by Eden Bradley
“None. Although it seems familiar, somehow.”
“Tell me when you were made.”
“1969.”
“A hundred years,” Ramsey murmured.
“Yes.”
“And in that whole century you have not drunk wine?”
“No.”
“What else have you been denied? Or denied yourself? What kind of life must you have led?”
“A life of freedom,” he said, the words coming out more harshly than he’d intended, the old anger burning.
Ramsey sipped from his glass, and Rogue couldn’t help but watch the movement of his throat as he swallowed—something so purely sensual the rage in his system died and was replaced by a lust that burned even more brightly.
“Do you think it is freedom to live outside the company of other vampires?” Ramsey asked. “Were you never lonely?”
“Always,” he answered, unable to stop himself. What was it about this alluring Ramsey that made him want to share so much?
“Then perhaps it is fate that has brought you here.”
“What brought me here was curiosity and the challenge of penetrating your walls. You still believe in fate? How can that be so?”
“Yes, more now than I ever did as a human.” Ramsey looked out over the still lake. “I no longer believe that our actions alone determine the course of our lives, as I did as a mortal. How can I when I am so irrevocably…this?”
“You think it was fated that you were Turned?” Rogue scoffed.
“Perhaps.”
He wasn’t sure what Ramsey was doing, where this conversation was leading. Was he merely toying with him before meting out punishment for attempting to take what wasn’t his? Was he actually showing pity? Mercy? That was something Rogue was unused to.
“Not that I mind the wine or the philosophical discussion, but why? Why would you bother with me?”
“Why would I not?”
“Because I am, as you have made so clear, a rogue vampire. One of those who wanders the world by my own rules rather than yours or those of your dear Council. Because rogues don’t mingle with other vampires. And because I have always been…no one.”
Ramsey turned back to him, his expression radiating a kindness Rogue could barely comprehend. “Having no name is not the same thing as being no one, Rogue. You exist. You need. You breathe and drink and feel, whether you will admit that to me or not. I would give you a name if you would have one.”
Rogue shook his head. “I appreciate your generous offer, but I’ve grown accustomed to this one.”
“Rogue it is, then.” Ramsey licked his lips, which were full. Beautiful. “Try your wine.”
He sipped, and the liquid—the only other he’d ever drunk aside from blood—was light and lovely and sweet.
“Good?” Ramsey asked.
“Yes.”
“You can have more, if you like.” He paused, watched as Rogue licked the wine from his lips. Ramsey’s expression shifted, so subtly it took several moments to recognize that it was lust gleaming in his gaze, making the pupils widen until his eyes were nearly black. “Or I can have you.”
In a flash the older vampire was kneeling over him on the couch, pressing him down into the cushions. Ramsey’s gaze glittered with danger and desire. Rogue’s body went molten hot, his cock hardening in an instant.
Oh yes, Ramsey could have him—could do almost anything to him. And Rogue was certain he would.
Whatever punishment might be in store for him, this would certainly be worth it.
Chapter Two
Ramsey used one fingertip to press Rogue down, using a pressure point in the center of his beautifully molded chest. The young vampire watched him with his lovely turquoise eyes. Oh he was pretty. The eyes with their long golden lashes, and the lush, angry mouth—the only feature on his face that prevented him from being too pretty. But oh, how pretty he was...
He reached out and stroked a hand over Rogue’s dark blond hair that flowed in shining waves to his shoulders. It was as soft and silky as any vampire’s would be, but there was something luxurious in the length of it that he frankly loved. He wrapped a lock in his fist.
Rogue started to shake his head, to shake his hand off, maybe, but Ramsey silenced him with a warning look. Rogue bit his lip, releasing the plump flesh moment by moment, a small rage burning in his eyes, in the hard set of his mouth. Ramsey’s cock went hard, then harder. And as much because it was mind fuck as it was his own desire to do it, he raised Rogue’s wrist to his lips, bared his teeth and bit.
