Deep Deception (10 page)

“Yes.” Adin smiled as Donte pulled them out of the case.

“Ah, a hunting scene, how appropriate,” Donte murmured, putting them to his eyes. “The optics are good.”

“Yes, but I’m well aware that yours are better.” Adin pushed Donte’s hand down so that he could look into his eyes. “The point is, my lover, that you sometimes need to look at things differently. Even when I’m not right by your side, I’m yours. Irrevocably, irretrievably lost in love with you.” Adin peered into Donte’s eyes, wishing he could see through to his thoughts, maybe his soul.

“Sciocco.”
Foolish
. If Donte could have blushed, Adin was certain he would have. He seemed pleased enough with Adin’s declaration. His cock twitched under Adin’s thighs.

“Promise me that before you believe the worst you will try to see me clearly?” Adin pushed the glasses back to Donte’s eyes, and found he was quite satisfied with the message they sent, even if it wasn’t the one he’d originally intended. “See the man who loves you, and look at me past time and distance and mortality to my heart, which
belongs to you
.”

“Adin.”
Donte pulled him close and rolled them both until Adin was beneath him and the hard thickness of Donte’s thigh pressed deliciously on Adin’s cock. Adin sensed what was coming and tendrils of arousal and fear wrapped around his spine. He hooked one hand around Donte’s neck and pulled him in, even as he clutched Donte’s ass with the other to press more firmly against Donte’s muscled leg.

Donte shifted slightly and trapped Adin beneath him, every inch the predator. Adin let out a sigh that was more like a moan and succumbed, melted, as Donte struck. His hips jerked at the exquisite pleasure/pain of Donte’s mouth on his throat, as first the sharp sting of the bite, and then the lapping, sucking sensation pushed through his body and down his spine.

“Ah,
Donte
.” Adin jerked again, spasming as his cock spit come inside his jeans and his spine zinged again and again with pleasure so indescribable that he could only hold on and claw at Donte’s back. “
Lover
.”

After, when Donte pulled his teeth from Adin’s torn flesh and licked the wound closed he didn’t let go, but clung to Adin, burying his face into the junction of his neck and shoulder while Adin held him, stroking and whispering soft love words as he rocked Donte in his arms. Neither man moved for a long, long time.

“What’s all this?” Adin asked. “Donte? Are you all right?” Donte shook his head against Adin’s neck but said nothing. For once, for a while, Donte slept.

Later, Adin listened to the rain pattering lightly on the roof of the chalet. He’d been roused by Donte’s restlessness at first, and awakened fully when Donte pressed a kiss against his forehead and told him he was going to take a walk.

Adin had muttered, “How Heathcliffe,” and rolled over, turning a tired back to his lover-who-didn’t-sleep.

Now he frowned into the darkness. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly was wrong, but he knew where he and Donte went, trouble usually followed. He knew there was something bothering Donte, and it wasn’t simply the usual inability to predict Adin’s behavior or control it this time. In the past, Donte had been content to draw while Adin slept. To write in his journal or read. Yet now his wakefulness manifested in a restless desire to get away by himself.

Adin had never seen him quite so agitated, and the nagging worry that—once again—something important was happening and Donte wasn’t going to discuss it, coalesced in Adin’s mind and heart.

He threw the covers aside, unwilling to wake Bran or Boaz if he could help it. He donned a T-shirt and flannel pull-on pants before creeping downstairs, where he grabbed his peacoat on the way out the back door. He smiled to himself as he walked out into the rain and called, “Olly olly oxen free,” in a breathy whisper.

Adin wasn’t surprised to feel a playful push of energy rock him back, as though Donte were right in front of him, giving him a teasing shove.

Within the blink of an eye, Donte stood before him.

“Ollie
what
?”

“Olly olly oxen free.” Adin smiled. “That’s what you say when you’re playing hide-and-seek and you’ve looked everywhere but you can’t find someone. I came out to walk with you.”

Donte still frowned. “But what does this Ollie—”

“Never mind, Donte, it’s nonsense. A children’s game.”

“I should think they’d rectify that.” Donte took Adin by the hand. “Children have enough nonsense to deal with. You’ll get soaked if you come with me.”

“I won’t melt.”

“No, we’ve established you won’t melt in the rain.” Donte attempted to hide a smile.

“What’s wrong?” Adin stepped off the cobblestone patio and onto the grass in his bare feet. “I can tell you’re worried about something. Don’t lie to me anymore, Donte, and don’t obfuscate. I’ve more than earned your respect. If I haven’t…” Adin let the sentence hang. If he hadn’t earned Donte’s respect then all the love in the world was futile.

