Temptations Mate: Chapter Eight

Kurt opened his eyes. It was odd. One moment he had been deeply asleep, and the next he was wide awake, his heart pounding with fear.

With an audible gasp he bolted upright, anxiously glancing about the unfamiliar surroundings. He was not reassured by the stone walls that were covered by ancient tapestries or the heavy wooden furnishings that spoke of a privileged, but barbaric past. Only the vast fireplace that was blazing with cheerful flames offered any hint of welcome.

"Blaine?" Kurt whispered, afraid that it would not be the vampire he sought that answered.

There was cool rush of air and then Blaine was his side, his raven hair slightly curling, no trace of injury marring his handsome face and a brocade robe covering his body.

Kurt shivered, a strange yearning stirring in the pit of his stomach. Stripped of the elegant attire that falsely proclaimed his civility and taken down to his core essence the vampire was savagely, irritably handsome.

"I am here." Settling next to Kurt on the wide bed, Blaine held out a crystal goblet. "Would you like some wine?"

"Yes, please." Kurt was dismayed to discover his hand shook as he took the goblet and drank his wine. Blaine watched him carefully, making no effort to conceal his surveillance. Kurt cleared his throat. "Wh-Where are we?"

"Welcome to Wildwind, dear one. We are in my private lair." A smile curved his lips but Blaine's eyes remained watchful. "Dinner will be served whenever you wish."

Kurt dropped his glass in surprise and only Blaine's lighting quick reflexes prevented the staining of his satin sheets. Kurt was stunned that not only had Blaine considered that Kurt might be hungry when he awoke, but that he would bring Kurt into his lair.

It was…inconceivable…and oh so exciting.

Kurt licked his dry lips, his heart leaping as his eyes dropped to his watch in a nervous gesture.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Several hours," Blaine answered quietly. A storm cloud passed over his face and addressed Kurt sternly,"You risked far too much by creating a portal. You could have killed yourself by calling upon so much power with no training and nary a clue how to control it."

Kurt scowled and snatched back his wine, mentally berating himself for having expected Blaine to show a modicum of gratitude for Kurt's saving his ungrateful life.

"It was not as if there was much of a choice," he mumbled darkly.

Blaine looked as if he were about to launch into a full blown lecture on Kurt's foolishness but at the last moment changed his mind and sighed heavily. No doubt labeling me a fool beyond his ability to train, Kurt thought forlornly.

"Do not presume to know my thoughts, dear one," Blaine said quietly, gifting Kurt with a small smile. "We will discuss this desire of yours to play with fire later." Blaine reached out and gently brushed the fringe away from Kurt's forehead, his fingers lingering to trail down to Kurt's cheek. The cool touch sent sparks of heated awareness through Kurt's blood. "We have more important matters to discuss."

Kurt nodded. "Such as how your…um, Jeremiah ended up-"

"I will not be discussing Jeremiah with you." Blaine's tone was cold, hard and final. Kurt struggled not to flinch at the reaction barely concealed anger invoking the name of Blaine's former lover induced in Blaine.

Despite his misery at being presented with proof of the vampire's lingering emotions for the Jinn, Kurt decided to press on. His broken heart could not bear to lose Noah, not now.

"But Noah-"

"The lycan has survived this long; he can keep a few more hours. Besides, it is daylight and most of my warriors are in slumber."

Feeling as if his mouth were suddenly dry as the Sahara, Kurt took a large gulp of wine. It was daylight and Blaine was…awake. Blaine was awake and Kurt was completely alone with him…in his lair…on his bed…

Before his thoughts could run away with him, Kurt felt the bed move and Blaine was there, his hand reaching out to tug aside the fur cover. Blaine reached out and plucked the empty glass from Kurt's fingers, leaning across him to set on a low mahogany chest beside the bed.

"Did you…not want any wine?" Kurt asked and then resisted the urge to smack himself on the forehead for asking such an inane question. Of course Blaine did not want any wine, food and drink held little interest to a vampire.

