Evil Is a Man

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

If you like what you're reading, let me know: SellarDhor@gmail.com. And let me know where you want the story to go and who you want Jake to end up with. And if you have any ideas for the future, let me know, I might include them.

MARCH 29th

I was just leaving the Sneg Dvorec after a lunch with Maxim at work. After I had spent the last evening debriefing him on every detail that had transpired in Edmund's, he went through both his flamey anger as he learned Edmund had both raped and tried to kill me, swearing he would find a way to kill that man for what he had done, and telling me he never would have consented to my idea had he thought there was physical danger involved. That led to a more intense bonding between the two of us than ever before as we celebrated being back together.

He let me know a whole day spent away from me seemed much too difficult, so asked me to join him for lunch at work, which he had ended up getting catered from some place special in the city.

I was walking through a hallway on my way out when I crossed paths with Vasos and a woman behind him. "Ericka, I'd like, you to meet the Tsar's consort, Mr. Jake Groves. Mr. Groves, Ericka Woodville, a distant cousin of Edmund's, has just arrived here from England. I've appointed her as protégé in training."

"Oh, there's no need to bother Mr. Groves with an introduction," the woman said in a thick English accent.

"I'm not too busy," I said.

"Right, come forward, Ms. Woodville, come forward."

This woman stepped out from behind Vasos for the first time, and I did a double take when I saw her.

"Vasos, whoever this woman claims to be, believe none of it. She may have traded in her Victorian dresses for Edwardian ones, and changed her hair and her accent, but this woman is Rose Dixon, a member of the Logan Blood."

Vasos looked both surprised and confused, and Rose, who had definitely turned into a much better actor than when I had seen her previously, managed just as much surprise. "My dear lad, I'm afraid you are mistaken," she said. "I've never even been out of Europe, let alone associate with one of those filthy Logans. My father fought in the war when the Logans invaded, I have nothing but hatred for that Blood."

"She's lying. If she hates anyone, it's humans like me."

"I am not lying! I absolutely love and adore all humans! My own mother was a human. Listen, this other person you know probably was a blonde woman who looked somewhat like me. I mean, in England, I've come across hundreds of other blondes who look similar to me. I'm not very remarkable looking."

"She's right, Jake. A blonde like her might have stuck out back home in Greece, but here, half the women could be her sisters."

"But Vasos--"

"I don't want to hear another word from you," he said. "You've proven in the past to have questionable judgment." Was that an attack on my decision not to carry on sleeping with him once I knew he was married? "She's brought all the right papers with her, far more than you had when you came here. And, frankly, she is from a distinguished family of Aristocrats, and you aren't even married to the Tsar, which makes you just a Bourgeoisie, her clear subordinate."

I knew there would be no reasoning with him. "Fine, you know what, perhaps I was wrong. I'm sure I confused you with someone else, and I apologize, Ms. Woodville."

"That's quite alright."

"And now that we have that behind us, I'm thrilled to formally meet you."

"Yes, as am I." She held her hand to shake, and I saw she was wearing white gloves.

"How kind of you, to offer an American their normal way of greeting people, a handshake. But you'll find I've adapted to the Europeans here in their greetings. I'd love to kiss you on the cheeks."

"Kiss on the cheeks? Ah, okay."

I leaned forward and started to move my mouth towards her left cheek. I could tell she was trying to pull that move where both parties don't actually touch each other, keeping an inch away from me or so. I didn't let her get away with that. I forced my kiss onto her left cheek, then moved over and kissed her right one.

And then I turned forward and moved to kiss her right on the lips. She puckered up in order to accept this kiss.

Before I could actually make contact, she stepped back with quick jump so all I could kiss was air. At the same time, she pulled a baton from out of her dress and started to beat me with it.

"Get off me, you dirty, filthy human!" she screamed in her Texas accent, beating me on my chest until I turned around to protect myself, and she started hitting me in the back.

Just when I was about to start to run back away from her, she dropped the club, ending the beating finally. But then she pulled a long knife out from her dress as well and raised it to my throat.

She looked fiercely over at Vasos, who had clearly just been starting to start towards us to intervene. "Make any other move towards me, and I'll kill him."

He stopped, though whether it was really because he cared at all about my life or whether he just didn't want to be responsible for the death of the Tsar's boyfriend, I couldn't say.

"Vasos, if she hurts me or fights back in any way, I want you to contact Jericho. I know you know how to do that. And let him know that Rose Dixon, who he clearly banished from all vampire lands, was betraying his orders by trying to join up with you. He'll want her killed for that, I'm sure."

She thought for a good long moment, and then said, "Fine, I'll go peacefully as long as you say nothing to the Governor about this."

"I won't," I said.

She dropped the knife, and I pulled her hands behind her back. "Vasos, go get the guards to have this woman arrested for spying."

While he left, Rose looked over at me. "You're going to want to have me let go without being arrested."

"If that's supposed to be some sort of persuasion over me, it's not going to work."

"Here's my persuasion: you let me go, and I'll tell you what I overheard Parker saying in private in the hospital in Fools Gold. I was staying in the next room to him and Annie, and the walls were so thin."

"Why should I care about that?" I asked. "Parker and Annie are dead."

"Because it was all too obvious that you had feelings for that cripple. I tell you what I heard for my freedom."

"Fine, but you must abide by the terms Jericho set out for you after this. You are banned from all vampire territory worldwide."

"Agreed."

"So, go on."

"You think I'm dumb enough to give up my information before I'm free and out of the Carstvo?"

"I'm not going to help you until you tell me. I swear to you that if your information is true, you will get out of Carstvo safely. My word is true."

"I was there in the hospital to hear how happy Annie was when Della told her and Parker it was a boy."

"If that's all you heard, our deal's off."

"It's just the beginning. I was listening later, when they were alone, when Annie started to break down crying. Parker was very concerned something was medically wrong with the baby, because she never cries emotionally, and he was about to call in the nurses. But then she stopped him, said the baby was fine but she was burdened with guilt. She told him that the baby wasn't his."

"No," I said. "Della had a paternity test run, and he knew it was his. You are lying to me. Making things up to get me to release you."

"No," Rose said. "He similarly couldn't believe her at first. But then she told him who the father really was. Syd, his very own brother."

"She broke her wedding vows for Syd Logan?" I was horrified. "Della had been right all along about Parker not being able to reproduce. And the paternity test must not have caught that because Syd and Parker are practically identical twins."

"She told Parker that she had always loved Syd. The two of them had been in some romance before she was with Parker, and she had wanted to marry him, but Syd, the perennial bachelor, got scared when she got serious and broke it off. But since then, she had always obsessed over him. Picked to marry Parker just because of his physical similarities. But soon discovered she couldn't even stand to be around Parker, he just was no substitution for the real thing. But she could never even get herself going sexually for a sad little cripple."

"She's horrible."

"She tried to be true to her wedding vows, but when Syd offered her his bed, she eventually couldn't refuse, and the two of them had been having an affair secretly for quite some time, which Syd loved because he knew it would never be more than sex. But the condom broke, just once right before Syd was sent away to meet you over Christmas, and she ended up pregnant. Later, when Syd heard, he told her he couldn't be a father, and to just let Parker think it was his, and she agreed, but she just couldn't keep up the façade."

"But when they came back to Mareshead, Parker clearly had some new chip on his shoulder, he wasn't acting nearly as happy as before. But what made him not come out with the truth?"

"She gave him a guilt trip. Told him she had suffered long enough forced to be a cripple's wife, that she swallowed her nausea every time he put her crippled hands on her, disgusted her with the sight of his nudity, and she had after all that, he owed her. He owed it to her to not tell anyone he knew it was Syd's baby, and just go on for appearances. He agreed, but said he could never touch her again, no matter who was looking, and that they'd have to find some way to end their marriage after the baby was born officially, but for all intents and purposes, he considered that the official end to his vows to her."

"Did you tell all this to Jericho?"

"I had no reason to," she said. "Because I was sure Syd never loved Annie and would never lay claim to that baby, I made it my resolve to get him to marry me. And then, when he ended up getting sick and almost dying, I knew I had made a mistake to ever trust him, and shifted my allegiance entirely where it should have been all along: with Jericho."

Vasos came back finally, leading a troop of armed guards.

"Did you tell me everything?" I asked Rose.

"Yes, everything."

"Guards, escort this woman out of the Carstvo, see that she's safe, but do not let her back in. She is forever banished from our lands."

The guards started to move Rose away.

"Are you sure some more severe punishment isn't called for?" asked Vasos.

"Yes, I'm sure," I said. "And Vasos? You officially have the worst spy-dar I've ever seen."

"Look at all these bruises, you're completely covered! If I had seen this woman hurt you like that, I never would have let her escape with her life." Maxim said when he got home that evening and found me in bed.

"I was hoping there was something you could do for me, I've been waiting for you to get home."

"My solnyshko, the thought of you waiting around in pain for me to come home from work makes me really angry at you. If you're ever in pain, or if you need me for any reason, you pick up your phone and call me right then. I don't care how busy I am, I will come to you."

"Alright, in the future, I'll do that. Can you look at where she hit me on my back?"

"You look puffy and swollen."

"Is there anyway you could lick the bruises away or something?" I asked.

"As much as ever turning down a request to lick your naked body down seems insane, I really can't help if it's not bleeding. But I am here to take care of you. Do you want me to cancel tomorrow's celebration?"

"No, I'm sure it will be all fine by tomorrow. I put ice on it, and I put some hot muscle cream, but that didn't help. I hate the way I smell now, so I'm going to wash off in the tub."

