Chapter Text
"I wish I could say that was the last time;
I said that last time, it became a pastime"
This mission was supposed to be simple. Go to a hotel run by a local vampire clan, listen in on their thoughts, and find out if they had any involvement in a recent double murder. Walk in, have a whiskey, eavesdrop, and leave. Thirty minutes, tops. Clean. Quiet. Over before it even registered as work.
But even just sitting at the bar, swirling the whiskey in his glass, trying to sift through the surrounding commotion for the right thoughts, Guy already felt that something was off. A familiar premonition stirred within him; his instincts told him he was being watched, that he himself was someone's target today - and it didn't take him long to realize exactly what was that.
Because the truth was, he knew this feeling.
Guy pressed his lips into a thin line and scanned the room. Shadows, laughter, gray smoke - then, across the hall, a pair of eyes locked onto his with unmistakable amusement. A smirk curled on the man’s lips like he’d just won a bet.
Well, there he is.
That motherfucker.
Guy clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes, turning his back to him. He thought at him - fuck off - but, predictably, only heard a chuckle in response.
Mere moments later, before he could even take a full sip of his whiskey, Jasper was already beside him, looking smug and amused, as he ordered a drink for himself and a refill of whatever Guy was having.
Guy bit his lip, stubbornly staring at the table.
Jasper had this really annoying habit of showing up at the most inconvenient of times. Mostly when Guy was on missions, when he just simply couldn't afford to be distracted. Guy almost thought it was intentional, that because of old grudges against Talamasca, Jasper was trying to sabotage their work this way, but... he knew better. It was not that. It had nothing to do with Talamasca.
Unfortunately, Jasper simply enjoyed messing with him.
They had met by chance. Guy was tracking another man, but that dude suddenly ended up in the company of a vampire the young man didn't know at the time, and Guy naturally tried to read his thoughts too - but got caught.
The mission was blown. Compromised.
Guy bolted.
He didn’t get far.
Jasper intercepted him in a narrow alley slick with rain and neon reflections, slamming him back against the brick wall with preternatural ease. One forearm pinned across Guy’s chest; the other braced beside his head. Then came the fangs - just a flash, deliberate and dazzling in the gloom - as Jasper leaned in, voice a silken threat right in his head: “Running already? And here I thought you were interested in what I’m thinking”.
Guy’s breath hitched.
This was only his second mission. Second. He’d read the files, drilled the protocols, rehearsed a hundred clean cover stories - but no briefing had prepared him for this: the heat of another body caging him in, the electric scent of old blood and cologne, the raw, predatory grace coiled in the vampire’s frame.
And then - traitorous, absurd, utterly humiliating - his own body betrayed him.
Arousal flared hot and sudden, coiling low in his gut before his brain could catch up. His face burned. He stared wide-eyed at the bricks on the wall behind Jasper’s shoulder, mortified, hoping the vampire couldn’t feel it - couldn’t smell it.
But of course he could.
Jasper’s smirk deepened as he’d caught this primal shit boiling inside him. “Well,” he almost murmured, voice dropping to something intimate, “aren’t you adorable?..”
Jasper liked it. It was immediately apparent in his eyes. Initially intending only to find out more about the telepath, he was now alight with a different kind of interest.
For a long time after, Guy couldn't remember without a tremor how he had rubbed against the vampire's thigh, slotted between his legs, throwing his head back and groaning in this sick pleasure.
It was dizzying and shameful, yet perfect - and when he shuddered and came in his jeans, trembling in the man's grasp, Guy felt the fangs pierce his neck and was certain this was how he would die, with cum in his underwear and no blood in his body - but Jasper only took a small sip before pulling back, gently cupping Guy's face in his palms.
He tilted his head slightly and, looking into his eyes, said: “You know, you and I could have some fun together after all,” and then vanished, leaving Guy alone - lost, confused, and burning with shame.
He had never experienced anything like this. No one had ever affected him that way, and no one had ever drunk his blood - so of course he couldn't stop thinking about it! It wasn't weird he didn't just brush it off like nothing happened. His reaction is completely justified!
He didn't tell Helen or anyone else about this encounter, choosing to bury the incident deep within himself.
Even though he dreamed of Jasper every time he slept, and even though he couldn't climax while trying to intentionally think of anyone else during a shower wank unless he imagined the sound of Jasper's voice or the fangs in his neck, he still refused to accept it. It was supposed to be the first and only time. There was supposed to be no more fun between them.
A few weeks later, Guy was at a club, relaxing on his day off, dancing with a girl he just met. He felt strangely enchanted, unable to look away, as if she were a siren luring him to the depths... But then he heard a whisper in his mind, a familiar sound that only intensified the fog.
He didn't know how it happened, but the next thing he knew, Jasper's body was pressed against his back as they danced, and there was a hand on his neck, lips on his skin, and then fangs sinking into him right in the middle of the crowded club, the loud music muffling his groan of utter pleasure.
He turned his head, high on arousal, met Jasper's gaze - and suddenly his lips were meeting the vampire's, while clawed hands squeezed his waist tighter, pulling him closer, as if dragging him deeper into the whirlpool.
They fucked in the restroom. At one point, between thrusts, Jasper held Guy's hair firmly and growled in his ear something about fucking all that magical shit out of him, and that Guy should thank him after they finish. Guy stubbornly thought he would never do that, and Jasper laughed in his ear, a sound that made the young man groan purely from the pleasure of it.
"I'm saving your ass," "I think you're ruining my-" and again, that laugh was his response.
