Page 216 of Vampire Kings Box Set

Looking at the back of Maddox’s head, he had to wonder what the vampire’s plan was. Was it just to stop him from killing? Or was there something romantic in his plans? Will did not want to think about the latter possibility. He was too broken, too abandoned, too hurt to accept the kind of love Maddox might offer.

The house was sparsely furnished, not Maddox’s usual minimalist style, just sort of more or less empty. There were a few sticks of furniture here and there, but this was clearly not a home. This was a place to hide. Somewhere to be and nothing more.

It did have a shower, though, and it was to that room Maddox lead Will.

“Get cleaned up,” Maddox ordered.

Will waited a second, staring at Mad. “Are you going to stay and watch me wash?”

“I am going to stay and watch you full stop for a very long time,” Maddox replied. “I have missed you more than I can say.”

Will’s eyes filled with those traitorous tears again so he had to turn his head away.

“Fuck you,” he swore, more softly this time. He had planned to forget Maddox entirely. He had hoped he would be able to purge the entire relationship from his body, through brutal acts and all the flesh and blood he could obtain.

The plan had failed, because there was no escape for him. He was learning that lesson hard and fast, and to a miserable degree. When he had been in prison he had always known he would be released one day, and when he had been in Gideon’s jail he had known escape was inevitable. In Maddox’s company, he did not have that hope. This felt different, and in a way he did not entirely understand.

“Clean yourself up, pup,” Maddox said softly.

Will did not want to step into the shower. He knew he was filthy, and he knew he smelled. But once that was washed away, he would just be himself again.

He glanced at Maddox, who managed to make standing in a very poorly made bathroom seem elegant. Everything in this house was just barely adequate. Not shabby, but not nice either. Bargain spec. Maddox didn’t belong in a place like this. It was beneath him. Will didn’t belong in a place like this either. It was too good for him.

Maddox watched as the water betrayed Will’s self-created exterior. The boy wasn’t bothering with soap yet, just reluctantly standing under the flow of the shower head like a sulking dog forced to take a bath.

Blood and filth ran down his muscular body. Underneath it all, Will had changed since Maddox was last intimate with him. He was bulkier, stronger, more brutal. There were marks on him Maddox knew must have been sustained in Gideon’s kennels. And there was a line of red around his ankle where the moonsilver had burned. That cruelty belonged to Maddox alone.

Will refused to look at him. He was obeying under duress and making it very clear that he had no interest in reconnecting. Forgiveness did not live in this room as yet.

But the water was insistent and the criminality of the boy was being washed away, and eventually Will picked up the bar of soap and started to clean himself properly, probably more out of habit than anything. He ran it into his hair, not bothering with shampoo, just rubbing on himself. It was like watching an animal clean.

Finally, the blood was gone and the filth was gone and there was nothing but Will standing in the shower naked, vulnerable, and beautiful.

Maddox took a towel and handed it to Will. He turned away, giving Will some privacy. As much as it hurt to maintain physical distance, he knew that pushing Will would only trigger another outburst he would have to be disciplined for, and not only would that be unfair, it would be counterproductive. More than anything, he wanted Will to come around, but there was so much hurt to be overcome, and none of it would be healed by cruelty.

So many impulses warred within Maddox. The urge to comfort, the urge to control, the need to dominate and the desire to be intimate. Will had always evoked this chorus of emotion inside him more than any other man in any other time, and merely being able to be with Will now felt like a blessed relief.

“I’ve got you some clothing,” Maddox said.

Will looked at his old clothes and shook his head. He did not plan to put that old identity on.

“I’d rather stay naked.”

“I have no objection to that, of course.” Maddox smiled broadly.

Will grabbed the nearest pair of jeans and shoved them on, glaring at Maddox all the time. They were loose around the waist, for though he had become more muscular as a beast, he had lost weight in captivity and in the wild. His body fat was low, as well as his mood.

Maddox did not mention that he looked even hotter in those jeans than he had naked. Clearly Will did not want to be appealing to him in the moment, though he could not help it. He was dark, moody, brooding, and absolutely brimming with pain, all qualities Maddox found inescapably attractive.

“Well,” Maddox said. “Dinner time, I think.”

Will grinned for the first time. It was not a pleasant smile. It was a smile with bits of people in it.

“I already ate.”

10

Back at Gideon’s mansion…