Chapter Twenty Four #2
There were too many competing questions vying to get out of his mouth first. “You talked about this?”
“Extensively,” Karim said. “Have you with… any of your friends?”
“There’s only Cassie,” Luis said. Karim watched him expectantly. “And, um, yeah. Maybe. Some.”
“Some,” Karim’s thumb was making small movements against his waist. It was making it hard to concentrate. Luis shivered, but not from the cold.
“Some,” Luis repeated.
“And?” Karim’s face was shadowed, but Luis felt the desire, the tension strung between them.
“It’s not a whim,” Luis said honestly. “I meant it. I want it. I’ve wanted it for a while now.”
A second later the hand in his slipped away, and Karim cupped his jaw.
“Good,” he said, voice rough, and then pulled Luis in.
Karim tasted like mint. Like he’d brushed his teeth after breakfast. Shaved too, because the usual bristle was smooth. Karim kissed cautiously, almost too gentle at first. Luis shivered again, pressing closer, their bodies bumping together under the water.
His own hands curled around Karim’s neck to hold on, and then Luis pulled back just enough to breathe, “Stop being so careful.”
The next kiss came with molten heat, Karim making a rough sound into Luis’s mouth as his tongue teased for entrance. Luis gasped and let him in.
The man was warm, steady under his hands. His tongue delved into Luis’s mouth, tasting him. Tasting a different part of him. Luis shivered all over, groaning as he tried to press closer.
He felt himself get hard, felt Karim burning against him. The hand on his waist was like a brand.
A sharp fang grazed his lip, and Luis gasped again. His nails dug into the back of Karim’s neck. A thigh shoved between his legs, and the coldness of the water was the furthest thing from his mind.
They kissed and kissed, and it wasn’t enough. There was too much water, too much wave pushing them around. He wanted skin to skin, wanted Karim on top of him, hands all over him–
Fuck, he wanted more than stolen kisses in the dark.
“Karim,” Luis gasped when they parted to breathe. Karim kissed down his jaw to his throat. He sucked hard right where he’d usually bite, and Luis groaned as his cock pulsed.
“More?” Karim asked against his skin. It punched more heat right through Luis.
The hand on Luis’s hip was helping the slow grind between them, pulling him in tighter despite the water. For a moment, Luis wanted to throw everything to the wind and just go for it, but—
But Julien.
Luis turned his head to catch Karim’s mouth again. He kissed him deep, then he forced himself to stop.
“What about Julien?” He asked.
“What about him?”
“Is he… okay? With this?”
Karim pressed a kiss to his cheek, squeezing him reassuringly. “I’m sure he’s going to be jealous I got to kiss you first, but you can make that up to him when we go to shore. No doubt he’s been watching...”
Prickles went down the back of Luis’s neck at the implication. He turned his head to look toward the shore. He thought Julien might be looking their way, but it was too hard to tell.
“It can’t be this easy,” Luis said. “That both of you–you want me.”
Karim reached up and tucked a curl that had gotten loose behind Luis’s ear. “Why can’t it be easy?”
“Nothing is ever easy,” Luis said. “And you’re you, and I’m… just a human.”
Karim made a sound of derision. “You’re not just anything. And you know Julien, he never does anything without talking it to death. We’ve been sure about you for a while. But he didn’t want to rush you, wasn’t sure if you even wanted both of us.”
Luis felt lightheaded at the words. “Are you joking?”
“Nope. Deadly serious,” Karim said. “Not messing with you at all for once.”
Luis huffed a breath of amusement. “But you’re both so…?”
Karim kissed his cheek again. “So what?”
Luis didn’t know. Greater than him, somehow. He felt unworthy of it all.
“Uh huh,” Karim said, as if he heard the words Luis didn’t speak. He nuzzled Luis affectionately. “Jules is better with words, so let’s go back. C’mon.”
Karim loosened his grip. Luis missed the touch immediately when the cold water rushed back in.
“Jesus, still cold out here,” he said, and started rubbing at his arms again.
Karim laughed. “Come on then, I’ll race you to the shore.”
Without warning, Karim took off. Luis hurried to follow.
Despite his speed on land, Karim wasn’t as agile in water. Luis caught up and took the lead, which surprised even him. Just as he got to the shallows, he was swept up off his feet. Karim lifted him out of the water, as though he weighed nothing.
“Ack! Put me down!” Luis squawked, flailing. A wave hit at the same time and they both yelled as they tumbled back into the water. Luis came up sputtering, and splashed Karim’s open, laughing mouth for good measure.
At their camp, they both collapsed onto the blanket, breath heaving and soaked from head to toe.
“Have a good swim?” Julien asked, teasingly.
