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Van Helsing paced up and down the corridors of Boris Valerious' library. The bite wound on his chest throbbed. Though Carl had assured him he wouldn't transform until the full moon several days from now, he already found himself restless. His skin itched and pricked. He fantasized about digging his nails in and ripping it off. In anticipation his fingers curled, the nails elongated and sharpened. He forced his hands into the pockets of his duster. No, he still had time to find Dracula and his cure.
The musty smell of dust and old paper curled in his nostrils as he walked past the stacks of ancient manuscripts and cases of artifacts that the Valerious family had accumulated during their generations-long fight against the vampires. He came again to the map of Transylvania and stopped. Anna had told him how her father had spent hours in front of this map, trying to discover the location of Castle Dracula.
He wasn't sure how long he stood there, eyes tracing over the mountains and towns on the map, before his ears perked up. Someone was moving around upstairs. The creak of old hinges and the slap of sandals on the stone steps told him Carl had noticed he was no longer in bed. It didn't take long for the friar to find him; there were only so many places he would go in the middle of the night. The library door creaked open and Carl slipped inside. Van Helsing didn't look over when Carl set down his oil lamp on the table and sidled up next to him.
“Couldn't sleep?” Carl said.
“Obviously.”
“I too find it hard to sleep in an unfamiliar bed, though I had imagined with all the traveling you do, such things wouldn't bother you.”
Van Helsing frowned. “It has nothing to do with the bed, Carl.”
Carl looked at him then, eyes drawn to his chest, where Velkan had bitten him.
“Ah, I see.”
Van Helsing growled.
Carl swallowed and steered the conversation into safer waters. “Have you been able to learn anything promising from the map?”
“No, but it must be important. Anna's father was convinced this map held the secret to finding Dracula's Castle.”
“Yes, it's unfortunate he took whatever knowledge he gleaned to his grave.”
They stood in silence for a few minutes. Van Helsing's shoulders bunched. He was too aware of Carl to be comfortable. Since being bitten he'd found himself oddly irritated by Carl's presence, like a sliver under the skin. Begging to be picked at. Carl shifted next to him like he too felt the tension.
“Carl go back to bed, there is no need for both of us to lose sleep over this,” Van Helsing said.
“I really don't mind.”
Van Helsing snorted and turned, laying his hand on Carl's shoulder. He squeezed through the rough fabric of his robe. Carl's blue eyes widened, staring up at him. It was then the most delicious scent tickled his nostrils. Instinctively he leaned down and inhaled. It rushed into his lungs and lit his blood on fire. A thick combination of spice and flesh. He swallowed and found he could taste a hint of it at the back of his throat. He struck out with his tongue, searching for more.
“Van Helsing!”
Carl’s yelp pierced through the haze which had captured him. Van Helsing blinked and found he had Carl trapped between his body and the map, his head buried against the friar’s neck. He pulled back, but when Carl tried to wriggle free he held him in place. He frowned down at Carl, unsure why he felt with absolute certainty he had to keep the man close to him. Carl brought a hand up to wipe his neck.
“You licked me.”
“I did?”
“Yes! Why would you do that?”
Van Helsing took a deep breath and found the intoxicating perfume still hung in the air. He leaned closer to Carl again and sniffed. Carl trembled. A fresh burst of the drug-like spice encircled him.
“Carl why do you smell like that?”
Carl flushed up to his hair. “I’ll have you know it hasn’t been easy to find the time to bathe, what with the constant vampire and werewolf attacks.”
Van Helsing shook his head. “It’s not bad.”
Once again he buried his nose against Carl’s neck. Carl let out an alarmed squawk. Van Helsing used his lower body to pin Carl to the wall. What in God’s name am I doing? Perhaps this was why he’d wanted to avoid Carl, because deep inside he knew that once he put his hands on the friar he would be helpless to stop himself. He was enthralled by a deeper, more primitive instinct. One that once again urged him to slick up Carl’s throat with his tongue.
Salty skin shivered beneath the first lick. Carl cried out again but this time Van Helsing paid it no mind. He licked up to Carl’s jugular and found with the vein so close to the surface he could almost taste the blood. Carl’s very life force surged beneath the thin flesh, coppery and alluring. He opened his mouth and sucked on the skin hard. After a moment he pulled away and was pleased to see a deep purple bruise. It soothed the beast inside him to see his mark on Carl’s pale throat.
