Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
BOZ
Santa had turned deathly pale, asked Key for directions to the bathroom, and rushed off. I'd never seen anyone get sick that fast, not even at the one frat party I'd attended freshman year.
"How much synthetic blood did he drink tonight?" Key's sister Greed asked me. She was wearing a sleeveless dress that reminded me of Marilyn Monroe, except it was dark green like a Christmas tree.
"A few sips?" He didn't drink much at Irena's before we'd danced. "Does it make him sick?"
"Not sure what's wrong." She bit at her already short thumb nail. "I'll go talk to him."
"I remember you from the club." The beautiful woman wearing a little black dress looked vaguely familiar to me, too. When she mentioned the club, I could place her. She'd told me her name was Ithande and asked for a recommendation for an accounting firm.
"I hope Lila was kind to you," I said. "She can be abrupt on the phone."
"She's been great!" Ithande led me to a table set with enough snack foods to make a meal. They even had little smokies and fully loaded nachos. "Thanks for recommending her. She's so organized and informative when I have questions, but she doesn't overdo it."
My cheeks heated. "I overdid it that night. I'm sorry."
She laughed and handed me a paper plate. "You're forgiven. From what we could tell, you were having a terrible night."
"It got better." I told her about Santa's offer to drive me home. The dark-skinned androgynous-looking vampire I'd been talking to earlier took an interest in my story, though they didn't come any closer.
When Santa finally returned with dark circles under his eyes and a cup with the Blood Drive logo on the cardboard insulator, the other vampire approached us.
Before Santa could introduce us, the vampire grabbed his chin and lifted his eyelids one at a time. "You look like death warmed over. What happened?"
"Still not feeling the best," he said. "Boz, this is Dr. Bredlow, my physician. They forget we're not at work sometimes. "
The doctor held their hand out to me. "Nice to meet you, Boz." Then they turned back to Santa and acted as though I didn't exist. "Blood Drive is open for the holidays, you know. You don't need to drink the synthetic stuff."
"Are you allergic?" I asked.
"No." He patted my shoulder and gave me his widest grin. Now that I'd seen his real smile, I recognized when they were fake, like this one.
"Synthetic blood sits wrong in our stomachs sometimes," the doctor said, turning their gaze on me again. I preferred when they ignored me, to be honest. They were intense.
"I'll be fine once I finish this." Santa took another swig from his cup.
The doctor nodded. "It was nice to meet you, Boz." They gave me a smile that looked far more genuine than Santa's, and then they floated to the next conversation, their every movement more graceful than my earlier dance steps.
"They're intense," I said.
Santa almost choked on another swallow of blood. "They are. They were very interested in meeting you when I mentioned you at work."
"I must have failed the test," I whispered, trying to tamp down my excitement. Santa talked about me at work, but it probably meant nothing.
"On the contrary, I think you passed." He winked. " They would still be here trying to win me away from you if they thought they could."
"Oh." I glanced in the direction they went and caught them staring at me. They waved. "Huh."
Santa's words were still twisting through my mind. I had no excuse but my social anxiety to explain how slowly my brain connected the dots. The doctor and Santa had been lovers, and now they were concerned about Santa's wellbeing.
"I didn't label our relationship when they asked, but I'll be sure to let them know we're boyfriends now." He raised his cup in salute in the doctor's direction before taking a sip. "See? You passed."
I glanced in their direction again. They raised their middle finger toward Santa while they talked to another vampire in a full-length gown that blended with the shadows in the darkest corner of the room.
Greed appeared at Santa's elbow. "Come downstairs to Key's apartment."
She made a big deal of sneaking us out to the stairway, but Key and Harley watched us leave. Greed wanted to show Santa what they'd done with the coffin prop he'd given them, but Santa held up both hands, raising his cup, when she motioned him toward the door at the far end of the apartment.
"I'm sure they've decorated their playroom well enough," he said. "I don't need to see it."
Greed grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "You can't tell me this human has changed you in a few short weeks. What's going on with you?"
"Why does something have to be going on with me when I choose not to violate my friends' privacy?"
"There's no violation," Key said, pushing the door open and motioning Harley and Ithande inside. "We're here now."
Santa shook his head. "Look, I don't know what's wrong with me, all right? I should want to see it and talk about old times for hours. I just … don't."
"What do you want to do?" Ithande asked. "We have board games, and a video game console."
