Manchild

Title - Manchild
Author - Rina76
Email - rina762003@hotmail.com
Summary - Connor is rewarded big time for saving someone's life
Warning - Slash, a little blood, nothing too violent
Disclaimer - I don't own the character of Connor, however Sebastian is all mine :)

***

“No, I don’t want a drink and I don’t want to dance, okay?” the tall blonde woman yelled, shoving the annoying, moustached man in the chest who’d been hanging around her all night. “Just piss off and leave me alone!”

She turned away from him and found a scrawny, auburn haired guy who didn’t even look old enough to be in the club watching the exchange with interest. “Men. You all suck,” she hissed as she stalked past him to get her coat. Why did this always happen to her? Whenever she went out to have to a good time, some creep would come on to her and hound her for the rest of the evening until she did something rash like pour a drink over their head or yell at them like she just did to that jerk.

“That’s it. I’m going home,” she muttered, collecting her coat. She escaped out of the side entrance normally used by staff and found herself in an alley. To her disbelief that infuriating man appeared and cut off her exit.

“You just can’t take a hint, can you?” she asked scathingly. “What are you, fucking brain dead?”

The dark haired guy with the moustache smiled and something weird happened. His face changed until he didn’t look human anymore. His forehead went all bumpy, his eyes turned yellow, glowing unearthly in the dark and his canine teeth grew incredibly long. She gasped in fear.

“No,” he sneered. “Just dead. Like you’re gonna be soon, bitch.”

Her body flooding with adrenaline, the girl attempted to run back inside the club for safety but the creature suddenly materialised in front of her, moving too fast to see. He backhanded her across the face, sending her flying sideways into a brick wall. She saw stars as her temple cracked against the bricks. She felt blood start to drip down the side of her face. The thing, the monster grabbed her left leg and began to drag her towards him, growling like an animal. She lashed out in panic and her free foot, with spiked high heel shoe on it, connected with his crotch. He howled in pain and clutched his groin.

Then, from out of nowhere, a blur of motion flashed into her vision and the scary fanged guy abruptly disintegrated into a pile of ashes. The last thing she saw was a hand, gripping a sharp wooden stick in mid-air. She groaned and passed out.

When she came to, she was in an unfamiliar bed, in a room she’d never seen before. There was a lot of junk and odd bits of furniture scattered around the place, as well as lit candles. Out through a window, she could see it was still night time. Perched under that window, on a brick ledge was a figure, watching her carefully.

“You!” she exclaimed, sitting up in shock. A wave of nausea swept through her and she moaned, holding her head, a black cloud of pain forming in front of her eyes.
“Oh, shit. Shit…” she mumbled, attempting to keep the contents of her stomach down. She felt a hand on her back, rubbing soothingly.

“Don’t try to get up. You’ll just faint again. Take deep breaths.” The disembodied voice was reassuring and smooth like caramel.

She sucked in a shaky lungful of air and let it out slowly, repeating the pattern until the fog lifted and she didn’t feel like puking any more. She raised her head and gazed at the guy who still had his hand on her back comfortingly. He couldn’t have been any more than sixteen, seventeen at the most. He was wearing tatty jeans and a t-shirt over another long-sleeved top. His hair was a rich, reddish brown, parted in the middle and falling to his shoulders in a sleek curtain. There was a beauty mark under the left corner of his soft, sensual lips, highlighting his pale, unlined complexion. His features were fine, almost feminine yet he definitely oozed testosterone.

But the most striking thing about him were his eyes. Oh, she’d never seen such amazing eyes, vivid peacock blue, ringed in black and offset by dark, feathery lashes. He was watching her closely and intently, with unmasked curiosity.

“You’re too young,” she said wonderingly. He frowned slightly.

“For what?”

“To be out clubbing, for one thing. And saving my life? You’re only a kid for goodness sakes.”

He seemed to take offence at that and she could feel him bristling. He took his hand off her back and pulled himself up to his full height, which was about five feet six inches. He was very slender, almost too thin.

“I’m nearly eighteen,” he stated, sounding annoyed. “And if it wasn’t for me, you’d be dead right now.”

“Yeah, about that,” she began, recalling creepy yellow eyes and sharp teeth. “What the hell was wrong with that guy?”

The boy shrugged. “Vampire.”

The young lady nearly choked on her own tongue. “Vampire?”

“L.A. is crawling with them,” he said, as if he was talking about rats or cockroaches. “I kill them.”

She squinted at him. “You kill vampires?”

He shrugged again, nonchalantly. “Somebody has to. They’re evil.”

“Vampires are real?” She gaped at the boy. He gestured to her ankle which had scratch marks on it from the creature’s long fingernails.

“You saw it. Look what it did to you.”

She let out a long, heavy breath. “Holy crap. Vampires are real,” she repeated, this time completely believing the words. She saw how the guy’s face changed right before her very eyes and felt how monstrously strong he was. He’d sent her flying against a brick wall with one slap. Her fingers came up and found a wad of cotton wool held over her head wound with sticking plaster. The weird boy must have done that.

“Listen, sorry I’ve been so rude, honey,” she said contritely. “I’m just really spinning out here. Thanks for saving my ass, er…”

“Connor.”

“Connor, right. Thank you. By the way, I’m….I’m…” She found to her horror that she couldn’t remember her own name. In fact, she couldn’t remember anything at all leading up to the attack outside the nightclub. Not her age, not her address, not even what kind of ice-cream she liked. Or even if she liked ice-cream at all.

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I don’t know who I am. Oh God, do you think I have amnesia, like on the mo?”
?”

Connor didn’t blink. “It’s possible. You hit your head hard.”

“Just great,” she muttered. “I have no memory, I’ve been attacked by a blood-sucking freak, I’m in some strange guy’s bed…ooh, is that my bag?”

She spied a very familiar looking velvet bag hanging on the back of a wooden chair and Connor retrieved it and passed to her. Her hopes of at least finding out her name were dashed when she discovered all that was in there was a key, money, lipstick and condoms.

“Dammit. I’m a Jane Doe,” she cried despondently, flinging the useless bag on the floor. Her long blonde hair resembled a mass of golden threads falling around her face and down her back, her lovely green eyes were troubled and shiny with burgeoning tears, her red-lipsticked mouth starting to tremble.

