Evil Is a Man

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

If you like what you're reading, let me know: SellarDhor@gmail.com. And let me know where you want the story to go and who you want Jake to end up with. And if you have any ideas for the future, let me know, I might include them.

FEBRUARY 25th

Early the next morning, I awoke being nibbled on the ear, having his beard tickle the side of my head. I realized Maxim was still asleep, but his body sure was alive. We had shifted a bit in our sleep so that instead of being on our sides, I was face-down in the bed and his muscles were on top of me, holding me down underneath him.

His powerfully solid form was holding me so tight, it was almost hard to breathe. His cut, veiny arm muscles were wrapped hard around my upper body. Like usual, his body was hot to the touch and sweaty, and with him being as close to me as he possibly could, his masculine scent was intoxicating. His chest hair was particularly damp, soaking my back in his warmth.

And then there was his dick. It was rock hard, and proving that his dickhead always found its way to my hole, his giant tip was pressing into my hole, stretching it. I felt so much hot stickiness there that I thought at first he had come in his sleep, but then realized it was only his precum. It was filling up my hole and had dripped all over the back of my legs and balls. I was literally covered with his potent sexual intent.

"Maxim, wake up!"

"Hmm?"

"You're hard, and you're poking me so much I think you're technically having intercourse with me right now."

"Well, I'm sorry. Men tend to get hard erections while they sleep, especially virile vampire men like myself." He reached around and grabbed me. "Oh, just a bit hypocritical, my friend."

"But mine isn't about to impale you. And why did you think it was okay to come into bed naked in the first place?"

"Because I sleep naked, you know that. It's hard for me to sleep any other way."

"And where did my underwear go during the night?"

"I had nothing to do with that one, I swear."

"Listen, I thought we could share this bed just as friends, but I think I misjudged us. And it's not just you that is the problem, I'm just as attracted to you. But it's not right. If you need to get better sleep, you should be crawling into your fiancé's bed, not mine."

"I wish so badly my marriage was never pre-arranged. That I was free to pursue you as my main squeeze."

"You're only saying that because I'm known to you, and familiar. You need to stop getting hung up on unavailable me and instead focus on getting to know her."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, alright. Does that mean we can go back to sleep now?"

"No! You have to go back to your own bed now."

But he still was all over me, still was pushed a bit inside me.

"Maxim? Why haven't you moved yet?"

"I was hoping you would have a change of heart. Pulling my body away from you right now, when you feel ever so right to me like this, takes a thousand times more willpower than I've ever had to use."

"Good thing you're one of the strongest men I've ever known, Maxim."

"Alright, alright." He got up, naked and hard from my bed with a huff, and put his bathrobe on. "But I can't promise you'll stay out of my more explicit dreams."

I was in the kitchen when Maxim came home from work that evening, loosening his tie, and looked down at my collection of food. "I was going to ask you to dinner tonight, but looks like you got the jump on me, you sneaky little devil, you."

"Actually, this isn't for you. I've got Dr. Herzog volunteering to start honing my fencing skills at his place, and I'm taking us both dinner to eat."

Maxim smiled. "Appetizers? Dessert? Wine? This isn't power-food, it's let's bond food. You're either trying to make the doctor a friend, or you're trying to bed him."

"If that's the end result of our relationship, then I can't complain. Dr.Herzog is a nice man."

He laughed his deep laugh. "Yes, he's the nicest automaton I've ever known, as long as your definition of nice is icy cold and robotic."

"Oh Maxim, is that jealousy I detect in your voice?"

"Jealousy just isn't something someone as wise and mature as I am is capable of. I'm not jealous of any of your suitors, and I'd be the first to congratulate you on any and all consummations of your future beaus that need congratulating. But Dr. Herzog? Really? You know he has about as much emotional range as one of the machines he builds, don't you? Just trying to befriend the man over the years has entirely eluded me."

"Well maybe it will be my warmth that finally melts the man."

"Perhaps. Good luck to you, you're going to need it."

"Luck won't help me, but advice surely would."

He looked over at my food. "I have a better Chardonnay than that. And let's get you a better dessert as well."

"Thank you."

"Even with the fine food, I'll keep the lights on for you tonight."

"Is there anything else you can think of that would turn him into more of a romantic?"

"I know just the thing. In the main square there's an outdoor ice skating rink, which always is filled with couples and families. I've always wanted to go, but never had anyone who I felt close to enough to do that with. If you get him on the ice, how could he not have fun?"

"I think that sounds incredible and I'd love to make it down to that rink sometime. But something tells me Dr. Herzog is more likely to go for something in the fine arts category."

"Let me think about it and get back to you."

"Welcome to my home, Mr. Groves."

The mad scientist's personal laboratory was similar to the factory underneath it: a steampunk's wet dream, all turn of the century functionalism. The place had nary a soft surface or a warm wood surface, instead created and populated by colorful metals and sturdy stone. Pipes were everywhere, but like a massive church organ, their designs were meant to be beautiful as well as functional.

"I brought dinner," I told Dr. Herzog, showing him one of the bags I had brought that was filled with Maxim's chef's healthy foods.

"I don't have a dining room, but that's where I generally eat." He led me to metal lab table with a metal chair pulled up against it nearby a small kitchen room.

"There's just one chair here," I said. "Should I find another?"

"No need, it'll just be you eating."

"But I got dinner for both of us. I thought we could have a sit down dinner together and get to know each other better."

"I don't ever do sit down dinners, and I know you adequately enough, thank you ."

"Well, you have to eat something, right? You're not living off of blood alone, are you?"

"No, I have food daily, but I only eat what my patients call Green Sludge, a drink I created that has all the nutrients the body needs."

"How does it taste?"

"Quite abysmal, actually, but it makes me feel guilty to get pleasure from eating, so quickly downing a unappealing slime is an easy trade for me to make. And similarly, I haven't any warm blood since I had Min's. Ever since then, I've been living off cold, repulsive blood, which gives me no pleasure whatsoever. Now, while you eat your dinner, I'm not going to waste time in here. I have other matters to attend to. You can come get me when you're ready to fence. And whatever you do, don't touch anything."

"Ah, okay."

I ate the healthiest looking pieces of the meal and skipped the wine, then went to find Günter in the largest portion of his laboratory.

"I have a fencing platform, but why don't we start on the ground. I'm afraid I don't have any fencing outfits, so I hope you brought one."

"I did," I said, showing him a bag I had carried in.

As I pulled out my weapon, I could see him grabbing a foil of his own.

"I actually brought a two-person, instructor fencing gear."

"You want me to be tethered to you from behind?"

"I'll learn the best that way, at least to start out with. The only drawback is we won't get to start with an opponent."

"I can think of an opponent for us to practice with. Min, come here!"

At first I thought he was going to ask one of his servants to aid us, and I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't going to finagle any alone time with him. But then there came a very inhuman sound of blooping, as well as a motor starting and wheels turning. In came a figure that was only human in broad facsimile.

"Jake, meet Min, the automaton I built to help serve me. I've used modern computer technology and voice recognition software to give her a brain, and she's capable of fencing."

"You named your robot after your ex?" I asked.

"She has more than her name in common."

Min was constructed out of brass and steel. Instead of legs, she had rubber wheels she rolled in on. Instead of arms, she had steel claws, probably used to assist in industrial work. Her chest had two holes where her breasts should have been, and her metal face looked like something out of Metropolis, only her carved eyes and lips never moved. Instead of talking, she emitted an odd, robotic sound that was completely unintelligible but gave her some character.

Dr. Herzog placed he handle of his foil into the right hole on her breast, and surprisingly, Min grabbed on and held it erect. "There's our partner."

"Great, we need to undress now and put on this suit." I started to take off my clothes, hopping Günter would follow suit.

"Yes, alright." He started to pull off his clothes, showing me his studly, muscled body, his light skin looking so appealing every time I saw it bare. "I'm ready now." He was still in his underwear.

"I think we should remove our underwear too, actually."

"I don't think it's necessary."

"Actually, the fabric of the suit is damaged by underwear, and I've borrowed this from Maxim, so I don't want to ruin it." I took my underwear off, leaving me naked. I felt oddly exposed, then reminded myself that Min didn't count as a witness.

"Oh, alright." Dr. Herzog pulled off his underwear, leaving his hung instrument dangling, and it was hard for me not to just stand there and admire it. He gave me a look that said my eyes were out of line, and the two of us got into the suit, his hard body pressed against my back and bare butt.

"Enter into fence mode, Min," said Dr. Herzog after we had our helmets on and my sword at ready.

Min responded by locking her face onto mine and then rolling towards me as she swung her sword this way and that.

As our lesson began in earnest, it soon became clear that although Min certainly couldn't replace having a human fencing partner, her performance was still perfectly adequate, if a bit mindless. And it also became clear that no amount of grinding my backside against the doctor's soft penis was going to result in a hardon. In fact, I even got his unit inside my crack after a while, but even that closeness had no effect on him. Forcing him to remove his underwear had proven fruitless; he wasn't going to lose control.

After we called it a first lesson, I felt much improved in terms of my swordplay, but not feeling any closer to Günter emotionally.

"Can I take you out tonight? To thank you for our first lesson? My treat?"

"Absolutely not, Mr. Groves. I don't go OUT unless I'm required to."

I felt entirely frustrated with him. "Well, this one you are required to, I'm afraid."

"Why is that?"

"Because as a part of teaching me fencing, I need to go to the actual Sword Gardens and have you talk me through how a proper fencing match is done." It was the only excuse to get him away from his laboratory that I could think of.

