“Be cautious, file mou.”
At the warning, Leo’s eyes flew up to Alasdair’s as he dipped his finger deeper into his mouth. Leo sucked on it, unable to help himself, and his eyes slid shut as a low, moan emerged from his throat. He felt as if he were hypnotized.
“You might get more than you bargain for, with thoughts like that.”
Ahh. That voice made Leo’s dick harder than a goddamned rock, and he jutted his hips out, searching for relief. When Alasdair wedged his leg between his thighs, he couldn’t stop himself from rubbing his aching length over the hard muscle there.
He reached for Alasdair’s arm, something to anchor him to reality, and the rattle of the chain had his eyes dropping to the cuff on his wrist. Fuck, he’d forgotten about that, and though it should’ve snapped him the fuck out of whatever daze he was in, the sight of that shackle had the opposite effect. His head fell back against the bricks and he rolled his hips harder against Alasdair.
“Fuck,” Leo groaned, and when the long length of Alasdair’s cock aligned with his, Leo wanted to feel it naked against his skin. Fuck, he was close to reaching down and undoing his pants to get it.
“Se thelo,” Alasdair rasped.
Leo’s fingers dug into the arm caging him against the wall. He was out of his fucking mind, but God, he wanted the vampire too. And when his eyes opened and caught Alasdair’s, he nodded.
An arrogant as fuck smile stretched across Alasdair’s lips, and he went from sexy to downright fucking dangerous in seconds. Then he swooped in and captured Leo’s lips in a savage kiss.
Leo moaned into his mouth, not caring what would happen next, and when Alasdair’s hands grabbed his ass, a blinding flash of light exploded before Leo’s eyes. Suddenly, he was seeing—he had no idea what.
LEO BLINKED SEVERAL times, the scene playing out like a scripted show, startling in its familiarity. This was where he’d first seen Alasdair, back when he’d chased him down through the bathhouse.
What the…?
There, in front of him but not really there at all, was Alasdair.
Not the Alasdair who was currently kissing him though.
No, there, he had long, shoulder-length hair. In a white toga, he was running through an empty hall with a massive pool and thick, white columns surrounding it. His face was flushed, and as he stopped behind one of the pillars, his eyes slid shut and he tried to catch his breath.
Leo watched, fascinated, thinking it was another trick of the mind. Then Alasdair lowered a hand to stroke himself as he demanded to someone Leo couldn’t see, “Show yourself”—
“LEONIDAS.”
LEO SQUEEZED his eyes shut, and then he heard his name again.
“Leonidas?”
When he opened his eyes, he focused on the Alasdair who’d lifted his head. The one whose eyes were narrow and full of suspicion.
“What just happened? Your eyes—the color, it… What was that?”
Good question, Leo thought. He was about to tell him that he had no idea, but Alasdair shook his head and indicated behind him.
Three figures were walking by. Each was dressed in casual clothes: jeans, shirts, and jackets. They could’ve been anyone on the street—except for the three trailing behind them, one man and two women, each bound by chains like his own.
The man had a collar around his neck instead of a cuff at his wrist, and his gaze was on the ground as if he were studying where and how to put his feet with every step he took. He was dressed in loose, black pants that hung off his hipbones, and if it weren’t for the drawstring tie, Leo was positive they would’ve fallen off. The man was thin—not grotesquely so, but enough that Leo could see his ribs.
The women were a different story altogether.
Voluptuous, plump, and confident in their steps, they glided by him and Alasdair. They were both wearing outfits of the same billowing, black material as the man’s pants. It crisscrossed in narrow strips over their bare breasts, barely concealing them, and then met at the low waist below their navel, where a skirt flowed off their hips to the floor.
Around each of their wrists was a cuff much like his own, and Leo wondered if there was a difference between being collared or cuffed. He almost laughed at the thought. Never had he ever entertained the thought of anything remotely BDSM, so he really had no point of reference.
Is that what these vampires are into?
When the other occupants in the hall disappeared around the corner, Alasdair said quietly, “Come. I want answers, and so, apparently, do you. I’ll show you the difference between a cuff and a collar, and you are going to tell me what the fuck happened back there.”
ALASDAIR WAITED FOR the usual denial. That had been Leo’s standard response. But as they walked in silence, he had a feeling this time might be different, judging by Leo’s confused expression.
This was not good. When several adolescents made their way down the hall, Alasdair decided there was no better time than right then to mark Leo. He needed his scent on the human before they hit the actual Walk. He’d been so close too.
One minute more and Leo would’ve been on his knees with his cock in his mouth and his come down his throat. Except something had happened. The color of Leo’s eyes had spread like ink across a body of water, encompassing the entire surface…
But what was happening beyond the surface?
“Where are we going?” Leo asked, finally breaking the silence.
“I already told you. We need to leave via the Walk.”
Leo made a frustrated sound. “That doesn’t tell me anything. What is the Walk?”
Alasdair stopped so abruptly that Leo almost ran into him. “I am not telling you anything more until you explain what you did back there.”
Leo swallowed.
Alasdair raised an eyebrow. “Nothing?”
“I didn’t do anything. It just happened.”
“What happened?” Alasdair fired back, and instead of waiting for a response, he delved inside Leo’s mind. He hunted around, searching for any kind of clue as to what had happened. But all he got was, Get out of my head.
Frustrated at the anomaly that Leo was, he demanded, “Tell me what you did.”
“I. Don’t. Know,” Leo stressed and shook his head. “This is fucking ridiculous. If you don’t believe me and think I’m some huge threat, why am I still here?”
Alasdair couldn’t agree more. For some irritating reason he didn’t understand, he couldn’t bring himself to get rid of him. He had no idea what was going on with this man, but the deeper he got, the more…intrigued he became.
“The Walk happens each month,” he said.
Leo’s mouth parted in surprise, as if he’d expected death, not an answer to his original question.
“It’s where we take our new yieldings and show them off amongst our kind.”
“But I heard you tell the suit guy that I wasn’t your—”
“I told you not to speak of him,” Alasdair interrupted, yanking on the chain so Leo practically tripped up to his side.
“Why can’t I speak of him? Because he’s your lover? Big deal.”
Alasdair found the question odd. What did he care who knew that particular fact? “You are not to speak of him because he is of much importance, unlike yourself. And yes, among the many things he is to me, my lover is one of them.”
“So, you’re gay?” Leo asked.