City of Dragons: Of Flesh and Blood

by Wilder, Adrienne

  A small private smile curled on Farley’s lips. This was too easy. Too much fun.

  In places like this, control and power wasn’t about brute strength. It was about the ability to manipulate the need. And here, he was stronger than anyone. Only when he was back in front of the widest stretch of mirrors did he stop. If Heikman was watching he was about to get a show.

  A line of heat pressed against Farley’s back and words were warm at the nape of his neck. “You like what you see?”

  Farley rolled his eyes and caught sight of a moderate frame about the same size as his own chosen form. The smooth chocolate color of the Male’s skin was a shocking contrast to his blond crop of hair worn in short dreads. When the Male spoke again the words came flush against Farley’s ear. “I like what I see.”

  “I aim to please.” Farley took the hand offered to him and raked his tongue across the palm. The Male pulled in closer, opened his mouth and drew in the scent from Farley’s skin as he fondled the scar on his shoulder.

  “You belong…” His eyes flicked up, swimming gold. “To Whom Do You Belong?” Farley wasn’t about to start throwing around names. Instead of giving an answer he leaned in close and exhaled his breath across the Dark Male’s parted mouth. In response the Male curled his lips, flashing fang. His throat worked to swallow the scent down. “Mmmm—that’s nice.” His erection pushed against Farley’s hip. “A little more please…” Farley did it again and the Male made a deep thrumming sound.

  More joined in. Farley turned to each of them, passing his scent, and they in turn passed it to each other. A chorus of purrs accompanied the hands touching him and mouths tasting his skin.

  Without any warning the Dominant poured out of the dark. When Farley looked at him the words “fucking huge” came to mind. His size and the face hardware reminded him of prized bulls. The nasty kind that gored out cowboys and rodeo clowns then stomped the remains into the dirt.

  Dark Male hissed and the Dominant responded with an earth shattering growl. His hand came out and Farley took the offering, buried his face into the palm as big as his head and raked the skin with his teeth and tongue. Farley watched the two display by flashing fang, thoroughly enjoying the attention.

  “Your name?” Farley asked the Dominant first.

  “Lor.” Blazing yellow eyes rolled over him.

  Then to the Darker Male. “And you?”

  “Junily.”

  Lor dipped his face low and brushed his lips along Farley’s shoulder. His eyes were still locked on Junily. “You smell wonderful.” Farley rubbed his face against Lor’s jaw and cheek. Lor said, “Share with me.”

  Not a request.

  Farley tipped his chin up and Lor assaulted his mouth, drawing the air directly from his lungs and pressing hard enough to cut his lips. When the Dominant pulled away, his eyes fluttered as he rolled the taste on his tongue.

  Junily tugged at Farley’s arm and he turned, giving the smaller Male his mouth. His tongue slipped in and out of Farley’s mouth, drawing the taste with exaggerated strokes. Touching, petting, Farley slid his hands all over Junily’s chocolate colored skin, feeling warmth and metaphysical hunger.

  The thrum in Junily’s chest kicked up another notch.

  Lor seized Farley by the hips and yanked him back. The massive bugle behind his low hung jeans hit him in the back and teeth punched through his shoulder. The pain made Farley chase the thrusts of his tongue into Junily’s mouth with a moan.

  On the floor bodies rolled, hungry clicks and whirrs sounded off as they rubbed against the Dominant, begging for their share. The group of Males tightened and hands slid up Farley’s legs, across his waist, along his back. They rubbed his scent on their fingers so they could suck it off.

  When the Dominant popped his mouth free, Farley spilled out of his arms and into awaiting hands. Farley blinked and found Junily’s gaze only inches from his own.

  “Hello again.” Junily dipped his fingers in the closing bite wound. When he brought his hand up he watched Farley with golden eyes while Junily sucked his blood from the tips. “You taste good.” Closer now, Junily lowered his eyes under thick blond lashes. “I want to take from you…” And he did not wait for an answer.

  Farley groaned as the bite was reopened. He rolled his head so Junily could adjust his hold and met the wanting stares of Human voyeurs.

