Chapter 2 #3
“Oh hello, you,” Alexander purred under his breath, tucking his hands into the pockets of his trousers.
If there was anything that would draw his attention from the mess waiting for him at home better than books, it was a pretty boy with wide blue eyes and a perfect throat, and hair that he could run his hands through and tug.
All thoughts of Aubrey waiting in his bedroom were immediately discarded in favour of figuring out precisely who was standing frozen in front of him, a thick book clutched to his chest, his eyes blinking behind tortoiseshell glasses.
Alexander was nothing but bold when it came to courtship, at least, so he stepped forward and pinched the offending knit between his fingers, tugging it back up to the edge of the boy’s throat.
His thumb brushed silken skin and everything in him lit up at the feeling of a pulse pounding through veins.
He took a moment and breathed, the smell of amber and lily of the valley floating underneath the tang of vetiver and patchouli and the scent of old books. Below it all, the iron sharpness of blood, hot and fresh, set his mouth to watering.
But this wasn’t a quick meal. This was a feast to be savoured if ever he’d seen one.
Nothing distracted him from his own misery and his father’s anger better than finding a beguiling mortal woman or beautiful mortal man to lose himself in for a few hours.
He might never have truly been alive by their standards, but he could enjoy the pleasures of sex, and the entertainment of mortal company.
He’d never dare get emotionally close to someone because his father would inevitably find out and use that mortal as a threat to control Alexander with.
But that didn’t mean that when he saw something he liked, he couldn’t pursue a satisfying string of pleasurable, if ultimately meaningless, encounters.
Even if it left him feeling emptier than ever inside. He’d take what he could get in his hollow, hopeless, horrifically immortal life.
“Hello to you, too,” the librarian said, his voice high and just a little bit thready, like he was on the edge of panic.
Alexander delighted in the four quick flutters of the librarian’s eyelashes, drinking in the view.
If the librarian noticed that Alexander was…
different, he’d simply have to use a bit of compulsion on him to make him forget, but he’d rather not. “Can I – I help you with something?”
Alexander stepped back, letting his hand fall. He occupied it with the leather strap of his bag, running his fingers up and down. The boy’s eyes tracked the motion, then flicked back up to Alexander’s lips.
“I’m a professor.” Alexander smiled, winking. “I’m always interested in getting to know the collection better. Perhaps a librarian would be the right person to show me around?”
The librarian made a strangled noise, and for a moment Alexander wondered if perhaps he’d misread the situation and the he wasn’t into men. But then a furious blush spread down the other man’s cheeks, and Alexander couldn’t help but grin.
“I… don’t think I’m the best to help.” A few owlish blinks and then a deep breath, like the boy was steeling himself.
“Indulge me, who are you?”
“Tobias. I’m new, and not a professor. That’s slightly beyond my abilities. I just started here today, actually. And now I’m waffling, and really should get back to work, before I’m caught by the–”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll happily take the blame if we’re caught.” Alexander cocked his head. “Since you’re new, maybe we can explore together. Dinner tonight?”
There were a few restaurants in town he’d been meaning to try, because even after all these years he still loved the taste of mortal food.
It did nothing for his hunger, but an early paramour had loved to feed him before the revelation of what he was, and he’d not been able to drop the habit.
It offered variety, and when life stretched out in front of Alexander like an unfathomably long road, that was one of the few things that kept him from stabbing himself in the heart just to escape.
Tobias blinked again, clutching the book to his chest so hard that Alexander was faintly worried that it would disintegrate. The bones stood out against the skin of his long, delicate fingers. Alexander wanted to lick them.
“You’re very confident.” A small intake of breath. “I– Yeah, sure.”
The resulting exchange of phone numbers and the promise of something to actually look forward to buoyed his mood enough that he dared to text Maria that he wouldn’t be home until late.
She didn’t respond, which he knew meant nothing good for what he’d find dead in his bed when he returned, but so be it.
His father’s anger and disappointment were nothing new.
They were as eternal as the man himself.
So, Alexander thought to himself as he left Tobias blushing and still clutching that book like it was a life raft, he might as well weather the storm with a pretty diversion – something new, something interesting – by his side.