by Riley Rivers
“Your aura didn’t coax a date-rape drug into your drink,” Chris said, crossing the street as Ryan stumbled after him. His tattoos looked overbright as he planted himself squarely in front of Ryan’s stalker. “Hey fucker, I think you’ve got some things to say.”
The guy scowled at him. “I don’t know what–” followed by a choking sound, then, “Would you fuck off? I’ve been following his hot little ass since he shook it at Firefly. He’s been asking for it for weeks.”
Ryan stared. “What?” The word slipped out.
The guy looked at him, lips curving into a nasty smirk. “You’ve been begging for it, for someone to fuck you nice and hard–” he cut himself off, but his face reddened, mouth opening again, “I was all ready to take you home last week but your fucking bodyguard got in the way. Figured I’d just bide my time until I got you alone but–” he stopped again, letting out a wordless growl before, “God, fuck, I’ve been waiting to pound into you, get you on your knees, teach you what little teases deserve–”
Ryan shrank back, shaking.
“That’s enough,” Chris said, voice almost a rumble as he stepped fully in front of Ryan. “Telling the truth is a start, but it’s too fucking good for you.” He wrapped his left hand around his right wrist, covering the intricate knot tattoo at the base of the back of his hand. When he pulled his left hand away, the knot had smoothed into three straight lines.
Ryan watched as Chris threw a fistful of nothing in the face of his stalker. The guy’s expression contorted, and he immediately bent over, coughing bile onto the sidewalk. When he was done, he glared up at Chris, chest heaving. “What the fuck did you do?”
“Made you feel as disgusting as you are,” Chris replied coolly. “You come anywhere near him again? You get near anyone you plan to hurt? This is your reward.”
The guy snarled and lunged for Chris, but stopped short to sink to his knees, clutching at his stomach.
“Come on,” Chris said, tugging on Ryan’s wrist.
“What’d you do to him?” Ryan whispered as he allowed himself to be pulled away.
“Less than he deserved,” Chris muttered as they walked back into the shop. Louder he explained, “If he gets close to someone with harm in mind, it triggers the curse and he gets sick. Doesn’t hurt him too much, which is a fucking shame, but it keeps him away from potential victims. Best thing I could think to do.”
Ryan looked over his shoulder out the window. Sure enough, the guy had stood up again. He wiped the back of his hand over his mouth and crossed the street, clearly intending to go into the studio. Ryan tensed up, then watched as the guy doubled over again. This time when he stood, he spat on the ground and hurried away.
“Everything good?” Eddie asked. He was leaning against the counter and had obviously watched the entire exchange from inside the studio. He was twirling a thin silver chain around his fingers and—no, the chain was floating, weaving in and out of his fingers. “Don’t need him secured?”
“No,” Chris said shortly. “Though if he does come back? Yeah, call the cops. But he shouldn’t be a problem again.”
Eddie nodded. “Your boy okay?”
Ryan squeezed his eyes shut, the guy’s voice playing over and over in his ears. Teach you what little teases deserve—
“Ryan?” Chris’s voice was gentle. Ryan forced his eyes open to see Chris’s hand hovering over Ryan’s shoulder but not touching. Not without permission. “I drove here. Let me take you home?”
Ryan managed a nod. Home. Home sounded good.
Even if the thought of Chris leaving him alone made him want to cry.
Chapter Ten
It felt like deja vu, Chris driving Ryan back to his apartment after something awful had gone down. But this time Chris planned on staying a little longer and really talking to him. With what had just happened, coupled with all the things Ryan kept saying about his aura, it was past time to talk. There were some clear misconceptions that needed to be resolved.
They spent the drive quietly, Ryan obviously shaken. No wonder, with the poison that guy had spit. It would have affected anyone. And Ryan already took so much to heart, blamed himself for every bad thing that happened to him. Chris wracked his brain for a way to start such an important conversation.
He thought he might have found an opening, by the time he parked.
