**************************************************************************

Micah woke to the sound of the bedroom door opening. He lay still with his eyes closed, taking check of his senses, before visibly stirring. The silk sheets beneath his body were warm, despite the chilliness of the room, and the Nimir-Raj was loathed to move from them. He was too comfortable, he mentally concluded, and physically, he felt that tell-tale heavy-limb sensation which warned him of trying to rise just yet. It would help if he had something to eat or drink and maybe the person entering the room was here to attend to such things.

Micah could not have been more wrong. His nose recognized the person’s scent before he even opened his eyes or heard the person speak. He knew in an instant he’d worn out the welcome Jean-Claude had extended to him and was about to suffer more of Asher’s ongoing disdain.

“Why are you still here?” the blonde vampire asked the wereleopard, his voice soft and low and full of unjustified irritation.

The Nimir-Raj not only opened his eyes, he sat up, and twisted his torso around to face Asher through a veil of sleep-tousled hair.

“I fell asleep,” he answered truthfully, carefully keeping his tone level. He didn’t want to sound defensive because he had no reason to be.

Asher was standing at the foot of the bed, his hands on his slender hips, adopting a rather petulant-looking pose.

His proximity caught Micah off-guard. He’d known the vampire had entered the room, but until he’d opened his eyes and turned around, he’d been unaware Asher had been all but hovering over him.

Micah sat up fully then, gathering the silk sheets around him. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed by his nudity, it was just that Asher’s animosity made him feel uncomfortable and self-conscious.

“Are you looking for Jean-Claude?” the Nimir-Raj questioned, shifting gears to appear helpful. He reached up and absently pushed his long hair back off his face.

Asher merely glared back at him, his one visible eye the color of glacier ice, his expression just as cold. As if to contrast Micah’s previous action, Asher refused to draw aside his own hair, letting the heavy gold waves conceal the scarred right side of his face. He wore his hair that way to spare himself from strangers’ repulsed reactions at the sight of him--or at least Asher’s perception of their repulsion, Micah thought. Micah had seen the scars. He hadn‘t reacted to them then, and wasn‘t about to now, but Micah also knew Asher only revealed himself to a privileged few, and he was not counted among them.

Frustrated, Micah sighed, and dropped his gaze from the vampire’s face. He threw back the sheets and slid out of the bed, not caring about being nude in front of Asher now. He picked through the pile of discarded garments on the floor and pulled on his clothes.

His mind inevitably wandered back a few hours earlier when he and Jean-Claude--after recklessly discarding their clothing--had passionately tumbled onto the bed in a tangle of limbs, torridly kissing and teasing their hungers until neither could be denied further.

Micah’s hand sought the healed puncture wounds on the side of his neck and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Jean-Claude had been insatiable--not only fulfilling himself on the wereleopard’s powerful blood, but his willing body. He had taken Micah over and over until exhaustion rendered the Nimir-Raj unresponsive and he‘d collapsed in a glowing, gratified heap of thrumming nerves to sleep it off.

Asher made a distinct sound of impatience, forcibly pulling Micah from his pleasant reverie and dumping him back in the here and now. Now the Nimir-Raj looked up at Asher with annoyance.

“I’m going,” he announced, yanking at the buckle of his belt to fasten it. He wasn’t about to bother taking the time to put on his shoes. Instead he swept them up in stride as he headed towards the door.

To Micah’s surprise, Asher snagged his arm as he went by him, effectively halting him in his tracks.

Leaning towards him, the vampire stopped only when his lips were a few scant inches from the wereleopard’s. For a bewildering split second, Micah believed Asher was about to kiss him and his heart all but stopped in anticipation.

Instead, Asher spoke, kissing Micah with only a cold breath of air and not with his soft, full, European mouth.

“Stay away from me,” Asher whispered ominously.

Micah’s eyes snapped up to Asher’s to return his glare. He twisted his arm free and continued on his way with newfound determination. Asher had succeeded in shaking him, but not with his concealed threats.

*******************

“Leave him alone,” Anita said succinctly in that no-nonsense tone of voice she’d perfected.

Micah sighed and frowned deeply. “Yes, I suppose that would be the wisest thing to do,” he replied, reasoning. “It’s just that I feel the need to befriend Asher and let him know I’m neither his enemy nor his rival. I managed to convince Jean-Claude…despite the fact we nearly killed each other within minutes of our initial encounter. Surely Asher can see I’m no threat.”

Anita cracked a smile, but her eyes told Micah it wasn’t from mirth.

“Asher is different. He’s not as, well, let’s just say forgiving, as Jean-Claude is. Asher is special. Just give him time to get to know you,” she suggested, reaching over to trail her fingers soothingly over Micah’s shoulder. “He’ll come around.”

The sensation sent a tingle down the wereleopard’s spine. Micah fixed his eyes on Anita’s and as if by some unspoken cue, she leaned towards him and parted her lips.

The familiar advance immediately brought Asher’s taunting to mind and the Nimir-Raj flinched from Anita’s kiss. He lowered his gaze to the floor in front of him and sighed, aware of the stunned expression he’d just put on his lover’s face.

As expected, Anita misinterpreted Micah’s reaction. The moment he opened his mouth to apologize, she held up her hand to stay him.

“Whatever,” she curtly told him. “Do what you want.” With that, she turned and walked from the room.

Micah closed his eyes and cursed himself for not being able to let the incident go. It hadn‘t been the first time he‘d been bullied and most certainly wouldn‘t be the last, so why couldn’t he stop thinking about it? Why couldn’t he stop thinking about him?

**********************

There was a small group of young women clustered around the employee exit in the alley behind Guilty Pleasures, chatting amiably with each other and the handsome security guard at the door. They were waiting in hopes of meeting one of the dancers as he left the building. Maybe they’d ask to have a picture taken with him, have him sign his name across their chest, or beg a kiss from him. Clearly to them, it was the perfect way to cap off their night at the club.

Micah watched the women from his perch on top of the hood of his car across the street. He considered joining them at some point, but decided against it, not wanting to be distracted by them when the particular person he was waiting for emerged.

Each time the stage door opened, the noise level in the alley increased twofold as the women clamored around the departing performers under the watchful eye of the burly guard. The men would dutifully flirt a little and grant each request the women made before slipping away from them into the night.

As more and more of the performers left Guilty Pleasures, Micah noticed the assembly of fans decreased until there was no one left waiting. No one but him. Even the guard had retreated inside.

After awhile, Micah checked his watch and slid off the hood of his car. He crossed the street, silently making his way closer to the employee exit. He paused in the crook of the building beneath a window at the mouth of the alley, his eyes fixed on the now unguarded door.

It should be anytime now. Even vampires needed to take breaks from tedious activities, Micah mused.

