Page 13 of Dark Stars

In the end, he settled on an old reliable: huevos rancheros. Setting everything out, he started with making the salsa, then set that aside to build flavor and set to work on frying up some potatoes, onions, and ham to go on the side.

By the time Alejo appeared, still damp and flushed from his shower, all that was left was to fry up the eggs. Bobby barely remembered to do so, though, completely distracted by the sight of Alejo in soft gray sweatpants and a clingy black tank top that did lovely things to his shoulders.

"This is my favorite!"

Alejo said.

"How did you know?"

"I didn't, it just tends to be a breakfast that goes over well. I almost went with pancakes."

"Blueberry pancakes are my second favorite,"

Alejo replied with a grin that widened as Bobby dragged him in close and kissed him.

Eventually drawing back, Bobby said, "Coffee's over there. How do you like your eggs?"

"Runny."

Alejo kissed his cheek, almost shyly, and went to make a cup of coffee.

"Did you sleep at all?"

"Not really something I do."

He served up the eggs and carried both plates to the table, poured himself some coffee, and took a seat.

"Did go see my father for a bit, though. He reminded me humans are not as fragile as they seem, and that I shouldn't worry too much that I exhausted you so badly yesterday."

Alejo smiled, fond and amused.

"I've done worse to myself more times than I can count. It was nothing a good several hours of sleep couldn't fix, as you can see. Did I miss anything while I was out?"

"Jones came over for a bit,"

Bobby replied, and relayed all they'd talked about.

At the mention of something weird and tense going on between Jones and Harold, Alejo smirked.

"I'd wager everything I own that Harold has turned out to be his bloodmate. That's the only thing that gets vampires so tense."

"You really think so?"

The chances of a vampire finding a bloodmate were…not quite one in a million, but not far off. Given how old Jones was, if Alejo was right, that'd be a hell of a shock. Bloodmates were a type of vampire soulmate, a human of essentially perfect blood, arcana, and everything else, like a puzzle piece slotting into place. If they bonded, they would be a lethal, unstoppable force if they chose. They would also quite literally be bound unto death; if one died, so too the other.

Yeah, he could see why Jones was so upset.

He was still going to make fun of them, though, if it was true.

"Guess we'll see. How's the food?"

"Better than mom's, but don't ever tell her I said that."

Bobby laughed.

"Don't worry, I know better than to draw the wrath of a mother. I'm glad you like it."

He rose to clean up, but instead found himself all but thrown out of the kitchen, Alejo insisting he could do the cleaning since Bobby did the cooking.

So he settled for starting on the boxes and boxes of books that had arrived in his absence, hauling them inside, getting them out, piling them on a table so he could later catalogue and shelve them properly. That would have to wait until this mess with the cult was over, but at least he'd gotten the hauling-heavy-boxes-around part over with.

"You really have an insane number of books. Is there no living room or anything?"

"I'll add whatever rooms you want,"

Bobby said with a shrug.

"When it was just me, I didn't really need any of that. I read, I lounge outside, I dwell in the primordial dark. Usually I'm helping Harold and Jones out with stuff. Uh."

He rubbed the back of his head and laughed sheepishly.

"That's not to say you have to live with me all of a sudden. I just mean while we're here. As long as we're here. I'm sure you'd rather go home—"

"Absolutely not,"

Alejo said.

"I love my family. I want to visit. But it's nice being on my own and not under their constant supervision and worrying and criticizing. Also, I'd just be surrounded by reminders of my backstabbing, shitheel friend. I don't know what the hell I'm doing after all this is over, but staying with you sounds nice. Or I can get a place in town until we want to try the whole 'live together' thing. Problem for later?"

"Problem for later,"

Bobby agreed with a smile, and strode across the room to pull Alejo into his arms and kiss him.

"We'll have to get back to work soon, but I think a few more hours of rest would be a good idea."

Alejo pouted. "Rest?"

"That was definitely a euphemism for fuck."

Alejo shivered against him, and tugged him down into another kiss that carried hints of breakfast but mostly just tasted of him, sweet and warm and utterly human.

"That's what I was hoping."