“I realize this may not matter to you but I would rather not become a werewolf if you please.” Carl’s voice trembled along with his body.
“I’m not going to bite you.”
Van Helsing shifted his weight to press his achingly stiff penis against Carl. Carl let out a little whimper and tried to break away in earnest.
“Carl relax, be easy.” He touched his forehead to Carl’s and murmured to him in a soft, soothing tone. Carl settled but a fretful crease remained between his brows.
“I know you haven’t been quite yourself recently, and given what’s happened it’s understandable.” Carl looked down and away. “Which is why I think when you come back to yourself you will regret such rash actions.”
Van Helsing gave a lupine grin. “What actions are you referring to Carl?”
“This.” He motioned between them, “Your reaction to me. It’s the wolf, Van Helsing. Nothing more.”
“You are a beautiful man Carl. Do you think I have never looked at you with lust before?”
Carl gaped at him his pale cheeks now scarlet.
Van Helsing pressed forward again until they were flush together. A triumphant smile on his face when he found Carl’s answering erection. He made very sure Carl was aware of the heavy, pulsing hardness between his own thighs. The combination of his bestial curse and Carl’s intoxicating scent had driven any thoughts of propriety and consequences far from his mind. However, he was not so far gone as to take Carl by force. Van Helsing lowered his mouth till his lips barely brushed Carl’s.
“Do you want me?”
Carl shuddered. Van Helsing kissed him – a rough claim, for the beast inside him was ready for more than teasing. Carl stiffened, his mouth closed tight, until Van Helsing tangled a hand in his hair and gave a sharp tug. Carl gasped and in that instant his tongue pushed in. He swept it over Carl’s and gave a masculine sound of approval when Carl returned the gesture. Carl tasted as good as he smelled, a feast laid out for Van Helsing to consume. He kissed, sucked, and bit Carl until they broke away breathless.
“You say the wolf inside me wants you Carl, but that doesn’t explain why you’re hard.”
“I never...” Carl protested. His pink tongue darted over his lower lip. “I mean I want...”
Van Helsing quirked a brow.
“I’ll have you know this is not a conversation I ever imagined the two of us having,” Carl snapped.
Van Helsing took pity on him. He had mastered the art of flexibility with regards to the Church’s morality, but he could understand how it was harder for Carl.
“It’s alright if you can’t say it. Just give me a sign.”
He waited in silence, careful to reveal nothing while Carl worked through his misgivings. After several anxious minutes Carl reached forward to thread their fingers together, his breath hitched when Van Helsing’s hand closed over his. Carl nuzzled against Van Helsing’s throat. Van Helsing panted. Carl’s shy encouragement had overridden any remaining reservations about moving forward. He took the rope cord that held Carl’s robe at the waist and tugged it loose. It whispered as it fell on the stone floor, but Carl jumped liked it had clattered.
“Easy,” Van Helsing said, trying not to laugh.
He’d known Carl had very little experience in the world of physical intimacy but he hadn’t expected him to be quite so skittish. He dropped to a crouch and grasped the hemline of Carl’s robe. He then rose slowly, taking the rough fabric with him. His eyes feasted as inch by inch Carl’s pale, muscular legs were revealed. Carl stopped him mid-thigh.
“Wait, I… are you sure you want to do this here? What if someone hears us?”
But Van Helsing was far too hungry to care if anyone came down and saw him ravishing Carl. He knelt down on the stone floor, his face inches from the indecent tent in Carl’s robe. He leaned forward and breathed deep from the epicenter of the incense that had woken this hunger. It made him dizzy, his heart raced in his chest. His bite wound burned like lava and yet he wanted more, he wanted to rub himself in it until he came from the scent of Carl’s arousal alone.
“Van Helsing,” Carl demurred weakly.