And damn it, Guy liked the sound of his laugh, and he liked the kisses on his neck, and the way Jasper pressed his face against the mirror, the way he slammed into his body.
It felt insane, and yet it was the best sex of his life.
So when it ended, and Guy, shaking all over, looked at him, fucked out and suddenly sobered, he began to realize that his head really hadn't been right before. He had probably been enchanted. Somehow. And somehow, Jasper had been there, and somehow decided to help, and literally fucked the magical shit out of him, clearing his mind with his cock.
Guy didn't say thank you, but Jasper still smugly said "you're welcome" while washing his hands in the sink before walking out the door.
Guy wanted to follow him but didn't - couldn’t. Because it would be wrong. And he was a good boy.
And yet.
He couldn't stop thinking about him again. He started reading every Talamasca file he could find on the vampire. He learned more about him, small details about his past, but most of the information was locked away from him; he didn't have the necessary access level. He couldn't ask Helen about it either, because she wouldn't tell him, and how would he even explain his curiosity? “Why do you wanna know more about Jasper?”, “Oh, well, you know, he just fucked me in the club one time and now I have to find out every little thing about him or I won’t be able to sleep at night”? Yeah. Nope.
So, he had to resign himself and, lying down irritably under the thin sheet in his apartment, stubbornly tell himself that it was the last time.
The next time, they had sex in Jasper’s car. Guy was running from a vampire who was hunting him, and he thought he was facing a terrible death right there on a night street in London when suddenly a large black car blocked his way and the rear door opened.
Inside, he saw Jasper, but he didn't really have time to second-guess his decision, so he just scrambled in, closing the door as the car sped away.
Only a minute later, as his heart slowly began to calm down, Guy finally looked at the vampire and realized he had just willingly walked right into his trap.
And even though Jasper had clearly saved his life, driven by some strange motives that remained a mystery to Guy, Guy offered him no thanks. Instead, he tried to anger him by asking direct questions and snapping back at his relaxed tone.
He thought that if he pushed hard enough - with barbed questions and brittle defiance - he could stave off what was already hurtling toward them. Yet the more he resisted, the faster the air between them combusted, until resistance itself became desire, and every sharp word only stoked the hunger he refused to name.
Jasper, with a condescending gesture, gently patted his thigh with his palm, before trailing the tip of a claw along the denim - and Guy froze for a few moments, looking into his face.
The very next second, he was on Jasper's lap, their teeth clashing in a kiss, and he didn't say no to this - again. Jasper's hand in his hair, the other around his waist, and time seemed to freeze for the driver, only resuming its normal course when Guy was gasping for air, head thrown back against the seat behind him, barely managing to zip up his fly in time.
At home, he found red drops of his own blood on the collar of his coat. He didn't have it in him to clean it.
And then, just when he started to think he could handle it, that he just needed to make a firm pact with himself that nothing more would happen - he received a new assignment, which he was deciphering in the park using his book. The assignment to observe a vampire suspected of murdering a Talamasca agent.
To observe Jasper of all people.
Needless to say, it didn't end well.
He decided to use their connection, convincing himself it was crucial for the mission, and went straight to Jasper's place, intending to seduce the vampire.
He lied to him, saying he no longer wanted to work for Talamasca, when in reality he wanted to find out what Jasper was doing. Jasper, and this was the worst part, believed him, sharing his story in exchange for a few teary words about Guy's lost mother. He showed him his basement, filled with revenants, one of which scared the shit out of Guy. Then Jasper healed his forehead wound, and they fucked in his bathroom. And it wasn't even Jasper's initiative.
Guy looked up at him, already hot in all the right places just from a couple of touches, from a hand in his hair. Then, Jasper's own blood, warm and metallic, smeared across the wound on Guy's skin - a primal, raw intimacy that sent a jolt straight through him.
It was too much. A choked sound tore from his throat as he pitched forward, collapsing to his knees with desperate, trembling haste. His mouth found Jasper, not gently, but with the ravenous urgency of a man starved, devouring him, a furious worship that mirrored the frantic pulse now hammering in his own ears.
It was a ferocity that caught Jasper utterly off guard, a sudden, searing intensity that even he hadn't anticipated.
Guy told himself afterward that it was to dull the vampire's suspicions, to win his trust. But then, he was simply driven by one thing - desire. He wanted to do it.
He wanted to taste him.
And he wanted Jasper to keep holding his hair, firmly guiding his head, fucking his throat, only to finish on his pretty face and then lovingly ruffle his hair like it meant something.
Afterward, the vampire drew him a bath with roses, because of course he did, left to arrange for food, and returned to kiss him on the lips. Then he washed Guy's hair, talking to him softly and gently about their plans. Guy continued to keep part of his thoughts tightly locked away, allowing only a light veneer of pleasure to vibrate on the surface. It was smart. He was smart. Cunning.
But the truth rarely stayed buried when Jasper was involved, and when he finally caught Guy in the lie, his eyes burned with a cold, terrifying rage that rippled through the very air.
One moment, Guy was standing; the next, he was slammed down, the unforgiving concrete floor of the underground parking garage biting into his back. He lay helpless beneath Jasper's crushing weight, a choked gasp escaping him, and to his utter shame, a sickeningly familiar heat bloomed low in his gut. His body, traitorous and weak, already responded with a shameful, inevitable surrender. By now, it was a dark, twisted conditioning, Pavlovian reflex that culminated in a forbidden, undeniable pleasure.
