Cake (45 page)

“
That was not the intention.”

“
But that is what you did. You truly do not deserve Xavier.”

“
He is mine!” Marcus laid his hands on the end of the stage.

“
I thought that you would have learned by now that your love is not the kind he needs,” Claudius said calmly. “All this time, I have been counseling you that Xavier is not a worthy mate, and I was wrong.”

Marcus was looking up at us, his stolid face an impassive mask hiding his emotions. “I am glad that you see that, Father,” he said tightly.

“
You
, my cherished son, are not worthy of
him
.” Claudius paused for a moment, watching as Marcus’s lips thinned. “Nightshade has taught him more in five hours than you have since you took him. Your only talent seems to be fucking him.” I stumbled as Claudius shoved me forward. “He is in Flame now. You could hurt him as much as you wanted, and he would still come back to you for more, at least until his crisis was over. I think he asked you once if fucking was all there was for him with you. Well, is it? Is he only in your heart and mind when you are hurting him?”

I so did not want to be here in the middle of this, standing awkwardly between them. I wanted to leave them alone together but…

Stay where you are, Xavier.

Claudius had spoken to me in Silent Speak, but he continued to speak vocally to Marcus. “Of course, I must take my own part of the blame for this mess. I could not get your father’s misdeeds out of you, but I made a promise back then that his legacy would not create more victims.” Claudius took two steps forward until he was abreast of me, and looking down at Marcus, he declared, “I take Xavier…as my son.”

“
No! You cannot. I told you, he is mine,” Marcus cried out in anguish.

“
Is he?” Claudius challenged. “Something is missing, my cherished eldest. Or did you not even notice?”

Marcus looked at me, and for a moment there was a flare of red flame in his deep brown eyes. His mouth quirked at the corners and then froze as his searching gaze passed my eyes and settled on my jewel-less ear, and all expression faded from his face.

“
Xavier took it off while he was still trying to recover from your mental rape,” Claudius explained. “Do you understand how badly you hurt your own son? He was not in his right mind, and he was trying to get away from you.”

No, that wasn’t what happened. Not really, and I had to let Marcus know that, but Claudius slapped a physical binding on me to prevent me from jumping off the stage and going to him. And because I stayed at Claudius’s side, Marcus took that as my rejection of him, and his head dropped low.

“
I am truly sorry, Xavier.”

“
Marcus?” I stared down at him from the stage.

“
Claudius will take care of you now. I still have work to do.” And with a determined lift of his chin, Marcus turned away from me.

“
What? Wait, I need you, Marcus,” I implored.

“
Father, please.”

I found myself pressed back against the raven-haired vampire once more, Claudius’s strong arms wrapping around me and urging me tighter against his body.

“
I have three covens left,” Marcus said. “They went to ground, but I have leads on them.”

Claudius splayed his fingers over my chest as if he were trying to hold my heart together. “Do not dare to call Xavier’s name when you kill these coven fledglings, Marcus. Those seven that you stole from his mind were vengeance, but the rest of this is a masterpiece of your own making.”

I watched as Marcus turned his stony set face back to us. “Father,” he said, impassively, “will you be at the Manor?”

“
Yes. I will have to feed Xavier,” Claudius confirmed. “We will not have time to leave before sunrise.”

Marcus nodded. “Then I will find somewhere else to stay.”

“
That would be best.”

“
See to Xavier’s Flame,” Marcus said as he began walking away from the stage. “He should not have to suffer. Make him your Cherished Son.”

I was sort of dumbfounded as I watched him head up the set of stairs without looking back. “Pretty?” I called.

Marcus paused on the stairs for a moment without turning, and then he continued up, carefully stepping around Nightshade. I made a soft whining sound in my throat as he disappeared from view.

“
Stay with me now, Xavier. I will take care of your Flame for you,” Claudius whispered into my ear, digging his hand into the waistband of the kilt and letting his fingers slip into my underwear.

“
I want Marcus,” I cried softly.

“
I know. But I am here for you instead. I will take care of you.” He caught my erection and began to stroke it, pressing his lips along my temple and neck as he did so, giving soft, sweeping kisses that left no marks behind them. There were no teeth touching me. I wasn’t getting any wildness. Why was he doing this so slowly, being so gentle?

“
Harder,” I urged, pressing my hips forward, trying to get more stimulation from his squeezing, gripping fingers.

“
No.” Claudius’s touch turned into a tease and a whisper.

I reached behind me to pull him closer, but he blocked my touch.

“
No.”

I offered my neck.

“
No.”

He pulled his hand from my kilt, his arms gripping around my waist, and I found myself being dragged back to the overstuffed chair I had posed in earlier. Claudius set himself on it and then sat me on his thighs. I opened my legs and wrapped them around the outside of his knees, trying to wiggle myself in place on him.

“
No. Keep still,” he told me. I felt him rest his face on my shoulder. “What did he do to you? Are you tainted too?”

“
I need…I need Marcus.”

“
No.”

“
Please…bite me. Fuck me hard. Make me cry,” I begged.

