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"When Love Bites Back "Written By: Hemlock Inyx Disclaimer: This chick does not own any of the
Gundam Wing characters because they belong to Bandai and Sunrise.
I am borrowing them for this fict and will return them in good (if
somewhat sticky) condition.This fict is written out of love and not
for profit, don't sue. Thanks and enjoy! Rating: NC 17 Warnings: yaoi, lemon, alternate universe, vampires,
violence, suicide, mild-ooc Pairings: 2x5, past: 1x5, 2xH, 2x3 Summary: He wanted one taste of passion…
Duo Maxwell’s sexy voice seduced him every night
with his late-night radio talk show. So Chang Wufei couldn’t
pass up the chance to be his personal assistant—despite Duo’s
insistence that he was a vampire. Vampires didn’t
wear faded jeans. And they were dark and brooding, not vibrant and
fun. Yet…with one glance of his silver violet eyes, Duo could
hypnotize him. With one nibble of his passionate lips, he could bend
him to his will. Duo insisted Wufei had nothing to fear from him.
But why then was Wufei so conscious of his exposed neck? " When Love Bites Back "
"This is Trant," Duo announced with a cool
glance toward a leather-clad biker-type lounging in the doorway. "Trant
will be staying until he finds a place of his own." Renfield raised his gorgeous onyx eyes from his computer
and gave Trant a polite, apprehensive smile. Duo shared his lack of
enthusiasm. Trant was newly made, swaggering and dangerous with the
discovery of powers he once had only dreamed of. As a mortal, Trant
had been a lawless punk. Chances were excellent that he would be a
volatile and troublesome vampire. Instantly a fiery blush burned Renfield's cheeks. Duo
tensed, listening to his pulse lurch then accelerate, knowing Trant
also heard his blood singing to the surface of his skin. He fingered the gold hoop in his ear and spoke fast
and in too low a voice for Renfield to hear what he said. "His name is Renfield, not babe. I've explained
the IV rules. He's off-limits. If you attack him, injure him or frighten
him--" he lifted cold violet eyes "--I will kill you" Trant's hooded glance swung away from Renfield. A sneer
twisted his lips. "Nobody tells me what to do." His shoulders
flexed. "You can't kill a vampire, man. I'm invulnerable." Duo let the punk witness the ancient menace glowing
in his eyes. Angry tension stirred the roots of his canines. "The
rules benefit us all. You obey or you pay a price." Trant pushed from the doorjamb. "Stuff it, man.
I'm through with rules." His boot heels left dark smears on the
wood floor when he turned and moved rapidly toward the foyer. He slammed
the front door hard enough that even Renfield heard the crash. Sitting on the edge of his desk, Duo glanced though
a stack of letters from the radio station while he waited for his
canines to ease back level with his front teeth. "It takes some
time for the new ones to learn they aren't beyond the reach of discipline."
Pushing Trant out of his mind, he smiled at Wufei. "It's been
two weeks now. How do you like the apartment?" A shadow crossed his expression and he glanced at the
door where Trant had stood. "There are a few things..., all in
all, living here is much more convenient." Duo was near enough to inhale the light scent he wore,
something that recalled the almost forgotten fragrance of sunshine
filled forests. With most mortals, Duo rapidly became accustomed to
the heat they gave off and could ignore it after a few minutes. That
hadn't happened with Wufei. He experienced the radiance of his mortality
as a sensual tingle against his skin and his senses. If he'd been
inclined to make a joke, he would have described him as hot-blooded. But more and more, Duo was discovering that he had no
sense of humour when it came to his new Renfield. "You're working
late again," he commented, listening to the timpani beat of his
steady pulse. "How about shutting down and let's take in a movie
or check out a couple of galleries?" "I decided to move into the upstairs apartment
so I could indulge my workaholic tendencies." He lifted his shoulders
in a charming shrug before he leaned forward and studied his computer
screen with a frown of frustration. "I'm into the bank's system,
and I know the files are there." He reached for the keyboard.
