Undesirable

Of course, I did get back to Portland Protectorate. Only four days later, Wally and I disembarked a United Airlines 747 and walked down the accordion tunnel into the familiar terminal at PDX. It looked just as I'd left it three weeks ago, the same duty-free shop, the same ads, the same conveyer belts to assist the lazy and exhausted down the enormous concourse. The only difference was that this time, instead of feeling exhausted and stressed from days of work and being stuffed in like a sardine for however many hours, I was reasonably refreshed after a cushy flight in first class.

The vampires were right. Some aspects of being harem were awfully easy to like.

We walked past a clump of security officers with confidence, knowing that our brand new bloodtrust cards had all the required permissions. There weren't any vampires hiding in the stores we passed, ready to leap out and grab us. There was no chance that a wrong move or an overheard word would catch the attention of a curious snitch and send our lives spiraling out of control. After so long it was almost hard to believe I could actually relax. Every time I thought about it, I felt such a euphoric wave of relief I nearly whooped. This is how it feels to be normal again, I thought as I strode jauntily down the concourse. And howdy, did it feel great.

"George!" called a familiar voice as we passed the flight information displays. I turned and saw my parents sitting at a table outside the Seattle's Best coffee shop, just where they'd promised they'd be. They stood up as Wally and me approached, and we all exchanged hugs.

I held on to mom the longest, burying my face into her frizzy salt-and-pepper hair, then turned my head to kiss her cheek. "I'm so sorry, Mom. God, I didn't mean to worry you. I really didn't."

"Oh, you didn't worry us," she said, misunderstanding, perhaps deliberately. "Your flight wasn't that late. We'd just sat down."

I laughed and let her go, searching her for any sign that all my running and hiding had taken a toll on her, but if it had, she hid it well. She looked fine, no skinnier than usual, reasonably well rested, if dressed a bit on the ratty side. She had on her paint jeans and a faded T with what looked like a grease stain on the elbow. Her long, hippy hair was pulled back in a loose, sloppy ponytail.

Wait a second. My eyes narrowed. "You've already gotten started haven't you," I accused her. "Mom, I can clean my own apartment!" I cried out with indignation. Heavens only knew what forgotten embarrassment she'd found when she was poking about.

"I know you can, but so can I," She said lightly, then poked me in the chest with her finger. "Oh stop that. I didn't go snooping about in your drawers. I just cleaned your kitchen. Though to be honest, what I found there was frightening enough. There was a full pot of something on the stove that I couldn't identify. It had fur."

Wally winced and scratched one ear. "Yeah, those would be baked beans. Darlene came to fetch me earlier than I expected and…" He waved his hands. "Hey, at least I turned the stove off."

Mom laughed. "I figured as much. Anyway, you boys didn't leave yourself much time to clean out that apartment. You need our help." There was an uncomfortable pause when she realized that I probably hadn't been the one to set my timetable. "So… how's the new place, in Chicago?"

"Big," I said. "Well, bigger. It's in a ritzy neighborhood and it's got a nice view of the lake. There's a pool on the roof."

"It's not in Lord Jeffrey's building."

"No," I shook my head. Jeffrey's building did have apartments, but all were currently occupied or rented out and there was even a small waiting list. I couldn't imagine anyone volunteering to live in building owned by a vampire, but as has been pointed out repeatedly to me this trip, not everyone is me. Jeffrey had far too many principles to have any of his tenants involuntarily tossed out. Instead he'd found us (or rather I suspect one of his staff had) a move-in ready two bedroom only 6 blocks away. As far as I was concerned the situation was ideal: close enough to walk to 'work' but far enough that I could get away from it.

"It's really very nice," said Wally. "20th floor, modern building, super quiet."

"You should visit," I said. "We have a spare room."

"Are you sure you can't get an extra day or two here?" asked Dad, wistfully.

Wally and I looked at each other. Then I shook my head. "I need to go to work, Dad. And not just because Jeffrey says so. You know what I want to accomplish here. The sooner I start, the sooner it will get done. People's lives depend on this."

Dad shook his head, but with disbelief rather than ignorance. We'd talked at length on the subject over the phone, and I knew his qualms, but he voiced them anyway. "Do you honestly think you can do this? I mean bringing Vampires under human law. It sounds… impossible."

"Yes I do," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder. "I really do. Because we aren't so different, vampires and humans. That's the thing I learned when I was out there. Vampires don't just look human, they are human. They are just like us with a couple extra powers and a weird diet. They need the protection of law as much as we do."

I then hugged them each again. "I wish I could spend more time with you guys, but this is my big thing. This is what I really, really want. I'm happy."

And with that my parents looked about a hundred times happier. "Well," said my mom, all practical, "If this is the time we have, we better use it."


