Frost Bite

Lynn Van Dorn

Copyright©2020 Lynn Van Dorn

All rights reserved

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Edited by: Jood Singer

Cover design by: AMAI Designs

ALSO BY LYNN VAN DORN

North Shore Stories

Be My Mistake

Damage Control

Daddy Issues

Oleander Chronicles

Reunion

Rebound (coming 2021)

Other Works

Rule 47

Wild By Nature

Now You See Me

Royally Screwed

As Virginia Kelly with Piper Scott

Forbidden Desires

Clutch

Bond

Mate

Forbidden Desires Spin-off Series

Swallow

Magpie

Finch

Peregrine (coming 2021)

About Frost Bite

Nick is just an ordinary unemployed guy, down on his luck, and worried about making his rent payment. Then he gets a massive stroke of luck: a job offer at last, and it includes free rent, utilities, and wifi.

There’s just one catch.

Vladimir, Nick’s landlord and prospective employer, wants more from an employee than an able-bodied person knowledgeable about plumbing, electrical, and general home repair.

It’s not much, really, in the grand scheme of things. Just Nick’s blood.

As it turns out, working for a vampire has other benefits beyond those detailed at the job interview and Nick finds he may lose something even more important than his vital bodily fluids.

His heart.

Chapter 1

In Which Nick Is Quite Desperate

Nick pulled up the banking app on his phone. It was the first of January and rent was due. He looked at his balance and winced. Not good. Not good at all. This was a pretty shitty start to the New Year.

In December Nick had been laid off from his construction job until March. April, if the weather didn’t cooperate. Sometimes they had a mild winter and there was an early call in the spring for construction, but so far, December had dumped an ass load of snow on Chicago and January looked like it might put December to shame. The streets were mostly clear, but that’s about all that was. Everything else lay under a smothering quilt of two feet of snow and ice.

Nick pondered his options. He could sell his blood again, he supposed. The blood bank wasn’t open today, though, because it was a holiday. He looked around Craigslist for part-time jobs but didn’t come up with anything. Most of the jobs seemed to be in the suburbs, anyway, and Nick didn’t have a car. Finding a house that needed repairs close enough to a Metra he could walk to it from a station, carrying his toolbox and supplies, was often an impossible task.

He looked at his bank balance again, just in case he hadn't read it right the first time, and then at the bills that were coming due. If he paid the rent today he wouldn’t have enough to pay for his electricity or his cell phone bills that were due next week. There was no giving any of those things up. They were all necessities. He bit his lip, unsure of what to do. He could use the electricity in his small apartment as little as possible, but it still wouldn’t change this month’s bill. No matter how he looked at it, he was boned.

Nick sighed. As much as he didn’t want to, he called up the building’s super, Ivan. Nick wasn’t sure Ivan had a better nature, but he was still determined to appeal to it.

“Wat?” Ivan snarled. Despite his claims that he’d lived for the past sixty years in Chicago, he still had a fairly thick Russian accent. “Is this about rent? It’s due today. No holiday for rent.”

As if Nick was completely unaware of that fact.

“I know. It’s just… I’m a little short this month, is all.”

“Short.” Ivan sneered the word. “How short?”

Nick screwed his eyes up tight as if that would help the situation in the slightest. “Three hundred,” he said in a rush. Well, three hundred if he lived on tuna, ramen, and peanut butter sandwiches, but who needed nutrition?

“Three hundred.” Ivan sounded speculative. “You know much about wiring, malchik?”

“A little,” Nick admitted. He was more of a carpenter, but he knew enough about wiring and plumbing to get by. “What’s a mile chick?”

“It means ‘little boy.’ That’s you. Do you know enough to replace wall outlet? Apartment 3’s little girl spread jam over sockets. Lucky she not burn down entire house,” Ivan huffed.

Nick resented being called a little boy, as he was at least a foot taller than Ivan, but for three hundred dollars, he’d let a lot of things slide. “Um, yeah, sure. Replacing a wall socket isn’t hard.”

“Not hard,” Ivan insisted, sounding a bit defensive. “Too low. My knees are shit.”

“Oh. Got it. So if I do this for you, you’ll cut three hundred off my rent?”

Ivan sniffed. “This extension only. We talk after you do job and don’t fuck it up.”

“Okay. Fair enough. When do you need the work done?”

“Yesterday. Come here and I give you new outlet. Bring your own tools.”

Feeling somewhat more cheerful now that there was a glimmer of light at the end of his dark financial tunnel, Nick found himself nodding his head, not that Ivan could see him. “I’ll be right down,” he said, then went to grab his tool chest.

Chapter 2

In Which Vladimir Frets

“This is a mistake, Ivan,” Vladimir said as he paced the Aubusson rug in his study. It was just after sunset and the last rays of the sun filtered down into the room through the thick, hazy glass block window. The light was stripped of its power to harm him but still, out of long habit, Vladimir automatically avoided the area where the anemic orangey sunlight fell.

“Nyet, gospodin,” Ivan insisted.

“English, Ivan. If you are determined to follow out your plan you must drop the Russian. South Carolina,” here Vladimir allowed himself a delicate shudder, “is not Chicago and it is most certainly not St. Petersburg. Are you certain you wish to do this?”

Ivan harrumphed. “Yes, master. Is better? Good. My only will is to obey you.”

Vladimir harrumphed back. “As if that was ever the case. If it was, you wouldn’t be leaving me like this.”

“It’s nearly eighty years, gospodin. I know you could make it more but I'm tired. I want to be an old man spending the rest of my days in sun and die when time.”

That made Vladimir wince. Ivan had refused for decades the blood that would bring back his youth and vigor. Enough of the magic had leaked between them to prolong Ivan’s life and slow his aging, but he had still grown old while Vladimir had not, and never would. It hurt to be rejected, even if Ivan was his friend and never his lover. One became attached to people and then, after a handful of decades, they died. It was exceedingly unfair, to Vladimir’s mind.

“You’ve got at least twenty years left in you,” Vladimir insisted, “minus any magical interference on my part. And you could have eternity if… never mind. I did promise to stop asking.”

“You did, da.”

“Yes,” Vladimir automatically corrected.

“Yes,” Ivan repeated with a bit more force than was necessary. “The boy will do well for you, I think. He fix many things around house for me in exchange for cheaper rent. His work has been… eh… acceptable.”

That, in Ivan-speak, was high praise indeed. The house was a towering Victorian mansion that had been converted years ago into seven apartments, plus Vladimir’s own lair in the basement. The renters disguised his scent to other vampires, becoming a living, breathing camouflage. In addition, the rents brought in a not-unwelcome source of income that was entirely legal and above-board.

“And if he’s not amenable?” Vladimir asked, carefully biting—but not hard enough to break the skin—his lower lip.

Ivan let out a long, suffering sigh. “Then I stay until we find you someone. I’m not abandoning you, gospodin, without leaving replacement behind. Just meet with boy. See if you think he will do.”

Feeling more like a sulky child than a powerful master, Vladimir said, “Very well, Ivan. Arrange for this boy of yours to come see me.”

“As you wish, gospodin. My will is to obey.”

Vladimir snorted. “Your will is to be a pain in my ass. Can I have my breakfast, now?”

With a smile that was more of a smirk—Ivan knew he’d won the argument—his servant held out his wrist. With perfect, almost dainty precision, Vladimir pierced the vein running just under the skin and drank. Soon, he’d need to get used to the taste of someone new, as well as learn his idiosyncrasies and how to read his temperament and mood. It was a terrible prospect.

Vladimir hated change. Most vampires did.

Chapter 3

In Which Nick Meets His Master/Landlord

Nick looked at the money in his hand and calculated how he might make it stretch to pay for his rent and food and well. He wasn't hopeful. It was close to the end of January and his money situation wasn't any better now than it had been at the beginning of the month.

The snow from December had melted, only to fall thickly again the day after. Then a cold front came roaring down from Canada, freezing everything solid that had melted. After that mess, there were no jobs to be found at all. In addition, the cold Nick had caught had turned into pneumonia and he'd been forced to go to a clinic. They'd wanted him to go to a hospital, but he'd refused, his health insurance having lapsed after he’d failed to make payments. In the end he'd been given an expensive antibiotic, a chiding look from the doctor, and a bill that ate up nearly all his money for the month.

Taking in a roommate was out of the question. His apartment had been carved out of the attic and was smaller than an average studio. Everything in the apartment was tiny, from the kitchen to the bathroom, except Nick's bed, which took up more than half of the usable floor space. A roommate would have to either sleep on the floor or in his bed, and Nick did not like sharing a bed. For that matter, he wasn't particularly keen on being that close to any human being on a long-term basis. Even the idea of it made him cringe. He was not really a people person.

So, no. Bringing in someone to share the rent was not going to happen.

Probably he should move, Nick thought morosely, but he didn’t want to. The large Victorian house was near both the purple line and the Metra. If he moved somewhere cheaper, he doubted it would be anywhere near as conveniently located. He just needed to hold out for a few months, then jobs would start opening up. And this summer he'd actually save some of his money so next year things wouldn’t be this bad.

Nick got up and morosely opened his tiny fridge then his one kitchen cupboard. There wasn't much to eat. Nick had consumed the last of the peanut butter that morning, off a spoon, because he'd run out of bread the day before. There was ramen left, though, and he made that, taking the last of his antibiotic with it.

Maybe Ivan would have more work for him to do. Then he could afford to go buy some groceries.

Finished with his meal, Nick put his bowl in the tiny dishwasher. Even though his apartment was the smallest and cheapest in the building, it was still the nicest place he'd ever lived. The miniature kitchen was well-built with new, if tiny, appliances. The bathroom only had a toilet, sink, and shower, but the fixtures were of good quality and the water pressure was unbelievably hard. Nick thought the shower alone was worth the price of his rent.

Having eaten what was available and feeling nearly full, Nick stretched out on his bed and tried to find something to watch on Netflix. He was still surfing through options when his phone rang.

It was Ivan. Nick's heartbeat sped up with anticipation. Maybe it was another job. Maybe he could go grocery shopping this week. Maybe he'd be able to buy meat that wasn't canned.

“Yeah?” he asked. “Is there something I can do for you?”

“The master would like to see you,” Ivan pronounced.

That didn't sound at all ominous. “The master?” Nick asked. “The master of what?”

“Forgive me. My English not perfect. I mean landlord. The landlord would like to see you.”

“The landlord?” Nick didn't think the clarification was an improvement. “Why?” It couldn't possibly be to evict him, could it?

Ivan made a noncommittal noise in his throat. “The mas—landlord—doesn't share thoughts with me. I believe, though, that he has opportunity you might take interest in."

“What kind of opportunity?” Nick's mind jumped around, falling onto diverse—and probably unlikely—scenarios. Was his landlord also a drug lord? Or maybe the master bit was the pertinent clue. Maybe he wanted Nick as some sort of sex slave. But that was all ridiculous speculation. No one in their right—or even wrong—mind would choose Nick to be a sexual plaything. Probably he just wanted to hire Nick to assist Ivan on a more regular basis.

That was a comforting thought, but the idea of being a sex slave snagged on something in Nick's brain and refused to leave his skull, even if the idea was mental.

“Something you might be interested in,” the old man repeated unhelpfully. “Should I tell him no?”

“No! I mean yes, I'm interested. Tell him I'll meet with him. When? Where?”

“The basement,” Ivan said in sepulchral tones. “Fifteen minutes.”

“What? Now?” Nick was wearing sleep pants, a Grinch t-shirt, and socks that had seen better days.

“No, not now,” Ivan said. Before Nick could let out a relieved breath, he continued, “fifteen minutes. Fourteen, now. The mas—landlord—doesn't like to be kept waiting.” Then he hung up.

Nick looked at his watch. There was no time for a shower, but he'd taken one that morning. Just in case, though, he put on more deodorant then threw on his one pair of decent dress slacks and a black button-down shirt. The effect was monochromatic, but he looked mostly presentable after he'd run a brush through his thick, dark hair.

With six minutes to spare, Nick started down the several sets of stairs, making his way to the basement, home of two washers and dryers, the boiler, and a door that was always, to the best of his knowledge, locked.

There wasn’t anything particularly ominous about the door, in and of itself. Like the rest of the doors in the house, it had five recessed panels and was made of solid mahogany. The doors upstairs, though, had a light stain on them that brought out the reddish highlights in the dark wood. This door, which looked like it hadn't been opened in at least a century, was stained so dark the wood looked nearly black.

Nick hesitated for a few seconds. He had no idea why a door should be so intimidating. He was being stupid. Probably the basement apartment contained only an old man who was a shut-in. Whatever he wanted couldn't be too awful or Ivan would've said so.

Right?

Squaring his shoulders, Nick went up to the door and knocked.

Nothing happened.

He raised his hand to knock again when the door opened soundlessly, revealing a man who stared at Nick like a hawk sizing up prey. His hair looked like gold shot with silver, but he wasn't old. At all. Even a little.

This couldn't be the landlord. Right?

Uncertain, Nick asked, “Is your father around?” The delicately lovely boy before him couldn't possibly be the man Ivan had referred to as the master. He was a teenager. He was probably still in high school.

The boy stared at Nick for a few seconds then laughed. The sound was warm, rich, and beautiful and Nick wanted to wrap himself up in it like it was a thick quilt.

Which was, when you got down to it, a very strange thought.

When the boy—man?—spoke, it was with a Russian accent. It was like Ivan's but not. To Nick's untrained ear it sounded aristocratic and it was much lighter. Despite his youth, Nick could see why Ivan called him “the master.”

