They took slow midnight strolls underneath the trees. Callan rubbed the sides of his arms as the chilly wind blew past him and his mate. They didn't exchange much words to each other; Callan didn't know what to say, anyway. What more could have been said?
"Still mad at me?" Parker's sudden speech took Callan aback. It was still weird to see Parker talk without screaming strange things at him. The whole shift between all the dark things that the vampire wizard had done to this was definitely too quick.
"I don't know," Callan said.
"I completely understand if you still do," Parker said, his voice brimmed with his sensuous accent. That was quite irresistible. "I just want you to know that I am sorry for everything that happened."
Callan stopped his tracks. Above them, the top of the trees let out an opening enough to let the moonlight fell. He turned and faced Parker, and now he could see his mate clearer in dark hues.
"It's fine," Callan said, reaching out to touch the side of Parker's arm. His fingers lingered there, and he really wanted to do more touching here. "You look ... handsome tonight, Parker."
Parker laughed as his eyes went to his feet. "Thank you, Callan. You too ... well, you're the most beautiful person I have ever seen in my whole life."
Callan baffled and decided to move again. "Whatever."
"I'm serious."
"You're just ... infatuated, Mr. Sebastian."
"Hey." Callan felt his arm being gripped hard enough for him to stop his tracks. Then he looked at the pair of golden eyes, now materialized right in front of him, in his wake, instead of in the recurring dreams he always had.
He liked the view better here. He might not know what to do with his mate now, but he sure liked it.
"What is it?" Callan said.
"I ... I ..."
Callan frowned, his hand now gripped Parker's and felt him shivering. It was still peculiar to see a dangerous man like Parker succumbed to vulnerability like this.
"It's okay," Callan said, and he tiptoed to make sure his lips closed perfectly around his mate's own.
Callan pressed hard, relishing the taste and the sensation, allowing himself to let the explosive adrenaline rush flooded into him now. Parker went crazy; Callan could tell as his mate pushed deeper to catch Callan's own tongue in between his two lips. Everything felt natural, and kissing had never felt good when he had it previously. Maybe Callan had never kissed any boys before, but he knew for certain nobody could make it feel as good as Parker did.
Callan felt as Parker intensify when his mate gripped the back of his neck, as if that could relieve the tension of their making out. By doing so, Parker's lips got gentler, slowly sliding in and out in between Callan's own. He was now throbbing in his pants and really wished Parker could place his hand there ...
"I ... I'm sorry ..." Parker said once he broke out of the lip-lock.
"Hey, it's fine, Mr. Sebastian."
"No." Parker struggled to breathe. "Actually ... I ... I'm a bit thirsty. It's time."
Then it hit Callan that his mate was a vampire, and he needed to get fed. He almost forgot—Parker looked insanely human in this view.
"Oh, let me get you to the Main House," Callan said. "My dad may have something for you back at home—"
"It's fine," Parker interrupted. "I ... I'm not exactly comfortable drinking it in front of people."
"Oh." Callan hummed. He tried to think of any solution, and suddenly remembered about a rumor that he heard about vampires seeking body proteins of werewolves to substitute blood. Fuck. He blushed to that possibility ...
"It's okay," Parker said. "Maybe ... uh, you could accompany me for a while."
Callan brushed that thought away. He agreed, and later followed Parker climbed a few hills deep into the forest and settled somewhere where a sound of the stream was audible around them. Callan made himself comfortable on a mossy gigantic boulder, watching as his man eye around the darkness for his supper.
Parker took out a wand from his back side and squinted around the trees. Callan chuckled seeing his mate this way; suddenly, the harm that people had been seeing in this infamous vampire wizard had been replaced by this beautiful innocence. His mate then delicately swished the wand in the air, muttered something and sparks flew out of the pointy edge of the shiny stick. Then, a bird fell out of the tree right into Parker's own hands.
"Wow," Callan said. "That's impressive."
"It's nothing, love," Parker replied. Callan had goose bumps hearing the wizard addressed him that way. "Um, I can drink this somewhere else if you're uncomfortable."
"Not a chance, Mr. Sebastian," Callan said, scooting to his side and patted the empty spot right next to him. "Come here and enjoy your supper beside me."
"Are you sure?" Parker said, and Callan could see his smiles in the dark faintly. "The stench might be a little too intense."
"I'm going to be fine," Callan said. "Here, quick."
Parker approached the boulder, his chest almost touching Callan's dangling foot. "One condition."
"And that is?" Callan smirked. Parker was surprisingly playful, too. God, he wanted to make out with this man again.
"Don't address me as that," Parker said. "It's not even my family's name."
"Oh." Suddenly Callan remembered how the name only represented the vampire clan that took hold of Parker. The last name was nothing but a mark that showed how they branded and somehow owned Parker. "Deal," Callan said.
