With a Kiss (34 page)

Marcus frowned, but he couldn’t look away. Liam still wasn’t acting as if he thought there was anything wrong with what he was doing. The protests Marcus somehow expected to fill the air didn’t materialize. Liam didn’t plead for Theo the way Marcus suddenly realized he’d expected him to. In fact, he seemed to think it was practically normal for him to walk around the corner and find his lover throttling another man.

Marcus blinked. His eyes were only closed for a second, but that was more than long enough for him realize what that scene had to remind Liam of. He’d seen a man act like that day after day for years.

How many times had Ralph forced Liam into a similar position? Liam’s collar caught a stray ray of sunlight that somehow managed to penetrate the otherwise gloomy alleyway.

 That was the only thing that should ever be around Liam’s throat.

Some men hit their lovers, some men don’t.

Liam had said that to him once. Ralph was one of the ones that did, and Marcus was one of the ones who…

Marcus pulled a deep breath into his lungs, oblivious to the dank stench of the alley. What kind of man did he really want Liam to think he was? What kind of man did he want Liam’s master to be?

“Wait for me at the end of the alley, Liam. I won’t be long.” Marcus’ voice was very calm as he said it.

For the first time since he’d run into the alley after them, Liam hesitated, as if Marcus might actually be someone whose orders he wanted to follow after all.

“I won’t hurt him,” Marcus promised, never glancing in Theo’s direction.

He smiled slightly, determined that his submissive shouldn’t have anything to worry about, that he should never need to doubt, even for a single moment, that his master would do the right thing.

Liam slowly nodded his understanding. He took a step back. Marcus watched him walk to the end of the alley before turning back to watch his master’s next move. He crouched down to pet the dog tied there, but his attention was still on Marcus and Theo.

Leaning in, Marcus brought his lips to Theo’s ear ensuring that there was no way anyone could possibly overhear them.

“There is only one reason why you’re still upright and capable of feeding,” he snarled. “His name is Liam.”

Theo tried to swallow and failed. Marcus took no notice.

“See that boy at the end of the alley? His name is Liam Bates. I know you’ve been following him. I know why. You think he’s my weak link, don’t you?”

The other vampire remained completely incapable of answering him.

“Right here, right now, I’m not going to hurt you. But only because my pet believes that he belongs to the kind of man who doesn’t hit people unless they like it, and because I want him to go on believing that.”

Theo gurgled. His eyes bulged. Marcus didn’t move a muscle.

“But, if anything ever happens to him, if anyone—not just you, Theo, if
anyone
—even so much as looks at him in a way that makes him feel uneasy, I won’t have any reason to keep being a nice guy. I will track you down and I will kill you, very slowly. I might even take three years, but I promise you that for every second of that time, every cell in your body will know that you’re dying, and it will know it will have nothing to do with what you did to me, and everything to do with whatever has happened to Liam. Understand?”

Marcus forced himself to allow the other man to breathe, just enough to be able to push an answer through his voice box.

“Yes.”

Marcus stepped back. Theo instantly doubled, half collapsing onto the alley floor as he fought for breath. Marcus didn’t stay to watch the after-party show. He wasn’t some silly little boy who could waste time relishing his victory. He had responsibilities now. He had others to think of apart from himself. Within seconds he was at the end of the alley, staring down into Liam’s eyes.

“You’re hurt,” the boy whispered, reaching out and gently touching the ripped sleeve on his shirt.

“I’m fine,” Marcus said.

Liam looked up at him for a moment, before turning his attention back to the crumpled mess on the alley floor. “He was really the guy who…?”

“Yes.”

Liam wrapped his arms around his chest and nodded his understanding.

“He won’t bother you, again.”

Liam’s eyes snapped back up to Marcus’ face. A moment later, the light seemed to dawn in his expression. “He was the one who was following me.”

“Yes. But he won’t be following you again,” Marcus repeated. That was the important point—maybe even more important than the sensation of teeth slicing through his skin three years ago.

“Why?” Liam asked.

Because he’s a coward. Because he knows that your safety is the only thing keeping him breathing.
“Because I spoke to him about it and told him not to,” Marcus suggested.

Liam nodded again, apparently willing to accept the answer, for now, at least.

Marcus ran his eyes over the younger man, automatically checking him for any sign of injury. The dog at his feet growled when Marcus looked down at him.

Liam’s fingers went to the mutt’s head. “I saw you walk in here with him. I thought you might need help. I forgot that Fred was with me.”

Fred growled at Marcus again and proceeded to put muddy paws all over his trouser legs.

”We’ll take him back to the shelter together,” Marcus said. There was no point in making it a question. He wouldn’t have taken no for an answer.

Liam merely nodded again.

Very carefully, Marcus reached out and put his hand on Liam’s shoulder. The boy didn’t pull away, he didn’t even flinch. If anything, he actually leaned into his touch.

