the kissing and touching was done, until sleep had come to
claim them both.
Michael didn’t mind. Christian was now his.
§ § § §
Sebastian raged, screaming his anger. How was he
ever going to get Christian back under his control if Michael
kept taking him further away? This is not how it was
supposed to be. Coming to this God forsaken country was
supposed to bring him closer to his plan, but it wasn’t what
happened. Since being here his Christian had been taken
from him and given to someone else. Given to a bitch! She
didn’t deserve Christian!
Sebastian knew before long he would have to do
something about her. There was no question; she needed
to be put in her place. Heading into the bowels of the earth
he thought about how he was going to exact his revenge as
he walked into the lower hal s. Coming to a standstil ,
Sebastian pressed his ring to the wal so it would open.
“Hel o, creature,” Sebastian said as he unfurled his whip.
“Have you missed me?”
The creature stared at him with sightless eyes. “Why are
you stil here? I would have thought by now you would have
run back to your home,” the creature retorted.
It pissed Sebastian off even more even this dirty and
mangled thing thought he was above Sebastian. Flexing his
fingers, Sebastian prepared to show him how wrong he
was. “I wil leave when I am goddamn ready.” The crack of
the whip was loud as it fel across the creature’s face and
chest, yet the creature never made a sound. In al the time
Sebastian had been visiting the creature he had never
once heard him cry out in pain.
“What keeps you so quiet? Why have you never tried to
escape?” Sebastian enquired with another crack of the
whip.
“I am waiting,” the creature answered calmly.
Those three words stopped Sebastian cold. “Waiting for
what?”
“Michaela. She is coming for me. I belong to her.”
“Who is Michaela? Where is she coming from?” The
closeness to Michael’s name worried him.
“I do not know.”
Sebastian burst out laughing. “You wil be waiting forever
then. There is no one coming for you.”
“She wil come.” The creature stared at him with the
clearest blue eyes Sebastian had ever seen. They
reminded him of something he couldn’t quite recal .
The certainty in the creature’s voice spurred Sebastian’s
fury as he let the whip fly, and stil the creature stayed silent.
Not even a whimper passed his lips.
Waking up much later, Michael sat up and stretched. It
was already dark. Christian sat nervously on the edge of
bed beside him ful y dressed and watching him. “I couldn’t
face them on my own.” Christian gestured out the door.
Michael could hear the others getting ready to head out for
the night. “I think they’re stil mad at me.” Christian hung his
head in shame. Reaching out, Michael gently stroked his
arm in comfort.
Getting up out of bed he said, “Not everyone is mad at
you, Chris.” Stretching again, Michael realised al his
clothes were stil al up in the attic. “Fuck it.”
“What?”
“My bag, it’s upstairs.” Michael gestured to his naked
form. “I have no clothes aside from the ones I have been
wearing for the past couple days. They’re yours and by this
stage they kinda reek.” Michael wrinkled his nose. “Badly.”
Standing up, Christian walked to his dresser and pul ed
jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt out of the drawer. Tossing
them onto the bed he said, “We know they should fit, seeing
as you have worn my clothes before.”
Michael poked out his tongue as he pul ed on the jeans
but left the t-shirt; he had always hated wearing them. “I’l
get my own shirt.” Michael walked out into the quiet hal and
wasn’t surprised when Christian fol owed close behind him.
They entered the now less cluttered attic. “Wow! You
were busy.”
“Anger seemed to help me focus.” Michael shrugged as
he upended his bag onto the bed and searched through his
belongings until he found another one of his crinkled black
dragon shirts. It was probably the only thing which didn’t
need ironing. The shirt fit the contours of his body perfectly.
This had also been a gift from Gypsy. For some reason she
had just decided that Michael liked dragons.
“You look good,” Christian said as he reached out to
straighten Michael’s col ar.
The edge of Christian’s thumb caressed his neck; he
shivered as he leaned further into the touch. Michael loved
the feeling of Christian’s fingers touching his body. It was
strange, exciting, and new. He sighed as Christian stared
at him with so much heat in his gaze it made Michael
desperately want to stay in this room, away from everyone,
yet he knew they couldn’t. Somehow Michael could sense
the rest of the family waiting for Christian and him to join
them. They al needed to talk. Sometimes it felt like al they
did was talk.
“Ready to face the music?”
“No.” Christian dropped his hands. “I don’t know what to
say to them. I don’t know how to explain any of this to them
without it coming out al wrong.”
