by R Phoenix
Maurice went quiet quickly then, looking furtively at someone approaching behind Leandro.
He didn’t turn. He didn’t have to. He knew who it was by the scent of his own shampoo. “Come join us, Kol’tso.” He patted the spot next to him on the couch. “This is Maurice. He’s a cousin of yours, if you will.”
He glanced up at the incubus with a sweet smile — which faltered at the sight of him. The lascivious thing was wearing only a bathrobe, which was opened far enough to expose a lot of still damp chest and stomach, secured loosely around his waist with the cinch.
Even his skin was changing color, Leandro marveled, switching from the pale porcelain it had been the day before to a beautiful warm peach tone. He already looked better, healthier, more alive. Even if he was barely decent in that robe.
Kolt cast Maurice an apprehensive look like a wild animal might a predator.
“I highly doubt he’s my cousin.” Kolt said, his voice flat, but he stepped around the couch and folded his legs under him as he sat down. Leandro’s gaze went to where the robe closed for a moment, half expecting things to become even more indecent.
Who knew an incubus could be so much fun to have around?
“I don’t mean a real cousin, in the human sense,” Maurice continued to explain, his cheeks coloring a little. By the way his eyes were raking over the incubus’ body, it was clear the man was trying hard to keep his gaze level. “More like our kind might share a close relation to one another.”
Kolt cast a glance at Leandro, before looking back at Maurice.
“I don’t know what that means,” Kolt said with a shake of his head. “But you probably don’t want to assume family ties when the person you’re talking to has had to figure out how to be a sex demon by themselves because their family abandoned them at a fire station.”
Mildly astonished, Leandro blinked at Kolt. “You aren’t a demon,” he said in the silence that fell over Maurice in the wake of those words. “You’re an incubus. Otherkin, a type of shapeshifter. And you don’t have to figure anything out by yourself anymore.” He reached out and took Kolt’s hand, squeezing it gently.
For a moment Leandro thought that the hand would be snatched away from him, his touch shaken off, but it didn’t happen. Kolt also didn’t quite relax at the touch, like he’d hoped.
“Sorry, it’s all still very new.” Kol’tso muttered, glancing at Maurice.
Maurice cleared his throat and nodded once. “Quite all right,” he said. “I’ve heard that incubi and succubi are selfish and solitary creatures, it makes sense, in a way, that you were left to fend for yourself.”
Leandro eyed his incubus, but Kolt’s expression was painfully neutral despite Maurice’s less than kind revelations.
“Enough, Maurice. If we need more information, we’ll be sure to consult your encyclopedic mind," he said, sounding casual, but brokering no argument.
The shapeshifter looked a little perturbed but shut his mouth like a good boy.
“I assume you came down here for a reason, pet,” Leandro continued unabashed, looking at Kolt again.
“I guess to see if you already handled the thing…” Kolt asked quietly.
Leandro could see the way Maurice’s attention stirred at the vague mention, but he ignored the shapeshifter. “It will be handled by morning,” he said. He wanted to tug the incubus — his incubus — closer, but the last thing he needed was for Kolt to balk when he had an audience. “Consider it as good as done.”
The incubus didn’t look convinced, but he nodded anyway.
Annoyance briefly flickered through Leandro. Kolt should’ve trusted him. He had it taken care of. He had enough contacts to bury anything, including a case that was as baffling as this one — perhaps because it was so baffling, because the answers weren’t going to be found. It would still be the source of gossip for a time, perhaps, but everyone would forget about it before long.
“Would you like to stay down here and watch?” He gestured over the room. “Or would you prefer to return upstairs?”
“It’s really not that interesting to watch when you’re not playing,” Kolt said, out of the blue, making Leandro do a double take. “I’ll see you later…?” the incubus inquired politely, like he was nothing more than a good dinner guest excusing himself.