  The woman who came out of the crowd had brown hair. Quick and greedy, her lips hit Farley’s and her cool hands cupped his face. Then she let her date, or maybe her escort, pull her back into the audience.

  Farley rolled her flavor around on his tongue. She didn’t taste nearly as good as Claire. God of Man, if only he had her flavor on his tongue.

  Pants off…now…he was rubbing himself raw.

  Junily released his bite and Farley was pulled in another direction. More mouths assaulted his wrists and another set of teeth slammed against his shoulder. The crowd of Males pinned Farley where he stood. He was Food and here even the lowest ranked had the right to feed from him.

  It was almost too much. Even for him. “God…” Junily’s body pressed against his back. His heart-shaped face and pale eyes slid into view. The smile on the Male’s face was fucking perfect.

  “Let me ease you,” Junily said.

  Farley rolled his eyes upward and nodded. Yeah, ease me, please. He was too lit to talk. So many Males feeding on him at once.

  Farley’s hiss rode on a wave of pleasure as Junily’s hand slid across his stomach and to the edge of his pants. The button came loose and the zipper went down. It was a relief to get free, and then Junily’s hand gripped his cock and stroked. More hands converged, more teeth on the inside of his thigh. If there hadn’t been so many holding him upright, Farley was sure he would have puddled into the floor.

  They bit him, tasted him, and fed. Too many mouths, too many teeth, and fuck him it was good, so good. He was close to losing it. So close.

  Junily laughed low and soft. “You like this?”

  “Fuck…yes….” Farley jerked and his muscles tightened. “More… God…more…” He wanted to wrap his hand around Junily’s fist and make him squeeze, but too many hands held him. Junily changed his position so he was standing in front with his shoulder pressed close to Farley’s chin.

  “Feed.” The Male didn’t have to ask twice. Farley’s bite punched through Junily’s chocolate smooth skin. As the first swallow washed down his throat he came, burying his screams into the other Male’s flesh and thrusting in his grip.

  Farley fed, sucking down great bouts of blood until his insides burned. At some point the others let him go and Junily pushed him into a couch and held him.

  “I should like to keep you.” The Male rubbed his cheek against Farley’s. Sweat bloomed across Farley’s skin and heat flared. Sated, his bite popped free.

  In long languid strokes Junily ran his hand up and down Farley’s back while he purred. When the metaphysical burn banked, Farley put his face in Junily’s neck and said, “That was nice. Thank you.” And it was nice. No urgency. Just a slow draw of blood. Giving and taking.

  Just when he was about to doze off, Junily froze and he made an unhappy sound. Farley looked up to see his golden eyes flashing red. His arm tightened and the barest growl kicked up in his chest. Farley swung his head around and he saw a suit cutting his way through the crowd.

  So, he won the prize? But then he knew he would. Feeling all smug, Farley put his feet on the ground and grabbed the hem of his skaters to pull them up. But then the Human raised his hand and Farley caught sight of something black with a barrel. A pin rifle.

  Farley rolled off the sofa and tried to run, but his legs tangled in his pants and with his body uncoordinated and blitzed from the feed, there was only one direction for him to go.

  Down.

  Just fucking great. How rich was this?

  The burn hit Farley between the shoulders and he screamed, jack knifing off the ground, his limbs refusing to function as the smell of Alchemy permeated t
he air.

  Chapter 40

  While they were at the DA’s, maintenance cleaned up the room, erasing all the bad things which had happened the night before. No more blood stains, no more broken glass. Even the mattress was new.

  Really new. It still had the tags dangling from the end.

  “I’ll call for room service,” Deshi said as he stepped through the elevator door. “Come on.” Haley gave Orin’s hand a pull. “Let’s get something to eat.” He went, one foot in front of the other, but he wasn’t there. No, Orin was stuck somewhere in his head. Haley pulled out a chair and Orin sat down. Numb, he felt completely numb.

  That, and helpless.

  “I really need to go home and feed my cat.” And he did. Jingles would be pissed they’d missed another shrimp dinner. As trivial and silly as doing things like that seemed at the moment, Orin wanted to be doing it. Being home meant none of this was happening.

