Second Place - Action/Adventure

Draco Malfoy didn't waste time. Ever. However, even he was amazed at the alacrity with which he and Brian Metts had gotten naked and horizontal upon arriving at Brian's apartment. Their clothes were littered about the small studio and the remnants of abbreviated hospitality lingered in the half-consumed drinks on the counter. Brian was as beautiful as Draco imagined he would be. All things considered, it was true what Brian had said: things really were bigger in Texas.

"Fuck," Draco moaned when Brian did some sort of twisty thing with his hips as they rubbed each other off in prelude to the rest of the evening.

"Later, Drake, promise," Brian murmured in his distinctive Southern twang.

Draco almost took offense at the shortening of his already short name, but the rebuke died in his throat as Brian once again did the twisty thing. Not that Draco was without his own tricks and moves. Five minutes later, Brian was moaning "Fuck," as Draco performed his own little pop and shimmy. Draco laughed. "Later, Brian, I promise," he drawled, eliciting a chuckle from Brian in the process.

"Just so you know," Draco said in between frantic, noisy kisses, "I prefer to top."

Brian moaned as Draco's hand caressed his balls. "Fine, whatever, I could give two shits."

Draco nodded. "Good. I'd hate to think we'd waste valuable fucking time trying to decide who was going to do the fucking."

Brian nodded as he nibbled one of Draco's nipples.

"Fuck," Draco wheezed when the pressure increased.

"Like that, do you?" Brian asked before returning to his task.

Draco growled as Brian continued his ministrations.

"You're a wizard, right?" Brian asked as he flipped them over and straddled Draco's waist.

Draco's breath caught in his throat for a second at the question, not entirely sure how to answer. It wasn't the question itself; rather, it was the timing of the question. "Yeah," he finally said, "You're one too."

"Yeah," Brian said before moaning, "Oh god, yes, right there."

Draco flipped them over and rolled his hips so that he was constantly rubbing against Brain's prick. Deciding to use the night to his advantage, Draco started doing what he did best: extracting information from the most unlikely sources in the most unlikely scenarios. "Have you been in L.A. long? Oh, fuck, yeah . . . do that again."

"Like this, this what you want?" asked Brian before responding. "No," he finally answered while canting his hips in time with Draco. "Just passing through."

"Huh," Draco responded as he leaned down and sucked on the side of Brian's throat so that he could think.

"You?" Brian asked as his hands slipped between their bodies and cupped their erections.

"Ahh," Draco cried while biting his lip. "Just, oh god, . . . just a few weeks. Passing through too."

"Pretty damn cool that two British pretty boys would show up at the same bar within a few weeks of each other. What are the odds of that? Bet you enjoy having someone to relate to."

Draco gave a particularly solid thrust, sending Brian closer to the edge. Draco didn't like where this conversation was going. Draco laughed good-naturedly. "I suppose it's interesting. But, it's not like they only let one of us out of the country at a time, you know. Oh, and don't call me a pretty boy. I think it should be blatantly obvious that I am no boy." Draco punctuated his point with another solid thrust.

"Hell yeah, right there. Right fucking there," Brian whispered harshly.

For several long moments, no words were exchanged, just sloppy kisses and moans.

"I do think it's funny that all three of us are after Beck's attentions, don't you? Though I think that you Brits have the advantage with those sexy accents of yours," Brian said while flipping them over once again.

"Why the fuck are we talking about Beck at a time like this?" growled Draco.

"Just making conversation. Oh, fuck yeah. Jesus, Drake, where the fuck did you learn to do that?"

"Enjoy that did you? How �bout a little more?" Draco asked as he slithered down further and tongued the underside of Brian's cock.

"I just think it's strange, I guess," Brian continued, "I mean, we both obviously want something from Beck and can handle ourselves. I just wonder about that Angel kid. He�oh fuck! Draco, don't, oh fuck, don't stop."

�Then shut the fuck up,' Draco thought as he pulled more of Brian's cock into his mouth. Draco wasn't stupid. Brian's attempt at casual conversation was about as casual as his attempt.

Brian panted and whined and muttered something under his breath about going home to someone named Jesus. Draco figured he'd finally shut Brian up, but, apparently, he'd just taken a breather.

