“They are,” Kylian agreed, “but they use their abilities to kill other paranormals, to wit vampires. True, vampires aren’t human, but since we were the ones who located Nigel, I took it upon myself to make a unilateral decision to let him live. His reasoning is sound. He wants to protect others of his kind from them. I suppose it’s the age-old question of which evil, if you choose to use that word, is defensible and which one isn’t.”
“I guess that makes sense, even if protecting him is beyond the usual boundaries as far as what we do.”
“He isn’t killing humans,” Ronnie pointed out.
Brett nodded. “I’ll accept that.”
Chapter 10
“Now back to our regularly scheduled show, as they say on TV?” Brett asked as Kylian drove him home after they’d returned to Denver.
“Until the next time we need your particular skill. Or—” Kylian reached for Brett’s hand, “—until tonight. We could go out to dinner, to celebrate.”
“Celebrate?” Brett had the feeling Kylian didn’t mean their finding Nigel and bringing him into the company—if the vampire followed through with his promises.
“Our new relationship. The one we’re going to expand on, one step at a time.”
“I think dinner is a good second step,” Brett replied, remembering the kisses they’d shared the previous night. “Did you have somewhere in mind?”
“Nowhere specific. Why? Is there a restaurant you’d like to try out?”
“This might be courting danger, but I haven’t seen your place and if you cook and, okay, never mind. That’s probably the last thing you want to do.”
“Not at all,” Kylian replied, squeezing Brett’s hand before returning his full attention to driving. “I enjoy cooking, although I’m hardly a world-class chef.”
“I’m not, either, so I won’t complain if it’s burgers and fries.”
Kylian grinned. “Well, in that case, we can stop at a fast-food joint on our way.”
They didn’t. Fairly soon they were driving down a residential street. Kylian parked in front of a white, two-story house with deep blue trim along the eaves and around the windows and the deep blue front door—which had matching blue carriage lamps on either side of it. A towering tree stood on one side of the front lawn and Brett could see the top of another one, nearly as tall, behind the house.
“Not quite what I expected,” Brett said as they walked up the path to the front door.
“You figured I lived in a small cottage with strange plants surrounding it, behind a high stone wall? That is so yesterday—like a thousand yesterdays ago.”
Brett laughed. “Maybe?”
They stepped into a large entryway with dark oak flooring. To the left was the living room, with a very modern fireplace—a white sofa and two black leather chairs facing each other in front of it. To the right, up three stairs, were glass-paned double doors. Brett could see what he presumed was Kylian’s home office behind them.
The rest of the ground floor was equally as modern. The dining room had a long white table with six black chairs. The kitchen, with stainless-steel appliances and a hardwood topped island, was off to the left. Between the living and dining rooms was a flight of stairs with a surrealistic wrought-iron railing going to up to the second floor.
There was a second flight of stairs between the kitchen and what Kylian called the television room at the rear of the house. It had one wall which was all windows, with a door leading to the back yard.
“I didn’t figure you for having such a contemporary home,” Brett said when they’d finished the tour of the ground floor. He took a seat at the island in the kitchen as Kylian began to get food from the fridge.
“I like the openness, the freedom.”
Kylian turned on a burner, put a cast iron frying pan on it, heated some olive oil, then added shrimp. While they cooked, he sliced an avocado and grated some pepper jack cheese after putting taco shells in the oven to warm. By then the shrimp were almost ready. He added enchilada sauce and let them simmer.
“Can I help?” Brett asked.
“Yep. Plates and silverware are there, and there.” Kylian pointed then got bowls for the shrimp, sour cream, and pico de gallo, putting them on the island.
When everything was ready, they put together their tacos. Brett spooned some of the pico de gallo on his first one, took a bite, and sucked in a breath. “Okay, this is hot.” He quickly spooned more sour cream on before taking another bite.
Kylian laughed, getting out two beers, handing one to Brett as he said, “This will help, wuss.”
“Me, a wuss? Not even. Remember, I used to live in New Orleans with its multiple varieties of hot sauces. I’m an old hand at it. But I wasn’t expecting it here.”
“Someday I’ll take you to Danny Cash, a shop I frequent that has sauces so hot you’ll wonder if your taste buds will survive.”
“Sounds like my kind of place,” Brett replied, lying through his teeth. He had no objection to spicy food, but there were limits. Anything involving habanero chilies was about his limit.
Kylian changed the subject, asking, “What are you working on now?”
Knowing what he meant, Brett replied, “I have several commissions, and I’m in the midst of creating a series of paintings which appear to be just cityscapes until you look closely at them. Then you’ll see the other beings that hide in the shadows.”
