Crave - 16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Merrick stared out into the forest, watching for any unusual movement in the trees. It had been a week since Harwick had been killed. Jenson heard from his friend, who had told him the markings were territorial ones… warnings that this area belonged to the flauros. Investigation of the trees around the ship showed similar ones. The flauros had set off the perimeter alarms around the base and the ship a few times in the first three days, but there had been no sign of them since. Each time they triggered the alarms, retreat occurred immediately. Merrick was certain their defences were being tested since each breach occurred in different quadrants.

With no recent confrontations, tensions at the base were slowly starting to ease. The extra guards were expected to arrive any day, and the scientists were happily planning an excursion to obtain core samples from the area around what they believed to be an ancient volcano.

“Merrick?” A deep, sexy voice called to him through his earpiece.

“What can I do for you, Jenson?” he said with a smile. The one positive that had come out of this week was he and Jenson had been getting closer, and the vampire seemed to be making a conscious effort to open up to him. The real difficulty now was bunking in the same room as the sexy man. It was getting more and more difficult to see him strip down for bed and not join him there. He could tell from the long looks he was receiving from the vampire that he felt the same way.

“The shuttle from Anglia has arrived. I’m heading over to the ship.”

“Take Perreault with you,” Merrick said after thinking about who was available. “No one goes off base alone.”

“Yes, dear.” Merrick could hear the smirk in the older man’s voice, and shook his head.

“Just be careful, Jenson,” he said, watching a small, furry creature hop by a few meters away.

“I will. Promise,” the vampire said, becoming serious for a moment before signing off.

Merrick was coming off duty three hours later, when a distress call came from Jenson’s convoy.

“We’re under attack by at least 3 flauros.” Jenson’s voice was hard to hear with the sounds of heavy gunfire around him.

“Do you have any casualties?” Merrick asked as he ran to the nearest truck.

“We have a man down,” Jenson said loudly, trying to be heard over the noise. “The bastards blocked the only passage through the forest about 20 minutes in.”

‘Smart bastards,’ Merrick thought as he opened the vehicle door. “I’m on my way,” he said, jumping in. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Audra run to the vehicle, followed closely by Dr. Forbes.

“I’m coming with you,” she said, coming to a stop in beside the truck.

“Audra…,” the redhead pleaded, reaching for her. His body was tense as a bowstring.

“Stop, Alex,” she snapped, exasperated. “We’ve been over this. I can handle myself. I am a trained fighter. I’m going.”

“Please be careful,” he said, quickly backing away. Audra nodded, and with a tight smile she hurried around the vehicle and climbed in.

Merrick already had the truck in gear, and moving, as Audra slammed the door. He took a deep breath and suppressed the panic he could feel rising as he raced for Jenson’s group. They heard the sounds of the fight before he rounded the trail and saw the other vehicles. There was a male lying on the ground by a large tree blocking the path. His back had been ripped open. Merrick assumed the man had gotten out of the vehicle to examine the obstruction when he’d been ambushed. He felt the tension in his chest loosen when he saw Jenson behind a large tree, firing into the forest. Audra followed him to Jenson’s side, using the trucks as cover.

“What’s the situation?” Merrick asked once he reached the vampire.

“We have one man and one flauros down. There are two holed up in the trees.” The vampire pointed to a group of trees about 50 metres away.

“Why are they just staying there?” Merrick asked. “With the canopy cover in here, they could take off and we’d never see where they went.”

“No idea.” The vampire looked at him for a moment. “Lea got out to take a better look at the barrier when one of the bastards jumped him from behind. A second one rushed the vehicles. That’s the one Carter got. Those two have been moving around in the trees there ever since.”

Suddenly, a loud roar that echoed through the forest. Only moments after the sound died away, they received a message that the base was being attacked.

“Commander.” Akachi sounded as if he was running. “We have four perimeter breaches in four different quadrants. Two have gotten through our defences and are headed for the camp.”

Audra visibly stiffened but didn’t say anything as she turned to Merrick. The worry in her eyes was clear.

“Fuck!” Merrick swore. “They lured us out of the camp.” He ordered Audra and three of the Anglian guards back to base. After she sped off, Merrick and Jenson turned their attention to the trees blocking their path. With two guards keeping the flauros from leaving their hiding place, Merrick called Perrault to help him and Jenson muscle the trees out of the way.

As soon as the obstacles had been moved, Merrick called a retreat and they sped off toward the base. It seemed to take forever to reach the camp, and Merrick was worried about what he would find when they got there. All he’d left behind were two men to guard the laborers and scientists. Merrick cursed himself for his stupidity. If anyone got hurt it was going to be his fault.