"I'll do that for you," he said.

"I can manage on my own."

"No, no, I insist."

He lifted me into his arms, which actually hurt my body, but I said nothing to him. He carried me into the bathroom, lay me down in the bathtub, and turned on the water.

In spite of my insisting that I was fine, he stayed with me through the bath. He stripped shirtless and washed my bruises off with soap, and then he proceeded to wash the rest of me off as well. He then dried me off and carried me back to the bed.

"I assume you want to just stay in bed tonight? I'll have dinner brought up here for us. I can feed you myself."

"No, I'm actually fine to go downstairs to dinner with your sister and our guest."

"Really? In your condition?"

"Yes, just let me get dressed."

"Well, at least let me do that for you." He started to put my clothes on me. "I must say, I get much more pleasure somehow removing your clothes than replacing them."

"Do you think there's any medication I should take tonight for the pain?"

"Yes, I have something in mind. But at first, I just want you to eat dinner."

After dinner, Maxim had the four of us go to his lounge for drinks. "Alright, Helina, another trip down memory lane."

"If this one involved any sort of cake, I'm already salivating."

"More like a pleasure at the complete opposite side of the spectrum. Something you and I used to do that Mom never approved of." He pulled out a pipe and lit it.

"Tobacco?" she asked.

"Not quite," he said, handing her the pipe.

She took a deep breath. "Oh, cannabis! The flavor takes me back right away."

Maxim lit a pipe for Emmanuel and he started to smoke one too. Then he started in himself. "I got this from my friend, do you remember? We had to do it in my room only when the fire was lit because of the smell."

"Remember when Kirrill walked in on us?"

Maxim laughed heartily. "This girl somehow convinced him she had not had any of the weed. I was the only one to get busted for breaking another Code in the house."

"Wait, you're making me sound like some sort of rat. I tried to tell Kirrill that neither one of us had been smoking, but when Maxim opened his mouth, a huge puff of smoke came out and destroyed that alibi."

Maxim handed me his pipe. "Jake, you have to try this."

"I'm not going to smoke pot. I've never done that."

"I've told you, you are in the same boat as the rest of us. You'll feel the effects of the marijuana without ever suffering any bad consequences. Don't you understand that?"

"Still, it just seems wrong somehow."

"What's wrong about it?"

"I don't know."

"This is the perfect time to try it because it will take away the pain of your bruises far better than any medication will. Will you please, please just try it? For me?"

"Mmmm."

"Is that a yes?"

"I suppose it is. But you have to look after me. If I start reacting to it wrong, you'd better not be too busy giggling or snacking or whatever else it is you do on that stuff to help me."

"No, no, you know I live to take care of you."

"Alright, give it to me then."

"Start with this." He came over to me on the couch, took a deep puff of smoke, locked his lips to mine, and blew it into me. I had to suppress the urge to cough as I inhaled. "Feel anything?"

"Maybe just a slight bit of something in my head?"

"Here, take some genuine puffs off the pipe."

I did as he asked. "Huh, you're right, the pain is lessening already."

I inhaled until the pain was gone completely. But unlike Maxim, who was turning silly as he smoked and making more and more jokes, all I really got was tired.

I yawned, lying down on the couch. "I feel incredibly tired. Is it supposed to do that?"

"For some people, yes."

I started to drift off on the couch.

"Isn't he adorable when he sleeps?" asked Maxim. "A few small puffs and he's curled up on the couch."

"He's weak," said Emmanuel.

"He may be so vulnerable that I constantly need to rescue him, but he's amazingly sweet and good, and I love him more than I thought I could love somebody."

"Aww, my black heart just pumped red blood for a change," said Helina.

"If you'll excuse us, we'll be heading to bed," he said.

I shook myself awake. "Maxim, you stay and enjoy yourself with your sister! I can go to bed on my own."

"I don't trust you to make it without falling over," he said.

I thought I would be fine, walking up to bed on my own, but he carried me in his arms anyway.

As he set me down on the bed, he got me undressed.

"Don't you get undressed too," I said when he started to take off his suit. "I can go to bed without you for a change without breaking into a million pieces."

"It's me who will break into pieces trying to have fun when you're not there to share it with me."

He got undressed and got into bed with me.

"I hope your first marijuana experience wasn't too awful."

"No, you did exactly what you promised. You managed to take the pain away from my body. I know I'll sleep well tonight."

"Since the pain is gone, do you still feel awake enough to have our normal nighttime sex before you fall into a drug-induced sleep?"

"If you go easier on me than you normally do, I'd love to."

"Good thing for me, this weed is making me as about as mellow as you've ever seen me. My fire is turned down to a safe, low boil, I assure you."

MARCH 28th

"I'm making lunch today for a change," I said to Emmanuel and Helina as I finished up in the kitchen.

The day had been an unexpectedly pleasant one as Maxim was able to sleep in with me before going to work. He worried over my bruises as soon as we awoke, but I told him that in spite of the discoloration to my skin, I had absolutely no pain left, and therefore could be considered in normal condition. But it was only after he fed me breakfast, carried me into the bath, bathed me along with himself (he wouldn't let me expel any energy by washing him off), and get me dressed that he agreed that I was, in fact, back to normal, and he was able to go to work after all.

Feeling in a very good mood, I decided to pay Maxim's attention forward a bit. Helina had gotten more and more of her memories back, pretty much all thanks to Maxim, but Emmanuel remained firmly in the dark, and I felt bad for him, especially since it must have been frustrating to have to watch Helina remember more and more while he went nowhere. Since I couldn't take Emmanuel to his home in Mexico to strike his recall process, I wanted to bring what little bit of Mexico I knew (not having ever been there) to him.

Maxim was able to lead me towards the one Mexican restaurant in town, which he warned me was so bad it would likely make Emmanuel never dare return to his home country, and when I paid a visit myself to the place, I could see that it was not only horrendous, but completely inauthentic. The only authentic part the place got right was the whole Montezuma's revenge angle, as the meat was so bad in quality that any non-fanged person was likely to be left with food poisoning.

But I was able to get the one thing I could not find at any of their food stores: tortillas, and even better, corn ones. I bought the other things I would need, and took over the kitchen, quite to the alarm of Maxim's servants.

I put the finished creation out for the three of us in the dining room.

"Voila, Emmanuel and Helina, meet my tacos al carbon."

"I think it's against some law somewhere to use a French word to introduce Mexican food," said Helina. "I'm pretty sure Emmanuel would be offended." She took a bite. "Okay, this is way too good for anyone to be offended, never mind."

"Thank you. Emmanuel, try it."

He took a bite. "Mmm, oh yes, this is the first thing I've had here that somehow just tastes right. How did you do this?"

"I grew up in the South," I said. "We had a lot of good Mexican food there."

"These flavors, they bring me back to my childhood, my family."

"Well then, mission accomplished!"

The Fire Tents were completely transformed by Maxim to celebrate my honor, he said. Strings of old-fashioned electric bulbs outlined every line of the frame of the tents on the outside and glowed with red light onto the steel frame. One the inside, hundreds of strings of red lights hung from the top of the central spire and draped out in every direction. And the walls had been adorned with fine murals.

The four of us were seated in the private box that Kirrill's decoy had occupied the last time I had been there. Behind the very publicly viewable box was a very private lounge where one could hear the activity but not see it.

Maxim and I sat front and center, with Helina and Emmanuel seated behind us. Every seat in the place was taken long before we arrived, and even the Proletariat were in their finest attire. A hundred or more servers combed through this massive crowd, delivering complimentary food and drinks to all.

When the circus began, Maxim proudly held my hand in front of the whole place, taking clear satisfaction in not needing to stifle his feelings for me for any longer, and it felt great to share the experience with him.

Period circus performers came out, and they absolutely amazed me with their stunts and acrobatics. Of course, anything Maxim produces would be aesthetically titillating too, so the performers were well-costumed, and an orchestra put the whole thing to an exciting melody. You can bet Maxim was particularly pleased whenever I'd squeeze his hand or knee nervously as an acrobat performed a stunt, but they always came down alright.

They only had four fanged vampires among them, which made things more exciting, because the danger the others faced was real. They all teamed up to send streams of fire flying around on stage while the other performers jumped over the fire in amazingly skillful ways.

After it was over, and Maxim led everyone into a standing ovation for the performers, many of the people left at that point, and the orchestra played a concert for the rest of the evening.

Because the music was mellow, Maxim suggested we hang out in the private room and listen from there.

"Thanks," I said. "You probably couldn't notice, because you're a Petrov Blood vampire and all, but it was getting cold in there."

"I noticed," said Emmanuel. "I've been shivering since the contortionists left the stage."

"I have something for all of us," said Maxim as we sat down in the lounge. He pulled out a glass vial with a dropper cap on it.

"What's that?"

"It's a rather expensive creation here in the Petrov Blood called Liquid Fire. One drop of this for all of us, and we'll feel very warm." Maxim came and sat down next to me on the couch. "Here, open up."

"Are you sure this is safe for me?" I asked.

"It's totally safe, I swear."

"And, once again, if any weird side effects arise for me, do you promise to look after me?"

"I live to look after you."

He opened the bottle, poured a creamy red liquid on his tongue, and then leaned over and kissed me very romantically, pushing the liquid into my mouth.

"Now, swallow," he said.

I gulped it down. "It's hot!" I said. "But not unpleasantly so."

"Emmanuel, let me get you next," Maxim said as he left me and walked over to the other male vampire.

"If you try to give me that drug the same way you did for him, I'm going to punch you in the nose." He wasn't kidding either.

"Just open."