“Nyet. My father hasn't been around for many years. You must be Nick. Ivan has told me so much about you.” The boy stuck his hand out and Nick took it automatically. The fingers were cool and the grasp firm. “I am Vladimir Lebedev.” The boy smiled and his beauty pierced Nick like an arrow. "It’s good to finally meet you.”

Chapter 4

In Which Vladimir Is Smitten

The malchik Ivan had brought him wasn't precisely a boy, Vladimir decided. He was a tall and lanky man with a roughness to his features that made Vladimir think of unpolished sculpture. His hands were large, with long fingers and wrists that looked strong, but also somehow elegant. Vladimir could sense the blood that pumped just under delicate skin stretched tight over sinew and bone and he somehow knew the man would be delicious.

Ivan was to be commended. The man—Nick—was perfect in a way no one had been in centuries. Something stirred within Vladimir. Something he thought had died centuries ago.

Vladimir's kind didn't, contrary to popular myths, sexualize their food as a rule. Sustenance was one thing, sexual gratification entirely another. Vladimir had never fantasized about fucking Ivan, let alone made it a reality. Sex was untidy and Vladimir detested untidiness. Ivan, for his part, understood and whole-heartedly agreed. It was one reason why Vladimir had kept Ivan with him for so long and already mourned his loss before he'd even left.

“I don't want to stick my dick in my borscht,” Ivan had once declared, very early in their association, and Vladimir appreciated the sentiment. Ivan found sexual gratification elsewhere—he never said where or with whom and Vladimir had never asked. It wasn't important and it wasn't any of his concern. Sex wasn't particularly important to Vladimir and hadn't been for a very long time. He'd assumed that the loss of desire was a natural consequence of his loss of mortality. Whether that was truth or conjecture, the fact remained that having sex with your food was déclassé.

But this boy—rather, this man—called to something within Vladimir and desire woke up and stretched its limbs luxuriously.

He wanted and the unfamiliar sensation left Vladimir feeling light-headed and adrift. He should say something but he couldn't remember what. All he could do was stare in confused wonder at this man Ivan had brought him.

Nick wasn’t particularly handsome and he appeared nearly monkish, with his ascetic face and sober attire. Men like him tended to be quiet, deep pools of stubbornly dedicated and single-minded passion. They generally were devoted to one god or another, but Vladimir had met artists and writers who had also fit the same description. Nick was exactly the sort of lover Vladmir used to take, back when he had still taken lovers.

Though breathing wasn’t strictly speaking necessary, Vladimir took in a deep breath and let it out in a slow sigh. This man was either the best or worst idea Ivan had ever had. He couldn't decide which it was, however done was done. Nick would stay or he wouldn’t and he’d fulfill Vladimir's needs or he wouldn’t. All that was left was to see how it all played out.

If nothing else, Nick had picked, probably inadvertently, the perfect attire to wear to this interview. Vladimir highly approved of black. It was the best color, bar none, for hiding unfortunate mealtime messiness. He'd always been a neat and precise eater, but no one could consume blood from a living host without getting a bit of it on one's clothes from time to time. For a creature such as himself, the only choices were to either garb oneself sensibly in black, prepare for endless laundry, or ignore the stains and go with the whole “bloody monster” shtick. Vladimir preferred the first option by a wide margin. Black never went out of style and it suited his light hair, fair skin, and dark eyes. Black was a color you could while away the centuries in quite comfortably.

This man, Vladimir thought, is entirely too perfect for me in too many ways.

Nick smiled nervously in response to Vladimir’s silent scrutiny. “So you're the actual landlord, and not his son or nephew or something?”

Vladimir smiled back, but thinly, not wanting to reveal his teeth to the boy. “The landlord, yes. Also possibly 'or something.'”

“Um… okay.” Nick seemed nonplussed so Vladimir rescued him.

“I most assuredly own this multiple-family domicile. I'm older than I look. You'll have to take my word on it.” Wanting to shift the conversation into a different direction, Vladimir asked, “You live alone, do you not?”

The man stared at him, seemingly still off balance. “Is that why Ivan said you wanted to see me? Do you think I have someone living with me who's not on the lease? Because I assure you that I don't. I'm not sure where I'd even put another person. I don't have a hidden cat or anything, either. I haven't done a single thing to violate my lease."

Vladimir stared back at his tenant. “I think perhaps we're getting ahead of ourselves. I haven't summoned you for an eviction notice. Won't you please come in? I think we'd be more comfortable inside my home.”

Nick looked wary, but he nodded and stepped over the threshold. Vladimir wondered how his wards would react to the foreign presence. Nick was a guest, and clearly welcomed by Vladimir, but magic tended to have a mind—and opinions—of its own. It was a relief, then, when the magical wards did nothing more than let out a silent hum of acceptance. If nothing else, Vladimir’s magic approved of the man. That was a very good sign.

As for his guest, Nick looked around him with opened-eyed wonder. Beyond the door and front hallway were four wide steps that led down into a large antechamber illumindated by artificial lights behind a ceiling of cloudy semi-opaque blue glass. Off the antechamber were four archways of ornately carved wood. One led to his study, the second to a more formal parlor, and the third and fourth led down hallways. One ended at the entrance to Ivan's apartment. The fourth went to Vladimir's bedroom. It was, by the standards of his kind, quite small, but Nick goggled at it all like he'd been dropped into a palace.

“Woah,” he breathed. “Are you like… Batman or some shit?” He pointed to the archway that led to Vladimir's private chamber. “Is the Bat Cave down the hallway? Is Ivan your Alfred? I mean, I know they filmed all those Christian Bale Batmans in Chicago, but this is nuts. Fantastic, but nuts.” He turned to face Vladimir. “I'm sorry, but I'm nervous and I tend to overshare. Your apartment is amazing.”

Vladimir's lips twitched. “I'm delighted you approve.”

“Look, all kidding aside, if you're not kicking me out because you think I violated my lease, why am I here?” Nick's eyes were large and pleading, like he wanted to hope but knew it was pointless to wish for better fortune. How very Russian. Vladimir was even more intrigued by the young man.

“I was wondering if you would consider working for me. For now, under Ivan's guidance, but he'll be retiring soon.”

“Oh.” It was a thoughtful sound. Nick’s face now held a look of such overwhelming hope that it made Vladimir blink. Just how desperate was this malchik?

“I would, of course, pay you. You'll no longer need to pay rent to me and you'd earn a thousand dollars a week as a salary. In return, you’ll maintain my home and run errands for me, in addition to other tasks as they come up.”

Nick's face screwed up in concentration. Vladimir thought he must be doing the math in his head. “That's a very generous offer,” he said slowly. “What sort of errands would you expect me to do?”

“Things that require leaving this house,” Vladimir replied frankly.

“Are you under house arrest? Do you have one of those ankle thingies on?” The boy looked very intrigued and Vladimir hated to disappoint him, but needs must.

“I am not under house arrest and I'm allowed to leave my house. I just don't. Ever.”

Nick's eyes widened in comprehension. “You're agoraphobic?"

Vladimir smiled, again thinly so as to not flash fang. “Something like that.”

“Oh. Okay.” Nick appeared to digest that. “Okay, cool. What other tasks? Besides running to Home Depot and fixing leaky toilets, what else will I be doing?”

Here it was. The moment of truth. There were many ways the boy could respond and Vladimir hoped to avoid the worst-case scenario. In that, Nick would run mad and not be able to see reason. If that happened, the boy would have to die and Vladimir already didn't want to harm him. “Have you ever given blood?” he asked tentatively.

Nick looked thrown off balance, but not overly alarmed. That was a good sign. “I… yes. Why? Is it important?”

“Yes, it is. Humor an old man.”

Nick blinked at Vladimir hard then said, “Okay, whatever.”

“Were you paid for donating?”

The boy blushed scarlet. Vladimir wanted to lick his cheek and taste the echo of the blood that colored his face. “I… yes. I was. If it matters.”

“It matters a great deal, Kolya. It is, in fact, the heart of the matter.”

“The heart of the… wait. Kolya?"

“It's your name in Russian."

Nick's face scrunched up again in confusion. “I thought it was Nikolai.”

“In terms of formality, yes, but I hope to not be so formal with you.”

The boy looked wary but not frightened. Vladimir took that as another good sign. “Uh, okay. So. You want me to donate blood for you?”

"No, Kolya. Not for me.”

Nick let out the breath he'd been holding. “Oh, okay. But then why—”

“Not for me,” Vladimir repeated, interrupting Nick's next question. It was time to lay all—or at least most—of his cards down on the table. “To me. I wish you to give your blood to me.”

Chapter 5

In Which Nick Becomes Acquainted With The Truth

My landlord, Nick thought, is a serial killer. The world's prettiest serial killer. Fuck off, Ted Bundy. You've been pwned by my landlord. Who wants my blood.

From there, Nick's thoughts devolved into panicked gibberish and he could feel his pulse pounding like a drum in his ears.

“Stop,” the pretty serial killer landlord said, his voice a soothing command. “Stop that right now.”

Nick stopped. His mind ground to a halt and his thundering heart slowed.

“Good boy. Be still. Be calm. I will not harm you. I would never harm you.”

Nick's head felt fuzzy and pink, like there was insulation between his thoughts and his fear. It was very disconcerting. He found he couldn't look away from his pretty landlord's dark eyes. They seemed to be not brown but blue. How curious. Nick had no idea eyes could be that shade of blue. They were darker than cobalt colored glass. They were the color of the ocean at midnight. Which was a very strange thought. Nick had never seen the ocean. Lake Michigan was like an inland sea, however, and he'd seen it at midnight, hanging out on Navy Pier deliberately drunk and happily lost in a haze of dreamy swoops and swirls. He might have flown or he might have been sick, so he’d stared at the water and it had anchored him. Lake Michigan, at midnight, seen through a lens of tequila and nostalgia for something he'd never had. That was the exact color of his landlord's eyes.

“There, yes," the pretty boy—or was it man?—crooned at him. What had he said his name was? “That's better, isnt it? There is absolutely no reason to panic, Kolya. You are safe. Everything is fine.”

Nick felt like he could easily drown in the blue eyes that held him captive. He forced himself to concentrate and think. This man, whose name he couldn't remember, had talked about taking his blood, then he'd pulled some sort of mind trick to subdue Nick. He should feel outraged and violated and terrified. Instead, Nick felt calm. Artificially calm, but he appreciated the stillness in his head. He needed to be able to think.

“Your name,” Nick croaked out. “I can't remember your name.” That was, perhaps, an odd question to ask, but it felt important.

“Vladimir.”

“Vladimir,” Nick repeated. “Yes.” He nodded to himself. “Vladimir, what just happened?”

Vladimir's lips twitched. “I repeated my name.”

Nick scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. “No. Before that. You did something here.” He tapped on his right temple. “In my mind. Didn't you?”

With his head cocked slightly to the side, Vladimir considered Nick. “Interesting,” he murmured, then nodded. “Yes. I helped calm you. I could sense your panic and I eased you through it. It is…” he paused and considered his words, “a knack of mine, I suppose you could say.”

“And you want my blood? What the hell do you think you are? Some kind of vampire? You have a garlic allergy, too?”

“It's more of a sensitivity.” Vladimir wrinkled his nose.

Nick backed away from Vladimir. “I was joking. Tell me you're joking, too. Because there aren't…”

Vladimir moved so fast Nick's eyes couldn't track the movement. He blinked and Vladimir was just there, in front of him, like he'd teleported. He still hadn't lain a finger on Nick, though. “Are you sure?”

“No.” Nick swallowed hard. “Are you going to kill me now or toy with me first?”

Vladimir froze and looked both hurt and insulted. “I am not a cat. I said I wouldn't harm you and I do not lie.”

“This is crazy. Completely crazy. None of this is real. It can't be. You're a really pretty psycho serial killer and you'll exsanguinate me somehow then throw my body into the dumpster in the alley.”

“I would never dispose of a body in my dumpster,” Vladimir sniffed. “I might be a hematophage, but I have seen CSI.”

Nick felt hysterical laughter bubble up in his chest. “I'm sure you have. And if you needed to get rid of a body, you'd just get Ivan do it for you. How much does a desiccated corpse weigh, anyway? You know Ivan has a bad back.”

Vladimir laughed. “You are delightful, my boy. I am impressed you correctly used the term exsanguinate. You are indeed surprising.”

“Fuck you. I read, you know. I know hematophage means you think blood is food. My blood. You want to eat me. I'm not stupid.”

"No,” Vladimir agreed slowly. “You're not stupid.” His eyes were direct and forceful, but somehow not unkind, and Nick didn’t think he was using any sort of influence over him, at least at the moment. “You know what I am and what I want. But you only think you know what that means. Books can be wrong, my child.”

“I'm not a child. I'm definitely not your child,” Nick insisted, because he couldn't bring himself to consider the possibility that the impossible had been renting him a very nice studio apartment for the last six months. It was too crazy to even contemplate. “And I know what you think you are. That doesn't make this real.”

Vladimir shook his head sadly and clucked his tongue. “You know better than that.” Then he smiled, flashing fangs that were slender and dainty and sharp as fuck. They didn't look in the slightest bit fake.

“Vampire,” Nick whispered, his throat suddenly dry like it had been taken over by a desert.

The monster inclined his head in assent. “Vampires are much like viruses. It's possible, in fact, that what I've been told is magic is instead a very complicated symbiotic relationship with a special type of virus.”

“And?” The change in subject hadn't relieved any of Nick's fears.

“And like most viruses, my kind doesn't seek your death. I need you healthy and alive for a very long time to keep me alive and healthy as well.”

Nick wasn’t sure what to make of that so his brain focused on trivialities. “Undead. You're not alive.”