“Audra, what’s going on over there?” Jenson’s asked, as they bounced over the rough terrain. There was no response.

“Envoy Shey,” a voice answered. Merrick assumed he was one the new vampire guards he hadn’t met yet. “We have two men down, and one target has been eliminated. Captain Shey has the second cornered in one of the bunkhouses.”

The two vehicles finally broke through the trees, and Merrick’s stomach turned when he saw the destruction. There was blood everywhere, and two of the bunkhouses were torn apart. They jumped out of the trucks and, with their weapons drawn, headed quickly but cautiously towards the buildings. As he rounded the office structure, Merrick heard Audra yell for someone to get down, and then shots rang out to his right. As he approached the bunkhouse, Audra limped out with Dr. Forbes leaning heavily against her. There was a large gash across the man’s forehead, which was bleeding profusely.

“The one in there is dead,” Audra said, helping the redhead sit on the ground. “There are still two more somewhere.”

“We left two out in the forest,” Jenson said, kneeling to examine the doctor’s head wound. “They’re more intelligent than we gave them credit for.” He looked up at Merrick. “This was a planned, coordinated attack.”

“I agree,” he said, looking towards the demolished structures. “The lured us away so they could get to the camp.”

Merrick touched his earpiece and tried to reach Akachi for a situation update.

“We’ve managed to lure two into the ravine,” the officer answered quietly.

“Copy that,” Merrick said before joining Perreault by the trucks. “Keep me updated.”

“We’ve only had a few glimpses of them,” Perreault said when Merrick got to his side. “They haven’t tried to get through the perimeter.”

They waited for over 30 minutes, but there was no sign of the flauros. Jenson had joined him after treating Dr. Forbes’ injuries. He updated Merrick on details of the attack he’d been able to get from the doctor. One of the builders had been killed after two flauros had gotten through the perimeter and attacked the unarmed man. Dr. Lewes was badly injured when the bunkhouse he was hiding in collapsed on him, but Jenson expected him to recover. Dr. Julian had shot one of the creatures when it tried to reach Dr. Lewes in the building wreckage. The vampire left his sister to continue to treat the injured in the last bunkhouse, which they had pressed into service as an infirmary.

The last update from Akachi was that they’d eliminated another target, but the second had disappeared. Merrick ordered them back to base. He knew how hard these bastards could be to locate if they didn’t want to be found. He also wanted to activate the newly developed perimeter defence system the council had sent with the six guards. It utilized existing drone technology combined with low profile, high-powered blasters. The drones were programmed to only fire on unfamiliar life signs, so therefore, each person in the camp would need to have their biometric readings stored in the system. These weapons had been in the testing phase for years, but this was the first chance to use them in a hostile situation.

As soon as everyone was back on base, Jenson coordinated getting the network up and running. Merrick walked through the camp, assessing the damage and helping with the cleanup. Fear was running high amongst the builders and the scientists. Merrick couldn’t blame them… they weren’t fighters, even though all inter-planetary workers received mandatory weapons training. He tried to soothe as many nerves as he could, but he knew that only having the flauros threat eliminated would help.

The two ruined bunkhouses were taken down and a new shelter was hastily built. In order to free up space, Jenson and Merrick volunteered to sleep in the back of one of the trucks. The other two vehicles were also being used as temporary sleeping quarters for the guards not on duty. Audra informed her brother she would be staying with Alex in the infirmary to keep any eye on his head wound. Alex, for his part, expressed awe at Audra’s combat skills. She had knocked the flauros away from the doctor with a well-placed kick to the chest before shooting the creature between the eyes when it turned on her. It was a perfect shot. Merrick was amused to see Audra actually flush under the doctor’s praise.

With the patrol doubled and the new drones guarding the perimeter, Merrick and Jenson decided to turn in. Merrick was scheduled for patrol and Jenson would monitor the video feed from the drones at 0600. When they climbed into their new accommodations for the night, Merrick rolled out his blanket beside the vampire’s. The truck was more spacious than it appeared, but it would still be a bit of a tight fit for two grown men. Stripping down to their underclothes, both men lay down facing each other.

“Were you able to speak with your father?” Merrick asked, resting his head on his hand.

“I talked to him a few minutes ago. He said the Alecterans are still denying any knowledge of how the flauros got on the planet,” Jenson answered, leaning up on his elbow, which caused his blanket to fall to his waist.

Merrick noticed a long scratch along the vampire’s ribs and reached out to touch the red mark. “You hurt yourself?” The concern in his voice was evident.

“It’s nothing.” Jenson watched Merrick’s fingers skim across his skin. “Just a scratch.”