Leandro had no intentions of letting the incubus go like this, and he rose without letting go of Kolt’s hand. “Do you want to watch me play, or do you want us to go upstairs? Your choice, Kol’tso.”
He tried his best to read the look on Kolt’s face, but he wasn’t having much success.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to interrupt what you were doing,” the incubus said, looking at Maurice and shaking his head. “Finish whatever you were doing. I’ll be there when you’re done.”
Leandro scowled. “I would like to spend time with you, Kol’tso,” he said sharply, not understanding what the problem was. Kolt had signed a contract to serve at Leandro’s pleasure, not to sulk off upstairs alone when his company was clearly wanted.
Maurice didn’t say anything, to his credit, but he was staring at Kolt.
Of course he was. Kolt was too beautiful not to look at, it certainly had nothing to do with the fact that he was being defiant and disobedient.
“I would like for my favor to be done,” Kolt retorted, his voice quiet but insistent as he looked Leandro straight in the eye — a sharp reminder that he hadn’t held up his end of their contract yet.
Was that all? For fuck’s sake. Kolt was acting like Leandro had kicked him. “It’ll be done by morning,” he repeated. “These things take time, Kol’tso. We’re less than twelve hours from it being part of your history, and in the meantime, no one can touch you without invoking my wrath.”
No one wanted to do that.
“You’re safe, and the matter at hand is being cleared up,” he added. “Now, let’s enjoy ourselves.”
It wasn’t a request.
“Fine.” Kolt conceded. He got up from where he’d sat down, not letting go, or trying to shake the hand Leandro was still holding in his own.
“Good night, Maurice,” Leandro said, dismissing the shapeshifter as though he was nothing. And compared to an incubus… he was. “Let’s go upstairs. I won’t give you time to think until dawn, and by then…” The favor would be done, his part of the debt satisfied. “By then, we can celebrate.”
13
His hand felt hot and clammy in Leandro’s as he let the fae lead him back to the elevator. The door had barely closed before the fae was pulling him closer, kissing his neck and running a hand over the robe he was wearing. It left him feeling queasy.
He’d fed deep and hard from Leandro the night before. He didn’t need to feed, and he hadn’t really been intimate with anyone without the need for sustenance driving him to it. But the way Leandro just assumed that they’d be busy until dawn…
Perhaps he’d made a mistake in signing the man’s contract. He didn’t even know if the fae could do as he’d promised. Nothing had changed yet, and it wasn’t like he knew what the guy was even going to do to… make it go away.
Was he going to kill more people? Would he undo what had been done? Would he make people forget all of it…?
“Is this what you meant when you said you wanted my company…?" he asked when Leandro’s fingers tugged at the knot holding the robe closed.
Leandro’s fingers stroked the knot. “It’s one of the things I had in mind, yes.” He paused, then murmured, “Is there a problem, Kol’tso?”
“How do I know you’re not just taking advantage of having a sex demon at your beck and call? Are you really going to make the dead guy go away?" he asked in quick succession, just as the elevator door opened into the loft.
Leandro stiffened, drawing away from him. He lifted his chin, and there was real anger in his expression. He didn’t budge from the elevator, his entire focus on Kolt. “Do you doubt my word?” he demanded. “Do you think I won’t honor my part of the contract?”
> It felt like a dangerous question to answer, and he hesitated before shrugging.
“I don’t know you,” he finally admitted without admitting to much of anything. “You expect me to just trust you on your word…?”
Leandro stared daggers at him. “I’m fae,” he said, as though that answered everything. “We keep our word, above all else.”
“Easy to say and talk is cheap…” Kolt said uncharitably.
Leandro was the first fae he’d ever met. How was he supposed to know or believe that they were the good guys? He didn’t know anything about anything yet, except that some rich asshole claimed to be honorable.
“I don’t mean to be ungrateful…” he mumbled, casting his gaze down. “I just don’t know who I can trust.”