Christian stared at the floor for a moment. “This thing
between you and me, wel I don’t real y understand it. I don’t
understand why I feel about you as strongly as I do, or why
you do either. I don’t know if this is real y us, what we want,
or if it is something else, pushing us into a bizarre new
direction. The dreams seem to be fucking with my head
today. Don’t get me wrong, I like it. I really like it, but it’s
completely different from anything I have ever known. Did
we just do this on our own, or was it because of the
dreams, was it just easier to go with the flow?” Christian
shook his head. “I’m just a little confused right now. Does
any of this make sense?”
Nodding sadly, Michael was quiet for a long time before
he could bring himself to speak, “I take it by what you just
said you’re now having second thoughts and you’re not
ready to show the others, about us I mean. They already
know,” Michael took Christian’s fingers in his own. “They
heard what was said in the hal last night. They would have
to be both blind and deaf if they haven’t worked out we are
into each other.”
Disappointment ran through him and he hated it. “They
already thought I was gay, just from the other night. Our
argument last night would have confirmed it.” Michael didn’t
want to get into another discussion about Rhys again, but
he had to add. “They don’t know nothing happened with
Rhys. Wel , nothing happened until I got home to you.”
“No, not second thoughts, exactly. I don’t
think our
relationship is wrong,” Christian said. “But there is this little
part deep inside me which tel s me it isn’t real. And I mean
something deeper than what the dreams have told us. This
thing is tel ing me I wasn’t meant to be this way. I love you –
don’t ever doubt that. My heart tel s me just how much I love
you, but I can’t shut up the fear and doubt running through
my mind right now. I am scared that we won’t have enough
time before we get pul ed apart. Does that make sense?”
Michael brought their entwined fingers to his lips. “No!”
Closing his eyes, Michael kissed their joined fingers. “But
what’s right for me might not be right for you. I won’t force
you to be with me.”
Letting their fingers drop Michael stepped away. He
hadn’t said al he wanted to, because he couldn’t bring
himself to tel Christian that to beat the creator they had to
be together. Both he and Christian needed to give
themselves to each other mental y, physical y and
intimately. With the conversation that just passed he knew
Christian wasn’t ready to hear everything he had to say no
matter how eager he had been earlier.
“I need time to work it out,” Christian said.
“Am I going to be your dirty little secret now?” Michael
was hurt, and he couldn’t understand why. Up until three
days ago he would have… no, he had sworn he was
straight. So why did this hurt so much? Why did it feel like
he was now being rejected? That his heart was being
ripped out of his chest and stomped on? It may be a little of
an overstatement, but right now it was exactly how he was
feeling. Who said at twenty-two you had to be al grown up
and act as though nothing affected you?
Christian reached out and caressed Michael’s face.
“Don’t say that. I just need time to adjust. I just don’t
understand. I mean after you found out about what I had
done to you. After how angry you were. I mean, I can’t work
out why you stil want to be with me at all. Why did you
come and get me even though I had already taken so much
from you? ”
“I don’t know why.” Michael held up his hands in
resignation. “I just know I need you.” He pul ed on his shoes
and socks. “I can’t explain it, so I’m not going to try, except
to say even though it stil hurts to be near you — knowing
what you did to me — it hurts even more to be away from
you.”
“I wil never forgive myself for what I have done to you. It’s
the reason why I needed you to forgive me.” Christian took
a step closer to him. “I.” He took another step. “Am.” And
another. “So.” Christian stepped once more until their
bodies were pressed flush against each other’s. “Sorry.”
Christian fol owed his last word with a long kiss.
Michael sighed into the kiss. His body was reacting
violently to Christian’s nearness and he wanted to rip
Christian’s clothes off and throw him to the bed. To cover
Christian’s body with his own and take what they both
wanted.
This was kil ing him. “But you stil need time?” Michael
asked breathlessly as they parted. “Do you stil love me?”
Christian whispered sadly, “Yes, I stil love you and yes, I
stil need time.”
Michael put on a brave face and traced his fingers softly
over Christian’s cheek. Taking a deep breath, he turned
and headed for the stairwel , leaving Christian to
contemplate his own thoughts. This was something
Christian could only work out on his own.
Something felt off. Both Doyle and Charm stared at him
as he walked into the kitchen. Kerr had his head bent over
the paper and was reading the front page story. Michael
shuddered as he glanced at the headline.