Merrick looked up and saw the vampire’s eyes shift from brilliant blue to glittering black. He could feel the muscles under his fingertips twitch as the older man’s breathing turn shallow. He moved his hand to the man’s pec and spread his fingers, grazing the nipple. It hardened instantly under his touch. Merrick never broke eye contact, and watched doubt momentarily cloud the vampire’s features before he leaned in slowly, using his body to roll Merrick onto his back.

Merrick reveled in the feeling of Jenson’s solid weight on top of him as the vampire’s lips touched his. The kiss was soft and gentle. After a few minutes of tender, wet kisses, Merrick could feel Jenson’s tongue lick his lower lip. He opened his mouth and met Jenson’s tongue with his, tasting and sliding against one another. One of the vampire’s hands cupped Merrick’s face before moving behind his head.

“Merrick,” Jenson whispered against his lips. The older man deepened the kiss, nipping the younger man’s lips as he stroked deep into Merrick’s mouth. Merrick groaned as Jenson’s hand skimmed along his side to his hip. He could feel Jenson’s erection pressing into his thigh. He wanted to taste the man… to have what he had been fantasizing about for years. With his hands on the vampire’s shoulders, he eased him onto his back, straddling his hips. Leaning in, he took the man’s mouth with another kiss before moving from his jaw down to his throat. He kissed and licked his skin, tasting the slight saltiness. He moved slowly down Jenson’s chest, teasing first one nipple , and then the other, leaving a damp trail in his wake. He could feel the vampire’s muscle quiver under him.

Jenson grabbed his shoulders and Merrick found himself on his back again. “Merrick,” he said softly, his hand touching Merrick’s jaw. “I need you to be patient with me. I’m not sure how much I’m ready for yet.”

Merrick reached up and ran his fingers through the vampire’s hair, pulling him down for a kiss. “Just let me make you feel good,” he whispered against Jenson’s lips. Jenson stared at him for a few moments before letting himself be pushed onto his back again. Merrick ran his hands over Jenson’s pecs and abs, enjoying finally being able to touch this man; to worship the body he had wanted for so long. Jenson hissed when Merrick’s fingernails lightly scratched his skin.

Merrick ran his fingers along the edge of the older man’s briefs before pulling them down. He threw the garment aside and finally took a good look at his prize. Leaning down, he ran his tongue over the swollen tip, causing the vampire to groan as his eyes rolled back in his head. He licked his way down the hard shaft before gliding his tongue back to the top. Pulling the rigid shaft away from Jenson’s stomach, Merrick finally took him into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the head.

“Fuck, Merrick,” Jenson hissed again. “It’s been so long. I’m not going to last.”

“Let yourself go,” Merrick encouraged before going back to his pleasurable task. He worshipped Jenson’s cock for several minutes before he felt it begin to swell in his mouth.

“I’m coming… fuck…Merrick…oh fuck…,” Jenson gasped before his body tightened, and he exploded into the younger man’s mouth with a deep moan. Merrick swallowed every drop. Jenson lay back against his bedroll, panting heavily.

“Lord,” he laughed. “That was….” Instead of finishing his thought, he pulled Merrick up and took his mouth in a hungry kiss. Pushing the younger man onto his back, he immediately went to work, nibbling and licking his way down to Merrick’s hard cock.

Merrick was so turned on that he knew he wasn’t going last very long. “Please, Jenson,” he begged as the vampire mouthed his cock through the fabric of his underwear. He was leaking heavily, and desperately needed to come.

Jenson slid Merrick’s underwear off, tossing them behind him. With a wicked grin that showed off his fangs, Jenson took Merrick into his hot, wet mouth. The thought of the fangs… and the thought that his cock was in Jenson’s mouth, pushed him to the brink faster than he wanted. He wasn’t sure if Jenson was going to shut him out again so he wanted this to last. He tried to slow down his impending orgasm, but the vampire had other plans. The man licked and sucked Merrick’s cock and cupped his balls in his hand, rolling and gently squeezing them. When Merrick felt the vampire’s fingers travel down to his crease and ghost over his hole, he lost the battle and his cock twitched and throbbed as he came into Jenson’s mouth… his lover’s mouth. That thought sent another shudder through his body and he came again. He barely managed to lower his shout of ecstasy.

Exhausted, he lay back, staring up at the roof of the truck. He felt Jenson lay beside him and turned his head with what he was sure was a goofy smile on his face. “Damn,” he said, trying to catch his breath.

Jenson chuckled, and leaned in to kiss him softly before laying back and pulling Merrick into his arms. Merrick smiled against the vampire’s chest as his eyes closed. He was drifting to sleep when Jenson kissed the top of his head and whispered into his hair.

“Sleep, my Merrick.”