Heliotropic 3: To the Light

by Mardi Ballou

  Heliotropic 3: To the Light

  Mardi Ballou

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright ©2006 Mardi Ballou

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  ISBN (10) 1-59596-443-6

  ISBN (13) 978-1-59596-443-4

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  Editor: Katriena Knights

  Cover Artist: Fabiano Fabris

  This e-book file contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language which some may find offensive and which is not appropriate for a young audience. Changeling Press E-Books are for sale to adults, only, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

  Prologue

  Planet Apoll’ex, Late Winter 2758, C.E.

  “I’m Solar Calor, your assigned guide to Apoll’ex. Is this your first time visiting our planet, sir?” The guide looked at Ideg Retkove with polite welcome, but, Retkove sensed, little curiosity or real interest. Sir? The title irked him, though he realized he must look incredibly ancient to the young blond Adonis serving as his guide.

  Retkove restrained himself from overtly seducing Solar Calor. For now, he’d rely on vampiric hypnotism to bring the gorgeous guide under his spell. He figured fucking an Apollan and sampling his blood would help make him feel very welcome on this paradisiacal planet, the place he’d dreamed of coming to for centuries.

  Solar Calor fell under his spell promptly. Retkove smiled to himself. Unlike the Earthlings, who’d banished his kind to one sector of the miserable hellhole, the Apollans had no resistance to vampires. Of course, they had no experience of vampires either. If he played his cards right, he could feast on the pleasures of Apoll’ex for ages before anyone realized he was here and tried to limit him. Of course, he’d have to be careful not to draw much attention to himself and, above all, not to damage any of the Apollans irreparably. He could spell them just right so no one would ever remember being with him.

  Solar’s large blue eyes looked appropriately blank. His generous lips were parted. Everything about him looked relaxed except the glorious erection tenting up his loose garment.

  Retkove licked his lips. He wanted that large throbbing dick inside him. And he wanted to put his own cock inside the Apollan, which he’d accomplish as soon as he managed to get it up. Eyes fastened on Solar’s magnificence, Retkove felt the welcome stirrings of a hard-on. At last.

  Retkove knelt to take Solar’s cock in his mouth. Secure in his control of the interaction, Retkove could enjoy the seemingly submissive position for the limited time it would take to make the man come. Solar clutched Retkove’s head and pressed him closer. The Apollan moved his hips appropriately, if somewhat woodenly. Hell, everything the Apollan did felt wooden. Was this disappointing stiffness the reality of the legendary planet, or was Solar’s lack of liveliness an effect of being hypnotized?

  Retkove should have included inspired fucking in the spell. Too late this time. Still in automaton mode, Solar managed to come. Retkove, filled with curiosity about everything Apollan, swallowed the other man’s come. Solar scarcely reacted.

  After helping his erection along with some hand strokes, Retkove got behind Solar. One of Retkove’s dreams had been to experience the Apollan talent for self-lubing. He stuck the head of his cock at the opening in Solar’s butt crease and, to his gratification, confirmed the accuracy of this part of the legend. His cock slid right into Solar’s tight, warm passage.

  Retkove anchored his hands around the Apollan’s now flaccid cock and rubbed while he thrust repeatedly in and out of the young man’s ass. Sexual pleasure warmed Retkove, though he couldn’t manage to lose himself and quiet his chattering mind while he fucked the Apollan.

  The swift arrival of his climax took him by surprise. In a sense, Retkove felt like he was almost as much on automatic pilot as Solar Calor. After all the build-up of having his dreams come true, of his being on Apoll’ex fucking an Apollan, the reality seemed to fall short. Maybe he needed the culmination of drinking the other man’s blood.