“I’ve been trying to make sense of a series of things, caro. I haven’t mentioned them because I don’t yet understand what they could mean.”

Adin froze. “Please tell me if we’re in some sort of danger.”

“I believe we are, yes. Or I am, as always. This is nothing new.” As they meandered along the path that led to a small orchard Donte swiped at the tumble of wet hair that had fallen into his eyes.

“But you’re more concerned this time?” Adin pressed closer to Donte as he began to feel the cold.

“I am,” Donte admitted. “Because of you. You’ll be unsurprised when I tell you that nothing is more precious to me. Therefore if anyone wishes to harm me, they will strike at me through you.”

Adin kept silent but gave Donte’s arm a squeeze. It didn’t help being reminded of their past; of how Santos had attempted to use Adin to harm Donte over old vendettas.

“Okay, maybe I didn’t tell you everything.” If Adin was going to expect the truth from Donte he had to begin by giving him the truth, no matter how bad it sounded. “Harwiche has Auselmo’s papers. Santos sold them to him to spite you.”

Donte frowned down at him. “You kept this from me?”

“Yes, well. No. Not now. Not anymore. Truth for truth, Donte. Okay?”

“All right, but—”

“Harwiche will try to trade Auselmo’s papers for Bran but Santos knows I won’t allow it. I don’t want to go to war with you on this but I’m prepared to protect that boy no matter what. I’m sorry. I should have told you. I should have said exactly what—”

“Hush, caro.” Donte lifted Adin’s hand to his mouth and kissed it. “I know what Santos told you, but he was playing with you. Harwiche has nothing that belonged to Auselmo. Santos only said that to cause trouble between us. I think when he saw you in Paris it occurred to him as a parting shot. I told Boaz to reassure you. Did he not?”

“No, he didn’t.”

Donte glanced back at the house. “That is troublesome.”

“God. Santos.” Adin felt foolish and angry. “
That prick
.”

“He’s been manipulating men and women for centuries, try not to take it personally.” Donte walked between the still-barren fruit trees, ghostly skeletons reaching spindle-fingered for the night sky. Adin followed him, stepping carefully in the loamy soil. “I did check it out, after Boaz indicated I should look into it.”

“I wonder why Santos thought I wouldn’t tell you, at least eventually. That I wouldn’t ask you to help me protect Bran, and find another way to get Auselmo’s things back.”

Donte chuckled. “Because, più amato, he has completely underestimated you.
Again.
I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.”

“Really?”

“Certainly. He expected you to be jealous at the very least. Or angry that I would once again put my love for Auselmo on the scales and weigh it against what I feel for you.” Donte turned and put his hands on Adin’s shoulders. “He expected you to take Bran and run from me, fearing that I would sacrifice the boy for mementos from my one true love.”

“I see.” Adin didn’t have to share that he might have preferred if Donte didn’t refer to Auselmo as his “one true love”.

“But because you love me and trust me, you came to me for protection instead. Santos completely underestimated your faith in me.” Donte appeared delighted with his conclusion.

“I wonder if you know how particularly annoying you’re being right now.”

“I beg your pardon?” Donte’s fine features slackened with surprise.

“While you’re congratulating yourself because your human came so quickly to heel, are you aware that I’ve been feeling terrible about the whole thing?” Adin punched Donte’s arm. “The thought that—once again—I might cost you something valuable and important to you has been preying heavily on my mind. Not to mention your apparent willingness to sacrifice me in the past. It isn’t the best recommendation.”

Donte rubbed where Adin had landed his blow. “You didn’t explicitly mention that Harwiche had Auselmo’s papers at first, did you?”

“Because you had an
imp
in Santos’s employ!” Adin spit. “Did I need to be explicit? And anyway, I alluded to it straightaway and I just
did
mention it.”

“Well. It was a lie. And despite my past behavior I intend to help you to protect the boy.” Donte gazed at Adin seriously. “If you ask it of me.”

“You’d do that?” Adin hardly dared to breathe.

“For you, caro, yes. If the boy is precious to you then we will keep him safe.”

“Thank you.” Adin sagged with relief.

“Other than his little lie to you, Santos is uninvolved in all this. And as for Harwiche…he hardly matters now, at any rate.” Donte took off back the way they’d come, walking briskly. “Come, the rain will come bucketing down any minute. You must go back inside. I shouldn’t like you to become ill.”

