Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Soaked through to the bone and colder than he could ever remember being, Eli was greeted at the door not by his father, as he had expected, but by his Mother. Caught between the darkness outside and the dim light of the house behind her, the reflective membranes in her eyes glowed with eerie stability, catching Eli off guard. He approached cautiously, nose lifted slightly to catch her familiar scent on the wind coiling around the house. Solid, sedate, seeing her calm was just what Eli needed to banish the nervous thump of his heart. He had broken every speeding law to make it home by the midnight deadline, used every ounce of his heightened strength and dexterity to keep his motorcycle from crashing. He’d hydroplaned more times than he could count on a variety of highways and surface streets. He was lucky not to have been pulled over, though part of him wondered if the lack of human law enforcement along the route hadn't been intentional.

His mother greeted him with a tight, perfumed hug and a large, fluffy towel. Eli accepted both with thanks, breathing a sigh of relief as he stepped in out of the cold. But for a few, dimly burning wall sconces, the house was bathed in shadowy darkness that hid its depths. He detected the odor of dinner, lamb and vegetables, a delicate wine, and a subtle hint of animal blood. Behind that, hidden among the other scents of the house, was something different, something new. He would have missed it had he not been so close to the edge of his powers, the spike of adrenaline still lingering in his veins. The new aroma was graceful, intoxicating, urging him to breathe it in deeper with each breath. It conjured no images in his mind's eye, leaving only a vague impression of presence, and piquing his curiosity.

"I should get out of these clothes," he said, rubbing the towel over his wet hair.

"Later," his mother replied. "He's waiting for you in the study."

Eli looked down at the puddle he had created. His jeans were heavy and burdensome, pressing cold daggers into his legs. The tee-shirt he wore was like a partially sloughed skin, hanging over his belt line and clinging to his chest. His shoes were filled with water, making squelching, squishing noises as he removed his jacket and hung it up to dry on the hook beside the door of his Father's study.

The man stood in front of the fireplace, his back turned to the door, casually poking life into the dying embers. In the time between Eli's last visit, his father had rearranged and redecorated. The chairs before the hearth had been removed. A large, imposing desk made of heavy wood with a green, veiny marble top had been set up in the center, with a throne like chair behind it. A hunter green sofa filled the space beneath the draped windows, and a set of artificially aged bookshelves lined the inner wall, filled with thick tomes. The place had taken on the air of an executive office, of unquestionable authority and a slightly threatening personality.

"Dad? What's..."

Alic turned slowly, sinuously, eyes heavy with age, with fatigue, with power. Without a word, or any other sound, he asserted himself on Eli, his silent stare lashing out. If he had been a dog, Eli would have crumpled onto his back and presented his belly. If he had been born of anyone but his mother and father, he would have fallen to his knees and made himself as small as possible. It was precisely because he was the offspring of two equally ancient, equally powerful bloodlines that he was able to remain on his feet, though his legs felt like they could give out on him at any moment.

His father was challenging him, daring Eli to attack or to submit. No other option was given, no other outcome offered. Either they fought, or Eli accepted his father's dominance. Neither was a good choice, but only one had any chance attached to it that Eli would continue to draw breath. Eli tucked his chin to his chest, turned his gaze away from his father.

"You let yourself be discovered by a human," Alic whispered, though he might as well have yelled by the way Eli flinched. "You opened our world to scrutiny. You disobeyed the first law, and nearly implicated your friend as well. Do you have any idea how close you were to being charged by the humans for felonious assault?"

Eli's heart sank.

"How..."

Alic held up a piece of paper, flicked it with his middle finger. "'We were going out back to get it on'," he quoted without reading, "'and his friend showed up and some guys came after him. I didn't see what happened next.'" He tossed the paper onto his desk, continuing to stare at Eli.

"I have indulged you your trysts with humans," Alic continued. "I allowed you the freedom to befriend them, to take them to your bed, to be educated by their schools, and for that trust, you repay me with this!"

"Dad..."

"Silence!"

The command ripped the words from Eli's throat, stripped them from his mind. For the span of an eye blink, Eli was sure his father was poised to strike him physically.

"If the Drake family had not been looking out for you, if that brat Zane hadn't heard what was going on, you would be behind bars. Do you know what happens to a vampire when he's put in a cage, Eli? He loses control, and he turns into a soulless, killing machine with no sense of self or regard for others."

Alic took a breath, breaking eye contact with Eli to sit behind the desk. No longer beneath the punishing gaze, Eli dared a quick glance up. His father had covered his face with both hands, shaking his head left and right as though he still had problems believing Eli could act so foolishly.

