Thicker than Blood

13. Geordi

CHAPTER 13

Geordi

“ N ow remember, we’re here to work.”

Enyo rolls his eyes as we approach the front door of Elias’s home. “Yeah, yeah.”

“I’m serious. It’s very overwhelming in there.”

He rubs his hands together. “I can’t wait to see it.”

I ring the bell, not at all surprised when Benicio answers it just seconds later.

He nods at me after looking Enyo over. “Please come in,” he says.

“Thank you.”

We walk past him and wait in the foyer. Before I can ask where to find Elias, he appears at the top of the grand staircase. He smiles and my stomach flutters with memories of my earlier jack-off session.

Work. This is work.

“Hello, Geordi.” Elias glides down the stairs as if carried on a cloud. “And who is this?”

“My research partner, Enyo.”

“What an interesting name. Welcome.”

Enyo stares at Elias with a ridiculous smile on his face. I imagine it’s what a child would look like seeing Santa Claus. I nudge him with my arm, and he looks at me with a dazed expression.

“Oh. Hi.”

Elias chuckles. “You said you wanted to test the vaccine again?”

“Yeah. I want to give it to Enyo and see if he has a similar reaction to it.”

“I see. Where would you like your experiment to take place?”

“Your sitting room is fine.”

“I want to see the sex club,” Enyo whispers, even though we both know the vampire can hear us.

“I’m happy to provide a tour,” Elias says with a sexy smile.

“Can we handle the business part first please?” I ask.

“Whatever you desire.”

Enyo’s breath hitches. “Damn. Does he always talk like that?”

“Yes.”

“You must be made of stone.”

I wish. Elias gestures for us to walk ahead of him. Benicio appears again, setting down a tray with juice and wine on it.

“Thank you, Benicio,” Elias says, sitting on the couch.

I choose to sit on his left while Enyo sits on his right. Enyo rubs his hands together.

“Threesome vibes. I dig it.”

“Enyo.” I give him a look. “Be serious.”

Elias smiles. “Ah. Opposites attract, yes?”

“Just as friends,” Enyo says. “No benefits included.”

I huff a breath. We should not be talking about sex with Elias. He definitely doesn’t need encouragement.

“Good to know. I’d hate to be jealous of you.”

Enyo’s eyes go wide as he reaches around behind Elias to poke me. “I’d never stand in the way of Geordi getting everything he’s ever?—”

I clear my throat. “Back to the purpose of our visit.”

Elias turns his gaze to me, an amused expression on his stunning face. “By all means.”

“Same as before,” I explain, digging my notebook out of my bag. “Compulsion before the vaccine, then again after.”

Elias reaches behind Enyo, slowly massaging the back of his neck. I’m sure it’s to relax him, but the way my stomach twists into a knot is pure jealousy. Awesome.

“Tell me about something pleasant you enjoy,” Elias says, gazing into Enyo’s eyes.

I see the moment Enyo’s eyes glaze over as he talks about the manga books he loves to read. Elias leans in, nodding and whispering words I can’t hear. It’s like his lips are moving but nothing is coming out, but Enyo is swaying back and forth, completely under his spell.

If Elias kisses him I think I’ll jump out of my skin even though I have no right to. As if hearing my thoughts, Elias puts his hand on my leg without turning his attention away from my friend. He gently squeezes my thigh in a comforting gesture.

“Offer your neck,” Elias says.

Enyo doesn’t even hesitate, tugging the collar of his shirt down and tilting his head back.

“Very nice,” Elias purrs. “Offer your body.”

Enyo hums softly, standing and immediately unbuttoning his jeans, but Elias puts his hand over his, stopping him.

“Thank you.” Elias guides Enyo back to sitting and blinks, snapping Enyo out of his thrall.

Enyo jolts and visibly shudders. “Wow. That works way better than hypnosis.”

Elias chuckles. “Indeed.” He turns to me. “Did you get what you needed?”

“I think so. Did you feel that resistance in him that you told me about?”

“Not one bit.”

I nod, scrawling that in my notes. “That bodes well for the vaccine. Are you ready, En?”

“Sure thing,” he says, pushing up his sleeve.