"I mean, that kid, he talks the talk and makes it seem like he can handle himself, but he's what�all of nineteen? Twenty, maybe?"

So, Brian was fishing for information about Harry, was he? Fine, then. Draco would give him some information. Draco shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I haven't really been paying that much attention, except to check him out. He's cute in a tousled sort of way. Skinny, though. I'd still do him�if he begged me enough."

"Hmm," Brian said in return, obviously not happy with Draco's answer. Draco wondered why that was.

Brian's hands slipped between them again. They were both on their sides now, facing each other. "What brought you to The Lair," Brian asked as his hands sped up while he moaned in obvious delight.

Draco had had enough of the smutty interrogation. "Shush, Mr. Chatty. If you're so eager to use that mouth, let me give you something worth your time," he said before leaning across and taking what he wanted with a possessive kiss.

After a thoroughly good fucking, sans the extraneous chatter, Draco lay there wondering about Brian Metts. He actually liked the guy. The few times they'd talked substantively, he'd found that they had a lot in common. He wasn't nearly as moody as Harry or Severus and when you undressed him, you weren't taking your own life in your hands. Both Harry and Severus were far too paranoid. Really, did Harry need Muggle knives and a wand? At all times? Draco looked over at his slumbering Texan. He really was incredible in bed. Draco silently agreed to fuck him as much as necessary. He smirked at the thought and leaned over to kiss him when Severus's debriefing command rattled through his head.

"Fuck," he whispered, wondering what had gotten Severus into an obviously cross mood. He had two hours before he needed to be at Severus's, which was enough time to take a shower, eat a bit and come down from his sex-induced high. He quietly slipped from the bed and wandered around the room searching for his clothing, hoping not to wake Brian.

"What �cha doin'?" a sleepy drawl asked

"I've got to go out for a bit. Err, a friend needs some help�too drunk to get home."

"Is it that Angel kid? Is he the one that needs your help?"

Draco struggled to push away his annoyance. "No, Brian. I've told you. I don't know him. This is someone else. Someone I actually do know."

"K. Just didn't think you had any friends here. Since you're passing through and all."

Draco cursed under his breath. That was a sloppy mistake. "I know people all over the world, Brian. Including here."

"How did he find you? I didn't hear a phone or anything," Brian asked.

Draco figured Brian was faking his sleepy slur�his questions were too pointed. Too coherent. This whole night was setting him on edge. He was going to have to stick even closer to him now. "My mobile," Draco improvised, "it's set on vibrate. It was rattling next to the bed."

Brian was silent for a few moments. Draco returned to dressing.

"You coming back?" Brian asked, still sounding sleepy.

"You want me to?"

"Shit, yeah. I've got a ten gallon hat with your name written all over it," he murmured.

Draco had no idea what he was talking about, but he didn't much care. Brian made just about everything sound sexy. Fuck, he could make ordering egg salad on wheat sound like kinky food sex. Draco was convinced it was the accent. "Okay then," he said. "I should be back in a few hours. Shall I just come in, or . . ."

"Just knock," Brian said hastily, suddenly sounding very much awake. It's not a great neighborhood�I don't feel comfortable leaving the door unlocked."

Draco found that odd since he was sure the door was unlocked right now, but he didn't say anything. "Yeah, sure. See you in a few hours, then."

Brian flashed his lazy grin and Draco flushed with arousal. He was sure that Brian Metts was not all that he seemed and Draco was going to enjoy every delicious second it would take to get to the bottom of the Metts mystery. He swaggered over and took Brian's mouth possessively, swallowing his surprised moan. He nipped his bottom lip and gave him his own lazy grin. "See you soon."

Two hours later and Draco was wishing he'd stayed in bed with Brian. He continually checked his watch wondering how quickly he could get out of there. The tension between Harry and Severus was giving him a migraine. He was so fucking tired of watching them dance around each other. Of course, this was the first assignment they'd had together in a long time and it was certainly the first they'd ever had where Harry had to trade on his sensuality. The fact that Harry didn't even realize just how fucking beautiful he was made the whole thing almost comical. It would have been if Harry wasn't coming unglued. Draco could see it. He wondered how much of it had to do with Beck and how much of it had to do with Severus.

