Crimson Moon (10 page)

“Yes, but I thought you’d chose something a little less…dirty.” Ramiro brushed bits of grass off his suit pants.

Gunnar bumped his shoulder against Ramiro’s. “As long as we can stay here on the vineyard, I don’t care what we do.” Gunnar took a deep breath. The grapes had started to ripen, and although Neo had hired labourers from town to tend the vines in his absence, they weren’t doing a very good job. He wondered what
Neo’s
reaction to his beloved Le
Uve
del
Regno
would be upon his return.

“Take me for a walk,” Ramiro suggested.

“Okay. Where do you want to go?” Gunnar asked, reeling in his line.

“Show me your favourite spot.”

Gunnar set his pole down before standing. “That’s an easy one.” He glanced down at Ramiro’s expensive leather shoes. “You might get those dirty.”

Ramiro rose and began to thoroughly brush off his clothes. “Guess I’ll be forced to buy some hiking boots and overalls if I’m going to continue to spend time here,” he mumbled.

Gunnar took Ramiro’s hand and led him towards the trees. Growly or not, he liked the idea of Ramiro spending time at the vineyard.

The moment they stepped into the forest, Gunnar sighed.
“Feels good to be home.”

“Does it bother you?”

“What?”

“Being here and not being able to shift?”

Gunnar stopped in a small clearing and thought about the question. If it were anyone else, he would downplay his physical reaction to his old running ground, but Ramiro deserved so much more. “It’s hard to explain. I think more than anything, I miss running with a pack. Even though I tried not to pal around with the men I work with, when we were in wolf form, I felt part of the group.” He shrugged. “So, yeah, I guess I miss it, although my body doesn’t ache to change like it did in the beginning, my heart longs for that sense of belonging.”

Ramiro stepped in front of Gunnar and wrapped his arms around his waist. “You belong with me now. The big question is will I be enough for you?”

Once again, Gunnar gave it some serious thought before answering. “I need to tell you something before I can answer that.” Gunnar stepped back and took Ramiro by the hand once more. “But first I want to take you to my spot.”

Gunnar led Ramiro down a winding path. “Not much further,” he said over his shoulder.

“Thank the Gods,” Ramiro mumbled.

Deep in the timber was a small clearing with a rock-lined fire circle in the centre. “Here it is,” he said, pulling Ramiro down to sit beside him on the smooth wooden bench he’d made nearly a hundred years earlier. “This is where I spend most of my time when I’m not working.”

Ramiro looked up, but the majority of the night sky was hidden behind the tree canopy. “You know, in another hundred years or so, you’ll be able to sit out here in the daylight hours for small stretches of time.”

Gunnar had grudgingly given up hope of ever stepping outside during the day.
“Really?”

“Yes.” Ramiro turned sideways to straddle the bench.
“Maybe sooner if you wear a strong sun block.”
He rested his chin on Gunnar’s shoulder. “Is this where you’d like to build a house?”

“Hell, I’d give anything for that, but this is
Neo’s
land and he won’t allow it.” Gunnar had even mentioned to Neo not long after he started work for him that someday he’d like to build a house in the woods. Neo hadn’t agreed. He’d explained to Gunnar the importance of leaving the forest intact.

Ramiro brushed a kiss across Gunnar’s cheek. “Maybe we can change his mind.” He sucked Gunnar’s earlobe into his mouth. “Neo wants something from me. Perhaps I’ll use this piece of land as my bargaining chip.”

Gunnar’s spine stiffened as jealousy crept into his mind. “What does he want from you?”

“He wants me to be the new Vampire King. I told him no, and I don’t plan to change my mind on that, but perhaps with the right incentive, I could be persuaded to retain my position as security chief.”

It was a reminder of
Neo’s
obvious respect for Ramiro. “Where will that leave me?” Gunnar asked.

“Right here where you belong.”
Ramiro turned Gunnar around until they faced each other. “With me,” he whispered against Gunnar’s lips.

“Neo won’t need two heads of security on Le
Uve
del
Regno
.”

“I won’t be working for the vineyard. I’ll probably be overseeing vampire affairs, but I can just as easily do that from here.” Ramiro suddenly jerked back.
“Unless, of course, you don’t want me here.”

Gunnar sighed. It seemed he wasn’t the only one feeling insecure. He tried to think of a way to make Ramiro understand. Gods, he wished he was better at saying what he felt. “I want you here. I’m just not sure that I deserve you.”

