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Once back in their room, Lune flopped on the bed and glanced down to the luggage left at the footboard. “I’ve been meaning to ask. What’s in this big rucksack you’ve never opened?”

“Extra clothes. Gloves. My emergency medical kit. …Other stuff.”

“Oh, other stuff like blood pills? What?” Lune asked at the stunned expression on his husband’s face.

“Come on, really? You wouldn’t think I’d know?

Just because we’re on a sunny island chain doesn’t mean vampires are excluded from the school curriculum.

If you really want to get into gritty details, remember the Grim’s my adopted brother, even though I’ve only seen him from a distance.

Mostly at the festivals. He actually waved to me, once.

And if it wasn’t for the birthday money he’d send me every year, I’d still be saving up to buy my boat. ”

“Yyyeah…Dad doesn’t do well among the living.

He inherited too much of Grandpa Cal’s space-time abilities, which can make him moody and quiet.

He can be quite fun though, and certainly has a sense of humor.

Thankfully, I inherited only the undead bits.

I have enough to deal with from my phoenix heritage. ”

“So, what else is in your med kit?” Lune turned down the blanket on his side of the bed .

“Uh. Um.” Narsus fiddled with the luggage closures before finally opening the pockets. “A supply of activated charcoal. It’s also ingestible if someone happens to get too close. It helps extract the oils and poisons and such from one’s system.”

Lune stopped. And stared. “And why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

“It’s for emergencies only.”

“Our initial meeting didn’t constitute as an emergency?” Lune huffed. “Don’t you think we could’ve used this so much earlier?”

Narsus winced and said nothing

“We’re fated mates,” Lune reminded warmly. “Brought together by the magic of the compass. A compass that we’re retrieving tomorrow, first thing when the sun rises. But for now, break out the charcoal and take off that cloak and hat. It’s time to relax for the night and play.”

The activated charcoal came in two forms. Powder and paste. Lune chose the paste first. He dipped his pinky within the jar, then lifted it to his lips. And spread it along the contour of his mouth.

Narsus gulped. Licking his own lips. Feeling the heat rising in his dick.

Lune tormented him further when he took a paintbrush from the drawer and lightly dabbed it into the powder. Tapping the brush against the rim, he turned briefly to look in the mirror of the vanity dresser.

Narsus watched as Lune dusted the brush bristles gently against the highest part of his cheekbones.

When that was done, he once again sought the paste.

With two fingers now, he closed his eyes and smeared the paste upon his eyelids.

The black against Lune’s rich, brown eyes was a sight that struck him right in the gut.

“Fuuck me,” Narsus breathed. “That’s a serious creative turn-on.”

“We both know you’re not yet ready for that.”

“Where did you learn to—”

Lune laughed, holding the noise inside. “Isolated islands have courtesans too, silly city boy. Don’t tell Cal what I did with my hoarded birthday money.”

“You bet I won’t. What did you have in mind for this?”

“How about a replay of our marriage kiss? You wanted it skin-to-skin?” Lune merely dipped two bare fingers back into the paste, then slowly lifted them toward Narsus’s uncovered mouth. Narsus reared back.

“Too soon?” Lune asked softly.

“Too soon,” Narsus mumbled, looking away.

“That’s all right.” Obediently, Lune brushed the excess back into the jar. “Then how about I just hug you? With wandering hands?”

“That…could work. As long as you don’t touch my face or hair.” Narsus wrapped up his braid in a long veil pulled from his luggage.

He reached for the beaked mask and slipped it on.

“It would be more intimate without it.” Lune offered the scarf that usually covered his nose and mouth instead. “I promise I won’t go any higher than your shoulders. And I’ll wear gloves.”

Narsus watched Lune pull a pair into view and put them on. They were long gloves, ones that reached up to his elbows. For added measure, Lune also rolled down the sleeves of his blouse, and buttoned up the area that showed off the sculpted angles and planes of his smooth chest .

“The mask is a lovely and exciting kink, my cockerel phoenix. But do you want to try without it this time?”

His elevated breath fogged up the mask’s lenses.

Fists clenched, Narsus agreed with a curt nod, but he was scared.

Slowly, he pushed the conical beak upward, revealing his face.

They stared at each other for a few moments, and he liked the way Lune’s soft brown gaze traveled across his features.

Licking his lips, Narsus pushed the mask all the way off.

“Maybe,” Lune suggested. “When you finally construct your own, it’ll make for some intense play.”

