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.

MARCH 23rd

Three days later, I was sitting in one of the grandest ballrooms of the Sneg Dvorec, watching the grand, opulent coronation ceremony as they put the crown on Maxim's head. He was looking extremely dapper in a regal, late-nineteenth-century Russian military uniform close to those I'd seen Kirill wear, but of, course, more stylish than that. This was Maxim, after all. A sparkling, diamond encrusted foil lay at his side.

It was interesting to me how much more pomp a happy occasion as this one received as opposed to Kirill's cremation two days prior, which had been simple and fast. I had tried not to think of Parker watching the cremation, and instead thought about how satisfying it was to see his flesh burn into ash and know that he would not be returning from the dead through some vampiric miracle.

I had asked just to sit in the back, but Maxim had insisted they seat me in a position of honor, just in front of the head men of the Ministerstvo.

"How does my dress look?" asked Helina.

"I don't know," I said. "Just because I'm homosexual doesn't mean I know anything about dresses."

"Sorry. It's just that as far as I'm concerned, this is the first outfit I can remember putting on, so I'm just a little nervous I got something wrong."

"No, you look wonderful. The dress looks period appropriate. But why are you wearing black? Is it because you are in mourning over your father's death?"

"What? You're lucky I'm fanged, or I would have lost my lunch just now. I could never mourn for a man like that, no matter how many genes we have in common. Why, is that something people do? Wear black to express mourning?"

"Well, where I come from, yes. But I don't think that's something they do here."

"I just chose black because it matches my hair so well." I could only just hear the raspiness of her voice at that point due to the remaining symptoms of the flu, which they said were not contagious. The hospital had performed miracles to turn her around so quickly, but even the doctors were shocked she had survived at all. She must have really been a fighter, they all proclaimed.

As soon as it was clear she would make it, the Ministerstvo locked themselves up in order to discuss who be the next Tsar. Because Maxim and Helina were twins, it wasn't at all clear who should take the throne. I had been told that Edmund was trying to sell the idea to the others that given that there was no possible way to fairly decide between them, they should move on to the next in line, a third cousin of Maxim's that Maxim told me had long ago sold himself to the large pockets of the Woodvilles.

It seemed like this cousin would have taken the throne if Günter hadn't called in, exercising his right to weigh in on the issue as the fifth member of the Ministerstvo before resigning completely. He let everyone know that Kirill had told him multiple times that Maxim was born first. Vasos then concurred that law stated whomever was born first would be heir, so that would mean Maxim should be appointed. There wasn't much then that the others could argue against that, and there Maxim was, becoming Tsar as soon as they would let him.

Maxim still hadn't met Helina, still didn't know she was out of quarantine, and it was all I could do to sneak her into the procession. He still hadn't noticed her, it seemed.

"While I still have the attention of every reporter in the city, I want to take my first official action as your new Tsar. At the risk of seeming, Nazi-ish, I'm ordering everyone to burn their books as soon as they hear this. Only, not just any books will do. These books." He lifted copies of the Decency Codes in his hands. "These Codes will never be enforced again for as long as I am Tsar. Feel free to behave as I have done for my entire life, with compete disregard to all things decent. Or, continue to follow whichever dictums you please. Everyone is free to behave as they chose to behave." He blew a wisp of fire, and burned the books in his hand.

Beside me, Helina jumped. "Helina, one thing you'll need to learn if you are going to live in this city is not to be frightened by the sudden sight of fire," I said.

"I'm trying to control my anxiety." But one look at her and I realized she had shut her eyes.

Maxim's surprise announcement was met with strong reactions, some negative, like from Edmund, and others positive.

"Now, before the Carstvo goes all anarchic, I'm not doing away with any of the laws that have always been in place. So murder, theft, arson, destruction of other's property, kidnapping, rape, battery, and prostitution will still be outlawed. Alright, that's it for the public orders tonight. Oh wait, one more thing. Everyone must have a good time in celebration tonight. Whether that means eating fine Russian food, drinking vodka, smoking pipes, or carousing with someone sexy, or more likely, doing all of the above simultaneously, consider that an order."

With that, everyone was dismissed, and a huge crowd came to shake Maxim's hand. I didn't want to try to pull Helina through the mob, so I asked her to stay put and let me bring him to her.

By the time I found him, Maxim had started to give big bear hugs to everyone around him, some of whom clearly were not used to such a PDA.

"Something tells bear hugs aren't a part of the already established kingly behavior canon," I said to him. "Or, sorry, I guess the right word is Tsarly."

"I don't care about being kingly," he said, kissing me happily and giving me the biggest bear hug of all.

"That's reassuring, because if grabbing my butt like you are now in front of everyone was your idea of royal propriety, I'm afraid you are long past hope. Come with me, there's someone I want you to meet."

"Unless you are introducing me to your clone, I'm going to be highly disappointed."

"Don't be so sure."

As soon as Maxim saw her, standing there in her lacy black dress, he actually started to jump up and down, he was so excited. He didn't wait for permission before running up to her, lifting her up, and spinning her around.

"Ha, ha! Helina, Helina!" he said, putting her down finally.

She smiled MUCH more modestly than he was. "It's amazing how much a simple handshake can accomplish. You should look into the things."

"I'm not much of a handshaker. You always used to tease me about that, too. Which just makes me want to hug you more and more, you know that. Do you remember me at all?"

"I don't have any memories of you, I'm afraid. And though I hate to admit this, but when I look at your smiling face, even though normally I'd be annoyed by your expressiveness, I feel something stir inside my long cold heart. Something sweetly familiar."

"That's terrific," I said. "I don't see why you shouldn't be able to regain at least some of those memories back, with work."

Maxim insisted Helina move into the mansion with us, both because she was family, and because it was the house they grew up in, and he figured it would be the best shot at Helina regaining her memories. Maxim put her in the tower that I had before been in, and I drew the curtains in the master bedroom over that part of the room to make sure she couldn't see us naked or having sex.

The rest of the day, Maxim was all over Helina, barely even letting the poor woman even take bathroom breaks as he barraged her with mutual memories, all warm, as he pulled her through the mansion, though she seemed to have no more than a foggy recollection to any of it. When she finally insisted on going to bed, he seemed like a kid deflated, but cheered up as soon as I suggested us going to bed together as well.

"Please tell me how you want me to dispose of all the old Decency Police," he said as we started to undress. "I was thinking of burning them all to death, which would have a special sort of irony that I would quite enjoy."

"I understand your wish to kill all them off, but I don't think it's smart to kill so many so easily. And since there's no way to be sure all of them killed innocents, there's no way you can punish all of them safely like that."

"What would you have me do?"

"Show restraint. Tell them thanks for their services, but since the Codes have been abolished, there's no need for their services anymore. Create a new police force without the word Decency involved, and let the old ones try out for it if they want to, but assign trusted officials to carefully monitor their activates to make sure they aren't corrupt."

"I suppose I can do that. But only because I've already punished every officer who personally did you harm. You don't mind me executing that evil little ferret, Dr. Firsov by fire, do you?"

"He is evil, but I think it would be too dangerous to execute him. He's the only one I trust will be competent enough to safely dismantle that bacterial agent he created. He probably has all sorts of people in the lab that are loyal to him and would still release the agent if he was killed, and you can't just kill everyone there, some of them are good."

"So what do you suggest?"

"Keep everything as is, in fact, praise Dr. Firsov for his genius, but order him to permanently dismantle that agent in a safe way. After that, keep him well occupied with busy work until he retires, which won't be long, because he's quite old."

"Well, you should have told me these thoughts of your sooner, because I already had the man executed."

"Maxim, you can't solve every problem by killing people."

"Oh, he was just as dastardly as Kirrill, and you know it. I'll just have to find someone capable enough in chemistry to dismantle this weapon of his." And then he looked at me and winced. "Ah, how insensitive of me to bring up needing a chemist. I'm sorry."

He kissed me in apology.

"It's totally fine, feel free to bring him up anytime."

"I truly wish I would have been able to meet your first love, my solnyshko. It would have been m y honor to know Parker."

"You would have loved him," I said.

"I already do. And what about my plans to permanently park Kirrill's old death train and have them destroy it? I want to move the seat of royal government back to the Sneg Dvorec, where is had always been before the invention of railroads. Hmm, okay, I am seeing a theme. All my ideas do seem to involve fiery destruction, don't they?"

"Yes, they do. But this time, I love that idea."

"Finally, I get something right, huh? Well, I'll get something else right before the night is over." He smiled, pulling out his crown and putting it on his head.

"What are you doing with that thing?"

"They were going to take it away as soon as the ceremony was over, but I made them agree to let me keep it for one night. Oh yes, there's no way you're getting through this night without having sex with the man in the crown."

I laughed. "Is that an order from the Tsar?"

"Damn right it is. And I'm pretty sure that's the best order I'll ever give anyone, ever."

MARCH 24th

Maxim had to go work early the next morning, and as he left, I woke myself up enough to tell him something important I had almost forgotten about.

"Maxim, there's another old vessel of Kirrill's that survived, someone who helped me both escape the train the first time and helped me kill Kirrill the second time. If he's having memory problems like your sister, I'd like to help him out."

"Sure, he can stay with us for as long as he wants. I'll ask them to bring him here."

"Thank you."

"Is this someone you're sleeping with? If so, maybe you can do so in the mornings when I'm at work, so that when I get home at night, you'll still want to be with me?"

"That's very much a non-issue, Maxim, because I'm not sleeping with him."

"Whatever makes you happy, my solnyshko. And maybe if he gets his memory back, he can tell us how we can get you to contact the leader of the Valmor Blood, Marquez. I've been working on digging up how to get you connected to the African Blood leader. Give me a couple weeks, and I thought we could go pay him a visit together."

"I love that plan."

"Oh, by the way, I'm headed to the Petrov Blood Imperial Army barracks, which is an hour outside of the city by train. But I'll b available by phone if you need me, and should be home for dinner."

Mrs. Ford rang me in my room while I was still in bed. "Mr. Groves, our guest has arrived."

"Thank you, I'll be right down."

I threw on my PJs and headed for the mansion's entrance. There was the handsome Hispanic vampire that had been Kirrill's prisoner for so long, as naked as the last time I had seen him, his arm over the shoulder of Mrs. Ford. His body was covered in dirt.

"Why is he naked?" I asked.

"I asked the same as they delivered him, sir. They said he didn't have any clothes or any other belongings. And he seems wobbly on his feet."

"Because they didn't even bother to remove his nails, the poor man!"

The man clearly recognized me, smiling and grunting at the sight of me. I took him from overwhelmed Mrs. Ford, putting my arm around his naked back muscles and he put his arm appreciatively around my neck.

"I'll take him to his guest room, I know where it is. If you could find a hammer and bring it to me. And some of Maxim's clothes, too. Thanks."

"Of course, sir."

"This will be your room while you are here," I said to him as I brought him into the guest room. "Make yourself at home."

He looked at the bed, which he surely wanted to be placed on, but then he pointed at the dirt all over his skin and groaned.

"You want to be clean before you get dressed or get into bed?"

He nodded.

"That's perfectly understandable, I'd think the same. I'll just help you to the shower."

I brought him into the bathroom and deposited him in the shower, leaning him back against the shower wall to make sure he was supported before leaving him.

After a minute, I came back. "I still don't hear the water running, are you okay?"

He was changing the flow adjustment on the showerhead itself without turning it on, looking completely baffled.

"Have you never showered before?"

He shrugged.

"Right, not that you can remember, at least. I saw the officers on the train washing you once, but they just brought hoses into your room and sprayed you down, didn't they?"

He nodded.

"You need to turn these two handles, one for hot, one for cold." I turned on the water, set the temperature, and set him under the spray.

I left him alone again, but after not hearing any movement, I went back and saw he was just standing there motionless, his eyes shut.

"You need to lather yourself with the soap, there. Just the water alone isn't going to do it."

He groaned, grabbed the soap, and handed it to me, closing his eyes again.

"You want me to scrub you?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Fine, I'll do it this time since you're so weak, but you have to do this on your own from now on, promise?"

He nodded.

I started to wash down his brown skin, from his handsome face down. His body was mostly naturally hairless, except for his pubes, armpits, calves and a black treasure trail, so that made the lathering go faster. I tried not to think about how sexy this man's muscles were, feeling that would be a betrayal to Maxim.

I had hoped he would open his eyes and come to in time for him to wash his private areas, but he did not leaving me to do the job. I washed off his muscular butt first. And then I cleaned the dirt that was covering his huge, uncut flesh-stick and balls.

I turned off the water, toweled him off, and walked him to the bed.

Mrs. Ford delivered the clothes and the hammer at that time, and I thanked her and sent her on her way.

It seemed unwise to remove the nails after he was dressed, because I didn't want to get Maxim's clothes bloody, so I climbed onto the bed and looked at his head. There were two nails there, so I chose one at random and placed the back of the hammer on it.

"I'm sure I don't have to warn you of all people that this could hurt, but I am in any case."

And then I pulled it out.

As soon as I had, a long string of Spanish escaped from his lips in his deep, manly voice.

"Are you trying to tell me something?"

He nodded, and continued on in Spanish.

"I don't speak Spanish, do you know any English? No hablo Español."

"English, yes, I know English," he said finally, in a Spanish accent. "I thought at first that's what I was speaking."

"Well, it's only natural you would go into your native language after so many years unable to speak. Tell me, do you have a name? If not, should we invent one for you?"

"I heard the guards call me Emmanuel at times. And that I'm from Mexico. But I actually don't remember either of those things or anything else from my old life, so if they had been lying, I would never know."

"The woman Kirrill kept as a vessel as well has the same sort of memory lapse. She's staying here too, but has the bonus over you that her brother Maxim identified her and knows everything about her old life. Still, we'd be happy to try and see if we can help you get your memory back if it's at all possible."

"Thank you."

I reached over and pulled out the last nail in his scalp. Emmanuel's demeanor changed immediately, his passive, sickly body turning solid and powerful.

His fangs popped out, making me a bit nervous. What made me even more nervous was that his brown dick went from soft to scary hard, the dark pink of his dickhead poking through past his foreskin for the first time.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, but he wouldn't even look me in the eyes, he was too busy looking at my throat.

I defensively tried to back off and leave the bed, but he pounced on me, forced me underneath his body, facedown into the mattress, and pierced my throat from the side.

"No, no, no! You cannot do this to me!" I yelled as he started to groan with pleasure at the surprising taste of my blood.

Once he had blood on my tongue, he only became more animalistic. He ignored my attempts to escape as he pulled the pajamas off my body and rammed his huge dick all the way inside my butt, without the slightest bit of lube. Even with the numbing effects of his bite, it hurt so badly tears stung my eyes. And the thrusts he was making only made things worse.

Struggling physically had no effect, so I tried reasoning with him. "Please, Emmanuel, snap out of it! Por favor, por favor!"

Finally, finally, he stopped thrusting and licked my wound shut.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said. "I've didn't know what my bloodlust would taste like until right that second. I didn't know how to control my impulses. But now it's coming back to me, the control. I'm sorry about hurting you. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you."

"It's okay, I should have warned you before I pulled that last nail out, or waited for Maxim to get home to do it."

"But now that I'm all the way inside you, what do you say we finish what we started?" His dark pink lips went from my neck to my mouth, pushing his tongue into me.

I shook his kiss away. "I'm sorry, but I'm off the market. Maxim, the owner of this house, is my boyfriend."

"Ah, shit, what a letdown!" He pulled out of me so quickly it actually hurt, and handed me my pajamas, which I put back on.

"I'll leave you alone to get dressed."

He looked at the pile of clothes. "I've never been dressed before."

"I know, you've been naked for as long as your memory extends. But Helina was in the same category, and she seemed to figure it out. Most of this stuff is self explanatory."

"What do I start with?"

"Your underwear."

He looked through the pile. "Is it labeled so?"

"No."

"What is underwear?"

"It's what covers your penis."

He picked up something from the stack and put it on. "Is this it?"

"No, you've hung your top hat at your dick. That goes on your head, at the end."

"Oh, so this?"

I looked at the black sock covering his hardness. "No, that goes on your foot." I grabbed it from him and put it on his foot, put the other one on as well. "See?"

"Right, so this must be my underwear. But how do I keep it on?"

He had wrapped his floppy bow tie around his dick. "That's for your neck! Okay, before you inevitably try to put your dick in your shoes, let me end the madness now." I found the old fashioned soft- cotton boxers and handed them to him.

"And I just wrap it around my dick like this?"

"No, you step into those two leg hole there. And then pull them up."

"Like this?"

"They are backwards. The slit is supposed to be in the front so you can put your dick through it."

"Oh, like this?"

"Yes, but you don't need to hang out your penis like that right now, you only use that hole when you need to pee. Right, that's good. Now, put on the trousers."

"With the zipper in the front?"

"Exactly."

"I can't get them on."

"Well, that's because your hard dick is still sticking straight out. Try sticking it straight up and tucking it into the top there. Yes, that's fine."

"And all the rest of this is for my upper body? How could I possibly fit all this on?"

I looked at the undershirt, button up, vest, jacket, and tie, and practically threw my hands up. "You know, just let me do the rest, and try to remember for next time. Pretty soon, that's going to be my catchphrase."

"The water is so, well, just so gorgeously blue, isn't it?" asked Emmanuel dreamily as the three of us walked out towards the lake.

"Water usually is blue, yes," said Helina sarcastically. "At least I can remember that much. And wet too, if memory serves correctly."

"Ignore her bite, it's just her subtle way of letting people know she respects them," I said to the guy. "And yes, it's very beautiful, especially all surrounded by white like it is."

