::waves:: Hi y'all! For those of you who don't know me, my name is DC Juris. I've been a published author of GLBTQ romance since 2009. You can find me on Facebook.
For my part in the Rainbow Advent Calendar, I have a little offering featuring my two vampire characters, Serge and Bryan. Unfortunately, their first story, "Serge's Gift," is no longer available, but you don't really need to know anything other than Serge is an ancient vampire who turned his human friend Bryan, and they're together. This story is a snapshot of their first Christmas together.
To sweeten the holiday pot, I've got an offer for you. Throughout the month of December, do a random act of kindness for someone. It can be anything - a small gesture, a large gesture, either one. Then leave a comment on this post, including your e-mail, and I'll send you a free copy of "Serge's Gift."
"The Only Star"
I wasn't expecting this. When
you're mated to a vampire, things like Christmas seem a little trivial. But
here Serge stands, in the living room of our apartment, grinning from ear to ear in front of a fully decorated,
must-be-over-seven-feet-tall-and-three-around twinkling tree. Beneath the tree is a veritable mound of presents of all shapes and
sizes, wrapped in bright colored paper, complete with large gold bows on top of
each one, all bearing tags with my name.
I cross the room to him,
unable to suppress my own grin. "What's all this?"
"It's Christmas."
He says it so simply, so dryly, belying to jovial look on his face. "Did
you think I would let you miss Christmas?"
I shrug. Christmas is a thing
I don't need anymore, I figure. A thing of my human past, not my vampire
future.
Serge arches an eyebrow and
cocks his head to the side in that way of his. "So now you are a
bloodsucker, tradition means nothing?" His eyebrows knit together, and I
get the impression he's seriously
upset that I haven't reacted the way he wanted me to.
And now I remember what he's
told me of his past, his human family, and the vampire ones that followed, all
of them connected to some historical event or place, all of them sticklers for
rules and traditions. "Of course not." I shake my head.
"Tradition is always important."
That eyebrow arches higher
though, and he stares down his nose at me for a moment. "Hmm." Is all
he says, and I wonder if I've just made a huge mistake.
Serge shrugs. "In any
event." He looks back to the tree. "It has been a long time since I
have had a Christmas tree. A very long time, indeed," he whispers.
Now I get
it. The tree isn't so much for me, but him, yet Serge will never admit such.
He's an old vampire—a powerful one—filthy rich; able to buy anything he'd
ever want. What need does he have of human nonsense like Christmas trees and
presents? Better to hide that desire behind a gesture meant supposedly for me.
He stands there mutely,
gazing at the tree, clenching and unclenching his hands, like he's trying to
keep himself from reaching out and touching it. I look closer at the tree. Most
of these ornaments look very old; some of them must be as old as…Oh. I really, really get it now.
I move toward the tree. There
are several stars, which appear to have been fashioned out of twigs. A child's
project, perhaps? I imagine a smaller version of Serge winding twine around the
wood and beaming with pride at his creation. Near the top of the tree hangs a
ceramic horse, its chipped and faded paint telling its age. I reach out and run
my finger over a delicate glass "old world" Santa. I hear Serge's
sharp intake of breath as my flesh makes contact with the glass. He steps
closer and reaches out just a little, almost nervously. "I'll be careful,"
I assure him.
"Of course you will. I know
that." Serge drops his hand with a self-depreciating snort.
"Were these yours, as a
child?"
He swallows hard and nods.
"Most belonged to my mother, and hers before her."
I point to one of the stars.
"And who made these?"
"I did. I was
seven." He ducks his head, and I swear if a vampire could blush, Serge
would be beet red at the moment.
"They're very
nice."
He shrugs. "They are only
stars. Nothing more."
"They're a lot more. Aren't they?" I step
close to him and lay my hands on his hips. There's an unspoken rule between
us—Serge makes the first move, Serge controls our intimacy—and he bristles a
little at the fact I've taken such initiative. But he doesn't move away,
doesn't push my hands aside. He leans in and teases my lips with his.
"They are only
stars." Serge straightens and raises a hand to touch my hair reverently.
"From a life that no longer exists."
"I'd like to hear about
it." I lean into him, press my forehead to his chin.
The rumble of Serge's chuckle
resonates deep in his chest. "You'd be bored out of your mind, I'm
afraid."
"Nothing about you is
boring, my love." I wrap my arms around his neck and smile sweetly.
"Please?"
He glances past me to the
tree and heaves a sigh. "I suppose I brought this on myself, didn't
I?" The question seems snide but there's a light in his eyes—a glimmer of
excitement despite his words. He wants me to ask, he wants to tell me.
I glance at the enormous
tree. "Well, you are the one who
cut down an ancient redwood and dragged it into our house."
