Chapter 14

Ashley wasn’t sure he could cope with another cold shower. Ben seemed to be everywhere he went, and they both would look at each other and then bolt in the opposite direction. Out of desperation he was trying a potion Jack had uncovered. He was far from convinced it would work but at least the act of brewing would be calming, or it should have been.

“Oh sorry, Ashley, I didn’t realise you were in here.”

He glanced up to see Ben and, in his distraction, added the crushed cranberries on the counter rather than a counter-clockwise stir. “Bollocks!”

The contents of the cauldron began to boil rapidly, plumes of white smoke rolling off its surface. “Fuck. Look what you’ve made me do!”

“It’s not my fault.”

“Like fuck it isn’t.”

He knew better than to try to counteract the issue with magic but he had no idea what to do to stop the reaction, and even a containment spell could be dangerous in some cases. “What’s in the pot?” Ben asked, waving away the pungent fumes.

“It’s an adnoamourite potion,” Ashley said, coughing.

“Camomile base?”

“Yes.”

Ben disappeared into the storage cupboard and returned clutching several sprigs of lavender. “This might help calm it until the reaction stops.”

The liquid in the cauldron went a puce colour and the bubbles broke in a series of loud belches. “I don’t think that worked. There’s pigeon blood in there. Maybe some amber shavings?”

“I’m all out. I used the last batch and am waiting for the restock.”

“Silver splinters? Although I’m not sure you’d want to risk those because if it does explode and hits you…”

“I’m not in the business of sloughing.”

Ashley didn’t blame him for his reticence, vamps were allergic to silver and he’d seen some nasty injuries where silver had caused large areas of soft tissue to slough off and it could take a long time to grow back.

“Any other suggestions?”

The cauldron jiggled on its stand. The reaction was far worse than he’d been expecting. He set up the least reactive containment spell he knew, which would hold for a little while, and consulted the ingredients, Ben standing far too close to him was not helping his concentration one jot.

Ben tapped one of the entries on the list. “This says candied apple peel, it doesn’t stipulate the colour. Which did you use?”

“First-principles dictate using the colour closest to the concoction, if not specifically called out. At the time the potion was greenish.”

“But you’ve amethyst powder in here.”

Ashley felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. He should have known better. “Oh fuck!”

They both turned to see the cauldron hover off the floor. “It’s going to blow.”

“I daren’t risk increasing the containment field, it’ll be counter-productive.”

Ben grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the door. “We have to get out of here.”

The rumbles from the cauldron got louder and louder and the room began to shake, the windows rattling. Ashley let out a squawk when he only just managed to miss being hit by a flying stirring rod, which had been catapulted out of the potion. They were barely through the door when the potion exploded and sent them to the floor, Ben landing on his back and Ashley on top of him.

“You all right?” he asked, Ben’s lips a little too close, and despite the disaster area of the building behind him, Ashley couldn’t stop staring into Ben’s eyes.

Ben was holding him around the waist. “Yes. You?”

“Yeah.”

A soft cough had him looking over to see two pairs of shoes. Ashley rolled off Ben, although he wasn’t happy to do so, and sat up to see Karl and Alex had arrived.

“What’s gone on?” Alex asked, staring at the smoke billowing out of the now windowless potion room.

“A little potion accident. Nothing to get excited over,” Ben said, letting Karl pull him to his feet. “I added green apple skins—didn’t react well with the amethyst powder.”

Ashley hadn’t expected Ben to take the blame.

“I’ll deal with it,” Alex said. “There’s a bit of elvish magic that’s perfect for mopping up stuff like this.”

Ashley thought that if any species was good at hiding and tidying up shit it’d be the elves. “Thank you.”

“Can you tell me what potion it was? Or at the least the ingredients, in case I need to adapt.”

“We were working on a version of the adnoamourite potion,” Ben said. “There’s nothing else to be concerned over.”

Once again Ben had replied so the error wouldn’t be laid at Ashley’s door and he was oddly charmed by it, although the more sceptical part of him wondered why.

Karl raised an eyebrow at Alex, but the elf shrugged and headed towards the smoke without further comment.