My parent's called it quits around 7 pm and then insisted on taking us to dinner. For the first time in my life, I tussled with my dad over the bill. I wasn't a poor college kid anymore, or an underpaid teacher either. I had a genuine billionaire backing my credit card and as long as I wasn't buying a sports team, he wouldn't even notice what I put on there. In return I'd promised him a miracle, but that was besides the point. Finally, brow beaten by logic, my old man handed over the black folder looking just a bit forlorn.

"I suppose you're a real grown up now," he reluctantly acknowledged. "Shouldn't worry about you anymore."

My mom looked so wistful, I half expected her to go into the whole "my baby's so big" thing and tell potty training anecdotes. This wasn't an idle threat, she'd done it before. But this time she caught a glimpse of my face and managed with effort to curb the impulse. I gave her a grateful look. Wally remained blissfully ignorant of the bullet he'd just dodged. "I am proud of you, you know," she said.

"I know."

Then we moved back to more pleasant, if banal, conversation for the trip back. When my parents dropped us off in the parking lot of our old apartment complex, I was feeling pretty good about things.

That ended the moment I opened the door of my apartment.

"Well, I love what you've done with the place," remarked Jeffrey. He was draped over the couch, bare feet propped on the low back, head nestled against the padded armrest. Somehow he managed to make the position seem natural and unforced.

"You mean how we've tossed everything on the floor?" I asked dryly. Wally just raised an eyebrow. Why is he here? we both silently asked each other.

"Yes, I mean exactly that," affirmed Jeffrey, pulling himself into sitting position. "It means you are coming home soon."

"We barely left!"

"And I already miss the two of you!" Oh, Jeffrey was in full flamboyant form.

"Is that why you are here?" Wally asked. His voice was polite but I noticed he'd dropped the sir. Jeffrey didn't give a shit if we used honorifics in private, but Wally felt honor bound to use them anyway. Unless he was irritated. Which clearly he was. I was too. We'd just used up all our social time on dinner. If we were to have a hope of getting this apartment cleared before the movers arrived we needed to be working, not chatting.

Jeffrey shrugged, seemingly oblivious to our irritation. "Well that and to placate the locals. Make connections, faux friends, vague promises no one expects anyone to keep. All that social nicety-nice. It's terribly boring but all part of the wonderful game we've concocted for ourselves. You'd think that we'd be more honest, considering we can't get away with lies, but you'd be surprised at how much bald faced fibbing is expected at these affairs. It's practically an art form. With any luck laws will utterly abolish the need for these buttsniffing sessions."

Then catching Wally's worried look, he immediately changed tones. "Oh don't worry. I can be quite politic when I want to. Portland may have lost you, but they'd still like to maintain an appearance of involvement, and I am using that for all it's worth. I've tested our idea of a constitution on several of them, and they seemed receptive, though perhaps not quite ready to jump publicly on it."

My stomach hardened with excitement and I considered ditching the packing to try to get a head start with the Portland community.

Jeffery read my mind with unconscious ease. "Oh no, no you don't. Packing is important. I need you securely in my Protectorate. No lingering doubts among the locals that I abducted you against your will and perhaps you'd be happier for another champion."

I opened my mouth, then shut it again. No we didn't want to reopen that can of crap. But that lead to another more pertinent question. Why the fuck was he here, chatting with us, rather than out schmoozing the locals?

"So are you just checking up on us? Or are you offering to help us move?" I asked, expecting him to take the excuse to leave.

But to my surprise he stood up, clapping his hands and grinning, like I'd offered him a spot on the team. "Why not? Superhuman strength and speed ought to be good for something, ought it not?"

Wally and I exchanged flabbergasted looks. Then Wally snorted and turned to go back to packing. I shrugged, grinning with bemusement. "Well, okay then. Sure!"

As something of a test to his sincerity, I set him to running crap down to the dumpster. It seemed well beneath his dignity, and Wally was moderately scandalized, but to our surprise he did the job without complaint. He took to lifting even the largest and heaviest objects and making the trip quickly. Too quickly, in fact and I had to warn him to slow it down or he'd freak out the rest of the tenants in the complex. He then put on a show of lugging things that was almost convincing. Even so, he soon caught up with us and had to wait. He hovered over us, arms crossed and ready with a wry comment, while Wally and I did much tougher job of choosing what part of our past to keep and what to chuck. Gradually the apartment emptied.

It was past midnight when I took a break from sorting books in my room and realized that I didn't hear any packing going on in the rest of the apartment. I felt a back-of-the-neck prickle of anxiety, sensing something was up. Tossing one last paperback into the donate box, I stood up and stepped out into the hall, scanning for where the others had gone. A soft muffled noise caught my attention and I honed in on Wally's room. The door was closed but I could hear soft talking and hushed laughs through it.

