Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Demetrius stopped just inside the door of the bar and stared.
Zenona was on her feet, talking animatedly with a young, handsome man who wore a long-sleeved shirt and khakis.
The man said something, and Zenona threw back her head and laughed, her hair tumbling down her back in waves.
She spotted Demetrius, and her expression brightened even more.
“Demetrius!” She hurried over to grab him in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” Taking a step back, she looked him up and down. “You are okay, aren’t you?”
He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She looked so different, even from how she’d been back at her condo.
“How’s she do—” Cody’s voice cut off as he came in the door.
“Oh, thank God you’re both okay.” She reached for Cody, but he pulled back, eyes widening.
“What happened?” Cody said. “What’s going on?”
She frowned and looked down, smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles. “What do you mean? Nothing’s going on.”
“You look…” Cody waved a hand in front of his own face. “Completely different.”
“Tell them, Zee,” Marlowe said from behind the bar. She set out five shot glasses and poured a top shelf whiskey into each. “Or I will.”
“It’s not a big deal,” Zenona snapped back.
“Tell us what?” Demetrius’s breathing picked up, and something knotted in his chest. He was suddenly tired, exhausted actually, and he pulled out a stool. “What’s happened?”
“For God’s sake, nothing’s happened.” She threw a quick glare at Marlowe before sliding a shot glass to them both. Looking around Demetrius at the man she’d been talking with, Zenona said, “Hortense, would you like a whiskey?”
“Absolutely, dear girl.”
Demetrius swung around to look at Hortense. He was young and handsome with a glimmer in his eyes and his thick, dark hair styled into a fashionable swoop. Not at all the image he’d formed when hearing about him. “You’re Beverly Sue’s…”
“Great-great grandfather, yes.” He lifted his shot in a toast and threw it back. “It does nothing for me, but I do love the taste.”
Demetrius grabbed his own glass and downed it. Heat bloomed all along his throat and pooled in his stomach. His eyes watered, and he said through a cough, “She’s very nice.”
“That she is.” Hortense signaled for another.
“What do you need to tell us?” Cody asked from Zenona’s other side as he gestured for a refill as well.
Zenona gripped the edge of the gleaming wood. “There’s some contraband that makes its way around from time to time. It’s kind of a super vitamin, a miracle cure for pretty much everything.” She lifted her shoulders in a casual shrug. “I took some of it.”
“Oh?” Demetrius’s hands tightened on his thighs. “What is it?”
“It’s called…” She licked her lips and tipped her head sideways, grimacing as she said, “It’s called Fang.”
“It’s vampire blood,” Marlowe said in a flat tone. “Just a few drops will fix you up.”
“What?” Cody practically shouted. “You drank it?”
“I didn’t drink it,” Zenona shouted back. She stiffened and shook her hair back out of her face. “I just had a couple of drops.” When Cody opened his mouth again, she rushed on. “All it does is quickly fix the things that would usually fix themselves in a matter of time.”
“And it also provides secondary benefits.” Marlowe gestured to Zenona, who scowled back.
“But those benefits don’t stay around long,” Zenona said, clipping her words. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “I don’t have a problem with it. I’m not addicted. But some others can be.”
“Bastian has been harvesting Fang from his followers and selling it for extremely high prices,” Marlowe said. “We’re hoping to get that shut down.”
Demetrius’s head spun. The adrenaline crash was making his muscles feel shaky, and he folded his arms on the bar and rested his head on them. “This night has been a lot.”
“A lot times infinity,” Cody said.
“It was your idea to come here.” Zenona’s tone was breezy, slightly haughty, and Demetrius rolled his head to give her a squinty-eyed look.
Cody came up behind him and squeezed his shoulders. “Let’s have Zenona take us back to the truck.”
“Yeah, okay.” Demetrius lifted his head, then asked Zenona, “Are you okay to drive on that stuff?”
“Oh for God’s sake.” Zenona held out her hand, palm up. “Keys, please.”
Demetrius handed over the fob. Zenona turned with a huff and pushed out the door.
Cody’s hands remained on his shoulders, but his voice was low and thick as he spoke to Marlowe over Demetrius’s head. “What will you do with Andy’s car?”
“We’ll take care of it,” she said with a steady look.
“What about his body?” Demetrius asked.
“We’ll take care of it.”
Demetrius’s stomach clenched, and he swallowed. Turning to the man beside him, Demetrius said, “Nice to meet you, Hortense.”
“Pleasure, Demetrius.”
He slipped off the stool and took Cody’s hand, pausing to give Marlowe a long look. She stared back with no expression. “Thank you for the help,” he said. “And the whiskey.”
“I’ve started you both a tab,” Marlowe said.
“Son of a bitch,” Cody said, pulling Demetrius toward the door.
The night was full of song, crickets and frogs competing with each other.
The damp air felt thick in Demetrius’s throat.
The only other car in the lot, an older model, white with pinstripes, glowed in the moonlight.
His feet were heavy, and they scuffed along the gravel as Cody led the way to Zenona’s car.
