[Fic] Irresistible - 4/10
Title: Irresistible
Pairing: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: NC-17
Genre: AU, vampire, smut, historical
Warnings: References to issues of consent (not in fic itself), fictional drug use
Summary: The streets of Zhou Mi's city are being contaminated with a new drug - Euphoria. Pure vampire blood, it causes a high unlike any other, but when the high fades, the nightmares begin. It is the spread of Euphoria that Zhou Mi fights, and in that fight he needs a partner to get him to places and people that only a vampire can.
***
Chapter One - Chapter Two - Chapter Three - Chapter Four - Chapter Five - Chapter Six - Chapter Seven - Chapter Eight - Chapter Nine - Chapter Ten - Epilogue
***
Extra warning for this chapter: Herein is a child put in harm's way with implications of being treated poorly in the past, though nothing is described.
***
The longer Kyuhyun waited, the more agitated he became. They’d talked was the problem. He’d told Zhou Mi he didn’t want to wait until the early morning, relegated to a fifteen minute bite and a bit of groping before Zhou Mi either left, or the rising of the sun made him want to sleep. After the ride they had taken together, the fact that Zhou Mi trusted him more made Kyuhyun assume they had an understanding. The clock had passed midnight, and it left him growling and stalking out to make sure that no cards had arrived letting him know that Zhou Mi would be late or wouldn’t be coming at all. They had an agreement, and he damn well meant to see that Zhou Mi kept it.
He had a whole speech planned out as it passed one, and then two. He half thought he should saddle a horse, ride to Zhou Mi’s home. The thought was intriguing of itself, since he’d never seen where Zhou Mi lived. Zhou Mi had only come to him. If Zhou Mi had many servants, they’d probably all be shocked at a vampire showing up on their doorstep in the middle of the night. Though with as much as Zhou Mi got around, it was equally possible that he wasn’t even there. The thought of Zhou Mi receiving help from another vampire made Kyuhyun’s teeth set on edge. It was perfectly possible, given how focused Zhou Mi was. But he knew that Zhou Mi was not being bitten by anyone else. That made some of the tightness in his back relax.
Zhou Mi couldn’t have sustained it, and Kyuhyun would’ve seen the marks. And the breath hissed out of him imagining another vampires teeth set at Zhou Mi’s neck.
Kyuhyun heard sounds just after the the hour hand passed three. He waited, tense, until he heard Zhou Mi’s voice speaking to the footman, and stood until Zhou Mi came into the room.
“You’re late. I was beginning to think you weren’t coming,” Kyuhyun said, skirting his desk. “You realize we have an agreement.”
“I do realize that,” Zhou Mi said, tossing his hat onto the side table. “I’m sorry I’m late and that I couldn’t send a note. I’ve just come-“
Kyuhyun stopped six feet away from Zhou Mi, his nose already offended. “You reek.”
“Yes. I’ve been at the sanitarium,” Zhou Mi said. “I rode straight here. We-”
Kyuhyun looked him up and down. His clothes were filthy dirty, and he smelled partly like a toilet, and partly like something Kyuhyun didn’t even want to imagine.
“Save your stories for now,” Kyuhyun said, pulling the discreet rope. A moment later, the footman appeared. “Draw a bath in my bathing room right away.”
“Of course, sir.”
“Come upstairs and let’s get you cleaned up,” Kyuhyun said. “I can’t bite you like this.”
And Kyuhyun led Zhou Mi up the stairs - he didn’t want to be in Zhou Mi’s wake.
Heated water was already being poured into the tub when they arrived.
“They’ll help you clean up, whatever you need,” Kyuhyun said. “Come to the bedroom when you’re through.”
“Yes. Thank you,” Zhou Mi said, a smile curling his lips. He looked tired, too, Kyuhyun thought. And instead of relaxing himself, he went back down the stairs to see if one of the maids could arrange some kind of food. Perhaps once the stench was out of Zhou Mi’s nostrils, he might find himself hungry. He doubted that the food the sanitarium had was much meant for humans fully awake and in possession of their faculties.
And that actually gave him a twinge as he jogged back up. Zhou Mi was doing his damnedest to nurse those people back to health. He wondered how they got their food, who made it, and how it was stored. And then he thought of the filth on Zhou Mi’s clothes and wondered if it was even clean by the time it made it to their mouths. And what staff there was to give it.
Kyuhyun mused on that, as the food was brought up on a tray and left, and until Zhou Mi padded into the room in slippers and Kyuhyun’s robe, with a towel around his shoulders. Kyuhyun gestured to the only chair in the room, and table drawn up near it.
“Sit. I had them bring up a bit of food in case you’re hungry.”
Kyuhyun wondered if he imagined the curling growl that emanated from Zhou Mi’s stomach.
“Did you have to roll around in the filth with them, too?”
“It’s not the easiest task to clean them, give them medicine,” Zhou Mi said, sinking onto the chair, his legs pale and long beneath the robe. “Sometimes there aren’t enough people to help, and I have to try. Perhaps- I bandaged it as well as I could but I don’t want to get your robe dirty.”
“Bandaged what?” Kyuhyun asked.
Zhou Mi had wrapped his arm in cloth, what looked like a clean rag, covering long scrapes that were still a bit bloody in places. Kyuhyun hissed through his teeth.
“You stay there, eat. I’ll get something better.”
Of course his plan had been to admire Zhou Mi as he fawned over the soup, and the fruit, and soft rolls, and the tea. Some kind of lovely gratitude for Kyuhyun’s care. Instead, he was scrounging in a dusty corner to find alcohol and in a cleaner one to find bandages. Having a human around that he was, in many ways, responsible for was turning out to be a tiresome chore. Zhou Mi was just lucky that all the other facets of their agreement made up for it.
And since Zhou Mi had little to no self-preservation - he’d left a sanitarium with wounds he hadn’t cared for? - It was up to Kyuhyun to see to it.
Though Zhou Mi, as he approached with his spoils, looked up with huge eyes. “Thank you for this. This is wonderful.”
It took him a moment to realize that Zhou Mi was speaking of the food, and not the supplies in his hands.
“I didn’t realize how hungry I was until started eating.”
“That’s good,” Kyuhyun said. “Now give me your arm.”
Zhou Mi hissed as he cleaned the wound with the alcohol, something Kyuhyun didn’t have use of for drinking, and at least having bathed the wound was clean in other ways. When he’d finished wrapping and securing the clean cloth, he rocked back onto his heels.
“You were at the sanitarium longer than usual. Why?”
Zhou Mi touched the hand Kyuhyun had braced on the table, patting it lightly as he thought. “Some of the nurses had quit, so it was in a terrible state when I arrived. We managed to find some help, but- They need so many more people than they have.”
“Yes, I imagine so. So you were cleaning.”
“Yes. That and… One of the patients died. He was only a teenager, but one of the sickest. He couldn’t rest, no matter how much medicine he was given. I was just down the hall when he died. Just one scream, and then-“
Zhou Mi’s eyes closed, and Kyuhyun didn’t know what to do or say. Every one of those patients, Zhou Mi was trying to save. That it was a young human had to hurt more.
“Tomorrow, we’ll go together,” Kyuhyun said. “We’ll choose a patient to treat. The vampire who’ll try for us will be ready. Tomorrow.”
“He was in so much pain.”
“But he’s not any more.”
Zhou Mi smiled, the expression sad and wrong on Zhou Mi’s face. “No. He’s not.”
Kyuhyun stood, his legs getting tired of crouching. But he did not move away, reaching instead to touch.
“It sounds as though you did enough work for the both of us,” Kyuhyun said, petting the back of Zhou Mi’s head.
“Yes,” Zhou Mi said, chuckling. “If you put a paper in front of my face, or asked me to write a letter, I would probably not make sense.”
“Then into bed. How lucky, you’re almost naked already.”
Zhou Mi smiled at the joke, and reached for the belt of the robe.
“Yes.”
Kyuhyun watched out of the corner of his eye, making sure there were no other wounds. A few places that looked like there would be bruises along his legs, but nothing that concerned him. Humans, there was nothing to do but allow them to heal. But he would maybe not take quite so much blood. It made him wish he’d sat in on Zhou Mi’s bath, gotten a better look. Zhou Mi had not complained, even if he’d had to have been in pain.
That made Kyuhyun feel like a bit of an ass. But he could make it up to Zhou Mi, that he knew as he climbed under the covers right beside Zhou Mi. With the blankets over him, he pressed to Zhou Mi’s side, careful of Zhou Mi’s arm.
With a finger, he stroked Zhou Mi’s neck. A tease. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want everything,” Zhou Mi said, and thrilled him.
“Tsk. Do you want me to bite you? Or please you?”
“I’m not that tired.”
That was good. He pressed a kiss to Zhou Mi’s chest, and felt the inhale as Kyuhyun maneuvered over him. To Zhou Mi’s stomach, and felt the shiver, the shifting. Zhou Mi knew what was coming. He was not kissing down Zhou Mi’s body for nothing.
“You afraid of me doing this again?”
Zhou Mi paused a moment. “Are you going to bite me again?”
He couldn’t even see the bite marks any more, when he rolled his eyes up at Zhou Mi.
“Not unless you want me to.”
But not that night. It wouldn’t make up for a terrible day. It would, perhaps, make him forget for a little while. If Zhou Mi was truly afraid of Kyuhyun’s teeth, he did not show it. And when Kyuhyun had stroked, kissed, Zhou Mi hard, Kyuhyun let his lips close tight around him.
It wasn’t as though he could feel Zhou Mi’s moans with his mouth, but he had to press down the struggle of Zhou Mi’s hips. Zhou Mi would get his turn, if Kyuhyun’s plan worked out. But right then he wanted control, wanted to let Zhou Mi feel everything. Every flicker of his tongue, tracing vein and flesh, the pull of his lips, and stroking fingers coddling him. He watched the rise and fall of Zhou Mi’s chest, the way his fingers gripped the sheets. Such a man. Though, he couldn’t doubt that, considering what he had his mouth around, and Zhou Mi’s desperation to keep him there and urge him faster.
But that told him it was time. Taking a deep breath, he moved, getting a whine of protest as he unstoppered the small pitcher of oil.
“Do you feel well enough to hold yourself up?” he asked, trying not to be distracted by the pleading hand Zhou Mi had put on his stomach.
“What? Yes?”
With his fingers slick, he nudged Zhou Mi over. And Kyuhyun laid back onto the bed.
“It’s your turn to do a little of the work. Come here.” Zhou Mi did, his face betraying that he’d started to catch on to what Kyuhyun was meaning. Once Zhou Mi had moved between his legs, hovering adorably unsure over him, Kyuhyun pulled Zhou Mi’s head down, letting their lips mesh as he spread the slick oil over Zhou Mi’s erection. It got him shivers, gasps, but Zhou Mi stayed hard for him. And when he was satisfied, he let his head fall back. “You can’t hurt me.”
“Kyuhyun.”
He repressed the shiver of Zhou Mi’s hands on his thighs, felt as Zhou Mi lifted his hips, drew in closer. And he could do nothing but smile as Zhou Mi pressed against and into him. The oil was enough, and his body adjusted. It made it more pleasurable for them both.
“Just like that,” Kyuhyun said, reveling in the feeling of a man above him. A man making his own decisions.
And Zhou Mi relaxed, slowly, as his hips began to move. More confident of what he was doing, his place. He hummed his approval as Zhou Mi stroked his chest, pressed kisses to his jaw.
“So this is what it looks like when you feed from me,“ Zhou Mi breathed. And Kyuhyun inhaled sharply as Zhou Mi nipped his neck just to the point of pain. It made him choke out a laugh far harder than any he could remember while having sex.
“Yes,” he said after he’d gotten control of himself, with Zhou Mi’s laughter spurring his own. “Right after I notice the pretty neck I think oh, breakfast in bed.”
That brought more laughter, Zhou Mi settling closer in a way that he was almost asking for a cuddle, which was odd considering the slow shifts his hips were taking.
But Zhou Mi tossed his hair out of his eyes.
“I know some men refer to certain…assets that they are attracted most to. Do you judge humans based on their necks?”
“Not…entirely. I certainly notice ones that might be nice to bite.” And he had to close his eyes and breathe as Zhou Mi’s hand squeezed his hip. “But I notice…earlobes. And fingers.”
Things that had attracted him to Zhou Mi. He couldn’t have known then the way that Zhou Mi could move, the way he sounded when Kyuhyun purred against his neck.
If he’d known those things, Zhou Mi would never have walked out of Kyuhyun’s house that first night without Kyuhyun knowing he would return. He’d have needed that guarantee, been frantic for it. He’d have guaranteed his help for a year if he’d had to, just to hear Zhou Mi’s gasping cry as Kyuhyun met his hips hard.
