A Royal Craving (6 page)

Spencer stayed close as they danced, one hand in Prosper's and the other on his arm. He seemed content, as consumed by the moment as Prosper.

They danced to all three songs on the record and, when the last song ended, Prosper let go of his companion to turn it over. The moment he released the boy, his knees buckled.

Concerned, he caught him before he could fall and asked, “Spencer? Are you ill?” He worried that he had been selfish, by not offering sustenance or sleep to the human.

“I-I have not eaten in a few days. M-maybe three,” he confessed, stuttering over his words in disorientation.

“You have not eaten in three days?” Prosper gasped and took a deep breath to calm his anger. He guided his companion to the bed, where he fell into a seating position, while raising a hand to his head.

“I feel woozy,” he complained.

“Why have you not eaten? Are circumstances so dire for my people here?”

“Frankly, yes. I am sorry,” Spencer apologised, as though he knew how much it hurt to be lied to. “My sister is young and does not understand. I let her take my meals, to keep her strong,” he confessed.

Prosper adored Spencer's sacrifice for his sister; it spoke of loyalty and love that he had never felt from anyone but Parry. But he would not allow it to continue. He rang the bell rope, hanging by the bed, pleased that Tabitha came running. “Please bring a tray for our guest,” he asked.

Tabitha nodded and rushed off, clearly understanding the urgency. Though the Master of the house, while in residence, he rarely allowed the servants to see to such simple needs.

Prosper knelt by the hearth to the left of the bookcase and concentrated. A fire started after a few muttered words and silent wishes, but it did not drown out the guilt.

He had neglected Spencer's health, to bask in his body and blood. He had given him a bath because he wished it, because he wanted Spencer to know he did not have to feel unclean. And, God help him, because he wanted to be inside him and thought the bath would relax his muscles, to prepare him.

Ashamed, he rose to his feet and glanced at Spencer. The poor boy was barely nineteen-years-old, still a child in human terms. Three times his age and a vampire, Prosper should have thought this through, before inviting such an innocent child into his life.

When he sat beside Spencer, his body flushed with warmth at the way his companion let out a soft sigh and sank sideways, to rest his head on his shoulder.

Prosper put his arm around him and placed a kiss on his temple.

He had a strange, heart-warming theory that, had he thought about the consequences and risks of involving Spencer in his life, the lad would not have accepted it. He had proven to be feisty, instigating kisses and caresses, demanding Prosper feed solely from him. Had he suggested a refusal of his 'debt', he may have found a stray on his doorstep.

There was something about that thought that left him feeling positively marvellous.

A
n hour later, Prosper left Spencer, to return the tea tray to the kitchen and get him a fresh drink. He could have called a servant, but his companion was tired and might be more inclined to sleep, if left alone.

He was not surprised that he returned to find his human standing at the bookcase, wrapped in the thick blanket. Having been deprived of such simple things, he could understand his human wish to explore the 'luxuries' around him.

Prosper deposited the drink of water on the side table and crossed to where Spencer stood, trailing his finger over a shelf.

He cupped his face, drawing his attention from the books. “Did you claim you owed a debt, hoping I would desire you?” he asked, having thought of nothing else since Spencer professed to being here by choice. He needed to know what that meant.

Spencer closed his eyes to the brush of his thumb against his jaw. “No,” he whispered, tilting his head to kiss his thumb. “I knew you desired me when you healed my ankle. You did not have to heal me, but the way you looked at me…I knew,” he admitted. Then he flushed and let his closed lips drift over the pad of his thumb. “We have met before.”

“We have?”

Spencer nodded and tentatively touched his fingertips to the bare flesh of Prosper's abdomen. A frisson of electricity passed between them that made his companion's smile widen. “Five years ago…at the festival,” he explained in a whisper, lost in a dream.

“Not the boy from the alleyway?” Prosper asked, recalling a young lad gazing at him with nothing but wonder. That boy had been a teenager, scared and harassed by that scum, Lafayette. He had served judgement to that same man, two years later, when he mistakenly attempted to recruit the ward of a vampire into his employment.

A swell of rage rose within him as he recalled the scene he had interrupted. Spencer had been frozen from fear, while Lafayette pawed him. His companion had thrown off his touch, but even from afar, Prosper had known the man's intentions. He would have Spencer for his business, no matter the cost.

Prosper stared into stunning green eyes, realising what he had saved his companion from that night. He recalled a brief touch, eyes locked and emotions he had not been ready to confront. Now, Spencer's explanation made sense of the familiarity of his voice, the sense of
déjà vu
when Prosper tilted his head up.

