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Paris 1513
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Godric made his way back to the small house he shared with Eric on the outskirts of the city. It was close enough to Paris for easy hunting, but offered the privacy they needed. He walked onto the porch and reached under it to grab a small pair of shoes. Eric thought he had finally broken Godric's shoeless habit, but the truth was that the older vampire had just gotten sneakier about hiding the fact that he still preferred to hunt shoeless. He tied them up quickly and walked into the wooden and stone house.
Moving to the city had awakened a new hunger inside Eric. The need for blood and the frustration it brought him was just as strong as it was the night he woke as an infant vampire, but this city opened up doors that had always been closed to him before. The reason was simple: a greater variety of prey at a much greater density. Before Paris, Eric thought that vampires could only survive as the animals that they were in caves and under the earth in the densest of forests. But now, he knew the city was truly a vampire's paradise.
The woman in the alley was Eric's third victim of the night. A drug addict, alcoholic, and prostitute, he had no quarrel over killing her, not that he actually took the humans’ morality into consideration before taking their lives. In this part of the city, everyone was a criminal. Everyone was guilty of something. He felt like an Angel of Death, a reaper, drifting in and out of the shadows.
With his hunger still roused and not yet sated, Eric could feel his maker at rest and knew that he had finished hunting. Yet just as Eric closed the door of their little house behind him, a dizzy spell, not unlike what he felt when starving, swept over him and he stumbled. He clutched the doorframe until his vision cleared and he stared down at the wooden floor in confusion.
Godric came to greet him as soon as he entered the house. He stopped just short of kissing Eric and looked at his child curiously, feeling that something was not right but not knowing what. "What's the matter?"
Eric grinned, ignoring the strange dizzy spell. Instead, he nuzzled his maker's neck lovingly, as a common affectionate greeting between them. "Nothing is the matter. I've just stuffed myself with blood, only to come home to you and become hungry again." Eric’s voice was low and lustful.
Godric frowned, but wrapped his arms around Eric automatically. "You smell different," he said quietly, and something on the edge of his mind prickled in warning – some fuzzy, long ago memory.
Eric chuckled against Godric’s neck, still not willing to accept that there was something different about him. Why would Godric think that over a simple dizzy spell? He had gorged himself with blood, it was just the aftermath of that. "Is that your way of saying I need to bathe? Or that you need to make me smell like you again?" he teased.
"No, well, I always enjoy making you smell like me, but it's something else... Do you feel all right?" Godric asked.
Eric frowned at Godric's distraction. "What could harm us?" he questioned seriously. Godric often sheltered him from the suffering that he knew other beings such as themselves must experience, and he knew his maker held things back from him that he felt Eric didn't need to know. But nothing Eric had done tonight had been any different than any other night's events, and there was no reason for concern. He was invincible, after all.
Godric blinked at the odd question. "Wood through our hearts, the sun, fire..." he drifted off as something occurred to him. “I have heard of something that could make a us sick, a blood disease, but I have never seen it happen."
Eric, in denial, shook his head and smiled. "Then you have nothing to worry about," he soothed as he nudged Godric closer. "But I want to be yours, I want to smell like you again. Lay with me..."
"If you are sure nothing is wrong," was Godric's response. It was evident in his tone that he did not believe Eric.
"Nothing is wrong," Eric assured him again with a deep kiss, closing his eyes. Yet, just as quickly, he stumbled and lost his balance. He caught himself quickly.
"You need to lie down," Godric said, leading Eric to the bedroom where they had wonderful shutters that kept every ray of sunlight out. The canopy bed also had drapes that could be pulled around it for extra protection. Eric never asked where the money Godric used to buy it had come from.
He forced his child to lie down and reached to take his boots off for him. Eric shook his head in protest, but he lacked the energy to drag himself loose. "Why? I feel fine. Your feet are dirty... you've been parading around the alleyways barefoot again," Eric teased, sitting up in the bed and looking down at his lover's muddy feet.
Godric's expression remained emotionless. "The shoes you got me are very nice," he said instead as he pushed Eric down again to lie on his back. Godric crawled up beside him and lay down with his head resting on his child's chest. "Now be quiet, I want to listen to you."
Eric still didn't understand why Godric was fussing over nothing. He had been drinking too much blood in the excitement of being in the new city, and so what if he felt a little drunk over it? He sat up, not allowing Godric to do whatever he was trying to do. "They are very nice. They fit you perfectly. And when you wear them you don't get the bed so muddy."
Godric frowned to show his displeasure. He looked down at the quilts and saw that he had indeed gotten the bed dirty. "It will come off," he shrugged. Eric seemed to expertly know just how to turn his mind to other things. He was sure that Eric knew his attention span was short, despite his age, and knew just how to work with it. "Just let me..." he said, pushing Eric down again.
Eric grinned and instead, pushed back at Godric. "You'll have to wrestle me," he teased, and just to prove his strength, he flipped his lover onto his back and jumped on top of him. He kissed Godric’s neck. "Mmm, I kind of like you muddy anyway."
They both knew who would win a wrestling match, but Godric didn't move to try. Like this, he was close to him and Eric was still for the moment, so he closed his eyes and lay completely motionless, listening to the sounds of Eric's body. He frowned when he heard something that wasn't right, but he didn't know what it was exactly.
Eric pulled away quickly when he realized his maker was being strange again and pouted in betrayal. He didn't like that frown on his face. "You cheated," he murmured.
Godric blinked up at him and cocked his head to the side, something he did when he was curious about something or did not quite understand. Eric got this look often. "Cheated?" he asked.
Eric continued to pout like a child. He crossed his arms over his chest. He should have known this would be one of those things Godric did not understand. "You didn't play fair. You tricked me into doing whatever you just did," he mumbled.
"You sound different and you smell different. Something is wrong," Godric repeated worriedly. "Are you sure you are feeling all right?"