“What do you mean, Harwiche hardly matters?” Adin went after him, reduced to practically leaping from place to place in his hurry to catch up and not harm his feet.

“Harwiche was injured recently.” Donte muttered. “Someone broke into his home and stabbed him with a letter opener. They…played with him first.”

“
What
?” he cried out. “Wait.
Stop
.
What
?”

“Someone nearly killed Ned Harwiche last night, and I believe it’s likely they were looking for Bran.” Donte turned and met Adin’s eyes. “I found him and called for help, or he’d be dead.”

Chapter Ten

“Boaz will be in bed, I expect.” Donte spoke in low tones once they’d entered the kitchen. Adin was soaked through and shivered with the cold. “Do you know how to use this?” Donte pointed to a simple electric kettle. “You should have something warm to drink.”

“You’re joking,” Adin accused.

“What?” Donte picked up the pot and pulled off the lid, gazing earnestly into the interior of the white plastic appliance. The cord slipped off the counter and dangled, hitting the cupboard with a thud. “You’re shivering. If you make tea I’ll change and bring you my dressing gown so you can remove your wet clothing—”

“You don’t know how to use an electric kettle?”

“Think, Adin. When would
I
ever have occasion to employ one?”

“That’s true enough.” Adin took the pot from Donte with a nudge of his shoulder and watched as he left the room. He poured water into the vessel and plugged it in before searching the cupboards for tea. When he found what he liked, he turned his attention elsewhere.

Removing his clothes, peeling them off until he wore nothing but goose bumps, Adin opened the door and dropped his wet things outside. Only then did he realize that if the footsteps on the stairs belonged to anyone other than Donte he might have some explaining to do. Adin turned just in time to see Donte in the kitchen doorway.

If vampires had to breathe other than to talk, Adin would have said Donte held his breath. As it was, it looked like Donte really liked what he saw. He halted in his tracks, put a hand on the doorframe and devoured Adin with his gaze. Adin’s face heated as he stood there, fighting the urge to cover himself with his hands.

“You are utterly perfect, più amato,” Donte practically purred. He stepped forward so slowly Adin was mesmerized by his every move. It had been months since they’d done a home-y thing like having tea in the kitchen while the household slept. Adin wanted to savor and prolong the moment, so he remained cautiously still. “I found you handsome when we first met on the plane. I planned to steal my journal back from you, but when we spoke, I decided to play with you a bit. You were so cheeky. I believed you deserved a good dressing down.”

“I am Donte,” Adin teased, the familiar refrain singsong and silly, “apex of the food chain on this planet…”

“
Enough
.” Donte stood behind Adin and draped the robe over his shoulders, holding it so Adin could push his arms into the sleeves. “Will you never tire of mocking me?”

“Probably not.” Adin bit his lip to keep from laughing.

Donte wrapped his robe around Adin while pulling him back into an embrace. He kissed Adin’s neck thoroughly, grazing it with his teeth. “I mean to say I thought you were beautiful when we met, but I had no idea how truly extraordinary you were, nor how much you would come to mean to me.”

“
Donte
.” Adin’s heart sped up.

“I had the opportunity to think while you were in Paris without me. I was engaged in some rather difficult business negotiations, and I realized I had practiced some of those most unpleasant tactics on you. It’s no wonder you left me.”

“I didn’t leave you, Donte.”

“You left our home,” Donte reminded Adin. “You didn’t say when you’d return.”

“But I would have returned.” Adin leaned his head back on Donte’s shoulder, finding it exactly the perfect height, as always. “You know that.”

Adin felt Donte’s lips twitch on the skin of his neck. “Perhaps I did. I grew impatient, caro, can you forgive me?”

“Always.”

“Do you promise me? Always?” Donte’s voice was urgent.

“My always,” Adin replied. “But that’s not what you want, is it? Is that going to be enough?”

Donte pressed kisses on Adin’s nape then, so close the breath he didn’t really need to take lifted Adin’s hair and ruffled it. “It will have to be.”

Thick curls of steam rose from the kettle, and Donte let Adin go.

They sat together at the long table. Adin brewed their tea in an old ceramic pot. The air seemed to hang thickly, shivering with possibilities. Adin automatically poured two cups, simply for show. Donte might take a few sips, but that too, was a façade. Even as Adin sat across from his lover, he knew they were playing at domesticity, knew he was kidding himself.

Reminded of the Japanese tea ceremony, Adin tried to imbue his every movement with something symbolic and beautiful. Something memorable that revealed his emotions, which he wasn’t completely comfortable sharing. When he took his first sip he sighed with contentment.

