Page 8 of Blood Kisses

Attached to the stone wall by chains on his wrists and ankles was Nikolaus. He wore only the white silk breeches from last evening, now dirty and stained. He hung limply, head down, perhaps asleep.

Severin’s dead heart gave that funny lurch he always identified with Nikolaus. He stepped forward uncertainly, shoes silent on the stone floor. He perused his love’s nearly-naked body. He’d never seen Nikolaus undressed. Never had that pleasure. Nikolaus’s lean body was compact, his chest and abdomen toned. A hint of muscle around the shoulders and biceps added considerably to his exquisite charms. Severin’s gaze dropped. Nikolaus’s breeches were tight around his narrow hips, constricting the bulge between his legs.

Severin swallowed. He felt indecent for looking while Nikolaus was not aware. Nonetheless, he moved closer as his cock thickened. Nikolaus’s black hair was damp. A sheen of sweat graced his forehead despite the temperature in the basement. Severin frowned. Was he unwell? He put out a hand to touch just as Nikolaus’s head jerked up.

The human’s mouth opened in shock, his violet eyes wide. He made no sound but his hands trembled against the chains. The wounds on his neck were freshly reopened, angry looking. Severin clenched his fists at the evidence of Emil. Nikolaus saw the direction of his gaze and instantly looked ashamed.

“Hello, Nikolaus,” Severin said.

Nikolaus licked dry lips. “Hello.”

“I didn’t imagine this is how we would meet again.”

Nikolaus said nothing.

“Help me understand what you are doing here,” Severin said. Despite the evidence of Nikolaus’s chains, he still believed the vampire’s pet had some of his own free will.

“He’s angry with me. He saw me looking at you,” said Nikolaus.

“That’s not what I mean,” said Severin between his teeth. He started to pace the small cell, anger getting the better of him.

“You mean with Emil,” Nikolaus said. He didn’t wait for a reply. The flickering torchlight cast shadows over his handsome face. “Emil seduced me in Vienna. I was...lost. He enchanted me. I found I...enjoyed his bite.” Nikolaus blushed.

Severin stopped pacing. He stared at Nikolaus. “You could have enjoyedmybite.”

Nikolaus’s expression turned cold. “Don’t turn this around. You didn’t want that.”

Severin started forward. “I didn’t want it? Keeping my hands off you almost killed me and now you dare to blame me for you ending up in Emil’s arms?”

Nikolaus remained silent. Severin was driven into a frenzy. He grabbed Nikolaus by the throat and squeezed. “You were lost? Lost because I left you? I was lost too! I sacrificed my own happiness to keep you safe and you show me not the slightest gratitude. Instead you come here and prostitute yourself for Emil.”

Nikolaus didn’t struggle in his grip. A soft shine spread across his eyes, turning them sapphire. Abruptly, Severin embraced him. He scooped Nikolaus’s fragile body close and crushed him in his arms, face against Nikolaus’s throat.

Nikolaus gave a breathy gasp. He shuddered in Severin’s arms. Severin squeezed his eyes shut. He nosed Nikolaus’s skin and licked, avoiding the wounds. He pressed his pelvis forward and felt Nikolaus’s hardness crammed against his own, just like that first time in the gardens. Nikolaus whimpered and snapped his hips forward.

“God,” Severin choked out and gripped Nikolaus between his legs. The human wore no undergarments, the silk breeches wafer-thin and concealing nothing. Nikolaus strained against his touch and the silk bloomed wet under Severin’s hand. Severin panted. His fangs snapped out and he touched them to the wounds on Nikolaus’s neck, sliding easily into the indentations already made by Emil.

Nikolaus pulled at his chains fiercely. He rocked against Severin’s hand, neck arched back, positively inviting. Severin rubbed Nikolaus’s cock through his breeches and felt the dam break on ten years of unrequited love and lust. He opened his mouth wide and knew once he broke the skin, he wouldn’t stop until he’d taken every last drop.

“Stop,” a voice rang out in the underground room.

Emil.

Severin stepped slowly back from Nikolaus with his senses reeling and his breeches tented. The human hung gasping against the wall, the silk between his legs translucent with fluid.

Emil stood tall and commanding, wearing his customary black velvet suit. His expression was like stone. “I offered him to you to be taken with me in attendance,” he said. “And instead you sneak down here behind my back for private play.”

Severin weighed his options, glancing at Nikolaus who looked terrified. Placating Emil seemed the best way out of this situation before the older vampire tore them both limb from limb. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I wanted to speak privately with Nikolaus. He and I are old acquaintances.”

Emil looked amused. “I know. He’s the one who broke your heart. Why do you think I took him for my own?”

Severin stared. A dreadful rage rose within him and somehow, he swallowed it down. Oh, Emil would pay.

Emil cackled. “Your face is a picture.”

Severin bit his lip, tried to focus his anger. “Why do you keep him down here?”

“To punish him, of course. And because he likes it.”

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