He sighed. "Alright, if we must, but let's be quick about it."

We both dressed again and travelled to the Sword Gardens, that beautiful cathedral-like building, and went inside together.

"Let's seat ourselves in the back, where we won't be conspicuous."

I thought about how Maxim had been turned on last time by the scent of spilt blood here, and I shook my head. "I need to be as close as possible in order to see the fencing clearly."

He relented, and we ended up sitting nearly in the front row, looking at the vampire match that was taking place as Dr. Herzog waved away all attempts by waiters to serve us anything. As the vampires started to cut into one another, causing me to turn my head away, I did notice that Günter was responding physically, his fangs popping out, but I couldn't see any growing lump in his pants. I realized that the blood wasn't making him horny, it was only making him want to feed. He really was as cold as Maxim warned.

I reached down and held his hand, hoping I could get a positive reaction from him.

"Why are you touching me?" he asked, clearly annoyed.

"Uh, I guess my hands are just cold."

"I suppose it's a bit drafty in here." He rubbed my hand, attempting to warm it up, and I kept my fingers intertwined with his the entire time we were in the gardens, feeling like I had won some small battle at least.

FEBRUARY 26th

Maxim showed me the morning newspaper at breakfast. "Feodora Kashnikov is performing her Ballet Number 4 at the Krasnyj Sneg Ballet Palace this evening, and I absolutely must take you. I've wanted to take you to this ever since I first met you. I know you'll adore it as much as I do. She's the lead dancer, she choreographs, she created the sets, and she even composed the music. I won't take no for an answer."

"I'm touched that you're finally inviting me to an event where blood being drawn isn't one of the main draws, but I'm supposed to be over at Dr. Herzog's again. If you want someone to go with, you should be inviting your fiancé."

"Jake, it's you who I'm absolutely dying to show this to, not her. But I already figured you'd try to argue with me, so I got Edmund to agree to a double date tonight it at the ballet with you and your passionate new beau, Dr. Herzog."

I laughed. "There's no way he'll agree to go on a date with me. He's not exactly responsive to my interests."

"That's why I'm going to talk to him today, and get him to come along on the double date as a favor to me, telling him truthfully that Edmund will feel relieved to have someone he trusts along with us. Lucky for you, Feodora Kashnikov's performance is moving beyond belief, and I know for a fact he's never seen her before. Only an ice cold heart won't be melted by the ballet's end."

"If you can get him to agree to that, I'll be very pleased."

"If so, Lorna and I will meet you at the Petrov private box after your fencing practice. Okay, so warning, I'm abruptly switching from pleasure to business. I hope it's not too early in the morning for your mind to process."

"Again, you are mistaking my brain for your own. What's going on?"

"Touché. It's high time I hired a new head butler, as the house has been in an awful state of disarray. I've been interviewing for the position for sometime, looking for a younger version of Michael. I've only found one candidate that I like. All the others seem too hung up on themselves, or don't seem trustworthy."

"So, what's the problem? Hire the guy you like, then."

"That's just it. The one I like is a woman. Mrs. Ford."

"And why is that a problem?"

"I've never had a female butler before. I question whether a woman could ever really understand my needs as a man."

"Stop being sexist!"

"Being sexy? I was born that way. It's not something I can turn off. Maybe you shouldn't sit so close to me if you're getting all hot under the collar."

"No, not `sexy.' Sexist!"

"I have no idea what that means."

"It means you're discriminating against someone because they are a woman."

"And is that a bad thing where you're from?"

"Yes, very, very bad. If my opinion matters to you at all, you'll pick this woman."

"I'll hire her today."

"You know, Dr. Herzog, instead of spending our time on fencing today, I'd love it if you could teach me about the Engineering you do here."

"No. There's no way you'd be able to understand all of this. It's just been me who has the intellectual capacity to handle assembling all of this for all these years."

"Oh really? Because I was majoring in Engineering in college. I just took a class on Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering in the industrial revolution."

"Hmm, that was not the expected answer from you, I'll admit. Well then, maybe you really can assist me here."

"I can! Can you give me a tour of this place?"

"Sure."

He gave me a very terse rundown of the plant, but I loved every second of it.

"That was fascinating. It was even better than being in school. Can I call you Professor?"

"No, absolutely not. That is over the line. You can call me Dr. Herzog."

"Fne. So, what are you working on now?" I asked. "Whatever it is, I want to help you."

"Unlike the rest of this, what I was working on has no practical purpose to the city; it's just been my pastime. Are you sure you want to help?"

"I'd love to."

He led me back to his home laboratory and showed me what looked like two artificial arms. "I'm just about to put these on Min."

"Are they to replace the existing hooks she has for arms?"

"No, I rather like the hooks. So, I've built a sort of back container for her that will hold the arms. You know, technically, I'm really not supposed to be doing this, since Min uses a lot of technology from more modern times than Carstvo's Decency Codes allow. But luckily, I'm exempt from those codes, and as long as you are working with me, so are you."

I helped him attach the artificial arms into the backpack. And then we attached that to Min's back. Obviously, I wasn't as skilled as he was at any of this, but I was a fast and eager learner, and by the end of the job, I felt like I was being a lot more help than I had at the start, going from a hindrance that needed to be instructed to an asset. I absolutely loved working with him.

When we were done, he showed me the arms were working. He turned Min on with his voice, and he had a remote control for each of her new, false arms. He controlled the right one with his right hand, and the left one with his left hand. They moved in a very lifelike fashion, and seeing them made me laugh out loud and clap excitedly, proud that I had helped.

"Wait, what was that?" he asked me.

"What was what?"

"That sound you just made."

"Uh, the laughing?"

"Yes. No, absolutely not. You are not allowed to be so happy in here."

"What? I was just feeling happy at our accomplishment. Don't you feel the least bit like we've accomplished something significant together? Don't you feel at all closer to me?"

"Only geographically, because we've had to work in such close proximity. I never feel any accomplishment at my work, because that would be a feeling. I don't feel at all. And if you're going to insist on invading my way of life here, you will submit to my rules and not show any outward displays of emotion while you're under my roof. Otherwise, you can leave right now."

"Fine, I'll agree to be as cold as you are, while I'm here. No promises about my behavior tonight at the Ballet."

The Ballet Palace was even more beautiful than the symphony hall, a circular domed building with blue and white stone pillars surrounding. As Dr. Herzog led me through the hallways, I grabbed onto his arm.

"Why are you touching me like that?" he asked. "I'm quite positive from a medical standpoint you are both fully capable of being ambulatory and following me unassisted."

"Don't forget that you've agreed to Maxim to show up here under the pretense that the two of us are on a date. Grabbing your arm is just what everyone expects to see."

"Fine, I suppose that's harmless enough, as long as you don't expect me to kiss you."

It turned out we were the first ones in the Petrov booth. There were four seats all in a line, so we took the left most pair, with the doctor seated on the outside. I took in the grandness of the formal theater and the eye-popping, exquisite set design. Instead of the orchestra being on the stage, like it was at the city's symphony, this smaller orchestra was under the stage.

Almost as soon as we had sat down, Dr. Herzog pulled his arm away from me. "Why'd you do that?"

"There's no one to witness our behavior here, so no point in putting on a useless charade any longer."

I rolled my eyes, but had nothing to say.

When the orchestra started to play the overture and the lights started to dim, I looked around for Maxim anxiously, not wanting him to miss his favorite show. The overture turned out to be so beautiful that I grabbed onto Dr. Herzog's hand, feeling all sorts of moved.

"Why are you touching me this time?"

"Oh, my hands are cold again."

He fished in his pockets and pulled something out, handing them to me. "This time I was the gentleman and brought you gloves to keep your hands warm."

"Oh, um, thanks." I moved my hand away from his and instead put the gloves on, even though I really wasn't the least bit chilly.

Maxim came gliding in. "Oh thank goodness, it hasn't started yet."

"Where's Lorna?" I asked.

"The victim of her father's incessant fickleness. Once again, he protectively pulled out of the agreement right as I was picking her up." He sat down on the other side of me.

"Well, with her not here, I can't think of a reason we need to stay. Let's go, Mr. Groves."

"Now that we are here, I really want to see this show."

"It's just another ballet. Just another waste of our time."

"No, this one is different," said Maxim. "Feodora Kashnikov is recounting autobiographical events in this piece. It's that personal honesty that makes this story so compelling."

"Well, I don't need to stay any longer. Maxim, I presume you are able to give Mr. Groves a ride home, since he is staying with you.?"

"Actually, no, I can't. I'm going over to Edmund's to give him a piece of my mind as soon as the curtain falls. You'll just have to suffer through the show and take Jake home yourself, I'm afraid, as you agreed to initially."

I was thankful to Maxim for obviously trying to help my cause.

The overture ended and the proper show began, with the crowd erupting in applause as soon as Feodora Kashnikov made her entrance. She was young and beyond beautiful, with long, dark brown hair. When she started to dance, her body moved with such grace and precision, it took my breath away. And I actually gasped out loud when fire started to come out of her mouth, a red-hot contrast over her pale skin and icy blue eyes.

"She's a special!" I whispered.

Maxim smiled his giant smile. "Oh yes, and like myself, she's unparalleled in bringing the Petrov Blood's gift of firebreathing into artistic beauty."

He was right, the fire was used to accentuate her ballet, and was used sparingly, probably because there was no evidence that any of the other ballet dancers were also fanged.

One look over at Dr. Herzog told me he wasn't nearly as moved by this development as I was. He watched her firedance with his arms sternly crossed, generally seeming unimpressed.