“Don’t worry. Your memory will probably come back soon,” Connor said, trying to placate this beautiful but emotional woman who was surely about to cry on him. He was not good with crying. “Why don’t you make something up until then?”

“Hmm, okay,” she said brightening at the idea. “How about Leia, you know after Princess Leia? I love her. She rocks.” Then she made a sound of disgust. “Oh, I can remember the names of all the characters in every Star Wars film but I can’t recall what I had for breakfast. This sucks.”

“That’s what you said about men,” Connor reminded her with a ghost of a smile on his lips.

“Oh, I didn’t mean you, sugar,” she hastily retracted. “I was just pissed at the vamp guy. You are obviously different, showing up like a knight on a white steed and all.”
She flicked her gaze around the room. “I don’t mean to sound bitchy and ungrateful, but why didn’t you take me to a hospital?”

“My place was closer,” he said by way of explanation. “You didn’t seem that hurt.”
He cocked his head at her inquisitively. “Do you feel better now?”

She gingerly touched her temple. “Apart from one motherfucker of a headache, I’m okay. I don’t have the urge to throw my dinner up all over your bedspread any more.”

Connor actually smiled then and it was surprisingly beautiful. “I’m glad.”

He curled his small form down on the edge of his bed and gazed at her with those startlingly pretty eyes. “Would you like something to drink? Or food? I can break into a vending machine around the corner.”

‘Leia’ looked at him strangely. Stolen vending machine food? Maybe he had no money. Maybe he was squatting here. That made sense. He appeared to be wearing second hand clothes and everything in the room looked as if he’d found it among unwanted kerbside rubbish.

“Thanks but no thanks, pet. Food and me are not compatible right now,” she replied, the thought of eating making her stomach churn. “I’m trying to keep your bed puke free. I think I just need to lie down for a bit longer.”

“You can stay here,” Connor offered. “Until you remember where you live.”

She debated the idea. She had nowhere else to go, unless she went to a motel but she didn’t really feel like spending the night alone, still shook up over almost being a midnight snack for one of the undead. If there were more of those things out there…she shivered. At least if she stayed with Connor, he’d protect her. She didn’t know him, didn’t know anything about him except his name and that he was some kind of one man vampire vigilante, but for some reason she trusted him. Somehow, intuitively, she knew she was safe with him, that he wouldn’t hurt her. And a nice, long, recuperating rest sounded exactly like what she needed. Who knows? Her memory might come back when she woke up.

“Are you gonna stay here while I sleep?” she asked him.

“If you want,” he said, looking at her in that scrutinising way, like he was trying to figure out what her motives were.

“I do,” she whispered, hugging herself, feeling suddenly scared and vulnerable. “I don’t want to be alone right now, Connor. Please.”

“Then I’ll stay.”

“Thank you,” she said softly.

He flashed another quick smile at her and said, “You’re welcome. Leia.”

She returned his smile, feeling both silly and relieved at once. He helped her slip underneath the blankets and pulled them up over her like a dad would do for his daughter. Except a dad wouldn’t stare at his daughter’s swelling bosoms under the tight dress she was wearing. Leia yanked the blankets up a little higher and he finally looked back at her face.

“Sleep,” he ordered. “I’ll be here if you need anything.” He leapt up onto the windowsill again and proceeded to whittle away at a stick. She realised he was making stakes. Wooden stakes. For the vampires.

“What a fucked up night,” she breathed to herself.

She watched Connor for a short while, wielding the sharp knife dexterously if if he’d been born with one in his fingers and he glanced up and caught her observation, quirking his lips, then turned back to the task at hand. She found herself quite intrigued by this streetwise Peter Pan-type child. A kid who dusted Nosferatu as easily as hitting a baseball. A kid who carried her taller, heavier figure all the way here by himself and bandaged her injury. A kid who was actually rather cute in a lost, scruffy puppy kind of way.

Eventually, her eyes couldn’t stay open any longer and she slept.

***

Holding a knife against the throat of the strange man who had just come out of his bathroom, Connor barked, “Who are you? And what did you do to Leia?”

He pressed the cold metal blade harder against the man’s neck, all his muscles tensed like tightly-wound springs and his jaw clenched hard. The deadly light in his long-lashed blue eyes proved he was ready and willing to kill the intruder without thinking twice about it.

Blown away and terrified by how fast the teenage boy had sprung from out of thin air and shoved him against the wall, the man gulped and held up his hands in surrender, dropping a bundle of clothes onto the floor in his fright.

“Whoa, take it easy, cupcake! It’s me.”

Connor frowned, looking at the other male very closely. Something about that voice and those green eyes seemed to ring a bell. In disbelief, he demanded, “Leia?”

“Yeah, Connor. It’s me! C’mon, be a good boy and put the knife down, huh?”

Very slowly, Connor took the knife away and backed off but still held the weapon pointed towards the other man’s heart. His sharp gaze swept over the second figure, taking in every detail. Standing in front of him, wearing one of Connor’s towels wrapped around his waist, was a man in his twenties. He was around four inches taller than Connor, his naked torso smooth, tanned and hairless, as were his arms and legs, and there was a silver ring through his left nipple. His belly had defined abdominal muscles and his body was the slender, androgynous type favoured by designers these days but not skinny like Connor, more toned and lean. His hair was jet black, curly and still damp and there was the shadow of stubble on his chin and upper lip.

Connor would not have recognised this obviously male person as being the same young woman he’d rescued last night if it wasn’t for the scabbed over cut on his temple and his eyes. Those eyes were the distinct, opaque colour of green Gummi Bears, Connor remembered thinking that, only now they didn’t have all that glittery makeup around them any more. But his lashes were still long and dark.

“You weren’t here when I woke up so I took a shower,” the guy formerly known as Leia explained hurriedly. “I hope that was okay.”

Connor continued staring. That soft, slightly husky voice. That really was her.
Or used to be. Finally, he said, “But…You’re a man.”

“You noticed that, huh?” the guy replied, grinning sheepishly at Connor. “Oh, and I think I know my name now. Read this.”

He removed a Celtic ring from his middle finger and held it out to Connor, who hesitated, as if the silver band was a poisonous spider, then quickly snatched it. He scrutinized the jewellery, holding it with one hand while the other still aimed the knife at the towel-clad man. There was an engraving on the inside of the ring. “To Sebastian, all my love Brad.” Connor looked back up, puzzled and suspicious at once.

