Chapter 6
Donnell was feeling rather giddy. He stood on wavering legs, feeling the remnants of Kieran’s magic course through his system. This was wonderful! Like being on the best drug high ever, but without the side effects. The mage just stood there smiling at him, a look of amused affection on his face. “Maybe we should put up some decorations, Donnell,” he crooned. “Would you like that?”
He considered this question. Decorations? Hmm, that sounded like fun. He nodded rapturously. Kieran’s grin widened. “Great. I brought tinsel to put around the windows and the door, and some little ornaments to hang off of it. You can be my assistant,” he added as he walked over to retrieve the things they’d need to put up the decorations.
Donnell trailed after him as he walked to one of the windows and held up a length of silver-and-red tinsel. “This will look nice,” he mused.
The vampire stared at the tinsel. It was so shiny! It seemed to brighten up his apartment. He decided that he liked it. “Here, hold this,” Kieran told him, and he obediently put his hands on the tinsel to keep it in place while the mage secured it with tacks. Kieran was humming a Christmas tune under his breath as he worked.
Usually Donnell would have been incredibly irritated by this sound, but right now he thought that it rather suited the mood of their endeavor. After a moment, he found himself humming along as well.
Kieran flashed him a glance, the mismatched eyes dancing. But he said nothing as he finished securing the length of tinsel around the window frame. “Ah, just right,” he enthused. “Now we can hang some ornaments on it. Do you want to pick which ones we use, Donnell?”
The vampire scratched at his back curls. “Very well,” he said. “Show them to me.”
Kieran fetched a bag of ornaments from the pile and brought them over to Donnell. He handed them to the vampire, who took them and began to pull ornaments out of the bag one-by-one. There were little colored balls, colorful ceramic figures, plastic icicles, and lengths of ribbon twisted together into bows and little puffs. He peered at every one, and decided on a little white reindeer with its legs stretched out in mid-leap. He handed this to Kieran, who nodded his approval. “That’s nice,” he said admiringly. The mage threaded a wire hanger through the hole on top of the deer’s back, then wound the hanger around the tinsel so that the deer was dangling from it.
The mage admired his own work for a moment, then encouraged Donnell to choose another ornament. Together they decorated the tinsel around the window, then went on to the next window. By the time that they reached the front door, Donnell was more clear headed but still in a decidedly good mood. He helped Kieran hang more tinsel around the doorframe. Then the human hesitated, reaching up to pull the sprig of mistletoe from his hair. “I thought that we’d hang this over the door,” he remarked casually.
Donnell frowned, his brows gathering together. “No one comes here but the landlord,” he pointed out. “And I do not want to kiss the landlord!”
Kieran made soothing motions with his hands before stretching up to secure the bit of mistletoe above the door. “Its okay, you don’t have to kiss your landlord,” he assured Donnell. “I just thought it would look pretty. Besides,” he went on as he stepped back and looked in satisfaction at his work, ’There is ONE other person who comes here now. Me.”
Donnell felt a shock course through him at Kieran’s words. Yes, the human mage came here! He stared up at the mistletoe rather apprehensively, as though he were. afraid that it would come to life and force him to perform osculatory acts with Kieran whether he liked it or not. His eyes skittered away to meet Kieran’s, and the gleam in their depths made weird things happen in his abdomen.
“You don’t want to kiss me!” he cried indignantly, glaring at Kieran.
The mage lifted his brows. “I don’t?” he said in mild enquiry.
Donnell shook his head sharply. “No! You like the lasses!”
“Do I?” Kieran was looking amused again. It made his teeth grit together.
“Yes!” he pointed an accusatory finger at the tall human. “I saw you flirting with that waitress at the diner! You’ll not fool me with your tricks, Kieran O’Mara!”