As we moved into the plot of the ballet, I became absolutely as riveted as Maxim was. There weren't any words spoken, but there were titles on cards that were lifted for us to see, sometimes with setting or time periods, other times with simple lines of dialogue. It told the story of Feodora Kashnikov in her twenties as she fell in love with a non-fanged vampire of the same age named Minya, who was played by a woman who wasn't quite the ballet virtuoso as Feodora, but had a lot of charisma and personality to make up for that, and was absolutely lovely to watch.

Feodora and Minya were somewhat of star-crossed lovers, being from rival Russian families in Krasnyj Sneg, whose parents both wanted to marry husbands to continue the family line. Their romance was a secret at first, and much tension arose from wanting these two's trysts not to be discovered. When they finally did get discovered, it was moving to see both of them stand up to their parents and stay with each other.

But then it was announced, across the world, unbeknownst to them, Jericho Logan stepped up to take the lead from his father as the ruler of the Logan Blood, and his first act as new patriarch was to attack the Carstvo, still fuming about old wars that had ended long ago in Europe between these lines. As Jericho led a surprise attack on the Petrov Blood populace, brutally killing many, and the only upside to the loss was that it put an end to the feud Minya and Feodora's families had endured, as all fanged vampires went to battle, and all others were required to serve as well.

We went from scenes of the city to scenes of battle, as Feodora, now dressed in a man's military outfit not dissimilar from the one Kirill war, rose from the ranks due to her skill as a fighter, and was always put in front lines. Minya, who was tasked with being a nurse, was dearly unsatisfied. Even though she wasn't fanged, she had trained with her father and brothers as a soldier her whole life, and felt it was a betrayal of her true self to do anything but.

Now, during all of this, as I was at the edge of my seat, Dr. Herzog was profoundly disinterested. When he finally unfolded his arms, making me think he had melted, it was only because he pulled his phone out, and was rudely doing work instead of paying attention to the stage. About two thirds of the way through, he said, "I absolutely cannot stand another moment of time down the drain. I'm heading home. Mr. Groves, I'll have my stagecoach go back to give you a ride home when the ballet concludes."

"No need, Doctor," said Maxim. "I can take him home."

"What happened to you giving Edmund a piece of your mind?"

"The truth is, last night I got about the worst night's sleep imaginable due to a certain someone, and I'm just so tired I'm afraid if I give Edmund a piece of my mind, it will be entirely the wrong piece. I can take Jake home just fine."

With that, Dr. Herzog left the theatre, and I was too caught up in the ballet to let my failure at breaking through to him get to me.

While I would have been perfectly happy seeing that ballet by myself, I got the picture that Maxim was incapable of enjoying it on his own, even though it was clear how much he loved this ballet. He was constantly looking at my face as I experienced the show, getting a special pleasure at the pleasure I was experiencing, ribbing me at every major beat of the plot. I held onto Maxim's warm hand, and he squeezed my fingers lovingly. Almost immediately, I could see his dick turn hard even in response to the slightest touch. His massive rod snaked down the leg of his trousers, the end area around his knee wetting with precum.

The ballet's plot continued: when even Feodora refused to let Minya fight for her own safety, Minya stole her lover's uniform, and made herself out to be her in battle. She attacked the Logan Blood Calvary, and her skill actually led her to make her first few kills with ease. Too bad for her, Jericho's military commander had heard about Feodoro, the female soldier that had killed so many, and he was personally out to execute her. When he spotted Minya in her outfit, he attacked her, and she wasn't a match for him. He killed her, and only then became enraged as he realized she had been a decoy.

Feodora appeared, and she squared off with the Logan Calvary leader, killing him in a fierce battle that led to the Logans ending their attack completely. But then she found Minya, and she became hopeless with despair.

I clutched Maxim's strong arm for support as I started to cry during that last scene, and Maxim grabbed me back, a tears going down his face as well.

But then Minya groaned on the stage, and Feodora realized she was only unconscious. She healed her wounds with her blood, and the two of them were so happy, and my sadness similarly turned completely around. It was revealed then that the actress who played Minya was in fact the actual Minya, and the two of them were still married to this day.

And then Feodora ended the show with a dance of absolute exuberant glee, her body moving faster than I had ever though possible. As she pivoted on her foot over and over in never ending turns, her fire spun around her in gorgeous circles of red, perfectly displaying her true love for Minya.

I was so moved, I put my arm around Maxim, and he turned to me and hugged me.

He kissed me, his hands holding me from behind, and boy, did his kiss ever taste good. There was something difference about that kiss from the ones he gave me in bed. While before, his kisses had been fueled by lust and desire, this one was more loving. Not to say it didn't have a flavor of desire in the undercurrent, Maxim would always gush sex at all times, but this one was sweeter. It was still just as warming as his other kisses, but instead of lighting up my sex drive, this one lit up my heart. I kissed him back, mirroring Feodora's feelings. And I realized: this was the kind of kiss that would lead me to fall in love.

And that was dangerous, I knew. He would never belong to me, and that meant these feelings would not work. I pulled away from the kiss, telling myself it would be the last time I let him touch me like a lover.

When the show ended, there came a much earned standing ovation, and Maxim and I were off our seats.

"Wasn't it the best ballet ever?"

"Yes, it was incredible, thanks so much for sharing this with me, but you shouldn't have kissed me just then," I said to him.

"How could I possibly share this with you, and not be moved to kiss you when I feel the way I do about you?"

"Friends go to shows with each other, Maxim, without anyone sticking their tongues down their throats all the time."

That night I woke up hearing my door open, and yawned as I saw Maxim come in, dressed in his robe again, shutting the door behind him. "Yes, what do you need?" I asked him.

"I need you. I'm sorry, but you've done this to me, for the first time, you made me sleep soundly through the night, and it was absolute heaven. Last night I got no sleep, and tonight's looking to be a repeat of that. Please, have some pity on me and let me join you."

"I'd let you sleep in my bed because we're friends and I do feel sorry for you, but I don't trust you to keep your hands off me when I'm asleep."

"As you shouldn't. Being so close to your warm, naked body, even if I wanted to, I would have no willpower to stop my body from doing what it wants to do, which is show you my desire for you."

"See? I'm sorry you can't sleep, Maxim. Try a cup of warm milk or something, but you can't sleep in here this time."

"Warm milk, huh? I'll show you some warm milk, and there will be a lot more of it than a cupful, I can promise you." His tone was angry.

He stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut as he went. I felt bad for the guy, but there wasn't anything I could do differently, I had to go by my principles.

Just as I started to drift off to sleep, something unexpectedly bright entered my field of vision, and I opened my eyes. It was coming through the window, in Maxim's tower. I squinted and realized that Maxim, alone in his bedroom, was releasing a scary amount of fire that swept through every corner of his huge room. Clearly this was a release of furious anger and frustration, as his face and body language looked even more enraged as when he had faced off in the fire duels.

He ripped off his robe, leaving him naked, and I felt briefly guilty for spying on him in a sensitive moment when he obviously expected to be alone, but then he himself had admitted he wouldn't give up the opportunity to spy on me naked if he saw me, so I wasn't going to feel bad about returning the favor. His mouth closed, bringing the enraged flames to a halt, but instead of completely going away, they coalesced in front of him, forming a figure of fire.

He had created a flame-person, and I thought at first that he was reflecting himself, but I noticed that the flame figure was smaller than he was. He walked over and took the figure in his arms, and the flame person embraced him back, touching his skin with their fiery hands. The two of them started to kiss then, his eyes shut.

Frustrated by the small detail I could see, I walked over to my backpack and pulled out my small pair of binoculars. I fixed these to my eyes and searched for Maxim's image.

As soon as I got a good look, my mouth dropped open and I gasped. The first thing I saw was that the flame figure was definitely a male. The second, more significant discovery was that I was looking into a carbon copy of me. Every feature of the flame face had been carved like an artist into my semblance. He had my height just right, every shape of my body was the same. If he couldn't get me to hold him, out of frustration, he had created the next best thing.

I gasped again as I realized that Maxim would be furious at me if he knew I was watching him do this very personal act. He might never forgive me for spying on him as he revealed his inner fantasies outward. But I figured the fact that I was involved gave me the right to witness how my mirror image would be used.

Maxim stopped kissing my flame-clone's lips, and started kissing the flames of his body, all over him, taking particularly long time devouring his behind.

And then my flame clone started to move himself, using his flame tongue to lick all over Maxim's weighty muscles. Finally, he reached Maxim's hard unit. At this point, what was absolutely not true to life is that my flame clone was able to suck Maxim completely down in an instant. In real life, doing that to such a large specimen would probably break my jaw.

Maxim moaned in pleasure as my flame twin worked him over, and I thought that would be how he would get off. But then Maxim laid on his back on his bed, and my flame clone moved with him, amazingly so cool from Maxim's power over fire that it didn't set the sheets on fire. With his back propped against the headboard, Maxim grabbed my clone and pulled him down on him, kissing him again.

And then, to my surprise, Maxim's dick completely disappeared as he penetrated the flame-clone. He started to bounce his hips up and down so hard it surely would have ripped a real person to shreds, but the flame person stayed put, turned on by it all. Maxim humped my flame-twin's rump with such a ferocity it actually scared me to watch, and he kissed his mouth so hard, if it had been me, he would have bit my lips off.

This lasted for a few minutes, his energy never abating even momentarily. And then it actually increased, and the expression on his face told me he was entering climax.