“Of course you don’t,” Leandro said. While his voice was a little sharp, his expression softened. “You’ve been plunged into a new world without warning. But you’ll learn. You have to trust someone. It’s a bit late to decide you don’t trust me, Kol’tso.”
It was something Kolt was painfully aware of, and he crossed his arms over his chest tightly. “Yeah well,” It would hardly be the first terrible decision he’d made lately. He wet his lips and glanced up at Leandro. “I was kind of hoping for a grand gesture, to help me with that," he said, dry but not really joking.
“What sort of grand gesture could I give?” Leandro asked, sounding annoyingly reasonable. “As it is, all you have is my word that your mess is being cleaned up, and all you’ll have is my word when it’s done.”
Great. That wasn’t making this any better.
A little forlorn, he wandered into the loft, sagging down on the couch and shaking his head.
“I don’t fucking know.” he admitted, rubbing his face. “The head of my enemies on a stick," he said deadpan, dropping his head between his shoulders as he drew in a deep breath. “Can you at least tell me how…?" he asked quietly. “I think it’ll make me feel better.”
Leandro followed him, standing before him. “It’s simple enough,” he said, shrugging. “A suspect will confess to the crime.”
Kolt blinked at him. “What suspect?”
“Does it matter?” Leandro turned his gaze upon Kolt. “It won’t be you. Suspect confesses. Case closed.” He waved a hand in the air. “Simple.”
He didn’t understand. He didn’t understand any of it and he watched the way that hand gesture seemed to imply it was that simple.
“Just like that?" he asked. “Magically?” He had meant to sound sarcastic, but as soon as the word left his mouth, the fae nodded.
“Well, yes.” Leandro said matter of fact. As if it was the most normal thing in the world. And maybe it was to Leandro, but it certainly wasn’t for him.
“You do magic?" he asked, just to clarify. Because that seemed like a pretty big thing — one might say a grand gesture, to prove it wasn’t all a hoax played on a confused mentally ill person.
Leandro sighed heavily, and Kolt felt monumentally stupid for not considering it before. Perhaps he should have, but he couldn’t even begin to fathom that there was so much that normal people, and himself at that, never noticed.
Leandro finally sat down beside him instead of looming over him like a thunderstorm waiting to burst. “I’d say of course, but I forget how new this is to you.”
How he could forget was beyond him, considering that Kolt had nothing but fucking questions at every turn and clearly no idea what he was doing.
“The fae have a connection to the fae realm, which is accessible through certain points in the human realm,” Leandro continued, like that was supposed to make sense to him. It sounded like magic all right, or mumbo jumbo. “The casino is built upon a location where the realms coincide. Some of the lesser otherkin can access magic in different ways, but it’s inferior to true fae magic.”
“Naturally,” Kolt said, meaning the words sarcastically — but again Leandro simply nodded like he’d stated a fact.
Casually, Leandro lifted a hand, and a breeze filtered through the room. “I have many skills, but I suppose my air magic is strongest.” The breeze turned cool then bitingly cold against his bare skin before vanishing as abruptly as it had appeared. Like magic.
“You can do magic,” Kolt said, this time a little more impressed and a lot less questioning. It explained a few things, all right, but still. “Actual magic," he said, cracking a small smile, simply because it was exciting to think about. “You should really lead with that,” he told Leandro deadpan. It would’ve saved them both a lot of trouble.
“It isn’t something I usually need to advertise,” Leandro countered, quirking a brow before he lounged back on the sofa, legs touching Kolt’s even though he didn’t make any moves toward him. “But I can do a few parlor tricks, if you’d like.” He paused, reaching to brush Kolt’s damp hair from his face, then added softly, “I’ve assigned your favor to someone I trust to do well. He’s skilled in mind control and mental manipulation. The target will believe he’s guilty. There’s truly no need to worry, Kol’tso.”
Mind control. Manipulation. He hadn’t considered any of that either, and he felt stupid all over again. If he could do… things, it only made sense that others could do them too, and likely more useful than murder someone through sex.