“Hey,” he said, turning to face Ryan. “I’m glad I was able to help.” At Ryan’s stricken expression, he quickly added, “Before, I mean. At my place.”
“Sucks you needed to,” Ryan muttered as he unbuckled.
“I mean okay, yeah, I guess. It’s not the best situation. It isn’t. But I’m glad I’m able to help. I’m glad you were able to let me. Thank you.”
Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t thank me,” he growled.
Chris blinked, surprised at the vehemence. “Ryan–”
“I mean fuck, it’s great I’m at least not forcing you, but helping me out of obligation isn’t much better!”
Chris frowned. “I’m not a fan of you thinking that I’m being forced into anything. It’s not obligation. You needed to feed and I wanted to do that for you.”
Ryan looked away. “Yeah. At least you’re the one person on the planet who can say that without my aura ‘helping.’”
There was his opening. But, “Ryan, you know that’s not how it works.” He had to know at least that much. “Right?”
“I’ve got a pretty good idea of how my own powers mess with other people,” Ryan said, flinging the door open. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Wait, Ryan, hang on.” Chris stumbled out of the car after him. “That’s not what your powers do. It doesn’t… you don’t coerce people.”
Ryan whirled around to glare at him. “Fuck you! How would you know? You don’t have to live with it. You have no idea what it’s like, knowing people aren’t able to help themselves–”
“But they are,” Chris replied, now more worried than confused. “They are able to help themselves. Your aura just—”
“Removes inhibitions!”
“Within reason,” Chris said. “All an incubus’ aura does to someone they aren’t in the middle of having sex with is invite a first move.”
“My aura makes people want me. I’m a predator.”
“Your aura latches onto people who already have an interest in you and opens them up to saying hi.”
Ryan snorted, crossing his arms. “Yeah, I think I’ll let my own experiences win out. No one would be after me the way they are if I wasn’t… like this.”
Chris sucked in a breath. “Like that dick we just dealt with?”
“Exactly.” Ryan sneered. “It wasn’t an accident that guy at the club decided to go after me. That he—that he kept wanting me.”
“Okay,” Chris shot back, hands clenching into fists. Was this what Ryan was carrying around with him? Thinking he was getting all this unwanted, negative attention… and that it was all his fault? “And how many upstanding guys just walk around with date-rape drugs in their pockets? Or turn into stalkers? Your aura doesn’t last that long. It doesn’t keep people attached.”
Ryan startled and said nothing.
Good. Maybe he would start listening. “That guy might have decided to target you, but he was bad news from the start. The only thing your aura did—”
At the mention of his aura, Ryan bristled again. “I know what I am, thanks,” he hissed. “I know what I make people do. Would I could have made you do, if you weren’t warded against me.”
Chris saw red. “Who fucking told you that?”
“What?”
“Who the fuck told you your aura makes people do anything?” Chris growled. “Who’s out there teaching incubi the wrong thing about how their powers work? Because let me tell you, I am going to have words with them.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ryan demanded.
Chris pinched the bridge of his nose. “I have some articles I think you need to read.”
“Articles,” Ryan said flatly.
“Yes! About how your powers actually work.”
“Are you trying to say I don’t attract attention because of what I am? Because I’ve got plenty of evidence to the contrary.” Ryan glared at the ground. “People can’t help themselves.”
“I’ll say it again.” Chris so furious he was shaking, “I don’t think good people go to clubs with date-rape drugs at the ready. Even if it your aura did draw him in, he had something with him to put in your drink. He was ready to hurt someone that night, and it ended up being you. And then when it didn’t work? He kept at it. His only intention was to hurt you. That was his idea of a good time.”
Ryan looked away.
“You’re so busy trying to avoid everyone because some fuckwit taught you to be scared of your own powers that the only attention you do get is from overly forward dicks.” Chris took a step forward. He’d finally figured it out. “So you’re starving. You’re starving yourself to death because you think you’re coercing people.”
“I–”
“And you’re wrong.” Chris held out a hand, beseeching. “Please, Ryan. Please let me show you what’s right.”