As he shot his load, I expected it to disappear into my flame-clone's body, but I had to remind myself that the flames could perhaps imitate the feeling of a solid, but not enough to actually hold water. His seed fell all over his stomach instead, and he had done what he threatened, showing me more warm milk than I ever thought I would see that night, an actual torrent of it.

He cuddled my body as the last drops of liquid and energy left his body, and then embraced me until he fell asleep, at which point the fire-form quickly dissipated into nothingness, and I was left with no more light to see him by. I put away the binoculars and fell asleep again, not sure if I felt angry or flattered or some combination of the two.

FEBRUARY 27th

"Did you know you were being watched last night?" asked Maxim, showing up out of nowhere in his robe at the breakfast table. Oh my goodness, had he seen me watch him with my binoculars?

"What do you mean?"

"Watched and photographed." He threw the morning paper in front of me, and pointed out an article next to picture taken of Dr. Herzog and me holding arms at the ballet as we walked in. "The gossip section this morning is largely devoted to you. Tell me, how does it feel to be a star?"

I quickly scanned the article. It said that ever since Maxim Petrov was off the market due to his engagement, everyone considered Dr. Herzog as the premier bachelor in the city. Trouble is, as people have attested to for decades, he rebuffs anyone and everyone's efforts to date him. That's why the paper was so astounded when the two of us showed up and two prominent events in the same number of nights, holding hands. The paper is asking me to come in to give an interview of how exactly I managed to snag my new lover.

I scoffed. "If that paper resorts to filling up their pages with pictures of hand holding, then they must be seriously starving for some real news."

"You mean, real news that wouldn't have the rather unfortunate end result of my father executing someone for code breaking." He laughed heartily.

"You are in a pleasant mood this morning. Not yawning like you were yesterday morning. Was your solitary rest more restful than you anticipated?"

"I suppose it was. I thought of a new cure for my insomnia that works quite effectively. It didn't keep me sleeping throughout the night, but got me started, at least."

"How clever of you. Do tell me what this new trick is. I'll have to use it myself when I'm having trouble sleeping."

He spit out his tea as he laughed. "Something tells me you just wouldn't be into it."

"Oh, what is it?"

"One day perhaps I'll tell you. But not today."

"Anything else I can get the kitchen staff to procure for breakfast?" asked a large, pleasant looking woman in her late fifties with a working class English accent, entering the dining room.

"No, Mrs. Ford, this is quite alright. Please meet Jake Groves, someone very, very important to me, who is staying here as a guest. It was he who convinced me to hire you."

"Oh, well then, I'm extremely pleased to meet you, Mr. Groves." She bowed deeply.

"Please, no need to bow to me. All I did was nudge Maxin into selecting the person he knew was the best for the job, that's all. Welcome to the house."

That morning, I went into work with Maxim, telling him I had some investigating to work on at the Sneg Dvorec. Once I was alone, I made my way to Vasos's office.

"Yes? What do you want, Mr. Groves?" he asked brusquely.

"I know you keep meticulous records of everything, correct?"

"I suppose so. Why?"

"Do you have an emergency contact list for the staff here?"

"Of course."

"And what about the other four Heads of Families that serve on the Aristocratic Ministerstvo?"

"I keep emergency contact information about all of them as well, of course."

"Can you show me Dr. Herzog's emergency contact sheet?"

He squinted. "I'm not going to give you privileged information without need."

"Well, there is need. I need to update the contact list by adding my information as a possible contact."

He squinted even harder. "I can't imagine that you've befriended Dr. Herzog to the extant that would merit that kind of addition."

"Oh, we have. We've become quite an item."

He squinted so hard, it took over his entire face. "I think you're lying to me."

I handed him the gossip section of the paper with the two of us in it. "Read it and weep, Vasos. I'm not lying."

Vasos looked highly annoyed after having it confirmed. Without saying anything, he went over and grabbed a sheet from a drawer and handed it to me. As I filled out my contact info on the list, I looked at the one person who was already on it, a female cousin of his back in Germany, and I memorized it all.

"Thanks, you can put this back now," I said to him.

"Don't think that I don't know what you're doing," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't come here to put your name on any list, did you?" His voice raised.

"I didn't?"

"No. You came here with that excuse just so you could rub it into me that you are sleeping with Dr. Herzog instead of me. You finally can have everything you wanted, considering he is unmarried, and you just had to let me know."

"If I denied that, would you believe me?"

"No, I wouldn't."

"Then you can believe what you want to believe."

I left, found a free phone, and called the doctor's cousin, who obviously hadn't seen the man since before he had that whole thing with his Chinese girlfriend betraying him. I asked her if there was anything he could think of that the doctor had a special fondness for.

"He may have lived in Russia for an eternity now, but don't forget, he has German blood going through him. And us Germans will always have a weakness for anything that reminds us of our homeland."

"So, did he like any German art?"

"Wagner. He was a passionate Wagner fan. Particularly Tristan and Isolde."

"How long before they will perform anything by Wagner?"

"There was a time when the Ring Cycle was trendy, but most people today are bored by it. We hardly ever play Wagner. It will be a couple years, at least."

I was meeting with the Symphony and Opera director at the same Symphony hall that Vasos had taken me to. "Oh, I noticed that you were currently playing some of your favorite opera classics, and hoped it would include Wagner."

"We're doing a show where we just perform the best pieces from the operas. But sadly, it's Russian opera classics. Not German."

"Oh, I see. Well, perhaps there's a way I can convince you. I've come with a business offer."

"Let's here it," he said.

I threw the paper down in front of me and showed him my picture with Dr. Herzog. "That was taken at the ballet, but we also recently made an appearance at the Sword Gardens. Since then, both places' business has skyrocketed. I'm willing to have the two of us, the city's most sought after, `it' couple, to appear next at your establishment. I know you usually pay for such public appearances."

"How much would you need?"

"A bargain price, and I want it all donated to charity. But I'm making you that deal because, as a part of the show, I want you to sing your favorite selection from Tristan and Isolde. As a surprise for your guest of honor."

"That's a deal. I love to support charity whenever I can in any case."

"Great! How soon can you be ready to go with this?"

"As soon as tonight."

"Good, we'll be there tonight for the late performance."

"Doctor, I hate to cut this fencing practice short, but I'm afraid there's something I roped us into at the Symphony tonight."

"Absolutely not, Mr. Groves. I'm quite suffered through two long distractions in the past two nights, and I'm not leaving the house again."

"Well, before you make up your mind, let me tell you that the two of us had an article in the paper this morning, pronouncing us the couple everyone wants to see."

"What?! We're not anything but Doctor/patient, mentor/mentee relationships! This is why I never read those trash papers."

"Well, I guess since Maxim required us to play up the date card for his sake yesterday, they've assumed we're an item. And ridiculous as I think it is for anyone to be famous for that, that's what I suddenly am. I figured I should use this fleeting fame for good use, so I went to the Symphony today. I enjoyed it immensely when Vasos took me there, and I knew that venues here will sometimes pay celebrities to make public appearances at their shows, so I offered them my presence tonight in their Russian opera highlights show in exchange for them donating money to a charity. But they only agreed to do it if we both came through the entire show as a couple. I sort of agreed without asking you, how about it, will you go?"

"I can't believe your springing this on me like this."

"Listen I'm sorry. If it makes up your mind, they are donating to medical research, so how could you really say no?"

"Fine, I'll do it, but I'm not kissing you, I don't care who asks me to."

"That's totally fine," I said.

That night at the Symphony Hall, the place was absolutely packed, and there were all sorts of reporters trying, unsuccessfully, to pin us down to make quotes for them as we walked into the building with our hands held. We were given the best, biggest box in the house. It didn't actually have more than two seats, but behind the seats, through a curtain, was a private lounge with a couch and small bar. When we first went through the curtain and sat down in our seats, it became clear that everyone was looking up at us.

After three Russian opera selections that were not familiar to me, a woman came out in front of the symphony, and as soon as they played the first few bars, Dr. Herzog gasped. "I know this anywhere," he said, quietly enough so that only I would hear. "Liebstod from Tristan and Isolde. This is most certainly not on the program, and whoever thought this qualified as Russian opera needs to be shot."

"Actually, I called your cousin and learned that you love this one, so I had them do it as a special request surprise for you. I hope there wasn't anything wrong with that."

"Yes, there most certainly is something wrong with that!" he seemed angry all of the sudden, an anger I had never seen in him before. "I've lasted several of your lifetimes purposely avoiding this song, and here you force it upon me. I'm leaving!"

"You can't leave, they won't donate their money to charity unless we stick it out through the entire show."

"Then I'm covering my ears and blocking the sound out."

He put his hands over his ears just as the woman started to sing a haunting melody that was truly beautiful.

"It's no use, I can't block it out, nothing to do but just bunker down and get through this."

I reached over and grabbed his hand. "You'll be okay."

"No, no, I won't. I'm losing it. I can't let them all see me."

He whisked through the curtains of our box, and I thought at first he had bolted through the door, but when I went back to look, I found him alone in our private lounge, cowering on the couch from the song. I walked over and put my hand on his back.

"Please, get away from me. Please, don't look at me."

"No, I refuse." I moved around until I could see his face, which had sprouted tears.

He hurriedly wiped them away. "You didn't see that, you didn't see me feel anything. I don't feel anything, I'm just a cold professional with absolutely no emotion." He was talking to himself just as much as he was talking to me.

"Listen, I know you've been living for decades convincing yourself and everyone else that you're some kind of machine, but I don't buy any of that. I want you to know that I'm not just your patient or mentee, I'm much more than that, and you should feel safe opening up to me completely." I put my arms around him, trying to break free, but he turned his back to me.