“Don’t you see? I must be Sebastian,” the green eyed man deduced. “God, it’s good to have a name. I was starting to feel like I was nobody. Like the invisible man.”
By the intense, distrustful way Connor was eyeing him, Sebastian knew he certainly was not invisible. He felt like he had a big red target on his chest.

“Why were you dressed as a woman?” The auburn haired boy asked, utterly perplexed. He flung the ring back to its owner who caught it and slipped it on his finger again.

Sebastian shrugged. “I do that sometimes.”

“Why?”

“For fun,” Sebastian said. “And because I’m queer. At least I remember that much.”

“Queer?” Connor asked, clearly not understanding.

“You know, homosexual? Gay?”

Connor gave him a blank look. “Oh, don’t tell me you don’t know what gay means,” Sebastian said incredulously. “What, did you grow up on anothimenimension or something?”

A strange emotion flitted across Connor’s face. “Actually, I did.”

“Well, I don’t know where you come from,” Sebastian began, “but here in LA and the rest of the world, there are millions of guys like me.”

“Like you?”

Sebastian knew he had to be gentle with this naïve one. “Sweetie, some guys are born liking women, and some, like yours truly, are born liking men. In a romantic way,” he added, in case the boy wasn’t entirely sure what he meant. “There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just the way it is. The universe is a strange and wonderful place, cherub.”

He could see Connor digesting this information and the different expressions that crossed his face as he realised what ‘gay’ actually was. There was shock at first, then uncomfortable awareness, which melted into something like reluctant curiosity. He lowered the knife, apparently deciding Sebastian wasn’t an immediate threat but those blue, sapphire-like eyes remained fixed on him like laser beams.

“The way you talk. You remind me of someone,” Connor said. “His name’s Lorne.”

“Oh, really? Is he queer, too?” Sebastian asked.

“I’m starting to think so, now,” Connor replied dryly. He noticed Sebastian looking at him interestedly.

“Lorne, huh? What kind of a name is that?”

“You wouldn’t like him,” Connor said shortly. “He’s a demon.”

“Demon?” Sebastian repeated, his brows raised.

“Horns. Green skin. Demon.” Connor was a man of few words but did they ever have impact.

“Christ. First vampires, now demons?” Sebastian scratched his head, his brain trying to cope with the information overload. “I suppose you’re gonna tell me that werewolves are real too.”

“Yes,” Connor affirmed. “Ghosts. Giant bugs. All kinds of nasties.”

From the unaffected tone of his voice, Sebastian had no doubt he was telling the truth.
“Hmmm,” Sebastian mused, gazing at the enigmatic young boy. “You know about these sorts of creatures, creatures that aren’t even supposed to be real but you’ve never heard of cross-dressing homosexuals? Don’t you ever watch movies? Did you even GO to high school? What exactly did your parents teach you?”

“I never saw a movie until I was sixteen, I didn’t go to school and my mother is dead,” Connor told him flatly. “Come to think of it, so is my father.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, darlin’,” Sebastian replied empathetically, mentally kicking himself for putting his foot in his mouth. “Let me guess. Vampires.”

Surprised, Connor asked, “How did you know?

“Well, it seems like your only mission in life,” Sebastian reasoned, “apart from acting all Boy Wonder, is to hunt bloodsuckers. And if you’re an orphan, I kinda figured that your parents were killed by them and you want revenge. Isn’t that how Batman got started?”

“Oh. Right. Batman.” Sebastian was way off, however, Connor wasn’t about to tell him the horrible, freakish reality of his birth, having two vampires as parents, something that was impossible, something that was never supposed to happen but for some unknown reason, did. His mother, Darla, staked herself so that he could live and his father, Angel, was alive, or rather, undead, but they didn’t get along at all. Quite simply, Connor hated his guts and swore one day he was going to kill him. In fact, he’d already tried a couple of times. Yeah, his family life was just peachy. He wasn’t going to tell Sebastian any of that so he let the other guy believe his own assumption.

Sebastian swung his head around at the boy’s unusually decorated home. “So, going by your place, I’ll take a wild guess and say you don’t have a job.”

“My job is to dust vampires,” Connor proclaimed strongly.

“I mean one that pays. Like a salary?” Sebastian qed.
ed.

“I don’t need money.” Connor lifted a narrow shoulder. “Whatever I need, food, clothes, whatever, I just go out and take it.”

“Okay, that’ll work.” Sebastian felt a surge of admiration for this odd, unschooled yet unmistakably smart and tough kid who didn’t rely on anyone for help and took care of himself.

“I don’t suppose you could go out and rustle me up some clothes, urchin? Something that’s not a dress?” He indicated to the women’s clothes on the floor, including the high heels and a blonde wig. Connor’s eyes fell to the female accessories and saw a padded bra. He jerked his gaze back to Sebastian’s face, glowering with rage at the deception, especially since he had begun to have a crush on ‘Leia’ and it turned out ‘she’ didn’t even exist. He didn’t like being made a fool of.

“Hey, dollface,” Sebastian started softly, seeing his anger. “I’m sorry I lied to you but revealing my wedding tackle was not high on my list of priorities last night. I mean, I almost got eaten by the undead Freddie Mercury. If you’d known I was a man, you would have kicked me out and I was scared and didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

Connor remained unmoved. Sebastian sighed, knowing he’d outstayed his welcome.

“Look, I really appreciate everything you did for me. Truly. You’ve been awesome. And if you get me some clothes, I’ll get out of your hair, okay?”

After a momentary pause, Connor asked, “Where are you gonna go?”

Sebastian shrugged helplessly. Even though he knew his name and his sexual orientation, he still didn’t have the rest of his memory back. “I don’t know. But it’s not your worry. I’ll find somewhere.”

There was a long heavy silence. The two males looked at each other. Sebastian with regret that he had to part company with this spunky, fascinating, incredibly brave boy and Connor attempting to work out what he should do with this woman-turned-man who was still strangely attractive, even without boobs and long blonde hair. Even though he was still upset about being lied to, Connor found it comforting having someone else around. He hadn’t talked this much to anyone, apart from Cordelia, in weeks, not since Angel unceremoniously kicked him out of the hotel.

Eventually, Connor said quietly, “You don’t have to leave.”

Sebastian blinked. “I don’t?

“You shouldn’t be out there, alone with no memory. Something could happen to you. If it did…” Connor halted and looked away. “I’d feel responsible.”