Bobby slid his hands down Alejo's body until he could grab his thighs, warm and firm through the sweatpants he'd pulled on. Alejo wrapped his legs around Bobby's waist without hesitation, arms around his neck, devouring his mouth with eager kisses as Bobby carried him back to the bedroom.

He lowered Alejo to the bed, admiring the view a moment before shucking his own t-shirt and crawling onto the bed to hover over him. He pushed a hand beneath Alejo's tank top, trailing along soft, warm skin, relishing every delicate shiver, tasting the soft, breathy moans that slipped from his mouth.

"You're going to make it incredibly difficult for me to behave."

"I thought the whole point of this was not to behave."

Alejo squirmed free of him and sat up long enough to discard his own shirt.

"Well, well, what have we here,"

Bobby murmured, taking in the gleam of gold at Alejo's nipples, the colorful tattoos spread across his chest and upper arms, various markings of brujería and vodun origin, along with a few that seemed purely sentimental, like the orange cat curled up fast asleep on his right shoulder.

Alejo shifted further up the bed so he was sprawled against the pillows, then pulled Bobby back in and kissed him hard enough to leave his lips throbbing.

Whatever else Alejo was, he wasn't shy in bed. Bobby approved heartily. As much as he wanted to throw himself into the fun, he forced himself to concentrate a bit longer.

"No, I mean, behave as in stay human."

"You're not human. Why would you have to stay human? And before you say I don't know what I'm saying, I'll remind you I'm a hunter, and I'm used to the unusual. I was forcefully betrothed to a demon, recall."

"I'd really rather not at the moment,"

Bobby replied sourly. He'd done what was necessary to keep everyone alive and safe, but if he ever had an opportunity to remove Leviathan's head from his shoulders, he would take full and gleeful advantage.

"You are mine, crafted for me by the dark stars themselves. If he comes anywhere near you ever again, I'll kill him and the rest of hell."

Alejo laughed, but his flushed cheeks and glittering eyes belied his delight at the possessive comment.

"Get back to kissing me, monster of the primordial dark."

"Gladly."

Instead of doing so, however, Bobby went to work getting rid of the rest of their clothes, then sat back on his heels to enjoy the absolutely perfect sight of Alejo naked in his bed, save for the necklace around his throat.

He relaxed some of his shape, letting his eyes take on more of their primordial form, releasing his long, dark and mottled tentacles and twining around Alejo's limbs, bands of darkness holding him captive. From the racing of Alejo's heart, the shine in his eyes, he was the happiest captive in existence.

"Will I ever get to see how you really look in full?"

"Someday, when you've had time to strengthen against the madness our appearance naturally induces in humans."

Alejo wrapped a hand around the back of Bobby's neck and dragged him down into a kiss that was wet and messy, teeth and tongue and panting breaths.

Tearing away from that perfect mouth, Bobby nipped at his jaw before working along the length of his throat, scoring with his sharp teeth and chasing the marks with licks of his slightly too-long tongue, all while his hands teased Alejo's chest, moving rapidly with his panting breaths. He rubbed his thumbs over nipples that proved to be surprisingly sensitive, all while additional tentacles stroked and fondled along the rest of his skin.

"Bobby!"

Alejo gasped out.

"Let me touch! You—"

He broke off moaning as a tentacle wrapped around his cock.

"Not quite yet,"

Bobby murmured as he continued his way down Alejo's body, sucking at each of those nipples, getting the rings between his teeth and tugging, teasing, and tormenting until Alejo was writhing beneath him, alternating between colorful swearing and desperate begging. Only then did he move further down, kissing his way along Alejo's torso, occasionally switching to teeth or a long drag of his tongue, until he nuzzled his way down Alejo's dark russet treasure trail to finally press sucking kisses along the length of his cock.

"Already so wet for me. Eager?"

"Impatient,"

Alejo gasped out.

"Fuck me already."

"Youth."

Bobby clucked his tongue.

"I'm not done playing."

He grinned as Alejo pulled futilely against his tentacles, where veins now glowed faintly in a familiar green, pulsating slightly in time with something that was and was not a heart, sustaining a body type that existed on no earthly plane. Drawing back, he wrapped two slender tentacles around Alejo's cock, using the ones around his legs to spread them wide for his perusal.

