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A goddamn truce.
Un-fucking-believable.
Hannibal still wasn’t quite sure how it had come to this. One minute they had been preparing for the fight of their lives, rescuing Blade and planning to take down Dracula before he took over the world, and the next they were at a sit-down with the aforementioned uber vamp.
Okay, they weren’t actually sitting down. Instead it was a group of distrusting, heavily armed humans standing on one side of a stinky docks warehouse while a group of sneering vampires stood on the other. Hannibal wondered idly if there was any way he could make Asher trip up before they left; he wasn’t sure exactly what the filth covering the floor was but he was pretty sure that it would ruin that ridiculously expensive suit the man was wearing.
He glanced at Abby, standing next to him. She was as tense as he’d ever seen her, her hand rhythmically twitching against her bow, just itching to shoot someone. Dex had his game face on, seemingly calm and unbothered but anyone who knew him could tell from the line of his body that he was ready to spring into action. Hedges...Hedges appeared to be flirting with one of the vamps. Or, rather, one of the vamps was flirting with him and blowing kisses in his direction while Hedges turned a shade of red previously unseen in nature. Hannibal stowed that away to use against him later, if they ever got out of this.
Blade and Drake stood facing each other in the middle of the room, the inaugural stare-out competition out of way, they were now discussing whatever it was that they discussed. Blade had told them that he’d met up with Drake several times, originally in a fight to the death that never actually ended in death and then to have cosy little chats about the future of the vampires under Drake’s rule. It turned out that the daddy of all vampires was very unhappy with his children. There were too many of them, they’d lost the old ways, they abused their gifts which made them weak...blah, blah, blah...basically? Daddy was going to start dishing out some spankings and he wanted the Nightstalkers to help him.
“I’m not convinced that you’re going to be able to rein in your people, Drake,” Blade was saying.
“They will obey me,” Drake assured him calmly, “or they will face the consequences.”
It was a variation of the same thing they’d been talking about for what felt like hours now and Hannibal was getting antsy. Being this close to a group of vamps had him spoiling for a fight. Actually being this close to the cold hearted bitch from hell had him musing about all the ways he could get to her with a stake before the others noticed.
He looked across at the subject of his thoughts and when their eyes caught Danica smirked, raised two fingers in a ‘V’ in front of her mouth and waggled her tongue between them, causing Asher to start snickering.
Hannibal glanced at Blade and Drake again to see if they were paying any attention.
“...vampire who deliberately takes a human life will lose their own.” Drake was still talking so Hannibal turned back to Danica, keeping half an ear on the ‘truce’ discussion.
“You really expect us to believe that the vamps will stop killing, just like that?” Blade asked.
“It will take some time,” Drake admitted. “It will not be easy but it will be done.”
Hannibal shot Danica a dangerous grin and then began a complicated mime instructing her on how to suck her own dick which gained him an elbow in the ribs from Abby and a twitching of Dex’s lips.
“And what do you want from us in this grand scheme of yours?” Presumably Blade already knew the answer to these questions from their previous discussions and was asking them now for the Nightstalkers benefit.
“We will be returning to the old vampire ways but there will be many who refuse, too many for me to deal with by myself at first; these you have my permission to hunt freely,” Drake replied. “I have also decided that I must take a human consort from your group.”
Hannibal stopped taunting Danica when he heard that, freezing in place with his hands still making a dick shape in front of his groin, because what the fuck? The vamps were all staring at Drake too and even Blade looked surprised.
“A consort?”
“Would you be willing to enter into such an accord on my word alone?” Drake asked him. “There will always be mistrust on both sides unless there is an alliance at the heart of it. A warrior and a vampire partnership. Someone you trust to fight for your side and whose information you will know to be truthful."
“I am not giving you Abby,” Blade growled and Hannibal felt Abby bristle beside him, probably more at Blade’s unwanted defence of her honour than anything else.
Drake looked a little amused at Blade’s vehemence. “You misunderstand; I do not want the woman. I believe that Hannibal King would be far more suitable.”
“Wait, what?” Hannibal asked incredulously.
Danica laughed delightedly from her side. “I told you that we’d get you back, lover. Don’t worry; I’ll forgive your little rebellion...eventually.”
“No way!” Hannibal glared at the two men in the centre of the room while the vampires started cat-calling him. “It will snow in hell before I’ll become a vampire again!”
