Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2010 20:12:51 -0600
From: Katya_Dee <concertoind@gmail.com>
Subject: Debts, chapter 8

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction; all the resemblances are just
eerie coincidences. Everything in the story is owned by myself beloved,
everything is copyrighted. Contains descriptive sexual scenes between males
- don't read it if you shouldn't.

Note: This is a 3rd installment in the semi-series. The first story is
Specter's
Gamble </nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/specters-gamble/> and
the second one is The Year of the
Salamander </nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/year-of-the-salamander/>

I would recommend reading those first (at least Specter's Gamble)
otherwise, some scenes and characters are not going to make much sense,
since you wouldn't be familiar with the background and I didn't describe
much of the previous events in this story. Other than that, enjoy! Feel
free to e-mail me.

****

- VIII -



            Raven was trying to fit the key into the keyhole in the door of
his apartment, but it was a rather difficult task, because Julian's mouth
was caressing the back of his neck, sending sweet shivers all the way down
to his toes. "What is it with him tonight...?" he thought hazily, while
desperately trying to fit the damn key in. "He is never like this... Is it
because he came over right after he got his `fix'? Some sort of a
side-effect...?" Raven moaned and bit his lip, knowing that if Julian keeps
going at this rate, he would simply say, `Screw the key,' and push the blond
against the wall right here in the foyer. He also knew that the blond
wouldn't mind that a single bit.

   Finally, the key slid into the keyhole, and Raven let out a relieved
sigh. He stumbled inside, pulling Julian after him, kicked the door closed,
and turned around, sinking his fingers in that blond, luminous hair.

   "What is it with you tonight...?" he muttered before diving his tongue
into Salamander's mouth.

   "What...?" Julian asked breathlessly.

   "You are never like this..." Raven said into his mouth.

   Julian said nothing to that; he just lifted Raven up without interrupting
the kiss, and the dark-haired man immediately wrapped his legs around
blond's waist. Julian carried him into the bedroom, never letting go of his
mouth, and Raven's head was spinning. Right now, the blond acted and felt
like a... "Lover..." Raven thought in astonishment. Yeah, he was looking for
that very word. Lover and not just a sex-crazed fanatic as he would usually
be. "There is no way he would actually..." and then Julian was undressing
him, and Raven stopped thinking altogether.

   This time was very different from the last several months they've been
with each other. Usually, it would be another furious explosion, hard,
breathless, and quite often, almost violent. Right now, however, Julian was
slow, thorough, and gentle. "So goddamn gentle..." Raven thought very
hazily, while his back was arching off the bed in response to blond's
caress. "What the hell is with him tonight...?" Not that he was complaining
- on the contrary... However, it puzzled him immensely.

   Usually the blond would spend minimum time on explorations and such,
which wasn't a problem for Raven – he would be turned on to the point of
aching without it, as if the blond oozed some sort of aphrodisiac out of his
pores. Tonight though, he was definitely spending more than minimum time on
trying to drive Raven's body mad with kisses, nibbles, licks, and touches.
Finally, after what felt like a sweetly torturous eternity, when Raven was
on the verge of desperate begging, unable to handle this any longer, Julian
gave him what he craved. Right before he did, however, he reached for the
small letter-opener, which was resting on the bedside table and ran the
blade on the side of his neck.

   Then, after throwing the letter-opener back onto the table, he lowered
himself on top of Raven, locking them together in the sweet merge, pressing
hard into thief's trembling body, leaving no space between them. Raven
figured out the reason for the letter-opener when the bleeding spot ended up
right next to his hungry mouth. He latched onto that spot immediately,
noting that Julian entwined their fingers together and brought their arms up
above their heads, pressing them into the pillow.

   They were both equally vocal, and their moans vibrated against one
another, reflecting their intonations and hunger. Then, after a long, slowly
rocking while, Raven freed up his left hand and reached blindly for the same
letter-opener. Julian's entire body shivered when he felt the small blade
run along his spine, and his hips picked up speed. He moaned something that
resembled `More,' and Raven obliged, slowly driving the blade into blond's
skin, sliding it down onto his side, drinking his divine essence, and
bathing in his moans.

