The boss sprang up and was by his lover’s side with a speed that would have left a human seeing a blur of movement. “Darling boy, what is the matter?”
Val didn’t hear the answer over the sudden pounding of his heart. His gaze was trained on the doorway. The sight of Mackie appearing a second after Quinn sent a dizzying relief through Val. Whatever had caused the boys to breach Alex’s business sanctum hadn’t involved personal danger. Val didn’t want to care so much, yet his unchecked reaction told him he was fooling himself if he thought he was over Mackie.
The boy caught and held his gaze with cool distain as he closed the door behind him. The expression on that pretty face made Val want to drag him upstairs, bend him over the spanking bench and beat it off him. When they’d been together, Mackie had many times given him that look specifically to bait him into that response. But, they weren’t together anymore, and Val wasn’t in a position to react in his usual way.
Mackie fluttered his lashes a couple of times before turning his attention to where Alex and Quinn stood in front of the flat-screen television against the far wall. Val was momentarily distracted by the sight of the boy’s perfect ass outlined by that ridiculously frilly thong still stuffed by other men’s money. Val’s own hundred-dollar bill was mixed with the rest of them as if he meant nothing more than the grubby-handed letches that frequented the club.
“Val!”
He realized with an inward start that he’d again been distracted by something he should be indifferent to. Someone. “Sorry, boss. What’s up?”
Alex pointed to the TV and turned up the volume. “Watch and listen.”
Some breathless local reporter was outside what he recognized as the Huntington Avenue entrance to the Copley Place shopping mall—one of those ridiculous places where humans loved to spend time and money. She was nattering on about a guy committing suicide by leaping off one of the interior balconies. No, it was more that he was high on something that had led him to believe that he had superpowers. Whatever… Foolish humans bored him.
He wandered closer to the screen. “What’s the big deal?”
It was Mackie who answered, giving him a disdainful roll of his eyes. “You need to pay better attention. The guy eluded security with surprising speed and even managed to out-muscle two of them at once.”
Val tried to glower at the boy, yet worried it came off as more of a sexual invitation. “I still don’t get why this matters to us.”
Mackie folded his arms. “Because Quinn and I saw him before he jumped. Someone was filming the whole thing while they were trying to talk him down. And,” he added with an insolent flick of his one-sided bangs, “his eyes were red.”
Val frowned. “Bloodshot?”
“No. Red, as in pissed-off-alien red.”
That got Val’s attention. He focused on Alex, who clicked off the television. “He was one of us?” He shook his head at his stupid question. “No, obviously not, or we’d be listening to a report about how a man suddenly disintegrated right in front of everyone.”
Alex also shook his head and returned to his desk with Quinn in tow. He deftly tumbled the boy onto his lap as he continued. “Quinn said the man was definitely human with a golden skin tone and light hair.” He cuddled his lover with enviable nonchalance and lack of self-consciousness. For his part, Quinn lounged against Alex with obvious ease and trust and also without any evident discomfort over a public display of affection.
Ignoring the pang he felt at the sight, Val focused on the weird topic at hand. “This doesn’t make any sense. If he wasn’t one of us, then his eyes couldn’t have turned red. You must have been mistaken in what you saw,” he added cautiously. Alex was so protective of Quinn. Val didn’t want to test the waters of how far he could challenge the boy in anything.
It didn’t even matter because it was Mackie who took offense and answered for both of them. “We know what we saw, don’t we?” the boy asked his friend.
When Quinn nodded in assent, Mackie turned his ire on Val. “We’re not stupid.”
Val huffed. Nothing and no one on this miserable planet had managed to get under his skin in so little time the way this pint-sized boy had. “I never intended to intimate you were. It’s just not possible for this dead man to be one of us.”
“We didn’t say he was. Clearly, he was human, and yet,” Mackie added, stepping up to Val, “his eyes were red, the same way that Adrian’s were right before he snapped my arm like a twig. I’m not likely to forget that, am I?”
