Addictive Blood

Kriss glanced up seeing Dean watching them from the doorway. He winked at Dean and gave him a bright smile before playfully whining, “Will you please tell Tabatha to stop teasing me?”

“Not a chance,” Dean said and approached the other Fallen. “I’ve got something I need to take care of… so you and Tabatha have fun.”

Locking eyes with Kriss, Dean slowly leaned forward and took possession of his lips in a searing, yet gentle kiss that lasted several seconds. Backing away, he took in Kriss’ dazed expression and etched it into his memory before nodding at Tabatha and leaving the apartment.

The two of them stood there staring at the place Dean had just been. His actions had startled Kriss to the point that he was speechless and Tabatha had a frown on her face.

“What in the world was that?” Tabatha asked softly having never seen Dean give such a soft display of affection. She hadn't known he was capable of it.

Kriss shook his head still in shock. “I have no idea.” He rubbed his arms where cold chills had just appeared like a bad omen and his chest constricted painfully. He started to go after Dean but Tabatha's voice gave him pause.

“That was the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen him do,” Tabatha giggled then sighed. “If I didn’t know any better… I’d say you were making Dean a very happy boy.” She elbowed him playfully.

Kriss blushed, feeling a little better when the strange sensation vanished. He hoped she was right. Feeling her watching him, he smiled and shrugged, “Either that or Dean just didn’t want to stick around for the vampire chick flick that’s lying on top of the DVD player.”

*****

“It’s huge,” Aurora breathed when Kane stopped in front of a large beautiful house directly across the street from an enormous gothic looking church. “Michael lives alone in there? It’s so big… too big for just one person. Isn’t he lonely?”

She slid a sideways glance at Skye wondering if he was remembering the small huts and tents they used to live in before their world had fallen apart. There had been no concept of a home in the demon world and she knew from Skye’s memories that he’d only known the cold darkness of a cave. Michael’s house may be intimidating in size but she could already feel the warmth radiating from it.

Kane couldn’t help but smile at the wonder that lit up Aurora’s eyes. He tilted his head and looked at the Victorian house as if he’d never seen it before and decided that she was right… it was kind of awesome looking.

“Yes, Michael lives alone, but I lived with him up until a couple weeks ago. So did our brother Damon and a female werecougar named Alicia. Trust me, that house was far from lonely or quiet,” he remarked but silently reminded himself that Michael had been living alone for the last forty years so maybe Aurora was on to something there.

Aurora made a slight face hearing Damon’s name mentioned. She still didn’t trust the one named Damon after hearing him say something about having to kill Michael. It didn’t matter if he could come back from the dead or not… you just didn’t talk about killing Michael around her. She found herself silently wishing it had been Damon she’d tossed down the stairs instead of Kane.

Kane smirked hearing Aurora’s thoughts as clearly as if she had spoken them out loud. If she really knew Damon, she would probably rethink the idea of attacking him. Damon didn’t care what gender his opponent was and all hell would have broken lose if he’d thought Alicia was in danger. Nope… Damon would not have been as gentle with her as he had.

“Who’s Alicia and why did everyone move out?” Skye asked trying to keep his own curiosity hidden behind the question.

Kane’s smirk widened knowing he was about to make Aurora’s day with the little story he was about to spin… well, the Damon part of it anyway.

“Alicia recently became Damon’s mate and she’s one of the only people I know that can keep him in line. Actually, he’s too busy watching after her to start trouble of his own. It’s a funny story really. They just met a couple weeks ago and the first thing Alicia did was stab Damon in the heart with a stake and leave him for dead.” Kane shrugged then tried not to laugh when Aurora turned wide eyes on him.

“And now they’re mates,” Aurora repeated questionably then bit her lower lip knowing when she’d first met Michael she’d made love to him then pushed him away from her and ran. But… at least she hadn't tried to kill him.

“Yes, love at first sight,” Kane nodded with a sly smile. “They moved into the building you so sweetly refer to as Sanctuary.” He skipped the story behind him and Tabatha's meeting since it wasn’t much better than Damon and Alicia’s story. “With Tabatha and I being newly mated and Damon being somewhat of a loose cannon, we thought it best that we roommate with them so we could help Alicia keep an eye on him.”

Aurora’s expression became softer, “You look after your brothers… don’t you?”

Kane actually felt a little embarrassed knowing the roles had been switched from time to time… recently. “Damon and Michael haven’t had the best history together with their sibling rivalry and all and I still fight the darkness myself. But I am the eldest so yeah… I do try to look after them when they’re not busy looking after me.”