“You’re right. Apparently, I can’t fight my way out of a wet paper bag,” Sebastian admitted mockingly, recalling his girly attempt to thwart the vamp’s advances. “Wearing high heels doesn’t help either. Jesus. How lame do I feel, having a seventeen year-old kid kick ass better than I can? And I’m older. And bigger.” He grinned and stated, “My only consolation is that I kicked him in the balls before you staked him. Where the fuck did you learn to move like that?”

“Qor’toth.”

“And that is?” Sebastian asked, not knowing if that was place or a name or an ancient style of martial arts practised by Monks in Siberia.

“Far away. Very far away,” Connor added.

“You don’t elaborate much, do you?” Sebastian quipped. “Are you attempting to break the world record for the least amount of words used in a single lifetime?”

He caught Connor staring at his nipple ring and the boy blushed and dropped his eyes to the floor. Connor found the older male’s semi-nakedness extremely disconcerting. He turned away, muttering, “I’ll get you some clothes.”

The vampire killer disappeared and returned in fifteen minutes. Sebastian had been nosing around, trying to find some clues to solve the riddle named Connor. All he’d found were weapons. Sharp, pointy dangerous-looking weapons.

Connor thrust a ball of clothes at Sebastian. “These should fit.”

“Thanks, kid,” he said and began to take his towel off then, witnessing Connor’s awkward embarrassment, tucked it back in and went to the bathroom, smiling to himself. “Oh yeah. Junior wants to taste manflesh,” he murmured under his breath, unaware that Connor heard him with his super-hearing and turned a darker shade of red.

Unrolling the bundle of clothes, he found a pair of nicely worn-in blue jeans, a fashionable striped, long sleeve shirt and a pair of black army boots. The clothes smelled clean and fresh, as if Connor had pinched them straight off someone’s washing line. Which he probably did. There was no underwear so Sebastian decided to freeball it and just go without. He stared at himself in the mirror and tugged the sleeves of the shirt down. They were a little short but it was good enough. And the pants fit really well.

“How do I look?” he jested when he came out of the bathroom, feeling weirdly self-conscious in front of Connor’s open and astonished appraisal.

Connor swallowed and eventually replied, “Different.”

“Do you think I look better as a man or a woman?” Sebastian mulled. “‘Cos some people say I make a pretty woman but an even prettier man. Go figure.” He shrugged.

Connor didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to think. It was true, Sebastian had made a beautiful woman but it was all fake, an illusion. The discovery of a naad cad changed things irrevocably and now that he had men’s clothes on, Sebastian was like a totally unrelated person to ‘Leia’. He acted more masculine, standing and walking in a more relaxed, loose manner and even his voice sounded deeper. Those breasts he had been admiring last night now lay on the floor and Sebastian’s chest was hard and flat. Connor could see the outline of his nipple ring through the striped shirt and he dragged his gaze up to Sebastian’s face, thinking to his burning shame that the other male’s mouth still appeared full and red and alluring without lipstick, then quickly glanced down at his own feet, not knowing where to look yet not wanting to look away.

Sebastian could sense his overwhelming confusion. “Connor, if me being here is making you uncomfortable, I can go,” he said understandingly. “I have proper clothes now, thank you again, and I have some money left, so maybe I should go to a cheap, roach-infested motel or something and hope my brain unfogs in time for Christmas. I mean, you’ve done enough for me already. I don’t expect anything more.”

Connor timidly raised his head, unwilling to let this charismatic and undeniably interesting amnesiac leave just yet. Without Cordelia there, it was so boring during the day with no vamps to kill. “You can stay,” he said softly. “I got breakfast.”
With a deceptively delicate hand, he gestured to the bed where various small packages were strewn about on the blankets.

Sebastian grinned, showing even white teeth. “Vending machine food?”
Connor nodded.

“Chocolate and potato chips for breakfast,” Sebastian drawled. “Well, you little cat burglar, how can I possibly turn that down?”

Connor invited him to sit on his bed and they consumed a healthy meal of junk food, washed down with cans of cola. Sebastian quizzed Connor as they munched away.

“So, where did you vaporise to this morning? Staking more vamps? Meeting your other superhero friends in your secret headquarters?”

Connor swallowed a mouthful of chocolate. He ate as if he was starving.
“I don’t have any friends.” As an after thought, as if he knew what the older guy was going to ask, he added, “Or family.”

At the blunt confession, Sebastian wisely chose not to ask why. Something about his demeanour suggested Connor didn’t want to talk about it. “Well, you got a girlfriend, Romeo?”

Connor shook his head.

“Whose stuff is that in the bathroom, then?” Sebastian enquired. He was pretty sure Connor didn’t need Tampax and wax strips.

“Oh, that’s Cordy’s. She stays here sometimes. But she isn’t…We’re not together.”

“Uh huh.” Sebastian noted how Connor’s face seemed to close off as he said that.
“Not your idea, obviously. Well, the ice princess doesn’t know what she’s missing out on, hot stuff.” He winked at Connor who didn’t quite know how to take being flirted with. Sebastian thought the way his cheeks pinkened was so darn cute he wanted to take a photo and put it in his wallet. If he had a wallet.

“So stud, how many lovers have you managed to cram into your short lifetime?”

The boy muttered, “None.” Then he volunteered, “A girl kissed me once. But she died.”

Sebastian nearly choked on a peanut. “From kissing you?”

“From bad medicine.” The angry, powerless look in Connor’s eyes spoke volumes to Sebastian.

“Drug overdose, huh? I’m sorry. That bites.”

“Yeah.” Connor’s short simple word conveyed the fury he still felt over the needless death of the first person who was nice to him on this dimension.

Sebastian rinsed his mouth out with a swig of ice-cold cola. “With your drop dead gorgeous looks, I’m surprised the chicks aren’t throwing themselves at you,” he remarked to the kid.

Connor’s lips twisted wryly. “The other night, I saved a woman from vamps. She said she was going to reward me. Then she asked for fifty bucks.”

Sebastian laughed. At Connor’s indignant expression, he clarified, “Oh, put your claws back in wildcat, I’m not making fun of you. That’s typical LA.” His green eyes caressed Connor’s exquisite face and body. His tone growing low and sultry, he said, “You know, if I’d been her, I would have done you for free, baby. All night long.”