“What?” Donte lifted his cup and idly looked over Adin and Bran’s chess game.

Adin captured one of Donte’s hands. “It’s nice to have you here beside me. Does that sound too domestic?”

“I assume domestic is being used as an insult these days?” Donte allowed Adin to keep his hand but his attention remained on the chessboard.

“Do I sound foolish to you?” Adin pressed.

“No more foolish than I am, trying my best to tie you to me forever when that’s the last thing you desire.”

“Being tied to you is not the problem, Donte, I thought you understood that. I don’t want to be—”

“Turned into a monster, yes.” Donte circled a finger on the rustic table, but wouldn’t meet Adin’s eyes. “I understand. I’m sorry. It’s late and I’m tired.”

Adin frowned. “Tired?”

“Yes.” Donte took up his teacup. “I’m feeling rather more of my years than usual, caro. I thought a bracing walk might help but I’m still a little fatigued.”

“Does this happen often?” Adin had noticed shadows under Donte’s eyes. The slight hollowing of his cheeks. “I thought you were immortal, immune to things that make humans sick. I thought you never—”

“I can’t become diseased, Adin. But I can be fatigued. Often the fault is my own. Either I don’t eat enough, or I choose unwisely.”

Adin grew worried and offered himself. “Then take what you need from me, lover. You know you don’t need to ask.”

“I will be fine, Adin.” Donte shook his head. “I took enough. Your tea will be just what I need. Or maybe we can retire, yes? I’ll draw your portrait while you sleep. It’s true that I haven’t let myself rest lately.”

“If you’re certain…”

“I am.” Donte looked back to the chessboard. “Who was white?”

“Bran,” Adin answered. “That’s the tie-breaker. He’s a strong player. Surprisingly good for someone with little formal education.”

“You’ve grown very fond of him.”

Adin couldn’t read the expression that crossed Donte’s features. He teased, “You have nothing to worry about, he told me he ‘fancies girls’.”

“What a relief,” Donte laughed. He was still gazing at the board. “You realize that if he recognizes his advantage here he’ll have you in eight moves? Like this?”

Donte reached out to touch the queen’s bishop; the one Bran had advanced to take Adin’s knight.
“Gesu.”
Donte rose, sliding his chair back with a scrape against the tile floor that sounded thunderous in the quiet house. He’d drawn his hand away as though it burned.

“What was that?” Adin stood as well.

“Nothing.” Donte glanced at the chess set and then back at Adin. “It’s nothing.”

“That was
not
nothing,” Adin pressed. “What happened just now?”

“Just now—” Donte shook his head and resumed a casual tone of voice. “Just now I remembered what a foul temper my older brother had if I moved any pieces of a game he planned to finish later.”

“That must have been quite a temper, if you’re worried about it five centuries later.” Adin sat back down. “You scared the hell out of me, bolting up like that. Donte… Tell me what’s wrong. I’m beginning to think—”

“I’m sorry, caro. It’s really nothing you need to worry about.” Donte’s smile widened. “Your heart
is
beating very fast.”

Adin sighed. Apparently Donte felt like playing the tease. “I’ll bet you could make it beat even faster.”

The way Donte’s gaze slid over Adin’s body while he sipped his tea told its own story. Adin returned the favor and catalogued the many things he found attractive about his lover. Donte’s face held a deep kind of beauty. Hooded dark brown eyes under uniquely handsome brows. Prominent bones in his cheeks and jaw, a cleft chin and dimples when he smiled. His lips were full and luscious. Adin could lose himself in the contemplation of that face, and had, on many occasions.

Each individual feature was attractive yet unremarkable on its own. The alchemy that brought them all together and the man behind it were captivating. Adin would never tire of looking at him.

“You’re fascinating.” There was something mysterious about Donte beyond being inhuman, a part of himself he always held back. “I wish I could draw you. Maybe you’ll let me have the journal tonight and you can model for a change.”

Donte’s lips curved up in an enigmatic smile. “That would please me, caro.”

Adin drank the rest of his tea and they went up the stairs together hand-in-hand. Adin sketched Donte for close to an hour, trying to get the face just right. He drew Donte’s hands as well, capturing the long fingers with their slightly square tips, drawing them palm up and open, powerful and gentle at the same time. He would never pose a serious challenge to Donte’s artistic ability, yet he felt absurdly pleased when Donte remarked more than once that he was quite good.