Blaine smirked and deliberately brushed himself against Kurt's body. "Not at the moment, dear one. I think I would prefer it if my senses were not dulled while I enjoy the pleasure of your company. Your presence is intoxicating enough," Blaine said huskily. He brushed an errant strand of hair back behind Kurt's ear. "Have you fully recovered?"

"Of course I have," Kurt huffed even though he had no idea if he were speaking the truth. His heart was thundering in his chest and he felt dizzy and a bit weak. It would be convenient to blame his condition on the events of the day but even to himself that excuse rang false. "In fact, I should be returning home. William has no doubt released the hounds attempting to track me by now."

Blaine laughed softly, just a whisper of a sound it but it sent desire flooding through Kurt's veins, as potent as if it were a serpent's venom.

"You are home, Kurt."

Kurt was home, a home with Blaine.

His heart clenched with a dangerous longing for those words to be the truth.

"My place is with William. This is…your home, not mine," Kurt whispered, nearly choking as he forced the words to leave his lips.

Blaine's smoldering gaze slid to Kurt's quivering lower lip. "If the d�cor does not meet your approval pay it no mind, we shall simply redecorate to suit your tastes. Whatever you desire shall be yours."

It was a statement spoken without a hint of doubt, spoken as if matters such as Kurt's consent and William's retribution were trivial. It was a bold promise but Kurt found that he did not doubt for a moment that Blaine meant every word he had spoken. "My lord…"

"Blaine."

Kurt cleared his throat and tried again. "B-Blaine-"

"Yes, Kurt?"

Kurt voiced the confusion that had besieged him since the moment he had awoken.

"I did not think a vampire would allow others to enter his private lair…particularly during daylight hours."

Daylight hours, hours during which Blaine was supposed to be resting and vulnerable.

Blaine stilled, considering how best to frame his response. He knew full disclosure was necessary, but there was quite a bit that he simply did not know the answer to, the most important of which was how Kurt had come to bear his mark in the first place.

Kurt watched in fascination as the light from the fireplace danced over Blaine's perfect features, adding a hint of mystery to his dark beauty. Suddenly, Kurt found himself overcome with an almost desperate need to tangle his fingers into the rich curtain of raven curls and tug Blaine down so he could drown in the vampire's kisses.

"A vampire will share his lair with one other," Blaine said at last, breaking the silence. "He will share with his mate."

Kurt tensed. "But I am-"

Blaine moved to part the fabric of Kurt's shirt, gently parting the cloth to reveal the crimson tattoo that stood out against the milky white of his skin.

"You are my mate."

Kurt forgot how to breathe as he looked down and stared at the unmistakable marking.

For months Kurt had struggled to keep Blaine at a safe distance. He had sworn to himself that he would never allow his desire for the clan chief to override his sense of caution.

But the trials of the day had forced Kurt to admit that he had been far from successful at keeping the beautiful demon out of his heart. Why else would he have risked his life, choosing to defend Blaine with his dying breath if need be, rather than flee to safety while Blaine was engaged in battle with Jeremiah?

Kurt had come to accept the inevitability of ending up in Blaine's bed. But ending up as Blaine's mate…it was unimaginable and more than Kurt had ever dared to dream.

"H-How did…" Kurt lifted his eyes to meet Blaine's unwavering gaze. "How is this possible? I thought…there has been no exchange of blood between us."

Blaine shrugged. "That is a mystery I had hoped you would be able to shed some light on, dear one. Much to my displeasure, I have yet to drink from you. Somehow you must have taken some of my blood as we passed through the portal."

Heat lanced through Kurt as he remembered his frantic kisses over Blaine's injured, bloody face as Kurt struggled to find some way to erect the portal and free them from Jeremiah's den.

"And so…we are mated?"

"Not…precisely."

Kurt frowned in confusion; a small bit of hope that he had known even known was there, dying in his chest. "I do not understand."

"There has been no exchange, dear one. I have marked you, given you the first of my seals but until you accept the bond and offer your blood in return, it remains incomplete."

