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It had been a week since Geoffrey apologised to Jonathan. It took the Ekon two days to feel confident enough to leave his room. He’d taken his meal to the canteen and found himself being joined by the usual faces who were more than happy to join him. McCullum had merely greeted him before moving away, giving him some much-needed space.
He felt just a little sympathy for the leader of the Guard as the rest of Priwen teased him about his method of flirting. But it meant that true to his word he’d been honest with his men.
Tonight, Jonathan had a training session with McCullum. He checked his pockets, a wooden stake could be used to stun Geoffrey but it wouldn’t really do much good, not the way it did with Leeches. He secured his belt and slipped his sword into its sheath.
When he arrived at the training area he noticed a few more men than normal waiting. A lot of the recruits enjoyed watching training sessions especially when Geoffrey was involved. There was a considerable crowd tonight. It was an interesting development but given they all knew what the Leader of the Guard had done to Jonathan, they probably wanted to see if this was the vampire's way of getting payback.
McCullum arrived late which was unusual. He left his crossbow off the side turning to face Reid “Ready? I thought I’d make this fight a little more… evenly matched. Sword against sword?”
The vampire raised a curious eyebrow noticing the teasing smirk pulling at the corner of his lips “You still sort of owe me for the other day McCullum… I think this is just the opportunity, don't you?” he noticed the vampire hunter’s heartbeat quicken for just a moment “You’re not holding back then?” Reid shook his head no “I still need to get you back for embarrassing me. Fair is fair after all.”
The Leader of the Guard conceded “So long as we understand each other, ready?” the vampire nodded as he drew his sword. Geoffrey noticed that the other male's approach was slow. He drew his own sword and held it in front of himself to block the oncoming attack. He faltered only slightly as the vampire’s strike landed, more strength in the blow than there had ever been aimed at Geoffrey.
He knew that Reid held back during training not wanting to accidentally harm anyone. Even when he and McCullum sparred he still held back. If he had been able to take on Fergal Bansha almost single-handedly and come off with little more than a few bruises and claws marks then he was DEFINITELY holding back when it came to any fights he had while training. Reid was probably one of the most powerful Ekon’s in Britain. Something he’d felt rather lucky about considering the man had chosen to work with Priwen instead of against them.
Geoffrey kicked the vampire back, he growled low in his throat and the hunter noticed his fangs starting to show beneath slightly parted lips. It wasn’t exactly unusual for Jonathan to growl or snarl while fighting, everyone at Priwen assumed it was just instinctual and stopped questioning him about it. Geoffrey didn’t hesitate to try and strike first this time, he ran at the vampire hoping to put enough force into the blow to stun him.
A blood barrier was created as the vampire actually laughed “You’ll have to try harder than that, McCullum. I’m playing for keeps.” every ounce of force he’d placed into his attack was thrown back at him as the barrier dissipated and sent the hunter flying backwards. Some of the Guardsmen watching cheered and encouraged the Ekon as McCullum hit the floor.
Jonathan wasted no time with his second attack, McCullum rolled out of the way as the other male’s sword cut into the ground where he’d been “Anyone would think you actually wanted to kill me.” he was mostly teasing. The playful smirk that came to the vampire’s features showed that he understood the leader of the Guard wasn’t being serious “I thought about it last week.”
The vampire hunter laughed, understanding the double meaning of the Ekon’s words.
For obvious reasons Geoffrey hadn’t admitted how close to biting him Reid had gotten. Even if the rest of Priwen trusted their beloved pet Leech knowing the man had nearly succumbed to temptation wasn’t going to do any good. Besides, Reid HADN’T succumbed; he'd pushed the hunter away and told him to leave.
Reid did help McCullum to his feet and they backed off until they were back to their starting positions. One of the other members of Priwen counted from 3 - 1 and the fight began once more.
It seemed that both of them weren’t holding back and in all honesty, it had been an evenly matched fight. There was only one problem, Geoffrey was human and as such he only had a limited amount of stamina, he was panting heavily struggling to stay standing. Jonathan had gotten quite a few good strikes against him with both his weapon and his claws.
McCullum lunged towards his opponent grunting with effort. The Ekon dodged leaving a trail of shadows in his wake “Fight like a man, Reid…” the leader of the Guard ground out. For a few minutes now Jonathan had been relying on the shadows to dodge each attack.
The vampire laughed “How much longer can you keep going, McCullum? You’re looking a little faint. I may not be able to outfight you… But I can outrun you.” the vampire hunter grit his teeth “Show some style.”