Maxim dropped a glob of Liquid Fire on his tongue, then did the same for his sister before taking one of his own.

I took off my suit jacket. "Wow, this is making me hot already. Am I genuinely warm, or is it just an illusion?"

"You are genuinely warm. Some folks use this stuff to stay warm if they need to in the snow." Maxim took off his jacket too.

"Caliente!" said Emmanuel. "God, I hate this suit!" He started to rip his jacket and shirt off.

"Did you not wear suits in Mexico?" I asked him.

"We did, but nothing as ancient as these styles. It's too frilly."

"There's nothing wrong with my suits. You just have to be man enough to wear something so stylish."

"No one is questioning your manhood, Maxim," I said. "Please, please don't end up doing something stupid again just to prove it."

"Anyone who is absolutely repulsed by the idea that their own brother even has a manhood, say aye!" said Helina.

"Aye!" I said, thinking about Jerry.

"Mega-aye!" she said. "See, Maxim? I don't care how hot this Wet Fire thing makes you."

"Liquid Fire!"

"Whatever. If I start seeing even a glimpse of your manhood tonight, I'm moving out."

"Alright, alright. I'll save it for Jake."

Emmanuel groaned in pain. "I just can't stand to have this suit touch my body a moment longer." He ripped his clothes off like they were burning his skin until he was just wearing his boxers.

"Whoa, this guy can strip down to his skivvies without a single remark, and yet even me mentioning the word `manhood' gets me booed off stage?"

"The difference is, I find Emmanuel all sort of attractive," said Helina. "He can get naked anytime he wants without any complaint from me."

The orchestra changed songs, and Maxim jumped up excitedly and pulled Helina off the couch. "You know that this reminds me of?" he asked. He started to dance with her.

"Oh, it's coming back to me!" said Helina. "Mother would throw those formal dance parties at our house, and you and I were so determined to fit in, we taught each other the Mazurka dances just by watching the others."

Maxim led her into the Mazurka, laughing his deep laugh as they moved faster and faster.

"Yes, and after we mastered the dances with each other, we started to dance with other partners, do you remember?"

"I do. We were absolutely mortified to learn that if we were attracted to our partners, we couldn't keep our fangs from popping out."

"Yes, it was those awful teeth boners that always gave away our intentions."

"Maxim, don't be so crude!" I said.

"That's how we discovered I was totally heterosexual while you were bisexual," she said.

"And even though I was bisexual, we were never once attracted to the same sort of men, so we never competed in any way, which was nice."

Again, I felt bad for Emmanuel, so I jumped up from my seat and pulled him up. "You and I are going to dance."

"I don't know how to do what they are doing."

"I don't even want you to look at them. Just look at me. What sort of dance just comes to you, instinctually?"

He put his right hand on my waist and grabbed my hand with his left, just as if Parker was teaching me to dance, but he actually shut his eyes completely. And then he started moving his feet around in a complex step I didn't know. He opened his eyes and spun me around.

"What is this?" I asked.

"The Jitterbug!"

"The Jitterbug! Well, you must have been kidnapped sometime after the fifties for sure!"

"The fifties. Yes, that seems very familiar to me."

"I want to learn how to dance like that!" said Helina, laughing as she pulled Emmanuel away from me and tried to learn how to match his moves (much more skillfully than I had done).

"And I want to learn how to dance with my wonderful boyfriend," I said, grabbing a hold of Maxim, who was all laughs. "Wait a second, why am I so eager to dance all of the sudden? I usually despise it." Well, unless Parker was with me, that is. "In fact, why are all four of us dancing like idiots tonight?"

"That's one of the normal side effects of Liquid Fire."

"You mean, it wasn't just to heat us up?"

"No, of course not. I wanted to give you a taste of my very favorite drug after your first experience last night was so disappointingly sedative."

"What exactly does this drug do, Maxim? Besides heat us up?"

"Well, it's something like a drug think you might know as Ecstasy. Only, it is much, much more precisely crafted than that."

"E?! Wow, no wonder I'm so happy. In fact, I'm much too happy to be mad at you."

"What a lovely little side effect."

In fact, I really could feel the effects already. I felt energized in a fun, euphoric, loss-of- inhibitions kind of way.

"Well then I guess there's nothing left to do but just enjoy the dance." I moved close to his body and tried to match his movements. "How's my dancing the Mufasa?"

"The Mazurka! It's horrible, to be completely blunt," he said. "Even for a human, you're not the most coordinated person. But I don't care, I just want to be near you. Coordination is not why I love you."

"Your fangs just popped out for the first time tonight!" I said excitedly. "Oh, Maxim, that's so sweet!"

"Because you're the only one who I'll ever be attracted to again," he said. "Just being close to you like this gives me shivers."

"Same with me, same with me. Only not cold shivers, that would be impossible with the Liquid Fire going. Somehow these shivers are burning hot."

Across the room from us, Emmanuel spouted a long bit of Spanish.

"You could be asking me where the bathroom is, for all I can understand," said Helina. "But your voice is so sexy I'm getting a meaning all my own."

He continued in Spanish.

"Uh oh, guys, I think this drug has turned off Emmanuel's ability to speak English!" I said.

Emmanuel nodded and said more in Spanish.

"Ooo, you mean one little drop can make him talk all sexy in a way that I'll never be able to understand a single word?" asked Helina. "We should have been giving him this stuff way, way earlier!"

Both of us continued to dance, and Maxim and I drew closer and closer together as we danced, until after a few minutes, I couldn't see anything but Maxim's laughing face. I realized my sense of touch was heightened as the sensation of his beard rubbing against my cheeks felt like butterflies against me.

Sometime later, Maxim stopped our dancing. "Whoa!" he said, startled at something he saw.

I turned my head to look. There were Helina and Emmanuel, who had given up any pretext of dancing and seemed to be under some sort of delusion that they were the only ones in the room, possibly the only ones in the world. They were lip-locked, and her back was against the wall, her legs around his hips, her dress-skirt pulled up. He was standing up, his one stitch of clothing, his boxers, pushed down to his ankles, leaving his muscled butt for us to see. The funny thing was, seeing them like that didn't disturb or embarrass me at all.

"Wow," said Maxim. "I had heard that the dances they had in the Valmor Blood were a lot more provocative than ours, but I never imagined the jitterbug would involve so much physical contact. Note to self: get someone to teach the Jitterbug to me and Jake as soon as humanly possible."

"I've never claimed to be any sort of dancing expert, but I would bet my life that they abandoned anything resembling the jitterbug like ten minutes ago," I said.

"I don't know," said Maxim. "I'm seeing an awful lot of jittering of some kind in that man's hindquarters."

Both of us exploded into laughter. And then I pulled Maxim out the door of the suite, into the Fire Tents hallway.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"We're leaving them alone. I'm sure come tomorrow, they'll be thankful for their privacy. Let's go home."

We walked/danced our way to the stagecoach, ordered the driver to take us home, and began our ride alone in the cabin.

"Oh my goodness, the heat is really hitting me now," I said.

"Me too, I can barely keep my clothes on, I'm so hot."

"Good thing I'm here to help," I said. I pulled his tie loose, unbuttoned his shirt, and pulled all of it off of him, leaving him wonderfully bare. My hands instantly went to those powerful chest muscle, rushing my fingers through his brown pec fur. My hands sought out the feel of his abs. I burned for him.

"You are ever so helpful, it's only fair for me to try and repay your benevolence in kind."

He pulled my shirt and tie off as well, leaving me shirtless, and he hugged me, letting me luxuriate in feeling his chest hair rub against all of my smooth skin.

I was like an animal; I could not control myself as I pulled his suit pants down to the floor. He was rock hard already, and seeing that hugeness made me drop to my knees and worship it, feeling every inch with my hands. I absolutely could not get enough of that massive, uncut behemoth, I was absolutely in heat.

He took control back, pulling my pants off until I was as naked as he was, and then moving his hot hands all over my body.

"Good thing you have the heater on," I said.

"I don't have it."

"What? You mean this is the city's outside, night air, and I'm not freezing to death being naked?"

"Liquid Fire does wonders. As long as you are under, you can't get frostbite or anything."

"We're home!" said the stagecoach driver, stopping the horses.

"Ooo, I don't want the night to be over!" I groaned.

"It doesn't have to be. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Ice skating!"

"Ice skating, naked!"

I only got a chance to grab a blanket and my cell phone before Maxim put me on his back and carried me out of the stagecoach, running straight around the mansion grounds towards the ice skating pond in the back, not caring who saw us running.

We were both completely naked, but he was running barefoot through thick snow, never stopping from his laughing to complain.

When we got to pond, Maxim let out a breath of fire, and those floating flame candelabras lit his body in gorgeous, twinkling light.

He helped me get my ice-skates on, and then threw his on. I turned my phone to play romantic music again, and set it aside.

And then we started to ice-skate hand in hand, both of completely naked and rock hard, feeling no effects at all from the cold. I noticed that he was so horny, he was seeping precum everywhere, and every sharp turn was sending it in a line of slime arcing off his dick and landing on the ice. There was so much of it, I worried he would melt the ice.

I wavered a bit, and Maxim had to steady me. "Whoops, I don't think this Liquid Fire is enhancing my motor skills in quite the same way that it is my pleasure center."

"If you fall, I'll catch you. And I'll probably use the opportunity to cop a feel of your perfect behind at the same time. Oops, did I just say that out loud? Speaking of copping, we'll just have to cop that last comment to me being under the influence of sexual-enhancement drugs. God knows I have the sexually purest mind ever made and would never think of you in such devious ways."

