Blood Dance

by Samantha Cayto

  “As of today, so am I.” He gave in to the temptation to kiss his boy again, then kept on doing it until they were both gasping for air. He cupped Quinn’s face. “I promise I will protect you from Dracul. He won’t touch you.”

  “It isn’t over. I know. You said as much, and I understand that the guy won’t stop until he’s dead. I want you to believe me when I say I’m going to stay by your side in this fight.”

  Quinn was adorable in his fierceness, yet a spike of fear still caused Alex’s heart to skip a beat. “I do believe you, and I want you to believe me when I say I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you out of this fight.”

  The boy huffed. “Oh, Alex.” He pulled back a bit and frowned. “What’s your real name? I mean, you have a name your parents gave you, right?”

  “Not exactly. The queen gives a kind of designation to all babies. It’s like having a name.”

  “So, what is it?”

  “You don’t want to hear it.”

  Quinn pursed his lips. “Yes, I do.”

  Alex sighed, seeing his future with his stubborn human. Then he gave his designation, his mother tongue sounding strange to him. They rarely spoke it because of how humans who heard it reacted.

  Right on cue, Quinn reared back with an ‘ow’ and clapped his hands over his ears. “That hurts.”

  “Like a cat screeching. I know. We don’t use the kind of grammar that is common to human languages and use octaves your ears don’t like. You couldn’t replicate it with your vocal chords, even if you tried.”

  Quinn blew out a breath. “So much for alien pillow talk.”

  “It’s okay.” Sliding down, he pulled Quinn into his chest. “I like human languages anyway.”

  The boy snuggled into his embrace, that simple show of trust pleasing him more than anything. “How many of them to you speak?”

  “All of them.”

  There was pause before the boy laughed. “Of course, you do. Maybe spending time with you will broaden my knowledge. Oh!” Quinn wiggled out of his arms and curled into a sitting position. “I just remembered what it was I wanted to ask you.”

  Alex raised his eyebrows. “I thought we’d covered all the ground, but ask away, dear boy.”

  “What did Demi mean when he said Lucien carried and gave birth to him?”

  Oh, shit. He’d hoped to put this one last issue off for a while. A long while. “Umm…”

  “And don’t say he’s a transgender man with working female parts because Demi said no, that’s not the case. So, was the kid just pulling my leg or what?”

  Shoving up, Alex patted the spot beside him in silent invitation. Once more, Quinn snuggled against him without hesitation. “Okay, this is going to be the strangest thing of all for you to absorb.”

  “I think we passed strange all the way back with the alien part, but go ahead. I’m ready.”

  “I told you how my species is hive-based with queens and a few other females reproducing. What I didn’t tell you is that over the course of our evolution, we developed the ability for males to convert gender spontaneously. It happens any time our population is threatened by not having enough breeding females. In that situation, males turn into females for other males to breed off of. It only happens to very young males.”

  Quinn stiffened beside him. “Oh my God, are you saying that by fucking me, you’re going to turn me into a woman?” His voice squeaked on the last word of his question, and he bolted to his knees. Surprisingly—and tellingly—he elected to straddle Alex’s lap as he did so. He stared back at him with wide eyes.

  Alex couldn’t help but smile. He tucked strands of hair behind the boy’s ears so he could see his beautiful face, as well as the bite marks, more easily. “No, that’s not going to happen.”

  Quinn sighed in obvious relief. “So, how does it work, then?”

  “I have to feed you a steady diet of my blood, and it’s only effective when the human is younger than twenty-five or so. Your brains, as well as your bodies, are still growing until that point. It also takes months, if not years, for the transformation to occur.”

  “Oh.” He bit his lower lip while he absorbed the information. “Does it turn me fully into a woman? Lucien looks like a guy on the outside.”

  “That’s because he is still male with all his boy bits,” he teased to lighten the mood. “The transformation is partial and only on the inside. Even so, you wouldn’t be fully female, just enough to produce an egg and gestate it. I don’t know all that much about it. Harry can give you more details, if you want.”