“They sound interesting. Now you can add vampires.”
“Oh, I have. I’ve done them and elves, although they’re more obviously that than you are. Also, men in the process of shifting into their animal forms. A mermaid is barely visible in a park lake. Tiny fairies, who seem to be bugs until you take a closer look, are flitting through the flowers in a botanical garden.”
“Have you found a gallery to show them?”
“Yep. They already have several of my pieces.” He told Kylian which gallery and the elf promised to check it out.
When they finished eating, Brett said he should probably have Kylian take him home so they could both get some well-earned rest. Not that he wanted to since he was enjoying the fact they were able to be together without any tension. Well, other than of the sexual kind in my case. Not much I can, or will do about that.
Apparently Kylian wasn’t about to let the evening end quite yet because he countered Brett’s suggestion by saying they could watch a movie on Netflix first. After a moment’s thought, and against his better judgment, Brett decided he had no problem with the idea, although he did warn Kylian that he might fall asleep halfway through. “As I said, it’s been a long day.”
“It has, but a successful one,” Kylian replied as they went into the TV room. When they were settled on the sofa, Kylian skimmed through what was available. He grinned as he suggested LOTR or one of several vampire movies that came up.
“How about a comedy,” Brett said. “Something that doesn’t take a brain to watch.”
They found one they agreed wouldn’t tax their minds or turn them into blithering idiots. As it turned out, it was funny enough to keep Brett awake. Halfway through it, Kylian moved nearer, putting his arm around Brett’s shoulders, and then took advantage of Brett’s turning toward him to kiss him.
“Are you coming on to me?” Brett asked a bit breathlessly when the kiss ended.
“Just letting you know that last night was not an aberration.”
“I would hope not,” Brett replied before instigating his own kiss. By the time they broke apart, Brett was seriously thinking of suggesting Kylian show him the second floor—which they’d avoided doing by tacit agreement when they first got to the house. He didn’t, because he knew what would happen if they went upstairs. It’s too soon he told himself.
If Kylian’s expression—a mix of desire and caution—was any indication, he felt the same way. His words reinforced it when he said, “We’d better slow down.”
“It would probably be a good idea,” Brett agreed.
“But will we?” Ky
lian accented his question by starting to unbutton Brett’s shirt.
“Kylian…” Brett cautioned.
* * * *
Kylian put a finger to Brett’s lips. “I only want to find out if the body beneath your shirt is as fine as I remember.” Without waiting for a reply, he finished what he’d been doing, before pushing the shirt off Brett’s shoulders. Then he leaned back, his gaze raking over Brett’s torso. “It is, and then some.” He lightly traced his fingertips over the taut muscles, smiling when he felt Brett tremble under his touch.
Brett sucked in a breath then said with an obviously feigned smirk, “I hate to tell you but I’m not ticklish.” He quickly undid the top button on Kylian’s shirt. “Are you?”
“Only one way to find out.”
It took a matter of seconds for Brett to finish unbuttoning Kylian’s shirt. “Much better than I imagined,” he murmured. “Lean and lithe. Oh, the pictures I could paint with you as the subject. Bow in hand, slipping silently through a forest, wearing only a pair of tight britches. Or—”
Kylian stopped him with a kiss, laughing against his lips. “I don’t think I own britches, tight or otherwise.”
“I have a vivid imagination,” Brett replied when the kiss ended. “Too vivid sometimes.”
Kylian’s breath hitched when he picked an image from Brett’s mind. ‘“You’re not shielding.”
Brett smiled. “Maybe I let you see that.”
“You’re evil.” The image was of Kylian spread naked on the lush coverlet of a bed. Brett was kneeling over him, his hand about to grip Kylian’s erect cock.
“Is it evil to want you so badly I can’t imagine life without you now?” Brett asked softly.
“No,” Kylian whispered—and realized he felt the same. “It won’t be easy.”
“I know.” Brett eased Kylian against his chest, stroking his hair. “Especially for you. You’ll live on, long after I’m gone, which isn’t fair to you.”
“It’s my choice,” Kylian replied, turning to brush his lips over Brett’s. “That is, if you’re willing.”
“I’ve never met a man I wanted more than I want you. We can make it work…can’t we?”
Kylian nodded. “I believe…No, I know we can.” He touched Brett’s cheek, asking with a bright smile, “Would you really paint me like that, if I let you?”
“Handsome as a god in your nakedness? You bet I would. But—” Brett tapped Kylian’s nose, “—it would only be for us. We’ll hang it over your bed.”
