Cronin's Key (20 page)

Cronin sighed; Alec’s agreement was a balm to his aching heart. Without another word to anyone else in the room, Cronin squeezed Alec’s hand and led him to his bedroom.

Cronin’s room was pitch black and it took a moment for Alec’s eyes to adjust. He knew he stood near the bed, though he couldn’t see it. He could feel Cronin’s hand in his, and he could barely make out the pale silhouette of his face in front of him. “Please don’t think it bold of me,” Cronin whispered, “to ask for time alone with you and to lead you to my room.”

Alec smiled at the nervous, formal tone to his voice. “I don’t mind.”

“Four days,” Cronin whispered. “To think I have had all this time. I have had nothing
but
time, centuries of wasted years. And now when I wish to cling to it, it is taken from me.”

Alec thought his heart might burst from Cronin’s words alone. “Nothing will be taken from you,” Alec whispered in return. “Eiji said we have many years. He said that. So whatever we face in four days, we will win.”

Cronin frowned. “I fear for your life. They will stop at nothing to retrieve the key, Alec. Your heart…”

Alec lifted Cronin’s chin. “My heart is not theirs to take,” Alec whispered. “It belongs to someone else.”

Cronin’s eyes closed slowly as he smiled. “As mine belongs to you.”

Alec pinched Cronin’s chin between his finger and thumb, and his mouth fell open slightly. White fangs glinted in the darkness, and Alec slowly, slowly, covered Cronin’s mouth with his own, kissing him.

The kiss started soft and sweet, with open mouths and closed eyes. But Alec needed more. He slid his tongue into Cronin’s mouth and slid his fingers into his hair, pulling their faces together, hard.

Cronin’s reaction was instant: a growly purr filled the room, and Alec found himself on his back on the bed, his thighs apart, with Cronin between them, leaning over him. Their mouths, their bodies not quite touching, but there was a fire in Cronin’s eyes.

“I don’t dare harm you,” he whispered, his voice a husky rumble.

“You won’t,” Alec replied, his voice barely a breath. He lifted his hips off the bed, needing, craving contact, friction, anything. Alec ran his hands down Cronin’s sides, over the small of his back to his ass, and he pulled their hips together.

Cronin hissed, but Alec was lost in a desire he’d never felt before. He hooked one of his legs around Cronin’s thigh, one arm around his back and the other hand around Cronin’s jaw and neck, bringing their mouths back together.

Alec was so turned-on, he was so hard and needy he was writhing and grinding his hips into Cronin’s. He could feel Cronin’s erection pressing against his own, the denim between them doing little to hide their desire.

Alec raked his hands over Cronin’s back, his shoulders and into his hair as they kissed, tongues tasting and teasing. Yet Alec still wanted more. He slid his hands between them, ripping the button-fly of his jeans apart, and when he popped the button on Cronin’s jeans, the vampire froze.

Alec expected him to pull away, but he didn’t.

Cronin held himself above Alec, their faces just inches apart, and Alec slowly pulled down Cronin’s zipper. Alec expected him to tell him to stop, but he didn’t.

Alec slid his hand inside Cronin’s pants, wrapping his fingers around his silky steel-hard cock, and he expected Cronin to tell him no.

But he didn’t.

Instead, Cronin leaned up on his hands and slowly thrust his hips into Alec’s fist. His head lolled back a little, his mouth open and his fangs out.

Alec had never seen anything so beautiful.

So powerful, yet completely at his mercy.

Alec gave Cronin’s cock a squeeze and started to pump him. “Look at me,” he whispered.

Cronin let his head fall forward, and his eyes were black fire. Alec’s blood boiled in his veins; he could feel it—like mercury—rolling toward Cronin, wanting him to bite him, to have him, claim him, and fuck him. Alec was just about to beg him to please, please have him, when Cronin bared his teeth and bucked his hips, a growl ripping from his chest as he came.

Alec was transfixed, hypnotized by the sight of Cronin, so turned-on he only had to grip his own cock before he came.

When the room had stopped spinning and the blood stopped pumping in his ears, Alec opened his eyes to find Cronin still above him. He was staring at him with a look akin to wonder.

“Am I still alive?” Alec mumbled.

Cronin surprised him by barking out a husky laugh. “Ah, it would appear so.”

“Fuck, that was so hot,” Alec said, still a little lightheaded. When Cronin ducked his face, Alec lifted his heavy hand to stop him. “
You
were so hot.”