The warmth spreading through his body had nothing to do with Zhou Mi’s blood. He hadn’t even eaten. It was lust, Zhou Mi pressing him down, making him want in ways he’d forgotten. The way Zhou Mi panted Kyuhyun’s name against his neck, the unbearable tension. He was lost in his own moans as Zhou Mi took him past reason. Zhou Mi’s teeth fastened on his earlobe, Zhou Mi’s hand reaching between them. It had been years since he’d had so little control over his own-
His fingers dug into Zhou Mi’s back as he came, the pleasure of it ravaging him. He’d been planning to take care of himself after, let Zhou Mi have his fun. Instead there he was with his thighs locked around Zhou Mi’s body and shuddering. And with Zhou Mi making sounds into his neck, half chuckle half moan. All he could do was hold on as Zhou Mi’s breathing, body, quickened, until it sounded like Zhou Mi was nearly in pain. Though Kyuhyun had recovered enough to enjoy the unique sounds, the feelings, of a man succumbing to pleasure.
“Yes,” he sighed, stroking Zhou Mi’s back.
And he did everything he could to prolong it, squeezing Zhou Mi tight and eliciting moans that made his hair stand on end. They were the kind of sounds on Zhou Mi’s voice, ragged, that would have aroused a man long dead. But if that happened, as tired as Zhou Mi had been, he really would be taking care of himself.
Zhou Mi collected himself, just barely, arms shaking as he panted like a dog on his hand and knees.
“You need to eat,” Zhou Mi said suddenly, as though that thought had escaped him as they’d rutted. Yes, it had escaped him as well for part of it.
“Lie down beside me,” Kyuhyun said, his voice rough.
But he half caught Zhou Mi, supporting him as they rolled. Their legs tangled, and Zhou Mi grasped at his side as Kyuhyun pressed wet kisses down the side of his face. He felt Zhou Mi convulsively swallow, heard his name pass Zhou Mi’s lips in almost a whisper, just before he bit. The most soothing taste, the richness of it, punctuated by Zhou Mi’s hand stroking the back of his head in convulsive squeezes. Almost like a cat kneading his owner’s thigh while being petted.
It was regret that had him pulling away, and Zhou Mi’s eyes were confused as Kyuhyun met them.
“You are tired, and healing, and it was trying day,” Kyuhyun said. “There will be more tomorrow.”
“But you’re fine?”
“I am sated. I won’t seek out another human for a snack in the meantime.”
Zhou Mi chuckled, his eyes uneven as he smiled. He looked half asleep already. Kyuhyun shook his head.
“You are gutted. You rode your horse here? Then you should stay.”
“I would be in no danger. I wouldn’t fall down the stairs this time.”
“No,” Kyuhyun retorted. “But go. You could slide off your horse and break a limb on the way home if you’d rather.”
But though he pushed Zhou Mi’s shoulder, he didn’t let go.
“You don’t know where I live,” Zhou Mi murmured, his voice a little loopy as evidenced by his words.
“I wouldn’t need to,” Kyuhyun said.
“One day, you should.”
Should what, he wondered. Find out where Zhou Mi lived, or see it perhaps. It was an idea, even as Zhou Mi’s presence made his back itch. It was close enough to dawn that he was tired, and he knew there was no more reason to talk.
“Go to sleep,” he said, and patted the side of Zhou Mi’s head.
“You said once that you were always cold.”
“In some way or another,” Kyuhyun agreed. After sex and feeding was probably when he felt warmest, with the bed still warm from body heat, and with his body content. By the time he woke, it was cold again. He almost never had reason to let humans stay. But Zhou Mi had shown the last time that he slept calmly, and maybe it had been his imagination but it had seemed that he had woke warmer. Or perhaps that was just because he had overindulged.
“Move back against me, then,” Zhou Mi said. “Since you say I need to stay.”
Zhou Mi’s hand brushed his arm, and Kyuhyun considered it.
The thing was, he couldn’t find a reason to disagree. He liked being warm, something he craved in fact.
He nearly made a joke, questioned if Zhou Mi always liked to cuddle after sex, questioning him. But it wouldn’t have gotten him what he wanted. A stony silence perhaps, and a man turned from him. That was the selfish part talking. Maybe he would have jested if he knew Zhou Mi would take it well, or if the thrall worked. Though it seemed cruel when Zhou Mi was offering him a kindness. Even he could see that.
But Zhou Mi’s skin was warm against his back, and he nearly purred. A warm arm slid over his side, thighs arranged against his. Fit together like two spoons, the warmer curled around the cooler one. He wanted to ask Zhou Mi again if he had been pleased. It wasn’t fair that he was being shown what he wanted. He could not keep Zhou Mi drained, warm, and in his bed indefinitely. Nor any human, come to that.
Kyuhyun could feel the sun rising, as Zhou Mi’s even breath, deeply asleep, stirred the hairs at the back of his neck. And Kyuhyun’s consciousness wobbled.
***
Kyuhyun had been true to his word. When Zhou Mi had woken in early afternoon, he’d dressed in his previously-filthy but thankfully clean clothes and rode home to wash and dress for another night of labor. It had been hard pulling himself from the warm blankets, especially with Kyuhyun cuddled up beside him. But that had been something that made him grin, the way Kyuhyun’s face had been a bit out of shape from the hand he had under it. He’d put the covers back carefully so that Kyuhyun wouldn’t get cold. He’d wake alone, but no human slept as long as a vampire.
Kyuhyun was dressed and ready to leave with him when he arrived, half an hour after full dark. Zhou Mi had eaten, and Kyuhyun rode beside him in comfortable silence.
The work was hard. In a dilapidated section of house that held the sanitarium, far from smells or anything to disrupt, they cleared old furniture and supplies out of an empty room. It was one with less plaster falling from the ceilings and walls from a roof leak who knew how many years before. But they were both covered in dust, and by the time it was mopped, Zhou Mi felt as though he had cleaned a whole house.
They chose the youngest patient, the teen they had seen on Kyuhyun’s first visit. He’d been bathed, wrapped in blankets. Kyuhyun’s thrall had been enough to calm him as his bed was wheeled down the hallway. Whatever notes Kyuhyun had sent before Zhou Mi arrived had worked, because a young vampire was let in. Young, in how long he had been a vampire, not in physical age. He looked about their age, but no names were exchanged. Kyuhyun leaned beside Zhou Mi, near the door. They watched as the vampire calmed the boy, crazed from the Euphoria, and ate. It made him glad that Kyuhyun was there, to step in if the vampire took too much.
By the time the vampire was done, the boy was asleep.
“Is that a good sign?” Zhou Mi asked.
“It could be,” Kyuhyun murmured.
The talk was technical and focused, as Dr. Lee was brought in to see the boy. Both he and Kyuhyun had questions for the vampire about the quality of the boy’s blood. But the one thing Zhou Mi took away was that the vampire had been able to taste a taint in the boy. And that was promising - because if the taint could be removed, then there was some hope of helping the others.
“Would you be willing to feed from him again?” Kyuhyun asked. “Tomorrow, ideally. And as many days as it takes. My friend here can compensate you with money.”
The vampire glanced at Zhou Mi, and looked back to Kyuhyun as though Zhou Mi had no say, no ability to speak for himself.
“I will. The blood is tainted, but good. I will accept your compensation.”
Zhou Mi had nearly sagged back against the wall in relief. They could at least try.
And when he’d quizzed Kyuhyun on him offering money before even asking him, Kyuhyun had laughed. “I knew you would offer him what he required, which isn’t much since he’s getting the blood. Besides, you still have the money left that you didn’t pay me.”
There had been no way to argue against that.
They’d done no other work that night, only Kyuhyun feeding from him in a deserted kitchen corner. The first time they’d done so standing, and the first night Kyuhyun hadn’t touched him.
“Go home, sleep,” Kyuhyun told, him, turning. “We’ll continue tomorrow. Twice.”
Zhou Mi had gone out, shaking his head and knowing that Kyuhyun would soon be bathing, relaxing. He half wished Kyuhyun had asked him to stay.
***
The next night was different. Zhou Mi had only just gotten his horse into a stall, turned the corner to approach the servant’s entrance.
A man stepped in front of him, stopping him short.
Adrenaline had his muscles tensing, body poised to defend himself, when he realized who it was. Changmin, who was looking at him with amusement.
“Good evening.”
“Good evening,” Zhou Mi said carefully. “You’ve seen Kyuhyun?”
“I have. I brought him information about your little quest. How old are you?”
The change in topic surprised him. “Old enough. Why?”
“Kyuhyun could be twice, three times your age, and you wouldn’t know. You need to break the agreement with him.”
Again, Zhou Mi was startled. Changmin had taken a step forward, emphasizing his demand, and it set Zhou Mi’s teeth on edge.
“You are his friend, but I see no reason for you to make such a request of me. What are you afraid of? I’m not afraid. Kyuhyun is not.
“A month is a long time for two people to be entangled,” Changmin suggested, his tone delicate, as though he’d realized he’d come on too strong. “What if you were to fall in love with him?”
“This isn’t a bargain of emotion,” Zhou Mi retorted. “He gets to feed, and sate himself however he wants. In return, he helps me help those affected by the Euphoria. That is all.”
“Were you fond of taking risks as a child? Did you stick your hand in the fire after your mother told you it was hot?”
Zhou Mi laughed. “No. If anything, I was cautious.”
“What if he wanted to extend your bargain?”
“He said that doesn’t happen.”
Actually, Kyuhyun had been vehement about it. Thirty days, no more.
“I suppose it doesn’t, usually. But any guarantees he made you, disregard. Start to think of your own wellbeing, your own future. If you want to help those humans, then you need to be whole. Find another vampire, one who will bargain without blood.”
“Are you saying that Kyuhyun will hurt me?” Zhou Mi asked, brows raising. “Or do you bear some sort of prejudice against humans who are not weak in thrall to you? You cannot cajole me, or drive me to anger, so I am a danger?”
“To Kyuhyun. I saw him kissing you when I arrived the other day.”
“What damage could I do him? It was only a kiss. I’ve seen worse in the gambling houses. And you make no sense. One moment you threaten as though I’m in danger, and the next as though Kyuhyun is.”
He was done with the conversation. What reasons Changmin had for warning him off, he didn’t know. But he wasn’t going to listen to a moment more. He needed Kyuhyun, and Changmin knew that. Perhaps there was jealousy there, in Changmin, but it didn’t feel like it. It was not driven by feelings, but reason. But he rejected Changmin’s reasons, because he had no reason not to disbelieve what Kyuhyun had told him.
Changmin grabbed his arm before he could walk more than a couple of steps. “Do you think that being seen in the company of a vampire that many nights in a row would make you safe? He asked me to bring him the location of a vampire den. It isn’t safe there, not for him. Not for you.”
Zhou Mi stared down at Changmin’s hand, and then met his eyes. It was not bravado - he felt only that he could defend himself if necessary. In fact, there was a certain amount of fear in it. But he needed to know who his enemies were.
“Will the danger come from you?”
“No,” Changmin said. “I don’t harm humans. Not with my fists, and not with my blood. But you must break the contract.”
“I can’t.”
“You won’t.”
“The danger to me is worth it, if I am able to help people.” And Zhou Mi had his best point yet to make. “And I assume that Kyuhyun must have known of any such dangers you hint at, before he offered me this deal. Perhaps you should speak to him.”
“I have. I hoped that you might have more sense. But apparently I was wrong. I do more than hint. You’d do well to heed me.”
“All it is is imaginary unless you tell me what you mean,” Zhou Mi shot back.
Changmin stepped to the corner, his hat in his hand. “You’ve never been afraid of what you can’t see in the dark?”
It was meant to be ominous, as Changmin left him there, but he very much thought Changmin underestimated him. Zhou Mi didn’t suppose many humans would agree to a month at a vampire’s whim, purely for- It hadn’t be entirely altruistic, no. He’d had a lot of reasons. But he suspected not many humans would anyway.
He was announced, let into the library where Kyuhyun was.
“News from the sanitarium?” Kyuhyun asked in lieu of greeting.
“The doctor said the boy is some improved, but still not in control of himself. We need more vampires, if he is improving.”
“The list of things we need is long.” Kyuhyun stood, stepping up to Zhou Mi. “Changmin was here earlier.”
“Yes, I know,” Zhou Mi said. “I saw him as I arrived.”
Kyuhyun’s eyebrows rose. “He was gone from me at least half an hour.”
“I suspect he wanted to have words with me. Does he urge you to break our agreement?”
“Every time he takes a breath when we’re alone,” Kyuhyun jested. “Why? What did he say?”
“I assume whatever he’s told you. It’s a danger to us, to me.” But when Kyuhyun’s face went dark, Zhou Mi reached for his shoulders. “He worries for you, is why he said anything I think. You shouldn’t be concerned.”