Alejo's face flushed redder than his lovely hair. "Bobby—"

"Use my real name here. I want to hear you say it."

Alejo swallowed, then said, "Ctheldush."

"Lovely."

Tentacles still holding and teasing, he tilted and braced Alejo so he could get his tongue right where he wanted it, pushing deep into Alejo's hole, deeper than any human tongue could ever manage. Alejo wailed as he found that spot, the loveliest sound he'd ever heard, better than even the song of dark stars or the chorus of his mothers' worshippers singing their love and praise.

"Bobby— Cthel—"

Another wail, begging and moaning, as Alejo tried to both get away from the extreme stimulation and push further down on his tongue. "You—"

Bobby growled, thrusting and coiling his tongue, thickening it, hands gripping Alejo's thighs, where firm muscle bunched and flexed under soft skin. His nails left divots, long score marks, but it only drove Alejo higher and higher, until he came with a scream.

Pulling out, Bobby bundled Alejo, trembling and panting, into his arms, fluttering kisses on his head and face as he slowly calmed.

When he could finally speak again, Alejo kissed him and mumbled, "You're gonna be the death of me, but what a way to go."

He squirmed free as Bobby laughed and shoved him so he lay sprawled on the bed, head just short of hanging off the end. "My turn."

Before Bobby could say a word, Alejo had engulfed his cock like blowjobs were his professional calling.

"Fucking. Hell."

Bobby groaned, head rearing up and slamming back down, sinking one hand into Alejo's springy curls. That was about all he managed in the way of words, as Alejo hollowed his cheeks and set to his task in earnest, tongue working the underside and heavy veins as he pulled Bobby deep into his throat, spittle and precum dripping out to run down his chin and neck. It took all Bobby had not to thrust up into his mouth, fuck Alejo's face like it was the last thing he'd ever do.

He didn't last long, that mouth entirely too skilled for him to hold out. A garbled word of warning was all he managed before he spilled, chest heaving with his panting breaths as he watched Alejo slowly pull off his spent cock, grabbing up someone's discarded shirt to wipe the spit and what come he hadn't been able to swallow.

In all the years Bobby had existed, Alejo was the hottest, most compelling thing he'd ever seen or experienced. This not-so-fragile little human, centuries too young for him, but born beneath dark stars just for him.

Bobby reached up and dragged him down into a filthy kiss. It probably shouldn't be so hot that Alejo tasted like him, like the cock he'd just sucked, but fuck was Bobby addicted anyway. His his his. Forever. "Mine,"

he said breathlessly when they finally parted.

"I hope you know what you're in for, little human, because I'm not letting you go now. You're mine until the dark stars crumble into dust and new stars are born."

"I like the sound of that,"

Alejo said breathlessly, and kissed him again before dragging him back down to start over again.

They stopped when Alejo was so wrung out he could barely move, sore and exhausted but looking every inch the smug cat. He could see why the family had a close connection to jaguars.

Bobby dragged them to the shower, getting clean quickly and leaving Alejo to go at a more leisurely pace while he got the bed stripped and remade. By the time he was done, a more asleep than awake Alejo walked-stumbled back into the bedroom and barely bothered to dry off before tumbling into bed. He was snoring softly before he'd hit the sheets.

Smiling, Bobby kissed his brow and turned off the lights on his way out, closing the door to mitigate any noise he might make.

He'd just made a pot of coffee when he felt the arrival of Harold and Jones, and lifted a hand in greeting as the back door swung open and they shuffled in. His smile faded, though, as he took in their grim expressions.

"What's wrong?"

Jones removed his hat and combed his fingers through his hair.

"Remember how I said worlds were about to collide? Well, the demon-loving ex is here, and so are a couple of cultists."

"Damn it,"

Bobby said with a sigh. There'd be no hiding his presence. It was too deeply enmeshed in the town, even though he always kept it as quiet as possible.

"Shall we go get lover boy?"

Harold drawled.

"Let him sleep for now,"

Bobby said.

"We'll fetch the backstabber and bring him here for a little chat."

The question was: backstabber first, cultists first, or divide and conquer? Damn it, he'd just wanted to enjoy the rest of the day before getting back to work. Ah, well. Sooner done, sooner finished.