Blood Lust

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE



With Christmas less than four days away, Isaac had some serious decisions to make. Not shopping for friends, family and colleagues. He’d done all that online and had it delivered weeks ago. He faced the dilemma of taking a vampire home for the holidays.



That sure as hell hadn’t come up before.



With extended family scattered nationwide and over England and Scotland, his Christmas and New Year’s had generally consisted of some time with the parents in his old bedroom. Mom cooked enough for an army. Dad kept fires in the hearths and played his violin. Quiet, harmonious and uneventful.



He sighed as he showered.



Isaac couldn’t leave Seth. It just remained to determined degree of disclosure and game plan. He trusted his parents. They had always accepted his quirks and faults with unwavering love. But, how did one break the news a couple’s only son had fallen in love with a vampire? Male vampire?



The sun set and he felt his lover wake. Join me.



In moments, Seth arrived, naked and glorious. First things first. Isaac kissed him, holding his big body close as their mouths mated in greeting. Since sharing his lover’s experience with that vampiric sexual fire, their relationship had changed. It felt … comfortable. Less anxious.



Seth lifted his head, gazing down at Isaac. “What troubles you?”



He stepped back under the spray to wet his hair. “I want your input.”



“On what?” His hands roamed over Isaac’s chest.



“God, that’s so good. But, don’t distract me.” He washed his hair and rinsed it quickly. Seth’s hands fell away as he switched places with him. “As long as you’ve lived, you must know a lot about human nature.” His mouth watered watching his lover’s hair slick to his dark skin, the spray sluicing over him. “Fuck, you’re beautiful.”



“For you, my love.”



Isaac’s heart turned some sort of flip. “Okay, I’m getting distracted.” He soaped up his washcloth. “My parents expect me home for Christmas same as every year for the past, like decade.”



Seth’s attention fixed upon him. “You would leave me?”



“No,” he rushed to assure, stepping close and stretching up to press kisses to his lover’s slick, hard jaw. “I want to take you with me. Just don’t know how to spin this with the parental units.”



Although Isaac would not have believed it possible, his lover’s scowl intensified. “You’re ashamed of me?”



Isaac caught his vampire’s face in his hands. “Look at me.” When those burgundy eyes met his own, he said quietly, “I’m not ashamed of loving you, Seth. However, the world is trying to catch up with same gender relationships.” He considered his next words with care. “I don’t think my parents will mind me settling with you. What concerns me is telling them the truth.”



Seth slowly leaned to touch his forehead to Isaac’s. “Forgive me. I’m inexperienced with the diplomacy required in relationships.”



“We’ll learn together.” He closed his eyes, savoring that encapsulated point in time when their souls surmounted species to touch souls.



Seth straightened and washed his long hair. “While your desire for my opinion gratifies me, boy, I possess little knowledge about human nature outside hunting your kind. I grew up alone and continued alone until you.”



The steam carried the scent of his lover’s body in heady, rising clouds. “Man, you smell so good.”



“I want to feel your mouth on my cock.”



Everything else could wait.







They made the drive to Greenville, North Carolina, in two days. It required days in vampire safe houses for Seth. Isaac either slept with him, stole a few precious moments to watch his lover sleep, or both. When they arrived, Isaac swallowed hard.



“I’m scared, man.”



Seth parked the truck, turned off the ignition and got out to round the vehicle. As the passenger side door opened, his lover said, “We tell them everything, boy. If you trust them, so do I.”



Isaac’s mother, Marium, answered the doorbell. “Isaac, baby! Oh!” Her face lit from within as she embraced Seth. “Our boy’s never brought anyone home. Welcome. Welcome.”



He leaned down to embrace his petite mother after she released his man. “Hey, Mom.”



As expected, she began to cry. “I miss you so.” Stepping back, she fanned her face with her hand. “Come in, boys. Ronald, our boy’s come home with a friend.”





Isaac laid everything out as simply as possible. His Mom listened quietly. His Dad rumbled intermittently.



At the end, Isaac’s father inquired, “Am I to understand you can suspend his age.”



Seth nodded, “Yes, sir. My blood can halt the aging process.”



Isaac said, “Mom, Dad, I love him. Can you at least understand that?” His gut churned and ice seemed to thread through his veins.



His mother burst into tears. Abandoning her chair to perch on his sire’s lap, she sniffed. “This means you can save him from death, Seth.”



His lover reached over to hold his hand. “If he chooses. I am vampire made, not born. He must accept that gift.”



Isaac’s sire cleared his throat. “Son, will you do that?”



“I want to,” he answered. “Just scared as hell. Sorry. Can you understand?”



His dad hugged his mother. “He’s the love of our life, Seth. Talk him into it.”





Christmas Day dinner served after dark rather than midday. Isaac marveled as his parents settled into the alternate reality bit so easily. They made no argument about changing their traditional time for the meal. Neither did they remark upon Seth’s abstinence.



Finally, Isaac had to chime in, “Does anyone besides me find this odd?”



Seth chuckled.



His parents laughed lightly.



Isaac’s mother replied, “Odd compared to what, son?”