Part Seven:
Love’s Labor’s Lost
“Aaargh!”
Her angry cry
ricocheted off the walls of the large hall and Darcia ducked to escape the
glass vase that was thrown at him. It shattered into a million tiny pieces
beside him and he suffered a cut on his cheek for his effort.
“You! You
let them get away!” She screamed again and reached for a much larger object.
Darcia’s eyes widened and then narrowed with irritation before making a dive
for her. He knocked the lamp stand away from her hands and cried out as he felt
her long fingernails claw into his already bleeding cheek. Hissing in pain, he
lifted a hand to give her two good slaps across her face before flinging her
away from him like a rag doll.
She hit the
wall with a sickening thud and slid to the floor slowly. Her long and now
unruly blonde locks covered her face as she lifted her hands to hide it from
view. She crouched in the corner like a baby being reprimanded while Darcia
loomed over her with a frown of impatience on his handsome features. His left
cheek was bloody and had three deep grooves and as he licked idly at the blood
that slipped into his lips, he gave a light snort and turned away.
“You
let them get away, my Lady,” he began coolly as he reached for a white cloth
upon a table and wiped his face quickly. “If you had only listened to my advice
to have them chained and kept in the lower section of the dungeon, they
wouldn’t have escaped.”
He only
received muffled sobs in response. Tossing the used cloth to the floor, he
walked up to her and stared at the huddled mass for a while. With a sigh, he
fell to his haunches and reached out to touch her.
“Leave me
alone!” she cried out as she slapped his hand away. “Don’t you dare touch me!”
Not fazed by
the rejection, he smiled coldly. “Then perhaps this news will cheer you up, my
Lady.”
She stopped
sniffling long enough to lift her head slowly. Her eyes looked red and puffy,
her mascara creating unsightly black smudges upon her cheek. Her once perfect
red lips were smeared as if she had been rubbing her lips angrily. “What news?”
she asked warily.
“It was in the
newspapers and local news on television this morning,” Darcia continued with a
wan smile. “Do you remember the eccentric businessman Quent Yaiden?”
Her eyes
widened and she shrank away with a cold hiss. “That fool. What about him?”
“Well, there
was some sort of intrusion into his property last night and according to the
police, he was hurt very badly. I hear he’s in the hospital now being treated
for severe head wounds. Once he’s out, he’ll be taken to prison.”
“As he very
well should be,” Jagara replied with a light snort. “But what has this got to
do with me?”
Darcia gave a
long suffering sigh. “Don’t you remember telling me something about Yaiden
being a lost member of the nobles?”
Jagara raised
a brow. “Yes, he is. His side of the family were rebels and decided to break
away from the main bloodline. But what has this…?”
Darcia placed
a finger against her lips to silence her. “Now think, my Lady. Quent has been
running his underground business for quite some time, correct?”
“Yes…”
“And many have
wondered just how and where he gets his power from, right?”
“Yes, but…”
“We did some
extensive research and discovered that he had two wolves in his employ, do you
remember?”
He could see
the slow light of understanding within her eyes and his smile widened. “The
wolves were not as strong and did not serve our purposes.”
“That’s true,”
she agreed as she sat up and wiped her eyes quickly. “So do you think…?”
“The police
found neither of them on the premises but one of my sources tells me that they
found two badly mutilated bodies in the house.”
Jagara’s heart
skipped a beat. There was now a wild look in her violet eyes. “Oh dear…don’t
tell me…they have…had him?”
“Hige told us
that two men and a woman had come by to get Kiba. Putting two and two together,
I realized that they must have taken him.” Darcia frowned in thought. “My
Lady…do you think there are two Book of Wolves?”
“Nonsense!”
the woman cried vehemently. “There’s only one copy and that’s in my
possession.”
“So what would
Quent want with Kiba?”
“How should I
know?!” she screamed in frustration as she rose to her feet and began to pace
the room frantically. “What if he’s taken Kiba already? If they couldn’t find
any of the wolves there, then…then….what has happened to him?!”
Darcia rose to
his feet and caught her arm as she walked by him again. Pulling her body flush
against his, he cradled her cheek and whispered thickly against her lips. “Do
you trust me, my Lady?”
Lost and
mesmerized by the beauty of his blue eyes, she could only nod weakly in
response. “Yes, yes, I do Darcia.”