The mage laughed, a wild and joyful sound. “No tricks, Donnell,” he said when he could speak again. “Haven’t you ever heard of a bisexual? I like girls, I’ll admit; but I like guys, too. Always have. And when I saw you on the street, I thought that you were the cutest thing that I’d seen in AGES. Of course I want to kiss you.”
His breath rushed out on a long gasp at Kieran’s reasonable words. His scrambled brain tried to find solid, logical purchase. “Are you just saying that because I’m a vampire?” he asked warily. “Because I’ll not die on you and leave you alone?”
Kieran sighed. “No,” he said tightly. “Think about it, Donnell. If I wanted to, I could have found one of your folk long ago using my magic. If I only wanted just any vampire, that is. But I don’t. I specifically want YOU. Not anybody else.”
He was still, feeling as though he couldn’t move. “Why?” he asked in a small voice, his eyes wounded.
Kieran looked puzzled. “Why?” he repeated incredulously. “For a vampire you don’t have much self-esteem, Donnell. In the movies vampires are always confident and arrogant, but you seem like the complete opposite of that. What happened to make you that way?” he asked gently.
He felt tears burning behind his eyes, and his teeth clenched tightly together. He choked out: “YOU have the only person you’ve ever loved desert you without so much as a note of apology or explanation, and see how much self-esteem you have left,” he said caustically, pain clear in his voice.
Kieran’s eyes filled with compassion. “Did that happen to you? Who was it, Donnell? Who deserted you?”
He looked away. “My Maker, Vassily,” he whispered. “He came to my village in Ireland and seduced me. I loved him so much that I begged him to turn me so that we could be together forever. I thought that he loved me as well - he even told me so. But then, one morning, I woke up and he was gone. Just gone. As though he’d vanished into thin air. I was frantic. I thought that something had happened to him. But through the bond we share because he is my Maker, I realized that there was nothing wrong with him at all. He’d just left. He’d grown bored with me. I haven’t seen him since.”
“Oh, Donnell,” Kieran said, and hands closed over his shoulders. “That’s awful. That guy Vassily must be a real asshole to have deserted someone like you. That, and a blind fool.”
Donnell looked up into his face through a film of reddish tears, making it look like Kieran’s face was limned in blood. “You’re amazing,” Kieran went on steadily. “I could never get bored with you. No one in his right mind could. You’re so sweet, and gentle, and kind,” a thumb lifted to wipe away his tears lovingly, “You even hate the fact that you have to feed off of people against their will, and that you have to steal from them to survive. All of those legends that say that vampires have no souls are false. I know that now, just from having met you. And I really, REALLY want to kiss you right now, under the mistletoe. Can I?” he asked softly.
Donnell was lost in that parti-colored gaze. He found his head lowering in a nod almost against his will. Kieran smiled, and to his shock he found himself floating up of the floor! “What?!” he squeaked, and Kieran caught his arms to steady him.
“I’m just levitating you a little,” the mage told him reassuringly. “You’re a bit short. Ah, there!” he exclaimed in triumph as Donnell rose a few inches off the ground. “That’s better!”
Donnell started to protest, but it was cut off when Kieran’s lips closed over his. Then he was thoroughly distracted at the feel of the mage’s mouth on his own, and all he could do was moan softly and wind his arms around Kieran’s neck to steady himself. An insouciant tongue slid into his open mouth, caressing over his own. He shivered in Kieran’s grasp, feeling his body come alive after a very long time. After Vassily had left, he’d been like the dead man that all vampires were said to be. He’d plodded through life in a state of despair, broken-hearted and so very, very alone.
But now Kieran’s vitality and energy and magic were helping to bring him back to life, to wake him up and make him remember what it was like to be alive again. When a hand slid down his back to close over his ass, he didn’t protest at all. Long fingers kneaded it through the fabric of the pants he was wearing, and pressed him closer to Kieran’s long form. His raging erection was pressed against the front of the Christmas sweater as Kieran sucked tenderly on his tongue and made him shudder helplessly.
