Fate

Title: Fate
Author: MakaiKitty
Rating: R/NC-17
Category: Original Fantasy
Warings: slash, m/m, sex
Distribution: My website, My LJ and any LJs I posted at, AFF.net, FicWad, and DeviantArt. If you\'d like to use it just let me know.
Status: Complete

Author\'s Note: Thanks for being patient and for all the nice reviews, they\'re really encouraging and I\'m gald you guys are enjoying my story. I wrote the first part of this chapter at work, and thus by hand, and I\'ve noticed that my style is slightly different when I\'m writting by hand vs. when I\'m on a computer. So, if some of this doesn\'t seem to fit the style of the rest of the story then that\'s why. IF you think it flows just fine then just ignore me and my ramblings. Now, on with the show ...

\"Fate\"

Now are you beginning to see my dilemma? Are you starting to understand why I say that I hate my life? I want what I can\'t have, what I shouldn\'t want in the first place, and I\'m the only one saying I can\'t have it! On one hand I have this wonderful, beautiful, captivating person practically throwing himself at me. But, on the other hand, he\'s been taken advantage of his whole life and I\'ll be damned if I\'ll do it too. He might not see it, but I know that he\'s only doing what he\'s been programmed to do. This means I\'m left with only my conscience to stand between me and what I really want. Which, by the way, is to throw Alexis down on the nearest serviceable surface and thoroughly ravish him, to explore every inch of that delectable little body, to show him what it really means to ... Well, anyway, you get the picture. The problem is, while I\'m trying my hardest to control myself Alexis is trying his hardest to make me lose control. It\'s enough to drive a guy nuts!

Why, you may be wondering, if I\'m really trying so hard to suppress my baser urges, am I sharing a bed with my would be seducer? Why have the beguiling little temptress near enough to touch when I have no intentions of doing any such thing? Why allow him to curl his silky smooth, scantily clad body around me as I try to sleep? Well, it\'s not because I\'m a masochist if that\'s what you\'re thinking. Although, at times, it can be a very pleasant torture. No, the real reason is that I am utterly and completely defenseless once Alexis sheds even one tear. And the sad thing is, he seems to be totally unaware of the power he holds over me. That is probably for the best anyway.

As for the problem at hand, namely our current sleeping arrangements, it all started the morning after our big discussion. Despite the fact that it was completely against my nature he had managed to worm his way into my heart and I\'d already decided that I was more than happy to have him around. I figured I had done a good job stating my case, as it were, and that after a good night\'s sleep Alexis would begin to see things my way. If only it were that easy.

When I opened my eyes that morning it was to see Alexis standing in my doorway, pretty much the same as he had been on the first morning, looking bleary eyed, with his hair still tousled from sleep. Although he wasn\'t doing anything but standing there, looking at me innocently as he tried to blink the sleep out of his crimson orbs, I had the distinct feeling he was up to something. Then, as if reading my thoughts, he looked directly at me, smiled, and then slowly raised his arms up over his head for a leisurely stretch. The stretchy baby blue tank that he wore clung to his body, rising up just enough to give a tantalizing view of the smooth plain of his stomach. My eyes were involuntarily being drawn slowly along that stretch of perfectly pale flesh until they reached the waist band of his matching blue shorts. They didn\'t conceal nearly as much as they revealed, managing to give glimpses of both his slender hips above and his creamy thighs below. Just the day before I had thought the simple sleepware the perfect showcase for my firey hued daemon, but after that little show I suddenly regretted ever laying eyes on the things! Perhaps it was some sort of cosmic revenge for my having treated him like a dress-up doll the previous day?

When the little show-off was done teasing me he stepped into the room and started walking towards me, all the while smiling with a smile that was equal parts innocence and seduction. A smile that, I\'m certain, was designed to send all the blood in my head rushing southward, thus preventing me from even remembering something as simple as my name, much less my reasoning for not already having the alluring creature in front of me in my bed. It very nearly worked too. Especially when he upped the ante by climbing up onto my four-poster and crawling seductively towards me. I probably looked like the deer caught in the headlights as he slowly slid himself into position beside me, either that or I looked like the big bad wolf salivating at the thought of devouring the deer. At least that was how I felt at that moment. Alexis didn\'t seem to mind either way as he smiled up at me coyly, batting his eyelashes at me, now certain that he\'s won. Normally I wouldn\'t have found something like the batting of eyelashes to be attractive, it\'s too girlish, but it seemed to fit Alexis somehow. Not that he\'s girly, not at all, although he does have a delicate, fragile type of beauty that gives him something of an androgynous quality. Whatever it was it definitely appealed to me. And Alexis knew it. That, more than anything, was what broke the spell for me. Not my conscience reminding me of my words the night before, no, nothing so noble as that, but instead a petty little voice shouting, Don\'t let him win so easily you pushover!

