Chapter 11
Peter
Peter’s gaze raked over Theo as he lay on his belly, the scent of spent pleasure thick in the room, his musk heady in Peter’s nose.
Theo might still not fully trust Peter, but maybe for selfish reasons, maybe out of spite, he’d given himself to Peter.
Theo’s sex smell clung to Peter’s clothes like the finest perfume.
“Very well,” Peter said again. He slowly shifted his weight off Theo and stood.
If he wants it, if he demands it, I’ll not refuse him. It would make him feel smaller, unheard.
Theo looked over his shoulder, meeting Peter’s eyes. That jade color. I wonder what he’s thinking, what his hurts are. Thoughts and memories are Odin’s ravens though, and they can’t be taken by force. He’ll grant me the knowledge or not. Either way, I’ll be content.
Theo blinked, and Peter unbuckled his pants and opened the zipper.
His erection felt much nicer out of his pants than constricted inside.
He wasn’t going to strip all the way, but he kicked his pants aside before looking at the selection of condoms and choosing a textured one.
Theo bit his lip, his eyes on Peter’s fingers as Peter put it on.
Peter walked back to the bed and knelt between Theo’s legs once more. Theo spread his knees without any prompting, and before he did anything else, Peter put a hand on each cheek and slowly massaged them.
“You watched me. Did you like what you saw, Puck?”
Theo hesitated before he said, “You don’t look that muscular in your suits.”
“Mm. I have an excellent tailor.”
Peter grabbed the dildo by the base and slowly pulled it out.
To Peter’s satisfaction, it made Theo tremble and gasp all over again, and the sight of Theo’s tender flesh releasing the not-quite-small dildo was a sight to behold.
Peter wanted to feel the tight ring of Theo’s hole around his cock more than he’d wanted anything in a long while.
The tragedy was that none of this was a mere physical desire. Peter knew when he just needed a warm body in his bed for a night, and he’d never had any qualms whatsoever about seeking that out. This? This was something else entirely.
As he ran his fingers over Theo’s stretched hole, Peter considered how much easier this would be if Theo’s blood were indeed a drug sweeter than anything else and therefore irresistible. But his blood has nothing at all to do with how I want him.
Peter reached for the bottle of lube he’d used for the toy and made sure he was slick, then applied more to Theo, who was still incredibly responsive to Peter’s touch. Perhaps it was the shock from earlier. He probably needed the gentleness.
“Will you finally—” Theo started, but Peter didn’t let him finish. He lined up and pushed inside, just enough to get the head of his cock past Theo’s tight ring.
Theo gasped and reared up on the bed.
“You make me think this is the best you’ve ever had, Puck,” Peter said.
Theo turned around, a smirk playing around his lips. “N-no. It’s not that good.”
“Ah. I see. In that case…” Peter snapped his hips, pushing deeper.
Theo’s head dipped against the coverlet, breath hitching. His fingers tangled in the fabric.
Peter enjoyed the sight, knowing he was making Theo squirm with every slow advance until they were close, Peter’s cock filling Theo deeply. The heady smell intensified, and along with the heat and tightness of Theo’s body, it created an addictive cocktail.
Peter rocked his hips, and under him, Theo wriggled and bucked.
“Fuck! You’ll make me come again!”
Theo’s muscles tensed, his skin heating as if he were indeed approaching another release. Peter felt the blood running faster when he stroked a finger over Theo’s pulse. This is a nice surprise. Excellent recovery time.
“Good,” Peter said. Then he grabbed Theo’s hips. He’d restrained himself, keeping his strength—far beyond that of a human—in check. Now, he let it slip, just a fraction.
With that control gone, Peter wanted to say things to Theo that Theo wasn’t ready to hear, and that wouldn’t do. So Peter slipped into his first language.
Unused for so long, it sat oddly on his tongue, like an old item of forgotten clothing, rediscovered in the back of one’s closet after decades.
“My precious lover. You are mine to protect, to love, to care for. Give yourself to me. Take from me what you will. I offer all of it freely, as a gift to you.”
Theo panted, beyond words. Reality narrowed to the noises coming out of Theo’s throat, out of Peter’s own mouth, to their bodies joining and pulling apart, only to be close again.
Heat tore through Peter as he came. This was fire. This was burning in the sunlight like in vampiric myths. It was blood from a thousand necks, and starlight seen under a thousand moons.