“I am not undead any more than you are. It's a senseless term that means nothing. Of course I'm not dead. I'm very much alive, just not in a way you're used to. Again, like a virus. I don't fit the conventional definition of a living entity by your scientific standards. Nevertheless, here I am, and while I am very long lived, I'm not immortal. I can most certainly perish. It's why I need you. Or Ivan. You can do so many things I cannot.”

“So you don't want to eat me?” This was a point that Nick felt needed to be made clear.

Vladimir smiled widely. “Not in the conventional sense.”

What Nick should do was somehow extricate himself from Vladimir's lair and run. He needed to get far, far away from this monster. Like Australia-far.

But.

Nick licked his lips nervously. “You said a thousand bucks a week?”

Vladimir inclined his head.

“And free rent?”

“Indeed. I would expect you to move into Ivan's flat once he’s moved out, but I assure you that it's much nicer than the attic studio you currently dwell in. Oh, and utilities are included. Also wifi.” The vampire smiled winningly.

“How… how much blood are we talking about?” A part of Nick was appalled that he was even considering the vampire's offer, but with free rent and utilities thrown in, it was an extremely generous offer.

“A few ounces every evening. You can easily spare that, even given on a daily basis, as long as you eat a healthy diet.” The vampire frowned. “Which you haven't been. That will change. I can't have you over-taxed and collapsing on my account.”

Nick's eyes widened. “Is that why Ivan looks so feeble?”

Vladimir rolled his amazing eyes in exasperation. “Vladimir started working for me in 1939. I'd say that for his age, he looks quite spry.”

Ivan had to be close to a hundred years old. Nick had thought him at most to be in his sixties. “I'm in,” Nick said.

“Just like that?” the vampire asked, one eyebrow raised but still looking relieved.

“I might sleep with a wooden stake under my pillow,” Nick allowed, “but yes. I'll do it. When do I start?"

Vladmir's tongue traced along his very inhuman incisors. “I think now would work well for me.”

Chapter 6

In Which Vladimir Gets A Taste

The boy licked his lips nervously. “How do we… uh… do this, anyway? Do I bleed into a cup or do you go right to the source?”

Blood in a small juice glass was technically more than sufficient for his nourishment, but Vladimir didn't enjoy it. Even blood fresh from the body tasted dead. It was food, but rarely something to savor. Blood taken and consumed directly from a living person, though… Vladimir shivered. He always drank from Ivan's wrist or forearm, but something about this Kolya made him think of other veins in more intimate places.

It had been so, so long.

Vladimir forced himself to concentrate. He needed to navigate these waters carefully. “Getting blood from the source, as you say, isn’t necessary.”

Nick narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. “But?”

Vladimir lifted an eyebrow in lieu of voicing his reply out loud. He thought the boy might be unusually sensitive to mental thoughts and influence. Or maybe he was just that easy to read in his old age.

“You want to drink directly from me, don't you?” the boy asked. “You want those pointy teeth of yours inside me.”

Had Vladimir been capable of blushing, he would have. Put that way, feeding sounded positively filthy. “It's in no way necessary, but it is to be preferred.”

Nick pursed his lips then asked, “By who?”

This conversation shouldn't have made an ancient vampire like Vladimir uncomfortable, but nevertheless it did. “By… ah, me, for one. It's better if the blood hasn't had any time to coagulate.”

“Makes sense, I guess.” Nick scrunched up his nose. “What about me? Which is better for me?”

If Vladimir could've started to sweat, he would have. “I… uh…” In truth, the vast majority of people he had fed indirectly from had been exsanguinated past survival and thus not capable of putting forth opinions. In the end, he gave a little shrug. “It's been centuries since anyone fed on me, but I never found it to be painful or unpleasant.” Quite the contrary, but Vladimir found he couldn't look into Nick's earnest expression and voice that out loud.

Nick gave Vladimir a penetrating look. “If you say so. How do we do this? You stab me with a fang or what?”

“It's not required. If it makes you more comfortable, any cut with a sharp instrument will do.”

“Oh.”

Was Nick relieved or disappointed by that information? “Is this a problem?” Vladimir asked. “Is there any way I can make this easier for you?”

Nick burst out laughing. “You're such a... polite… monster,” he said between gasps of mirth. “Jesus. I'm sorry. It's all been a bit much. What were we talking about?”

Vladimir wanted to snort with amusement but he kept his mien still and calm. “The method of bloodletting.”

“Oh, yeah, right. We can use your teeth, I guess. It’s just that I didn't come with my own cutting instruments.” Nick smiled crookedly and old and half-forgotten desire stirred inside Vladimir. “I’ve got a utility knife upstairs in my room, though.”

Vladimir had seen Ivan’s utility knife, which was essentially a handle for a razor blade. In theory, it would work just fine and Vladimir could easily clean the wound and seal it with just a drop of his saliva. Still. It seemed wrong somehow.

“No… I… we could do this the traditional way, I suppose. If you don't mind.” Vladimir couldn’t stop himself from staring at Nick’s throat. It had been an eternity since he’d bitten anyone there, or anywhere other than an outstretched arm, to take nourishment. It was often messy and it was also unnecessary, not to mention undignified, to bite down on the jugular vein. Just because he required human blood to survive didn’t mean that Vladimir had to be uncivilized about it.

“Do you want my neck?” Nick asked, as if reading Vladimir's mind. Or perhaps that was just the influence of a million books and movies. He sounded calm but his heartbeat had sped up and there was a slight tremor in his voice. Even so, Nick tilted his head to the side, exposing his throbbing jugular.

Vladimir's mouth watered. “Nyet,” he said crisply while that deep, sleeping thing inside him growled, yes. He ignored it. “Your wrist will do. That’s how Ivan donates. This will be similar.” A strange feeling of hunger mixed with desire rose within Vladimir, something he’d nearly forgotten over the years. It had been so long since he’d felt want in any physical way that the resurgence now was unnerving.

Nick held out his wrist. It looked strong and capable and delicious. “How much will this hurt?” he asked. “I mean, I’m not too afraid of pain. I’ve sliced the shit out of myself more than once on the job. It happens. But I had a dog bite me when I was a kid that fucking hurt like a bitch.”

Vladimir took Nick’s proffered wrist and held it with his hand. “I have only my own memories, but I did not find it to be a painful experience. Maybe for a moment or two, then…” He stopped, not wanting to voice the rest of the thought. The memory of his own time spent as a human feeding a vampire was thin and fragile as old memories could be. He couldn’t recall the face of the man who’d drunk from his vein, but he could remember the feeling of it: a sharp sting of puncture then nothing but dreamy pleasure. “I think it will be bearable,” he finished, “especially under the circumstances. You are being compensated.”

“Okay, point taken.” Nick sighed deeply. “Let’s get it over with. If it's awful I can order scalpels from Amazon, probably. Amazon has everything. Hell, they probably have a whole page of vampire snack supplies. Although this would be cheaper.” That thought seemed to cheer him and he held out his arm. “Okay, I’m ready.”

Vladimir took Nick's proffered arm then licked the wrist he held, as his saliva was antiseptic. He’d been told long, long ago that if he wished to keep a human for more than one meal, licking before and after feeding would ensure his food didn’t sicken from infection, thus tainting the blood. He’d always heeded the advice and his assistants had never gotten ill. Indeed, they seemed to be far less prone to infection than most people.

Nick shivered under the swipe of his tongue. Vladimir glanced at him and saw his eyes were closed but he didn’t seem unduly distressed. That was good. Vladimir carefully sank his fangs into Nick's wrist and began to drink.

Nick moaned softly but his arm remained pliant in Vladimir’s grasp so he continued to feed. Nick's blood was so different from Ivan's, perhaps because of his youth. It was brighter, sweeter, warmer, and all together more delicious. He wanted to drink it forever. Out of nowhere, his dormant member stirred like it wanted to rise. I need more blood, he thought. I must have more.

That train of thought pulled Vladimir up short. He wasn’t really a monster and he wouldn’t bring harm to this human. Reluctantly, he pulled his fangs from Nick’s wrist then licked the wounds from his teeth. Under his ministrations, the punctures would heal quickly and leave not even the trace of a scar. Besides, there were a few stray drops of blood on Nick’s wrist and it would be a shame to leave them behind.

Chapter 7

In Which Nick Gets The Position

After the sharp sting of the vampire's teeth puncturing his skin, Nick felt like he was in a warm, comfortable bed with a fire roaring in a nearby fireplace. He felt, for the first time in a long time, not even a little bit hungry, like he'd just eaten a holiday meal.

There was a light pulling sensation on his wrist that went, somehow, right to his groin, making him horny as hell. He wanted to pull the ancient creature that looked like a boy into his arms then bare his neck to him. Nick wanted other things, too. Things that made no sense. He wanted to kiss Vladimir's sweetly plump lips and taste himself inside the vampire's mouth.

Just the thought made Nick’s cock get hard. Or harder, since he'd already been sporting a semi. This was the most wonderful thing he'd ever experienced, and also the most sensual. It felt like sex. Like really good sex. With a man, though, which was weird. Who was a vampire, which was weirder. The whole situation was beyond crazy, but Nick was content to let the moment spin out forever.

Then Vladimir pulled away enough to lick Nick's wrist. That felt wonderful, too, even if he'd liked the whole blood-sucking experience to have been longer. Vladimir said that he needed a small amount of blood every day. Already Nick looked forward to the next feeding. He wondered if maybe Vladimir might be willing to take more time with it tomorrow. He hoped so.

“Are you alright?” Vladimir asked. Nick looked up and saw the vampire lick the corner of his mouth with his tongue. The sight made Nick's cock throb harder, and that was very strange because Nick wasn’t gay. Or at least he'd never been attracted to men before. Nevertheless, he was turned on now more than he had been in ages. Maybe it was a vampire thing. That made sense. Vampires were fucking magic. Weird boners and shit were to be expected.

Nick nodded, then found his voice. “God, yeah. Good thing we talked money before you did that.”

Vladimir frowned. “Why? Was it unpleasant? Did it hurt?”

That made Nick break out into a fit of uncharacteristic giggles. Maybe he was high. Maybe vampire spit made you trip balls. If that was the case, Nick was definitely interested in more. It also made him wonder, for the first time, about kissing a man.

No. Not a man. A vampire.

Vladimir's frown deepened and Nick hastened to calm his laughter. "Nah. It was like the opposite of pain. I feel higher than a fucking kite. Dude, people would pay you to do this to them. Like good money.”

The vampire's lip curled. “That sounds awful. I don't want a parade of strange humans in my home. Besides. It's unwise to advertise one's inhumanity.”

“Yeah, I get that. What time do you want me tomorrow?”

Vladimir blinked rapidly. “I don't think there's anything that needs repair on the house,” he said. “But I suppose you can ask Ivan.”

“No. I mean what time do you want to eat?” At the vampire's confused look, he added, “Me, I mean. When do you need more blood?”

Nick watched as Vladimir's mouth opened and closed several times. Finally he said, “I had intended to make use of Ivan until he was ready to move.”

“Oh.” Nick found himself oddly disappointed. “I get it. That makes sense.”

“Once Ivan leaves and you're settled in your new apartment, our arrangement will commence. I should go tell Ivan the happy news. We've officially found his replacement.”

“Ah, yeah,” Nick said, now feeling like a thwarted child hovering on the edge of a melt-down. “Makes sense.” But it felt all wrong. “I can help Ivan pack up and move his heavy shit.”

“That's very kind of you,” Vladimir murmured. “Come. I'll show you to the door.”

Nick found himself, before he realized what had happened, standing all alone staring at the closed black door in the basement. He wanted to pound on the door and beg for entrance. Instead, Nick climbed up to his attic room and took a shower.

A cold shower might have been better, but Nick wanted the warm, soothing feeling back. He let the hot water pound on his neck and thought of midnight blue eyes, sharp fangs, and soft lips with just a touch of blood on them. His blood.

Nick's cock rose again and he jerked off leisurely. As he came, he thought of those slim fangs—almost dainty—sliding into the side of his neck.

Chapter 8

In Which Vladimir Needs To See

It was utter nonsense that vampires couldn’t be seen in mirrors. Vladimir had never understood that tale. That said, after years, you stopped wanting to look and avoided them. Seeing the same, unchanging face day after day for centuries could drive one mad. Vladimir had seen it happen.

That was the reason he had no mirrors in his home, and it was an oversight that today he found irksome.

Vladimir pulled out his cellphone to contact Ivan. He wasn't retired yet.

Vladimir: I need a full-length mirror immediately. I demand you bring one to me.

Ivan: I'm at U-haul buying boxes. Can it wait? Or just ask the boy. He can find you something in the house. There's probably one in the attic.

No. That would not do. Not one little bit.

Vladimir: impossible. You must bring me a mirror.

Ivan: when I get home

Vladimir: not acceptable

Ivan: do you feel well, master?

As a matter of fact, he did not feel well. Something was definitely wrong. Or different. It was unsettling.

Vladimir: irrelevant

Ivan: there's a full-length one on the door of my bathroom. Use that.

Vladimir: you still have the power to surprise me, Vanya, even after all these years.

Ivan: it came with the house. Fuck you, master.

Vladimir laughed and blanked his phone screen. He went to the circular staircase that led to Ivan's rooms, a monster on a mission.

Chapter 9

In Which Nick Gets Advice From Ivan

The first thing Nick noticed after getting out of his shower was that the wound on his wrist had healed completely. Beyond that, he felt odd. Not particularly a bad odd, but certainly off. He had no idea if the feeling was normal and he figured there was only one person to ask.