He saw Connor gulp, the quick bob of his Adam’s apple underneath the skin of his white throat. Sebastian swept the empty wrappers off the bed and plucked the half full can of cola out of Connor’s hand and placed it on the floor. The younger male warily watched as Sebastian’s hand came to rest on his thigh. He jerked at the contact, his blue eyes wide.

“Relax, Connor,” Sebastian coaxed huskily. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m gonna reward you for saving my life. That hooker lied to you but I’m not.”

He carefully slid his palm along the other boy’s lean thigh, encased in soft denim, aware that Connor could probably kill him with his bare hands if he felt threatened. He searched Connor’s face for a sign of resistance. The seventeen year-old looked scared out of his wits but he wasn’t attempting to stop Sebastian’s touch.

And he was definitely excited. The shape of his erection was evident through his jeans. Sebastian moved his hand upward to Connor’s face and stroked his cheek. Connor inhaled quickly and Sebastian could see the frantic glint in his eyes.

“Trust me, babydoll,” he whispered, brushing the boy’s silky auburn hair back off his forehead. “I won’t hurt you. I’ll make you feel good, I promise.”

He traced the outline of Connor’s soft, Cupid’s bow mouth with the pad of his thumb and the boy lowered his eyelids for a moment, shivering involuntarily. The older male laid his palm on Connor’s chest and could feel his heart racing uncontrollably. Sebastian gently manoeuvred Connor back onto the bed. As he unzipped the kid’s fly, Connor grabbed his wrist and stopped him, his spidery fingers like a steel clamp on his flesh.

“What are you doing?” Connor asked anxiously, his voice taut with alarm.

“It’s called a blow job,” Sebastian informed him with a teasing smile. “You’ll like it. I guarantee it. If you don’t, I give you permission to cut my head off with that broadsword in the corner.”

Connor’s grip slowly uncurled from around his wrist. Sebastian uncovered the teenager’s cock and wrapped his fingers around the hot, solid length. Connor jumped again. Sebastian bent his head, just about to take him into his mouth and Connor protested, “Don’t… You shouldn’t do that…”

Looking up through his lashes, Sebastian said, “You can imagine I’m a girl if you like. If it makes it easier for you.” Then he let Connor’s dick slide past his lips.

Connor gasped as he felt a warm, wet mouth around his cock for the very first time. He masturbated a fewes aes a week, he had to or he’d explode from his rampant hormones, but he’d never felt anything like this before. He thought he might die from the staggering pleasure. Sebastian slowly and sensually swirled his tongue around Connor’s hardness, intending to give the boy the best oral sex he’d ever given when he felt Connor’s hand suddenly tangle in his hair, encouraging him or trying to stop him, he didn’t know which, and then hot spurts of semen were filling his mouth.

“Oh,” Connor exclaimed. “Oh. Oh! OH!” He shuddered, his belly turning rigid and hard as a board then, his climax over, his body went limp and soft. He was breathing fast. Sebastian licked his lips, sat back and knelt between Connor’s legs, smiling affectionately at him.

“I told you you’d like it, handsome,” he reminded. “I kinda hoped to do it for a bit longer though, but hey. Good while it lasted.”

Connor looked down at himself, at his clean stomach and then back up at the other male. “What…what did you do with…?”

“Your cum? I swallowed it.”

Connor appeared horrified.

“It’s okay, Connor,” Sebastian assured him. “It was nice. I do that all the time.”
He frowned. “I think.” Connor still wasn’t convinced so Sebastian said, “That’s what gay men do, pumpkin. It’s perfectly natural.”

“It is?”

“Absolutely. It’s just one of the many ways to show someone you desire them.”

“You …you desire me?” Connor asked, his forehead wrinkled.

“Fuck yeah,” Sebastian emphasised. “You’re extremely desirable, angel.”

Connor’s hackles went up and he glared at Sebastian. “Don’t call me that. Ever!”

“All right, all right. Sorry,” Sebastian said hurriedly, wondering what the reason was behind that nasty little snarl.

Connor must have realised how confounding his outburst was as he said in a meeker tone, “It’s just…it’s the name of someone I hate.”

Sebastian arched his brow. “Well, that explains it. So, is it all right if I call you baby and sugar and so forth? I mean, I know for sure that I only say that stuff to people I really like. Like you.”

“That’s all right,” Connor replied softly, flattered and floored that someone actually liked him and wasn’t trying to beat him up or zap him with a stun gun for once.

“Well. How would you like another blow job? I don’t think I’ve rewarded you enough yet.” Sebastian’s green eyes sparkled with mischief. He was having quite a bit of fun with this kid and the fooling around was taking his mind off his worrying memory loss rather effectively.

“Um.” Connor squirmed.

Sebastian stroked Connor’s thigh playfully. “Only if you want.”

Connor took a deep breath. “Okay.”

As Sebastian slipped Connor’s jeans down further, he spied the ring on his own finger and recalled the inscription on the inside. He wondered if ‘Brad’ was his boyfriend.
“It’s not cheating if I don’t remember you,” he murmured, justifying his actions.

“What?”

“Oh nothing, gingerbread,” Sebastian assured Connor who was gazing at him with fabulous dark blue eyes. “You just lie there and enjoy this. It’s an order.”

He sucked Connor’s semi-erect organ into his mouth and felt him turn all the way hard again. Connor groaned, trying to pretend it was a woman sucking on him but failing miserably. He gave up. Sebastian’s masculine lips and tongue just felt too nice. And Connor was used to being confused and bewildered about himself and about other people. Living in this place pretty much made sure he felt like that every day. He stopped attempting to figure out what was going on and just surrendered to the new and exhilarating feelings spiralling through his adolescent body.

Sebastian halted long enough to say to Connor, “God, you taste good,” and sunk the auburn-haired boy’s cock back into his mouth. He pleasured Connor this way for a while, loving the sounds he was making deep in his throat and looking up at the agonised ecstasy contorting his face. Then, when he knew the young man was about to orgasm again, he quit and stripped his shirt off.

Connor cracked his eyelids open and asked in frustration, “Why did you stop?”

Sebastian smiled seductively at him and said, “How would you like to lose your cherry, Connor?”

“Cherry?”

“You know, your virginity? Would you like to have sex? With me?”

Connor creased his brow at Sebastian’s invitation. He was not a woman. “How?”

“How?” The curly-haired older man repeated. “Easy, rosebud. I’ll show you.”

