Harry dropped Orlando off at the house, gave him a kiss goodnight that had him shaking, in spite of the two orgasms he'd had, and promised to see him the next night at Sean and Dom's party. Orlando walked into the house and leaned against the door for a moment. Eyes closed, a tiny smile on his face, he reached out for Karl. //I'm home, love.// //In the study.// He took a deep breath to compose himself, raked a hand through his hair. Saying a quick prayer that nothing he had to say would upset Karl further, he stopped in the door and leaned against the frame. "Hi." "Hey." Karl's voice welcomed him as he turned off the computer and stood, stretching. He crossed the room, gave Orlando a lingering, slow kiss, breathed in his scent. "Have a good time?" "Yeah, I did." Orlando slid his arms around Karl's waist and hugged him tight. How much to tell him? Details, no details...Orlando wondered what the etiquette was for telling your lover about the date you just had with his lover. Just the thought gave him a headache. "Good." Orlando could still see the shadows behind hazel eyes, but they weren't as prevalent as they'd been earlier. Karl brushed his hand across Orlando's cheek, crossed to the sofa. "What...what all did you do?" Orlando chewed his bottom lip and then followed Karl, sinking down onto the sofa beside him. "Well, he took me to a church to begin with. Thought that was a little weird until he showed me all the stuff down there. It was...amazing." Orlando smiled, his hands making vague gestures as he spoke. "We talked, and...um...we went to this great little Italian place and got take-out, then we went back to Harry's, watched a movie and ate, and, well...here I am." Karl started toying Orlando's hair, twisting the curls around his fingers. "Let me guess. Tony's on 3rd, right?" "Yeah, how'd you..." Orlando stopped, laughed. "Guess you've been there before." "Once or twice." Karl's smile was strained, though he answered easily enough. "Harry owns the restaurant." Harry owned it? Orlando hadn't even suspected. "He didn't mention that. Guess it explains why the cook didn't fuss about making my meal with no meat." Another small smile flitted across Karl's lips, this one even more heart-breaking in its sadness. "I can only imagine Harry's reaction to that." "Oh, he teased me about it. In fact, he said he wished he'd known before..." Orlando stopped and looked down. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath. Now for the part he'd been dreading, regardless of anything Harry had said. "Karl, there's something I need to tell you." Karl continued to stroke Orlando's hair. "So tell me." "It's about Harry. And me." He risked a quick glance up at Karl. "Anyway, tonight, I...I told him that I loved him and he...well, he bit me. Really bit me." Orlando opened his eyes, looked at the floor. Nervous, wanting to pace, he awaited Karl's reaction. "I know." "He told me you'd already know," Orlando murmured as he leaned into the caress. "I thought I should tell you anyway since I've managed to bind myself to him now, too." "Kinda hard not to know when there's a new pulse in your head," Karl explained, twisting around on the sofa. Orlando looked up, startled. "So you can feel him in my head?" "Yeah." Karl closed his eyes, sank into the cushions. "It's low, but it's there." "I can't feel him in your..." Orlando groaned and dropped his head into his hand as he realized what he was saying. "Karl, I'm sorry." "It's alright." Karl reached out, sought Orlando's hand with his own, eyes still closed. //I love you.// Orlando leaned over to brush a soft kiss across the corner of Karl's mouth. "I missed you tonight." "Missed you, too. Both of you." The last words were almost inaudible. "I think he misses you." Orlando's voice was soft as he leaned against Karl. "He got this look in his eyes every time you were mentioned." "Yeah, well, he can't miss me that much." Orlando heard the bitterness in Karl's voice, hated it. "Which is why he got all tense and sad-eyed every single time your name was mentioned." He didn't know whether to smack Karl or cuddle him. 'He can't miss me that much.' Huh. Sounded just like Harry. Harry.... "Karl, do you know why Harry wouldn't, um...well, why he...." Karl lifted his head, eyed Orlando curiously. "Why he...?" Orlando shrugged, blushed. His face felt like it was on fire. "Why he wouldn't let me...after he...why wouldn't he let me do anything for him tonight? All he let me do was kiss him and cuddle with him." "Cocksucker." Karl winced. "He didn't tell you." Orlando shook his head. "No, he didn't. He just kept saying 'later' and stopping me every time I tried to do more than kiss him." He looked at Karl, confused. "And earlier, he told me he'd tried to end 'it' because 'it' wasn't fair to me. I don't understand what he meant, and he wouldn't explain. But...he said you would." "Fuck." Karl dropped his head back again, his sigh soul-deep. "Go get yourself a drink, Orlando. You're going to need one. Or two. Just don't bring the bottle, because I'm really not up to playing dodge ball tonight." "Dodge..." Orlando trailed off, studied Karl closely. "You're going to tell me something that's going to piss me off, aren't you?" He stood and walked to the bar. "You want anything?" Karl's grunt of laughter was without mirth. "Whatever you're having and yes. I am. It's about a pact Harry and I made a very long time ago." "Figured as much." Orlando filled his glass over half full, considered it, then added a bit more just to be safe. Figured he'd need it and probably more. He poured another drink and took it to Karl. Still standing, he looked down. "I take it this pact involves me." Karl took the drink with a small nod of thanks, drained it in one long sip. He looked up at Orlando, the look on his face