I quickly disentangled myself from both my sheets and Alexis and, for the second time in as many days, headed downstairs leaving a startled daemon in my wake.

\"Meet you downstairs for breakfast!\" I shouted over my shoulder, silently wondering to myself if this was what mornings were going to be like from now on.

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Seeing that the direct approach wasn\'t going to work, Alexis actually managed to behave himself for the rest of the day. Probably rethinking his strategy, is what I thought, but so long as I didn\'t have to deal with an amorous daemon trying to tempt me into his pants I was happy. For the time being anyway.

Thinking that a little fresh air would clear both our heads I decided to take Alexis on a walk to show him the neighborhood. It was early September and the trees had already begun to change. Alexis acted like he hadn\'t had much contact with nature and he skipped along on the sidewalk in front of me, giggling like a little kid as he took in the foliage with all its multitude of vibrant colors. Delighted by his response, and momentarily forgetting my self imposed embargo on touch, I grabbed onto his hand and started to practically drag him from place to place as I pointed out various local landmarks and points of interest along the tree-lined lanes of our neighborhood. Until that day I\'d never really appreciated how nice the little neighborhood shops were, but as I showed them to Alexis I guess I sort of rediscovered them myself. Wow, that sounds really corny. It\'s still the truth though.

\"And what\'s that?\"

He had to ask about that, didn\'t he? I thought as he pointed to a stately looking two-story home that had been painted an obnoxious shade of purple and converted into a shop. I had been trying to avoid pointing it out to him, but I figured with such a loud paint job it had been unavoidable.

\"It\'s a bookstore.\"

\"A bookstore?\"

\"Yes, a bookstore.\"

\"Oh. Do they sell your books there?\"

\"Doesn\'t matter. I\'m not allowed in there anymore. Now come on, let\'s go.\"

\"Why?\"

\"Because it\'s getting late and I want to show you my favorite spot by the lake before we go home.\"

\"No. I meant why can\'t you go in the bookstore.\"

I think he knew that I didn\'t want to discuss it and was using it as his opportunity for revenge because I hadn\'t succumbed to his advances earlier, but then again that may have just been my imagination. Or maybe I was projecting onto Alexis what I would have done were our roles reversed? Yeah, sounds like something I would do.

\"Because the guy who runs the place has a stick up his perky little ass?\" Seemed like a good explanation to me, but I knew from the look on Alexis\' face that I wasn\'t going to get away with that answer. So I decided on the short version. \"And I kinda offered to replace it with something more pleasant.\"

\"How did that get you banned from a bookstore?\"

I had to laugh as I remembered the look on the guy\'s face. It had been hilarious. The rest of the incident hadn\'t been quite as funny however. \"Well, he didn\'t think my offer was very amusing. Shame really, he was kinda cute in a stuck-up, preppy sort of way. Anyway, some words were exchanged, books ended up flying, and I got banned from the bookstore. For life.\" Definitely not one of my proudest moments.

As I was telling the condensed version of my little tale Alexis had begun to laugh at me, and by the time I finished he was nearly doubled over. I didn\'t think it was that funny. That\'s when I decided I had been right before and this was his idea of revenge.

\"You\'re blushing.\"

\"Am not. I don\'t blush.\" That was my story and I\'m sticking to it.

\"My mistake. Sorry.\"

\"Yeah, I bet you are.\" I grabbed onto his hand and started dragging the still chuckling little minx behind me. \"Anyway, I\'m sorry too. It wasn\'t just me that got banned from the store. My books are banned for life too.\" Big mistake. Finishing the story this way only made him go from giggles into howls of laughter. I almost wished for the obedient little slave-daemon from before. Almost. At least then he wouldn\'t have been laughing at me. Although, truth be told, I had laughed like a madman at the time too. Not that I was going to let Alexis know that. He was having way too much fun at my expense already.

He continued to laugh even as I pulled him off the sidewalk and onto the path that lead through the woods and up to the lake behind the house. Even though I was beginning to see the humor in the event again I was still giving him the silent treatment as we walked along the path. You know, on principle. I was trying so hard to ignore him that I almost didn\'t notice when Alexis suddenly stopped walking, my continued momentum pulling our hands apart and alerting me to the change.

\"What\'s the matter?\" As I turned around I saw that Alexis had suddenly gone pale, or paler than usual at any rate, and that his eyes had become a little unfocused. He had been laughing joyfully only a moment before, but all traces of laughter were gone and he had a slightly frightened look in place of a smile.

