Blood Talisman Read Free Page B

become. My
    existence would be worth nothing if your love turned to hate.”
    Tommy snorted. “That’s not gonna happen. Roger and Micah didn’t end up hating
    Marcus or Joseph. And I can assure you” — he paused for a moment to drop a kiss on Andrew’s mouth — “that my love for you is every bit as strong as theirs. Maybe even stronger.”
    “Mmm…” Andrew teased Tommy’s lower lip with the tip of his tongue. “So all I’m
    asking is that you indulge me in this obsession of mine. Let me do some more research, talk to Marcus. If this time, my research leads to a dead end, and if Ardocan truly does not exist, I will never mention it again.”
    “Fine.” Tommy tightened his arms around Andrew’s hard body. “But I’m coming with
    you when you go talk with Marcus. Uh, uh…” He stilled Andrew’s protest by touching a
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    finger to his lips. “I want to know the risks involved in trying to find a lost city. I’ve seen that kind of movie, you know. Seems like there’s always someone or ones out to throw a monkey wrench in the works.”
    Andrew chuckled. “Tommy, édesem , you live with a vampire. Most of your new friends are vampires. Not long ago your body was taken over by a demon, your best friend Alex was abducted into a demon army—and in addition, you’re a fireman, putting yourself in the possibility of danger almost every day. You think my searching for Ardocan could be any
    riskier that all of that?”
    “Well…” Tommy gave him a wicked smile. “Now that you mention it, I guess living
    with a vampire hikes up the risk factor, all by itself. However…” He kissed the tip of
    Andrew’s nose. “I am going to be there when you talk to Marcus. I don’t want to hear some watered-down version from you like it’s no big deal. Okay?”
    “As if I would hold anything back from you,” Andrew said with mock affront.
    “Right, as if…” Tommy stretched his muscular body against Andrew. “Mmm. I really
    need to get some sleep. I have to be up and at ’em early tomorrow, but you feel soooo good.
    Wanna go again?”
    “If you have the strength.”
    “’Course I do.” Tommy grinned, sat up and flexed his biceps for Andrew’s benefit.
    “See? How can you resist?”
    “I can’t,” Andrew said. He reared up and attacked Tommy’s nipples, teasing them to
    hardness again, then threw him onto his back and covered his body with his own.
    “Oh, yeah…”
     

     
    Andrew slipped from Tommy’s arms, making sure he did not awaken his sleeping
    lover, and rose silently from the bed. After picking up his neglected glass of wine, he left the bedroom and walked into the living room, then onto the balcony, surveying the flickering lights of Los Angeles through the haze below him.
    He frowned and sipped at his wine, deep in thought. Admitting to Tommy what he had
    discovered complicated matters. Tommy would want to join him in the journey to find the
    Scrolls of Ashelak and the city of Ardocan—even though at that moment Andrew wasn’t
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    sure in which direction Ardocan lay. The only clue he had was the mention of Ashelak being a god-like prince of the Hittites—one of a long line of royal princes raised to the position of a deity that the ancient civilisations of the Middle East worshipped. A minor god perhaps, but one important enough to be linked to Ardocan.
    Even so, to involve Tommy in what might prove to be a fruitless search would not be a
    good idea. Of course, he could use his powers to make him forget all about their
    conversation. Vampires could manipulate human thought and memory, but Andrew was
    loath to tamper with Tommy’s mind. He’d been through enough when they had battled
    Dakar’s deviousness. Who knew what the long-term effects of such deception could be?
    A night breeze nudged at his bare skin, sending a tingling sensation through his body.
    He shivered and