Eli didn't dare speak, lest he earn further reprimand. It had been the worst lecture he'd ever been at the receiving end of, mostly because of the harsh disappointment infecting his father's voice, but also because his father had never used his authority over Eli like that in the whole of his life.

The silence dragged, one minute after the next, and as it did, the feeling that his father was not through yet; that the worst was still hanging unspoken in the air between them, intensified. Eli's tongue shriveled to a sandpaper slab in his dry mouth, his throat parched with the need to explain, to beg for forgiveness, for anything that would ease the tension and restore faith.

When Alic finally removed his hands, the dominating gaze had left him. He waived a hand at one of the chairs opposite him. Eli approached, cautiously, then sat, but kept his head bowed in a submissive posture.

"Cwenhild Drake managed to convince the local council not to remove you from your school which means, by the way, that I am now indebted to her. She will now be promoted to Chair, in spite of my previous objections. But, there are a couple of caveats to your reprieve."

Eli nodded, expecting as much. The Rose Family would never ally themselves with the House of Drake. There was too much bad blood, too many deaths between them. What the Drakes had done by intervening on Eli's behalf was a peace offering only, designed to ensure Cwenhild's ascension to a greater standing in the local vampire community.

"You are to be put under the supervision of the Theta Pi organization until you graduate or leave school."

He thought at once of Felix. Had the Drake woman been as generous of Felix's behalf? Or, would he face the full wrath of the council, as he feared would happen?

"W--what about Felix?" he offered, his voice wispy and unsure of itself.

Alic leaned back in the chair, a faint, proud grin lifting the corners of his lips.

"Felix is fine," his Father replied. "He was never named. And, because he's been a good friend to you, we'll continue paying for his education."

Eli sighed, thankful. Felix didn't know where the money came from, only that it was some sort of scholarship arranged through his mother and father's work, which also happened to be Alic's work.

"You, on the other hand, were identified, because you were thinking with the wrong head. I've told you before, Eli, that it's past time to take on your responsibilities as a Noble. This whole fiasco proves that to me."

There was only one responsibility he could be talking about. Eli's ire rose, but he kept it in check. His father may no longer be outwardly angry, but his temper, once ignited, did not cool as quickly as that. Still, he had to make his case to the man.

"Dad," Eli began, "I don't want a Thrall. I don't need one."

"Your actions disagree, son. I should have made you take one when you were fifteen. You will take one now."

"Dad, please. I'm begging you. I don't want a slave. I--I don't have the time or--or the money..."

Alic arched an eyebrow. "Yet," he countered, "you have the time for reckless pursuits? You're taking him. End of discussion. Lucas!"

Eli heard the patter of feet running down the stairs and turned in the chair. The young man that appeared had recently left the shower; he had tied a robe around him and his fluffy, silken hair had that freshly washed and dried quality to it. His physique was toned, defined, his eyes wide and sparkling with sapphire radiance. He was the most attractive, enticing, entrancing male Eli had ever laid eyes on. He was also clutching Rex, Eli's childhood teddy bear to his chest. The youth skidded to a halt at seeing Eli, swallowed, then walked with great care to stand beside him.

"Mark him," Alic ordered his son. "Here, in front of me, so I know you claim him as your own."

"But I..."

"Do it!"

Eli flinched, but what Lucas did was either stupid or brave--Eli couldn't decide which. He stepped between Eli and the desk, standing in the elder vampire's line of sight as though shielding Eli.

"Sir, please," he said to Alic, "my Master needs his privacy to change out of his wet clothes."

What surprised Eli even more was his Father's response.

"He'll have it," Alic replied calmly. "After I've seen him mark you."

The youth nodded, turned. Without invitation, he separated Eli's legs and kneeled before him, presenting the side of his neck.

"Just your lips, please," Lucas said.

Eli hesitated, looking between his father and the young man before him. He’d never kissed anyone in front of Alic before, and his cheeks burned at the thought of doing so now. Perhaps realizing that, the youth crawled up Eli, carrying with him that intoxicating scent Eli had detected earlier. His groin tightened, pressing against the cold, damp denim of his jeans, and his lips burned with need. He licked, them, hoping to cool the fire, but that only served to make it worse. He became keenly aware of the stranger's hands on either side of him, of the warmth radiating off of bare flesh and through the fabric of the robe.

Up close, his scent was more than just intoxicating, it was stultifying and comforting. Eli could imagine burying himself against the youth's neck and drowsing for centuries, breathing him in until he had turned to dust. He could visualize laying the young man down before him, licking him from heel to crown, imbibing on that scent.

