Round Robin: The End

Sam raced to the door and flung it wide. Ken fell inside, hitting the tile, just as Absolom landed on the threshold. Sam had no time to help Ken up, or ask why he was there, as the large, dark vampire loomed like a specter of death in the doorway. “I’ve come to offer you a trade. The life of your lover for the sword. You have exactly thirty seconds to choose which you’d like to sacrifice.”

“Um, pardon me for saying so, but it seems as if I have the sword and Ken both, while you have neither. How is that a trade?”

Absolom smirked. In the time it took Sam to blink, his menacing image blurred. One minute he was standing at the door and the next he was in the living room, with Ken trapped in his grip. One razor-sharp fingernail pressed against Ken’s throat, a tiny trickle of blood oozing from the small cut. “Now what do you have, my boy? And you’re down to fifteen seconds.”

Sam stalled for time. “If you want the damn sword so bad, why don’t you just take it? You know where it is.”

“This is true, but the sword must be given. I cannot steal it without dire consequences.”

That made no sense to Sam, since the sword was virtually powerless as far he knew, but he wasn’t about to bicker over whether or not Absolom had the capability to walk into his home and steal a weapon that had been in his family for generations. At the moment, he didn’t really give a shit why the loon wanted it. He could take the damn thing and floss his pearly white teeth with it, for all Sam cared. He wasn’t going to sacrifice Ken’s life for a hunk of metal.

“Fine.” Sam glanced away from Absolom’s cinnamon red eyes and met Ken’s wide, frightened gaze. “Let Ken go and it’s yours.”

Absolom jerked Ken’s hair back, pulling his chin up, and pressed the tip of his fingernail more deeply into the wound on Ken’s neck. “Bring it to me. Now.”

Ken whimpered. “Please, Sam. Do what he says.”

“I’m going. I’m going.” Sam held his hands up and began to back toward the mantle. He kept an eye on the two men, fully aware that it would be a mistake to turn his back on Absolom. He plucked the sword off the mantle, the metal heavy in his hands, and carried it back. “Here. Take it and leave us in peace.”

Absolom eyed the sharp edge of the blade, and then sneered at Sam. “Do you take me for a fool, boy? Hand it to me with the handle out.”

Fuck. Sam carefully grasped the blade and turned the handle toward Absolom. “Just let Ken go and fucking take it already.” He held his breath as the other man’s grip lessened on Ken’s throat. If this was going to work he would have to time it perfectly.

He bowed his head, feigning subservience in order to put the other man at ease, and watched out of the corner of his eye. The moment Ken’s foot lifted to move, he flipped the blade up in the air and swung, slicing Absolom’s head from his body. Ken dove for the floor, shouting. For a split second, nothing happened and Sam feared he’d fucked up.

Then a thin line of red appeared across the alabaster skin of Absolom’s and grew into a cascade of deep crimson spilling down the front of the other man’s torso. The expression on Absolom’s face changed—his eyes widening, and his mouth going slack—and then the head slid from his body and toppled to the floor at Ken’s feet with a wet splat.

Ken scrambled to his feet and threw himself at Sam, trembling. “Jesus, fuck, that was nasty. Who was that asshole? I thought I was a goner there for a minute.”

“It doesn’t matter who he was. All that matters is that you’re safe.” Sam petted Ken’s fine, blonde hair and kissed his forehead. “What are you doing here anyway, baby? You should be at the hospital.”

“I don’t know. One minute I was asleep, having the strangest dream about drinking deep, coppery red wine, and the next I was here.” Ken shook his head. “I really don’t know, but I feel okay now. I’m a little shaken up, understandably, but I feel fine. Great, in fact.” He pressed closer in Sam’s arms. The hard ridge of an erection poked Sam’s hip. “There’s something seriously wrong with me. All I can think about was how close I came to getting my throat slit, and yet I don’t think my cock has ever been so damn hard.”

“You’re perfectly normal, baby. It’s just your body’s way of wanting to prove you’re still alive. That’s all.” Sam could well empathize with Ken’s predicament.

The scent of blood perfumed the air. The fragrance of Ken’s need joined the heady bouquet and twisted it into a potently erotic scent sure to make any vampire stand hard and proud. Sam’s body couldn’t resist. His cock was reacting to the adrenaline coursing through his blood, the feel of Ken’s firm little body in his arms, and the bloodlust he couldn’t control. He wanted nothing more than to throw Ken to the ground and jackhammer his tight ass, but there were more pressing matters that needed to be taken care of first. Absolom needed to take a dirt nap.

Sam pulled away from Ken. “Wait here, baby. I’ll be right back, and then I’ll take care of you.”