Every so often he stroked Donte’s palm to let him know he wasn’t too immersed in his task, just as Donte had often reached for him when he worked. It wasn’t hard for Adin to imagine at times like this one that whatever their differences, they could overcome them with silence and mutual physical attraction.

Adin shaded the hollows of Donte’s cheeks and the area under his eyes, wondering again what it was that made him seem drawn. Had he always been vaguely gaunt? Perhaps it was the color of the bed linens. Adin was frowning at the sketchpad when a mischievous thought pushed into his mind.

Donte tried to look innocent.

Image after image of Donte without clothing on appeared inside Adin’s head like a lascivious slideshow. Donte posed and preened in impressions like snapshots, ranging from flexing his pecs to riding a mechanical bull.

Adin’s dick showed more than a passing interest, but he wasn’t finished drawing Donte’s left hand. Playfully, he shoved Donte backward hard enough that he tumbled to the floor. How had he caught Donte unaware?

“Are you all right? I’m so sorry.” Adin leaned over to make sure he was unharmed and glared at him a little. “How am I going to draw you if you keep that up?”

Donte’s laughing face appeared as he crawled back up onto the small bed. “Keep what up?”

“You know your vampire mind games don’t work on me.”

Donte grabbed Adin’s growing cock. “It seems this one is working perfectly.”

Adin tossed Donte’s journal onto the floor next to the bed and gave in to the pleasure swamping his brain. “Come here, you.”

“Pleasure yourself on me,” Donte drawled, placing his hands behind his head. Donte whispered the suggestion, accompanying it with a dizzying visual image of Adin astride him, riding his cock.

“Well.” Adin rose to the occasion and reached to the bedside table for lube. “Aren’t we just a perfectly convenient and fuckable vampire this evening?”

“I live to serve.” Donte gasped when Adin dropped a line of cold gel on his cock like icing.

“Except the living and serving part, I completely agree.” Adin looped a dollop of lube onto his hand and readied himself. When he closed his eyes, he got a bright picture of how he looked as Donte saw him, complete with a stupefied fingers-up-my-own-ass facial expression, and he nearly collapsed with embarrassed laughter.

“Ah
hell
, Donte. Is that what I really look like?”

Donte threw him the same image, but with a ridiculous bronze-age helmet on his head. It framed his eyes, and had a piece that covered and protected his nose. He resembled Alexander the Great in a cheesy porn flick.

“Now, that has possibilities.” Adin sighed with pleasure as he sank onto Donte’s cock, filling himself until his balls rested onto the nest of hair that crowned it.

“
Adin
.” Donte’s voice sounded like he’d been swallowing gravel.

Bracing his hands behind him on Donte’s thighs, Adin leaned back into a full, mind-blowing stretch. His quads burned like hell and a blush stole over every inch of his skin. “Oh, lover…
So good
.”

Donte’s eyes seemed to both widen and darken. His tongue darted out to wet his lips, but he didn’t move his hands from behind his head. Adin slipped his hand between Donte’s legs, fondling his balls and sneaking behind them to circle a finger around more private places. He could feel every twitch of Donte’s cock inside him. Adin rocked his hips and his vision blurred a little.

“What shall I show you, Adin?” Donte asked. “Shall I pelt you with the world’s greatest art? Fireworks? Stars? Film noir movie classics?”

“Shut. Up.” Adin sucked in a deep breath, then leaned forward and braced his hands on Donte’s chest. His hips began to move, undulating, scooping and lifting, as he rubbed his cock along Donte’s firm abdomen. Sweat and a glistening trail of precome slicked his way, and hair tickled his skin until he hummed with pleasure.

“I want to see us like this. Show me how I look riding your cock.”

The images in his mind crystallized until he could see himself leaning over Donte, hips rising and falling as Donte pistoned into him like a machine. He looked slack jawed, focused inward, his body taking and taking while his mind floated on a sea of bliss. He looked thoroughly open.
Fuckable.
Wanton and almost half mad with greedy enjoyment.

He looked remarkably
good
.

As he shifted his hips, Donte’s cock hit his sweet spot and he shivered all over. Every single stroke was a deep, twisting pleasure under his skin that spread to his heart. He burned for release, but being fucked simply wasn’t enough.

“Touch me,” he begged Donte. “I need you to put your hands on me.”

“
Adin
.” Donte pulled his hands from under his head and complied, first gliding his hands softly up and down Adin’s arms, then rubbing his chest. “Like this?” Donte stroked Adin’s nipples to stiff peaks, thumbing them in a way that drew invisible lines taut between them and Adin’s dick.