Angel

9- Midnight

Kylo looked at the lord, stunned by the offer. "My lord, it would be my honor."

"Trust me, angel, it is all mine," Vincent said as Kylo stepped into his arms. "I have wanted to have you close from the moment I laid eyes upon you." Pulling Kylo into his embrace, Vincent slid a hand under the white wings and took Kylo's left hand in his. "The fact that the music has escaped into the garden has given me the perfect chance to hold you."

Moving slowly when Vincent led him through the song, Kylo asked, "Why do you want to hold me?"

Absentmindedly, Vincent ran his fingers along the curve of Kylo's back. "Because you are haunting, like a song sung as a requiem by some angelic choir." He chuckled low. "Morbid, I know, but I have a soft spot for beautiful and sorrow-filled things."

"Does my sorrow seep out?" Kylo worried. "I never intended –"

Stopping the dance to pull Kylo closer to him, Vincent uttered low, "Kylo, I haven't known you for long but I feel that the moment we part I will shatter into a million horrid pieces. I can't explain it."

"I think I understand," came a whispered reply from Kylo. Carefully, he laid his head on the lord's chest. Though he heard the lord breathing, it was a minute or two until Kylo heard the thud of a heart beating and the lord drawing breath for a long sigh. "My lord?" Kylo pulled back. "Have I done something wrong?"

"It's been a long time..." Lord Vincent said, his words trailing off as the last notes of the song took flight and vanished into the night. The lord bowed his head to Kylo's. "Do you know what it's like to wander through time longing for human touch? Not just any touch, for..."

"For love?"

"Yes," Vincent moaned, "that sensation that makes you feel like you have drunk everything in your liquor cabinet. That...thing that you fear is impossible to find – like searching for a mythological creature that exists solely in fairy tales."

"My lord," Kylo wrapped his words in a gentle hush because of the closeness. His body burned from feeling Vincent's body pressed against his. "If I were to live a thousand years, I will never forget this night, or you. You have bewitched me far beyond any man I have ever known."

"Nor will I forget any of this," Vincent replied softly, imitating Kylo's whisper. Bringing a hand to Kylo's face, he brushed along soft skin. "I wish there were no guests in the house, that they would all just disappear."

Kylo gave him a bashful smile. "We have the sanctuary of the garden. The roses will tell no tales."

"Yes," Vincent agreed as he cast a look at the unnaturally large rose bushes. "You looked very dashing with the rose pinned to your lapel." Vincent turned back to Kylo. "One day I would like to see you laying in a bed of petals." He reached up and ran his fingers over Kylo's hair. "Soft skinned and pale among a bed of red."

"My lord?" Kylo brought his gloved hands up to Vincent's face, his gaze searching every inch, memorizing his beauty in case they never met again.

"Yes?"

"Will you..." biting his lip, Kylo's words trailed off. To ashamed to say anything more he stayed silent chastising himself briefly for trying to be daring.

"Anything, angel."

Mustering up the same bravery he had found when he had sneaked into the estate, Kylo looked at Vincent and uttered under his breath. "Will you kiss me?"

Vincent leaned into Kylo and brushed his lips along his, a feathery touch that cried for more. When Kylo let out a soft, needy sound, Vincent pulled him deeper into the kiss. His tongue searched for Kylo's as he held him close, desire building when he felt the younger man's erection bump against his leg. The lord pulled back a touch, just enough to suck on Kylo's lower lip and reopen the wound. A small trickle of blood entered Vincent's mouth and he swallowed it down, then he kissed the wound until it closed as if Kylo's lip had never been split. The gentle sounds of their kisses found sanctuary among the roses. Whenever Kylo moaned into the kiss, Vincent thought he would lose his mind. "Those sounds you make," he groaned momentarily breaking the kiss, "they are glorious."

Whimpering when the kiss was broken, Kylo felt the world spin. "My lord..." he uttered breathlessly.

"The way you utter anything in that tone is glorious," Vincent said before kissing Kylo again. His hands ached to touch more than just Kylo's hair and back. He wanted them to move all over the wing-wearer until he had memorized every slope and curve. Thoughts of laying Kylo among the roses thrashed in the lord's brain like a violent storm. "What I want to do to you is unholy, Kylo," Vincent admitted.

Kylo thought his heart would explode out of his chest and bits would fall like confetti at their feet. He slid his fingertips over Vincent's arms, his palms burning. "Things done in love are never unholy," he said as he quickly lowered his hands and slid his gloves off. Holding them in one hand, he felt the night's breeze waft along his skin perfectly. Kylo placed his free hand on Vincent's jaw, his fingers spider-walking over the soft curve of bone.

Vincent closed his eyes as Kylo's warm fingers touched him. Around them, the fragrant air twined with the melody, and the moon peeked behind a veil of black. Fragments of light shone upon the pair. When the lord reopened his eyes, he saw Kylo shimmering in the moonlight.

But as the night trickled on, time went from friend to foe. A silvery sound was heard from a clock in the foyer. Kylo began to count the chimes. One, two, three...with the passing of each beat, Kylo felt his heart sink into his stomach...eleven, twelve...

"Angel?" Vincent noticed Kylo tensing and his dark eyes going wide.

"I have to go," Kylo said with a tremor in his voice. "My step-family said they would return home shortly after midnight and the clock chimes unmercifully." Backing away from the lord, Kylo looked pale.

"I will explain to them you are my guest. You do not have to leave."

"You will explain that we tricked them into thinking I am your Spanish cousin?" Kylo shook his head, his lower lip trembling. "They will skin me alive."

Reaching for Kylo's hand, Vincent tried to pull him close. "I will not let them –"

But the fear the step-mother had filled him with all those years reigned. "My lord," came a broken sound, "please, I have to go." Slipping his hand out of Vincent's, Kylo turned on his heel. He ran through the roses and into the main garden, losing one of his gloves as he fled. As he ran towards the gates, Vincent hurried after him. But Kylo didn't turn around when he heard the lord calling out his name, pleading for his return.

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