Eli pressed his lips to the offered neck, taking a strong breath of him and etching it deep in his memory. His body started vibrating, his skin tingling, his cock twitching with a ferocious hunger like Eli had never known. Then, it was over.

Lucas was his.

A voice inside Eli’s mind cried out in protest against what he had just done. He was no better than his brother, enslaving another sentient being, proving to the word, in spite of his belief that vampires and humans weren't that different, that he was just as callous and arrogant as the rest of his race. He hadn't considered how Lucas might feel, or what the young man had wanted. He had just acted, violating Lucas without permission or conscience.

He opened his eyes and dragged his lips away from the tender, sweet flesh. Lucas leaned against him, breathing heavy. His Father watched on, his expression unreadable. Eli stared back at the man, arms a protective cocoon around Lucas, injecting every ounce of hatred he had in his being into his returning glare. There would be, there could be, no forgiveness for this, for turning Eli into a monster.

"I suggest you stay the night," Alic said. "I'll arrange to have your belongings transferred to the Theta Pi house in the morning."

***

During the summer break of his fifteenth year, Eli had stayed with the Rougelun House on the West Coast, presumably to spend some time getting to know his fellow nobleborns, and friends to the Rose family. They followed an older custom, of raising their children alongside Thralls to encourage a stronger bonding. From that experience, Eli had learned a great deal, and had also solidified his protest to having a Prime Thrall, a slave so addicted to Venom that, if they went longer than a few days without it, they would start experiencing really nasty withdrawal symptoms.

He had been intrigued, of course. A hot blooded teen, the idea that someone could be addicted physically to sucking his dick, that he would never have to jerk off again, was arousing. In a moment of sexual frustration, he had even considered acceding to his father's will, and taking a Prime himself. But then, he had seen a Thrall being refused the Venom for almost a week as a form of punishment. The poor creature had pleaded for it, begged for mercy, and finally apologized for ever being born. It wasn't fair then, and having a Thrall wasn't right in the present either.

"Your shower is ready, Master."

Eli turned off the television in his room and rose from the sofa. While Lucas had been in the bathroom, fiddling with the settings and stocking the supplies, Eli had discarded his wet clothes. They lay in a damp pile in the middle of the room.

He considered the young man before him. Beautiful, sexy, willing to do whatever Eli wanted, whenever Eli wanted it. With a command, Lucas would drop to his knees, open his mouth, and suck Eli to satisfaction. With an order, he would bend forward, present himself, and let Eli use his ass with protest. There was no love in it, no passion, just a robotic action that established power and dominance.

"Would you like me to bathe you, Master?"

"Don't call me that! And no, I can take care of myself." If was going to be forced into owning a Thrall, he would change the way Thrall ownership was practiced. He couldn't deny his attraction to Lucas, but neither did he have to treat him like a slave, and encourage him to continue thinking of himself as one.

Eli softened his expression. "Look," he said. "It's late. Why don't you get some sleep?"

"Thank you Mas--sir."

"Call me Eli."

Lucas nodded, coiling the robe belt around his hand. Then, head lowered, he approached Eli, stopping just inside the tight sphere of space that marked the borders between friends and intimates. The proximity awakened in him a burning desire to reach out to the young man, to devour him in kisses and touch him in the deepest, most intimate of ways. A longing rolled over his skin, begging for Lucas to reach out to him, and dust his flesh with soft lips. Perhaps sensing this, and knowing it would drive Eli deeper into lust, Lucas was overly careful as he tugged at the knot keeping the robe secure, being sure not to touch him with anything more than a whisper of the robe's satin fabric. The garment hissed as it slid off his shoulders, down his arms and back. He gathered it into his hands and held it between their bodies.

"Thank you for the use of your robe, Eli," he said, pressing its body-heat warmed presence into Eli's chest. He looked up, tropical blue eyes misty with emotion. "If you need anything..."

The offer hung there, full of promise and potential. It spiraled around Eli, sighing along the outermost surface of his skin, awakening nerve endings and lifting the hairs on the back of his neck, his arms, chest and legs. A fire lit behind his navel, liquid flames licking at his insides, bringing his groin to life. His scrotum tightened against his body, his prick flexed against the cold, damp material of his underwear, forming a tent hidden by the presence of the robe.

How much could it hurt, he wondered, if he let Lucas bathe him? Perhaps the experience would be mutually beneficial; maybe they could bathe each other? He wouldn't mind feeling the young man's creamy, smooth skin beneath his dancing fingertips. And it wouldn't feel too bad for him, either. The offer was there, all he had to do was accept it.

"You don't...I mean...you're not offering just because of the Venom, are you?"