As if on cue, the door creaked open and a tall, shadowy figure stepped gracefully out. Micah’s breath caught in his throat at the sight of that familiar gold-colored hair. The wereleopard knew Asher worked in the offices on Thursday nights, pouring over the books, managing the accounts, and generally organizing things for Jean-Claude.

The alley was well lit, but Asher seemed to purposefully move outside the realm of the garish flood light and disappear into the darkness. A moment later, Micah heard a soft click of metal, and saw a tiny flickering flame. Asher’s face was briefly illuminated by it as he lit a cigarette.

Tentatively, the Nimir-Raj moved a little closer, needing to speak to Asher, but fully aware of the fact once he confronted the vampire, he had no idea what he would actually say to him. Micah initially believed approaching him this way would appear casual and put Asher at ease. He was putting the proverbial ball in Asher’s court so to speak, giving Asher the option of inviting him somewhere more suitable for further conversation. If the vampire chose not to, then no one would ever know they’d even spoken tonight. All would be forgotten, and there’d be no need to explain anything to anyone else who may be observing nearby.

Now Micah wasn’t so sure this was a good idea. What he was doing may not look like such a chance encounter to Asher now--despite the fact Micah sometimes waited for Nathaniel to offer him a ride home after his performance, and could claim a perfectly legitimate reason for hanging around the stage door. But he knew his timing had been off, and the fact he remained rooted in the crook of the building, out of sight, merely observing Asher’s every move with growing fascination--smacked of voyeurism.

Micah felt as if he couldn’t help himself however. The opportunity to watch Asher in a state of such uninhibited ease unexpectedly proved a temptation too powerful for the Nimir-Raj to resist.

He pressed himself tighter to the side of the building, effectively concealing himself in the shadows, and all but held his breath.

The vampire took a deep drag off his cigarette and blew the smoke forcefully from his nose. Leaning his back against the building, he closed his eyes and massaged them with his hand a little before threading his long fingers through his tousled bangs and pushing them fully off his face. He raised his leg and propped his foot on the railing just outside the door, striking a rather sexy, rakish pose.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the vampire smoothed his hand down the length of his slender torso, settling his palm between his legs. He held it there momentarily before languidly rubbing the prominent bulge beneath the black material of his pants. He inhaled deeply through his teeth, tossing his cigarette aside, and pressed his palm harder into his groin. Almost teasingly, he stroked the outline of his hardening length, sighing softly at the carnally pleasurable sensations he was giving himself.

Watching Asher, Micah felt the ache of need stirring inside him as well. He would have dearly loved to know who the vampire was thinking of as he secretly engaged in this turn of indulgent autoeroticism. The whisper of hope that seeped unbidden into Micah’s mind was startling, shaking him from his own indulgent fantasies, and making him blazingly aware of how things genuinely stood between himself and Asher. It also served to remind him of his purpose here tonight.

Micah frowned, feeling as if he were invading Asher’s privacy now. The vampire must have believed he was alone and unseen, secure in the darkness he’d wrapped himself in and able to entertain a bit of quiet personal peace for a change. A peace the Nimir-Raj had intruded on. A sigh of regret slipped from the wereleopard’s lips before he could stop it.

Abruptly, Asher straightened. He looked around from side to side, then seemed to zero in on Micah still concealed in the shadows. The wereleopard knew the vampire could see in the dark as well as he could, and felt a sinking sickness in the pit of his stomach now. Their eyes locked, and in that moment, Micah realized the futility of his hiding.

He licked his lips and reluctantly started forward, only to be halted in his tracks by the fury radiating from Asher’s gaze. It almost made the wereleopard step back. This wasn’t at all how he had pictured this encounter, but he truly had to speak with Asher now.

He sighed again. “We need to talk,” the Nimir-Raj ventured reasonably. He walked slowly up to Asher and stood peering at him with an open expression.

Asher jabbed his index finger sharply into Micah’s chest. “I told you to stay away from me,” he rumbled in reply. “I meant it.”

Micah scowled back at him. “We need to come to some sort of an understanding,” the wereleopard continued. “You’ve got to realize--I’m not going anywhere. We’re going to be forced into each other’s company whether we like it or not. Sometimes intimately, as we share the same lovers. Wouldn’t it be better if you could at least…tolerate me?”

The vampire shook his head decisively, making his long hair whip exaggeratedly back and forth in the night breeze. He turned back towards the stage door, clearly intent on returning to the club. “I already tolerate you,” Asher stated in clipped tones. He threw Micah a derisive departing look over his shoulder. “If I didn’t tolerate you, you’d be dead by now.” With that, he pushed his way inside and slammed the door shut behind him.

Micah kicked at the railing in frustration before turning away. He knew he had only made things worse for himself tonight…in more ways than one.

***********************

The Nimir-Raj moved through the catacombs beneath the Circus of the Damned with all the feline stealth and grace that was second nature to him. He knew each subterranean level now and could easily negotiate the maze of chambers and halls. It helped that the Master Vampire of the City had granted him carte blanche access to his living quarters. In his company, Micah had quickly learned each passage. That knowledge proved useful now.

But it wasn’t the Master of the City Micah was looking for, and once he’d reached his destination, he mentally braced himself for the inevitable confrontation which was sure to follow.

As expected, when Asher emerged from his room that evening to find Micah boldly waiting in the hall outside his door, the blonde vampire clearly knew, in spite of his warning the night before, the wereleopard had intentionally sought him out once more.

“Listen to me for a minute,” Micah began, holding up his hands to stay the vampire’s hostility.

Apparently Asher wanted nothing to do with whatever the Nimir-Raj’s reasoning was. His strikingly blue eyes flashed at Micah as his upper lip curled back in an automatic snarl. The vampire shoved him back with such force that Micah collided with the wall on the opposite side of the hall. The back of his head cracked sharply against the jagged stone. Somewhat dazed, Micah slid slowly to the floor.

The vampire stood glaring down at Micah for a moment. Micah peered up at him and tried to climb to his feet. “Asher, please--”

Before Micah could finish speaking, Asher grabbed him by the neck. “I told you to stay out of my sight.”

The wereleopard struggled as the vampire’s hand tightened around his throat. He growled a warning to no avail. Asher was clearly set on teaching him a lesson Micah wouldn’t soon forget.

The pain was fast becoming debilitating and Micah clawed at the vampire’s hand in vain. To keep from being strangled, Micah wrapped his hands around Asher’s wrist and tangled his legs around the backs of the vampire’s knees, bringing Asher crashing on top of him to the floor. He landed one good punch to the side of the vampire’s head before having the wind knocked out of him by Asher’s weight.

Seemingly caught off guard, Asher blinked down at the wereleopard underneath him and frowned. Then, as if to punish Micah for his audacity and as he recovered his initial anger, Asher backhanded Micah so hard it rattled the Nimir-Raj’s teeth and split the corner of his mouth.