Jasper was angry at him, and Guy was so hard it almost hurt, and Jasper fucked him and bit his neck, but not without making him beg for it first. "Say it, say it, you know what," whispered before leaving him alone in the parking garage, wondering why he was still alive.
Guy thought they wouldn't meet again after that; he had betrayed the vampire's trust, which was the cruelest thing he could’ve done to him. There was no way Jasper would forgive him now.
A week later, with the wounds still fresh and resentment bubbling in his veins, Jasper found him bleeding out, dying, in the fucking London’s subway. Guy thought this is gonna be the death of him, that Jasper is gonna finish what the other one started. He lost consciousness with this thought pounding in his head.
Yet, upon waking, he found himself not rotting in hell but in his own bed, and even without that ugly stomach wound that should have killed him. And Jasper was sitting in the armchair in the corner of the room, in the darkness, until he pulled the cord of an old floor lamp, barely illuminating himself in the apartment's gloom. Guy noticed by the light behind the curtains that it was the middle of the day, then confirmed it with a quick glance at the clock.
Jasper had stayed with him and clearly had no intention of leaving before sunset, for reasons that remained unknown.
Guy couldn't understand him. There was no logical reason for this vampire to save his life or to want anything to do with him at all after Guy had so brazenly deceived him and tried to gain his trust. Yet, here Guy was, now in his bed, whole and unharmed, and Jasper must have expended a significant amount of his own blood to heal the knife wound that had almost gutted Guy to death.
Perhaps it was that classic joke: "I don't want you to die by anyone's hand but mine; I want to own your life, to decide myself when to cut it short with a flick of my claw"? Guy was almost certain that was the answer, the reason behind all of the vampire’s actions. He was sure Jasper enjoyed playing with him, making him suffer, making him anticipate a fatal blow every time they met.
So, to regain at least some control over the situation, instead of starting to ask him questions he wouldn't get answers to anyway, Guy simply began to undress in silence, his eyes locked on Jasper’s, an unwavering, challenging stare that dared him to interrupt.
No words, not even telepathic ones, broke the tense quiet. Jasper watched, a raw hunger igniting in his gaze, as Guy peeled away every last stitch of clothing. Naked, Guy spread his legs in a brazen display, his knuckles white against the headboard as he braced himself.
Then, he tilted his head back, exposing the vulnerable curve of his neck, offering the throbbing pulse. And it would have looked like a sacrifice if it had been anyone else, but with Guy, it looked like a challenge, like a demand.
The vampire rose from the armchair and approached him, and Guy expected - craved - brutality, bruises on his body, some form of revenge for the betrayal - but instead, it became the tenderest sex of his life. And it was devastating.
Jasper didn’t fuck him, he made love to him that night, - as if this very unconcealed, vulnerable tenderness was his punishment. There wasn't a single bruise or scratch left on his body, not a single trace that any of it had truly happened. And it was absolute madness, and it drove Guy insane.
Jasper was between his thighs, fucking him with his tongue. Jasper drank from his thigh and healed the wound instantly, then kissed him, long and tender enough that Guy whimpered into his lips. He moved inside him slowly, pinning Guy's palms to the mattress with his own, and kissed his neck until Guy was nothing but a pleading mess. And he didn't speed up even then, when Guy was crying for it. He made love to him slowly, lengthily, exquisitely, as if it could go on forever. The sweetest torture Guy could’ve imagined - happening to him. It was heaven. It was hell. It was life.
When Jasper left, Guy remained lying in his bed, once again in the same state that haunted him after every one of their encounters. He was bewildered and didn't understand himself nor Jasper.
And he was convinced that this was the last time. It felt like the last time.
It had to be the last time.
He couldn't let it happen again.
And yet…
"Well, well, well. Who do we have here?" Jasper grinned, leaning against the bar counter and looking at Guy. He reminded him of a cat now. "You know, for a kid who barely kept his insides intact only a week ago, you are just alarmingly quick to dive headfirst into another one of your suicidal escapades," he said, his voice growing sterner and more annoyed as he was saying it, until it finally dropped to a hissing whisper: "What the hell are you doing in a place crawling with vampires now, boy? Every single one of them would drain you dry just for being fucking Talamasca, do you even realize that?"
"Yeah, and I can guess whose desire for that is greater than all the others combined," Guy remarked venomously, taking a new glass of whiskey, glaring irritably at Jasper. "You need to stop following me, dude. You're interfering with my work".
"If I hadn't been following you last week, you'd already be in the news as the first victim of a brutal maniac gutting his victims in the subway," Jasper replied. "I save your life, and now you say I'm interfering with your work? You've got balls, kid".
"Are you expecting a thank you or what?" Guy snapped, turning to face him, looking into his eyes. "For playing prince charming? We both know you only did that because you think you have some unique rights over me and my life. You see me as just a toy in your teeth, one that no one else dares to touch. Come on,” he smiles in an unfriendly way. ”Tell me I'm wrong".
Jasper ran his tongue under his lower lip, making his skin pull slightly. He bit his lip then, looking up and to the right, shaking his head in contemplation, as if not entirely able to dispute Guy's words, but not entirely agreeing with him either.
"Okay. Perhaps," he finally said, covering his whiskey glass with his hand and tapping thoughtfully on its sides. His gaze never left Guy and was so close, and then he leaned in even closer. "But you like being in my teeth, don’t you, princess?" he whispered, his fangs barely visibly lengthened, and Guy's breath caught with just a quick glance at them, but he forced himself to press his lips together and look only into those inhuman eyes instead.