The leader of the Guard was suddenly forced to the floor, a sword being held to his throat. Reid was sitting on his legs keeping his lower half pinned, the sword was enough of a threat to encourage him not to squirm too much “Style? Is this enough style for you, sir?” they both seemed to notice some of the other members of Priwen not so subtly reaching for their own weapons. With a smirk the leader of the Guard conceded “Alright. You win.” he let go of his own weapon as Jonathan put his away.
The vampire stood and brushed himself off before offering his hand to the vampire hunter. McCullum took the offered hand being helped to his feet. Reid let out a sigh “Let’s get you to the infirmary. I’ll help see to those wounds.”
“You were still holdin’ back.” the vampire hunter stated, Reid, noticing from the other male’s tone that it was most definitely a statement and not a question “I may have been trying to get my own back for last week, but I most certainly don’t want to accidentally kill you. So yes, I was holding back.”
~~~~____~~~~
Jonathan assured the Priwen medics that he could tend to the leader of the Guard while they helped a squad of injured cadets. He was cleaning some of the claw marks when McCullum’s fingers wrapped around his wrist. The vampire took the hint to stop his motions, his gaze flickered from the slowly bleeding wound to the other male’s face. Geoffrey spoke “How do you do it?” for a moment he found himself confused “Do… What?”
“Last week you found it hard to resist the thought of feeding… Yet right now you’re cleaning a bleeding wound as if it’s no problem.” it was a question he phrased as carefully as he could, keeping his voice down so no one overheard.
There was a mildly flustered look that came over the Ekon as he ducked his head and turned his attention back to his work “Well… While tending your wounds I focus on my work… My work as a Doctor to be specific, all the years of study and research. I think about how best to stop the bleeding, what antiseptics I could use to prevent infection…” he trailed off, seeming to consider his words “I think… In short, I’m thinking medically and not with my stomach.”
Geoffrey nodded his head, it made sense that while he wasn’t focusing on blood and instead the medical side of things it would be less tempting “If I can ask… And feel free to tell me to go fuck myself… Does the blood smell the same way it tastes?”
For a moment Jonathan was silent, he didn’t look up or try to meet the vampire hunter’s gaze in any way and he did worry that he’d put his foot in his mouth “You don-” he was going to tell Jonathan not to worry but the man was already speaking “It doesn’t smell as strong as it tastes… But I can still tell by the smell whose blood is whose. If it’s new blood I can sometimes take a guess at what it will taste like and… In some instances, I can even tell what the person has consumed recently.”
“Really?” it sounded insane but McCullum was well aware of just how strong a Leech’s sense of smell could be. Reid nodded his head “I can smell a very faint hint of whiskey in your blood right now… I was able to taste it last night as well. Not that I intend to pry but-... Just how much have you been drinking recently?”
Out of everything they could have talked about Geoffrey certainly hadn’t expected to be questioned about his drinking habits or how bad they’d gotten since the incident last week. He cleared his throat “I’m Irish, we always have a trace amount of alcohol in our blood.”
In his defence, the vampire hunter didn’t sound as if he was trying to be defensive. In fact, he sounded jovial. But Reid knew better “You were the first in the Guard to think about blood donations… The first to offer to have your blood drawn… There wasn’t a hint of alcohol in your system… In fact… I’ve only noticed it recently.” his tone was light in hopes that he didn’t sound accusatory. He wasn’t trying to accuse the leader of the Guard of anything. Hell, he was the last person who had any right to judge someone for their drinking habits. He was just curious.
The vampire hunter shrugged “War’s ending… Epidemic is over… Less to worry about with easing rations, I was able to have a drink. Does it bother you?” he saw the vampire shake his head.
“Believe me, if I could I would join you in a drink of whiskey to celebrate the end of the epidemic… I wasn’t…” he paused and physically turned his head away “I shouldn’t have asked. I apologise.” the wounds were clean and had more or less stopped bleeding. He turned to pick up a dressing to cover the claw marks on his chest, Reid felt a little guilty, he hadn’t meant to tear into the man so deeply.
Geoffrey snorted “After my fuck up last week you don’t need to apologise for your curiosity.” the vampire did laugh softly from his comment. “I don’t mind you askin’ questions Reid. I just don’t need you to worry about any of my bad habits.”