\"Can\'t you feel it?\" He ask in a hushed voice. I wasn\'t sure what he meant, but I knew that whatever it was he was scared of it. When I walked up to him and put my arms around him I could feel that he\'d begun to tremble slightly so I held him close and stroked his hair, asking him again what was wrong.

As I waited for him to explain I started to realize that I could feel something. I wasn\'t sure what it was, or even how to explain what I felt, but I suddenly knew that something wasn\'t right. I also knew, somehow, that whatever it was that I was feeling wasn\'t an immediate threat to us. I\'m not sure how I knew, but I figured it had something to do with my new abilities and the changes I had gone through in the past few days. Under different circumstances I would have found my new senses fascinating, but with Alexis quivering in my arms it didn\'t really matter to me. I just wanted to know why he was suddenly so spooked and what I could do to help him calm down.

\"He must have been hunting here recently.\"

\"What?\" I ask, concentrating once again on the trembling form in my arms. \"Who was hunting?\"

\"Victor.\" The way he said that single word made things much clearer. I didn\'t feel like I needed to ask who Victor was, I could guess well enough from his reactions. Victor must have been the same man in black that I had meet a few nights earlier in the same woods we were currently standing in. Didn\'t have to be a genius to figure that one out.

\"Want me to take him out for you? I think my new abilities could help me track him down.\" I said, trying to sooth him a little. Lighten the mood a bit, even though I wasn\'t joking in the least. I knew he wasn\'t currently in the area, but I didn\'t care how long it would take. I\'m not much of a fighter, and I\'ve definitely never even come close to killing anyone before, but I was more than ready to end that bastard\'s life if it would help to ease Alexis\' fears. I\'d hated him at first sight and I knew, somehow I just knew, that I could do it. Gladly.

\"No.\" He didn\'t sound entirely certain, and I was ready to argue, when he added, \"He\'s not even up at this hour anyway. His minions would never let you get close enough to him.\"

\"Why wouldn\'t he be up at this hour. Is he a drunk or something.\" Then I thought about his words and ask, \"And what sort of guy has minions anyway? Who has minions these days? Honestly.\"

\"Not a drunk,\" he said from his place nestled against my chest. Although he still seemed rattled at least he had stopped shaking, and for that I was glad. I figured if I kept him talking he\'d calm down soon enough, so I was just saying whatever came into my head. Well, that and the fact that I really did wonder what sort of person actually had minions. \"a vampire.\"

\"A vampire?\" I knew I must have missed something while I was thinking about the minions. I had to have. A vampire? \"Like a blood sucking, sunlight phobic, turns into a bat and wears a black cape vampire? No way!\"

At this Alexis actually looked up at me with a slight smile on his lips. \"You\'ll believe in daemons. Are one yourself, for that matter. Yet you have a problem believing in vampires?\"

\"Well, if you look at it that way.\" First daemons and dragons, now vampires ... what\'s next? I was afraid to ask. So I didn\'t. One thing at a time.

In the light of the setting sun, while I held Alexis close and rubbed soothing circles across his back and he relaxed in my arms, I knew that even though we\'d only met a few days earlier I already cared more about him than I had anyone else before. Ever. I didn\'t care what this Victor was, I wouldn\'t let Alexis be afraid of him anymore. I\'d protect him, even if it was against a vampire. \"Hey, I\'m a daemon now too. You don\'t have anything to be afraid of anymore. I\'ll take care of you. I\'ll protect you, no matter what.\" When he turned his beautiful ruby eyes up to look at me I was stunned by the level of trust and affection I saw in them. I can\'t even describe how happy that made me feel. No one had ever looked at me like that before.

\"Tell me you believe me?\"

Alexis just mutely nodded his head. Then, standing up on tiptoe, he pressed his lips to mine in the gentlest of kisses. The satiny caress was over nearly as soon as it had begun, but it still felt like the sweetest of gestures. Better than any verbal answer he could have given.

Afterwards he took hold of my hand and started to pull me along towards home, much the way I had been with him earlier. \"Come on,\" he said sweetly, \"it\'s almost time for dinner.\"

\"Yeah,\" I would be glad to get out of the darkening woods and back into the brightness of the house, where hopefully our moods could lighten again too. \"Maybe I\'ll even make you my famous triple chocolate and cherry torte. If you\'re good.\"

He stopped, turned back towards me, and playfully said \"Oh, I\'ll be good. Promise.\" Then, with a wink, he turned back around and started pulling me along again.

At least his mood\'s lifted. I suddenly wasn\'t sure that was such a good thing.