Jasper, amused, tilted his head with a smile.
"Come on. Tell me I'm wrong," he mimicked him, wiggling his eyebrows afterward, clearly flirting.
Guy hated him. He offered a crooked smile with no genuine warmth beneath it. "You know, I'm still almost one hundred percent sure you just messed with my head and did something to me at our first meeting, just for your own amusement," he said.
Jasper raised his eyebrows slightly, then smirked. "Oh, Guy. Is that what you think of me?" he asked, tilting his head, almost offended but not quite. "Come on. I mean, I really did pin you against a wall and threaten your life, but I certainly didn't intend to make you enjoy it - that's all you, I'm not going to take credit for that one, kitten, don’t even try making me take all the blame here," he said and took a sip of alcohol.
It tasted like plastic. He wanted another drink, preferably the one still flowing in another man's veins.
Guy rolled his eyes, turning away from him, lips pressed together. "What are you even doing here, anyway?" he asked, almost irritated.
Jasper chuckled. "This is a vampire-friendly hotel, my dude. And I'm a vampire, remember? It just so happens I come here sometimes. You know," he shrugged, "to grab a bite".
Guy bit his lip, not looking at him, eyes cast to the floor, his back against the bar. Then he finally turned to him.
“Well,” he said, lifting his chin, forcing his eyes to meet Jasper’s. And damn it, they were too close. Close enough to count the gold flecks in those ancient, knowing irises. Close enough to feel the heat radiating off him, though vampires weren’t supposed to have body heat. “Wouldn’t dream of keeping you from your evening snack. Now, if you'll excuse me-” he stepped back, taking his whiskey, then leaned in again just for a fraction, staring closely into his blue eyes. “I need to get back to my work now”.
Without looking back, he left that room for another, focusing on the thoughts around him, hunting for what he needed. His heart still beat in an excited rhythm, but he stubbornly ignored what a single meeting, a single conversation, a few looks alone had done to him.
They hadn't even touched. So why did his body burn like he was touched all over?
To his surprise (and, if he was honest, disappointment), Jasper really did get out of his hair. Guy managed to read one vampire's mind - that there was some important deal happening tonight - and realized he was going to have to get involved far deeper than he'd planned. A chance acquaintance with Reglan became his ticket into the deal, and also the reason he nearly got killed again.
He really ought to stop ending up in these situations.
He thought he was done for. Reglan literally sold him to the vampires as a slave, and Guy didn't even have any backup for that scenario, no ace up his sleeve, no real Plan B. No way out. And-
Then he remembered Jasper.
A smirk in the shadows, a hand on his thigh, blood offered like a sacrament. The vampire who’d saved him more than just once, mocked him a dozen times, and fucked him so good Guy started reconsidering all of his life choices.
It was a terrible, reckless idea. Jasper wasn’t an ally. He was chaos in a tailored coat, fucked-up and dangerous loyalty wrapped in fangs. He was an enemy, really. He hated Talamasca. And Guy literally betrayed him not so long ago, so he probably wants him dead now.
Well. By his fangs, preferably, right? He wouldn’t like it if someone else killed his wayward puppy, he did make it clear, didn’t he? Clearly he wouldn’t like it if another vampire tried to take what is his. And Guy is so out of options here…
Swallowing his pride, he called him mentally as Reglan walked away and left him with three vampires. Jasper, please. What's up, boy? I need your help. Oh? And what will I get for helping you again? You know what. I do, but I still want to hear it. Really, man? They're gonna eat me! Oh, no need to be so dramatic, they are not gonna eat you and you know it. I'm waiting. Jasper. Yes? Jasper. I'm listening. Just come and get me out of here! (...) Jasper! (...) Fuck, Jasper, you can’t be serious! (...) Argh. Fine! Fine. Get me out of here and I'll let you drink from me tonight. (...) And… you'll drink from my thigh. How's that sound? (...) Okay, I got it, I got it! I'll let you fuck me and I'll be a good boy, for you. Only for you. Just… please!
In no time, my dear. Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?
Jasper-
Yes, yes. Just be a pal and keep them busy for a bit.
A revenant slipped in through a window, killing two in another room, and Jasper took care of the remaining one - obviously because that vampire had been the worst-behaved and was going to drink from Guy. It was clear that the only one allowed to have his fangs near the youth's neck didn't like anyone else slobbering over his toy. Guy wasn't even surprised. He counted on that.
While Jasper finished having his fun with his victim, Guy, with a sigh and an eye-roll, simply got up from the armchair and tried to look around, find something useful. To the sounds of Jasper hitting the vampire's head against the wall, some inhuman hiss, a broken table, and, finally, the sound of blood gushing like a fountain from a severed limb, Guy calmly walked around the living room until he stopped by a door.
Someone was there, and he could feel it, could hear that desperately weak "kill me".
He opened the door, frowning and confused.
"Um… Jasper?" Guy awkwardly paused to call out to the vampire, looking at the creature on the bed with a mix of pity and fear. "Could you… could you please stop draining that dude dry and just come over here already?"
A dull thud of a body hitting the floor echoed. Jasper licked his lips, and in a flash was beside Guy, blood still around his mouth - he'd always been a messy eater. Something Guy found enduring and irritating.
His relaxed demeanor immediately gave way to an alarmed, shocked, then downright angry expression when he saw the ancient vampire on the bed, and he walked into the room, wiping the red residue from his mouth with the back of his hand.
Guy used his telepathic abilities to dampen the vampire's pain, and Jasper ended his pain for good.