"It's not a
redwood," he corrects dryly. "It's a balsam fir. Abies balsamea, to be technical."
I shiver against him. "I
love it when you speak Latin."
He laughs in earnest.
"You love it when I speak anything."
Serge steps back and spins me around toward the blood bar in the corner.
"If you intend me to speak of such things, I will need sustenance."
I walk over to the bar, open
the chiller and pull out the first bottle my hand finds. I uncork it, and start
to pour the thick, scarlet liquid into two glasses. Serge appears behind
me—I'm still not used to that speedy movement thing—and wraps his arms around
my waist.
"Sie
sind der einzige Stern, den ich jetzt benötige," he whispers against
my ear, then slides from me and goes to the other side of the room. He flounces
down on the couch, staring at the Christmas tree.
"That's not Latin," I murmur. German, if
I recall my high school studies correctly.
"No." Serge gives no other answer.
I join him on the couch and he reaches for his
glass but I pull it back and raise an eyebrow. "What'd you say?"
He surges forward, grabbing both the glasses from
me before I can react. In the next moment he straddles me, has my wrists pinned
above my head in one of his hands. Serge kisses me thoroughly, curling my toes
with the passion of it.
"I said you are the only star I need now."
The wave of emotion that passes between us is
something electric. I've always been attracted to Serge; have loved him for a
while. But this… I've never felt the vampire bond between us quite so strongly. Suddenly
a history lesson is at the absolute bottom of my wish list. I tilt my hips up,
press against him. Offering. Demanding.
He takes the invitation, nips at my bottom lip with
his teeth as he slides a hand down between us. "It's true, you know."
"What's that?" I gasp as his fingers wrap
around my cock and begin to slowly stroke up and down.
"That you are a star. You shine brightly, my
love. Even now, cursed as you are." Serge licks a stripe up my neck.
"Not…cursed…" I thrust up into his hand.
His flesh is cool, like mine, but when he touches me like this, I'd swear I'm
in the middle of an inferno. He tightens his grip, precum slicking the way.
"Oh, but you are cursed. And so am I." He
nibbles at my throat, just over my jugular, draws a razor sharp fang along my
skin.
The sensation goes all the way to my cock. I don't
care if I'm cursed if it means being here with him like this, with the scent of
him, the feel of him, the weight of him holding me down. I want him in every
way possible. Forever. I buck up against him, wrap my hand around the back of
his neck. "Drink."
He snarls and sinks his fangs in instantly. He's
gentle, oh, so gentle, sucking delicately, slowly, in time with the movement of
his hand on my cock. It's too much. It's not enough.
I pull him down against me hard, wrap my legs
around him and hook my ankles. I can feel the blood leaving me, flowing past
his lips in a steady stream—it's like a thousand little orgasms. It leaves me
dizzy and breathless, desperate for more. The bond between us sings and
expands, ricocheting Serge's own pleasure back to me.
He raises his head, blood trickling from the corner
of his mouth, and captures my lips in a demanding, deep kiss. I surrender to
it, to the plundering of his tongue, to taste of myself, to the knowledge that
this act between us is perfect and precious.
I'm close, so close. I rut up into his hand and
cling to him, lost in a sea of sensation. It's still too much. It's still not
enough. I fear it will go on for eternity. I fear it will end too soon. My body
tenses, reaching, reaching. I want to demand my release. I want to beg him for
it. But I can't form words. All I can do is feel and trust that he knows the
way.
Orgasm hits in a staggering moment of intensity, as
always. When we share blood, we share everything. Serge moans into my mouth as
my release spills over his hand. His body goes rigid and I'm hit with another
wave of pleasure. I ride it out, tumbling and falling free into the abyss of
our bond.
It's minutes or an hours before I come back to
myself. Serge hasn't moved but to press his forehead against my shoulder. I
lift a hand an thread my fingers through his hair. "You shine brightly
too, you know," I whisper.
He chuckles and shifts to look down at me. "I
am but a flicker of yellow against the brilliant white of your backdrop."
It's not true. I want to argue with him, tell him
he's wrong. But something in his tone stops me. I kiss his lips and wrap my arms
around his neck. "Will you tell me of your Christmases?"
"Perhaps later. I have other plans for the
evening."
I raise an eyebrow at him. "Do tell?"
He untangles us and stands, holds his hand out to
me. "I plan to wine you and dine you tonight, such as I can."
"And then?" Because with Serge, there is
always an and then.
"And then, my star, I plan to bring you home
and make love to you on the rooftop, under the stars. If you are amenable, of
course."
"I suppose I could be persuaded."
He chuckles and heads for the bedroom to change. I
sit for a moment, simply staring at the tree. I may never know about the
Christmases that came before, but I believe I can make the Christmases to come
ones he hopes never to forget.