Santa's grin looked more like a grimace. "I think I want to take Boz home."
That was news to me. We'd just gotten here. I was still working on my first plate of appetizers.
"I brought you down here to chill while the rest of the crowd clears," Greed said. "You don't have to try out the coffin with your choir boy if you don't want, but we'd like you to stay."
"You were trying to distract me with the coffin?" Santa's laugh sounded bitter.
"Look, I've known you for years, and all I really know about you is that you enjoy sex. Lots and lots of sex." Greed gave a slight shrug and stuck out her bottom lip in an exaggerated pout.
"Maybe the reason I invent all these cool props is that I'm bored to death with it." Santa looked as surprised as his friends at his revelation. He glanced at me and then drained the rest of his cup. "We should go."
"No," Greed said. "You don't get to drop that bomb on us and leave. Sit down." She led us over to the couch.
Santa sank onto the cushions and pulled me down on his lap. He kissed my temple, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, too afraid that he would disappear on me if I let him go.
"Let the blood work for fifteen minutes," Greed said. "I'll have Dr. Bredlow check on you then. If you're still feeling out of sorts, they'll know what to do."
"This isn't me feeling out of sorts," Santa insisted.
"You're coming up on a big birthday," Harley said. "I remember how it was. You start to question everything in your life. That's perfectly normal."
"That's not what I'm doing!" Santa's voice was loud enough to make my ears ring. He kissed my ear, and then my cheek. "I'm sorry."
"What is it, then?" Key kneeled by the arm of the couch. "You can tell us."
"I don't know."
"Do you want me to give you time to think it through?" I asked.
He tugged me closer on his lap and settled me against his chest. "No. Please. I don't want you to go. "
"There's your answer," Harley said to Key. "He's going to be fine."
They sat around the sectional and Ithande pulled out a board game we could all play. The conversation went on around us for a few minutes, and then Santa shifted me to sit beside him. Ithande read the rules aloud to us, but we still clarified at every turn. Soon, it was after midnight and Santa was smiling and laughing along with his friends.
"You cheated!" Ithande shouted as two cards fell from between Greed's breasts onto the table.
"It's not my fault you weren't looking," Greed said. "All I wanted was for you to look at the girls."
Ithande barked a laugh, and we all laughed with her. "You are absolutely ridiculous." She wiped her eyes. "Redraw all five cards from the deck, and you lose a turn."
"Harsh!" Greed did as she was told and left the couch to sit on the floor beside Ithande. They cuddled closer and closer as the game progressed until Ithande was sitting in Greed's lap with her head on Greed's shoulder.
I rested my head on Santa's shoulder between rounds, but the game held my interest. It was fast and fun but hard to win. After several returns to the beginning of the map for each of us, Harley and Key declared Santa the winner, since he was closest to the end .
"You let him win so he could leave," Greed pouted.
"Look at them," Key whispered as Santa gazed into my eyes. "They're perfect for each other."
"You don't even know me," I said, not bothering to look at them. Santa's face filled my vision, so near he was a little blurry, even with my glasses.
"You're unlike anyone we've ever met," Greed said. "That's enough to know you're not like the rest of the jerks who can't see past Santa's walls to the softie behind them."
"I'm no softie." Santa nipped at my lip. "I think I like you, though." He kissed the tip of my nose.
"I like you, too."
"Time to get the doc, and then you two can get a room." Greed clapped her hands and everyone moved at once. Ithande tucked the board game away while Key and Harley led us back to the stairway. Greed zipped ahead at vampire speed, and she and the doctor met us on the stairs. They let us walk up to the landing before Dr. Bredlow examined Santa's eyes again and took a sip of his blood from his punctured index finger.
"Have you fed from Boz?" they asked.
"No." I couldn't tell whether Santa was more disgusted or offended by the question.
"You should," they said. "Start building the bond between you. Mates can ease the bloodlust new vampires experience."
"I haven't said?— "
They gazed at me again and I forgot what I was trying to say.
"You'll be a vampire, sooner or later. You're already loyal to our empress."
Harley agreed. "Once you finish your audit, Empress Marcella wants to reward you with eternal life."
It was my turn to feel as petulant as Santa had sounded earlier. "What if I don't want to be a vampire?"
"None of us wanted to be vampires," Santa said.
"Speak for yourself," Greed said. "I begged for it."
Key rolled his eyes. "Mercilessly."
