“What are doing here?” Val demanded, his surprise and embarrassment coming out as temper.
That was the wrong tack to take with the brat. Mackie’s expression changed to something between dismissiveness and allure. “I was going to work out. Good thing I wasn’t planning on using that.”
He pointed to where the punching bag lay in a heap on the floor with its stuffing spilling out. The wall where it had hit was buckled with plaster and wallboard hanging down. Val closed his eyes for a moment, partly to clear the last of his foggy state, partly because he didn’t look forward to explaining that little repair to Alex.
“Don’t let me stop you.” Val tried for casual. Failed, apparently, because instead of turning away from him, Mackie stepped closer.
“Are you all right?”
Fan-fucking-tastic, as Duncan had so elegantly stated hours ago. Now Mackie was worried about him—or worse, feeling sorry for him. “I’m fine. Just working off some steam.”
Mackie got within touching distance. “I know you guys are strong, but still… Seeing this makes me appreciate how much you were holding back when we, um…played. You could have taken off my head with one blow.”
“I would never hurt you.” It needed saying, even if Mackie hadn’t intended his observation to convey worry.
The boy’s lips turned down. “That’s not true. You cut me to the quick.”
The hurt his saw lurking in the boy’s eyes was difficult to observe. I had to, for your sake…and for mine. He didn’t express those thoughts out loud. He could never admit to Mackie how much it had pained him to do what he’d done, say those awful things that he hadn’t meant. It was better this way, inevitable. Their relationship had been doomed from the start because he had nothing left to give the boy.
“I meant physically.” He shifted his feet to leave.
With a deft move, the boy blocked him. “I know what you meant.” He swept his gaze up and down Val’s body. It was a visual caress that caused Val’s heart to beat faster and his blood to course down to his cock. “Now that I know you’re an alien, I understand why you never break a sweat.”
Val started to respond, found his throat constricted and had to clear it. “We have an internal cooling system.”
“You’re an interesting species, I suppose. There’s so much I don’t know.” Mackie reached out to place his palm against Val’s pec before Val could stop him.
No, that was a lie. Val’s reflexes were warp speed compared to the human’s. He almost sighed at the familiar touch. It took more self-control than he thought he possessed at the moment not to react.
Mackie pursed his lips. “Your skin is warmer than usual, the same way it used to be after you fucked me.” He flashed his eyes from under his lashes.
Val bit back a grunt and told his dick to chill out. But given that his core was dispersing the heat of his workout through his system, his cock was more than glad to accept some of it to harden. Thank God he wore tight enough jeans to contain it. Fixing his gaze past Mackie’s head, he tried to wait out the boy by not reacting to the provocative statement.
Mackie slid his fingers to the middle of Val’s chest and picked up the crucifix dangling there. “It’s funny,” the boy mused. “Our vampire legends say that you’re repulsed by the cross.”
“They’re just that…legends. Your religions mean nothing to us, but we adopted the one practiced where we first made our home, to blend in more. This was supposed to make them feel safe around us. We simply got into the habit of wearing them. Then, when the schism occurred with Dracul, it became a symbol of how we differed.”
“Huh, what would Jesus do?”
“If you like.” He ground his molars while he waited for the brat to tire of the game.
Dropping the crucifix, Mackie tipped his head back. “What are you afraid of, Val?”
He looked down his nose at the boy, knowing that it wasn’t going to work as an intimidation tactic. “Nothing.” Another lie. I’m afraid of caring again, of losing again.
Mackie pursed his lips. “Liar. I don’t believe you. It’s not like you guys are Vulcans or something. You have feelings. I can see that in Alex’s love for Quinn, Harry’s for Lucien and Demi.” He made a face at his mention of the boy. “No accounting for taste, I suppose. And, Emil is the biggest softy I’ve ever met.”
“You didn’t ask me if I had feelings. You asked what I was afraid of.”
“Same dif.”
Val furrowed his brows. “No. Fear is a subset of emotions. They are not the same thing, merely related.”
