Wednesday Briefs - Boys of Belsmeade 17

Welcome to Wednesday Briefs! It's flash fiction, so this story will be presented in 1000(ish)-word chapters. I hope you enjoy it, and check out the many other flashers, whose links are below. You can also check out the Wednesday Briefs Blog for more info and to sign up for email notifications.

Thanks for reading!

THE BOYS OF BELSMEADE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Seventeen

"Are you thirsty?" Marco asked the brooding vampire.

Blake gave his captor the finger, but said nothing. Raniero shook his head. "Don't be an idiot. The council's on its way here, and you shouldn't face them while you're thirsty. It's gonna be bad enough as it is."

"Thanks for that advice," Blake said, "but I'm not taking a damn thing from you."

The two brothers looked at each other and shrugged. They remained quiet until their father joined them. "Open the door and leave us, both of you," he told his eldest son. Marco gave him a questioning look, but did as he was told. He and Raniero went up to wait with their mother at the top of the stairs.

Aristes sat across the table from Blake and scowled at him. When the young vampire wouldn't make eye contact, the clan chief sighed. "Tell me, Blake. How long have you been in love with Aramis?"

That got Blake's attention. His eyes darted to Aristes' and he went on the defensive. "I'm not in love with him. What the hell would make you think—"

Aristes raised an eyebrow. "Your pulse is racing. You're nervous."

"I'm not gay!" Blake shouted.

"You have nothing to fear from me. I have two sons who are gay. Is your father not… accepting?"

Blake scoffed. "Are you kidding me? My brother Galen announced that he was gay two Christmases ago. He disappeared that night and we've never heard from him since."

"What?" Aristes asked.

"Yeah. I assume my father killed him."

Aristes leaned over the table, mouth agape. "Do you have proof?"

Blake shrugged. "Besides the fact that Galen didn't take any clothes, phone, computer or even his car when he left? Kinda suspicious, but whatever. There's nothing anyone can do about it now."

"What does Lilliana say about your brother?"

"Mom? She doesn't say anything. She's just there to look pretty and not question my father about anything."

Aristes sighed, unsure how to continue. Galen Becker's disappearance needed to be investigated immediately. And once Becker found out that his youngest son had betrayed his secret, Blake's life was also in danger. They had to tread very carefully.

"I will not betray your secret to the council, Blake, but may I suggest that you tell them the absolute truth? Your crime carries a penalty of death, but your youth will be seen as a mitigating factor. The council may be persuaded to forgive your rash and foolish decision to frighten my son's mate away. However, if you keep anything from them, or tell lies, you will be found out, and you will die."

Blake didn't answer. He was still trying to process Mr. Ambrogi's words, "my son's mate" and it wasn't working. He cleared his throat and asked, "Aramis m-mated with Eliot?"

The chief nodded and desolation washed over Blake. It suddenly didn't matter what the council did to him. All hopes of having the one he loved were gone. He'd tell the council everything, because if the council didn't kill him, he'd find a way to do it himself.

********************

The eldest Ambrogi boys and their mother sat around the kitchen table, worried at what they had just overheard. Aurelia shook her head slowly. "That poor boy. We cannot let Becker take him back."

Marco nodded. "He'd be dead in two minutes. What're we going to do?"

"Do about what?" Epifanio asked, poking his head through the door.

Aurelia gasped. "I thought you'd left."

"Forgot to ask Dad something. Where is he?"

"Downstairs with Blake," Marco said. "Not sure if you should bother him though."

"It'll be quick," Epifanio answered, and took the cellar stairs two at a time. "Hey, dad. I forgot to ask you if—"

He stopped short at the sight of the young, red-haired vampire sitting across the table from his father. A strange sensation numbed his brain for a moment, until he could hear his father speaking to him.

"Epifanio, what do you need?"

"Er… yeah. Um. You said you'd cut me a check for the library fund last week, but I forgot, and I didn't want to…" He stumbled forward and thrust his hand out to Blake. "I'm Epp."
"Hi," Blake said quietly and shook the offered hand.

Both vampires froze, white-knuckled, and Aristes' eyebrows shot up. This didn't bode well. He cleared his throat and Epifanio released Blake's hand. The latter sank back into his chair, flexing his fingers as though he'd been shocked.

Aristes stood quickly and took his son by the arm. "May I speak with you upstairs?"

"Uh-huh," he mumbled, eyes still locked on Blake.