“I am concerned. A vampire meddling with another’s…meal…is highly taboo. I don’t like him threatening you. And I will tell him that. The things he fears- That is why we agree to a month. Not a year. I won’t have you worrying needlessly. It makes the blood taste bad.”
Zhou Mi had to bite his lip to try to keep from smiling but it didn’t truly work. “Despite his objection to my presence, at least he’s still helping? He said he’d given you information of a vampire den.”
“He did. But before you suggest we go tonight, we can’t. Tomorrow, though. And there is preparation to be done.”
“All right. Can we find more vampires tonight?”
“Perhaps.” Kyuhyun reached out his hands, first sliding them over Zhou Mi’s hips and then poking them down into the cloth. “How deep are your pockets?”
“The organization can provide compensation,” Zhou Mi assured him. But Kyuhyun’s hands weren’t just there to prove a point. They had all night, and it seemed Kyuhyun was hungry.
***
Nothing Kyuhyun would say was changing Zhou Mi’s mind about going to the vampire den. He’d said it was unsafe, that it was better if Kyuhyun went first, alone, and tried to establish himself. Then, if he felt it was a good idea, Zhou Mi could accompany him. He’d been to vampire dens years before, and it wasn’t uncommon for a vampire to show up with his latest human conquest. It was a place for vampires to relax, trade news of which towns were unfriendly or if any vampires were causing trouble. They were topics relevant to the life of a vampire. But dens also served as a meal-finder of sorts. Humans that were paid to be there - however they were paid to be there - to be of service of the vampires looking to bite, or ones who were bored. He’d hinted at all those things to Zhou Mi, insinuating that it was dangerous. It wasn’t wholly unheard of for fights to break out, for a vampire to try and steal a human. With the thrall, it could be possible. Kyuhyun knew Changmin’s honor, and that was why he trusted him, but he wasn’t so certain of every vampire in the city. Some vampire dens were calmer than others, and the one Changmin had found was not of the highest quality. In other words, better to find word of Euphoria there, or so they thought.
“I could have gone alone before you arrived,” Kyuhyun argued. “You’d never find it on your own. You have two weeks left to feed me, and I won’t have you getting hurt.”
“You said that there were precautions to take so that no one would get hurt.”
“You realize precautions don’t mean a guarantee? I wouldn’t take up your cause crying over your grave.”
Zhou Mi smiled at the table he was using as a desk before looking up at Kyuhyun again. “You assume I’d have no successors? I’m not acting alone. This endeavor isn’t one entered into lightly or one I assumed would have no repercussions.”
“Then you’re telling me that the risk is acceptable.”
“If we’re able to get new information, of course. We don’t know for sure what the outcome will be, but it’s a possibility. And those chances have to be seized, because-“
“More bad things might happen, and the longer you wait the more bad things might happen, et cetera. Yes, I know.”
Though the way Zhou Mi was looking at him, his eyebrows raised with such an air of expectation, he thought that Zhou Mi understood and knew he did all along as well.
“You brought the clothes I asked?”
“I did,” Zhou Mi said.
Kyuhyun could tell he was close to edging out of his chair to get them, as soon as Kyuhyun gave the go-ahead. But he thought it was cute that Zhou Mi was trying not to be too eager, to force Kyuhyun’s hand maybe, or try to hide just how eager he was. As though that were possible.
“Get changed, then. And we’ll go together,” Kyuhyun said.
And Zhou Mi smiled at him, leaving, only to return dressed as though he worked in Kyuhyun’s stables. And it made Kyuhyun grin as he walked in to see Zhou Mi like that.
“How is it?” Zhou Mi asked, striking a pose.
“Close.”
Kyuhyun circled him, taking note of the too-long trousers, the scuffed boots. The shirt was clean, though worn. And Zhou Mi was blinking at him as Kyuhyun stepped forward and raised his hands. It took three good rubs, and half a screech, but Zhou Mi’s hair was thoroughly disordered, roughly falling over his forehead.
“Perfect.”
***
Zhou Mi felt strangely naked without his neckcloth, his jacket, his glasses, his earrings. He felt a bit blind, dependent, though perhaps that would make Kyuhyun happy considering how ferociously he was preparing Zhou Mi.
“You must behave as though you’re in thrall when I am touching you. You’ve seen humans when they are with vampires?”
“Yes.”
“It happens almost instantly,” Kyuhyun said, grabbing onto him as though to demonstrate. “You must pay attention to me immediately or the vampires will be suspicious. When you look at me, think of something you are very fond of. Soft.”
“Like a loyal pet,” Zhou Mi quipped, and Kyuhyun laughed at him.
“Yes, a bit.”
Zhou Mi stared down at where Kyuhyun was holding his arm. “It makes me glad I don’t feel that when you touch me. I would not feel equal to you, induced like that.”
“Vampires are not seeking equals, they’re looking to feed. Show me what you would do if I touched you in front of them.”
Kyuhyun sought no equal, and yet Zhou Mi was there. Kyuhyun trusted him to follow his orders, go with him to a place that Kyuhyun admitted could be dangerous. Kyuhyun spoke to him as though he were a grown man, without needing vampire tricks to win his compliance. Zhou Mi considered the thought of a month at Kyuhyun’s side, not truly in control of himself, and could not consider it. It would have been like trading part of himself away. At least as he was, he had defenses. It also allowed him to trust Kyuhyun as well - and know that Kyuhyun was telling him the truth, to keep him safe.
Zhou Mi deliberately softened his face. Think of something he was fond of, Kyuhyun had said. He thought of his horse, his friends. He thought of Kyuhyun bandaging his arm, pressing food to his lips. If Kyuhyun spoke of fondness-
Kyuhyun made a thoughtful sound, looking away almost as soon as Zhou Mi met his eyes. “That should do.”
***
Zhou Mi wasn’t sure what he was expecting. Just the words “vampire den” had inspired him to think up all sorts of different scenarios. In one, he imagined a bunch of vampires circled around naked humans just feasting away. Kyuhyun had laughed at him when he’d mentioned it. It happened, though the one they were going to was a bit different to the ones Kyuhyun had previously described. Sometimes he imagined them as little different than the gambling hells.
The main room was not large, filled with settees and banquettes meant, Zhou Mi assumed, for feeding and conversation. Zhou Mi kept his head close to Kyuhyun’s shoulder, keeping his glances lazy since Kyuhyun’s hand was on his wrist.
“I seek a place to rest,” Kyuhyun said. “And feast.”
Some kind of vampire code language.
The vampire who had greeted them, spoke. “This place is safe. Is there anything you…require?”
Yes, knowledge of the Euphoria. But Zhou Mi knew the vampire spoke only of humans to feed on or perhaps food for Kyuhyun’s human.
“That is all. May we rest freely?”
“There is no place reserved. Be at ease.”
“Thank you. Come.”
And Kyuhyun pulled Zhou Mi forward. Kyuhyun chose a corner banquette for them, strategic Zhou Mi knew. It allowed them a view without allowing someone to sneak up on them. It was Zhou Mi who was in the most danger, not Kyuhyun. Considering how little Changmin thought of their arrangement, he though Changmin would have no regrets to know that Zhou Mi would be at risk. Still, he had some relief in knowing that he was there with Kyuhyun, and not with Changmin. Kyuhyun at least had a vested interest in keeping Zhou Mi safe. As he rested down beside Kyuhyun on the rough cloth, probably filthy, he took a moment to look around. There were maybe seven other men. Most of those were vampires, but at least two were not because there was feeding happening across the room. He moved his eyes quickly from that, too intimate to be focused on for long. Maybe because of what he and Kyuhyun usually did, while feeding. And he had not forgotten Kyuhyun feeding from him, after allowing Kyuhyun to take. Or the night they’d slept most of the daylight away, with Kyuhyun against him. And that bothered him in some small way. What a difference it was, since the first time they had been together.
The adrenaline was coursing in him, because they were there. They were doing exactly what he’d come to Kyuhyun for. They were learning more. If not in this den, another. Every connection, every moment spent among vampires was a possibility.
“You’re breathing as though you’re going to jump up and start interrogating people,” Kyuhyun whispered against his ear. “Calm down. This is not something you can rush.”
He closed his eyes as Kyuhyun petted his face as though he were a dog. “I know.”
Kyuhyun pulled him closer, nudging his mouth against Zhou Mi’s jaw. “I’m going to feed, just a little. Remember, the thrall.”
So on their sides, Zhou Mi reached for him, angling his head so Kyuhyun could reach. And he sighed, tried not to wince at the momentary prickle that was Kyuhyun’s teeth in his skin.
He shuddered for Kyuhyun and Kyuhyun steadied him, the gentle movement of Kyuhyun’s lips against his skin. It seemed to last as long as a normal feeding, but it seemed that Kyuhyun was killing time. He could tell by the movement of Kyuhyun’s thumb against Zhou Mi’s shirt, rubbing rough circles as though to keep track of himself. And then Kyuhyun pulled away.
“Much better.”
“I’m glad,” Zhou Mi said softly, and hissed as Kyuhyun’s thigh slid between his.
“Turned on? I see. You like showing off in public?”
Zhou Mi spoke in hushed whisper. “No! No. I just- I’ve become accustomed to what we do when you feed.”
Kyuhyun’s eyes were dark in the light of the gas lamps. “So have I. They probably have rooms for that for rent. Not this time, I think.”
But Kyuhyun relaxed beside him for nearly an hour, watching as vampires came, and left. It was torture, in a way. He knew in each vampire’s head there could be knowledge that could help them, but he could do nothing to ask about it. However, knowing the location perhaps someone unrelated, a different human could find their way into being bitten, to ask for information. But it would be dangerous. He’d have to consider it, find the right person if that were even to be attempted. At least he had Kyuhyun to distract himself with, playing with part of Kyuhyun’s shirt and nuzzling into Kyuhyun’s stroking hand.
Zhou Mi blinked as he saw movement in one corner. A little stool and bare feet. At first he thought he might be hallucinating, but as the minutes wore on, he was certain. Eyes met his as though Zhou Mi’s stare could be felt, before closing tight.
“Can you hear me?” he breathed, his mouth as close as he could get it to Kyuhyun’s ear.
“Yes,” Kyuhyun whispered back, a chuckle following it as though the question was stupid. “Why?”
“Can any of the other vampires hear me?”
Kyuhyun muscled him back so they could see each other and Kyuhyun’s voice was low. “I know I survive on blood, but special senses are a bit much. I wouldn’t wish to have enhanced hearing. Can you imagine trying to sleep?”
He frowned deeply at Kyuhyun. He had just been checking.
But he shoved off Kyuhyun’s hands and leaned in again. “I had to be sure. There’s a child in the corner above us.”
It took a moment and Kyuhyun responded. “Ah. That is something most do not speak of.”
“What are you saying?” Zhou Mi hissed, horrified. He’d been fighting one war, and starting to think there was another one he had never even heard of.
“It’s not as bad as what you’re thinking. There are some standards even among vampires. But to some they’re preferred for feeding. Even if they can’t be fed from as much as adults, it’s a matter of taste.”
Zhou Mi pulled back, meeting Kyuhyun’s eyes. “Can we help?”
“He’s a human.”
“Kyuhyun.”
“If you decide you want him, you have to buy him. And then you’ll have to come back tomorrow and buy the one they found to replace him.”
“He looks so frightened and so young.” And Zhou Mi gathered himself. “Maybe I can’t save all of them, but I can’t leave here without trying to save the one in front of me.”
He could see the war in Kyuhyun’s eyes, but he could also see when the resignation hit. “We can try. I can try. But you realize…you may be choosing the child tonight. We may find no other chance to ask about the reason we are here.”
That was regretful. But also necessary. “I know.”
“Then stay quiet, follow me. And any money I spend, you pay back-“
Kyuhyun’s next words were lost against Zhou Mi’s mouth. There had been no guarantee that Kyuhyun would even consider helping, so he was thankful, and he wanted to show it. The whole reason they were there, was because Kyuhyun had arranged it. No matter what they found out, they could try to help the child.
He wondered at the expression in Kyuhyun’s eyes as their lips parted, something quiet and a bit dazed.
“Thank you,” Zhou Mi whispered, cupping his cheek.
“Don’t thank me yet,” Kyuhyun warned.
Zhou Mi followed Kyuhyun meekly, as Kyuhyun waved over the proprietor and the three of them approached the boy.
“How much?” Kyuhyun asked.
“To feed-“
“No, to buy. My pet here has an interest to see me feed-”
Zhou Mi stopped listening. He didn’t want to hear himself being called a pet, or the negotiations that were happening. If he could show interest, then perhaps it would help Kyuhyun’s suit.