  “Okay, I guess.”

  “There is something more you should consider that matters to me more than having offspring. Drinking my blood will extend your life.”

  “For how long?”

  “I don’t know for sure. Centuries, at least. Given that I have another five hundred or more Earth years to live, it would mean we’d grow old together.”

  Quinn’s expression softened at the idea. “Oh, that would be wonderful. I’ll think about it. I have time, I guess.”

  Pulling him down, Alex kissed his forehead. “Lots, and I won’t pressure you. I’m not even sure I want you to take the risk.”

  “It’s risky?”

  “It can be. Dracul was the first to figure it out, and he never cared what happened to the boys he tried to turn into breeders.”

  A shudder ran through Quinn and Alex hugged him into lying on his chest. He ran his palm across his back to sooth him. “Don’t worry. My love is not contingent on your giving me sons, and I will be grateful for whatever time we have together.”

  Another shiver ran through the boy and his dick started pressing against Alex’s. “You love me?”

  Alex squeezed him tight enough to make him squeak. “Of course, I do.”

  “You said your species can’t love the way we do.”

  “I misspoke to explain Val’s behavior. We do love in our own way, but we also can set it aside when the situation demands it.”

  “That’s like being human, too. And it’s a good thing that you do love me because I love you, too.”

  Alex sighed. “Oh, my darling boy, you make me so very happy.”

  “That’s my plan for the rest of my life.” He wiggled his ass. “Do you want to fuck me again?”

  Alex laughed and bucked his hips to glide his hard cock against the boy’s stomach. “Always.”

  Before he could follow through on that assertion, his phone rang. He growled his frustration and answered it. “What?”

  “Duncan is here to see you,” Kitty replied. “He looks like he won’t take no for an answer.”

  “Damn it. I’ll be right there.”

  “I heard,” Quinn said, sliding off him. He lay with one arm over his head and ran the other hand up his shaft. “We’ll be waiting for you.”

  “I’ve created a monster.”

  Quinn smirked. “Takes one to know one. Maybe we should make another trip to the playroom. You can tie me up and torture me with your tongue.” He batted his eyelashes, then ruined the seductive effect by laughing.

  Alex leaned down to plant a fierce kiss on the boy’s lips. “Be careful what you wish for, darling boy.”

  He dressed in only loose lounge pants, wanting the cop to know that he was interrupting something. The moment he stepped out of the elevator and saw the man’s haunted expression, he felt contrite.

  “How is your partner?” he asked, coming to within a few feet of where Duncan leaned against the bar. He didn’t want to get within punching distance.

  “He’s still in the hospital under observation. He got a concussion when he hit the crane but your friend saved his life.” Duncan straightened. “I’d like to thank him personally for that. I know he didn’t have to go in after him.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, sergeant. By our code, he did. And while I appreciate the sentiment, Val neither needs nor wants your thanks.”

  The man rubbed his hand across his brow. He looked as if he had
n’t slept since the night before. He pinned Alex with sharp eyes nevertheless. “Your code, huh. I guess our species aren’t so different. I’d like to think if the situation had been reversed, both Karl and I would have tried to save any of you.” He flicked his gaze over to where Kitty was studiously polishing her beer taps. “Is she one?”

  “No. We’re all male, and we all look like this.” He circled a hand around his front. “She does, however, know.”

  “But she’s not talking, like the boys.”

  “We are fortunate in our friends.”

  Duncan nodded his head. “Lucky you. I can’t say the same. Karl doesn’t remember much, as you predicted, and I was too chicken-shit to say anything.”

  “It takes more courage to employ discretion, sergeant.”

  The man chuckled, a hollow sound. “Yeah, yeah.” He didn’t so much as sit on a bar stool as fall onto it. “I guess I could use some coffee, if you don’t mind.”

  “Absolutely.” He nodded at Kitty. “And some food, as well.”

  “Don’t go to any trouble.”

  “I assure you that Emil’s love of cooking is genuine.”