Drake turned to Hannibal. It was the first time that the guy had looked directly at him so Hannibal was completely unprepared for the shiver that went down his spine when those swirling golden eyes locked onto his own. It wasn’t fear, Hannibal knew all too well what that felt like and this was something else.
“I require a human consort, Hannibal King; you will not be turned,” Drake assured him, “and you have my word that no other vampire will touch you. I do not share that which is mine.”
“What?” Danica’s smirk immediately dropped as she looked at Drake. “He's not yours, he’s mine. He bears my mark, I made him!” Danica stamped her foot on the floor for emphasis.
Drake’s expression hardened and he turned his head to give Danica a glare that made her cower back a few steps. “And you lost him. Your previous behaviour epitomized everything that is wrong with the new vampires and I will not allow you to harm him again.”
“You know you could just kill her," Hannibal helpfully pointed out. “I’d be fine with that, really. No need to do the whole consort thing if you’re only trying to make a point.”
Danica hissed at him and it was only Asher’s super quick reflexes that stopped her from throwing herself across the room at Hannibal. She struggled in her brother’s grip and snapped her teeth while Asher gave Drake worried looks and whispered in her ear to calm her down.
Drake paid no attention to them; instead he was looking at Hannibal; openly amused this time. “Yes, you will make a fine mate, Hannibal.”
Everyone’s stares became too much for Hannibal so he pasted his usual shit eating grin onto his face and looked back at Drake. “Okay, two things; firstly, no one says ‘mate’ or ‘consort’ anymore. You should get one of your little Renfield’s to teach you modern vernacular; just some helpful advice there. And secondly...hell to the fuck, no!”
Drake tilted his head, his expression confused but Hannibal could swear he still saw some amusement mixed in. “You refuse this?”
“Yes, I refuse...” Hannibal started but Blade spoke over him.
“We’ll think about it.”
Hannibal looked at Blade, aghast. “There’s no thinking, there’s just no. You’re not my pimp, Blade.”
"I said, we'll think about it." Blade scowled at him in that way which usually promised imminent death for the person annoying him before also turning that glare on Dex and Hedges, who seemed to be struggling to keep their giggles in.
Drake nodded. “In that case, we shall reconvene another night.”
With that the vamps, Danica still in Asher’s arms snarling and spitting at Hannibal, melted away into the night leaving the Nightstalkers alone in the warehouse. The group stood in silence for a moment and then Dex and Hedges gave in to their laughter, hanging onto each other and pointing at Hannibal.
“I think you upset the missus,” Hedges gasped which sent Dex into giggles again.
“I’m glad you two are so entertained,” Blade told them, “but we still need to get out of here without falling to any of the vamps who are probably lying in wait.”
That sobered the two men up which made Hannibal grateful but he sincerely doubted that Blade had done it for his benefit; he just seemed to have taken an instant dislike to Hedges.
It appeared that Drake had kept his word though as the Nightstalkers met with no trouble when they left the warehouse and made their way to the waiting vehicles. Blade gave Hannibal a pointed look at that which Hannibal ignored. In fact, Hannibal managed to hold his tongue until they got back to the Honeycomb Hideout but only because Abby deliberately made sure that Hannibal was in a different car to Blade and Caulder wasn’t the type of man you could take your temper out on.
“What the fuck?” Hannibal yelled as soon as he walked into the makeshift gym where everyone had congregated. “’We’ll think about it’? When did your balls get removed, Blade?”
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sommerfield whisper something to Zoe before Zoe left the room and he kind of felt bad about losing it in front of the kid but that soon faded again in favour of the anger which was burning through his veins.
“Hannibal...” Abby said in a warning tone but he ignored her.
“Christ, since when do you even agree to talk to vamps instead of dusting them?” He yelled at Blade. “What does he have over you, huh? That vampire side of yours making you want to bend over for your king?”
He barely saw Blade move before his fist was smashing into Hannibal’s face, splitting his lip and sending him flying halfway across the room. Before Hannibal could struggle back to his feet, Blade was above him, his hand around Hannibal’s throat and pushing him back onto the floor.
“Seems to me that I’m not the one Drake wants bending over for him,” Blade snarled, his face inches from Hannibal’s.
“Blade, let him go,” Abby snapped. “He’s right; we need some kind of explanation for all this.”
Hannibal gave a bloodstained grin at that and Blade growled at him before releasing his hold and stalking to the other side of the room. Hannibal stood, wiped the blood from his chin with the back of his hand and went to stand next to Abby.