The boy’s eyes were huge, frightened. He flinched at Zhou Mi’s touch, as though it hurt him, or he expected it to hurt him. Zhou Mi wondered how many times he’d been approached just like that, fearing being bitten. Feeding on children like they were some desirable vintage of wine.
He bared his teeth, saying softly, “I’m human.”
The cringing didn’t stop, and Zhou Mi wanted to curse. Clearly the child had no reason to trust humans as well. Or perhaps he had seen Zhou Mi approach him with a vampire. He’d probably heard all manner of sweet words to calm him down, all manner of promises that were instantly broken.
But he rubbed gently at the child’s hand, too small against his palm. He didn’t know how old the boy was, even. He could be smaller than his age due to malnutrition, but he was well past toddling age. That was something that could be found out after, as well as if he had parents. It made him think of the boy in the sanitarium, the one who was still being bitten daily to see if it would help to heal him. He’d once been someone’s little boy, too.
Kyuhyun’s hand slid onto his neck, and Zhou Mi inclined his head toward Kyuhyun, smiling. Let them believe that as thrall.
“Are you sure you want him?” Kyuhyun asked, sounding skeptical. And Zhou Mi knew it was not for Zhou Mi’s benefit, but for the man he was negotiating with.
“Please?”
The boy’s hand trembled in his, trying to jerk away, and Zhou Mi held tight. He wanted it to be done, wanted to pick the child up and walk out the door. If they didn’t agree, he thought he would do it anyway. Heft the child, and run. He hadn’t been born with long legs for nothing.
Kyuhyun made a sound of approval, and that was that.
“We won’t buy him back,” the vampire warned.
“There won’t be anything to get back,” Kyuhyun promised.
And the deal was struck.
“No,” the boy said as Zhou Mi reached for him. And though it pained him, he hauled the protesting boy into his arms.
“It’s all right, I won’t hurt you,” he crooned.
“Much,” one of the vampires laughed behind him. And Zhou Mi hid his expression in the suddenly lax child’s shoulder. He’d been traumatized, but no longer.
“Your human has expensive tastes.”
He only heard Kyuhyun’s words, not the expression, as Kyuhyun said, “Yes, and he tastes expensive as well.”
“The boy tastes good, too,” a vampire nearly as tall as Zhou Mi said, coming to stand beside him. The child trembled in Zhou Mi’s arms as Zhou Mi looked up. “I won’t be so generous with my gifts, but if you’re still wanting the bite when he’s through with you…”
The vampire was licking his lips lewdly as he touched Zhou Mi’s face, and Zhou Mi shuddered and leaned into the touch. It was meant to mimic the thrall, but it was pure revulsion. Even the thought of being bitten by the vampire touching him was making his skin crawl. He knew not all vampires were like Kyuhyun, and he’d turned down offers before Kyuhyun to be bitten. It wasn’t that none of them had been attractive, or that their offers hadn’t appealed. None of them had been right, and very few of them had been as openly disgusting in displaying their want.
The hand was jerked off of Zhou Mi’s face, as Zhou Mi opened his eyes to see Kyuhyun holding the vampire’s arm.
“Don’t touch,” Kyuhyun warned.
“Don’t worry,” the vampire said, undisturbed by Kyuhyun’s territorial display. “I won’t take your human while you’re biting him. I was just saying if he wanted some more after. Humans are getting peculiar these days. They all want more. Used to be the bite and a little play in bed was enough. Now they want gifts like yours does, and blood of their own.”
Kyuhyun’s hand squeezed tight on Zhou Mi’s side, urging him to be quiet.
“I heard of that. What would make a vampire desperate enough to give a human his blood? Why is the thrall not enough?”
“I know. I heard some desperate vampires are paid to open a vein, but…” The vampire leaned closer to Kyuhyun and the child sobbed into Zhou Mi’s neck. “I hear some vampires, they take their blood by force. They sell it, you know? So if they don’t get enough, they take it anyway.”
Zhou Mi’s stomach was twisting, and he had to bite his tongue not to ask the questions that were boiling in him, or yelp at how tightly Kyuhyun was holding him to tell him not to speak.
“Is there something being done to stop it?” Kyuhyun asked. “Vampire blood isn’t meant to be eaten. Won’t it be a danger to us?”
The vampire shrugged. “We look out for ourselves.”
“We might be forced to look out for each other, if too much blood is given,” Kyuhyun mused. “Though…is it cheaper than buying children to feed from?”
The vampire shared an amused look with him. “It might be.”
Kyuhyun smiled, and pushed Zhou Mi away. “Go to the door and wait for me.”
As though Kyuhyun didn’t want him to hear how to find the Euphoria. Still, he hummed and cuddled the boy near the door, keeping an eye out to make sure no other vampires were approaching him. Wary was all he could be, with Kyuhyun’s warnings hanging over his head.
Kyuhyun approached him no more than a minute later, inclining his head toward the door. “Time to take my new meal home.”
There was laughter from those who could hear, or who cared, and Zhou Mi caught the eye of one vampire sending them very judging looks as though what they were doing was distasteful.
And it was, had it been anyone other than them.
Zhou Mi climbed quickly into the waiting carriage and Kyuhyun rapped the front to let the driver know they could go immediately after the door was shut behind them. And even then, they waited in silence for a minute as though someone could still be listening.
“They thought we were murderers, or worse.”
“I don’t think there is worse,” Zhou Mi replied. And he spoke to the child, then. “Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat when we get home? Or perhaps a clean bed.”
“A bath,” Kyuhyun muttered. “He likely has fleas.”
“He’s not a stray puppy,” Zhou Mi retorted.
“No, not a puppy. But he’s still filthy.”
“How much do I owe you?”
Kyuhyun stared at him from his shoes to the top of his head. “We’ll discuss it later. You weren’t listening?”
“I didn’t care how much, as long as you were able to do it.”
“Lucky for me,” Kyuhyun chuckled.
Zhou Mi just shook his head, and petted the child’s hair.
“You’re safe,” Zhou Mi told the boy. “Truly safe. We’ll feed you, and no one will hurt you. Are your parents alive?”
“Yes,” the boy said with a wavering voice before he broke down in tears, sobbing loudly into Zhou Mi’s shoulder.
Kyuhyun sighed, and looked away, and Zhou Mi just continued rubbing the child’s back.
And then he looked up again. “The other vampire, he told you where you could buy Euphoria?”
“Yes,” Kyuhyun said. “But it is undoubtedly just a seller. Not the place they keep supplies. That is even more secretive.”
“But he said…He also said vampires were being forced to give blood. They’re being attacked for it?”
Kyuhyun nodded. “Had your research told you anything like that?”
“We’d discussed it, but we’d never had proof of it. I assume if vampires were being attacked, they wouldn’t want to spread that information around.”
“You assume correctly,” Kyuhyun mused. “That wouldn’t be something they would be proud of. And unless whoever was attacking them told them why, they might not know, unless they really knew what was happening.”
“And some would care and some wouldn’t.”
Kyuhyun nodded, face grim in the occasionally light that illuminated his face as the carriage kept carrying them toward Kyuhyun’s home.
***
The child was indeed filthy, hungry, and exhausted. After they’d fetched a maid to help bathe him, he began falling asleep over the soup that Zhou Mi was trying to spoon into his mouth. Perhaps he was still afraid, but his body was overwhelming that. He’d been tucked in bed, with the maid bid to stay there and watch over him in case he woke. They did not need a child wandering Kyuhyun’s home on his own in the daylight hours that were soon approaching. Kyuhyun would be fast asleep, and Zhou Mi felt as though he could sleep until the next night if he were given leave to.
But Kyuhyun hadn’t finished eating, and there was that. And Zhou Mi hadn’t forgotten the bite at the vampire den, and how it had made him feel. Perhaps he was associating the bite with pleasure. Zhou Mi stripped out of his borrowed clothes, using a basin of water to wash a little of the itch from his skin from being in that place. He was drying his face as Kyuhyun emerged from the bathing room as well. With one light burning on the bedside table, they both slid beneath the covers, facing each other.
“We have a place to start from,” Kyuhyun mused as he began to run his hand over Zhou Mi’s skin. “If that vampire’s information brings us little, I will find another den, and go alone. What I cannot find from the vampires, I might be able to find from the humans who service them. I can rent one, speak to them. That is another-“
“No,” Zhou Mi said.
Kyuhyun blinked at him. “What do you mean, no? You’re the one-“
“Rent a human? You would feed from them?”
The laugh started soft, and rocked Kyuhyun’s body as it grew. “No. No, I see. This agreement is for the two of us. I would not bite the human. I would use a bribe.”
“You moved that vampire’s hand away from me.”
“Yes,” Kyuhyun agreed, grabbing Zhou Mi’s jaw and tilting his head closer. “Because you are mine. For two more weeks, at least. No one else should touch you.”
“And you are mine,” Zhou Mi stated, feeling quite equitable about it. “I shouldn’t like to imagine some other human with you when I know you would be returning to me.”
“Only talk and further your cause. The thrall will do everything.”
Zhou Mi stayed still as he heard more than saw Kyuhyun uncap the oil. He was too busy rubbing his lips against Kyuhyun’s jaw. The touch of Kyuhyun’s fingers was cool, and as Kyuhyun’s fingers pressed into Zhou Mi, he inhaled. His body gave. His body wanted. He was too used to Kyuhyun’s touch, to Kyuhyun’s need, to protest. He knew what pain there was, he would like it. It was revelation. And Kyuhyun had given him everything that night. Everything he had asked for and more.
“No other humans.”
“No human would want me like you do,” Kyuhyun told him. “You want to be fucked? You want me to bite you?”
“Yes. Please.”
Zhou Mi pulled Kyuhyun over him, not caring that he was begging. The sooner Kyuhyun was in him, the sooner the pleasure began. His legs spread wide, begging Kyuhyun’s hips. And he moaned as Kyuhyun sank into him. He saw Kyuhyun’s eyes in the den as they stared at each other, as they had kissed. He drew Kyuhyun’s head down, moaning against his lips as he pulled Kyuhyun into him. It was all he wanted, for Kyuhyun to take him right then, to touch him, to feel his tongue tracing Zhou Mi’s lips.
“Please more. Please don’t stop. Kyuhyun. Please.”
Kyuhyun silenced all but his moans with his mouth, his hands so busy rubbing Zhou Mi’s chest, his shoulders and sides. Pressing Zhou Mi’s thighs wide or bending them up, or wrapping them close as they rode desperate together.
Their lips parted only in desperation, Zhou Mi gasping in air as his heart thundered and his fingers almost idly stroking himself as pleasure pinned him. But Kyuhyun wasn’t still, kissing Zhou Mi’s neck and roughening the pounding of his hips until Zhou Mi’s eyes closed to try and contain it all. He was so close, knees tight against Kyuhyun’s ribs and his pleas were wordless gasps and moans.
“You like the bite?” Kyuhyun rasped.
“Yes. I like it. Kyuhyun. Oh! Oh. Please. Please. Kyuhyun. Close.”
Kyuhyun reached between them as his teeth sank home, and Zhou Mi came over his fingers as Kyuhyun fed, and rutted, and came for him.
“Look at me. Look at me,” Kyuhyun ordered. Slowly, Zhou Mi focused on him, on the red smear beside Kyuhyun’s mouth. Usually he was too fastidious for that. It made Zhou Mi want to kiss his mouth clean. “Did you speak the truth? You like the bite?”
Zhou Mi nodded slowly, not sure why Kyuhyun was so insistent. “I do. I enjoy it. You make it…enjoyable.”
However inane that sounded. He’d just been inundated with pleasure. His brain was still catching up.
The tension went out of Kyuhyun’s shoulders, and Zhou Mi reached out an arm, steadying him as he stretched out beside Zhou Mi on the bed.
“The boy should sleep, and the maid will see to him. You should stay, in case he wakes and is frightened. He should have someone familiar to greet him.”
“Yes, I’ll stay. Thank you,” Zhou Mi said. And he pressed kisses along Kyuhyun’s cheek, settling close. He pressed another kiss to Kyuhyun’s mouth, feeling it returned. He had no intention of leaving Kyuhyun’s side.
***
Zhou Mi had slid into a deep sleep, his breath hot and even against Kyuhyun’s neck. It should have made him fall asleep right away, that warmth. On his mind was Zhou Mi’s wildness. His moans, his gasps. The cries when Kyuhyun had turned him, taken him. Uninhibited, given entirely to pleasure and Kyuhyun’s hands. It was as though a light had been lit inside Zhou Mi, spurred by Kyuhyun’s willingness to help him. He wanted to wake Zhou Mi, see if the fire was still there. What he’d undoubtedly get was a sleepy man wanting to cuddle. It was another side of Zhou Mi he had not expected. Gratitude, emotion.