Van Helsing opened his mouth and ran his tongue along the fabric over Carl’s shaft. It was blunted, scratchy, and bitter but so close to Carl’s flesh that he moaned. Carl canted his hips and his grip on the robe loosened enough for Van Helsing to yank it up. Carl didn’t try to stop him, instead he leaned back, his fingers curled into tight fists. Van Helsing looked him over, the muscles in his thighs and belly were taut but there was no hiding his arousal which was flushed so deeply it looked painful. The moist head peeked out from his foreskin and Van Helsing transferred the robe over to one hand so he could touch Carl with the other, floored by Carl’s cry when his fingers met silken skin. The friar sunk his teeth into his palm to quite himself, his eyes squeezed shut.
“I want to hear you.” Van Helsing purred as he stroked his hand down Carl’s overheated cock.
“We’ll be found.”
“Carl, it’s the middle of the night, everyone is asleep. Besides this drafty old place has enough strange noises that no one will think twice about it.” To prove his point he tilted back his head and let out a low wolf-like howl.
They both held their breath but nothing stirred in the house except the flame in the lantern which crackled and smoked.
Satisfied Van Helsing leaned forward and ran his tongue over the tip of Carl’s penis. Carl gasped and pressed his hips forward for more. Van Helsing was happy to comply. He sucked Carl in further, wanting to devour him. The salty tang of flesh melted over his tongue, it rushed down his throat and awoke the beast in his blood. His teeth sharpened and he had to be careful lest he nick Carl and awaken a different kind of frenzy. His body radiated heat, the stones beneath his knees which has been like ice moments earlier, now felt like they had been warmed in the sun.
Carl gave in to the pleasure and Van Helsing cast his eyes upward so he could watch the fair friar pant and toss his head as sensation overwhelmed him.
Carl’s fingers tangled in his hair. “Oh please, don’t stop.”
The plea was unnecessary, Van Helsing had no intention of stopping. He took Carl as deep as he could. A few uncoordinated thrusts later Carl cried out his name as he orgasmed. Van Helsing swallowed and the seawater taste on his tongue sent a pulse to his own groin strong enough that he gripped himself savagely through his pants to keep from following Carl over the edge. Once Carl was spent Van Helsing stood up, pulling the smaller man against his chest. He ran his hand over Carl’s ridiculously tousled bowl cut and tried to give him a few moments to come down. He couldn’t keep his mouth still though and he nuzzled and licked Carl’s jaw and throat. The beast inside him was hungry and it roiled beneath his skin. When Carl looked up at him, his eyes went wide.
“Van Helsing, your eyes, they’re yellow.”
He could believe it, the wolf was dangerously close to the surface, threatening to burst out of him if he didn’t give it what it wanted.
“It’s alright, I’m alright.” He said but he was not sure anymore.
Instincts he’d never known he had now demanded he dominate Carl. It wasn’t just about taking him, it was about possessing him, marking Carl with his come and his teeth so everyone would know he belonged to Van Helsing. He shook his head. He’d never had thoughts like this before. He’d also never been so hard in his life. His prick throbbed heavy with blood and desire and he took Carl’s hand and pressed it between his legs.
“Oh my!” Carl whispered.
Carl explored his length and Van Helsing’s vision blurred with pleasure. He leaned in closer and growled, his face buried in Carl’s hair. After a few seconds he shoved a hand between them and tore his breeches open so Carl could touch him directly.
“You’re so hot.” Carl said “And wet.”
Van Helsing merely nodded. The bite had changed him there too. He was redder, slicker, more like a wolf. He couldn’t worry about that now, his entire being was focused on the feather light brush of Carl’s palm against his cock. He let go of Carl, afraid he would bruise him, and instead he dug his claws into the cloth of the map. He rocked his hips into Carl’s touch, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy his animal instincts.
“Carl, I need…” his voice trailed off in a growl.
“What?”
Van Helsing’s entire body shuddered. “I need to be inside you.”
Carl stiffened, his grip convulsing on Van Helsing’s cock.
“Carl please, I won’t bite you, I’m not that far gone, but I need to be in you.”
He pressed his mouth to Carl’s, a kiss to demonstrate his gentleness. Carl pulled away his blue eyes searching Van Helsing’s face. He must have found something to trust in the depth of Van Helsing’s eyes because at last he nodded, hiding his face in Van Helsing’s chest.
“But not here, take me upstairs.”