“Beloved,” he said in his mother’s tongue, then he went silent and pulled out, collapsing on top of Theo, careful not to smother him with his weight. “Beloved, you have conquered my heart.”
Neither drowsiness nor sleep came for Peter. He was too acutely aware of Theo next to him, exhausted. It occurred to Peter that Theo couldn’t have gotten all that much sleep. It had been around midday when Peter had run into Theo on campus, and from there, they’d spent the rest of the day together.
Peter basked in the joy of that while he kept an arm and a leg slung across Theo, protective and possessive in equal measures.
I wonder what he’s studying. He was probably there for one of the summer programs, and you have to be enrolled for those.
When he’d cloned Theo’s hard drive, he had seen a few file names, but despite really wanting to, he’d managed not to snoop.
I can’t deny that I’m intrigued though. I’ll have to get him to tell me.
After several other idle thoughts—such as how Peter would ever be able to let Theo leave his house once Bernard was dealt with—the more immediate concern of Theo falling asleep got Peter to move, to gently but firmly run a hand up Theo’s arm.
Theo yawned and rolled onto his side, facing away from Peter.
“You want to go again?”
Theo’s voice had that sleepy drawl humans got. It was a lot cuter than anything Peter had done with Photoshop in the last month.
“No. I want to take you home. To my house. You’ll be safe there, and more comfortable than here.”
This time, Theo looked over his shoulder, and his eyes narrowed. “I’m pretty sure you booked me for several hours.”
“I did. But then, I have an early day tomorrow, and I find my needs quite satisfied,” Peter lied, not bothering to move his leg or arm, both of which still held Theo close.
Theo’s eyes narrowed further. “I’m not sleeping in your bed. I won’t cuddle with you all night. None of that weird shit.”
“I have several guest rooms, Theodore, and you are welcome to whichever takes your fancy. All of them come with functioning locks on the doors, but I assure you, unless you invite me into your bed, I wouldn’t dream of crossing that threshold.
Like in that precious vampire myth about how we have to be invited in, you know? ”
Peter smiled as Theo continued to frown at him, then the tension went out of Theo’s body with a deep sigh.
“Fine. Far be it from me to complain about getting off work early.” He untangled himself from Peter and got out of the bed. He wasn’t much concerned about his own nakedness, which was something Peter always loved in another person. “You mind if I take a quick shower?”
“Not at all.” Peter turned onto his back. Seeing Theo’s eyes wander while he tried to hide that he was staring was a satisfying balm to Peter’s ego. “But you are welcome to shower or bathe back at the house. In your own bathroom, of course. The plumbing is well in order.”
Theo gave that some thought. The dark rings under his eyes told Peter he was probably also thinking about the quickest way to a fluffy bed.
“Functioning plumbing. How could I say no? I’ll just be a second.”
He hurried to the bathroom, and Peter used the time to put his pants back on. He decided he was not going to shower for as long as was hygienically and olfactorily practical. His scent lingering on me is just too good. Ah, such old-fashioned things that make young love feel special.
Theo was quick about putting his clothes back on, slipping into that lovely sheer shirt that made Peter want to take it off all over again.
I’ll have to learn to resist those baser urges. The bother.
He cleared his throat. “Theo, I’d like to get you some food before we head to the house. I’m afraid I failed to organize something earlier.”
“I’m actually fine.” Theo unselfconsciously buttoned his pants. “And there’s still an apple in my bag. And some cookies Celeste packed for me, although they might all be crumbs by now.”
Peter frowned at Theo. He’s making me work for his favor, but very well. “As you said, I booked the pleasure of your company for several hours. Would you humor me?”
Theo ran his hands over his clothes, making sure everything was in place. “Fine. Let’s do some midnight grocery shopping then.”
“Excellent.”
Peter turned on his megawatt smile.
Theo’s brows shot up. “Dude, you look creepy.”
“Aw, Theodore, you say the sweetest things,” Peter said as he held the door open for Theo.
Peter, ignorant of such things as the location of grocery stores, googled one that wasn’t too out of the way while he took the client elevator to the parking garage.
Luckily and not surprisingly, twenty-four-hour grocery stores were conveniently abundant, and Peter put his phone back in his pocket while he waited for Theo right outside the employee exit.
There was another werewolf standing guard at the elevators now. Chris or Carl, Peter was pretty sure. The werewolf eyed Peter with unabashed curiosity.