***
Ryan was reserving judgement. His education on being an incubus had been shaky, sure, because the only person in his family who was one had been his grandmother and she’d struggled with dementia for the last few years of her life, but he had info from a source. And she’d been clear about how awful it was, inviting advances. What could Chris possibly have to show him that he didn’t already know?
Then again, Chris deserved a chance to speak if he wanted one. Ryan owed him that much. Owed him a lot more than that.
So he gritted his teeth, led Chris into his apartment and grabbed his laptop, and then let Chris fiddle with it until Ryan was looking at a locked Google group called PNAlmanac. “What is this?”
“It’s a forum for people in the supernatural community,” Chris said. “It’s a private group, so you can only get in if you’re invited by someone else, but I’ve been a part of it for years.” He clicked on a pinned post called Species Directory. Have questions? Check here first! Last update May 19th. “This post has information about all sorts of different supernaturals, and it’s regularly modded and updated. Incubi are rarer it’s true, but there’s still a guide about their powers and capabilities. See?”
Ryan stared at the link.
“There are also a few different topics about incubi that people have started in order to ask questions. Anyone can answer, but it’s group guidelines to reference your sources. If you’ve personally experienced it versus knowing someone who has, or just heard it around.”
Ryan discarded a half dozen things he wanted to say before he tried, “How do you know that it’s legitimate? That people aren’t just making stuff up?”
“That’s the benefit of it being a community,” Chris said. “Corroboration. If six people all have the same experience, there’s usually merit and truth in that. Here.” He typed something into the search bar and clicked on a topic titled “my girlfriend just found out she’s an incubus, how can I be a support.” “Start with this one. It’s got some candid looks at not only being an incubus, but perspectives from people who are in relationships with them.”
Relationships. People who wanted to be in actual relationships even knowing their partner was an incubus. Ryan scarcely dared breathe as he scanned the opening paragraph of the forum topic. Relationships.
Chris had been right before: sex was one thing, but an incubus aura couldn’t affect other feelings. Ryan knew that much to be true without a doubt. After the initial sex haze, once a person came to their sense it was then their choice if they wanted to leave or stay. It was a big reason why Ryan had come to the conclusion that his aura did what it did. No one ever wanted to stay.
He’d seen eyes cloud over with lust as hands eagerly roamed over his body. He’s had people pull him in close even when he didn’t want it, but younger and hungry he’d let it happen. But no one wanted more than that.
If everyone only ever wanted sex, then what other conclusion could he come to, except that his aura was just drawing people in?
People who wanted to stay, even act as a support… it sounded too good to be true. But Chris had just given him access to a resource that talked about just that.
Among everything, Chris had… had also been sticking around. He was kind to him. He’d fed him. More than once and maybe that was something Chris was willing to do, first for a stranger and then for a friend but—
“Do you like me?” Ryan blurted out. He’d never been one to delicately skirt around a subject.
Chris blinked at him. Smiled, eyes soft. “Yeah. Yeah, Ryan, of course I do.”
“Not… not… I-I mean…” His gaze dropped to the floor. Okay, maybe some things were harder to ask than others. Especially when you wanted them so much.
“Ryan.” Chris cupped his chin, tilting his face up. “Of course I do.”
Ryan searched Chris’s face, only able to find sincerity there. He swallowed. “Oh. I—me too.”
“Can I kiss you?” Chris breathed.
“Please.”
***
It was amazing, Chris thought, to curl up with Ryan on his couch and be able to kiss him and hold him and touch him. Without the pain and desperation clouding Ryan’s head, without Ryan hating himself for what he was, without Chris worried about taking advantage. This was just about them being with each other, making each other feel good.
And Ryan was so sweet with how he reacted to everything, all of his reactions even better now that weren’t tinged with unhappiness. Chris soaked up every little sound he made, every gasp and moan, reveling in how Ryan sighed happily as Chris pulled him closer.
But eventually Ryan squeezed Chris’s shoulder. “Chris,” he said, voice breathy. “Wait, I–”
Chris stilled at once. “Yeah?”