“You don‘t fucking learn, do you?” Asher seethed.

Micah decided the question was rhetorical as he couldn’t have answered him even if he had wanted to. Asher’s vice-like grip on his throat wouldn’t allow him speech and was just barely letting him breathe.

The Nimir-Raj stared up at Asher in abject confusion. He hadn‘t expected this level of hostility from him, and couldn‘t fathom why the mere sight of him had provoked Asher to violence. The hopelessness of his situation was just as suffocating as the vampire’s grip. Feeling defeated, Micah stopped struggling and lowered his eyes submissively.

As if to add insult to injury, Asher smiled at Micah then, apparently satisfied that he had indeed made the impression on the wereleopard he‘d hoped. Gradually, he eased his hold on the Nimir-Raj‘s throat. Slowly, Asher turned his head and Micah watched as the vampire’s face descended over his. Bewildered and racked with anticipation, Micah’s eyes widened. It appeared again as if Asher was about to kiss him. Perhaps surrendering to him was all that the vampire required.

Longing filled Micah’s heart as his eyes fluttered close and he parted his lips. It almost surprised Micah that he could still feel this way about Asher, even after suffering his relentless ill-temper. Regardless, he waited for Asher’s kiss breathlessly--until he felt Asher’s tongue touch the bleeding corner of his mouth with small delicate licks. The Nimir-Raj sighed with frustration, but allowed the vampire to feed from his wound. It was a brazen violation on the part of the vampire, but Micah concluded it was better than being strangled and actually felt rather sensuous.

After another moment or so, Asher sat back and made a show of licking his lips. “Mmm. No wonder your blood makes Jean-Claude swoon,” he taunted. “Very tasty, mon ami.”

Micah didn’t respond. Instead, he took advantage of the reprieve Asher had given him and did a quick check of the injuries he’d sustained. In moments, Micah realized how much he hurt. Anger and humiliation swelled inside him.

But just as he was about to admonish the vampire and push him off of him, Micah’s eyes unexpectedly focused on Asher’s face, and despite his anger, the wereleopard couldn’t help but marvel at the neo-classic perfection of the vampire’s features--all so liberally and appropriately framed in tangled strands of gold silk. Micah took a small, calming breath and his nose detected the faintest trace of sandalwood from Asher’s shimmering hair and just a touch of bergamot wafting from his pale skin. It had a rather tranquilizing effect on the wereleopard and soothed his irritation.

Now Micah gazed up at Asher, mesmerized. The vampire peered back down at Micah with breathtaking eyes lined in a thick feathering of darkest brown. His cheeks were high and elegant, his nose shapely and straight. Micah noted that Asher’s mouth was so supple and full, kissing him must feel like sinking one’s lips into eider down and suffocating in its softness.

The desire Micah suddenly felt to capture that mouth with his preoccupied him now. He had been teased enough. Now he wanted to wrap his arms around Asher’s shoulders to imprison him against his body and passionately kiss him until the vampire cried out with need. He wanted to taste Asher’s cool saliva on his tongue, revel in the alluring cavern of his mouth, and breathe into him the heat of his lust for him.

Entranced now beyond his pain, Micah slowly raised his hand to touch the silky ends of Asher’s hair cascading down the right side of his face. He ran his fingers boldly through the long gold strands, pushing it back behind Asher’s ears. For a moment, Asher seemed too surprised by Micah’s tenderness to react. Encouraged, Micah smiled tremulously at the vampire and sighed.

“I want you,” the wereleopard whispered impetuously. The Nimir-Raj felt his body respond to his fantasies and the very real weight of the vampire lying on top of him. Purposefully, suggestively, Micah ground his hips against Asher’s. His thickening erection pressed into Asher‘s loins with a enticing expression of his arousal.

Asher’s body jerked as if Micah had struck him. With a reverberating hiss, the vampire released the shapeshifter, flying off him with such intensity he banged into the closed door of his room on the opposite side of the hall.

Climbing achingly to his feet, Micah winced--the pain Asher had inflicted on him was flooding back into him now like water through a ruptured dam. The arousal he’d felt previously was now drowning in other, much more unpleasant sensations. He could almost feel the bruises on his body blackening the surface of his skin. Blood drizzled from an open wound on the back of his head as well as from the corner of his mouth. His chest burned where his ribs had been crushed to the point of snapping, and the whole time, Anita’s warning rang piercingly in his ears. The Nimir-Raj looked up at Asher sadly. He’d obviously pushed him too far.

“Forgive me,” he told the vampire, his voice sounding raspy and thick. “This was…a mistake.”

With that, he turned and fled the passage--his only goal now to reach the outer door of the Circus, and disappear into the night’s shadows, never to return.

*************************

Even though Micah was convinced he was not being followed by Asher, he couldn’t help but look back. It was then he nearly ran into Jean-Claude who seemingly appeared in front of him out of thin air. Micah realized how desperate his state of mind was at that point if he hadn’t detected the Master of the City’s approach long before coming face to face with him.

He all but screeched to a halt and tried to temper his thundering heart and heavy breathing. The smile of greeting he offered Jean-Claude was too late and too feeble to be effective however.

Jean-Claude’s face was that perfected blankness Micah recognized, but his dark eyes widened slightly with obvious alarm as he detected the smeared blood and bruises on Micah‘s skin.

Now those dark eyes thoroughly examined the wereleopard, turning him slowly around, and despite the fact the wounds had already begun to heal, Micah knew Jean-Claude would not dismiss this issue and steeled himself for the inquisition to come.

“Who did this to you?” the Master Vampire demanded in a tender and soothing tone of voice that Micah found more unnerving than if he’d yelled.

Micah shrugged with forced nonchalance. The last thing he wanted was to cause Asher trouble, and there would be trouble if Jean-Claude got involved. It would only drive Asher farther away from Micah and cause even more animosity between them.

Micah knew it was Jean-Claude who’d sparked Asher’s hostility towards him in the first place. He could still recall the gleam of jealousy in Asher’s eyes as he watched his former lover gather Micah’s naked body into his arms to feed from him. Asher’s ensuing outrage had taxed Jean-Claude’s patience to the limits resulting in that chillingly inhuman hiss of warning. Humiliated, Asher had fled the room, but not before shooting Micah a look so full of hatred, the mere thought of it still gripped the pit of the wereleopard’s stomach.

“It was nothing,” the Nimir-Raj told the Master of the City. “A minor altercation.”

Jean-Claude raised a brow inquisitively.

“With whom?”

Micah looked at Jean-Claude pleadingly.

As if to release the Nimir-Raj from having to provide the damning information, Jean-Claude answered his question himself. He sighed knowingly.

“Asher.”

Micah could only nod slowly in confirmation.

The werewolf Jason, Jean-Claude’s pomme de sang, appeared in the hall a moment or so later, apparently mentally summoned by his master. Jean-Claude turned to him, but gestured at Micah with a wave of his hand.