Eric carried on pouting. "What do you mean, I sound different? My voice is the same. I don't know why you think there is something wrong," he protested, starting to get frustrated.
"Don't pout... It is distracting," Godric said, trying to be stern with him.
Eric didn't stop. He rarely listened to Godric’s chiding unless it was a command, which his maker almost never used. He knew it was because Godric did not want to use fear to get his child to do what he should, but Eric tended to take advantage of that fact. "Distracting from what?"
"It just is..." Godric answered. If he told Eric how irresistible he was when he pouted, he would be insufferable. Instead, he pulled Eric down into a kiss, attempting to kiss away the pout.
Eric wasn't going to give up that easily, but he wasn't going to turn away kisses, either. "You still cheated," he said, but his hands came up to slide under Godric's shirt anyway, thrilling at the pleasant weight on top of him.
Godric caught Eric's sneaking hands and kissed each of them to soften the blow as he stopped them from exploring. "You should rest," he told his child.
Eric's pout instantly turned into a frown. He shook his head in denial and sat up. "I do not want to rest. It's early in the night." He flipped Godric over until he lay on top of him again. Determined, his hands snaked up his shirt again.
Perhaps Godric was wrong. Eric seemed fine now. "You must tell me if you feel strange," he told him.
"You are always so paranoid," Eric mumbled against his neck, not having the patience for clothing, at least not on Godric right now. He nipped gently at the side of Godric’s neck, knowing that was his maker's greatest weakness. His hands then moved to undo his trousers.
"You have to be in order to live as long as I have... I don't know if this is a good idea," the elder vampire said.
Eric lifted his head and frowned some more, once again feeling the heavy blow of rejection from his maker, who was unresponsive and passive underneath him. "You never think it's a good idea. You never want to make love," he accused Godric.
Eric was young enough to still crave sex after every hunt. He thought that if Godric didn't have sex with him, he was denying his love. Godric sighed and pulled his shirt over his head and reached down to shimmy out of his pants. "You are so spoiled," he said affectionately. "You must tell me if you start to feel different."
Eric pouted again and crossed his arms over his clothed chest. "Now you're just doing it because you want to silence me- not because you want to," he pointed out.
If Godric ever rolled his eyes, he would be doing so now. "We are not going to have this ridiculous conversation," he said, reaching down to undo Eric's pants.
Even though Eric was still frustrated, it was hard to say no when Godric was undressing him like this. "All right," he whispered in submission. He was done playing games. At least those kinds of games. Besides, this was a perfect chance to show Godric how fine he felt. With a smirk, he captured his lover's full lips with his own and pressed him into the bed - a position he usually had to ask for.
Godric moaned into the kiss and fought the urge to reverse their positions. Instead, he pushed Eric's pants down and took a hold of his cock. "I suppose since I cheated, then that means you win," he smirked. "What does the winner want?"
Eric moaned himself when he felt Godric’s hand grip his cock. He thrust into it and wiggled his way between Godric's legs, urging them apart. Grinning, his own hands wrapped around Godric to squeeze his maker's bare ass. "I want this," he teased back, and pushed his cock against Godric’s opening. He was too impatient tonight for foreplay.
"Put my legs over your shoulders," Godric demanded.
With a deviant smirk, Eric lifted up the boy's flexible legs and brought them into position. He thrilled at the sight under him. He grinned and nudged his cock against Godric’s entrance again, only pushing the head inside. "Tell me you want it..." he pleaded.
"I want you inside me," Godric whispered. "I love you inside me." His hands came up to tangle in Eric's long hair and he tried to focus on that instead on the feeling of being trapped and held down.
Eric moaned and angled himself so he slowly penetrated his maker, trying not to hurt him. Once he was balls-deep, he sighed and focused on the feeling of being inside. "So tight…" he exhaled. All at once, his pent up frustration after a long evening of hunting caught up with him and he began moving.
It was after the second thrust into Godric that all the strength seemed to leave Eric’s body – his muscles turned to mush and an overwhelmingly dizzy feeling swept him up in a cloud of disorientation. He stopped, collapsing on top of his maker.
Godric felt the air leave him when suddenly he had Eric's full weight atop him. He pushed his child to one side so that he could untangle his legs. "Eric?" he asked, worry now evident in his usual stoic voice.
Delirious, Eric allowed himself to be pushed back and out of Godric; his body didn’t allow him the choice. "No... I wasn't done," he protested weakly.
"Shhhh," Godric quieted him. "It is all right. Just relax." He pushed Eric's hair out of his face and laid a hand on his forehead. "You’re warm," he announced as his brow furrowed. Godric had never heard of a vampire running a fever.
Eric tried to move away from Godric's hand as it pressed against his forehead. It was strikingly cold against his skin and he felt a chill run up his spine. "I just need a second, then I'll be better." He took a deep, shaky breath and closed his eyes as he tried to focus on something other than the dizziness. Once he convinced himself that he had, Eric sat up. "I'm all right now..." he mumbled almost incoherently.
"No, you are not, you stubborn child," Godric argued, easily pushing Eric back down using only his fingertips. "You are ill."
Eric shook his head, but stopped when it caused the room to spin even more. "I can't be sick. It's impossible. I am just very tired," he tried to reason.
"You should rest, then," Godric said, reaching down to pull the covers over them. "Maybe having some of my blood will help."
In no shape to resist blood, Eric wordlessly latched onto Godric's offered wrist and suckled it before he bit down, hands holding it more firmly to him as he drew out deep gulps of blood. He murmured soft moans of contentment with each draught he took, purring like a kitten.
Godric pet his hair with his other hand and kissed Eric’s face while he fed, showing him more physical affection than he was usually comfortable with. Eric cooed in response, the pull on his lover's wrist weakening as he was lulled to sleep. Blood still coated his lips as Godric's wrist healed with Eric's fangs no longer keeping the wound open.
