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Daniel lay on his side, head resting on his pillow but slowly sliding towards the more inviting shape of a bony shoulder, and poked the terrifying, centuries-old vampire resting beside him on the corner of his mouth.
They were both naked, legs tangled in sheets that had once seen better days and slightly sticky with blood and come. It was a perfectly pleasant way to spend his night, Daniel thought, but one Armand would hardly allow to extend until sunrise. His vampire was a restless creature, and completely unsympathetic to his lover's limitations as a mortal. Daniel had tried telling him before that his human body could only withstand so much crossing European capitals on foot and stopping to read every plaque at museums and watching four films back to back in movie theaters until they got kicked out, but he might as way have been speaking another language — one Armand didn't understand, if there was such a thing.
The point was, Daniel had only a few minutes left before Armand got up and hurried him to get dressed for a night out he would really rather skip. Which meant he had a few minutes to find something else to distract his lover. Thus, the poking.
Armand was on his back, but Daniel's finger on his face made him turn his head slightly in his direction. Whatever he saw in Daniel's expression made him understand what was being asked of him, so he opened his mouth.
There was affection in Armand's eyes as an index finger roamed, not as carefully as it should, his upper row of teeth. It had taken Daniel years to figure out what fondness looked like on that face, with those inhuman eyes always simultaneously so blank and so intense. Like a dead fish staring back at me, he would think sometimes, just to see his vampire frown when he took a dip in his thoughts. Now, though, Daniel wouldn't mistake that expression for anything else.
He probed that mouth, still somewhat warm from the few gulps of Daniel's blood that had been drunk when they woke up, and stopped close to the left canine. Armand took the hint and unsheathed his fangs, so slowly Daniel could see the shifting behind his gums.
It always made him giddy, seeing so closely the beastly little bits that made up Armand. His lover was a terror; he was thing, ungodly and still the closest Daniel would ever get to the divine in his life. He cherished every glimpse of the true monstrosity that lay in his bed, even when he so rarely let him watch his hunt.
Less rare were the bursts of rage Daniel could inspire whenever he told him to leave him alone, to walk away forever, give him his humanity back, or turn him all the way, anything but this limbo, this leash around his neck that never let him walk or eat or breathe without thinking of Armand. On those occasions, he got to see his devil's teeth grind together and his eyes turn slowly towards him, making the words half-blank, half apocalyptic ring in his brain and his whole body beg for him to run away.
He never ran, not during the rage. Rage that lasted for seconds before being swallowed and dissolved into appeasement in Armand's chest. But Daniel remembered every one of those seconds and replayed them in his mind often enough he was sure his vampire was utterly puzzled by it. Daniel hoped that, when he died, it would be with Armand's murderous expression burned in his retinas.
His finger moved behind Armand's teeth, feeling where gum gave way to fangs. He traced a fang from behind all the way to the tip, then made his way back up from the front. All this Armand allowed for without even stopping to swallow saliva — Daniel wanted his mouth open, so his mouth stayed open.
This was Daniel's greatest satisfaction — that he had the love of something so nightmarish, yes, but also that the monster indulged him. Apart from vampirism, Armand was yet do deny him a request, and Daniel wasn't done testing how far his favor went. I'm the Devil's Minion…
"I want you inside me," he said, voice muffled by Armand's shoulder.
He decided to be merciful and removed his finger to allow for an answer. Armand simply looked at him with an interest that was more curiosity than lust and asked,
"Again?"
Daniel smiled against him. "Not like that. I want your fangs."
This made Armand turn all the way towards him and cradle his face with a cold hand. "Beloved, I've already fed from you tonight. I don't wish to make you weak with blood loss before we head out."
Daniel tried not to let the words head out sour his mood. He could still talk his way into a night in bed.
"Don't feed, then." He turned his head to kiss the palm that held him. "Just… stay inside."
"Stay. With my fangs." The crease between his eyebrows told Daniel he was genuinely trying to understand the request, not mocking him. He smiled again, knowing he had Armand hooked.
"Inside of me, yes. I won't lose all that much blood, if you're careful." He buried his head in Armand's neck and went in for the kill. "You'll be careful, won't you?"
If vampires shuddered, he was sure Armand would have. As it was, he tightened his hold on Daniel's head and kissed him deeply. Daniel's night was saved.
Armand's fang nicked his tongue. Knowing he hadn't retracted them to kiss him made Daniel dizzy, and he wondered if it was uncomfortable for a vampire to have his fangs out for too long without feeding, like chewing gum on an empty stomach. He had no reason to doubt Armand's self-control, but, as breathless kisses pinned him down to the bed, he entertained the fantasy that Armand would be overcome by hunger and drain him without care.
Eventually, Armand pulled away and motioned for him to sit up against the headboard. Once Daniel did, he climbed on his lap and leaned his face over his right shoulder, eyes fixed on the flesh.
Armand's lips hovered over the skin between Daniel's neck and shoulder. It reminded him of the first time he had bitten him — the first without murderous intent, at least. He had gotten so close to his face Daniel had been sure he would kiss him, but, instead of meeting already open lips, he had moved to his neck. Daniel didn't remember exactly what was going through his own mind at the time, only that he had felt Armand's breath against his neck and that the only word he had thought to say was yes.