Val winced inwardly at the reminder of the way Dracul’s lapdog had tortured Mackie in order to lure Quinn into a trap. The painful memory of realizing how hurt Mackie had been still plagued Val. He also admired how, despite feigning a self-indulgent attitude, Mackie had had the courage to warn Quinn. If Mackie hadn’t, both boys would have ended up dead, and that would have led Alex into a crippling emotional tailspin. Everyone had underestimated Mackie, Val included. He was as proud of the boy as he was furious at himself for letting harm come to him.
Except Val didn’t have the right to feel anything about this human because he’d thrown him away. He turned his attention to Alex, a safer place to focus. “What do you make of this, sir?”
The man ran his fingers idly up Quinn’s arm as he considered the question. “I don’t know. It could have been a trick of the light.”
Both boys said no at the same time. Their certainty was disturbing.
“It’s possible, “Alex continued, “that the dead man was a turned human. I’ll have to ask Harry if eye color can be affected by the change. I’ve never heard of it or seen it for myself, but then, unlike Dracul and his boys, we haven’t turned many humans.” The man flicked a guilty look in Val’s direction.
Val knew what thought had flitted across Alex’s mind. His own had gone there, as well. How could they not? Normally, he pivoted away from any memories of Robbie, the pain cutting too deep for him to weather, despite the passing centuries. For Val, nothing had faded. Each experience in his life could be revisited with the same clarity as if it had just occurred. At the moment, though, too much was on the line for him to indulge his cowardice. He forced himself to picture the one changed human he’d actually known intimately. All he saw were green eyes staring back at him with love and trust. So much misplaced trust.
Putting those biting and unhelpful memories aside, he focused instead on the other turned human that he knew well. Harry’s husband had deep brown eyes that, as far as Val knew, never changed color. Then again, the couple didn’t seem to ever be at odds with one another. If they fought, they did so quietly and in private.
“Lucien is so mild-mannered,” he observed. “I’m not sure he’s constitutionally capable of feeling the kind of rage that manifests in us as red pupils.”
Alex snorted. “I agree. And with Harry totally smitten and doting, why would Lucien ever need to work up a head of steam? Still, we can’t discount what these boys saw.” He stood with his usual grace, bringing both himself and Quinn to their feet. “Come, dearest boy. Let’s go wake Harry and ask. He’s not going to like being roused so late, but doing it in person is going to help us convey the urgency. Perhaps Lucien will be angry, as well, and show us his red eyes, if they exist.”
Val quelled a spark of irritation that Alex immediately asked Quinn to go with him and not him. Security was his domain. No way he wanted to sit around twiddling his thumbs. Never good with downtime, it was particularly hard for him to remain passive when a potential crisis was at hand. If he went out onto the club floor to play bouncer now, he’d probably do something Alex would hate and he would regret. Humans always managed to irk him.
An idea struck. “I should call Duncan. It’s not homicide, but he must be able to get access to inside information, including an autopsy on the jumper. If there is some connection to our people and this human, we’ll want someone we trust on top of it from the inside, anyway. Not that I’m entirely sure we can trust the sergeant.”
Alex hadn’t
quite reached the door. “Excellent idea. I agree that our uneasy alliance with the man hasn’t been put to the test, but we have to assume he will come through for us. Call him. We’ll meet back here as soon as I’ve spoken to Harry.”
Taking out his phone, Val eyed Mackie. “No need for you to stay.”
The boy’s eyes flashed. “Says you. I’m not leaving unless Alex asks me to. This isn’t only your fight, you know.”
“Fine,” Val bit out. “At least go put some clothes on.”
It was the wrong thing to say. He knew the moment the words had left his mouth that he’d shown a modicum of weakness. With a provocative swivel of his hips, Mackie ran his hand down the front of his thong. “What’s the matter, Val? Missing what you can’t have anymore?”
The little shit batted his eyelashes.