“Tell us what’s going on," Abby demanded, glaring at Blade with her arms crossed.
Blade snorted, “I don’t take orders from little girls.”
“If you want us to take part in this truce of yours, you will,” Abby told him. “We’ve taken you at your word until now but we need answers or we’re gonna walk.”
“And do what?” Blade asked.
“The same thing we’ve always done, we’ll keep fighting,” Abby replied with a small shrug.
Blade chuckled humourlessly. “And for every vamp you kill, they make ten more. We’re losing this war and you know it.”
“So making a deal with them is your solution?” Dex wanted to know; he wasn’t as incredulous as the rest of them, he just seemed curious.
“You kids think I’m some great hope. You bust me out of the police station, expect me to lead you, show you how to take all these motherfuckers down. I can’t do that,” Blade told them and, for once, it wasn’t in scorn at their abilities. “I can’t be who you want me to be. I’m tired of losing...”
That could have been the end of the sentence but Hannibal was sure that he wasn’t the only one who heard the unspoken ‘people I care about’. The group was silent. They’d all seen the helicopter footage of Blade’s arrest, they way he’d lain down his sword and given up, and told themselves all sorts of reasons that would explain it away. He didn’t want to hurt someone by fighting his way out, shock at the explosion in the warehouse and what that meant for Whistler or maybe he’d known about the corruption within the cops and needed proof.
It looked as though the truth was that he was just tired after all this time. That he’d lost his passion for the fight when he lost Whistler Sr. for real.
“Do you really think Drake’s plan has merit? Or are you just looking for a way out?” Abby eventually asked.
Hannibal opened his mouth to point out that parts of Drake’s plan definitely didn’t have merit but Abby held out a hand to shut him up.
“I think to have any hope of winning we need to make a devil’s bargain and he’s our best shot,” Blade replied after a long moment.
“Yeah, because your last partnership with vamps ended so well,” Hannibal pointed out. “We’ve all heard about Prague.”
Blade growled at him again and clenched his hands into fists at his side. “Don’t talk about things you don’t understand, King.”
Hannibal refused to back down. “It’s quite literally my ass on the line here, I understand that much. You have no fucking idea what it was...” He bit off what he’d been about to say. “Talk all you want but I’m not being part of this messed up deal. Understand?”
He slammed the door behind him as he left, smiling in grim satisfaction as the bang echoed through the hideout. Dawn was still a few hours away so Hannibal took his frustrations on the handful of moron fledglings he came across. Any vamp arrogant enough to still be on the streets that close to daylight deserved to be dusted, no questions asked.
Finally the anger subsided a bit and Hannibal sat on the edge of a rooftop to watch the sunrise, enjoying the ache of muscles well used.
“Husband,” a familiar voice suddenly said from directly behind him.
Hannibal jumped in shock which caused him to slip forward off his precarious perch. His hands flew out automatically to grab hold of something to stop his fall when an arm grasped him around the waist and hauled him back against a hard chest.
“What the hell?” Hannibal gasped, back on the ledge and staring down at the ground at least thirty stories below.
“One of the Talos familiars told me the modern version of the word ‘consort’,” Drake continued as if nothing had happened. “For you, it is husband.”
“Yeah? Does that make you the wife?” Hannibal shot back before he realised that taunting the vampire holding you above a really nasty drop wasn’t the best of ideas.
Drake just laughed though. “We will both be husbands, I believe. Ours will be a partnership of equals.”
“That’s easy for you to say, Mr King of All the Vampires. Also, I seem to remember telling you ‘no’ to the whole consort idea,” Hannibal pointed out.
Drake hummed in response and nuzzled Hannibal’s neck, breathing in his scent. Hannibal shuddered as arousal suddenly shot through him at that intimate touch.
“I believe I can persuade you otherwise,” Drake told him, his voice rumbling against Hannibal’s back. “You’ll find there are many benefits to being my mate.”
Hannibal had to admit that sitting there wrapped in Drake’s strong arms felt really good, better than anything he’d felt in a long time. He’d been seduced by a vampire before, however, and it didn’t end well.
He started to squirm. “I think you can let me go now.”
For a moment he thought that Drake was going to refuse but, after one last sniff behind Hannibal’s ear, he stepped back. Hannibal quickly climbed off the ledge, moved further back onto the roof and turned to face the vampire, carefully keeping some distance between them.
