"Just erotic. Nothing kinky. It's the difference between using a feather and using a chicken." (Terry Pratchett)

"So, you can now heal people with your hands?"

"That's what I said, yes."

"Impressive. And you basically told your parents to fuck off?"

"That's a way to put it."

" You're very brave. Aaaand, most importantly, you finally had sex with Akhenaton?" she screamed.

"Shit! Lower your voice, Nassiba! People will hear us!"

He couldn't help but laugh at his friend's excitement, as the young woman looked at him with shining eyes and a mischievious smile. He really had the most perverted friends ever.

"I swear, Nassiba, you're even worse than Helmut." he told her in a chastising manner. "I didn't know such a thing was possible."

"Me? How comes?" she asked in feigned outrage. "I don't think there's a single living being on this planet who is more of a perv than Helmut. You're being very unfair right now, my good friend."

"I told you that I have a new power, and that I might not be seeing my parents ever again. Yet, what seems to interest you the most is my first time with my mate?" Fayez retorted, his voice incredulous.

Nassiba did look embarrassed for a second, but Fayez wasn't fooled. He knew his friend too well already. That woman was burning with curiosity, and she wouldn't let him go until he didn't give her the juicy details she was so fond of.

"Okay" she eventually declared, with an aggrieved sigh. "So, you're pretending that you can heal people? Show me."

"I know you want me to tell you about Ake, and not about my new power, Nassiba" Fayez snorted.

"No, but seriously." she insisted. "Healing people sounds pretty cool."

"At least it's better than hurting them with my cursed hands." Fayez said with a grim expression on his face.

"I'm not sure" Nassiba objected. "If my hands were cursed, I would have used them to teach a good lesson to a few fuckers. You know, the ones who think they don't need consent to put their sticky hands on women's bodies."

Fayez had never thought about his hands like that. He supposed that, in a few occasions, his hands had been a blessing. Thanks to them, Zephyr was still alive.

Mostly, though, they had proved to be a curse. They had made his life at his family castle a living hell, but now the curse was gone for good, or so he hoped.

"Okay, so do you have a small cut or something somewhere, so I can show you?" he eventually asked her.

"No, I don't think I do. It's been a while since I last had a proper training and..."

She frowned, looking like she was thinking hard. Then, her expression cleared, and she gave her friend a delighted smile.

"Wait! Yes! I'm actually hurt, Faye! Reaaaaally hurt!"

"Why do you sound so happy about it?" Fayez asked, turning suspicious.

She removed her turtleneck pullover without replying, and proudly showed him her throat. Fayez looked at his friend with wide eyes.

"The fuck, Nass", he mumbled. "When I told you I could heal you, I didn't mean helping you remove a freaking hickey your lover gave you."

This time, Nassiba didn't looked abashed in the slightest. She shrugged, giving the vampire a pointed look.

"Come on, Faye. You weren't acting so coy when I was telling you about Juliet and I. I even gave you details about the time when she put her -"

"Talking and showing are two different things" Fayez interrupted her, before lowering his head in defeat. "Okay. You won. Let's do it. I'll try to pretend it's just a random scratch."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, babe" Nassiba whispered with a smug smile.

The young vampire groaned, before bringing his chair closer to his friend. The sooner it's done, the better, he thought grimly.

He carefully touched her neck, and looked in satisfaction as the skin turned from purple to pink to its natural brown. The abrasion was very small, so it only took a couple of seconds to achieve this result.

"It's healed. That was way too easy." he commented proudly.

"Congratulations, Faye." Nassiba replied. "But, uhm... you might have another problem now. A fine-looking one, at that."

"A fine-looking problem?" he asked with a frown. "What do you mean?"

He turned his head and followed her gaze. Zephyr was coming their way with a very upset look on his face.

Shit.

"Why did you tell me to heal your neck if you knew he was here?" he hissed between his teeth, glaring at his treacherous friend.

"I didn't see him!" she pretended, in her most innocent voice. "I am not as cunning as you seem to believe!"

"I don't believe you! You did it on purpose!" he accused her, as he kept watching Zephyr. "You wanted to make him jealous!"

"Enjoy the angry sex, Faye" she winked at him, before hurriedly exiting the room.

A few seconds after she was gone, a slender, extremely beautiful man appeared in front of him. He was one of the kindest person Fayez knew, but Lord, did he look scary when he was pissed.