“Does this have something to do with the darkness that you claim lives inside of you?” Ramiro asked.

Gunnar knew the time had come. “Yes.” Gunnar turned away, unable to look Ramiro in the eyes. “My father was the Alpha of my pack. Things happened, and I killed him.”

When Gunnar said nothing more, Ramiro prompted him. “You can’t just stop there. I know you wouldn’t have killed someone for no reason. What did he do?”

“He had an affair with his Second-in-Command,
Brandr
.” Gunnar took a deep breath. “Evidently
Brandr
wanted to more than a side fuck for my father because he cornered my mother while out on a hunt and killed her. When my father found out, he tore
Brandr
to shreds. I was young, but I thought I was in love with
Brandr
despite what he’d done, so I challenged my father and won.” Gunnar shrugged. “I walked away from the pack that night and haven’t been back since.”

Ramiro’s hand began to rub the small of Gunnar’s back. “We’ve all done things we’re ashamed of. It’s hard to live for centuries and not have a few skeletons in your closet. Right or wrong, what you did was a long time ago. I think you’ve more than made up for it.”

Gunnar couldn’t help but feel relieved. “Are you always so damn optimistic?”

“I learned the hard way what guilt can do to a person. Believe me, you have to learn to let it go or it’ll continue to fuck up your life.”

Gunnar wondered what skeletons Ramiro had in his closet, but the mood had been heavy enough for one night. “We’d better get back to The Realm.”

“We still have another hour or so before dawn,” Ramiro said, pulling Gunnar’s T-shirt over his head.

“Can you do that little transporting thing straight to bed when we’re done?” Gunnar asked, lifting his hips so Ramiro could remove his jeans.

“I think you’re ready to learn how to do it on your own.” Ramiro knelt between Gunnar’s legs and ran his tongue up the length of Gunnar’s cock.

“
Mmm
, I’d rather learn my lesson tomorrow,” Gunnar said with a groan.

Ramiro’s mouth captured Gunnar’s crown. Gunnar braced his hands by gripping the back side of the bench and thrust his hips, burying more of his length in Ramiro’s mouth. The squeeze of Ramiro’s throat as he swallowed more of Gunnar’s erection was just what Gunnar needed. The only thing missing… “Do that mind thing with my hole.” For someone who didn’t think he’d ever let his guard down long enough to feel a cock breach his hole, Gunnar had quickly become addicted.

Ramiro released Gunnar’s cock. “I’d rather touch you the old-fashioned way.”

“Then get naked,” Gunnar instructed.

While Ramiro removed his clothing piece by piece and laid it carefully on the bench, Gunnar slid to the ground. The small clearing had little grass due to the decreased amount of sunlight it received, which didn’t bother Gunnar a bit. He enjoyed the soil and leaves as much as a patch of soft grass. He tossed several small sticks towards the fire-pit before spreading out on his back.

“You don’t really expect me to get down there with you, do you?” Ramiro asked.

“You can stretch out on top of me when the time comes.
Wouldn’t want you to get dirty or anything.”
Gunnar grinned up at Ramiro and spread his legs. He was certain he looked like a wanton slut, but at the moment, that’s exactly how he felt. Gone was the Alpha who’d always felt he had to posture. At least with Ramiro, Gunnar knew he didn’t have to prove his position as a warrior.

Gunnar stretched his arms out to the sides, burying his fingers in the soft soil. The contact seemed to make his skin tingle. Was it just his imagination or could he truly feel the presence of his wolf? It had been too long since he’d felt that part of himself.

“What’s wrong?” Ramiro asked
,
kneeling between Gunnar’s spread thighs.

Gunnar shook his head. The talk he’d had with Ramiro and
Audric
came immediately to mind. If he admitted he still longed for his wolf and actually felt his presence, Ramiro would probably insist on taking him back to The Realm right away. He buried his hands further into the Earth.
“Nothing.
Just need you.”

Ramiro stared at Gunnar for several moments before pulling a small tube of lube from his pants’ pocket. “You really are happy here, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Gunnar’s fingertips began to ache, but he refused to remove them from the home they’d found in the dirt.

Ramiro’s
lubed
fingers skated over Gunnar’s hole several times before settling where Gunnar needed
them
most. “You’re so damn sex…” Ramiro cut himself off midsentence and jumped to his feet. “Someone’s here.”