Parker climbed effortlessly to settle himself right next to his mate. Parker was hesitant at first, but then Callan caressed his mate's back, as if that could reassure him that it was okay for him to feed on the bird here. Parker's face lit up by that simple touch, grinning as he placed the bird's neck right to his mouth. Callan couldn't really see what kind of bird that was because it was quite dark, but it was quite of a size.
The whole bloodsucking was surprisingly quiet. The moon was high above them, and he could hear hoots and chirps in the night.
"Feel better now?" Callan asked. His hand was still on his mate's back, and it felt warmer now under his skin.
"Yes," Parker said. "Definitely."
"Does this mean you don't have to consume food?"
Parker bent down and covered his mouth, sounding like he was licking his lips before tossing the bird's corpse to his back. "That's one common misconception," he said. "We do need sugar and all that. However, having nutrients from the blood is like ... a drug regimen. Our bodies are just wired to need it, I guess."
"Can I ask you something?" Callan said, and he wasn't sure if addressing this question would make him look like an idiot to his mate ... but whatever. "Is the rumor true?"
"What rumor?"
"You know ... the boys usually joke around about this back then, but ... they say vampires often seduce young male werewolves to get our ... um, well ..." Callan hesitated. He felt his cheeks burning as he said this.
Parker laughed out loud, and this was worse because clearly his mate knew what was coming. "You mean ... your reproductive fluid?"
This time, Callan baffled. "You sound like you're reading from a textbook!"
Parker tried to collect himself, and the situation suddenly went very awkward. "Ah, yes, though I never tried. Haven't lived that long to think of doing so, though."
"So, like ... it can substitute blood for you or something?"
"Or something," Parker said. "It's the protein from the plasma in the blood that gives us the energy to be independent of it for quite some time, but this potent energy from the live blood itself that gives us the euphoria to relieve the bloodlust. Also for me, it's the energy that replenish my magic verve."
"Verve?" Callan asked.
"The magic energy, love," Parker said, wiping his mouth. "It's something that's interlinked with our own stamina and liveliness, basically. To perform the spells and all, I have to be recharged. For other magicians, it's simply having a good rest and a clear mind, but for me I need to relieve my thirst for blood and earn the euphoria to have my verve full. That's the toll for having both sides of being me."
"I see," Callan murmured. "But ... what does that has to do with ... well, you know."
Parker chuckled. "Apparently, somebody discovered that certain body fluids from immortals can give similar effects to relieve our blood thirst. The potent energy is said to be quadruple higher than in regular blood. First, maybe because you're an immortal, and next is the ... uh, fluid, obviously can only be excreted when your body is charged with a great sexual energy. Since there are so many charges there, the effects might be ... well, more intense."
Parker went a little sideways, maybe to avoid showing his mate too much gore in the dark. Not that Callan minded. "That's ... interesting."
"Yes, and a long time ago there's been abduction and rape cases because of it," Parker informed. "It's wicked and ... disturbing, if you ask me. My clan had to manhandle multiple cases of it."
"So ... that's why there's the slur, then." Callan heard it all before—werewolves and vampires could still detest each other. He remembered some boys in the pack would call vampires with vile names whenever they started to trash talk about them. Dick suckers—Callan thought of the whole locker room chat with his soccer friends from the pack.
"Yeah, though I must say it's really stupid," Parker said as he tossed off what was probably the bird's corpse to his back. "The cases are minimal. The hate around it, though ... the word of mouth hyped it all up."
"I see," Callan said.
They both walked hand in hand to the Main House, with Parker wandering aimlessly while his mate guided the way. Callan's fingers rubbed the inside of Parker's palm, as if treasuring the skin-to-skin feel so much that he wanted the sensation forever. He hoped his mate wouldn't mind, though.
He wished the journey would last forever, because the stillness of it was serene and heavenly. But the sight of La Cove was already reemerging—orange lights sparkled against the starry night, and when they got to the first clearing, it was the backyard of the Main House. The excited commotion of the party people from the wedding seemed to be quite absent this time—then Callan realized it was way past midnight for them to be up now. Apparently, the night for the adult crowd in the pack got old very quickly.
They both walked hand in hand to the Main House, with Parker wandering aimlessly while his mate guided the way. Dad met up with him and Parker upon their arrival. Since it was late, Dad showed Parker the way to the guest room that he'd set up, anticipating the vampire to stay the night ahead on. As they walked up the stairs to the corridors of empty rooms, Callan felt a rush of warmth hearing his mate conversing with his father casually.
"We have eight guest rooms in here," Dad said. "This house can hold about sixteen to twenty guests per night." Many of them were occupied, mostly by Claire and Anthony's friends who travelled from afar to attend the wedding.