“I am long out of practice,” Cronin whispered.

Alec smiled at him and waggled his eyebrows. “Well, now we know you don’t bite when we fool around, we can remedy the practice part.”

“I may never want to stop,” Cronin murmured.

Alec’s smile became a grin. “Even better.”

Cronin’s eyes intensified in the dark. “Alec, I wanted to bite you. It took a great deal of self-control not to.”

Alec put his hands to Cronin’s face and ran his fingers through his hair. He studied him for a long moment before looking into his eyes. “I wanted you to,” he answered. “Every cell in my body wanted you to.”

Cronin closed his eyes slowly and swallowed hard. He pulled away from Alec, but stayed on the bed. “It’s probably best not to say such things to me.”

Alec could see Cronin needed a little physical distance, so he didn’t push the issue. Instead, he looked down at the sticky mess that covered them both. “Um, quick question. Vampire jizz. Harmful to humans?”

“Jizz?” Cronin repeated.

“You know,” Alec said, running his finger through the cooling puddles on his stomach. “Come.”

“Oh,” Cronin said quickly, and Alec swore he heard Eiji laughing. Cronin smiled. “No, not harmful to humans.”

“They heard everything we just did?” Alec asked, turning his head toward the door.

Cronin nodded. “Yes. Vampires have exceptional hearing. I’m sorry, I should have told you beforehand…”

Alec felt no shame at all. In fact, he laughed. “Hope you enjoyed the show, guys, and the brief intermission. We’re now up for round two, also known as the shower scene,” he said, knowing the others would hear every word. Alec climbed off the bed and took Cronin’s hand, leading him into the bathroom.

* * * *

Alec stripped naked and walked into the long, marble-tiled open shower. He turned the water on and stood under the hot spray, knowing Cronin was watching. Alec never turned around, though, wanting to give him a little show. “You need to be in here with me,” he said, soaping up his body. He gripped his hard-again cock and gave himself a few hard tugs as he finally turned around.

And stopped.

Cronin stood naked before him. His body was lean and strong, pale. His cock was uncut, hanging heavy and long, and his pubic hair matched the rusty color of hair on his head.

But that wasn’t what stopped Alec’s breath.

For on Cronin’s chest, right across the sternum, on an angle to the left, was a silver scar. Two inches wide, seven inches long, with jagged lines. Not raised or indented like a normal scar, but as part of his skin.

Alec didn’t have to ask. He knew what it was.

Cronin had told him his human life had ended on a battlefield with an axe to the chest. Left to die on a muddy, blood-filled field, before Jodis had found him…

Cronin stepped before him, and Alec reached out and ran his finger softly down the silver scar.

“I bear the mark of my death,” Cronin whispered. He looked so vulnerable, so exposed.

Alec lifted his right knee, showing the bullet wound on his thigh. He thumbed the divot in his skin. “We each have scars to bear.” Then Alec flattened his hand so his palm was over Cronin’s skin. He could feel the beat of his vampire heart. “You are perfect,” Alec replied.

Cronin almost smiled. “As are you.”

Alec cupped Cronin’s face in both his hands, and tilted Cronin’s face upward and kissed him. Alec suddenly found himself under the hot water, still kissing Cronin, but both of them now under the steaming, sluicing water.

Alec smiled into the kiss. “Either I lose track of time and place when I kiss you, or you move me.”

Cronin laughed, putting his head back into the water. “I have vampire speed, remember?” he said. Then he whispered, “And I had a sudden urge to taste you wet.”

Alec bit his bottom lip and slowly pushed Cronin against the tiled wall. “That’s a really good idea,” he said. He kissed Cronin’s lips, his chin, then dropped deliberately and Cronin gasped when Alec kissed the silver scar on his chest.

Alec went lower still, kissing down Cronin’s stomach, his navel, licking and drinking the water as it ran over his skin. He pushed Cronin’s hips against the tiles, his straining cock near his lips, and Alec looked up to see lust-black eyes and the hint of fangs behind kissed-red lips.

“Alec,” Cronin said, his voice a mix of plead and warning.

Smiling, Alec flattened his tongue, not taking his eyes from Cronin’s as he licked the head of Cronin’s beautiful cock.