Godric watched him sleep for a few minutes before he rose out of bed and wet a cloth to put on Eric's feverish head. It was something he knew to do even when he couldn't remember anyone ever doing it to him. He pulled an extra blanket out of a trunk at the end of their bed and laid it across Eric’s sleeping form.
***
Eric stirred in his sleep, feverish and bothered by dreams. He was breathing – something he never, ever did in such a deep slumber as this.
Godric didn't bother trying to sleep. Instead, he paced the room and watched Eric. He had no idea what to do other than to keep feeding him his blood. But what if it got worse and Eric couldn't get up to hunt? He would need to be protected while he himself hunted. Godric could go a week or two without blood, but he needed enough to feed his child now, too.
An hour and a half later, Eric stirred from his nap and felt too hot under the covers that were spread over him. He pushed them off of himself weakly, but did not bother to open his eyes. He was still tired and he didn't understand why. Godric had been right, even if he was going to continue to deny it. "Why am I tired?" he mumbled, not knowing if he was alone or not.
Godric was at his side the instant he heard Eric stirring. "I think you may have drunk some bad blood," he said quietly. "You need to rest so you can heal. Are you hungry?"
Eric was glad to have Godric near him. "I didn't drink anything bad," he denied. There had been nothing unusual about the blood he’d had tonight. Then, "You didn't tell me about bad blood," he told Godric, sounding hurt. Godric had to have known this could happen but had kept Eric in the dark.
"I did not know it could really happen. I should have known humans carry more diseases in the city," Godric reasoned.
Eric started awake and tried to sit up. "I have a disease? Will I die?" he asked in a sudden panic, sweat breaking out over his forehead. When he thought of disease, he thought of the Plague. The Black Death, the ugly extinction of entire human populations.
"Shhh, no love, it cannot kill you," Godric insisted, because he was pretty certain that it could not. The only way a vampire could die from this was if he had no one to protect and care for him. And Eric definitely had that, even more so when Andre came to them. Of course, Eric wouldn't like that, but Godric would need help caring for him.
Eric saw the worry in Godric's eyes and wasn't sure whether to believe him. He sat up with great effort and faced his maker. "You wouldn't tell me if it could. You are just trying to calm me down," he accused.
"You just need time to heal and I will protect you until you are better. There is nothing to panic about. You will get through this because I have made you strong."
Eric glared at him angrily with distrust. He wasn't strong. He was relatively young and awkward and still battling with the concept of control. "No, I'm not. Not compared to you. Would it kill me if I were weak?"
"I think you will be fine. But you need to rest and not worry yourself over it," Godric insisted, and then offered up his wrist to Eric. "You need to eat again."
Damn Godric for offering him something he couldn't resist, especially now, as hungry as he was. Instantly, Eric’s fangs elongated and he reclined back on the bed. "I want it from your neck," he demanded.
Godric crawled up into the bed and lay down on top of him. He gently pushed Eric's sweaty hair off of his face. "Anything you want," he whispered.
Eric moaned deliriously and instantly latched onto his neck, first licking the targeted area as if to lubricate it before he sank his fangs into the yielding flesh. He moaned again, suckling hungrily as his hands instinctively came to slide down inside the back of his maker's pants. Godric groaned and tried not to react, but he could feel himself growing hard as Eric drank from him.
Eric felt Godric's arousal, and his hands, slightly strengthened by the blood, explored deeper and moved Godric’s thighs apart until they straddled his hip. Eric’s own hardness was very much in the way, as usual. He moaned in pleasure as he swallowed, his fangs moving to prevent the wound from closing before he had had enough. His hands came up to cup Godric’s ass and a finger rubbed at the most private part of him.
"Eric, we should not do this while you are ill," Godric tried to say, but he gasped when he felt Eric's finger tease his entrance. "Don't tempt me," he whispered into Eric’s neck where he’d buried his face.
Eric, clouded with lust, moaned yet again against the wound and ignored Godric's hesitation. The teasing finger penetrated Godric and he pressed his needy erection against his maker. The more Godric said they shouldn't, the more Eric wanted it.
Despite everything, Godric's treacherous body seemed to disobey his mind and his legs spread wider to give Eric more access. "This is not a good idea."
Eric took slower, shorter drinks, wanting it to last because he feared that the second he stopped, Godric would really be able to deny him. He gave a pleading moan against Godric’s neck and his finger penetrated deeper until it collided with the sweet spot inside. The tip of his finger settled there and rubbed slowly. Eric’s other hand fumbled with his pants, blindly trying to release his straining cock from its confines.
When at last he was completely full, Eric broke away from the wound and licked Godric’s neck clean as it healed. Finally, his cock was free and stood thick and hard and impossible to ignore between them. His finger continued to stroke that part of Godric that made him lose the control that he did not give up easily.
They were both hard and aching and Godric knew he had made a mistake by letting it go this far. But it was difficult to think when Eric had such wicked fingers and a wicked mouth. He whimpered into Eric’s neck and tried to remember why this was a bad idea as he thrust himself against the answering hardness.
Empowered with blood and a surge of adrenaline, Eric growled in frustration and his finger slipped out of Godric, only so he could push down his maker’s pants far enough to expose the important parts of him. His cock probed Godric’s now bare ass and thrust forward without penetration. But Eric weakened and stopped to catch his breath.
"I told you this was a bad idea," Godric told him, but it was hard to be stern with his child when Eric's cock was where he most enjoyed it.
Eric shook his head, knowing they were too far gone to turn back. Stopping now would be physically painful. "No... I need it. Don't stop," he pleaded. Godric sighed but, picked up where they had left off at a slower pace. He was scared to hurt Eric.
It seemed that while his body was weak, the control Eric usually had over his instinctual need for blood and sex were equally compromised. Consequently, so was his stamina. Without even being inside Godric, he used the very last ounce of his energy to thrust forward again, throwing his head back as he came.