“Why me?” Hannibal demanded, confused not just by Drake’s attentions but his intense reaction to them. “Is this some mind fuck because I took the cure? Is this revenge?”
“It is because I desire you, Hannibal, and not just for my bed,” Drake told him seriously. “You have fire in you; it shows when you do battle and when you speak. I need a mate who will not bow down to me.”
Hannibal snorted. “Until the novelty wears off and you, quite literally, tear my head off.”
Drake smirked. “You underestimate the value of forthrightness to someone surrounded by the servile.”
“Oh, poor you,” Hannibal said giving Drake an exaggerated sad face before turning it into a sly smile. “Besides I think you’re underestimating just how annoying I can be.”
“I am sure that you will continuously test my patience,” Drake agreed wryly, “as I will yours. You have no need to fear, however, you will never be harmed, not by me. As for the others...have I mentioned that the consort is a position second only to their partner?”
Hannibal opened his mouth to make a smart remark on the so-called ‘equality’ of that when the meaning sunk in. Drake was the vampire king so if Hannibal was his consort…
“I could order vamps about? I could make Asher lick my shoes and ban Danica from talking unless it's to tell me all the ways I’m more awesome than her?” Hannibal asked with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
Drake chuckled. “If that is what you wish. Although, I do have my own punishment planned for the Talos sister,” he added, darkly.
Drake had closed the gap between them as he spoke and he reached up to cradle Hannibal’s face. His thumb stroked Hannibal’s cheekbone almost tenderly and Hannibal really had to struggle not to lean into it.
“As great as that sounds, authority above vamps isn’t going to win me over,” he told Drake. “It’s going to take a lot more than that.”
“In order to return to the true ways, I require a warrior. One willing to fight for the humans with honour and bravery...” Drake started but Hannibal's laughter interrupted him.
"And I'm who you decided to go with?" Hannibal shook his head. "In all your little dates with Blade, didn't it occur to you that he might be the one you needed to do all that?"
"Blade is…impressive but unsuitable. He battles to keep his humanity but in doing so has lost much of it. You embrace yours as only one who once had it ripped away can,” Drake told him. "You have already lived the life that other humans will be forced to live should this truce and my plans fail. I know that you will fight with everything you have to prevent that. That is what is needed not a hybrid who will give in to his thirst sooner rather than later."
Hannibal had a brief flash of memory; terror, screams and Danica’s laughing face. He shook it off as he had so many times before and focused back on Drake. "Okay, I take your point about Blade but surely there must be someone..."
Before he had the chance to finish the protest, Drake had his arms wrapped around him again except this time he took Hannibal's mouth in a truly mind blowing kiss. Hannibal groaned and fought to take charge but Drake nipped his bottom lip in warning then gently sucked as that reopened the cut from the earlier fight with Blade. Drake explored every part of Hannibal's mouth thoroughly and by the time that he pulled back, Hannibal was gasping and shuddering against him.
"I will have none but you," Drake murmured against his cheek and it took Hannibal a moment to figure out that he was responding to Hannibal's unfinished question. "It is your destiny, Hannibal King."
Hannibal blinked and then pushed against Drake's chest; it actually forced him to take a couple of steps backwards rather than moving Drake but it put some much needed space between them and allowed Hannibal to think with a clearer head.
"Are you doing this to me?" He pointed an accusing finger at Drake. "Are you hypnotising me into wanting you? Is this hypnotism because Dracula could do that in the movie...I don't know about the book, I never read it, but it was probably in there too."
Drake chuckled. "I am not influencing your emotions. That is not one of my powers; even if you were once a vampire, you are now human and my call will not work on you."
Which meant that his intense attraction to Drake was entirely down to him and that made Hannibal wonder about his sanity a little. First Danica and now Drake; what the hell was wrong with him that he always got a hard on for the most dangerous person he could find? His ‘maybe almost but not really’ crush on Abby was only marginally healthier.
"If you'll have none but me," Despite his best intentions, Hannibal couldn't help making fun of Drake's old fashioned way of talking. "Does that mean the truce is off if I keep saying no?"
"The talks will continue," Drake told him, "but without a partnership at the centre I believe it will fail eventually. There needs to be mediation between both sides; there is too much distrust without it."
Hannibal looked out over the city, peaceful in this point between the vamps going to ground and the humans waking up; it was usually his favourite time of day. Today, however, it was doing nothing to calm the storm of thoughts and feelings within him.