  Placing a big mug in front of the cop, Kitty said, “I’ll go get you a cheeseburger and fries.”

  “Thanks.” Duncan grabbed the mug like a drowning man would a preserver. In some respects, the metaphor was very apt. The man had to be swamped by the unbelievable information swirling in his head.

  “We’re not your enemy,” Alex said.

  Duncan eyed him over the rim. “Some of you are.”

  “True. We’ve split into two factions.”

  The cop grunted, slurped and eyed him again. “How many of them are you?”

  “A few dozen, more or less.”

  “You don’t know the exact count?”

  “It varies for complicated reasons. And you should know we are marooned, not some vanguard for an invasion.”

  “Okay, that’s good to know. But you are waging a war.”

  “Among ourselves. You humans are both pawns and collateral damage, I’m afraid.”

  “That’s reason enough for me to get involved.”

  Alex was stunned at that declaration. They’d had a lot of human allies over the centuries. Kitty was a prime example. None of them tended to weather the situation well. He liked this cop and hated the idea of him getting killed. It would be hard enough to protect Quinn and even Mackie.

  “There is no need. This really isn’t your fight.”

  Duncan’s eyes turned to flint. “It became mine the minute they started killing people in my town. You’re going to need help. Someone like me with his ear to the ground can only be an asset to your side of the fight.”

  “You would do that for us?”

  Duncan took a long swallow before answering, “No, I’m doing it for Boston and for humanity. Do we have a deal?”

  He gave the man the most charming smile he knew how. “Well, I will say that so long as you’re willing to keep our secret, I will welcome your help.”

  Duncan nodded. “That’s a deal in my book.” He put the mug down. “Do you shake?”

  “But, of course.” He extended his hand, and yes, sealed the pledge as he’d done many times before.

  * * * *

  Despite his earlier bravado, Quinn spent the time Alex was away chewing his lip and drumming his fingers on the bed. His erection had flagged, too. The moment he heard the sounds of Alex’s return, however, he sat up.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Alex knelt beside him and running this thumb along Quinn’s gnawed-on lip, smiled. “Surprisingly, yes. Our Sergeant Duncan has joined Team Stelalux, as it happens.”

  Because he knew Alex liked it, Quinn snatched his thumb between his teeth for a second “That’s awesome. Having a cop on our side will help.”

  “So he said.”

  On a sudden urge of worry, he flung his arms around Alex’s neck. “I don’t want a war. I just want to be with you.”

  “I know.” Alex’s tone was achingly soft and sweet. He rubbed his hands along Quinn’s lower back. “I want that, as well. I promise you this much. This won’t be the beginning of the next war. It will be the beginning of the last one. I’ll finish it. I’ll finish Dracul, once and for all.”

  Alex said it as a vow and Quinn believed him.

  Also available from Pride Publishing:

  Alien Slave Masters: The Captain’s Pet

  Samantha Cayto

  Excerpt

  Chapter One

  Wid Bryant wrapped his arms around his waist in a futile attempt at warmth. The hangar he stood in was even colder than the transport ship, and without the limits of the confined space, no body heat from others stopped him from shivering. Of course it wasn’t the cold alone that made him tremble. Fright contributed to his state. He had been scared for the last forty-eight hours or so, since he and his cohorts had been detained by the Travian security force.

  What had he been thinking joining Joel and the others in vandalizing the administrative building of the occupying force? Nothing, except a deep-seated hatred for the aliens who had invaded their colony. His parents had warned him to keep his head down and hope that hostilities between the two races would be settled diplomatically. Seriously? As if there were a prayer of that happening. How did you negotiate with beings who had the superior power to wipe you off the face of any planet and with the certainty they were in the right? The battle between Earth and the Travians for the colony had ended before it began. Conquerors had no incentive to bargain. Harassing them seemed like the best way to go. Irritate them enough and maybe they’d figure the small planet wasn’t worth the effort.