Hot.

"Zephyr!" Fayez exclaimed cheerfully. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it? The Sun is high in the Sky, and the birds - "

"It's almost eight pm, and the sky is so foggy you can't see shit." Zephyr retorted. "Cut the bullshit, Faye. What were you thinking, touching that girl's neck so tenderly?"

"She's my friend!"

"Oh, cause that makes it soooo much better!" Zephyr commented sarcastically.

Fayez sighed, internally cursing Nassiba as he ran his hand through his hair. He was starting to get slightly annoyed, too. Zephyr was cute, but he could also be a real pain in the ass.

Jealousy is overrated. Can't people stop loosing their shit for no reason?

"Let's talk somewhere else" he eventually suggested, as Zephyr was still looking at him, a mixture of angst and sorrow in his lovely eyes.

"Our bedroom, then" Zephyr said curtly, before motionning for his mate to follow him.

They walked in silence in the hallway. Such a tense silence between them was unusual. Zephyr was the chatty type, contrary to Ash and Ake. It made Fayez feel uncomfortable and slightly guilty.

There's no need to feel guilty, he decided. I've done nothing wrong. It's time I stand up for myself, even with people as great and loving as my mates.

Zephyr opened the door, letting Fayez close it behind him. Once they were both standing in the room, away from prying time, Fayez lost no time addressing to his mate.

"I'm not gonna apologize, Zeph" he declared in a soft but firm tone.

The other vampire looked at him with a surprised expression, before crossing his arms against his chest.

"Very well." he snapped. "I'm not gonna force you to apologize, especially if you don't think there was nothing wrong in the way you behaved."

"Don't be like that, Zeph." Fayez protested. "She just wanted me to prove her that I now had an healing power."

"Yeah, but you could have show her that without touching her neck! That was way too intimate." Zephyr persisted.

"She's just a friend." Fayez argued. "Plus, she has no interest in men, and I've never been into women."

For the first time, Zephyr faltered. Fayez saw the doubt in his eyes, and suddenly, he realized he wasn't the only one with deeply ingrained insecurities.

He took a step forward, and gently cupped Zephyr's cheeks with his hands.

"Enough with the jealousy shit." he ordered softly. "I only have interest in my three mates."

The other man blushed and briefly averted his eyes, before looking at his mate again.

"You're so new to this, squirrel" he whispered softly. "How can you be so certain that you don't want to be with a woman, instead of three crazy boyfriends? Maybe you should see more of the world, first."

Fayez sighed, bringing the smaller man closer to him. He hugged him tight, before whispering in his ear.

"You're a whole new world to me. You do know that I love you, yes?"

"I do." Zephyr replied with a shaking voice. "I know you love us."

"Then believe me when I say that I would never cheat on you. All I want is to be with you. I am a simple man, with simple dreams."

This time, Zephyr laughed, although his eyes were wet with tears.

"That's very flattering, sweet cheeks."

Fayez smiled, kissing the top of Zephyr's head.

"Your insecurities will fade away with time, Zeph, and so will mine."

"You're suddenly very wise, Faye."

They remained like this for a long time, basking in the other's warmth and proximity.

"Zeph?" Fayez eventually asked.

"Mmmh... yes?"

"Can we have sex now?" Fayez mumbled, not daring to look at his mate. "I think we've waited enough."

Zephyr let out a surprised laugh, before nodding eagerly.

"I never thought you would be the one to ask first!"

"Yeah" Fayez snorted. "Sure. Cause you totally haven't been thinking about it for the last ten minutes."

"I didn't I swear!"

"I know you have been trying your hardest from refraining to grope my ass" Fayez said with a chuckle. "Don't you lie."

Zephyr pouted, pretending to be offended.

He didn't last very long, though.

"It's been resisting the temptation." he eventually admitted, with a dramatic sigh. I haven't been calling you sweet cheeks for no reasons."

"Well, good job not ruining the sweet moment that we had, Zeph. Your self-control is impressive." Faye told him with a wink. "Now, shall we?"

Zephyr nodded again, before taking Fayez's hand and leading him to their bed.

"Thanks to Ake, you already know how it feels to have a man inside you" he whispered, while delicately licking Fayez's earlobe, making the other man shiver. "How about discovering how it feels like to be inside a man?"

