Chapter One

"This moment is no more than the briefest touch, fleeting. Yet it holds everything." Eldric's whisper in the darkness focused Aristid totally on his sire, as did the trailing fingers along his body. It had always been Eldric's favorite method of depriving Aristid of all but his sire's presence.

In the unrelenting blackness, Aristid could see nothing, he could only feel and hear. Eldric's voice filled his senses, and Eldric’stouch sensitized Aristid's body, arousing him as no other could. Feelings he had no voice for occupied his mind to the exclusion of anything else.

The heated press of Eldric's lips to his chest drew a sigh from Aristid as the skillful mouth toyed with his nipple. Eldric's hand drifted over willing skin from Aristid's chest to his hip, leaving Aristid aching for more. The parade of lovers Aristid had taken paled in comparison to the ease with which his sire aroused him with no more than soft whispers and teasing touches. Eldric hadn't even ventured near Aristid's cock and already Aristid's body was lit with a fire that had him groaning in need.

He couldn't exist, didn't want to exist without the strength and solid grounding Eldric always gave him. His mind sought out Eldric's, wanting his place within it, and his sire welcomed him. No matter that Aristid did have other lovers, they could never fulfill all that Aristid demanded. Only Eldric did so with ease, never begrudging Aristid the least of his desires.

Eldric wanted his blood tonight. The sharp drag of his sire's fangs at his chest betrayed it. Aristid answered him with a hiss, entangling his fingers in Eldric's hair to draw his sire to his throat. Feeling the exquisite, piercing sting, he held Eldric to him. Waves of pleasure followed, strengthening the ache of his body to a near agonizing level. With no more than the curl of Eldric's hand to his cock, Aristid drowned in the resulting flood that overwhelmed him.

Aristid St. Germain opened his eyes and the memory of the dream blended with his waking consciousness. Snarling in agitation, he abruptly sat up and tugged impatiently at the bell pull beside his bed. He refused to spare any time dwelling on the past. His sire had chosen to leave Aristid three hundred years ago. Eldric chose to sleep, to divorce himself from life, and Aristid no longer had any use for him.

After getting out of bed, Aristid grabbed his dressing gown and slipped it on. He had much more entertaining matters to attend to, and he dismissed the last lingering effect of the dream with ruthless determination.

***

The party had been Hartington's idea, and Aristid funded the nonsense for the hell of it. It gave the Phoenix Club new surroundings in which to hold their revelries. A scantily clad nymph ran past Aristid, followed by a nearly naked satyr. Amused, he continued on his way into the main ballroom. It appealed to his sense of humor to hold the party in the middle of the conservative hills of Cotswold.

Those present were mostly mortals, the next to the lowest in the food chain to St. Germain. They were pretty little toys to be manipulated and played with as Aristid saw fit. Not precisely what his Sire had taught him, but even those who were closer to Aristid were of little value to him other than the amusement to be had.

"St. Germain." Warwick nodded to him as he approached. Standing casually near the dancing couples, Warwick had a young man attached to his cock, greedily sucking it as a young woman proved the same service to his ass. His pants were draped at half mast and Aristid smirked.

"Enjoying yourself, old man?"

"Makes a change from attending my wife's blasted parties. Good of you to invite me." Lightly patting the young man's head, Warwick encouraged continuation of the hungry devouring of his cock.

"St. Germain!" Hartington waved to get his attention. "Come over and see the new crop from London."

Though he doubted he would indulge in the debauchery prevalent in his ballroom, Aristid nodded slightly to Warwick before he moved in Hartington's direction. The young man had latched onto him during the last season in London. It amused Aristid considerably to provide new playthings to entertain him. Hartington had shown himself to be a quick study and quite avid for any new toys Aristid could find.

"Isn't she a beauty?" With fingers wrapped in a titian cloud of hair, Hartington pulled the young woman's face to his then sharply bit her lip. A small protest from her quickly faded as the fingers tightened in her hair.

"Very young and lovely, Hartington. Wherever did you find her?"

"Madame Jessup's. I bought her off the old witch before she had a chance to sell the girl off." If anything, Hartington had learned how to indulge his taste quite heartily. "Stanton brought a few fillies. Clean and sweet they are. And St. Claire has been eager to show off the paces of some of the young stallions he just acquired."