“Then please
allow me to bring back the white wolf to you as a token of my appreciation. I
will make sure he is in your hands very soon. Will you trust me with that, my
Lady?”
She looked
skeptical for a moment, but as she felt his hand upon her left breast, she
moaned and gave herself up to his brand of magic. “Yes…yes, I trust you, my
Darcia.”
Their lips
finally met in a slow kiss but as she closed her eyes to relish his taste, his
blue depth remained open and cool with calculated victory.
Their
harsh breathing kept growing louder by the second and Kiba was beginning to
think that they should at least close the door if nothing else. He didn’t
exactly want to entertain the thought of having Hige or Toboe finding out about
this but Tsume’s fingers were still stretching him and Kiba could only sink his
teeth into his partner’s shoulder as an incredible surge of pleasure shot up
his spine. Tsume’s low growl of pain at the bite mingled with the wet sounds of
their erections rubbing against each other. A light sheen of sweat had broken
out on their heaving and well-toned bodies as they struggled not to give in to
the primal sounds that lay impatient in their throats.
But dear gods,
it was too hard not to want to cry out or say the words they so longed to.
Kiba’s trembling body upon his was too much to bear and Tsume retaliated by
burying his fingers even deeper within the warm and tight sheath. The
dark-haired man could barely think at this point and he arched wantonly as
something was stroked deep within him. His fingers dug deep grooves into
Tsume’s arms, mindless of the tiny drops of blood that remained afterwards. He
exploded with a soft cry – one he couldn’t control no matter how much he tried–
as thick spurts of his seed coated their stomachs.
Hige suddenly
gave an extraordinarily loud snore and Tsume hissed as Kiba slumped against him
in exhaustion.
Damn it! This
was not the way he had planned to take Kiba. His plans had involved throwing the
other man on the ground somewhere rather spacious – if the place was tight,
they would manage somehow – and ravish the clueless fool until they lost their
minds in endless pleasure. He eyed his throbbing organ, groaning in misery at
its unsatisfied state. Kiba’s hair was beginning to tickle his chin and as he
withdrew his fingers, he swallowed thickly as Kiba shifted against him again
with a low mumble.
“Hey…” he
began softly. How the hell was he going to tell Kiba that he too needed to
release the tension in his groin? He could just guide Kiba’s hand to it…but
then again, didn’t Kiba know what to do already? If Tsume didn’t know any
better, he would guess that the dark-haired man had never actually done this
before…at least not with another man.
Great. Just
great.
“Hey…hey,
Kiba…do you…?” The words died in his throat as he finally realized that Kiba
now felt a bit heavier against him. Tsume cocked his head to the side to take a
good look and all but cursed in frustration as he saw that Kiba was now fast asleep.
That’s right, the poor sap must have been through hell the past day or so and
it was only natural for him to get some much needed sleep.
Tsume stared
at the incredibly long lashes, wondering if Kiba had been teased about it when
he had been a child. His features looked even younger and more relaxed than
before. One would hardly believe that this was the same guy who could kill a
person when extremely provoked. Tsume found himself unable to stop his fingers
from tracing the sharp outline of Kiba’s nose or caressing the smooth curve of
his swollen lips. To think that he would have never had the chance to taste
them again and yet to have Kiba twice in one day…it was enough to make Tsume’s
head reel with thoughts that were anything but innocent.
However, he
knew he would have to keep his sinful thoughts to himself and allow Kiba to get
some rest. Shifting a little, he lay back against the pillows and reached for
the blanket to pull it over their bodies as carefully as possible. Settling
Kiba comfortably against him, making sure his bandaged shoulder and arm were
not strained, Tsume allowed his thoughts to wander towards the events of the
day before.
He was sure he
hadn’t killed Quent completely. He might have missed his vital organs when he
had stabbed the bastard. This in turn meant that if Quent survived, their lives
might still be in danger. And then there was that Jagara and Darcia to deal
with. He hadn’t caught Hige’s entire story but from what he had heard, Jagara
clearly needed Kiba for something. Unconsciously, his arm tightened around
Kiba’s sleeping form in possessiveness, a dark frown upon his handsome features
as he thought of what he could do. He would not be able to fight much with only
an arm and if he had to deal with Darcia again, Tsume wasn’t sure he’d be able
to hold up. Quent had been strong but that creepy Darcia had been a whole other
problem in itself. Just what kind of power had the guy displayed at the bar
anyway? It was as if he had only pointed a finger towards the bartender and it had
thrown the old man across the room. If he had to fight such strength, would he
prevail?