"Yes, beautiful is the right word. Beautiful." He trotted out ahead of us onto the pier, which was just a foot off the surface, and looked down into the water below. It started out being all ice, but turned into liquid the farther towards the middle of the lake we went out.

While he was out of earshot, I asked her, "Did you have any problems when you first got your powers back? Emmanuel attacked me as soon as I removed the nail from his head that was suppressing them."

"Yes, only my bloodlust really didn't kick in until I first woke up after recovering from the flu. I attacked a nurse who I thought smelled nice, could have easily killed him if I hadn't gotten myself under control."

The two of us rejoined Emmanuel.

"Now, I'm bringing the two of you out here to help re-learn some of those vampire abilities without having to explain to Maxim when he gets home why his house has burnt down or his new butler has been electrocuted. This pier is so wet and frozen it won't possibly burn. But, I don't want the two of you to just consider me as someone who is here for you to learn back old skills or memories. I want you two to consider me there for you emotionally as well. After all, the three of us are the only living vessels of Kirrill left. We're the only ones that really understand what that means."

"I know," Helina said. "That's why I already feel like you understand the darkness inside me far more than my exuberantly cheerful brother. Maxim never had to personally suffer. He's had to deal with the fact that his loved ones have suffered or died. I've been through that too, but my pain is so much greater than that."

"He's trying to help with what he thinks is his greatest asset, trying to make you forget everything that happened to you by being so surrounded by happiness in the present. He means well."

"I know he does."

"But how can you really understand what we went through?" asked Emmanuel. "I saw the room he kept you in. In was deluxe compared to the tiny cells he locked us two in."

"Well, let me tell you about what happened to me in the Logan Territory."

"You were in the Territory?" asked Helina.

"What is that?" asked Emmanuel.

"The North American vampire group. Maxim already went over all of this with me last night. How was it?"

"Well, I suppose the town of Fools Gold was fine, especially if you have an Old West fetish, and enjoy endless dry dust, corrupt law enforcement, and dangerous bandits involved in gun duels."

"It already sounds like my dream town," said Helina. "I shall book a flight immediately."

"Mareshead, where the Logans make their home, is far more beautiful, but the locals are in some serious need of some guidance on how to politely handle locals, I'm afraid. Jericho Logan, the Kirrill of the Territory, made me one of many slaves there. They took away my clothes, my other possessions, and every shred of my dignity. They raped me constantly and forced me to endure physical labor, and if I ever refused to show them courtesy, they would kill another less important slave as punishment." I started to get chocked up.

Helina grabbed my hand, and Emmanuel's face seemed properly impressed as well.

"So, you see, I just can't find a way to give Mareshead a five star rating, even though it is beautiful."

"Tell me you killed this Jericho bastard like we did to Kirrill," said Helina.

"I couldn't, though I was able to help free most of the slaves. Now, even though I too have been inflicted with Kirrill's brain nails, I've never had to go through such a long ordeal that you two faced. And the trauma of not remembering anything, of having that man take away your old life from you too in that way, I can't even imagine how awful it must feel, but I hope you both feel comfortable sharing those feelings with me now."

"Absolutely," she said, not even trying to joke for a change.

"Yes, me too," said Emmanuel.

We reached the end of the pier, where the ice finally turned to water, and I had Helina go a ways back to keep her safe, and then I had Emmanuel stand at the edge of the pier and face out, while I stood a couple yards behind him.

"Now, I know you must have more than one power in the Valmor Blood, but this is the only one I've seen before. You can create electricity from your mouth. See if you can get it to come out."

He opened his mouth and shook his head around, but nothing came out. "This isn't going to work."

"No, it's not," I agreed. I came up into his personal space. "Can you smell my blood from here?"

He took a sniff, and his fang popped out.

"I guess that's answer enough. I have a feeling that the electricity comes from your fangs." I stepped back again. "Do you feel anything there?"

"Yes, I feel, well, it's weird. I feel like there's something that desperately wants out."

"Let it out."

Two bolts of electricity came out of his mouth, but instead of moving forwards, towards the lake, they curled around his head, joined together behind him, and came right towards me. I jumped backwards, the electricity hitting the spot where I was standing with a loud thunder clap.

As soon as he realized I had been in danger, he shut his mouth, and the electricity disappeared. He covered his mouth with his hands, embarrassed, as he made sure I was okay.

"Sorry, I had no idea that thing could bend around you like that."

"Neither did I," he said, his fangs put away safely. "I think it did that because even though I was facing the water, I was thinking about you behind me, how delicious you were. But now that I know how to get it going, I'll be able to play with it on my own. Thanks."

I walked back to where Helina was standing, and tried to get her to release her fire, but even after I got her fangs out as well just in case that mattered, the only thing we seemed to find was frustration.

"Maybe this whole fire thing is just for the male Petrov Blood vampires," she suggested.

"No, I've seen another special female do it before."

"Well, for whatever reason, I don't have that power. Let's move on."

"Hold on, are you sure this isn't just because you're pyrophobic?"

"Either way, it's just not going to happen."

"Well, your other power is so less pretty, I'm afraid. Telescopic vision."

"Oh joy, now I can complete my life long dream of becoming the world's best bird watcher."

I ran back over to where Emmanuel was sitting at the end of the dock, gave him a book, and told him to hold it up. I ran back to where she was and looked to make sure there was no way I could ever read it (there wasn't).

"You should be able to zoom in and read it to me."

She squinted at the book. "Nothing's happening. Is there some on switch I have to press somewhere?" she joked.

Stymied, I used my cell phone to call Maxim.

"Hello, my solnyshko. Did I ever tell you just seeing your name on my phone both warms my heart, puts a smile on my lips, and does something quite unmentionable down below?"

I laughed. "I can always count on you to mix something sweet with something salty."

"I'm like a salted cream cake-icing, the perfect combination of sweet and salty. And I do believe you've described me as tasting as such in a literal context in one or two of our private bedroom moments. Though it was something a lot runnier than icing, if memory serves correctly."

I laughed, turning hot with embarrassment. "You'd better not be surrounded by soldiers out there who can overhear you."

"Possibly, but that's why I'm talking so quietly."

"You seem to be at a normal volume level to me."

"You should know by now that this is as hushed as I'm capable of. Anyway, what can I do for you?"

"I've got Emmanuel and your sister out here on the lake pier, and I'm trying to teach them their powers. I assume Helina learned how to use telescopic vision when you two were young?"

"She sure did, we did it together."

I switched him onto speaker phone so Helina could hear too. "Maxim, how did you two learn how to use it?"

"How else would any youngsters learn? We learned how spying on naked adults or adults having sex."

Helina rolled her eyes. "Oh great, so you're telling me that in my former life I was not only a sexual pervert, I was a voyeuristic one too."

"Pretty much, but I was just as much of one."

"That is wonderfully reassuring, thank you," she said sarcastically.

"Jake, take the phone to Emmanuel."

I walked over to the man, who was peering into the water from the edge of the pier. "Yes?" he asked.

"Emmanuel, this is Maxim Petrov, great to meet you, friend."

"Same to you."

"Hey listen, are you willing to help my sister learn how to use her power? Are you, by any chance, shy with nudity?"

He laughed. "According to all the memories I have of my life, this is the first day I've ever worn clothes. I feel incredibly strange with them on, in fact."

"Great, you're the perfect candidate to help out."

Before Maxim hung up, he had Emmanuel pull his flaccid, uncut dick out of his suit fly and turn to face Helina. I ran back to where she stood. Looking back, I could only see a tan splotch against the grey of his suit which would denote his penis.

"No, I am so not doing this," she said, looking away.

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but just give it a try. You've got to admit he's a handsome sight to look at."

"That he is," she said. "Oh, fine, I'll do this, but only for you." She turned towards him and focused her eyes. "Nope, still nothing, see? I'm not a pervert after all."

"Hmm."

"Oh wait, oh my lord, there it went. Wow, that guy really is impressive in more ways than one, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is. You did it! You learned how!"

"Please no congratulatory hugs! I've gotten enough of those in one day from Maxim to last my entire life, which is theoretically eternal."

"I won't hug you."

"And you'd better not tell Maxim or anyone else this is how we got my power back. Let's pretend that whole book tactic worked."

"I won't. So, can you, you know, zoom in and out now on cue?"

"Hmm, Emmanuel has turned his back to us again. Oh, of course it's too much to ask for him to spend more than two seconds not being transfixed at the sight of water, but I guess I can still check out his butt. Uh, let's see. Yes, it seems I can control it on cue now, how fancy."

"That's great! Now if we could only figure out what the heck your special power is all about, I'd really be excited."

"Umm, okay, either my telescopic vision is already failing me, or I just saw Emmanuel jump into the lake."

"What?!"

I turned around and saw that the end of the pier was sickeningly empty. We both ran at out top speeds to the end of it, with her speed being much faster than mine. When I got there, she was already peering into the water, but I couldn't see anything.

"Can you see him with your new vision?" I asked, searching the surface with my eyes.

"I can," she said. "He's pretty far down. I can see him trying to swim, but he can't."

I pulled off my coat and kicked off my shoes. "He doesn't know how to swim, but I can. I'm going in."

"No, that's just silly," she said. "It doesn't look to me like he doesn't know how to swim, he's not flailing around desperately like a non-swimmer would. It looks like all his muscles have cramped up, like he's freezing in there. Which, I mean, my god, why wouldn't he think of that before going for a dip? This whole city is practically carved out of ice. If you go in there, you'll freeze just like him."

"But we can't just leave him to die."

"No. Oh, alright." She started to kick off her shoes, threw her dress on the pier until she was just in her black underwear. "I'm jumping in."

"But you'll just freeze like he is."

"Nope, I'm almost never cold. Petrov Blood vampires must have some resistance to the cold, so I should be fine. And vampires must be better swimmers than humans, right?"

She jumped into the water, disappearing into it as she dove down below the surface. And she didn't return. I could see no sign of either of them below the surface, and it made me sick with anxiety.

I called Maxim. "How'd it go?"

"Maxim, Helina thought fanged Petrov Blood vampires had a natural resistance to cold. Was she right?"

"Yes," he said. "We can withstand cold for short periods of time, making us so perfect for this cold weather climate. But even though we are fire-resistant, hot weather climate conditions are just as trying to us as humans."

"Well, good, because she's going to need that resistance to cold if she's going to survive her dive into the lake."

"WHAT? Please tell me you've taken up playing practical jokes on me."

"No, she's jumped in to save Emmanuel, and now I can't see either of them under the surface."

"She should have NEVER jumped in to save someone we barely even know! She might have just thrown her life away!" He was so angry, it was frightening.

"They've been under for so long. How long can vampires go without breathing?"

"No longer than a normal human. Vampires are stronger, which makes them strong swimmers, otherwise they'd drown all the time."

"Uh oh, she was under the misconception that vampires could go longer without air. I'm going to jump in to try and save them."

"NO YOU ARE NOT, YOU HEAR ME?" His shouts reached a new level of volume. "YOU ARE NOT GOING TO ENDANGER YOURSELF!"

"But if I could sacrifice myself to save both of their lives, it would be worth it, wouldn't it?"

"No, it wouldn't. You mean more to me than anyone in the world, even my own sister. I never want you sacrificing yourself for her. And she means more to me than anyone else. This Emmanuel guy is so far down the priority list, he doesn't even register, he might as well be Hitler himself."

"I'm just going to dive in to see if I can see them below the surface." I stepped to the edge of the pier and looked over the side, wondering what it would feel like to be submerged in icy water.

"No, that is absolutely not acceptable! You will not touch that water, that's an order! I'm the Tsar here, you have to listen to my commands!"

"Oh my goodness, what is that?" my eyes focused on a point along the pier, much closer to shore.

"What?"

I put my shoes back on and ran down the pier. As I got closer, I knew it wasn't just my imagination. "I can see them on the surface!"

"Good, see? You don't have to go in."

"Oh my goodness, Maxim, this is not, not, so not good."

"Oh, god, what is it?"

"They must have gotten pushed by the current towards the shore."

I ran to where they were, right against the pier, and I leaned down and put my hand on the ice beneath me. Emmanuel showed no sign of life, but Helina's face seemed frantic. She was looking into my eyes, banging against the ice, but it would not give. I punched it until my fisted were bloody, but not even a crack.

"Your sister is drowning, trapped under a layer of ice! Is there something around here I can use to break it?"

"Yes, at the start of the pier there's a steel shed filled with boating materials for the summer. There must be something there that would work."

I spotted the shed and ran as fast as I could towards it, threw open the door, grabbed the first hard thing I could (an oar) and ran back to where she was. But by the time I got back, she looked just as lifeless and Emmanuel.

I slammed the oar over and over again into the ice, and when I heard splintering, I thought I had destroyed it and would have to go back for some other tool.

Thank goodness the ice broke along with the wooden oar, clearing a large enough hole for s person to get through.

I thought Maxim would have wanted me to pull Helina out first, but Emmanuel's body was the one against the hole I made, and the only way to get to her was to pull him out. He was very heavy, but I managed to get him back onto the pier.

I went down and pulled out Helina as well, who was comparatively lighter, and set her down on the pier. I put the phone back to my ear and started to cry.

"Oh my goodness, they both look dead, Maxim. I think I was too late."

"No, no, she can't be dead, not after she just miraculously survived that flu! No, you have to try to bring her back!" I put him on speaker and set my phone down.

"Right, okay, let me look at her. She doesn't look or feel particularly cold to me, but she's not breathing."

"She's drowned. Turn her over and try to get the water out of her lungs."

"Yes, okay, I've done that. She's on her back now."

"You'll need to give her CPR!"

"Just like she's a human?"

"Yes!"

"Okay."

I started to press on her chest, breathe into her lungs, press onto her chest, breathe into her lungs, and so on.

Finally, finally, she gasped for air, and then coughed up water.

"Please tell me that was her coughing and not the other guy!"

"It was!"

"Oh thank you, thank you, my solnyshko!" He was crying. "When I get home, I'm showing you just how appreciative I am by giving you the hottest night you've ever had. I love you."

I was getting moved by Maxim's words, but I still had work to do here.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Yes, yes, I'm alright. I just need to lie here. Leave me, let me rest." She shut her eyes, but seemed fine.

I walked over to Emmanuel. "Is there anything I can do for him?" I asked Maxim.

"If Helina just barely survived, there's no point even trying CPR on him," said Maxim.

"Um, okay, I cannot believe this, but I can feel a pulse on him! And, yes, he's breathing!"

"That can't be right!"

"I know, because he was underwater for twenty minutes at least. But I'm sure of it, he's still alive. That must be the other power the Valmor Blood has. Not to need to breathe for long stretches, like whales. I wonder if his enchantment with the water was instinctual somehow." I felt his hands, his forehead. "Uh oh, he feels frozen alive."

"He's not a Petrov Vampire, Jake. He could die from hypothermia or frostbite."

"I'll take him to the hospital."

"It's too far. I'm already having medics come for both of them, but until they arrive, you'll need to get him into a warm bath. Remove all his icy clothes and get his body warmed up."

I picked him up, left my phone behind, and ran into the house. I carried him into Maxim's bedroom, where I knew there was a bathtub. I started up warm water, pulled his wet clothes off, and submerged him naked into the water. I started to rub his muscled torso, trying to use friction and my own warmth to bring him back.

Nothing happened for a couple of minutes, and then he opened his eyes suddenly. "So, so cold," he said, shivering.

He grabbed me and pulled me into the bath with him, clothes and all, using my body to warm himself with.

"Alright, I'm trying to warm you back up, just don't regress back to the biting me stage that we went through earlier."

"I won't."

"I think you're going to be okay," I said, getting out of the tub. "Why ever did you jump into the water?"

"I can't say. I just HAD to go swimming. This warm bath feels amazing, by the way."

"Well, that's officially the last time I take you anywhere within running distance of a dangerous body of water, I promise you that. You'll just need to keep whatever natural swimming instincts you have to this bathtub."

MARCH 25th

"Take a look at this notice." Maxim handed me a slip. "What does it say?"

"This a court summons requiring your presence in three days."

"No, it's Edmund Woodville's legal way of telling me the honeymoon is officially slaughtered. And after I barely got even got half a blowjob out of the whole process. The irony is that he is ending a metaphorical honeymoon by requiring I partake in a very literal, highly unpleasant one."

"This is about Lorna, isn't it?"

"Yes, and they certainly didn't waste any time. With the dishonorable judge Vasos Spiros presiding, of course."

"Can't you just say that old contract you had to marry her is void now, considering you are, you know, the supreme despot of this land?"

"That's exactly the argument I tried with Vasos, but he disagreed with me, saying the contract could not be void for that reason. Basically, he's going to side with them."

"And then?"

"And then, I'll either have to marry on the spot and start producing children, which I don't even think I could get up for, or I'll be sent to a rather cushy prison for a few years."

"That's not okay!" I said.

"Well, I would get my Tsar-ship back after my term concluded."

"And your sister would be appointed Tsar in the meantime?"

"Tsarista? That's what I figured too, which wouldn't have been so bad, but Vasos let me know that Edmund has already discussed this with him, saying that Helina is both an amnesiac that knows nothing of our people as well as probably psychologically damaged because of her ordeal, that she should be removed from consideration of leadership."

"That's bogus!"

"I know, but Vasos said he would agree with that argument, so that would leave my distant cousin, a man who basically has been metaphorically sucking Edmund off for money for years."

"A pawn of his, who will do whatever he wants."

"And what he wants is to reinstate the Decency Codes, which he ever so enjoyed. And not only that, punish anyone who broke any codes during the short time I've been Tsar. But luckily, I got notice of this hearing ahead of time. Let's take the opportunity to run away together before this goes down. Helina can come with us too if she wants."

"And what would happen to you if you abandoned your Blood?"