Finally it was over. Kieran pulled back slowly, licking at his swollen lower lip. He looked down into the glazed dark eyes, and his smile was sweet and possessive. “Donnell,” he husked. “Now that was a kiss under the mistletoe, don’t you agree?”
Donnell blinked, coming back to himself a little. His brain still felt muddled - but his body was VERY clear about what it wanted! To Kieran’s delight, he turned faintly pink as he realized that his erection was still pressed against Kieran’s belly. He pulled back jerkily, and the mage didn’t try to stop him. “It was…” he began huskily, as Kieran used his magic to set Donnell on the floor once again. “A fine kiss,” he admitted.
Kieran looked down at him keenly. “But?” he asked shrewdly.
Donnell ran a hand through his inky curls in agitation. “I barely know you!” he cried. “How am I to know that you won’t do what my Maker did - take what you want from me, and then leave when you’re done?” the anguish in his voice made Kieran look sad.
“You don’t know that,” he conceded. “And I could stand here and reassure you that I wouldn’t leave until I was as blue in the face as a Pict, and you probably still wouldn’t believe it. But I know that you’re strong, Donnell. And that you’ll come to the right conclusion, given time.”
“What conclusion?” Donnell asked, frowning.
“That its better to take a chance on somebody than to live your life alone and miserable,” Kieran replied bluntly. “Yes, what your Maker did to you was shitty. But to live your life closed off and afraid, sure that everybody else is going to hurt you, too…that’s no way to be. You deserve better than that. Until you figure that out for yourself, I’ll stick around and drive you crazy. You’ll give in eventually rather than ending up doing something awful to me,” he said with a faint grin.
Donnell felt his stomach twist. He was totally sure that Kieran was right. Already, less than two days into their friendship, the crazy human mage had turned his life upside down. It wouldn’t be long before he gave in entirely. And that thought, while it scared him to death, almost made him feel strangely peaceful inside. Some part of him was already telling him that he could trust Kieran completely. If only he could convince his stubborn brain of that too…
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Donnell was feeling rather giddy. He stood on wavering legs, feeling the remnants of Kieran’s magic course through his system. This was wonderful! Like being on the best drug high ever, but without the side effects. The mage just stood there smiling at him, a look of amused affection on his face. “Maybe we should put up some decorations, Donnell,” he crooned. “Would you like that?”
He considered this question. Decorations? Hmm, that sounded like fun. He nodded rapturously. Kieran’s grin widened. “Great. I brought tinsel to put around the windows and the door, and some little ornaments to hang off of it. You can be my assistant,” he added as he walked over to retrieve the things they’d need to put up the decorations.
Donnell trailed after him as he walked to one of the windows and held up a length of silver-and-red tinsel. “This will look nice,” he mused.
The vampire stared at the tinsel. It was so shiny! It seemed to brighten up his apartment. He decided that he liked it. “Here, hold this,” Kieran told him, and he obediently put his hands on the tinsel to keep it in place while the mage secured it with tacks. Kieran was humming a Christmas tune under his breath as he worked.
Usually Donnell would have been incredibly irritated by this sound, but right now he thought that it rather suited the mood of their endeavor. After a moment, he found himself humming along as well.
Kieran flashed him a glance, the mismatched eyes dancing. But he said nothing as he finished securing the length of tinsel around the window frame. “Ah, just right,” he enthused. “Now we can hang some ornaments on it. Do you want to pick which ones we use, Donnell?”
The vampire scratched at his back curls. “Very well,” he said. “Show them to me.”
Kieran fetched a bag of ornaments from the pile and brought them over to Donnell. He handed them to the vampire, who took them and began to pull ornaments out of the bag one-by-one. There were little colored balls, colorful ceramic figures, plastic icicles, and lengths of ribbon twisted together into bows and little puffs. He peered at every one, and decided on a little white reindeer with its legs stretched out in mid-leap. He handed this to Kieran, who nodded his approval. “That’s nice,” he said admiringly. The mage threaded a wire hanger through the hole on top of the deer’s back, then wound the hanger around the tinsel so that the deer was dangling from it.