I opened the door, my mouth full of chastising words for the two of them. Something about conspiring without me, or nonsense to that effect. The words died unsaid as I spotted Wally lying on his bed, completely naked and visibly aroused. Jeffrey, half-dress leaned over him, eyes seductively half-lidded. Both turned to look at me as I stood, now awkwardly, in the threshold.

"Um," I said. "I'll – I'm going to take a walk." I turned around quickly before my face had time to fully flush.

I knew this was going to happen. This was part of the deal-- the price for involvement in vampire affairs. There would be times when Wally would be with Jeffrey. There would be times when I'd be with god knows who else. I knew it. I'd girded myself for it. And yet, god help me, it hurt to see Wally in another man's arms. All my own inadequacies seemed to explode in my mind.

I kicked a box out of the way as I quickly navigated my way though the living room, towards the front door. I was jealous. I hated that I was jealous, but was helpless to the emotion. It was unfair to everyone involved, and yet it was there. My chest was tight with it. How was I going to do this? How was I going to be able to emotionally survive what I was setting myself up for?

I reached for the knob and found a thin hand splayed against the door, holding it shut. I looked up into Jeffrey's eyes for just a second, acknowledging him, then I turned away with shame.

"Don't go," said Jeffrey.

"I'm not objecting," I said. "I know you gotta do what you gotta do. But don't ask me to watch. Or listen through the wall. I'll be back in 20 minutes."

"George –"

"I'm weak," I acknowledged. "I need time."

Jeffrey grabbed my shoulder and forced me to face him. His face was clearly pained. "George. This isn't going to work."

"I'm going to have to deal with it –"

"No." His voice resonated in my head. "Don't make me do this, George. Not so early in. I'm trying so hard to be what you want me to be, don't make me break my vows."

"I'm not making you do anything!" I shouted, wrenching my arm from his hand. It wasn't hard. He was barely touching me. "I don't know what you are talking about!"

"Is it going to be like this all the time?" he asked. For the first time I detected anger behind his concern. "If you can't handle your lover's duties, how can you possibly handle your own? Should we cut to the chase and call our cause a failure. No vampire will touch you sour. No vampire will listen to me without you. We'll never pass our constitution, if you live in dread of what needs to be done."

"Oh that's completely unfair, Jeffrey! You are going to give up because I feel awkward about my lover having sex with someone else? Christ, man, I'm only human."

"And I'm not," stated Jeffrey flatly.

It finally penetrated what he was asking for. A deep terror welled up. No. Not that. No.

"You don't have to be jealous, George," said Jeffrey softer. "There's no nobility in needless suffering. You know what I can do for you. It doesn't hurt."

"Conditioning." I'd have backed away if I weren't already up against the door. "You promised you wouldn't mess with my head without my permission."

"And I'm not." Jeffrey took a step back and raised his hands in surrender. "But you picked me for a reason, George, and handsome though I am, it wasn't to be decorative. I'm a tool. Ready and willing. Use me. It's not against your will if you give me permission to help you."

I shuddered. This was my mind. This was who I was. Though admittedly a part of me that I didn't particularly care for this part and would get rid of if I could. But could I? I didn't know! Perhaps I'd set the bar a bit too high for myself. Perhaps I should stop expecting to willpower away my flaws and accept the help that Jeffrey offered. Maybe for once I should be lazy.

Then again, was this me thinking this – or him making me think this…

I wavered with uncertainty.

"You've asked everyone to trust you, George," said Jeffrey softly. "It's time you did a little trusting yourself."

And then things snapped into clarity.

Jeffrey was right, it was all a matter of trust. I'd asked so much of him. It was time I gave something back. After all, we wouldn't even be having this conversation if he meant to brainwash me stupid. I closed my eyes. For a moment I felt as if I were dangling out over the brink of a precipice. Then I let go. "Okay."

A second passed. I didn't feel any different. I opened my eyes. "Okay," I repeated.

"It's done," said Jeffery. "For the moment. I'll have to repeat this for it to stick, but you should be free of jealousy."

"No headache?" I asked, surprised.

"It was a very small and superficial change," said Jeffery with a tight ironic smile. "But if you don't believe me, listen to this: I plan to go back into Wally's room and make unbelievably sweet love to him. The kind that will knock his socks from here to eternity. The kind he'll treasure for years."

"You are bragging."

"And you aren't threatened."

I blinked. I wasn't. For one thing, I didn't really believe Jeffrey. With an ego his size, he'd make sex that unbelievable good every time if he could. While the sex I'd had with him wasn't bad, it wasn't 'treasure forever' great either. But more than that, I just trusted that no matter how wonderful Jeffrey could make sex, Wally and I still had an emotional connection that Jeffrey couldn't compete with, even if he wanted to, which he didn't.