Val reacted without thought or sense. He closed the distance between them, and swatted that impertinent rump with a loud single smack of his palm. Mackie gasped with a satisfying tone of outrage and fury in his eyes.
“Don’t push me, Mackie. I’m still your boss, even if we’re not playing anymore.”
They stood in a brief staring contest until something in the boy’s expression softened, became almost seductive. “Fine.” The one-word response was breathy.
Val didn’t want to, but he couldn’t help glancing down to see that the boy’s dick had thickened. Whether it had been the smack or the stern command—or likely both—Mackie still found Val arousing. Val would have been more pleased with that information if weren’t for the fact that his own pants had gotten considerably tighter from the interaction. Mackie wasn’t the weak link in what was left of their relationship. Val didn’t have as tight a grip on his own needs and emotions as he would have liked.
“I’ll be back.” Mackie turned on one heel and walked out.
Trying not to watch, Val fumbled with his phone until he pulled up Duncan’s contact info. The Boston police sergeant was privy to too much information, as far as Val was concerned. But this was a problem that they’d dealt with ever since crashing on Earth. As much as they would have liked to remain well-hidden, Dracul had forced them into the open. Alex had no choice but to accept help from humans from time to time. Not all of them had proven trustworthy. Up until now, however, any efforts to expose the aliens living among them had been dismissed by other humans as lunacy or lies. With humans having reached space and actively trying to make contact with other species, there was a greater threat of someone like Duncan being believed.
And, despite all those efforts to reach out to aliens, how would humans really react to finding them on Earth already? It was not in Val’s nature to trust easily. He didn’t expect to be greeted with flowers and handshakes. Incarceration and vivisection seemed more likely. He had no choice at the moment, however, except to assume Duncan was reliable.
The man picked up after a few rings. “Christ Jesus, this better be good.”
Val smiled at the angry greeting. Val wasn’t sure how he personally felt about the human ally. Over the centuries, there had been those few that he had actually liked, as well as trusted. Kitty was one. They were rare, however, and sometimes proved duplicitous, despite Val’s feelings toward them. It could be hard to read these creatures. It wasn’t worth investing a lot of emotion in the relationship. That was another reason for keeping Mackie at bay. Even the ones who were steadfast were far too easily killed, and they always died in such a short period of time.
The one thing he was sure about with Duncan was that the man was smart and courageous. The fact that he was being surly also implied he wasn’t playing some game at being on their side. Val was never more suspicious of humans than when they were acting overly nice and accommodating. He preferred straightforwardness in any event.
“Apologies for the lateness of the hour, Sergeant. There’s been a development in which your position on the force may come into play.”
A loud breath sounded over the phone. “Has another round of serial killings started?”
“Not exactly.” He relayed what he knew about the man in the mall, little as it was.
Duncan didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “Normally I’d say it was another pathetic case of someone dying from bath salts or something. The eyes, though… I haven’t forgotten any of the details of how that night by the harbor went down.”
Val could well imagine how seared that event was in the human’s mind. “Yes, that is the disturbing part. Pupils in my species change color based on strong emotions. Red is for fury.”
“No shit. Give me a second.” There was some rustling, then a voice droned in the background. “Yeah, so according to the news, it sounds like my brethren on the force are treating it as a drug-related death. Not exactly my beat.”
Val tamped down his temper. “Yes, I know. We have television here at the club.”
“Don’t get your panties in a twist, bouncer boy. What I mean is that I can’t do anything about it tonight. It would look suspicious if a homicide cop suddenly turned up at a crime scene without being called in, especially as it’s not a murder case. I’ll get in early and ask around. I’m sure I can come up with some possible tie-in theory to a probable gang killing Karl and I have been investigating.”
“All right. I’ll let Alex know. Thank you,” he made himself say, because the cop didn’t have to help. And, although the man had been essentially forced into staying quiet about aliens living among humans, he had been fairly gracious about his situation, at least as far as they knew.