“Take the Nimir-Raj below, see to his wounds, and provide him with fresh clothing,” Jean-Claude instructed, much to Micah’s dismay. “Once he’s clean and dressed, bring him to my parlor and have him wait for me there.”

Jason nodded without question, but the wereleopard backed away from him.

“Jean-Claude, don’t do this,” Micah murmured, already knowing his request was futile. The fact he hadn’t bothered garnering Micah’s consent told the Nimir-Raj he’d have no other option.

The vampire extended his hand and gently grasped Micah’s chin, tilting his face up towards his. “It is done,” he whispered back. Releasing him, Jean-Claude turned on his booted heel and strode purposefully back down the hall.

Jason cleared his throat tactfully. There was no question of what the Nimir-Raj would do now. He followed the young werewolf back to the parlor.

***************************

Though it was only a matter of minutes Jean-Claude kept Micah waiting, the wereleopard felt as if it had been hours. At the sound of footsteps, he rose to his feet and fixed his eyes on the living room entryway.

Jean-Claude glided into the room followed closely by Asher. Apparently the blonde vampire had been kept in the dark as to why he was being taken here, and spying Micah across the room genuinely seemed to startle him.

The air between them bristled with power and the tension in the room was suddenly so thick it felt tangible. Asher faced Jean-Claude now, those crystalline eyes of his still glowered with anger, but Micah could see they were also overcast with sadness.

“Why shame me like this?” the blonde vampire asked his friend, leaning towards him and lowering his voice.

Jean-Claude appeared entirely disinterested and wouldn’t even look at Asher. Instead, as if to pull off a more convincing display, he affected a certain strange fascination with the lace cuff of his sleeve.

“Apologize,” the Master of the City said simply and without tone.

Asher’s eyes snapped from Jean-Claude to Micah, then back to Jean-Claude. His expression told Micah he was all but livid at his former lover‘s veiled accusation. “How do you know I’m not the one deserving of the apology? How are you so very sure I’m the one at fault?”

Jean-Claude raised his eyes to Asher’s face ever so slowly. He held him captive in his gaze a moment before speaking.

“I will not tolerate this kind of behavior, Asher,” he said ominously.

Asher appeared to cringe from Jean-Claude‘s reprimand, and Micah’s heart truly went out to him. Apparently Jean-Claude wasn’t going to waste time with hearing what had actually transpired between the two. He only wanted it resolved.

“Very well,” the blonde vampire hissed between gritted teeth. He turned towards Micah, clearly struggling to convey a degree of sincerity that would appease Jean-Claude. “I am sorry.”

Micah licked his lips apprehensively. He shook his head. “No. No. I’m the one who needs to apologize to you,” he quickly amended, glancing hopefully in Jean-Claude’s direction. “I provoked him. I shouldn’t have. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

The only hint of surprise Jean-Claude revealed was a subtle turn of his head. If Micah had not been looking directly at the raven-haired vampire, he’d have missed it. But it was Asher’s reaction Micah was most interested in. He faced Asher fully again.

“I really am very sorry,” Micah added sincerely.

For a moment, Asher seemed taken aback by the apology. He stared at the wereleopard, his mind clearly in turmoil at this unexpected turn of events. After another tension-filled second had lapsed, Asher focused back on Jean-Claude.

“Satisfied?”

Jean-Claude looked at both men with an obvious tinge of exasperation, but he nodded.

Micah sank back down onto the sofa behind him and sighed as he watched Jean-Claude walk from the room.

Asher focused on the Nimir-Raj now.

Micah wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but the weight of the vampire’s steely stare soon became too much for the wereleopard to bear. Lowering his eyes, his gaze spilled down Asher’s long, lean torso, over the sloping curve of his finely tapered waist and slender hips, and then slid savoringly down to those long sinewy legs of his that seemed to just go on and on and on.

Too late, the Nimir-Raj realized Asher had noticed the way Micah had been looking at him. Raising his eyes once more to the blonde vampire’s face, Micah could see a myriad of mixed emotions playing across his fair visage. He’d startled him. He’d confused him. But overall, Micah had once more angered him.

“What do you want from me?” Asher asked, his voice breathy and low.

Micah leaned back against the sofa and closed his eyes, exhaling the breath he’d been unconsciously holding. Anything, everything….

“Nothing,” he responded, emotionlessly, dismissing the matter with a wave of his hand. “I’ll leave you alone from now on. I promise.”

A flicker of consternation marred the vampire’s features momentarily, but it was gone in an instant. He turned from the wereleopard without another word and slowly stalked from the room.

********************************

Short of flat-out telling Anita she’d been absolutely right regarding Asher, Micah chose to simply steer clear of the vampire as he had promised. It had been two nights since their altercation in the hallway at the Circus and the Nimir-Raj believed he’d since shaken Asher’s distracting influence over him.

Secretly, Micah’s mind remained entirely too full of Asher however. He thought about him too often throughout the day and now, as he waited for Anita to join him in bed, he recalled the sensation of having Asher’s long sinewy body draped over him as the vampire lapped at the blood on his mouth with the tip of his tongue.

The memory stirred the embers of desire in the Nimir-Raj, making his body ache with unfulfilled need. Grasping the warm, soft head of his stiffening penis, Micah squeezed it gently and slid his fist down and back up its length. He closed his eyes and settled back comfortably on the bed, letting his fantasies run amok as the movement of his hand fell into a pleasurable rhythm. If only Asher had responded differently to his show of interest in the hall, the wereleopard mused. Micah knew he would probably be with him tonight if he had.

In Asher’s private room, with flickering candles to provide the only ambience and light, Micah would willingly succumb to the vampire’s every sexual whim. The Nimir-Raj imagined what Asher would feel like as he sheathed himself inside Micah’s body. He imagined the sensation of the vampire’s elegant hands exploring him everywhere…his mouth tasting him…his passion consuming him.

A moan escaped Micah’s lips and his hips spasmed as an intense jolt of pleasure shot through him. He was only vaguely aware of Anita joining him on the bed and situating herself between his quivering legs. Her small hands slid up the insides of his thighs and she chuckled lightly at what she no doubt perceived to be her lover’s impatience.

“Slow down there partner,” she told him teasingly, reaching out to cover his hand with her own.

Micah opened his eyes and released himself, breathing through the frenzied state he’d put himself in. He felt Anita wrap her hands around the base of his cock and spasmed again in lustful anticipation.

She laved his erection with her tongue, moistening his skin before taking him into her mouth and easing the head of his penis to the back of her throat. She sucked on him gently, teasing him with her teeth and her tongue until she had prompted another guttural moan from him.

Micah’s eyes fluttered close once more and he reached out to grasp Anita’s head. Tangling his fingers in her thick curly hair, the wereleopard urged her to go down on him harder and faster.