I get to work, searching for his vein and then injecting the serum. His eyes go wide as he cringes.

“Fuck.”

“Sorry. I told you it hurts.”

“Whooo.” He blows out a breath. “This is worse than an inner thigh tattoo.”

“It should be over pretty quick.”

Enyo squeezes his eyes shut, digging his fingers into the couch cushions on either side of his legs. “Fuck,” he repeats. “I might hurl.”

“Hurl?” Elias asks, clearly confused.

“Vomit.”

“Ah.” He raises a hand and Benicio is there in a flash. “A large bowl for the mortal, please.”

“Sir.” He nods, and then he’s gone and back before hardly a blink.

Enyo seems to be coming down from the worst of it as he leans back against the couch and catches his breath. “Damn. That seriously sucked.”

“I know. I guess it should, though, considering what it’s doing to your body. Elias, can you try the compulsion again please?”

“Of course.”

“No rest for the wicked,” Enyo says, pulling himself upright.

I watch Enyo intently as Elias does his thing again. Enyo stays clear eyed and aware of himself, glancing past Elias to me several times as Elias increases his efforts.

“Offer your neck, mortal.”

Enyo chuckles. “Yeah, no.”

“Hmm.” Elias leans closer, and as his eyes flicker, Enyo appears interested but not at all entranced. “Your neck.”

Enyo tilts his head. “Still no, but Geordi should note what’s physically happening right now. My whole body is tingling but I feel it the most in my chest. Like there’s a snake twisting around or… no, maybe a bird caught inside me. Fluttering around. I can literally feel the vaccine fighting Elias off.”

Elias grips the back of Enyo’s neck, pulling him so close that Enyo gasps. I don’t like it at all, but I’m interested to see what happens.

Elias focuses intently, moving his lips again without speaking, and as Enyo’s cheeks turn red and he grips the vampire’s biceps, I can see in his eyes that he’s not under compulsion. The vaccine works.

Elias sits back. “Hmm. Nothing. He’s resistant to me.”

“It works,” I whisper, staring at my friend. “It freaking works.”

“Just not on you,” Enyo says. “Not gonna lie, it’s unpleasant, but it does what it’s supposed to do. As soon as he stopped trying, I felt normal again.”

“This is exciting. I just need to figure out how to break it to Meredith that I did human testing without approval.”

“Why don’t you just tell her it was an emergency?” Elias suggests. “Certainly being in my home seems plausible.”

“That’s lying.”

“Oh, right. Mr. Rule Follower. Hades forbid you tell a small white lie.”

Enyo snorts a laugh but stops as I glare at him.

“Rules exist for a reason,” I say.

Elias cups my chin, leaning in so close I worry for a second that he’s going to kiss me. “Aren’t you the least bit intrigued about how delicious it would be to break them just once?”

“N-no.” I clear my throat. “Rules create order and order resists chaos.”

“You’re missing out, mortal. Chaos is the spice of life.”

“Ooh, I like this guy,” Enyo says.

“Who would like a tour?” Elias says, shifting the topic. “We can test how long your vaccine works.”

“Yeah, okay.”

As we stand and walk towards the back, my thoughts tangle around one fact: The vaccine doesn’t work on me. Taking it again is a guaranteed way to get myself in trouble with Elias, and that should concern me, but I can’t deny how good it felt to just let go, even for a few minutes.

Then I get an idea. What if it’s just Elias that has a weird effect on me? I have sort of crushed on him from afar for too many therapy hours to count. Plausible.

“Wait.” Both men turn to me. “I’m gonna take the vaccine again. I want to test it out on me again, but with a different vampire. No offense.”

Elias narrows his eyes. “Why?”

Enyo grins, rocking on his toes. “Yeah, Geordi. Why?”

I glare back at him. “Just different reference points. I’d like you to supervise though. You can pick the vampire too. I need to make sure I’m safe, of course.”

Elias nods. “Very well. You can meet the vampires I’ve invited for intel. I’m sure any one of them would be delighted to compel you.”

“But you’ll stay close, right?”

“A village mob couldn’t drag me away.”

“Cool.” I blow out a breath. “Let’s do this.”