Kylian smiled wickedly. “Which you haven’t seen, yet.”
Brett laughed in obvious delight. “I live in hope.”
Getting to his feet, Kylian held out his hand. Brett took it and Kylian led him upstairs.
* * * *
“I knew making love with you would be like this,” Brett murmured much later that evening. “But then, as I said, I have a vivid imagination.”
“Now you, no, we don’t have to imagine any more. I’ve had my own dreams of what it would be like, and this far surpassed even the best of them.” Kylian moved from Brett’s embrace, resting on one elbow to look at him. “I won’t say I’m in love with you. It’s too soon. I know I care deeply for you and would be bereft if you ever decided to walk away from what we have now.”
“That will never happen,” Brett replied. “As much as we fought it, I think we knew from the beginning we belonged together.”
Kylian shook his head. “You never fought it. You backed away when you thought I couldn’t accept the possibility of having a man in my life who was human. You were right about that. I didn’t accept it. It went against everything I believed, despite knowing my father loved, and married, a human woman. I was stupid to deny my feelings.” He leaned down to kiss Brett. “I know that now.”
“As long as you remember it when we get into an argument,” Brett replied with a smile. “Which will happen. We’re only…well, I can’t say human because you’re more than human.”
“I am, but my emotions are quite human. All of us, paranormals and humans, feel the same things when it comes to relationships.” Kylian winced. “Good lord I sound like a psychiatrist, or something.”
Brett laughed. “Sort of? I get what you mean, though. Love, hate, all the emotions in between? We all share them, no matter what we are. Okay, maybe Mr. Spock didn’t, but he’s an anomaly.”
“Star Trek, right? The character with ears like mine?”
“Umm, yeah. Do not tell me you’ve never watched the show or seen the movies.”
Kylian bit his lip. “Would that be a deal-breaker?”
“No. It means you are going to get a crash course on the show. Not tonight, though. Right now, we’re going to make love again, to prove the first time can be improved upon.”
“While I doubt that,” Kylian grinned, “I’m more than willing to be proven wrong.”
* * * *
After finally admitting he and Brett belonged together, Kylian felt whole, for the first time in his very long life. He was aware that in time he’d be alone again—they both accepted it. It was inevitable.
“When it happens, when I die, and I will,” Brett said one evening, several years into their relationship, “I want you to promise me that you won’t grieve for too long. Remember me, but move on. Find someone new to love and give them your heart as you’ve given it to me.”
“I’ll try,” Kylian replied, feeling disconsolate at the idea that too soon he would be alone without the man he loved.
“No, my love, you will!” Brett held him tightly, gazing into his eyes. “For you, for me, for what we mean to each other, you will.” Brett kissed him softly, then pulled back to look at him, grinning. “Make it so.”
Kylian laughed, his sadness dispelled. “You had to go there, didn’t you?”
“Of course—Mr. Spock.”
With that, they moved on to what they’d been doing—which was undressing before going to bed to make love.
Afterward, Kylian vowed that he would do his best to fulfill Brett’s ‘command’. For him, for the love we share, I will. It will be hard, finding someone like him, but…
“But you will,” Brett murmured.
Kylian grumbled, “Stay out of my mind,”
Brett gathered him into his arms. “I wasn’t prying. You were broadcasting loud and clear. Not a bad thing, usually. It lets me know, even more than words, that you do love me as much as I love you.”
“Always and forever. You’ll always have a part of my heart, if I do find someone new, sometime in the future.”
“That’s all I ask, that you don’t forget me.”
“Never,” Kylian promised. True to his word, he didn’t. Even when, long after Brett’s death, he found someone new to love, Brett held a place in his heart and would until the day his own life ended.
THE END
ABOUT EDWARD KENDRICK
Born and bred in Cleveland, I earned a degree in technical theater, later switched to costuming, and headed to NYC. Finally seeing the futility of trying to become rich and famous in the Big Apple, I joined VISTA—Volunteers in Service to America—ending up in Chicago for three years. Then it was on to Denver where I put down roots and worked as a costume designer until I retired in 2007.
I began writing a few years ago after joining an online fanfic group. Two friends and I then started a group for writers, where they could post any story they wished no matter the genre or content. Since then, for the last five years, I’ve been writing for publication—my first book came out in February of 2011. Most, but not all, of my work is M/M, either mildly erotic or purely ‘romantic.’ More often than not it involves a mystery or action/adventure, and is sometimes paranormal to boot.
For more information, visit edwardkendrick.blogspot.com.
ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC
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