Jonathan licked his lips as he wondered if what he wanted to say was perhaps too forward. He was silent and still for a moment as he finally decided ‘fuck it’. It’s not like McCullum had thought about his actions being too forward “I worry about you because I care about you… I already told you that I forgive you.” he noticed the way that the Irishman’s cheeks seemed to darken, becoming just a little red.
“I thought I’d probably fucked up any chance I had of making this work.” the hunter gestured between the two of them. Reid’s expression was so earnest that it was hard not to smile, he always seemed to show what he was thinking.
The vampire’s gaze flickered away for a moment as he started to chew his lower lip “I will admit that I was hurt… I told you as much but-... Knowing your reasoning… It’s sort of sweet… In a way, you are the leader of the Guard… A vampire hunter who has been hurt time and again by vampires. You- You let your guard down around me, you understood what you were doing, you wanted me to-...” he paused and swallowed thickly “... You were willing to let me bite you, trusting that I would be able to stop myself.”
“Could you?” he’d asked without thought. He hadn’t meant to, he didn’t want Reid to think that this was some sort of test after everything they’d been through. He noticed that the Leech looked less confident as he turned his head away.
Geoffrey cupped the other man’s cheek and physically turned his head to make the man look at him “Do you think you could stop?”
Jonathan opened his mouth to speak but his words failed him. He wanted to believe that he could, he really wanted to… But he’d never drank fresh human blood (Well, he had when he first pulled himself out of the mass grave and at the time he hadn’t been able to stop). He licked his lips and swallowed against the lump forming in his throat “I would like to believe that I could… That should the opportunity present itself I would be able to pull away before doing any damage… But I wouldn’t say yes for fear that… I got… Overexcited in the moment.”
It was an understandable fear and one that McCullum could accept, he kissed the vampire’s cheek “I won’t ask you to do something you’re uncomfortable with but-... Just know if you ever wanted to try I’m more than willing to help you.” the vampire rolled his eyes at that comment “And for sake of argument, I take you up on that offer and I can’t stop. What are you going to do?”
“Don’t laugh…” the Leader of the Guard warned “But I did think about that… You see, wouldn’t it be safer to try it with someone like me. Someone who knows how to defend themself against a vampire.” he watched Reid’s expression change from hesitant to… He was laughing?
“I am both surprised and not surprised that you actually thought about that.” the Ekon snorted. He had finished dressing the hunter’s wounds but his hands had found rest placed on the man’s knees. He was so warm and Jonathan was close enough that the man’s ambient body heat was making him feel warm. He couldn’t stop himself from watching the other male’s eyes, the way the limited light in the room was almost absorbed by them. Those ocean blue eyes were becoming something of a weakness of his.
Reid was leaning in and McCullum instinctively almost stopped him. Until he noticed that the vampire’s gaze moved from his eyes to his lips. His heart jumped at the thought. They had kissed in Reid’s bedroom but McCullum had been the one to initiate it.
Jonathan cupped the hunter’s cheek letting out a rather shaky breath “If you want me to stop… I need you to tell me.” the Irishman shook his head no “If anything I want you to continue.” he closed the distance and he felt the press of the vampire’s lips against his own. The hand against his cheek almost pulled away until he placed his own on top of Reid’s. He didn’t want him to let go.
It was still overwhelming to the Ekon. The scent of McCullum surrounding him, almost enough to block everything else now, the feeling of him pressed against his lips, warm and welcoming, the sound of his heart beating rapidly. Before he knew it his kisses had become less hesitant and more aggressive, his free arm looped around the hunter and pulled him closer. The surprised noise he made was muffled by the Ekon’s lips.
McCullum had to push himself away to catch his breath, he gasped as he pulled away but Jonathan was still placing kisses to his cheek, they were gentle and tentative presses as he started to move down to the Leader of the Guard’s neck. He swallowed thickly pushing the vampire away “B-Before we get ahead of ourselves… Maybe we should do this somewhere more private? Unless you want the entire infirmary to see.”
With a hand against his chest pushing against him lightly, he took the hint. Geoffrey explained why he’d gotten the vampire to stop and he became just a little embarrassed “Don’t you want your men to see me kissing you?” the hunter flushed but persisted “It’s not that I don’t want them to see us kissing. I thought-” he trailed off. The vampire understood “I wouldn’t bite without your consent… And I wouldn’t do it in the infirmary or I might be the next one to need medical attention.”
They both laughed as the hunter placed a gentle kiss to the Ekon’s lips.