"No, I just have to be strong."

"Stop shutting me out. Stop shutting the song out! Just let it take you where it needs to. If you need to cry, go ahead, there's no shame in that."

And then his façade cracked, and tears once again poured from his eyes. He stopped trying to hide himself, and just let me hold him on that couch as he cried.

"Yes, that's it, just let it all out, I'm here for you. Tell me, why does this song bother you so much? It sounds lovely to me."

"It is lovely, so lovely that I played it the first time Min and I kissed, and every time we were physical beyond that. And now I can't hear it without being reminded of the love I lost, of the betrayal I've suffered, and of the freezing of my soul that I had to endure." He sobbed into my chest as we laid there together on the couch.

"Oh my goodness. When I set all this up, I had thought I would be giving you a moment of intense joy, not a sad reminder of serious trauma. I'm such a jerk!"

"No, you had no idea. Really, it was all rather touching that you go to such an extent in order to try to help me, Mr. Groves."

"I'm determined to continue helping you, and the first thing I'm going to do is demand that we call each other by our first names. Call me Jake."

"Alright, Jake. And you can call me Günter." He let out even the smallest bit of a smile, and I knew all of the sudden that I was invested in this man. I wasn't any longer trying to coax him into bed with me, I really felt something about him. "I hope you don't think less of me, seeing me cry like this."

"Of course not, I've done my fair share of crying recently too over a lost love."

"I'm so sorry. What was their name?"

"His name was Parker." I briefly went over my history with Parker, wanting him to know that he certainly wasn't alone in his grief. "Listen, I know you put up this emotionless front as a protective measure, and I'm not going to ask you to change your behavior in front of others, but I need you to promise that when you're alone with me, you'll give me the real Günter."

"I'll try, but it's not just like a masquerade mask that I can slip on and off effortlessly. I've worn the mask so long that `m afraid it may have fused with my face, perhaps permanently."

"Just tell me you'll try to let me help you remove it."

"I will. Oh listen, do you hear that?"

"They've switched songs?"

"Yes, but now they are playing the duet in the second act of the same opera."

"Uh-oh, does that bring back more bad memories of Min?"

"No, I never played this piece for her, actually, but it's a love song."

"What are they saying?"

"'Descend oh night of love,' they sang together. They are professing each other's feelings. I'm just remembering listening to this song over and over again as a young man, before I knew Min, just being lost in love, and believing that maybe, just maybe, there was someone out there who would get past my abilities and find a way to love me in that way. I was such a naïve romantic, I must admit."

I leaned over and kissed him on the mouth. He pulled away, absolutely stunned.

"What was that for?" he asked as if I had slapped him.

"With that kiss, I swear to you that I will never betray you. And I want you to think of me in the same romantic light that I think of you in. I can see that you're a good man, and as long as I manage to melt you, you'll have all the heart I need in a man. I want you to see me in the same romantic glow."

"That's, that's just impossible, I'm sorry."

"I understand. If you aren't attracted to me or don't think you could develop feelings for me, then I wouldn't want to force myself on you in any way. Let's just stay friends."

"No, you have it all wrong. I find you enormously attractive, physically as well as emotionally. You are a bright, interesting, and compelling man, even if you are a hypochondriac."

"Um, I have something to admit about that one visit. I know I must have seemed like a hypochondriac that didn't know anything about the human body, but that was all just a rouse. You see, I was just trying to find any excuse I could to put our bodies in close proximity."

"Wait a second, that was all designed on your part to try and get me to top you again?"

"Well, yes." I almost told him the nefarious reason for me needing him to top me, but thought I should feel that topic out at a later time.

"You are an insatiable bottom! I find that enormously attractive, and I'm truly honored that it would be me you would try to seduce like that. And you never once aroused my suspicion. But that's exactly why you just aren't right for me. You know about my condition. I could never please you the way you need to be pleased."

"But you know what I am too. I'm the one person who could enjoy you without your condition having any effect on me."

"No, you don't understand. Even if you melt the ice away from my emotions, I've still conditioned myself to never be a functioning being, sexually. All I could offer you is an asexual union, and you deserve so much more than that."

"Perhaps I can rewire you in that regard too. You've got to promise to stop extracting your semen with a syringe from your testicles, let your libido take hold."

"Oh, alright. But I still wouldn't expect that I'll ever be sexually functional."

"If not, perhaps I will be fine with having a platonic romance. I'll let you know. But you've done your due diligence in warning me that dating you perhaps will lead nowhere, and now I just want you to not worry about what you think you can't offer me in the long term and just let us enjoy the moments as they come, alright?"

"Yes, alright."

While the love song was still playing, I leaned in and kissed Günter, and while the last time I had stolen that kiss, this time his defenses fell finally as his eyes shut, letting me give him just the slightest hint of tongue.

"Now that you've had your first kiss in decades, what do you think?"

"Again, please! I want more!"

"Wow, alright."

I barely had a chance to take a breath before his lips were all over me again, this time tentatively tasting me with his tongue. He kissed me and he kissed me until I was bored of the kissing and wanted something more, and I lowered my hand to his crotch. And though that part of him was as hung as ever, it wasn't the least bit hard, while my own unit had been hard ever since he kissed me. I wondered if I would ever succeed in getting that going, and wondered further if never having sex again would be enough for me. I felt like the answer was yes, as long as I really fell in love with this man.

There came a loud rapping on the door of our room, and even then, Günter would not break our kiss or pull his hands from my body, I had to force myself off of him. "Yes?"

"Oh, we thought you had left," came a voice through the door. "The agreement was for the new couple to be seen, not spend the entire show doing who knows what in their lounge."

"Alright, we are coming back out right now, and we swear we won't budge from our seats for the rest of the show."

"You don't know how much I just wanted to murder that man right now, just for interrupting the magical kissing we were just doing. I guess if you're going to bring out the romantic side of me, you'll have to live with the angry part of me as well."

"He was rather annoying," I agreed. "Though murder perhaps was not the specific means of ending his annoyance that I was considering, honestly." In the end, I had to physically push Günter out into the box seats again, he absolutely did want to pull our bodies apart.

As soon as we sat down, both of us noticed that many looked back up at us from the crowd, seeing we had returned. It was so odd to me that all these people would care enough to watch us.

"Listen, I wish I could kiss you all the way through the rest of this program, but I don't want anyone out there knowing that I've changed. I'm worried at the danger that kind of knowledge might have on us in the future."

"I totally understand. I won't kiss you in front of these people, or even look at you affectionately."

"And I will continue trying to look bored, both with you, and with the show."

"Yesterday, when we saw that moving ballet, were you acting bored then too?"

"It wasn't so much me acting as it was me doing what I've done ever since after Min betrayed me when there's been something new presented to me that's meant to have some sort of emotional or entertaining impact on me. I've shut it out completely, refusing to even process it in my mind, and therefore I never let it reach me. But now you've knocked a polo stick through that glass, and so the rest of tonight will be me acting bored. I wish I could put my arm around you."

"That's sweet, but they can only see us from the shoulders up, so they can't see if I do this." I grabbed his hand in mine, and for the first time, I felt warmth from that hand instead of indifference.

"How strange."

"What?"

"I've held your hand before, yet this is the first time I ever held your hand." He moved his other hand over, using both of them to rub mine with. "And I love this."

"Just try not to crack a smile."

"I've gotten pretty good practice at that."

"I wonder if there is anything I can do to crack your façade. I never turn down a good challenge."

I reached down and grabbed his knee, giving it a playful squeeze.

"Is that enough to make you crack? No?"

"No, but it's very romantic."

"Maybe I'll have to move up my strategy."

I playfully moved my hand up the inside of his muscled thigh, ending up at his large basket. I massaged that good and well.

"Still nothing?"

"No, but that is very romantic of you to touch me so provocatively."

"I can do one better."

I zipped open Günter's zipper and fished out his hefty, soft dick.

He moaned slightly, but his face was impassive. "How sweet of you to even want to try."

"I just love how crazy hung you vampires are. It makes me so hot to do this to you." I used my hand to rub the dick, playing with his foreskin, for a long time.

"See? I know it looks dangerous, but the truth is, the dragon is permanently asleep."

"Do you even feel anything when I do this?"

"Oh yes, it feels quite nice, in fact. But I can't get hard, I'm afraid. And I know for as much as a bottom as you, that must be a deal breaker."

"No, we can find other things to do, I'm sure." I grabbed his hand and put it on my knee. "What about my body? Will you be able to find that attractive?"

"You know, it's quite peculiar. I spent every moment for decades conditioned to only see skin, musculature, and anatomy when I looked at anyone's body. Even yours. But ever since you kissed me back there, you've woken up a part of me that I thought had long since drowned. All of the sudden, instead of physiology, I look at your body, I feel your body, and I almost can't control myself."

"Maybe I'll get your face to crack yet," I said. But what I was most hoping for is that if he touched me like that, his dick would show some sign of life.

I moved his hand up the inside of my leg, and he moaned a little in pleasure. I carefully untucked my shirt and slipped his hand under, letting him feel my stomach, my chest, and he moaned harder.

"Lord, your body makes me think of all sorts of dirty things. How much my hand wishes it could trade places with my tongue right now."

After letting Günter play with my chest for a while, I moved his hand below my belt, feeling my hard dick.

He groaned sadly. "Oh, how you put me to shame," he said, speaking of my hardness.

Not wanting him to wallow in his inadequacies, I quickly moved his hand away from my crotch and led it to the only place I could think of, my butt. I stuck his hand under my belt and left it there.