Godric frowned when Eric came undone so quickly, but didn't comment on it. Instead, he ignored his own erection and lifted himself off Eric to lie down beside him. He covered Eric with the blanket. "You need to rest."
Eric had just enough strength to sit up and lay partly across Godric under the blanket. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
"It was not your fault, Eric," Godric soothed his child. "Don't get upset, you will only make yourself feel worse." But already helplessly vulnerable, there was nothing to stop Eric's angry tears.
He couldn't possibly feel worse whether he allowed himself to cry or not. "No, no, no," Godric whispered, actually sounding nervous. "Don't cry, Eric, stop it."
Eric turned his face away from Godric's in shame and buried it in the pillow. Every tear spilt was less blood and a weaker body. "I ruined it. I ruin everything."
"No, you do not," Godric said sternly. "You make everything better."
Eric calmed his sobbing and lifted his head out of its hiding place. His face was tear-stained with blood. "No I don't," he disagreed with his maker. "When I'm well again... I'll last."
Godric pulled him close and licked the blood from his face. "That ego of yours is going to get you into trouble one day," he warned. "I just want you to get better and not worry about anything else."
Eric settled against Godric but refused to surrender to sleep. "You weren't happy with me. You made that frown," he remembered. Eric knew that frown well and it usually followed an instance when he had disappointed Godric.
"I frowned because you are ill," Godric told him.
Just the very sound of Godric's voice calmed him like nothing else and Eric no longer had the energy to argue anymore. He buried his face in his maker's chest, comforted by the smell and feel and he instantly relaxed. "I love you," he whispered into Godric’s chest.
"Get some rest," Godric told him again. He could feel Andre getting closer.
Eric wasn't going to obey that easily, even now. "Promise me you'll stay here. I can't protect you right now." Eric voiced another one of his insecurities. What if Godric left, got in trouble, and Eric was too weak to protect him?
Godric smiled at the thought of Eric protecting him. "I will stay here, but someone will need to bring us humans..." he said, hoping to ease Eric into the idea of their new house-guest."I asked someone to help." He hoped Eric was too sick to ask many questions.
Queen Adora's vampiric gift was her ability to communicate telepathically with those whom with she had once shared blood. So when Eric became ill, Godric had asked for help. She’d informed him that she would send Andre.
Eric jolted awake and lifted his heavy head in surprise. "What? What do you mean? Who is coming?"
Godric knew he should have kept silent. "I asked Adora to send Andre. He can hunt for us while I take care of you," he explained patiently.
Nothing could have cushioned the blow that was that response. In a panic, Eric painfully lifted himself further off the bed. No, anyone but him. Anyone but that conniving, evil creature.
"What!?" he shouted angrily, wearing out whatever strength his vocal cords had left. "No! You can't!" Godric knew how he felt about Andre. He knew their past. Godric had seen their fight in the palace, and yet he still called upon him at a time where Eric could not defend or protect him. "I lose my stamina and instantly you call up one of your old lovers!?"
Godric's eyes narrowed. "Don't be daft, Eric, he's the only one I can trust other than Adora herself, and she has a kingdom to run." He cupped Eric's face with his hands to make sure he had Eric’s full attention. "I will not leave your side, but in order for me to do that, we need someone to hunt for us."
"Don't be ridiculous! You saw how he attacked me when I defended you!" Eric’s memory was hazy with exhaustion and he didn't fully remember what had caused that chain of events which led to Godric paying the price for him. "I hate him. I refuse to let him into this room!"
"You are tired and feverish and mixing things up. If you don't want him to come in here, that is fine, but you must calm yourself," Godric said sternly.
Eric sank down onto the bed but his brows were still furrowed with anxiety. "I don't want you alone with him. Not even while I sleep."
"All right. As you wish," Godric agreed as he nestled down beside him. He ran his hands through Eric’s hair to calm him.
Eric remembered the time Godric came home smelling other men, and in his delirium he turned away from his maker as much as he could. "I don't trust either of you," he muttered.
Those words stung worse than anything else Eric could have said to him, but Godric knew he only had his own actions to blame. He was about to say something else when he perked up to sense something Eric was too ill to hear.
"That is Andre, I have to invite him in," he told his child, rolling over. He kissed Eric’s back between his shoulder blades. "I will keep the bedroom door open."
Eric thought about stopping him, but he knew it wouldn't make a difference. Godric would just tell him lies to get him to calm down long enough to get what he wanted. When he felt Godric leave the bed, however, he groaned in pain and he sat up in the bed, kicking off the covers and doing his best to look strong. He did not want the other vampire to see him in this weakened state.
Godric stood and quickly pulled on his torn shirt and trousers. He walked down the hall that led to the front door and opened it. He smiled tightly when he saw Andre standing there.
"Well, My Lord, are you going to invite me in or leave me out here to freeze?" the blond asked with his infectious smile.
"Adora told you why you were here?" Godric asked.
Andre nodded. "Yes. I still can't believe he actually talked you into returning to a city. You must be in love." When Godric did not answer, he moved on to more important matters. "You are sure it's a blood sickness? I thought that was a myth. Perhaps the Plague has him. I've heard rumors of the young ones suffering from the infected blood."
"I am sure," Godric said confidently, but offered no reason. "There is a bedroom upstairs, if you would like to stay there. All I need you to do is lure prey back for me."
Eric did not look up at the intruder and instead busied himself with flicking the dirt out of his nails, as if that were far more interesting. He didn't like the way Godric talked to Andre. It wasn't the way he talked to Eric.
Andre nodded, and before Godric could protest, he entered the bedroom wanting to see the patient himself. "Hello, cousin," he said. He eyed Eric as if he were trying to determine whether he was faking or not.
Eric looked up from his nails long enough to give Andre a deadly glare. It was the same glare that he saved for people who gave Godric 'that look' when they were in the city together. "Fuck you," he growled.