"I'd stay human and my friends will stay safe?" he asked and he could see Drake nod from the corner of his eye. "If I disagree with what you're doing, will you listen?"
"I will," Drake assured him. "But the reverse must also be true."
"Fair enough," Hannibal said, unable to quite believe that he was actually considering this madness. "If you've already got plans for Danica, can I kill Jarko?"
"If he does not abide by the new rules," Drake replied and Hannibal snorted because that was as good as a 'yes'. "Does this mean that you accept?"
"I'll think about it," Hannibal told him, echoing Blade's words, and Drake smirked.
A couple of nights later they were back where they'd started; the Nightstalkers and vampires glaring at each other across a room while Drake and Blade talked terms at the centre of it. At least this time they were in nicer surroundings; an old bank which was sitting idle before construction began to turn it into a trendy wine bar.
"You agree to us working together in order to bring the vampires back to the old ways?" Drake asked Blade.
"If you agree to stop killing," Blade countered. "You snack only on your familiars and those willing to be fed upon; no more draining."
There were murmurs of discontent among the vamps when Drake nodded but there were no outright protests which told the hunters that that particular rule had already been laid down. In fact all of the Nightstalkers demands had been met the same way. Hannibal was beginning to suspect that one of the reasons why Drake wanted a 'warrior' at his side was because of the assassination attempts which were bound to start coming his way when the rest of the vampire clans realised how serious he was about this new way of running things.
"Does Hannibal King agree to be my husband?"
And there it was. Hannibal forced himself to look at Drake who was smiling at him, obviously pleased at himself for using the new term he'd found for 'consort'.
Abby stepped closer to Hannibal. "You can say 'no'. We've got your back," she told him under her breath.
Hannibal appreciated that, he really did; especially because he knew that she now believed the truce really was a good idea. Drake had taken Blade, Abby and Hannibal to one of the vampire 'blood farms' the night before to show them just how far the vampires had fallen. Drake had ordered the entire place shut down and informed the hunters that there was now one of those farms in every major city. Hannibal had held Abby's hair back when she'd thrown up at the news, far away from Drake and Blade of course, and had felt like doing the same himself. Even if he hadn’t already been wavering over his decision, what he’d just seen would’ve made up his mind. These things had to be stopped and there was no way that one man could do it all by himself, even if he was a king.
He reached out one hand to squeeze Abby's arm before stepping forward. "I agree."
Danica looked like someone had slapped her across the face which was practically reason enough to do it, right there.
Drake held out his hand to Hannibal and he walked across the room to take it.
"I believe it is customary these days to exchange rings in a union such as ours but I thought you might prefer something different." Drake waved a hand and a minion appeared, placed two wooden boxes on a table before he bowed at Drake and left again.
At Drake's urging, Hannibal opened the biggest box and removed a sword which would put Blade's to shame and, judging from the man’s sour expression, he knew it too. It was weighted perfectly and when Hannibal made a couple of practice swipes through the air he just knew that it would cut through a vamp as easily as a knife through butter.
"It is the twin of my own," Drake told him, waiting until Hannibal stopped waving it around before moving closer. "They were forged together and sealed in my tomb until I awoke. My sword has served me well and I believe yours will do the same."
"An awesome sword? Yeah, I'd say that's better than putting a ring on it; Beyonce would be so jealous." Hannibal grinned at him and ran his fingers across the ancient engravings on the handle. "What's in the other box?"
"Something which will seal our bond," Drake replied. "I had them made at the same time as I did the swords, for the occasion that I would find my ideal mate. There is one for each of us."
He opened the box and showed Hannibal the two black wrist cuffs inside; both made of some kind of metal and both marked with the same engraving as Hannibal's sword. Hannibal reached out to run his fingers over that engraving as well but pulled back when the cuffs suddenly shimmered. He turned to Drake with a raised eyebrow.
"They will bind us together and once worn they cannot be removed," Drake told him. "They will allow me to share some of my gifts with you."
There was a ripple through the people watching and Blade growled at Drake. “That wasn’t part of the deal, vampire.”
"What the hell kind of gifts?" Hannibal asked, frowning at Drake. "You told me that if I agreed to this, I'd stay human."
"And you shall, I gave you my word," Drake replied, far too calmly for Hannibal's liking considering that Hannibal himself was freaking out a little. "I have never wished to mate with one of my own kind, with one who would be obligated to bow to my wishes because I'm their king. However the status of King's Consort requires you to live among vampires, to help rule them and the human body is so very frail. These will enhance your strength and speed as well as match my natural lifespan."