Spencer nodded. “Just three nights before, I had visited the prophetess. She said I had two paths toward my destiny,” he said, smiling nervously. “One would leave me dead
in the streets of the city, never knowing adulthood
. The other would have me dying
before my twentieth birthday, but I would live a long and prosperous life,” he
revealed.

“I see.” Prosper nodded, sensing the prophetess knew more than she had declared.

“I did not understand, then. But we met and I knew you were the man to lead me to my future.” Spencer curled his fingers against Prosper's bare chest, in a feather light caress.

“Is that why you offered yourself to me?” Prosper wondered, curious about the choices he had made.

The slow nod of his head said his companion had trusted him before he knew him.

“But you knew you must leave your family,” he objected, positive that he was not worth the sacrifice.

Spencer shrugged and took on a fairly seductive look, as he slid his touch up Prosper's chest and around his shoulders. “I would have left, eventually. I was unable to work, because of the council's restrictions. They left few options open to me,” he shrugged, as though it meant nothing now.

There were many professions Spencer proved capable of, but Prosper knew how prejudice the humans were against someone with a rare disability.

“Do you still wish to work? There is much a vampire life can offer you, but I do not know if that is something you desire,” he confessed, longing to share the wonders of life with him.

“I would be happy to be with you for eternity,” Spencer vowed, though that did not answer his question. He blushed, as though his companion knew the difference between what Prosper had asked and the answer he had given.

When he broke the distance between them, Prosper forgot the question.

Spencer kissed him so sensually that there should be a warning attached to his lips. They parted, to reveal a light in his young, human eyes that baffled Prosper. “What do you desire?” Spencer whispered, as their eyes met.

Prosper had not been aware of allowing his eyes to wander over his companion's lithe body, but now he had been caught. “I wish to see you as you truly are,” he confessed and nearly lost his ability to function as Spencer stepped out of his arms and shrugged off the blanket.

He watched, stunned into silence as Spencer blushed and lifted off his tunic top. His trousers hung loosely on his skinny frame.

He stopped breathing, forgetting to fake the mechanics for Spencer's sake, as he watched fingers tentatively unfasten his trousers. Their eyes met, briefly, as his companion pushed them from his hips.

Prosper's gaze followed every movement, as Spencer stood in a pair of briefs. He could see fear and uncertainty in his eyes, but he would never judge him. He caught his companion's face and held him there. He said nothing; he did not know what to say. He tried to express what he felt through his eyes.

They looked at each other for a long time, before Prosper kissed him, hoping that would ease his mind. His eyes closed as Spencer responded, holding his arms, until he broke their kiss.

Green eyes flickered behind their eyelids, before opening to gaze at him with love.

“You are beautiful. There is nothing about your body I do not admire and crave to touch. I desire every inch of you, as you are,” Prosper promised. Nothing would change his mind. “You are perfect to me.
I
am the monster…
I
am the one to be ashamed. How can I ask you to give yourself to a body such as mine?” he asked.

Spencer shook his head and sank forward to rest his forehead against his chest. “You think so little of yourself,” he complained.

Prosper reached out his hand, to caress his companion's waist. If he felt so unworthy and such a monster, he would have sent Spencer away and never brought a human into his life.

He looked over the semi-naked body on display, stunningly beautiful and insecure. He placed his hands on Spencer's shoulders and let them drift to his chest.

Spencer lifted his head and never took his eyes off him, as Prosper lowered his head. His lover sighed, as he kissed his nipple and used his mind to remove his ratty clothes.

He willingly succumbed to the temptation of companionship and bare flesh.

He sucked hard, as he pushed forward, to back Spencer into the bookcase. He did not know, until he heard a grunt of pained surprise from his lover, that he had used his speed to pin him down.

Prosper's hand slid between warm thighs, as his companion grasped his hair and sighed. He had never been this intimate with another man and his vampire demanded he claim what rightfully belonged to him.

When Prosper brushed Spencer's tight hole with his finger and his lover gasped, he moaned at the electric charge passing between them.

Being deprived of the most basic human contact for fifty years had robbed him of what little patience he had left. He used his mind to lubricate his fingers, pressing them against Spencer's body with care.

His human sagged against his shoulder, wrapping both arms around his neck, drawing closer.

He knew how surprising and intimate that touch could be, as Prosper had used such methods to pleasure himself over the years. He rubbed his fingertips against Spencer's tight hole, keeping the lubricant thick and slick on his fingers. When it transferred onto soft skin, he mentally replaced it with more, to ensure that this night would only end in pleasure.