  It seemed to Raven that the blond was determined to drive him completely
mad tonight. Every time Raven would feel that wonderful, trembling, coiling
heat sneak into the pit of his stomach (since his pulsating, greedy need was
taken care of by Julian's body pressing hard against his), Salamander would
sense it immediately, and slow down to the point of almost stopping until
the heat would reluctantly crawl away. Then he would pick up the pace again,
just so he could perform the same maddening trick some time later. Raven had
no idea how many times the blond did it, but finally, he couldn't handle it
any longer. There it was, the desired heat, shimmering, and splashing inside
him, making him dizzy, and somehow, Julian sensed it again, and slowed down
ever so slightly.

   "No...!" Raven moaned into blond's neck, pressing even harder into his
body, desperate for movement. "No, please...! God, Julian, don't stop...!
Please, don't stop...! Julian, please..."

   The blond reached for Raven's left hand, knocking the blade out of it,
just so he could entwine their fingers together and bring their arms upwards
once again, and instead of his attempted slowing down, he started moving a
little faster, making Raven mutter something feverishly. Julian turned his
head and pressed his mouth against Raven's bloodied lips, tasting himself on
the other man's tongue, drinking every single blood-diluted breath. Raven
kissed him back hungrily, whimpering and groaning into his mouth, his
desperate hips begging for more speed, trying to drive the blond forward,
practically screaming, "More, faster, harder...!"

   Julian obliged and followed those hungry hips, doing whatever they
screamed for, letting them lead him. Then, several eons, or maybe hours, or
maybe minutes later, Raven's whimpers started turning into muffled screams,
and Julian prepared himself for that insane combination that Raven's body
was doing every single time, pulling him along without any hope to last
longer than a minute after it started doing that maddening vibrating,
contracting dance. He closed his eyes, thinking that maybe tonight, his
self-control...

   ...and then Raven screamed out one last time, and blond's self-control
drowned desperately and hopelessly in the huge wave, which covered Raven
head to toe, making the insane combination of tremors, vibrations, and
contractions even stronger.

   After all the convulsions, spasms, and shudders were merely echoes,
Julian finally let go of Raven's arms, and the smaller man immediately
wrapped them around blond's very relaxed body. They lay silently for almost
half an hour, and then Raven sighed and said quietly:

   "Okay, get out now... I guess I will see you in fifteen hours or so..."

   "Mmm," the blond said lazily. "I don't feel like going anywhere
tonight..."

  Raven blinked quite rapidly at that.

   "Huh?" he said after a couple of minutes.

   "I am not going anywhere tonight," Julian said in the same lazy drawl. "I
don't feel like it."

   Raven grabbed his hair and pulled his head up, staring into those serene
lilac eyes with a small frown. He looked into those eyes for several
minutes, and finally, said:

   "You mean, you will be spending the night...?"

   "Yes," the blond answered in his usual manner, with his usual smile.

   Raven looked at him silently for several more minutes.

   "I hope you don't snore," he muttered finally and let go of Julian's
hair.

   "I don't snore," Salamander said and dropped his head into the pillow,
shifting his weight off Raven's body. "Sweet dreams, Raven..."

   "Good night, Julian..." Raven said quietly before closing his eyes.

...He woke up at ten in the morning and lay in bed for several minutes
without opening his eyes. Then he remembered last night and the fact that
Salamander actually stayed in bed with him for the rest of the night,
instead of getting up and leaving, which was always the case. He opened his
eyes. The other side of the bed was empty but he noticed a silver glimmer on
the side of the pillow. Raven propped himself on one elbow and reached for
the pillow. Then he looked at the silver glimmering object, and there was a
slow smile stretching his mouth. It was his letter-opener, the same one they
used last night. The blade was glistening with droplets of blood, and Raven
immediately knew it wasn't leftovers from last night – that blood would've
dried by now. He glanced at the clock, realizing that the blond had to be in
one of his offices earlier this morning.

   He picked up the letter-opener and slowly cleaned the blade with his
tongue, careful not to cut himself on the sharp edges. Then he got up,
looked at his sheets, and sighed. The sheets were a mess. Blood and other
fluids made it look beyond disgusting. He sighed again and pulled everything
off the bed, figuring that he would do laundry later. After he shoved all
the dirty sheets into the closet ("Out of sight, out of mind; I'll just get
new sheets..."), he went straight for the shower, where he spent at least
forty minutes, making sure he got all the blood out of his hair, and simply
enjoying hot water. While he was in the shower, a question rose up in his
mind. "Was it just a onetime thing or will he stay tonight as well...?" That
brought another question. "If he will indeed stay, what would it mean? What
would it make us...? Actual lovers...?" That brought yet another very
logical and natural question. "Am I insane?"