Lucas' face lit up with a smile that put all other smiles to shame. "No," he replied, adding, "You're not considering it just because you're tenting your underwear, are you?"

Eli's cheeks burned, and he laughed. It wasn't the question he would expect of a slave. In fact, it was something Felix might have said to him. It was friendly, teasing, and drove away a considerable amount of the uncomfortable tension that had been building up in the room outside of Eli's awareness.

"It might have something to do with it," Eli admitted, grinning.

"Well, I don't have a problem showering with other guys when they're throwing wood, as long as they don't mind if I'm doing the same."

Lucas took a few steps back, holding his arms akimbo. The skin tight underwear he wore, a sort of boxer brief that hugged his frame perfectly, was distorted in the front pocket. Eli's mouth watered at the sight. He didn't take the position of the receptive partner often, not because of any of the usual reasons, but rather because, most of the time, when his sex partners saw his cock, they were overly enthusiastic to get it in them. But for the young man before him, he wouldn't mind bottoming as often as he topped. Assuming, of course, Lucas didn't mind.

"Come on," Lucas added, after Eli had taken in his fill of the sight, "I'll race you."

Hooking his thumbs under the waistband of his shorts, he stripped them from his body in one rapid motion and ran, naked, into the bathroom while Eli was still struggling to get his own undergarment down around his thighs. By the time he made it to the bathroom, Lucas was already beneath the hot spray issuing from the showerhead, his face upturned to accept it against his naked body. The glass shower door, already foggy, had been left partially open for Eli. As he entered, Lucas turned to face him, putting his back to the spray and dipping his head back to catch the water in his hair. The position gave Eli a glorious sight of the youth's body in full, unabashed nudity. He actually had to grab the wall to keep himself upright, so overcome by the perfection before him that his legs had started to give out.

"You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?"

Lucas let out a little laugh. "That's not my job." He stepped out of the spray, urging Eli to take a turn beneath it.

After the bone deep chill of the motorcycle ride, and the freezing damp of his clothes, the water was almost too hot. The heat sank from skin into muscle, urging tight muscles to release their tension. Lucas made first contact, running body wash slick hands up and over Eli's shoulders, using it like a massage oil to tease at the knots formed there.

"So, what is your job, then?"

"To be a companion," Lucas answered, shifting his dexterous hands lower, kneading the long muscles along Eli's spine, following the curve of his back all the way to the root of his ass, then travelling up the sides.

Eli leaned forward, bracing himself against the wall to keep from falling.

"What does that mean?" he asked, spreading his legs slightly and closing his eyes.

Lucas took the hint, hands forming a trail of suds over and around the pale globes of Eli's ass cheeks, squeezing the meat of them. He slipped a hand between the crack, a long, solitary finger brushing against Eli's tight ring of muscle, rubbing just the outside in a teasing, playful manner.

"I think you know," Lucas replied.

"Sex slave," Eli grunted, pushing back against the finger, urging it to enter him and frustrated when it did not.

"No," Lucas countered. "Not a sex slave. Not any sort of slave. Friend, comrade, confidant. But not a slave. You don't like slavery, and you would never willingly own a slave either. So, I am not a slave." He removed his hand from between Eli's cheeks, kneeling behind him to wash the back of his thighs, his calves, his feet. Then, silently, he urged Eli to turn round, and stood.

"What if that's what I really wanted, though?" Eli asked, following Lucas' hands roaming across his chest, over his shoulders, down each arm and hand. "What if I told you that all I wanted was a sex slave?"

Lucas didn't reply at once, face caught in a thoughtful expression. "I will always serve you faithfully," he said slowly, as if considering his words with great care. He captured Eli's gaze. "But I don't think you'd ever tell me that all you wanted from me was sex. You wouldn't be satisfied with that. Would you?"

Eli cocked his head to one side, surprised by the forthrightness of the question. "You're not like any Thrall I've ever met."

That made Lucas smile. He handed the body wash to Eli. "I'm not like any Thrall you ever met," he said. "I'm your Thrall."

***

Lucas knew the rules, knew his own desires had to be sublimated in favor of fulfilling the needs of his master. He knew too that Eli was desperate in his need to be touched, to be loved, because he felt the same hunger twisting like a coiled serpent in his abdomen. He saw the young man's arousal, turgid flesh bopping to Eli’s heartbeat, drooling in anticipation of Lucas' soft grip, the warmth of his lips, the tight embrace of his body. The lightest glimmer of his imagination forming a picture of him pleasing Eli caused his own body to tense with longing. It would be nice to get off the portion controlled, miniscule cubes of venom and take it directly from the source, feeling the living seed slither down his throat or empty into his body. That was not what Eli wanted, though, not really.