"Maybe later," Andre teased, giving him a wicked smile.
"Andre," Godric said, his voice barely a whisper, but Andre flinched as if he had yelled.
"I apologize," he said to Godric.
That was it. Eric had saved his energy for the second Andre threatened him. And to him, that was the trigger. His fangs withdrawing, he growled and lunged at the other vampire, slamming him against the wall before he fell over.
Godric sighed and helped Eric to stand. "Was that necessary?" he asked as he settled him back in the bed. He sat down beside him instead of standing.
"He still has that temper, I see. I don't think he's going to grow out of that if he hasn't done so already," Andre said from a safe distance. "You would think watching his maker's back ripped to shreds would have taught him – "
"Andre, why don't you go get me someone to eat?" Godric said, interrupting him.
"It was your fault that happened!" Eric shouted loudly enough for passers-by outside to hear.
By now, Godric was fed up with the both of them. He caught Andre by the scruff of his neck just as he was lunging at Eric and pushed him into a nearby chair. He pointed a finger at him as Andre tried to stand up again. Obediently, he sat back down and glared at Eric. "You two act like children and it will stop," Godric stated.
Eric moved his glare from Andre to his maker, still feeling the command to stay still like an aftershock. "You said he wouldn't come into our bedroom," he growled, annunciating the words 'our' as if establishing Godric would share no other man's bed.
Godric sighed again. "Andre, go and hunt," he ordered, and Andre stood and left. When the older vampire heard the front door close, he turned back to Eric. "All right, you need to rest," he told his child.
Eric could not even move his limbs to a stubborn posture and he sank unwillingly into the bed. "No. He has no respect for you and certainly none for me. I am not resting while he is here."
"Oh, yes you are. We need his help, and you can be civil to him while he is here or... or I will not be happy with you."
Godric was never happy with him, so what difference would it make? Besides, Eric had every right in the world to be fearful of what happened when he shut his eyes. "You may be able to confine me to the bed but you can't force me to sleep."
"Why are you being so stubborn? I know you don't trust me, but I didn't think you would put that distrust before your own well-being."
Eric answered by blowing out the only candle in the room and immersing them in darkness. "Leave me be."
"I'm not leaving you," Godric whispered.
Eric didn't have the energy to argue anymore. He knew Godric wasn't going to leave no matter how much he insisted that he didn't want him there. The instant he shut his eyes, he was asleep, covers wrapped tightly around him and feeling cold for the first time since he had been turned.
***
Eric woke three hours later and felt the warmth of his maker against his back. Andre came in about the same time he began waking. He stood in the doorway and watched as Eric moved out of Godric's arms. However, what shocked Andre was the brief look of hurt on Godric's otherwise unreadable face as his child shifted away from him.
Godric rose up from the bed towards Andre in all his bare-chested, tattooed glory. The other vampire couldn't help himself as his eyes wandered while he spoke. "I have secured a meal for you; they are glamoured and waiting downstairs."
For some reason, the very idea of blood caused Eric's stomach to churn. Though he knew his body demanded it, he felt the all too human convulsion to vomit just by its suggestion. He half-covered his face with blankets to hide from the other two vampires as they conversed. He knew that Godric was standing in front of him without a shirt on, and for all he knew, he was doing it on purpose. He did not want to open his eyes to see the look on Andre's face.
Godric nodded but his eyes were on Eric's covered form. "I'll just be a moment," he promised. He wasn't going to allow his child to feed again and risk re-infecting himself. Eric could feed from him for the rest of their lives, if Godric had anything to say about it.
After Godric stepped out of the room, Andre lingered in the doorway. "He's very gentle with you," he said quietly to Eric's blanketed form.
Eric didn't fully understand what Andre was trying implying, but he still didn't want to hear any more. "Then you don't really know him at all."
Andre chuckled to himself, "Oh, I know him, or at least, I knew who he was before he made you. They called him 'Death'. Vampire, human, werewolf, faery, it didn't matter - he killed them all. His own kind feared him. Use your Viking brain. How long have you and your maker lived in this city? Our kind does not just move into another's hunting ground and not ask permission. But I can tell you, Godric did not ask anyone anything and he will never have to. The fact that you smell like him is what has been keeping you alive on the streets."
Eric only half-listened to what Andre was saying. The other vampire was untrustworthy and nothing that he said held merit for Eric. He wished Godric would return and send Andre away. Far away. "Then I hope you get close enough to me one day to get a death sentence. Get out," Eric cursed and snarled.
Andre scoffed. "He wouldn't kill me. Oh, he's made me wish I was dead before, but he wouldn't risk upsetting my maker by doing permanent damage...." Andre trailed off when a thought occurred to him. "Wait a moment. He lets you have him, doesn't he? He doesn't fuck you, you fuck him! I can't believe it!" he huffed, sounding mystified.
Eric instantly recognized the tone of Andre's voice as jealousy. The Viking rose up on his elbows and gave Andre a devious smirk. "Yes. He lets me fuck him every night. Sometimes he'll even bend over for me." Eric tried to twist the metaphorical knife in Andre's back.
Before either could say anything more, Godric came back into the room. He was flushed from the blood he’d just consumed and he headed straight for Eric. Crawling up into bed, he offered Eric his wrist.
"Eat."
Godric came in just in time, Eric thought to himself. This was a perfect opportunity to show exactly how he got what he wanted from his maker, how he could do anything to him. How he had Godric wrapped around his little finger, as humans said. And most importantly, exactly how he managed to have him.
The thought of blood made him sick, but he pushed that aside. "Eric what..." was all Godric was able to say after Eric pushed his wrist away and he suddenly found himself on his back with his child latched onto his neck. When Eric bit into his neck, Godric moaned as he felt himself grow hard instantly. Not getting off from their earlier escapade seemed to make him need it more.