His Nimir-Ra wantonly obliged him, clearly hungry for the sex, and proceeded to devour his cock voraciously. The orgasm she drew from him seized the wereleopard’s body with such a violent explosion of pleasure, he was left panting and shaking and unable to move in the minutes following.

Anita repositioned herself beside Micah, stretching out underneath his arm. Micah peered over at her and she smiled, licking her lips. The wereleopard’s eyes zeroed in of the moist fullness of her mouth and recalled another‘s just-as-beguiling lips so ripe and moist, the Nimir-Raj fairly ached to be kissed by them.

“Kiss me now,” Micah told Anita, rolling onto his side to face her.

Without hesitation, Anita did, kissing Micah softly at first before deepening it as the embrace lingered on. Micah reached down and took hold of her thigh and draped it over his hip, opening her legs. He slipped his hand around her small, shapely ass to the wet, silky lips hidden in her cleft. As he plunged his fingers into her, Anita jerked against him and whimpered into his mouth.

“Yes,“ the Nimir-Raj whispered to her encouragingly. He wanted her to respond favorably to his desire for her. He wanted to make her scream his name with passion so loud that Jean-Claude would hear it through the marks.

“Yes,“ Anita echoed and writhed deliciously beside him. Micah sensually ground the heel of his hand against her clit and dragged his mouth down her throat. Anita moaned loudly then and rocked her hips forward encouragingly.

“I want you,” the Nimir-Raj exhaled against her perfumed skin. His fingers stroked the nerve endings inside her body eliciting another ragged moan from her. “…And I‘m going to make you want me.”

“I do want you,” Anita replied breathlessly.

Micah paused in his ministrations, his eyes snapping open as realization set in. He tried to mentally shake away the wild fantasy which had been fueling his sexual aggression thus far, and captured Anita’s mouth in another smoldering kiss to distract himself from it.

Clearly his preoccupation with Asher had not been resolved.

************************

Asher had told Micah that he at least tolerated him. If their last few encounters were any indication, toleration appeared to be all Micah could hope for from Asher.

The Nimir-Raj had recognized that he had simply developed an infatuation for Asher which made the wereleopard determined not to pursue anything more from him. Especially the intimacy he craved. It was not meant to be.

When Jean-Claude extended an invitation for Micah to come to him at sunset this evening, Micah readily agreed. He decided that returning to the Circus of the Damned would put this new resolve to the ultimate test and he was not about to shun Jean-Claude to avoid Asher. He needed to simply get Asher out of his mind and he knew it. This was apparently the way Asher wanted it and this was what he was going to get.

Jean-Claude was waiting for Micah when he arrived below: hungry and eager to feast on the wereleopard’s powerful blood. He took him to his bedroom without ceremony and closed and locked the door behind them. It told Micah the vampire intended to indulge in more than just his blood tonight.

As usual, Micah stripped and presented himself to the Master of the City on the bed to be taken. Jean-Claude stood watching him the entire time, letting an enraptured expression show on his face. He shed his robe and draped it over the high-backed chair in the corner of the room, then he approached the wereleopard with an almost feral gleam in his dark eyes.

Moving like smoke, he knelt on the foot of the bed, taking Micah’s ankles in his hands and caressing them tenderly before splaying the wereleopard’s legs. Bending over, he nibbled a trail up the length of Micah’s calf to his thigh--setting every nerve-ending in the Nimir-Raj’s lower body on edge. Jean-Claude paused once he reached the juncture between Micah’s legs, and flashed a sexy smile at the apparent state in which just that small bit of foreplay had put the Nimir-Raj in.

Becoming more aroused by each passing minute, Micah watched the vampire sink gracefully to the mattress and fix his eyes on a particular spot just below Micah’s groin on his right side. Jean-Claude massaged it gently as he bestowed soft kisses on it. Apparently, this was where the vampire would bite him.

The wereleopard felt his skin warm as Jean-Claude interspersed long swipes of his tongue with delicate, playful nips of his teeth. Micah could feel the vampire’s power now, filling his mind with vacant wanton lust, and when Jean-Claude worked to mark the skin on his thigh by carefully sucking and gnawing on it, Micah threw his head back against the pillow and moaned low with uninhibited delight.

By the time Jean-Claude’s fangs pierced his femoral artery, Micah was already trembling with need. Teasingly, Jean-Claude fondled the Nimir-Raj’s sex as he fed from him: stroking Micah’s engorged cock, he pressed a wet digit into the wereleopard’s tight hole and languidly fingered him. It drove Micah wild with desire and before the vampire had even taken his fill, the Nimir-Raj was hit with a mind-blowing orgasm. Jean-Claude’s physical manipulations--as well as the enchanted sensation of the blood being pulled from his body--sent wave after crashing wave of pleasure washing over Micah.

Overcome with afterglow, the Nimir-Raj was only barely aware of Jean-Claude lifting his hips. He heard the vampire coo at him with a litany of French endearments and felt the new warmth in Jean-Claude’s lips as he dotted the leopard’s abdomen with kisses. It wasn’t until Jean-Claude actually penetrated him that Micah’s full awareness came flooding back. The pressure and movement inside his body renewed his arousal and he groaned and spasmed with sensual bliss. It took only a few minutes more for him to come again. As Jean-Claude gasped out his own fulfillment, Micah recovered his.

In the blissful moments following, they lay tangled together, kissing and nuzzling and cuddling one another affectionately. Micah happily decided he’d never forego the contentment he found in Jean-Claude’s arms just to appease Asher’s temper. He took Jean-Claude’s beautiful face in his hands and captured his mouth in a devouring kiss.

“You’re so incredibly sexy,” he purred to the vampire. “Let’s make love all night.”

“Ah, merci,” Jean-Claude whispered back to the shapeshifter and smiled, “for the most generous offering, mon ami, of your truly scrumptious body. My hungers have been well sated…for the time being.” He winked at him then insinuatingly.

Micah peered over at Jean-Claude with heavily-lidded eyes. “My pleasure,” he responded thickly. “Seriously.”

Jean-Claude smiled at him a little sadly. Then vampire withdrew from the wereleopard’s body and not so gracefully collapsed to the mattress beside Micah.

“I hate to have to ‘kiss and run‘, so to speak, but I have an appointment across town with my accountant this evening that I cannot afford to miss.” He leaned down and gave Micah a soft, sensuous kiss on the lips. “You will need to rest a bit, I can tell. You’re welcome to remain here for as long as you please.” His smile became seductive. “If you’re still here when I return, I promise I shall make this oh-so-rude departure of mine up to you.”

Micah grinned at him and closed his eyes. “Promises, promises.”

The last thing he was aware of was the tingling sound of Jean-Claude’s laughter playing along his skin as the vampire left the bedroom.

