Free Short Fiction

Distributed at www.lissakasey.com by Lissa Kasey

This is a work of fiction. Characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living
or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

Devotion © 2012 Lissa Kasey.

All rights reserved worldwide. This eBook may be distributed freely in its entirety courtesy of
the author, Lissa Kasey. This work may not be sold, manipulated, or reproduced in any format
without express written permission from the author.

This work contains graphic language and sexual content between two men.
Intended for adult audiences only. Not intended for anyone under the age of 18.

Cover Design © 2012 Zach Sweets

Valentine’s Day was always an anxious time for me. Sei didn’t care much for the holiday because
he’d spent so many years believing that love wasn’t possible. The idea that I had a valid excuse
for giving him gifts and showing the world how crazy about him I was made the day important to
me. Now I just had to figure out how to get my holiday reluctant boyfriend to join the festivities
with me.

The jumble of ideas kept distracting me from balancing the books for Bloody Bar. Technically at
midnight, it would be the big day, and at the moment, Sei was upstairs in his condo, sleeping.
Maybe I could wake him up with a little sweet love-making, convince him to stay in bed with me
for awhile, or take a long bath together. It’d almost been a week since we’d last had sex, only
because he’d been working long hours and came home so tired he fell into immediate sleep.
Tomorrow he had the day off as I’d requested.

The elevator dinged. Jamie stepped out when the door opened. He had a big box in his hands.
The smell of chocolate and sugar filled my senses. The sweet treat was a special order from Sei’s
favorite bakery.

“Smells amazing, but I haven’t dared to open it,” Jamie said as he set it on the counter.

I shoved the computer aside and pulled open the top of the box. The flourless chocolate cake was
capped in a delicate layer of gently folded whipped cream, and fresh strawberries. A sculpted
plaque made of chocolate simply said “I love you.”

“Wow,” Jamie whistled.

“I hope he likes it. Since this will be our first Valentine’s Day as a couple.”

“In Sei’s eyes at least.”

True enough. I grabbed the glass cake dome that Sei kept in my kitchen and carefully placed the
pastry inside. I had a box full of rose petals that needed to be spread out. Sei didn’t care much for
cut flowers, but I was pretty sure he’d like the live orchids and mini cherry tree I’d gotten for
him.

“Do you want me to wake him up?” Jamie asked as he headed for the elevator.

“No. I’ll do it. Thanks, Jamie.”

“You’re welcome. And if you need to extend your activities to Sei’s condo, don’t worry. Kelly is
upstairs at my place for the night.” He left with that, the smile on his face telling me more than
enough.

I shut down the computer and began decorating. By the time I finished it was quarter to midnight
and the four bottles of QuickLife I’d had were swirling in my belly with unease. When I finally
made my way upstairs, the whole five feet to his door made me anxious enough to nearly turn

around. The last time I’d tried a romantic adventure, he’d run from me. He preferred simple
tokens of my affection, like passing kisses and nights curled up reading together.

This was so far beyond that. Risky. But while he liked the little things, I wanted to do bigger
things. Like buy him a house, or a room full of dolls, or fly him to a private island for a weekend
together. The irony was that I’d spent two thousand years searching for someone who loved me
just for being me instead of for my money or power, yet I wanted to give him those things.

I used my key and snuck into the dark condo. Sei slept peacefully on his side. I crawled in beside
him, and curved my body to spoon him from behind. Through our bond I could catch glimpses
of his dreams which were mostly peaceful. I closed my eyes and let myself settle in, unwilling to
wake him just yet.

The soft touch of a hand on my cheek awoke me. I hadn’t realized I’d dozed off until that
moment. Sei had turned in my arms and was watching me with a gentle smile on his face.

“Hi,” I said.

“You’re so beautiful,” Sei told me.

“Not as beautiful as you.”

“Gabe, shush,” Sei protested and kissed each of my cheeks. “You’re beautiful. I love your curly
hair, your pretty green eyes and long lashes. I love your neck.” He licked down my neck. “And
your strong shoulders.” He pushed back the buttons of my shirt and kissed each shoulder.

I directed his head up so our lips could meet. The kiss lasted wonderful ages. He pressed against
me. I held him tight and just enjoyed the taste of him, the closeness, and his happiness. When the
kisses finally ended, Sei gave me a sleepy sigh, but I had no intention of letting him fall back
asleep just yet. “Come with me,” I said, pulling him up from the bed.

He looked down at his clothes, a pair of sleep pants and a tank top. “In my pajamas?”

“I promise you won’t need them long.”

Sei put his hand in mine and rewarded me with a sultry smile. I lead him downstairs to my
condo. The orchids were set out on the counter next to the cake, and rose petals made a small
heart around them. He traced the stem of orchids, and grinned at the cake. “Yum.”

I carefully lifted the top off the dome and handed Sei a plate. The slice I cut was probably larger
than he would normally eat, but the night was really about sensuality rather than hunger. I
restored the dome to its place and left Sei at the counter to head into the bathroom where I’d set
up the rest of the evening. The tub filled with warm swirling water and the scent of something
green, a gift from a certain nosey redhead.

