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Nikolaus whimpered. His head fell back, exposing his pale throat, his body limp and shaking in Severin’s grip.So easy,Severin thought,so damned easy to do whatever I want to him. To have him in whichever way I choose. Would he stop me if I bit him now? If I took him up against this tree with my teeth in his throat and my cock in his arse?
He let go of Nikolaus’s wrists. Violently, he wrenched Nikolaus’s breeches apart, tearing the fastenings, thrusting a hand inside. Nikolaus cried out as Severin gripped him, fingers wrapped around his straining shaft, jerking him. He was so hard. Severin smoothed his thumb over the slit, smearing pre-cum, making Nikolaus arch and shudder. The long length of his beautiful neck was exposed, the pulse visibly bounding beneath the flushed skin. Severin groaned and lowered his face. Nikolaus grabbed the front of his shirt. He pushed himself desperately into Severin’s hand and pulled Severin into a heated kiss.
Nikolaus’s breath was laced with brandy, maybe for fortification. The fumes were enough to get Severin drunk. He plunged his tongue into Nikolaus’s mouth, fighting with his, their breathing loud and ragged as they ate at each other as though the world was ending.
Severin tore his mouth away with a gasp. He rested his lips against Nikolaus’s
velvety throat and closed his eyes. He touched the spot with his tongue where Nikolaus’s pulse pounded and felt the life force vibrate against his tongue. He whimpered low in his throat. He didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to take Nikolaus’s life.
It wasallhe wanted to do.
Nikolaus’s clawing hand wrinkled the fine linen of Severin’s shirt. The human gasped, panting hard and released with a cry all over Severin’s hand. Severin crushed him harder against the tree, holding Nikolaus up as the human’s knees buckled, his mouth parted and his fangs touching that racing pulse.
Nikolaus whined. He let out a long, shuddering moan and grabbed the back of Severin’s head, holding him in place.
Oh God, oh God, he wants it. I can’t. I can’t. God help me.
The spell broke and Severin regained his senses as though coming up from under water. He let go of Nikolaus and staggered back. The human slumped against the tree, chest heaving, violet eyes fixed on Severin.
Severin lifted his hand to his mouth. He licked his fingers, tasting Nikolaus’s seed. “I won’t see you again,” he said.
Nikolaus’s mouth opened. He shook his head wordlessly.
“I’m sorry,” Severin said. He turned and walked away.
Chapter Sixteen
Bohemia, 1895
With a soft cry, Severin awoke on the seat in the blackness of the carriage. He was wet through with sweat, his hair clinging damply to his forehead. He saw a shadow kneel before him and his vision sharpened in the darkness.
“What’s wrong?” Nikolaus asked.
And Severin saw it now perfectly. Nikolaus had wanted him all along. Maybe he had actually wanted Severin to turn him and instead of doing that and being happy for the rest of his immortal life, Severin had turned his back on Nikolaus and condemned himself—both of them—to ten years of misery. So stupid and pointless.
He slid an arm around Nikolaus’s back and buried his face against his chest. He felt the heat of his lover’s body, smelled the familiar scent of his blood, and held him closer and tighter, eyes squeezed shut.
Nikolaus’s arm cradled Severin’s shoulders. He stroked his head. “It’s all right,” he said as though he were now the strong one holding them both up.
???
Kneeling on the rocking carriage floor, Nikolaus fingered Severin’s thick blond hair. Had the vampire been dreaming about the two of them? Some chapter from their miserable history? Severin seemed softer, more anxious, no longer that man who had dominated Nikolaus in the early hours of that day and taken control in the most base of ways. Nikolaus was starting to learn more and more about the many layers to Severin’s character and he suspected he might admire them all. He opened his mouth to ask about the dream but when Severin tilted his face up and looked at him with those clear, hypnotic silver eyes, he closed it again.
“What?” Severin asked in a whisper. He was not a man to speak loudly; probably because his hearing was so good he forgot that mere mortals didn’t have the same range as him.
Nikolaus glanced at Istvan who was stirring on the other seat. “Nothing,” he said. He stroked Severin’s hair and then he leant forward and pressed his lips to the vampire’s. He heard Severin draw in his breath and that intense passion consumed Nikolaus once again. He forced it down with supreme effort and pulled away.
He reminded himself that he still needed to be sure about Severin. He couldn’t allow the vampire to hurt him all over again. It was all or nothing this time. He wouldn’t wait ten more years for Severin to come back for him again.
Severin watched him intently as though he read Nikolaus’s soul. He reached out and traced the outline of Nikolaus’s lips with his forefinger. Nikolaus’s mouth trembled.
“You’re so beautiful,” Severin said and Nikolaus blushed fiercely. No one had ever said that to him before.
???
Nikolaus told them they had already changed horses once and were about to reach Breznice. Full dark had fallen and the three travellers alighted from the carriage with their bags and left the driver to stable the horses, paying him his due. They took three rooms at a pleasant inn in the shadow of the castle. Istvan immediately went out to feed and Severin remained behind as he felt it unfair that Nikolaus had to dine alone every day.
They sat in a deserted dining room, the two of them, with a jug of wine on the table between them and Nikolaus picking at a piece of bread. The waitress took their order. Severin declined and Nikolaus asked for a stew with dumplings.