"Watch." His fingers flew over the keys. "I started
by asking for the vampire files, not really believing it would be
that simple, but look. Up comes an access screen. The computer isn't
saying there are no vampire files. It's requesting the password for
entry." Irritation tightened his lips. "Any ideas? I'm going
crazy. Nothing I've come up with works." While Duo tossed out suggestions, he thought about Renfield's
endearing lack of vanity. Long ago his boxy suits and ties had disappeared,
exposing a nicely muscled and fit body. A smudge of ink streaked his
cheekbone as if he had rubbed his eye without thinking about smears.
If he realized his professional persona had faded, he didn't seem
to care. "Now that the weathers is warmer and the leaves
are coming out, I've started eating lunch beside the pool," Wufei
said absently, typing in one of the passwords he had suggested. None
opened the bank's vampire files. Taking off his glasses, he tossed
them on the desk and stared at the screen as if he wanted to hit it. Tendrils of dark hair floated loose from his tail and
softened the effect of a shapeless sweater and businesslike khaki
pants. He was lovely, but with a few changes he could be stunning.
Studying him, Duo tried to imagine how he would look wearing something
youthful, bright and kinky. "Renfield.." His violet eyes twinkled with
electric inspiration. "You need some new clothes and a haircut.
We can't get to the malls before they close, but we can cut your hair." "What?" His mouth fell open and he swung away
from the computer to stare at him. His hands leapt to his tail that
was gathered at the base of his neck. Locking his fingers together, Duo extended his hands
and framed Wufei's face between his raised thumbs, considering the
oval shape. "Shorter and swingy," he decided with a nod,
seeing the effect in his mind. "Perfect. This is great idea.
First we need some haircutting music, something bouncy and upbeat."
Jumping up, he rummaged through the CDs until he found Clapton, his
favourite, and a great cut of "Layla." After adjusting the
speakers, he be-bopped to his desk and started pulling out drawers,
looking for scissors and a comb. "Roll your chair out from behind
the desk, Renfield." Enthusiasm bubbled in his voice. "Duo, wait!" He watched him with an appalled
expression as he threw things out of the desk drawers. "This will he great." After finding a pair
of scissors, he tested the sharpness against his thumb. "Relax,
Renfield. I used to cut my own hair when I was a young lawyer in Paris.
You didn't know I was a lawyer in Napoleon's time, did you?"
His laugh rolled across the room. Those had been strange turbulent
times, hard times, wonderful times. He'd never suffered such despair,
or such elation. When he recalled those days, he remembered the English
doctor, and Hilde. His desperation and guilt. And then his salvation,
Dorothy. "Believe it or not, the style I wore back then
will look fabulous on you." He whipped a lap robe off the sofa,
draped it over his shoulders, then rolled him out from behind his
desk and positioned his chair beneath a Tiffany lamp. He didn't require
additional illumination, but he suspected it would make Renfield feel
better. Walking around him, ignoring his gasps and protests, he studied
the clean line of his jaw, the way his bones curved down to his chin.
He gave Wufei a satisfied grin then spun, threw back his head and
sang, "Layla!" Then he said, "This is going to be perfect.
Very high fashion." "Duo, stop!" Wufei clapped his hands to the
sides of his head and pleaded with big eyes. "I like my hair
as it is." Dropping to one knee in front of him, he gazed up into
his eyes, holding his glance, his hands on the arms of his chair.
"Renfield, you're going to look younger, freer, better." "But I just--" "Don't tell me you haven't thought about it."
"Well, yes," he admitted irritably. Sighing,
and dropping his head back, he stared at the ceiling. "But I
pictured a salon, and a licensed hairdresser. If I decided on a cut."
He continued looking at him, his eyes sparkling, snipping
the scissors between his fingers. "Let yourself go. Jump into
the moment. I can do this, Renfield." Wufei's hands dropped to his lap and his shoulders sagged.