Bodies Found In Burnt Out Shack
Two bodies were found by the Ashgrove Fire Department this
morning at three am when they were called to put out a fire on Range
Crescent. The house in question belongs to Christian Risley,
grandson of the late Sir Bertram Risley. It is still undetermined if
either of the bodies is that of Christian. The senior Officer…
Michael pointed to the paper, “Don’t let Chris see that.”
“Did he light the fire?” Michael watched as he pul ed the
paper off the table as Christian stopped in the doorway.
Christian seemed unsure whether or not he should enter. It
didn’t help matters with Kerr and Doyle glaring daggers at
him.
Al Michael said was, “I did it.”
“Where did you go last night?” Charm asked. She turned
to Michael, as if she wanted to take the focus off of the fact
Christian was back.
As he sat down at the table, Michael thought the truth
would be best. “Home. I went to see my family. I wanted to
see Gypsy but she wasn’t there, which was lucky I guess. It
was good to see them but it was also kinda hard, because I
needed Gypsy so much. She is the one I turn to when al my
shit goes haywire. She always fixes everything when I
break.” Michael sat in one of the chairs not realising just
how much he needed to talk until he began tel ing them
about it. “I just wanted to see them. I watched them through
the window for a long time, and then I stood at the closed
front door for even longer. It’s where my mother found me.
My leaving had upset them and I needed to make it okay.”
“Did you?” Michael didn’t turn toward Doyle as he spoke.
Michael frowned in thought. “Yes and no. My tel ing them
came out al wrong. Their scent was so overpowering. It
messed up my head, which was already pretty messed up
to begin with.” Michael struggled for words. He needed just
the right ones to explain it properly. “They stil want me.
They want me to come home. Dad doesn’t think I am
capable enough to look after myself. I don’t think he wil
ever let me and Gypsy actual y grow up.”
Michael glanced at Charm when she asked, “Did you tel
them what you are?”
Michael wanted to reach for her hand. He thought
somehow she could understand what he was feeling, and it
felt nice. Michael shook his head. “They found out I’m gay.”
Michael shrugged, “I’l let them deal with that part of my life
first. It’s easier for them to understand, to accept. I don’t
know if I ever want them to know what I have become.”
Michael turned as Christian spoke. He stil stood in the
doorway, his arms crossed over his chest, frowning. “Wil
you go back?” Even though he real y wanted to go back,
Michael didn’t want to leave Christian. Not now that they
had taken a new step in their relationship. Even if Christian
was stil confused over exactly what their relationship was.
“I want— I guess I can’t have what I real y want. I just don’t
want to have to give them up completely. I don’t know how
any of you can stand it.” Michael shook his head in
frustration. “Don’t you ever miss your families?”
Charm reached for Michael’s hand. “None of us have
any family left,” she said. “It’s the main reason why it was
such a shock when you were changed, because you…”
Charm let her words trail off into nothingness.
Michael final y understood how it had never bothered
them. “Because I did,” none of them ever had to go through
what he was going through. None of them have had to
experience his pain. “I don’t want to give them up. I can’t,
especial y Gypsy. She is half of me.” At their confused
faces he added, “Gypsy is my twin sister. She is the one I
go to when I am having a hard time. Gypsy has always had
my back in times of need, and now.” He shrugged.
“But you can’t stay with them ful -time as the temptation
would be too much to bear.” Kerr paused for a moment
before continuing, “It wil get easier, the scent thing. It real y
only lasts for the first couple of months.”
Michael thought Charm was just happy her family was
back together the way it belonged. She added, “And if you
feed before you see them.”
Feeling better after the conversation, his brain went
through a list of things he could do where his family was
concerned. “Thanks.”
Maybe he didn’t have to give everything up. Maybe he
could stil have Gypsy, even if it was only for a little while
longer.
“I think I might cal them.” Michael felt happier when he
stood up. Taking Doyle’s phone off the bench he asked,
“Can I borrow this?” Michael didn’t wait for an answer as he
headed outside.
Doyle watched Michael walk out of the house; his heart
ached for the things he was going through. He wished there
was something he could do to help ease the way. Doyle
frowned at Christian watching Michael. The dreams had al
told them how Michael belonged to Christian for now, but
only Doyle knew this wouldn’t be the way it would always
be. But his thoughts were private and he didn’t feel ready to
share this dream with any of them – he needed to work it al
out in his own head first. In reality he needed to come to
terms with what could possibly happen in the future. Yet it
stil hurt to watch Michael and Christian get closer.
Returning his attention to Christian, Doyle asked. “Wel ?”