**************************

The bed shifted under the weight of someone climbing on it. The deeply slumbering Nimir-Raj stirred. Jean-Claude did say he was coming back, he recalled through a groggy haze. Micah realized he must have been sleeping for quite sometime now if Jean-Claude had returned. Lazily, the wereleopard opened his eyes.

Before Micah could even register the fact that it was Asher and not Jean-Claude on the bed with him, the blonde vampire had the wereleopard’s arms pinned above his head. With a wicked-sounding laugh, Asher straddled Micah’s thighs, rendering him immobile.

Jolted awake, the Nimir-Raj struggled futilely, and glared up at the vampire in warning. “Let me go Asher. Now.”

Almost methodically, Asher shook his head and worked to unfasten his belt buckle and then unzipped his pants. “Lose the pretentious protests, mon ami. This is your fantasy. You know it. I know it. I‘m doing you a favor.”

Micah watched the vampire with increasing unease. Asher was only half right. The wereleopard had hoped they would become intimate--but not like this.

“No. I want you stop,” Micah told him, struggling to keep his voice level. “I’ve done nothing to deserve this.”

Asher grinned, flashing his fangs. “Don’t feel unworthy of me. Even the likes of you should be allowed to experience my expertise between the sheets. My apologies, however for subjecting you to these scars along with it. Just….close your pretty little cat eyes and I promise to keep the majority of my clothes on during our coupling.”

The vampire bent forward and stifled any further objections from the Nimir-Raj with a rough, but passionate kiss that fully took Micah’s breath away.

How long had the wereleopard dreamed of kissing Asher? It was just as sensual as he believed it would be, but instead of making him swoon with desire, it filled him with dread.

“Why?” Micah gasped as soon as Asher released his mouth to gnaw his jaw line. “Why are you doing this?”

Asher raised his head just enough to look Micah in the eyes. “Why?” the vampire echoed with an incredulous tone. He paused and laughed lightly. “Ah mon cher, you underestimate your allure. How could I not want to partake of such a delicious display of naked flesh, so seductively arranged on my lover’s bed, and sleeping peacefully in a puddle of his seed?” Asher’s hand slithered down Micah’s abdomen and none-too-gently seized his cock. “His scent is all over you. You taste of him. And it makes me…jealous.”

Micah shook his head. “That’s not my fault!” he snarled. “I don’t understand what it is between you two. I don’t know why he doesn’t sleep with you. And I don’t really care!”

Asher slid his fist slowly up the length of Micah’s subversively hardening erection. “Not jealous of you,” the vampire whispered, lowering his face to breathe his words into the wereleopard’s ear. “Jealous of him. Why should he be the only one who gets to fuck you?”

“Stop. Stop this now,” the Nimir-Raj rumbled through gritted teeth.

“Sssh,” Asher hushed him. “Lie back and relax, mon ami. I’ll make it pleasing for you, I promise. I do owe you a little something for admitting your guilt to Jean the other night. I thought that was quite honorable of you.” He nuzzled his cheek and then pressed his mouth against Micah’s neck. “Besides, you want me. You told me yourself. And I can smell it in the air.” The vampire flashed another wicked grin and waggled his eyebrows. “I can feel it in my hand.”

Micah growled, his anger gaining the upper hand over his fear. He jerked his face from the vampire’s questing mouth and tried to twist his wrists from his grasp. “Just like I can smell your desire for me! I can feel it against my leg! You want me just as much as I want you--so why resort to raping me? Are you that much a coward when it comes to your feelings? Why disguise them? Why deny them? Don’t take my body when I would freely offer it to you. Don’t force yours on me when I want it given.”

Asher was scowling at the wereleopard now. Something Micah had said apparently hit a chord with him. With a heavy sigh of clear resignation, the vampire climbed off of Micah and slipped off the bed. He righted his clothes and stood looking at the Nimir-Raj a moment, a strange, unreadable expression on his face.

Once freed, Micah sprang from the bed and snatched up his clothes. Not waiting to hear anything Asher would care to say in response, the wereleopard rushed into the adjacent bathroom and closed and locked the door.

With shaking hands, he pushed his long, disheveled hair from his face and turned on the faucets. Splashing cool water over his head, the wereleopard took a deep cleansing breath in an attempt to calm down. His pale green eyes glistened with excess moisture and his heart was pounding almost painfully hard inside his chest. He splashed more water on his face.

Still, the gentle knock on the bathroom door made the Nimir-Raj jump. He faced it, but made no move to open it.

“Micah?” Asher called to him softly through the door.

The wereleopard froze, unable to reply. Part of him wanted to back away from the door and another part of him wanted to throw it wide open.

“Micah,” the vampire tried again.

The Nimir-Raj found his hand reaching for the door before he’d even made up his mind to do so. He paused only a moment before disengaging the lock and turning the knob. He pulled the door open...but Asher was not there any longer.

Micah sighed, throwing himself against the doorframe, and swore hotly under his breath. Surely this wasn’t meant to be.

*******************************

Anita plopped onto the sofa next to Micah and crossed her arms over her chest. Without waiting for him to look up from his book at her, she started in.

“All right, what gives?” she asked him, bumping his arm with her shoulder. “You’ve been moping around this house for three days now. I want to know what’s wrong.”

Micah realized by the tone of her voice, there’d be no denying it. He truly didn’t want to get into things with her and so instead of answering her outright, he merely shrugged.

Anita shot him a dubious look.

“Well, I don’t know what you mean,” Micah countered defensively. “I’ve been acting as normal as I know how to.” He forced his eyes from her face and fixed them in the middle of the page of his book. He heard Anita sigh.

“Oh yeah right.” She gestured at his book. “This is normal.”

The doorbell rang just then, drawing both their attentions away from each other. Before Anita could get to her feet to answer it, Nathaniel whizzed by her en route.

“I’ve got it!” he sang out, stopping only to peek through the small window to see who it was first. His face lit up and he turned towards Anita with a knowing smile. “Flower delivery.”

Anita looked at Micah seemingly perplexed. The Nimir-Raj cleared his throat tactfully. “Jean-Claude in the doghouse with you for some reason?” After all, Anita was the only one who ever got flowers at the house and they were always from Jean-Claude.

The Nimir-Ra shook her head, but looked amusingly suspicious all of a sudden. “Not that I’m aware of,” she stated and stood up.

Nathaniel turned to face her with a modest bouquet of deep red roses in his arm and handed her the tiny envelope from their midst.

Anita accepted the card and went to open it, then stopped. She peered up at Micah, her eyes narrowing. “They’re for you.”

Micah could not have been more surprised by that bit of news. He set aside his book and rose to his feet, taking the pro-offered card from Anita’s out-stretched hand with slight hesitation.

“Jean-Claude in the doghouse with you by chance?” Anita teased.