Copyright
© 2017 DC Juris
All rights reserved. This is a work
of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the
author’s imagination, or have been used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual
persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental. No portion
of this work may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means,
without permission in writing from the author.
This is lovely <3 Thank you so much for posting. Merry Christmas, Hun! x
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm happy I could participate! :-)
DeleteWhat a cool short read, well written, too. I'd love to read more stories with these characters. My random act of kindness was to give a little girl, that I saw today in a discount shop, extra money so she could buy her mum & her brother a Christmas present each. My email is starjw231@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThank you! And what a wonderful act of kindness! I'll send your story along this weekend!
DeleteThank you. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays! :-)
DeleteWhat a lovely read!
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
DeleteWow what a very sweet romantic story. Thank you for sharing. Merry Christmas. Lovelybunny40@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThank you!! Happy Holidays!
DeleteLove it! My e-mail is dianasauce@yahoo.ca
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm so glad you liked it!
DeleteMy good deed was letting my husband sleep in this morning while I took our son to school. He works so hard and deserves a littlw break every now and then. anaafedt87@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteHow sweet of you! :-)
DeleteLovely story. Thank you. My good turn was helping a teenage girl get to her friends play when the train was cancelled. She would have missed it otherwise.
ReplyDeletemarydolphin67@gmail.com
Thank you! What a nice act of kindness!
DeleteWhat a lovely short story, perfectly suitable for the start of advent <3 My act of kindness was to host my sister's youngest for an unspecified amount of time as she needs some distance from family drama. My email is elenilote@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThank you! What an awesome act of kindness!
Deletehi there :) what a beautiful little story :) and a little correction .. not 'sie sind' ... 'du bist' is correct. greets from germany .. and please have a wonderful xmas time
ReplyDeleteAh! Du bist! Danke! I took two years of German in High School, but that was a looonnggg time ago! I think the only things I can still say well are "I love you" and "may I use the restroom?" LOL
DeleteI was going to mention the same thing. "Sie sind" would be appropriate for someone you'd just met or who was in some sort of power relationship with the speaker, but it would be very odd from a lover to his beloved, where "Du bist" would be normal, unless Serge was using the formal to tease.
DeleteVery nice intro to the calendar thankyou!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely start to December. I still remember your ‘Pudding Jones’ story, that was a wonderful read.
ReplyDeleteMy random act of kindnes was driving an elderly neighbor home so she could buy more, and cheaper, groceries.
yvonnereads11 at gmail dot com
Thank you! "Pudding Jones" is so dear to my heart - I'm so glad you liked that one. I hope to get it republished some day. And what an awesome act of kindness! So often our elderly are forgotten.
DeleteI loved that. Thank you so much for posting X
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! Thank you for sharing this lovely story.
ReplyDeleteThank you I loved it. Will there first book ever be available again
ReplyDeleteLoved the story! My random act of kindness was to stop and buy all of my coworkers coffee before I went in to work this morning. I figured we should celebrate the beginning of the season of giving. Plus caffeine!!! My email roxhawke23@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteWonderful thank you.
ReplyDeleteYou are a new author to me. I heard about this website from Jeff Adams. My act of kindness or not sure if it is a kindness, I just enjoy it. I volunteer at the local hospital, one day a week, all year around. I hope I can help where needed and maybe cheer someone up, because hospitals are usually sad and depressing places.
ReplyDeletedonnaemayer@aol.com
My random at of kindness was I helped an older lady load her grocery bags into her car. colby69@verizon.net
ReplyDeleteVery nice short, thank you.
ReplyDeleteHelped a person in line pay grocery bill, they were a little short.
marobbins62@gmail.com
I enjoyed the taste of Christmas :)
ReplyDeleteMy good deed was helping an elderly lady by getting the drinks she wanted from the top shelf at the grocery store.
katmoreid@gmail.com
Cute short story, thank you for the chance. I have a Facebook friend who has an autistic child like mine and she is collecting cards from around the world for him for Christmas so I volunteered to send one from myself and my kids. My email is sheryl1979.10@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteLord the snippet, thank you for sharing. My or should I say our ( my hubby and myself) helped a elderly lady push her shopping cart while she rode on an electric scooter to customer service so she could return items from her layaway she had just picked up. Thank you so much for sharing. My email is looney589@man.com
ReplyDeleteThis was lovely...and now I want to know more about Serge past Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI love the story, very passionate.
ReplyDeleteI try to be helpful most days and am volunteering for the local Cancer Hospital Christmas event to help wrap gifts at the local shopping centre.
My good deed for yesterday was to help a guy I met at the wellbeing centre. He needed some repairs made on his jacket so I offered to make them as he couldn't sew.