Guy blinked when he ripped off his head, and looked down until the thoughts quieted. There was a minute of silence. He looked at Jasper again then, and Jasper looked at him.
The vampire sighed. "So," he tried to ignore the elephant (the dead vampire) in the room, "what do you think about pizza at my place for dinner?"
Jasper started heading for the exit afterwards and Guy, who had stood still bewildered for a couple of moments, followed him after all. "Wait, are you really gonna make me pay for my rescue with sex? Again?" he asked. "Come on…"
The vampire smirked, already stepping out into the corridor with him, looking as if nothing had happened. "Okay, first of all, last time - that was all you," he pointed a finger at him. "I wasn't planning on having sex with you; I was going to talk and make sure you were okay. You seduced me".
"I seduced you?" Guy raised his eyebrows. "That's not what happened!"
Jasper pressed the elevator button and turned to face him. "Oh, really? You stripped naked in front of me and spread your legs. Or do you always do that in front of vampires you hate?"
Guy pressed his lips together and huffed. He looked away.
The elevator doors open, and Jasper gestures with his head, inviting him to step in first, so that's exactly what Guy does. The vampire follows him in.
They ride down in silence for a while.
Then Jasper says:
“Sleeping with a class enemy…” he exhales heavily, without even turning his head towards Guy. “Funny how sometimes principles vanish when you’ve got a hard-on”.
Guy rolls his eyes, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets. “Stop mocking me, it’s not as hot as you think it is,” he says. An obvious lie, but it doesn’t matter.
Jasper blinks, turning his head towards Guy. “I wasn’t talking about you,” he says, and the elevator doors open.
The vampire steps out first, and Guy freezes for so long he has to reach out at the last moment to prevent the doors from closing, hastily slipping out after him.
He follows him like a lost puppy. “Look, you know you shouldn't be seen with me - and I shouldn't be seen with you,” he declares, though his own feet carried him out the door Jasper opened. “We can't do this. The investigation against you is still ongoing!” he says in a loud whisper, while Jasper calmly heads towards his car.
“I had to move out of my Talamasca apartments after your little infiltration, so I kinda have to take you to a new place - and just a warning, but the atmosphere there isn't as fancy, so lower your expectations, ok-ey?” Jasper says nonchalantly, approaching the car and opening the door for him. It's a new one. He's on the run, or something like that. “After all, it was sorta your fault I had to move”.
“Jasper, it's not the brightest idea to reveal your new location to Talamasca just to…” Guy bites his lip, leaving the sentence unfinished.
“What? To get laid?” Jasper doesn't share his shy nature and snorts, nodding towards the car again. “Get in, puppy. I'm a big boy, I can weigh my risks and make decisions, so don’t fret”.
“Well, clearly you can't,” Guy replies, but then, pressing his lips together under his expectant gaze, just gets inside.
He buckles up and crosses his arms over his chest while Jasper walks around the car and gets behind the wheel.
Guy sighs. “You're very bad at this. People usually choose inconspicuous cars when they're hiding. Not a brand new Bentley. Were you trying to impress me?” the young man asks, but gets only a sly smile in response. “And yeah, people usually don't pursue agents of the organization that is looking for them, just so you know”.
“I don’t really get it, pal. What's the point of hiding? They watch and they are always there,” Jasper says with a tired smile and then shrugs. “They would find me anyway. I prefer not to make it interesting for them. I screwed up, I need a new plan, and they want me to just leave the country on the run - but yeah, not doing that. Not while I have unfinished business here. Where do they keep my pets? Do you know? They couldn't have killed them all, that would be extremely wasteful”.
“Yeah, right, because Talamasca is renowned for its unwastefulness," Guy remarks, and Jasper sighs.
“Right. Well, I did manage to save one, and I'll try to do more of those beasts in the future. It will take time, but time is all a vampire has,” he says.
Guy suddenly realizes Checkers isn't with them. “Where’s Checkers?” he asks, confused.
“In another car. Visiting his favorite auntie this weekend - don’t worry, the girl is excellent with a clicker. I sometimes even think he loves her more than me,” Jasper says, and Guy has enough context to understand he's talking about Olive.
He winces and shakes his head. “This - fuck, it doesn’t matter. What I was trying to say is… we need to stop doing this. I mean, tonight, just this once, I’ll go with you, because it was a part of the deal, but this has to be the last time. We can’t keep seeing each other, or, or, or-” he inhales nervously and rubs his face with his palm. “You understand they’re only letting you walk free because they’re hoping you’ll find 752 for them, right? And as soon as you get close enough to it, they’ll take it and throw you in a cage. And believe me, you don’t want to be in a cage. You like fun, and that’s the furthest thing from it”.
Jasper, continuing to drive, raises his eyebrows with an amused smile on his face. “Are you worried about me?” he teases.
Guy rolls his eyes, leaning his head back with a dramatic sigh. He shakes his head, lips pressed together. “You’re not listening. You need to leave the country, like, as soon as possible”.
“And let you die on your very next mission? Yeah, I don't think so, buddy”.
“Why do you even care about me?!” Guy asks emotionally.
“Well, why do you care about me?” Jasper calmly returns the question.
Guy presses his lips together, glances at him, and then sighs, turning to the window. “Well, you saved my life a few times already, maybe I think it's only fair to do the same in return. A clear conscience and no more debts to you, something like that,” he offers the option that seems most reasonable to him.