From his speech, one could easily discern Hartington was horse-mad as well. "And where is St. Claire?"

"No doubt at the gaming table with Everett and the others." One of his hands casually slipped into the bodice of his companion's dress, roughly kneading the tender flesh.

Leaving Hartington to his pleasure, Aristid went to the card room. Some of his guests preferred the higher stakes of the tables over the pursuit of fleshly satiation. St. Claire tended to plunge madly into both.

From what Aristid could see, the party appeared to be a resounding success. Numerous members of the demimonde had been invited for the weekend to provide entertainment for his guests. He'd even catered to a few of the women of the ton who were bored with the usual fare to be found. Their tastes at times, just as the gentlemen's, were only satisfied by their own sex or by more than one participant.

A few specially selected guests included those of his kind. It was a firm, unwritten rule that whatever happened within the private sanctum of their parties remained there.

Before he could reach the card room, he was stopped by Lady Charlotte, who was arm in arm with another younger lady. "St. Germain, I haven't had the chance to introduce you to Lady Jane Grisham. Isn't she delightful?"

"Enchanting." Aristid took the young woman's hand, lifting it to his lips.

Jane blushed as she murmured, "Thank you, your Grace."

"I didn't think you'd mind if I brought her along, especially since I am planning on claiming her."

His brow arched as he released the hand then glanced between them. "This is the first I've heard you mention a desire to do so, Lady Charlotte."

"I thought to ask your permission before the deed was done." Her serene smile didn't fool him one bit. She'd already made up her mind to turn the young lady and was merely paying lip service to their old rules.

"Should I refuse, I know your disappointment would fell me where I stand." He took Charlotte's hand and placed a kiss to the back of it then released it. In all honesty, he was rather glad that Charlotte has chosen someone of her own. "I would never dare disappoint you, my dear."

Wisely, Jane remained silent as she watched the two. Charlotte's arm slipped around her waist, and Jane turned her head to receive Charlotte's kiss. Glancing back at Aristid, Charlotte smiled at him. "I will make sure she does us proud."

"I know you will." Aristid had no misgivings about allowing Charlotte to create another vampire. She was older, a great deal steadier, and she had the wisdom and experience to take very good care of Jane. Continuing on his way to the card room, he ignored any other attempts to get his attention.

He entered the room he'd set aside for games of chance and spotted St. Claire at one of the tables, nose buried in the cards. Aristid picked up a glass of wine from the tray of a passing servant then stopped at the table.

"Ah, St. Germain. Been wondering when you would show up." Having lost the hand, St. Claire tossed his cards into the middle of the pile on the table.

"I was detained for a short time." Aristid politely bowed his head to the rest of the men at the table. "Gentlemen."

"Deuced good idea to hold one of our parties out here, St. Germain. We've staked your track for a race between St. Claire and Finchley. Noon tomorrow." Alvanley waved his thick cigar in the air, punctuating his words.

"Ten to one on Finchley," Anatole said, then was quickly taken up on the bet by several of the others.

"Later, my good fellows. I have more important business to discuss with St. Germain." Standing from the table, St. Claire moved to join Aristid and poke in a low voice as they walked away from the table. "I've got some prime ones. I think you might be interested in them."

"And what would it be this time? Horses or people?" Though it wasn't often St. Claire convinced him to buy, the man had once in a rare while come up with something that had intrigued Aristid.

"Twins. Two beautifully luscious men. They're curious about how the other half lives and in more ways than one. I haven't touched either of them. Thought I'd give you first crack if you want them."

Quirking a brow, Aristid replied mildly, "Well, let's see these twins of yours. I might be persuaded."

"They are upstairs right now. I didn't want to take a chance on letting them wander around the party."

It had been a wise decision since Aristid knew none of his guests would have hesitated to put the twins to whatever use they wanted. If they were untouched as St. Claire claimed, there would have been no likelihood the two would have remained that way by the end of the night.

St. Claire followed him back through the ballroom then out to the hall that led to the main section of the house. As they walked, St. Claire happily filled him in on the particulars of the twins.

"Ethan and Nathan are the sons of the Baron of Westwood. I saw them at one of Bertie's salons. So out of place, they were impossible to resist, especially when I noticed how intrigued both of them were by Bertie's all-male tableaus. You know me. I had to pump the two for details. It cost me a good bottle of brandy, but I got what I wanted."