His vampiric blood was lovely, intoxicating. Even better that he struggled against Ramsey’s superior strength, but it only made Ramsey draw more deeply. It only made his cock twitch with a need that burned like a raging fire in his veins. And with the primal sexuality of the blood came the images of his life—this young vampire who had no name but Rogue.
Fear was the first thing he felt, then a slowly clearing darkness. A narrow hallway, the linoleum peeling beneath piles of rotting and crumpled newspapers. A bare light bulb hung above, but it didn’t work. Nothing did. The place had emptied out a long time ago—all except for the lost, like him—those who had no place else to go. Who didn’t care.
How could he care when he didn’t know? Who he was, or where or why. All he knew was the strangeness of his own body—he knew something was horribly, brilliantly wrong—and this aching, stinging need to drink…blood.
And God in heaven, he’d drained that girl of life the other day—how many days? He didn’t know. It felt endless. No sleep. No rest from the haunting image of her dying in his arms.
His fault.
He was a murderer.
He’d needed.
What’s worse, he still did. More. Worse. Harder.
Fuck.
Was he dying? Maybe he already had, and this was the hell he’d been condemned to. He certainly deserved it. He’d killed the girl. Killed her! Didn’t matter that she’d been well on her way to dying, anyway. Not his choice to make. Not his choice. He wasn’t God. He didn’t know what the hell he was.
Something different.
Something awful.
He would vomit out his anger and grief and regret had there been anything in his stomach. Instead he began to keen, then to yell, until it turned into a long scream that echoed in his own ears…
Ramsey yanked Rogue’s wrist from his lips. “Enough!”
He couldn’t bear to see any more, to feel any more.
Rogue looked up at him, the blood lust on his lovely face—a face that would have been almost effeminate if he hadn’t been so full of rage, he was that beautiful. No more than nineteen or twenty when Turned.
Barely a man.
Ramsey stroked a hand over Rogue’s jaw, and the young vampire turned his face into his palm and bit him.
A small, searing pain—enough to make his cock jump, to remind him that despite this fledgling’s pain he had lived a hundred years. He was a man. A vampire. And they both wanted.
But he would not let him drink.“No!”
With a roar Ramsey threw him to the hard marble floor and in moments Rogue’s clothes were in shreds. Mon Dieu, but his body was beautiful to behold—all long limbs and gorgeously polished pale skin, his cock a shaft of pure, hard ivory. He reached out to touch the tip, to stroke with his fingertips, and felt Rogue’s silent shudder. He pressed his fingers to one dark pink nipple, plump and luscious against the fair, fair skin. He pinched, hard. Rogue moaned, began to struggle but Ramsey held him down with one hand flat against the center of his smooth chest.
“You like the pain, do you Rogue?”
“I do,” he answered, a little fire in his tone. A small challenge.
“Then you should like this.”
He tore the front of his slacks to get to his own stiff cock, shoved Rogue’s thighs apart and plunged into his ass.
He felt the skin tear, heard Rogue’s howl of pain, of pleasure. Felt those desperate hands scratching at his hips, his thig
hs. None of that mattered—only fucking him hard and fast and merciless, as cruelly as this luscious young Rogue clearly needed it.
He was filling up with pleasure, driving hard into the younger vampire, knowing had he fucked a human in this way they would have been dead almost instantly. That made it even better for him—to know that he pushed those boundaries even with vampire flesh.
When Rogue reached for his shoulders Ramsey grabbed his wrists in one hand, held them over his head. Fucked him harder, his hips slamming into him. And oh, the exquisite feel of Rogue’s young ass, like a velvet sheath around his pounding cock.
The young vampire kicked at him, his feet finding his ribcage, pounding on the back of his thighs. Ramsey didn’t know if it were any kind of true struggle or simply the primal need to fight, the more primal need to open his ass to him even more, or the lost animal struggle of sex and power, the blood and the driving, screeching lust.
“You’re fucking tearing me apart,” Rogue gasped, bucking and kicking, but whether to try to throw him off him or draw him deeper into his youthful body, Ramsey wouldn’t have known had Rogue’s cock not been pulsing so hard.
He grasped the heavy shaft in his hand, squeezed the head with his fingertips.