Nick called Ivan's cell. It rang so long Nick thought it would go to voicemail but at the last second it was answered gruffly. “Wat now?”

“Um… hi, Ivan. It's Nick. I wanted to know if we could talk.”

The older man grunted. “Talking now,” he pointed out.

“Uh… yeah. So. I have this question. Like actually so many questions, but this one especially. Why do I feel weird?”

There was grumbling in what had to be Russian. “You sniff glue? Eat wrong mushroom? Drink all the cough syrup?”

Nick laughed. “No! It was after I… uh… donated. You know. To him.”

“Ah,” Ivan pronounced. “Now makes sense. Weird how?”

Nick blushed and was glad Ivan couldn’t see it. This was the hard part. “I…”

“You better not be backing out, malchik. I have plane ticket and everything. This time next week will be on the beach. Fuck this shitty weather.”

“Wait,” Nick said, unable to not poke fun. “You're Russian. Isn't snow and ice in your blood?”

“Fuck you, too. You gonna help find another replacement? I don't have time for shit,” Ivan groaned.

“No, wait. I don't wanna back out. I just wanted to ask if giving blood made you feel different.”

“Explain different. Look, boy, spit it out or let me get back to picking up boxes.”

“Okay. Okay.” Nick took a deep breath and let it out. “I'mnotintodudesbutIthinkheshot,” he said in a rush.

“What? Boy, stop mumbling. I can’t hear when you mumble.”

Nick was half-tempted to hang up, destroy his phone, leave the city, and live as a hermit in a cabin somewhere. Instead he said more slowly, “I'm not into guys. I've never been into guys. But ever since he bit me, I think Vladimir is… um…” Nick gritted his teeth then just said it. “Sexy. Is that weird?”

Ivan snorted into the phone.

“Ivan?”

“Da, that's a little weird, malchik.”

Nick groaned and ran a hand through his dark hair. “Great.”

Ivan was silent for a long time. Nick even checked to see if he'd hung up, but they were still connected. “You have my keys, boy?”

“Yeah, Ivan. I've got 'em. Why?”

“Is something in my place that will explain all. You go get it and feel better. But take it somewhere else. Not my rooms.”

“Sure, man. What am I looking for, though? How will I know what it is? Is it a book or something? You know I can't read Russian.”

“You should learn. But never mind. You'll know thing when you see it. Not be disappointed. Probably.”

“What do you mean by probably?”

“No matter. Trust Ivan. I know things.”

“Okay, Ivan. I'll go and see if I can find it.”

Chapter 10

In Which Vladimir Gets A Good Look

Ivan's mirror was, oddly enough, positioned on the outside of the bathroom door. It seemed a strange choice of location, but with the door closed, Vladimir supposed the full-length mirror might make the apartment seem larger than it was.

With no ceremony, Vladimir disrobed, letting his shirt, trousers, and undergarments fall where they might, unheeded. Nude, he stared hard at his body, something he hadn't properly looked at in ages. It was just the framework that held his brain and allowed him to hold a book or play a musical instrument. He hadn't thought of it in sexual terms for a very long time.

Even before taking on Ivan, the most relentlessly heterosexual man of Vladimir's acquaintance, Vladimir's urge for sex had been swallowed, over the years, by blood. Small, regular feedings had helped and feeding off a creature who felt not one iota of lust for him had helped even more. What had killed Vladimir's lust for flesh altogether had been the viral plague that spread like wildfire among the gay men over three decades previously.

He had seen the virus in them, somehow—perhaps like called to like—and trying to find a bed partner in the clubs and discotheques of Chicago had been like stalking through a killing field. Each time he went out, it was worse, and in the end, he’d stopped going out completely. Vladimir had no idea if the virus would've hurt him or not, but he hadn't been game to find out. He could sense his death lurking in their veins and stayed away.

Then Ivan had found Nick for him, and he'd been such a tidy solution for the two of them. Ivan could retire and die, as was his choice, and Nick would step right into the servant's shoes. Vladimir had expected everything to be exactly as it had been, but he feared that might no longer be possible. His body had reacted to Nick like it hadn't for another in so many years.

Just thinking of Nick's chiseled features, dark hair, and incongruously blue eyes the color of a Siberian winter sky made Vladimir's body react. Even without nearly the amount of blood needed for an erection, his prick tried to rise. It was baffling, and disturbing, but so had been Nick's reaction to being fed upon.

Ivan had informed his master in no uncertain terms that Nick wasn't one of Vladimir's kind. That had made Vladimir roll his eyes. Between being a blood sucker and a cocksucker, Vladimir was certain which one Ivan found more strange and inexplicable. Knowing Nick would be just as uninterested in sex as Ivan had been a comfort of sorts. Nothing would have to change. Nothing at all.

Then he'd tasted Nick's blood.

Then he'd seen desire in Nick's icy eyes.

Then he'd seen the physical evidence for himself. Nick's cock had risen, and it had risen for him.

In the mirror, Vladimir saw his skin grow paler as blood went straight to his growing erection. The only spots of color were his eyes, his mouth, and his prick, glowing a rosy pink. A bead of liquid formed on the tip, which he caught and brought to his lips. Precum, laced with blood, as all his body fluids were, from tears to saliva to the thick cum he hadn't spilled in more years than he cared to count.

His own precum couldn’t sustain him, but somehow it seemed to make him harder nonetheless. Vladimir took himself in hand and stroked experimentally. It brought a moan from his lips.

This was bad. This was so very bad. But maybe, if he could work this damned compulsion from his soul, Vladimir might go back to his normal quiescent state and Nick never need know how close he'd come to being the recipient of both lust of the flesh and the blood.

If allowed, Vladimir would utterly consume Nick and then where would they be? Ivan would have to cancel his trip, the search for a replacement taken back up, and Nick would be dead, or worse, a mindless thrall.

No. He'd not let that happen. Not again. Never again. Vladimir concentrated on his prick and willed himself to come. He'd do this every day if he had to. He'd lost a servant centuries ago to his lusts. He wouldn't that happen to Nick.

Vladimir stroked himself, trying not to think of the look in Nick's eyes as he'd drunk the boy's blood, and failed abysmally.

He cursed in Russian, Polish, French, and English.

There was the sound of a door being unlocked and opened behind him. Vladimir froze.

“Ivan? That you? I thought you said you were out. Oh. Oh.”

Vladimir turned his head and saw Nick there, in the flesh, his mouth and eyes open wide.

“I'll just come back later,” the boy said, starting to back up, but Vladimir was having none of that.

He moved so fast he nearly flew. When Vladimir reached Nick he grabbed the man and shoved him hard against the wall. Pictures that hadn’t been packed away yet shivered on their nails. One gave up the fight and fell to the floor.

“Nyet,” he snarled. “You will stay.” Then, with a growl, Vladimir kissed Nick’s astonished lips.

Chapter 11

In Which Nick Agrees To Ravishment

Nick had never previously thought of the male body as being capable of beauty, but one look at Vladimir standing in front of a mirrored door, watching himself jerk off, proved Nick had been absolutely wrong. As wrong as wrong could be.

Every inch of Vladimir's skin was like pure white marble, sculpted to perfection by a master's hand. Even his cock, which was dark with blood—my blood, Nick realized with a start—and held in Vladimir's pale elegant hand.

Nick said something, lord knew what, and then he was slammed against the hallway wall with enough force to crack plaster and being kissed by lips as cold and hard as the frozen snow outside.

When Vladimir pulled back to stare into Nick's eyes, the only thought that tumbled out of his lips was, “C-cold.”

“Warm me up, then, Kolya." Snowy white hands slipped under Nick's shirt and traced their icy way along his warm skin. It made Nick shiver first with the chill and then with pleasure as Vladimir's fingers found his nipples.

God. This was crazy. Completely crazy. All of it. His erection after seeing another dude's dick, not to mention smooth, lovely skin over lean muscle and delicate bones. Being turned on by cold fingers pinching his nipples. Even that weird name Vladimir called him. Kolya. Maybe especially the pet name. It made everything more real somehow.

“Warm. Yeah. Let's do that.” A thought occurred to Nick and he stiffened against Vladimir. Ivan had sent him to find something in the apartment then admonished him to take it elsewhere. That made a hell of a lot more sense now. “Wait.”

Vladimir pulled back. His dark eyes burned, but in the same way a sharp March wind could. “Do you refuse me?” The vampire drew further away. “It is your right. I understand.” He took another step back. “I overstepped.” A crooked, bitter smile settled on the vampire's mouth. “Please forgive me. See? I can be a civilized monster.” The smile fell away and he looked like a teenager who’d been snubbed by his crush. It was equal parts adorable and awful.

Nick couldn’t stand it. “Hey there. Vampire. Yes, you. I'm not saying no. I want…” Nick swallowed hard then continued. “I'm not sure what I want, to be honest, but Ivan told me to take what I found in his apartment elsewhere. So, whatever happens, and I really don't know what whatever is, it's gotta happen not here. I promised him. You get me?”

Vladimir blinked at Nick but didn’t say a word.

“Jesus. Do I have to do everything?” Nick grabbed the vampire around the waist and tossed him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Vladimir was surprisingly light, especially considering how hard he'd slammed Nick into the wall just moments ago.

“What the fuck do you think you're doing, mladenets?” Vladimir protested. “Put me down this instant.”

Nick walked to the stairs that led down to the basement. “This is gonna be my place pretty soon, and if you still want to prance around naked once I move in, well, I'd probably be okay with that. I mean it's weird, but I wouldn't mind. Ivan, though, just wants to come home to an apartment that doesn't reek of vampire jizz and whatever else. Probably blood. Probably my blood. Probably my jizz, too. So I'm doing what I promised and I'm taking you elsewhere.”

Vladimir growled. “I'm no maiden to be dragged off to a lair.”

“So that's why I've got an erection digging into my shoulder. Thanks for clearing that up.”

Nick didn't understand the words that spewed from Vladimir's mouth but he had no doubt they were curses of some type. “If you want to insult me you're gonna need to stick to English,” Nick reminded the vampire.

“Fuck you,” Vladimir snarled.

Nick jogged down the stairs, holding Vladimir tight, his arm right under the vampire's rounded ass. “Maybe. Shit, probably. Jesus Christ, this is all so fucked up. Which. Is me saying Jesus and whatever a problem?” He reached the bottom of the stairs, juggled Vladimir from shoulder to arm, then put him down.

Vladimir scowled at Nick darkly. “Do I look like I'm cowering in fear from so-called holy words? I'm not evil, malchik, just different. And at the moment, pissed off. Don't think that just because you're my servant you can get away with such behavior in the future. I will not tolerate it.”

Nick refrained from telling the mighty vampire that he looked like an irritated kitten. “Yes, master,” he said dutifully.

“Don't try my patience, Kolya. I may be a civilized monster, but I'm still a monster. It's not wise to push me.”

Which, of course, made Nick want to keep on pushing, but he did have a bit of survival instinct left, so he cast his eyes down and tried to look sorry. “Yes, Vladimir. That's a mouthful. Should I call you Vlad? Because I will, but to be honest, I'm not a fan.”

“Nyet,” the vampire said, eying Nick warily. “If you must call me something, Dima will work.”

“Dima.” Nick nodded, liking the sound of it.

“Good. I'm delighted that's settled.” The vampire grabbed Nick's wrist in an unbreakable hold and tugged him down the hallway, heading for the room with the glass ceiling that looked like the sky.

“Where are we going?” Nick asked. He hoped it would involve finding out how one warmed a vampire.

“To my bedroom, if you have no objection.”

Trotting behind Vladimir, Nick gave it a thought. He needed the money this position would pay. He'd loved how it had felt to feed a vampire. And apparently, he was way less straight than he'd previously thought. Or perhaps vampires in general rang his bell. Whatever the ultimate reason, Nick was so not fighting what was about to happen.

“Nah, I'm good. Ravish me or whatever.”

Chapter 12

In Which Vladimir Takes A Bath

Ravishing Nick wasn't exactly what Vladimir had in mind. “I'm not much into ravishment,” he said, then turned down the hall that led to his bedroom.

“Oh.” Was that disappointment in Nick's voice? “Okay, I guess. I just thought… well, never mind. Doesn't matter. But if you're not going to sex me up, why are we going to your bedroom?”

Vladimir pulled Nick through his bedroom and toward the en suite bathroom.

“Woah,” Nick went on. “This is your bedroom? It’s amazing. The plasterwork is incredible. And is that gold leaf? Do you have a lot of problems with getting water down here when all the snow melts in the spring? Although I imagine the marble floors make for easy clean up. Carpet in basements is almost always asking for flooding. Rugs on a non-porous surface make a lot more sense. And the ceiling mural is insane. You'd never know you were in a basement. This is some quality workmanship.”

“So glad you approve,” Vladimir murmured drily. He reached the bathroom's threshold and pulled Nick inside. The small room was dark as pitch so Vladimir flipped on the light switch as he closed the door.

Nick blinked at the sudden light then goggled at the room. “This is insane. How the hell did you get building permits for this shit?”

The room was a bit like being inside a cobalt blue Faberge egg. It was all gilt, dark blue, and cream and everything sparkled from the mosaic tile floor to the small gold and crystal chandelier that hung from a cerulean ceiling.

In the center of the room was a tub that Vladimir had commissioned to be constructed from scratch several decades ago. It was large enough for him to float on his back and just barely touch the sides with out-stretched arms. He bent to turn on the faucets. There were four, to fill the bath more quickly, as well as a tankless water heater Ivan had talked him into having installed. It would keep the residents from bitching about a lack of hot water every time he took a bath, his servant maintained.