Ken’s forehead wrinkled. “Where are you going? You can’t go out into the sun.”

“Not for long, no, but the sun hasn’t completely risen yet. I just need to be out long enough to get this SOB’s ass out of my house.”

“Why?” Ken’s gaze followed Sam across the room, where he lifted Absolom’s body and slung him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. “He’s dead, right?”

“Yeah, but I’d feel a lot more comfortable if there was nothing left of him but ash.” Sam started for the door, and then remembered he’d forgotten the head. “Hey, Ken? Would you grab his head and hand it to me, please?”

“All right.” Ken stood and trudged over to where Absolom’s head rested on the carpet. Sneering, he lifted it by the dark tips of hair, and held it out away from his body as he carried it to Sam. “Here.”

“Thanks, babe.” Sam took the head. “You try to release, okay? I’ll be right back.”

Ken used the hand that hadn’t touched Absolom’s head to scrub the lower half of his face. “Hurry, Samuel. I need you.”

Sam frowned and headed for the front door. He and Ken needed to talk. Unfortunately, it would have to wait until after Sam disposed of Absolom, and then fed Ken the sustenance he needed to fully recover from the evening’s events. Hopefully, another little taste or two of Sam’s blood would keep Ken from having any lasting effects from the ordeal he’d been through.

After dumping Absolom’s body off the side of his porch—and only managing to make his skin itchy from the sun exposure to the sun, rather than singed—Sam entered the house and went looking for Ken. He found him stretched out on the mattress of Sam’s bed, naked and stroking one fist up and down the length of his slender, ruddy cock.

“What’re you doing?”

Ken quirked a single eyebrow. “That should be obvious.”

“Well, yeah, but I’m pretty sure I told you to relax, not to make yourself at home.”

Ken grinned. “Getting off is the quickest way to relax me.”

“Mm hmm,” Sam muttered, although it was damn hard to be upset when presented with such a beguiling view. Ken was a gorgeous specimen of manhood, all golden skin and lean muscle. It was damn hard to remember what he was supposed to be aggravated about when all the blood in his body was trying to squeeze into his cock.

“You could help me with this, you know? It is your fault.”

“How do you figure that?” Sam crawled onto the bed, his gaze fixated on the way Ken’s hand moved up and down, stroking his hand from base to tip, milking glistening drop of precum from the slit.

“You’re the one running around naked. What did you think was going to happen? Now shut up and suck my cock.”

Sam’s pride flared at the order, but his cock didn’t mind it one bit. He moved closer, damn tempted to fulfill Ken’s request, and licked his lips. He could almost taste Ken’s bitter flavor spilling over his tongue. Instead of bending to suck Ken’s cock into his mouth, Sam stretched out beside Ken, lying with his head angled toward Ken’s lower body.

Catching on to what Sam wanted, Ken flipped onto his side and faced Sam. He ran a smooth hand up the inside of Sam’s thigh and then trailed his fingernails lightly over Sam’s balls.

Sam shivered, his sac wrinkling in response to the attention. He reached down and grabbed his cock, holding it steady while he used the sharp edge of a fingernail to slice a thin cut along the shaft. He winced at the quickly-vanishing sting, but was satisfied by the results and the way Ken’s scent intensified at the sight of his blood. Crimson fluid welled up and trickled down the sides of his shaft, even as the fragile skin mended and sealed closed.

Impatient, he gripped the base of his cock and tapped the blunt against Ken’s rosy red lips. “You wanted it. Now suck it.”

Ken didn’t need to be asked twice. He dived onto Sam’s cock like it was a melting ice cream cone, licking and slurping up the blood and moaning like a whore.

“Fuck, yeah. That feels good.” Sam closed his eyes and relished the sweet sensations of Ken’s tongue working his cock before the urge to take a more active role overcame him.

He shifted his upper body and pulled Ken’s uppermost thigh over his shoulder, opening the other man to his desires. Ken moaned and wiggled, bucking his groin closer to Sam’s face. Sam buried his nose against the other man’s sac and inhaled. Ken smelled so fucking good, musky with just a hint of sweat, the way a man should. Beneath it all, Ken’s blood pumped furiously, a call to Sam’s baser instincts. He wanted to sink his teeth into Ken’s femoral artery and glutton himself on the sweet ambrosia, then turn Ken over on his stomach and fuck him until they both collapsed in a satiated heap of arms and legs. Instead, tongued Ken’s balls, and batting them around with the tip of his tongue. His sucked one fragile orb into his mouth and the other, rolling them on his tongue.