"You sweep people along. You come up with goofy stuff and get
all excited and... and you just make people do what you want them
to do. Damn it" he glared. "I'd rather do this in a salon." "But then I wouldn't be there to watch," he
said reasonably. "I take it you're agreeing," he added,
grinning. "What real choice do I have?" He threw out
his hands. "I know how you are. Once you get an idea in your
head, you keep at it until everyone else gives in!" "You won't be sorry." Moving behind him, he
began to remove the elastic band holding back his hair. For a moment
Wufei fidgeted, but he didn't slap at his hands or jump out of the
chair. "I don't understand you," he said with a sigh.
"We were discussing bank files, then suddenly you want to cut
my hair." "We aren't going to solve the password puzzle between
now and the time I leave for my shift at the station." His voice dropped in register and assumed a smoky dark
tenor. It was the touch of Wufei's hair, the sensual feel of silken
strands tumbling through his fingers. Duo stared at the tendrils shining
in his hands. He had forgotten so much. Almost instantly he responded to the touch of his hair,
the heat of his body and the sound of his pulse, quickened now. Beneath
the cologne of sunshine and woods ran the coppery hint of warm blood
and a rhythmic pumping whisper. The sensuality of touching Wufei,
of standing so close, stopped the breath in Duo's chest. His canine
teeth stirred and his thighs tensed. "Maybe this isn't a good idea," he murmured
hoarsely. Wufei surprised him. "If I think about this, I'll
never-do it, so just... cut it." He hesitated. "You sound
funny." Looking down at the light shining in the silky weight
of the hair shimmering past his shoulders sent a quiver through his
body. His breath grew shallow. "Renfield, there's something I need to tell you.
Something we should have discussed before." Wufei's head was
rigid and his shoulders tense as if he were steeling himself for his
touch. "What is it?" If it hadn't been for his acute
hearing, he doubted he would have heard him. When he looked past his
shoulder, he saw his chest rise and fall. His jaw was tense. "It's
my teeth." "I beg your pardon?" Wufei tried to turn toward
him, but he clasped the sides of his head, and wouldn't permit it. "I sound funny because my canines--fangs, if we
want to be indelicate--extend during moments of heightened emotion.
I can't help it." Damn it, he was starting to lisp. No one remembered
to list fangs when they bemoaned the disadvantages of being a vampire.
But trying to talk with two long teeth pressing against your lower
lip was definitely a bummer. Speech became ridiculous. Wufei stiffened. He gripped the arms of his chair. "I
don't think I want to see fangs," he decided after a silence. "No," he agreed firmly. "You don't." Touching Wufei, feeling the peachy softness of his cheeks
against his fingertips, inhaling the scents of him, caused something
else to grow besides his teeth. Duo felt his arousal build and swore
beneath his breath. What in hell had possessed him to suggest this
insanity? If he had been capable of perspiration, he would have been
sweating freely. The same tingly sense of discomfort assailed him. "Duo?" Renfield swallowed audibly and spoke
his name again, louder. "What kind of high emotion are you feeling
that you're getting, ah, fangs?" He kept his hands gently clasped against the sides of
his head so he wouldn't turn to look. The heat of his skin seemed
to sear his fingertips. Dizzily, he tried to recall if he had actually
touched a mortal man since Trowa. If so, it had been years ago. Memory flooded his senses and he gently eased a strand of long hair away from Wufei's throat, tucking it behind his ear. Mesmerized, he stared at the soft glow of his smooth dusky skin, remembering how it had been in the old days. Men had been his nightly prey, because men came to him
easily. Some had been lovers, offering themselves willingly, others
he simply took, leaving them with no memory of his theft. Always there had been this moment of bared vulnerability,
a silken sensual moment of pale skin and quickened breath, of fluttering
eyelids and a pulsing heartbeat drumming in his ears. And then the dark kiss followed by rapture, by the sparkling
ecstasy that soared through his body and spun his spirit among the
stars. It was a melding of souls, a splintering of silvery fragments
of himself and the man he held in his arms. It was ecstasy and sex
and rapture and lust and the explosive force of vibrant life flowing
from one to another. Dry-mouthed, Duo stared at Wufei's bared throat and
his entire body grew toward him. His thighs strained, his teeth ached.