"So," Kurt took a moment to consider the implications of Blaine's explanation. "You are…bonded to me but I am at liberty to refuse to complete the process."

"No, you most certainly are not. You are mine, Kurt," Blaine growled, low and dangerous, leaning over Kurt, his eyes glittering pools of ebony. Kurt quickly scrambled back against the pillows, jerking the fur cover up to his chin.

Blaine gave a chuckle and stretched out beside him, propping up on an elbow to study Kurt's face. "I was fool not to have recognized the truth the moment I saw you. No other, man nor woman, has consumed me as you have."

"Not even Jeremiah?" Kurt whispered his eyes desperately trained upon the fur as if it held the secrets to the universe.

Blaine took his fingers and gently forced Kurt to meet his eyes. "I first saw Jeremiah in the colonies. I was attending a play and he snuck into my box. Nikolas wanted to drain him but I found his bravery endearing. From the first moment I set my eyes upon him I desired him and I could tell that the feeling was mutual. We spent every moment together, most of them in bed. He was voracious…he wanted to understand everything about me, my clan, my power. He didn't fear it, he didn't fear me. He adored me, worshipped me, and I reveled in it, a bit too much in hindsight."

"What do you mean?"

"We were together less than two months when he demanded to be changed. I refused."

"Why? Surely you had sired other fledglings?"

Blaine sighed and drew Kurt to him, dropping a soft kiss on top of his head. "Kurt, Jeremiah was my lover. Being his sire meant causing his death. I could not…it was unnecessary and it was much too soon."

"But…but he was changed."

"When I refused he threw a tantrum. He shut himself up in his home and rescinded his invitation." Kurt's eyes narrowed and he made a sound of disgust at the blatant use of emotional blackmail.

Blaine gave a mirthless laugh. "Yes, Nikolas found it rather manipulative as well. I didn't care. I missed him, I wanted him and I was furious that he had found a way to defy me, or so he thought."

"What do you mean?"

"I gave him a fortnight and then went to him at the general store where he worked."

Kurt's eyes widened as a thought that had escaped him returned. "It is daytime…"

"I am a clan chief, the first born son of the firstborn son in the House of Drăculeşti"

"What does that even mean?" Kurt asked numbly.

"What that means dear one," Blaine said gently, "is that I am one of the few that need not fear the sun. A direct descendent of Vlad Dracul."

"Dracula." Kurt breathed, his eyes darting wildly about the room as if he expected the legendary vampire to step forth from the shadows.

Blaine laughed. "He is not lurking about my bed chamber, dear one. He has more pressing matters to attend to."

"But…but he cannot walk about in the day."

"No. He struck a devil's bargain-literally, to ensure his sons and the sons of his sons had a measure of protection against some of that which render him vulnerable."

"What-"

"It is unimportant and none of your concern," Blaine said firmly, but not unkindly. "Surely you were aware of daywalkers? Did my lack of a ghostly complexion never rouse your suspicions?"

"I…" Kurt's voice failed him.

"You?" Blaine prodded.

"I never saw you in the daytime."

Blaine laughed, low and dirty and moved his head so that his breath tickled Kurt's ear. "That doesn't mean I was never there. The morning after Hudson's ball, you and your maid Tina, were out shopping. You purchased a peach silk for her. She tried to refuse you and you got the most adorable pout upon your face and told her that it brought you joy-"

"To give a measure of luxury to one who would truly treasure it." Kurt finished. "I felt…I thought I felt you but it was the daytime and so I told myself it was my imagination."

"You were not imagining it, dear one. I was there," Blaine breathed in Kurt's scent and briefly closed his eyes, "I am always where you are, if not in body then in spirit."

Kurt swallowed. "Yes well…um, so Jeremiah."

Blaine sighed. "Yes, yes Jeremiah. I gave in to his demands and changed him. I walked into his place of work, dragged him over the counter and sank my fangs into him."

"You did what? You changed him in the daytime?" Kurt asked incredulously, "In full of view of the customers?"

"Ah, the customers," Blaine said with a smile, "They were delicious."