“
I am too late. I have failed you. I have lost both my sons to this madness,” Claudius sighed sadly. “I will do as you ask, Xavier, but only because I love you. Do not forget that,” he said, bringing one hand to my throat and holding me back against him tightly as he ripped the kilt from my body. My underwear was torn off next, and then Claudius was spreading my legs wide, hitching me up and positioning my body until I could feel his cock pressing against my entrance.

“
Please, please, please…”

“
I’m sorry,” Claudius whispered, as he tore into my portal, using only his seeping precum as lubricant.

As he pushed in, his hand tightened on my throat as if to keep me from getting away, but I wasn’t trying to. Instead, I bit my lip as the searing pain of his brutal entry eased, and I felt the familiar, growing sensations of lust taking over. A low, keening cry started at the back of my throat as I relaxed my body and slipped down further on him. He was different from Marcus, but it was a good different. Really, really good.

“
Bite me. Keep fucking me, and bite me.”

I almost wept when Claudius complied, sinking his fangs into me. He thrust into me and then sucked on my neck, over and over. When he finally pulled his fangs away, he offered me his wrist, pointing out the best spot to bite, and he hissed in pleasure as my fangs sank in.

I lapped at his blood. He tasted of spiced cloves, earthy and rich, and slightly burning. His taste was rich and intoxicating, making me feel dizzy. Crap, I felt like I had just guzzled a whole bottle of expensive wine.

Claudius began to hammer up into me, his hips thrusting forward and back, and then he brushed a thumb over the sensitive head of my cock. I groaned and exploded, clenching my teeth, and wallowing in pleasure as he worked himself towards his own completion.

He bit me on the shoulder, human style, as he ejaculated. I groaned, feeling that intense burn of the Flame and the oversensitivity of my skin fading away as he did so.

Pulling me back against his panting chest, Claudius turned my face towards him, looking at my eyes. Satisfied, he pressed his lips to my temple and then reached out and laid the discarded kilt on my naked lap.

“
What the hell just happened? Did Marcus just leave me?” I asked.

Claudius looked longingly up at the stairs, but the only thing to be seen was Shade’s black tail swaying off the edge of the landing as she continued to faithfully guard the entrance.

“
Xavier…he left both of us.”

I sat up and groaned a little because Claudius was still inside of me. He withdrew, and I felt him plant a kiss on the nape of my neck. I was numb. I didn’t know what to feel. The sexual satisfaction of a Flame was waning quickly leaving what…heartache?

“
Why did you say all those things to him?” I asked. My voice sounded as lost as I felt.

“
Did I tell any lies?” Claudius answered, his hand stroking down my cheek, petting me like a kitten.

“
No,” I replied, barely above a whisper.

“
They were the words of truth I uttered, even if my son did not want to hear them. You are brothers now, though he may deny the claim. We will clear all your things out of the Manor and get you away from him.”

Numbness was giving way to anger. “All
my
stuff is here. I just earned it, remember? We just have to get it to the car. That other stuff back in the closet, he can keep.” I was growing furious, and my mind raced with thoughts of Marcus. He had fucked me over and then just walked away. He hadn’t even said, “Sorry I screwed your brain up. Glad to see you’re not a vegetable any more.”

Xavier. You are not the only one hurt.

I glanced up and saw the black tail flicking back and forth in agitation. Then I noticed that Claudius had slumped in the chair, his face hidden by his raven locks. I twisted on his lap, pushing his hair back to see tears streaming down his face. I sat there looking at him for a second, unsure of what to do. I’d just had him up my ass, and I couldn’t bring myself to at least hug him?

Dropping down to the floor, I sat on my knees and held him. His arms automatically came up and he held me too. We must have made a hell of a strange sight…one vampire fully dressed and the other naked from the waist down, hanging onto each other for dear life or dear death.

Marcus. He had fucked us both over expertly.

Ahem…

Shade, you want to come over and join the group hug?

No. They want to come back down here.

“
Buck up, new daddy,” I said to Claudius, pushing away from him. “They want their storeroom back.” Looking at the kilt, I chose to ignore it. I preferred to wear pants any day. And so I headed back to the dressing room and slipped on my jeans again, tucking in the tattoo shirt I was wearing. I was definitely keeping that.

Claudius stood at the door, watching me as I got dressed. “I failed you, Xavier. And for that, I am sorry.”

“
You’re one year and too many tears too late with your apology, Claudius,” I told him bluntly. “You’ve explained him to me, and I understand why he’s like he is. But I was a virgin when he took me and made me into his sex toy. I’m hurting, and I feel lost, and right now, that is all I know.” I pushed past him. “Thank you for meeting my Flame needs. I know you don’t like doing that.” My words were short and clipped.

Let them come down now, Shade.

As soon as the Hellcat moved her hulking frame, Frederick popped his head in through the door and looked down the stairs, checking to see if we were decent. Once he saw that we were fully dressed and done with our sex session, he came all the way down into the basement, questions burning in his eyes. But he wisely held his tongue when he saw our dour expressions. “What’s wrong?” he hesitantly asked,