His father switched his grip and took him by the collar, pushing him up the stairs. Without explaining to Aurelia, he continued on to his study and threw Epifanio into a chair. The young vampire was nearly catatonic until his father swatted the back of his head.

"Ow!" he cried, rubbing the injury. "What'd I do?"

"Excuse me?" his father asked. "I think you know what you did."

Aurelia knocked on the door and Aristes said, "Please come in, my dear. You should hear this."

"Hear what?" Epifanio barked in irritation.

"Your son," Aristes explained to his perplexed wife, "has just done the unthinkable."

"The unthinkable?" she asked.

"Yes. He's found himself a mate."

The stunning vampire's eyes lit up and she turned to her son. "Oh my dear, that's wonderful! Why didn't you tell me? Who is it?"

"Blake Becker," Aristes replied blandly.

Aurelia blinked at her husband. "I'm sorry. Did you say—"

"Yes."

"Oh my God," she groaned. "Epifanio, please tell me this is a joke."

Epp looked at his mother and scowled. "'Fraid not."

She studied her son's face and gasped. "No, apparently not. Look at those freckles!"

"Freckles?" Epp cried. He ran across the hall to the powder room and stared in the mirror. "Oh my shit! That's what I get? Aramis gets a little patch of brown hair from Eliot and I get fucking freckles!"

Marco put an arm around his brother and smiled sympathetically. "Life is tough, little bro. And yours just got hard as cement."

Go to Chapter Eighteen

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Don't forget to visit the other flashers!

Chris T. Kat
Cia Nordwell
Julie Lynn Hayes
MA Church
Ravon Silvius
Tali Spencer
Victoria Adams

New Amsel Clan project.

Hey there! I've submitted REMEMBER HIM for publication, so I've taken both Amsel Clan stories off my blog. I will, however, be starting another Amsel Clan project soon. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for reading!

Wednesday Briefs - Boys of Belsmeade 16

Welcome to Wednesday Briefs! It's flash fiction, so this story will be presented in 1000(ish)-word chapters. I hope you enjoy it, and check out the many other flashers, whose links are below. You can also check out the Wednesday Briefs Blog for more info and to sign up for email notifications.

Thanks for reading!

THE BOYS OF BELSMEADE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Sixteen

Aramis took my hand and led me through the French doors on the far side of the sitting room. The snow crunched under my boots, but I wasn't cold. Evidently, air temperature wasn't going to affect me as much now that I was a vampire.

Good. I fucking hate the cold.

As we walked to the pool house, I leaned against my mate's shoulder. He asked me, "Are you happy?"

"Yes," I replied quietly.

"But?"

I sighed. "I don't know. This is all so weird. My life has changed in so many ways and… I mean, I barely know you, and now I'm bound to you forever—literally, forever."

Aramis came to an abrupt halt and I fell back against him. His eyes were wild with fear. "Are you saying you don't want to be bound to me?"

"No! I mean, I definitely want you. Please, Aramis, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that we know so little about one another."

"I know your favorite band is Scissor Sisters," he said with a mischievous grin.

"How on earth would you know that?"

His expression turned guilty. "I may have visited your house a few times and watched you sleep."

"How many is a few?"

"Um… six. No, seven. Not inside, though. I tried, but your window wouldn't open."

I shook my head. "Yeah, they're locked to prevent people from breaking in. Why didn't you knock on the window?"

"Babe, what would you have done if I'd knocked on your third story window?"

"True. I'd probably have freaked out." I wanted to be angry with him, but the thought of him caring about me enough to watch over me made me feel cherished, wanted. "You know, it's actually kind hot that you watched me in my bedroom."

Aramis smiled. "It is?"

"Hell yeah. I mean, you could have seen me jack— Wait a minute!" One look at my nervous mate told me everything. I growled. "You did see me jacking off, didn't you?"

Before I could smack him, he threw me over his shoulder and raced to the pool house. He practically kicked the door open and tossed me onto the bed. Standing over me like a predator, he let his fangs descend. "Yes, I saw you. You don't know how hard I was, watching you get naked and crawl into bed. That tight little ass of yours and… oh Christ, your cock."

"Oh my God," I mumbled. "I want to see you."