It nagged in the back of his mind, until he fell asleep.
***
Pairing: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: NC-17
Genre: AU, vampire, smut, historical
Warnings: References to issues of consent (not in fic itself), fictional drug use
Summary: The streets of Zhou Mi's city are being contaminated with a new drug - Euphoria. Pure vampire blood, it causes a high unlike any other, but when the high fades, the nightmares begin. It is the spread of Euphoria that Zhou Mi fights, and in that fight he needs a partner to get him to places and people that only a vampire can.
***
Chapter One - Chapter Two - Chapter Three - Chapter Four - Chapter Five - Chapter Six - Chapter Seven - Chapter Eight - Chapter Nine - Chapter Ten - Epilogue
***
Extra warning for this chapter: Herein is a child put in harm's way with implications of being treated poorly in the past, though nothing is described.
***
The longer Kyuhyun waited, the more agitated he became. They’d talked was the problem. He’d told Zhou Mi he didn’t want to wait until the early morning, relegated to a fifteen minute bite and a bit of groping before Zhou Mi either left, or the rising of the sun made him want to sleep. After the ride they had taken together, the fact that Zhou Mi trusted him more made Kyuhyun assume they had an understanding. The clock had passed midnight, and it left him growling and stalking out to make sure that no cards had arrived letting him know that Zhou Mi would be late or wouldn’t be coming at all. They had an agreement, and he damn well meant to see that Zhou Mi kept it.
He had a whole speech planned out as it passed one, and then two. He half thought he should saddle a horse, ride to Zhou Mi’s home. The thought was intriguing of itself, since he’d never seen where Zhou Mi lived. Zhou Mi had only come to him. If Zhou Mi had many servants, they’d probably all be shocked at a vampire showing up on their doorstep in the middle of the night. Though with as much as Zhou Mi got around, it was equally possible that he wasn’t even there. The thought of Zhou Mi receiving help from another vampire made Kyuhyun’s teeth set on edge. It was perfectly possible, given how focused Zhou Mi was. But he knew that Zhou Mi was not being bitten by anyone else. That made some of the tightness in his back relax.
Zhou Mi couldn’t have sustained it, and Kyuhyun would’ve seen the marks. And the breath hissed out of him imagining another vampires teeth set at Zhou Mi’s neck.
Kyuhyun heard sounds just after the the hour hand passed three. He waited, tense, until he heard Zhou Mi’s voice speaking to the footman, and stood until Zhou Mi came into the room.
“You’re late. I was beginning to think you weren’t coming,” Kyuhyun said, skirting his desk. “You realize we have an agreement.”
“I do realize that,” Zhou Mi said, tossing his hat onto the side table. “I’m sorry I’m late and that I couldn’t send a note. I’ve just come-“
Kyuhyun stopped six feet away from Zhou Mi, his nose already offended. “You reek.”
“Yes. I’ve been at the sanitarium,” Zhou Mi said. “I rode straight here. We-”
Kyuhyun looked him up and down. His clothes were filthy dirty, and he smelled partly like a toilet, and partly like something Kyuhyun didn’t even want to imagine.
“Save your stories for now,” Kyuhyun said, pulling the discreet rope. A moment later, the footman appeared. “Draw a bath in my bathing room right away.”
“Of course, sir.”
“Come upstairs and let’s get you cleaned up,” Kyuhyun said. “I can’t bite you like this.”
And Kyuhyun led Zhou Mi up the stairs - he didn’t want to be in Zhou Mi’s wake.
Heated water was already being poured into the tub when they arrived.
“They’ll help you clean up, whatever you need,” Kyuhyun said. “Come to the bedroom when you’re through.”
“Yes. Thank you,” Zhou Mi said, a smile curling his lips. He looked tired, too, Kyuhyun thought. And instead of relaxing himself, he went back down the stairs to see if one of the maids could arrange some kind of food. Perhaps once the stench was out of Zhou Mi’s nostrils, he might find himself hungry. He doubted that the food the sanitarium had was much meant for humans fully awake and in possession of their faculties.
And that actually gave him a twinge as he jogged back up. Zhou Mi was doing his damnedest to nurse those people back to health. He wondered how they got their food, who made it, and how it was stored. And then he thought of the filth on Zhou Mi’s clothes and wondered if it was even clean by the time it made it to their mouths. And what staff there was to give it.
Kyuhyun mused on that, as the food was brought up on a tray and left, and until Zhou Mi padded into the room in slippers and Kyuhyun’s robe, with a towel around his shoulders. Kyuhyun gestured to the only chair in the room, and table drawn up near it.
“Sit. I had them bring up a bit of food in case you’re hungry.”
Kyuhyun wondered if he imagined the curling growl that emanated from Zhou Mi’s stomach.
“Did you have to roll around in the filth with them, too?”
“It’s not the easiest task to clean them, give them medicine,” Zhou Mi said, sinking onto the chair, his legs pale and long beneath the robe. “Sometimes there aren’t enough people to help, and I have to try. Perhaps- I bandaged it as well as I could but I don’t want to get your robe dirty.”
“Bandaged what?” Kyuhyun asked.
Zhou Mi had wrapped his arm in cloth, what looked like a clean rag, covering long scrapes that were still a bit bloody in places. Kyuhyun hissed through his teeth.
“You stay there, eat. I’ll get something better.”
Of course his plan had been to admire Zhou Mi as he fawned over the soup, and the fruit, and soft rolls, and the tea. Some kind of lovely gratitude for Kyuhyun’s care. Instead, he was scrounging in a dusty corner to find alcohol and in a cleaner one to find bandages. Having a human around that he was, in many ways, responsible for was turning out to be a tiresome chore. Zhou Mi was just lucky that all the other facets of their agreement made up for it.
And since Zhou Mi had little to no self-preservation - he’d left a sanitarium with wounds he hadn’t cared for? - It was up to Kyuhyun to see to it.
Though Zhou Mi, as he approached with his spoils, looked up with huge eyes. “Thank you for this. This is wonderful.”
It took him a moment to realize that Zhou Mi was speaking of the food, and not the supplies in his hands.
“I didn’t realize how hungry I was until started eating.”
“That’s good,” Kyuhyun said. “Now give me your arm.”
Zhou Mi hissed as he cleaned the wound with the alcohol, something Kyuhyun didn’t have use of for drinking, and at least having bathed the wound was clean in other ways. When he’d finished wrapping and securing the clean cloth, he rocked back onto his heels.
“You were at the sanitarium longer than usual. Why?”
Zhou Mi touched the hand Kyuhyun had braced on the table, patting it lightly as he thought. “Some of the nurses had quit, so it was in a terrible state when I arrived. We managed to find some help, but- They need so many more people than they have.”
“Yes, I imagine so. So you were cleaning.”
“Yes. That and… One of the patients died. He was only a teenager, but one of the sickest. He couldn’t rest, no matter how much medicine he was given. I was just down the hall when he died. Just one scream, and then-“
Zhou Mi’s eyes closed, and Kyuhyun didn’t know what to do or say. Every one of those patients, Zhou Mi was trying to save. That it was a young human had to hurt more.
“Tomorrow, we’ll go together,” Kyuhyun said. “We’ll choose a patient to treat. The vampire who’ll try for us will be ready. Tomorrow.”
“He was in so much pain.”
“But he’s not any more.”
Zhou Mi smiled, the expression sad and wrong on Zhou Mi’s face. “No. He’s not.”
Kyuhyun stood, his legs getting tired of crouching. But he did not move away, reaching instead to touch.
“It sounds as though you did enough work for the both of us,” Kyuhyun said, petting the back of Zhou Mi’s head.
“Yes,” Zhou Mi said, chuckling. “If you put a paper in front of my face, or asked me to write a letter, I would probably not make sense.”
“Then into bed. How lucky, you’re almost naked already.”
Zhou Mi smiled at the joke, and reached for the belt of the robe.
“Yes.”
Kyuhyun watched out of the corner of his eye, making sure there were no other wounds. A few places that looked like there would be bruises along his legs, but nothing that concerned him. Humans, there was nothing to do but allow them to heal. But he would maybe not take quite so much blood. It made him wish he’d sat in on Zhou Mi’s bath, gotten a better look. Zhou Mi had not complained, even if he’d had to have been in pain.
That made Kyuhyun feel like a bit of an ass. But he could make it up to Zhou Mi, that he knew as he climbed under the covers right beside Zhou Mi. With the blankets over him, he pressed to Zhou Mi’s side, careful of Zhou Mi’s arm.
With a finger, he stroked Zhou Mi’s neck. A tease. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want everything,” Zhou Mi said, and thrilled him.
“Tsk. Do you want me to bite you? Or please you?”
“I’m not that tired.”
That was good. He pressed a kiss to Zhou Mi’s chest, and felt the inhale as Kyuhyun maneuvered over him. To Zhou Mi’s stomach, and felt the shiver, the shifting. Zhou Mi knew what was coming. He was not kissing down Zhou Mi’s body for nothing.
“You afraid of me doing this again?”
Zhou Mi paused a moment. “Are you going to bite me again?”
He couldn’t even see the bite marks any more, when he rolled his eyes up at Zhou Mi.
“Not unless you want me to.”
But not that night. It wouldn’t make up for a terrible day. It would, perhaps, make him forget for a little while. If Zhou Mi was truly afraid of Kyuhyun’s teeth, he did not show it. And when Kyuhyun had stroked, kissed, Zhou Mi hard, Kyuhyun let his lips close tight around him.
It wasn’t as though he could feel Zhou Mi’s moans with his mouth, but he had to press down the struggle of Zhou Mi’s hips. Zhou Mi would get his turn, if Kyuhyun’s plan worked out. But right then he wanted control, wanted to let Zhou Mi feel everything. Every flicker of his tongue, tracing vein and flesh, the pull of his lips, and stroking fingers coddling him. He watched the rise and fall of Zhou Mi’s chest, the way his fingers gripped the sheets. Such a man. Though, he couldn’t doubt that, considering what he had his mouth around, and Zhou Mi’s desperation to keep him there and urge him faster.
But that told him it was time. Taking a deep breath, he moved, getting a whine of protest as he unstoppered the small pitcher of oil.
“Do you feel well enough to hold yourself up?” he asked, trying not to be distracted by the pleading hand Zhou Mi had put on his stomach.
“What? Yes?”
With his fingers slick, he nudged Zhou Mi over. And Kyuhyun laid back onto the bed.
“It’s your turn to do a little of the work. Come here.” Zhou Mi did, his face betraying that he’d started to catch on to what Kyuhyun was meaning. Once Zhou Mi had moved between his legs, hovering adorably unsure over him, Kyuhyun pulled Zhou Mi’s head down, letting their lips mesh as he spread the slick oil over Zhou Mi’s erection. It got him shivers, gasps, but Zhou Mi stayed hard for him. And when he was satisfied, he let his head fall back. “You can’t hurt me.”
“Kyuhyun.”
He repressed the shiver of Zhou Mi’s hands on his thighs, felt as Zhou Mi lifted his hips, drew in closer. And he could do nothing but smile as Zhou Mi pressed against and into him. The oil was enough, and his body adjusted. It made it more pleasurable for them both.
“Just like that,” Kyuhyun said, reveling in the feeling of a man above him. A man making his own decisions.
And Zhou Mi relaxed, slowly, as his hips began to move. More confident of what he was doing, his place. He hummed his approval as Zhou Mi stroked his chest, pressed kisses to his jaw.
“So this is what it looks like when you feed from me,“ Zhou Mi breathed. And Kyuhyun inhaled sharply as Zhou Mi nipped his neck just to the point of pain. It made him choke out a laugh far harder than any he could remember while having sex.
“Yes,” he said after he’d gotten control of himself, with Zhou Mi’s laughter spurring his own. “Right after I notice the pretty neck I think oh, breakfast in bed.”
That brought more laughter, Zhou Mi settling closer in a way that he was almost asking for a cuddle, which was odd considering the slow shifts his hips were taking.
But Zhou Mi tossed his hair out of his eyes.
“I know some men refer to certain…assets that they are attracted most to. Do you judge humans based on their necks?”
“Not…entirely. I certainly notice ones that might be nice to bite.” And he had to close his eyes and breathe as Zhou Mi’s hand squeezed his hip. “But I notice…earlobes. And fingers.”
Things that had attracted him to Zhou Mi. He couldn’t have known then the way that Zhou Mi could move, the way he sounded when Kyuhyun purred against his neck.
If he’d known those things, Zhou Mi would never have walked out of Kyuhyun’s house that first night without Kyuhyun knowing he would return. He’d have needed that guarantee, been frantic for it. He’d have guaranteed his help for a year if he’d had to, just to hear Zhou Mi’s gasping cry as Kyuhyun met his hips hard.