“I'm not good with temperature,” Vladimir said, straightening up. “It's impossible to get the water too hot for my body to tolerate. You'll have to adjust the temperature so it's not too hot for you.”

Nick craned his neck to try to see every corner of the room. “Is your toilet in a separate room?”

The things humans focused on at times was utterly baffling. “I wasn't going to have one installed, because I've no need of one, but Ivan reassured me that humans would expect one installed and the lack wouldn't be good at all for potential resale value. It's just beyond the bend in the wall over there. That way I'm not obligated to see it.”

That brought Nick's gaze back to his. “Why are you worried about resale value? Are you planning on moving soon? Not that I'm not grateful, mind you, for the toilet installation. Having to go upstairs to take a piss would be irritating.”

“Ivan felt the same way, so there's a second bathroom off of the main room, and no, I'm not planning on leaving Chicago. Nevertheless, it's wise for a creature such as myself to be flexible. You never know when a mob with torches and pitchforks will show up. Or whatever the modern equivalent is. How's the water temperature?”

Nick put his hand under each of the faucets and adjusted them minutely. “Just about perfect. And I think the mob would show up with cellphones. Not a lot of pitchforks around here. Maybe a few homemade stakes? Who knows? This is the strangest job I've ever had, by the way. Discussing potential mobs while your naked employer fills a tub is not something I ever expected to do at work.”

Vladimir scowled. “This is not part of the job. You are allowed to say no.” He stepped into the pool, which was just a bit warmer than human blood. Had he been a cat, he would've purred with the pleasure of sinking down into all that warm water. It was nearly as good as sex, although it had been so long since he'd fucked anyone that he might be remembering it incorrectly. Perhaps the bath was better than sex. Perhaps he didn't really need this impossible man for anything more than blood sustenance. It would certainly be easier that way.

Nick grinned. “This whole thing is beyond strange, but I'm good, I swear.” He began to disrobe, dropping his clothes carelessly on the floor. “If nothing else, I'll kick myself forever if I don't get into this giant-ass tub of yours.”

“If you're certain,” Vladimir said, then sank down until only his eyes were above the level of the water.

“Just try to keep me out.”

Vladimir greedily eyed Nick's body as it was bared to him. He was a muscular man, probably due to his work in construction, and his skin was olive-toned and far darker than Vladimir's death-pale skin. He had a fair amount of hair on his chest, arms, and legs, and around his groin.

Nick caught Vladimir staring and smiled awkwardly. “Sorry. I'm a bit Sasquatchy. It's been like…a while since I got laid. I can trim the hedges, I guess.”

A laugh bubbled out of Vladimir and he rose just high enough out of the water to say, “No. Don't.” At Nick's startled glance, he added, “At least don't on my account.”

Vladimir liked hairy men. He always had. It was such a delicious contrast to his own smoothness. As fair as he was, what hair he had on his body was soft and nearly invisible. It occurred to him that he had no idea what Nick preferred in a bedmate. It was unsettling. Vladimir was used to being fucked by men who knew exactly what they wanted, with no ambiguities.

“My hairy ass doesn't bother you?” Nick's cock was semi-erect and bobbed as he walked around the tub shutting the faucets off. Vladimir stared at him avidly.

“On the contrary,” Vladimir purred. “I love it.”

Nick blushed darkly. “Oh. Okay. That's… uh… good. I guess.” He stepped into the tub and sank down into the steamy water. “What now?”

“Close your eyes, Kolya. Relax. Tell me when to stop.”

“'Kay.” Nick's voice trembled. He sounded excited but also scared.

No matter. Vladimir hadn’t touched a man since long before Nick’s birth. He could go as slowly as the boy needed. To touch him at all would be a pleasure. It had been so, so long.

“Are you gonna kiss me again?” Nick asked after a few moments, his eyes still closed.

Vladimir drifted closer to Nick in the water. “Do you want me to, Kolya?”

Nick nodded. “Yeah,” he finally said a raspy voice. “I think I do.”

“Then I will.”

Chapter 13

In Which Nick Gets What He Asks For

The lips against his were cool, but no longer cold. Unlike the earlier assault, these kisses were soft and hesitant, as if Dima was afraid of startling Nick into a panic.

Nick did nothing to fight or shy away from the vampire's advances. Instead he closed his eyes and concentrated on how he felt. It was, for lack of a better word, nice. Pleasant. It wasn't a man kissing him, which was still a strange thought. Rather, it was Dima, this fantastic otherworldly creature, nibbling carefully at his lips.

He thought of the vampire's sharply delicate fangs and shuddered. His cock went from half a chub to all the chub. It was embarrassing. He was glad Dima couldn't see it. Unless he was into that, like he was into hairy men.

I definitely have a thing for vampires, Nick thought, his hands skimming over Dima's smooth, perfect skin. Thank god I rented from this house. Best landlord ever.

“Am I still too cold?” Dima asked. He rubbed the tip of his nose, which was a bit chilly, along the edge of Nick's jaw.

“No, god. I just…”

Dima's tongue replaced his nose and that made Nick shiver, but from pleasure and anticipation rather than temperature. “What, Kolya? What do you want? I can suck your cock while you sit here. I don't need air.”

“Jesus,” Nick gasped. Just thinking about it made him feel kind of crazy with want, but there was something he wanted even more.

“Would you like that?” Dima prompted. His hand, now warm thanks to the bathwater, found Nick's erection. “I think you would.”

“Yes, but—”

Dima cupped Nick's balls and rolled them lightly. That made every thought fly out of Nick's head, or nearly every thought. There was still one thing he wanted, or maybe he needed it.

“But what, solnyshko? What do you want from me?” Dima's cool lips traced along Nick's ear. “Tell me,” he whispered.

Nick's mind went completely blank except for one word. “Blood.”

Dima pulled back a little. “My blood?” he asked, his voice gone serious.

Nick shook his head. No. Not that. What Nick wanted—or maybe needed—was for Dima to drink from him. He wanted Dima's teeth inside him, and somewhere less impersonal than his arm. “No. Mine. For you.” Nick struggled to pull his thoughts together so as to make himself understood. “Take my blood. Take it from me. Drink from me. Please.” That last word came out as a plaintive whine.

“Are you certain? I don't think you realize what—”

Frustrated, Nick grabbed Dima closer and kissed him, his tongue thrusting into the vampire's mouth. He carefully licked along those dainty fangs then deliberately poked his tongue along the tip of one. The taste of Nick's blood filled their mouths and Dima groaned, sounding lost.

Good, Nick thought. Now that's both of us.

“Kolya,” Dima gasped, his lips brushing Nick's, “I'm so hungry. You can't know how much…”

He licked inside Nick's mouth then sucked on his sluggishly bleeding tongue. It hurt, but in the most wonderful way. Nick drew Dima closer and deepened their kiss.

If Nick knew anything in life, it was what it felt like to be hungry all the time. To have food, but never quite enough. He pulled away from Dima's mouth, then tilted his head to the side, baring his neck.

There was a moment of hesitation. “Are you sure?”

“Do it,” Nick urged. “Need it so bad.”

Dima needed no more encouragement. He struck with the quickness of a snake. The vampire's teeth sank into Nick's neck, unerringly finding the artery there just under the surface, and he sucked.

It was bliss. Pure, utter, absolute bliss. Nick gathered Dima closer to his body and held him tight, his erection running along the crease of the vampire's rounded ass. Unbidden, Nick thought of what it might be like to have his cock buried in Dima's body while the vampire buried his teeth into Nick. He gripped tight globes of Dima's ass in his hands, needing to know how being inside Dima would feel.

Wave after wave of pleasure crashed into him, then over him, drowning Nick in an undertow of sensation.

Nick thought he might be dying.

Nick thought he didn’t care.

Then Nick stopped thinking altogether.

Chapter 14

In Which Vladimir Panics

Vladimir fed from Nick like he hadn't fed from anyone in a very long time. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so satiated. It had been forever and forever since he'd been held like this while he drank from a lover. It satisfied something within him that had lain dormant for far too long.

Then Nick's arms went slack around him. In fact, his entire body had gone slack. Worried, Vladimir pulled out and licked the wound he'd made to seal it. He looked up in Nick's face and saw he was unconscious.

Nick had fainted. Or worse.

Vladimir swore in Russian and tried to think. He hadn't taken that much blood, he didn’t think, but maybe he'd miscalculated. Terrified, he scrambled out of the tub and hauled Nick out after him. Nick was still breathing, thank all the saints, but he was thoroughly unconscious. No amount of shaking roused him.

Fuck me, I've broken the human, Vladimir thought with a rising panic he hadn't experienced since 1917, when the people had risen up and killed the Czar and his family. Many other nobles had been targeted, and he'd had to flee for his life. Along the way, he took in a small boy named Ivan who’d barely survived the murder of his parents and the burning of his home. First, they had fled to France, which was itself at war, and then to the United States, where it might be possible to start over fresh.

Vladimir blinked away the memory and took Nick into his arms. He easily carried Nick to his bed, where he laid the still dripping man down on top of the coverlet. Nick continued to breathe, but he also continued to be unresponsive.

He searched for his phone and at last found it on a small table painted with roses and edged in gilt. With unnaturally clumsy fingers, Vladimir managed to call Ivan.

“Wat?” Ivan did not sound pleased to be interrupted, but then when did he ever?

“Vanya. I need you to come home right this instant. Something has happened. I need your help.”

“What did you do?” Ivan asked suspiciously.

“Nothing! Well, mostly nothing.” Vladimir nibbled on his lip. “Okay, I did feed from the boy. But just a little, I swear. It was just twice.”

“Is he dead?”

“No!” Vladimir exclaimed. “He breathes and his heart beats but he will not wake up. I know nothing of healing beyond that of wounds and it's not as if I could take him to a hospital.”

Ivan grunted. “I'm coming home. I'll be there in fifteen minutes, hopefully. Depending on traffic. Do not keep feeding on him!”

Vladimir clutched at his nonexistent pearls. He was honestly offended. “Is this how little you think of me?”

“Proshchay, master. I'll be home as quickly as I can.”

Vladimir had the presence of mind to throw a blanket over Nick's nakedness and a robe over his own. He paced the length of his bedroom and waited for either Nick to stir or Ivan to appear. It was Ivan who won that contest.

“Thank you for not being naked in my apartment,” Ivan groused as he entered the room holding a laden tray. “I still have to sleep there.”

Vladimir wrung his hands. “Will my human recover? I didn't take all that much from him.”

Ivan raised a bushy gray eyebrow. “Your human, is it?”

“Just fix him. Please, Ivan.”

There was another grunt from Ivan as he lay the tray down on a nearby table. Ivan then turned to examine Nick. “He's not wearing much, but I don't see any bleeding.” Ivan swiveled his head to glare at Vladimir. “Please tell me you didn't bite him…” Ivan gestured meaningfully at the blanket that hid Nick's groin from view.

“I bit his neck, Ivan, and I sealed the wound. I swear he didn’t lose much blood. I don't understand why he won't wake up.”

Ivan waved something under Nick's nose that caused him to cough and bat it away from his face. “Khoroshiy. That worked. Wake up, foolish boy. Your prince is worried.”

“Ivan?” Nick croaked, his voice hoarse and cracked. “Where is—”

“Drink this.” Ivan helped Nick drink from a glass that contained an amber fluid. “It's good for you.”

Nick sipped obediently and seemed to be reviving. Vladimir felt an unusual pain in his chest where his heart would beat if he was still fully human.

“What is that?” Nick asked. “Can I have some more? What happened? How did I get here? Dima?” He looked at Vladimir like a lost kitten.

“Dima, is it?” Ivan snorted. “Here, eat this.” He handed Nick a pryanik.

Vladimir could almost remember what they tasted like: ginger and honey and molasses. His favorite, once upon a time, long, long ago.

Nick obediently ate. “These are really good. Where did you get them?”

“Store,” Ivan said shortly, then thawed enough to add, “I can show you package. Tell me, boy, when did you last eat?”

Nick got a wary look in his eyes. “Why?”

Ivan glared at Vladimir. “You know better, master.” His tone implied that he expected better, as well. “You can't feed from a man who hasn't eaten. That will kill ‘your human’ as sure as draining him dry.”

“How was I to realize I had to feed him?” Vladimir protested. “Nick is a man full-grown, not a starving child. I shouldn't have to worry if he's eaten recently!”

Nick looked down and away, a light flush staining his cheeks.

“That's what I thought.” Ivan clucked his tongue. “Foolish boy. Foolish vampir.” He pointed at Vladimir while speaking to Nick. “The master not remember you need food and you can't give blood on empty stomach. Haven't you ever sold blood? How you not know this? Is simple fact.”

Nick's cheeks got brighter. “I wasn't expecting to be a snack twice in one day. I was going to eat once I found the thing in your room that would explain what was going on.” Nick looked up at Vladimir, a crooked smile on his face. “Instead I got eaten.”

Ivan snorted his disgust. “Have another cookie. Drink more kompot.” He switched his attention to Vladimir. “He doesn't have any food in his flat.”

“Yes, I do,” Nick protested, his mouth full of cookie.

“No, he doesn't,” Ivan said, focusing on Vladimir. “Not proper food. If he doesn't start eating, you will kill him. Then you' have to find new human and you won't have me to help.” After that pronouncement, Ivan looked back at Nick. “You will need to feed malchik nutritious food. He's gotten into habit of not eating, or eating shit.”

Vladimir frowned. “Not literally, I trust.”

Nick made a disgusted face. “Gross. Ramen is not shit.”

Ivan shook his head. “Figure of speech, master. All this fuss over a boy too stupid to buy food and then eat it.”