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I did end up making the torte, and Alexis was good. Although, in reality, he seemed to be distracted throughout most of the meal and the movie that we watched afterwards. I held him close and stroked his hair, trying to offer what comfort I could because I was pretty sure of what was on his mind. He didn\'t seem to want to talk about it, so I didn\'t try to push the issue. I figured if he wanted to talk he would, and until then I would just be there. I was suddenly glad that I had read my neighbor\'s misdelivered copies of Cosmo. Thanks Ms. Johanson, seems like I did learn something. Besides, I\'ve never been all that good at talking things through. I always end up saying the wrong things. It seemed to work for both of us, all in all.

By the time we went up to bed I was more than ready to go. It had been a weird day and I wasn\'t feeling like myself. I\'m not used to being such an emotional person, and I\'m especially not the type to be the one offering comfort, so it had taken a lot out of me. I can only be the strong and responsible one for so long before I wimp out and go back to being a louse. I saw Alexis off at his room with a kiss to the forehead and then headed to my room, telling him that I\'d see him in the morning. I was really hoping we wouldn\'t have a repeat of that morning, because I wasn\'t sure how many wake-up calls like that I could resist.

I didn\'t expect to see Alexis for the rest of the night. I was wrong.

Sometime during the night I got up to get a drink. On my way back from the bathroom I noticed something strange on the floor by my bed. I don\'t have a cat or a dog, and I was pretty sure it wasn\'t a tortilla (or whatever the hell Alexis said dragons were called) but other than that I wasn\'t sure what it could be. I hadn\'t bothered to turn on any lights, so all I could make out was some sort of shapeless lump on the floor. I slowly walked around the bed, and the closer I got the more it came into focus, until I finally knew what the mysterious shape was.

\"What are you doing on the floor Lexi?\"

He had obviously dragged some of his blankets out of his room and snuck into mine sometime after I\'d fallen asleep, and now he was wrapped up in a make-shift cocoon at the foot of my bed. He looked pretty cute all bundled up, with just his nose and one eye peeking out, but I was relatively sure that he wasn\'t there just to look cute. Then again, I have been wrong before.

\"Lexi?\" I ask again, this time leaning down to gently shake him. He seemed to be in a deep sleep and I considered leaving him where he was, but it just didn\'t seem right. Besides, I was afraid that I\'d forget he was there and step on him sometime during the night. I decided to wake him up for his own safety.

On the third try I finally got him to wake up with a startled little squeak. I couldn\'t help but laugh when he tried to throw off his cocoon and only managed to get himself hopelessly entangled in the blankets. It made me think that maybe he really was there just to be cute.

\"You\'re awake!\"

\"Yeah, and you\'re on the floor.\"

\"I am not.\"

\"Oh?\" I ask. If I\'d realized before how hard it was for Alexis to wake up and how funny he was when he was all fuzzy and disoriented it would have been me playing with him that morning, not the other way around. Yeah, I know. I\'m evil. It doesn\'t change the fact that it was hilarious. \"If you weren\'t asleep on my bedroom floor then what exactly were you doing?\"

\"I was just resting my eyes.\"

\"Alright. Sure.\" Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer. Not that I was buying it. \"Okay, you were resting your eyes on my bedroom floor. That still doesn\'t explain why you were on the floor in the first place. So spill ... what\'s up?\"

\"I wanted to be near incase you needed me? Master.\" By the time he said this he\'d turned his head away, but I could still see his profile and I knew that tears had started to fall down his delicate cheeks. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs, but not matter how hard he tried to hide it I could still tell that he was hurting. And it broke my heart. Like I said before, I\'m helpless once the waterworks start up.

\"You could have just told me that you didn\'t want to sleep alone tonight.\"

\"You wouldn\'t have believed me and you would probably have gotten angry with me. Like last night. And this morning. You would have just told me to go to my room.\" I couldn\'t deny it, I probably would have assumed it was just him trying to push the issue again and I would have sent him to his room. Alone.

We sat there together on the floor in silence for a few moments, but when he looked at me with those big, tear filled eyes of his and just said one word. \"Please.\" That was it. I was lost. How was I supposed to deny him such a simple request? I am so weak. He pulls out the puppy dog eyes and I cave like a wet paper bag! So weak.

\"Just for tonight.\" I said as I scooped him up, blankets and all, and deposited him on my bed. I mean, seriously, what else was I supposed to do? I had no choice. Not if I wanted to sleep any time soon. If I\'d sent him back to his room all alone I would have pictured him crying pitifully for the rest of the night and I never would have been able to sleep. Then I would have been in a bad mood all day from guilt and lack of sleep. The way I saw it, letting him stay was the only option left to me.

He nodded and repeated after me, \"Just for tonight.\"

That just for tonight has turned into six months worth of nights. Like I said, so weak. So very weak.

TBC ...