"Blaine!" Kurt squeaked, scandalized.

"I am a vampire, Kurt. I kill, I feed, and I do not feel guilt or shame for doing so," Blaine said sternly. "Besides, I couldn't have a bunch of hysterical humans rushing about telling tales of a vampire that walks about in the day. Precious few outside the demon world know of our existence and we prefer to keep it that way. Let the humans have their "protections" of garlic cloves and sunlight, what they don't know makes them all much easier to feed upon."

Kurt bit his lip. "Do you, uh, feed often?"

Blaine stared at Kurt for a long moment. "Would it matter to you if I said yes?"

Kurt opened his mouth to tell Blaine that yes, it would matter to him if Blaine were a monster who delighted in terror and death, but the denial died on his lips as he stared into Blaine's eyes.

"I would hope you'd not be so cruel but…I would, in time, find some way to learn to live with it." Kurt murmured.

"You don't have to, dear one," Blaine said gently. "The subsequent centuries have taught me a measure of restraint. I do not make a practice of the slaughter of humans for the sake of sport anymore. I leave such activities to Nikolas."

"You don't do it anymore?" Kurt whispered.

"Again, Kurt I am a vampire. When I was young I was impulsive, which is coming back to me full circle now that Jeremiah has become a problem."

"He…you changed him. You loved him and you changed him but you did not make him your mate. Why?"

Blaine dragged a hand through his hair. "His presence unsettled my clan, particularly Nikolas. He never approved of Jeremiah and he was never shy about vocalizing his discontent with the idea of Jeremiah ruling by my side. At the time I chalked it up to petty jealousy, but now-"

"Now you think he saw things that you didn't." Kurt supplied, somewhat bitter at the thought that Blaine had been so infatuated with Jeremiah he'd allowed himself to be maneuvered into siring him.

"Love is blind," Blaine said dryly.

"Love?" Kurt repeated hollowly.

Blaine's embrace tightened around Kurt. "Yes, love. For what I knew love to be at that time, I loved him to the point of distraction."

"Oh," Kurt said in a small, sad voice.

"It was over five hundred years ago, Kurt. I was more emotional, more reckless and much more arrogant."

"That I find hard to believe," Kurt mumbled.

"Believe it, brat." Blaine admonished gently, "Had I not been so I never would have permitted myself to be manipulated into being Jeremiah's sire and I never would have made the mistake that led to him being turned into …whatever he is now."

"What did happen, Blaine? How did you lose him?" Kurt asked quietly, not really wanting to hear anymore about the tragic love affair Blaine had had with Jeremiah, but needing to hear the answer from Blaine himself.

"Surely you have some idea, dear one. It's hardly a secret," Blaine said grimly.

"I have heard he was taken in retaliation against you but the circumstances are a bit murky."

Blaine sighed. "There was some trouble with a clan in Hungary. I made plans to meet with their chief to negotiate a peace. I tried to leave Jeremiah behind, but he insisted on accompanying me. His presence…caused some friction with the clan I was attempting to negotiate a peace with. They eventually attempted to kidnap him and there was a battle," Blaine paused and ran a hand through Kurt's hair, "many were lost but we emerged victorious. Afterwards, I decided Jeremiah and I needed time alone. We went to a local theater and there, performing amid the dancers was a ballerina. I desired her-"

At the confession Kurt stiffened in Blaine's arms and turned large, accusing eyes on Blaine. "But you'd just waged a war to keep Jeremiah safe and you-you desired her? But you said you loved Jeremiah."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "I said that I loved him, Kurt. I never made any claims of fidelity. And if you will recall, until a vampire finds his mate-"

"They are indiscriminate whores." Kurt huffed.

Laughter rumbled through Blaine's chest. "I don't believe I've ever heard it put in such…colorful terms before but in a manner of speaking, yes."

Kurt scowled. "So this dancer you desired, Jeremiah didn't care?"

