London Loves Ch. 03

"This is it. It's not the house I remember. This is his baby." He extended a hand towards the immaculate, black, soft-top, convertible parked at the kerb outside, almost as if he would pat it like a dog. He did not lower his hand to touch the car though. An almost Freudian reaction stopped his fingers millimetres short of the gleaming bodywork. "He loves cars, but he loves this one the best," he said with a feral grin, retracting his fingers. "Fuck knows why!"

He bounced up the steps towards the front door with indecent energy for someone who had spent almost the whole of the past 24 hours fucking, and on very little in the way of sustenance.

Xavier seemed none the worse for wear either as he slipped up the steps behind Rayne, smiling contentedly.

Standing at the door of this very nice looking three storey house, he had a spell of disorientation. All the days seemed to rush by him quickly since the moment he'd stepped sinuously out onto a stage to the pulsing beat of Dark Paths and danced to the voice oozing from the speakers into the crowd and then the owner of that smoky voice met him backstage with a feral grin and a hard on in his pants. His life had certainly taken some strange turns. It didn't hit him too often, but every once in a while he looked around and wondered how he had got where he was, as if it was just too much to have happened by chance and everything was speeding along far too fast. He reached for Rayne's hand automatically, feeling anchored at once by that gentle touch.

His lover turned to look at him almost mischievously as he felt Xavier's fingers curl into his and the sound of the doorbell chimed the refrain of Kylie Minogue's 'Spinning Around' somewhere deep within the house.

"He's a fabulous cook, I promise," Rayne said with a husky chuckle, the magic words that made everything else fall into place.

Xavier smiled again and took the opportunity to kiss Rayne while they waited.

They were still joined at the lips when the door opened and Lord Warren leaned in the doorway with a little smile pulling on his own expressive mouth. He was simply clad in pale jeans that fitted his tall, slender frame like a second skin and a silk shirt in a soft green that accentuated his gaze. He went barefoot in the house and his silver and gold curls flopped down loosely, almost into his eyes giving him a boyish look that was completely at odds with his age and status.

"Goddess!" he sighed, "Just my luck! They're still at it!"

Xav broke the kiss with a little laugh and turned a sunny smile on Dominic, his bright blue eyes set to stun with happiness shining from them. "Hi Dom... Rayne said you actually have food here?"

Dominic swept an arm around him and kissed him fondly on the cheek as he welcomed Xavier into the house.

"You smell good," he said, with a grin. "As does dinner. I hope you like Indian food, I'm in a spicy mood and I can do Mizz Wylde a veggie side plate, but I make Butter Chicken to die for. You do look hungry."

He ushered the younger man down a cool, mint-green hallway into a light and spacious dining kitchen which did indeed smell mouth-wateringly good. The maple kitchen units and black granite worktops occupied a deep, U-shaped alcove on the far side of the room. The near side, which was furnished half and half with light wooden bookcases and a long table in polished oak with six matching chairs, extended into a glass-roofed sun room out the back of the house with a view of the tree-lined gardens beyond. The floors were dark-grey slate with a strip of cream silk rug in the dining area, under the table, and there were plants of every description on the windowsills and shelves. A pair of tall, chunky, ivory candles set on ornate glass dishes decorated the table. Out in the conservatory there were a couple of plump, two seater sofas upholstered in lush, dark green velvet and a low, glass-topped table supported on a frame of burnished metal, wrought into the shapes of criss-crossing branches and vine leaves.

"Go through and make yourself comfortable whilst I check on dinner," Dom chuckled, patting Xavier's arse companionably. If he was at all uncomfortable about listening in on them this afternoon, it didn't show. "Ray, be a sweetheart and pour us all some wine."

Xavier was quietly observing his surroundings as he followed Rayne, taking in the house, the furnishings, and everything. He had a few immediate impressions. One was that the place suited their host well, it felt like Dominic, very refined and yet very comfortable. The other thing that struck him was the sense of wealth, it was a very, very nice house indeed. He supposed Rayne's apartment cost a pretty penny too, but the clean minimal lines didn't make you automatically think 'stinking rich'. This place did, yet it didn't seem ostentatious at all. The money had all gone into the fabric of the place; everything was immaculately constructed and fit beautifully. There was nothing here that seemed garish or out of place but from the floor tiles to the discreet white ceiling fan in the conservatory it was all top dollar.