"I would become an outlaw here."

"That would mean you'd permanently give up your position as Tsar. No, the much better decision would be to either marry this woman as you were supposed to."

"I just can't do that, you know that."

"Or, accept the five years sentence for breaching a contract. Go through five years behind bars, and hope that when you get out, you'll still be able to undo any damage your cousin and Edmund caused."

"Fine, if that's the price I have to pay, I'll do it. I should have never signed that contract in the first place, I was such an idiot."

"Wait a second. I still might have a solution, though I should say chances of this working are very slim."

"This better not be one of your zany plans that puts you into harm's way again. Because if it is, I should warn you that I will react to any of your future self-sacrifice by physically restraining you."

"This one is perfectly safe. Edmund offered me a job as a bartender at Woodville Palace. I can check to see if the offer still stands. He'll expect I move into his place, I'm sure. Hopefully, being around him will give me something unseemly to witness, and my phone will be recording all my conversations in my pocket."

"Wow, the first semi-intelligent plan you've hatched that doesn't hinge on self-martyrdom. Because even if you are discovered, the worst that can happen is he'll throw you out. There is no indication that he would ever act outside the law, or even use the law to commit heinous violence legally, as Kirrill's MO was."

"But can I really pull that role off? You remember how badly I botched the job at first."

"I've heard Edmund and Gala either order very simple mixed drinks or wine, nothing more. You already have learned all about reds from dining with me. I'll go over whites with you too. You should be fine."

"One problem though. He seemed particularly attracted to the idea that I was single. I'm not sure he would be so quick to hire me if he knew we were together."

"He has no idea about us ever being together at all. The only person you have been publically linked to was Dr. Herzog, and those rumors were squashed. But, because I don't want to ask you to live a lie, and I don't want you to feel like I'm inhibiting you over there somehow, well, there's an easy fix for us. Jake, I am officially dumping you. Consider yourself kicked to the curb. I couldn't ethically stay with you if your plan fails and I end up in prison for five years. I mean, they won't even let us have conjugals."

"Well, I guess that only makes sense. I'll be sad to lose you, as temporary as it may be."

"Sorry, I'm afraid I've gotten my vision of your sweet body in front of me and the word `conjugal' all mixed together into a heady cocktail. I've heard of make-up sex, but tell me, my solnyshko, is break-up sex also a thing?"

"If not, I think we owe it to the world to invent it."

"That's what I love about you, you always do what's best for society, such a philanthropist. If we are setting a new sexual precedent for the world, let's make sure we set the bar as high as we possibly can on the passion scale, shall we?"

"Your royal bed awaits, Mr. Tsar."

And we laughed together as we started to kiss.

Woodville Palace was breathtaking, if a bit out of place among the other architecture of the city. It was a grand old English manor house, only instead of being on large, stately grounds, the structure was nestled into the close-spaces of the city. Just as he had agreed to on the phone, Edmund Woodville was standing in the doorway. Like always, he was wearing a red-coated British officer's uniform, though the one he was in that day was far less regal than the other times I had seen him, which had all seemed to be some special occasion of some kind. Even without all the ornamentation I had seen him display before, he looked darn sexy in that uniform.

His outfit was surely last nineteenth century, but his red, pony-tailed hair seemed more old- fashioned, with a cut that would have been popular in England not long after powdered wigs fell out of favor. Somehow, it made me think of an early eighteenth century naval ship captain.

I returned Edmund's smile as I walked towards him, looking up and down at his muscled body. Given my lack of time and the serious urgency of the situation, I really had two possible solutions in my head. Plan A would be to get close enough to Edmund to witness something that I could blackmail him with, like a plan to kill his own people with a biological agent.

Plan B, wince I knew he was exclusive with his fiancé, would be to sleep with him and then blackmail him. Therefore, I would need to be as flirtatious as seductive as I could be without outright hitting on him, which would probably just get me fired.

"Good day, Lord Woodville," I said to him, smiling nicely, making eye contact.

"Good day, Mr. Groves, and welcome. Come in, come in."

He led me into the house, and immediately my eyes started to take in the beauty of my surroundings, that is, as soon as I took notice of the large amounts of servants hanging around.

"What a fine, English-style manor this place is, both inside and out."

"Thank you, all of it was selected carefully by me."

But as he led me into the place, I realized the beauty of it didn't quite live up to my first impression. Though I preferred Edmund's decoration infinitely more than Strom's gaudy flash, Maxim's place was still decorated more beautifully that this one. Maxim wasn't afraid to use empty space in his décor, which lent his spaces a hominess to them. Edmund, on the other hand, had every little nook and cranny of his manor stuffed full of decoration, as beautiful as it was. It almost made my eyes exhausted as we went down the hall.

"Mr. Groves, I'm so happy you finally accepted my offer. Hiring you will put me in good graces with my fiancé, Gala. Was it her invitation that convinced you in the end?"

"It was very nice of her to invite me, but in all honesty, milord, I decided to take the job because of you."

"Of me? Why ever why?"

"I'll tell you, but not here where your servants' ears are so close."

He stopped us, came in close, and put his ear to my lips. "Whisper it to me."

"Well, milord," I whispered. "I'm sick of all these Russian, Greeks, Germans, and what not. You and me are the only ones who spoke English first, and that makes me feel like you are the only one in this whole Blood who I can trust. You're an English gentleman, I'm an American one, we are very much alike."

"Indeed."

"I'm going to listen to you and only you. Anything you tell me to do, I'll do. I won't trust anyone with anything you tell me unless you tell me to."

"That's good to know, thank you. Now, to show you to your room upstairs in the servants' quarters."

"Actually, you should see this." I showed him my Bourgeoisie card.

"Ah, not only are you the only American bartender in the city, your handsome, AB negative, and Bourgeois as well? You are the perfect find, aren't you?"

"Thanks you, milord."

"But I see, that means the expectation would be to put you among the honored guest rooms. I just don't have the space, I'm afraid. Now, I don't want you to think this manor isn't as grand as you imagined from the outside, because it is just as large as it looks. But the master wing of the manor is being renovated. Lorna, Gala, and I have all been banished to the much smaller guest wing in the meantime, and so rooms are on short order, especially with the guests we currently have. And believe me, I've tried to get Gala to share a room with me, but she won't have it."

"You don't share a room?"

"Oh, we will once we are married, surely. I'd prefer to have her share my bed as soon as she moved in, but she won't even lay with me, if you get my meaning. She thinks it improper for a non- married couple to share a bed and carry on physically, which certainly isn't a vampire tradition, it's a bizarre one she picked up from being human."

"I'm sorry for your frustration," I said.

"Thank you. But, you see, there's no free guest bedroom to give you. And so, unless you want to share a bed with me, there's nothing to give you but an empty servant's room."

"That's fine."

"Right, servant's room it is."

"No, I mean, I'll share a bed with you. That's fine. It's just not proper for me to sleep in the servants' quarters."

"Really? I really just suggested that as a joke."

"Yes, milord, I'll be happy to be closer to you."

"Ah, okay, I guess that will be fine. And once the renovations finish in a few days, we'll both have our own rooms, so it's only temporary. Let me show you to our room."

He changed direction, leading me towards one side of the manor.

"Now, even though traditionally someone in your position would be reporting to my butler, you will find that I like to be in control over most of how this place is run, so you will report directly to me. I'm stationing you in my main lounge, where our largest bar is. Gala frequents the room often, but Lorna is absolutely not allowed in there, and if she should appear, please contact me right away. Ah, here's my bedroom."

He led me into a small guest room, no larger than a small hotel room.

"As you can imagine, Gala got the big room, and I volunteered to take the small one, not expecting I'd need to share it."

"It'll be fine."

"But it's just a double bed."

"We'll both fit, I promise."

Once I put my stuff down, I started to change into my newly cleaned and pressed bartender uniform. I pulled my trousers and underwear off quickly, leaving me naked for him to see. His eyes went straight to my butt.

"Oh, sorry, I'll wait outside for you to finish."

"You don't have to leave, I don't mind," I said.

But he was already out the door. I finished getting dressed and then left the bedroom, hoping he found me attractive, but completely unsure.

"Now, speaking of undressing, there's something you should know. I've always been a firm believer in the power of the Decency Codes. In fact, I helped our sadly deceased Tsar in crafting a number of them. And even if that troublemaker Maxim just picked them all up and threw them away like a used contraceptive, I intend to uphold them all in the privacy of my home, and I expect everyone here to abide by them."

"Yes, milord, I passed the Code test, so I'll be fine. Not only that, I was a friend of the old Tsar's too. He told me I was one of the mode Decent people he had ever met, and I mean to uphold his standards."

Edmund smiled delightfully. "A true gentleman, and loyal to the old Tsar. My my, you just keep getting better and better. So, think of the bedrooms and bathrooms as private spaces, where people are free to not follow the Codes. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to undress in our own rooms. But consider other interior spaces of this manor to be public, and therefore the Codes will be enforced."

"Brilliant, sir." I said, though I was highly annoyed by that turn of events because it meant if it limited my flirtations.

"The exotic, American bartender?!"

"He has a name, Gala. Jake Groves."

"You got me Jake Groves?! I'm so happy, I could kiss you!" She leaned over and kissed a very pleased Edmund on the lips, and suddenly I felt my chances of seducing him lessen.

"Wow, what a kiss," he said. "I can count on one hand the number of times you've kissed me like that. In fact, that kiss was on the edge of being Indecent."

"I'll have a dirty martini."

Maxim once again proved to completely fail at getting me prepared for anything, as this was a drink I had no idea about. Luckily, I had learned enough about Maxim's tendencies to go to a local bookstore and buy a bartender's pocketbook, which I had beneath the counter of the bar, where only I could see it. I found her drink.

"Gala, have you drawn blood for me yet today?"

"Not yet, sweetie," she said.

"Gala, you know I need you to draw the blood before you start drinking."

"You are the only vampire I've ever heard that cared about that."

"It is odd, but I just don't like the subtle change in flavor the alcohol creates. If you are going to drink, please go back to your room and draw the blood first, that's all I ask of you."

"Yes, dad," she said, rolling her eyes to me.

"I heard that," he said, sitting down across the room in a chair as he read a paper.

"Well, if he insists on me drawing blood before I drink, forget taking the time to go to my room, I'm going to do it right here."

She opened her purse and pulled out a syringe connected to a large glass vial. She put her arm up right in front of me on the bar and pushed the syringe towards me as she disinfected her arm.

"You're going to do that right here?"

"No, you're going to do that right here for me."

"What, me? Why can't he just bite you?"

"No, I would never let him! A vampire gets way too carried away when they bite someone. Not going to let him until after the wedding. So, this is what we've agreed to. So stick me already."

"I'm not medically trained."

"I don't care, neither am I. If you mess up, Edmund can heal me. I'll point exactly where you need to poke me." She did with her finger, and I lifted the needle. "No, hold it sideways. Right, better. Do it now!"

I pushed the needle into her vein, and quickly, the blood started to fill the syringe and the vial.

"Perfect!" she said. "Edmund, this bartender may actually be a budding nurse! I'll have to get him to draw blood from now on."

My eyes focused on the blood filling the vial, and that's when I fainted, falling to the floor.

I came to surrounded by cold water, which was quite a shock. I grasped for freedom, finding the warm flesh of a hard chest, and I held on.

I opened my eyes to see Edmund looking down at me. He was lowering me, just in my underwear, into a porcelain bath. The bath in our room, I realized. He was dressed only in his breeches, and his bare upper body was a gorgeous mass of pale, hairless muscles, his pecs and abs ridiculously carved. His skin was creamy white in color, with just the slightest hint of pink, which I supposed went along with his red hair.

"There you are. Glad to see those eyes open again. Can you understand me? Is everything alright?"

I nodded.

"You've been out for a few minutes. You felt warm to me, so I thought you might have gone out due to a fever, so I put you in the bath."

"You can take me out now, I don't have a fever."

He pulled me out of the cool water, carried me against his chest to the bed, and while he did, I nestled my face into his left pec, rubbing that gorgeous, pointy nipple, bright pink in color, with my lips. With my eyes that close to his body, I realized that my first impression that he had been hairless and possibly shaven was all wrong. Instead, I made the pleasant discovery that his chest, abs, and arms were covered in a very short, very fine layer of rusty fur, which reflected the light and made his muscles appear even more reddish in color. It made his upper body absolutely gorgeous to look at, and I also noticed the straight red from his armpits was just poking out of the corner of his arms.

But he sat me down finally on the bed, ending the contact, and threw a towel at me.

"I'd normally call our family doctor for a house call, but Dr. Herzog is gone, and I haven't found a replacement yet."

"Thanks, I'm fine, really."

"Do you have some medical condition I should know about?"

"It's pathetic to admit, but I'm actually extremely squeamish when it comes to blood. Seeing it makes me pass out. If that happens again, just let me come to on my own. No need to worry about me."

"That's good to know. I'll tell Gala to keep her blood drawing contained in her bedroom. Are you okay to go back to work?"

"Yes, I'll be fine."

"I promise I'll let you off early tonight."

"Thanks, milord."

This time, he didn't leave the room as I toweled off and put my uniform back on, putting his shirt and red military coat back on as well.

That evening, I got the chills as I saw a man in a Decency Police uniform coming into the lounge, and my gut told me to run while I still could, sure he was coming to kill or arrest me. And then reason took over, as I reminded myself that the DP were now just regular police, and had no reason to arrest me.

"Ah, there you are, Officer," said Edmund. "I'm glad you could join me for a drink. Please pick something up from my new bartender."

"Yes, milord." The officer approached me, took a happy sniff of my blood, and looked into my eyes. "I'll have vodka on ice."

I met his eyes for the first time, and I realized I recognized this man. I knew this face, but couldn't remember why. Was he one of the old officers I had been running from when Kirill was after me? He's surely recognize me and give me away.

But there was no recognition as he looked at me, just admiration. And it dawned on me; this was Zhora Zonov, the Decency Police fire dueling champion Maxim had gone up against.

I served him his drink, and Edmund sent everyone else out of the room before the two of them sat together in the far corner of the room. At first, they just chit chatted, but the conversation soon turned to serious matters.

"The police force is in turmoil," Zhora said, dropping his voice to a whisper.

"Tell me about it."

"Well, there are three different sorts of officers on the force, I'd say all three equal in number. There are those officers who never liked Kirill or his rules, who lied to him about enforcing those rules, and often broke the rules themselves."

This was just the sort of conversation I needed to record, so I tuned my phone on. But from where I was standing I could only barely hear what was being said, and I knew I wasn't nearly close enough for my phone to pick up the sound.

I was forced to walk closer to them, standing nearby where I knew the recording would continue.

"Those officers must be overjoyed that Maxim has taken over."

"Yes, they are, milord. And then there are the types of officers that just blindly follows orders, they don't care who they serve or what they are asked to do, they'll follow their chain of command." Zhora looked at me. "Excuse me, why are you over here?"

Edmund turned to look at me as well.

"Ah, just wanted to know if either of you need any refills or anything."

"Nope, we're okay, but thanks, Jake," said Edmund.

"If we need drinks, we'll call you from over here," said Zhora, making it clear he wanted me to leave.

"Right, great." I walked back to the bar.

"And then there are the officers, like myself, who loved the Codes and hate to see them go. Many of them have such a passionate hate for Maxim that they've thrown their allegiance to me. When the time comes, should it ever come, we will be ready to act."

I could not fail to record another second of the conversation, so I did what I had to do. I grabbed a knife and cut the palm of my left hand, turning my eyes away to avoid seeing blood. I walked back over to them.

"Yes, what do you need?" asked Zhora, annoyed.

"I hate to bother you, milord," I said, going to Edmund. "I cut myself slicing limes. Could I bother you to close the wound up with your tongue?"

"I'd love to help you, but I'm forbidden to," said Edmund. "Perhaps Officer Zomov will consent."

"I'd never turn down the chance to taste fresh blood," said Zhora, taking my left hand and looking at it. "Quite a cut."

He licked up a trail of blood that had dripped down my hand without licking my wound, and then gasped.

"Oh my, what was that? This is not AB negative blood."

"Stop being foolish," Edmund said, clearly thinking he was putting down my blood and getting offended. "The smell is assaulting my senses from all the way over here, and it's clearly AB negative. I know my AB negative."

"This is much, much better than AB negative. It's far more delicious than I ever knew blood could be."

"How is that possible?"

"Well, it's just my special ability, I guess, even though I'm human. Just a genetic gift. My blood tastes incredible, I can't give or get any sort of illness (viral or otherwise), and I don't age. Guess that will make me one heck of a vampire lover someday, even though I am totally single."

"Very impressive," said Edmund.

"Really milord, you must try some of this," said Zhora. "It's a life-altering experience."

"No thanks, really. That would only lead me down places I can't go to. But stop playing with the poor lad and lick up his wound already."

"Alright, I'm closing the wound."

Zhora licked my hand wound shut, and then showed me his tongue, covered in red blood.

"Ah, so much blood!" I cried, even though it was only marginally bothering me. And then I fake fainted.

This time, Edmund rushed in to catch me before I could hit the floor. "Now you've done it, Officer," said Edmund. "He faints at the sight of blood."

"Will he be okay?"

"Sure, I'll look after him. It's the second time he's fainted today. Such a poor, weak little creature."

Edmund took me in his arms, cradling my body against his chest.

"Perhaps we should continue our conversation another time?" asked Zhora.

"No, he'll be out a few minutes for sure. Feel free to be candid with me for as long as he is unconscious, at least."

That was just what I was hoping for, and I stifled my smile.