Petals trailed to the bathroom and the tub. I could hear Sei moving around the apartment slowly,
as if unsure what to do, but I stripped out of everything, putting a towel around my waist so he

would understand that sex wasn’t the ultimate goal, though it would be had that night if Sei had
any say in it. I poured two glasses of the sweet dessert wine that Seiran loved and waited for him.

He appeared in the doorway only a few seconds later, plate in hand, cake untouched, eyes
curious.

“Gonna eat that?” I asked him. He stepped closer. I took his fork and swept a small bite into my
mouth. The chocolate tasted sweet and slightly bitter and I fought not to swallow, but nearly lost
the battle when Sei’s expression turned to one of concern.

“You’ll make yourself sick!” He launched himself at me. I took the plate from him and set it on
the tray beside the tub before catching him and meeting the ferocity of his kiss. Sometimes
having vampire speed was a good thing. He licked away all the chocolate he could find in my
mouth and didn’t pull away until I dropped my towel and stepped carefully back into the tub.
The flush that heated his cheeks made me smile.

“Going to join me?” I asked him, making room on my lap.

His blush deepened, but he looked away, examined the walk-in shower across the room with
interest. “Maybe I could sit on the edge of the tub?”

“Okay, who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?” I demanded playfully. Sei
loved the water almost as much as Kelly did.

“I just-” he stopped like he didn’t know what to say. Finally he clipped his hair up on top of his
head, tugged off his top, and shoved his bottoms and underwear down in one swipe then stepped
into the tub with me. Instead of cuddling into my lap he sat across from me.

The distance made me swallow back a gulp of worry. I thought we were beyond this, but maybe
I’d been wrong. “Talk to me, Sei.”

“You’ll be mad,” he whispered, still refusing to look at me.

“How often am I ever mad? Seriously, what is wrong?”

Instead of saying anything he turned his back to me, rising just far enough from the water to
leave the sleek line of his back free of the suds. The last of the lather slipped down, trailing onto
his tight little butt cheeks, and revealing colorful words scrawled across the base of his spine, my
name. Gabe, not Gabriel which I’d spent most of my life recognized as. Sei had started the trend
of calling me Gabe and it stuck. The letters bloomed in red with roots of green stems. The center
of the “a” and “e” were paw prints instead of empty space.

I wanted to kiss him, to taste that skin, and show him how much I loved seeing him branded with
my name, but the slightly raised edges meant the ink was fresh and still healing. He shuddered,
and I realized I still hadn’t said anything.

“Christ, Seiran, I love you so much.” I pulled him into my lap, careful not to touch the sensitive
skin of the tattoo.

“Do you hate it?” His wide sapphire eyes searched my face with all the fear of a child seeking
acceptance. Someday that fear would leave him, and he’d realize that all that mattered to me was
him, whatever he was and whatever he did.

“It’s beautiful.” Beyond beautiful. It felt like more a claim to him than even our focus bond did.
“I love it. You know you didn’t have to do that for me. It must have hurt.”

“It wasn’t so bad,” he lied, his bravado obvious. “You have my name. It’s only fair that I have
yours.”

So that’s what it was. I’d had Sei’s name tattooed over the top of Titus’ years ago. The Japanese
letters gave it some flourish, and I’d had some color and detail added in the past few months
simply because I wanted that connection to him to be visual. I’d been grateful numerous times
for choosing to have his name in Japanese instead of English because I’d fear he’d panic if he
knew the truth. “How’d you know?”

“I drew a picture of it and asked my mom.” He looked away again. “You were doing things to it
after I found out what it meant. So I was worried you were going to cover it up. But then you
added the new moon, and the paw tracks, and the leaves….”

“I’ll add even more to it when your babies are born.”

“Our babies,” Sei corrected. “They’re yours as much as mine. Just like they are Ally’s as much as
Hanna’s. I hope you’ll be their daddy too.”

“Of course. I look forward to it.” I massaged his neck until he finally rested his head on my
shoulder. “Two months until you’re a full-fledged, card-carrying, diaper-changing, daddy.”

“We should make the most of our alone time right now then.” He reached over and took a forkful
of the cake, then turned his head toward me, after swallowing, for a kiss. It was a game we often
played. I licked the edges of his lips before diving inside for a taste of the chocolate over him.
We picked up the glass of wine and raised them to clink together.

“Will you run away from me if I say Happy Valentine’s Day, Seiran?” I took a hesitant sip of the
wine watching him for subtle changes that meant he wasn’t happy about celebrating my frivolous
holiday.

“Nah. I’m comfy.”

“Oh, so I’m a pillow, eh?”

He bit back a smile, and then sipped his wine to cover it up. “I love you, Gabe. Pokey bits and
all.” His hand slipped beneath the water to touch me, and his eyes peered up through his long
lashes. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

###

About Lissa Kasey

Lissa Kasey lives in St. Paul, MN, has a Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing, and collects
Asian Ball Joint Dolls who look like her characters. She has two cats who enjoy waking her up
an hour before her alarm every morning, and sitting on her lap to help her write. She can often be
found at Anime Conventions masquerading as random characters when she's not writing about
boy romance.