by Ella Frank
Elias smoothed his hand over her hair and knew he felt the same. Ever since he’d opened Leo’s office door and seen her again, he’d been fighting his feelings for the female in his arms. But, with every moment he spent with her, he fell harder and harder.
If he’d loved Isadora Nikitas before he’d known what she was, somehow seeing her strength through what he’d tried to do made him love her even more.
He found her Ancient’s eyes and knew right then there was no fucking way he was going anywhere.
“Okay. I’ll stay. But I have a condition of my own.”
She pulled back and looked up at him expectantly. Tears streaked her face, and the woman he’d once loved was right back in his arms again.
He ran a palm over her hair and said with a smile, “I need a shower.”
GOD, WHEN VASILIOS had said that he’d be gone for a while, Leo hadn’t thought he’d meant all day. But it had been hours that he’d waited for the vampire’s return—or Alasdair’s. When neither had arrived, though, he’d lain down on the bed and must’ve fallen asleep.
Now, there he was, waking up alone—again.
He hadn’t seen Alasdair since their altercation in the Assembly Hall, and he’d been trying to avoid thinking about it since it made his stomach knot. He hadn’t meant to hurt either of them back there. He’d just been so angry and frustrated at them. They were two of the most obstinate males he’d ever met. Arrogant and superior in every way. And their customs and ways were… Well, they were brutal.
Not to mention whatever the hell was going on with his hands. He’d literally singed two of the most powerful creatures on Earth. Burned their skin. That was unbelievable. It also made him think that everything Elias had been trying to tell him might be the truth, and if it was…
What the fuck will that mean?
Vasilios had assured him that Elias was still alive, or he would’ve been notified. So it was likely his boss was sitting in some cell, cradling a broken finger, hand, or worse. And Paris? He had no clue where he was, but Vasilios had told him that he would find out.
It was odd, but he felt like he was starting to understand the way of these vampires. They were definitely governed by their intense moods and usually dark in nature. Yet at their core ran a deep sense of loyalty to one another. They all seemed to understand what the other needed and gave it—even if it was a gift to torture.
They were savage and raw, but at the same time, there was no subterfuge to their actions. They were honest with their intentions, and Leo wondered if he would ever have that loyalty from the two he had bound himself to.
“Good morning, file mou.”
Alasdair appeared at the foot of the bed, and Leo had to catch his breath. God, he was just so beautiful. He’d changed clothes since the last time he had seen him and was now wearing a golden robe made of the finest silks one could buy.
His inky colored hair was styled perfectly. Short on the sides and slicked back at the top, the gold leafed laurel from Leo’s visions placed upon his head like a crown. He’d done something spectacular to enhance his eyes and Leo wanted a closer look.
Leo swung his legs over the side of the mattress, and as he stood, he wrapped the tie of the black robe around his waist. Then, slowly, he made his way towards him.
As he got closer, he could see that Alasdair had applied a heavy eyeliner around his almond-shaped eyes and accentuated his eyebrows, and the stunning, gold paint on his upper lids glimmered in the light. He resembled an Egyptian prince. And fuck, it was the sexiest thing Leo had ever seen.
Once he’d stopped in front of Alasdair, he reached for his face, pleased when the vampire let him gently touch the corner of his eye.
“I like this,” he said as he drew his fingertip along the smoky colored kohl by his lash line.
They hadn’t spoken since their argument, and he wasn’t sure what kind of mood he was about to encounter. So, when Alasdair replied, “I can tell,” relief removed a ton of weight from Leo’s shoulders.
“Oh yeah? You snooping in my head?”
“No,” Alasdair said as he took his wrist. “Your cheeks are pink and I can hear your pulse.”
Leo bit his bottom lip and couldn’t help his grin. “And is it still a beautiful melody to you?”
Alasdair’s green eyes glittered at the reminder of their first meeting, and he inclined his head. “It is, but for a very different reason, Leonidas.”