Cody got in the front passenger seat, and Demetrius buckled in behind him.
He slumped against the door and closed his eyes.
He must have dozed, because the next thing he knew the car stopped and the engine cut off. Blinking, he looked around. They were back at Sycamore Place, and Zenona was just opening her door and stepping out.
“Zee, we need to talk,” Cody said.
Zenona slammed the door and headed for her building, head high and shoulders back. All conversation was over for the night.
“Goddammit,” Cody grumbled then opened his door.
Demetrius got out beside him, hiding a yawn behind the back of a hand.
“She’s playing with fire,” Cody said, his eyes on Zenona as she unlocked the entry door to her building and disappeared inside.
“The trouble is, she knows that.” Demetrius yawned again, then tugged on his hand. “Let’s go home.”
The drive home was short and silent. Demetrius felt his brain and body edging toward complete shutdown, and he was grateful Cody didn’t want to talk. They had too much to discuss anyway. Where would they even start?
Once home, they went about their nightly routines without speaking, checking on Trevor, showering separately, and then falling into bed. Demetrius was asleep moments after he lay down.
He awoke with a gasp, muscles tight and heart a jackhammer in his chest as he stared at the ceiling.
The room was dark, smelling of their body wash and sleep-sweat.
Demetrius rolled his head on the pillow to look at the back of Cody’s head.
His muscles slowly relaxed, and his breathing slowed. They were home and safe.
Cody turned over, eyes open and alert, and pulled Demetrius to him.
He kissed him, softly at first, almost tentatively.
Demetrius deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue between Cody’s lips.
No words needed to be spoken. Demetrius rolled onto his back and Cody laid half on top of him.
Kisses deepened, and Cody stroked Demetrius’s hardening cock.
Demetrius felt Cody’s erection pressing into his thigh, and he spread his legs wide.
Cody shifted between them, still kissing, tongues sliding and rolling, their breathing heavier now, practically synced.
Cody slipped his arms beneath Demetrius’s legs and lifted them as he rose up to his knees.
Demetrius reached out blindly to fumble with the drawer, unwilling to break their embrace.
When he continued to struggle, Cody huffed impatiently and grabbed the lube himself.
In the space of a breath he was back, thrusting his tongue into his mouth and poking his cock against one ass cheek.
He heard the quick click of the cap, followed by the cool touch of Cody’s slick fingers against his hole.
A moment later, Cody slowly entered him.
The muscles resisted at first, but when he pulled back and slid in again, they relented, stretching to accommodate.
They continued to kiss through all of it, slapping their sweaty skin together.
Cody put his hands beneath Demetrius’s shoulders, gripping him tight, fingers digging in.
Every stroke sent waves of heat coursing through him.
Cody’s kisses intensified, growing sloppier, urgent, almost desperate.
Demetrius clung to him, legs bouncing against Cody’s broad shoulders, the fresh, musky smell of him filling his nose and arrowing straight to his balls.
Demetrius shoved Cody’s arm up and buried his face in his pit, running his tongue through the hair and breathing him in.
Cody moved his hips fast, each thrust driving into Demetrius, going deep.
Demetrius turned back to Cody, kissing him again until Cody backed away slightly, lips still touching Demetrius’s, both with their tongues extended and touching, swallowing each other’s breath and moans.
Then Cody inched his knees closer to Demetrius, lifting his hips higher off the mattress and changing the angle of his penetration.
Demetrius gasped, dropping his head back, fingers clawing at Cody’s shoulders.
Cody stared into his eyes, mouth open, his lips swollen and expression feral.
A moment later, Cody lowered his head to press his face against Demetrius’s neck.
His whole body shuddered, and he cried out, his breath hot against the crook of Demetrius’s shoulder as he pumped into him.
Demetrius’s cock was trapped between them, rubbing against Cody’s torso.
He wrapped his arms tighter around Cody, holding him close, never wanting to let him go.
Cody moved again, hips working to find their previous pace.
He kept his face against Demetrius’s neck, sucking at the spot where Nicolae had bitten him, running his tongue over the slightly rumpled skin.
Demetrius’s climax washed over him, stealing his breath and short-circuiting every thought. He closed his eyes as his cock jerked between them, and Cody’s movements smeared the cum into their skin, mixing it with their combined sweat.
Cody slowed his thrusts until he stopped and, still inside him, he lifted his head and met his eyes.
Cody’s brow was furrowed, his eyebrows curled up, the wrinkles at the corners more prominent in the dim moonlight.
All they had seen and all they had yet to do, lay heavily in his expression.
His pupils were wide but washed out, and a chill went through Demetrius.
It intensified when Cody finally eased out of him.
But his gentle kiss before he collapsed beside him helped warm Demetrius up.
Once he’d caught his breath, Demetrius kissed Cody’s temple then got out of bed and went to the bathroom to clean up by the glow of a nightlight.
The small digital clock on the vanity read 3:19.
He drank some water then returned to the bedroom where Cody was already snoring quietly.
Demetrius slid into bed beside him and lay looking up at the ceiling for a long, long time.