Lovely story and a lovely gesture to do an act of kindness to someone. I try to do that as much as possible. thank you. terpi@videotron.ca
ReplyDeleteGreat story. I love quick reads like this that give just a glimpse at characters, making me want to know and read more.
ReplyDeleteAs for a random act of kindness, what I try to do during the holiday season (and sporadically during the year) is help fill the little free libraries the library I work for has set up by bus stops all over the county. Sometimes I weed my own collection (which is painful), but I often get a few bags of books from local thrift stores that are overrun with book donations. It's a win-win all around.
miztrebor88@gmail.com (that's my review email, only because I don't want to have my personal email out in the general public eye.)
This was a beautiful and sweet story. My act of kindness is giving a man who approached me at the gas station $20 for bus fare to get home and food. He only asked for whatever I could spare but I wanted to make sure he'd be alright. My email is Dijah1094@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteReally great story. I loved it. As for a random act of kindness, I've decided to feed three stray cats that live behind my house. In fact, I've already become their official source of food. I've been feeding them every day for a week now, and now they are waiting for me when it is time to deliver... I guess I have three new charges for as long as they want... LOL
ReplyDeletemy email is susanaperez7140(at)Gmail(dot)com
First time reading something of yours :D I also heard about you from Big Gay Fiction Podcast. This Advent Calendar thingy is great to discover new authors, that's for sure!
ReplyDeleteMy act of kindness was buying a bunch of food at the supermarket today and donating it to an organitation that will be giving it to people in need throughout the month of December.
ersia.san@gmail.com
Great story and I would love to read Serge's story too. My random act of kindness was to take two large bags of refundable soda and juice bottles to Critter Aid. They collect, sort and return them to fundraise for their critters. Rose atsummerblue@hotmail.ca
ReplyDeleteThank you for this lovely short story! Froeliche Weinachten!
ReplyDeleteThat was lovely. Thank you. I would love to read Serge’s Gift. ( Havenfieldwood@Gmail.com)
ReplyDeleteVery sensual, lovely, thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteVery nice. My random act of kindness was to help my daughter. Her MIL was babysitting and planned something without telling my daughter. If she leaves work early she has to make it up. So I cancelled my plans and met her MIL in a very cold parking lot to pick up the baby. She was 20 minutes late.
ReplyDeletedebby236@gmail dot com
Thank you for the lovely story! My random act of kindness was to donate a bunch of new shoes, pillows and sheets, and kitchen storage to a military charity.
ReplyDeletejczlapin@gmail.com
Thank love this. My random act of kindness was I gave a friend who needed food some food to help them till there EBT kicked in. email is jeanne.pinkmoondragon.catron@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThank you for the story! I've spent the last month helping to find housing for vets with low income and who are homeless.
ReplyDeletehumhumbum AT yahoo DOT com
Thank you for the story. My random act of kindness was complimenting an elderly lady on her hat and asking to take a picture for my mom. She didn't think I'd want her face in the pic, but I told her I loved her coat as well, her happiness was so warm and genuine and then we talked about another hat she's planning on decorating for Christmas. I'm glad i didn't second-guess myself and not approach her. My email is mari.ananda93@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteSuch a lovely story! I loved it.
ReplyDeleteA group of friends and myself usually do something similar every 15 of January, and call it More Joy Day, when we randomly do something nice for a stranger.
But I'm all for random acts of kindness every time of the year. Although mine wasn't to a stranger this time, but for a friend who is having a really bad time due to some unexpected medical expenses. I just mailed her a package with lots of christmasy goodies to try to make her Christmas a little less haunting.
This time of the year can be really hard for a lot of people, and by doing this you are making the world a better place. Thank you!
My email is laclau.copada at gmail dot com.
Thank you for the story; I loved it. I helped one of my coworkers by covering her desk while she was pumping breast milk (she had a new baby a few months ago), and helped put things in order for her so she'd have less work to do when she got back. My email address is jmarenbowen@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteA lovely story!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Love this story!
ReplyDeleteLast week I purchased twenty LGBTQ+ paperbacks and donated them to the LGBT Teen Center that I volunteer at. The teens love reading about characters they can relate to, and their joy over having these books is so amazing to see.
My email address is amandaviecelli@gmail.com. Thank you so much and Happy Holidays!
Loved it, it is beautifully written. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteFabulous way to start the Advent season. Loved this story. Our weather has been frightful this week...it started with torrential, sideways rain for days and then the temps dropped to below freezing. It's brutal for the homeless living in my community. For my random act of kindness, I donated a new rain slicker, wool socks, and shoes.
ReplyDeleteMy email address is j dot stonewright at gmail dot com