Cronin groaned and his eyes closed, as if trying to rein in the sensation. Or savor it. And when Alec opened his mouth and took in the tip, slowly sinking his lips over the crown of his cock, Cronin’s head fell back against the tiles and his hands went to Alec’s hair.

The room filled with steam and a low keening growl, and Alec knew Cronin was close. He wanted to taste him, and he wanted to take his lover’s seed. He would take anything he gave him. He wanted to give Cronin this pleasure, and he knew then, on his knees in front of Cronin, Alec finally, finally, realized what fated meant.

He wanted to be everything to Cronin. And he would be. Everything he needed, everything he wanted, Alec was it.

As Cronin was to him.

And Alec had never wanted anything more. He pulled off Cronin’s cock, kissed his hips, his thighs, nuzzled his balls, and licked the length of his shaft. “Let me drink you,” Alec whispered before taking him deep one more time.

And Cronin did.

Alec drank every drop.

When Alec got up from his knees, he chuckled at Cronin. His eyes were dark, heavy-lidded yet somehow still wide, a smile played at his lips, and he was leaning back against the tiles as though he couldn’t stand on his own.

“I have never…” Cronin started to say. He shook his head.

“Well, now you have,” Alec said before he kissed him, pressing against him, feeling the warmth of his body and the water.

“You still have need,” Cronin said, rolling his hips into Alec’s erection. “Will you allow me to touch you?”

Alec answered with a fevered kiss and a moan, and Cronin responded in kind. He slid his hand between them and took Alec, gently wrapping his fingers around him. Deft fingers, skillful and precise, heated kisses and the scent of Cronin, wet and steaming, filled every sense.

The coil of pleasure wound tighter and tighter until Alec couldn’t contain it anymore and it burst free, firing blinding stars behind his eyes as his orgasm rocketed through him.

Alec slumped against the wall and Cronin caught him, concerned. Alec laughed and pulled Cronin against him. “I think it’s sleep time for me,” Alec said, feeling as though his bones had turned to sponge. He could barely keep his eyes open.

When they’d dried off, Alec crawled into Cronin’s bed and held the blanket up in invitation.

Cronin smiled shyly and he tentatively lay down beside him. Alec flung himself over half of Cronin, his thigh, his arm, and rested his head on Cronin’s shoulder. He traced his fingers over the scar on Cronin’s chest.

Cronin seemed to freeze at first, but Alec soon felt Cronin relax, and he put his arm around his shoulder. A soft purr rumbled in Alec’s ear, soothing him to sleep. Alec knew that tomorrow was when everything would change. Tomorrow would be all about tactics and intel, gathering armies and warfare, about numbers: how many they’d fight, how many they’d lose. It would be about mystical things, vampires, the undead, and the returned, horrors Alec couldn’t even fathom.

Yet in Cronin’s arms, he was safe and untouched by it all. He smiled as he closed his eyes, and slept like the dead.

* * * *

Alec woke slowly, the world around him coming in like cognizant waves. First, the scent of Cronin all around him, then his absence. He wasn’t far away, Alec knew, he could feel Cronin’s presence just a few rooms away. He didn’t know
how
he knew. He just knew. Alec stretched out, naked and smiling, remembering what they’d done the night before.

Before he let his mind wander too far with images, memories of tastes and pleasure, Alec rolled out of bed with a groan. He had a lot to do today, a lot to learn, and a lot to take in, and although he started with a shower, what he really wanted was coffee and Cronin. In no particularly order.

Dressed in jeans and one of Cronin’s T-shirts, he padded barefoot out into the living room. He had no clue what to expect, who would be out there, or what the developments would have been in the few hours he’d slept.

He didn’t care, though. Because standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter was Cronin, holding his freshly made coffee for him. He wore black jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves pulled up to his elbows. The dark clothes matched his eyes perfectly and gave stark contrast to his pale skin and rust-colored hair. His pink lips smiled just for Alec.

Alec took the cup from him and set it down on the counter so he could lift Cronin’s face and kiss him. He leaned against him, pushed against his body with his own, and kissed him again.

Someone cleared their throat, and Cronin smiled into the kiss. Alec slowly pulled his lips away and turned to face whomever had interrupted. Only it wasn’t just one person. There were six vampires watching them. Alec assumed it was Eiji who’d interrupted, not because he was grinning, but because he spoke first. “I trust you slept well.”

Alec didn’t move or pull back from leaning against Cronin. “Good morning,” Alec said.