  Orin put his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands. “God of Man, Maze is right.”

  “It’ll be okay,” Haley said.

  “No…no it won’t.” He made an angry sound and buried it against his fists. “Even if Rehbek’ah is dead, it won’t change anything. Mary’s dead, my job is in the toilet, and that means I’ll have to go back to the Dens.”

  Orin brought his eyes up and caught sight of Deshi busy in the kitchen. He tracked the Prince like prey.

  “Have you called Farley?” Orin looked at Haley. “He’s probably missing you.”

  She bit her lip and tossed a look in the direction of the bedroom. “I should probably do that, huh?” But then her gaze came back and begged for answers. But Orin didn’t have any. Come to think of it, at the moment, he pretty much had nothing at all.

  Haley sighed. “I’ll be right back.”

  Orin watched as she pulled the cell phone out of her pocket and headed into the bedroom. When the door closed he looked at Deshi. The Male was getting out plates and cups.

  Orin said, “I need you to leave for a while today.” The Prince flicked him a quick glance and carried the plates to the table. “I don’t want you here when I give her the RHage.” Deshi set out the plates. Orin curled his lip. “Did you hear me or have you gone deaf?”

  “I heard you.”

  “You can go to that coffee shop on the corner or something. We’ll call you on your cell when it’s over.” Orin watched the Prince, who was still more interested in the place settings.

  When Deshi went back into the kitchen he said, “You know, you really are an arrogant bastard.”

  Orin whipped his head around. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.”

  Yeah, he did, and it made him want to bring a total beat down on Prince-boy’s ass.

  Orin stayed in his chair. “And what’s your problem?”

  Deshi shook his head.

  Orin said, “Look, I just don’t want you to get hurt. If something goes wrong and--”

  Beautiful Deshi cut him off. “All the more reason for me to stay.”

  “Don’t be stupid.”

  “Quit being arrogant.”

  Orin rolled his lips but kept his teeth to himself. Deshi would probably like seeing him act like a beast.

  “I’ll stay out of your way,” Deshi said as he carried the silverware to the table and set it out next to the plates. Fork on the outside left, spoon on the right. He adjusted the plates and the glasses. When he stepped back a furrow creased his forehead.

  “What’s wrong? Don’t like the stoneware pattern? Or maybe the glasses don’t match?” Orin made like he was checking out the tableware. “ Nope, not that. What? One of the forks too short or what?” He was hoping for a rise out of the Male.

  But what he got was, “No salad forks. Makes it look wrong.” Deshi went back into the kitchen. “Look, I was there last night. I saw how scared you were when Medan told you to give Haley Serena’s RHage.”

  Scared? Prince Perfect would be scared too if he had any idea. “Scared, huh? What about you? You practically had a hard on.” Their stares clashed across the counter. Orin sneered. “You act like you want Haley to get hurt or something. Why? So you can go all nursemaid?”

  “You know I don’t want her hurt. That’s why I think leaving you two alone is a bad idea.”

  Orin laughed. “What are you going to do if things go bad? Wave your platinum card around?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Then what on earth do you think you could possibly do? If I lose control and the RHage goes off, you wouldn’t last ten seconds.”

  Deshi’s baby blues flashed. “And if those seconds could give Haley time to get out of here, it would be worth it.”

  The reality of what the Jersey City Prince words meant made Orin look away. Behind him Deshi moved around the kitchen, opening cabinets and then the fridge. Going by all the little clicks, clangs, and microwave beeps, he was warming up cream.

  From the kitchen the Prince said, “Look, I know I’m weak.”

  Orin clenched his jaw. “I didn’t say that.”

  “You didn’t have to. I know I’m new and I know if I wasn’t my Mother’s Son I’d be scraps in the bottom of the hatching grounds.” Orin did look at Deshi then. The other Male stared at the microwave. “This has to work, Orin.” The Prince dropped his head.

  “You don’t think I realize that? Need I remind you I’m the one looking at eternity in Hell under Rehbek’ah’s claw?”