“Yes, mon cher. And you love it.”
In answer Rogue only closed his eyes, muttered, “Fuck you.”
Ramsey felt the gleeful grin on his face as his climax approached. He held it back as he continued to pump, hovering at that edge, his body undulating with the first waves of orgasm, his vision blurring, hazed with the blood lust. His grin turned into a teeth-baring howl—pleasure and pain and a touch of fury rushing through him like some intoxication liqueur. He plunged to sink his fangs in to Rogue’s sweet young neck.
Christ, he was coming so damn hard he thought he might die, if he could. It fucking hurt, it felt so damn good—Ramsey’s thick cock piercing him again and again, a hard, savage fucking the likes of which he’d never had, and realized at that moment he’d always craved. That gorgeous mouth latched onto his neck, sucking and sucking.
“Ah…damn it. Fuck you,” he said again.
“No, my darling,” Ramsey panted against his throat, still coming, shivering with it. “Fuck you.”
He arched his hips, ramming into him once more, so hard he swore he could feel the head of his cock in his belly.
God, the pleasure…And the smell of blood was everywhere in the air—that earthy, metallic scent that was particular to the vampires, as if tainted with silver and gold, mercury and the press of endless centuries.
Ramsey’s teeth pierced his throat, sucking, drinking.
He turned his head and went for the older vampire’s arm, his teeth sinking in.
“No!” Ramsey tore his arm away. “You will not have my blood.”
But he was too lost in the spiraling ecstasy of climax to care as Ramsey fucked him, milking his cock with his strong hand. He closed his eyes and let the last shimmering waves tremble through him.
Finally Ramsey released his cock, and got up to pace before the windows, gloriously naked. Rogue rested on one elbow, watching him.
“Why will you not share your blood with me?” he asked. “Is this some power play?”
Ramsey kept his back to him. “I have no need of such things when it comes to the blood. When it is power play you will know it—you did know it. I am older than you, stronger. And this place is mine. Why would I need to prove anything?”
“You tell me.”
Ramsey turned back to him, his eyes gleaming dangerously. “Do not think because I’ve fucked you that I will be lenient with you, young one, or that I will accept disrespect. I owe you nothing.”
“And whatever I owe you for trespassing you took out in rather enjoyable trade, which I believe evens the playing field, does it not?”
Ramsey chuckled, breaking the tension. “Oh, you are full of yourself.”
Rogue grinned at him, letting his fangs show. “Ah, you discover my evil secret. And I was working so industriously to conceal it.”
“Not so secret, trust me.” Ramsey nodded at him. “Now get up and let’s finish our wine.”
“As the king commands.”
“I would happily make you pay for that remark, Rogue. In fact, you should know you will be made to pay for your poaching on my herds either way.”
“Again?” Rogue sat up, bracing his arms around his bent knees. “I hope that’s a promise.”
Ramsey advanced on him and Rogue’s cock twitched as he was yanked to his feet.
“Wine now, more fucking later,” he growled.
“As you wish.”
He kept to his normal cocky tone, but this vampire’s touch burned into him, desire heating his blood, his skin. And naked as he was, he knew Ramsey saw it in his hardening flesh. But he saw, as well—and the older vampire’s dark cock was a beautiful thing, long and thick.
Wine first.
Damn it.
Ramsey sat on the velvet sofa, all stark, raw male beauty, a contrast against the elegant delicacy of the furniture. Not that Ramsey himself wasn’t elegant—he was as elegant as he was primal. It was a combination that made Rogue’s blood heat in a way it never had before.
He commanded his cock to calm as he followed Ramsey’s imperial gesture and sat down next to him. Ramsey refilled their glasses from the decanter and drank deeply. Rogue sipped, the liquid still strange on his tongue.
Finally he asked, “So, is it your habit to drink your wine in silence? Or was there something you wanted to talk with me about?”
“I want to know more about you, Rogue.”
“Such as…?”
“Such as where you come from.”
“All over.”