Micah pulled the card from the envelope and read what it said.

Micah, I’ve decided to do this right. Please meet me tonight

The Nimir-Raj looked at the roses and smiled, wondering just what Asher meant by ’do this right’. He checked his watch, then handed the bouquet back to Nathaniel.

“Take care of these for me please,” he said to his leopard. “I’ve got to hurry or I‘ll be late.”

Both Anita and Nathaniel blinked at the Nimir-Raj in surprise.

Micah shrugged. “Apparently I’ve got a date tonight. I need to get in the shower and get dressed.”

************************************

Micah took a deep breath before descending the steps which led to the living quarters beneath the Circus of the Damned. He truly did not know what to expect tonight and didn’t want to jinx anything by venturing a guess.

One thing seemed certain, his rendezvous with Asher tonight would not end in violence like their other encounters. The roses the vampire had sent Micah appeared to suggest a truce--maybe even a token for forgiveness.

The Nimir-Raj recalled the gentle sound of Asher’s voice as he called his name through the closed bathroom door. Micah? Micah….

“Micah.”

The wereleopard actually heard his name suddenly, and did an abrupt about-face on his heels.

Asher stood before Micah with his hands clasped behind his back. He was wearing the same black shirt and pants he wore that night at Guilty Pleasures with his long golden hair now tousled and teased into a mass of spikey waves. He was also wearing that exotic cologne with the bergamot undertones that Micah found so intoxicating the last time he’d smelled it.

The Nimir-Raj couldn’t help but smile at the vampire. He gestured at him with a wave of his hand.

“Well hello,” he told him, his eyes sweeping down the length of him. “You…look nice.”

Asher’s gaze slipped modesty to the floor for a moment before giving the wereleopard his own appreciative once over.

“As do you,” the vampire said, taking in Micah’s attire for the evening. When his eyes fixed on the wereleopard’s face, Asher sighed and added, “Truly.”

Micah nodded. “Thank you,” he began graciously. “You didn’t specify anything in your note--oh, thank you for the roses by the way.” He indicated the red shirt and black pants he had chosen to wear this evening. “I wasn’t sure if we would be going anywhere or doing anything. Quite frankly, I don‘t really know why you wanted me here tonight. I guess curiosity got the best of me, so here I am….” His voice trailed off as he noted the vampire edging closer to him.

Almost tentatively, Asher reached out and placed his hand on the center of Micah’s chest. His eyes locked on the Nimir-Raj’s face and ever so slowly, he bent towards him while sliding his hand up and around the back of the wereleopard’s head. His lavish mouth suddenly covered Micah’s in a soft and sensual kiss as his fingers tangled in the Nimir-Raj’s hair. One handed, he held the wereleopard captive against him, deepening the kiss to a sultry, sweetly passionate embrace. Micah couldn’t help but moan quietly from it. Now this was the kiss he’d truly been dreaming of.

Asher’s mouth toyed with Micah’s full bottom lip a moment or two before kissing his way over the wereleopard’s chin to his throat. Micah steadied himself by placing his hands on Asher’s biceps, turning his head to the side, as the vampire bent the wereleopard back slightly over his arm. His kisses were becoming more demanding the more aroused he became, Micah noted. Asher’s lips seemed to be everywhere at once, his mouth teasing the Nimir-Raj’s skin of his neck to a tingling warmth before settling comfortably over his lips once more.

Almost as abruptly as Asher had embraced the wereleopard, he released him and then stepped back. If he tried to hide the shamed expression he wore, Micah wasn’t aware of it. Then, the only thing the Nimir-Raj was truly aware of right now was the sudden absence of Asher‘s lips from his.

“I am sorry,” the vampire whispered, raising his eyes slowly to Micah’s face. “I didn’t mean to kiss you…just yet.” He gestured around him with a dismissing wave of his elegant hand. “No doubt all this has you confused.”

Micah licked his lips gingerly. He nodded tentatively. “A little.”

Asher took a deep breath. “I had been thinking about what you said to me,” he began, his tone taking on an earnest air. “I found it to be true--regarding our mutual attraction. What I said to you was true as well. I must confess, I was refusing to admit to myself that not only was I envious of you partaking in Jean-Claude’s affections, but that he was partaking in you. You had offered yourself to him, body and blood, and had not once spared a look my way.” The vampire paused and shrugged. “It’s irrational, I know, but since when is jealousy rational? It was easier for me to hate you than to desire you. Unrequited feelings are a bitch.”

“Yes,” Micah agreed softly, cracking a smile. “Yes they are.”

Asher put his hands on his hips and shifted his weight to one leg. Fixing his eyes on Micah’s, the vampire gnawed his lower lip thoughtfully.

“Was I going too fast--kissing you the way I did?”

There was a glint of pure carnal seduction in the vampire’s gaze now and Micah felt its implications keenly between his legs. He shook his head, his eyes never leaving Asher’s face.

“No,” he fairly gasped in reply.

Apparently, it was all the encouragement Asher needed.

The vampire had him in his arms within the following instant, devouring his mouth in another zealously passionate kiss. His hands tugged impatiently at his and the Nimir-Raj’s clothes, all the while steering Micah down the hall to his room.

Micah’s mind was lost in lust now. He tore just as impatiently at Asher’s clothes, managing to get him out of his shirt before they’d even reached the bedroom. The wereleopard moaned and growled, his hands eagerly roving the vampire’s body where only his eyes had been permitted before. Just as anxiously, Micah’s mouth followed the path his hands had taken, kissing and nibbling down the side of Asher’s neck, across his chest, over each nipple, and down the rippling definition of his abdomen. It was all he could do to keep from demanding Asher take him right there in the hall.

Once they were inside the vampire’s private room, the rest of their clothing was discarded. Still kissing, they tumbled onto the bed and rolled back and forth across it, surrendering wholly to their mutual lusts, tangling the sheets into hopeless knots.

Micah ended on top of Asher, straddling his hips and bracing himself up with his hands on the vampire’s chest, taking a moment to catch his breath. He gazed down at the vampire and smiled. Asher’s hair was fanned out on the pillow beneath his head and for the first time, Micah saw his entire face. The scars were prominent, Micah noted, but did little to mar Asher’s overall beauty. He wanted Asher to know this.

Stretching out over the vampire’s body while tangling his legs around Asher‘s possessively, Micah smoothed his palms up Asher’s neck and cupped his face between them. He dropped kisses on both Asher’s eyes and cheeks and nuzzled him, teasing his jaw open to receive another kiss. His tongue snaked between his fangs and he laved the clean cool insides of the vampire’s mouth.

Asher’s arms wrapped around Micah’s waist and his hands caressed his lower back. A small whimper of need escaped the vampire’s throat and he kissed Micah back with such succulent passion, it made the Nimir-Raj’s whole body tingle with heightened sensitivity.