The warmth spreading through his body had nothing to do with Zhou Mi’s blood. He hadn’t even eaten. It was lust, Zhou Mi pressing him down, making him want in ways he’d forgotten. The way Zhou Mi panted Kyuhyun’s name against his neck, the unbearable tension. He was lost in his own moans as Zhou Mi took him past reason. Zhou Mi’s teeth fastened on his earlobe, Zhou Mi’s hand reaching between them. It had been years since he’d had so little control over his own-
His fingers dug into Zhou Mi’s back as he came, the pleasure of it ravaging him. He’d been planning to take care of himself after, let Zhou Mi have his fun. Instead there he was with his thighs locked around Zhou Mi’s body and shuddering. And with Zhou Mi making sounds into his neck, half chuckle half moan. All he could do was hold on as Zhou Mi’s breathing, body, quickened, until it sounded like Zhou Mi was nearly in pain. Though Kyuhyun had recovered enough to enjoy the unique sounds, the feelings, of a man succumbing to pleasure.
“Yes,” he sighed, stroking Zhou Mi’s back.
And he did everything he could to prolong it, squeezing Zhou Mi tight and eliciting moans that made his hair stand on end. They were the kind of sounds on Zhou Mi’s voice, ragged, that would have aroused a man long dead. But if that happened, as tired as Zhou Mi had been, he really would be taking care of himself.
Zhou Mi collected himself, just barely, arms shaking as he panted like a dog on his hand and knees.
“You need to eat,” Zhou Mi said suddenly, as though that thought had escaped him as they’d rutted. Yes, it had escaped him as well for part of it.
“Lie down beside me,” Kyuhyun said, his voice rough.
But he half caught Zhou Mi, supporting him as they rolled. Their legs tangled, and Zhou Mi grasped at his side as Kyuhyun pressed wet kisses down the side of his face. He felt Zhou Mi convulsively swallow, heard his name pass Zhou Mi’s lips in almost a whisper, just before he bit. The most soothing taste, the richness of it, punctuated by Zhou Mi’s hand stroking the back of his head in convulsive squeezes. Almost like a cat kneading his owner’s thigh while being petted.
It was regret that had him pulling away, and Zhou Mi’s eyes were confused as Kyuhyun met them.
“You are tired, and healing, and it was trying day,” Kyuhyun said. “There will be more tomorrow.”
“But you’re fine?”
“I am sated. I won’t seek out another human for a snack in the meantime.”
Zhou Mi chuckled, his eyes uneven as he smiled. He looked half asleep already. Kyuhyun shook his head.
“You are gutted. You rode your horse here? Then you should stay.”
“I would be in no danger. I wouldn’t fall down the stairs this time.”
“No,” Kyuhyun retorted. “But go. You could slide off your horse and break a limb on the way home if you’d rather.”
But though he pushed Zhou Mi’s shoulder, he didn’t let go.
“You don’t know where I live,” Zhou Mi murmured, his voice a little loopy as evidenced by his words.
“I wouldn’t need to,” Kyuhyun said.
“One day, you should.”
Should what, he wondered. Find out where Zhou Mi lived, or see it perhaps. It was an idea, even as Zhou Mi’s presence made his back itch. It was close enough to dawn that he was tired, and he knew there was no more reason to talk.
“Go to sleep,” he said, and patted the side of Zhou Mi’s head.
“You said once that you were always cold.”
“In some way or another,” Kyuhyun agreed. After sex and feeding was probably when he felt warmest, with the bed still warm from body heat, and with his body content. By the time he woke, it was cold again. He almost never had reason to let humans stay. But Zhou Mi had shown the last time that he slept calmly, and maybe it had been his imagination but it had seemed that he had woke warmer. Or perhaps that was just because he had overindulged.
“Move back against me, then,” Zhou Mi said. “Since you say I need to stay.”
Zhou Mi’s hand brushed his arm, and Kyuhyun considered it.
The thing was, he couldn’t find a reason to disagree. He liked being warm, something he craved in fact.
He nearly made a joke, questioned if Zhou Mi always liked to cuddle after sex, questioning him. But it wouldn’t have gotten him what he wanted. A stony silence perhaps, and a man turned from him. That was the selfish part talking. Maybe he would have jested if he knew Zhou Mi would take it well, or if the thrall worked. Though it seemed cruel when Zhou Mi was offering him a kindness. Even he could see that.
But Zhou Mi’s skin was warm against his back, and he nearly purred. A warm arm slid over his side, thighs arranged against his. Fit together like two spoons, the warmer curled around the cooler one. He wanted to ask Zhou Mi again if he had been pleased. It wasn’t fair that he was being shown what he wanted. He could not keep Zhou Mi drained, warm, and in his bed indefinitely. Nor any human, come to that.
Kyuhyun could feel the sun rising, as Zhou Mi’s even breath, deeply asleep, stirred the hairs at the back of his neck. And Kyuhyun’s consciousness wobbled.
***
Kyuhyun had been true to his word. When Zhou Mi had woken in early afternoon, he’d dressed in his previously-filthy but thankfully clean clothes and rode home to wash and dress for another night of labor. It had been hard pulling himself from the warm blankets, especially with Kyuhyun cuddled up beside him. But that had been something that made him grin, the way Kyuhyun’s face had been a bit out of shape from the hand he had under it. He’d put the covers back carefully so that Kyuhyun wouldn’t get cold. He’d wake alone, but no human slept as long as a vampire.
Kyuhyun was dressed and ready to leave with him when he arrived, half an hour after full dark. Zhou Mi had eaten, and Kyuhyun rode beside him in comfortable silence.
The work was hard. In a dilapidated section of house that held the sanitarium, far from smells or anything to disrupt, they cleared old furniture and supplies out of an empty room. It was one with less plaster falling from the ceilings and walls from a roof leak who knew how many years before. But they were both covered in dust, and by the time it was mopped, Zhou Mi felt as though he had cleaned a whole house.
They chose the youngest patient, the teen they had seen on Kyuhyun’s first visit. He’d been bathed, wrapped in blankets. Kyuhyun’s thrall had been enough to calm him as his bed was wheeled down the hallway. Whatever notes Kyuhyun had sent before Zhou Mi arrived had worked, because a young vampire was let in. Young, in how long he had been a vampire, not in physical age. He looked about their age, but no names were exchanged. Kyuhyun leaned beside Zhou Mi, near the door. They watched as the vampire calmed the boy, crazed from the Euphoria, and ate. It made him glad that Kyuhyun was there, to step in if the vampire took too much.
By the time the vampire was done, the boy was asleep.
“Is that a good sign?” Zhou Mi asked.
“It could be,” Kyuhyun murmured.
The talk was technical and focused, as Dr. Lee was brought in to see the boy. Both he and Kyuhyun had questions for the vampire about the quality of the boy’s blood. But the one thing Zhou Mi took away was that the vampire had been able to taste a taint in the boy. And that was promising - because if the taint could be removed, then there was some hope of helping the others.
“Would you be willing to feed from him again?” Kyuhyun asked. “Tomorrow, ideally. And as many days as it takes. My friend here can compensate you with money.”
The vampire glanced at Zhou Mi, and looked back to Kyuhyun as though Zhou Mi had no say, no ability to speak for himself.
“I will. The blood is tainted, but good. I will accept your compensation.”
Zhou Mi had nearly sagged back against the wall in relief. They could at least try.
And when he’d quizzed Kyuhyun on him offering money before even asking him, Kyuhyun had laughed. “I knew you would offer him what he required, which isn’t much since he’s getting the blood. Besides, you still have the money left that you didn’t pay me.”
There had been no way to argue against that.
They’d done no other work that night, only Kyuhyun feeding from him in a deserted kitchen corner. The first time they’d done so standing, and the first night Kyuhyun hadn’t touched him.
“Go home, sleep,” Kyuhyun told, him, turning. “We’ll continue tomorrow. Twice.”
Zhou Mi had gone out, shaking his head and knowing that Kyuhyun would soon be bathing, relaxing. He half wished Kyuhyun had asked him to stay.
***
The next night was different. Zhou Mi had only just gotten his horse into a stall, turned the corner to approach the servant’s entrance.
A man stepped in front of him, stopping him short.
Adrenaline had his muscles tensing, body poised to defend himself, when he realized who it was. Changmin, who was looking at him with amusement.
“Good evening.”
“Good evening,” Zhou Mi said carefully. “You’ve seen Kyuhyun?”
“I have. I brought him information about your little quest. How old are you?”
The change in topic surprised him. “Old enough. Why?”
“Kyuhyun could be twice, three times your age, and you wouldn’t know. You need to break the agreement with him.”
Again, Zhou Mi was startled. Changmin had taken a step forward, emphasizing his demand, and it set Zhou Mi’s teeth on edge.
“You are his friend, but I see no reason for you to make such a request of me. What are you afraid of? I’m not afraid. Kyuhyun is not.
“A month is a long time for two people to be entangled,” Changmin suggested, his tone delicate, as though he’d realized he’d come on too strong. “What if you were to fall in love with him?”
“This isn’t a bargain of emotion,” Zhou Mi retorted. “He gets to feed, and sate himself however he wants. In return, he helps me help those affected by the Euphoria. That is all.”
“Were you fond of taking risks as a child? Did you stick your hand in the fire after your mother told you it was hot?”
Zhou Mi laughed. “No. If anything, I was cautious.”
“What if he wanted to extend your bargain?”
“He said that doesn’t happen.”
Actually, Kyuhyun had been vehement about it. Thirty days, no more.
“I suppose it doesn’t, usually. But any guarantees he made you, disregard. Start to think of your own wellbeing, your own future. If you want to help those humans, then you need to be whole. Find another vampire, one who will bargain without blood.”
“Are you saying that Kyuhyun will hurt me?” Zhou Mi asked, brows raising. “Or do you bear some sort of prejudice against humans who are not weak in thrall to you? You cannot cajole me, or drive me to anger, so I am a danger?”
“To Kyuhyun. I saw him kissing you when I arrived the other day.”
“What damage could I do him? It was only a kiss. I’ve seen worse in the gambling houses. And you make no sense. One moment you threaten as though I’m in danger, and the next as though Kyuhyun is.”
He was done with the conversation. What reasons Changmin had for warning him off, he didn’t know. But he wasn’t going to listen to a moment more. He needed Kyuhyun, and Changmin knew that. Perhaps there was jealousy there, in Changmin, but it didn’t feel like it. It was not driven by feelings, but reason. But he rejected Changmin’s reasons, because he had no reason not to disbelieve what Kyuhyun had told him.
Changmin grabbed his arm before he could walk more than a couple of steps. “Do you think that being seen in the company of a vampire that many nights in a row would make you safe? He asked me to bring him the location of a vampire den. It isn’t safe there, not for him. Not for you.”
Zhou Mi stared down at Changmin’s hand, and then met his eyes. It was not bravado - he felt only that he could defend himself if necessary. In fact, there was a certain amount of fear in it. But he needed to know who his enemies were.
“Will the danger come from you?”
“No,” Changmin said. “I don’t harm humans. Not with my fists, and not with my blood. But you must break the contract.”
“I can’t.”
“You won’t.”
“The danger to me is worth it, if I am able to help people.” And Zhou Mi had his best point yet to make. “And I assume that Kyuhyun must have known of any such dangers you hint at, before he offered me this deal. Perhaps you should speak to him.”
“I have. I hoped that you might have more sense. But apparently I was wrong. I do more than hint. You’d do well to heed me.”
“All it is is imaginary unless you tell me what you mean,” Zhou Mi shot back.
Changmin stepped to the corner, his hat in his hand. “You’ve never been afraid of what you can’t see in the dark?”
It was meant to be ominous, as Changmin left him there, but he very much thought Changmin underestimated him. Zhou Mi didn’t suppose many humans would agree to a month at a vampire’s whim, purely for- It hadn’t be entirely altruistic, no. He’d had a lot of reasons. But he suspected not many humans would anyway.
He was announced, let into the library where Kyuhyun was.
“News from the sanitarium?” Kyuhyun asked in lieu of greeting.
“The doctor said the boy is some improved, but still not in control of himself. We need more vampires, if he is improving.”
“The list of things we need is long.” Kyuhyun stood, stepping up to Zhou Mi. “Changmin was here earlier.”
“Yes, I know,” Zhou Mi said. “I saw him as I arrived.”
Kyuhyun’s eyebrows rose. “He was gone from me at least half an hour.”
“I suspect he wanted to have words with me. Does he urge you to break our agreement?”
“Every time he takes a breath when we’re alone,” Kyuhyun jested. “Why? What did he say?”
“I assume whatever he’s told you. It’s a danger to us, to me.” But when Kyuhyun’s face went dark, Zhou Mi reached for his shoulders. “He worries for you, is why he said anything I think. You shouldn’t be concerned.”