  Every part of the Apollan was gorgeous. Just the sight of his long neck sufficed to entice Retkove for the next step. His fangs throbbed as he lowered his face for the ultimate vampiric kiss. Though Apollans were genetically related to Earthlings, there were numerous adaptive differences. In Solar’s blood, Retkove tasted the sun, for him an exotic, piquant flavor that almost stilled his chattering brain. He’d come and he got to sample Apollan blood. How many men get to live out their dreams so vividly? Retkove kept reminding himself how ecstatic he should be. But by the time he’d healed Solar’s wound, he could no longer maintain the effort of telling himself how thrilled he was. He dismissed the guide. Spending any more time with the wooden Apollan would depress him.

  After the dazed Solar took his leave, Retkove stared up at the giant sun. He alone, Ideg Retkove, had accomplished the impossible. Because of his genius, vision and relentless pursuit of his goals, vampires could now not only tolerate sunlight but fully indulge in all the pleasures of exposure to the giant stars’ rays. His creation made it possible for him to be the first vampire ever on the sun-worshipping planet Apoll’ex. In later years, when others of his kind followed him here, they’d have him to thank, him to acknowledge. In addition to current pleasures, he’d enjoy future honors.

  So why couldn’t he abandon himself to the full celebration of his triumph? Why didn’t any of it bring him the joy and glory he’d anticipated?

  Despite himself, he acknowledged the wrench inside him when he acknowledged how damned empty he felt. Somehow, when he’d dreamed of his victory, he’d pictured his love by his side, sharing the glory. Val Cutter. The thought of Val, who’d perished with his companions in the explosion Retkove had set off in his lab, still pained him. He’d had to sacrifice his love because he’d never managed to win Val over.

  In the end, even though Retkove had created the miracle serum, he’d failed with Val. He’d never been able to show Val who he really was, that they were fated to be together. And now Val was gone. Retkove faced eternity with the great gift of freedom to enjoy even sunlight -- but completely alone.

  Right. What good did it do to wallow in his lost fantasies?

  Maybe what he needed was to find another partner, pronto, one who offered a wider range of sexual prowess than Solar Calor. Determined to take full advantage of his new setting, Retkove set off on his hunt.

  Chapter One

  Somewhere in Space, Late Winter 2758, C.E.

  “How much longer till we get there?” Val Cutter grumpily asked his lover Paul de l’Astre. They were seated next to each other in the first-class section of a flight from Earth to Apoll’ex, Paul’s home planet. They’d been flying six hours, and Val’s claustrophobic instincts -- an anomaly for a being who’d spent much of his existence sleeping in a coffin -- were flaring.

  Paul ran a hand down Val’s leg and grinned when the fly of Val’s pants began to tent out. “The impatience of space travel virgins. Given the outdated transport available from Earth, we’re lucky we’ll get there while we’re still young enough to enjoy the pleasures of m
y home planet.”

  Val rolled his eyes. “We’re immortal and immutable, partner. We’re always going to be young enough to enjoy those pleasures.” He took Paul’s hand and laid it squarely on his burgeoning erection.

  “Thank the gods.” Paul turned the opening of Val’s fly into a ritual that nearly sufficed to make him come. But Val was happy he’d managed to hold on when Paul squeezed his balls and shaft, which went a long way to improving the quality of the flight. Val splayed his legs and thrust his hips, pressing his erection hard against Paul’s palm.

  “I have an idea on how to make the time pass lots faster,” Val murmured.

  “Hmm. I wonder what that could be.” Paul removed his hand from Val’s crotch and stroked his chin as if lost in thought.

  Val grabbed Paul’s hand and returned it to where it could do the most good. Then Val positioned his own hand between Paul’s thighs, took hold of the Apollan’s intriguing bulge, still clad, and began to play. “Oh, yeah,” Paul encouraged.

  “Geez, they’re at it again,” Trey Duke commented loudly to his lover, Soleil DuCosmos.

  “Good practice,” Soleil commented. “You Earthlings really should be in training to prepare for Apoll’ex. I’d say doing it a minimum of six times a day would be a good start.”

  “Six times?” Trey’s voice rose, and Val could imagine his eyebrows and dick following suit.

  Soleil, the youngest among them, chuckled. “And that’s not even talking about the nights.”