"Well, milord, since I have large sway over a good third of the police, I wanted you to be straight about your game plan. You seem to be a lover of the deceased Tsar, yet I know your daughter is engaged to Maxim, who I considerer a true enemy. He's hated me ever since I pounced him in the fire duels."

Once again, I had to subdue a facial expression, that time disbelief. No one had pounced anyone else in that duel, as it had gone on for a long time. And Zhora had only won because Maxim was forced to give up in order to come save my life.

"I have no love for Maxim and never have," said Edmund. "He's never followed a single Decency Code. My plan, and this of course stays between us. I know he'll marry my daughter, he won't be stupid enough to run away or face imprisonment. And then he'll create a group of heirs. I'll pull my strings to have him be as busy as Tsar and away from home as possible, making sure he only rarely sees the children, having them raised only by their mother, which really means by me. And I'll use that position to make them into my true heirs and turn them against their father. Maxim won't survive long, you wait and see. And when he goes, it will be me pulling all the strings. And you will have all of your old power restored to you, if you play your cards right, officer. And in the meantime, if you want to help, I've heard whispers that there was some top secret plan Kirill had his heart set on that never came to fruition. It might be something worth continuing once we have the power back in our hands."

"And that's when they both shook hands and said they would be in league together," I said excitedly into the phone from Edmund's bedroom. "I have it all recorded, I've listened to it and it sounds great."

"That's great, my solnyshko, you've done real good out there," said Maxim. I had called him as soon as Edmund relieved me for the night, telling me he'd be up to bed soon.

"Thanks!" I was already planning on grabbing my things and leaving for good.

"But I'm afraid in the Carstvo, there's no punishment for intent. They have to commit a crime before they can be charged for it. You need to catch Edmund actually ordering something illegal, not just vaguely planning something in the future. I'm not putting any pressure on you to accomplish this, because, like I told you, it's highly unlikely you will succeed, and you know what? That doesn't matter. I love you just for trying."

"Okay, I'll keep at it. Have to go now, he could come in here at any moment. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, my solnyshko, I'll be making a flame clone of you tonight just to hopefully get some sleep, is that something I'm supposed to ask permission for?"

"Yes, it is, and yes, I consent. Maxim, you do as you please. I'll just have to be the one who suffers sleeping tonight without you or even one of your flame-twins."

"The second you get back, I'm going to show you the best lover's tryst you've ever even dreamed of, you hear me?"

"Oh, what was that?" I asked, waking up in bed with a start.

I felt his hand cover my mouth. "Shh," he whispered. "Keep it down or they'll wake."

There was tremendous pain in my rear, something very large was up there, and it was making me flash back to Jericho again, making me anxious. And forcing himself on me while I was sleeping in his bed was certainly not the best way to keep me calm and quiet.

Of course, the good news was, I had Edmund most definitely betraying his vows to his fiancé. I guess he had been into me after all.

A part of me hated myself for prostituting myself out to accomplish my goals, but that was just the sad life that had been thrust upon me of late. Back when humans were my only reality, I was bigger, stronger, and a lot more agile than the average person, and knew that if I ever got into a life or death situation with an attacker, fighting back physically was a realistic means of keeping myself alive. But the fanged vampires were all so strong, they took all of those advantages away. I had to rely instead on my wits, my perseverance, and my greatest strength of all: the fact that with my blood, I was sexual bliss to these men. It wasn't a weapon that I had asked for, and I absolutely hated to wield it, but there seemed to be situation after situation where it became necessary, so I convinced myself not to feel too degraded as I went through with it.

The fact that Maxim had broken up with me did help me feel better about it all. It gave me the freedom not to feel guilty about the sexual acts because of our relationship.

I noticed some strange feeling that I really wasn't used to, and then realized what it was. "You put on a condom?" I whispered. "What part about me not being able to get or give illnesses did you not get? I'm immune to STDs, so condoms are completely unnecessary."

"Oh, really? Wonderful!" he whispered.

Edmund pulled almost all the way out, and then tore the condom apart, pulling it away and tossing it on the floor.

And then the worst part of not willingly engaging in sex occurred to me: I hadn't turned my phone on to record. I was in excruciating pain with nothing to show for it. I knew my phone was sitting across the room on the desktop. No way to get over there from the bed.

But I could not stand to bottom when it wasn't gaining me anything. "I want you to screw me on the desk over there," I said, pointing.

"What? Why?" he whispered.

"Because beds are okay, but I love the feel of something hard under my skin, a hard piece of furniture you can pound me into. Call in kinky, but that's me."

"Alright, your wish is my command."

He actually lifted me off the ground without pulling out of me, and carried me across the room to the desk. He threw me down on the desk so hard that it knocked my phone off, and I only just barely managed to catch it before it crashed to the floor. Luckily, he didn't see the phone, he was too busy ramming me harder and harder into the wooden desk, pushing my face so hard, I thought I would get splinters. I wanted to protect the abuse, but remembered this is just what I asked for.

In between getting knocked over and over into the desk, I somehow managed to turn my phone on to record. And then I hit another problem. It was pitch black, so dark I couldn't even see his face clearly and it was right in front of me, there was no way a phone camera would ever pick up his image, or even mine. It was recording sound too, but with his voice kept to a whisper, it was impossible to hear him clearly either. I had to turn the lights on. There was a switch on the other side of the room.

"I changed my mind," I said. "I've had enough of the desk. What I want now is for you to screw me against the wall, can you do that?"

He didn't answer, he just pulled me off the desk and pinned me against the wall. Only, it was the wall right next to the desk, not the right one at all. At least it allowed me enough time to set the phone up on the desk.

"No, not this wall, it's covered with wallpaper. It's like screwing against a padded wall. I want you to pound me against something really hard, like that stone wall over there." I pointed.

"Yes, yes, I can do that," he whispered.

He carried me over to the hard wall, just feet from the light switch. And then he started to pound me so hard, hitting me over and over against that unyielding surface, I felt like I was going to pass out. I only just managed to reach with my left hand and hit the light switch before I could take no more.

He gasped as light flooded the room.

"Ha, I've got you, you jerk! I've got you screwing me on camera!"

"What? What are you talking about?!" As soon as I heard that voice raise above a whisper, I knew something was off. Instead of an English accent, there was a rough Austrian one.

And then my own gasp was louder than his as I looked into his face and saw a familiar franz- joseph.

"STROM!"

"Yes?"

"GET OFF ME!" I started to hit him in the chest, trying to get him out of me. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"No, the real question is, if you didn't know it was me fucking you this whole time, who did you think it was?" he seemed furious.

"Edmund! I'm recording this with my phone, that's why I had to get you over to the desk and then to turn the lights on."

"Why would Edmund come in here?"

"Because this is his room."

He raised his voice to an almost scary level. "You are sharing that stuck up Englishman's room? Sharing his bed? What else is he sharing with you? I bet he's sharing just buttloads of his cum with you, isn't he? You're fucking him, aren't you?!"

He had completely left any place of logic or reason, trembling with a cold jealous fury that scared me. I had to keep him calmed down, or he would go straight to Edmund and blow my cover.

Luckily, I knew just how to keep this man appeased. I leaned in, put his hands on his bare pecs, and I kissed him, a funny feeling with his franz-joseph leaving everything beneath his lips bare.

That worked like a charm putting his jealousy out. He kissed me with passion and pushed me onto the bed. "How `bout we forget all about this Edmund guy and get back to fucking?"

"Look at you. What's not to love about that body, that huge dick, your handsome face? If you were single, I would have moved in with you the first time I met you, and I'd be begging you to screw me until you got sick of sex. But you're not single, so as hard as it is for me not to let you back inside me right now, it's what I have to do."

"Oh god, how I wish it had been you I had met before I ever got married."

"So do I, but we can't change history like that. And listen, once I've had a taste of you, the thought of being with Edmund makes me sick. But I'm not seducing him because I have any desire to, I'm doing it out of necessity."

He stroked my hair. "All right, all right, I understand. I'm on your side."

"Tell me how you got here."

"With my bastard half-brother skipping town and leaving his post behind, I called Tsar Maxim to remind him that it was his duty to choose the new Lord of the Herzog family, and gave him my best pitch for the position. He gave it to me."

I seethed with annoyance. "Oh, how swell of him."

"I took Ursula, her mother, and Elsa to the city. I'm building a new castle that will be just as grand as the one we left, but in the meantime, we were homeless. Instead of going to a hotel, Edmund invited the four of us to stay with him temporarily. I thought he was just a nice guy, but I see the way he looks at Ursula and my daughter. It makes me want to cut his balls off. In retaliation, I've been trying to seduce his fiancé, but so far she hasn't bent. He must have her too scared to follow her desires and let me give her the fucking of a lifetime."

"Yeah, that must be it."

"If I don't get some of her pussy soon, I'm going to have to move onto Edmund's daughter. All four of us were out celebrating my mother in law's birthday today, but when I get home, Edmund couldn't stop bragging about his new American bartender. When prompted, he described you physically to a T. I can't understand why a resident would get into bartending, and when he told me you fainted twice today at the sight of blood, I knew you had been lying. I came to find your bedroom and confront you with it, but when I saw you sleeping in the nude, I couldn't resist taking my clothes off and fucking you."

"The doctor thing was a lie invented by Günter. I never wanted to lie to you, but no, I'm not a resident. And I'm not a servant or a bartender. I'm here only because Edmund has some very bad intentions, and to keep his plans from coming true. I'm trying to blackmail him, but first I need to record him doing something so bad, he would agree to all of my terms to get me to not turn him in."

"And why should I care about any of Edmunds stupid plans?"

"Because he's got enough power here to pull them off. He wants to get the Decency Codes reinstated."

"Why should I care? I'm exempt."

"But think about this. If you and I went on another hunt, and I got so into it all that I wanted you to screw me right there in the countryside, you would be able to perform without consequences, but since I'm not from one of the five families, I would be breaking Codes, which could end in my execution. Is that what you want?"

"No, I should be able to fuck whoever I want to wherever the mood strikes."

"And I assume he's making you follow the codes in his house?"

"Yes, it was quite strange, but he said if any of us broke any Decency Codes in the public spaces of his house, we'd be asked to leave. He said the servants would be watching us."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he legally got rid of exemption from Decency Codes permanently for you and the other families. Plus, as you said, Edmund wants to screw your family, literally. I tried at first to try to record something illegal he does in front of me, but I don't think that will lead me anywhere. So, I'm trying to seduce him. He's vowed to Gala that he will not screw another or drink anyone else's blood. If I can seduce him, and record the act, it will be the leverage I need over him."

"I don't know. I understand the logic behind this plan, but the thought of his hands all over your body makes me sick."

"Just remember that it makes me sick to have to touch him even more than it affects you. The only way I'll be able to get through it is to pretend it's your body I'm touching."

"Well, I guess that makes sense."

"But the problem is, he hasn't shown any sign that he's attracted to me at all, and I'm terrible at seducing someone. Any pointers?"

"Has he seen you naked?"

"It was the very first thing I tried, yes."

"The very first thing? Oh no, you should have teased him longer than that. Oh well. Keep in mind that your ass is your best asset."

"I'll try."

"I'll keep trying to work on Gala, see if I can get her to crack. I'll tell my family not to let on that they've ever seen you before."

"Perfect. Now, you really must go, he could come to bed at any moment."

He grabbed my hand and put it to his huge, uncut dick, light tan in color, and drooping in a half hard state. "You'd better be glad all that talk of Edmund has soothed this dragon back to sleep, as I'd never fit it back in my breeches otherwise." He wiped the pink head on my hand, and along with it a string of precum that had gathered there. And then he looked at my hand, surprised, and pulled it to his face. "Jake, you have a cut here. Must have been too rough with you on that wall. I'll heal it."

"No, wait!"

But it was too late, he licked the scrape on my hand before I could stop him. "OH MY LORD! FUCK! Do you know your blood tastes incredible?"

"Yes, I do."

He had his fangs out again, and his dick shook out any softness it had held immediately, oozing precum all over his brown chest hairs. "Damn, that's sweet!"

"Okay, you have to go now."

"It's a lost cause, I can't taste that blood of yours and get soft enough again to put my breeches on."

"Well then, you can go out there without your pants on, but you're not staying in here!"

"No, I'm not going out there until I'm soft. So either you coax this huge fucking load out of me, or Edmund is going to be mighty surprised when he finds me in his bed with a hardon."

"No, that's insane, I'm not doing that!"

"Don't take that tone of voice with me, Jake. Don't forget, I'm a Lord now. You'll show some respect. And I swear to you, I'm not leaving this room with my load intact, so you'd better get to getting it out of me."

"Fine, fine." I grabbed his hard dick and started to stoke him. "This better be fast."

"It would be a whole lot faster if I was fucking that sweet ass."

"No, that's too messy."

"It's far messier to have my huge load explode all over this bed. It needs to be contained by your flesh."

"Fine, I'll do this." I leaned over and swallowed his huge dick in my mouth.

"Ah yes, that feels so hot, I'll consent. But don't forget to work those big nuts with your hand as you suck me. Yeah, remember shaving those huge things?"

I used my hand to roll around his testicles as I sucked him vehemently, much harder and faster than I would have normally done just to try and hurry it along. He moaned and groaned as he let me move my head up and down so fast, it almost gave me whiplash. Meanwhile, he screwed my hole with his fingers, which I let him do because it only made things go faster.

"Ah yeah, here it comes, and you'd better not spill a single drop on these sheets!"

Strom exploded into my mouth, and though it was a massive load, I sucked it all down without spilling. And even as he started to soften, I kept on sucking, not wanting to miss anything that would otherwise land on the sheets.

"Okay, you're soft enough now to get your pants back on. Get on, go."

He gave me a sexy kiss.

"What was that for?"

"To let you know how amazing that was for me. And for you too, I'm sure, even if it pushed the boundaries with me being married."

"Okay, now get dressed!"

He got up out of bed, walked over to his clothes on the floor, and started to put them on.

"Uh-oh," he said suddenly.

"What?"

"I hear Edmund whistling," he whispered. "He's coming!"

"The closet!"

Strom ran for the closet, and ended up inside just as I could hear Edmund's footsteps outside. I remembered one important thing, looked at the floor, scooped up the remains of the condom Strom had left there, and threw it across the room at Strom in the closet doorway just before Strom closed the door.

Edmund walked in, and I pretended I had been sleeping. "Ah, there you are," I said, faking a yawn.

"Were you sleeping with the lights on?" he asked, surprised.

"The lights?" I decided to go with it. "Yes. You see, I always sleep with the lights on. I'm actually, um, you know, afraid of the dark."

"Really? At your age?!"

"I'm younger than I look, and ever since I was s child, I've never been able to sleep unless the lights are on. I hope you won't mind, milord."

"No, I guess not." Good, that would have the added effect of giving my phone, which was still recording, a chance to capture his image should he do anything inappropriate.

He went into the bathroom for a bit, and then walked towards the closed closet door.

"What are you doing?!" I asked.

"Going into my closet."

"No, stop!"

"Why on earth why?"

"Because. Please, you cannot open that door."

"Why not?"

"Because, you see. Well, I told you I'm afraid of the dark. That's because I'm terribly afraid of ghosts, especially in old houses like this."

"Ghosts? Vampires do not believe in such nonsense."

"But I'm not a vampire. I am absolutely petrified of them."

"What does that have to do with me opening the closet door?"

"Where else do ghosts live if not in closets? I made sure that door's been shut since long before dark."

"Oh, please. I'm going to go in the closet, you'll just have to get over your silly beliefs."

"NO!" I said as he placed his hand on the doorknob. "If you open that door tonight, I'll be so scared I'll scream my lungs out all night long. Everyone in the manor will be woken up."

"Alright, okay, I won't open in as long as you are in here."

"You promise?"

"I promise. But my pajamas are in there. Should I wear my uniform to bed?"

"Just strip down, I don't care."

"I suppose that will work."

I again enjoyed immensely as he removed his scarlet military coat, leaving a tucked in white button up that showed his bulging muscles. He took that off too, leaving me looking at that lovely naked upper body again. He was just in his breeches, which I had always noticed hugged a very enticing bulge. He pulled them down finally and left him standing their naked except for a pair of old fashioned boxers.

It was the first time I had seen his bare legs, which were just as muscled as his upper body. Starting around his knees and going down, the hair on his body turned from a fine, short, coating to longer and a bit wiry. And my eyes drifted to those boxers, cut high and short against his upper thighs. I could see a huge mound in the white fabric, not hard, but pleasing just the same. I swore I could see a wonderful bit of him slip out the bottom right of his boxers, but before I could ascertain this, he jumped into bed beside me, not getting in fully naked.

"Oh, you're naked in here!" he said with surprise. "Where are your pajamas?"

"Well, that's strange, I had them on when I went to bed. You see? I am right about that ghost in the closet. It must have attacked me while I was sleeping and pulled off my clothes! You don't mind if I sleep naked tonight, do you?"

"Well, I suppose not," he said, though there seemed to be doubt in his voice.

Even though we were sharing a very small bed for two, especially if one of the two was a strapping male vampire with all those muscles, he was defiantly trying not to touch me, facing away from me on his side on the very edge of the bed. This would never do.

"Listen, now that you've got that ghost on my mind, milord, my heart's racing and I won't be able to get back to sleep, at least not until morning. I may have to call off my bartending shift tomorrow because you got me so scared."

"I really would regret that. Ghosts aren't real, Jake. They just aren't."

"That won't help me, milord."

"Is there anything I can do to help you sleep? I don't have any sleeping pills in here."

"In order for me to sleep, I'll need to help you make me feel safe and protected."

"How could I do that? By vowing that I won't let anything harm you tonight?"

"No, for me, actions speak louder than words. I need to be held by you, milord. I need to feel your strong arms around me so I know I'll be safe. Will you do it for me?"