“So, the cute new human…” Chris or Carl said.
“You may not want to call him cute to his face,” Peter said.
Chris or Carl snorted. “Hadn’t planned on that. I hear he’s leaving with you.”
Peter knew werewolves, and Chris or Carl was trying hard to frame what he wanted to know in a nice, roundabout, submissive way. Peter liked that. It meant Chris or Carl had heard things about Peter that required submissiveness.
He didn’t have the time or patience to figure out what the werewolf wanted though. “What exactly are you asking?”
Chris or Carl shrugged. “I guess I was just wondering whether the cute human still works here. Me and my sister have both been wondering. She’s security too.”
Peter would’ve loved nothing better than to tell both Chris or Carl and his sister that Theo had indeed quit. Except he hasn’t, and I can’t make him, no matter how much I want that. Why must it be so difficult to win a man in this day and age? No—why is it difficult to win that man?
“I don’t make Puck’s decisions for him,” Peter said, his voice holding a calmness he wasn’t feeling.
“Good to know,” Chris or Carl said, and the door to the employee exit opened.
Another security person walked in front of Theo, clearly Celeste’s way of showing that she was still paying attention. After a much too cheery goodbye from Chris or Carl, Theo got into Peter’s car without a word, and they drove off.
At this time of night, there was little traffic, but they had to stop for lights and to let trams pass as they kept the city running and moving.
“What were you speaking? What language, I mean. Earlier. What were you saying?” Theo was staring out the windshield, not meeting Peter’s eyes.
Peter wrinkled his nose. “Norse.”
Theo turned. “That’s not really a thing.”
“It’s a thing. You heard me speak it.”
Theo glanced over. “Old Norse, maybe, but even I know that wasn’t really one unified language. You’re just lawyering out of answering the question. What were you saying?”
I suppose he’s not as tired as he looks. “I may have commented on how cute you look with my cock up your ass, Theodore,” Peter said calmly, his eyes on the road.
The scent of lovemaking still clung to both of them, but Peter was near certain he could smell fresh lust in the enclosed space of the car, could see a slight deepening of color in Theo’s cheeks.
Theo’s jaw moved up and down a few times before he said, “Right.” With that, he let the matter go.
“You study linguistics then?” Peter asked. If so, that would be convenient, I’d have reason to introduce Theo to Corvin, watch them bond.
“Film Studies. And English Lit.”
“Hmm. Film Studies? Really?”
“Thought you’d be surprised about the literature part.”
“Why?”
Theo snorted and looked out the window.
“Seriously, why?” Peter asked.
“Because what sex worker digs literature?”
Peter pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store he’d found on the internet.
“I’ve known many in my time, Theo, and all of them were vibrant individuals, often specialized.
Well, not all of them were vibrant, that would be stretching the truth.
” Peter shrugged and turned off the engine.
“I still don’t get the Film Studies part.
Now, please join me so you can do your own food shopping, because I lack the knowledge to do it for you. ”
Theo took a moment, but then got out of the car. Inside the store, Peter shadowed him, staying close and paying attention to what things Theo looked at, what he put in the shopping basket. Peter handed his credit card to the cashier at the counter, and Theo eyed him.
Peter couldn’t help but enjoy the attention. “I’m contractually obligated to provide you with the necessities, Theo.”
“I haven’t signed the contract yet. Don’t you want me to sign it first?”
Peter smiled while Theo grabbed the paper bag of food. “I trust you are good for it.”
Peter watched Theo put the bag in the back of the car then got in. Before Peter himself got behind the wheel, the wind shifted, and he picked up something decidedly vampiric.
Peter stepped back from the door and looked around, straining to pick up any out-of-place sounds, searching for movement in the shadows.
“What is it?” Theo said from inside the car.
Peter didn’t answer right away. He kept looking, his body relaxed but ready to move. He wasn’t sure this was Bernard, but if the other vampire chose the parking lot of a grocery store to ambush them, that was fine with Peter.
Sadly, nothing but wind moved the leaves on the summer green trees. A rat darted out of a gutter to make a dash for a discarded piece of bread, but that was the only living thing attacking anything. Resigned, Peter slid behind the wheel.
“What is it?” Theo asked, eyes wide.
“In all likelihood, just me overreacting.”
Yet Peter knew he wasn’t, and he was looking forward to meeting Bernard again. Soon.