"Regretted it immediately, too," Greed said. "I get why you'd be hesitant. You have to consider your sire bond."
Again with the sire bond. Santa's demeanor changed every time someone mentioned it. Now that I knew better, I recognized his bravado for what it was. He was afraid.
"The empress wants to sire him herself," Harley said.
"How do you know that?" I asked.
"Harley is her regional liaison," Santa said. "She said that?"
"I'm afraid so."
That wasn't terrible news, but I needed to think it through. I missed most of the conversation beyond saying our farewells. We headed to the roof for our exit. Santa picked me up. After a dizzying flash through the cold snow, we were back at my apartment door.
My face stung from the cold sandblast of snow on my exposed skin. My hand shook as I tried to unlock the apartment door.
"Shit, you're bleeding." Santa took a step back.
"I'll be fine." Finally, I willed my frozen fingers to fit the key into the lock. I motioned for him to follow me inside while I blew on my glasses' lenses to warm them up.
"I should go."
"Because I'm bleeding?"
He nodded.
"I'll clean it up."
"I want to lick it off you. My saliva would heal your cuts." The unbridled hunger in his gaze stilled the laugh in my throat.
"You want to lick my face and hands?" I couldn't help the painful scrunch of my nose, so I tried to be diplomatic with my words. "That'll feel weird, but I'll allow it."
Santa frowned. "You shouldn't. Once I have the taste of someone's blood?—"
"I've tasted yours, remember? "
He nodded. "The more blood we swap, the stronger our bond will become. I can't do that to you."
I was lost. "Do what?"
He zipped to the couch with his super speed and motioned for me to sit on the opposite side. I chose the middle instead, angling my knees so they touched his.
"You've got your whole life ahead of you, Boz. You haven't really lived yet, and the empress wants to make you a vampire in six months or less. You should take that time to explore and enjoy your sexuality."
"I thought that's what we were doing."
"With other humans." He flashed me a lopsided grin. "I'm a great wingman. I can set you up with some sure things."
Ouch. Nope, not going there. Not when I had him in my apartment, on my couch, looking fucking delectable in his black-and-red suit. "You're the only one here now," I said. "And the offer still stands. My face won't heal itself."
He stared at me for a moment, in that eerie unblinking vampire way.
The silence was unnerving. "I want you, Santa. Nobody else. Maybe not forever, but definitely right now. If you don't want me …" I trailed off, not knowing how to finish that sentence.
"I want you so much it scares me." He still hadn't moved, but his eyes glowed with a hunger that sent a shiver down my spine .
"Then have everything you want," I said. "Lick my cuts. Fuck me silly. Stay the night."
"If I stay, we aren't sleeping."
"I can sleep on the train." I'd done it often enough as a boy.
That was all it took. He was on me in a flash of sequins. He straddled me and removed my glasses, placing them gently on the side table. Then he grabbed my throat with one hand, holding my head still as he licked my face, cleaning me like a cat. His tongue was rougher than mine, and I loved the raspy grate of it on my cheeks. Not so much on my nose. That was as weird as I'd expected.
Then, he shifted, pressing his hard cock to mine as he traced the throbbing vein in my neck with his tongue. Fuck, that was hot.
"You could bite me, if you want."
"I do want." He pulled back so I could see him. His pupils were black with desire, and his fangs poked beneath his top lip. "I shouldn't."
"Please?"
He grasped the side of my neck again, running his thumb gently over the thick cords. He lowered his head to my neck, his lips hot on my sensitive flesh. With his other hand, he loosened my tie and unbuttoned my shirt, shoving them both out of his way.
His grip on the side of my neck tightened, and I felt pressure beneath his lips. Then, the sweetest pleasure flooded through me.
"Fuck, yes."
I almost came from the intimacy of it, the pull of his mouth against my skin. Almost as soon as he began, his tongue licked over the spot he'd sucked and the pleasure vanished.
He took my hands, instead, sucking each finger into his mouth to heal the tiny cuts left from the driving snow. When he finished, he sat back on my knees and studied my face. "You taste too good. I want more. I want all of you."
"You can have me."
Santa shook his head. "You don't understand. I've never lost control before, but I could, with you. I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't. I trust you." I did, too. Maybe I was a na?ve man with a crush who still knew too little about vampires, but I knew he wouldn't hurt me. He'd been too kind over the last few weeks. He'd given me a place to live, loads of takeout and gifts, and too many orgasms to count.