"Well, if that's the only way you can get some sleep, I guess I'll have to."

"Thanks you so much for indulging me, milord, you are the best boss I've ever had."

He flipped around in bed so he was facing me, and then awkwardly reached out his arms to grab me. "I haven't held anyone like this for a long, long time," he said, not exactly in a way that made me think he was enjoying it, but more like telling someone it had been a long, long time since they had ridden a horse, implying they weren't sure if they still knew how. "Tell me if this in any way hurts you or makes you uncomfortable."

I found his polite hesitance attractive, it reminded me of Parker. I enjoyed the feeling of his muscled arms reaching towards me, showing off his red armpit hairs completely, as they hugged me and pulled me towards him. It felt so good to have his pointy nipples against mine, and I intertwined his legs with my own and reached my arms around him, feeling that bare, muscled back. I absolutely loved the feeling of his boxers against my naked unit, I could feel his soft bulge there resting on my dick.

That was going to make me hard, and he would for sure feel me poking him. And anyway, Strom had advised me that my butt was the best part of me, so I decided to shake things up. "This isn't good."

He backed off me quickly. "I've hurt you or made you uncomfortable, haven't I, lad?" his proper English accent turned alarmed.

"No, no, you were perfect. But I can lie like this, facing you, my back unwatched. Especially since the closet door is behind me. No, I need to turn around and face away from you so I can watch this side of the bed." I flipped myself over on my other side. "Okay, now hold me just like you were."

"Like this?" He put his arms back around me.

"Almost." I pulled his legs towards me until he was totally spooning me. "Right, that's perfect." This position felt just as amazing, with his soft package against my crack already starting to make my dick hard, which he could not feel.

"Whoa, did you know your back is bleeding, lad? All scraped up."

"It is?" I asked, thinking of Strom screwing me against that wall. "No, I didn't know. How bizarre! See, that ghost did come and attack me in my sleep! Well, it doesn't hurt, you can just leave it. Like I said, I won't can't get infected or anything."

"Hmm. I don't think I can possibly sleep in the same bed with you if you're bleeding like this. And since I don't have any other vampire handy to lick the wounds, I'm going to do it myself."

"That wouldn't be betraying your vow to Gala?"

"No, my vow is to not have sex with anyone else. This is perfectly allowed." He started to lick a spot on my upper back, and I felt it tingle pleasantly as the scrape healed. "Oh wow. WOW. Zhora wasn't off base one bit when he said your blood tasted like a dream. It's almost too good to be true." His fangs popped out.

"If you could get all of the blood, that would be great."

He licked his way hungrily down my back. "There, I believe I've gotten it all."

"Are you sure there's no cuts on my butt?"

"Let me see." He moved his head down towards my rear end and looked at me carefully. "Nope, you're fine."

He resumed spooning me, only this time he kept his crotch from resting against my butt, presumably because he did not want me to feel the erection I was sure he had after drinking my blood. That's the furthest I could take him, it seemed. I could hear that he had fallen asleep behind me soon, and I wasn't going to trying to push things along while he was asleep. I needed him to willingly choose to break his vows, not have them broken without his consent.

It was hard for me to reconcile the conservative, sweet man Edmund was to me in bed with the cold, conniving man I knew him to be. I felt a bit guilty, not only about toying with him emotionally and sexually in order to suit my needs, but also betraying him later on. But then I told myself, if this was Parker who was in a committed relationship with someone he loved (not someone as terrible as Annie), would he let himself be seduced? Would he betray the one he loved in the name of his own pleasure? No, he never would. Maxim wouldn't betray me either, I knew. If Edmund fell for me, well, it was his own fault.

I soon fell asleep. Somewhere in the night, I was only barely aware of the closet door being quietly opened, and then the bedroom one, as my ghost tiptoed out of the room.

MARCH 26th

In the morning, I awoke to an empty bed, but saw the bathroom door was shut, and noises suggested Edmund was inside. I normally would never barge into anyone's bathroom, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and since he was a vampire, he couldn't be doing anything too embarrassing in there.

I pushed open the door and stepped inside. Edmund let out a surprised gasp, and I matched it. He was sitting in the bathtub. It turned out his taut muscles looked even better wet. He lowered his washcloth to cover his crotch just before I could see anything.

"Oh, sorry, milord didn't realize anyone was in here."

"It's okay."

"Well, now that I'm in here, do you mind if I get ready? Since we only have one bathroom to share?"

"I suppose not."

"Perfect! And since I need to bathe and there's only one bath, hope you don't mind me joining you."

I took a page from Syd's playbook and didn't wait for an answer before jumping into the tub's warm water, getting in so I was sitting between his legs and feet.

"Uh, no, I guess not." But there was something about his face that looked almost scared of me. I hoped it was because he was fighting his attraction to me and not disgusted by me tainting his clean bathwater.

There was barely any water in the tub. It only came up to my balls, no higher. I looked at the washcloth covering his dick. I wasn't covering his pubes, which were an orange ball of wiry fur, clamped wet. And I could also see the deliciously thick base of his dick, but the rest of it was obscured, though creating a mound on the washcloth.

I grabbed the bar of soap off the soap dish, and started to wash my face. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize that this was the only bar of soap in here. Seems how I've got it in hand, and I've rudely commandeered your bathtub, at least I can help with the busy work. Just close your eyes and relax while I wash you up."

"I, um, well, alright."

He closed his eyes, but he certainly didn't look relaxed as I scooted forward and started to wash his right arm, soaping up those porcelain-sculpted arm muscles. I reached his armpit, thinking the straight, orange hairs there were all too adorable. I did the same to his left arm and pit, massaged his large shoulder, and then moved down the knotted muscles of his chest. His nipples were large and pointed, turning ever more so as I touched them. I couldn't linger without it seeming strange, so I moved down to wash his cut, chiseled abs.

When I tried to touch his pubes, he jumped back out of surprise, so I moved my hands to his feet and legs instead. Once again, the red hairs on his leg, though not too thick, were adorable to see and touch. His calves and quads were rock solid, but when I tried again to slide up his inner thighs towards his unit, he jumped again and opened his eyes.

"I think you've gotten everything I hadn't washed before you came in, thanks."

"It was the least I could do. Oh, you seem to have the only washcloth in here, and since it looks like you're not using it, do you mind?"

"I, uh, um..."

I didn't wait for him to answer, I reached down between his legs and grabbed onto the washcloth with my hand. Normally, I would have just grabbed a corner of the cloth and pulled it off, but this time I pretended to accidentally grab onto his dick itself through the cloth, as if I didn't realize there was something he was hiding there beneath him. I loved squeezing that fleshy dong through the fabric, but pulled the washcloth free without actually making skin to skin contact.

As silly as all this was, I felt like I really accomplished something when I finally, finally saw his dick uncovered. And the prize for my accomplishment was the beautiful sight of the huge penis itself, which I had to stifle a gasp to keep him from seeing me admire it. It was a thick piece of uncut meat, flaccid but huge, sticking out from his orange pubes, hanging straight down between his legs. His foreskin covered stalk was as milky white as I had ever seen, with a slight pink tint to it. Thick balls were beyond this piece of meat, light pinkish-white in color.

How long had I been staring at it with my mouth open, and did he know I was looking?

"What are you staring at?" he asked.

"There's something on in your pubes, something alarming! Here, let me help you get it off."

I reached down with my soapy hand and plunged it into his orange pubes.

"There's blood or something on your pubes, they are bright orange! And it won't come off!"

"It's the natural color of my pubic hairs," he said. "Haven't you ever seen a redhead before?"

"Not undressed."

"Well, our pubes are orange naturally."

"Oh, okay. But there seems to be something wrong with your penis, something's stuck to it. I'll get it for you."

My hands went down and grabbed his foreskin as if I had never seen one before, rubbing it up and down along his huge stalk.

"That's a foreskin. You've never seen one?"

"Nope, never."

"Well, there's no cause for alarm."

"Huh, interesting." I kept rubbing it as if I was fascinated with the concept.

"You'd better stop rubbing it like that, you're not going to like what happens." And he pushed my hands away.

I had to come up with a new strategy. "Did you know I injured my shoulders playing baseball in high school? Still can't reach back behind me for the life of me without a lot of pain, and you don't seem to have any back scrubbers here. Could you wash my back?"

"I guess so."

He took the soap from me and I turned around. He started to wash my back with his hands. His touch was nervously light. When he got to my lower back, I stood up in the tub, putting my rear end close to him.

"Could you go ahead and wash my rear too? It's hard for me to reach that too."

"You want me to wash, um, your rear?"

"Yeah, is that a problem?"

"No, I guess not." His nervous hands moved to the flesh of my butt, scrubbing in the suds.

"You're ignoring my crack."

"Um, alright, I can do that." He started to very gently wash up and down in my crack, but he was ignoring my hole.

"I really like that whole area super clean, milord. Would you mind sticking a soapy finger or two up there just to get it sufficiently clean?"

"You want me to stick my finger in-inside you? Really?"

"Yes please."

"Well, okay." He slowly and carefully inserted his index finger into me.

"Good, but I'm going to need more work than that. Go ahead and stick another finger or two in there?"

"Uh, like this?" he asked, putting his ring finger in.

"Yes, perfect. Just push it back and forth, inside and out, scrubbing me hard. Really give it some weight."

"Like this?" he pushed in and out of me.

"That's just what I need, thanks."

He pulled out finally, and I started to turn around.

"Wait, no, don't turn around yet!" he said desperately, and by the tone of his voice, I could tell he realized he had sprouted a boner. I didn't want to embarrass him, so I didn't turn around.

"I won't, I think you were thinking just what I was thinking," I said, taking advantage of the situation. "While you still have the soap, you can wash my front by reaching around me."

I threw myself back, sitting in his lap and pushing myself against his body. He gasped as I did this, and I could feel his huge, newly hard rod sticking in my crack, but I pretended not to notice anything had changed, and I think he bought my pretend stupidity.

"I'll lie here on top of you lazily while you wash my front."

He reached around and scrubbed my chest, arms, and torso with soap, but every movement sent him grinding into my crack, and he wasn't getting any softer.

"Now, I was here a long while before you woke up, just napping and enjoying a soak. I can see you need the same thing. So, I want you to close your eyes, take as long as you want in here, and I'll see you downstairs. Do you have your eyes good and shut?"

"Yes, I do."

I could feel him get out of the water behind me, grab a towel, and moving out the door of the bathroom. Obviously he had wanted me to shut my eyes in order for me not to see his dick hard, but I was still tired, so I kept them shut and let him win that round, drifting off in the hot water.

I came to a few minutes later as I heard him come back into the room, this time it sounded like he had clothes on. "Mmmm," he said, and then I heard clothes being furiously removed.

I felt him get back in the tub, felt his hot flesh covering me as he lay on top of me, felt his tongue in my mouth. But most of all, I felt his hard dick pushing against my urgently.

"Looks like someone has changed their mind," I said.

"Lucky for you, it's not that pussy-footed Englishman, but a real Austrian man."

"Strom!" I said, opening my eyes. "How did you get in here?"

"I saw Edmund leave, and I snuck in to surprise you. Let me tell you, it was agony being stuck in the closet last night and having to hear him avoid every opportunity you gave him to fuck you. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. I'm starting to think that maybe the guy is impotent or something. Maybe I'd have a better change fucking him than you do trying to get him to do the same to you."

"I don't think that's the problem," I said. "I have been making progress with him, as slight as it may be."

"Meanwhile, I've told my family not to let on that they know you. I tried to come into Gala's room last night and seduce her, but she told me she thought I was hot, but she couldn't sleep with me as it betrayed her vows. So, I think I've hit a wall with her. Anyway, she said she'd be gone all day today, so I'm going to try to see if I can get the other women to leave the house today so you can have more alone time with Edmund."

"Now put your clothes back on and get out of here in case he comes back."

After verifying from the servants that Gala had indeed left for the day, I snuck into her room when no one was looking and locked the door. It didn't take me long to find her stash of needles and empty vials.

I knew I would only get through with it if I was lying down, so I did it on her bed. I felt bad intruding into her space, but taking the needle back to my own room where Edmund could burst in on me seemed foolish.

I guided the needle into my arm as Gala and taught me, and filled up a vial of blood. I pocketed the vial and then just laid there for a moment.

I knew I couldn't possibly infect Gala, but I disinfected the needle just because, and put it back before sneaking out of the room and going downstairs to report for duty.

Elsa and her grandmother were my first customers at the bar that morning, and Ursula soon came down as well.

"Elsa, dear, put your coat on, we're going dress shopping," said her mother.

"What? Dad finally agreed to buy my new Krasnyj Sneg wardrobe? Step one in me landing the vampire of my dreams? Oh, joy!"

"But the condition is that you bring along Lorna as well, try to make friends with her."

"We are not bringing her. She's so disgustingly dull!"

"I don't care, I've already invited her."

"You'd better not have invited Gala. I can only pretend to like some human woman from a nothing family that the super hot English vampire I had hoped would ask me to marry him picked instead of me. And I've heard he is super hung too, but it's all going to be wasted on Gala's gross human vagina."

"Lucky for you, she's gone for the day."

"Did I hear you say dress shopping?" asked the grandmother. "Oh, sure, I'd love to go!"

"Grandma, no one invited you, and most of these places won't have wheelchair access, so you'll have to stay here."

"I am not in a wheelchair! And I want some new, pretty dress to wear."

"Not even the most gorgeous gown ever designed could help you look any prettier. The skin on your face looks like it was stolen from an old man's scrotum. And no mother, eww, I don't know what that looks like from firsthand experience, I'm just imagining it."

"But it's my birthday!"

"That was yesterday, grandma, YESTERDAY! I used up all my pretend politeness then."

"What politeness? You told me you were so thrilled about my birthday because it was so much closer to my death!"

"Oh, that was very polite, for me."

"We're taking your grandmother, and that's final."

With only the men left for the day, Strom and Edmund somehow decided to forgo the normal breakfast table and take their breakfasts into the lounge where I was, sitting at opposite ends of a high bar table on bar stools, their servants moving about bringing breakfast items. I flipped through the drink guide I had picked up and put something together using a good half of the blood in the vial.

"Lord Woodville, I've made you a very special to compliment your breakfast in order to thank you for the kindness you've shown me since I was here."

"How kind of you, lad, bring it here."

I walked over and handed it to him with a sweet smile, then turned and walked back to the bar with a smug smile that he couldn't see. Now that he had willingly chosen to drink my blood, I was going to slip it to him secretly as much as I could to keep his libido up, and I had made the only drink I could think of that would mask so much blood.

"Oh, is it a Bloody Mary?" asked Edmund, sniffing it.

"Close to that. It's a bit of my own creation. I call it a Bloody Jake. Enjoy!"

"That's very sweet of you, but I hate tomatoes. I'll pass. Lord Herzog, would you like this one? I haven't taken a sip or anything." He sent it sliding across the table

Strom picked it up and toasted to Edmund. "I don't care who it's named after, I'll never turn down a drink with `Bloody' in its name."

I tried to warn him not to drink, tried to think of some way to stop him, considered running over and flinging it out of his hands, but I was too far away, and there he was, drinking.

"Oh my, this is far, far better than any Bloody Mary I've ever had. Jake, how on earth did you make it taste this incredible? What is that secret ingredient?"

"Just extra tobacco sauce," I said.

"I would have guessed something else. But it does have a kick to it. Hmm."

"Lord Herzog, are you okay?" asked Edmund, looking quizzically at his face.

"Besides being in beverage heaven, I'm fine. Why?"

"Because your fangs have popped out, I'm afraid."

"Oh, really?" he asked, surprised, feeling them with his hands. "Huh, you're right. I guess it's all this talk of blood that got to me. Why, I'm not breaking a Code, am I?"

"With extended fangs in a public place? No, you're not. As long as you keep your clothes on, you'll be fine."

"Well, of course."

That's when I glanced over at Strom and noticed he had his hard dick sticking up past the fly of his breeches, just completely out in the open. I knew from where he was sitting, the table would be blocking Edmund's view of anything from his chest down, so it seemed Strom was taking advantage of Edmund's ignorance to taunt me with his big dick, which I thought was incredibly stupid considering there were servants around who would also be able to see.

Only, the way Strom was sitting, it became clear to me that he couldn't see his own crotch either. I realized he didn't even know the drink had caused him to get hard, just like he was surprised by the fangs coming out, because there was no reasonable explanation for that to happen.

And there was a servant, bringing a tray of scones to the table. If he saw Strom like that, Strom and his family would be kicked out of the house for Code breaking. Was there any advantage to letting that happen?

I knew that petty Strom would most likely tell Edmund my plans if he got kicked out, just to take me down with him. No, I made up my mind, these servants could not see him like that.

I ran at my top speed towards their table. When I reached a surprised Strom, I sat down on his lap just before the servant came by.

"Lord Woodville, you naughty man, lecturing me about Decency Codes when you've paid your bartender to give me a lap dance."

"I have nothing to do with that behavior, I can assure you. Jake, what is going on?"

"I'm sorry, milord," I said. "I had to sit down, there's no seats with back to support me in here and I didn't want to fall on the floor. You see, all this talk of blood has had an effect on me too: I feel faint."

"I should have warned you, he faints at the slightest hint of blood," Edmund said.

"If you were fainting, then why would you sprint across the room like that?"

"Obviously to get to you before I fainted. And now, here it goes, I'm fainting."

I shut my eyes, gave a forced sigh, and leaned back into him. He had to catch me in his arms.

"This is absolutely ridiculous," said Strom.

"Lord Herzog, why don't you let me hold him? I've got some experience with this, and sort of enjoy looking after the lad."

