Page 107 of Blood Stone

Garrett kissed him. It was the only mildly sane response he could think of. Every other reaction involved blood and violence. In truth, part of him had been longing to do this since Roman had stepped onto the sundeck. No – since they had silently and effectively worked together to deal with the odious Billy Donnelly that morning. It had been like sliding back into an old memory, slightly dusty, but welcome, warm and very familiar. They had worked as a team like that in countless battles and bar-room brawls. This morning Garrett hadn’t stopped to think or even check what Roman had intended to do. They had just slid into position and acted. It had been a homecoming.

His body had tingled afterwards with bubbling aliveness. And it still was.

So this kiss was an extension of that moment, a venting that had patiently waited all day.

He grabbed Roman’s head and held it steady as he slid his tongue deep inside. That, too, was achingly familiar.

Roman wasn’t fighting him. He wasn’t resisting. That drove Garrett’s sudden need higher. He was almost afraid to draw Roman nearer, waiting for him to pull away. But he reached out anyway, sliding his arm around Roman’s waist and bringing them hip to hip.

The kiss lengthened. Roman’s tongue thrust back and that was its own delight. His cock was a hard rod mashed between them, as rigidly erect as Garrett’s. It gave Garrett the courage to break the kiss and look Roman in the eye. As he looked, he unbuckled Roman’s belt and unfastened the jeans and pushed them a few inches down his hips. His cock jutted out, unfettered.

Roman gripped the railing as Garrett stroked his cock. He was breathing hard.

“I’d give an even million to be able to fuck you properly right now,” Garrett breathed.

Roman closed his eyes. “Perhaps it’s just as well.”

Garrett dropped to his knees and plunged Roman’s cock into his mouth quickly, and heard Roman’s groan. His hand thrust into his hair, but didn’t quite clench. He was riding the impulse, controlling it.

So Garrett slid his lips up and down the shaft, bringing to bear all his skill to bring Roman to an explosive climax as fast as possible. Roman’s hands both squeezed and compulsively fisted themselves against his head and his pelvis jerked in hard spasms as he came with a choked, smothered cry.

For a long moment they stayed locked together, recovering. Garrett released Roman’s cock.

Then Roman pulled away, zipping himself up. He walked away silently, leaving Garrett alone on the sundeck in the dark, with a pounding heart and a throbbing, unfulfilled body.

* * * * *

Iona slid onto the bench beside Winter. “Good morning.”

Winter nodded. “Did you have any trouble getting past the security detail at the front?”

“We usually do not. Perhaps that should be our lesson today.”

“I have my own ways for sliding past, when I need them. But Iona, you can’t go round screwing with people’s brains for your own convenience anymore. You have to operate within human laws in the future.”

“Why?”

Winter cast about for an answer. “If you want to be accepted as yourself, you must abide by the rules of the society you live in. This is a human society. You must live by human rules. If you are not seen as law-abiding, you create fear and that doesn’t bring about acceptance.”

“But if they do not remember I have not followed their rules, why will they not accept me?” Iona asked reasonably.

“You can’t brainwash a whole planet, can you? Sooner or later, they’ll catch up with you.”

“No one has yet.” Her expression was just a little smug.

Winter sighed. “Listen, Iona…you’re going to have a hard enough time being accepted as it is, once people get even a small grasp of what it is you … we … can do, and get away with it. It creates fear in them. If they think for a second you won’t willingly comply with their rules, then they will use whatever force they think necessary to bring you into line…or make you go away. Don’t you get it? You’ll be seen as a threat to them.”

Iona gazed at Winter, her brows coming together. “But we have been among humans for millennium and we have not been a threat. Why would we become one now?”

Winter sighed again and brought her tablet in front of Iona. “Just think through what I’ve said. We’ll talk about it again next time. Here’s one reason why you’ll be thought a threat. The media will tell everyone you are. Look at this.”

She tapped the item she had been reading, expanding it. It was a Hollywood gossip column piece, speculating on Kathrine Lindenstream’s current boyfriend status. The writer was puzzled about whom, exactly, Kate was hooked up with. The paparazzi details had captured her with two potentials, it seemed. The mysterious Adrian Xerus, a Hollywood businessman, and the very well-known Calum Garrett, billionaire financial genius and current sponsor of her latest movie.

Both men had been instrumental in removing her criminal ex-husband from the set in southern California last week. There there were photos of them dealing with the man, plus more photos of Kate speaking with each man individually. The photos had been selected carefully to make it look like she was intimately chatting with both of them.

Iona scanned the column. “The reporter was there?”

“No,” Winter replied. “But he will speculate and draw conclusions anyway. Reporters do that. They’ll ask someone who was there, or speak to someone there.”