"Are you seriously giving me immortality as a wedding gift?" Hannibal was incredulous. "You couldn't find a gift token anywhere? Because, let me tell you, there are some DVDs that I've been dying to get hold of."
"All of the benefits of being a vampire but you'd still remain human," Drake said as he wound his arms around Hannibal. "That's my gift to my husband, my warrior, my mate."
Blade opened his mouth, probably to growl some more, but was stopped by Danica yelling, “You can’t do this! You can’t let a human rule us, we won’t stand for it! Not Hannibal King! He’s nothing but a pet; he doesn’t deserve this, he doesn’t get to have immortality!”
Hannibal looked at her, trying to stifle his laughter at the temper tantrum. “Aww, did this spoil your plans to kill me later on, kitten?”
“I’m going to tear your flesh from your bones,” Danica screamed, running at him.
This time she was too quick for Asher but one of the other vampires stepped in front of her with a put upon sigh and calmly held out her fist, letting Danica run into it and knock herself out.
“Thank you, Josie,” Drake said to the vampire, who Hannibal now recognised as the one who’d been flirting with Hedges last time. She nodded her head at Drake before giving Hannibal a cheeky wink and stepping back. Drake turned to Blade. “You have objections to Hannibal receiving these gifts?”
“I have objections to the fact that I won’t be able to kill him myself when he starts running his mouth,” Blade replied. “But apparently he seems to piss your people off even more than me and that entertainment might just be worth it.”
“I’ve got popcorn,” Hedges called over helpfully then ‘eeped’ and hid behind Dex when, simultaneously, Blade snarled and Josie purred at him.
"You will wear the cuff?" Drake pulled back to look Hannibal in the eye, ignoring Hedges’ antics.
"Yes." Hannibal knew that he just couldn't turn something like that down.
Drake smiled and stepped back. He held out the box to Hannibal and waited until he removed one of the cuffs before taking hold of the other. Hannibal stared at the cuff in his hand for a moment, mesmerised by the swirling surface of the metal before he slipped it onto his wrist. Drake did the same with his own and, as soon as both cuffs were in place, they snapped shut and began to melt.
"Whoa," Hannibal breathed and several other people gasped as they watched the liquid metal slowly sink into his skin until all that was left was a tattoo circling his wrist.
He poked at it, almost expecting the area to be as sore as it would if he'd had a real tattoo but it just felt like skin; except for the engraving which was slightly raised and harder, it was also now a gold colour that stood out against the black.
"This is your mark?" Hannibal asked.
"It is our mark," Drake chided him lightly as he admired his own tattoo. "And it will override the one the Talos female left on you."
Hannibal immediately yanked down the top of his pants and, sure enough, his old mark of ownership was gone. "Shit, you should've just told me that to start with; there'd have been no persuasion necessary."
He heard Abby laughing softly and winked at her then startled when Drake ran his fingers across the skin where the old tattoo had been. "I hated her mark on you. The idea that someone else, some vampire so unworthy, had her hands on you first made me want to burn down this entire city and everyone in it."
Hannibal yelped as those fingers began to move lower and he grabbed Drake’s hand to stop him. “What are you doing?”
Drake frowned. “I am claiming my mate.”
“Right now? In front of everyone?” Hannibal stared at him wide-eyed.
“Speaking for the hunters, we’d really rather you didn’t,” Blade added, a pinched look on his face.
Drake did that tilting head thing that he always did when he was confused. “It is the way that vampires claim their consort. You were unaware of this?”
“Yes, I was unaware,” Hannibal practically yelled. “And this is definitely something which should have been brought to my attention earli...” He trailed off as he followed Drake’s glare and saw that Asher’s head was hidden in Jarko’s arm as his body shook with laughter. “Let me guess, he told you that I already knew and was fine with it?”
“He did,” Drake growled angrily before he removed one of Hannibal’s stakes from his belt and threw it across the room. It hit Asher dead on and everyone had the chance to see the look of complete surprise on his face before he turned to ash. “I apologise, my mate, that I did not go over the terms of our initial coupling with you before now. However, it is tradition and would serve to seal the truce between our two people.”
“We’d be fine with a handshake,” Blade immediately said then glowered when Abby appeared out of nowhere to smack him on the shoulder.
“Drake...” Hannibal started then blinked as he saw some more minions bring a luxurious bed into the room. “Shit!”