"I can carry him to you."

Before he could get up, I let my arm fall behind me and I grabbed his erect penis in my hand.

"Oh my, what is that?!" yelled Strom.

"What is the matter?" Edmund started to get up.

"No, stay seated, please. I've had a change of heart."

"A growing of a heart, perhaps, for the poor lad."

"Yes, I just grew a gnawing conscience. I'll be fine holding him for as long as he needs it." I could hear Edmund pick up the drink and take a sip. "Ah, I get it now," he said. "You weren't kidding when you named this drink a Bloody Jake."

"What was that now?" asked Edmund.

"Nothing, just rambling to myself."

I felt his hands join my own underneath me as he tried to stuff his hard dick into his breeches, but it just wasn't going in. I tried to help as much as I could, but it was just too big and his breeches too tight to hold them. It wouldn't go back until it got small again, but that's exactly what would happen the farther he was removed from that drink.

I figured he would just coax himself back to softness so I could get off him, but was highly surprised when instead he yanked the back of my pants down, clearly not in a way that Edmund could see, and then pulled my body back down against him. This time, he forced his huge, hard dick inside my hole, shocking me so much it almost made me shout. I realized as another servant came by that he was concealing my nudity on his stomach, and I was concealing his nudity in a much less favorable fashion by having it inside me. This was absolutely not an acceptable way to think outside the box to solve his problems.

Luckily, he gave me some time just sitting there to get used to the impaling. And then he started to use his brawny arms to bounce my body up and down on his dick like it was a pogostick from hell.

"What are you doing to the lad, chap?" asked Edmund.

"He's been out long enough. Thought I would bounce him like this to try and get some blood back into his head."

"Alright, alright, I'm back awake," I said. "Just let me sit here while I get back to normal."

"You can stay here as long as you wish, this Austrian could bounce you all night."

"Nope, I really don't need the bouncing anymore, in fact, it's making me dizzy."

"Stop the bouncing, man!" Edmund snapped.

"Alright, alright, I'm stopping."

Finally, Strom stopped bouncing me, and instead just settled. And that would mean he wouldn't get enough stimulation to stay hard, which meant I could get off him. And after a few seconds, I did feel him turn just a tiny smidge softer.

He must have noticed it too, because he started to thrust a bit again, this time going a lot slower.

"You're still moving around a lot, and it's making me dizzy."

"If you can't sit still, chap, I can come take him."

"No, I can sit still." And he did, and once again, his dick started to soften.

But then he grabbed the Bloody Jake and took another sip. "Mmm, such a wonderful drink you've made me, bartender," he said with a smug smile as I felt his dick turn harder inside me than ever before.

He slowly drank it down, and when there was just a fifth of it left, he gulped the remainder down in one long swallow.

"Oh god, OH GOD, that was a good drink!" he shouted, surprising everyone.

Even more surprising was the fact that I felt a sharp jet of semen hit my prostate inside me. He had found a way to cum inside me without even thrusting, and he was all too thrilled about it.

Tons of spunk filled my cavity, flooding my inside with its stickiness. As his groans about the good drink died down, his dick started to soften inside me.

"Perhaps I should think of taking up tomato juice, chap. I don't believe I've ever had a drink that gave me that much pleasure."

"Oh, you are missing out, indeed."

Strom pulled his mostly soft dick out of me and then stuffed it back inside his pants while pulling my pants up at the same time.

"Well, you seem all better, if you could get off of me now."

"He looks no better than he did a moment ago," said Edmund.

"Well, if he wants to continue to be so lazy, he can sit on your lap." He pushed me off. "If you excuse me, I'm taking a nap."

"It's still morning!"

"I don't care." Strom left the room.

"Well, I'm not entirely sad to see him go. Why don't you come sit on my lap again until you feel better? You can help me finish my breakfast."

"I'd like to, but I can hear my mom calling."

"Your mom?"

"Yes, on my phone. I'll just run up to catch up with her, and I'll be back down soon."

I went into Edmund bedroom, started a bath, and frantically cleaned myself up, cursing Strom. Only when I was clean again did I get dressed and go back to the bar. Most of my blood had been wasted on Strom, but I still had half a vial left. If Edmund ordered a drink that would mask the color, I'd be able to still mix it in.

But maddeningly, he ordered a series of clear drinks: champagne, vodka tonic, and plain water. Finally, when I had given up hope, he ordered a glass of red wine.

I decided not to put all of the blood I had left in the wine, for fear it wouldn't mask the flavor or leave it too diluted. So, I just put in half of what I had.

I carried the wine out to the stool he was sitting on. "I've worked very hard today and didn't get a sound sleep last night because I was too scared. Mind if I take a break?"

"Of course not."

"You mind if I use you as a human chair like Lord Herzog did earlier? I really was trying to make it to your lap this morning when I was fainting, not his, but he was closer."

"That's kind of you to admit. No, sit on my lap, that's perfectly fine with me."

This time, there was no need to fake a fainting spell, I just sat on Edmund's lap as he took a sip of his wine.

"Hmm, this doesn't taste right," he said. "Is this the Merlot I ordered?"

"Yes it is."

"Are you sure? It's doesn't taste right at all."

"Uh oh. Has it gone bad, perhaps?"

"No, it tastes incredibly good. Much better than any Merlot should."

"Well, I guess you just got lucky."

I glanced up, and noticed he too had fangs coming out of his mouth without noticing it. And I could feel something very hard in his lap poking me, which I was sure he wasn't aware of either.

I sat, taking my break until he finished the wine, using any excuse I could think of to rub back against him.

An hour later, he asked for a second glass of the same wine. I put the remainder of my blood into it and once again took a break with him, sitting on his lap, and this time he even put his arms around me and rubbed my body as I pushed back against his hardness.

But an hour later, when he ordered more of the wine, I was disappointed at myself that I didn't have any other blood left. This time, he was sitting on a bench, which brought to mind new opportunities. I grabbed my bar knife and cut my left hand.

"Ow!"

"What's the matter?"

I walked towards him. "I know you've ordered wine, but clumsy me has just cut my hand again cleaning my knife. Can you close it up, please?" I sat beside him on the bench and pushed my wound into his face, watching his fangs come out.

"Of course."

"How annoying of me. I'm sure you're ready to take away all my knives."

"As long as I'm here to heal your wounds, you can keep your knives."

I watched as he fought to keep the pleasure off his face as he drank down the largest bit of warm blood he had gotten. There was the brief look of someone who was tempted to bite into my wound before his tongue came out and licked it healed, and then, licked it clean of blood as well.

Looking down into his lap told me that he obviously had an erection, only instead of it sticking out of his breeches, like it had been for Strom, Edmund's was much more contained, snaking down along his right thigh. His hardness was so huge, it was pushing against his tight breeches, showing me every line of the thing.

"Uh oh, I'm going to faint!"

"You go right ahead, I'll look after you."

This time, I purposefully fell so that my head was facedown in his lap, my mouth right against his unit. I even had my mouth ajar, so that I started to taste his breeches.

He started out by putting his hands on my head in a sweet, supportive way, stroking my head. But he soon started to subtly use those sweet hands to push my head further and further down, harder and harder into his hardness. He obviously knew it was there and wanted to be pleasured.

I locked my lips around what I knew was his head, and licked and licked at the large, fleshy roundness of it through the thin, tight fabric of his breeches, and I knew I was driving him crazy when he started to moan. I had gotten so much saliva on it, it had turned translucent, a big pink knob that demanded to be let loose. I wondered, and hoped, that Edmund would break his own Decency Codes in the heat of passion and take his pants off as a result.

He pushed harder and harder on my head into his leg, and my tongue continued to work. I saw his unit release a big glob of stickiness, which soaked through his pants until I could actually taste its saltiness on my tongue.

When I was positive he wouldn't break any Codes, but I wasn't sure he wouldn't let out his pent up sexual desire and come in his pants, I decided to come to.

"Mmm, I feel better now, thanks," I said, sitting up again.

"Glad to help, lad, as always. If you find yourself in that situation again, please don't hesitate to find me."

While Edmund used the bedroom bathroom, I set my phone down on the desk and started to record video. When he came out, he started towards the closet.

"Remember, don't open the closet door," I said.

"But I forgot to pull out my pajamas earlier."

"So did I, milord, we'll just have to make do like we did yesterday. And please, please, don't turn off the lights."

We both undressed, me until I was naked, but he only stripped down to his boxers again. He pulled out two pills from his pocket and handed it to me.

"I got you sleeping pills for tonight. That way I won't need to hold you like I did the night before for you to get to sleep."

"This is just what I need, thank you."

I wasn't in the habit of taking sleeping pills, and I really had no problem sleeping, so I wasn't about to take them that night. I went into the bathroom with them in hand, poured myself a glass of water, and then looked at them. They had the name "Rohypnol" on them, which didn't ring a bell. I acted like I was swallowing them, but actually threw them in the toilet, then actually urinated and flushed the toilet to remove any sign of them.

I got into bed with him. Once again he was facing away from me on his side, against the edge of the bed. I pushed back against him until I was brushing against his back, but that was the most touching I could get. It was very, very disappointing. He must have given me the sleeping pills to keep me from being a sexual temptation to him that night.

I yawned. "Wow, those sleeping pills are already kicking in hard. Thanks again, milord."

"My pleasure, I take them myself on occasion."

Without the slightest hint of interest in my naked body from him, I gave up when I started to hear his hard breathing indicating he was asleep. I went to sleep frustrated at my set back and missing Maxim like crazy, saying my prayers in my head.

"Jake?" I was shaken awake.

It was all I could do not to open my eyes, roll over, and say, "Yes?" Somehow I remembered those sleeping pills I was supposed to be on, and kept still and quiet, with my eyes shut.

"Jake, my lad, are you awake?" He shook me harder. "Jake! JAKE! Uh oh, did those pills work too well?"

He slapped me softly on my cheek. When I didn't respond, he slapped me harder.

"You are just not going to wake up, are you?" If it seemed like he was going to call for help, that's when I would rouse myself.

When I heard him get out of bed, at first I thought that's what was happening, and almost said something to him until I heard him go into the bathroom, and I heard the water running. He came back momentarily, and felt a cool, wet washcloth on my face.

"You feel warm all over." It was the second time he had misjudged what was my natural temperature as a fever. "Please tell me, lad, that I didn't give you an overdose of that rubbish. Are you breathing okay?"

I felt him put an ear to my lips.

"Indeed, very good. But you still feel warm."

He started to wipe the front of me down carefully with his washcloth, going over every inch of me. And then he flipped me over onto my back, and started to wipe down the backside of me too. All of this was actually making me cold.

He stopped when he started to wash my butt cheeks. "Huh, look at that. That's odd." I wondered what he had seen until he spread my butt cheeks open with his hands. "Look at that pretty little thing. It's smoldering hot."

He rubbed the washcloth against me there.

"Just how hot are you there? This needs some investigation from this very curious Brit."

He rubbed my hole with his finger.

"Mmm, yes, so hot."

And then he started to stick it inside me.

"And even hotter on the inside."

He poked at me for a couple minutes, starting with one finger but ending with four, mumbling about how hot it was inside me the whole time.

"Now that I've ascertained the source of the heat, let me try to put out the fire."

He took out his fingers and started to lick at me instead, blowing on my hole. As he started to lick inside me, I thought more and more about these Rohypnol pills. Wasn't hat sedative also known as the date rape drug? Had he given them to me with the idea of taking advantage of me in my sleep, leaving no witness who might turn him in to his fiancé? He was a true snake to be taking advantage of someone who was unconscious, and any sort of attraction I may have once had for him in his gentler moments burned away to ash.

The good news was, the camera was rolling. I would emerge victorious from whatever offenses he would lay on me that night. I just had to make sure never to move or make a noise, no matter how uncomfortable I was.

He licked, blew, and cooed at me for an interminable length of time, so long I almost drifted off at a couple points, which I would not allow myself to do for fear I would wake up with a start.

Finally, he rubbed at me with his finger again. "Hmm. Still bloody hot. Oh well, just have to douse the fire with a whole lot more liquid."

I so wanted groan at that awful line that I almost gave away my cover. And when I then felt him slapping his dickhead against my hole, I wanted to reach back and slap him away. I could only hope that he would at least bite me before he did anything like that, but he never did. Perhaps he was worried I would wake up if he bit me.

When he was done beating my hole, he pressed himself against it, and I felt it pushing into my body. I couldn't believe he was doing that without any lube at all, not even any saliva or anything on his unit. Its girth ripped open my flesh so painfully that I thought I felt something tear, thought I felt something bleeding.

"Oh lord, what is that lovely smell?" He pulled out again and looked at my hole. "Blood? Did I do that? Oh, I'm such a naughty chap." He then greedily licked up the blood. "Oh yes, more, more."

I thought that meant he would learn from his mistakes and at least put some lube in me, but instead, he was pushing hard into me again, the pain bringing awful flashbacks of Jericho. It was all I could do to lie there and take the pain without crying out or fighting back, which made the whole episode far worse than normal. I started to wish I really had taken the drugs so that I could at least be unconscious for all of it.

It came to me why he refused to use lube: he knew it would leave a residue inside me that I might notice when I woke up. He was more interested in keeping himself from getting caught than in not doing damage to me. This guy just became more and more of an evil soul the more and more the night went on.

I felt like he screwed me forever before he said, "Time for that hot chute to get a proper dousing with my juice. Oh, but as much as I want to let loose inside you, that will be far too messy. So, I'll be forced just to cool down that hot hole on the outside, not the inside."

He pulled out of me, and the first thing he did was lick up any remaining blood there, healing me in the process.

I heard him stroking himself, felt his unit head against my hole, and then he started to cry out, "Here it comes!"

I felt major hot wetness completely cover me. After he was done, I felt him linger like that for at least twenty minutes, wiping himself on me. And then he got a towel and cleaned me carefully of all of it.

"You are such a good lad, you're my sweet little lad," he said to me as he spooned me from behind, cuddling me.

I waited until I felt he was asleep before letting myself finally fall asleep, trying to forget the pain by thinking about how I had accomplished my mission. The idea of having to sleep in bed with this rapist was disgusting, but I knew I was still supposed to be under the sedative. I vowed that if he tried to top me again in the night, however, I would wake up and put an end to it.

MARCH 27th

The next morning, I once again woke up to an empty bed. Once again, I could hear the water running in the bathroom, and the door was closed. I looked at my phone on the desk, my body bristling with the possibility of revenge.

I walked over and picked up the phone, making sure the volume was off. I found the video and started to replay it. There we were undressing. There he was giving me the pills, there we were asleep.

I started to fast forward the video, and that's when I noticed it was exactly 1 hour in length. The phone must have cut off after one hour. I hadn't known it had that limitation. But that should have been enough time, right?

I fast forwarded until I saw Edmund wake up and start to talk to me, see him start to wipe me down, see him flip me over. I knew it's when he said, "Oh, that's odd," and started looking at my hole.

And that's right when the video stopped. Right as he was looking at my hole, before he even fingered it. I was so angry, I almost threw the phone down. We must have been sleeping for a lot longer than I realized before he woke me up, and I hadn't caught a single thing worth keeping on the phone.

I absolutely seethed with rage, and I could not do anything to express it. I took a few minutes to calm myself down and convince myself that I would just have to keep moving along like the night from hell had never happened.

Which meant, eew, I would actually have to touch him again and pretend that I was into it. I thought of not touching him at all until the night, when he would surely give me another dose of pills, and just really swallow them that time, but I reminded myself that with my phone just taking short term videos, that wasn't going to work. I needed to get him to have sex with me immediately after I started recording, which sort of meant both of us had to conscious.

Well, if I had to have sex with him, I wasn't going to let him top me again, that was for sure. And I was going to get it over with, I certainly didn't have all the time in the world to work on this.

I grabbed my phone, amongst a bundle of clothes, set it to record, and pushed open the bathroom door. Just like the day before, he was sitting in a hot tub. I was able to set the clothes down on the counter and point the phone at the tub without him seeing it was there.

I realized that was because I had just caught him jerking off in the bathtub. His face went red as he saw my eyes go to his dick, which he tried to cover with his hands, but it was too big in its full state. "Bloody hell," he said, his face turning red. "Sorry, I thought you would be asleep for much longer."

"Don't mind me, just go right along with what you were doing. I don't want to spoil your morning routine."

But he didn't keep jerking off, he just stood parallelized as I jumped into the tub with him, sitting across from him. His shyness/passiveness with me when I was awake, the total opposite of how he was when I was asleep, was no longer the least bit amusing. I found it to be nothing but annoying, as it needlessly dragged things out for me.

"Will you please pull your hands away?"

"Are you sure that's okay?"

"Yes, I just want to have a look."

He removed his hands from himself, showing off a huge piece of meat that reached straight up.

"Wowee, that thing is so much larger than my own. Is it because you have this thing? What do you call it?" I reached forward and grabbed onto his foreskin, which caused him to jump.

"It's called a foreskin."

"Right, are all men with these so large too?"

"No, not necessarily."

"Well, you sure are special, then." I started to stroke the foreskin up and down, of course stroking him in the process, and he took a sharp breath.

"Yeah, I suppose I am."

"I'm dying to see how the foreskin tastes. Do you mind?"

"Well, I'm not sure."

"Ah, please? I really would love to try it."

"Well, I guess it can't hurt."

I started to lick around his head, playing with the foreskin orally. He made a hiss of pleasure.

"Mmm, that tastes so good, I just want to devour it."

I dove down onto his dick, making sure I wasn't blocking him from view of the camera. He jumped as I started to suck on him.

"That's not entirely what I had in mind. But, oh bloody hell, that feels good, lad. Yes, yes, continue."