As soon as the blood hit his tongue, all prior thoughts of disgust vanished as Eric greedily drank the steady flow. It was a lot like feeding from a mother, and it soothed Eric in a sense that he could not describe. He loved how pliant, how giving Godric was underneath him, hardly protesting when he was pushed into his least-favorite position. A position no one but Eric would get him to willingly assume.
Eric spread Godric's legs even further, feeling them wrap around his hips. His hands played possessively with Godric’s chest, still naked as it was. They continued down until they fidgeted impatiently with Godric’s trousers. In Eric’s forcefulness, they tore audibly until what he wanted was exposed to him.
Gasping, he broke away from the wound long enough to growl, "I want to fuck you" in the most seductive way that he could. Eric reached between them to release his own cock. Wanting to keep his strength, and knowing that he did not have much, he sank his teeth into Godric’s neck again.
Godric didn't know what had gotten into his child. Usually, Eric wasn't quite this domineering. He shifted a bit uncomfortably as Eric bit into him again. "Let me turn around," Godric barely managed to whisper.
Eric felt Godric's unrest underneath him and didn't know if Godric meant to straddle him or turn onto his knees. Eric wasn't going to let him choose. With another growl, he lifted himself up only long enough to flip Godric onto his belly, his legs still spread. His pants were gathered down at his knees to expose his soft, perfect ass.
"Like this?" Eric taunted. Godric buried his face into the pillow to muffle a sound and pushed his ass back into Eric's erection, hoping to hurry his lover along.
Eric knelt and nudged his cock against Godric's opening, not yet penetrating. He wasn't done with this little display yet. "What do you want?" he asked, wanting Godric to beg for it.
"Inside me. Now," Godric whispered harshly. "Now, Eric."
Eric smirked, knowing Andre had perhaps heard Godric beg for the first time. With a growl, Eric slid inside Godric until he was buried and bit his own lip so hard it bled. His hands gripped Godric’s hips, controlling every move. Eric thrust deeply, the head of his cock colliding against the sweet spot inside Godric. He wanted his maker to come fast... in case Eric couldn't hold back his own climax.
Eric allowed Godric to adjust to his length before creating a gentle rhythm despite their rough start. He didn't want Andre to think he’d hurt Godric. Soon, however, Eric forgot about the voyeur in the hallway. Each thrust was deeper than the one before, and he gently bit into Godric’s shoulder to stifle a shout. He started to feel himself come undone and panic brewed inside him. He thrust harder, deeper, his hands lifting up Godric's hips. Eric laid his chest against his maker's back as his hand wrapped around to pump his lover's cock in time with his rhythm.
Godric cried out in relief when Eric reached for him. It didn't take much after that before he was shouting Eric's name into the pillow as he came. Eric finally let himself go when he felt Godric spill out into his hand. But instead of coming inside of Godric, he pulled out and spurted his seed down his lover's back, marking him.
Feeling victorious, Eric collapsed in exhaustion. "I love you," he whispered into Godric’s ear. Godric answered with a soft chuckle, relishing the drowsy contentment one only felt after an extraordinary orgasm.
Still half-covering his maker, Eric fell asleep instantly. Sweat broke out visibly across his forehead, but despite it, he slept soundly. Godric relaxed under his child’s body weight until he heard a sound from across the room. He tensed when he saw the door closing softly behind Andre.
Andre had been there the whole time. How could he have forgotten about the lingering presence in the hallway? But Eric's weight above him reminded him. Godric sighed and decided he was feeling too good to care.
***
"Eric," Godric whispered softly into his ear, and rolled his child over until he was on his back. Godric kissed his closed eyes, then the tip of his nose, then laid a soft kiss on his mouth. "Eric, wake up, you need to feed."
Eric heard his maker's distant voice subconsciously and he moaned in protest. It was the first time he’d felt relaxed since he’d gotten sick and he did not want to wake and feel the ache of the fever again. Using what little energy he had, the younger vampire shifted onto his front to escape the intrusion.
Godric studied Eric for a moment before he decided that the only way to wake him was to be a bit devious. He scooted closer and ground his half-hard erection against Eric's thigh. Usually, if Godric showed the smallest inkling of wanting sex, Eric would be all over him. "Eric, wake up," he whispered. "I need you."
Eric forced himself to wake then, and with a soft, sleepy smirk, he slowly opened his eyes.
"There you are. You need to eat first," Godric said, offering his wrist.
Eric's face dropped with disappointment. He should have known better. He should have known that if Godric was rubbing against him like this, he had an ulterior motive. The Viking frowned and turned his head away from the wrist. "No. I'm not hungry... I drank too much already and it will make me sick."
Godric could feel Eric's displeasure. "You drank bad blood. My blood will help you heal faster. If you eat, then we can make love," he tried to bargain.
Eric shook his head. "I just ate. You don't understand; I can't drink anymore. I'll become worse.” He pleaded with Godric to understand. The human urge to vomit would surely follow if he took another drop. "Making love shouldn't be part of a bargain. But with you it always is. You use it against me all the time."
Godric showed a rare look of surprise. "I did not mean it like that," he said. "If you fed, then you will be stronger and we can make love."
Eric still denied him and turned his body so that his back was to his maker. "You are still using it to try to get your way. You didn't want to make love when I first started getting sick," Eric insisted, his voice slow and drowsy.
"Maybe I just like to play hard to get," Godric tried to lighten the mood.
"It is cruel to play when I'm sick and needy," Eric whined, because Godric simply wasn't playing fair.
"I apologize," Godric said, kissing Eric chastely on the lips before his lips trailed slowly down Eric’s chest. "I'll make you feel good," he whispered against his child’s skin, hoping that if he pleased Eric, he would want to feed afterwards. He wrapped his hand around Eric's cock and sucked the tip into his mouth.
Eric opened his mouth to moan and his hand automatically came to tangle in the boy's soft black hair, not pulling, just feeling, giving himself something to hold onto. If Eric had had any energy at all, he wouldn't have been able to stop his hips, but his body was frustratingly still.