"Jeremiah was surprisingly tolerant of my…proclivities. At the time I thought it proof of that he accepted me and my nature but now I suspect it was more a matter of practicality. His presence in the clan was a point of resentment, Nikolas was looking for any excuse to eliminate him and he was not my mate. He could ill afford to upset me," Blaine explained.

"What if he had protested?"

Blaine did not hesitate. He turned Kurt to him and pressed a kiss upon his forehead. "It would have been to no avail. I loved Jeremiah. I indulged him. I waged war and destroyed whole cities for his amusement. But I was never faithful and he knew better than to ask. My fidelity belonged to my mate and even though I had every intention of marking and claiming him, he was not yet that."

"Oh," Kurt said, absently fingering the tattoo on his chest. "So what became of the dancer? How does she fit into the story?"

"Damn gypsy whore." Blaine spat. "After I was done with her, she attempted to stake me."

"Why would she-"

"She did it so that she could rob me. I was merely going to frighten her by showing her the demon within me. To her credit she didn't waver. She broke a chair and attempted to drive a piece of the wood through my heart."

"So her death was self defense?"

"Kurt, you know better," Blaine said with a slight smile, "It was retribution."

Kurt had known better. Blaine could have easily disarmed a mere human, killing her wouldn't have been necessary.

"What does her death-"

"She was the daughter of some minor warlord. He got it into his mind that he was entitled to take revenge and took the life of one of my clan. I reacted rather strongly."

Kurt scoffed, "I should say so. If the accounts I've heard are accurate you decimated the entire population of the city."

Blaine smiled briefly. "Not the entire population. We spared the warlord. I made him watch as I fed upon his wife and babes. Then I burned his city to the ground."

Kurt paled at Blaine's matter of fact retelling of his brutality. "His children-"

"Were incredibly tasty," Blaine deadpanned.

"Blaine "

"We've been over this, Kurt. Vampire, remember? And it was over five hundred years ago, surely the time for penance has long since passed."

"How does-"

"I let him live."

"You did what?"

"I had him taken to the river and set free. He was given a horse and supplies and released to his own devices."

"You showed him mercy?"

Blaine laughed harshly. "Mercy had nothing to do with it, dear one. It was arrogance and…cruelty. I wanted him to live with the memory of the screams of his children ringing in his ears and the image of the burning carcasses of his people forever beneath his lids."

Kurt said nothing and Blaine continued, "Had I known he was under the protection of a coven I might have tempered my rage a bit."

"He went to them?"

"And they came for Jeremiah. Six months later we were walking along the Danube, and I was attempting to explain to Jeremiah, yet again why we had not yet performed the mating ritual even though I had claimed him publicly as my intended. One moment I was fighting with him, the next I was rendered motionless while he was dragged away by the treacherous fiends of the witches' coven. In a moment of irony that only a poet could truly appreciate, I could do nothing more but stand there and watch as he hauled away, screaming my name, bound in silver chains, and burning from the holy water he'd been doused in."

Blaine took a shaky breath and continued, "I was there until the rising of the sun broke the spell. I imagine they had depended upon the daybreak to kill me, another bit of irony that it was sunlight that ended the enchantment. It was the first time I truly understood the power of being a daywalker. I went home, explained what had happened to Nikolas, gathered my warriors and went in search of Jeremiah."

"And when you didn't find him you started to murder any witch that had the misfortune of crossing your path?" Kurt asked, with a trace of anger in his voice.

"Only after torturing them and ensuring they did not have news of Jeremiah's whereabouts," Blaine readily admitted.

"You loved him that much? You murdered innocent people-"

"They were hardly innocent Kurt, they were damn witches."

"So am I!"

"Trust me; it's a fact that has not been lost upon me. I never found him. After a time, the witches began to retaliate by killing vampires, which dragged other houses and clans into the conflict-"

"And the Council ordered a peace between your kinds before things escalated into all out civil war," Kurt summarized.