“Is there anything I can help with, my lord?” Karl asked.

“If Mr Niven is agreeable, we could take tea in my private sitting room. I think we’ve a few things to discuss.”

“Of course, I will deliver a tray directly.”

With Alex dealing with the smoke and Karl disappearing, Ashley was left alone with Ben. “What do we need to discuss?”

“Ashley, I don’t think we can ignore whatever is going on between us. There was a building on the verge of exploding behind us and all I could think of when you landed on me, was whether I could roll you over and get my hands under your clothes.”

“Pretty much what I’m still thinking, if I’m being honest,” Ashley conceded. Ben was fucking sex on legs and Ashley was in danger of doing something stupid like getting on all fours and begging to be taken.

“A conversation for somewhere private.”

Ashley followed Ben into Crofton Hall, both of them being careful to maintain a discreet distance and not to touch. Apart from Ben’s office, Ashley hadn’t been in any of his private rooms, and this one had a much different feel to it. The room screamed of Ben’s personality, unlike the almost dull office. Little knick-knacks were all over every surface, the furniture old, and none of it matching, and it had a cosiness that put Ashley at ease, even though there were no windows.

A tea tray sat waiting for them and Ashley hadn’t expected actual tea. Ben sat on a leather sofa, and as much as Ashley thought it would be a more sensible idea to take an armchair, he couldn’t bring himself to do so and sat next to Ben.

“So,” he said. “Here we are.”

“Yes, and I’m resisting all temptation to knock you backwards and have my wicked way with you.”

“Such a gentleman.” Ashley laughed. “I assumed you’ve done similar research to me in order to find a way to stop this. I mean, it has to be some facet of the spell I cast to have you open the spell box.”

“It must be, this level of attraction is not normal, well, not for me. I’ve wanted to fuck people in the past but never like this.”

“Same for me.” Ashley sighed, and crossed his legs trying to will away his erection at the result of Ben saying fuck in his delicious timbre. “I couldn’t find anything specific to stop it, the potion was the only thing, and even then I was dubious as to whether it might work.”

“I have drawn similar blanks, I’ve searched everywhere I can think of, even had Karl and Alex on the case, and found nothing that would help our predicament. So my conclusion is our best bet would be to let ourselves succumb and get it out of our systems.”

Ashley had to admit he couldn’t find an alternative, and he’d fucked worse-looking men than Ben. “I suppose that would be the most logical course of action and, as it’s likely to be residual magic, one session should be sufficient.”

Ben leant close. “One wild encounter. Let the passion burn it out and we can get back to our normal non-sexually charged arrangement.”

“We should probably discuss how we go about it.” Although to be honest, at this point Ashley might just strip naked and offer himself to Ben to do as he pleased.

Ben placed a hand on his thigh and licked his lips. “I take it you’ve been with a man before?”

Ashley snorted, Ben was hilarious. “I’ve only ever been with men. Women don’t do it for me at all.”

“Preference?”

He didn’t want to talk, he wanted to fuck. And he wanted it now. “Flexible, but at this exact moment I want your cock so deep inside me I’m not averse to begging for it.”

Ben lunged and Ashley toppled backwards, pinned under Ben and moaning like an ogre in a brothel of Amazonian women as he claimed a deep, filthy kiss. Ashley couldn’t remember the last time someone had kissed him like this, as if he was to be devoured, preferably whole.

His body yearned. Fuck—he didn’t even know he was capable of feeling this turned on. He pulled at Ben’s shirt, trying to get to his skin and then Ben moved away and Ashley scrambled to get him back.

“Not here. Not on this shitty sofa. I’m taking you to bed.”

Before he could argue, he was pulled to his feet, suddenly reminded how strong the average vampire was, and there was nothing average about Benjamin Redbourn. He went willingly as Ben dragged him towards a bookcase that swung open as they approached. He would probably need to ask if there were any more secret rooms and passages in the house for the sake of his investigation, but for the rest of tonight all he cared about was getting somewhere they could be horizontal.