He hissed in pleasure. "As a Doctor that never ages, I've seen enough rear ends to fill the Atlantic itself, and yet, somehow yours ranks as the most beautiful. Now that you've woken up my hand and let me touch you there, you may never get free of my hand again."

I sighed and played with his dick again as his hands searched me over, pinching my cheeks until they hurt, and then spreading them and feeling the crack itself, humming as he did so.

"Naughty, naughty, Doctor. I do believe you've just broken a good twenty Decency Codes."

"Just four, technically. Thank goodness my family has immunity from those codes. Oooohh God," he said as he massaged my hole for the first time. "Once again, how much my hand wants to switch places with my tongue right now."

"Mmm, sounds nice," I said. "But it will have to wait for another night, I'm afraid."

"Now, I absolutely cannot stop myself from doing THIS."

He forced his index finger inside me, and he moaned in pleasure. I looked over at him. "Günter, I do believe that's a smile plastered all over your handsome face. See? I finally managed to crack you."

"Well, I'll be damned, I didn't even notice it happening either. And you know what? I can't seem to make it go away. The paradise you're taking me to right now simply won't let me have any other emotion showing."

"Luckily, no one seems to be looking right now."

"Which probably means they won't see my finger plunging in and out of you, faster and faster."

And as he said that, he started to do what he was describing, his breath speeding up, his mouth emitting a steady stream of moans.

"I know that your desire to be topped by me knows no bounds, but it gives me so much joy to pleasure you in this way too. My huge fingers seemed to have been made for this. I thought before they had been made for working with all my heavy tools, but no, I was most certainly wrong about that. This was their calling all along."

"They feel amazing inside me," I said, and I wasn't exaggerating. I loved to be fingered, it seemed, even if an actual penis penetrating me still terrified me and made me ill.

"My finger is so large, you can pretend it's a penis. Not my penis, of course, but a much smaller version."

But then, suddenly the show was over, with people starting to clap. I expected he would pull out of me, but he seemed unable to, he still was thrusting away at me. I pulled away myself, however, as I stood up suddenly to give them a standing ovation, and his hand got pulled away from me with much moaning and groaning from Günter. I tucked my shirt back in carefully.

I didn't hold his hand on the way out of the symphony hall, knowing that the reporters would surely see.

"Now I'm kicking myself for arranging a second stagecoach to take you straight home after the show," he said. "I'd love any excuse at all to get you back to my place or even to have a ride alone in a stagecoach with you, but with everyone watching us like this that would just arouse suspicion."

"That's okay."

He walked me to my stagecoach. "I would normally kiss you goodnight, but we're still being watched, I'm afraid."

I looked over, and a reporter came up and asked if we had anything we'd like the city to know about our relationship. He was asking for the truth.

"Yes, here it is," I said, looking at Günter, who was trying very hard not to turn red. "We've never been anything more than friendly acquaintances. To think Dr. Herzog is even remotely capable of some sort of romance is madness. He's incapable of being anything other than his professional persona. He doesn't have a soft side, and no one will ever succeed in landing him."

"Is that correct, Dr. Herzog?" asked other reporters.

"Yes, it's an accurate analysis, completely."

"Then why are you two going to shows together?"

"Because, Mr. Groves is a prominent medical resident in America who is vying to be my mentee. He's written a thesis about human behaviors that spread illness in crowded public spaces such as sporting events or the theatre. I was trying to prove to him that in this city, we've eliminated so much illness, that for the first time, he will make it through entire evenings without a single cough or sneeze heard."

"And he proved me wrong," I said.

"Well then, why were you holding hands when you walked in?"

"Mr. Groves is the victim of an inner ear infection that gives him bouts of vertigo when he walks. I was just helping him stay on his feet. Alright, this is quite enough. Good night, Mr. Groves."

"Good night, Doctor."

He walked away, brushing off the reporters, who all came to question me further. Only when he was sure that no one was looking at him did he smile and wink at me, very pleased.

FEBRUARY 28th

"Come in, come in," Günter said, waving me in. He looked out at the street. "Are you sure you weren't followed?"

"Quite sure," I said. "The reporters haven't been interested in me at all ever since this morning's paper announced we were never really a couple at all."

"That makes it much easier for us to meet. Of course, no one from the hospital can know about us, but no one from over there would ever just march in here. If they needed me urgently, they would call me first. We should be safe here. Nobody knows you came here?"

"Nobody but Maxim, and he won't say anything." I liked this. It was like getting the fun out of having a secret affair, something I would never get into for moral reasons, and our secrecy was hurting absolutely no one.

"I've been waiting all day to do this," he said, kissing me again, with so much more passion than ever, setting me on fire."

"That was certainly worth the wait."

"You should have seen me in the hospital today. So lost in fantasies about you that I could not keep one iota of focus on the patients I was seeing today."

"Oh, well, we should surely do all we can to fulfill those fantasies, for your patients sake. I'd feel terrible if I was to blame for you being the target of medical malpractice accusations." I kissed him again.

"As much as I want to take you straight into the bedroom, now that I'm starting to feel all the emotions that I haven't felt in forever, one popped up that I didn't anticipate: protectiveness. The thought of you being challenged in a fencing duel worries me. You're still not at the point where I can be assured you'd win such a duel, and now I've got invested interest in your success, so let's work extra hard towards making you the best fencer the Bourgeoisie has ever had. So far, we've just been using the tandem suit, practicing against the automaton. We still need more of that sort of training, but I thought we could switch gears today and fence each other on my standard fencing platform. I'll do my best to lower my abilities to the level of a human, to make our match as fair as possible."

And so he led me to the room with the platform, and I picked up my fencing suit. "Do you have one of these too?"

"Fanged vampires never wear those, but I think I have one hanging in my closet somewhere. Let me get it."

While he left, I changed into the suit, putting the helmet on. He came back a few minutes later dressed in his fencing suit as well.

"Let's take up starting positions."

We stood on opposite ends of the fencing platform, and then he called the beginning to our practice match. I tried to use what I had been taught to outmaneuver him, but he was simply too good for me. After he had gotten five points and me none, I asked him if he really was toning down his vampiric abilities sufficiently.

"I'm positive, you're just not skilled enough to beat me yet. But let's give you some incentive to improve. If you manage to score a point against me, I promise to thoroughly reward you."

"You're on."

I picked up my game, perhaps because of the promise of the reward, or perhaps because I felt my competitiveness kicking in, but I could actually feel myself getting more skilled as I spun the foil this way and that. Günter got two more points, and then I finally, finally got him right in the heart.

"I did it! Yes!"

"You're improving so much faster now that you have a little incentive. And as I promised, here is your reward."

He used the tip of his sword to cut through the suit around his crotch, making me wince, but he was clearly skilled enough not to hurt himself.

"What are you doing?"

"I've known since yesterday just how absolutely in lust you are with my penis, so here it is."

He pulled his soft unit through the hole, leaving it dangling out in front of him.

"It is very beautiful."

"Now you have something to focus on as we continue."

We started to fight again, and I stared at his hanging phallus, loving how it bounced around freely.

"Another point for me! You're slipping!"

"Well, it's hard to focus on anything but your penis!"

"I'm going to incentivize you again. Two more points, and you'll be rewarded."

I concentrated on not losing my focus, and soon became accustomed to my little visitor, or rather, big visitor.

After I got two more points, I hooted and hollered again. "What do you have for me now?"

He started to take off his mask.

"Are we done here?"

"No." He took off his entire suit, somwhat slowly and seductively, leaving him in the nude. "I'm going to continue like this."

"You can't," I said. "I can't fight you like this, I'll injure you."

"Just don't cut anything off, if you get the drift. Otherwise, any other injuries will heal."

"But I'm too disturbed by the blood."

"Well, that's something you should get over."

"Why? If someone challenges me to a duel, it won't be a fanged vampire."

"Actually, you can be challenged by a fanged vampire. And in that case, you would get protective gear, but they wouldn't."

"How would that even be fair?"

"The Tsar makes it fair. He uses his special ability to nail into the vampires head in such a way so he temporarily takes away all strengths and powers given to them by their vampiric abilities and nothing more, making them, basically, human. But the healing of wounds remains, so the vampires never fight with protective gear on."

I had no idea that was even an option. "Wow, yeah, okay. We better practice this way too then."

We resumed our fencing and at first, I wasn't doing very well, because I was getting too turned on seeing this muscled stud fight naked, he was so alluring. But after losing a few points, my pride kicked in again, and I made myself focus.

When I cut him for the first time in the arm, I hissed and pulled away. "Oops, sorry!"

"No, don't apologize, that's the kind of maneuver I want to see you doing more of."

Still, it took me a good half hour to get used to cutting into him until I was good enough to score another point. However, seeing his blood ooze out of his chest was enough to make me woozy again, lose my balance, and fall off the platform.

Günter must have been watching me carefully, because he rushed over at top speed in order to catch me and keep me from hurting myself. "Are you okay?"

"Just dizzy from all the blood."

"But you're not the one getting sliced to pieces out here."

"I know, but having to do that to you is making me ill. Can we call it a night and continue this later?"

"Of course."

Right then, the front doorbell rang. "I'm not expecting anyone. Maybe they'll go away."

After a couple more rings, both of us started towards the door. "We have to answer it," I said. "I'll get it."

"No, you'll arouse suspicion. I'll answer it."

"You're completely naked, you can't answer the door like that. I'll get it. I've got my fencing mask on, an no one will know it's me."

He agreed, and I walked down to the front of the place and opened the door.

