Prompt's for 2014 - 5. Prompt 321 - I'm not staying there!

Ben drummed his fingers on the dashboard as he stared out the car window at the passing scenery. Twenty-five he counted to himself as they passed yet another cactus.

Adam turned to look briefly at his mate and rolled his eyes, then he looked in the rearview mirror and smiled at the vision of the small baby soundly asleep in his car seat.

“Cheer up my mate” Adam said “We are nearly there”

Ben glared at him “Remind me again why we are driving through the middle of nowhere in high summer?”

Adam glared back at his mate “You wanted to come with me. You could have stayed at home with little Tom. I could have welcomed our new neighboring clan on my own”

“I didn’t want to be separated from you. Anyway Jackson said having a blood bonded pair doing the welcoming – especially a pair with a baby - would look good for our community” Ben pouted and turned away crossing his arms in a mock huff.

Adam reached out through their mind-link “Of course if your that annoyed with being sent on this welcoming mission I’m sure I can think if some ways to make it more fun for us!” He purred seductively into Ben’s mind.

Ben smiled to himself and decided two could play the seduction game, back home he had just bought a computer and he had been doing some very interesting research. He brought a few images from a new porn site he’d found to mind and then sent the images to Adam saying “What about these for some ideas?”

He turned in time to see his mate’s eyes widen and his hands tighten on the wheel.

“Are you trying to get us both killed” Adam gasped out loud “I nearly lost control of the damn car then”

Ben started laughing and when Adam looked over briefly to glare at him it made him laugh all the harder.

****

They pulled up to an ancient house that looked like it was barely holding itself together. The broken sign on the gate said:

Welcome to Berkley’s Hotel

It also had a vacancies sign hanging underneath, Ben turned to Adam “You cannot be serious. I am not allowing Tom to stay in there. It looks like it’s going to fall down any minute” he said incredulously.

Adam was also looking with consternation at the hotel, it had not looked like this when he had looked it up on the internet. Just to complete the image the hotel even had a tower with a broken clock in it. He started to think quickly trying out different options in his head and discarding them just as swiftly.

Finally he sighed “We can either risk staying here or we can quickly welcome the new clan and then head back towards home. I think we passed a motel a few miles back”

Ben had been considering their options too “What about if we asked if there is a family willing to allow us to stay the day with them?”

Adam thought about it and it seemed like a good compromise so he agreed and they started to get out the car.

Ben was just getting Tom out his car seat when they heard a welcoming voice calling from the hotel doorway.

“Hello there! You must be our new neighbors.” A figure came into view and they found themselves looking at handsome young man with long blond hair and as he got closer Ben noticed he had blue eyes that were watching them with curiosity.

“We were expecting a couple with their child, could your lady not make it?” The man addressed Adam, smiling and showing his fangs slightly.

Ben stiffened and sent out a quick thought “Either you set him straight quick or I am out of here”

Adam glared at the young vampire “I am Elder Rickman as you have probably guessed. This however is my mate Bennett and our son Thomas. I do not have nor do I want a lady. My mate is more than enough for me”

The vampire stepped back and bent his head in respect in the face of Adam’s anger. “I’m sorry Elder but the communication must have broken down somewhere and I have never heard of two men mating. Forgive my ignorance. My name is Sebastian” He brought his hands up in a sign of surrender and Ben noticed a band aid on his left hand.

The healer in him took over instantly “What have to done to your hand and why hasn’t it healed yet?” he asked, handing Tom to Adam

Sebastian looked at him in surprise “I caught it on a silver picture frame I was cleaning and I am afraid I do not heal quickly. It will be fine by morning”

Ben held his hand out and Sebastian automatically placed his in Ben’s, then he startled slightly when Ben muttered a quick spell. The magic washed through Sebastian and he held up his once injured hand peeling off the band aid and looking at the healed cut in wonder.

He quickly recovered and thanked Ben profusely. After a while Tom started to fuss and the trio quickly turned their attention to him and Sebastian showed them into the hotel lobby.

“As you can see we have not finished doing the place up and it needs a lot more work than we were led to believe. Therefore I would like to offer you a place in my home for the day and tell you that there will be a small reception held in the town hall at midnight.”

When the couple agreed to the accommodation Sebastian led them back out the hotel and next door to a small cottage set just behind the ancient house. They were shown to a large bedroom that had a cot set up and an en suit bathroom.

After they had tended to Tom and both showered they rejoined their host in the living room. He had been joined by an older vampire who greeted them and introduced himself as Elder James Brackman, Sebastian’s father. He apologized for not being there when they arrived but he had been in a council meeting.

Adam waved the apologies off as he knew how council work could get in the way of everything. Ben smiled at that but kept his thoughts on the subject to himself. Some must have escaped though because Adam gave him a warning look. Ben just gave him an innocent stare and went back to tending to Tom who was trying to crawl all over the floor.

“What a lovely child” James said kneeling down as Tom made his way over to investigate the strangers. Tom grabbed James’ finger and tried to get it into his mouth much to the older vampire’s amusement. “I think I remember Seb being this small, but it seems so long ago now” He smiled over at his son.

The four of them sat trading stories while enjoying a drink, Tom had crawled over to Sebastian and to the young vampires wonder had fallen asleep on his lap. James wanted to know how Ben and Adam had met and listened in wonder at how Ben had found out he was pregnant not long after their bonding.

James in return told of how he had met his mate (Sebastian’s mother) when they were young but she had problems and when they mated it took her body a long time to adapt to the changes in her DNA. Sebastian had been a late surprise when they had all but given up hope.

Eventually it was time for the reception, so they woke Tom up and fed him a bottle before heading over to the town hall. It had been decorated for the occasion and Tom loved looking at the lights that had been strung around the edge of the hall.

There were introductions (including James mate Moria who had been busy setting the hall up) and there was lots of dancing. Adam managed to get Ben to let Moria take Tom so they could dance to a slow song that came on. While they were whirling round the vast floor he bent his head to nuzzle into Ben’s neck.

“What’s wrong Love? You’ve been as prickly as a hedgehog all night. The last time you were this bad tempered was when…” His thought trailed off and he stopped dancing to stare at Ben.

“Surprise!” Ben sent sheepishly “I was going to tell you tonight, Jamie confirmed it before we left”

Adam’s face slit into a wide grin, another baby. He bent down to plant a slow kiss on his mate.

They decided not to tell their new friends because they wanted to tell their community first and so they finished their dance and went back to their hosts.

They excused themselves early saying that Tom needed to get to bed. They curled up together in bed and Adam laid his hand possessively over Ben’s stomach as they fell asleep.

I used Prompt 321 - List of words: a cactus, a hedgehog, a broken clock, a Band-Aid, and a computer
This set between Book's Three and Four of Unison Island.
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