"I'm just not sure about that assertion. You sure copped plenty of feels the last time we were out here, when you were supposed to be just my friend."

"Maybe I did," he said. "But if I seem to recall, you couldn't much resist my copping. And now that we're about as far apart from the `just friends' definition as two people possibly can get, I'm going to cop a feel without even needing to manipulate the situation." He reached out for me.

I moved out of the way before he could grab my butt. I grabbed the blanket I had brought and spread it all over the middle of the ice.

"Ooo, I like the look of that blanket. I see that blanket spread out like that and so many wonderful possibilities for how to spend the rest of our evening go through my oh so creative mind."

"I'll make you a deal," I said.

"Yes?"

"We'll race around this blanket. If you can catch me in under half a minute, we have seat here, on the blanket. If not, we go back inside."

"Deal!"

"But I get to start behind you. So, you'll really have a long way to catch up."

"Fine, whatever. I'll do it."

"Alright, are you ready? Get set? Go!"

We both started heading in the same direction, counter-clockwise around the rink. I went as fast as I could, but he moved much, much quicker than me.

"Five seconds left!" I said, and knew he was so far behind me still he would never make it. "Four! Three! Two!"

At that moment, Maxim did something completely superhuman: he jumped up off the ice, cleared the entire sheet in the middle of the rink (and had room to spare) and landed right by me. He grabbed me and pulled us both down onto the sheet, with him landing first and me landing safely on top of him.

"Zero!" he said. "I win!"

"You cheated!"

"You never said jumping over the middle was against the rules, therefore I won. And we get to have sex for the first time outside under the stars."

"Sounds so romantic."

"Admit it, deep down, you're glad I cheated!"

"You know me too well."

He turned me over so he was on top of me, which is how he liked us, and he started to kiss me. His lips lit me on fire, he tasted so good.

"Oh, almost forget the audience!"

He blew fire again, and this time the flame ice-skaters moved around us, while the flame quartet played to the side of the rink.

He put my legs behind him and started to thrust up and down in my crack, making me shiver with pleasure.

It started to snow, and the beautiful snowflakes drifted all around us. As soon as they landed on Maxim's sexy, bare back, they melted. His skin was so hot, they couldn't even survive for the briefest moment. Somehow, the snow just made it more romantic than ever, and I kissed him harder than before, his hands moving all over my naked upper body.

He stuck his dickhead right at my hole, and the sensitive part of me turned against me, opening right up and trying to welcome this formidable intruder inside. I felt his precum completely gush out all over my hole.

Finally, he broke the kiss. "Please, my solnyshko, please let me inside you. I want so badly to be as connected with you physically as I am emotionally."

"I want you to be inside me too, but you're way too big, Maxim. You'll hurt me."

"The Liquid Fire will take care of the pain. I'll slide right in without the least bit of resistance, I promise. If you don't like it for just one moment, I'll be out of there, I swear."

"Yes, I give you my permission. In fact, this stuff is making me desire you more in that way than I ever have before."

"You don't know how happy you're making me! I promise to set an inferno of pleasure inside you."

After that point, he had on his face a look of pure determination. He didn't waste any time, he just lifted my butt to his face and started to both stretch me out and cover me with saliva. He realized that we didn't have any lube, and was doing his best to mitigate that as much as possible. His mouth felt like scalding hot heaven on my hole, and that alone could have made me blow.

He then lifted his unit to my face and pushed it inside my mouth, and I knew what I had to do: cover it with saliva. I eagerly swallowed the hot iron, drenching every piece of that uncut love-pole with my saliva, loving his manly flavor.

He bit into my throat, and the sexual pleasure that rocked my body was only heightened by the Liquid Fire. It made me want him inside me all the more, my hole begging for it.

"Like always, your red vintage leaves me deliriously satisfied. And all the more craving you as well."

He tucked my knees up against my chest and pushed his moist pissslit against my hole. When he pushed just his head inside me inside me, it felt scarily huge, and it WAS scarily huge! But I was too under the influence to be scared for long. I felt pain, perhaps a great deal of pain at his crazy size, but the drug and his drinking me had the effect of making the pain distant somehow, like it was something I was listening to second hand. Not once did any unpleasant vision of Jericho enter my mind, and my hole just hungered for Maxim even more.

As soon as his head was inside me, he groaned in pleasure. "This is the first time I've ever done this without protection, and god, I didn't know it could possibly feel this good. I feel like I was made just for this. I was made just to be joined to you, and I never want to stop. I love you so much."

He returned to my throat as he pushed deeper and deeper inside me, reaching my prostate, sending me into a fit of moans.

"See? I told you I'd light an inferno inside you." He then knew where that spot was, and he moved back and forth quickly, scratching the pleasure.

"Yes, yes."

And then he kept pushing until he was all the way inside me, balls hitting me.

"Oh, I love you, I love this, this is the most amazing experience I've ever had, and I love you even more for give this moment to me."

He moved back, and then pushed in again. He started to develop a rhythm.

Perhaps worried he would drink me to death, he licked my wound shut and instead kissed my lips. The effects of the bite wore off, but the Liquid Fire was still going strong, keeping the pain at bay.

I grabbed his bearded face in my hands and looked into those smoldering eyes of his. "You know what, Maxim? I don't know if it's the drugs talking, or the fact that it feels so good to have you inside me, but I realize something. I love you."

He looked at me excitedly and started to cry. "Really?"

"Really. I love you."

"Please, marry me. Please, please, marry me. Let us share the rest of our lives together. You wouldn't even have to sign a monogamy contract like I did. I just want to be able to hold you in my arms forever."

"I'm too young to marry anyone," I said. "Give me a few years at least and ask me again."

"That's a promise."

Being topped by him was such a different experience than with Parker. Maxim wasn't the least bit gentle or hesitant like Parker had been. Good thing that liquid fire was numbing the rest of my body as well to any pain. He was determinedly passionate, hot with desire, moving fast, thrusting with power. But behind the passion on his face, there was just as much love and adoration for me as I felt with Parker.

"I love you so much, I love being inside you, love you so much, my solnyshko."

Most of the men who had topped me were only concerned with their own pleasure. Parker had been the extreme opposite exception, solely concerned with my pleasure. Even after I had convinced him that him topping me could be pleasurable for me, which took an extreme amount of convincing, he so keyed in on my pleasure that if he had it his way, he would have pushed my prostate gently while giving me the sweetest kisses imaginable until I came to a sweet orgasm. And then he would have pulled out just as gently, never coming inside me, and never using my body to get himself off in any way, convinced it would be wrong of him, not wanting to dirty me with his large amounts of semen. The only reason why he had ever orgasmed with me is because I had absolutely arm-twisted him.

Maxim was the midpoint between those two extremes, just as concerned with my pleasure as he was his. Syd has also been concerned with what he had incorrectly assumed would please me sexually, but that came from his own arrogance, not from a place of love like it was with Maxim and Parker.

And that made me give in totally to my lust, putty in his arms. His potent tool thrust faster and faster, his body using every muscle he had to keep himself more and more active, his hot skin dripping in sweat. His breaths were labored, and that was not the least bit surprising, as I had never seen anyone work as hard as he was during sex. He was so all over the place, it was impossible for me to predict what was coming next. All I could depend on was that it would absolutely set me on fire. Just when I thought he had settled on one position, he would use his burly arms to push my legs this way or that, changing things up at blistering speeds. I felt like I was getting a whole lifetime of incredible sexual positions all packed into one intense evening. Somehow, he always skillfully made sure that each of his thrusts brought some sort of pleasant friction to my dick as he rubbed it against his body.

With my arms wrapped around the back of his neck, his delicious tongue attacked my mouth, my own tongue lapping up his hot flavor with it eagerly. His brown beard was hot with sweat and scratching my lips and chin. He used his strong arms to somehow hold tight to my back and pin my knees against my body at the same time. The latter effect was opening up my chute to his giant pole, which he plunged in and out of me with such power, never breaking this kiss that was pouring his love into me. I loved feeling his massive, sweaty balls slam against my tailbone with each of his mighty strokes.

He lay on his back and had me support myself by putting my hands on his wonderful, hirsute pecs as his pulsating rod penetrated me over and over, harder and harder, bouncing me up and down on top of him, making me shout in pleasure.

He sat on his knees on the blanket, and pulled me against him hard with his muscles. While perhaps another lover would expect me to take the lead in that position and move up and down, Maxim was a million miles away from that passive lover. He never let me ride him, he used his hefty thighs to plunge in and out of my chute, bouncing me up and down himself. He started out putting my feet right at his giant balls, having them getting covered with his precum, my shins on his upper thighs. In that position, he stuck his big hand in my crack, feeling my hole as his dick plunged up and down, up and down.

Soon, he pulled my feet and put them around his body, kissing me with his fire as I put my hands behind his head and drove them through his sweaty head hair.

He seemed to decide him sitting was too lackadaisical, because he suddenly jumped to his feet. I put my hands around his neck, never breaking our kiss, as he stood up and held me in his arms, my lips never leaving his. He plunged up and down into me, driving me crazy. I was so in lust, I stuck my hands on his muscled butt, pushing the sweaty hunk of meat towards me, loving the feel of his butt thrusting back and forth. This drove him even more mad.

He broke the kiss and made me arch my back, leaning my head as far back as I could while his hands massaged my butt cheeks as well as he continued to thrust.

He lay me down on my back again but stood up. He started by putting my legs back flat against me, using his strong hands to hold the underside of my knees hard against my body, looking down at me lustfully as he humped away at my body. But that position didn't keep him entertained for long.