Aramis' smile was sinful. He quickly shucked his jacket, jeans and shirt, and then teased me by slowly pushing his boxer briefs down. "It was bad enough when you wrapped your fingers around your dick and stroked yourself, but when you got out your lube…"

Remembering what I did, embarrassment stained my cheeks. "Oh shit, you saw me…"

He nodded and crawled onto the bed. With shaking fingers, he unbuttoned my jeans and pulled them off. My briefs barely contained my dick, so Aramis pulled those off too. "You got on your hands and knees and began fucking yourself with your fingers."

"Holy fuck," I groaned. I pulled my shirt over my head and threw it on the floor.

"You whispered, 'Oh Aramis, fuck me. Please, fuck me!' Holy shit, I came in my pants when you said that."

"Really?" I asked.

"I went off like a rocket. Then you flipped on your back and stroked yourself so hard and shot come all over the place. Thank God the window was locked, 'cause I would have probably broken in to lick all of the come off your chest. But that wasn't even the best part. You know what I saw next?"

I did know, and I was mortified. My voice was a high-pitched croak. "Oh shit."

He licked his lips and said, "Tell me what I saw next, Eliot."

"No!" I whined. I wasn't about to say it out loud.

Aramis took my nipple between his thumb and forefinger and twisted it gently. "Tell me."

"I can't!"

"Tell me."

I shook my head, but my resolve was slipping. He sucked the nub into his mouth and I cried out. "Ah! I cleaned the come off my chest with my fingers. Yes, Aramis! Oh fuck yes."

Still sucking my nipple, Aramis reached down to finger my hole. Very slowly he slid a finger in, stretching me. "And then what did you do?"

A second finger was added and he tapped my prostate. The pleasure was too much. My body went rigid and I suddenly didn’t care about being embarrassed. I wound my fingers into his hair and groaned. "I… I licked my fingers and ate my come."

"So fucking hot," Aramis whispered. "You want me to fuck you, baby?"

I scurried up onto my hands and knees. "Yes. Now. Hard."

"You asked for it." He slammed into me and we both cried out. I looked into his eyes and saw the hunger there, so I turned my head to the side and offered my throat. Aramis growled quietly before sinking his fangs into me.

********************

In a concrete cell attached to the Ambrogi's wine cellar, Blake Becker paced restlessly. He stood accused of breaking one of the Coven's most strict rules: never reveal the existence of vampires to humans. It was an offense punishable by death, and he was terrified.

He never thought sending the human to the club would be that big a deal. All he wanted to do was to scare Eliot away, to get rid of him. If only he could do that, Blake could finally have Aramis for himself.

Go to Chapter Seventeen

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Avery Dawes
Carol Pedroso
Chris T. Kat
Cia Nordwell
JC Wallace
Johayan
Jon Keys
Julie Lynn Hayes
MA Church
Matthias Williamsonh
Nephylim
Ravon Silvius
Sarah Hayes
Shelly Schulz
Tali Spencer
TC Collins
Victoria Adams

Wednesday Briefs - Boys of Belsmeade 15

Welcome to Wednesday Briefs! It's flash fiction, so this story will be presented in 1000(ish)-word chapters. I hope you enjoy it, and check out the many other flashers, whose links are below. You can also check out the Wednesday Briefs Blog for more info and to sign up for email notifications.

Thanks for reading!

THE BOYS OF BELSMEADE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Fifteen

Mr. Becker glared at Aramis' dad, and then stormed back to his car. He turned and pointed a finger at me. "You had better watch your newborn, Ambrogi. I'd hate to see anything happen to one so young. And give my regards to Dr. Berenz."

Mr. Ambrogi growled loudly as the other clan chief got in the car and drove away. I fell to my knees and held my head in my hands. "Oh my God!" I cried. "My dad. I forgot about my dad. What have I done?"

Aramis pulled me up and wrapped his arms around me. "It's not true, babe. He's not insane. You can't believe a word of what any of the Beckers say. Please believe me."

I held onto my mate, trying to wrap my head around everything that had happened. "So, I didn't attack him?"

"You tried to protect me by running towards him, but you didn't hurt him."

"So he knows I'm a… vampire?"

"He does," Mr. Ambrogi said. "I have Aluisi driving him here as we speak. I thought he would be more comfortable talking to you here. I promise you, little one, no harm has come to him and no harm will ever come to him. He is under my protection now."

"So you're like the Godfather?" I asked.

Aramis' dad smiled. "You could say that, yes. Now come inside and meet the rest of the family."

