Heirot

Atul groaned, unable to tear his eyes away from watching Vlad. His beaten and battered body held in his arms, pleasured by his mouth. It made Atul feel incredibly vulnerable, and yet completely blissful. "Gods," he gasped, arching his head back and fisting his hand in Vlad's hair. "Yes..." His weak hips bucked against Vlad.

Vlad's intermittent groans grew sharper and less frequent as he found himself fascinated and devoted to the squirming man beneath him. There was no room to find his voice as he slid quickly over the man's flesh, again and again. His free hand slid below him, drifting between his legs and lower, until he found that spot that Atul usually used against him. Tonight it was payback time, and the thought was so sweet the vampire wanted to drink it. His fingers slid over the man's slick opening, exploring. Then the vampire stuck his first two fingers knuckle deep into the bath oil. He raised his eyes to the king's sapphire gaze daringly.

Atul cried out with pleasure, his body stiffening with surprise. He lifted his head to watch the vampire, eyes wide with lust. His teeth clenched. He growled at the vampire. "More." At the moment, not having the strength to do what he wanted to, nothing seemed like it would be enough. And being this desperate felt both exciting and frustrating. His hands tightened painfully hard in the vampire's hair.

Vlad slid his fingers deep into the man, rubbing with torturous softness against a firm spot inside of him. He redoubled his efforts with his mouth, and his fingers grew slowly more persistent until they massaged at him in hard, firm circles. He could feel the man responding to him, moving with him. "Fuck, that's so hot," he groaned huskily, freeing himself for only a moment before pushing back down over him. His supporting arm grabbed his ass, hard, while his fingers and mouth worked over him in unison.

Atul panted, desperate to feel that sweet release. He growled Vlad's name, huffing moans. His legs moved in the water, toes curled. "Ah!" he cried, hips bucking. "Vlad!" His gaze focused on the vampire, trying to warn him what was coming, and so very thankful for his sight. His body shuddered. "I'm... Ah!"

* * *

Tenele crashed so hard she passed out on the bed with Tenara tucked against her, and her sword dangling off the bed, dripping blood onto the floor. Tenara cooed next to her, wiggling her arms in the air.

A figure loomed over the sleeping Maiden, watching her and the child. A clawed finger reached down towards the infant, and Tenara made a high excited sound. Her little hand wrapped around the figures finger, tugging. Then, he drew away, and disappeared out of sight.

Vlad almost felt like his own release was tugging at him as the man's hot seed filled his mouth. He sucked lightly at the slowly recovering organ, his throat tingling with the heat he'd swallowed. His fingers stilled and slowly withdrew as he lowered the man deeper into the water. He curled both arms around Atul's shoulders and pulled him gently up into a warm, loving kiss. He drew back just enough to see him, his one crystal-blue eye and other slightly foggy. Vlad hadn't had the nerve to ask about the second eye, and he wasn't about to do it now. Instead, he pulled Atul up and little closer in his arms, hugging him. "If I had gotten to you any later, Atul, I.... I have no idea what we would do if you were gone. Please take care of yourself."

Atul nodded against Vlad's skin. "I will," he promised. "I will not leave you. As long as it is within me power to stay, I am at your side." He kissed Vlad's shoulder and then rested there, completely spent for multiple reasons. "Thank you," he sighed.

Vlad responded by licking the side of his neck, where one of his half-closed wounds was still healing. He didn't continue over his whole body to inspect and clean every wound with his tongue, but it was a sampling of that tenderness he showed his wife. "Rest. I am with you," he whispered beside his neck, settling him back into the warm water. He stretched out along the man's side, his arm looped carelessly over the king's waist in the water.

He knew they couldn't soak too long, or the doctor would rant about softening Atul's stitches. But it was nice to be able to touch the man without hurting him, for a while.

Atul's body hummed with that beautiful warm contentment that always came after a release. He let himself relax for the first time in so long. It didn't take the king long to fall a sleep while soaking, having pushed himself so hard that day. Despite his battered features he looked at peace in Vlad's arms.

Vlad lay with him for a few more minutes before he knew they had to relocate. He levitated Atul carefully out of the water without shifting his position. It was a trick tha took some concentration, but it made it much easier to gently towel him off and wrap him in a warm robe. The vampire got himself decent as well before returning to Atul's side and lowering him gently into his arms. If the man was going to sleep, Vlad decided to carry him to the hospital room instead of teleporting. That would be quite a rude awakening on his fragile rest. The halls had largely been blocked off on this portion of the castle to keep gawkers from "exaggerating" the king's wounds. To the kingdom, he was just taking a short leave of absence. Vlad was able to carry Atul back to the curtained room with little fuss or observation. He was so focused on the man that he didn't even notice the scent of blood in the hallway. After all, there had been plenty of blood around these past few days. But when he entered the hospital room, he froze. Something felt off, about Tenele, about the smell of the place.

Tenele's sword slipped from her fingers, off the edge of the bed and clattered to the floor. The loud sound startled her awake. She lurched up from the bed, her head splitting, her side aching. It took her a moment to understand what had happened, and it astounded her that her body had managed to shut down after all of that. She immediately checked Tenara lying next to her. Her daughter stared up at her curiously. And then Tenele noticed Vlad holding Atul.

Atul had roused awake too. He lifted his head to Tenele. "Tenele..." He muttered, glancing to the floor. "There is blood on your sword..."

Tenele pressed a hand to her temple. She quickly collected Tenara in her arms, and clammored out of bed. She tried to think of an explanation of why she'd just fought off some regenerating thing and then took a nap. The only explanation she could imagine was tha the hit to the wall had been intended to knock her out, and the adrenaline had kept her going long enough to get back to Tenara.

"I... its complicated," she muttered. "Vlad, come with me, please." Then she knew she just couldn't leave it at that. "I just put Tenara down to sleep and I heard a noise. I followed it out into the hall. I found... A secret passage. It's how they knew so much about us, it went right to the crawl space between our rooms. I was coming back to tell you when I got ambushed. I killed it, but got a bit of a bump on the head. I'm okay. I just was so relieved that Tenara was alright... I don't know what happened."

Vlad's eyebrows knit together in shock as he took in the bloody scent in the room, Tenele's words, the sword in her hand...

His arms clenched tighter around Atul and he stepped toward her. "Tenele, what in the world--" He stopped, reconsidered her expression and her request. He'd fought with her enough times to know the need for action when he saw it on her face. "Will Atul be safe here?" he asked, deciding to trust that look.

Tenele pursed her lips together glanced to Atul, and then to Tenara. "I think so. I think he was the only one. I only saw one shadow. But, we should check." Tenele placed Tenara back in her cradle next to their beds and kissed her daughter's cheek.

"The only one of what?" Vlad demanded, his gaze dark and fierce as he glanced around the room. Someone had attacked what was his when it was most vulnerable. He didn't like the coincidence.

Tenele swallowed, resting her hand on Tenara's crib. "I'm not sure. It was dark. It wasn't human and it could heal very quickly. I'm not hurt, but if we don't get there before someone else finds the body..."