He fleetingly thought about filling her in on the fact that Syn also watched after all of them but refrained. If Aurora held a grudge against Damon for his role in calming Michael down, then she would probably frown on daddy dearest recently killing him for almost leveling the subway.

As they moved toward the Victorian house, Kane narrowed his eyes wondering just how much trouble Michael was going to cause with his new infatuation with demon blood. He inhaled deeply and squared his shoulders deciding there was no time like the present to find out.

Reaching the front door, Kane knocked on the heavy wood and quickly shoved his hands into his pockets letting himself rock back and forth on his heels. This was going to be fun.

Aurora took a step forward then felt Skye’s hand on her shoulder and looked up at him. Seeing that look of caution in his eyes, her lips parted remembering his warning about her not jumping Michael's bones the second she saw him. She made a face at Skye and took a step back, quickly rewarded when he removed the restraining hand and grinned.

Michael was standing in the library going through his collection of books. He’d started out only meaning to choose a couple of his favorites for Aurora’s enjoyment but when he heard a knock on the front door it snapped him out of the daze he’d been in and he blinked realizing he’d wound up in front of the shelves that housed the books on demons. He pushed the black leather book back in place and looked down.

“Are you expecting someone?” he asked the small dog at his feet and smiled when Scrappy, who had stopped by for a visit, barked and took off running for the front door.

Michael followed the little canine and couldn’t help but chuckle softly when he saw the dog jumping up and down in front of the door excitedly. His expression softened when he felt the warmth that only Aurora’s nearness could cause and his blood heated as he thought of a way to distract himself from his momentary demon obsession.

He opened the door hoping for the urgent seduction that normally sidetracked them before they could even greet each other but his eyes widened when he saw Kane standing there with Aurora and Skye. Kane suddenly smirked and threw his arms out wide making Michael take a step back.

“HONEY, I’M HOME!” Kane shouted just before jumping through the door and wrapping himself around Michael like a slinky.

“Kane,” Michael complained and tried to disengage himself from his brother’s death grip. This wasn’t exactly the contact he had in mind not to mention the wrong person had their legs wrapped around him.

“I just missed you sooooooo much,” Kane said with a fake sob. “You never call or write.”

All expression left Michael’s face while Skye and Aurora looked on with amused smirks. “It’s barely been twenty-four hours.”

Kane buried his face in Michael’s neck, “I know… too long… right?”

Michael sighed and motioned the Fallen inside, “Welcome to my home, please make yourselves comfortable while I manage a new growth that’s sprung up.” He pushed at Kane trying to dislodge him but was again unsuccessful.

Aurora frowned not getting the joke, “A new growth?”

Skye shook his head and steered Aurora inside, “Pay them no mind. Some siblings are just that way. They tease one another just to be lovingly annoying.”

“Oh,” Aurora’s expression brightened and she wiggled her eyebrows. “Just like I used to beg you for piggy-back rides whenever you decided to flirt with a woman?”

“Yes,” Skye said with a grin and poked her forehead, “Like I said… siblings.”

Aurora looked down when she heard a bark and her eyes began to glitter when she saw a small puppy dancing around her feet. “Oh how sweet. Is this your puppy Michael?”

Kane quickly lifted his head from Michael’s neck, “Scrappy, so this is where you’ve been hiding out.”

Scrappy gave a half growl as if to say ‘where else would I be’ and started to hop around Aurora’s legs again. Giving in, Aurora stooped down to pick up the loveable puppy. Scrappy immediately began to wiggle around trying to lick Aurora’s face while sneaking quick peeks at Skye.

Skye reached out and ran his hand down the puppy’s back admiring the softness of its fur. “I think he likes you,” he winked.

“He’s adorable,” Aurora cooed. “You said his name is Scrappy?”

Kane pouted at Michael when he finally lost the hug fight they had been having. He nodded at Aurora, “Yeah, Scrappy has been with me for a while now but for some reason he’s felt the need to stay with Michael as of late. Probably because this house is so big that Michael would get lost in it without him.” He made the joke due to Aurora’s thoughts on Michael’s loneliness.

“I would not,” Michael said with an outraged tone in his voice. Hanging around Kane when his brother was in a goofy mood sometimes annoyingly rubbed off on him. “I’ll have you know that I have more hidey-holes in this place than you would ever find. And yes, unlike your inability to remember women’s names… I do remember where they all are.”

“What about the time you got lost on your way to the bathroom and opened the closet?” Kane asked with a smirk.

“I was drunk,” Michael answered glowering at him.

Kane looked over at Scrappy accusingly, “You seriously need to stop cheating on me with such a moody grouch.” He reached out to lift the puppy from Aurora’s arms but paused almost swearing he was being glared at by his normally adoring pet.