Ramsey’s hand shot out and gripped the back of Rogue’s neck, squeezing just hard enough to hurt. To command. He hated that he felt commanded by his touch. But it was undeniable. Undeniable and arousing. He loved it.
“Do not play with me, Rogue. You will answer my questions.”
He shrugged. “Fine. Ask.”
“Tell me where you came from,” Ramsey repeated. “You are obviously English. Where were you made?”
He nodded. That at least he could answer. “London.”
Ramsey let his hand slip away. “And after your Turning?”
“I’ve been traveling for years. France, Berlin, Prague, Rome.”
Ramsey’s piercing green gaze narrowed. “All of the cities you’ve named hold a Midnight Playground club.”
Rogue nodded carefully. “Yes, though I haven’t made it to Amsterdam.”
“Is there some reason why?”
“It was to be next on my list.”
“Which you tell me without hesitation.”
“Why shouldn’t I? You’ve caught me. You know I am not here as a member of your club. I don’t belong to any of the clubs.”
“And why not? It seems you gravitate to them with suspicious frequency.”
Rogue shrugged one shoulder carelessly. “I don’t like authority.”
“Don’t you?” Ramsey asked, heat burning in his gaze. “You liked it well enough as I held you down and shoved my cock in your ass.”
He laughed. “Sex is another matter entirely, isn’t it? Being overpowered…that’s the novelty for our kind. So novel it’s liberating. Don’t tell me you don’t love it when an older vampire takes you, Ramsey, owner of this place or not. We are vampires. We do not discriminate when it comes to sex, other than that our lovers be beautiful.”
“True enough. But if you had any ideas about fucking me—”
“Of course not. Not unless you chose to allow it.” He smiled slowly, his fangs nicking his bottom lip. “You might at some point, you know. It’s happened before.” He leaned toward the older vampire, his elbows resting on his bare knees, lowering his voice. “I’ve fucked older, more powerful vampires than you, Ramsey. They have gone down on their knees or spread their legs to have me ravage them, males and females alike.” He sat back. “I
’m told I have my charms.”
Ramsey rose to his feet, standing before him, his long, hard cock inches from Rogue’s mouth. “Show me your charms now, young one,” he commanded, grabbing a fistful of Rogue’s hair.
Rogue licked his lips, eyeing the gorgeous shaft of flesh. “Gladly.”
He would have said more but Ramsey shoved his cock between his lips.
Rogue moaned as his mouth was filled with succulent cock. He let his tongue circle the head before swallowing the entire length of the shaft.
“Suck,” Ramsey demanded.
He obliged, sucking hard, the head of Ramsey’s thick cock hitting the back of his throat. He wrapped his hand around the base, using it to try to control the surging in and out, but Ramsey’s hand fisted tightly in his hair as he began to fuck his mouth in vicious strokes, only slowing when Rogue’s fangs tore at his flesh.
“Don’t you dare bite me.”
But he wouldn’t have tried. He didn’t want to ruin this—the older vampire’s gorgeous, succulent cock between his lips…oh, it was too good. And he knew perfectly well Ramsey was twice as strong as he was. He gloried in that idea as he sucked him, as Ramsey began to groan with pleasure.
Rogue’s own cock was hard as steel, pulsing with need. He reached down and began to stroke himself, his hips moving in rhythm with the punishing pace the older vampire had set. Pleasure was a tight coil in his belly, in his balls.
Oh, yes…
Ramsey plunged, faster and faster, his hand holding Rogue’s head in place. He was choking, barely able to breathe. He loved every moment of it—the act of handing himself over to this kind of power, even as Ramsey grew weaker with pleasure as his climax neared. And Rogue was working his own cock with his hand, arching into his fist.
He felt Ramsey’s cock pulse against his tongue before the vampire bucked his hips, crying out as he came. He drank it down, that lovely vampire come tinged with the metallic taste of blood—all he would get from him for now. That earthy flavor had his own cock pulsing into his palm, pleasure white hot against his cool, preternatural hand.
Ramsey’s cock was still choking him. He groaned around it, the groan turning into a growl as his orgasm ripped through him.