This is getting better and better, Fayez thought. I hate to admit it, but.... I should definitely thank Nassiba for that. After I give her an earful, of course.

They both undress each other, and Fayez eagerly put his hands on the round and soft peaches that were definitely too tempting.

"Wow, calm down, Mister Vamp" Zephyr laughed. "I'll grant you access to my ass, but how about I give you a little gift first?"

"What is it?" Fayez asked, getting suspicious again - because you never knew, with Zephyr.

"Don't worry, you'll love it" the other vampire assured him, with a confident expression. "Well, maybe not so much, at first. It takes time getting used to it" he added in a voice so low, Fayez almost didn't hear it.

"What is it?" he repeated, before squinting his eyes when the graceful man took a small box out of the drawer.

Well, if it was that small, it couldn't do much harm - no pun intended.

He carefully opened the box and turned to his mate.

"A ring?" Fayez asked, feeling confused. "You're not asking me to marry you, are you?"

Zephyr laughed again, before replying with a fond expression on his dolly face.

"No, I am not. Why would we need some contract, like poor human beings do? We already know we love each other. We don't want some shitty certificate of ownership ."

"Okay." Fayez said. "Thank you for the gift, then, but it might be a bit too big for me. There's a chance I'll loose it, if I wear it outside. My fingers are too thin for the ring"

Zephyr took the ring from him, his smile turning demonic.

"Faye, sweetheart" he purred. "This is not intended for your fingers."

"Then what is for... oh." Fayez blushed, taking a step back. "No way, Zeph." he protested weakly. "No fucking way."

The cunning vampire took a step forward, his eyes turning pleading.

"You'll love it, though. I swear you will, sweet cheeks. It prevents the ejaculation, so that when you eventually let it go, it feels heavenly."

"I get it", Fayez mumbled. "The explanation isn't needed."

Zephyr smiled, before pulling him down toward him. "Come here" he whispered tenderly.

Their lips met, and as always, it felt blissful. Fayez entirely melted in the kiss, losing himself in the sensation.

"Faye" Zephyr murmured when they finally separated. "Do you want to try it or not? I'll put the ring on you, but only if you want it."

Fayez hesitated. This was bound to lead to some embarrassement. At the same time, he had to admit that he was curious about it. Excited, even.

"Okay." he eventually said. "Let's try it!"

"Awesome!" Zephyr said. "I'll remove it at any time, if it's too uncomfortable for you."

Fayez nodded, and looked down with burning cheeks at the blond vampire, who already got down on his knees and was grabbing his dick with bashful confidence.

"Zeph, I-"

He never got the chance to finish his sentence, which ended in a soft moan.

Zephyr was now licking his tip, while fondling his balls with his slender hands.

The vampire was just too good at giving heads. Fayez wouldn't be able to resist for very long. At this rate, they wouldn't be able to go any further than that.

"Zeph" he chocked, as the other man was sucking him with gusto. "I'm going to-"

"I know, squirrel", the vampire said, finally letting him go with a loud pop. "Let me help."

Fayez heard a soft, metallic noise and watched with a mixture of horror and fascination as his mate pressed the ring against his tip, and started pushing it down until it finally reached the swollen base of his dick.

Fayez's dick was now so wet with precum and saliva that it actually went very smoothly.

It was sweet, heavenly torture.

"Zeph..." Fayez whined.

"Yes, sweet cheeks?" Zephyr asked, with an expression that was half loving and half sadistic.

"It - it feels weird."

"Do you think you can bear it, though?" Zephyr asked, his expression turning slightly concerned.

"Yes" Fayez hurriedly replied. "Don't remove it just yet. It just feels weird, that's all."

"Good" Zephyr declared, with a pleased expression, "because I have another gift for you."

"What?" Fayez groaned. "Are you for real?"

The smaller man opened his drawer again - Fayez would definitely need to check what it contain later - and took a few beads, that were attached to a string.

"Anal beads." Zephyr explained, when Fayez looked at him with raised eyebrows. "So that your ass doesn't feel too lonely while you're fucking me."

"Lonely? As if. Plus, this thing will never go inside" Fayez protested.

Both men startled as the door suddenly opened.

" Of course it will" replied a deep, familiar voice. "Would you let me show you how it's done, sweet boy?"