  Or, they could simply round people up and exterminate them. That’s what he had assumed would be his punishment when he’d been caught. Now he wasn’t so sure. He couldn’t understand why they’d bothered to ship him and eleven other guys up to a battlecruiser. Yet, here they were, standing around, freezing and waiting to learn their fate.

  “Do you think they’re going to kill us?”

  Wid glanced at the trembling red-headed kid next to him—Stuart. He’d been shoved into the transport next to Wid, after being detained for throwing rotten fruit at a Travian convoy—a prank as stupid as the one Wid had tried to pull. The poor guy was only eighteen and more scared than Wid, if that were possible. In fact, all of the other boys that had been brought were no older than Wid’s twenty years or so, and most couldn’t hide their fear. Thank God there were no girls. Surprisingly the Travians had let the one girl who’d been with them, Joel’s girlfriend, go immediately. His mother had scoffed over the Travians being patriarchal, but right now it seemed like a good thing.

  “No,” Wid finally answered. “What would be the point? I mean, if they wanted us dead, why bring us all the way up here?”

  He mostly believed what he’d said. It didn’t make sense that they’d be dragged so far when it was easy to blow a laser hole in their foreheads back on the planet. Still, something bad loomed. How could it not? As if in answer to his worst fears, the hangar suddenly filled with a dozen Travians. These males were even more imposing than the security detail that guarded the boys. Each one stood particularly tall, close to seven feet, clad head to toe in red leather. Their shiny black hair fell to their shoulders or below, braided in places to keep it off their harsh faces. He couldn’t lie and say that the Travians were an ugly race, but they were unsettling with their pale skin and completely black eyes.

  As the aliens filed in and lined up opposite the boys, Stuart let out a little whimper. Wid spared him a glance.

  “Don’t let them think you’re scared,” he advised in a low tone.

  “Seriously?” Stuart murmured back. “I am scared.”

  Wid suppressed a shudder. “I know, just try not to show it. It’s all we have left.”

  “Quiet!”

  One of the guards barked out the order in the guttural language of the Travians. God, he hated being able to understand what they
said. Once the occupation had been completed, the aliens had forced every human over the age of five to be implanted with a translation device. The foreign words rattled around his head until they made sense to him. The one word was easy to translate. Longer sentences spoken quickly were harder to get. Not that the Travians were patient when a human struggled to understand.

  He shut his mouth, however, his bravado long gone.

  The tallest of the males stood a foot in front of the others, staring down the line of human boys. When he got to Wid at the end, his gaze lingered. Wid tried not to squirm under the scrutiny. He felt invaded in the more personal sense of the word by the piercing look. After a few seconds, the male glanced away and gestured to another of them. The tall one said something short and quick that Wid didn’t catch. When the other male stepped forward, he headed straight for Wid. Before Wid could even think of recoiling, the taller alien barked out one word.

  “No!”

  The steps of the second male faltered. His expression turned sour for a second before he changed course a fraction to go to Stuart. His hand shot out and he grabbed Stuart by one arm. The male’s eyes took on a feral look as he yanked the boy to his body. Stuart cried out and tried to pull away. The male bared his teeth in what could—in an alternate and ugly reality—be called a grin. Then he turned and dragged a struggling and begging Stuart away.

  Silence reigned once they’d cleared the hangar. Wid and the other boys were frozen as they digested what had happened to Stuart and what was going to happen to them. The aliens were quiet too, although that seemed to be more about discipline, waiting for a command. The tallest, who was obviously in charge, gestured to another of them. Once again the boys were perused, and Wid recognized the behavior for what it was—they were shopping, picking out which boy they wanted. He didn’t dare think in terms of what they wanted the boys for.

  Some of the boys struggled when taken, others acquiesced in silent misery. Joel made Wid smile in grim satisfaction when he punched the male who reached for him. The alien barely reacted, as if he’d been bitten by an insect. The disparity between the races physically meant the humans had no hope of fighting them off. Instead of hitting Joel back, however, the alien simply grabbed the swinging arm on the downstroke and used it as leverage to pick Joel up and toss him over his shoulder. The captured boy howled in outrage all the way out of the hangar.