I looked skeptical. "There are more of you?"

Mr. Ambrogi beamed. "Only my eldest daughter's first child. My first grandson."

Right on cue, a baby began wailing. Lucia groaned. "He's up again?"

Beatricia rolled her eyes. "He's six months old, Chia. What do you expect? I'll go get him."

The interior of the Ambrogi house was just as opulent as the exterior. High ceilings, sumptuous furnishings and artwork covering every wall made it appear I had stepped into a museum. Aramis pulled me down onto a plump sofa and I sat stiffly, afraid to touch anything. I needn't have worried, though. Blanca and Lucia raced up the stairs and slammed a bedroom door. Marco flopped down onto a couch and put his feet up on the arm.

"Animals," Mrs. Ambrogi said with a chuckle. "I have raised animals."

"Pretty much," Epp said. He produced a tennis ball from his pocket and began bouncing it against an antique cupboard.

"Epifanio!" his mother scolded. "If you break my china…"

He rolled his eyes. "If I break it, you have thousands of other pieces."

"Do not speak so to your mother," Mr. Ambrogi said. He snatched the ball in mid-air and squeezed it. The ball split with a pathetic crunch and he tossed it back to his son.
Epp scowled. "I love it. The girls can run around here doing whatever they want."

"You're older," Marco said.

"Yeah, by two minutes!" he snapped.

"Minutes?" I asked.

"Yes," Mrs. Ambrogi cooed. She mussed Epp's hair with a manicured hand. "He, Lucia and Blanca. "My three little miracle babies."

"Hey! Cut it out," he whined, but then he smiled and kissed his mother's cheek. "I think I'll head back to school now, mami."

"All right," she said, "but if you get caught speeding again, you will lose your car."

"I wasn't going that fast."

Mr. Ambrogi put his hands on his hips. "One hundred and ten miles an hour, in my book, is 'fast'. And if I hear of you seducing a police officer again to get out of being arrested, you will lose more than your car."

The young vamp grinned. "It wasn't just to get out of a ticket. I was trying to get in his pants." Aramis snorted and his parents cried in outrage. Epp added, "He was straight, though. Too bad. His ass was—"

Mr. Ambrogi barked, "Will you have a little tact? Go before I take your car anyway."

I wanted to ask Epp if he was gay, but didn't dare. Seeming to read my mind, he held out his hand to me and I shook it. With a wink, he said, "Yes, I'm gay. Welcome to the asylum. You sure you want in?"

"Definitely," I said, earning a kiss from Aramis. As Epp left, Bea came into the room holding what had to be the cutest baby ever. He had a mop of dark, unruly hair, and cheeks so fat they nearly hid his blue eyes. He babbled and blew a raspberry, and then shoved a fist into his mouth.

"This is little Aristes," Aramis' father said proudly. He took the baby, heedless of the drool dripping onto his designer shirt. Bea handed him a bottle and he sat to feed the infant.

Epp kissed his nephew's head. "See you next weekend, peeps."

After Epp had left, and the baby was happily feeding, Mr. and Mrs. Ambrogi turned their attention to me. "Now Eliot," she said softly. "I meant what I said about this being your home. Whenever you need us, we'll be there for you."

"Thanks, Mrs. Ambrogi."

She waved me off. "Please, call me Aurelia, and my husband is Aristes."

It took me a second to pronounce the name Ow-ray-lia, but I finally managed. Aramis kissed the top of my head and wrapped his arms around me. I noticed that he hadn't said much, so I craned my neck up to look at him. "You okay?" I asked.

"More than okay to have you here with me," he said.

He shifted slightly in his seat, so I turned to face him. His eyes flashed white and I gasped. "Tell me what's wrong, Aramis."

"My son is thirsty," Aurelia said. "He's trying to be polite about it."

"You need blood?" I asked nervously.

Aramis exhaled slowly. "Yes."

His parents looked uncomfortable. Aristes said, "We have some synthetic, if you don't want to…"

The thought of feeding had me instantly hard. "No, I'll do it," I said eagerly.

Aurelia laughed. "We'll give you the pool house for now, darling. A little more privacy for new mates."

It was hideously embarrassing that Aramis' parents knew what we were going to do, but when Aramis looked down at me and licked his lips, I didn't care who knew it. I wanted my mate to fuck me into oblivion.

Go to Chapter Sixteen

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LM Brown
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Guest Author, Jon Keys!