He took off his jeans, leaving them puddled on the floor, and lay next to Connor, nude. His cheeks darkening in a mixture of embarrassment and excitement, Connor quickly took in the sight of another man’s penis, long and hard, with a tuft of black ringlets over the pubic bone, finding Sebastian’s smooth, bronzed body just as bewitching as a female’s. Not that he’d actually seen a real, live naked girl. He was particularly fascinated by Sebastian’s nipple ring.

“Touch it,” Sebastian urged. When Connor made no move, he took the boy’s hand and put it on his chest. Connor experimentally grazed his fingertips over the nipple with the ring in it.

“What’s it for?” he queried.

“For pleasure,” Sebastian answered. “It makes it even more sensitive. Go on, pull it.” Connor looked doubtful but he did what he was told. He grasped the ring in his fingers and tugged it, causing the recipient to moan quietly.

“Harder.”

Connor obeyed and yanked the small circle of silver more forcefully. Sebastian hissed and squeezed his eyes shut as a blaze of tingling sparks coursed through his chest and radiated down to his groin.

“Does it hurt?” Connor sounded concerned.

Sebastian shook his head with his eyes still closed. “No. It’s good. Do it again.”

He gasped in sexual rapture as he felt the bite of another pull and was overcome with the strong impulse to throw the boy over and take his enticing little milky-white ass but he managed to restrain himself. Connor was too young, too inexperienced, and too innocent to be fucked like that. Sebastian didn’t think he would appreciate being practically raped. Plus, there were far too many razor-sharp weapons within reach and he knew the kid wouldn’t hesitate to use them on him. Sebastian had to physically remove Connor’s tormenting fingers before he lost control, did something rash and got himself killed.

“Let’s get you undressed, butterfly,” Sebastian suggested, willing himself to calm down. The waif-child allowed him to peel off his t-shirt and roll his jeans down his legs so they were both naked.

“Oh, Connor. You’re so damn beautiful,” he said impassionedly, drinking in the younger male’s delectable, svelte body, his creamy skin – flawless apart from the small mole under his mouth, his long shapely limbs, his soft flat belly, his dusky pink nipples and his perfect, perfect cock surrounded by curls the same auburn colour as the hair on his head.

“I am?” Connor looked sceptical and vulnerable and bashful all at once.

“You are,” Sebastian said firmly. He reached out and touched the satiny skin of Connor’s chest, circling his nipples and making them peak. “Can I kiss you? Will you let me do that?”

“Mmm.” Connor made a purr of agreement, losing himself in the fingers that were doing delightful things to his nipples. He felt Sebastian half lean on him, the other guy’s curly black hair tickling his face, and press his mouth against his own.

He sort of remembered how to do this. Sunny, the girl, the one that died, she had given him a bit of a lesson in making out. The time Cordy kissed him only lasted for two seconds before she pushed him away, so it didn’t really count. Sebastian wasn’t pushing him away, however. Not at all. He opened for Sebastian and returned the delis wes wet, stroking thrusts of his tongue, liking it very much, even with the raspy stubble on the second guy’s chin. Yeah, kissing was great! There was an unfamiliar salty, bitter taste in Sebastian’s mouth and Connor realised, slightly jarred, that it was his own seminal fluids. It wasn’t gross, though, as he thought it would be.

Sebastian kissed Connor, who tasted like chocolate and candy, long and deep then his tantalising mouth moved to Connor’s lovely pale throat, sucking, gently biting, then down further to his nipples and made more mewling noises come out of the younger boy without his consent.

Knowing the kid was like bread dough in his hands, Sebastian whispered, “Do you want to lose your cherry now?”

“Yes. Yes, I do,” Connor moaned, not really understanding what was going to happen next, only knowing that he wanted it, he wanted whatever Sebastian was going to do to him. Real bad.

Sebastian went down on him again, but only long enough to get Connor’s dick lubed up with saliva. Then he lay on his side, reached behind him and pulled Connor’s willowy frame against him. Connor made a pleased sound at the intimate feel of skin on skin, his belly pressed to Sebastian’s graceful, muscular back. The older male smelled like soap and shampoo, clean and perfumed and under that, the unmistakable musk of man. He touched the smooth flesh of Sebastian’s hip and thigh, finding it like suede, like softened leather.

“Put your cock in me,” Sebastian dictated. “Right here.” He guided Connor’s hand down the cleft of his buttocks to the place.

“Here?” Connor couldn’t believe where he was asking him to put it. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, dammit. Here. That’s how it’s done. You want to have sex, don’t you?” He looked over his shoulder at Connor.

“Yeah. Of course.”

“Then just do it,” Sebastian commanded.

“Um. Okay.” Connor thought that Sebastian must know what he was talking about as he didn’t have a clue, so he placed a steadying hand on the other man’s hip and did as he was instructed.

“Yeah. There. That’s it,” Sebastian gasped as he felt Connor enter him. “In. All the way in. Ahh. You got it.”

“Ohh,” Connor breathed as he experienced the internal heat and pressure of Sebastian’s body. His pelvis rocked automatically and his penis slid in and out of the snug tunnel of warmth, the flexible band of muscle squeezing him firmly, similar to a clenched hand. Only better. So this is sex, he thought in amazement. Cool.
Sebastian’s skin was supple and warm against his and under his palms, everything he’d imagined a woman would feel like.

“Oh, wow…”

The older man was thrilled to hear Connor’s simple yet profound expression of awe.
“You like this, candycane?” he asked with a grin. “Huh? Does it feel nice?”

“Yeah. Mmm. Yeah.” Connor murmured, his eyelids fluttering shut, beyond forming complete sentences at that point in time. All he was aware of was the consuming feeling of his dick disappearing into and emerging from Sebastian’s slick, receptive entrance. He was drowning, his body suffused with liquid fire, beginning in his loins and spreading throughout his gut, chest and limbs.

“It feels nice for me too,” Sebastian sighed, closing his eyes and stroking his own erection while enjoying the sweet invasion from behind, the slow exploratory glides of Connor’s cock inside him. “You’re so gentle, bambino.”

Sebastian brought Connor’s hand around to his nipple ring again, telling the kid to play with it at the same time. Connor obliged, twisting and tugging the ring while he thrust into the older guy’s body, marvelling at how utterly exotic and extraordinary the sensations were.