  Trey groaned in what Val recognized as his former lover’s response to a stirring erotic stimulus. “I appreciate your efforts to get this old-timer ready to meet new challenges… ahhh.” Soleil had just managed to shut Trey up, something of a minor miracle.

  Val felt more than happy to turn his attention back to Paul, who was rapidly becoming engrossed in their own diversions. Apollans had the reputation for being the most amazing lovers in the universe. Before he’d met and fallen for Paul, Val, a cynical Earthbound vampire, had dismissed all talk of the Apollans’ legendary prowess as hype. Since being with Paul, he’d come to realize the reality of an Apollan lover far surpassed the legendary lore. Thank the gods, as Paul would say.

  And it wasn’t just Paul who’d opened Val’s eyes to a whole new world of eroticism. When Val participated in the Earth version of the sex rituals with Trey and Soleil, Val could appreciate the prowess of a man he wasn’t and had never been in love with. Staggering.

  Paul was now really getting into it, crooning some soothing and exciting sounds as he expertly manipulated Val’s achingly turgid genitals. With Paul’s talented fingers and nails as the instrument, a simple hand job became an erotic adventure. Sometimes Val felt almost insecure about daring to make love with an Apollan who, after all, was used to the best. But Paul made a point of reassuring Val often on that point. Realizing Paul considered him a turn-on despite any shortcomings spurred Val on to new heights.

  Paul’s erection provided physical confirmation that Paul was getting as turned on as Val. Even confined by the pants of his travel costume, Paul felt huge and pulsing to Val’s questing hand. Val longed to free his lover’s cock from the cloth that covered it. He wanted to touch the soft skin that stretched to cover the straining rigidity of Paul’s excitement. But once he exposed Paul that way, Val would lose his own tenuous hold on restraint. Just the thought of touching Paul’s bare penis here in the first-class section of the transport brought Val to the edge of climax.

  “You coming?” Paul whispered. He eased his hand from Val’s crotch as if to extend their play.

  Val gritted his teeth. “Not yet,” he muttered, using all his focus to hold back.

  Paul circled Val’s glans with one finger, and Val bit down hard on his lip to keep from groaning like Trey. He didn’t want to share any of his reactions with the two other men, wanted to savor this time alone with Paul. After all, he didn’t know how much more of it there would be when they landed on Apoll’ex. Not only would Val face the competition of other Apollans, he knew the planet did not have a tradition of exclusive couples. Or vampires. They could be headed for rough waters as far as their relationship -- and much more -- went.

  “Mmm,” Paul purred, responding to the sudden increase of the pressure of Val’s hand on him as the spacecraft went through a pressure pocket.

  “Right there,” Val murmured. The pleasure of Paul’s touch pulsed through his bloodstream like some potent drug Val needed to have in order to live. Hooked on being with Paul, Val, who’d never excelled at sharing, had learned not only to tolerate the rituals they participated in with Trey and Soleil but to treasure them. Still, how would he manage once they got to Apoll’ex? How would he adjust to never having Paul completely to himself?

  As if he didn’t have enough to worry about being a vampire on a planet where his kind didn’t yet exist. Not only were he and Trey going to break that barrier, they were bringing back two Apollans whom they’d transformed. What kind of welcome would that get their group?

  Paul and Soleil kept assuring Val he’d do fine, that he’d quickly and easily adjust to the ways of Apoll’ex. They couldn’t begin to understand his concerns about their universally tolerant people’s response to their being vampires. Optimism did not occur naturally for Val. But, more than anything else he’d ever encountered in his long existence, he yearned to be with Paul in the kind of intimacy they’d shared while they’d had to struggle to keep out of Ideg Retkove’s clutches. Sometimes, weird as it felt to admit it even to himself, he almost missed that miserable time when they’d always had to be on the run. At least they’d been completely together.

  But hell, Val and Paul’s bond went beyond those adventures. Nothing in Val’s previous life and nothing on planet Earth had ever gotten to him like this man did. Once they’d been exposed to the serum -- Ideg Retkove’s serum -- that made them sunlight tolerant, going to Apoll’ex was the logical next step.