Hey there, everyone! I'm so excited to have Jon Keys on the blog today. Jon was one of the first m/m authors I read when I stumbled upon Literotica a few years back. I quickly got hooked on his yummy cowboys. Who wouldn't? He's here today to talk about his new Dreamspinner Press release, HOME GROWN. Jon invited me to include a recipe, but since anything I cook will probably poison you, I'll let him handle the food. Enjoy!

---

Hi Kazy! Thanks for letting me visit! I’m really excited about the release of Home Grown from Dreamspinner Press. Two hot guys from very different backgrounds, who love good food. That’s pretty much what Home Grown is all about. So I thought it would be fun to give out recipes, from the book and personal favorites. Good food mixed with a little skinny dipping, what can I say?

So here’s the next recipe. This time it’s Oatmeal Cookies. No, these weren’t in the story. But they are a personal favorite. They’re thick, chewy and delicious.

OATMEAL COOKIES
1 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c. milk
2 c. quick oats
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat shortening and sugar until creamed, then add eggs. In a separate bowl combine baking power, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and half the flour. Add it slowly to the creamed mixture while beating. Add remaining flour and combine thoroughly. Add oats, nuts and only enough milk to make a stiff dough.

Drop by the spoonful on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake about 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees. Cookies will be light brown.

~ Jon ~

BLURB

Peter Stevens believes nothing tastes better than a vine-ripened tomato tended by a farmer’s hands. The craving for heirloom tomatoes leads him to his local farmers’ market and his favorite vendor, Ethan Hart. As Peter becomes a regular customer, the two find they have more in common than a love of good food. Just as Ethan begins to relax, Peter's ex, Jay, appears and is all the things Ethan is not. A perfect storm of mistakes and poor choices, as well as Ethan’s haunted past, has him ready to admit defeat. With the guidance of friends and a goat far too smart for her own good, Ethan realizes he needs to have a tender hand and patience to grow a home for Peter.

EXCERPT

Ethan’s stomach fluttered, his anticipation building as he scanned the early morning farmer’s market crowd. Stop it. Peter will show up when he shows up. Ethan snapped his attention back to the present when the small gray-haired woman who ran the booth beside him tucked herself under his arm and hugged him tight.

“Morning, good-looking.”

“Morning, Maggie. How are things going?” Ethan kissed the top of her head and returned her embrace.

“Not bad, not bad. I’ve put out all the soaps. I hope everyone feels dirty today and stocks up.”

Ethan chuckled at the image of mud people gathering around Maggie’s stall. “Well, my customers can be clean. But I think business today will be good. The late season tomatoes are finally ripe, and I’ve had lots of people asking about them.”

“Including Peter?”

Heat crept up Ethan’s cheeks. “Peter? I don’t know. Probably. You know he has a thing for my tomatoes.”

“Uh-huh, yeah. I might have been born at night, but it wasn’t last night. Admit it to Auntie Maggie, you have the hots for the boy, and I think he has a thing for more than your tomatoes.”

Ethan brushed off her speculation with a wave of his hand. “Maggie, you’re crazy. That man’s some kinda high-powered muckety-muck downtown. He’d never know I lived in Wisconsin if I didn’t have the best tomatoes in the market.”

Ethan studied the forming crowd, their sounds echoing through the building. “It looks like it’s getting busy, I’d better check to make sure I got everything from the truck.”

He embraced her again and trotted out the side door to his pickup. I’m not ready to talk to anyone about my feelings about Peter.

HOME GROWN is available from Dreamspinner Press.

ABOUT JON KEYS
Jon Keys’ earliest memories revolve around books; with the first ones he can recall reading himself being “The Warlord of Mars” and anything with Tarzan. (The local library wasn’t particularly up to date.) But as puberty set in he started sneaking his mother’s romance magazines and added the world of romance and erotica to his mix of science fiction, fantasy, and comic books.

A voracious reader for almost half a century, Jon has only recently begun creating his own flights of fiction for the entertainment of others. Born in the Southwest and now living in the Midwest, Jon has worked as a ranch hand, teacher, computer tech, roughneck, designer, retail clerk, welder, artist, and, yes, pool boy; with interests ranging from kayaking and hunting to painting and cooking, he draws from a wide range of life experiences to create written works that draw the reader in and wrap them in a good story.

FOLLOW JON ONLINE