Van Helsing slid his arm down to Carl’s thighs and lifted him up. Carl gasped and threw his arms around Van Helsing’s neck. He pulled Carl tighter, his cock trapped between their bodies, and swept them both upstairs to his bedchamber. Once they were in his room Van Helsing laid Carl on the bed, immediately covering him with his own body.
“Take that robe off before I tear it off.”
Carl’s hastened to obey, wriggling out of the rough fabric and dropping it over the edge of the bed. Van Helsing sat up so his gaze could devour Carl’s body. He was lithe, strong, his whole body pink with embarrassment and arousal. His recently spent cock twitched as Van Helsing looked him over. He wanted to slow things down, to let his hands and then his mouth follow his eyes but already a steady stream of fluid leaked from his prick and the veins in his arms bulged as he fought to hold himself back.
“Turn over,” he said.
Carl did, but Van Helsing didn’t miss the apprehension which made his movements stiff and clumsy. Once again he covered Carl’s body with his own. He started by kissing the back of his neck and behind his ears, trailing his mouth down Carl’s spine until he reached the curve of his buttocks. Carl’s body thrummed and his hands fisted into the bedding. Van Helsing continued kissing down the globes of flesh until his mouth was poised over Carl’s cleft. He used his hands to pull his cheeks apart, revealing his entrance, tight and trembling. Delicious. He dipped down and ran his tongue around it and Carl screeched like a cat and tried to flip over.
“You can’t put your mouth there.”
Van Helsing held him down and put his mouth against Carl’s ear. “I absolutely can, and I think you want me to.”
Carl gasped.
With a firm hand on Carl’s back Van Helsing went back to his ministrations. He licked and probed until Carl shook and then at last he thrust his tongue inside. His saliva made Carl’s entrance shiny and slick and then he began to use his fingers. Carl went rigid at this new intrusion and he moved closer, kissing and whispering to him as he stretched him out.
He didn’t find Carl’s prostate until he had two fingers buried in him, but when he did Carl whimpered and thrust his hips helplessly back into Van Helsing’s touch. The reaction stripped the last of Van Helsing’s rapidly fraying control away and he withdrew his hand and coaxed Carl up onto his hands and knees.
“You ready?”
Carl could only nod.
Van Helsing lined himself up and pushed forward. He slid in easily and for the first time he found himself thankful for the changes to his body. As he pushed in to the hilt Carl groaned and collapsed onto his elbows his forehead pressed into the mattress as he keened, a noise between distress and pleasure.
Van Helsing strained to hold himself still when his body was screaming for him to pound his mate down into the mattress. His mate? The term was so strong and felt so right that it made Van Helsing shudder. His hands gripped Carl’s hips bruisingly hard.
“It’s okay, you can–”
The words were barely out of Carl’s mouth when Van Helsing drew back and thrust in again an animal sound of pleasure coming from deep in his chest. His mind dissolved into the relentless slide as he pumped his life into Carl with deep thrusts. Carl’s scent was all around him and Van Helsing knew with certainty he would be able to smell it for days after this. He draped himself over Carl’s back, his face buried in the hair at the back of his neck as he rutted into him. He licked and sucked and murmured filthy words against Carl’s skin.
Carl for his part seemed to have forgotten his earlier shyness and he moaned loudly with each thrust. One of Van Helsing’s hands went questing and found him hard once again. He circled Carl’s shaft and his own thrusts provided the friction.
All too soon his gut tightened and his orgasm built. There was an intense pressure at the base of his penis and he forced himself deeper into Carl. In a white hot blaze he began to spurt and swell inside of Carl.
“Oh God, Carl!”
It became harder and harder to move and within seconds the base of his cock had swollen enough to lock himself inside Carl as he continued to pulse over and over. Van Helsing floated on a cloud of pleasure until he heard Carl’s distressed pleas.
“Van Helsing it hurts, take it out.”
He pulled Carl tighter against him, trying to ease his discomfort. “I can’t, it seems I’ve gained another werewolf gift.” He soothed, “try to relax, it will go down in a bit.”
“You’ve got a copulatory tie?”
“You sound like a damned scientist Carl. It’s called a knot.”
Van Helsing lowered himself and Carl so they lay on their sides. Carl jerked his hips at the new angle of penetration and Van Helsing saw he was still erect. He wrapped his hand around Carl’s shaft and eased him with slow, gentle strokes until he came over his fingers.