"And how much do you want for exclusive introduction?" Aristid asked quietly as they paused in front of St. Claire's bedroom door.

"Easily worth two, St. Germain. Then they'd be all yours for the time being. Can't guarantee what they’ll get themselves up to later. Neither of them have any experience whatsoever except with women." When he finished speaking, he opened the door and Aristid stepped in behind him.

One young man sat in a chair with an open book in his lap, reading out loud as the other listened to him with rapt attention. They were young, probably not even twenty, and their looks echoed each other almost perfectly. Golden curls were tied by black ribbons, and the antiquated outfits they wore in no way detracted from their good looks.

At first glance it was easy to tell they were country gentlemen just unleashed on the wilds of London. Two pairs of blue eyes met his as Aristid studied each in turn. A faint smile creased his lips as he nodded slightly to St. Claire in agreement to the payment of two thousand.

Their father wouldn't dare say anything if the two became prolonged guests of Aristid, and he had every intention of getting his money's worth of pleasure from them. With a smile, St. Claire stepped forward to introduce them. "Gentlemen, this is his Grace, the Duke of Wesley, and your host. He's expressed interest in taking you under his wing. St. Germain, this is Mr. Ethan Stanley and his brother, Mr. Nathan Stanley."

Both of the men stood. As one --Ethan --closed the book, setting it on the nearby table, the other approached Aristid. "A pleasure to meet you, your Grace." As Ethan bowed, Nathan stood beside him and bowed as well.

"Please, call me St. Germain. There will be no need for formality between us. Since you will be staying here for some time, I will have your things taken to a room where you can be more comfortable." Observing the two, he noticed Nathan tended to hang back slightly while Ethan seemed completely at ease.

"We appreciate your interest,” Ethan said. “My brother and I haven't been in London long, so we don't know all that many people as yet."

"It is no trouble at all to exert myself for two such enticing creatures." With a faint smile that bespoke a darker promise, Aristid allowed his gaze to travel slowly over both of them. Even the ill-fitting clothing couldn't hide the beautifully formed bodies beneath. As Ethan met his look, Aristid saw the betraying shiver of the young man’s body to both the words and tone. Nathan stepped slightly closer to his brother, staring with wide eyes.

Returning to the door, Aristid paused, hand on the knob. "Please follow me, and I will show you to your new rooms." He glanced back at St. Claire, adding, "I will speak to you later."

Ethan and Nathan followed him out of the room then down several corridors to the east wing. As they moved down the hall, Aristid quietly explained where they were. "This is my private section of the house. For now, I believe you both will be comfortable in the rooms beside mine. It will make things far easier on all of us."

Opening one of the doors, he stepped aside to allow the other two to enter. Several comfortable chairs were scattered about the room, and one of the walls was lined with bookshelves filled with books. "This is your sitting room, and to the left is the bedroom. If you would prefer a second room, I will make the arrangements."

Neither said a word as Aristid walked in between them. Ethan turned to look at him, a more openly curious look on the youthful face. "This is fine, and we appreciate your kindness, St. Germain. How long do you want us to stay?"

"For as long as I wish." The darker smile returned to his lips as he moved closer to Ethan. To the young man's credit, he didn't step back. "Also, I don't want either of you downstairs for the time being. Too many of my guests might wish to sample you, and chances are neither your brother nor you would appreciate their attention at this time."

Face upturned to Aristid's, Ethan just nodded. There was little space between them as Aristid slowly lowered his head, letting his lips hover near Ethan's as he whispered, "I wish that pleasure for myself."

Before Ethan could say a word, Aristid kissed him. The lips yielded beneath his, and Aristid's tongue slid between them, tasting the sweet warmth of Ethan's mouth. Though he made no attempt to otherwise touch Ethan, Ethan responded by pressing closer to Aristid.

A moment later, Aristid raised his head and reached up, cupping Ethan's cheek. Glancing back at Nathan, he saw an unmistakable interest in the wide eyes watching them. Its twin reflected in Ethan's eyes as well. "I will return later this evening."

Leaving them both to their privacy, Aristid left the room to return to the party downstairs.