Page 8 of 'Til All the Seas Run Dry

“You’re verra confident,” Callum said softly, sitting back again in his chair. “I suppose that I could offer you a trial employment. If you can indeed help me find what I’m looking for, we can discuss longer-term options.”

Robbie smiled again. “You won’t regret it,” he said, a hint of desperation creeping into his voice. Callum liked that. He liked hunger. He liked rough edges. He could hone edges.

The thrill of maybe finding Esther, of having momentum after so many near misses, was heady. So heady that he almost forgot the hunger that brought Robbie to him in the first place.

But then Robbie stood. “You still want to grab a bite, boss?” he said with a smirk, as if his face couldn’t do anything else.

“I do,” Callum replied with a sigh.

Robbie walked over to the couch that sat along the wall. Callum stood and followed but he didn’t sit next to Robbie. Instead, he yanked the couch away from the wall.

“Jesus, dude, warn me next time!” Robbie shouted.

“Dude?”

“Boss?” Robbie asked.

“Boss works,” Callum replied. “Or Callum. I don’t give a fuck.”

Robbie smiled a full smile, showing all of his teeth. Then he leaned his head back against the back of the couch. Callum saw Robbie’s fists clenched at his sides. Callum could smell the adrenaline wafting off of him. For all his easy swagger, Robbie was nervous.

“You seem tense, Robbie. Why?”

“Oh, you know. Virgin neck.”

Callum could almost taste the lie.

“Hardly,” Callum replied.

“Fine. I don’t like pain, alright? I’d appreciate it if you didn’t hurt me any more than you have to.”

“This from someone who has had needles jammed into their neck millions of times. Literally.”

“That’s different. It’s different when I sign up for pain,” Robbie said in a quiet voice.

“You signed up for this.”

“It’s still different. There’s pain, and then there’spain. You know? I like pain. I don’t likepain.”

Understanding that distinction more than Robbie knew, Callum sighed. “I’ll be careful,” he replied, circling around the couch so that he was standing between it and the wall.

Feeding wasn’t overtly sexual. Or it didn’t have to be. It never was for Callum. Even though he could appreciate the lean lines of Robbie’s body and the way his mouth lifted to one side more than the other when he smiled, when he looked at the corded muscle of Robbie’s throat, the only thing he felt was thirsty.

Robbie sat up, his fight-or-flight instincts in hyperdrive.

“Relax, Robbie,” Callum said, resting a heavy hand on Robbie’s shoulder. “You’ll know it’s coming. I willnae surprise you.”

Robbie nodded and slowly rested his head against the couch again. “I’ve just fed some really careless people.”

“I am never careless, Robbie.”Not anymore.

Callum bent forward and gently pressed Robbie’s head to the side to expose more of his neck. Robbie gritted his teeth and clenched his jaw.

“Relax, mo charaid,” he said, squeezing Robbie’s shoulder.

Robbie looked up into Callum’s eyes, and he could see that they were whiskey-colored. He saw the fine lines around them that came from squinting into the sun. Callum had the same lines from his youth.

“Callum?” Robbie asked in a quiet voice.