Godric licked and sucked but never took Eric fully into his mouth. "Do you want me to finish you like this? Or should I ride you?"
Eric broke out in a sweat, but this time, not just from the fever. In frustration, his hips attempted to thrust, to push his cock deeper into Godric's mouth, but he was hardly able to move at all. At the sound of his maker's voice, pre-come dripped down his shaft. "Ride me... I want you to be pleased, too," he whispered deliriously with a hint of a pout on his lips.
"Just looking at you pleases me," Godric admitted, kissing his way up Eric's body.
Eric looked up through hazy, clouded eyes and his own hand reached out to tease his lover's cock. "That's not true. You want to do more than just look at me."
"Well, yes, but I still like looking at you." Godric smiled down at Eric before he leaned down to capture his child’s lips with his own. "You look like an angel," he whispered when he pulled away.
Eric loved it when Godric felt good enough to be playful with him. It wasn't often that they were like this, but when they were, he would be a fool not to relish it. He stroked Godric's cock, squeezing at the base and circling his thumb around the tip. "And you look like a little incubus." Eric gave him a fanged grin.
Godric moaned and thrust into Eric's hand. "Incubus... I think I like that," he teased.
Eric smiled. It was, in fact, the first thing he’d thought when Godric had come to him while he was dying. Eric smiled lustfully, his hand momentarily leaving Godric’s cock to slide up his chest and back down to where Godric wanted it. "Except I don't mind when you sneak into my dreams and claim me."
"That's because you belong to me," Godric answered, lifting his own body up and sliding down onto Eric's cock with a sigh.
Eric opened his mouth to moan loudly and his hands reached out to clench his lover's smooth, wide-spread thighs. One hand travelled up Godric’s chest to his face, where his thumb ran across Godric’s lower lip, probing into his mouth to feel one of his lengthened fangs. "How does it feel?" Eric asked in a heated whisper.
The only answer Godric could give was a long, drawn-out moan as he began to move.
Eric rocked his hips gently to encourage Godric's slow movements, feeling him adjust to his length. "It's that good?" Eric teased breathlessly when the moan echoed through him.
"It feels so good, like you were made to be inside me," Godric told him.
Eric let his head fall back against the bed. He grinned and squeezed Godric’s ass, his nails digging into his maker’s flesh. "If this is how you take care of me... I might just get sick more often," he teased.
"Don't say that," Godric said, trying to sound stern. He didn't like when things were out of his control, and with Eric being sick, he felt virtually powerless.
Eric smirked. He always loved to get a rise out of his maker. He arched his back, thrilling at the feeling of being inside of him, the head of his cock sliding against the hard spot inside of Godric he knew well.
Then, "Wait... wait..." Eric gasped, suddenly panicked, his hands grabbing his maker's hips to still them. “It's... It's going to happen too soon..."
"It's all right, you can come," Godric whispered as he tried to keep moving. He was very close to the edge himself.
Eric could no longer hold back when Godric refused to stop pushing down on his cock. Eric threw back his head and exploded deep inside of Godric, his hand hot on his maker's cock, pumping it quickly. Godric came as he felt Eric’s release shoot inside of him. He wasted no time before he sliced his neck with a fingernail and pulled Eric up to press his lips against his neck.
Shaken out of his orgasm-induced stupor and realizing what Godric was doing, Eric fought back. He pushed against Godric, though weakly, and managed to slide out of his body and away from him, throwing himself onto the opposite side of the bed.
"No," he pleaded, already sickened with the thought. Blood was what made him feel poorly, and more of it would make it worse. "Please, Maker... I can't," he sobbed, using an intimate nickname he knew would melt Godric’s cold, dead heart.
"Eric, drink. Just a little if you want, but you will drink," Godric said, using enough of a command to make sure his child could not refuse.
Eric glared viciously at Godric. The command had been used, and there was no way out, even for him with all his stubbornness. He sobbed gently with anguish as he forced himself to lie on his back, too weak to prop himself up anymore. Eric felt the fever return and his fangs snapped down, out of his control. Weak and delirious, Eric whimpered with hurt of a different kind when he realized something else. "You are a liar. You still used sex to try and get what you wanted... Even when you promised you wouldn't."
"You are not going to make me feel guilty in order to get your way," Godric chastised before he bit into his own wrist and offered it to him. "Now drink."
At the first drop of blood on his tongue, Eric forgot about being hurt and drank greedily. His maker's blood was his maker's life and his own life in one abundant flowing river. He suckled noisily, like a starved animal offered a meal after days of suffering. Eric moaned with each draught, unable to stop or even slow down, swallowing faster than the wound was supplying.
Godric sighed in relief and ran his fingers through Eric's hair as he drank, hoping to comfort him.
After a time, Eric finally felt like he would burst. He pulled back with a gasp, clenching his eyes closed, his mouth still smeared with the blood he could not lick up himself. He had taken too much, too fast, and his abdomen clenched as pain overwhelmed him. "It hurts... Godric, it hurts..." he managed to choke out.
Godric tried not to panic. "Your stomach hurts?" he asked, unsure of what to do.
Eric clutched his belly which felt like it was being ripped apart from the inside. He could feel the poisoned blood battling the pure blood. It was a raging war inside his body. "I told you! I told you it would make me sick... Nnnngggghh!" he clenched his teeth and wailed again. "Godric..." he begged, pleaded, knowing that his maker was there to make things better, was there to protect him, to prevent these things...
He distantly felt the presence of another enter the room and knew it was Andre. The pain was too great for him to care. "What's wrong with him? What happened?" Erice heard the curious voice ask.
"I don't know," Godric admitted. "I fed him and this is how he reacted to my blood."