I dove up and down, up and down, giving him one great oral session while he moaned and hissed and jumped in pleasure.

Ten minutes later, he said, "I'm about to shoot, and would love if you would just swallow it all down."

I could see no benefit of actually swallowing him or having him climax, and I refused to give him the pleasure. I pulled off of him. "Uh oh, sorry, I have to stop. I feel sick suddenly. My head is swimming. Must be those sleeping pills."

He seemed highly annoyed for a moment, and then he composed himself. "That's alright. Just relax and let me wash you."

He pulled me into his lap in the bath, poking me in the butt of course, and then sued the soap to wash all over my body. As he cleaned me, he managed to get his dick closer and closer to actually being inside me.

Not wanting to be impaled needlessly, I jumped out of the water. "Thanks milord, I'll just be getting my teeth brushed now."

He seemed disappointed I had left his grasp, but got out of the tub, waited for his dick to go down, and got dressed. I did the same as he left the room.

I immediately ran for the phone in the bathroom, and played back the video. It perfectly captured all that had taken place, and wasn't cut off at all. Yes, this is just what I needed.

I found Edmund down in the lounge, and tended bar until the two of us were alone. I walked over and smiled at him.

"Gee, I guess me giving you oral this morning would be breaking your vows to Gala?" I asked, pulling out my cell phone.

"What do you mean?" he stuttered.

"You know what I mean. Your celibacy vows to your fiancé were just shot to heck."

"You mean, when you were sucking me off this morning?"

"Yes."

"Oh, no. Nope, you don't have to worry. Oral sex is not mentioned at all in our vows."

"What?" I asked, pulling back my phone. "It's not?"

"No, it's perfectly allowed. You can tell her about it if you like, she knows I do that kind of thing."

I almost wanted to cry, I was so angry, but I had to maintain my calm voice. "Oh, good to know."

"No, you could give me oral a few times a day and it would be totally allowed," he said. "In fact, given how eager you were to give it to me bite down on that thing today, I think we really could do that."

"Oh, wow, that's just great, that's exactly what I've been hoping for." In my pocket, I squeezed my phone so hard it could have easily broken, but it didn't. "Tell me, what exactly aren't you allowed to do by her?"

"Well, to be totally blunt and graphic, I'm not allowed to come inside anyone else."

"Orally?" I asked hopefully.

"No, that's fine. I mean, anally or vaginally."

"Even with a condom?"

"Even so, I'm afraid."

"Oh, I see."

And I went back to the bar, pretending to be cleaning and organizing, when really my mind roiling.

I had just spent all night enduring hell as he topped me needlessly, and now I had to get him to do the very same thing again, this time recording the deed and getting him to explode inside.

That night, when he was in the bathroom, I once again set my phone to record on the desk. All day I had tried to do everything I could to feed his libido, and as a result, I knew he was burning with desire for me again that night, which is what I was counting on.

I noticed that that night, unlike the others, Edmund was joining me in walking around fully naked, which seemed to be a good sign. When he came out of the bathroom, I was sprawled out on top of the bed.

"I want you to bite me," I said to him.

"What? Really?"

"Yes. I've never been bitten, and I want to see what it's all about. I want to see why people seem to get addicted to that feeling."

He jumped on top of me in bed. "You sure you won't faint if I do this?"

"I promise. Are you going to need me to cut myself to get your fangs going?"

"Are you kidding?" he said, his fangs extending. "Ever since I knew how good your blood tastes, it takes all my concentration when I'm around you just to keep these in. And all I've gotten up to this point are little tastes of you, which almost seems like wee little teases. Now I can finally drink you down and take my fill."

He bit into my throat, and the pain of those fangs gave way to that euphoric, superhuman pleasure.

He hissed in pleasure as he started to drink me, and that turned into a moan. His dick when from floppy to rock hard, pushing against my own hardness. He said something, but he was so caught up in the blood, he didn't pull back enough to really emote clearly, so I wasn't sure what he said.

"My sentiments exactly. And now, I want you so, so badly inside me."

"Mmmph?"

"Yes, it's true." I grabbed a packet of lube I had placed behind the pillow, opened it up, and rubbed it all over his unit, covering both the creamy-pink stalk and the shiny red head, getting under and over the foreskin. I would not have a repeat of the pain I had the day before.

I was worried that I would lose my hardon, so I flipped over in bed, concealing it, and his mouth was only off my neck for a moment as I turned over.

I didn't have to beg or coerce him to enter me, once I asked him once, he jammed himself all the way inside me, not even trying to go slowly. The pain hit me and I got flashbacks of Jericho, I absolutely hated being topped. He started to screw me, and after a time, he licked up my throat wound, probably because he had taken more than he should have already, but that had the side effect of making me soft again. I just wanted it to be over and done.

Luckily, perhaps because I was a more active participant that night, he approached climax sooner than expected, and well within the video time limit. "I'm going to come," he said. "I'll pull out now and let you suck me off and swallow my load."

"No, I'm not putting my mouth on that thing until you've showered."

"Oh, come on."

"No way. Besides, I want you to come inside me."

"I'm not supposed to do that."

"I don't care about rules. Don't you want to explode inside me?"

"More than anything. The last time I had unprotected sex was when I Lorna was conceived. You cannot believe how good this feels to me. The only thing that would make it even better is if I felt my seed gushing all the way through you."

"Then give in to what your body is telling you, and give us what we both want. Because as far as I'm concerned, you are coming inside me or you are not getting off tonight."

He huffed. "Oh, alright. But you'd better keep your lips sealed about this to everyone."

"I will.," I said, smiling.

"Alright, here I come, here I come, oh oh!"

I really couldn't muster up the energy to say or do anything in response. I just lay there as he moaned and groaned and shrieked my name, feeling his jets of hot liquid hit inside me.

He wanted to stay inside me and cuddle, but I got up instead and filled up the bath with hot water. I cleaned myself up thoroughly, removing any trace of his seed or sweat from me, wanting to feel clean again.

He strolled in just as I was finishing up. "I thought I could join you and we could wash each other off."

"I'm already done, but thanks anyway," I said as I got out of the tub just as he got in.

I shut the bathroom door, giving me some privacy, and I eagerly grabbed my phone from the desk. I had this worry that something had gone wrong, that the sex had taken too long again, but the video clearly showed him doing precisely what he vowed not to.

I didn't even get dressed, I just barged into the bathroom. He was sitting in the bathtub, washing the lube off his dick.

"Yes, good idea. Wash all evidence of your vow breaking off of your body. Wash it down the drain."

"If you have some point to make, lad, I fail to see it."

"I'm so bad with words. I'll just let my phone make the point for me." I lifted it up and played him the video of his orgasm. I watched as his face turned ashen. "How about now, is my point any clearer?"

"Listen, Jake, I think I know what this is. You thought it would be sexy to record us having sex, and it's a sweet idea, but I need you to delete that recording immediately. If you get some kinky pleasure of seeing me in action on camera, we can make all sorts of videos later, but this one can't be saved, I'm sorry."

"I didn't record this out of some sense of exhibitionism. I did it because I want you to do everything I want, from here on out. If you fail to follow any of my demands to a T, I'm going to show this to Gala, and your relationship with her will be over."

"Is this some sort of joke? Some sort of American humor that I'm not grasping?"

"No, this is dead serious."

"What you are talking about is extortion!"

"Exactly! And if you don't agree to it right here and right now, I'm going to march over to her room."

"I'll never agree to be blackmailed. You will hold nothing over my head."

"Then I'm going over to her now." I started to march towards the bedroom door.

He jumped out of the tub. "Wait, no, please, you can't do this to me, you can't do this to me!" He dropped to his knees in front of me and begged at my feet. "You cannot be so heartless. If it got out why Gala left me, and it surely would, I would lose all dignity and respect I have spent decades here cultivating."

"Yes, I can. If you don't agree to my terms, I'm not going to stay here out of pity."

"Listen, I know what you want. You want me to break up with Gala and marry you instead. But I hardly know you, really. I mean, the sex between us is the best I'll ever have, I know. But can't you see? I love Gala. If I hadn't fallen in love with her, I would have never married a human from the modern world that brings me no political advantage. But I fell in love with her, and couldn't do anything else. Please, you can't extinguish our relationship like that just so we could be together."

"You've got it all wrong. If you loved Gala, then you shouldn't have broken your vows for her."

"You don't know how irresistible you can be!"

I stepped out of his grasp, grabbed one of his bathrobes, put it on, put my phone in the pocket, and moved towards the door. "I'm giving you one last chance before I tell her to submit to all my demands. Do you agree?"

He said nothing.

"Then I'm going."

Quicker than I could see, reminding me that he was vampire, he stepped in front of the door. "Edmund, move right this instant."

He shook his head, and I looked up and down his body.

"Edmund, why is your dick rock hard again? And your fangs out?"

Anger on his face, he took a step towards me, and I backed up. Something was making me very uneasy. I realized it was the way he was moving, his body had a threatening aura to it.

"Edmund, before you think of touching me, If I disappear, Gala will be e-mailed the video."

"You're lying to me," he said, calling my bluff.

"Edmund, hurting me is above you. It's breaking Codes."

He pounced on me suddenly, knocking me onto the bed and ripping my robe off at the same time. Next thing I knew, we were on the bed, with me facedown, his hand pushing my face into the pillow. I was struggling to breathe, and fought back against him, but he pushed his whole body against me, keeping me immobilized. Was he going to suffocate me?

I felt him bite my neck from behind and realized, no, he was going to drain me to death. At least that was a more pleasant way to go than suffocation.

"Kirrill sentenced all extortion convicts to death. Ones like you he would surely kill himself, kill in this very manner. I'm just carrying on his legacy."

I felt him thrust his unit inside me, this time without the lube, and I got more ferociously angry than ever. That he would kill me in a way that would bring him pleasure while hurting me made me fight anew again.

But no matter how hard I squirmed against him, he would not be beaten physically. He just kept on screwing me, kept on drinking.

I reminded myself that trying to fight him physically was a mistake, he was much too strong for me. I had to use my head.

Instead of fighting him off, I began to join in on the sex. I pushed my hips back towards him for the first time, making him go deeper and deeper with each thrust. Instead of using my hands to try and push him away, I used them to pull his body and head towards me.

"Yes, that's it," he said. "Just accept this punishment and go out on a pleasure high."

I nodded, and he finally, finally let the back of my head loose enough for me to turn my head away from the pillow and gasp for air.

"Don't do this. I knew Kirrill even more intimately than you, and the Kirrill that I knew would never punish anyone that he didn't have the legal right to. Maxim removed the death penalty for blackmail, and it's never been your responsibility to execute convicts yourself. That's the Tsar's discretion."

He didn't say anything, he just kept drinking my blood and screwing me.

"They'll execute you for murder! You'll never get away with this! Think about what would happen to your dignity then! Your family would never recover. Gala will be so ashamed, she spits on your grave!"

And then I felt him licking my wound clean, pulling out of me. "Alright, alright, you win."

I pushed him off and put on that robe again. I was a bit woozy, but still okay. "And you'll agree to all my terms."

"No, I won't be tainted by your poison. If you want to ruin me, you'll go tell Gala what you need to tell her. If not, I'll be thankful for your pity."

"I'm just not in a piteous mood, I'm afraid. Something about you trying to kill me must have sucked all my pity out of me, as bizarre as that seems. I'm telling her."

"If you do, I'll have you arrested for extortion! You'll be imprisoned for years!"

"I don't care, let them arrest me. Perhaps I'll tell them that you attempted to murder me. How many years will you get for that?"

"What I did was not attempted murder. Attempted murder would be if I had tried to kill you, but my attempt failed. Almost killing you but changing my mind is not the least bit illegal."

I walked out of his room, slammed the door, and walked over to Gala's room in nothing but his bathrobe and slippers. I was in a foul mood because I knew there was no blackmailing Edmund, and really was just telling Gala in order to get some sort of revenge for all the pain he caused me.

I knocked on her door. "Gala, it's Jake, the bartender. Please open up. It's important."

"Coming."

The gorgeous Asian woman answered the door, also in a bathrobe, but hers was a million times frillier. It was clear she had been sleeping.

"Come in." She let me in and shut the door.

Really telling Edmund's fiancé he had topped me never presented itself as a possibility, and even though I knew it was what had to be done, it was embarrassing not just to be destroying her happy relationship like that, but also to be doing it with my own very private images.

"Please, sit down. There's no way to butter you up for this, so I'm just going to come out with it. You know the one thing Edmund vowed he would not do?"

"Yes."

I showed her the video on my phone. "Well, this is him breaking apart that vow."

Her hands went to cover her face, her eyes showing shock and alarm. "No, no. Stop the video, stop it already!"

I turned it off. "As you can see, Edmund is not the man you think he is. He's cheated on you, and he you should cut this shark free and go find someone who really is worth it."

Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at me. "Oh my god, oh my god! This is not happening!"

"It's very, very real, I'm afraid. But at least my intervention now will save you heartache years later."

"Please, please, I'm begging you, you have to do me a favor."

"Of course, let me know if there's any way I can help with all this."

"There is. Please don't tell him I ever saw this."

"What?!"

"I've worked too hard to have our marriage end before it ever starts. If he knew I had seen this, that would be the only reasonable action for me to take. But if he never knows I know the truth, he'll believe in a fantasy."

"You don't care that the man you love is cheating on you?!"

"Please. I don't love him, I never did. I've been using him this whole time for power. And those stupid vows were his idea. You won't tell him any of this, will you?"

"No, it's none of my business."

"The truth is, I've been breaking my own celibacy vows far longer than he has. You see, I'm really just a straight up homosexual. Sex with men grosses me out, though I'll probably have to tolerate it at least a few times when we're married, so I can get pregnant. But I can't go too long without sex with women, so I've been having flings the entire time him and I have been together."

"So, all that talk about you not having sex before marriage, that's just about you not having to deal with the straight sex?"

"Exactly. And that's why you cannot tell him you ever told me anything, please. I think we'd make better friends than we would enemies, don't you?"

"Yes, I suppose so. I won't say anything to him, you have my word."

"Thanks, Jake. I owe you one!"

I left her room mystified and confused by the change of events, but still seeing nothing that would help me or Maxim out in the long run. And then it was like God wanted to send me a message not to worry. Only, I found it unlikely that God would ever send a man like Strom to be his messenger, but that's who found me in the hallway.

Strom came up behind me without me seeing, put a hand up my bathrobe, and poked at my hole. "How much has this little guy missed a real man's dick since this morning?"

I pushed him away. "Strom, I'm not so not in the mood to be harassed right now. I just found out everything I forced myself to do physically with Edmund was all for nothing, as he absolutely will not be blackmailed. I am absolutely disgusted I ever had to touch him."

"Of course you are. Once you've shared a bed with me, how could you ever get pleasure out of another man's touch again? But don't you worry, I've been busy coming up with another way you can come out on top over him, a dark secret of his. I'm looking into the matter right now."

"Really Strom?" I smiled.

"Really, but it's going to take some time to investigate. Hang in there for one more night, try not to upset Edmund in any way, in fact, the more you can get him to confide in you, the better. Come and see me in the morning. But I make no promises."

Unbelievably, I was moved to hug Strom. "I'll do my best to keep Edmund in the dark tonight. I'm on my way there now. Thanks for helping me."

"Where were you coming from?"

"Just now? Oh, you know, just went for a stroll."

I went back into Edmund's room, trying to soothe my anger before I went in.

"Is she moving out tonight, or waiting until morning? Is she already calling the papers?"

"Neither. I seemed to have a change of heart. I deleted the video instead."

The naked Englishman came at me and embraced me. "I'm so happy you choose to do the right thing. I'm going to forget we ever had this row. With sex this unbelievable between us, it's only natural that emotions get flung around that we can't let get the best of us."

"Yes, I agree." Even though I felt like his statement was all too ridiculous.

He pushed us both into bed, pulling off my robe, leaving us both naked. And he embraced me. "Please tell your heart to try and put aside any jealousy you have for Gala."

"Funny. I have zero jealousy for Gala in any way. I guess you've convinced my heart."

"We can still be together, you and I. For now, you can be my concubine of sorts, and we can keep each other sexually satisfied. Gala won't live forever since she's human, but you and I won't age. After she passes, I promise to marry you."

"Wow, I get to be your concubine. That sounds marvelous, really."

Just the thought had made him hard again. "You know how women are. I'll probably end up having more sex with you than I do with her anyway. You can move in here, permanently. You can quit bartending, and just live here as my kept lad."

"This is sounding better and better with every word that leaves your mouth," I said, with irony so subtle I knew he wouldn't be able to detect it.

"I might even be able to take you along on trips she doesn't go on, like business trips. You could wait for me in the hotel room during the days and then I could top you all night long."

"How sweet of you to suggest. But if I am to become your concubine, I think we need to be totally honest with each other. I won't keep any secrets from you."

"No, please don't."

"But I expect the same from you. In fact, is there any major secret you have that you want to get off your chest? Before we enter into the relationship?"

"Actually, there is something I should tell you about. But I don't want to burden you with any of this."

"You won't burden me. I want to hear."

"Well, I'll tell you what. I'm exhausted, and all I want to do is sleep against that hot bum of yours. I'll tell you everything in the morning, over breakfast. I have to be in court in the afternoon, but the morning is all for you."

It was cutting it very close time-wise, but what else could I say? "Alright."

MARCH 28th

When I woke up in the morning, I was alone. I thought I would find Edmund in an early bath, like in the days before, but when I went to look, he wasn't there.

I did find a note: "Court asked to move up the appearance to the morning, so left without waking you. I'll be back in the afternoon, and we can have a very special dinner, just the two of us."