Xav curled himself into one corner of the comfortable sofa and tried not to let his stomach rumble at the heavenly scents that drifted around him like a tease. In the meantime, Dominic moved back towards the kitchen alcove and poked things in pans whilst Rayne located a bottle of wine from an ornate iron rack in the conservatory and wrestled the cork out of it deftly. There were three tall, green-stemmed vessels on the dining table which were more like goblets than ordinary wine glasses. He poured the wine into them until there was none left in the bottle then passed one to their host.

Dom kissed his cheek again and returned to the stove though he kept up a sing-song chatter about food and the weather, inconsequential things, as the vampire returned to Xavier's sofa and handed him one of the remaining glasses.

"Cheers," Rayne said softly, chinking his glass against the one he had just passed over and taking a careful sip as he came to sit beside Xav. "What d'you think? Nice place, innit?"

"Uh-huh." Xav agreed, taking a more generous gulp than Rayne had. His eyes widened a bit and he looked at the glass as he swallowed. He had never really liked wine, but he'd gotten used to drinking it in Italy, largely because Aldo enjoyed it and wine was sometimes as cheap as Dr. Pepper out there. Still, getting used to it and actually liking it were two different things. What he'd just tasted though he liked, a lot. It was just the right amount of tart and sweet with nothing bitter in it. If he had to drink wine this would be what he would choose.

"That's really good!" he said as he took another good swig.

"I should hope so!" Dominic chirped from the kitchen. He came back to lean in the archway between the dining area and the little sun room, his own glass balanced lightly in the cradle of his long fingers. "You know, you two really ought to look a hell of a lot more tired after the wickedness you got up this afternoon."

"We were just faking to get you off, and you know it!" Rayne said with a lazy smile. One corner of Xavier's mouth curled in a grin to match Rayne's.

"You are such a good actor!" he chuckled softly, taking another long sip of wine.

Rayne smirked and rolled the large bowl of his wineglass back and forth between his hands. "So are you sweetheart. We really had him going there!"

Dominic looked from one mischievous face to the other and smiled knowingly. "Well it earned you dinner, anyway. I can't imagine Rayne's done anything so domesticated as buying food, Xavier. So you're probably starving by now, hot sex or not!"

"Well, I was starting to think I might have to beg to get a bite." Xavier, pushed himself to his feet and headed back towards Dominic, studiously not looking at Rayne for fear of laughing. "And that smells really, really good. I haven't eaten anything since we got off the train!" he said, with his best pathetic waif expression.

"Come and sit down, darling. Let me load your plate," Lord Warren said with a little smile. "You need to keep your strength up whilst you're here."

"What would we do without you?" Rayne asked from the comfort of the plush green sofa where he was sprawled easily now, looking very alluring indeed in tight black hipsters and a shirt that was an even deeper green silk than the couch beneath him.

"You'd both be very hungry, I guess," Lord Warren chirped, ladling golden butter chicken onto Xavier's plate and letting the thick sauces run into the heaped rice and snippets of spring onion and coriander he had already put on there.

Xavier was eager enough to sit down and eat, although he was a little cautious with the first bite or two. It looked delicious, it smelled fantastic, but that didn't always correlate to tasting just as good. He needn't have worried though, somewhat surprisingly Dominic turned out to be the excellent chef that Rayne had promised. Xavier was instantly transported to culinary nirvana. Of course, being half starved added its own seasoning but in this case it wouldn't have mattered if they'd already eaten, everything was amazing. His expression showed his pleasure, along with the occasional sighs and "mmm's" of appreciation and the way he licked his lips. He didn't do it consciously but even eating turned into a sensual experience with Xav around.

"Dom, this is fantastic! I wanna marry you!" he enthused between bites.

"Darling, let me check my diary and we can set a date," Lord Warren beamed across the table at him and tucked in, clearly accustomed to wooing visitors with his culinary expertise.

Rayne pushed himself up from the sofa and came to join them. The table was set for three but Dom had clearly left it to his friend to decide what he wanted or did not want to eat. It spoke of a familiarity with vampires and their ways that came as something of a surprise to Xavier. His lover now reached across from his seat at the head of the table and dipped a finger into Xav's sauce, sampling it tentatively and pulling a face.