“And what’s that?”
Alasdair’s lips skimmed over the vein in his wrist. “Tonight, it happens. The ritual to make you fully ours.”
As his heart pounded rapidly, Leo clutched Alasdair’s arm for support. “Is that why you’re done up like this?”
“It is.”
“And me? How am I to dress? The same?”
Alasdair leaned in and flicked his lobe with his tongue, and Leo sighed.
“Ohi. That is why I am here.”
“To help me dress?”
“Hmm. Or undress—depends how you choose to look at it.”
Gathering himself together, Leo pulled away and asked, “What about earlier? I’m sorry—”
“Shh,” Alasdair soothed while brushing their lips together. “All is well between us, Leonidas Chapel.”
Leo frowned. “And Vasilios?”
“Vasilios is part of us, is he not?”
As those words left Alasdair, Leo knew that something had changed, and he felt as though the three of them had finally clicked into place.
“He is.”
“Then come. We need to get you ready.” Alasdair released his wrist and walked to Vasilios’s closet.
Leo turned to watch him go. Then he took a breath, hoping to calm his racing heart.
This was it.
He was about to bind himself to these two males forever, and as his lips morphed into a satisfied grin, he realized he couldn’t wait.
ALASDAIR FOUND THE locked chest at the back of Vasilios’s closet and pulled it out to where Leo was watching him. He was resting his hip against the bed’s footboard, his eyes locked on his every move, and his easy smile relayed his happy mood. Alasdair wasn’t sure why he would care, but that expression on Leo’s face caused a deep sense of contentment in him.
As Leo pushed off the frame and walked his way, Alasdair unlocked the chest and opened it up. Inside was a folded piece of material he hadn’t seen in years, and when he reached for it, Leo asked, “So, is this going to happen at The Walk or…”
He picked the white fabric up, and when he raised his head, Leo’s gaze shifted to the garment.
“Is that—”
“My toga.”
Leo’s mouth opened in astonishment as he came closer. “The one from my visions?”
“Yes, file mou. The one I wore the night Vasilios turned me.”
When his face lit up as if he’d just shown him the Holy Grail, Alasdair held it out to him. The material was thick and heavy, but as Leo took it from him, he cradled it as if it were as light as a feather and just as delicate.
“This is…this is unbelievable,” he said, his voice full of awe. “I can’t believe I’m touching something so old.” When Leo’s eyes flew to his, he grimaced. “I mean—”
“I know what you mean, Leonidas. But you are not only touching it. Tonight, you shall wear it.”
Leo gasped as he brought the garment to him. “What?”
“It’s rather poetic, don’t you think? The symbolism of it all. Light to dark. And we will have both worn it when Vasilios took us for the first time.”
Leo clenched the material in his hands, and Alasdair’s mouth tipped up at the corners. Ahh, he likes that idea.
“So, umm…will this, umm…” Leo stuttered over his words, which was both endearing and arousing as Alasdair stepped around the chest. “Will this be taking place in The Walk?”
“No.”
“No?”
Alasdair shook his head. “No.”
“Then the Chamber?”
Alasdair let
his eyes rove over every inch of Leo. Hunger clawed at his gut each time he was near, and as they discussed their upcoming union, the restraint he usually enforced was close to being set free.
“Understand, Leonidas, you are…an anomaly. While we all take yieldings, often, the Ancients do not. The only permanent fixture in their lives are their first-sired. Until tonight.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
“I am now.”
Leo took a step towards him, and when their eyes met and his mouth parted on an exhale, Alasdair couldn’t help himself. He lowered his head and took those ripe lips with his own.
What changed? Leo pushed into his mind.
As Alasdair took his face in his hands, all he could think was, I did.
LEO CLOSED HIS eyes and let Alasdair slip inside his mouth and his mind. He’d changed? What did he mean by that?