Mackie rolled his eyes at that answer. “So analytical. So always in control.” Rising on his toes, he steadied himself with both palms now pressed against Val’s chest. “Except when you were drilling my ass and flooding it with your cum.”
The boy licked his lips in a slow turn of his tongue. “You still want me, don’t you?”
Val’s gaze followed the provocative movement and stared at those pouty lips as they taunted him. But when Mackie snaked a hand down toward Val’s crotch, he snatched it before it reached its obvious destination. He held the small wrist with a tight grip.
Mackie dropped down to the flat of his feet with a whoosh for breath. “No fair. You have the advantage of alien speed.”
Val made his face go grim. “Don’t bait me, Mackie.”
The brat glared up at him and tried to tug his hand free. “You’re hurting me,” he whined when Val wouldn’t let go.
“No, I’m not, and you’d like it regardless.”
“No, I wouldn’t.”
“Now who’s the liar?”
Mackie’s eyes narrowed, then he stood straight, and looked right into Val’s eyes without flinching. “Red.”
Val dropped the boy’s wrist before the ‘d’ had left his pretty lips. In all the times they’d played, Mackie had never given the pedestrian safeword that Val had insisted on. Stepping away, Val nodded once. “My apologies.”
Mackie rubbed at his newly freed wrist and stared at the floor. His lashes fluttered wildly, as if he were holding back tears. That couldn’t be. Val knew he hadn’t held him tightly enough to truly be in pain.
“I need to go,” Mackie blurted.
Waving at the door, Val said, “I’m not stopping you. I need to clean up my mess, anyway.”
“Not the room. I mean, I need to leave the club.”
“What?” The one-word question came out like a roar. Mackie flinched, making Val instantly regret his outburst. He didn’t want the boy to fear him. “Please clarify,” he said in a more modulated tone that nearly made his head burst with the strain of it.
“I-I need to find my own place again. Working here is one thing, but it’s like I’m a prisoner. I can’t stay here twenty-four-seven forever, living off Alex’s charity, hiding from I don’t know what.”
“A stone-cold mass murderer who has no more regard for you than you do an ant you might step on. That’s what you’re hiding from.”
“I don’t see why he’d care about me.”
“Because you’re part of our faction now.” He didn’t add that it was because Dracul would see Mackie as being Val’s, and that belief would be more than enough reason to rip the boy to shreds. The very thought sent Val’s system into overdrive. His fangs punched down, and he had to force them back.
“I can take care of myself. I was doing a fine job of it when we met. If I have to, I know how to get lost and stay off the grid.”
Val scoffed. “You were not and you do not. You were on the verge of starvation and freezing to death when I picked you up.”
“You would throw that in my face,” Mackie said back.
“I’m trying to keep you alive. Dracul and his boys are more cunning and deadly than you can imagine. You of anyone should know that.”
Now Mackie rubbed at his arm where it had been broken. “I’ll know what to watch out for this time around. You kept me in the dark before.” The bitterness came through.
Val knew shame at
how badly he’d failed the boy. “I’m sorry for that. We’ll do better keeping you safe so long as you stay within our orbit of protection. It’s for your own good.”
Mackie folded his arms and now he was mad. Val knew that look, having seen it plenty. “Am I a prisoner?”
Val leaned down. “If necessary.”
“You can’t keep me here.”
“Watch me.”
“Red!”
“No.” Val shook his head once. “This isn’t a game we’re playing. You stay put. If you try to run, I swear I’ll track you down and strap you to the St. Andrew’s Cross if I have to.”
Mackie’s eyes flared with anger and his chest rose and fell on a harsh breath. “I hate you!”
“Good.”
The boy whirled and stomped his way out.
“Good,” Val said again to an empty room. “It’s safer for both of us that way.”
* * * *
Mackie kept it together until he reached his room. He slammed the door behind him before letting the tears flow. God, he hated how emotional he’d gotten. Val wasn’t worth it, yet there was no stopping the crying. With his arms wrapped around his waist, he shuddered alone in the middle of the pretty space. It wasn’t his bedroom, not really. It was merely the place they had put him while he’d recovered from his broken arm.