"That is rich," he murmured softly.

"I turned some greens in a pepper sauce for you if you're hungry," Dom said with a questioning glance at him.

Rayne shook his head. "I'm sure it's fabulous, but... I'm not hungry for vegetables DW."

The older man reached across and patted his hand briefly. His smile was more paternal than predatory though.

Xavier looked over at Rayne with half closed sultry eyes, one knee crossed over the other and bouncing lightly under the table as he licked the sauce off his spoon. He didn't need to say anything, his look alone held a very suggestive offer. Rayne smiled at him in a way that said he wasn't entirely opposed to accepting either but then he stunned his mate with his next question, which was aimed at Dominic rather than him.

"Do you mind if Xav stays here tonight?"

Lord Warren glanced rapidly from Rayne's solemn face to Xavier's and back before shaking his head. "Of course not, he's welcome. You both are, you know that." The look on his face said that he wanted to ask why but knew better.

This was clearly news to Xavier though, and he didn't have any qualms about asking. "What? Why?"

Rayne snared the fingers that were not still wielding a piece of cutlery and drew them to his lips softly. "Because I need to go out and you're tired and I don't want you to be lonely," he said in a soothing tone.

Xavier just looked at him in surprise for a moment, still a little confused, then his expression slowly cleared as he realised Rayne had been planning to leave him here tonight all along. Irritation pricked along his skin but he managed to bite back the first thing that came to his tongue, and he even managed a calm tone.

"You could have just told me earlier you wanted to go out without me, Rayne. Don't treat me like a kid, okay?"

Dominic's fork hesitated halfway to his mouth and he glanced from Rayne to Xavier then back again a little more warily. "He has a point darling," he said in a placating tone, at last, looking back at the vampire with a small frown. "I presumed you'd at least talked about it."

"We didn't have time to talk about it," Rayne said testily, slumping behind his wineglass with a scowl. "Besides, what's to talk about? You both know the score by now. I can't exactly take him hunting with me, can I? I just thought it might be more fun for him staying here than being stuck in on his own. So shoot me!"

Xavier was probably one of the most easy-going people around, but he had a limit, and if he was shoved too hard he'd shove back.

"That is bullshit!" he snorted. "You gotta feed. I get that. You don't wanna feed off me. I get that too. What I don't get is why you think I can't handle it if you tell me even the simplest fuckin' thing! You knew you had to go out tonight, you could have just said so instead of acting like I'm a puppy that you need to arrange to drop off for the night!"

"I'm telling you now." Pale green eyes stared balefully back across the table at him, warning him without words that a fuss was not what Rayne wanted or needed right at that moment.

Dominic put down his fork with a little hiss of indrawn breath, a better reader of aura and body language than either of his young guests. Xavier was about a breath away from an all-out explosion.

"Ray..." Dominic warned sharply.

Xav already hadn't had the easiest of days, mostly because of Rayne. His lover clearly hadn't bothered to tell his ex about Xavier - or Xav about his ex - before they'd had their run in this morning. Xav had been willing to let that lack of consideration go because he understood how sometimes you just didn't think about things, and Rayne had said he was sorry, and that had been good enough for Xavier. This, however, was manipulation, flat out.

Xav wasn't stupid. Rayne hadn't told him what his plans were because he wasn't sure how Xav would react, and he didn't want to deal with it. So instead he sprung it on him at the last minute then tried to make it seem like he was just watching out for him when Xav got mad, and now that he'd finally pushed him to the point of a blow up he shut down and acted like Xav was being the unreasonable one. There was nothing Xavier hated more than being lied to or manipulated. It was like Rayne was purposely trying to see how much Xav would take, how far he could push him.

The seething anger in Xav hovered there on the brink for a moment and then as he realised Rayne had done this on purpose the energy suddenly seemed to drain out of Xavier. Instead of letting loose the fabulous temper tantrum that was brewing he slumped back in his own seat and sighed, running a weary hand through his soft blond curls.

"Fine! You're telling me now," he said woodenly, refusing to look at his lover. "Have a good night then."

Dominic was giving Rayne a 'look' which said very clearly that he did not appreciate this dispute taking place whilst they were still eating. Rayne returned the glare with interest then pushed himself to his feet and sighed.