“I am concerned. A vampire meddling with another’s…meal…is highly taboo. I don’t like him threatening you. And I will tell him that. The things he fears- That is why we agree to a month. Not a year. I won’t have you worrying needlessly. It makes the blood taste bad.”
Zhou Mi had to bite his lip to try to keep from smiling but it didn’t truly work. “Despite his objection to my presence, at least he’s still helping? He said he’d given you information of a vampire den.”
“He did. But before you suggest we go tonight, we can’t. Tomorrow, though. And there is preparation to be done.”
“All right. Can we find more vampires tonight?”
“Perhaps.” Kyuhyun reached out his hands, first sliding them over Zhou Mi’s hips and then poking them down into the cloth. “How deep are your pockets?”
“The organization can provide compensation,” Zhou Mi assured him. But Kyuhyun’s hands weren’t just there to prove a point. They had all night, and it seemed Kyuhyun was hungry.
***
Nothing Kyuhyun would say was changing Zhou Mi’s mind about going to the vampire den. He’d said it was unsafe, that it was better if Kyuhyun went first, alone, and tried to establish himself. Then, if he felt it was a good idea, Zhou Mi could accompany him. He’d been to vampire dens years before, and it wasn’t uncommon for a vampire to show up with his latest human conquest. It was a place for vampires to relax, trade news of which towns were unfriendly or if any vampires were causing trouble. They were topics relevant to the life of a vampire. But dens also served as a meal-finder of sorts. Humans that were paid to be there - however they were paid to be there - to be of service of the vampires looking to bite, or ones who were bored. He’d hinted at all those things to Zhou Mi, insinuating that it was dangerous. It wasn’t wholly unheard of for fights to break out, for a vampire to try and steal a human. With the thrall, it could be possible. Kyuhyun knew Changmin’s honor, and that was why he trusted him, but he wasn’t so certain of every vampire in the city. Some vampire dens were calmer than others, and the one Changmin had found was not of the highest quality. In other words, better to find word of Euphoria there, or so they thought.
“I could have gone alone before you arrived,” Kyuhyun argued. “You’d never find it on your own. You have two weeks left to feed me, and I won’t have you getting hurt.”
“You said that there were precautions to take so that no one would get hurt.”
“You realize precautions don’t mean a guarantee? I wouldn’t take up your cause crying over your grave.”
Zhou Mi smiled at the table he was using as a desk before looking up at Kyuhyun again. “You assume I’d have no successors? I’m not acting alone. This endeavor isn’t one entered into lightly or one I assumed would have no repercussions.”
“Then you’re telling me that the risk is acceptable.”
“If we’re able to get new information, of course. We don’t know for sure what the outcome will be, but it’s a possibility. And those chances have to be seized, because-“
“More bad things might happen, and the longer you wait the more bad things might happen, et cetera. Yes, I know.”
Though the way Zhou Mi was looking at him, his eyebrows raised with such an air of expectation, he thought that Zhou Mi understood and knew he did all along as well.
“You brought the clothes I asked?”
“I did,” Zhou Mi said.
Kyuhyun could tell he was close to edging out of his chair to get them, as soon as Kyuhyun gave the go-ahead. But he thought it was cute that Zhou Mi was trying not to be too eager, to force Kyuhyun’s hand maybe, or try to hide just how eager he was. As though that were possible.
“Get changed, then. And we’ll go together,” Kyuhyun said.
And Zhou Mi smiled at him, leaving, only to return dressed as though he worked in Kyuhyun’s stables. And it made Kyuhyun grin as he walked in to see Zhou Mi like that.
“How is it?” Zhou Mi asked, striking a pose.
“Close.”
Kyuhyun circled him, taking note of the too-long trousers, the scuffed boots. The shirt was clean, though worn. And Zhou Mi was blinking at him as Kyuhyun stepped forward and raised his hands. It took three good rubs, and half a screech, but Zhou Mi’s hair was thoroughly disordered, roughly falling over his forehead.
“Perfect.”
***
Zhou Mi felt strangely naked without his neckcloth, his jacket, his glasses, his earrings. He felt a bit blind, dependent, though perhaps that would make Kyuhyun happy considering how ferociously he was preparing Zhou Mi.
“You must behave as though you’re in thrall when I am touching you. You’ve seen humans when they are with vampires?”
“Yes.”
“It happens almost instantly,” Kyuhyun said, grabbing onto him as though to demonstrate. “You must pay attention to me immediately or the vampires will be suspicious. When you look at me, think of something you are very fond of. Soft.”
“Like a loyal pet,” Zhou Mi quipped, and Kyuhyun laughed at him.
“Yes, a bit.”
Zhou Mi stared down at where Kyuhyun was holding his arm. “It makes me glad I don’t feel that when you touch me. I would not feel equal to you, induced like that.”
“Vampires are not seeking equals, they’re looking to feed. Show me what you would do if I touched you in front of them.”
Kyuhyun sought no equal, and yet Zhou Mi was there. Kyuhyun trusted him to follow his orders, go with him to a place that Kyuhyun admitted could be dangerous. Kyuhyun spoke to him as though he were a grown man, without needing vampire tricks to win his compliance. Zhou Mi considered the thought of a month at Kyuhyun’s side, not truly in control of himself, and could not consider it. It would have been like trading part of himself away. At least as he was, he had defenses. It also allowed him to trust Kyuhyun as well - and know that Kyuhyun was telling him the truth, to keep him safe.
Zhou Mi deliberately softened his face. Think of something he was fond of, Kyuhyun had said. He thought of his horse, his friends. He thought of Kyuhyun bandaging his arm, pressing food to his lips. If Kyuhyun spoke of fondness-
Kyuhyun made a thoughtful sound, looking away almost as soon as Zhou Mi met his eyes. “That should do.”
***
Zhou Mi wasn’t sure what he was expecting. Just the words “vampire den” had inspired him to think up all sorts of different scenarios. In one, he imagined a bunch of vampires circled around naked humans just feasting away. Kyuhyun had laughed at him when he’d mentioned it. It happened, though the one they were going to was a bit different to the ones Kyuhyun had previously described. Sometimes he imagined them as little different than the gambling hells.
The main room was not large, filled with settees and banquettes meant, Zhou Mi assumed, for feeding and conversation. Zhou Mi kept his head close to Kyuhyun’s shoulder, keeping his glances lazy since Kyuhyun’s hand was on his wrist.
“I seek a place to rest,” Kyuhyun said. “And feast.”
Some kind of vampire code language.
The vampire who had greeted them, spoke. “This place is safe. Is there anything you…require?”
Yes, knowledge of the Euphoria. But Zhou Mi knew the vampire spoke only of humans to feed on or perhaps food for Kyuhyun’s human.
“That is all. May we rest freely?”
“There is no place reserved. Be at ease.”
“Thank you. Come.”
And Kyuhyun pulled Zhou Mi forward. Kyuhyun chose a corner banquette for them, strategic Zhou Mi knew. It allowed them a view without allowing someone to sneak up on them. It was Zhou Mi who was in the most danger, not Kyuhyun. Considering how little Changmin thought of their arrangement, he though Changmin would have no regrets to know that Zhou Mi would be at risk. Still, he had some relief in knowing that he was there with Kyuhyun, and not with Changmin. Kyuhyun at least had a vested interest in keeping Zhou Mi safe. As he rested down beside Kyuhyun on the rough cloth, probably filthy, he took a moment to look around. There were maybe seven other men. Most of those were vampires, but at least two were not because there was feeding happening across the room. He moved his eyes quickly from that, too intimate to be focused on for long. Maybe because of what he and Kyuhyun usually did, while feeding. And he had not forgotten Kyuhyun feeding from him, after allowing Kyuhyun to take. Or the night they’d slept most of the daylight away, with Kyuhyun against him. And that bothered him in some small way. What a difference it was, since the first time they had been together.
The adrenaline was coursing in him, because they were there. They were doing exactly what he’d come to Kyuhyun for. They were learning more. If not in this den, another. Every connection, every moment spent among vampires was a possibility.
“You’re breathing as though you’re going to jump up and start interrogating people,” Kyuhyun whispered against his ear. “Calm down. This is not something you can rush.”
He closed his eyes as Kyuhyun petted his face as though he were a dog. “I know.”
Kyuhyun pulled him closer, nudging his mouth against Zhou Mi’s jaw. “I’m going to feed, just a little. Remember, the thrall.”
So on their sides, Zhou Mi reached for him, angling his head so Kyuhyun could reach. And he sighed, tried not to wince at the momentary prickle that was Kyuhyun’s teeth in his skin.
He shuddered for Kyuhyun and Kyuhyun steadied him, the gentle movement of Kyuhyun’s lips against his skin. It seemed to last as long as a normal feeding, but it seemed that Kyuhyun was killing time. He could tell by the movement of Kyuhyun’s thumb against Zhou Mi’s shirt, rubbing rough circles as though to keep track of himself. And then Kyuhyun pulled away.
“Much better.”
“I’m glad,” Zhou Mi said softly, and hissed as Kyuhyun’s thigh slid between his.
“Turned on? I see. You like showing off in public?”
Zhou Mi spoke in hushed whisper. “No! No. I just- I’ve become accustomed to what we do when you feed.”
Kyuhyun’s eyes were dark in the light of the gas lamps. “So have I. They probably have rooms for that for rent. Not this time, I think.”
But Kyuhyun relaxed beside him for nearly an hour, watching as vampires came, and left. It was torture, in a way. He knew in each vampire’s head there could be knowledge that could help them, but he could do nothing to ask about it. However, knowing the location perhaps someone unrelated, a different human could find their way into being bitten, to ask for information. But it would be dangerous. He’d have to consider it, find the right person if that were even to be attempted. At least he had Kyuhyun to distract himself with, playing with part of Kyuhyun’s shirt and nuzzling into Kyuhyun’s stroking hand.
Zhou Mi blinked as he saw movement in one corner. A little stool and bare feet. At first he thought he might be hallucinating, but as the minutes wore on, he was certain. Eyes met his as though Zhou Mi’s stare could be felt, before closing tight.
“Can you hear me?” he breathed, his mouth as close as he could get it to Kyuhyun’s ear.
“Yes,” Kyuhyun whispered back, a chuckle following it as though the question was stupid. “Why?”
“Can any of the other vampires hear me?”
Kyuhyun muscled him back so they could see each other and Kyuhyun’s voice was low. “I know I survive on blood, but special senses are a bit much. I wouldn’t wish to have enhanced hearing. Can you imagine trying to sleep?”
He frowned deeply at Kyuhyun. He had just been checking.
But he shoved off Kyuhyun’s hands and leaned in again. “I had to be sure. There’s a child in the corner above us.”
It took a moment and Kyuhyun responded. “Ah. That is something most do not speak of.”
“What are you saying?” Zhou Mi hissed, horrified. He’d been fighting one war, and starting to think there was another one he had never even heard of.
“It’s not as bad as what you’re thinking. There are some standards even among vampires. But to some they’re preferred for feeding. Even if they can’t be fed from as much as adults, it’s a matter of taste.”
Zhou Mi pulled back, meeting Kyuhyun’s eyes. “Can we help?”
“He’s a human.”
“Kyuhyun.”
“If you decide you want him, you have to buy him. And then you’ll have to come back tomorrow and buy the one they found to replace him.”
“He looks so frightened and so young.” And Zhou Mi gathered himself. “Maybe I can’t save all of them, but I can’t leave here without trying to save the one in front of me.”
He could see the war in Kyuhyun’s eyes, but he could also see when the resignation hit. “We can try. I can try. But you realize…you may be choosing the child tonight. We may find no other chance to ask about the reason we are here.”
That was regretful. But also necessary. “I know.”
“Then stay quiet, follow me. And any money I spend, you pay back-“
Kyuhyun’s next words were lost against Zhou Mi’s mouth. There had been no guarantee that Kyuhyun would even consider helping, so he was thankful, and he wanted to show it. The whole reason they were there, was because Kyuhyun had arranged it. No matter what they found out, they could try to help the child.
He wondered at the expression in Kyuhyun’s eyes as their lips parted, something quiet and a bit dazed.
“Thank you,” Zhou Mi whispered, cupping his cheek.
“Don’t thank me yet,” Kyuhyun warned.
Zhou Mi followed Kyuhyun meekly, as Kyuhyun waved over the proprietor and the three of them approached the boy.
“How much?” Kyuhyun asked.
“To feed-“
“No, to buy. My pet here has an interest to see me feed-”
Zhou Mi stopped listening. He didn’t want to hear himself being called a pet, or the negotiations that were happening. If he could show interest, then perhaps it would help Kyuhyun’s suit.