For all its warm colors and expensive furniture, he hated it. It was decorated for human tastes, and he longed for what had become familiar to him. He wanted the alien bedroom that he’d shared with Val. He understood now the heavy, dark drapes and the large, sturdy bed. The black and silver were remnants from their home world décor, or so Quinn had said. The red accents were for blood, their delicacy. It all made sense now, and he missed it.
He missed Val. Damn it.
Mackie sat on the edge of his soft bed, sniffling like a baby. He couldn’t stand looking around at all his stuff boxed up from his apartment. Val had moved everything over without telling Mackie first and had paid off the lease, as well. Mackie would be safer at the club. That’s what he’d been told. And, of course, it made sense, except now Mackie was essentially once again homeless.
He hated that and hated being under some else’s thumb. That had been his miserable life for the first sixteen years. Then, he’d been at the mercy of the streets and strange men who wanted what his body could give them. Val had been the first man to treat him with respect and dignity, and wouldn’t you know? The guy wasn’t really a man at all. Being with him, playing with him, had been Mackie’s choice. The apartment that Alex’s generous wages and the club members’ even-more-generous tips had given Mackie had been where he could escape to any time he wanted.
Now that was gone. The only difference was that Mackie had money. That hadn’t been taken away from him. There was enough there for him to leave and start fresh, except that Val had made it clear Mackie wasn’t free to do so. Val would hunt him down, and it didn’t matter if the reason was sensible or protective. Mackie still felt trapped.
He swiped impatiently at his tears and tried to stop feeling sorry for himself and start thinking of a way out of the mess he was in. A knock on the door startled him. He was about to tell whoever it was to leave him alone when it opened, uninvited.
Quinn stuck his head around it. “Can I come in?”
Mackie sniffed, wiped and nodded. “Sure.” Quinn was his only real friend. Of all the boys he worked with, it was this newcomer who he felt a bond with. It might have been their shared terrorizing experience, but really, it was more about how sweet the Midwestern boy was. He’d stuck to Mackie’s side like a personal nursemaid, keeping him fed, helping him bathe. Hell, wiping his ass, and hadn’t that been a fun time for both of them?
He’d turned out to be good company, too. They spent most of their days watching trashy reality shows and gossiping about the aliens they lived among.
Quinn shut the door behind him. “Are you okay?”
“Sure. Why shouldn’t I be?” Mackie’s mother had always told him he was prideful. She hadn’t been wrong. Even with tears streaking down his cheeks, he hated admitting how unhappy he was.
Quinn gave him a pointed look before settling down beside him. “Well, aside from the fact that you are crying, there’s the little matter of how I saw you run out of the gym. Which, by the way, is going to be out of commission for a few days while mysterious wall damage is fixed.”
“That’s Val’s doing.”
“I know, sweetie,” Quinn replied with a pat to Mackie’s knee. “He was in extra-grim mode when I stepped inside to check out what had happened. I assume you two had a fight.”
Mackie rolled his eyes and wiped his face again. “If you can call it that.” He picked at the hem of his tank top. “He mostly told me what to do, as usual.” He left out the way he’d deliberately baited the guy with his teasing flirtation.
“They’re a bossy breed for sure. Plus, this new twist with the weird-eyed dead guy has put them all on edge. I can’t blame them for that. Can you imagine fighting a war off and on for a thousand years? And, on the down-low because you don’t want humans to catch on? I don’t know how they’ve managed it.”
“That was their choice, and yeah, I get that our species has been pretty unstable. But, at this point, why not reveal themselves?”
Quinn gave him the stink-eye. “What do you think would happen? Half the world would want to kill them out of fear, and the other half would want to weaponize them. Alex says there are fewer than fifty of them worldwide, and about half of those are Dracul’s goons. They’re not invincible, and I want Alex to stay safe. I love him,” he added, quite unnecessarily.
“I know you do. I can’t blame you. Alex is like the perfect man, which is hysterical given that he’s an alien.”