For how long
would he have Kiba to himself, Tsume wondered. His fears and trepidations grew
tenfold as the mid-morning sunlight filtered through the window and into the
bedroom. He closed his eyes and tried to talk himself out of his irrational
worries, but there was no doubt about it. Something lurked in the shadows
waiting for them…waiting to destroy them…and he had a feeling that for the
first time in his life, he might be powerless to stop it.
Darcia
took a sip from his coffee and crossed his long legs hidden beneath a
well-fitted pair of jeans. His black boot tapped the ground restlessly, his
dark blue gaze watching the passersby absently. He had done away with the
expensive shirts and suits that Jagara usually made him wear all the time. Now
dressed in this casual black sweater and jeans, he felt he could be more
himself. His long black hair had been tied back in a ponytail. He was still
forced to wear the patch over his left eye and knew that it would begin to
throb painfully whenever the wolves were near. It was a curse he had to live
with over the years and it was only Jagara that had managed to find a way to
stop him from going insane with the agony it wrought throughout his body each
time it happened.
So just when
had he sold his soul to Jagara? It would be ten years, five months and two days
exactly, since the fateful day he had laid eyes on the woman. It had been a
bitter winter morning and as usual, he had had to scrap around like a lowly dog
for a meal here or there. He was a fifteen year old kid with no place to sleep
or call home. He had wandered the streets, getting into fights and having to
deal with being made fun of because of his ‘weird’ eye. He hadn’t wished to be
born with it and could vaguely remember his mother trying to convince him of
him not being a freak. He had never known his father and maybe that was a good
thing for Darcia was sure he would have killed the bastard for abandoning his mother
when he was still a baby. Darcia couldn’t remember how his mother had died –
all he had known was that he had woken up one morning and had found her dead
body beside him with a knife stuck in her chest. There had been no forced entry
into their tiny apartment and the five year old had assumed that his mother had
killed herself out of desperation and heartbreak.
He had been
kicked out of the apartment a day later by the landlord with nothing to his
name. He had no relatives he could go to and so had made the lower sections of
the city his home until he had gotten into that damned fight with the boys from
the Eastside. He had taken to covering his eye with an old patch he had found
in a dumpster so the name-callings hadn’t been as much. However, the gang from
the Eastside seemed to have another agenda. Their leader – some scrawny kid who
had been older than Darcia by about two years – had hated the boy’s guts from
the day they had met. It seemed like it was his personal duty to make sure
Darcia suffered for existing.
The fight had
been messy, bloody and Darcia had almost lost his life. He could remember being
left for dead in that cold, bitter snow having lost count of how many times he
had been kicked, punched and even stabbed. He had held his own for the most
part, but just him against five bigger boys? It hadn’t seemed fair at all. He
had prayed for death to end his suffering. People had walked by and over him
hardly giving him a second glance after all, he was just another statistic in
this slummy town.
But then she
had stopped.
She with her
expensive black boots and long flowing golden hair.
She had
reached out to him with a smile.
He could
remember his eye – how his weird, freakish eye – had seemed to throb in
excitement at the sight of her.
Come with
me,
she had said with the voice of an angel. Come with me, my beautiful beast.
“Here’s your
bill, sir.” The waiter placed the ticket on the table and walked away with a
polite bow. Darcia reached for the small piece of paper and almost cried out as
a sharp searing pain seemed to shoot down his spine from the very nerves in his
eye. He slapped a hand over it and tried to even his harsh breathing. It had
never been this strong before – this ache…this heat that seemed to coil in
rapidly within his very soul.
He gripped the
edge of the table and lifted his head slowly, trying to see through his
shimmering eye at where or who the guilty party could be. It didn’t take long
for Kiba to stand out like a beacon in the midst of the others that walked
around him. For a moment, Darcia was sure he could see the rich white fur of
the beautiful creature and those golden eyes trained on him, but blinking
again, all he could see was Kiba standing in front of the bakery with his hands
in the pockets of his jacket.