A low growl rumbled from Alasdair, and it sounded content. It was affectionate. It was as if he were savoring him, not dominating him, yet Leo melted under the force of it.
His hands, which still clutched the toga, bumped into the silky hardness of Alasdair’s abdomen, and as Leo continued to lose himself, Alasdair pushed in his mind, Tonight, you will be ours and we will be yours. Tonight, you shall be worshipped.
Leo clutched one of Alasdair’s lapels, and when he raised his head, Alasdair told him, “Consider it our version of wine and dine.” And Leo thought his heart would fly out of his chest.
Needing a little distance, Leo disappeared into Vasilios’s bathroom, and around twenty minutes later, he was giving himself a final inspection and was astounded by what he saw.
Alasdair had left him to finish getting ready after he’d instructed him on how to drape and secure a toga as was custom back in… Well, nearly two thousand years ago.
The wool was heavy, not like the cotton sheets used at frat parties, and around his waist was a wide golden sash. The sandals on his feet had brown leather straps that wound around his calves and then tied in a secure knot to hold them in place. Underneath, he was wearing absolutely nothing.
He’d found in the cabinets beneath the sink an old palette of face paints and makeup he assumed Vasilios used for ceremonies like Alasdair had and decided he too would add a little highlighting. The end result, he had to admit, wasn’t bad at all.
He’d swept his blond hair into an organized mess atop his head, spikes going every which way, and complimented his grey eyes with a heavy kohl and blue shadow. There had been a time he would’ve worn this out to a club. Granted, the clothes would’ve been different, but all in all, he liked the way he looked.
Upon opening the door to the bedroom, he stepped out to see Alasdair leaning up against the mattress, waiting for him. He had his arms crossed over his chest, and when he caught sight of him, he stood to his full height.
“Well, what do you think?” Leo asked, spreading his arms out to his sides.
Alasdair walked over to him, and as his eyes traveled the length of his body, the love and approval in them caused a flush to heat every inch of Leo’s skin. That look was one he’d only ever dreamed a lover would give him.
“If I had breath in my lungs, file mou, you would’ve just taken it.”
The words that had just come from Alasdair had rendered him speechless. Nothing could’ve prepared him for the pleasure he experienced in that moment.
“We have to go. Vasilios is waiting on us.”
“Alasdair,” he said.
“What is it?”
“Will you have someone check on Elias and Paris for me?”
Alasdair nodded. “I saw Elias earlier today. He is quite well. You need not worry for him.”
“Oh,” Leo said. “Quite well? What does that mean?”
Alasdair’s eyes narrowed.
Leo asked, “Is he okay?”
“He is. Though he won’t want to walk down any dark corridors on his own any time soon.”
Understanding dawned then. Although Elias was alive, nearly all who resided within this lair wished him dead—as well as himself.
“What about Paris?”
“He was detained in the holding cell by the Assembly Hall.”
“All this time?” Leo asked.
“It has only been one day, file mou. However, if you’d like, I will ask Eton to check on him this evening after he visits with Thanos. Will that make you feel better?”
Leo knew what a huge deal it was for Alasdair to relent this much. So he walked over to him and took his hand.
“It would. Do you know what would make me feel even better?”
As one of Alasdair’s painted eyebrows rose, he said, “I have many theories on that. But I can see we are not thinking along the same lines. So hurry and tell me so we can move on from this subject.”
“I’d like to see them. Elias and Paris. Do you think I would be able to sit down and talk to them?”
“Out of the question.”
“But—”
“Leonidas,” Alasdair said, his tone steadfast. “I said no.”
Leo had figured that that would be the answer, especially after Elias’s announcement of what they were and his own little heat signature display. Alasdair and Vasilios would probably never let them be in the same room again. Well, it’d been worth a shot.
“Okay. Then let’s go and find Vasilios. He’s waiting for us, isn’t he?”
Leo thought Alasdair would fade them out of the room and over to the Chamber. Instead, he opened the bedroom door and ushered him out into the hall.