Quinn’s cheeks pinked up. “I wouldn’t say perfect. He has his faults.”
Mackie showed his dubiousness. “Name one.”
“Well. Um…” Quinn gnawed at his lower lip. “He’s overprotective. He won’t let me leave the club without him.”
Mackie dismissed that ‘fault’ with a wave of his hand. “That’s because he’s worried about you. You’re probably at the top of Dracul’s list of people to kill, not to freak you out or anything.”
“That’s okay. You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know. I’m plenty freaked out as it is. I do feel safe here at the club, though.”
“You should. It’s like Fort Knox now with the extra security Val installed. And we have a small team of linebacker-sized bodyguards.”
Quinn nudged him with his shoulder. “You should feel the same way. This is a good place to be, so how come you haven’t unpacked? You wouldn’t let me do it for you because you said you wanted to do it yourself, remember?”
Of course Mackie remembered. It had been a stalling tactic. He hadn’t been able to face it then and couldn’t now. He wasn’t sure where all his furniture had gone. It had all been second-hand and there hadn’t been much of it. Still… “It seems pointless,” he replied. “I’m not staying here forever.”
“Well, not forever, but for the foreseeable future, right? I’m sure Alex won’t mind, even after Dracul is dealt with.”
“I can’t!” Jumping to his feet, Mackie paced away, fighting back more tears. “Being here and not being with Val is too hard. I can’t keep doing this.”
“Oh, Mackie.” Quinn joined him and wrapped him in a hug from behind. “I’m sorry. I know it must be horrible for you. He was such a dick, regardless of his motives.”
“I want to hate him,” Mackie confessed in a quiet voice. “I tell myself that I do, but it’s a lie. Much as I try, I can’t. I’m such a dope that I can’t put him aside and ignore him.”
“You love him.”
Mackie’s heart tripped. “No, I don’t. He’s hot, that’s all—and a great Dom. I miss that.”
“There are plenty of drool-worthy club members who like to play. It’s Val that you want. You can talk to me, you know. I won’t say anything to him
.”
Patting his friends arm, Mackie pulled out of the hug and walked over to the window. His drapes where open, exposing the sheer white curtain underneath. He parted it and peered down. It was a nice-enough view. People scurried down the sidewalk, bundled against the growing chill. Most people would be thrilled to have what he did. Then again, most people didn’t know what it was like to have and lose someone like Val.
“I do want him, which is pathetic and pointless. He doesn’t want me anymore.”
“That’s not true. He does. Anyone can see that.”
“Well, I can make him hard, if that’s what you mean.” Twirling around, he swept his hand in a display of his body. “Come on… Who doesn’t want a piece of this?” He batted his eyes at his friend, falling back on his old habits of making light of everyone and everything.
Quinn snorted. “Other than me and Alex? No one can resist you, Mackie. I think Val’s scared of you.”
“Huh! Val’s not afraid of anything.”
“He is of getting hurt. I know that much.” Quinn dropped his gaze to the floor. “Alex told me something a few days ago when he was in his post-blood-drinking fog. Something happened with Val involving a human that devastated him. That’s what scares him, I think—getting too close to another boy.”
The news caused an embarrassing spurt of jealousy to course though Mackie. Who was this boy who’d what? Captured Val’s heart? He wasn’t sure the guy had one. A huge cock, yes, an endless libido, sure, and a keen aim when inflicting punishment, naturally, but, Mackie had only seen two emotions from him—indifference and anger. At least, that’s all Val had let him see. The idea that a hidden softer side existed was intriguing.
Mackie tapped his fingers on his thigh. “You think that’s why he hasn’t bothered to apologize for dumping me so hard and try to win me back, now that I know his secret?”
Quinn shrugged. “I honestly don’t know, but it makes sense. Alex had the same problem. I’m lucky he got over it, otherwise I’d be as miserable as you are. These guys can be awfully stubborn and surprisingly vulnerable. The only way to know for sure how Val feels is for you to stop allowing him to dictate the terms of your relationship.”
Dangerous Dance Page 7