Darcia watched,
unaware of how much tighter his grip was on the table, with abated breath. He
had thought he had seen all that was beautiful or exquisite since living with
Jagara but now…seeing Kiba in person, he could understand his mistress’s
obsession. Kiba oozed an aura of danger – lethal, deadly, beautiful danger – in
that casual stance of his. He could only see Kiba’s profile, but he was sure
that the small smile that was coming to his lips was for the smaller boy that
was running out of the store towards him. Darcia had seen the boy before and
could care less about him. All he could see…all he wanted…
“Kiba…” he
muttered thickly while licking suddenly dry lips slowly. “So you are the one
she wants. I can see why.”
The pain in
his eye had dulled to a throb and Darcia could control his breathing again.
Signing the ticket quickly, he reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet.
He hardly took his eyes off the two men now walking away from the bakery and
tossing a wad of bills (way too much than necessary), Darcia rose to his feet
and began to walk as quickly as he could after them.
“Argh!”
“Whoa! Watch
how you throw that thing,” Hige complained as he reached for his precious DVD
collections. “They said they’d be right back. They just went to get something
for us to eat.”
Tsume growled
and stalked back into the bedroom to pick up a t-shirt. Hige dropped the DVDs
he had gathered to go after the angry man. “Hey, listen…you know you can’t go
out like that. Your shoulder…”
“Is fine,”
Tsume finished tightly while cursing as maneuvering the simple t-shirt was
turning out to be a chore. “You could have just sent only Toboe.”
“Why?!” Hige
replied in disbelief. “You know he can’t just go out on his own now. Who knows
what might be out there waiting for him…”
“And Kiba
should be out as well?” Tsume retorted. He flung the shirt in frustration and
paced the room restlessly. “You shouldn’t have let him go!”
“Yeah, try
telling Kiba ‘no’,” Hige said with a snort. “He didn’t even wait for me to wake
up completely before leaving the place with Toboe. I couldn’t stop him! He
would have kicked my ass anyway.”
“That’s not
the point!”
How? How could
he make Hige see just what lay at stake here? How could he tell this fat fool
that it was not just the thought of allowing Kiba to go out on his own but the
dangers that faced him? He knew Kiba could hold his own in a fight but it still
didn’t stop Tsume from feeling that he was about to lose a battle here. There
was something or someone out there that was just waiting to destroy this farce of
a peaceful life they had at the moment.
“You’re
worried about Jagara and Darcia right?” Hige asked softly as he watched Tsume
sink to the bed. The brown-haired man scratched his head and smiled. “I
wouldn’t. Remember the only way they could track Kiba was with that jacket he
had been wearing in the beginning? But now they’re going to have a hard time
pinpointing him. Besides…these are only two people and…”
“You know
Darcia’s strength, don’t you?” Tsume asked quietly as he glanced at Hige
warily. “You know that he’s no ordinary person.”
Hige remained
silent and shuffled his feet. Tsume’s eyes narrowed.
“Is there
something you aren’t telling us, Hige?” he asked coolly.
The younger
man sighed and shrugged. “Look…I’ve lived in this city all my life, all right. I
grew up hearing about Darcia and his…” He waved his hand lightly. “…this kid
with a weird eye and to stay away from him. I’m sure that before he joined
Jagara, he wasn’t as strong as he is now. Maybe…”
“Jagara
trained him?”
“Highly
likely,” Hige agreed with a frown. “But I’m sure Kiba can hold his own…right?
He won’t be easily swayed…”
“You didn’t
see the look in his eyes,” Tsume interrupted quietly as he turned his head away
to stare out of the window. “Kiba might be a fighter, but he’s also a curious
bastard. He’ll want to know everything about who he really is. Even I want to
know who I am.”
“Tsume…”
“He won’t rest
until he finds out the truth,” Tsume finished with a frown. “That’s the kind of
guy Kiba is. And if it means going into the very mouth of danger, that fool
will do it without a second thought.”
Hige swallowed
tightly and turned away as well. A heavy silence fell in the room as both men
began to wonder just what could lay in store for them. Hige didn’t know Kiba
that well and had just met Toboe last night, but he found that he was already
concerned about these two men like they were his own flesh and blood. Perhaps
it was this whole ‘being a wolf’ thing that was working right now for the
thought of losing his two new friends was something he didn’t like at all.
Fuck.
“We’ll wait,”
he finally said with a small but tight smile. “We’ll wait until they come home.
The bakery isn’t that far and they should be back in half an hour at least. If
not…”
He left the
sentence unfinished but stealing another look at Tsume and catching the knowing
golden depths, they both knew that they’d have to go ‘hunting’ again.