I'd trusted him from the start. What I felt now went far beyond that. I loved him. That should have scared the piss out of me. Instead, it only urged me on. I lifted my chin up and brushed my lips against his, daring him to take what he wanted.
He forced his tongue into my mouth. I tasted copper, same as every time we kissed, only this time I knew some was my blood.
He'd already lost his tie somewhere. I unbuttoned his shirt as quickly as I could. My fingers were sluggish and clumsy, delayed each time Santa's tongue licked into my mouth.
Santa's fingers brushed over mine as he tugged his shirt off. He'd been unbuttoning from the bottom while I'd been painfully struggling with the top. He tugged at my shirt, too, finally pulling it off me, along with my loosened bowtie.
"Come on," he said.
I held onto his shoulders and wrapped my legs around his waist. He yanked me off the couch so fast my head spun. In less than a second, he had me sprawled out on my bed.
He paused nibbling at my neck. "Any requests?"
"Fuck me?" I'd been waiting for it all week. I'd even practiced prepping myself the way I'd seen Santa do it, working myself open with my fingers. "You'd better get these pants off me soon," I said. "Or I'm going to make a mess."
He removed my pants and underwear in a flash, but then he carefully inspected them before folding and setting them on top of my dresser. If he was that gentle with my clothes, I knew he would be careful with me, too.
I lost sight of him as he blurred around the room. When he reappeared, he hovered over me, his face inches from mine.
"Fuck!"
"That's the idea." He grinned. The lube bottle was cold against my thigh. He left it there, hiking my legs up over his shoulders and propping my lower back with pillows before I registered any twinges of discomfort. Then, he held me open and stared at my hole. Precome dribbled out of my cock while he stared.
His gaze flicked to mine, and he grinned. "Maybe my control is better than I thought. I want you to beg for me."
"Please?" I tried. I was beyond ready for his cock.
He had other ideas. He speared me with his tongue, every lick loosening my hole as I writhed, trying to get closer and take more of him.
Santa gave me exactly what I wanted, delving deeper and opening me up. His tongue was as strong as the rest of him, doing the work of two fingers in half the time.
He added his slicked fingers to the mix, and I almost blacked out from the pressure against my prostate. The overstimulation brought tears to my eyes, and I blubbered incoherently.
"Take a breath, sweetness, and tell me what you need."
I inhaled sharply. "Please." The word was high and needy. "Please fuck me. "
He kissed the inside of my thigh. His laugh was downright wicked as he sat up and coated his cock with lube. "Where you at, sweetness? What color."
"Evergreen." I started to sing, "Oh, Christmas Tree."
He stopped me by gripping my throat as he slid inside me, not choking, but with enough pressure to shut me up. Fuck, he was good at prepping me. I still felt the burn, but it only added to my pleasure. I was going to come embarrassingly soon.
"It's okay, sweetness. Let go."
"Fuck!" I came untouched at his command, my cock spurting across my abs before dribbling into my happy trail.
Santa held my gaze as I came undone, his cock twitching inside me. He didn't move until I started giggling from hypersensitivity.
His first thrust cut off my helpless laughter. His second drove all the air from my lungs. Fuck, he was strong, and oh, so good. The way he tagged my prostate was almost painful, but not for long. I rebounded faster than I thought possible. My cock hit my abs with wet slaps as Santa pistoned into me.
"Fuck, sweetness, I miss your taste."
I sucked in a breath as Santa adjusted my hips and tossed another pillow under my back. He leaned forward and captured my lips with his while still hammering my pleasure spot. I'd expected him to bite me, but he kissed me instead. I loved the way his hard abs rubbed against my cock as he fucked both my ass and my mouth.
His hand on my cock felt even better. He stroked in time with his steady pace and peppered my neck with delicate kisses.
I lost control of my voice, babbling nonstop while Santa continued to test my limits. My legs shook and sweat rolled down my temples as he pounded into me.
I would feel it tomorrow. I wanted to feel it forever.
My second orgasm hit me so hard it took my breath away. Santa's hips stuttered and slowed. Then he froze above me, his whole body still except for his cock as it pulsed inside me.
Santa placed gentle kisses along my jaw and neck while I tried to breathe again.
"Merry Christmas, sweetness."
I mumbled something back, maybe distinguishable words, before I passed out.