Gunnar was about to tell his lover to relax when he heard the rustling of the leaves. The smell hit him next. “Smell that?” he asked, sitting up. When he pulled his hands from the ground, he noticed the claws where his fingernails should be. “Shit!”

Ramiro glanced away from the forest. “What’s? Oh, fuck!” he exclaimed upon seeing Gunnar’s hands.

“Something
like
that,” Gunnar agreed. He reached down and scooped up handfuls of dirt and began rubbing it on his chest, neck and face.

“What’re you doing?” Ramiro asked.

Gunnar noticed Ramiro’s fangs had slid from their sheaths at the incoming threat. “If it worked for my hands, maybe it’ll work its magic on the rest of me. Right now we need all the help we can get.”

“I should get you back to The Realm.”

“Don’t you
dare.
I don’t need you to whisk me off to safety. We’ve waited too long for Juniper to make a move like this.” When his chest began to tingle, Gunnar knew his wolf was fighting like hell to shift. Dropping to the ground, he began burrowing under the fallen leaves, rubbing his entire nude body against the soil.

Ramiro raced back to the bench and found his phone amongst the pile of clothes. “We’ve got company,” he said into the phone before tossing it back to the bench.

Thoroughly covered from head to toe in dirt, Gunnar resumed his position next to Ramiro. “How many do you think there are?”

“Too many.
We don’t know how to kill them.” Ramiro glanced at Gunnar. “If something happens, know that I love you.”

“You picked a hell of a time to tell me that,” Gunnar said as pain shot through his body. He doubled over before falling to his hands and knees. He could hear Ramiro’s voice but the pain was too intense to make out the words. Fuck, what had he got himself into? Gunnar began to wonder whether he’d survive the transformation.

“Juniper!”
Ramiro shouted.

Gunnar opened his eyes in time to see a group of monsters enter the clearing. He tried to get to his feet, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. It was a cry of pain from Ramiro that allowed Gunnar’s wolf to push to the forefront. All at once, hair sprouted through the pores on Gunnar’s body as the crunch of shifting bone grew louder.

Staring down at his hands, Gunnar took a deep breath. He hadn’t fully changed. Two-inch talons sprouted through the flesh of elongated, hairy human hands. An unexpected blow to his side knocked him over.

Instinct kicked in and Gunnar jumped to his feet, or what could pass as feet. They, too, seemed to have suffered through the partial shift. He swiped at the monster that had charged him and ripped easily through the freak’s leathery flesh.

The monster charged once again as blood ran from the gaping wound on its chest. Gunnar hadn’t noticed it at first, but he stood eye to eye with the thing. With the freak’s size taken out of the equation, it was down to a battle of skill.

Although Gunnar received a bite to the forearm, he pushed through the pain to plunge his sharp claws through the hybrid’s chest and into its beating heart. Before the freak fell to the ground, a searing pain ripped down Gunnar’s back. He
span
around and lashed out at another of Juniper’s hybrids.

All around him, the battle between Juniper’s freaks and guards from The Realm raged on. Dodging blows and delivering lethal blows, Gunnar worked his way towards Ramiro. By some miracle, his wolf had come out to help protect the handsome vampire, and unless he hurried, it would all have been for nothing.

On the ground, Ramiro’s muscles strained in his effort to hold a hybrid from ripping his throat open. Gunnar ended the lives of two more monsters before he reached the man he loved. One hard kick to a freak’s head managed to get him off Ramiro. Gunnar charged towards the hybrid, ready to end his life as easily as he had the others.

“Stop!”
Ramiro yelled. “It’s Juniper,” he informed Gunnar.

Gunnar barely heard Ramiro as he hoisted the freak that had dared to attack Ramiro off the ground.

“Gunnar, stop!” A deep voice ordered.

Seconds away from ending Juniper’s life, Gunnar paused long enough to glance over his shoulder at Neo. Despite Gunnar’s agitated state, an order from his boss had the ability to get through to him.

With Neo at his side, Spiro rushed forward. “Drop him,” Spiro said.

Gunnar threw Juniper to the ground as hard as he could. Although it seemed he wouldn’t be allowed to kill Juniper, the wolf inside him wanted to inflict more pain on the threat to its mate.

Juniper landed with a satisfying sound of breaking bones. Spiro shoved Gunnar out of the way and began a furious chant, moving his hands back and forth above Juniper’s body. In the blink of an eye, Juniper was gone along, with Spiro.