Hot. Tight. Slippery. Throbbing. Good. Good. Good.

He groaned and began to move his hips quicker as he felt his release approaching. Sebastian pushed back against him and Connor sucked in a breath at the deeper penetration, inadvertently yanking the nipple ring caught between his fingers so hard that Sebastian felt his skin rip and cried out sharply. The tingling pain heightened his pleasure to the very edge of orgasm but he didn’t want to go until Connor did.

“Come on, baby,” Sebastian begged, holding himself back with the thinnest thread of control. “I want you to come now.”

At those words, Connor started to pant and pumped into him increasingly faster, each thrust accompanied by a not-so-gentle twist on Sebastian’s piercing. A thin line of blood trickled over his nipple and when Sebastian saw it, saw the crimson fluid run onto Connor’s long, dainty, tugging fingers, the erotic sight made him lose it.

“Pull it. Pull it, fucking pull it,” he gritted out, all restrained politeness for the virgin’s behalf vanishing in his fit of dark passion. Connor pulled the circle of silver savagely, oblivious to the damage he was causing as he was completely immersed in his own world of intense heat and friction, almost ready to erupt with boiling lust. Sebastian felt the sting and tear of his super-sensitive nipple and more blood gushed out in a fresh stream.

“Yes, ahh yes,” he hissed, getting off on the bright, sparking pain, his mind saturated with it, with whirling colours of red, orange and yellow. “Fuck me, Connor,” he growled throatily. “Hard. Do it hard!”

He felt another ferocious, ripping tug on the ring and Connor rammed into him aggressively, his frail frame disguising an almost inhuman strength and power. Knowing his tender flesh was bruising and feeling as though he was being split down the centre like a log with an axe, Sebastian wondered wildly how this tiny seventeen year-old could possibly be that strong.

Connor’s loud, desperate cry filled his head and Sebastian felt a hot surge flowing onto his innards as the boy came inside him, stabbing deeply and brutally a few more times. It hurt but by God, it was GOOD hurt.

“Connor… Sweet Jesus…Connor,” Sebastian gasped, ejaculating over his hand in a devastating, shuddering, gut-wrenching climax.

Connor felt his cock being gripped rhythmically, milking every last drop of his semen out of him. Wet. Pulsing. Shivery. Nice. So nice.

He struggled to catch his breath, never dreaming in a million years that he would find something that gave him a better adrenaline rush than hunting and slaying evil creatures.

Sex. Glorious, fantastic sex.

He carefully withdrew and it was only then that Connor noticed the blood on his fingers and on the other male’s chest. He stared at the red smears in shock, not realising he had been actually hurting Sebastian. The older guy turned his head and Connor fearfully met his green gaze, his bloodied hand held frozen in mid-air.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered in horrible guilt, his eyes wide. By the looks of it, he had almost torn the ring clean out. He didn’t know his own strength sometimes. “I…I didn’t mean to.”

Sebastian smiled forgivingly. “It’s okay, tiger. I told you to do it.”

“I know, but…” Connor gazed at the trauma again and bit his lip with his sharp little teeth. “Sorry,” he finished.

“Don’t worry about it.” Sebastian rolled onto his back and took Connor’s hand. “It’ll heal. Besides, I like being hurt sometimes.” He licked his own blood off Connor’s fingers while the youth watched, worry still etched on his charming face. Then he swiped up a congealing scarlet drip from his chest and sucked it from his fingertip and Connor grasped his wrist, stopping Sebastian from repeating the process.

“Let me.”

“Oh no, ragamuffin, you don’t have to,” Sebastian told him, understanding what he intended to do.

“I want to.” Connor needed to apologise for what he did and the only way he could think of to do that was to bend his head and erase the lines of coppery-tasting liquid with slow strokes of his tongue.

Normally, he would be repulsed by such an act as it was something only vampires did, drink blood, but at that moment it seemed like the natural thing to do. The right thing. He caused the mess so he would fix it. He cleaned up the tanned skin of Sebastian’s chest, fastidiously lapping up every drop and cautiously licked around the injured nipple. He looked up at the older male with apprehensive azure eyes and Sebastian smiled at him.

“It’s all right. Go ahead.”

Connor very gently swept his tongue over and around the ring until there was no more blood oozing out from the site of the piercing and he placed a repentant kiss upon the wounded flesh. Instead of being painful, it actually felt rather enchanting to Sebastian, having his nipple soothed and kissed better with those velvety lips.

“Aren’t you sweet,” he murmured, fingering the luxurious strands of Connor’s long auburn hair, astounded at how he could be so feral and rough one minute and so gorgeously tender the next. “What a mystery you are, Connor. And Christ Almighty, talk about strong. What are you, half demon or something?”

Connor jerked his head up and realised Sebastian was only joking. The ebony-haired male cradled Connor’s face in his hands and slanted his lips over the boy’s lush mouth, kissing him softly. He looked into Connor’s captivating cerulean eyes and told him, “You’re a man now.”

Connor’s lips curved up at the declaration. Yeah. He was a man now. Man. Not child. He felt pride and happiness swell inside him.

Sebastian drew a smiling Connor into his embrace and held him against his chest. He heard Connor mumble, “Thanks.”

He grinned. “Oh, the pleasure was all mine, ma petite. Believe me.”

Lulled by the steady sound of the heartbeat under his ear, Connor fell asleep in Sebastian’s arms, a weak, languid bundle of floppy limbs, exhausted by the recent events. Sebastian closed his eyes, inhaling the fragrance of Connor’s hair, like pine needles and autumn leaves, and shortly after followed him into dream-land.

Later, Connor stirred and awoke to find Sebastian gazing at him with magnetic emerald eyes. He was still held closely by the other man and there was a light blanket draped over them. Going by the position of the sun outside and the way the light was shining through the windows, they’d slept for a couple of hours and it was now around the middle of the day.

“Hey there, sylph,” Sebastian greeted him fondly.

“Hey,” Connor muttered, the realisation of what he’d just did hitting him like a ton of bricks.

He’d had sex. Witman.man. He couldn’t decide if that was good or bad.

Totally mixed up and bemused, he started to pull out of the embrace but Sebastian tightened his arms, saying, “You’re not gonna go all shy and embarrassed on me, are you Connor? ‘Cos there’s no reason to be, okay?”

Connor stared at him, his muscles taut and his spine rigid, not used to having someone’s arms around him. Especially when they belonged to a male.