“You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours?” Jasper chuckles quietly. “Sure,” he teases, patting Guy’s thigh with his palm, making him flinch and look down. The man’s large, veined hand doesn’t leave, remaining to stroke the inside of his thigh and stay there with the warm weight of its touch. Guy tries to melt into his seat and stop thinking. “Don’t worry about me, my Guy. I’ve got everything handled,” Jasper adds, casually steering with one hand, and the young man can only sigh heavily and do his best to ignore what’s happening.
This is very hard to do, and it gets harder when Jasper’s intent becomes palpable. Two razor-sharp claws, barely breaking the surface of the fabric, delivers their silent, primal promise. A delicate threat, ensuring Guy understands precisely where the hunter intends to claim his prey tonight.
A visceral shiver traces its path down Guy's spine, a response born not of terror, but a disturbing, shameful excitement.
He doesn't look at the hand anymore, licking his dry lips and sighing. The images that he will almost certainly see and experience in an hour or so are too intrusive in his mind. He is naked, Jasper is between his legs, kissing and biting his thighs. His hands are on his knees, spreading them apart and holding them that way. Maybe they would do it on the kitchen table this time - something about it needing to be used for something, since Jasper doesn't cook or eat like a normal human. Guy would be sitting on the edge, burying a hand in his hair, biting his lips, throwing his head back with his eyes closed, floating in pleasure while Jasper drinks from him like he’s starving for his blood.
“Not a bad idea, kid, I like this one,” Jasper remarks, and his voice makes the young man surface from his fantasies, turning his head back to him, frowning strictly.
Get out of my head, he thinks, but the man only laughs softly. Then Guy focuses and imagines Jasper in an iron muzzle and shackles, binding him to the bed hand and foot.
“Mmm, kinky?” to Guy’s slight surprise, Jasper doesn't seem offended by the image at all. Guy gives up, sighing heavily and turning away again. He twitches his leg, without much real effort trying to make the man remove his hand from his thigh. It doesn’t do a thing. “Maybe next time, kitten”.
“There won’t be a next time,” Guy says, stubborn.
“Sure”.
“Jasper…”
“You know, it’s even funny if you think about it,” Jasper says, removing his hand to shift gears and turn his music on the radio up just slightly. “The first time - I just gave you my leg so you could catch up to your pleasure yourself, I did almost nothing there. The second time? Well, I did… a lot of things, but it was you who dragged me into the restroom, and frankly, I was just trying to save you from that seduction witch catching your ass and interrogating you or- well, whatever she wanted to do with you. The third time - you climbed onto my lap yourself, if you recall. You unzipped my pants yourself and shoved your tongue down my throat as far as humanly possible, so - not my idea either. The fourth time - do you remember the fourth time? You dropped to your knees in front of me in the bathroom and sucked me off like your life depended on it. Then I just had to return the favor. The fifth time…”
“Yeah, you can’t pin that on me, man, not that time-”
“Oh, really? I tell you what, I was furious at you. And then you were hard, and that made me even more furious,” Jasper chuckles. “I had to do something. And just so you know, I wasn’t planning on taking out my emotions on you in that particular way, princess. I thought about sending you to the cage with my cute little pets, just so they could growl at you and scare the shit out of you. Fucking you was a compromise. Cause I might be a vampire, but I’m still just a man when it comes to things like a beautiful, aroused young man begging for my dick while being hard as a fucking rock under me”.
“Yeah, and let me guess, the sixth time was also me, because I stripped in front of you to avoid a humiliating conversation that was about to come?” Guy tries to remain sassy despite the flush on his face, tries to snap back.
“The point is,” Jasper smirks, “every single time, you were the one who threw your principles to hell first. And every time, afterward, I hear the same thing from you - that it was the last time. Either in your head, to yourself, or out loud, so everyone could hear you. And it’s never the last time! So excuse me for not exactly buying into your latest attempts to maintain the image of a serious spy who is used to spreading his legs only for information, not for pleasure-”
“I’m not that type of agent,” Guy says irritably. “And did you just call me a whore?”
“You know that they know about all of this, right?” Jasper suddenly asks. “About our little affair?”
“There is no affair-”
“Yeah, yeah, right,” Jasper waves off his foolish attempt. “Well, they know. And they always knew, and they knew when they decided to send you to me. They chose you specifically because they wanted you to use this affair to get information for them. And you did exactly that, didn’t you? Like a good, obedient puppy, begging for a treat that never really comes”.
Guy bites his cheek and turns away to the window, crossing his arms over his chest. Just talking to Jasper is a test of his patience. He would prefer to forget about Talamasca and everything else when he's with him, prefer to hear him tease him with silly nicknames, humiliate him with words about a needy puppy ready to beg for his master’s stick. He would prefer to cry from overstimulation again than be forced to discuss the reality they are in. He wants fangs in his neck, in his thigh, just to forget everything. To feel the warmth of arousal in his body, the man's hard length inside him. He's tired of being afraid of where this will lead them and what might happen to them, what Talamasca might do.
“You know, I really believed you when you came to me and said you wanted to leave those ungrateful fuckers and be with me,” Jasper says, eyes on the road. “I thought you finally saw that they are using you and that you get literally nothing out of it, and that with them, sooner or later, you will simply die. No glory, no gratitude - and hardly for a truly worthwhile cause, kid, believe me. Not with your luck. And yet, despite my belief that you had grown smarter and gathered your courage, you actually just wanted to help them deal with me, kill me-”
“I didn’t want them to-”
“Put me behind bars, then. Somewhere from where I can’t be the devil on your shoulder and the succubus in your bedroom anymore,” Jasper curls his lips. “It doesn’t matter. I believed you, and you betrayed my trust. For those jerks, of all people! That’s the most fucked-up thing about all of this for me. I just don’t understand - how can such a cool guy bust his ass to work for them? Why do you choose them, why do you keep choosing them?”