They emerged into what Ashley assumed was Ben’s bedroom, given the four-poster bed taking pride of place. “No coffin?” he asked with a smirk.

“No, all my private spaces are windowless. And there are some traditions that should be forgotten when there’s the option of mattresses and cotton sheets.”

Ashley yelped as Ben swooped him up and deposited him onto the bed. “Let’s face it, coffins are not designed for the sort of activities we’re planning.”

“I don’t know, petite mort?”

“From what was pressed against me earlier there’s nothing petite going on.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere.” Ashley grabbed Ben’s shirt and demanded another kiss.

Ashley decided he needed them both to be naked, and he didn’t have the patience to deal with Ben’s buttons. He muttered a spell under his breath and their clothes disappeared and he was now pinned to the mattress by a naked Ben, Ashley could not mistake the erection pressed against his own hard, aching cock. He fucking loved his magic.

“Oh, fuck, Ashley, you feel so good.” Ben’s lips were on his neck, which might have made Ashley nervous if they weren’t both starkers and Ben’s fangs weren’t sheathed. “I can’t get enough of you. I’ve been desperate for days.”

It hadn’t been that long since he’d been laid. He’d enjoyed a couple of rebound shags after finishing with his last boyfriend but it could have been a lifetime he was so impatient to have Ben fuck him.

“I need this. Really need it.”

Ben pulled back and Ashley tried to kiss him again. “Patience. I’m going to grab the lube, then I’m going to fuck you open with my fingers so I can get inside you.”

“You better fucking hurry up or I’ll bring myself off with my hand.”

“Don’t you fucking dare.”

Ben manhandled him into the position he wanted, and Ashley would have argued but Ben’s kisses and clever fingers robbed him of all sense. He’d known Ben would be good at this but he had Ashley babbling and losing his mind from just his fingers. Fuck, he couldn’t wait to get Ben’s cock inside him.

“I need more than your fingers,” he panted.

Ben chuckled and eased his fingers out. “You’re so warm, I can’t wait to have you.”

Ashley muttered a protection spell, he might be riding a wave of sexual excitement, but he hadn’t survived four hundred years without getting syphilis by not being careful, and with Ben’s reputation, he wasn’t going to take any chances.

For a moment he considered letting Ben lead the way, but he wanted more of a steer about how this would play out. As Ben leant over to claim a kiss, Ashley took the opportunity to flip him onto his back. “I’m gonna ride you.”

He’d always preferred to be in control, but he was flexible in the position from where he drove, and tonight he was going to fuck himself on Ben’s cock, get him out of his system and return to his life without being haunted by a charming bastard of a vampire.

Ben was a glorious specimen out of his suit, pale as expected, and nicely put-together, his cock a good length and girth, he was going to enjoy this. He sank onto Ben’s cock.

“Fuck! Ashley!” Ben’s hands clamped on his hips. “You’re stunning.”

Ashley knew he was attractive, maybe not like Ben, but he’d never had a problem getting a partner. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt this turned on or wanted. He began to ride Ben, making sure the angle was perfect, and by the look of bliss on Ben’s face, it wasn’t just him who was thrilled with the turn of events.

His head lolled back as he ground down, seeing stars as his orgasm began to build. Ben wrapped his hand around his cock, and Ashley gasped—he was so close. Ben bucked up and Ashley couldn’t hold back any longer, he came with a cry, his release coating Ben’s hand.

Ben hissed with pleasure, and Ashley saw his fangs extend but only for a moment before he remembered himself and who he was with. “Fuck!” Ben cried and he came.

Ashley eased off Ben, and collapsed beside him, smug he’d reduced the mouthy bastard to monosyllables, at least for now. They lay there, Ashley panting to get his thumping heart back in line, the happy chemicals racing around his body. That had been some of the best sex of his long life, his magic thrummed in agreement.

Ben grinned at him and slid his hand across Ashley’s belly. “Get your breath back, Niven. We’ll definitely be going again before the night is out.”

Ashley would be more than happy to oblige, then come the morning he’d have had a magnificent night of fantastic sex and his need for Ben Redbourn would be just the memory of a great lay.