Page 39 of Beyond the Ruby River
“And you’re twenty-two? Sorry. I’m not asking because I don’t believe you, only that it’s all difficult to fathom.”
“It is. Twenty-two years into eternity. Believe me, I understand it’s hard to wrap your mind around.”
Mahu would be nothing to Daka in the long term. One of who knows how many lovers that would live and die in Daka’s forever. Mahu found the thought comforting. He could be a kind companion, give to Daka what years he had left, then he’d join his family in the afterlife. And Daka would move on to someone new. That must be the way with his kind.
“Will your family be angry with you for telling me?”
“I imagine so, yes,” Daka admitted, seemingly unbothered.
“And the consequences?”
Daka rolled his eyes. “My sister will rail and complain. She’ll preach to me that you’re not worthy of my affections. I imagine she’ll tell you the same, but she’ll be wrong. Mother will be angry. She may threaten to eviscerate you, but don’t worry, she would never actually do it. She wants me to be happy.”
Mahu took that in. He’d never been hated. Did he even stand a chance at winning over Daka’s family? Would Daka want that of him?
Daka reached out and took his hand. “Don’t worry about them. They’ll come around.”
Easy for Daka to say, difficult for Mahu to believe.
“There is more I have to tell you.”
Mahu swallowed, squeezing the hand in his and preparing himself for whatever came next.
11
Daka
Worrying his lip with his teeth, Daka considered how to phrase this next part. “Perhaps you’ve already guessed at this, but I need to tell you how I feed.”
The muscles in Mahu’s jaw twitched, a small tell in his overall calm nature. “You’ve fed from me, haven’t you?”
The words came softly, not an accusation, but a statement of fact. Daka thought again that he wasn’t worthy of a man like Mahu. “I have. I’m sorry. I should have asked your permission, but—”
“You’d have had to tell me your secret. Which you were not supposed to do. I can see you were in an impossible position.”
“You’re kind to make excuses for me, though I don’t deserve them.” Daka glanced to their joined fingers. This part would be difficult to explain.
Around them, bugs chirped in the short grasses. The day’s heat warmed their shoulders, yellow sunshine making everything bright and colorful. Burbling water trickled along in the creek beside them.
Daka blurted out the basics. “I need sex to live. It’s part of who I am. I didn’t mean to take advantage of you. I wanted you for other reasons, Mahu, for so many other reasons, which I’d be happy to list should you want to hear how wonderful I think you are. I wanted you and no others, but without others, I only had you to feed me. And I was so hungry.”
Mahu took all this in with the same patient expression with which he’d processed the previous revelations. Daka didn’t know how Mahu managed it, but he was grateful. Mahu’s gentle nature made the explanation easier, but there was more still he needed to confess.
“I didn’t feel it, whatever you did. It didn’t hurt.”
“No, it wouldn’t have. My feeding should go mostly unnoticed. If anything, it would help you sleep, but there aren’t any adverse effects for you.”
“How is it done, then?”
Though Daka had never been shy about sex, this conversation sparked prickles of self-consciousness. “I feed off pleasure. From the energy released by arousal, and in particular, the energy created by orgasm. I need it, or I grow weak.”
Mahu’s gaze unfocused. He stared off somewhere beyond Daka’s shoulder, thinking. “You become a little drunk from it, don’t you? I recall a rather dazed expression, almost as if you were intoxicated.”
Heat crept across Daka’s cheeks. “Yes. Especially with you. There has never been anyone like you, Mahu.”
If the flattery affected Mahu, he showed it only with a small smile. “There has never been anyone like you either, Dakarai.”
Daka wanted to kiss him then, felt the longing with his entire body, but the confession wasn’t finished. He released Mahu’s hand.