“You say that as if you're not doing all this just to use me too!” Guy snaps back, hurt and vulnerable. “I'm just a useful toy to all of you fuckers, something you can take whenever you want, and throw me into places like I’m your lab rat, cause you like watching me look for a way out of another one of your mazes! The only difference between you and Helen is that she doesn't fuck me and her teeth aren't as sharp as yours!”
“Ouch,” Jasper says expressively and snorts.
He stops the car in yet another London underground parking lot.
The man turns to him before Guy can get out of the car, locking the doors with a button. Guy rolls his eyes, realizing there’s gonna be another fucking speech now. He’d rather just fuck him.
“Listen, I'm not saying I'm a saint,” Jasper says. “But at least I never lie. Yes, you would be very useful to me, and it's always an ace up your sleeve if you have a telepath on your side. I'm not going to sugarcoat it and say that I want you to leave them and come to me purely because of my love for your pretty eyes. But, Guy, just be honest, what can they give you that I can't? Why choose them when you could have me?” he genuinely doesn’t understand it and awaits an answer.
Guy can't hold back a surprised scoff, and then, turning his body towards him, looks him in the eye and starts laying it out for him, as if to a stupid child. “You're a vampire, Jasper. A vampire who thinks there aren't enough vampires in the world and that it has to be fixed. You literally admitted to me that you want to turn people against their will and-”
“Wait-wait-wait, I admitted what?” Jasper interrupts him, raising his eyebrows. “I never said anything like that, you're putting words in my mouth again! Why would I turn someone against their will? I'm not a fucking idiot, why would I do that?”
“Oh, really?” Guy skeptically tilts his head to the side, almost as if challenging him. “And how then do you plan to solve this little demographic problem of yours?”
Jasper smirks. “Oh, boy. Do you really think there aren’t enough people in the world who would gladly become vampires? Your pop culture has done us a huge favor with this crap. Vampires are superstars now,” the man says with a smile, but then turns serious again. “Listen, buddy. I’m not some supervillain who wants to make the whole world bloody and terrifying just because I had a tragic past. I have no problem with humanity. You can keep playing hockey and sunbathing for all I care. All I want is a little justice, and reckoning. It wasn't humanity that fucked me over; it was the Talamasca. And they continue to wreak havoc around the world. They’re the real villains, whether you want to admit it or not," he says.
Guy opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted when Jasped answers his question:
"The reason I want more vampires in the world is so we can stand against their system that destroys families, like mine, like yours. Together, when there are more of us, our word will carry much more weight with those bastards - and if threats aren’t enough, we’ll have every opportunity to show them what happens when you mess with the lives of thousands of monsters all around the fucking world. And when that happens, Guy,” Jasper looks intently into his eyes and brings his hand closer, touching his chin gently. “I don’t want you to be on their side”.
“Because you’ll kill me?” Guy asks. The venom is still on his tongue, even if a heavy fog of doubt has already replaced it in his mind.
There is a complicated expression on another’s face. “I don't want to be in a situation where I have to find out the answer to that,” Jasper replies, and Guy presses his lips together, moving away from him with distrust in his eyes.
The young man doesn't know what to think about it, what to answer. It's too much right now; his head is starting to feel tight, as if his skull is squeezing his consciousness, and somewhere inside there’s a persistent feeling as if his soul is slowly rotting.
It’s suffocating. Jasper seems to be expecting some kind of decision from him, expecting him to - what? Abandon his entire life, all his hopes of his mother's return, for him? Just like that? Jasper might be a vampire, but he doesn't possess the power that the Talamasca does. If Guy were to go with him, the Talamasca would simply catch them and lock them both in prison. For now, he’s managed to convince Helen and the others that Jasper is much more useful at large, but what will happen when-
“Wait, so you’re the one convincing them they should keep me free?” Jasper asks, definitely rummaging through his head again, and Guy looks at him as if he’d been caught doing something indecent by his parents who walked into his room without knocking. “But, but it means that you’re the reason they haven’t yet-”
“Get out of my head!” Guy snaps, trying to open the door. “Fuck! Just unlock the car, you asshole!” he almost hisses, continuing to stubbornly tug at the handle.
“You actually care about me…” Jasper says, as if it’s an interesting discovery he hadn’t truly considered possible before.
“Jasper…” Guy says, at the end of his patience, exhaling and closing his eyes. “Just. Open. This. Goddamn. Door!”
For a couple of moments, the vampire continues to look at him intently, his lips slightly parted, but then he presses the button, unlocking the doors, and Guy immediately climbs out, feeling déjà vu from the surroundings.
The last time they were together in a similar parking lot, it ended with Jasper fucking him right on the concrete, yelling at him, and leaving a couple of bruises on his pale and obedient body.
Guy presses his lips together, putting his hands in his pockets, and only turns when he hears “hey” behind him. Jasper is waiting for him, having stopped nearby.
Guy thinks about just leaving. Then he realizes that is stupid and pointless, so he just sighs and takes a step toward him.
His face shows a look of slight annoyance as they walk almost side-by-side toward the elevator, and Guy manages to think that this place is smaller and dirtier, and that if Jasper drops him to the floor here, his coat will have to be taken to the dry cleaner, when-
Suddenly, the vampire sharply grabs him by the collar and shoves him right against the nearest pillar, making him hit his back against it in complete bewilderment.