With a groan of anguish he leapt back, removing his hands from the
sides of his head as if his touch scalded him bone deep. "Don't move, Renfield," he ordered hoarsely.
"Wait. Give me a minute." Moving faster than he could observe, he bolted out of
the French doors and crashed through the garden to the pool behind
the house. He ran around the pool with vampire speed, moving so rapidly
that anyone watching would have seen only a confusing shadow. He ran
until he taxed his super immune system to keep pace. Ran until all
he could think about were the strains he placed on his lungs, ran
until his teeth shrank back into his gums and his thighs trembled
with exhaustion instead of passion. Tonight he had crossed a line and he knew it. Tonight
he had looked at Wufei as a desirable man, first through Trant's eyes,
then through his own. He had wanted him with every fibre of his being. And that was dangerous. Sex between mortal and vampire
seldom ended well for the mortal partner. Along with the need to penetrate
came the need to puncture. The need to release fluid was coupled with
the need to drink fluid. If a vampire's passion overwhelmed his control,
the mortal died. Duo turned his troubled gaze toward the lights shining
out of the office windows. Hiring another bright, attractive male Renfield had
been a dire mistake, dangerous to them both. Gradually the sound of snipping scissors penetrated
his agitation and he stopped pacing and hurried back to the office. He found Wufei standing before the mirror above the
fireplace, staring at his shorn image. Snippets of fallen hair surrounded
his heels; a few strands lay on his shoulders. "What do you think?" he inquired timidly,
meeting his eyes in the glass. "Turn around. Let me look at you." He couldn't believe the difference. Wufei looked younger,
lighter, almost saucy. He had trimmed his hair to just hang above
his shoulders, letting the black silk fall to frame his lovely face.
The front was a bit longer than the back giving his hair a tapered
neat edge. "You look beautiful!" he murmured gruffly.
Exactly as he had imagined. Wufei gave his head an experimental shake
and his hair swung like a model's then bounced back into place. "I like it, too," he admitted softly, sounding
surprised. "Trim the back, will you please? I couldn't see what
I was doing." Eyes glowing with pleasure, he turned to face the
mirror, studying his new image as if he were looking at a different
person. Duo took the scissors, fighting to hold his hand steady,
and he trimmed his neckline. His sweet dusky neckline. And he listened
to the soft thud of his heartbeat as the back of his fingers brushed
his warm skin. A tiny shiver rippled down his spine. For a moment
Duo stood motionless, grinding his back teeth against the tension
building between himself and the wildly desirable man standing before
him. "Do you really get fangs?" he whispered, watching
him in the glass. His onyx eyes were unreadable, deep dark pools above
moist lips. "Yes," he replied in a thick voice, brushing the loose hair off his shoulders. And he was getting them again. He swore silently, then hastily backed away from Wufei's fragrance and warmth, and his urge to crush him in his arms. "If I don't hurry, I'll be late to the station." Station had a definite lisp to it. Spinning on the balls of his feet, and covering his mouth, he hurried out of the room. * * * * * * * There were no messages at the Coffee Mug after his shift,
no vampires needing a place to crash for a few days. On nights like
this he usually called Otto Jones who was willing to give flying lessons
in the wee hours. Duo was only a few hours shy of getting his pilot's
license. Although he loved flying over the dark landscape, loved to
look down at the fairyland twinkle of city lights, he didn't feel
like flying tonight. He didn't feel like doing much of anything. Disturbed, he returned to his house and stood in the
starlit yard, his back against the trunk of an old cottonwood. Thrusting
his hands in his pockets, he frowned up at the row of dark windows
defining the second floor. Common sense warned that he should fire Wufei and replace
him with an unattractive, old woman. The world might consider it sex
discrimination; he considered it preservation--his own and Wufei's. The problem was, he was the brightest, most efficient
Renfield he'd had since the turn of the century. His last Renfield
had refused to use the computer. This Renfield had advanced him firmly
into modern times; now all his records were computerized. The mail
was caught up. His house ran smoothly. Wufei was simply a marvel.