“Yeah,” Luis said, waterlogged but smiling. He felt like laughing, like he was made of bubbles.
“Karim?” Julien prompted.
“Hardly the Mediterranean, but still refreshing,” Karim said.
Clearly not the answer he was looking for, Julien nudged Karim’s foot. “Anything to report besides the status of the water?”
Julien’s gaze flicked to Luis, who, despite the cold shivers, was warm down through his core.
“Mm, maybe,” Karim said, just to get another nudge. “What? If you want to know what he tastes like, try for yourself.”
He got a less affectionate nudge for that, and the look that he gave Luis was long-suffering. “You’re always so crude,” Julien said. Then, to Luis, “Come here.”
Luis was quickly back on his feet, forgetting that he was cold and dripping as he walked around Karim to the chair.
Julien held out a hand and Luis took it, and was promptly tugged down into Julien’s lap.
“There, better,” Julien said, wrapping one arm around Luis. He didn’t seem to mind that Luis was dripping wet. “Now, tell me, how’re you feeling right now?”
“Nervous,” he said honestly. “Confused?”
“Confused?” Julien asked.
There was the sound of Karim rolling over onto his side. “He doesn’t understand why him,” Karim supplied.
Luis flushed, and must have shifted in discomfort, because Julien’s hand on him tightened reassuringly.
“Why not you?” Julien asked gently.
Luis looked down at his own lap. “I’m just not… anything special.”
“Oh, that’s not true at all, sweetheart,” Julien said.
“I’ve seen you to be brave, even when you’re scared, loyal to the point of putting yourself in danger.
You’re sweetly earnest with enough spine not to let Karim step all over you.
And it’s the intangible things too we’ve grown to love about you.
I didn’t fall for Karim for his kitchen prowess or his dashing good looks. ”
“But neither hurt,” Karim added.
“I fell for him,” Julien went on with emphasis, “for the intangible reason anyone else falls in love. You’re drawn, inexplicably, to someone, and then day after day, year after year, it keeps working out.
It’s not about special, or about deserving it, it’s about connection.
About that ineffable something that happens between people. ”
Luis could barely breathe. “But I’m human,” he said helplessly.
“A temporary condition,” Karim joked.
“Karim,” Julien chided. “There’s nothing wrong with human. We were human once. And darling, we’ve known you were human the whole time, and we’ve enjoyed spending time with you.”
He said it like it made perfect sense. Luis’s head was spinning.
“Is this not something you want? As you are human, we are vampires. That could be a sticking point for you,” Julien said carefully.
“No,” Luis said quickly. “I mean yes, I want this. That you’re vampires doesn’t change anything except that–that you can help me with the blood thing.”
“Good,” Julien said. “And of course, whatever you need. But also, if you decide to go with alternative methods, you will never owe us this. Your blood and what we feel about you are separate, understand?” His hand came to tip Luis’s head up to meet his eyes.
“I understand,” Luis said.
“Good,” Julien smiled. He was so beautiful when he smiled. “Now, may I kiss you?”
“Yes,” the breathless answer came immediately.
Julien closed the distance and kissed him.
His lips were cooler than Karim’s, but he also tasted of mint. Julien kissed him gently, not in the tentative, unsure way Karim had, but like it was his way. His hand on Luis’s chin held him steady, guiding him by way of softness.
Luis sighed, opening when Julien’s kiss asked for more.
He kissed differently from Karim. Where Karim had made him burn from the start, this was a slow simmer, a creeping heat that started low and filled Luis.
Julien layered kiss over kiss, no start and no end, tongue slipping inside every so often to taste him.
It was drugging, almost like the bite haze.
Eventually, Julien pulled back so Luis could suck in needed air. His hand curled around the side of Luis’s head, holding him, gazing at him with clear affection.
“How was that?” Julien asked.
“Fucking hot,” Karim interjected.
Luis blinked, licked his lips. He tasted mint. “Um,” Luis said.
“You kiss the words right out of his head?” Karim asked.
“Shut up,” Luis said, blushing hot.
“Make me,” Karim said. He pushed himself up and shuffled closer. Before Luis could do anything, Karim was turning Luis’s head for another kiss. There was no hesitation this time.
The slow simmer went up in flames. Luis kissed him back, not submitting like he had with Julien, but trying to give back some of Karim’s own antagonism. When he felt the sharp tip of a fang, he nibbled at Karim’s lower lip in return before pulling away.
“Fuck,” Karim breathed. His eyes were dark. Hungry.
“So rough with him,” Julien said, and turned Luis back toward him. Then he was being kissed again, soft, soft, soft. It tingled down his spine, loosening the coiled adrenaline.
Luis blinked his eyes open when Julien finally let him go.