Nick's eyes flashed. “Good food is expensive and I still need to pay for one last month of rent. I can make it until next month, I swear. I have enough to eat. I'll be fine. This was just an accident. It won't happen again.”

“No,” Vladimir said coldly. “It won't.”

Nick's eyes flew to his. They were wide and shocked. “But—”

“If you refuse to take care of yourself, I will have to do it for you,” Vladimir said with resolve.

Ivan laughed. “This,” he said, “I will have to see.”

Chapter 15

In Which Nick Is Told To Fix Things

Nick found the next two weeks to be some of the most frustrating of his entire life. Food was no longer an issue. His tiny refrigerator and pantry seemed to somehow replenish themselves. His fridge was filled with fresh vegetables and fruit, milk, cheese, eggs, and meat. Lots of meat. Or at least a lot compared to his previous standards. Meanwhile, his shelves now contained the basics, like flour and sugar, but also pasta and rice and cereal. Not cereal with marshmallows in it, though, to Nick’s disappointment. He bought his own Lucky Charms and was weirdly touched to see that when his box was empty, it too was replaced.

Now there was always enough to eat and even he could see a difference when he looked into his mirror. Nick was still too boney, with awkward sharp angles, but his face wasn't as pale and gaunt as it had been before.

In fact, physically Nick felt fantastic. He puttered around the house, listening to the tenant complaints and Ivan's advice, and making small, needed repairs. He got to know the house's residents well, thanks to working in their homes and squirreling away Ivan's often caustic observations of their lives.

All that was except one. Dima.

Nick's unexpected fascination with the vampire did not dim as the days passed. In fact, every day that Nick fed his body to fullness, the hunger to touch Dima's flesh, hard and cold and smooth as polished stone, seemed to grow exponentially.

By the time two weeks had gone by, Nick had become desperate but Dima seemed oblivious, and worse, uninterested.

Nick hoped things would get better as time went on, but instead they seemed to be getting worse. Desperate to figure out a solution, he went to see Ivan in his rooms. The man was almost ready to move out and Nick went there in the guise of helping Ivan with the last of his packing.

Nick knocked on the door politely.

“Wat now?” the old man shouted. “Can't a man get a little peace and quiet in his own home? Not that I'll be here much longer, and I swear I'm getting new phone number, you old—” He wrenched open the door and seemed surprised to see Nick there on the other side. “Oh,” he huffed. “It's just you.”

“Who were you expecting?” Nick asked.

Ivan glared at him. “No one,” he said cagily.

“Uh yeah. Sure. So.”

“Wat you want? Spit it out, malchik.”

Nick suddenly felt ridiculous for turning to Ivan for advice. “Oh, nothing. I came to see if you wanted any help with packing.”

Ivan grunted. “Get in here. I do need help, but not with that.” He shuffled away into his home and Nick followed obediently. Ivan stopped when he got to the kitchen. It looked nearly stripped of possessions, but there were a few things remaining, looking a little lost in the mostly empty space. “Sit.”

Nick sat on one of the aqua naugahyde chairs at Ivan's scarred Formica-topped kitchen table.

“Khoroshiy malchik.” Ivan busied himself, first filling the kettle with water then putting it on the stove to heat. “I make you tea, we talk, you fix things. Da?”

Nick squirmed restlessly on his seat. “Fix what?”

Ivan ignored the question, staring at the kettle until it boiled. He poured the water over leaves then added, in Nick's opinion, far too much sugar to each mug. He started to protest, but Ivan waved him into silence, so Nick gave up. It wasn't like he had to drink the tea.

Ivan placed one mug in front of Nick then sat across from him. “Drink,” he ordered.

So much for that idea. “I don't really like tea,” Nick said, “but thank you.”

“Don't care. Drink.”

Nick brought the mug to his lips for a cautious sip. It tasted like having your head explode from a bomb laced with sweet orange and spices. He put his mug down. “What the fuck is this?”

“Tea,” Ivan replied frostily, then he added, “with sugar, like babushka used to make.”

“And?” Because sugary tea didn't generally threaten to melt your fillings.

“Vodka,” Ivan allowed. “Drink. It put hair on chest.”

“I have hair on my chest already,” Nick noted, but he took another cautious sip of the beverage. It tasted slightly less like death this time. Perhaps it was an acquired taste. “Did it put hair on your grandma's chest, too?” He took another small sip.

“I never ask.” Ivan's face had gone very flat.

Okay then. Nick gave up any attempt at small talk. “What do you need fixing, Ivan?”

Ivan took several more sips of tea before he finally said, “The master.”

Nick blinked in confusion. “Can vampires break?”

“Mudak,” Ivan muttered. "You broke him, you fix him.”

“How?” Nick exclaimed. “He won't answer the door when I go down and it's locked.” He huffed in frustration. “Am I fired already? Is this what this is all about? Did he find someone better?”

A very strange feeling slithered through Nick at the thought of someone else—some other man—taking his place. He needed the money, and also the free apartment, but there was more to it. He just wasn't sure it was something he wanted to admit to.

“Drink more tea,” Ivan commanded. When Nick had taken another sip, he went on. “You want job? Like… all of job? Even the messy parts, and I don't mean the toilet in apartment 2.”

Nick took another sip of his tea. “I've already told Dima he can have my blood. I'm okay with messy.”

Ivan grunted. “I thought you were like me, but now I'm not sure.”

“Like you how? I can do just as good a job of keeping this place together as you,” Nick said hotly.

“Mudak.” Ivan closed his eyes. “The master has only men as servants, malchik. He has only men as lovers. He does not take both in one person.”

“Um. Okay.” Nick squirmed again. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear what came next.

“You were supposed to be a servant.”

Nick nodded to show he was following along, even if he wasn't.

Ivan groaned in frustration. “Servants do not get naked and take baths with the master.”

“Oh.” Nick felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment. “It… uh… sorta just happened. I mean, you did tell me to go into your room, and he was naked and…”

Ivan sipped his tea with raised eyebrows.

Still blushing hotly, Nick said, “I… maybe I'm vampiresexual. It's not like I've met a bunch of them to test out the theory. But I don't see why it's a big deal. It's not like I'm taking him home to meet my parents. Who cares if we… uh…” Nick made a hopeless gesture with his hand. “You know.”

“Fuck like rabbit, you mean?”

Nick buried his face in his hands. “Oh my god.”

“The master cares,” Ivan pronounced.

“Oh.” Irrational disappointment crashed through Nick. He didn't even want to want Dima. He was a man, and that had never been something he'd been at all interested in previously, but the vampire was different. Special. Nick felt the loss of something he'd never had.

Then Ivan made it all worse.

“The master cares,” Ivan went on, “because last time he took a servant as lover, the master killed him.”

“Oh,” Nick said again. This time he took a very large gulp of tea.

Chapter 16

In Which Vladimir Has His Cake And Eats It, Too

Vladimir closed his eyes and submerged into the depths of his bath. He hoped, in vain, to drown out the argument he'd had that evening with Ivan.

“This is not a problem,” Ivan said. “You’re making it into problem.” Under his breath he muttered, “Idiot.”

Vladimir had been too depressed to remind Ivan of his place. Soon, it wouldn't matter anyway. Ivan would be gone, taking his nagging with him. Vladimir would be alone. With Kolya. Just the two of them.

How long would it take before his will slipped and he drank Nick's blood? Vladimir didn't think it would take long. That was the hell of it. As much as he wanted to protect the boy, he also wanted to devour his sweet blood mouthful after mouthful.

If that wasn't bad enough, Vladimir wanted more—so much more—from Nick.

One of the two was possible. Both were not. A choice had to be made and Vladimir flinched away from the inevitable decision.

He couldn't have his Kolya and eat him too.

Why this particular boy, anyway? He wasn't anything particularly special or intelligent or even handsome. Why did Vladimir's body choose to come out of dormancy for him? It might have been Nick's curious mixture of strength and vulnerability that drew and then held Vladimir's interest. Most of the men he'd previously lain with had been one or the other, with neither quite being right. Strong willed men expected him to yield because of his delicate appearance. Passive men bored him entirely. There was no fun at all in prey that gave up even before the fight.

Not that Kolya was prey, precisely. None of them were. Food and sex shouldn't merge. It was of the rules he had always lived by, at least since… well, no point in travelling down that dark and bloody path again tonight. It was a rule Vladimir had lived by for a very long time and it was an excellent rule that had never steered him wrong. Not even staring at a lovely hard pectoral and wanting to bite and bite and bite had ever caused Vladimir to fall off his moral high ground. Now, though, he was tipping precipitously over the edge.

Maybe he would follow Ivan out to North Carolina. A new servant could be found there, surely. As for this house, he should probably sell it. But where would that leave his tenants? Would they be tossed on the street with little notice? He supposed they weren't his concern, these souls who had sheltered him for years, but that felt wrong and terrible. They had a covenant. Even if none of his tenants realized it. Abandoning them felt irresponsible and selfish.

Every pathway seemed wrong and for the first time in recent memory, Vladimir’s course was unclear. He hated all of it and remained submerged in the warm water where he could pretend everything was someone else’s problem. His hair floated around him like the tendrils of a sea anemone. He’d once spent almost a year in the ocean, wandering its depths while plague raged the world of dry land. He’d been driven there by grief, having lost one too many servants to a disease his blood could halt but not heal. So many humans dead; so many places reeking of death and infected blood. He’d run from it so as not to go completely mad.

Perhaps it was time to do that again. This time he could wander the Great Lakes, which were as large as seas, but lacking in sharks, and that was—

With a great, unexpected whoosh and splashing of water, Vladimir found himself hauled out of the tub.

“Don’t die don’t die don’t die please don’t be dead oh fuck oh Jesus,” moaned the man whose arms held Vladimir quite tightly.

“I’m not dead,” he responded crossly. “We have covered this, have we not?”

Nick loosened his grip enough to look into Vladimir’s face. The boy looked stricken. “I thought you were drowning. I thought… well, nevermind, but don’t fucking scare me like that. Jesus, Dima.”

“Scare you?” Vladimir tried, and failed, to tamp down the burst of pleasure he felt from Nick calling him Dima. “I don’t have to breathe, boy. I believe we covered that as well.”

Nick’s gaze seemed to change from one intensity to another. “You’re all warm,” he said.

“I’ve been sitting in a hot bath for some time,” Valdimir reminded the boy.

“I like it. I mean, I’m good with you being chilly, too. I think that’ll be better in the summer, though, when it’s hot as balls outside. But today it’s fuck all cold out and you feel amazing. Also wet.” He seemed less pleased about the latter statement.

“Put me down and I’ll dry off.”

Nick carried Vladimir over to where a stack of folded towels sat on a low table. He set the vampire down then grabbed the top one and handed it to Vladimir. “Here. I’ll help.” Then he took a second towel and began to dry Vladimir’s sodden hair.

It was strange, but also nice, to be fussed over. Vladimir wasn’t sure when was the last time anyone had bothered to treat him like he wasn’t a vampire. He thought he could get used to that, and that it could also be very dangerous, because no matter what foolishness the boy had gotten into his head, Vladimir was not human.

After he’d dried off then wrapped himself into his favorite dressing gown, Vladimir allowed himself to be tugged out into his bedroom. A fire roared in the marble fireplace, making the room quite warm. The dim light filtering in through the one frosted glass block window was very gray. “Is it snowing again?” he asked.

Nick grunted. Vladimir turned to see him pulling his shirt off. “Yeah, it’s coming down out there like a mother fucker,” he said after dropping the shirt onto the floor. He then unfastened his jeans.

Vladimir’s mouth went dry and his fangs tingled with want. Nick couldn’t know how absolutely delicious he looked. “Wha-what are you doing?”

“Taking off my wet clothes.” Nick gave Vladimir a look like the vampire was a foolish child. “Because they’re wet.”

Vladimir wanted to growl at him but he kept his voice calm. “We can’t do this. You have to know that.”

“Why?” Nick straightened, then looked down at Vladimir, reminding him of how great the difference was in their relative sizes.

“Because of what happened the last time we were naked, dubiina. You could’ve died. I could’ve killed you.” Vladimir clutched the towel shielding his modesty tightly. “I can’t have that. I won’t.”

Nick rolled his eyes then pushed his jeans and underwear down his thick legs. He was so perfect. So beautiful. Vladimir wanted him badly for food and sex and everything else in between. It was all so very messy and undignified, but his cock tried to rise despite a lack of blood.

“I didn’t die. Jesus, Dima. You’re worse than my mother.”

“I said no,” Vladimir insisted but Nick ignored him, lifting Vladimir into a bridal carry then tossing him on the bed before he had a chance to register a complaint.

“Whatever. I’m glad you don’t sleep in a coffin, by the way. Those look uncomfortable as hell.”

Vladimir sniffed. “Theatrical nonsense.” He couldn’t tear his eyes away from Nick as he came nearer to the bed unselfconsciously naked and semi-erect.

“Good. Fucking you is gonna be weird enough without doing it in a small box with a lid on top.” He gave Vladimir a shove then climbed into the bed beside him, pulling the covers up to their chests.

“What?” Vladimir gaped at Nick, completely at a loss. He wasn’t even sure which part of the statement bothered him the most.

“I’ve never been with a man before. Actually, I haven’t been with many women, either. It’s not my thing, you know? I thought I was maybe asexual, but it isn’t like I came out or anything. Not having sex isn’t hard. You just don’t. Problem solved. But now I do want sex, and I want it with you, and that probably means I’m something else, but I’m not sure being attracted only to vampires is on the spectrum. Well. Yet.” He grinned. “You never know.”

Vladimir only understood part of that speech, but he thought he got the gist. “You wish to lie with me?”