   Finally, Raven sighed and turned off the water. "I'll worry about it
later," he thought melancholically, while drying his hair with a towel.
"Right now, I need to concentrate on the mirror."



****



   Raven was positive that this job would be easy as pie; therefore, he was
rather dumbfounded when he realized that he could not for the life of his,
unlock the door of the house to let himself in. He watched the old hag leave
ten minutes ago, and he knew that she went to the market, because she had
one of those humongous shopping bags in her hand; the kind they sold in
every grocery store for ninety-five florins. It seemed like every old person
in the city had to have at least one of those. The hag was walking rather
slowly, and it appeared that she didn't have a car. Raven figured that it
would be at least an hour before she comes back home, and that was more than
enough time for him, or so he thought until he realized that the door of the
house wouldn't even budge. He couldn't understand this; he knew for sure
that the lock wasn't a problem – there was not a single lock in the entire
bloody world that Raven would fail to open. It wasn't the lock, he thought
feverishly, yanking the doorknob with desperate force. What is it then?

   "Goddammit," he muttered through his clenched teeth and let go of the
doorknob finally.

   He went to the back door of the small house just so he could get the
exact same result. He was all but scratching the back of his invisible head,
when it finally dawned on him. The old hag put up a protection spell before
she left, he thought incredulously. That had to be it because there was no
other explanation. Well, shit, he thought gloomily. He knew that there was
no way in hell for him to get into the house while it was guarded by a damn
spell. He also knew that the spell covered every single inch, crack, and
keyhole; there was not a single uncovered spot.

   Raven sighed and went back to the front of the house. He sat down on the
wooden steps, thinking that he would have to wait for the hag to return and
sneak inside the minute she opens the door. Yes, that would be somewhat more
difficult (and time consuming) than he thought it would be, but it was the
only option he had, so he leaned on the semi-white pillar covered in old
paint, and prepared himself for at least an hour of waiting.

   ...The damn hag didn't come back until almost three hours later, when
Raven was all but ripping his hair out in frustration. Raven let out a
relieved, quiet sigh, and got up, making sure he didn't make any noise. The
hag limped up the steps, holding onto the railing, and she sat her almost
full shopping bag onto the floor, while rummaging through her pockets,
looking for the key. Raven waited patiently for her to find the key finally
and mutter something that he assumed was taking care of the protection
spell. He was right; after the hag finished muttering, she turned the key in
the lock, and the door opened smoothly without expected creaking. Raven
carefully sneaked past her while she was picking up her shopping bag, and
finally, got inside this cursed house.

   "I wonder what else she can do..." he thought warily while glancing
around. "Shit, I don't like this too much..."

   He watched the hag shuffle into the small kitchen and start unloading the
bag slowly. He nodded to himself when he realized that it would take her a
while – she had quite a few packages, and it seemed like she was putting
them away in particular order. Raven soundlessly went into the living room
and started looking around, searching for the mirror. Magda has given him a
very good description; therefore, Raven knew exactly what he was looking for
in the mildly chaotic, all-sort-of-crap-filled living room. He didn't risk
looking in the drawers right now; he figured that if he fails finding the
mirror, he would wait for the hag either to leave the house again or to go
to sleep.

   "Dammit," he thought gloomily. "If she leaves again, I am going to be
stuck here until she comes back... Son of a bitch..."

   He glanced towards the kitchen. The hag was still working her packages.
Raven silently went into the small bedroom, wincing at that specific smell,
which seemed to be a trademark scent for all old people's houses. It was a
mix of arthritis balm, not-so-fresh clothes, and old sweat. Raven let out a
silent sigh and started looking around. Suddenly, he heard old hag's voice
screeching from the kitchen:

   "Alfred! Alfred...!"

   Raven frowned. Who the hell is Alfred, he thought with puzzlement, when
he heard meowing. You gotta be kidding me, he thought and briefly closed his
eyes. He hated cats. He hated them ever since he was five, thanks to Rufus.
Finally, he opened his eyes and looked around some more, trying to push away
some very unpleasant memories of his Aunt and that damn cat. The mirror was
not in here. Well, damn, he thought gloomily, and went back into the living
room.

   "Come here, Alfred," the hag said in less screeching voice, filling a
small bowl with milk.