Vampires don't count. I finally understood the words.

Jeffrey grinned toothily. "Tell you what, since I don't count, why not have me not count for two." Jeffrey held out his hand in invitation.

It took just a second to catch on. "What, both of us? At the same time?" I gaped. "What is it with you and orgies?"

Jeffrey shrugged up a shoulder in nonchalance. "They are fun? And not to be taken too seriously. Which might just be the right tact to take with you after all." He straightened up and seemed to look inwardly. "I love to be proven not wrong."

"Sex fiend."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Then on a more serious note he said, "But if you prefer to have our encounters be one on one, I can respect that as well."

I laughed and shook my head. "You know, oh what the hey," I said, throwing my arms in the air. "Why not. Orgy it is." Wally was my lover after all, and Jeffrey was, if not the God of Sex that he pretended, still a guaranteed good time. Better than packing.

"Are the two of you done yet?" asked Wally, from the hall. He was still naked but had gone limp. His expression was comically peeved. "Because I'm just going to point out that it's massively unfair of you to rev me up and then leave me hanging. One of you better get back in my room soon."

"I agree, we shouldn't leave him hanging," said Jeffrey. "It's quite rude."

"I wasn't the one who revved him up," I pointed out, but I followed him back to Wally's.

I took a deep breath on the threshold, feeling one last twinge of something. Maybe the death of my prudery. I don't know. It was gone as soon as it appeared like the ghost of an emotion, and all that was left was Wally calling out, "'bout time!" and Jeffrey's grin.



The bed was too small for all of us, and the floor was too cluttered for any of us, but with a few elbow pokes and the occasional knee to the thigh, we managed to find a way to get us into position we all could enjoy. I was hard before I felt the warmth of Wally's breath and the heat of his mouth taking me in. Propped up against the wall, I watched his lips work the tip of my cock, rocking the first inch in and out before pausing to tongue the length. The aches of the day seemed to melt under the decadence of the act and I selfishly wanted it to go forever, just like that. I loved the look of Wally's lips, stretched around my girth as ever more of the length seemed to disappear. The precise moment that Jeffrey penetrated him was marked by his lips touching the base of my cock. Christ, he was talented at this.

I'll tell you, it was ironic that I was ever so jealous because seeing Wally getting reamed was fucking hot. Something about his vulnerability, his utter acceptance of being owned, front and back made sex with him even hotter. Wally was hardly objecting. He was so overwhelmed by sensation, that he had to pinch himself off to stop from coming. My own lust spiked as his eyes screwed shut and he drew back to let out a luxurious moan.

What the hell did I do to deserve such a hot gay man interested in my sorry hide? I'll never know. I don't deserve him, but he's mine and I'm not letting him go.
And Jeffrey – I lucked out with him too. So slim, so pretty for a dude. Not a girl but close enough I didn't fucking care. Watching him lean back, his eyes closed with pleasure, mouth parted as he thrust into Wally. Sweat glistened in the shallow valley between his pects. His nipples were dark and hard and his arms shuddered as he held himself back, drawing out each thrust, keeping it slow to prolong his pleasure and Wally's. It was impossible to believe that he was anything but human.

No one spoke, no one needed to. We'd long past the point of foreplay. We were locked together, giving and getting. Together we reached a happy plateau. Wally sucked me in time with Jeffrey's thrusts until, abruptly, I just couldn't take it anymore. From a pleasant high, my lust went through the roof. Every tiny bit of friction seemed to hit just right. Jeffrey's eyes opened to meet mine and a grin erupted on his face. It was the only clue I had that the one who'd given in first was not me or Wally, but Jeffrey. And then with one last thrust Wally and I came together. The pleasure was too great for me care that it had been obviously paced for Jeffrey's benefit. As I sagged back against the wall, cradling Wally's head, I noticed the predatory look in Jeffrey's eyes.

Jeffrey was on us. He bit me, then Wally, then back to me. Over and over as if he couldn't decide which he wanted more, or perhaps was simply enjoying the act of penetrating us. Maybe it was simple possessiveness, a need to shout "mine" to both us and the world. Each bite was painless -- a simple pressure that didn't interrupt the smooth, relaxing glow I felt. I watched with amusement as he worked his way down our bodies, from neck to wrist, groin to ankle.

Finally, he stopped, arching his slender back luxuriously. He then flopped down and pretended to sleep in a way that was both noisy and obviously fake. "I'm done for," he murmured into the mattress. "Bury me."

Me, too. I thought, yawning. I let my eyes close. Content… until Wally whacked gently me on the arm. "We've still got work to do, Geo, Jeffrey."

I pulled myself up and smiled at him. We sure did. Hoo boy. We sure did.


THE END

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A/N: My last notes are here: http://velvet-mace.livejournal.com/319717.html