There was something of that first time in this — the drawn-out wait, the subtly hesitant breath. Armand seemed to have noticed this thought and decided to play into it, because he asked, as if to give reassurance Daniel didn't need,
"Do you want me to go slowly or all at once?"
Inexplicably, that question was what made Daniel aware of how urgently he wanted Armand's teeth in him. His lover was never one to make him wait, and he wouldn't allow him to begin now.
"Do it alread-"
The fangs sank in so quickly his words were stopped by a choked moan. No matter how many times Armand bit him, that initial piercing of flesh never failed to take his breath away. The pain always made him tense up for the first few seconds, before the blood started being coaxed out of him by Armand's mouth. Then, Daniel could relax, fall into the trance-like state he had come to associate with being fed on.
Daniel waited, but the usual dulling of the ache didn't come. Armand's teeth just stayed inside of him, a stinging intrusion, without any effort from his vampire to open the veins properly and replace the biting for sucking. It was what Daniel had asked for, but he hadn't stopped to consider that a bite without the intent of drawing blood would feel so different. Armand must have known and refrained from telling him just to feel the surprise in his mind at the sensation.
It was hard to think through the pain, but Daniel got curious. What exactly about a vampire bite — the real deal, not this half-cocked idea he had come up with — was so hypnotic? Was it the moment lips closed around the wound to begin emptying the veins? Was it the first lap of tongue against the gushing tear on the skin? The first gulp of blood flowing down the throat? Maybe there was something in vampire saliva that numbed the victim's senses during it, like a mosquito.
The thought made him chuckle, jostling Armand's fangs inside him and worsening the pain. Feeling him wince, Armand pulled off, quickly healing the two puncture wounds and leaving behind only a thin red trail down his shoulder.
"You need to be still," he said, too busy eyeing the strip of blood to meet Daniel's face. Daniel was going to tell him that yes, he knew, but Armand continued. "And it's the sharing of the blood. That which sustains your body becoming that which sustains mine. I can feel what you feel, and you can feel my… satisfaction."
He would have jabbed Armand by saying it would be more polite to at least pretend he wasn't reading his thoughts, if what he said hadn't been so hot. Proving he was still roaming around in Daniel's head, Armand turned to face him with a heated look.
"Should I do it again?"
Daniel's mouth felt suddenly very dry.
"Yes. Just the teeth, no… sharing."
He could have tricked himself into believing Armand smirked as he lowered his mouth over him again, this time closer to his neck. He touched his fangs to the skin, but didn't sink them in right away. Instead, he murmured, still so close the teeth scratched him,
"I'll do it slowly this time."
Daniel threw his head back out of instinct and waited for the intrusion. Armand did it so languidly he got to feel the pressure before skin gave in under teeth, and, once it did, it seemed like an eternity until the fangs were all the way inside of him, so deep even Armand's front teeth were digging marks into his shoulder.
It was an overwhelming kind of fullness, like the fangs were sinking into his brain. All that he could feel was the pain, piercing and irradiating. Armand put more force down and he felt the pressure all the way to his right ear. His mind was blank.
Whenever he thought Armand had used enough strength, it would get worse. At some point, he felt his lower row of teeth against his skin and thought he's going to close his jaw around me. The notion should have caused him fear, but there was too much pain clouding his judgment for him to care.
Armand's whole body was tense against Daniel. He's holding back, his sluggish mind told him, but that wasn't right — Armand was always holding back. This time, though, it required effort. The belated realization made him moan, which only caused Armand's shoulders to draw up more. Daniel knew he wasn't helping, and he didn't exactly want to help, but distantly he could consider the importance of coming out of this still able to move his arm.
He reached for Armand's hand, which was balled up in a fist against his chest. He pulled him by the wrist and pried the hand open, placing his own against his palm. He couldn't look down properly, but the skin between them was wet — Armand had been digging his claws in. He squeezed the hand, and Armand squeezed back, crushingly hard. He felt his vampire take a breath against him and his muscles loosen, until his lower teeth were no longer pressing in.
When Daniel thought Armand had control over himself again, he said, slightly dizzy with the pain, "If you're hungry, you can drink. I'll take a nap after, it's fin-"
STOP.
Armand's voice echoed in his mind. It wasn't an actual command — Daniel still had control over his vocal cords —, but it stunned him into silence. Armand still had his fangs in him, unmoving, though Daniel thought he could feel another steadying breath from him.
I'll do what you asked of me. Do not doubt my abilities.
"I'm not doubting, man, I'm just-"
The teeth sank in impossibly deeper and he forgot he had been saying anything. The pain made it hard to breathe, and he only noticed that he had let go of Armand's hand when he felt it against his arching lower back. The touch was almost comforting, but it only spurred him on, like it was trying to press them even closer together, even deeper.
"Fuck," he tried to say, but it was more air than words. "Fuck, Armand."
He felt Armand's presence in his mind, encouraging him — towards what, he didn't know. He wanted the sensation of Armand sinking into him again, but he was already as deep as he could go. It was thinking of skin being split open that he blurted out,
"Fuck me with your fangs."