Drake took advantage of Hannibal’s distraction to pull Hannibal into a kiss just as devastating as the one on the rooftop, a kiss that made Hannibal melt into his new husband and the rest of the room fade away. At the same time moved his hands to Hannibal's ass, lifting him until Hannibal wrapped his legs around Drake's waist, both of them groaning as that pushed their groins together and sent jolts of pleasure shooting through them. Hannibal ground against Drake again and got so lost in the delicious sensation that created that he didn't realise they were moving until he landed on a bed with Drake laying on top of him.
“That was cheating,” Hannibal informed him, stealing a glance around the room to see that everyone was watching them avidly.
“This is cheating,” Drake smirked then his hands blurred for a few seconds.
"Nice trick," Hannibal told him, impressed, after he'd glanced down at himself and discovered that he was also now naked, as was Drake.
Drake just smiled, which was the only warning Hannibal got before the vampire slipped a slicked finger inside him.
"Oh, holy fuck!" Hannibal yelled his back bowing off the bed. "Where did you even...shit, right there...yeah..."
Unerringly finding Hannibal's prostate on every single thrust, Drake shifted down the bed and took Hannibal into his mouth at the same time. One finger turned to two then three, their movements timed perfectly with the suction of that unbelievably hot mouth. Hannibal reached out blindly, his hands gripping onto the metal bed frame as he panted and squirmed and cursed; wave upon wave of intense pleasure washing over him. When Drake suddenly swallowed him whole, Hannibal cried out, his body shaking from head to toe, but Drake pulled off him and quickly squeezed him in a tight grip at the base to stop him from finding his release.
"Not yet, my mate." Drake grinned at him evilly. "Not until I am inside you."
"Fucker!" Hannibal threw his head back against the pillows and panted until the urgent need subsided a little. "Now...please, Drake...just do it...please..."
Realisation that he was begging for it like a bitch in heat snapped Hannibal back to reality somewhat and he suddenly remembered just where he was. He turned his head towards where the Nightstalkers had been standing and discovered that the two groups had apparently merged together in order to watch this new entertainment.
Hedges seemed torn between wanting to run screaming into the night and wanting to take notes for future reference. Dex...looked the same as ever, Caulder appeared fascinated and Blade was standing off to one side, studying the ceiling as if it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen. Abby and Josie, however, were standing next to each other, wide-eyed and flushed, whispering to each other without taking their eyes off Hannibal and Drake. Hannibal noticed that Danica was now awake and had a similar expression to the other two women, except hers was a little more dazed, and she was forced to remain sitting on the floor by the firm grip Josie had on her hair.
"So gorgeous, my consort." Drake's voice brought his attention back to the bed. His eyes were glowing soft amber as he stared down at Hannibal, waiting a moment longer before he finally pushed inside. “They all wish that they were me right now. That they had you at their mercy.”
"Jesus!" Hannibal shifted his hands from the bed frame to grab onto Drake's shoulders. Drake's arms were hooked under his legs, moving Hannibal to a position which ensured he still slid against that spot within him and overrode any discomfort Hannibal was still feeling at the public setting. "Drake...fuck..."
Drake leaned down and kissed Hannibal again and all that Hannibal could do was moan as he was surrounded and filled by his lover. Especially when Drake finally began to move, every thrust hard enough to have Hannibal seeing stars. It didn't take long; Drake had held Hannibal on the edge for what felt like hours and, as soon as Drake stopped kissing him to sink his fangs into Hannibal's neck, he screamed out his pleasure as he tumbled over that edge, Drake’s howl of completion following him.
"Beautiful," was the awe-filled whisper that pulled Hannibal back from where he'd been floating blissfully on his high.
He lifted his head to look at Drake and then blinked in surprise when he realised that he was now sprawled on top of the other man. "I guess I'm going to have to get used to the manhandling, huh?"
Drake smiled at him softly as he ran his fingers down the side of Hannibal's face. "I am sure that you will be doing plenty of your own once you get used to your new abilities."
Hannibal chuckled at the idea of him carrying Drake anywhere. Then he stopped as he once again remembered where he was. He scrambled to get a blanket pulled over them, his face flushing despite the fact that everyone had already seen everything anyway.
Drake grinned and shook his head at Hannibal’s actions before climbing out of the bed and approaching Blade, seemingly completely at ease with his nudity even in front of supposed enemies. “I trust that our truce is now fully in effect.”