He used his strong hands to grab me around each ankle, proving that his burly arms were thicker and stronger than my legs. He pulled my ankles far apart, opening up my chute to him, as well as raising my ankles up to his shoulder level. I thought he would need me to clasp my ankles around his neck, but his arms were so strong, he held me up like that without ever tiring.

The position sadly didn't allow us to kiss, but the positive side about not kissing was that I could look up at him and see what he was doing to me. He was using that grip on my ankles to hold my body in place while he used his own body to thrust back and forth, so fast it made me dizzy just to look at him. Looking at his upper body made me marvel at just how perfect and huge his cut, muscles were. His buff arms glistened in sweat, and his brown-haired pits trickled the stuff, making me smell his manly, wonderful scent (not ever bad like an actual man would). His fur covered pecs and taut abs flexed and released, flexed and released with every thrust. Moving my eyes down, it blew my mind that his substantial girth was actually fitting inside me at all, but there was my hole, stretched to huge proportions to accommodate him. I could watch as his massive pole was pulled just so the tip of the head was inside me. I loved seeing just the tip of his uncut, pink head in me, and the whole, rock-hard battering ram, covered in veins, before me. The whole creamy stick was dripping wet, and I knew from our lack of actual lube that it must have been his precum alone that was doing that. There was so much sticky, clear liquid that it was dripping off his sexy nuts and totally covered his inner thighs as well, dripping all the way down his legs. And then as he pushed all the way in, it was such a long journey, given his incredible length that I could not believe my chute was actually long enough to get him inside me, but it was, and it was so fun to watch his meat disappear inside me inch by inch. My favorite part was when he was all the way in me, and his giant balls slapped my tailbone. Looking up at his face, I found him staring at me with a look that was a million miles away from Parker's gentleness. There was so much fiery intensity in that look, his mouth open in pleasure, that it was almost frightening to behold. But I knew him well enough to know the love behind that fire, and that kept me from being afraid. With his mouth not furiously kissing mine, I noticed he would madly lick at any part of me that he could get near me, this time my feet in his hands.

But after a bit, his eager mouth tired of my feet and yearned for my kiss. He stuck my legs over his muscled shoulders so that they were totally folded against my body, making me stretch more than I ever knew I could, and his pressed his upper body against mine, his needing mouth finding mine, thrusting his fiery tongue into me as soon as his beard hit my face. All the while, still thrusting.

He broke the kiss and pulled my thighs from his shoulders, putting my knees instead around his arms and my feet pulled at his mid-back. He had his knees in the blanket, but the rest of his hefty weight pushing me down. He continued to attack my chute, but in this position, our faces were almost close enough to kiss as he pushed himself deep inside me. He stuck his sexy tongue out of his mouth and used its length to attack my lips, bridging the gap ingeniously. He used what seemed like a wrestling move, pulling my left leg up high while he yanked my right downwards, the position only heightening my pleasure, my prostate going nuts as he thrust madly into me, feeling him gush even more precum inside me.

He turned me onto my stomach on the blanket, and rode me from behind, his muscular arms grabbing my chest hard under my arms, so hard it knocked my breath away. I loved feeling him bite my left ear, feeling his sweaty beard against the side of my face. I loved in that position his chest and arms stayed put against my skin, his furry pecs lathering my upper back with their sweat, and his erect nipples poking me as well. Loved his meaty biceps totally holding me down. Similarly, his lower legs were the same, his manly shins and knees holding tight against my legs, forcing my legs open with his powerful muscles to aid his thrusting attack.

Meanwhile, the parts of him below his chest to above his knees certainly weren't holding against me permanently. His hips were moving back and forth, back and forth, sending that whole section of his body pulling out almost to the point where his endless dick almost came out, none of his skin in the region touching me, to being pushed hard all the way inside me, his body totally flush against my body. During that exhilarating moment, his eight-pack was pressed against my lower back, his hips pushed against the outside of my butt, and his sweaty, muscled thighs pressed against my hamstrings. It was also in this sweet moment that his sweaty, brown pubes scratched my tail bone, and his massive, blistering hot balls totally envelope my own. Also in this moment, his sweet sex-toy of a dick was deliciously all the way inside me, making me moan in pleasure. I could feel all of those veins all over his foreskin against my chute, and a glob of precum splashed into me as well.

But then the moment would be gone before I could catch my breath, and he would be pulling out again, and then pushing in, his hips moving in such a furious pace, it made me crazy. His muscled butt behind me was so covered in sweat, which was no surprise, as the thing was moving up and down at such an incredible pace.

As he plunged into me, no part of him was completely still. He was always readjusting his upper body, moving in to grab my chest with a hand or stick his fingers into my mouth.

He pulled his upper body off me, supporting his weight with his hands on each side of me and hovering at a 45 degree angle from my body, still pounding away at me.

His hands left the ground as he ended up perpendicular to my flat body, kneeling in the blanket behind me with one knee down. He rubbed my buttcheeks with his wonderful hands as he continued to bounce his dick back and forth, his balls slapping my own in that position as they his me, splattering me with precum.

Soon, he was kneeling behind me, holding me perpendicular to him as he kept on going.

He used one hand to push my lower back down, forcing it to arch, while he stuck his other hand around my face, pulling my body up towards him until I was on my knees too, with him using his own knees to pull my legs open, leaving him able to keep sliding in and out of me. Without ever stopping his thrusts, he somehow pulled my head back until it was almost upside down and gave me a frantic upside down kiss, which drove me mad.

He stood up, pulling me up into the air with him as he did, and he always continued his thrusts. He lifted me off my feet and held me in place in his strong arms while he plummeted up and down with his legs, still thrusting away at me, finding my prostate all anew.

It was no surprise to me that Maxim carefully kept track of our different escalating pleasures as he did all the physical work between us, perhaps reading me by the sound of my moans or the look on my face. I didn't think he would be able to do it, but he was skillfully able to make us come at the exact same moment.

It was heralded by another breath of fire coming out of his mouth, seemingly out of his control. His giant fire-dragon appeared above us, flying. It crashed into both of us, the flame cool to the touch, but absolutely surrounding us in glowing fire, it was absolutely beautiful.

I felt him stop thrusting and hold himself completely inside me, while somehow found my lips and kissed me hard. Every one of his muscles flexed and held onto me.

"I'm going to let my own liquid fire inside you, only mine is so much more potent," he joked.

The second I started to feel his words came to life, my dick spurted its own load as I hit a powerful orgasm, leaving me breathless and giddy.

And it must have been because of the drugs, but the liquid burned inside me, just as he promised, so hot it almost hurt.

I felt like his cum knocked through my stomach, pulsing with sexual pleasure that quickly ignited my heart and chest as well. Inside my chute, I could feel him unleash an absolute tsunami of seed into me, and I could feel every one of his shots, actually feeling his dick pulse inside me, like sweet magic. Almost immediately, the flood banks were breached and his hot, sexy white was splattering out of my hole all over both of our sets of balls, and then all over our legs as well, coating our entire lower bodies in a thick sheet of glaze, it was absolutely unbelievable. It was getting all over the blanket beneath us as well.

"Maxim, my love, if you ever find the whole Tsar work is just too kingly for you, I think you have an excellent career ahead of you as a cake glazer or even a fence painter. This is absolutely unbelievable." I pointed down.

"That wasn't just some sexual encounter. That was the best orgasm I've ever had, bar none," he said. "Just consider all that white cream all over you more affirmation that you and I were made for each other."

"It's being filed away into the made-for-each-other-evidence section of my brain as we speak."

Without ever setting me down, he kissed me then, showing his sweet side, and he waited until he was semi-soft again before pulling out.

"I don't want you to spill a drop of my liquid fire all night," he joked. "It's much too valuable."

"If you really expected me to walk back to the room without spilling a drop, then you should have deposited just like a fifth of what you did. There's way, way, way too much for me to ever succeed."

"Who said anything about you walking?"

He pulled me against his chest so that my butt was sticking in the air. And then he carried me off the ice and all the way up to the bedroom. I shut my eyes so I wouldn't see any servants who happened to get an eyeful of us.

Once he put us down in bed, we were both too tired and too under the influence to do any sort of getting ready for bed activities, we just held each other and fell asleep in the afterglow of our pleasure.

MARCH 30th

Maxim's alarm clock went off the next morning, waking me up. I was tired but no longer affected chemically. Maxim was sleeping in a position he liked particularly: with me on my stomach and he on top of me, his unit resting in my crack and his arms holding me tight around my torso. I was hearing a pleasant, soothing sound that I hadn't heard once in the Carstvo: rain. Looking at the windows, I could see it was pouring down. I knew that meant the snow outside would finally start melting. Which was sad to me, considering how much the snow reminded me of happy times with Maxim.

"Maxim, get up."

He didn't respond.

"Maxim, you have to go to work!"

He moaned.

"How you went from being severely affected by insomnia to being the hardest sleeper in the Carstvo, I will never know."

He yawned. "I fell in love with you. No other explanation is necessary. By the way, now that I'm completely sober, I wanted to re-affirm that nothing I said last night was a part of some drug-induced stupidity. I still think you were just as made for me as ever, and you have a proposal on the table."

"That was very sweet of you, but like I said, I'm too young. It will be years down the road before I want to get married, if ever."

"And that's fine. I'll wait forever if I need to. If you decide to ever say yes, I'm going to get you the biggest, most expensive ring ever created. It will be so heavy, you won't even be able to lift your hand up. I'll be forced to carry you around anywhere you need to go."

I laughed. "You love carrying me around. So you can show off how strong you are."