Asher shifted beneath him slightly and the wereleopard felt the vampire’s erection pressing insistently against his leg. He gently rocked back and forth to rub along it, stroking its length with his skin and pushing against its steely hardness.

“I want this inside me,” he murmured thickly to the vampire, anxiously reaching down to take Asher’s cock in his hand.

Asher moaned softly, his hands sliding lower to cup the tight, shapely muscles of Micah’s ass and kissed up and down the side of his face, apparently pleased with the Nimir-Raj‘s request.

“The drawer on the left,” he whispered suggestively in the wereleopard’s ear. “I keep a gel there.”

Micah grinned devilishly and sat up to retrieve the lubrication. Asher eased him off his hips and curled his body around the kneeling shapeshifter. While gnawing playfully on the back of Micah’s neck, he reached around him and ran his hand caressingly over the wereleopard’s own copious erection.

“You have the phallus of a god,” Asher told the Nimir-Raj with a mixture of breathless awe and wry amusement in his voice. He fondled it almost reverently for a moment more before sliding his hands back over the wereleopard’s hips to grasp handfuls of his ass. Then Micah felt the vampire’s teeth grazing the fleshy curves as his mouth trailed over him, generously laving his crack before teasing him open with his tongue.

For a moment, Micah forgot what he was doing as his mind clouded with need. Groaning deeply, he arched his back and leaned against Asher insistently. If he didn’t take him right here and now, Micah thought, he’d never forgive him.

Snatching the bottle of lubrication from the drawer, the Nimir-Raj passed it back to Asher and grinned provocatively.

“Put it to good use,” he murmured.

Asher straightened somewhat and Micah felt his hand smoothing--almost soothingly, over his upturned ass. An instant later a wet, velvet softness touched his body’s entrance making him shiver and groan with anticipation. Asher pushed into him with one slow and controlled thrust, and then penetrated him completely with another, more forceful one. It drove the Nimir-Raj forward slightly and face down into the twisted bedding. He cried out into it before throwing his head back to gulp much needed mouthfuls of air. Tightly, he grabbed handfuls of the sheets to better brace himself, and took a deep, sharp intake of breath as his body quivered with pleasure from another of Asher‘s thrusts.

The vampire gave him only a moment of reprieve--clearly savoring the sensation himself--and positioned his hands on either side of Micah’s slim hips. Then his thrusting began in earnest and it was all the wereleopard could do to stay on the bed.

Asher pounded into him, alternating his pace now and then to clearly draw out the wereleopard’s sensations and whip his body into a torrid frenzy of lust before granting him release. Micah was reduced to begging each time the vampire’s rhythm slowed to an excruciating tease. For the most part, his pleas went unheeded until he was to the point of sweating and shaking and crying out with need and Asher was satisfied with the state he‘d put the Nimir-Raj in.

Mercifully, Asher lit into him like a veritable machine, faster and harder than before, driving Micah over the expanse of the bed and spilling him onto the floor without the slightest break in stride. The sheets slid off the bed with the lovers and the Nimir-Raj used them to cushion the blows he was receiving from being slammed into the stone floor. His face smacked it once and his bottom lip split but he was too immersed in pleasure to really take note of it.

Just when he was on the brink of satiation, Asher poured his powers over the Nimir-Raj. When he came, Micah felt as if it were nothing short of an out-of-body experience. His consciousness transcended mere time and space and for an enraptured few moments, he felt suspended in an ethereal ecstasy. He shrieked with pleasure, but the sound was distant and distorted in his ears. Nothing was registering in his mind beyond the sensations gripping his body.

When Asher found his gratification, Micah crashed back down to earth--thrust into the here and now by the erotic reactions of Asher’s body to his, just in time to experience the vampire’s orgasm.

It took a moment or so for each of their bodies to calm enough to allow them to sink slowly to the floor. Asher lay on top of Micah’s back, still deep inside him, nuzzling and kissing his hair. Micah reveled in the feel of the vampire’s weight stretched out over him despite being flattened against the stones on the floor. His ribs ached and his split lip was throbbing now, but he readily turned his head to offer his mouth to Asher to kiss.

The vampire obliged him, raising himself up with his hands and slid onto the floor beside Micah. He wrapped his arms around the wereleopard’s back and kissed him lingeringly. Micah closed his eyes and moaned softly against Asher’s lips, his body still thrumming with pleasure; his mind saturated in contentment.

It wasn’t long before Micah’s kisses and caresses grew provocative as he felt a budding desire to partake in the vampire’s carnal prowess once more. Asher seemed only too happy to indulge his lust once more and was clearly just as ready for another round as the Nimir-Raj was.

“I want to fuck you again,“ Asher murmured into Micah’s ear before nibbling on it delicately. “Should we even bother to return to the bed?”

Micah quivered in anticipation, running his hands over the vampire‘s chest with undisclosed savor. “No,” he breathed in reply and flashed Asher an insinuating smile. “I believe I’m growing accustom to being on the floor with you. Tonight I’m rather enjoying it.” With that, the Nimir-Raj leaned forward and tightened his arms around Asher and pressed his body suggestively against him. He covered his mouth in another devouring kiss, once more losing himself in the luxuriousness of Asher’s sweet lips.

*****************************

It was nearly dawn by the time Micah made his way through the underground passages to head home. His body felt battered, his mouth tender and bruised, and every muscle in him was achingly stiff. His shirt had even been torn. Still, he felt wonderfully, rapaciously used and genuinely happier than he’d been in weeks.

Asher’s powers had saturated him in afterglow, and Micah found himself wandering through the halls in somewhat of a daze. Three times he’d been subjected to a kind of orgasmic aftershock as his mind replayed different ways he and Asher had coupled earlier.

“Damn,” the wereleopard panted, pushing himself off the wall to start down the hallway once more. If his brain kept this up, he’d never make it out of here.

Micah got another sense of déjà vu when he turned a particular corner towards the stairs and almost ran right into Jean-Claude--apparently on his way down. The two peered back at each other for a moment in a kind of startled silence.

Then, as Jean-Claude got a good look at the Nimir-Raj, his eyes narrowed and his amiable expression dissolved.

“It’s not what you’re thinking,” Micah quickly assured him.

Jean-Claude was having none of it however. “Asher?” he demanded, stepping closer to examine him more thoroughly. He took what appeared to be a deep steadying breath to stay his surging anger. It was then the vampire must have realized the truth of the matter and his lovely dark eyes suddenly widened as his mouth fell open slightly in surprise.

It was the most expression Micah had ever seen on the Master of the City’s face at any given time. He couldn’t help but laugh as he nodded in confirmation.

“Yes,” he pronounced distinctly with a devilish grin. “It was Asher.” He leaned forward and dropped a quick kiss on Jean-Claude’s parted lips, then hurried on his way.

END