“I already am lying with you. What I want to do is figure out how to get my dick in you. That’s doable, right?”

“I… yes, but—”

“Do you need blood to get a boner?”

Vladimir’s eyes bulged. “I…” he paused then rallied. “Yes, and I can’t come at all without having recently consumed blood.

“Huh. Interesting.” Nick brushed Vladimir’s mouth with his thumb, exposing a long incisor. “When you feed, is it sexy for you?” he murmured.

If Vladimir’s heart could have sped up, it would have. “Sometimes,” he allowed. “Not with Ivan,” he hastened to add.

Nick smiled, sweet boyish charm transforming his ascetic face. “Good. That’s good.” He moved so he lay on top of Vladimir. He could feel the boy’s hot erection pulse against his thigh. Lord help him, Vladimir wanted that dick inside of him and his fangs inside of Nick and he wanted it badly indeed.

Chapter 17

In Which Nick Does Several Things For The First Time

Kissing a vampire was a tricky business. There were the teeth to contend with. True, everyone had teeth, but vampire fangs were something else altogether. Nick carefully slid his tongue inside Dima's mouth, mindful of his needle-sharp incisors. There was something thrilling about how dangerous it was. Kissing had never excited Nick very much before, but it sure did now.

The last time they had kissed, all Nick had tasted was his own blood. This time he tasted Dima himself and nothing else, the flavor wild and earthy and indescribably addictive. Better than the most delicious meal he'd ever eaten. He wondered if he tasted that good to Dima. He suspected he might, based on how tightly the vampire clung to him, each limb holding him prisoner, or perhaps just holding him close.

The vampire snarled at him when he pulled his head back enough to look down into Vladimir's face. Fingernails that were almost talons dug into the flesh of his back but did not pierce the skin. For reasons Nick couldn't explain, he relished the pain and even wanted more. He wanted to make Dima come and then to have him tear Nick's back apart with his talons only to have the vampire lick the wounds clean and heal them with his mouth. Which was super fucked up, when you thought about it, so Nick decided it was time to stop thinking.

“I could edge you for hours,” Nick said conversationally. “I did that to a girlfriend I once dated. She was far hornier than I ever was and it was way easier to wear her out with edging then give her one massive orgasm than it was to fuck her over and over.”

Nick swore he saw Dima's eyes cross. “How very enterprising of you,” he said dryly. Under Nick's weight, the vampire squirmed restlessly, then he brought Nick's head down for another long kiss.

After several moments Nick pulled away slightly and began to stroke his hands down Dima’s torso to his quiescent cock. Nick had never really thought of men as being beautiful, but the vampire was like a work of art and it was hard to believe he was real and something Nick was allowed to touch. He stretched like a cat under Nick’s fingers, begging to be petted, and Nick obliged him. His skin was pale and smooth, and what hair Dima had on his body was a soft silver that could barely be seen but felt wonderful, like velvet.

The vampire’s cock and balls were a bit of a revelation, so like his own and yet so unlike. Nick was big and hairy pretty much everywhere. Dima was small and smooth and lovely everywhere, even there, and Nick had the inexplicable urge to take the vampire into his mouth. How would that feel? How would he taste? It would no doubt be strange, but the formerly dormant desire that lived within Nick wanted to know the answers to those questions and it wanted to know now.

Nick moved so he could nuzzle between Dima’s legs.

“God, please,” Dima moaned. “Please. It’s been so long. I thought I didn’t need this. I thought it didn’t matter, but—” his words were cut off with a long groan as Nick took Dima into his mouth.

It took very little effort on Nick’s part to make the vampire howl with need. Dima alternately praised and cursed Nick, so it seemed like he was doing something right. Nick found he liked sucking on Dima’s cock. It tasted clean, and salty, and just a touch coppery. Soft as it was, he could get the entire thing easily in his mouth, but after some minutes, he wanted more.

Nick pulled off Dima’s cock and the vampire’s wails and curses only increased, then devolved into guttural Russian. Nick couldn’t understand the words, but the sentiment was clear enough. His vampire was not pleased and did not enjoy being thwarted. He struggled to move but Nick pinned him down with his greater bulk. No doubt Dima could hurl him across the room, if he chose. Instead, he growled his displeasure.

“Chill, dude. I stopped because I want you hard. Hey, what the fuck did you do?”

Dima had rivulets of dark, nearly black blood running down his chin sluggishly from his lower lip. His tongue darted out, around his fangs, to lick at it.

“You bit your lip, didn’t you?”

“Khuy!” Which was probably some sort of curse but Nick was fucked if he knew what it meant.

“I guess it’s convenient to be a fast healer. Dima, you should take some of my blood.”

The vampire growled and shut his mouth.

Nick sighed. It absolutely figured that he’d find a vampire sugar Daddy who was really more like a cranky teenager. That was fine. No doubt Dima never thought he’d be stuck with some clueless idiot who’d never even touched a man before, let alone fucked one. They’d somehow figure all this shit out.

“Look. I’m not all that sure how I’m supposed to fuck you, but even I can figure out cock sucking, and I’m pretty sure it would be even better if your cock was hard.” He kissed Dima’s chin, where the dark blood was already nearly dry.

Dima’s growl turned into a groan. “I can’t do this. It’s been too long. I’m afraid…”

Nick gathered Dima to him and held him tight. “Don’t be afraid.”

“I’m afraid,” Dima went on, “that if I start, I won’t stop. I won’t have the will and you won’t have the strength.”

Nick took a deep breath. “Then let me drink yours first.”

Dima stiffened in his arms. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I do.” Nick smoothed back Dima’s silky hair. “Ivan told me.”

“Then you know why you can’t. This is a decision to make years from now. You have decades to decide.”

“I don’t need it all. Not yet. Maybe not ever. But a little will make me stronger, won’t it? That’s what Ivan said. All I need is a little…”

Dima let out another string of curses Nick couldn’t understand, but still knew were pretty awful just by the vampire’s tone.

“Drinking my blood will put you in my thrall. You’ll find yourself wanting to please me, to be only with me, to fulfil my every whim.” Dima looked both worried and frightened.

“I’m already most of the way there already, and besides, Ivan doesn’t seem all that enthralled.”

Dima snorted. “He never had more than a mouthful of my blood in his entire life, either.”

“But it saved him, didn’t it? When he was a child.”

The vampire slumped in Nick’s arms. “I should’ve known anyone that Ivan picked for me would be stubborn. Yes, I saved him. He was a child, and he was dying. This is not the same."

“Your blood will keep me safe. Please, Dima. I want this. I want you. Just a mouthful. Ivan said that's all I need.”

Dima was still for a long time, then he sighed. "Fine. Don't you dare ever throw this in my face later.”

“I won't,” Nick assured him. “I want this. I want you. I want everything, but Ivan said to take things 'one step at time.'” He grinned down at his vampire.

“Alright, you win, foolish boy.” Dina bit into his wrist, sucked at the wound, then pulled Nick toward him for a kiss.

Nick hadn’t known what to expect, but an explosion in his throat like swallowing Pop Rocks hadn’t been it. “Jesus,” he muttered when he was able. He looked up to see Dima licking the wound on his wrist closed. “That was… something.”

“Are you frightened now?” Dima asked tightly, his eyes wary.

“Not really. I’ve had your teeth in me and it’s fucking amazing. If one explodey kiss gets me more of that, I’m on board. Do it again.”

“What?” Dima’s eyes went wide.

“Bite me!” Nick rolled them so he was on the bottom and Dima was on top. “Bite me anywhere. Everywhere. I don’t care. I feel fucking amazing, like I could run a fucking marathon and not be out of breath. I could shovel snow for the entire city of Evanston. I could—”

Dima put his cool fingers against Nick’s mouth, silencing him. “Enough,” he said. “I surrender.”

And with that, he sank his fangs into Nick’s neck.

After that, things became something of a blur. Nick felt like he was coming and coming and coming, only not. It was unbearable and he wanted more more more. When Dima at last pulled away, he groaned in frustration.

“You wanted my cock hard, well here it is.”

Through a rosy-pink haze saw Dima’s cock was stiff, the foreskin pulled back from the tip. It was crowned with a pink bead of moisture. Nick wanted, more than he thought possible, for it to be in his mouth. “Please,” he begged. Part of him still marveled that he was begging to be face fucked by a vampire, but as they said, life could be very strange indeed.

“You want my cock?” Dima demanded.

“God, yeah. Please. Fuck. I need it.”

Dima moved so that they were in a sixty-nine position. “Suck me,” he commanded, and Nick gladly obeyed, holding the vampire’s hips to direct his movement. Before he knew it, Dima’s cock was first in his mouth and then sliding down his throat, gagging him, but still somehow wonderful for all that. He felt owned in a way he never previously had and he loved it. Then Dima ran his tongue over Nick’s cock and he thought that this time, he might die after all.

It had never, ever been this good before. Maybe it was the kiss of blood, and maybe it was just Dima, or maybe this was him figuring out he was much more gay than straight. Whatever it was, Nick didn’t want it to ever stop. But all it took was Dima running one fang lightly up his shaft to make Nick come harder than he ever had in his entire life. At the same time, Dima fucked his mouth hard and also came, the taste salty and bitter and bright like a new penny.

Dima pulled out and flopped down beside Nick. He was breathing hard but the vampire was not. Another undead advantage, Nick supposed.

“Well, fuck. That was fucking amazing but I wanted to fuck you.”

“It won’t take long,” Dima purred, his hand holding Nick’s sticky cock firmly. “You’ll see.”

Sure enough, in practically no time at all Nick’s cock was ready for another round. “Ivan didn’t tell me about this.”

“Can you blame him?” Dima smirked. “Besides, he might not know. He had his mouthful of blood long before he became a man and my servant. It’s possible he just thinks he’s some sort of natural god of sex.”

Nick snorted a laugh then sobered. “I want you to show me.”

Dima kissed Nick’s thigh. “Show you what?”

“How to fuck you.”

Chapter 18

In Which Vladimir Is Compared Favorably To A Porn Star

That was new. The men Vladimir had lain with in the past hadn't been sexual novices. Still, presumably Nick had done this sort of thing before. Or at least something very like it.

“I… it's not very complicated. Surely I don't need to draw you a picture. Or do I?”

“Asshole." But Nick's cock firmed under Vladimir's hand, so being an asshole did not turn the boy off. “I get that my dick goes in your ass. But that's a little like saying a house is four walls and a roof. It's a little more complicated than that.”

“I have great faith in your ability to perform this task.”

Nick groaned in frustration. “Come on, Dima. You have to know what I mean. Or is your asshole magical, too?”

“Is my… what?” Vladimir was honestly perplexed, then it occurred to him what Nick meant and he laughed. “If you're asking if we'll need some form of lubrication, the answer is yes.”

“Good.” Nick looked somewhat relieved. “That's a relief. You're weird enough as it is.”

“I should bite you for that.”

“Go ahead. You biting me is like the best sex I've ever had.”

That pleased Vladimir inordinately. Instead of biting Nick, he kissed then licked boy's inner thigh.

Nick spread his legs further and groaned. “So where is it?”

“Where's what?” He licked the cum off Nick's skin. It was delicious. Like his blood, but not. It wasn't food, but Vladimir still wanted more.

“Your lube,” Nick said in between grunts and groans of pleasure.

“Oh.” Vladimir lifted his head. “I don't have anything handy, I'm afraid. I've been celibate since 1988.”

Nick's eyes widened then he burst into laughter. “Oh my god, we suck at this. I'm a virgin to anal and you haven't had sex since before I was born.” He shook so hard from laughter that Vladimir bounced off his body and onto the bed beside Nick.

“I'm sure there's some oil around here somewhere…” Vladimir trailed off. When he couldn't find something, his normal course of action was to ask Ivan where it was, but that was not going to happen tonight. Definitely not. He shuddered at the thought.

“I've got an idea, and if this doesn't work, I have some shit in my room I use for jerking off. But that's really far away.”

The attic seemed like it might as well have been the moon. “I thought you needed instruction, malchik. But now you have ideas?”

“I… um… watched some porn. And the guys almost always did this and I really want to. And I think it might work, unless it's one of those fake porn things, but we could have fun finding out, right?”

Vladimir scowled. “I have no earthly clue what you're on about.”

Apparently deciding showing was better than telling, Nick moved so he was between Vladimir's spread legs. Gripping Vladimir's thighs, Nick held his legs up then spread them further.

“So fucking pretty,” Nick muttered. “Like even prettier than those porn guys. Gotta be a vampire thing.” Then he bent his head and licked a wide stripe with his tongue from the base of Vladimir's spine all the way to his balls.

Vladimir cursed, in Russian of course, because the words weren't as satisfying translated into English. He did dredge up one word Nick would understand, though. “More.”

His Kolya obliged, licking and nibbling at the sensitive skin down there, then worked his tongue into Vladimir's hole. There were precious few sexual things Vladimir hadn't done, including this, but he'd never had it done to him before. He'd never allowed that kind of intimacy, but Nick broke all his rules and inhibitions, then ground them to dust beneath his heel.

Besides his tongue, Nick worked in first one finger than another. “Open up, dammit,” his servant muttered in a completely unservile way. “Let me in, you bastard.”

With tongue and fingers, Nick worked Vladimir's body open, then delicately lapped at the edges of what felt to Vladimir like a huge gaping hole.

“Now,” Vladimir gasped

Nick looked up. “What?”

“Fuck me. Now.”

“Are you sure?” Nick bit his lip, looking conflicted.

“Now,” Vladimir growled, and there was the unmistakable sound of command in his voice. To help matters along, he shoved a pillow under his ass.