Ken moaned his pleasure around Sam’s cock and sucked faster, bobbing his mouth up and down the rigid length. Saliva dripped down Sam’s shaft and moistened his balls, making them slide through Ken’s palm with no friction as the other man massaged and caressed them with a firm hand—just the way Sam liked. No one could suck cock better than Ken, when he set his mind to it.

Ken dragged his mouth up Sam’s shaft and let the swollen tip pop free. Cool air raced over Sam’s wet cock as Ken panted. “Stop teasing and suck me. Please, God. I need to cum.”

Before the last word slipped from Ken’s luscious lips, Sam leaned in and swallowed Ken’s cock to the root at the same time he slid the tip of a dry finger into Ken’s tight ass. Ken bucked and moaned, pushing the tip of his cock against the back of Sam’s throat. He relaxed his jaw and tightened his mouth, moving in a furious pace meant to get Ken off with as little fuss as possible.

As good as sex with Ken could be, Sam was exhausted. Daylight didn’t usually bother him so strongly, but he could feel sleep chasing him, weighing him down. All he wanted to do was get off, make Ken cum, and then go to sleep. They could fuck like bunnies later.

The suction around Sam’s cock increased until it bordered on painful. Pleasure coiled tight in his groin, his balls lifting to hug the base of his shaft. Pleasure boiled inside him, growing ever larger until it spilled out, coating the warm, wet mouth around him. Ken kept sucking, pulling the fluid from Sam’s body, as he shook through the spasms of release.

Spent, Sam rolled over into his back and dragged Ken’s body atop him. He gripped the other man’s ass and pulled him down, plunging Ken’s cock into his mouth. Squeezing the firm globes of Ken’s ass, Sam pushed and pulled until Ken got the idea and started to move on his own, fucking Sam’s willing mouth and taking what he needed.

The smell of Ken’s arousal rose and swirled around them like a fine mist. Ken’s asscheeks flexed and relaxed under Sam’s palms, his cock growing more rigid. Sam angled his head back to take Ken deeper, and concentrated on loosen his throat muscles. On the next pass, when Ken’s crown butted the back of his throat, Sam swallowed. Ken moaned and froze, the tip of his cock buried in Sam’s throat, and started to cum.

Sam held still until the urge to breath became too urgent. He pushed against Ken, urging the other man to get off him. When that didn’t work, he gripped Ken’s thighs and rolled them over.

Ken grunted and then bashfully ducked his head. “Sorry. It just felt so good.”

Sam flipped around and rested his head on the pillow beside Ken’s. “I’ll live.” Or perform a reasonable facsimile of it. After all, it wasn’t as if he were truly alive by human standards.

Satiated from his orgasm, and on the verge of sleep, Sam recalled his need to clarify a few things with Ken. He didn’t really feel like talking now, but what he needed to say couldn’t be put off any longer. He petted Ken’s flat stomach. “Hey, Ken?”

“Hmm?” Ken murmured drowsily. His eyelids lifted, and he gazed up at Sam with sleep-heavy eyes the color of the clear, summer sky.

“I, um, know we were a little lax about putting labels on our relationship when we started sleeping together, but with everything that’s happened, I just need to make sure you understand that I’m not looking for anything serious. I care about you—I enjoy the time we spend together—but I’m not in love with you.”

Ken stared at him for a moment before he burst out laughing. “Sweet Jesus. Is this where I have to explain my intentions to you?” He shook his head. “I like you, Sam. You’re a great guy, with a delicious fucking cock, but I’m not in love with you either. It’s just sex—amazing fucking sex—but nothing more than that.”

“Thank God.” Sam exhaled in relief.

“So, we’re good?” Ken rolled onto his back and stretched, displaying the delicious way the muscles in his chest and torso flexed under the golden surface of his velvety skin.

“Yeah,” Same said, cuddling up against Ken’s warmth. “We’re good, babe.”

He rested his head on Ken’s shoulder and snuggled close. He felt like an ass for making assumptions, especially since he’d been dead wrong, but he’d wanted to clear the air between them once and for all. As much as it pained him to admit it, Absolom may have had a point when he’d accused Sam of being selfish. He didn’t like to be alone, so he strung men along until one of them decided to move on. It wasn’t a crime, and he never mistreated anyone or held them against their will, but he didn’t want to lead Ken on and then chance hurting the other man further down the road. Although his passion for Ken’s body had only seemed to swell with time, rather than ebb as it had with most mortals, that didn’t mean it never would.

As sure as the sun rose and set, the time would come when one of them wanted something more than a physical relationship. The thought of Ken leaving him caused a deep-seated ache in Sam’s chest, but he shoved the fleeting emotion away before it could take root. He’d deal with their eventual demise when it happened, and in the best way he knew how. It was only a matter of time.