Marcus relaxed slightly. “Maybe I’ll stay for a little while, you can show me what you’ve been working on,” Marcus suggested, pointedly ignoring the grumbling dog.

That time Liam’s nod was far more definite. “I’d like that.”

* * * *

As Liam carefully put a kitten back into its crate at the end of his shift, he had to give the task his complete concentration. The little tabby seemed to be more than a little hyper. All the animals were, since Marcus decided that he no longer wanted to remain on the other side of the glass partition between the reception area and the kennel areas.

Liam scratched the kitten on the top of its head and closed the cage door. He could still feel Marcus’ gaze on him, just as he had through the entire afternoon. It was a good feeling.

Liam closed his eyes for a moment, still facing the row of cages. He’d never been more grateful to anyone for simply staring at him. Without even thinking about it, Liam hooked his fingers into his collar.

“Ready to go?” Marcus asked.

Liam opened his eyes and peered over his shoulder. The other man was right behind him, easily within touching distance, yet neither of them reached for each other as they made their way out of the shelter and back to where Marcus had left his car. Neither of them said a word, not even when Liam shivered at the sight of the alley mouth he’d ran into earlier that day. Through the drive home, the only sound was the purring of the engine.

Finally, when Marcus’ front door clicked closed behind them. Liam let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been half-holding through most of the day.

Liam looked up and met his lover’s eyes. “The playroom?” he suggested.

“No.”

Liam hesitated. It had never actually occurred to him that they wouldn’t head straight for the leather and chains as soon as they could. The possibility that Marcus didn’t want that too had him quickly reaching for his collar.

Before he had a chance to wrap his fingers around the silver, Marcus caught hold of his hand and led him purposefully into the morning room. Striding across the room in a few easy strides, Marcus guided Liam to sit on the sofa next to him.

For what seemed like eons, the vampire did nothing more than stare down at his own hands. “You’ve asked me before about how I ended up in a coma,” Marcus finally said.

“You don’t have to tell me,” Liam rushed out.

“I know I don’t have to. I intend to anyway.” That said, Marcus once more fell silent for several long moments. “Humans have their leather clubs; vampires, those who don’t have a private arrangement with an individual human, have their own clubs where they can go to get what they need.”

Completely out of his depth, Liam merely listened. Half-turned in his seat, he studied Marcus’ profile, but the other man made no attempt to turn toward him in return.

“Vampires aren’t nice people, but even we have standards. Theo’s behavior fell below what could be tolerated and I blackballed him—had him banned from the reputable feeding clubs. I cut off his blood supply until he showed he could learn better manners. After that, nothing but the most disreputable of whorehouses would allow him past their threshold.”

“You could do that?” Liam asked.

Marcus smiled slightly, but there was no warmth in his expression, no humor. “Believe it or not, once upon a time, I was a leading light in vampire society.”

“You will be again,” Liam quickly reassured.

Marcus cleared his throat. “Anyway, I saw to it that he was no longer invited into any club worth attending.”

“And he bit you?” Liam asked.

“A stupid mistake on my part,” Marcus said. He folded his arms across his chest, obviously unable to hide his discomfort with the admission. “I should have known better than to turn my back on him.”

Reaching out, Liam carefully slipped his hand into Marcus’ hand and unfurled the vampire’s fingers. “Here?” he asked, tracing the slight scar on his finger.

Marcus’ hand tensed, but he didn’t try to pull away. “Yes.”

His desire to see his master smile overrode any nerves Liam might have felt. Dipping his head, Liam placed a gentle kiss on the scar.

Marcus chuckled. It was a good sound, but his eyes quickly became serious again. “It doesn’t look like much, but for a vampire, feeling another vampire’s teeth break their skin…”

Liam glanced up at him. “I think I understand,” he whispered.

Their eyes met. For the first time, Liam didn’t try to push away the pain of that final beating from Ralph, or from what had happened after it. He let it all shine in his gaze for Marcus to see.

“Yes, I believe you do,” Marcus said. His voice rougher than Liam had ever heard it.

There were no other words that could be said, but Liam was suddenly desperate to remind Marcus that it wasn’t just pain that bound them together.

Parting his lips, Liam took the topmost joint of the vampire’s finger between his lips and sucked gently around it. He could make out the slightly raised skin of the scar with his tongue. He traced the line of it over and over again before leaning forward and taking more of the digit between his lips.

He looked up at Marcus, saw both pleasure and humor dance in the vampire’s eyes, and knew that the other man had realized what he was trying to say without a single syllable being uttered.

Marcus’ other hand moved to the back of Liam’s head and simply rested there while Liam went down on his finger. Very gradually, Liam became aware that the hand was gently guiding him down over his lover’s crotch, moving both Marcus’ scarred finger and Liam’s lips toward the vampire’s cock.

Marcus was hard behind his fly, his cock straining against the fabric with its enthusiasm. Marcus wanted a blow job.