“So… the guy who’s gonna confess,” he said slowly. “He’s… guilty of something, right?” he hedged, assuming that they wouldn’t send an innocent man to jail, or worse.
“He’s already on trial for drug trafficking charges,” Leandro said dismissively.
It was acceptable, anyway, as it took some asshole off the streets as well. He didn’t want to think of the implications of it all any further, so he simply nodded.
“Thank you…” he said after a moment of ruminating. He still felt like a total idiot, but he also felt a little better.
“You’re welcome,” Leandro replied, offering a smile. “There. You only need to talk to me, Kol’tso. You needn’t get so upset at me without giving me a chance to explain,” he chided gently.
Kolt glanced at him, resisting the urge to snap that he’d tried to talk to him right away, but there’d been some guy claiming to be his cousin, and he’d heard what they’d been talking about before he joined them.
“Just assume I’m stupid and need everything explained to me in the first place…” he said instead, because it was likely going to be the case more often than not.
“But you aren’t stupid,” Leandro said, and the fae looked genuinely puzzled.
For fuck’s sake.
“Explain it to me like I’m a child, then,” Kolt amended.
“But you aren’t—” Leandro stopped, but he inclined his head in a nod. “As you wish.”
“I’ll get the hang of it eventually… it’s just a lot all at once,” he tried to explain a little more carefully. “I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course,” Leandro replied. This time his hand brushed Kolt’s cheek, cupping it briefly before drawing back. “Do you have other questions?”
Only about a fucking million, most of them centering about the root of his abandonment issues.
“Nothing that can’t wait,” he said slowly, offering Leandro a smile and tugging at the knot that held the robe closed around his waist. “But I’m sure there’s something you’d like to impart…”
“Hmm…” Leandro’s hand closed around his, stopping him mid-action. “Perhaps the only wisdom I need to focus on right now is how to make you feel like you’re not just a… sex demon I want to take advantage of.”
Kolt stilled, his gaze snapping up to meet Leandro’s, feeling somehow like he’d already fucked this up. “Is this wrong?" he asked. “You said that this is what you had in mind,” he added quickly.
“Of course it isn’t wrong,” Leandro replied without hesitation, his fingers stroking Kolt’s. “But I’d hate for you to feel as though I’m only interested in your ass.”
He wasn’t sure what to say. He was utterly at a loss and he opene
d his mouth, only to shut it again. He wasn’t sure if he was feeling rejected, or appreciated, and it was strange. Normally he just had to suggest sex, and whoever he was talking to would be on it and now—
“Well, I’m pretty sure you’re interested in my mouth too," he said at long last, and a little dry. It was more talented anyway.
Leandro leaned in, kissing him lightly on the lips. “And your mind. I could have pretty playthings if I wanted. But you… You intrigue me.”
It was sweet, and nice, and the thing he apparently wanted to hear, because he couldn’t help the dumb smile. And yet…
“Why? How?" he asked, sabotaging his own happiness. “You don’t even know me…” He added, studying Leandro’s face — which was just painfully beautiful.
“I don’t know many people who would’ve had the audacity to approach me to demand a drink and seduce me,” Leandro said, tilting his head to the side as he considered. “I don’t know many people who would even care if they committed murder,” which said a lot about the people the fae spent time with. “You speak to me as though I’m…” He paused, lips pursing, “Hmm. Your innocence,” he decided upon, “when you speak to me. You still maintain respect even though you’re terribly confused and lost, but you have your own unique personality. All of it interests me.”
He couldn’t say he understood because he really didn’t. He wasn’t that interesting. He was boring, just some kid who had aged out of the system and fallen off of the grid. Leandro would be disappointed before long.
“I’m not that polite,” he admitted awkwardly. “I’ve been on my best behavior to impress you.”
Leandro grinned at that. “Then I suppose we’ll see what your… normal behavior is. And if I have to, I’ll teach you manners.”