And he had every confidence that sooner or later he would break the
Blanc et Cie's codes. Without him, he doubted he could progress much
further in his search for the Crystals of Change. He thought about him constantly. He worried about his
sleeping while creatures like Trant prowled the night. He wanted to
be with him every minute. He wanted to show him oceans and islands
and all the marvellous things he had never seen, wanted to open the
world to him and watch his lovely eyes widen in wonder. He wanted
to hold him and warm his spirit in his mortality, wanted to make love
to him until he melted beneath him and wept with pleasure. Lowering his head, he rubbed his forehead and ground
his teeth. He had sworn he would never put himself through this again,
would never again allow himself to become attached to a mortal, not
after Hilde, not after Trowa. A soft foot fall sounded through the noisy background
static that every vampire had to endure. Duo might have missed the
quiet stealthy reverberation if it had occurred earlier in the evening.
But near dawn, with fewer neighbourhood voices, fewer TVs blaring,
less traffic in the streets, he could hear even the smallest sounds.
Lifting his head with a frown of concentration, he listened intently. First he isolated the quiet rise and fall of Wufei's
even breathing, heard him sigh in his sleep and turn on his pillow.
Then he heard another furtive footfall. Followed by a creak in the
steps on the staircase that led up to Wufei's apartment. Like a shot he leapt from the cottonwood and ran toward
the house. Moving in a blur, he vaulted the porch rail and burst through
the door. In less than a second he was up the staircase. Trant crouched in front of Renfield's door. Already
he had wrenched off the knob. Slowly, silently, he pushed the door
open. Duo grabbed him by the hair and yanked him backward into the
corridor. A snarl tore out of his chest as he lifted Trant as easily
as he would have lifted a puppet, then flung him against the wall
hard enough to shake the house. The impact sent the air rushing out
of Trant's body like a balloon deflating. When he slid to the carpet, gulping air and shaking
his head, Duo picked him up and hurled him down the staircase. "I
warned you not to come up here!" he snarled, spitting the words
past elongated teeth. Fury swelled his muscles and glittered in his
eyes. "Go back to your room," Duo ordered harshly.
He rushed down the staircase, not wanting to terrify Wufei with the
sight of his own teeth. Although one of Trant's arms was broken, he stood at
the bottom of the staircase, braced and waiting. He aimed a fist at
Duo's jaw, but it was child's play to avoid the punch. In vampire
years, Trant was two; Duo was one hundred and eighty. It was no contest.
He backhanded Trant across the foyer, taking grim pleasure in the
scum bag's surprise that he could be beaten and injured. Trant's breaks
and bruises would not heal instantly as they would have with an older
vampire. There would be a day or two of pain and discomfort. Time
to reflect and learn something from this experience. An uppercut sent Duo's guest flying out the front door
and sprawling down the porch steps. Duo followed and picked him up
by the throat, pushing him across the lawn. He pinned Trant against
the trunk of the old cottonwood, then leaned forward, letting the
young vampire peer into his cold eyes, letting him see the strong
glistening teeth and feel the power of Duo's fingers on his throat. "Do you know what I could do to you if I wished?"
Duo asked quietly. "Look, man, I was just--" "Your sprained ankle will heal and the cuts on
your face. So will your broken arm." Duo pulled back his lips,
calling attention to his glistening teeth. "A torn throat might
not heal. Or I could tear your head off. That won't heal. I could
drive a branch of this tree through your heart. That won't heal, either." "Look man, I'm really sorry. I just wanted-- "I know what you wanted.'' Duo's fingers tightened
on his throat. "You abused my hospitality. You broke the IV rules.