"Jake, hope I wasn't too late," said Maxim.

Oh, that's right, I had forgotten about asking him to come by. "How did you know it was me?"

"I can smell your blood type, of course." He handed me a couple of large bags. "Here it is, just like you asked. Don't forget to tip your delivery boy."

"My eternal gratitude is worth much more than any monetary tip I could give you."

"I could think of one or two things more valuable to me than either your money or your gratitude."

"Goodnight, Maxim."

"Goodnight."

After locking the door, I went to Günter's bedroom, a large, sparsely decorated space with purely functional, metal furniture. Lucky for me, it had a couple of reading chairs that seemed more comfortable than anything else in his place. I put my bags in his dresser and stripped off my fencing gear, leaving me naked.

"Come find me in your bedroom!"

"I like the sound of that!"

He strolled into his room, still completely naked, looking as hot as ever.

"Oh my goodness, you know you're playing with fire, letting me get so close to you when I can see you in all of your wonderful glory." Clearly completely unable to hold himself back, he ran over to me at top speed, almost picked me up off the ground as he wrapped his arms around me, and started to kiss me. I pulled away after a second, which required pushing the man off me.

"Günter, the question for you now is, do you trust me completely?"

"Of course I do."

"If you trust me, I'm going to need you to sit down here, relax, and let me take control of you."

"Mmm, but you know how much I like to take control of you. It's in my nature as a Doctor to always be in control."

"Well, too bad. Tonight, I'll be in charge. And you'll just have to deal with that."

"I'll deal with anything if it means getting closer to you."

"Good. Sit down." He sat down in the chair, and I fished rope out of my bag. "I'm going to tie you to that chair."

His eyes went wide with worry as soon as he saw the rope. "Sorry, the last time I was tied to a chair, I subsequently went through the worst time in my life."

"I know that. That's why I want you to know you can trust me. That I would never hurt you."

"Mmm, alright." He shut his eyes.

I sat down on his lap and kissed him sweetly, giving him something else to think about as I tied his hands to the chair. And then I leaned down and tied his feet to the chair as well. "And you'll need to keep those eyes shut." I grabbed a napkin and tied it around his eyes, making a blindfold.

"Mmm."

"See? Don't you see that if you're ever tied up by me, it's only going to have positive results?"

"So far that seems to be accurate."

"I got something special for you, to celebrate your new life." I pulled out my bag.

"I can't see anything."

"It's not something you're supposed to see. Open your mouth, and I'm going to put something inside."

"Alright, but you don't know how much I'm praying it will be my favorite part of your anatomy on the other end."

He opened his mouth, and I put something on his tongue. "What is that?"

"Chew it and tell me."

He started to do that. "Bread?"

"Yes, but what kind?"

He chewed more. "Mmm, is this Roggenmischbrot?"

I looked at the receipt to be sure. "Yes, that's it." I took a bite. "Mmm, it's a rye bread?"

"Yes, it used to be one of my favorite kinds of bread."

"I want you to stop eating your green ick for sustenance, and start enjoying food again."

"Your right, I should do that. But Russian food always is so unappetizing to me."

"That's why I got this. Here, help me finish this bread."

I opened up the next thing and put it on his lips. "What's that?"

"Mmm, spargel?"

"Looks like asparagus to me." I ate a stalk myself. "And here's some cabbage." I fed him the cabbage and ate some myself. "Now, what's this?"

"Mmm, spatzle! I love that stuff!"

I kept on feeding him more, and ate some myself. "And this?"

"Salzkartoffeln. Potatoes."

"Yes, simple but good." What he didn't know was I had set up the meal to be healthy, so I could enjoy it freely too. "Now to the main course. What is this?"

"Mmm, Sauerbraten."

"Yes, delicious, huh?"

"And there's one more exciting piece to this." I got up, then came back. "Open up and tell me what this is."

"Dornfelder! I love that wine! Oh my goodness, I'm so happy I'm about to cry."

"It is good, isn't it?"

"This was such a touching idea, Jake. You got all my favorite old German foods as a wonderful way of coaxing me out of my usual rut. You amaze me. I never knew there was someone out there as kind and generous as you are. You're my angel."

"It just makes me happy to see you turn around, Günter."

I continued to feed him and myself until we had finished our dinner.

"If you tell me you have Rote Grutze for dessert, I'll have to ask you to marry me."

"I have something even better," I said.

"Ooo, I can't wait."

I walked over to the dresser and picked up an unused, sharp steak knife. Just a couple months ago, I would never have dreamed that I would be able to do what I was about to do without fainting. I used the point of the blade to cut a very small hole in my throat. I got a bit woozy, but I felt okay.

"What are you procuring over there?"

"Instead of a German dessert, I want you to taste my body."

"Oooh, I've been dreaming about this ever since I got my hands on the sweet little thing last night." He had a grin on his face.

"Open up!"

"Yes sir!" and he stuck his tongue out sexily, waiting eagerly for something delightful.

I sat down on his lap and quickly put my bleeding throat wound to his lips. He yelled in surprise, and started to drink the blood, and I could feel his fangs pop out. Next thing I knew, the fangs had penetrated me, turning the tiny spot of blood into a proper feeding wound. And, as soon as the fangs came in, the pain left my neck, my dick turned hard, and I just melted away, listening to the soothing sounds of his drinking.

"I don't do this for just anyone," I said. "I'm doing this because I really like you."

He moaned, still drinking me in.

After a couple minutes, I said, "Alright, that should do it."

It was hard to end it, but I didn't want to end up weak, so I moved to get up.

"Could you close my wound now? Günter, please?"

But he didn't respond, he just kept his teeth inside me, kept drinking my blood.

"Günter! Günter! STOP! Listen to me!"

But he just kept on biting, totally out of control. Thank goodness for those ropes tying his body down, which he fought to get free from, but to no avail. As I continued to shout at the top of my lungs, I put my hands on his face and pushed with every bit of my strength, finally succeeding in separating his teeth from my body.

I put my hand to my throat as severe pain hit me there. I realized he hadn't closed the wound at all, and since I had actually torn his fangs through my skin as I ripped him away from me, the wound was worse than ever. I urgently had to stop the bleeding.

I looked at Günter's face to try and get a read if I could calm him down enough to have him lick the wound closed. His blindfold was still on, but his face was absolutely covered by blood. His mouth was open, and he was snarling his fangs at me like an animal, clearly he still smelled blood and wanted more. His whole, naked body was fighting against the ropes. It terrified me to see him like that, like he was a monster out of some awful horror movie. It was nightmare inducing just to look at him like that, and I knew for sure he wasn't going to calm down as long as he could smell my blood.

I had to get off his lap, had to get my wound away from his nose. I tried to stand up, but I fell back down on him in a dizzy spell, realizing I was too weak to walk. My wound almost fell into range of his snarling mouth, thank goodness I stopped myself just before I hit him.

I threw myself off his lap and onto the floor, starting to crawl away.

I sighed in relief when I had crawled out of his range, and started to look around for something I could use as a bandage.

Long before I found anything, I was shocked and horrified by the sound of metal screeching. I looked behind me to see Günter lifting up his chair completely off the ground with his ropes, and making his way in my direction. I should have realized that chair wouldn't have been bolted down.

But he couldn't see where I had gone, and he was moving his head around, not finding me. I stayed absolutely silent. But when he started to take big long sniffs, and locked in on my direction, I knew I had to keep crawling.

I kept moving, hearing him drag the chair along with him right for me. The bedroom door was right in front of me, and I used all of my remaining energy to scuttle there as fast as possible, pulling myself through just before he reached me.

Thank goodness the chair was too large for the door, and he ended up just standing against the doorframe, trying in vain to push himself through.

I wanted to get more away than I was, but the energy I had expended getting through the door made me feel even weaker, and I just had to lie there another moment as he continued to snarl at me through the doorframe. "Please, please, just calm down. See? Listen to the sound of my soothing voice, and calm down."

He took some deep breaths for a change, and I thought my efforts had worked.

But just then, I saw the rope on his left hand to snap off.

He used his one free hand to pull his blindfold off, and the person who looked at me through those eyes was not Günter, not in the slightest. Then he untied his left hand, leaving just his feet tied to the chair.

"No!" I started to crawl again away from him as fast I could, hoping I'd get past his range of smell before he got his body completely free from the chair.

But a second or two later, he thrust off that chair and came barreling through the door, fangs out, ready to make his final kill.

I kicked him in the face as he came to me, but it left him unfazed. He pounced on me, placing his body on top of mine on the ground.

Instantly, those fangs were back in my throat, and the pain left my body and sexual bliss returned as he started to feed from me again. He ground his unit into my hole sexually, clearly moving towards penetration.

I shook my body, punched and kicked, but it did no good. Soon, I didn't even have the strength to muster any attack.

"If I have to die, at least I'm in the arms of such a hot guy," I mumbled, slipping into a delirium.

I stopped fighting, and gave myself over to the death my lover was delivering to me.

"Mmm."

"Are you coming to, Mr. Groves?"

I opened my eyes.

I was in Günter's bed. The throat wound was gone. I had a blood IV in my arm. "A transfusion?"

"Correct, Mr. Groves. You should make a full recovery."

There was Günter, standing there in his Doctor's gown, looking at me through his glasses.

I looked down at myself. "You put a hospital gown on me?"

"It seemed the appropriate thing to do, Mr. Groves."

I squinted. "What is this Mr. Groves stuff? Oh my goodness, you turned your emotions off again, haven't you?"

"It seemed prudent, otherwise I could have never lived with myself."

"No, you can't regress like that."

