Bram Stoker's HANNIBAL

Chapter 23: What If the Traitor's False Faith Failed?

When they left the privacy of the tree boughs, Hannibal didn't let go of his hand except to rest it on the small of Will's back as they returned to the castle for supper. After, they enjoyed plum brandy in the library, Hannibal playing the harpsichord for them, a new composition.

At Avigeya's first yawn Hannibal sent her to bed, claiming she'd worn herself out beating the rugs and needed rest. She wasn't gone five minutes before Will expressed weariness as well.

This was, of course, a pretext to slip Count Lecter into his bedchamber again.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Hannibal drew Will into his arms, giving him several savoring, lingering kisses, slipping his hand through Will's hair as Will let himself explore around behind his hips, settling his grip against Hannibal's buttock and lower back respectively. At last, the count lifted Will by his thighs, taking two steps to set him down gently on the bed.

Will moved to make room for him. The count took his invitation and eased off Will's jacket, leaving it at the foot of the bed and unfastening the upper buttons on his shirt in order to slip it over his head. "Would I be correct," Hannibal inquired politely through a series of kisses along Will's chest and neck, "that you didn't pack your policeman's handcuffs for this journey?"

Will laughed reflexively before he considered the question more seriously, warmth blushing across his skin. "Uh, no, I didn't. Wasn't expecting any trouble."

"Would you like me to trouble you, Will?" Hannibal teased as he pulled off his shirt and slid out of his trousers.

"I'm not with Scotland Yard anymore. But I could make... a citizen's arrest... if I needed to..."

Will reached for him, but Hannibal evaded with a subtle smirk and took him by the wrists. "I told you I'd play any game you wanted, Will. Is there something you'd like?"

"Uhm..." Will had absolutely no idea how to answer. He felt totally out of his depth and, despite an upbringing that valued purity above all else, woefully inexperienced.

Not that he didn't know about sex in its various incarnations. The Ripper investigation had required dozens of hours of witness interviews. Many of the people who knew the victims or had seen them on the nights they'd been killed had been sex workers. He'd learned more than his share about the London underworld, from the high-class courtesans engaging in upper-class dalliances to the desperate people turning tricks to survive.

He'd also met a few sex workers who catered to a very specific group of clients. A former flatmate of Annie Chapman's made her living entirely with her feet. Will had also met a few sex workers who specialized in scenarios where actual sex might not even take place, the clients asking to be tied up and subjected to various degrees of humiliation or pain.

There was one woman in particular — very expensive, she'd informed him within a few minutes of their exchange — who Will had considered hiring, if he'd had the courage. She worked under the name Kali. He'd asked her the requisite questions about any customers she'd had that had gotten violent or threatened her who also had a medical background. She'd laughed at the notion that any of her clients would be rough with her. They paid her to be rough with them. Will had found himself asking more and more questions about her services. Kali had pulled out her appointment book at one point and was ready to pencil him in when he'd cut the interview short and fled, red-faced and half-hard in his trousers like a schoolboy spying on the girls at the beach in their bathing dresses.

Will understood in theory what he wanted but didn't have the words.

He'd liked it very much when Hannibal held him down.

"You," Will answered, just to say something, and kissed him again.

"And how would you have me, Will?" If he wasn't mistaken, Hannibal was enjoying this discussion, savoring Will's Speechless blushing, his eyes shining, lifting one pale brow as he continued undressing Will and kissing and touching the new expanses of exposed skin. He paid particular attention to the bruises on Will's shoulder and thigh. "Should I apologize for these?"