Prosper bit his lip, as he stroked Spencer. A whispered word, that he could not decipher, encouraged him to press forward. He pushed one finger against the tight muscles; they offered such resistance that he dare not venture further.

“Please,” Spencer whispered in his ear.

He supplied what he demanded, pushing further, until his lover bit his shoulder with a groan.

Prosper's instincts rose to the surface; his teeth extended and he growled. His darker nature relished the bite as something it understood and craved. That bite had woken his hunger and he could not fight it.

He kept the knowledge of Spencer's untouched innocence at the fore of his mind. He could never forget to treat him with care, if he wanted to keep his new companion.

Inarticulate, Prosper caught his companion's mouth with his own. He longed to kiss him until his heart stopped, destroying his delicate humanity. Instead, he removed his finger and slowly pushed in two.

Spencer moaned, the sound muffled by their hungry kiss. Fingers clawed at the base of his spine, pulling him closer, driving him to breaking point.

With a last twist of his fingers, Prosper removed them from his lover, caught Spencer's waist in both hands and lifted him off his feet. The skinny human frame proved no hindrance to his vampire strength and Spencer helped, by wrapping his arms around his neck and his legs around his waist.

His gaze was hot and heady, full of the same need that surged between them. Words were unnecessary, as they parted from their kiss; they were of one accord.

Prosper cupped Spencer's pert rear and pressed his back against the bookcase. His companion locked on to his steady gaze and never looked away. He decided to discover how quickly he could make Spencer break that stare.

Slowly, he eased his human onto his eager cock, both panting hard, as Prosper filled him. Aroused beyond comprehension, Prosper did not stop until settled deep within him, ignoring the painful nails that dug into his shoulder blades.

Nothing compared to the pain of his hard cock and full balls, that demanded a release.

He gloried in the clenched muscles and tightness that surrounded him; it knocked him speechless as he pulled nearly all the way out and thrust in again.

Spencer gasped and closed his eyes, an action that brought Prosper more pleasure than it should. He was such a stubborn boy; Prosper had expected him to hold out longer, before admitting that he had given himself over to desire.

His third thrust knocked the breath from him, as Spencer reached to grasp one of the bookcase shelves, for purchase. The move lifted his hips toward his next thrust, until Prosper hit his prostate.

Spencer twisted, opening his eyes to gaze at him as his mouth slackened, to let him breathe through the heat they generated.

Prosper stared back, feeling that tangible thread between them, that cemented the belief they were life mates. Only two souls bound together, finally connecting in a physical expression of passion, could allow him to feel what Spencer experienced. When he hit his prostate a second time, deliberately, the pleasure mirrored in Prosper's own body.

“Prosper,” Spencer whined, as his fingers rose to his hair and gripped so hard that he could have torn it from his scalp.

Prosper bared his teeth, welcoming that possessive touch. He looked between them as his companion's thick cock rubbed against his chest, smearing pre-come over his skin. If his body was not delightfully tight, he would have lifted him high enough to lick his pink head clean.

Reluctantly, Prosper focused on being gentle with his lover, as he thrust into his accepting body. He buried his face in his neck and inhaled Spencer's invigorating scent, glorying in the feel of his body.

It did not take long before he lost control of his senses. With Spencer's biting fingers drawing him ever closer, he thrust hard and fast, desperate to sink into the supple young body.

His companion matched each breathy sound Prosper made with his own. Spencer's hips matched his rhythm, until they were thrusting so hard against one another that his companion's cries of pleasure were mingled with small grunts of discomfort, as the shelves dug into his back. But still his human held tight, still Spencer dug his nails into Prosper's shoulders and begged for more, in private whispers only meant for this moment.

Overcome by the wild passion they shared for one another, Prosper did not recognise the tightness and desperation in his stomach until Spencer cried out and came between them. Hot come sprayed his chest, as Prosper continued to move inside of him. It did not take long for those tightly clamped muscles to send him over the edge.

He lay his head on his lover's shoulder, now they were spent. He could not bear to have it end. He had never reached an orgasm, until now, unless by his own hand. His fantasies could not compare with the reality of losing himself to Spencer's body.

He used his speed to relocate to the bed, where he lay his lover down and looked deep into his eyes.

Spencer surrendered to the moment and the stability he had given him. Yet, when he could have asked to rest, he refused. “Kiss me, as you make love to me,” he asked, in a short, breathy voice that sent shivers down his spine.

Prosper could only obey. He braced his knees, leaning over the gloriously naked body before him. Pushing one hand into the mattress, he used the other to brush aside Spencer's short, floppy hair from his forehead. He wiped away the sweat beading on his brow and leaned in to let their lips meet halfway.