“Okay?” Sebastian repeated, looking deep into Connor’s eyes, the youth’s striking irises like twin pools of bright blue water. “What we did was nothing to be ashamed of, babe. We made love. And it was special and wonderful and beautiful. Okay?”

At his reassuring and comforting tone Connor relaxed and replied softly, “Okay.”

Sebastian let him sit up and the boy pulled the blanket around his slim hips, covering his nakedness. Connor was quite adorable post-slumber, his hair mussed up and his eyes sleepy. He looked like a pixie or a wood sprite. Sebastian rolled onto his side, propping himself up with his elbow and smiled at him.

“Damn. It was fucking good though, wasn’t it? You, my sexy boy, are such a wild thing,” he said cheekily, making Connor flush appealingly. “I’m gonna be so sore and bruised tomorrow.”

Connor looked slightly mortified at the reminder of his overly enthusiastic thrusting.
“Sorry.”

Sebastian laughed. “Don’t be, munchkin. I’m not. I’m gonna remember this, I’m gonna remember you, for the rest of my life.” He turned serious. “Speaking of remembering, guess what, Connor? You gave me my memory back.”

Connor gazed at him, a small crease on his brow. “I did? How?”

“When you hurt me, when you made me come,” Sebastian told him, reaching out and touching the boy’s forearm. “All of it just came rushing back to me. I lost my memory when I got hurt. I guess I needed to get hurt again to give it back.”

“Oh.”
With that one word, Connor realised their time together was over. Sebastian had a life he had to get back to and it didn’t include him. He felt suddenly and inexplicably sad.

“So, I know who I am again,” Sebastian stated with relief, at the same time feeling a bittersweet regret that these few precious hours alone with Connor were coming to a close.

“Who are you?” Connor tilted his head questioningly.

“My name is Sebastian Christensen, I’m twenty-five years old and as pretentious as it sounds, I’m a male model,” Sebastian illuminated Connor. “Mostly photo shoots, some catwalk work. I get to travel, which is the best part. When I’m not working, I play bass in a band and collect motorcycles as a hobby.” He twisted the silver ring around his finger as he spoke.

“See this ring? Brad gave it to me for my birthday. He was my boyfriend,” Sebastian explained. “Last night he dumped me, the bastard. For no goddamn reason at all.”

“That sucks,” Connor said, seeing the pique in Sebastian’s green eyes and hearing it in his husky voice. He knew how bad it felt to be rejected. Cordy had done it to him. He tentatively laid an empathetic hand on the older man’s shoulder and Sebastian closed his eyes for a moment at the touching gesture. He covered Connor’s hand with his own and continued.

“Yeah, doesn’t it? I couldn’t deal with it so that’s why I went out, to try and forget. And, what do you know, it worked.” He laughed shortly and ironically. “Mr Tall, Dark and Scary made sure of that.”

With a decisive motion, Sebastian tore the ring off his finger and flung it out the crack in the window. “Good riddance. I don’t know why I didn’t do this earlier.”

Sebastian’s mood lightened as he looked up at Connor’s elfin face. “But you know what, sugarlips?”

“What?” Connor asked.

“You’ve shown me that there are way better guys out there than that selfish prick,” he said gratefully. “Phenomenal guys like you, Connor. You’ve shown me that I’ll find somebody worthy one day.” Sebastian pressed his mouth to the back of Connor’s hand, the kid’s skin warm and silky under his lips.

“Hey, I think I’m falling in love with you already, sweetheart,”astiastian said, only partly-kidding. He thought for the umpteenth time how exceptionally fine Connor was with his long-lashed, black-ringed sapphire eyes, full soft pink lips and that cute little chocolate-brown beauty mark setting off his peaches and cream complexion. The boy was so yummy, he could just eat him.

If his gaydar wasn’t telling him that this was a once in a lifetime, never to be repeated deal, Sebastian would have gladly claimed Connor as his toyboy. Alas, the seventeen year-old vampire hunter was woefully straight. He knew it just like he knew that grass was green. Sebastian was remarkably lucky to have gotten as much as he had.

They gazed at each other for a little while, Sebastian holding Connor’s hand and caressing the younger male’s knuckles with his thumb. Connor didn’t take his fingers away. He repeated Sebastian’s words over and over in his head.
Falling. Love. You. Sweetheart. Nobody had said anything even remotely like that to him before. Not ever. He felt strangely close to tears, which was a very rare occurrence for him. The last time he cried was when he found Holtz, his foster father, dead. How could mere words affect him so much?

“So…thank you,” Sebastian said eventually. “For everything. You are one incredible guy, Connor. I mean that. I’m forever in your debt.”

Connor smiled shyly and modestly. “You’re welcome. Sebastian.”

The older man was stoked to hear Connor say his name for the first time. He wanted to make him say it again. Preferably in the middle of a moan. He brought Connor’s hand up to his lips and took one of his fingers into his mouth, sucking evocatively, miming the act of fellatio he’d performed earlier. Against his will, Connor felt himself turn hard once more, the blanket in his lap forming a little tent and he shifted uncomfortably.

The intended result of his action achieved, Sebastian took the boy’s finger out, looked him straight in the eye and proposed, “I have to work tonight and I know you have some slaying to do, so before the sun goes down, do you want to screw me again? Or you can lay back and I’ll climb on top and ride you like a bronco until you pop your cork. Would you like that, kitten?”

Connor chewed his lip at the tempting description, the pupils of his pretty blue eyes dilating fully. More sex? There was only one plausible reply to that.

“Okay.”


***


As Connor lay poised above the beautiful curvaceous brunette woman in his bed, the woman that was the only good part of his pitiful life, his only confidante and the closest thing to a friend he had, he was hiding a shameful secret from her. Even though, he felt great emotion for Cordelia and wouldn’t dream of hurting her, he was lying to her, right this very minute. She thought she was doing him a favour, letting him have something real, letting him make love to her so if the world ended in a reign of fire due to The Beast’s arrival, he wouldn’t die a virgin.

But he’d already lost his cherry a few short weeks ago. He briefly thought of curly black hair, green Gummi Bear eyes and nipple rings. A flush of heat, that had nothing to do with Cordy’s voluptuous nakedness, tore through his body like wildfire.
Nope, he certainly wasn’t a virgin.

Not that he was ever gonna tell her that.

END