  Paul traced Val’s bulge, moving with excruciating slowness from the tip of his near-to-bursting cock to his scrotum. Val, who had none of his lover’s finesse at moments like this, was trying to modulate the pressure on Paul’s penis with the same expert teasing touch, but Val knew he’d never perfect the art of driving his lover as crazy as Paul drove him. “Harder,” Val muttered, the words wrenched from him. Paul raised an eyebrow and grinned inscrutably.

  “You mean like this?”

  “Geez,” he hissed as the first pulse of his orgasm exploded up through his shaft out the hole in his glans. He pulsed with a wet, sticky come that coated his dick and balls, his lower belly, the hem of his shirt and the back of the seat in front of them. “Nice big one,” Paul murmured. “That feels so amazing, I want to join you.” As Paul rocked his hips, his cock grew beneath Val’s hand.

  “Oh, yeah, baby. Give it all to me.” Val raked his fingernails over Paul’s shaft and licked his lips as Paul quivered. Val had to taste his lover, now. Far from following Paul’s ritual, Val must have set a speed record as he unzipped his lover’s fly. Leaning over Paul to take him in his mouth, Val was treated to the sight of Mt. Paul erupting. The wetness of his come as Val continued the massage spurred him on. Val wanted to lick Paul’s cock and balls dry, to taste his come in space, see if it was different than on Earth.

  But before Val could get his mouth where he wanted it, Paul lifted his chin and ran his tongue over his lips. Val could see Paul’s fangs gleam in anticipation. “I need to feed off you,” Paul whispered.

  Val’s heart squeezed. He loved how quickly and easily Paul had adjusted to vampiric rhythms. As Val had transformed Paul to save him from dying without securing his permission first, Val would always have some residual guilt. Paul had told Val over and over that he’d done the right thing, that he had no reason to suffer guilt, but Val couldn’t quite bring himself to completely believe him.

  But when Paul spontaneously wanted to feed as part of their lovemaking, Val got a hint of how it would feel to be free of regrets. Savoring the pleasure of Paul’s li
ps and teeth at his jugular, Val gave himself completely to his lover’s embrace. When Paul took his blood, Val experienced a rising tide of arousal -- like sex in pleasure and intensity but totally different. Every lick and swallow bonded them closer, made them into one being with two manifestations.

  The ecstatic look on Paul’s face exactly mirrored the joy flooding Val’s heart.

  Paul carefully tongued the wound on Val’s neck, the place where he’d just intimately reconfirmed their bond. Val’s anxiety about this wonderful opportunity that had come their way -- to go to Apoll’ex -- both charmed and, to some extent, distressed him. Why couldn’t Val share his wholehearted ecstasy at the prospect of his return home?

  “My turn,” Val murmured, his eyes glowing. Paul, who still remembered how Val had refrained from feeding the first times they made love, never took for granted this part of their lovemaking. His heartbeat accelerated as Val lowered his lips to the spot he favored. The plunge of Val’s fangs, the momentary shock of pain before the pleasure of the touch and the sexy pull of his drinking lips, thrilled Paul even more now than the first time.

  While Val fed from him, Paul tried to imagine how it would feel to complete this same process on Apoll’ex. Thrilled as he was at returning to his home planet with his lover -- which would have been impossible just a short time before -- Paul was surprised to realize he couldn’t completely get his mind around the reality of their approaching arrival. Ironic that the serum invented by the worst scumshit in the universe -- Ideg Retkove, the villain who’d forced Paul to endure physical torture and worse -- was what made their going to Apoll’ex possible.

  Paul hoped he’d be able to prepare mentally for his return to Apoll’ex with his Earthling vampire lover during the week-long journey home. Fortunately, fellow Apollan Soleil DuCosmos was traveling with him. The two of them could discuss their unique situation vis-à-vis Apoll’ex. Without Soleil, Paul would have found his aloneness unbearable.