And this time,
the outcome might be a little different from the night before.
Toboe
found himself genuinely enjoying Kiba’s company. It was fun to show off all the
city’s landmarks to Kiba who didn’t seem to know very much about his
whereabouts. They had bought the food for dinner but Kiba had wanted to walk
around a bit longer and Toboe had been more than happy to oblige.
He couldn’t
stop grinning as he held the two ice cream cones in his hands and walked
towards Kiba who was waiting for him on the park bench. It was turning out to
be a beautiful evening and the sun was just about to sink in the horizon. It
cast a lovely orange glow across the landscape and for a moment, one could
almost forget that they were in the relative slums of the city.
“Here you go,”
Toboe said as he gave Kiba his vanilla flavored cone. He took a lick of his
cherry flavored ice cream and sat down with a sigh of content. “Do you like
it?”
He felt his
cheeks flush as he watched Kiba’s tongue flicker out to taste the sweet
dessert. He still hadn’t forgotten just how that tongue had been used yesterday
in a much different way.
“Mmm, it’s
very good,” Kiba agreed with a smile. He licked his lips and then leaned closer
to have a taste of Toboe’s. “And that’s good as well.”
“Hey!” Toboe
tried to nudge Kiba for ‘stealing’ but still giggled happily. “Whoops…now look
what you made me do.”
Kiba eyed the
red stain on the young boy’s jacket. “I’m sorry,” he began in apology. “I
should go get some napkins to…”
“No, I’ll get
it, don’t worry!” Toboe said quickly as he rose to his feet. “It’s my fault
anyway for not holding it tightly enough. I’ll be right back, so don’t you go
anywhere without me!” He called out quickly as he began to run back to the ice
cream stand.
He could
hardly believe that just yesterday he had almost lost his life and now here he
was eating ice cream with Kiba. His footsteps slowed as the enormity of the
situation began to weigh on him. How could he afford to be happy when the man
who had looked after him all his life was probably dead? How could he be happy
after seeing how miserable his ‘sister’, Blue, had been last night?
“Blue…” he
whispered softly as he stopped with a sad smile on his young features. “If
only…”
“Trust you to
be around such a place, Toboe,” came the soft statement that him turning around
quickly.
His eyes
widened in genuine shock at the woman dressed in a white overcoat. Her hair and
face was hidden beneath a black scarf and dark sunglasses but Toboe would have
recognized her anywhere.
“Blu…Blu…Blue!”
he cried out in joy as he raced towards her with arms outstretched. He wasn’t
aware that the tears had begun to fall as he felt her strong arms around his body.
“You came,” he whispered thickly amongst his harsh sobs. “You came. Just like I
knew you would.”
She said
nothing but held his trembling body as tightly as possible. She would let him
grieve for now and when she felt he was ready enough, she would do her best to
talk him out of his madness he had descended into.
Kiba
eyed his fingers that were now sticky and wet with melted vanilla. He had never
had such a sweet dessert before…or maybe he had and just couldn’t remember it.
He lifted his fingers to his lips and began to suck on them slowly, hoping to
get as much of the stickiness out of them as possible. However, as he licked,
he felt his cheeks growing warm at the memory of feeling Tsume’s fingers deep
within him earlier in the day. It had felt incredibly good…a type of good that
was not as sweet as ice cream though but still delicious all the same. He
wondered if Tsume would want to touch him like that again or better yet if
Tsume would allow himself to be touched that intimately. Now that was something
Kiba realized he would like to find out.
And to think
he had fallen asleep in Tsume’s arms…that thought alone was enough to make him
want to…
“Ah, forgive
me for bothering you but I am looking for a pet of mine. You wouldn’t happen to
have seen a little wolf walk by now, have you?”
Kiba lifted
his head so quickly that he hardly felt the ice cream slip from his fingers and
to the ground. His feral instincts kicked in sharply. The scent…that scent that
he was now so familiar with reeled off this man standing before him in waves.
Kiba was sure he was going to faint from just how strong and potent it was and
he grit his teeth as he felt his entire body flush with heat in reaction to the
taller man’s presence.
He braced
himself in readiness for a fight but as he stared into an endless pool of blue,
he felt his breath catch in his throat as Darcia held out his hand to him.
“Forgive me
for not introducing myself, Kiba,” the taller man said with a warm smile. “My
name is Darcia and I would like to speak to you…alone.”
TBC…