Once they were both spent they lay together, the only sound their panted breaths. Van Helsing held Carl close, the wolf inside him soothed by having his knotted mate lying next to him. But now with his need satisfied he was left with the truth this night had revealed to him. Carl was more important to him than he had ever allowed himself to acknowledge and now he was unsure of how to convey those feelings.
He kissed along Carl’s shoulder. “Does it still hurt?”
“No, not anymore.”
“Good.”
Van Helsing cuddled Carl to him until the swelling had gone down enough to withdraw from the other man’s body. Then Carl slid away, picking up his robe off the floor and holding it on his lap. He refused to even look at Van Helsing when he spoke.
“I should head back to my room, the servants come rather early.”
“Carl, wait,” Van Helsing pleaded. “I don’t want this to be something you are ashamed of. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
“But where does this leave us Van Helsing? I’m afraid I don’t see how we can continue as before after having this intimacy.”
Van Helsing sat there is silence trying to find the words to let Carl know how much more he wanted than this one night. Carl however took his silence for something else.
“I see. Well, we are both adults. For this mission we can put this behind us until you are cured and we’ve vanquished Dracula. Once we are back at the Vatican you can request another assistant, there are many who would jump at the opportunity to work with you.”
Van Helsing couldn’t stop the growl that rumbled up from his chest. Carl did look at him then his face pale and drawn. Van Helsing’s wolf screamed at him to get his mate under him again, to make him understand that he was loved and protected. But letting the wolf rule him would only scare Carl. Carl stood but Van Helsing lunged forward and tugged Carl back against his chest, wrapping him in his arms. Carl let himself be held and Van Helsing did his best to smother the wolf. This had to come from him, or Carl would always have doubts. He wet his lips and spoke.
“I don’t want another assistant, not when I already have the most brilliant man in the Vatican by my side. I know you’re scared, I am too, but what happened between us wasn’t because of the wolf, it merely gave me the courage to do something I have long wanted.” Carl went very still in his arms. Van Helsing swallowed as he prepared to say the next part even though the beast fought him. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to continue this but as for me I– I don’t want to lose you. Carl you mean so much more to me than I ever let on, you’re my friend, my partner, my… my mate.” He put a finger under Carl’s chin and tipped his face up so he could kiss him. There was no hunger in it, only love.
When the kiss ended there were wet streaks on Carl’s cheeks.
“What if this is just wolf Van Helsing and we find the cure and all this goes away? I don’t think I could handle that.”
“Look at me, Carl.”
Carl’s watery blue eyes met his.
“I love you. Werewolf or human, it doesn’t matter. My love isn’t going to disappear.”
“I love you too,” Carl whispered. “I have for so long, but I always knew you were not for me.”
“Says who?”
“God, the Church, not to mention Anna who has done nothing but make eyes at you since we arrived. Take your pick.”
Van Helsing grinned. “None of us really know what God thinks, you are humble enough to realize that. And as for the Church and Anna, neither of them have any say about whom I choose to love.”
“But if we’re found out…”
“I don’t care. I’ve lived for too long without a past, without anything but my mission to destroy monsters in penance for my sins. I want something for me, something beautiful. I want you Carl.”
Carl leaned his forehead against Van Helsing’s chest. “God help me, I want you too.”
Van Helsing smiled and petted Carl’s hair. Carl kissed him then, deep enough to stir him.
“Will you stay?” Van Helsing asked
“But the chamber maids will tell Anna,” Carl protested.
“She will find out soon anyway, I don’t think I am going to be able to keep my hands off you. Not if this beast inside me has any say about it. Stay Carl, let me hold you while we sleep. It will comfort me to have you here.”
Carl blushed and nodded. Van Helsing pried the robe out of Carl’s hands and tugged him up so he could get them both settled comfortably under the thick covers. They both lay on their sides and Van Helsing held Carl close, the friar’s back pressed tight against his chest. Carl’s delicious scent surrounded him and he gave a pleased rumble, his body sated and ready for sleep. He stayed awake until Carl’s breathing deepened, letting him know he was asleep and then he too drifted off, at peace for the first time he could remember.
Fin