Guy raises his eyebrows and is about to protest, to ask “what the hell,” when the man is already pressed against his body with fangs visible and is so close to his face that Guy can smell menthol cigarettes he sometimes fancies.
“Sorry, you caring about me so much just makes my emotions boil. Such a turn-on. And I’m so hungry…” he tightens his grip on Guy’s wrists, exposing his fangs again with a slight hiss.
This time it doesn't even look like a threat, more like a small kitten hissing at him playfully.
Guy exhales. “Well, all we have to do is go up to the apartment, and then you can-”
“Please,” Jasper says, open-mouthed kisses leaving wet marks on his neck and making a shiver run down his body.
Guy should have realized by now that Jasper liked doing this in places where someone might catch them. Not that he couldn't just stop time or erase someone's memory later if needed, so... Guy almost accepts it. He almost considers this option. Especially since the prospect of going up to Jasper’s apartment seemed too frightening - he wanted to feed him dinner, he definitely wanted him to stay the night, maybe forever. And Guy just... he wasn't ready for that.
He diligently shielded his thoughts about this from the man, so as not to upset him.
“Please…” Jasper pleads again in a sweet, husky whisper, and it’s the best thing Guy has ever heard.
Jasper pulls back just slightly to look into his eyes (his own are a bright blue-green now, pupils dilated like a junkie’s), and repeats it one more time.
“Please,” a seductive whisper, because he knows exactly what he’s doing. This motherfucker. Never lies and yet he still knows something about manipulating Guy to their shared advantage.
Guy bites his lip, hesitating, examining the expression on his face, absorbing and memorizing every detail, because he tells himself this is the last time and therefore he wants to enjoy it as much as he can.
He rolls his eyes disdainfully and tilts his head to the side, naively believing that Jasper will continue the foreplay, as he often likes to do - however, not more than a second later, his neck is torn open by two fangs sinking into him, and he cries out, shocked.
Blood begins to be sucked out of him, and a heat passes through his body; mixed feelings of pleasure, fear of death, and hot pain pulses inside, and he closes his eyes, instinctively thrashing in the other's arms, like a bird in the paws of a stray cat that has caught it.
This pleasure is evident on his face; a moan escapes his lips, half from pain and half from the high - and it is at that very moment that something suddenly pushes Jasper away from him, leaving him alone, cold, bleeding, right by that dirty pillar.
He blinks in shock and confusion, instinctively covering the wound, looking around, and only then realizing what has just happened.
“Doris?” his voice sounds wrong because he is bleeding right from his neck; he is weaker than he’d like to be in this situation, his brain isn't working fast enough, and the next thing he sees is like a bucket of ice poured right over his head.
A flash of fire. A painful groan. Jasper’s attempt to lunge at the female vampire in that state, but she pushes him with a pipe she has picked up from somewhere nearby and runs up to Guy, taking his hand and trying to pull him away. “Let’s go!”
“What? Wait- Jasper!” he tries to break free toward him, terrified by what is happening, already taking off his coat, when the female vampire - too strong compared to him - confusedly holds him in place.
“Are you crazy?! He tried to eat you! You’re bleeding out!”
Guy is in a panic. He doesn't even have time to wonder how she got here or why. “Well, if you hadn't pulled him off me, I wouldn't be bleeding out right now, so thank you very fucking much! Just- argh, let go of me, goddammit!” he tries to break free again, this time successfully, because the girl releases him in confusion.
Guy immediately runs to Jasper with his coat, trying to help put out the fire, not fleeing from the terrifying spectacle. He finds himself whispering an almost comforting “shh-shh-shh,” feeling the man lose his balance and consequently sink to the floor with him.
“Fuck… shit-shit-shit,” he repeats anxiously, removing the coat and seeing Jasper’s burnt skin and pain-stricken face. “It’s okay, you’re okay,” Guy says, but he’s afraid to touch him, because it looks - well, awful. Gruesome. And painful.
Jasper opens his eyes, looks at him for only a moment, then another - and then abruptly rises and, surely ignoring the monstrous pain in every inch of his burnt skin, lunges sharply, hissing and with bared fangs, at Doris, who had already dropped her weapon.
The girl, initially just shocked by Guy's behavior and sincerely believing she was saving him, casts him another look, then quickly moves away from the fire-weakened vampire, before seemingly disappearing altogether.
Jasper is enraged. Blood is in his eyes, his face burned to red, wrinkled skin, his hair destroyed too. His clothes have melted into him, and it would surely be painful to tear off his flesh.
In that moment, due to rage and pain, he is more animal than man, and Guy sees it in his eyes, in his mind, as he glances back at him. And he is about to say something, to approach him carefully, like ge would approach a wolf caught in a trap - but at that same moment, Jasper hisses at him and vanishes, moving somewhere out of his sight - or perhaps even freezing time, going far, far away from him, where he couldn’t see him in such a vulnerable state.
Guy remains alone in the parking lot, still bleeding from his neck, and it… sucks.
“Jasper!” he shouts and repeats the name in his thoughts. No answer. He exhales, pressing a hand to his neck. “Fuck… Doris!” he tries, and then, with a heavy, tormented sigh, sinks to the ground next to his burnt coat. “...Anyone?..” he weakly adds, pathetic and distressed to the bone, and doesn't even realize he's losing consciousness from blood loss until it’s already too late.
He blacks out.