Ryan let out another sigh, this one much more melancholy. “We should probably stop.”
“Okay,” Chris said easily. Ryan didn’t sound thrilled about it, but Chris wasn’t going to question him. “Sure, of course. Do you want me to go?”
“No! Um, no, but—” Ryan averted his eyes. “It’s… it’s making me hungry again. I’m sorry.”
Confused, Chris said, “Don’t be sorry.”
“But you just fed me this morning,” Ryan said in a rush. “And I-I don’t want you to think I just want you for sex or–”
“It’s okay.” Chris pressed a kiss to Ryan’s cheek. “I know you don’t. I know. But how long have you spent being hungry? Feeling sick and scared about something you need?
A long moment passed, Chris waiting patiently, until Ryan hesitantly said, “A... while.”
“Yeah. I figured.” Chris curled his fingers through Ryan’s. “And I don’t want you to think I’m just after you for sex either.”
“I know you’re not,” Ryan said quickly. “I do, I know.”
“I’m glad you do. It’s important to me, that you know that.” Chris stroked his thumb over the back of Ryan’s hand. “But I also don’t want you feeling that awful ever again. And I’d love the honor of being the one who helps to keep that from happening.”
Ryan went very still.
“It’s up to you,” Chris said. He didn’t move save for his thumb still stroking Ryan’s hand.
“Then yes,” Ryan gasped. “Yes, god, please.”
There was nothing else to do then but pull him into a long, deep kiss. “Okay, sweetheart,” Chris murmured when they parted. “I’m gonna take care of you.”
Ryan let out a whimper before surging off the couch, grabbing Chris’s wrist and pulling him down the hall of his apartment. Chris grinned, going easily, and soon enough they were in what could only be Ryan’s bedroom, with a large bed not-so-neatly made, comforter rumpled invitingly.
“What do you think, baby?” Chris said, ducking to mouth at Ryan’s jaw, fingertips sliding underneath the hem of
Ryan’s shirt. “Do I get to see you naked today?
“Do I–” A gasp from Ryan as Chris sucked on the skin of his neck, “Do I get to see you?”
“However you want me.”
Ryan tugged at Chris’s shirt. “Off.”
Chris laughed, catching Ryan’s hands and squeezing them before letting go to pull his t-shirt over his head, dropping it to the floor. He looked up in the middle of unbuckling his belt to see Ryan staring at him. Chris’s lips quirked. “What do you think?”
Ryan came closer and pressed a kiss to Chris’s chest, over the set of scales he had tattooed over his heart. “You’re so beautiful.” His hands trailed over the tattoos on Chris’s torso. “Will you tell me what they all mean?”
Chris chuckled. “Right now?”
Ryan blinked up at him and then gave him an honest-to-god pout. Chris chuckled again and bent to kiss it off his face. “Anytime, baby. Maybe after, when you’re good and fed and tucked up in my arms.”
Ryan moaned and grabbed at Chris’s belt. “Off. Off, off, off.”
They eventually shucked all their clothes even among the many, many kisses and touches, and tumbled into bed, Ryan squirming up until he reached his nightstand, pulling open the drawer and rummaging inside. When he turned back to Chris, he was clutching a little bottle and a condom packet, pushing them both into Chris’s hand.
“Will you fuck me?” Ryan asked, gazing up at him. “Please? Please, I want to feel you fill me up.”
God, how could he say no, with being asked so pretty? “I think I can do that,” he said, running a hand over Ryan’s thigh. Ryan spread his legs wide, and Chris wasted no time kneeling between them.
“Is like this okay?” Chris asked as he uncapped the bottle and poured some lube onto his fingers. “I want to see your face.”
Ryan nodded, eyes dazed.
“Words, baby.”
“Yes! Yes, please.”
Chris grinned. “Good.” He circled Ryan’s hole with his fingers before carefully pressing one inside, keeping watch of Ryan’s face and looking for any sign of discomfort.