He had said more inane things before while letting his dick take the reins, but not by much. He almost expected Armand to pull away laughing that rare and silky laugh of his. Instead, there was a rumbling against his skin, half groan, half hum of assent, and Armand's hand traveling up his back to pull him closer.
Daniel whimpered when the fangs began pulling out, both from the drag of teeth against flesh and from the irrational notion that Armand was leaving him. He withdrew his fangs until only the tips of them were pulling at the corner of each wound, then sank them back in, just as slowly as the first time.
Daniel's head hit the wall behind him and he could not believe that the pained sound ringing in his ears had come from his own throat. It somehow hurt more than before, the fangs prying open flesh that desperately wanted to close up. The whole right side of his body was on fire, and he didn't know how he retained enough presence of mind to discern the entering and leaving of the fangs, the barely there and the too much.
Armand continued the motion, again and again. When Daniel tried to look to his side, he couldn't see the wound or the mouth, only blood trailing down Armand's chin. So much for avoiding blood loss, now. He wondered if any of it was being swallowed, of if Armand was being true to Daniel's request. Either way, it passed his tongue on the way out of his mouth. Armand had to be driving himself mad with hunger.
The thought only worsened Daniel's state of mind, and there was nothing else in the world now but his wound and Armand's mouth. He swore he could hear little wet sounds when his vampire thrust against bleeding flesh. Fucking the blood out of me, his feverish brain supplied.
He was going to pass out. The pain built and built until there was nothing else he could feel but what Armand was doing to him. At some point, he had noticed he had an erection, but now he couldn't tell anymore. Probably not, with all that blood leaving him. And the pressure, and the piercing, and the drag, in and out, in and out…
Armand pulled away from him abruptly with a dripping mouth and crazed eyes, pupils so blown they covered almost all of the gold in his irises. He looked at him and hissed, fangs bared, and Daniel thought That's it, and He's going to kill me now, and Yes, yes.
But Armand raised his own forearm to his mouth and bit down with so much force he must have been tearing tendons. Daniel watched stupefied as the vampire shook in place and drank his own blood. He had never looked so much like and animal before. The wound on Daniel's shoulder was still open and dripping, having been forgotten in Armand's hurry to direct his hunger elsewhere.
Eventually, Armand stopped trembling and lowered his arm. Their eyes met again, and Armand's were still wild, but now with fear, like a deer caught in headlights, or a child caught breaking something. Daniel's mind was still a fog, but there was one thought he managed to send out. That was the hottest thing I've ever seen in my life.
Armand recomposed himself — if out of habit or from hearing his thoughts, Daniel didn't know. He turned to Daniel's wound and moved his still open wrist above it, letting blood drip down, then passing his finger over it. Daniel felt his skin prickle at the contact with his blood, then knit together. Still, the pain remained as a ghost, making him shiver with aftershocks.
"You could have kept going," he said, because he never knew when to stop when it came to his addictions. His own voice surprised him with how weak it sounded.
"The human mind can only take so much pain before succumbing to emotional distress."
"Nothing wrong with emotional distress," he mumbled, having difficulty sitting upright. "That's how my best nights end."
Armand held Daniel's tilting frame in place and directed him an unamused frown. Daniel was drenched in sweat and still trembling, cold even in that crowded apartment with no air circulation. His eyes burned and his face was damp. He hadn't even realized he had cried at some point.
His vampire lifted a bloody wrist to Daniel's mouth and said, "Drink."
Daniel did, almost sobbing at the first burning taste of vampiric blood. Armand never let him have much, saying a mouthful could harm his human body just as much as a drop healed it, and this time was no different. He pulled his arm away too soon, and Daniel's head spun as he momentarily saw the world in too many colors.
It did make him feel stronger, or at least like he could stand up without fainting. He focused back on Armand and noticed the tense line of his shoulders.
"You need to feed."
"Yes." His fangs began coming out again at the word feed, but Armand closed his eyes and made a face like he was telling someone off, and they retracted again. "I will hunt tonight." He looked down. "You need cleaner sheets."
Daniel huffed in an effort not to make his affection too obvious. "Buy me new ones on your way back."
"You could come with me," Armand said, reaching out to stroke Daniel's nape.
As tempting as the offer to watch Armand hunt was, Daniel doubted he would be able to take a step out of that room without falling asleep. He rested the weight of his head on Armand's hand and answered, "No way. I'm gonna be passed out in the bathtub for the next hour."
Armand just hummed. The hand caressing the side of his face was getting colder. "I need to go."
"Yes," Daniel agreed, nuzzling against his palm.
"If I stay here for too long, I might be a danger to you." His other hand slowly left bloody prints across Daniel's ribs.
"I know." Daniel rested more of his weight on Armand. "My very own creature of the night." He whispered the last part like a childish secret, and he thought he heard Armand chuckle.
He slipped out of consciousness easily, and, when he came to, he was lying in the bathtub, half-submerged in lukewarm water and with a purple, handprint-shaped bruise around his forearm, like Armand had had to pull his own hand away from him to let go.
One day, Daniel would get him to not pull away.