"This is great, Mr. Johnson—"
"Please, son ... you can just call me Dan."
"Dad," Callan groaned. "Son? Really?"
"I'm not wrong, Cal. He's your mate."
"Okay, okay, Dad, you can stop now." Callan's face was on fire. Parker by his side silently laughing were not helping the situation.
Dad left Callan to his mate by the doorway of the bedroom. "Don't get too crazy," the father warned in amusement, but Callan kind of sure he had to ignore that for tonight.
"I ... I need some clothes—"
"I'll get them for you soon," Callan said, already pushing Parker to sit on the edge of the bed, gripping his two shoulder blades lightly. "Don't worry."
Parker smiled. "Remember what your father said, love."
Callan sat down beside Parker on the bed, scooting closer to put his lips right on his mate's own. Callan had never felt this good kissing somebody else—their mouths were a perfect fit, and the internal tingling warmth inside his chest was something that he knew he'd get addicted to from now on.
Parker's usual panicky gasps came out of his body again. That could really turn Callan on so easily.
"Callan—"
"Parker," Callan breathed out his mate's name like it was a magic word. Then he kissed him harder, relishing the softness of their miraculous touch. Callan tugged the hem of Parker's clothes to put his hand underneath, but that's when his mate stopped him from proceeding further. Parker's sudden grip on his wrist sent a subtle shock throughout his system, enough to make him pull away from the kiss.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"It's—my love, I don't think this is right." In the dim light coming from the moon outside the window, Callan could see Parker looking down to the floor in avoiding his eyes. "This is too early for the both of us."
"What do you mean?" Callan said, his heart already racing. "Have I done something wrong?"
"No, that's not what it is," Parker said. "It's just ... you're barely seventeen, love."
That had sort of taken Callan aback. He didn't expect his age to come into the picture now. Was this the reason of Parker's agitation all along? "Why does that matter? I mean ... you're seventeen too!"
"Come on, now," Parker chuckled a bit in response to that. "You know I'm not technically seventeen. We have about a decade and a half apart from each other, Callan."
"It doesn't matter," Callan said, hoping his eagerness would convince his mate and eased his worries away. He reached over to wrap his arms around Parker's shoulders. "We're still destined for each other, Parker."
"Which is why it matters the most to me," Parker said, reaching around Callan's waist in return. "Because I'm yours for certain, I want to do this right. I want to live every moment with you and make this as perfect as it can be, love."
"Hmm," Callan murmured. He believed that whatever they were going to have, it was going to be perfect anyway despite all the imperfections that happened. Every moment that they were about to share was going to be meaningful anyway. So why the wait, Callan thought to himself.
"Trust me, alright?" Parker said. "We have a lot of time ahead of us. This can wait."
Callan sighed. "So ... I can't ... you know, have all the fun things with you now?" Callan tried very hard not to sound whiny now. "So ... when's the right time, then?"
"Hmm, maybe during your eighteenth birthday?" Parker said. "I just think now's not the right time for me to ... you know ... overtly touch you."
"Dammit, Parker," Callan said. "Alright ... fine. But I get the kisses. Deal?"
Parker chuckled, connecting the tip of his nose to Callan's. "Of course. Now ... there's one more thing."
Callan smiled, exhaled out of relief knowing that the spoken matter wasn't something severe that he must worry about. Parker wanted to wait, and Callan could be fine with that in time.
In the meantime, his hands would do for now.
"What is it?" Callan asked.
Parker took his hand and planted a kiss on his knuckles. "I'm Bradley."
"Bradley?"
"Yes, love," Parker gave another kiss there, as if it was his new favorite spot. "Just Brad, though."
Callan grinned to this revelation. "Nice to meet you, Brad."
"Everyone calls me Parker—that's my middle name, actually—I just feel like the man of my life deserve to call me by who I am."
Callan reached out to kiss Parker—or Brad, now that he needed to get used to it—on his cheek. "But isn't Parker who you are too? You're Parker Sebastian, the one all the magic people bow down to. Aren't you?"
"That's not even half of me that I allowed the world to see, my love," Brad said. "To you, I can never be him. I can never be that Parker Sebastian."
Their eyes met, and Callan's heart picked up speed for a completely different reason this time. Just having to see the man who had been so vicious in his nightmares previously stripped off his cold hard shell was even scarier. It scared him more than how he had to face the vampire wizard in rage trying to make sense of their destined bond together.
"I ... I tried to be ParkerSebastian with you ... to be cold and hard and all these things I had been for somany years since my Change. But with you, I only can be this lovesick teenageboy. The last time, that boy was Bradley. And I am proud to be him again now."