“I guess so,” Blade replied, obviously wanting to fidget uncomfortably but refusing to do so because he was ‘Blade, motherfucker’. “Can we leave now or do you want us to witness some more stuff that you should only do in private? Perhaps you’d like us to watch you take a shit?”
Hannibal rolled his eyes at Blade’s usual bad attitude but continued to admire Drake’s body. He was definitely not the only one in the room doing that; he caught Josie’s eye and grinned as she waggled her eyebrows at him.
Now that the truce was in place, there was a relaxing of the tension that had previously filled the room; even if it was only slight it was still an improvement. Abby especially seemed to have a weight lifted from her now that she knew they’d finally be making inroads in the battle she and her father before her had dedicated their lives to. As Hannibal grabbed his pants and pulled them on beneath the sheets, she gave him a soft smile; one so unusual to see on her face that Hannibal couldn’t stop himself from pulling her to him and dropping a quick kiss on her head as he passed her.
“...weekly meeting would be best, I believe,” Drake was saying to Blade and Dex when Hannibal reached them.
“You’re going to take time out of your busy schedule to meet with us every week?” Blade still sounded pissy. “Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, cleaning house? Putting your new regime into effect?”
“I shall be,” Drake replied, wrapping an arm around Hannibal and pulling him close, which Hannibal was sure that he was doing as much to annoy Blade as he was because he wanted to. “Hannibal will be attending the meetings with Josie, who will be serving as my representative. She is my childe and my most loyal subject; you can take her word as my own.”
Hannibal raised his eyebrows at that. Josie definitely wasn’t an old one which meant that if she was Drake’s childe, he must’ve made her since he woke up. He eyed the happy vampire, taking in her modern gothic appearance and had a distant memory of a recent news report he’d seen; concerning a daytime attack in one of those tacky tourist Goth shops which had resulted in the shop girl going missing.
“Fine.” Blade crossed his arms. “Is that all?”
“I believe so,” Drake replied. “The new laws are set in place from this moment on. I will give the vampires two days to absorb the information before my new court begins enforcing the laws. In the meantime, I have a new husband to enjoy.”
He pulled Hannibal into a kiss and Hannibal could hear Dex say, “Aaaand that’s our cue to leave. See you next week, brother.”
Hannibal waved a hand absently at him in acknowledgement before he remembered something and broke the kiss. “Hedges, don’t think I didn’t see you using your phone. Any of that footage ends up on the internet and I will kill you.”
“Would I?” Hedges smirked and then widened his eyes when Drake glared at him too. “Right, deleted as soon as I get home, I swear.” He gulped when Abby and Josie turned to look at him. “Umm...apart from the copies I promised those two; you’re on your own if you want those back. They scare me,” he added in a hiss at Hannibal before running out of the building.
He was quickly followed by the rest of the Nightstalkers while Hannibal sighed and shook his head. Danica by this time had regained whatever senses she had left, probably helped by her spotting the pile of ash which used to be her brother.
“I wish to apologise for my earlier behaviour, my king,” she simpered at Drake as she bowed lowly. Then she shot a poisonous look at the new member of their group. "You too, human."
"I'm sorry, what was that you called me?" Hannibal cupped a hand behind his ear.
Danica looked at Drake who raised an eyebrow at her expectantly. "My lord," she gritted out instead.
"Apology accepted, brotherfucker." Hannibal nodded his head at her and grinned when more than a few snickers could be heard from the remaining vampires in the room.
He could see the blood dripping from her hands where she was digging her nails into her palms in order to stop herself from attacking him again. So he oh-so casually ran his fingers through his hair, just to show off his funky new tattoo and see her face turn red in temper.
"This is kind of fun," he said in a sotto voice to Drake. "Do you think I can actually make her head explode by doing this?"
"I am sure that you will try. She is to be your new personal assistant, after all," Drake replied, his lips twitching in amusement while Hannibal barked out a surprised laugh at what Danica’s punishment was actually going to be. “But let us save that experiment for after our...what is the word? Honeymoon?”
“Yeah, okay. Backburner,” Hannibal groaned as Drake pulled him closer, both of them ignoring Danica’s renewed screeching. He bared his neck for Drake to graze with his fangs. “Take me home, husband. You’ve got two days to fuck my brains out before we take the world by storm.”
Drake chuckled against his neck and there was a sudden whirl of motion before Hannibal found himself laid out on the backseat of a car while Drake got started on that challenge.
Fin.