Narsus was suddenly calculating how long it would take him to decide on a design and finish the damn thing. “I like that idea,” he managed. “A lot.”

“May I?” Lune lifted his hands.

Tense but eagerly agreeable, Narsus stepped into Lune’s personal space.

Lune’s gloves were torturous joy. The pressure of the slow, questing touch was exhilarating, nerve-wracking. The sensations zipping into his gut.

Narsus wanted it to stop, yet continue forever.

It overwhelmed him. Over-stimulated him to the point where he wanted to turn and sink his teeth into Lune’s shoulder.

But that too, scared him. He didn’t know just how much of his father’s cursed heritage was within him.

But gods…how he wanted to bite. So badly.

He must have made a noise for the hands paused, then lifted away.

“Too much? ”

Narsus could only pant. He wanted to answer, but he was shaking. He tried to answer. He could only grunt, gasp. Think about his teeth toying with his mate’s flesh.

“Shhhh,” Lune soothed.

Narsus panicked. Lune was moving away. Narsus seized his husband’s hand, pulling him back.

Clutching that gloved hand against his chest. To where his heart was beating so wildly.

Narsus could feel the blood pumping through his undead veins.

Hear it whoosh in his ears. And with Lune this close, Narsus could hear his mate’s, too.

Sense it. Smell it. Feel it. Lune’s heart. Lune’s blood.

“Come lay down on your side,” Lune offered.

Narsus obeyed. The blankets were tangled and twisted. Bunching up beneath him in all the right places. Sensitive places. Oh gods. What was Lune doing to him?

He had to bite. Was going to. The urge, growing. The instinct awakening. He should stop. Take his pills. But it was too late.

Crazed, panicked, Narsus did the only thing he could.

He seized the edge of his pillow and shoved it into his mouth.

Trying to ease the pounding, raging need.

The desire. Biting down. Hard. The fabric filling his mouth was an undead godsend.

He only wished it was flesh. Lune’s flesh, and his blood.

Warmed by the sun and smelling of the ocean. But he had to make do.

Lune’s scent. Thoughts of the hot sand when he revealed his true, elemental form. Salt and seaweed. All driving him wild. Suck. And fuck. His hips jerked once, then he froze. What was he doing?

“Gods,” Lune’s throaty whisper broke the trance. “So beautiful. Keep going. ”

Lune’s hands kept going, too. Cupping Narsus’s ass with wide, firm strokes.

Narsus squeezed his eyes shut and gave in.

Future condemnation and embarrassment be damned.

Up and down in a frenzy, his slim hips fucked the bunched-up sheets beneath him.

His jaw clenched further, his teeth ripping the fabric.

His eyes began to water. He was so close to coming, wanted to come.

But these sensations weren’t enough. His distress must have shown.

“Would this help?” Lune asked softly, climbing into bed with him.

His siren guided him up on his hands and knees. Then knelt behind him, his hard dick poking, pressing snugly against Narsus’s ass. Gently, but deliberately grinding into the seat of his trousers.

Narsus’s eyes rolled back, and he tried to breathe. Lune’s loving touch, stroking him, rubbing his balls through the layers of clothing. With a guttural moan, Narsus spent himself in his trousers and collapsed to the mattress.

A cloak fluttered atop Narsus before Lune rested his weight flush against his back. When the ringing in Narsus’s ears began to fade, he realized he was still breathing heavily. Pulling the pillow out of his mouth and off his receding fangs. He spit out the trailing fibers.

“Vampire phoenix?” Lune asked with breathy affection, looking at the twin punctures on the pillow. “I had no idea an averted bite could turn me on. We may have to explore the real thing sometime.”

Surprised at feeling the blush rise in his face, Narsus pursed his lips.

To give himself time to think about how to respond.

“As you know, I…don’t require blood to survive—lucky, I guess.

A few of my siblings do. But since it is a big part of my heritage, I sometimes fall to the desires.

In the last few days, though, I feel a…pressing thirst. Maybe it has to do with age.

Or deep emotion. Dad always said to take it slow. I’m thankful for the blood pills now.”

“How big a part of you is undead?”

It was difficult to talk about this. He didn’t want to, but Lune had a right to know.

After all, Lune had freely shared his own history.

“My egg was found to be non-viable after it was laid. I would’ve just been buried and forgotten forever, but the Compass-mark was glowing on my shell.

I was brought to Temple Prime and offered up to the Grim. To keep the Compass-magic going.