"Fine! That's..." He threw his hands up in a gesture of defeat. "Just fine!" Tossing back the contents of his wineglass he set it down hard on the edge of the table and the stem broke in his hand.

Dominic yelped; "No!" like someone had shot one of his precious dogs in front of him and even the vampire looked momentarily stunned. The blood on his hand turned quickly to pale dust but the cut took a little while to heal. He put it to his mouth, running his tongue over the rent whilst Dominic retrieved shards of glass from under the table, his expression utterly mortified.

"Sorry..." he said at last, in a small voice.

Dominic rose from beneath the table with a face like thunder, still cupping slivers of fragile, scalpel fine, green glass in one hand.

"Get out!" he barked, pointing towards the sun room and the garden which provided the closest point of egress. "Just go! And try not destroy anything else on your way!"

Xavier sat petrified, his eyes just about as wide as they could get. He'd never seen Dominic lose his cool, or even raise his voice. He doubted a single broken glass was really something he would get worked up over so the glass must have been pretty special.

Rayne took off in the direction he was pointed and didn't even look at Xavier, who refused to acknowledge how much that hurt. Hadn't he just told Rayne not to treat him like a kid? Then he shouldn't sulk like one.

Dom got up and went for a dustpan and brush and Xavier stood too, meeting him on the other side of the table when he returned.

"Dominic, I'm so sorry..." he said, trying to help gather pieces. He was sorry too, about more than just the glass. If he'd just kept his mouth shut maybe Rayne wouldn't have gotten pissed and set it down too hard. It was his fault, he had to spoil everything.

"You've nothing to apologise for, darling," Dom sat back on his heels as if reading his mind and managed a weak, fraught smile for him. "I get so angry with him sometimes, Xavier. He just can't help himself. He has to be a spoilt brat and he just expects the world to move with him. Once upon a time I thought I could control that but I guess I know better now."

He lowered his head for a moment, turning a shard of the broken wineglass in his fingers sadly.

"They were a gift," he said at last. "From Venice, hand-made glass. A gift from someone I held in the highest regard." A little sigh escaped him. "Mea Culpa, Xavier. I should have put them away somewhere safe but I can't resist the chance to use beautiful things. Forgive me."

Impulsively Xav leaned over and kissed Dominic's cheek, a tender gesture meant to comfort. He sighed deeply.

"Today hasn't been the greatest. I shouldn't have let him push my buttons, I don't think he meant anything bad. I guess it's just spill over from him not giving me a warning about Matt Greening."

Dom looked interested. "Matty's been round?" he queried lightly. "Um... you do know...?"

"That he's a major pain in the ass? Yeah, I know." Xav said, sounding only slightly disgruntled. He relented at the look Dominic gave him. "And that he's a vampire of course, and Rayne's ex, and that he made him. Not that I was told any of that before I had the pleasure of meeting him this morning."

Dominic's roll of the eyes told him that this was a disappointment yet not unexpected. He swept up the last shattered shards and removed them to the counter but did not bin them.

"Matthew's a sweet boy, when you get past his prickles," he said, turning back to smile at Xavier. "He knows that Rayne doesn't want him, and it hurts. But he'll never show anyone that. So he gets his revenge in other ways. Which you've probably figured out already." He drummed his long fingers restlessly on the kitchen worktop either side of his hips. "If they'd been closer he would never have Turned Matt," he said thoughtfully. "That was the ultimate cruelty. Neither of them seems to see it yet, but it's true."

Xavier saw it, that was for sure. Matt had a very long unlife now to wish he was something more to the man he loved. It almost made him feel a little more forgiving toward him. Almost! Xav gave a little shrug. "At least I don't think he's gonna want to bite me again anytime soon."

Dom's eyes widened; "He bit you? Sweet Lady! Are you all right?"

"Um, yeah." Xav said, not sure what the big deal was. "I don't think he liked the way I tasted though," he added, and that reminded him about the problem he was having. "Dom, when can you help me with this shielding thing?"

"Ahh..." Lord Warren nodded gravely, as if something made sense to him. "Not so much the taste of you, I think, rather the stream of consciousness he downloaded with your blood. Well, that will teach him not to snack on another vampire's Chosen. You're quite right though. It will be to your benefit as well as theirs if you learn to contain your thoughts and emotions."