You frightened my Renfield." The punk wasn't sneering now. He
looked scared to death. And he was feeling pain he had believed he
couldn't experience. "Remember this. If you get out of line again,
IV enforcers will find you. That's a promise. You're allowed one screw-up
and you just had it. No one, and I mean no one--" his narrowed
eyes fired violet lasers "--touches my Renfield. If you even
think about him again... I'll find you. We do not attack mortals.
Not for sex. Not for blood. Understand?" Trant's head bobbed up and down. His eyes were large
and damp and badly frightened. Duo released him. "Now get the hell out of my sight."
When Trant stumbled toward the house, Duo grabbed his shoulder and
spun him toward the cul-de-sac. "You closed that door. You're
no longer welcome. Get out." Trant's eyes jumped toward the faint line of turquoise
brightening the eastern sky. Panic thinned his voice. "You can't
do that, man! There's only about thirty minutes until dawn! How am
I going to find a safe lair in thirty minutes?'' "You intended to attack my Renfield." Duo
stood on the bottom porch step, arms folded over his chest, his eyes
cold. "Where you go and what happens to you is no longer my concern,"
he said in an icy voice. Trant clutched his broken arm close to his body. "Let
me stay one more night, then I'll--" "You're wasting time. Dawn's almost on us." "I'll apologize to him, for God's sake. What do
you want?" "The first faint rays will make my skin tingle.
They will make yours bum." Duo stood like an oak, blocking the
way into the house. His teeth began to recede as his fury lessened
to anger and finally to deep sadness. For centuries, men had worshipped
the sun as giver of all life. His brethren feared it as lethal. "By
the time my skin begins to bum," he said quietly, "you will
be a pile of ashes. Go while you still have time." Trant tried another appeal, but halted when be saw the
unyielding coldness in Duo's gaze. He wasted a precious minute shouting
curses before he limped hurriedly toward the street. After Trant disappeared into the dawn murk, Duo touched
his teeth, which were almost level again, then turned inside. He found
Wufei at the top of the staircase, sitting on the carpet with his
back against the wall and his legs pulled up under him. He was pale
and shivering, staring at the doorknob Trant had twisted off. "He's gone, and he won't be back," Duo said,
sitting beside him. Blindly seeking comfort, Wufei turned toward him with
a soft gasp. Automatically, he opened his arms and held him gently
against his chest. A salty smell rose in his nostrils before he felt
the dampness of tears on his shirt. "Oh, Duo. He was going to…" A deep shudder
convulsed his body and he held Wufei tighter, wishing he could offer
warmth. "And then... did you see him at the bottom of the stairs?"
He burrowed against his chest. "His... God, his teeth!" He stroked his dark silky hair, staring into the darkness.
The first time he had seen Dorothy's teeth, he had been horrified.
Frightened and repulsed. Only the promise of eternal health had sent
him stumbling toward her instead of reeling away. But no one forgot
the shock of seeing a vampire's teeth the first time. "I know," he murmured, struggling hard not
to respond to the trembling column of flame he held in his arms. Or
the dizzying heated scent of him. Or the tides of bright fresh blood
pounding in his veins. Or the softness of his body against his chest.
The dusky flash of bare throat. The erotic, warm sea scent of a human's
tears. "I was asleep. Then I heard a crash and--"
He lifted his head. Then his voice hitched and the words died as he
realized how close his lips were to Duo's. His eyelids widened and
slowly his gaze rose from his mouth to his eyes. A low groan rumbled from Duo's chest. He looked at Wufei's
moist parted lips, the tip of his tongue, and heard his breath quicken.
Suddenly his gums ached and the sharp tension, budding in his groin
was almost unbearable. In a second he would lose control and his teeth
would frighten Wufei as badly as Trant had. Fighting his body and
his desire for him, he eased him away with trembling hands and pushed
to his feet. "I'm sorry, Renfield," he apologized in a
thick voice. "But it's almost dawn. We'll talk again tonight." Whirling, he fled from Wufei and from his own dark passion. ~ * ~ |