"That's right. And consider yourself lucky that I'm letting you sleep in here instead of carrying you off to work, like I'm tempted to do. Turn you into the most fashionable accessory I have ever worn, show you off to everyone." He kissed me.

"And I wasn't just under the influence when I told you I loved you last night either, Maxim. I really do."

I kissed him. "I am so glad it wasn't all just an intoxication induced hallucination. With just three tiny words, you've made me the happiest man on earth. Anyway, I'm not the only one who was guilty of deep sleep last night. You were so cute, talking in your sleep. I didn't know you did that until last night."

"Are you sure? I don't talk in my sleep, ever. Because I don't dream ever."

"You were practically yelling words and phrases right in my ear. I'm all too certain you were talking in your sleep."

"Oh my goodness, I remember! I was dreaming last night, that never happens!"

"It must have been an unforeseen side effect of the Liquid Fire."

"But it's so frustrating, I can remember dreaming, but I can't remember what it was about. What was I saying?"

"I don't know. You weren't dreaming about me. I stopped listening when you said some other man's name."

"Parker?"

"No, something Russian, I think."

"Now that you are sleeping, do you dream, Maxim?"

"I do."

"What are your dreams about?"

"They are all romantic, sexual dreams about you, of course."

"Don't take it personally that I wasn't dreaming of you. My dream wasn't at all romantic or sexual. And I've actually had this once before, in the autumn. I dreamt I was someone else, some Russian guy, but I can't remember anything else. I feel like that dream was important, but almost as soon as I woke up, it was gone. And now, I'm only having the same dream because I was intoxicated, and once again, all I can remember from it is fear, loss, and pain."

He hugged me tight. "I don't ever want you to feel those emotions. The next time you are having a nightmare, you focus on the warmth of my body against you, feel my hot love for you, and you let your bad dreams burn way into a lust-filled dream about me."

"I'll try."

"Good. I'm here to protect you, from both real foes and psychological ones."

"You know, you really shouldn't have topped me last night," I said. "Not while I was under the influence of judgment-skewing drugs."

"Liquid Fire doesn't take away judgment, it just removes inhibitions. Meaning we behaved just like we would have without our fears or anxieties getting in the way."

Like Maxim ever had any fears or anxieties.

"But I wouldn't have normally bottomed like that if the drug wasn't making me feel so pleasurable."

"The drug did that to both of us. We both had our minds on sexual pleasure last night. I hope you don't regret what happened. I mean, the bottom line is, uncouth sexual pun totally intended, of course, did you have fun last night?"

"I did, definitely."

"Then you have nothing to regret."

"No, I guess not."

"And the only thing I have to regret is that I have to leave this." He slapped my butt playfully. "And go to work."

"What a change, now that you're the supreme leader of this land, you can't just goof off all day. Now you actually have to work a few hours a day like the rest of the world."

"Oh, how heavy the head is that wears the crown." Maxim laughed his big belly laugh, and I went back to sleep.

"Jake. Jake. Are you sleeping?"

"Hmm?"

I thought it was Maxim whispering, but when I opened my eyes, it was Emmanuel I saw staring at me from the foot of the bed, wearing nothing but his boxers.

"Yes, Emmanuel? Is there something going on?" I was concerned something had happened to Maxim or Helina.

"No, nothing. Just wanted to show you something."

"What did you want to show me?"

"My memories have almost all come back to me, and it's thanks to you for sparking them in the first place."

"Hey, that's terrific, I'm so glad for you."

"And now, I've learned how to use my electricity without hurting my friends. It's quite beautiful to witness. Can I show you?"

"Sure. You mean, right now, right here?"

"That's why I came up here."

"Okay, let me see."

He first stood close enough for me to smell my blood, which brought his fangs out. And then he opened his mouth wide. There came a blue glow from both his fangs, and then with a loud crack, the electricity shot out. He was right, it was all very beautiful to witness.

Until the beautiful bolts hit my body. I felt the horrible sensation of however many volts it was coursing through my entire body.

"What is this?" I asked when he stopped the assault and I started to black out.

"I said my electricity would be safe for my friends. You will never, ever be a friend of mine, you goddamn slave."

And blackness overcame me.

I awoke to pain and constriction.

I was still in the bed, but I had been turned over on my stomach. I must have been out a long time, because he had me chained up and to the bed. I tried to scream, but found a piece of tape over my mouth, stifling it.

"Awake again? That was just a fraction of the real power of my electricity. I could fry you to death like a cockroach hit by lightening. Or, I could give you just enough voltage to make you burn in pain for as long as I want. Keep that in mind the next time you try to disobey me."

I hadn't disobeyed him at all, but there was no way to get anything more than a stifled groan out.

"Here you assumed that because I was born a Valmor Blood vamp, that I was on your side. Little did you know that when I grew up in Mexico, I had zero patience for those Valmor soft-hearts who thought slavery was immoral. Ridiculous. I sided with the Logans and betrayed my family to them. Jericho completely accepted me a Logan Blood member, even though I hated all that cowboy shit. And guess who taught me how to treat slaves? Lucky Holden, does that name ring any bells, puta?"

I nodded.

He rubbed the flesh of my butt. "I know what should be there. I know that you escaped the Logan slave pens and you got some special to heal your brand. Because, just like Jericho and Lucky, I find an ass so much more attractive to fuck when it's got an L burnt into it."

He jabbed his tongue inside me.

"Good thing your ass if fucking hot enough already, puta."

He forced himself inside me then, without biting me or using any lube. The only lubrication inside me came from what little of Maxim's slime there was, which didn't create much help. All the pain brought back visions of Jericho and Lucky and the Logan Army members who had mistreated me.

I tried to struggle, but he had me so well bound, all I could do was dig the chains ever more painfully into my naked skin. The only part of me that could move at all was my head against the headboard.

The curtain was hanging on my side of the headboard. I bent my neck towards it, and pushed at it with my face, but without teeth to bite it with, it seemed unlikely that I would get anywhere.

Still, without anything else to do as he plowed me, I kept my focus on that curtain, pushing and pushing and pushing, over and over.

It was twenty-five minutes before the curtain finally fell, crashing down to the ground. But by that time, he had already exploded in me and pulled out. He was in the bathroom when it fell down, he didn't even notice.

He came out with a screw, a blowtorch, and an oven mitt.

"You know what, puta? I decided I just can't let it wait until I take you to Jericho for them to brand you. I might not be able to make it as pretty as they do, but I figure I can get close."

He light up the blowtorch and fired the screw until it was red hot, then he moved it towards my body.

Right then, the door bust open, and Emmanuel stopped what he was doing to look back.

"What, pray tell, am I missing out on here?" Helina asked.

She didn't even wait for a response from him, she just pounced on him, knocking him to the ground on his back. Her extended fangs bit into his throat. I was expecting him to go unconscious right away from her venom, and then remembered that was only a Logan Blood talent.

He fought back, but she was stronger, holding her own, and I was so pleased for her as it seemed like he was losing consciousness.

That was, until he opened his mouth and shot way more electricity out of those fangs than I had ever seen, all of it landing in flesh. She convulsed painfully for what seemed like forever, her body frying in the electricity, creating a disgusting burning smell, and then she was just a pile of flesh on the ground.

Emmanuel stood up, victorious, and kicked her body aside. I was so devastated, I started to cry.

"See? Fried like a cockroach. Now, where was I?" he asked, picking up the blowtorch again.

There was only one thing left for me to try. I choked down my tears, looked into his eyes, and motioned with my head for him to walk over to me.

"Yes? What do you want, slave?"

He walked close to my face, and I nuzzled my nose into his hanging, still semi-hard meat.

"Oh, I see. You got an eyeful of my cum dripping here off me and you want a taste. That's how I like my slaves, eager to please their master. Well, ask and you shall receive. And in case you were thinking `bout biting me, I'm too old a vampire for than to hurt any."

He pulled the tape off my mouth and stuck his dick against my mouth.

"Emmanuel, listen to me. You say you're going to take me home to Jericho? Well, that's exactly where I want you to take me. You see, I invoked the power of the Vampire Council to him, do you know what that means? Ah, your face tells me you do know. Jericho was the one who healed my brand, Emmanuel. Because he's forbidden to hurt me in any way. Not just him, you see, but all of his subjects as well. Which, as you just said, includes you. So if you continue to keep me captive, hurt me, or do anything to sabotage me, then it's Jericho himself who will lose his Governorship. Is that what you are trying to do? Make an enemy out of your greatest alliance?"

"You're lying to me."

"If you don't believe me, take me to him. Because I want to see his face when you deliver me to him. You know he has a bit of a wild streak. I'll bet you five bucks he'll cut your head off in whatever moments he has before he's arrested. Hmm, I guess you'll be in no position to pay that bet, but it will still be fun to see, in any case."

"You little fucker!"

"Oh, and Lucky Holden is dead. Guess who killed him? His own slaves."

"You shut the fuck up." He put the tape back on my mouth, silencing me, taking away my only weapon, which was smart. I figured that meant he'd not believed me and was going to still kidnap me. "You can only get away from Jericho and me for so long, puta. One day, you will start your suffering, and when you do, you'll never have a moment of peace left in your slave's existence."

He left, and I knew I had convinced him.

Just when I wondered if it would take Maxim coming home that night for anyone to notice me, Helina moaned. I looked over and realized that the electrical burns on her body were quickly healing back to normal.

"Holy god, that hurt," she said, standing up and rubbing her sore skin. "He tried to kill me! Called me a fried cockroach. Well, you know what he didn't realize? A cockroach can't die. No matter how many times it get's stomped on, it still just gets and keeps going. Resilience. You and me have that in common. Now, let's see if I can catch him before he escapes."