"Yes. I searched for centuries for Jeremiah and never found a trace of him. I felt so…responsible. Had I not killed the dancer, had I not let the warlord live, had I not taken him walking with no guards-"

"Blaine, it wasn't your fault," Kurt cut in hastily. At Blaine's look of disbelief, Kurt hurriedly continued. "Yes, ok your actions may have precipitated and exacerbated matters but you weren't the only one making decisions. Had Jeremiah listened to you and stayed behind, had your paramour not been a thief, had she had the sense to flee instead of trying to kill you, had the warlord not retaliated...don't you see? This bit of reasoning will only lead us round in circles."

"Perhaps, but it was my decision and mine alone not to mark Jeremiah. Had I bonded him, I would have been able to sense him no matter how far away he was, whether on the surface or down below."

Kurt absently caressed his tattoo again. "Why did you not mark him? I know you Blaine; I doubt that even five hundred years ago you would allow the disapproval of your clan to keep you from claiming your mate."

Blaine smiled. "You are right, dear one," he agreed. "My clan and my brother were inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. The truth of the matter is that Jeremiah's essence never seemed quite right. I thought I just needed more time to fall deeper in love with him but now…now I realize what folly that was."

"Why? It sounds perfectly reasonable."

Blaine shook his head. "Mating is instinctual, not rational. When you meet your mate, it consumes you. They are not just in your heart, they are in your blood, crawling through your veins, taking up residence in your head until you claim them," Blaine said huskily. "It's more than desire, it's a need, an ache, a void that none but them can fill and a passion that none but them can sate."

"Did Jeremiah not…create that void within you?" Kurt asked cautiously, the butterflies in his stomach springing to life and fluttering about wildly.

"No. No he did not. I wanted him, desired him more than I had ever desired any before and I cared for him, deeply cared for him."

"You…you said you loved him." Kurt whispered.

Blaine kissed the tip of Kurt's nose. "I said I loved him for what I knew love to be at the time," he corrected.

"And now?" Kurt asked, afraid of the hope that clawing its way out of his chest, seeping into his soul.

"Now I know what I felt for him, was a mere shadow of the real thing. It is nothing but a pale imitation of the love I feel for you."

Kurt felt as if his entire being were bursting at the seams, filled to overflowing with happiness at Blaine's words. In the still of the night, under cover of darkness when he'd been alone in his room he'd allowed himself to wish that perhaps Blaine could someday feel more than physical desire for him but even then he'd still not dared hope to hope for love. Kurt had been far too afraid to admit, even to himself, that he longed for Blaine to fall in love with him as he had fallen in love with the handsome vampire.

"You…you love me?"

"I love you," Blaine breathed, pressing a kiss into Kurt's palm. "I have never loved anyone or anything the way that I love you. Even when you are challenging me, pushing me to the point of distraction and being the most infuriating man I have ever come across in all my centuries –"

"I am infuriating? Well, there's a case of the pot calling the kettle black!"

Blaine smiled. "Admit it, dear one. You defy me on general principle. You are contrary for the sake of being contrary."

"Only because you are a spoiled demon used to getting your way! You snap your fingers and your every request is granted. You could do with a bit of humility," Kurt sniffed.

"Funny, I was thinking the same about you. You can be quite the haughty bitch when it strikes your fancy."

Kurt's mouth dropped open. "Excuse me? "What did you call me? You are so insufferably arrogant, my lord-"

"Blaine," he interrupted, suddenly dragging Kurt down until the warlock was lying on his back, blinking up at the vampire in surprise. Blaine loomed over him, taking a hand and carding it through Kurt's hair, fanning it across the pillow. "Blaine," he repeated darkly, "I have you in my bed, Kurt. I want to hear you say my name."

A delicious heat curled through the pit of Kurt's stomach, sending tiny tremors all throughout his body. For once, Kurt made no effort to quell his body's scorching reaction to Blaine. He loved Blaine. He was bonded to Blaine. Blaine had said Kurt was his mate and Kurt wanted that to be true with every fiber of his being. He was denying Blaine and denying himself.

Kurt was done fighting a battle that he had never had a prayer of winning.

"Blaine," Kurt whispered, surrendering himself to his fate.