aleric let out a grunt. “Damn it, no. Please, Raphael.” His name come out on a whine, desperate and needy, a beg for more. A beg only for him.

  And pure music to Raphael’s ears.

  He fought back the grin, fought back the urge to pull the man into his arms, to kiss him and never let him go, and instead went back to work giving Aleric what he needed. He alternated between tongue-fucking and teasing his entrance with the pads of his thumbs, his touch sliding smoothly over the slick skin. His cock jerked, hardened even further in a silent shout of jealousy. But he ignored the demands of his body and focused on Aleric.

  When Aleric’s breaths turned harsh and sharp, mirroring his own, Raphael reached between Aleric’s thighs and took hold of his prick, pulling it down. Bending low, he followed the prominent vein up the length, flicked his tongue over the head, lapping up the bead of fluid at the tip.

  The taste of Aleric lit up every nerve in his body. Any thoughts of holding off vanished. Gone. With one hand, he desperately tore at the placket of his own breeches and roughly pulled out his erection, just as he closed his lips over the crown of Aleric’s cock.

  The climax exploded through him, rocking his senses. Raphael spilled onto the floorboards as Aleric’s seed filled his mouth. He greedily swallowed it down, every sweetly bitter drop, as he stroked the length, milking it all out of him.

  With a wet popping noise, he pulled his lips from Aleric’s prick. After a quick nip on his cheek, Raphael tugged up Aleric’s breeches and drawers. Then he collapsed back against the bench, his eyes drifting closed as he struggled to catch his breath.

  And he had believed his climaxes beyond powerful when he watched Aleric from within that tree. The beginnings of a sated chuckle rumbled his chest. Hell, nothing could compare with actually being with him. The way Aleric’s arousal fed his, amplified it to all-consuming proportions. But it was more than that. It was the sense of being connected to him, almost like his soul had fused to Aleric’s. His every gasp of pleasure, every fit of temper, his every smile—Raphael felt them as if they were his own.

  The bench shifted, and Aleric straddled his hips once again, his solid weight settling on Raphael’s thighs. The heat rolling off Aleric’s chest penetrated through his coat, waistcoat and shirt to further warm his already heated skin. Soft, silken strands brushed his cheek an instant before even softer lips nuzzled his neck, teasing the delicate skin beneath his jaw.

  Eyes still closed, Raphael looped his arms around Aleric’s waist, and simply held him, soaking up the man’s affection.

  Don’t leave me. Ever.

  The plea was on the tip of his tongue. He had even opened his mouth, taken a breath, when Aleric spoke.

  “Why didn’t you tell me what to expect tonight?” His voice was low, a hoarse rumble of sound. “Why did you keep me deliberately in the dark?”

  Thankfully Aleric couldn’t see the wince tightening his mouth. “I thought it best. I wanted you to form your own opinion of her and of her clan.” He hadn’t wanted his ill opinion of Katerina, and his distaste for the flagrant excess and arrogance of her vampires, to color Aleric’s perceptions.

  Those lips worked their way up to his ear, whispered over the sensitive shell. “Then why were you so worried? You were on edge, though one couldn’t tell simply by looking at you.”

  Raphael tensed. How had Aleric known? He thought he’d hidden it so well from Katerina, not to mention from Aleric. He hadn’t wanted Aleric to be too worried. Katerina would have tasted his fear, and the last thing Raphael wanted was for her to brand him as weak.

  Aleric leaned back, resting his weight on Raphael’s thighs. One hand coasted absently down Raphael’s arm, over the lace edge of his shirtsleeve covering his wrist. Gloved fingers slid between his until their hands were joined.

  “Tell me,” Aleric urged, his gaze patient and willing to share Raphael’s burden.

  “I broke one of her rules,” he confessed. “I saved you without her permission. She doesn’t allow new vampires in the city unless she creates them herself. I was uncertain how she would react to you.”

  “And how she would react to you. You weren’t just worried for me. But if it was such a risk, then why was it so important to bring me there tonight?”

  “I didn’t want her men to think you a stray. A threat. You needed her approval to remain in London for any length of time.”

  “Do I have it?” Aleric asked, worry creasing his brow.

  He nodded. “Yes.” But if Aleric rejected Katerina’s invitation, Raphael feared the welcome would not last.

  Aleric’s dark brows lowered as he considered Raphael’s response. “The billiard room. Are they always like that? And do all vampires prefer their own gender?”

  “Most do. A male and a female are not necessary to produce another vampire, so ingrained preference isn’t the same with us as it is with mortals. And from what I know of them, yes, they are always like that. Katerina’s vampires are the very definition of excess and they are completely indiscriminate. They’ll bugger just about anyone.” Even me. “Though they seem to prefer each other. They’re highly masculine versions of her. Aggression, territoriality, lust—those traits are amplified in her creations. She came to London shortly after I arrived. Destroyed the old clan and formed her own.”

  “Why did she kill them? Couldn’t she have simply replaced the old leader?”

  “No. It’s a necessity. A way to ensure loyalty.”

>   “But they all don’t seem to be so excessive.” With his free hand, Aleric adjusted the ends of Raphael’s cravat until they hung properly in a spill of lace covering the top buttons of his waistcoat. “The two she introduced us to seemed…different than the others.”

  “She acquired Grant and Roman at the beginning of the war. Roman’s not hers in the strictest sense. Grant turned him himself. The two are never separated.” Raphael had overheard her men complaining on more than one occasion about how Roman could do no wrong in Grant’s eyes. “She took Grant from the battlefield. He was a commander of some sort, likely why he is so adept at keeping the others in line.”

  “You speak of them as if you aren’t one of them.”

  “I’m not. You saw them tonight. Do I resemble any of them?” He shook his head. “I’m not what she would have chosen to make.” He gathered his courage, forced himself to speak the words, when it was the last thing he wanted to do. Holding Aleric’s gaze, he asked, “Do you want to be one of them? If you return, she will extend an invitation to join her clan.”

  Aleric’s face twisted in affront. “Hell, no.”

  He tightened his grip on Aleric’s hand. His heart slammed against his ribs, but he needed to verify Aleric’s response. “Are you certain?”

  “Is that what you want?”

  “No, no,” Raphael said, infusing the refusal with every fiber of his being. “Please don’t think that. But you must know it is an option for you now. You needn’t feel as though you are under any sort of obligation to stay with me. You can join a clan, not be so alone. Be with many others like us.”

  “They are nothing like us.” Aleric let out a snort of disdain, all aristocratic condescension. “Well, except perhaps for those two. And…how did he know? How did Roman know I was yours?”

  Raphael shrugged, his mind too fixed on the pressing matter at hand to give Roman much thought. “I don’t know. An assumption on his part? You arrived with me.” With a hand that shook slightly, he cupped Aleric’s strong jaw, the hint of his day’s beard a gentle scrap on his palm. “You truly want to stay with me?” he asked, almost too afraid to believe what he thought would be impossible. How many years had he spent with his gaze fixed on Aleric from afar? How many nights had he followed Aleric from his club, to various gambling hells, to ton balls, to that brothel, and back to his bachelor apartments? In all of that time, he had never dared to hope that Aleric could someday be his.