She ran out of the room, a look of fury on her face. But she came back a few minutes later, this time with a cell phone in hand.

"Nope, he's completely slipped away, it seems. I need to call Maxim, and he only just barely showed me how to use one of these things, am I doing this right?"

I nodded.

"Hello, sis," I heard Maxim say through the phone.

"Whoa, how did you know it was me before I said anything? Is that some twin psychic thing you picked up?"

"No, it's called caller ID."

"Well, I just called to let you know, well, how do I say this? I'm standing in the middle of your bedroom, and your boyfriend is tied up naked to your bed, his butt up in the air."

"Really?! Are you making this up?"

"I swear it's true, Maxim."

"Oh my god! Well, tell him I'm cutting short this whole being a Tsar silly work thing to come home to enjoy the little trap he's set himself up in! If you helped him get into that position, you're officially the best sister ever!"

"I wish I could take the credit for this, really I do, but you, see, Emmanuel is responsible. Turns out Emmanuel is a very bad man. He chained Jake to your bed, had his way with him, almost killed me, and has ran off. Mrs. Ford has been knocked unconscious. I think she'll be fine. But three of your security guards are dead, I'm sorry to have to report."

"That little monster. I'll have the whole city looking for him. The whole Carstvo, even. When he's caught, I'll kill him myself."

"That would be wise."

"I'm coming straight home."

She hung up, and looked at me. "Do you want me to pull your mouth tape off? If so, it may hurt."

I nodded, and she pulled it off.

"Thanks. Can you get these chains off? I absolutely hate being chained."

She investigated. "There's a single padlock, but I don't see a key. Did he take it with him?"

"Probably so, the jerk."

"Ew, I can't believe I let that man sleep with me! I never would have done it if it wasn't for that Liquid Fire stuff either. And now look. What happens when you finally open up to a guy you think is really hot and sleep with him? He tries to have his way with and make off with your best friend."

"You're counting me as your best friend?"

"Of course. Maxim is my brother, so he can't fill that role. That leaves you. Anyway, what happens when you find out that he has designs on your best friend? He tries to kill you. Happens every time. Men are always the same. Not counting homosexual men, of course, like you. But at least Maxim is the one true exception. He may be rough around the edges, but he's truly a good man. He really deserves someone as perfect as you are, and vice versa."

"Thanks, Helina."

"Now, I'm going to go see if I can find another key." She left the room, and I was happy to see her go. If I had to be chained up naked, at least it could be without the embarrassment of witnesses.

Maxim turned up so quickly, he must have run home again. He took one look at me and his flame dragon made its appearance. "That evil, evil man. When I get my hands on him, I'm not going to just kill him, Jake. I'm going to burn off every non-critical part of his body first."

"I don't want you torturing anybody in my name. If you catch him, then we can talk about punishments."

"I've sent my sister back to the Sneg Dvorec to lead the capture procedures while I'm here with you. If she catches him, she could be even harder on him than I would. It's out of my hands."

"Can you get me out of these, please? I feel terribly undignified."

"Sure." He grabbed the padlock and pulled it towards him. "The nice thing about being me is, I can pretty much destroy any metal object if I have enough time. There should be plenty of chain between the padlock and your skin for you not to get burnt, but if it gets the least bit uncomfortable in any way, just let me know."

He used his firebreath to make a glob of fire, and then moved it to make it surround the padlock. He waited until it was glowing red-hot, and then made the fire disappear.

"Are you sure you should touch that? Don't burn yourself!"

"I do not burn."

His hand crushed the molten lock, forcing it apart from the chains. He set it in cold water in the sink, then unchained me, throwing the chain angrily aside.

He got in the bed and cradled my body against his chest, rubbing my head to reassure me. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I just want to take a bath to get him off me."

Maxim wouldn't let me walk on my own, he carried me to the bathtub, took off his shirt, and bathed me carefully.

Only when he had dried me and carried me back to the bed that he showed me a piece of paper.

"What is this?" I asked, not liking the look on his face. "Oh no, is it another court summons for you?"

"Not a court summons. And not for me."

I looked at the paper and saw it was addressed to me. Maxim wasn't mentioned at all.

"Vasos Spiros asked me to give this to you."

"A fencing duel? What does this have to do with me?"

"That bitter, awful man Edmund has officially challenged you to a fencing duel, under the grounds that you've destroyed his reputation."

"Are you kidding me?! That means whoever loses will be tossed out of all Petrov Blood lands for five years at least! I refuse this challenge!"

"Refusal means he wins the duel, and you'll still be banished."

"I don't understand," I said. "How can Edmund rightfully duel a human?"

"That's what I said too. It's not ethical to allow a match between a human and someone infinitely more powerful than them. He's getting away with it by promising he'll use a trick that Kirrill taught him. Edmund knows just where to nail into his skull to take away his vampires powers and make him a normal man. He was able to prove this to Vasos, and that's all that matters. You'll have to duel him now."

"This says the duel is in two days at a suitable fencing platform of his choosing. That means I have less time than that to practice."

"I've seen you fence, Jake. You're pretty basic. You'll never beat him."

"You can train me, Maxim."

"I've taught you all the moves I can think of already, but I can't do anything else to improve you. You're just not as skilled or coordinated as he is. It would take an eternity of practice for you to be anywhere close to that man's skill level in fencing. You cannot beat him."

"I hate that guy. He gains nothing from this."

"He knows he cannot lose against you, and so he has everything to gain. Because, I've already informed the public, if you get banished, if they won't let you here, then I'm leaving. I'm taking a five year absence from being Tsar, and I'm coming with you."

"They'll replace you with Edmund's pawn until you return."

"I don't care."

"I do."

"It's not your decision to make."

"Do we have any hope at all, Maxim, of me not getting banished?"

"Sometimes in these things, fortune smiles down on the meek, and David defeats Goliath. And that chance is why you'll fight this duel instead of refusing to. But let's not kid ourselves to hold out hope for that kind of miracle."

"No, I guess not."

"That's why I'm going to be doing the one thing that's absolutely critical: going through the Petrov Blood lawbooks and see if there is any legal precedent for a Tsar to step in and stop a banishment like that. I'm assigning my whole legal team to that project. Hopefully, we can find some way out so this duel will never have to go through."

"Thanks Maxim, and I'll be spending my free time practicing fencing. But without Günter to train me, I guess I'll just practice on my own."

"No, I've already called Alik. He's on his way over. I'm paying him to teach you everything he knows."

"Thanks for that, Maxim." I looked at the letter. "It says here Edmund and I are each allowed one, and only one, fencing coach to accompany us. No other guests allowed."

"I'll be your coach, of course."

"Maxim, the last time you did that, you got so mad whenever Alik handled me rough that you almost cost me a forfeit. What's going to happen when Edmund does the same, or worse? Are you really going to keep your cool? Keep in mind that even shouting at the referee is going to get me distracted."

"Hmm, maybe I shouldn't be there. Even if I'm forcing myself not to speak my displeasure, we wouldn't want the fire dragon to come out and play, uninvited. Alik can accompany you, and I'll wait anxiously right outside." He looked at me was sadness in his eyes. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this at all. This man would never be angry at you if you weren't trying to help me."

"You are worth any of this nonsense with him. I love you, Maxim."

"Not as much as I love and worship you."

And he kissed me with his loving fire.

"These techniques will only go so far," said Alik, setting down his sword for the first time on many, many hours.

Alik and I were practicing in the mansion's Portrait Hall, which was the only place in the house with a proper fencing platform, unimpeded all day and late into the night.

"This is an ancient vampire who was probably fencing in diapers. I can't possibly get you good enough to beat him in a couple days just based on skill alone."

"You're sounding more and more like Maxim as the night goes on," I said.

"Don't even jokingly compare me to that man. I am nothing like him."

"Agreed." By my tone of voice, I hoped it was clear it was Maxim I held in far higher regard. "If I can't beat him with superior skill, what are you suggesting? Please don't tell me you're asking me to take your steroid injections."

"No, it's far too late for any injections now, don't be an idiot. I'm suggesting you do whatever you can do to either distract him or manipulate him emotionally."

"You're asking me to cheat!"

"Not technically, no."

"But you're suggesting I stop being honorable and start fighting dirty!"

"It's something I do all the time. I'll do anything I can in a fight to get out with my win, regardless of if it's the least bit fair."

"That's because you are a completely dishonorable cheat. Don't try to infect me with your sickness."

"Fuck, if my cheating ways are contagious, I must have infected you when I came in your ass the first time we met, because you are just as guilty of them as I am."

"What are you so disgustingly alluding to?"

"You only beat me in our match by taking advantage of my confusion to force me off the platform. That was the kind of dirty move I can get behind."

"That was totally accidental! I am not someone who tries to play dirty."

"Like with me, it's totally just a means to an end."

"I've never been asked to apply Machiavellian theory to my sporting events before."

"I don't know what that is."

"Machiavelli was a writer who--"

"I don't want to know. Just trust me when I tell you, we can practice all night, but the only way you'll win is if you play dirty. Would you rather chew up and spit out your good sportsmanship, or would you rather lose honorably and suffer the consequences? Have you and Maxim get kicked out for five years?"

"Fine, you can at least tell me what you are suggesting."

"Edmund isn't used to fighting as a human. He's not used to wearing the protective gear you two will be in. I'm suggesting you exploit the situation. Act slow at first, like you find the gear just as cumbersome. And then, after he comes to accept that the gear will slow down both of you, surprise him by showing how fast you've learned to move in it."