The mage admired his own work for a moment, then encouraged Donnell to choose another ornament. Together they decorated the tinsel around the window, then went on to the next window. By the time that they reached the front door, Donnell was more clear headed but still in a decidedly good mood. He helped Kieran hang more tinsel around the doorframe. Then the human hesitated, reaching up to pull the sprig of mistletoe from his hair. “I thought that we’d hang this over the door,” he remarked casually.
Donnell frowned, his brows gathering together. “No one comes here but the landlord,” he pointed out. “And I do not want to kiss the landlord!”
Kieran made soothing motions with his hands before stretching up to secure the bit of mistletoe above the door. “Its okay, you don’t have to kiss your landlord,” he assured Donnell. “I just thought it would look pretty. Besides,” he went on as he stepped back and looked in satisfaction at his work, ’There is ONE other person who comes here now. Me.”
Donnell felt a shock course through him at Kieran’s words. Yes, the human mage came here! He stared up at the mistletoe rather apprehensively, as though he were. afraid that it would come to life and force him to perform osculatory acts with Kieran whether he liked it or not. His eyes skittered away to meet Kieran’s, and the gleam in their depths made weird things happen in his abdomen.
“You don’t want to kiss me!” he cried indignantly, glaring at Kieran.
The mage lifted his brows. “I don’t?” he said in mild enquiry.
Donnell shook his head sharply. “No! You like the lasses!”
“Do I?” Kieran was looking amused again. It made his teeth grit together.
“Yes!” he pointed an accusatory finger at the tall human. “I saw you flirting with that waitress at the diner! You’ll not fool me with your tricks, Kieran O’Mara!”
The mage laughed, a wild and joyful sound. “No tricks, Donnell,” he said when he could speak again. “Haven’t you ever heard of a bisexual? I like girls, I’ll admit; but I like guys, too. Always have. And when I saw you on the street, I thought that you were the cutest thing that I’d seen in AGES. Of course I want to kiss you.”
His breath rushed out on a long gasp at Kieran’s reasonable words. His scrambled brain tried to find solid, logical purchase. “Are you just saying that because I’m a vampire?” he asked warily. “Because I’ll not die on you and leave you alone?”
Kieran sighed. “No,” he said tightly. “Think about it, Donnell. If I wanted to, I could have found one of your folk long ago using my magic. If I only wanted just any vampire, that is. But I don’t. I specifically want YOU. Not anybody else.”
He was still, feeling as though he couldn’t move. “Why?” he asked in a small voice, his eyes wounded.
Kieran looked puzzled. “Why?” he repeated incredulously. “For a vampire you don’t have much self-esteem, Donnell. In the movies vampires are always confident and arrogant, but you seem like the complete opposite of that. What happened to make you that way?” he asked gently.
He felt tears burning behind his eyes, and his teeth clenched tightly together. He choked out: “YOU have the only person you’ve ever loved desert you without so much as a note of apology or explanation, and see how much self-esteem you have left,” he said caustically, pain clear in his voice.
Kieran’s eyes filled with compassion. “Did that happen to you? Who was it, Donnell? Who deserted you?”
He looked away. “My Maker, Vassily,” he whispered. “He came to my village in Ireland and seduced me. I loved him so much that I begged him to turn me so that we could be together forever. I thought that he loved me as well - he even told me so. But then, one morning, I woke up and he was gone. Just gone. As though he’d vanished into thin air. I was frantic. I thought that something had happened to him. But through the bond we share because he is my Maker, I realized that there was nothing wrong with him at all. He’d just left. He’d grown bored with me. I haven’t seen him since.”
“Oh, Donnell,” Kieran said, and hands closed over his shoulders. “That’s awful. That guy Vassily must be a real asshole to have deserted someone like you. That, and a blind fool.”