“Okay… If you're sure.” Looking resolute, if somewhat nervous, Nick pumped his erection a few times, spreading precum over the head, then he lined up his cock with Vladimir's hole. Slowly Nick pushed in, and it burned like fire being shoved up his ass, but despite that, Vladimir just wanted more. To that end, he grabbed Nick's ass and dragged his body down and further into Vladimir's until there was no further he could go.

Nick wheezed, “Jesus Christ, you're so tight. God. Can I move?”

“Da.” The word was a plea and a demand and a threat.

Nick heeded it, obedient boy that he was, and pulled out slightly before thrusting back hard. “There. Is that what you want?” He thrust again and again and again, filling Vladimir's vision with dancing stars the color of arterial blood. The burn was still there, but it was good. So, so good. So beautiful. So perfect.

So mine.

“Gonna come,” Nick warned, his voice gone thready from strain. “Gonna come real soon.”

“Do it,” Vladimir hissed in response. "Come inside me.”

“Not… until you… dammit.”

Vladimir could've explained that coming again so soon without further ingestion of blood was all but impossible, but he doubted his Kolya would hear him, the state he was in. Instead, he drew Nick down to him with his preternatural strength, and bit just next to his left nipple.

Nick howled then came, pumping his living, human seed into Vladimir's inhuman and undying body. It was hot, against his latent coolness, and Vladimir felt claimed and owned. It didn't hurt that Nick chanted “Mine,” over and over as he pumped himself into Vladimir.

At last completely spent, he collapsed onto Vladimir's body and breathed heavily. Vladimir wrapped his arms around Nick and just held him, crooning Russian nonsense into his ear.

Nick's softened cock slipped out of Vladimir's body, making the boy sigh heavily. “Did you come?” he asked, his breathing still rapid.

Vladimir wanted to say yes, but his hardened prick spoke for itself. “No, but it's no matter.”

“Fuck… that.” Nick sounded weary beyond belief, but also determined. He slid two fingers into Vladimir, drawing an involuntary hiss from him, then pulled them back out. He slicked Vladimir's cock with his cum then jerked him hard and mercilessly, dragging an orgasm out of Vladimir's screaming body.

It was, by far, the best and most intense sex of his entire existence. He wasn’t going to be able to give Nick up. Never in a million years, should both of them live so long. “You've gone and done it,” he said to his Kolya.

“Done what?” Nick asked with a yawn.

“I'm never, ever letting you go, Kolaya. Never. I'm dragging you with me into eternity whether you like it or not.”

“Oh. Is that all?” was Nick's sleepy response. He didn't open his eyes. “Good. I think I love you, too.”

He gathered Vladimir into his arms, held him tightly, then promptly fell asleep, leaving Vladimir more content than he could remember ever being.

Chapter 19

In Which Nick Eats A Sandwich

Nick woke in a warm bed with a cool body in his arms. He opened his eyes and saw Dima was watching him.

“That's not creepy,” Nick said with a yawn. “Don't you ever sleep?”

“Not much,” the vampire replied with a slight smile. “A few hours during the day is about all I need at my age.”

Nick stretched, luxuriating against the smooth cool body in his arms. He thought he could touch Dima's body forever. Then he wondered if forever might be possible. “Just how old are you anyway, Grandpa?”

“I was born during the reign of Vladimir the Great. He's my namesake.”

“Not helpful, vampire,” Nick growled. “Don't make me have to Google you.”

Dima sighed. “I was born approximately a millennium ago. The exact date of my birth is unclear, but we were ruled by Prince Vladimir. I was named for him.”

“Oh,” Nick said. “I was expecting like a few hundred years or so. Not a thousand. I can't imagine being alive for that long. It's crazy.”

“It can be, I suppose. Having servants helps. They ground one. Give purpose and shape to life.”

Nick thought about that for a second. It made a certain amount of sense, he supposed. It was also a very humbling thought. He would need to take care of himself. Becoming a true servant was the work of years, according to Ivan, who’d been told by Vladimir. Near immortality conferred one bloody kiss at a time. He would be stronger, healthier, and age with infinitesimal slowness. Vladimir’s blood servants had all died on him, but none of them from old age and disease. Not while under his care.

“And you didn’t want that?” Nick had asked Ivan. “It sounds pretty great to me.”

Ivan shrugged. “Life should end,” he said prosaically. “Also, I miss my Anya, my wife.”

Nick had nodded and the conversation had moved on.

“I want that,” Nick said now to Dima. “I want to give you purpose. A reason to live. Maybe a reason to leave this house at some point.” That made Dima roll his eyes. “But right now, what I really want is…” Nick trailed one of his thick, rough fingers down Dima’s satiny skin.

“Da?” Dima wound long, slender arms around Nick’s back. He pressed their bodies tightly enough together that it felt like he wanted to merge the two of them together.

“A sandwich,” Nick concluded.

Dima froze. “A sandwich?”

“Yep. Roast beef, maybe, with provolone cheese. Mayo. On some really fucking good bread.” His stomach rumbled. “If I go upstairs to my room and grab a shower and something to eat, will you be here when I get back?”

“Take a shower down here. Mine is much larger than the one in your garret room.”

“But I’m hungry.” Nick didn’t want to whine, but he missed the mark by a mile. There was a definite whine in his voice.

“Go. You can eat when you get out.”

Nick, and his stomach, grumbled a bit, but he went into Dima’s bathroom and used the palatial shower in there. Dima wasn’t at all wrong when he said it was nicer than the one in Nick’s room. He could, he thought, live in Dima’s shower, if they installed a fridge.

When he stepped into Dima’s room, toweling off his naked body, he saw Dima had been busy in his absence. There was a table for two in front of the fire. Before one chair was a sandwich on thick slices of brown bread, a plate of those awesome Russian cookies Ivan had fed him, and a glass of juice. Nick’s stomach went from a low-grade rumble to a full-out roar. He sat down and started eating.

After he’d eaten enough bites to assuage his immediate hunger, Nick looked up and grinned at Dima. “This is amazing. Thanks.”

The vampire looked a little abashed. “I had Ivan bring it down. He didn’t have any provolone, but he said you could eat it with his Gollandsky cheese and be damned if you didn’t like it.”

Nick snorted a laugh. “I do like it. There isn’t much I won’t eat, you know. I’m not picky.” He took another huge bite of the very delicious sandwich.

Dima sat down in the chair across from him and watched Nick eat. It should’ve been weird and creepy, but it wasn’t. Nick felt, absurdly, cherished.

“Someone needs to take care of you,” Dima observed. “Make sure you eat and sleep and don’t wear yourself down to the bone.”

Nick swallowed the cookie he’d been chewing on. “Same for you. Someone has to make sure you don’t sit in a corner down here and become dried up like beef jerky. Vampire jerky,” he amended with a laugh.

Dima gave Nick a rueful smile. “Perhaps we’ll take care of each other.”

“I like that.” Nick’s smile widened into a grin. “I like that a whole fuck of a lot.”

Epilogue

In Which Vladimir And Nick Get Their Happy Ending

Several years later

Vladimir stood, nude except for a robe, on the balcony of their stateroom and watched as twilight spread into night over the vast Atlantic Ocean. Kolya would be back soon.

It had taken much persuasion, cajoling, begging, pleading, bribery, and threats on Nick’s part, but he’d finally convinced Vladimir to leave their home and travel to St. Petersburg. Documents had been procured through a man Nick called “Uncle Gio, even though he’s not my uncle,” a man who had asked very few questions and taken their cash payment without comment. Nick had found a well-respected and highly-reviewed management service to take care of the house and its tenants while they would be gone, and he’d taken care of a million other details that would have never occurred to Vladimir, who hadn’t travelled anywhere since long before 9/11.

Vladimir had put his foot down in one area, however. He refused to get into an airplane. In the end, they’d ended up traveling how Vladimir and Ivan had come to America over a century previously. They were sailing in a cruise ship across the Atlantic, this time going east instead of west.

He felt, more than heard, movement behind him, but didn’t turn around. He knew in his blood it was Nick. Like, after all, called to like, and his blood flowed in Nick’s veins just as Nick’s did in his.

Warm lips touched his cool shoulder. “You hungry?”

Vladimir groaned. Always. There was no time when he wasn’t hungry for his Kolya, be it his blood or body or fascinating mind. “Yes.”

“Come to bed.” Nick pulled him inside their suite and over to the large bed that dominated the space designated as their bedroom. He tugged on Vladimir’s robe and it fell to the floor, leaving him naked, in contrast to Nick’s evening wear. He had dressed for dinner that night in Vladimir’s favorite dark gray suit and paired it with a pale blue tie that matched his eyes. Vladimir wanted to devour him whole.

“Strip,” Vladimir demanded.

Nick’s beautiful lips kicked up in a sensual, knowing smile. “I could fuck you like this. You naked. Vulnerable. Me in this million-dollar suit. That’d be hot.”

“It was hardly that expensive,” Vladimir sniffed. “And I don’t want you to fuck me.”

“You don’t?” Nick looked both deflated and puzzled.

Vladimir grabbed Nick’s tie and drew him nearer. “No. Tonight I wish to ride you.” Then he kissed Nick’s slackened lips.

“Oh. Yeah.” Nick scrambled to remove his clothes. “Fuck, yeah.” He spread himself out on the bed like a sacrifice. “But first, dinner.”

“Yes.” Vladimir smiled widely, not bothering to hide his fangs. “Dinner.” He moved his way up Nick’s body until he knelt between his furry, outstretched legs. Bending down, he kissed Nick’s cock and nuzzled against his balls, then sank his teeth into the large artery that ran down Nick’s leg from his groin. It was his very favorite place to drink. While he fed, he ran his hand lightly up and down Nick’s hardening cock. He knew from experience that gripping too hard would result in Nick coming far more quickly than Vladimir wanted him to.

When he was done, Vladimir licked Nick’s wound clean then bit his own wrist and held it out to Nick, who swiped it once with his tongue. All he needed was a little bit, here and there. Nick might be chronologically forty, but he certainly didn’t look it. Even the few stray gray hairs and eye wrinkles he’d had before Ivan had introduced them were gone.

“I need you,” Nick rasped out. “Please.”

Anticipating this, Vladimir had already prepped himself after showering. He straddled Nick’s body, holding his servant's iron-hard dick firmly in his hand, then guided it into his body. Slowly, Vladimir slid down until Nick was entirely inside him and they both groaned in unison. It was so good. It was always so good.

Nick bucked his hips upward into Vladimir. “Come on, Dima. Ride me hard. I need it.”

Vladimir needed it, too. It was hard to remember now how he’d survived for decades without this. More than that, actually, because it had never, ever been this good with anyone else. They fit together perfectly in every way, yin to each other’s yang.

“You’re mine, always mine,” he murmured before bending down to kiss Nick’s sensuous mouth. Their tongues tangled and they tasted of each other. It was as it should be, and it was utter perfection.

Nick held Vladimir’s hips still and fucked up into him. Vladimir had meant to ride Nick, but this was even better. He surrendered to his lover completely, knowing he could live without his Kolya, but that he wouldn’t want to try. He sucked bruises onto Nick’s skin that would fade far more quickly than they should while Nick’s cock speared through him.

“So tight,” Nick moaned.

“So full,” Vladimir purred back. “Come in me. I want to feel it. Want to feel your cum inside me.”

Nick’s thrusts grew faster and more erratic. “Mine, he growled. “Yours.”

Vladimir sank his teeth into Nick’s neck for a quick sip and his lover roared in response, shooting all his hot cum into Vladimir’s body

“Love you,” Nick gasped. “Love you so fucking much, I… oh, god, yes yes yes.”

With Nick’s softening cock still buried in his body, Vladimir sat up and jacked himself over Nick’s body until he came, marking the man he would always think of as his own with his seed. “So good.”

Completely spent but still wanting more, Vladimir licked Nick’s skin clean while the other man’s cum dripped out his ass and down his leg. “So good,” Nick echoed. “So god damned good.”

Vladimir’s lips hovered over Nick’s. “I love you,” he said. It was something Nick said maybe twenty times a day, but it was so much harder for Vladimir to vocalize. “Ya tebya lyublyu.”

Nick wrapped his arms tightly around Vladimir’s lithe body. “I know, baby,” he murmured into Vladimir’s hair. “I know.”

“Navsegda,” Vladimir vowed.

“Forever,” Nick agreed.

***

Want to hang out with Lynn? Drop on in to Lynn’s Lounge and Twinkpit for fun, pics of pretty men, and an overabundance of flamingos.

ALSO BY LYNN VAN DORN

North Shore Stories

Be My Mistake

Damage Control

Daddy Issues

Oleander Chronicles

Reunion

Rebound (coming 2021)

Other Works

Rule 47

Wild By Nature

Now You See Me

Royally Screwed

As Virginia Kelly with Piper Scott

Forbidden Desires

Clutch

Bond

Mate

Forbidden Desires Spin-off Series

Swallow

Magpie

Finch

Peregrine (coming 2021)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lynn Van Dorn was born in Ohio and left for the wilds of Chicago in her reckless youth. She wanted to become a fairy princess when she grew up, but since there were few openings for that position, she makes do with being a writer. It involves more work and less glitter, but is nearly as good. In her spare time, of which there is precious little, she drinks entirely too much tea, snugs her cats, loves her husband and son, reads voraciously, and avoid housework. She loves to watch anime, travel, knit, bake cookies, and conjure up happy ever afters for handsome men who have trouble getting there on their own.

www.lynvandorn.com

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you to Savannah and Sam for encouraging me, Suzanne for doing a quick and dirty edit, and to Jood for her impressive attention to grammar and detail. You all made this a better story.