  “Which is exactly why this has to work.” The microwave beeped and Deshi took out the three mugs and brought them to the table. He pulled out a chair and poured himself into it. Son of a bitch could make a piece of kitchen furniture look like a throne. Orin grabbed a cup and drank. When he burned his lips, he ignored the pain.

  Across the table Deshi stared at his mug, his face calm. Practically blank.

  And yet, Orin had the acute sense the Prince was drowning in thought. Which is probably why he asked, “Why is it so important to you that this works?”

  The Prince blinked. Slow. He smiled and said, “Because Haley has to be able to save one of us.”

  Orin’s brain hit a speed bump. “What?” As in WTF are you talking about? Save one of them? “You care to elaborate?”

  Beautiful Deshi didn’t answer, he just drank his cream.

  “Hello?” Orin rapped his knuckles on the table. “Do you mind?”

  When Deshi finally put down his cup and raised his baby blues, Orin was struck by the depth of pain. Real pain. The kind that makes a Male bleed inside and out. Deshi said, “Haley has to be able to save one of us. If she can’t, it will break something inside her. And she can’t save me.”

  Orin opened his mouth and closed it. He opened it again with full intentions of getting more out of the Jersey City Prince, but Haley came out of the bedroom, cell phone in hand. Her scent hit Orin’s nose and he couldn’t stop his head from turning. At the same time the hotel phone rang and Deshi got up to answer it.

  “I had to call Garrett.” Haley waved the cell phone. “I called Farley’s phone three times and it kept dumping to voice mail, which can only mean one of two things. Either the battery is dead because he wasn’t where he could charge it, or it was damaged beyond use.”

  She looked worried so Orin asked, “Is he okay?”

  “Yeah.” But she didn’t sound convinced. “Garrett said he’s on an inside job and unreachable.” She hugged herself.

  “What about you? Are you okay?” When she looked at him she smiled, and it was totally contagious.

  The elevator opened and Deshi met room service at the threshold. Orin watched him pull out a roll of cash, peel off a bill and hand it to the service man. Prince-perfect took the cart and pushed it to the table. Going by the number of covered dishes there was enough food on the thing to feed an army. Or three Kin.

  Haley made a happy sound and pulled out her chair. “What did you get?”

  The Prince smiled.

  Orin eyed the Male and said, “Whatever was most expensiv
e.”

  “Here, let me.” Haley made a grab for one of the plates but Deshi stopped her by pushing her hand away. “Deshi, we can self-serve.” He shook his head and his smile stayed firm.

  Orin said, “He’s probably afraid we’ll mess up his place settings.” And yeah, he was doing it to be mean. Deshi flicked him a quick look but his expression didn’t change. Orin went to throw in another jab but the Jersey City Prince pulled the top off of the largest dish. Lobster. There must have been a dozen or more tails.

  “I figured we should eat as well as we could.” And if there was a meat which could boost preternatural heat it was seafood. As short lived as it was in the system, it had a lot of bang for its buck. Metaphysically speaking.

  Orin couldn’t help himself. “We?”

  Instead of replying, Deshi uncovered another dish, filet mignon and shrimp.

  Orin growled. “Wait. There is no ‘we’, Deshi!”

  The Prince proceeded to fill everyone’s plates.

  Haley shoved a shrimp in her mouth and flicked her gaze back and forth between the Males. “Problem?”

  “No.” That from both of them. Their glares clashed.

  Haley made a time out with her hands, “Whoa, wait a minute. What’s going on?”

  “Him.” Again from both.

  Orin growled and Deshi kept his eyes on the food he was serving.

  An angry sound leaked out of Haley’s lips as she put away another finger-sized shrimp. She jabbed the tail at each of them. “One of you better start talking because I’m about to get pissed.”

  Orin sat back in his chair and shoved his plate away. Deshi snapped his napkin in the air and put it in his lap as he sat.

  Haley smacked her fist against the table hard enough to make the silverware jump. “Now!”

  Deshi spoke first. “Orin wants me to leave for a while so you two will be alone.”

  Haley’s eyes went to Orin and her expression said he’d better start moving his lips.