The boy’s eyes were huge, frightened. He flinched at Zhou Mi’s touch, as though it hurt him, or he expected it to hurt him. Zhou Mi wondered how many times he’d been approached just like that, fearing being bitten. Feeding on children like they were some desirable vintage of wine.
He bared his teeth, saying softly, “I’m human.”
The cringing didn’t stop, and Zhou Mi wanted to curse. Clearly the child had no reason to trust humans as well. Or perhaps he had seen Zhou Mi approach him with a vampire. He’d probably heard all manner of sweet words to calm him down, all manner of promises that were instantly broken.
But he rubbed gently at the child’s hand, too small against his palm. He didn’t know how old the boy was, even. He could be smaller than his age due to malnutrition, but he was well past toddling age. That was something that could be found out after, as well as if he had parents. It made him think of the boy in the sanitarium, the one who was still being bitten daily to see if it would help to heal him. He’d once been someone’s little boy, too.
Kyuhyun’s hand slid onto his neck, and Zhou Mi inclined his head toward Kyuhyun, smiling. Let them believe that as thrall.
“Are you sure you want him?” Kyuhyun asked, sounding skeptical. And Zhou Mi knew it was not for Zhou Mi’s benefit, but for the man he was negotiating with.
“Please?”
The boy’s hand trembled in his, trying to jerk away, and Zhou Mi held tight. He wanted it to be done, wanted to pick the child up and walk out the door. If they didn’t agree, he thought he would do it anyway. Heft the child, and run. He hadn’t been born with long legs for nothing.
Kyuhyun made a sound of approval, and that was that.
“We won’t buy him back,” the vampire warned.
“There won’t be anything to get back,” Kyuhyun promised.
And the deal was struck.
“No,” the boy said as Zhou Mi reached for him. And though it pained him, he hauled the protesting boy into his arms.
“It’s all right, I won’t hurt you,” he crooned.
“Much,” one of the vampires laughed behind him. And Zhou Mi hid his expression in the suddenly lax child’s shoulder. He’d been traumatized, but no longer.
“Your human has expensive tastes.”
He only heard Kyuhyun’s words, not the expression, as Kyuhyun said, “Yes, and he tastes expensive as well.”
“The boy tastes good, too,” a vampire nearly as tall as Zhou Mi said, coming to stand beside him. The child trembled in Zhou Mi’s arms as Zhou Mi looked up. “I won’t be so generous with my gifts, but if you’re still wanting the bite when he’s through with you…”
The vampire was licking his lips lewdly as he touched Zhou Mi’s face, and Zhou Mi shuddered and leaned into the touch. It was meant to mimic the thrall, but it was pure revulsion. Even the thought of being bitten by the vampire touching him was making his skin crawl. He knew not all vampires were like Kyuhyun, and he’d turned down offers before Kyuhyun to be bitten. It wasn’t that none of them had been attractive, or that their offers hadn’t appealed. None of them had been right, and very few of them had been as openly disgusting in displaying their want.
The hand was jerked off of Zhou Mi’s face, as Zhou Mi opened his eyes to see Kyuhyun holding the vampire’s arm.
“Don’t touch,” Kyuhyun warned.
“Don’t worry,” the vampire said, undisturbed by Kyuhyun’s territorial display. “I won’t take your human while you’re biting him. I was just saying if he wanted some more after. Humans are getting peculiar these days. They all want more. Used to be the bite and a little play in bed was enough. Now they want gifts like yours does, and blood of their own.”
Kyuhyun’s hand squeezed tight on Zhou Mi’s side, urging him to be quiet.
“I heard of that. What would make a vampire desperate enough to give a human his blood? Why is the thrall not enough?”
“I know. I heard some desperate vampires are paid to open a vein, but…” The vampire leaned closer to Kyuhyun and the child sobbed into Zhou Mi’s neck. “I hear some vampires, they take their blood by force. They sell it, you know? So if they don’t get enough, they take it anyway.”
Zhou Mi’s stomach was twisting, and he had to bite his tongue not to ask the questions that were boiling in him, or yelp at how tightly Kyuhyun was holding him to tell him not to speak.
“Is there something being done to stop it?” Kyuhyun asked. “Vampire blood isn’t meant to be eaten. Won’t it be a danger to us?”
The vampire shrugged. “We look out for ourselves.”
“We might be forced to look out for each other, if too much blood is given,” Kyuhyun mused. “Though…is it cheaper than buying children to feed from?”
The vampire shared an amused look with him. “It might be.”
Kyuhyun smiled, and pushed Zhou Mi away. “Go to the door and wait for me.”
As though Kyuhyun didn’t want him to hear how to find the Euphoria. Still, he hummed and cuddled the boy near the door, keeping an eye out to make sure no other vampires were approaching him. Wary was all he could be, with Kyuhyun’s warnings hanging over his head.
Kyuhyun approached him no more than a minute later, inclining his head toward the door. “Time to take my new meal home.”
There was laughter from those who could hear, or who cared, and Zhou Mi caught the eye of one vampire sending them very judging looks as though what they were doing was distasteful.
And it was, had it been anyone other than them.
Zhou Mi climbed quickly into the waiting carriage and Kyuhyun rapped the front to let the driver know they could go immediately after the door was shut behind them. And even then, they waited in silence for a minute as though someone could still be listening.
“They thought we were murderers, or worse.”
“I don’t think there is worse,” Zhou Mi replied. And he spoke to the child, then. “Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat when we get home? Or perhaps a clean bed.”
“A bath,” Kyuhyun muttered. “He likely has fleas.”
“He’s not a stray puppy,” Zhou Mi retorted.
“No, not a puppy. But he’s still filthy.”
“How much do I owe you?”
Kyuhyun stared at him from his shoes to the top of his head. “We’ll discuss it later. You weren’t listening?”
“I didn’t care how much, as long as you were able to do it.”
“Lucky for me,” Kyuhyun chuckled.
Zhou Mi just shook his head, and petted the child’s hair.
“You’re safe,” Zhou Mi told the boy. “Truly safe. We’ll feed you, and no one will hurt you. Are your parents alive?”
“Yes,” the boy said with a wavering voice before he broke down in tears, sobbing loudly into Zhou Mi’s shoulder.
Kyuhyun sighed, and looked away, and Zhou Mi just continued rubbing the child’s back.
And then he looked up again. “The other vampire, he told you where you could buy Euphoria?”
“Yes,” Kyuhyun said. “But it is undoubtedly just a seller. Not the place they keep supplies. That is even more secretive.”
“But he said…He also said vampires were being forced to give blood. They’re being attacked for it?”
Kyuhyun nodded. “Had your research told you anything like that?”
“We’d discussed it, but we’d never had proof of it. I assume if vampires were being attacked, they wouldn’t want to spread that information around.”
“You assume correctly,” Kyuhyun mused. “That wouldn’t be something they would be proud of. And unless whoever was attacking them told them why, they might not know, unless they really knew what was happening.”
“And some would care and some wouldn’t.”
Kyuhyun nodded, face grim in the occasionally light that illuminated his face as the carriage kept carrying them toward Kyuhyun’s home.
***
The child was indeed filthy, hungry, and exhausted. After they’d fetched a maid to help bathe him, he began falling asleep over the soup that Zhou Mi was trying to spoon into his mouth. Perhaps he was still afraid, but his body was overwhelming that. He’d been tucked in bed, with the maid bid to stay there and watch over him in case he woke. They did not need a child wandering Kyuhyun’s home on his own in the daylight hours that were soon approaching. Kyuhyun would be fast asleep, and Zhou Mi felt as though he could sleep until the next night if he were given leave to.
But Kyuhyun hadn’t finished eating, and there was that. And Zhou Mi hadn’t forgotten the bite at the vampire den, and how it had made him feel. Perhaps he was associating the bite with pleasure. Zhou Mi stripped out of his borrowed clothes, using a basin of water to wash a little of the itch from his skin from being in that place. He was drying his face as Kyuhyun emerged from the bathing room as well. With one light burning on the bedside table, they both slid beneath the covers, facing each other.
“We have a place to start from,” Kyuhyun mused as he began to run his hand over Zhou Mi’s skin. “If that vampire’s information brings us little, I will find another den, and go alone. What I cannot find from the vampires, I might be able to find from the humans who service them. I can rent one, speak to them. That is another-“
“No,” Zhou Mi said.
Kyuhyun blinked at him. “What do you mean, no? You’re the one-“
“Rent a human? You would feed from them?”
The laugh started soft, and rocked Kyuhyun’s body as it grew. “No. No, I see. This agreement is for the two of us. I would not bite the human. I would use a bribe.”
“You moved that vampire’s hand away from me.”
“Yes,” Kyuhyun agreed, grabbing Zhou Mi’s jaw and tilting his head closer. “Because you are mine. For two more weeks, at least. No one else should touch you.”
“And you are mine,” Zhou Mi stated, feeling quite equitable about it. “I shouldn’t like to imagine some other human with you when I know you would be returning to me.”
“Only talk and further your cause. The thrall will do everything.”
Zhou Mi stayed still as he heard more than saw Kyuhyun uncap the oil. He was too busy rubbing his lips against Kyuhyun’s jaw. The touch of Kyuhyun’s fingers was cool, and as Kyuhyun’s fingers pressed into Zhou Mi, he inhaled. His body gave. His body wanted. He was too used to Kyuhyun’s touch, to Kyuhyun’s need, to protest. He knew what pain there was, he would like it. It was revelation. And Kyuhyun had given him everything that night. Everything he had asked for and more.
“No other humans.”
“No human would want me like you do,” Kyuhyun told him. “You want to be fucked? You want me to bite you?”
“Yes. Please.”
Zhou Mi pulled Kyuhyun over him, not caring that he was begging. The sooner Kyuhyun was in him, the sooner the pleasure began. His legs spread wide, begging Kyuhyun’s hips. And he moaned as Kyuhyun sank into him. He saw Kyuhyun’s eyes in the den as they stared at each other, as they had kissed. He drew Kyuhyun’s head down, moaning against his lips as he pulled Kyuhyun into him. It was all he wanted, for Kyuhyun to take him right then, to touch him, to feel his tongue tracing Zhou Mi’s lips.
“Please more. Please don’t stop. Kyuhyun. Please.”
Kyuhyun silenced all but his moans with his mouth, his hands so busy rubbing Zhou Mi’s chest, his shoulders and sides. Pressing Zhou Mi’s thighs wide or bending them up, or wrapping them close as they rode desperate together.
Their lips parted only in desperation, Zhou Mi gasping in air as his heart thundered and his fingers almost idly stroking himself as pleasure pinned him. But Kyuhyun wasn’t still, kissing Zhou Mi’s neck and roughening the pounding of his hips until Zhou Mi’s eyes closed to try and contain it all. He was so close, knees tight against Kyuhyun’s ribs and his pleas were wordless gasps and moans.
“You like the bite?” Kyuhyun rasped.
“Yes. I like it. Kyuhyun. Oh! Oh. Please. Please. Kyuhyun. Close.”
Kyuhyun reached between them as his teeth sank home, and Zhou Mi came over his fingers as Kyuhyun fed, and rutted, and came for him.
“Look at me. Look at me,” Kyuhyun ordered. Slowly, Zhou Mi focused on him, on the red smear beside Kyuhyun’s mouth. Usually he was too fastidious for that. It made Zhou Mi want to kiss his mouth clean. “Did you speak the truth? You like the bite?”
Zhou Mi nodded slowly, not sure why Kyuhyun was so insistent. “I do. I enjoy it. You make it…enjoyable.”
However inane that sounded. He’d just been inundated with pleasure. His brain was still catching up.
The tension went out of Kyuhyun’s shoulders, and Zhou Mi reached out an arm, steadying him as he stretched out beside Zhou Mi on the bed.
“The boy should sleep, and the maid will see to him. You should stay, in case he wakes and is frightened. He should have someone familiar to greet him.”
“Yes, I’ll stay. Thank you,” Zhou Mi said. And he pressed kisses along Kyuhyun’s cheek, settling close. He pressed another kiss to Kyuhyun’s mouth, feeling it returned. He had no intention of leaving Kyuhyun’s side.
***
Zhou Mi had slid into a deep sleep, his breath hot and even against Kyuhyun’s neck. It should have made him fall asleep right away, that warmth. On his mind was Zhou Mi’s wildness. His moans, his gasps. The cries when Kyuhyun had turned him, taken him. Uninhibited, given entirely to pleasure and Kyuhyun’s hands. It was as though a light had been lit inside Zhou Mi, spurred by Kyuhyun’s willingness to help him. He wanted to wake Zhou Mi, see if the fire was still there. What he’d undoubtedly get was a sleepy man wanting to cuddle. It was another side of Zhou Mi he had not expected. Gratitude, emotion.
It nagged in the back of his mind, until he fell asleep.
***