"What does it matter? With you out of my life, there's nothing to feel for anyway."

"No. I'm not going anywhere."

"You may not be leaving the city, but after tonight, our escapades surely will be at an end, as they should be. And the only way I can go on being a service to this city is by shutting down the emotions, permanently."

"No, you can't shut down your emotions because I'm not leaving you. I'm staying."

"What? I just practically killed you!"

"Not our best moment together, I'll admit it. Günter, please come here."

I patted the space beside me in bed, and he came over to me and sat down beside me.

"But I'm still alive, and I'll be good as new in no time. No harm done. So I'm willing to forgive you if you're willing to forgive yourself." I reached over and hugged him.

"This isn't the first time this has happened. I always had a huge weakness for warm blood. I almost killed three people because of it. I'm evil."

"You're not evil. I'm sure those incidents happened when you were young and didn't know better, am I right?"

"Yes."

"See? After you knew about your weakness, you never let yourself have warm blood again. I thought it was just that you had stopped since Min."

"Min was the only one I could safely feed from, because she was just as strong as I was, and fed back on me. Other than that, I haven't had warm blood my whole life."

"And so it was really stupid of me to surprise you with my own blood. I thought because you were a Doctor, you'd be used to blood."

"Seeing and smelling blood does nothing to me. It's only when it's in my mouth that it takes hold. I think I would have snapped back to life sooner if it wasn't for your blood absolutely tasted like nothing else I had ever been prepared for, and once it was in my mouth, I just could not stop myself. I actually can't remember what happened or what I did after that, and only barely snapped out of it at the end."

"I guess I should have warned you that the One's blood tastes better."

"This is not your fault. I'm the monster who attacked you."

"You didn't kill me, you are not a monster."

"I've killed two innocent, good people, Jake. Killed them with my semen."

"Again, before you knew what it did. And since then, you've been as careful as you possibly can." I kissed him. "I know you're a hero, and I need you to forgive yourself for what you did. To me, and to the others. Can you do that?"

He started to cry. "I, I think so."

"Good, I'm so happy for you."

"But I'm giving you this opportunity to cut a clean break with me. You don't want someone like me. I know how much you love to bottom, and that's never anything I'll be able to give you."

"I'm fine with that," I said, not even really being able to tell him I hated bottoming.

"And it seems like you might have enjoyed getting bitten by Parker, having him feed off you. That's something a lot of folks enjoy, especially during sex. And that's just another thing I can't give you."

"I don't care about that either. I want to continue seeing you. And since a robot really isn't half a good a kisser as a man is, I need you to stay your true self, for my sake."

"Mmm, agreed."

I kissed him.

"As much as I hate to say this, you better not kiss me, or I'll be all over you in a second. And you need me off of you."

And so, I cradled his head to my chest and played with his hair, trying to soothe him instead. I felt amazingly close to him. "Can I sleep here tonight?"

"I'd love that. You can sleep here as long as you'll put up with me." He got up and looked at my IV. "The transfusion is complete. I can remove that now."

"Yes, thank you."

He put a cotton ball and some tape on my arm. "Keep that on until morning."

"Can't you just lick it away?" He gave me a sour look. "Oh yeah, sorry I asked. Now, come to bed." I started to take my gown off and put it aside, leaving me naked.

"You don't have to do that for my sake."

"I'm doing it for my sake. And I'm also requiring you remove your Doctor's robes before you come into bed. I want to feel you touch me as I sleep."

"Sounds like a dream."

Once he was naked, he got under the covers and spooned me from behind. I could feel his soft unit pressed against my hole, and it made me realize how sexy that position was for him, even if he technically could never do anything about his desire. And, as long as he stayed outside of me, I liked the position too. Maybe we were perfect for each other. He kissed me on the back of my head.

I started to feel guilty about keeping the façade up about being a hardcore bottom for him. I wanted to come clean, right then and there. Trouble was, the real reason why I had begged him to top me before was because I wanted to use his semen as a lethal weapon against his Tsar. I felt like, instead of straight-up admitting that, I had to feel him out a little.

"You know, I can't say I have a very high opinion of your Tsar."

"You just don't know him personally. If you know him like I know him, you wouldn't say that. Don't forget, he's the one who came and saved my life when I was being held by the Chinese. So many other leaders would have just not bothered with the trouble and left me for dead."

"But what about the Decency Codes he created?"

"Those help bring order to our society, for the most part. Sure, I told him there are a few that went too far, and he should remove them. He told me he'd think about it."

"How long ago was that?"

"I don't remember off-hand. I'm sure he's still working on it."

"Well, I saw his Decency Police mowing down a poor person on the street and burning him alive for breaking a minor code."

"That's madness. Kirill would never condone that."

"Are you saying I'm fantasizing it?"

"No, I'm saying that those must have been rogue policemen, not acting on the power of the Tsar. I wouldn't be surprised if Kirill already killed them for that heinous crime. If you'd just meet him, you'll see how civilized he is."

"Actually, I did meet him, on his train. I was going to inform him about the Vampire Council invoking thing I told you about."

"And?"

"And, he silenced me before I could technically get the words out, which means I still haven't fulfilled my requirement here."

"That doesn't make sense, why would he do that?"

"He said he refused to be required to go and sit next to Jericho Logan as a part of the Vampire Council, so he didn't let me speak."

"Oh well, that actually makes sense. The Logans are the trash of the vampire community, slave owners! He can't stand the idea of sitting next to one."

"He hammered a nail straight into my brain that prevented me from communicating. How could any good person behave like that?"

"I'm sorry he did that to you. Listen, he has this weird obsession with hammering nails into heads. I told you, that's how he makes fanged vampires become human enough to fence duel a non-fanged person. He does that without realizing it could be painful or traumatic for the ones getting the procedure. He did that to you to make sure you couldn't invoke the Council. Who healed that wound?"

"Maxim."

"Well, I'm sure he would have had one of his Police do the honors if Maxim hadn't gotten there first, once he dropped you off at the train station. He would never do any permanent damage to someone without due cause."

"Well, after that, his policemen took me away and tied me to the bed, and the next thing that happened was, I got raped by a vampire while Kirill raped and killed the vampire at the same time. He told me he was going to do the same to me, if Maxim hadn't gotten there to take me off the train."

"Oh lord, I'm so sorry, you had to go through all that. But no, that's not something Kirill would ever do. Look, this isn't common knowledge, but Kirill has a look-alike, a decoy, that pretends to be him. I'm sure that's whose bedroom you got put into, not Kirill's himself. Because Kirill would never do that, he just wouldn't."

"Even if that was his decoy, Kirill's the one who refused to listen to me, and unless he changes his mind, I'm going to die in less than a year."

"Listen, I think the mistake you made was to go to him first. Go to the other four heads of Blood and let them know, and then go back to Kirill, letting him know that he's the only one who isn't on board. He'll have no choice but to go along with the Council then, and when they vote on keeping you alive, I'm sure he'd vote in your favor."

"Well, Maxim hates him."

"As many men hate their fathers, especially such an alpha type man like him. If he's feeding you information about Kirill, take it with a grain of salt. After all, Maxim is next in line to be Tsar, should anything happen to Kirill. I see Kirill frequently as his personal Doctor, and I've always been impressed."

"In all the times you've treated him, have you ever seen his penis?"

"No. That's a weird question. You weren't hoping that he'd be well endowed? Were you fantasizing about him topping you?"

"I've got all the well-endowed I need right here." I rubbed my behind against his dick, laughing, and that made him forget the question and start paying attention to my body.

Well, I felt more confused than ever, but one thing I was sure of, I could never admit to him that I was about to use him to indirectly murder the Tsar. And so, pretending like I was just some rabid bottom was the only option I had as I moved into this relationship. Oh well, considering he couldn't ever perform, that little deception seemed like it would be no problem.

"Enough about the Tsar. I want to talk about us."

"Talk away," I said.

"I know that our relationship has only just begun, and this I'm sure will seem all too quick for you. And I know Petrov Blood traditionally has open relationships, which is all well and good, except that it seems that along with the other emotions, I got jealousy back too, and I don't know how to handle it. I'm not expecting you to say yes, but what do you think about going monogamous with me for now? Obviously, there is no one else I can be with but you, so I'm monogamous. I'm not asking for a long term commitment here, I understand if you want to make your own way at any point. But while you're with me, do you think you could only be with me?"

"Of course," I said. "Monogamy is in my blood."

"But I know Vasos topped you."

"That's before I knew he was married. Ever since, we've completely severed our relationship."

"Well, thanks for doing that for me. But would you mind moving in here, with me? I know Maxim is your sponsor, but I know that the two of you slept together as well, and it drives me crazy to think that he gave you something that I couldn't."

"We messed around some, but he never topped me, if that's what you're worried about. I don't want to be with him because he's engaged."

"It is, and even if you never have been topped by him, he's more than capable of that act, believe me, I've seen it. And the thought of you sleeping under the same roof as that man, who women, and men, flock to, and it's not just because he's the Knyaz. It's because he oozes sexual magnetism, and I don't want you close to a man like that."

"I'd love to move in with you, Günter. Tomorrow I'll get my things and move in."

"You make me so happy." He kissed my head.

I shut my eyes, letting the sleep start to take me as I enjoyed being held by this man.

"Tell me one more thing," I said sleepily. "What knocked you out of whatever spell you were under tonight, that kept you from finishing me off?"

"From the black confusion, I heard your voice, telling me you were going to die. The fear of that being true ripped me out of my insanity. And I promise, I'll never hurt you again."

"I know."