I threw it in the trash, panic taking over me that I would be too late to help Maxim or the people of the Petrov Blood. I wrapped myself in his robe again and ran over Strom's room, and knocked.

Ursula answered, and I looked down at the very revealing period appropriate negligée she was in which showed off all sorts of cleavage. "Strom, it's Jake."

"Tell that little con artist that I want nothing to do with him!"

I considered it a sad statement that I wasn't the least bit sure which of my many lies he had found out about, but I didn't have time for this. "I'll leave as soon as you tell me what you know about Edmund."

"I refuse to help a lying sack of shit like you."

"I'm sorry, but what lie are you so hung up about? I already told you that I was lying about being a resident, is that what you're upset about?"

"I don't care about your job. What's the one trait I just cannot stand in others?"

"If they are a threat to your sexual dominance?" I asked.

"Exactly. I don't go out of my way to help other straight men. In fact, I often wish I was the last one left alive."

"I thought we established this already. I am not straight."

"He is so lying right now, I see it in his eyes!" said Ursula.

"Don't be absurd."

"He looked at my breasts as soon as I came to the door. Do you not deny it?"

"Well, it's a little surprising to see such large breasts so displayed like that. I haven't had a lot of experience with breasts, I'm sorry. They seem a little weird to me."

"He's lying."

"Send him away."

"No!" I pushed past Ursula in order to come into the room.

"See? He just needlessly touched my breasts!"

"If you don't back off of my wife, I'm going to rip off your arm."

"I only touched her to get into the room!"

Strom was lying naked on their bed. It was funny how the more modest sized furniture seemed so at odds with the large gaudiness he was used to. "Strom, if I'm so straight, then why do I look at you naked on the bed and my mouth starts to water?"

"He's proven that he can talk like a homosexual. But his actions prove otherwise."

"What have I done that has put my sexual orientation in doubt?"

Strom looked at me angrily. "What were you doing last night in that robe when I found you?"

"I told you, going for a walk."

"He's such a liar," said Ursula. "I saw you sneaking out of Gala's bedroom right before that!"

"Is this true?" asked Strom.

"Okay, yes, I was in Gala's room last night." And I most certainly couldn't tell them the truth. "I was just in there delivering a message from Edmund."

"Oh, I'm sure," said Ursula. "You came sneaking out of her bedroom at night in nothing but a bathrobe. You may have given Gala a message, but only while you were fucking her."

"And the worst part is, you fucked a woman you knew I was trying to fuck myself but had been rejected!"

"I did not have sex with Gala! I am not capable of that."

"It's not just Gala. He's always looked at me like he's wanted to fuck me. I bet he's fucked our own daughter a few dozen times by now."

"You heartless swine!"

"No, no, no. I am not straight. If I was straight, would I be able to do this?"

I walked over to Strom on the bed and started to lick his soft, huge penis, which turned hard very, very fast.

"Yes, he would!" said Ursula. "Anyone can force themselves to do something that disgusts them."

"Maybe so," I said, throwing my robe aside. "But watch. I'll get hard giving him oral."

I concentrated on getting turned on as I sucked on his unit, and soon enough, I was completely so.

"See?"

"No, he's looking at my breasts, that's how he got hard!"

"No, I'll close my eyes, and I still won't get soft." I demonstrated. "Trust me now?"

"He could be a bisexual top, just like you, Strom," said Ursula. "Able to get hard with either sex, but only really wanting to do the fucking, never to receive it."

"I am not bisexual, not the least bit."

"If he were attracted to women, he would love pussy. Do you love pussy, Jake?"

"Unless you're referring to housecats, absolutely not."

"Urs, get over here. Let's give him a lie detector test. I want you to sit on top of his face."

Ursula got completely naked and jumped on top of me, putting her lady parts right against my face.

"Eww, this is so gross," I said.

"I want to see you licking her, or I'm not going to believe you."

"Lick her, that's disgusting!"

"Do it!"

I opened my mouth and started to lick, which absolutely made me feel sick to my stomach.

"Oooh, that feels too good for a homosexual!"

"But look at his dick, Urs. It's gone from erect to as soft as I ever knew it could be. He's right."

"If you don't get off me right now you're going to have a vagina full of stomach bile! That's my fair warning!"

She did get off of me, thank goodness. "He's not straight, Urs, he's just not. He must be telling the truth about Gala."

"He may not be attracted to women, but you know what he is instead? He's a top, like you. He's only put up with you and the other men because he wants to fuck their asses. He probably screwed all of our male servants at Schloss Strom!"

"That's not true, I have no interest in that part of the male anatomy."

"You'll have to prove that you're a bottom to us. Urs, toss me the lube."

"Fine, if you want me to bottom for you to prove myself, I'll do it. But I don't have time to get you off here. That's not the point of this."

"Agreed." Strom lubed himself up. "The point is to see if you get hard while I have my huge wiener würstchen up your caboose."

I hesitated. The truth was, I had gone from vows of truth to lies, as I could say I wasn't a top with all honestly, but most certainly couldn't claim to be a bottom without moving towards lies. I worried I wouldn't be able to get hard on my own. "Why don't you bite me first to make it easier for me to get your, uh, wienershnitzel in."

"As much as I hate anyone's offer to bite them, you most of all, I'm not going to, because that would make you artificially hard. Now, quit stalling and prove you're a bottom or get out of my room."

"Fine." I tried to lie down on my stomach, where my dick was concealed.

"On you back, where we can see you!" said Ursula. It made my dick even less likely to get hard with her watching it with her arms crossed.

I rolled on my back, and Strom entered me. The pain hit me, and images of Jericho.

"This isn't even a judgment call," said Ursula. "He's just as soft as when he was licking me."

"Wait, wait, just give me a second."

I closed my eyes. I could not be looking at Strom's face. I thought of Parker, the one guy who actually brought pleasure to this experience. And, surprisingly since he never topped me, I pictured Maxim.

"There, it's up, look, I made him hard!" said Strom excitedly.

"Hmm, alright, I guess you are right," said Ursula.

I got off of Strom. "Now that we are on the same side again, you need to tell me whatever it is about Edmund. I can't lose any more time."

"Go to Edna's room. She'll tell you."

"Edna?"

"But for godsake, put some clothes on. Even though you're homosexual, Edna already has enough perverse sexual thoughts floating around in her brain without seeing your sexy skin."

I went to Edmund's room and put a proper suit on, not my bartender's uniform. I packed all of my things into my backpack and left ready to leave Woodville Manor for good, and there was no point staying after that day.

I knocked on Elsa's door. After hearing no response, I pounded and yelled.

"What is your problem?" she asked. "I'm not a morning person."

"Elsa, it's Jake Groves. Your parents have told me you have something important to tell me? About Edmund?"

"Oh, right. Can it wait until this afternoon?"

"No!"

She finally let me in, yawning, and she shut the door behind her.

"Well, it's not really about Edmund at all, it's about his daughter, Lorna."

"Lorna?"

"My mother insisted we take the girl along dress shopping, but as it turns out, her apartment is the best guarded part of this place. We had to sneak her out, but we were able to take her shopping. It was a bit into the day when my mother and I were taking turns picking out hot guys and saying what we wanted to do to them sexually. After my grandmother even told us who she wanted to sleep with, which was absolutely horrible to visualize, and I'm still traumatized from, I asked Lorna about sex."

"What did she say?"

"Well, it turns out she's never had sex. Still a virgin. You can imagine I started to make fun of her immediately. I mean, she's not that much younger than me."

"She's twenty."

"Right. By the time I was twenty, I had sex with a dozen guys. And that's living in the middle of nowhere in Austria. I would have expected a hot vampire girl in a city filled with vampire men would quadruple my numbers at least."

"Not everyone is built the same sexually," I said, speaking for myself.

"Well, that's what I figured too, that she was just turned off by sex or maybe a lesbian or something, but the more I talked to her, I realized it wasn't that she hadn't had sex, it was more. She hadn't ever heard of sex. She didn't know how reproduction happens, doesn't know how babies are made! Can you believe that? And then talked to her more and more that day, and I realized I was dealing with someone who had something mentally wrong with her. Someone mentally retarded."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I'm totally positive. And I always love when my naturally gossiping ways gets to be of use to someone. So, now you know Edmund's secret."

"Thanks Elsa, but I'll need to prove that she's impaired in a court of law. I'd need a medical diagnosis to do that. Have you seen any such thing I could use?"

"No. From what I heard, she's only seen a private doctor, never allowed to go to the regular hospital."

"I think I might now where to find those records. Thanks Elsa."

I ran out of her room, ran out of the whole Woodville Manor. I took the train to the hospital, went into Günter's place (I still had the key).

I went to where I found Günter's private stash of medical records. I opened all the files, one by one. Most of them were about members of the five families that were a part of the Ministerstvo. I even found Edmund's medical file. But there was absolute nothing about Lorna anywhere. I had failed.

And then I noticed an innocuous little box in the corner that was padlocked. I searched nearby for any sort of key, but found none. I ended up grabbing a loaded pistol and shooting the padlock to pieces.

The box did have medical records in it. Kirrill's was in there, Maxim's as well. And Lorna's.

I started to flip through the extremely well-recorded medical charts and knew this was exactly what I needed. The real question was, would I possibly get there in time to make a difference?

I knew the court was in the Sneg Dvorec, but I had the option of going to the train station, waiting for a train for who knows how long, and getting over there. Or, I could run.

I locked the front door and started to run down the street. Thank goodness I kept myself in good shape. Even though I wasn't at the physical peak as I was when I played sports in high school, I could still push myself hard and run quickly enough for any of the people of the street to mistakenly think I was just out for a jog.

The run got harder the longer I went, and after the first half hour, I started cursing my bad circumstances that had recently kept me from getting really good workouts. But as soon as I could see the building in the skyline in front of me, that made me find new reserves.

I ran into the Sneg Dvorec, waving my ID as soon as security tried to stop me, and continued running through the hallways into the grand Royal Courtroom. The problem was, when I got there, I was so out of breath I couldn't even speak.

Reporters were filling up most of the room. There were a couple of radio broadcasters there as well. The Carstvo didn't have regular radio programming, I suppose they considered that too modern an invention, but important events like this one were broadcasted.

Vasos was sitting up on the judge's bench, wearing his typical military attire, not any sort of special robe. Maxim and Edmund were seated at opposite tables. Just seeing Maxim again made me realize how crazy I had missed him, even though the man looked very upset with the proceedings.

"Given that our royal defendant was unable to suitably prove any sort of error with this contract, it will have to go forward. At that point, the Tsar will have two options. Either he will marry this woman here and now, as the contract requires, or he will be in breach of contract and be sentenced to ten years of imprisonment, during which time the Aristocratic Ministerstvo will come up with a temporary replacement."

Maxim stood up. "I choose to be imprisoned. As I've already said, I cannot ethically enter a marriage when I'm in love with another."

"Then, I herby sentence--"

"Wait!" I ran into the middle of the courtroom, my breathing recovering enough to speak. "Your honor," I said, feeling weird addressing Vasos in that way, "I have some late evidence to submit."

Maxim smiled brightly at me. Everyone else was surprised at my sudden intrusion, but the most confused was Edmund.

"Yes, yes, what is it?" asked Vasos, inpatient.

I pulled out my folder of evidence and handed it to Vasos, and he started to flip through it. I just hoped this wasn't the kind of hearing that required evidence to be shared to the other party beforehand, if so we were hosed.

"It's Lorna Woodville's medical records, created by her private doctor, Dr. Günter Herzog."

"What?" asked Edmund. "He can't use those, those are private!"

"I'll allow it, as long as he can prove it's relevant to this case."

"Oh, it's relevant, your honor. You see, what those records clearly state is that Lorna's mother was in a train accident when she was pregnant with Lorna, and the baby ended up with brain damage that no one was able to cure. Lorna ended up with the mental faculties and intelligence of a seven-year-old child, and still remains that way today."

There were a series of gasps from the courtroom. Edmund looked like he was trying to hold back from using his burring breath to kill me.

"Dr. Herzog recommended to Lord Woodville that he be prepared to always look after her like one would a small child. He would have never agreed to the idea of any wedding."

"But what does any of this have to do with a contract that two adults signed?" asked Edmund.

"Your honor, Lorna Woodville quite simply should not be considered to be anything more than about the age of seven for the rest of her life. Since, in essence, a minor signed that contract, that makes the contract null and void."

Vasos looked through the records. "I agree. This is tantamount to a man selling his child off to be a whore for financial gain. The contract is void, and furthermore, I no longer find Lord Woodville to be a proper guardian to his daughter. I'm having social services take her away from his household immediately"

"She has an aunt on her mother's side back in England who knows the situation and always wanted custody of the child after her mother died," I said. "She would be the perfect guardian for Lorna."

"Agreed," Vasos said.

"Your honor, this is outrageous!" said Edmund.

"Frankly, Lord Woodville, you should be lucky I'm not putting you in prison for your crimes against your daughter. Court dismissed!"

The press ran up to Maxim, who looked absolutely thrilled. "Your liege, do you have anything to say?"

"Yes, yes I do," he said to the large crowd. "See that man there who just came to my rescue? That man, Jake Groves, is the one I've been completely in love with this whole time. In honor of him, I want to enter a legal vow, with Judge Spiros here and all of you witnesses. Jake Groves, I vow sexual and emotional fidelity to you for as long as we both may live."

"No, this is ridiculous. I don't agree to this."

Maxim went on. "I don't require or even expect or hope for the same fidelity to be returned, because I understand that most people aren't wired for fidelity, and that's fine. But I know after being with Jake, that I cannot possibly touch another person again, regardless if he chooses to be with me or not." He looked to Vasos. "Your honor, did you catch all that?"

Vasos finished writing it down. "Yes, my liege, consider this vow now a part of legal record."

"And to celebrate my vow of fidelity, I'm throwing a party in his honor. A circus act, followed by a concert, all at the Fire Tents in two days. And, for once, the royal event isn't just for the Bourgiosie or the Aristocrats, but also for the Proletariat. Everyone who fits into the tents will be treated to fine cuisine and given fine wine to drink."

"You were with him the whole time?" asked Edmund, pulling me aside and speaking to me quietly, so the others couldn't hear.

"I was," I said. "I never wanted to be a bartender, especially not for you, that was just an invention to get close to you. I hated every time you touched me, but I needed you to break your vow with Gala so I could arm twist you into dropping the suit. But then, the Lorna thing just dropped into my lap."

"You've destroyed me now, you now that." I expected him to be upset that Lorna was being taken away from him. "You've destroyed all dignity I've built up in this city."

"I am astounded that you are more concerned at losing face than you are at losing your own daughter, which makes me feel only validation. And I'll have you know that I didn't take those sleeping pills, and what you did to me in my sleep was appalling."

"You have no proof of anything. In fact, I'm sure you were just dreaming it."

"I know I'll never be able to prove anything, and so I'll never press charges. But I promise you, it's not something I will ever forget. Now, Edmund, if I were you, I'd pick up the broken pieces of your life, give up your Lordship, and retire as far away from the city as you can get."

"This is just the beginning between us, Jake. Just the beginning." And he walked out of the room.

When I turned around, I ran into Maxim. He grabbed me and kissed me, his huge smile somehow permeating his kisses. "How'd you like me making my vows legal, and the celebration I've announced?"

"It was silly. Very romantic, but silly."

"You don't know how much my soul has ached without you these past couple days."

"Well, I not only had to deal with missing you, but being around Edmund and Strom as well. I'm pretty sure my suffering was greater."

"I never would have consented to you going in there if I had known there would be any sort of suffering on your part."

Maxim insisted on a celebratory dinner at the mansion to celebrate my homecoming, but with Maxim, when was any meal not excellent? Or, come to think of it, celebratory in some sense? It felt so good to be back with him, to be able to kiss and hug my beautiful man.

After the dinner was taken away by the servants, Maxim had them bring in something that had him smugly grinning all evening. "Jake, Helina, Emmanuel, say hello to Slivovyi Pirog."

"A new servant?" I asked.

"Even better. Our dessert."

A beautiful cake covered with powdered sugar was placed before us.

"This Russian Plum Cake was the unrivaled favorite dessert of Helina growing up." He cut her the first slice, then got one for Emmanuel.

Helina put the first bite into her mouth. "You know, I remember these flavors. So delicious."

Maxim was staring at her every move, absolutely delighted.

"Why do I remember Mom?"

"Did she bake that for you?" I asked.

"No," Helina said. "She was a horrible cook. But she bought these as soon as plums came in season, didn't she?"

"Yes, you remember!" Maxim reached across the table and hugged her.

"The cake doesn't taste familiar at all to me, but it tastes very good, thank you," said Emmanuel.

"Jake, I want you to share this experience with us," said Maxim. "I'm cutting both of us slices."

I shook my head. "No, no, the dinner was already extravagant enough for me without adding on the extra dessert calories. I'll just admire the dessert's beauty."

"Oh, baloney," he said. "You have to learn to indulge."

"That's easy for a fanged vampire to say, considering you can eat whatever you want with no consequences."

"Listen, whatever you may have heard to the contrary in the past, the truth is, you are like a vampire in this regard. As the One, you are unable to put on fat, or suffer any ill consequences from the food you eat at all."

"Really? Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, quite. And similarly, alcohol, smoking, drugs, you are just as immune to negative consequences to those things as we are."

"Oh, that's a tremendous relief!"

"Shall I dish you a slice then?"

"Yes, absolutely."

Maxim laughed his deep-belly laugh as the two of us prepared to try the cake simultaneously, each of us holding a cake-filled fork to one another's lips, Maxim's lovely suggestion of course.

"Mmm, how does it taste, my solnyshko?"

"Even better than it looks."

He was so moved he leaned in and kissed me.