The moment Eli's lips had first touched him, marking him, Lucas felt a shift deep in the dark places of his mind. For three years, he had been enthralled to a dream, fantasizing about how best he could serve Eli, planning the first time Eli would take him down to the scent of the soap he would use beforehand. Snatches of thoughts and emotions would travel along the psychic thread that connected them, but even these were pale when he considered the force of Eli's real presence.

Eli did not want a servant that would submit to him whenever he wanted. He wanted someone to challenge him, to love him, to throw him onto the bed and fuck him without regard for his own pleasure. Twice, Lucas had broken the rules, letting his desire to be submissive overtake him. Twice, Eli had insisted on the matter, setting aside his role as Master, begging Lucas in silent gestures and body language to be what he really needed. When Eli had responded to Lucas' finger brushing against the clenched ring of muscle between his ass cheeks, Lucas at last let go of what he believed he should be, becoming what Eli needed him to be, and handed him the body wash.

"I'm not like any thrall you've ever met," he said in reply to Eli's statement. "I'm your thrall."

Eli looked at the bottle of liquid soap in his hands, then back to Lucas. His eyes, reddened by water that had irritated the whites, were so full of naïve wonder that Lucas started doubting Eli's prowess.

"You've never taken a shower like this before?"

The vampire flushed with more than just the heat of the water. It was adorable in its own way, seeing Eli's naked uncertainty.

"I have," he said, "it’s just that there’s usually more going on."

Lucas sensed his hesitation, wanting desperately to tell Lucas more but unwilling to mention it now that Lucas had made it clear he was more than just a sex slave. The only way Eli would be comfortable giving Lucas his venom, however, was if he was comfortable with Lucas on the whole, especially his ability to keep confidences. Nothing encouraged sharing secrets like sharing secrets.

"Can I tell you something?"

The bottle popped open with a sucking sound. Eli squeezed the dark, opalescent liquid into his hand, and then snapped the container closed again.

"Sure," Eli replied, spreading the body wash between his hands.

Lucas turned, taking a step back to make himself easier to reach. Eli's warm, strong hands cupped the muscles extending from neck to shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze.

"I've always hated showering alone." He allowed a soft sigh to escape, letting Eli know he liked what was happening.

Prompted by the sound, Eli dug a little deeper, thumbs forming sudsy swirls.

"How come?"

Lucas bent forward a small amount, encouraging him to go farther south. He felt the full force of the water against him as Eli knelt behind him, no longer serving as a wall of flesh that kept the shower at a nice, reflected spray.

"It just seems like something that should be shared. Like the Roman Baths."

Eli's hands had moved to his cheeks, massaging the deep tissues there. Unlike the vampire, Lucas did not separate his legs, did not invite him to explore the warm crevice or the opening it hid. Eli was not ready for that yet, Lucas knew. He stepped forward when Eli had finished with his backside, and turned.

The vampire was in a kneel-up position, steadying himself with a gentle grip on Lucas' bare thighs, lips at approximately navel height. He sat back on his haunches, hands dropping from Lucas' legs to his own lap, eyes wide and lips parted as he took in the close view of Lucas' lower body. He seemed to be torn between competing ideas, looking repeatedly between Lucas' prick jutting straight away without curve or bend, and the low hanging purse beneath it. Lucas flexed his inner muscles, making his cock bounce to direct Eli's attention.

It worked. Eli's eyes locked onto the flesh with immediate fascination. Now that the interest was piqued, the seed of desire planted, it was time to pull away. Lucas pushed the door open, was immediately greeted by the sting of cooler air.

"Thanks for the shower," he said, leaving it behind.

"Wait," Eli said, standing as Lucas rubbed himself dry. "I didn't do your front."

Lucas wrapped the towel around himself securing it at his waist. "That's okay," he replied. "I took a shower already." He handed a larger, fluffier towel to Eli, smiling. "I know it's late," he said, pleased to see Eli leaving the warm water as well, "but I'm not really that tired. Do you think we could watch a movie, or something?"

Ebb and flow, Lucas thought. Give and take. By removing himself from the shower, and encouraging Eli to do the same, he had taken some of the Vampire's authority. Now, he would give some of it back.

Eli shrugged. "I guess that would be okay," he said. "I'm not getting dressed, though," he added.

There it was, Lucas thought as he nodded. Dominance trying to reassert itself. Of course he would not be getting dressed. He was trying to tempt Lucas, to make him behave in a way counter to his words. But Eli would have to make the first move and Lucas already knew that, when he did, it would come as a request, not an order.