   There was another meowing, and then a big black cat appeared from behind
the wall. Raven frowned when the animal stopped in its tracks suddenly,
turned its head, and stared at him without blinking. Raven knew that it was
impossible for anyone – people or animals – to see him; however, that damn
cat was staring at him while moving the very tip of its tail slightly, as if
contemplating whether to charge at the intruder and claw his invisible
throat to death.

   "What is it, Alfred?" the hag asked in a suddenly tight voice, throwing
quick glances around. "What do you see...?"

   Raven cursed silently and desperately when the tips of hag's fingers
started glowing with very dangerous black light.

   "Great," he thought feverishly. "Not just magic, but *black *magic...!
Goddammit!"

   Magic itself was bad enough, since Raven couldn't invoke anything; but
black magic was even worse – it was a hell of a lot more violent and
disastrous. He knew that not too many people could control black streams
(thank God for that), but apparently, the old hag was one of the few
individuals who could.

   He stared at the cat with silent hatred without blinking, and all of a
sudden, the cat turned away and walked closer to the hag, rubbing against
her leg. Hag's fingertips shed the black light, to Raven's indescribable
relief, and she picked up the abandoned bowl with milk and sat it on the
floor to cat's satisfaction. Raven watched the damn cat lapping at the milk,
and his heart was racing. If the hag gets hold of him, it's going to be a
hell of a lot worse than being captured by Julian. Raven had great doubts
that the hag would want to fuck him; he was sure that she would rather
torture him with those damn black streams until he wouldn't be able to
wheeze anymore before finally killing him. He knew that the ones who could
control black streams had no restrains when it came to executing revenge,
and the age of the caster didn't matter.

   He stood still for several more minutes, waiting for the damn cat to
finish the milk, since he didn't want to risk moving, knowing that the
animal would be immediately aware of that. He hoped that the cat would get
the hell out of here once the milk was gone. To his greatest frustration,
the cat headed straight towards the couch after the milk served its purpose,
and leapt onto it in one smooth, graceful movement, lying down on the
cushion and wrapping the tail around itself.

   "Crap," Raven thought darkly. He glanced around, scanning all those
shelves the hag had (there were quite a few of them) that were filled with
some alabaster figurines, old watches, and small glass bottles. Suddenly, he
blinked rapidly, almost in disbelief. There it was, he thought with relief.
There it was, the damn mirror! Hiding behind a short paunchy bottle and an
alabaster dolphin.

  Raven threw a quick glance at the cat. It seemed to be asleep. He looked
into the kitchen. The hag was slowly chopping up onions, something boiling
on the stove next to her as she went. Raven took a deep, silent breath, and
decided to go for it. He crossed the room in several quick, soundless steps,
glancing at the cat once again when he stopped by the shelf. The animal was
still asleep. Well, that's what it looked like anyway, Raven thought darkly.
He didn't trust cats; he knew that the damn things could put even the
greatest actors to shame. Just because it seems to be asleep, doesn't mean
that it actually is. He watched the cat for several more minutes, then
finally, took a quick breath, and very carefully pulled the mirror off the
shelf, making sure he didn't knock anything over. The bottle and the dolphin
didn't even shake, and Raven slipped the mirror underneath his jacket. He
turned towards the cat, and could've sworn that he saw a glimpse of the
golden orb closing very quickly. A cold shiver ran down his spine. The damn
cat was watching him!

   "Bloody hell," he thought, without shifting his gaze from lying still
animal.

   He took several steps towards the door, finally looking away from the cat
– he had to make sure that he didn't bump into anything on his way out – and
wrapped his fingers around the doorknob, praying silently that the hag did
not put the protection spell on the door again. He doubted she would do it
while she was inside the house, but one never knew.

   The doorknob turned smoothly and silently, and then the door opened in
the same mild manner as it did half an hour ago. Raven threw a quick glance
towards the kitchen, making sure that the hag was still in there, and when
he realized that was the case, he looked at the cat again. Then he became
cold. The couch was empty. "Shit!" he thought while frantically searching
the room with his eyes. The damn cat was nowhere to be seen.

   "Shit!" he thought again, biting his lip. Finally, he thought, "Screw
it," and quickly walked outside, shutting the door behind him without making
a single sound.

   This time, he decided to be smarter than he was with the medallion, and
he kept the invisibility on until he got to the coffee shop a block away
from his apartment. He hid in the shadows, throwing off his shroud of
nonexistence, and then he went inside the shop, craving coffee so badly that
his hands were shaking.

****
A little of shameless self-advertising. You can find all of my stories
here<http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=3895328> including
Debts