Donnell looked up into his face through a film of reddish tears, making it look like Kieran’s face was limned in blood. “You’re amazing,” Kieran went on steadily. “I could never get bored with you. No one in his right mind could. You’re so sweet, and gentle, and kind,” a thumb lifted to wipe away his tears lovingly, “You even hate the fact that you have to feed off of people against their will, and that you have to steal from them to survive. All of those legends that say that vampires have no souls are false. I know that now, just from having met you. And I really, REALLY want to kiss you right now, under the mistletoe. Can I?” he asked softly.
Donnell was lost in that parti-colored gaze. He found his head lowering in a nod almost against his will. Kieran smiled, and to his shock he found himself floating up of the floor! “What?!” he squeaked, and Kieran caught his arms to steady him.
“I’m just levitating you a little,” the mage told him reassuringly. “You’re a bit short. Ah, there!” he exclaimed in triumph as Donnell rose a few inches off the ground. “That’s better!”
Donnell started to protest, but it was cut off when Kieran’s lips closed over his. Then he was thoroughly distracted at the feel of the mage’s mouth on his own, and all he could do was moan softly and wind his arms around Kieran’s neck to steady himself. An insouciant tongue slid into his open mouth, caressing over his own. He shivered in Kieran’s grasp, feeling his body come alive after a very long time. After Vassily had left, he’d been like the dead man that all vampires were said to be. He’d plodded through life in a state of despair, broken-hearted and so very, very alone.
But now Kieran’s vitality and energy and magic were helping to bring him back to life, to wake him up and make him remember what it was like to be alive again. When a hand slid down his back to close over his ass, he didn’t protest at all. Long fingers kneaded it through the fabric of the pants he was wearing, and pressed him closer to Kieran’s long form. His raging erection was pressed against the front of the Christmas sweater as Kieran sucked tenderly on his tongue and made him shudder helplessly.
Finally it was over. Kieran pulled back slowly, licking at his swollen lower lip. He looked down into the glazed dark eyes, and his smile was sweet and possessive. “Donnell,” he husked. “Now that was a kiss under the mistletoe, don’t you agree?”
Donnell blinked, coming back to himself a little. His brain still felt muddled - but his body was VERY clear about what it wanted! To Kieran’s delight, he turned faintly pink as he realized that his erection was still pressed against Kieran’s belly. He pulled back jerkily, and the mage didn’t try to stop him. “It was…” he began huskily, as Kieran used his magic to set Donnell on the floor once again. “A fine kiss,” he admitted.
Kieran looked down at him keenly. “But?” he asked shrewdly.
Donnell ran a hand through his inky curls in agitation. “I barely know you!” he cried. “How am I to know that you won’t do what my Maker did - take what you want from me, and then leave when you’re done?” the anguish in his voice made Kieran look sad.
“You don’t know that,” he conceded. “And I could stand here and reassure you that I wouldn’t leave until I was as blue in the face as a Pict, and you probably still wouldn’t believe it. But I know that you’re strong, Donnell. And that you’ll come to the right conclusion, given time.”
“What conclusion?” Donnell asked, frowning.
“That its better to take a chance on somebody than to live your life alone and miserable,” Kieran replied bluntly. “Yes, what your Maker did to you was shitty. But to live your life closed off and afraid, sure that everybody else is going to hurt you, too…that’s no way to be. You deserve better than that. Until you figure that out for yourself, I’ll stick around and drive you crazy. You’ll give in eventually rather than ending up doing something awful to me,” he said with a faint grin.
Donnell felt his stomach twist. He was totally sure that Kieran was right. Already, less than two days into their friendship, the crazy human mage had turned his life upside down. It wouldn’t be long before he gave in entirely. And that thought, while it scared him to death, almost made him feel strangely peaceful inside. Some part of him was already telling him that he could trust Kieran completely. If only he could convince his stubborn brain of that too…
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