When he looked at him curiously, Alasdair said, “The sooner the members of this lair see you with me—and, consequently, Vasilios—the better. You will not be hidden.”
“But still not free to wander.”
“Not unless you wish to take your life into your hands. You are not well liked around here. No matter if you mean us harm or not. Then there is the whole heated-hands-and-blood thing. This is merely a way to let them know whom you belong to if they should come across you. It will make them think twice before touching you, as will the ritual that is about to take place.”
Leo could understand that. He took the offered hand and tried to lighten the mood. “What? No handcuffs tonight?”
As Alasdair’s cool fingers enclosed his, he pushed into his mind, Maybe they will come later.
Leo couldn’t help the grin that crossed his mouth. He sure hoped so.
ALASDAIR REVELED IN the warmth that emanated from Leo’s palm. The man had definitely been kissed by the sun—or, in actuality, the sun god.
When he’d stepped out of the bathroom, Alasdair had found it difficult not to fall to his knees and repent. Repent for all the atrocities he had committed in his life if only for the chance to touch him. Then Leo had reached out and touched him instead.
Leonidas Chapel was pure light. From the golden tips of his hair to the perfect skin covering his body. And Alasdair wanted nothing more than to take him to Vasilios and make him theirs.
When they stopped outside the doors to the Chamber, Leo was shuffling from one foot to the other—the man was nervous. He had reason to be. What was about to happen would forever change his life.
When he looked at him and those remarkable grey eyes found his, Alasdair swiped his thumb over his lips.
“Wait here until the doors open.”
When he released his hand and stepped away, Leo asked, “And then?”
“Then you make your final choice.”
That was all he said before he faded inside the Chamber.
AS ALASDAIR VANISHED, Leo instinctively grabbed for him. God, why am I so nervous? He’d been around these two before, but he had a feeling that whatever was about to take place was going to be extreme and overwhelming.
He swallowed, trying to push a gulp of air past the massive lump of nerves in his throat, as he stood silently before the lofty doors. What was behind them? Alasdair? Yes, he figured that was where the vampire had disappeared to. And Vasilios? Would the rest of the lair be the
re too? All of those eyes that had been on Elias in the Assembly Hall—would they now be observing him? If yes, then what?
As questions continued to fill his head, the doors opened to the same walkway he’d dragged Elias down yesterday. At the far end, two males were up on the raised dais.
Vasilios and Alasdair.
Leo looked to the left and the right of the cavernous space, and let out a sigh of relief when he saw that it was completely empty. As he waited for whatever would happen next, his palms started to sweat.
“Leonidas Chapel.” Vasilios’s powerful voice reverberated throughout the room, reaching him easily. “Come here to us. Let it be of your own accord.”
Leo gathered all the courage he possessed and put one foot in front of the other. As he walked farther into the Chamber, the doors behind him shut and he knew without a doubt that, the next time he left this place, his entire world would be irreversibly altered.
When he reached the stairs of the raised stage, Leo stared up at the two on it, awed by their grandeur. He’d believed them to be beyond anyone or anything he’d seen, but with them standing side by side and dressed as they were, Leo was rendered mute.
“Agóri, you are quite the sight to behold on this night,” Vasilios said as he strolled down the stairs and then stopped opposite him.
“So are you,” he managed as Vasilios ran a finger down the diagonal line of his toga.
“Ahh, Leonidas. Just when I thought I could not want you more, I am proven wrong. Does he not continue to please you, Alasdair? Every time you see him.”
As Alasdair came down to stand by Vasilios, he said, “He does. In all varieties of ways.”
Leo licked his bottom lip and lowered his lashes, suddenly feeling shy under the scrutiny of these two. God, they are just so intense. So fucking intense.
Then Vasilios stepped off the final stair, circled around behind him, and whispered, “We haven’t even started yet, agóri. Raise your eyes and see what will soon be yours.”