Eric didn't understand why Godric was being so passive, just staring at him. For a brief moment, he wondered if he were dying, the pain was that crippling. Gasping in agony, Eric threw his head over the side of the bed just in time to spill out the blood he had taken. He coughed and spat and heaved, whimpering after it ended. He collapsed back onto the bed when he had expelled it all.
"Get me some wet rags," Godric ordered, and Andre quickly jumped to do as he was told. Godric wiped Eric's face the best he could and placed another rag on his feverish forehead. "It is all right," Godric whispered. "Do you feel any better yet? I should not have made you feed. I thought it would help you to heal."
Eric was comforted by the scent of his maker near him before he finally passed out. Godric covered them both with blankets and watched as Eric's brow furrowed in pain and his sleeping body tried to find a position of comfort.
He was not asleep for long, however. The fever would not let him rest, it seemed, and Eric woke to the same painful reality. "You should try and sleep more," he heard his maker's voice tell him.
Eric shook his head and wished he hadn't as dizziness swept him away. "I cannot. It will not let me sleep... I want you to come closer," he whispered.
Godric scooted closer until he was right up against Eric. "What can I do to help you feel better?" he asked.
Eric buried his face in Godric's shoulder, inhaling his lover's scent was like a balm for his senses. He doubted that he could get back to sleep, no matter much how Godric persuaded. "You can promise never to release me... Ever," he muttered so softly that only a vampiric sense of hearing could pick it up.
Godric sighed, pulled Eric closer, and kissed the top of his head. "I promise never to release you unless you ask me to. You may change your mind in a few centuries."
Eric made a pathetic noise of disagreement that was soft and small and pained. "No, I cannot live without you. If you leave me, the pain would be worse than this," he whined. "I want to sleep but I cannot."
"You are so dramatic," Godric smiled. "If you wish, I could order you to sleep."
Godric's statement surprised Eric and he was silent for a while, contemplating it. "I don't like being commanded," he muttered softly, pouting against his lover's skin. "But will it work? What if I still can't sleep, but the command tries to make me?"
"It will work," Godric assured. "It will feel like you blacked out."
Eric wanted the peace of sleep but was afraid to ask for it. "When you saw me on the battlefield...this is not who you imagined I would be. I'm not strong enough for you. I'm weak and sick and pathetic..." He lifted his head as the tears began to flow, delusional in his fever.
"Nonsense. You are strong, and when you get through this, you will be even stronger. Besides, I like taking care of you," Godric admitted softly. "It hurts me that I cannot take your pain away."
Eric buried his face against Godric's painted chest, smearing it with the blood of his tears. He couldn't take it anymore, and with the cost of a command, he had to find relief. "Please, Maker, tell me to sleep and to stay asleep until tomorrow," he pleaded, clinging to Godric as if afraid of the command would come too harshly, and bracing himself for it.
Godric wrapped his arms around Eric. "All right. Close your eyes and focus on relaxing your body. Relax your toes, then work your way up to your feet, then your ankles, your thighs..."
His maker's words soothed him into an almost hypnotic state and Eric’s body was overwhelmed with love for Godric as his tension drained. "Now,” said Godric. “I want you to think of a peaceful place and go there. You will let yourself drift off to sleep and stay asleep until darkness comes again tomorrow. And when it does, I will be waiting for you."
Eric was asleep before Godric finished his sentence. It was a deep kind of sleep, the kind that came only during the day for vampires, and nothing in the world could have woken him.
"He gave you permission to use a command and you sang him a lullaby instead," Andre snickered from the hallway where he had been watching.
Godric smoothed Eric's hair out of his face. "He has not had good experiences with commands and I did not want stress making him sicker."
Andre snorted and rolled his eyes, knowing Godric wouldn't see it. Godric’s eyes were still glued to Eric's unconscious form. "A command is never a good experience, but you seemed to use it all the time on me. And on your people. But this stupid Viking has you infatuated and you spoil him rotten. You won't tell him what to do, even when he outright defies you." Andre tried to swallow down his jealousy rather than reveal it, but he never was one to keep things to himself.
Godric finally tore his eyes away from Eric to glare at Andre. "What are you saying, Andre?"
Andre tried not to take a step back at the strength of Godric's words. "I just think... He will be a very different kind of vampire without the discipline other makers show their children. He will one day walk the streets without you and talk strongly to another of higher rank and get himself into trouble."
Godric looked back at Eric. He knew Andre was right. Hadn't Eric already suffered because of his refusal to see beyond himself? "I will teach him how to walk in that world, but I don't want him to be a part of it unless he chooses to be. He has such strength in him, more than any other his age. He will learn to use that strength, but I do not think his temper will ever ease," Godric said with a fond smile.
Andre was surprised when his opinion was met with agreement. "I suggest you do that soon after he heals. The human world and our world are clashing more than ever these days and he will have to learn manners and respect for someone besides his beloved maker sooner rather than later. Give him a broader world, because right now, you are all that is in it," Andre whispered, as though Eric could hear. He watched as Godric soothed Eric, even as he slept, with arms around him and his chest to his own. Andre could smell them both mingled into one. "He lived a much longer mortal life than you; I suppose you both learn from each other."
"I suppose we can," Godric said quietly.
Andre was quiet for after that, once again feeling out-of-place and voyeuristic. Even with the Viking unconscious, he was one too many bodies in the room. "What are you going to do tomorrow night when he is starving but cannot drink your blood?" he asked softly.
"I am hoping it was just a fluke. Maybe he drank too fast," Godric said hopefully. "We will see how he feels when he wakes."
Andre nodded, not sure if he was as optimistic as Godric. "If you don't need me then, I think I'd like to retire for the day," he whispered. He slowly walked out and gingerly shut their bedroom door, as if trying not to wake the sleeping vampire.
"Thank you, Andre," Godric whispered, because he knew Andre would still be able to hear it. Another moment passed before Godric rested his head against the Viking's wide chest and fell victim to his own exhaustion. "Good night, my love," he whispered.
The End.