apologetic. "Not as such, no. We promised each other, vowed, actually, that if one of us ever took a pet, which was unthinkable, since we knew we'd never find anyone that would want the both of us..." His smile was ironic. "Anyway, if and when the...um...second man, for want of a better term, bound himself to the pet...well..." he stopped, cleared his throat, continued to gaze at Orlando out of sad eyes. "You're not going to like this." Orlando froze with his glass halfway to his mouth. His eyes locked with Karl's. "Tell me." "Wouldn't do anything without the first one being present the first time," Karl finished, wincing slightly. "We wanted to make sure that we completed the circle correctly the first time. Made it truly about 'us'...all of us." Orlando stared at Karl, stunned beyond all belief. Slowly, he lifted his glass to his mouth and swallowed half the contents in one gulp, felt the slow burn all the way to his stomach. "But you weren't there the first time...and tonight...Harry and I have done an awful lot, Karl." "Yeah, but you weren't truly his before, you were still mine." Karl got up, walked to the bar. "It's different now. You're bound to him. Now you belong to us. And you can't touch him without me being there." "But he can do whatever the fuck he wants to me?" Orlando finished off his drink and stalked to the bar. He slammed the empty glass down beside Karl's hand. "And I get no say so in this? I'm just supposed to lay there and let him do whatever he wants, and I can't do shit in return even though he's horny as hell?" Karl drained his second shot, slammed his glass next to Orlando's. "It wasn't supposed to work like that. We're all supposed to be doing this together. The three of us." Karl pinched his eyes, let out a shaky breath. "He most assuredly is not supposed to be horny." "Well, we're not all doing this together and he is very horny. I don't need to be in his mind to know that." He paused, glared at Karl. "Do you have any idea how badly I wanted him to just bend me over that goddamn bike and fuck me until I couldn't stand up? And now you're telling me I'm not going to get that? This is beyond fucked up. It's goddamn ludicrous, is what it is. I can understand why Dom calls the two of you eternal idiots. This has got to be the stupidest goddamn thing I've ever heard in my life." "What the fuck do you want me to do about it?" Karl's voice cut like shards of glass across the room. "This wasn't my choice. Do you think I like it? I fucking hate it. I fucking hate not having him in my head, I fucking hate that I fucked up, and I really fucking hate that I'm not there with the both of you." He paused, took a very deep, slow breath. His next words sounded defeated. "This is killing me. And I have a good idea of what it might be doing to him. I'd release him from the goddamn vow, but I can't fucking reach him." "I hate that you weren't there with us. I wish you had been," Orlando said in a soft voice. He cupped Karl's jaw in one hand, leaned in to give him a gentle kiss. "And I think Harry does, too." He hugged Karl, breathed in his scent. "Much to my dismay, I love you both. I'd tell him that you'll release him from the vow, but..." Orlando sighed, shrugged. "I've been ordered to keep my nose out of it and not try to fix it." "Wouldn't work anyway. I have to do it." "I want you there with us when I'm with him. I want both of you...together. But we're here and he's there, hurting and upset, and you're both here," Orlando tapped his temple, "and that is...a little overwhelming." He gave Karl a speculative look. "You could always try talking to him again." "I'm not really up to being rejected again, but thanks." Karl framed Orlando's cheeks in his hands, bent to give him another kiss. "Why don't you go over there? You may not be able to do anything sexual to him, but you could at least be with him. He hates sleeping alone." "I don't want to leave you alone." "I'll be fine," Karl answered. "I don't want either one of you to be alone," Orlando whispered, tracing Karl's face with his fingers. "Come with me. Try to talk to him again. Maybe if I'm there..." "I don't think that would be a very good idea. I questioned his loyalty, his honor, his love. He's not going to forgive me for that." Orlando frowned slightly. Damned if he was going to give up. He might not be able to fix it, but he could give them the chance to fix it themselves. "You were scared for me. You weren't thinking clearly that night. Harry was guilty of the same thing at the party." He laughed softly then, the sound faintly self-mocking. "Hell, I've been guilty of that myself recently. But what do you have to lose by trying?" "I've already lost him." Karl scrubbed his face with his hands, digging palms in his eyes. "I'm not sure I could do it again." Orlando fisted his hands in Karl's hair and held his head very still. "You have not lost him, you idiot. I'm telling you, he's hurting just as much as you are. And I don't believe, not for a single fucking second, that you're willing to give up on over 800 years that easily. And if you are, then you're not the person I thought you were." "Well, when you put it like that..." Karl lowered his lashes, muttering to himself...Russian again, Orlando thought, but couldn't be sure. Karl's eyes, when they opened, seemed clearer than they'd been in weeks. "I'll drop you off. But I'm not going to promise anything." "I want you to come inside with me." Orlando dropped his hands and took one of Karl's. "If he still refuses to talk to you, at least you'll know you tried." "We'll see." And Orlando could tell that was the absolute most Karl was prepared to offer. "Let's go." Orlando nodded and remained silent as Karl led him to the garage. Onto Part Twenty-Three
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