Hanging up, he flopped down onto the couch Alex kept for his guests. There was nothing to do but wait—wait for Alex to return with Harry’s take on the red eyes and wait for Mackie to return. He didn’t like the way his cock stirred at that last thought and how his heart thudded a little bit harder, as well.
He especially didn’t like the way his sense of danger rose to an almost panicky level. Dracul had launched the next attack in the renewed war. Val didn’t know how, exactly, yet nothing else made sense. Normally, he would have been merely irritated at the endless need to fight. His time with Robbie had been during a lull. Val had had ample time to secure his secret lover in a safe location, even though he’d ended up not staying. Now was different. The club was exposed, out in the open, their lives on display if Dracul cared to look. And he had given the taunt of Adrien’s killing spree.
Then and now, Val felt a true sense of dread because he had more to lose.
* * * *
As tense as everyone was over the new development, there was something comforting about hanging with what Mackie thought of as the family. They’d reconvened in Alex’s office within a half-hour of his and Quinn’s barging in with their tale of a red-eyed man. Val had remained, sitting like a pissed-off sphynx, his gaze tracking Mackie’s every movement. There had been no time for him to consider how he felt about the scrutiny because Alex had returned with Quinn and a sleepy-eyed Harry. Then Alex had declared that Quinn needed feeding, so they’d trooped down to Emil for a late-night meal.
Mackie tried not to feel jealous over Alex’s treatment of Quinn. The obvious love and caring the man showed was enviable, the kind of thing Mackie had secretly hoped he would find with someone. Not Val. There was nothing cuddly or goopy about how he’d treated Mackie when they’d been an item, and that had been fine with Mackie. It had been enough that he’d treated Mackie with respect and that Mackie had always felt safe with him. It had certainly been a far cry from the scary life he’d led at home and on the streets.
Still, there was something appealing about the hearts and flowers kind of relationship. Maybe someday he’d find that, although he still liked the dominance and discipline aspects of his time with Val. Could he fall in love with someone who would be both? Perhaps, although nothing would happen until this nightmare with the dreaded Dracul asshole was over.
The chef put a plate of food in front of Mackie. “Here, eat. You’re too skinny.” Emil grimaced after he spoke.
Mackie put on a sh
ow of being affronted. “Says you. The club members think I’m perfect.” He hid a grin as he picked up his fork.
“That’s because they’re pervs,” the man grumbled and went to get more food.
Mackie took a moment to appreciate how Emil had turned the stack of pancakes into a face with a whipped-cream smile and chocolate-morsel features. Although Mackie was coming up on his twentieth birthday, he hadn’t known enough of a childhood to be past such cute touches. Plus, he had a massive sweet tooth. He indulged it further by smothering the stack with maple syrup. It was the real kind, not colored corn syrup. The Stelalux boys were high-end on absolutely everything. When the time came for Mackie to leave—and it would—he was going to miss the creature-comforts of the super-rich.
“Mmm.” The moan escaped without him thinking about it. As he chewed his mouthful, he felt eyes on him. Glancing up, he saw Val’s hawk-like gaze boring a hole into him from across the table. Never one to stifle an impulse, Mackie licked his lips with a slow turn of his tongue.
Val bared his teeth, showing his fangs and everything. It was a mark of triumph for Mackie, proof that the badass bouncer wasn’t made of stone. There was a power in being able to bring a man to his figurative knees. It wasn’t much, but it was all Mackie had. Somehow, he just couldn’t help himself. He wanted to bait the man because he was still smarting over the brutal way in which Val had tossed Mackie from his life.
He would never forgive Val for the awful things he’d said. Never.
“I beg your pardon, ladies and gentlemen.” Alex’s voice boomed down the table, even though he hadn’t shouted. “I hate to disturb your eating or whatever it is you’re doing,” he added with a narrowed gaze that encompassed both Mackie and Val. “We need to get up to speed on this matter at hand.
“Harry, will you please repeat for everyone else’s benefit what you told me?.”
Dangerous Dance Page 3