"I guess I could try that."

"And doesn't Edmund sort of have a sexual thing for you? You should use that to your advantage too. Flirt with him in the heat of battle, or cruelly belittle his dick size."

"That last part would certainly get me seeing red," said Maxim, appearing in the hallway for the first time that evening, making me smile for the first time as well.

"Maxim, you're home finally!"

"Was up late going through case after case of legal records. Still have more to do tomorrow, but figured I'd come home to bed."

"Alik and I planned on practicing through the night."

"It's already almost three in the morning. You've had enough practice. Come to bed now."

"No, I'll feel a lot more confident if I skip sleep and just keep practicing."

"Skipping sleep isn't good for you. You need to be rested. Alik, goodnight to you. As the person who is paying for your employment, I'm ordering you to go home now, regardless of what Jake says."

"Can't argue with that," said Alik, and once he got dismissed, it was almost humorous how quickly he got his things, moved towards the door, and got the heck out.

Maxim approached me and kissed me. "Your hard work is over for tonight, my solnyshko. Please just let me take care of you now."

I gave in. "Sleep does sound nice."

Maxim pulled off my fencing gear and lifted me to his chest.

"I can still walk, Maxim," I said, laughing.

"Your legs look all too weak from too much inferior swordplay with Alik. I'm going to take you to bed and show you how real swordplay is done. And I won't even leave you bleeding afterwards."

Moments later, Maxim had us both undressed in bed, his fervent kisses turning sexual in a hurry. He stopped, smiling, as he pulled something out of his nightstand.

"Look what I acquired today that's for sure for our mutual benefit?"

He showed me the fanciest container of lube I had ever laid eyes on. He must have spent a fortune on it. "Lubricant." I said appreciatively.

"I know last night we managed to get me inside you without any of this stuff, but considering you won't be under a pain-blocking drug tonight, I figured this would be the next best thing. What do you say?" He had his big huge smile on, what else could I say?

"Well, I suppose it can't hurt to try."

"That's one of the truest phrases that's ever left your lips." He laughed his big, deep laugh.

He lifted my legs up and started to give my hole a lick.

"I know that the lube technically makes this part unnecessary, but I just can't seem to help myself, regardless."

He gave me wonderful oral for a couple minutes, and then he lubed up his thick fingers, which felt so good I found myself pushing towards him. He lubed up his hard, uncut dick, which looked so hot glistening with liquid.

He kissed me, his beard scraping against me, and I felt the weight and warmth of his dick pushing against my hole, which felt all too delicious. I felt my love for him so strong them, and ti was radiated right back to me.

And then, just like that, he pushed inside me, but instead of going slowly, the lube only encouraged him to slide all the way inside, hitting my balls with his pubes, his balls hitting my tailbone. The pleasure I had moments ago felt turned quickly to pain.

"Maxim, you're hurting me."

"I am? I'm sorry, my solnyshko, I forgot the most important step."

His lips left my mouth and moved to my throat, and he bit into my flesh. As soon as the bite's power hit me, the pain was numbed, and my sexual energy returned.

"Ah, yes, that's better," I moaned.

Encouraged and inflamed by the blood, Maxim started to thrust himself back and forth inside me. And I found that even though when he had been still it was pleasurable to me, as soon as his strokes started to rock me, the pain returned, regardless of the bite.

Suddenly I was facing visions of Jericho, and I knew there was no chance this would be pleasurable for me. Maxim was so, so turned on, groaning, his body convulsing with pleasure, that I almost wanted to not say anything and just let him finish. But pretending I liked being topped was the mistake I had made with Günter, and I wasn't going to do the same with Maxim.

"I'm sorry, Maxim. I just can't do this without the Liquid Fire."

"I have tons more, but I don't want you under the influence of anything until this mess with Edmund is over. I'm sorry, I can't give it to you."

"Maxim, I wasn't suggesting I use it now. I was just saying, I can't bottom, I'm sorry. You'll have to get out now."

"Oh, right, of course. I don't want to hurt you. I want you to love everything we do sexually as much as I do." He pulled himself out, and only then did my capacity for pleasure return. "Don't you think for a second that this makes me love you any less."

"Thanks. I love you too"

"As long as I'm all lubed up, I can think of another way we can both climax."

He pressed his lubed dick against mine, and started to thrust against me there, which drove me wild.

It wasn't long before we both came together, with him proving that he could always dwarf the size of my load with his own, all of it landing on my stomach.

He stopped kissing my lips and kissed my ear. "I'm sorry your life has been so surrounded in chaos ever since you turned into the One, my solnyshko. And who knows how much longer that chaos will swarm you. But I want you to think of me as your one solid, dependable rock that will always be there to carry you through."

"I do, Maxim, I do."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

We had so much slime between us, I figured he would clean us up before he fell asleep, and I'm sure that was his intention too, but he fell asleep amazingly instantaneously. He must have really been working hard all day. He trapped me under him, and knowing I would have to wake him to get out, I left the mess and managed to fall asleep in spite of my OCD tendencies firing off.

MARCH 31st

When we woke up in the morning, Maxim was so apologetic about the dried slime all over both our bodies that he carried me into the tub with him. Like usual, any attempt I made at washing any part of his beautiful body was pushed away. He not only washed me, he washed himself too.

I noticed he seemed unusually quiet. "You seem awfully serious this morning given the activity. Is everything okay?"

"I'm anxious about something, actually. You see, yesterday, Edmund and Gala came down to the Sneg Dvorec to legally elope. I managed to catch Gala alone, and I asked her why Edmund was challenging you, and she told me he said it was because he thought you were too stupid to ever win a fencing match."

"Too stupid? Well, no wonder, I had to act like a simple-minded, neurotic little twit when I was with him."

"Well, she told me it was because he said you failed out of college."

I bristled with anger and insecurity, just thinking about it. "I didn't fail out of college completely, I failed out of my Engineering major. And I never told him any of that. How did he figure it out?"

"You told me about that. Who else in the Carstvo knows?"

"Just Vasos."

"Oh, that would explain it. What Edmund and I both know about Vasos is he is notoriously bad with secrets once he has been drinking."

"That little rat! Well, at least this might mean Edmund will underestimate me in the fight."

"But this got me thinking. If Edmund knows about your past academic troubles, it could be dangerous. It could make him wonder how someone like you so easily aced the Bourgeoisie license Decency Code exam."

"Which I totally failed."

"Leif Runeberg and Dima are the only two people besides us that know you failed that exam. I just hope both of them stand true to us in the face of whatever pressure Edmund applies. I think I'll go speak to them today to reaffirm their support. Because if Edmund found out about that, you'd be banished permanently."

"I'm sorry you had to break the rules like that for me. If I wasn't such a total idiot, especially on exams, you wouldn't have to worry about any of that. Sometimes I don't know how you can love such a fool like me."

He shook his head. "Like I've told you a dozen times, my solnyshko, you don't have to be an excellent test-taker for me to love you. I love you because we have such good chemistry, and you are such a good person. I love you for your faults and deficiencies as well as your strengths. You never have to worry about impressing me, because I love you no matter what."

"I'm lucky to have someone like you who puts up with all my deficiencies." I kissed him. "And I love you so much as well. Hey, I guess talking it through helped ease your distraction. You've been soft this whole morning, and now you've suddenly gone rock hard."

"A clear head and especially sharing a bath with you will do that, yes."

"Do we have enough time for another round of sex before you have to go? It would sure make me focus easier on training today."

"I'd love that."

He kissed me, and started to thrust against me in the tub, starting to totally start to attack me with his studly body, water splashing everywhere. And then he just held me tight for a moment and broke the kiss.

"I realized something just now I hope doesn't make you upset, my solnyshko."

"The only way to test that is to tell me, Maxim."

"Let me cushion these words by telling you I already am totally in love with Parker, even though I never met him. He was your first love, and he sounds like he loved you so much and earned your devotion ever so much. I constantly wish I would have gotten the pleasure of getting to know him. But there's one little part of him that I just can't bring myself to agree with."

"Spit it out, Maxim. Stop softening this up and just pull it off like a Band-Aid."

"Alright. It's in the part where he died the way he did. Now before, I heard that and I thought, how honored I would be to die to save you, and that still is true. But let's face it; your life attracts chaos and evil more than anyone I've ever known. Excuse my language, but Parker should fucking be here right now. If he hadn't gotten himself killed, you would have never ended up in those horrible Logan slave pens, or almost getting raped by those Logan soldiers, getting torn apart by Giggles, or almost getting killed by sadistic Jericho. I can't say if there was a way to both save your life from Syd and save his own life, but if there had been, I would have found it. And when you were both competing in the rodeo to save your family's lives? You told me he was willing to kill himself then if it meant saving your family. Listen, I would kill myself to save your family too, but not if it meant having you alone in a world that was made to terrorize you. I would never put your family before your own safety, never. So, like I said, I absolutely love Parker. But unlike him, I promise you I'm not going anywhere. I will be here at your side, protecting you, until the very end."

"Thanks Maxim. That means a lot, and I wasn't offended by it at all. I love you so much."

That evening, Maxim called me, interrupting my practice with Alik. He let me know that he was regretfully having to stay late to try and finish his work, which so far hadn't given him any way out of me being banished if I lost the next day. He didn't want me staying up all night training, because he wanted me rested at the duel in the morning, and he already called Maxim to let him know that he was absolutely refuse to keep training me late again that night.

I laughed and told him I was just as much on board with a good night's sleep as he was.

I tried not to be nervous that night as I said my much needed prayers and went to bed on my own.