"What happened? You pushed too hard. I thought you knew how to handle yourself?" he barked, ignoring the hurt and fury that crossed over Harry's face and the look of surprise on Draco's. Severus growled as he paced back and forth in his shabby flat. It had been two hours since Beck had run from the club. Draco and Harry sat in their now designated spaces on the couch.

"I don't know," Harry began hesitantly, "One minute, he's all over me, ready to go somewhere private, and the next he's freaking out. I have no idea what happened. Not really, anyway."

Severus stopped pacing and sat heavily. "Well, you've certainly made an impression on him, and not in a good way. We're going to have to do some damage control to keep his interest." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Draco about to say something�most likely on Harry's behalf. He was stopped by Harry's hand on his arm. Severus shifted. He was harder than he'd been in his life and had been since that stupid little game he and Harry had played earlier in the evening. It was taking every ounce of self-control he had not to maul Harry. He wanted to slap that delicate hand away from Draco's arm. That hand was his, goddamn it! And, of course, it was exactly that kind of thinking that he was desperately trying to avoid. He was ready for this assignment to be over. He couldn't look Harry in the eye, there was a crazed vampire out for Draco, the power-hungry squib was going mad, and if he didn't get off�soon�he would spontaneously combust. He needed to get through this meeting and get Harry and Draco out of there.

Severus finally sat up straight and sighed. "How is it going with Metts," he asked Draco, the tiredness creeping into his voice.

"Fine. Better than fine, actually. Did you know he was from Texas? I'm not entirely sure where that is, but he has the most delightful southern drawl," Draco mused, his eyes sparkling with desire. He waited a beat before continuing. "He has a cowboy hat, too. Promised to show it to me."

Only Draco could unabashedly engage in illicit sex in the middle of an intense, turmoil-ridden assignment. And, only Draco would share the details. Though, it did lighten the mood in the room considerably, as was Draco's intention.

Harry rolled his eyes, while Severus snorted in revulsion.

"What?" Draco asked, as if genuinely offended. "No one said I couldn't have any fun."

Harry grinned conspiratorially, the tension in the room broken for a moment. "You should ask him if he has leather chaps, too, Draco." He laughed at the hungry expression that flitted across Draco's face at the thought.

Good God! They were both trying to kill him, Severus thought, as he struggled to banish the image of Harry standing in front of him in nothing but black leather chaps. Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. "You are supposed to be guarding him, not fucking him, Draco."

Draco shrugged. "He was asking too many questions tonight. I had to divert his interest somewhere. Besides, it's a lot easier to keep him out of trouble when he's underneath me. So what if my methods are slightly unorthodox? He wasn't complaining."

Draco didn't want Severus or Harry to start asking questions about Brian asking questions, so he did what they were trained to do�he diverted their attention elsewhere.

"We caught part of the show on the dance floor tonight. I thought I was going to have go out there and save you, or something, Potter. Striker was all over you, and not in a fun sort of way," Draco said, hoping to both divert attention from him and indirectly admonish Severus for blaming Harry for what did, or did not, happen that night.

Severus growled and violently shifted in his seat again. Draco looked up again in surprise, and was just about to say something when Harry beat him at his own game.

"Beck is a moron. He's only dangerous because he's stupid," Harry said waving away Draco's concern. "What's going on with Therac? Has he made any moves towards Malfoy?"

"Thanks for that. I'd nearly forgotten that a homicidal lunatic vampire was after me," Draco muttered.

"No," Severus said as he shot a reprimanding glare at Draco. "He's waiting for something, waiting for you to do something, Draco. You must be very careful. He takes great pleasure in capturing his victim when he is most emotionally vulnerable. Don't give him anything to work with. He can sense, smell, negative emotion. He feeds on it. Literally. Keep playing the unobtrusive, bland angle. It seems to be working.

"So, basically, I should act like a stone, then? A sexy stone, but a stone nonetheless?" Draco asked.

"How about you just stay out of the way and concentrate on keeping Mr. Metts's attention on you rather than on Beck?" Severus drawled.

"I think I can do that," Draco said solemnly. "Speaking of which, I have a date with a Texan and something called a ten gallon hat," Draco said, grateful to get out of the room as quickly as possible.

Severus shook his head again. "Draco is one of a kind," he said a few moments after Draco left.

Harry laughed softly in agreement.

"How do you stand him? I imagine he's rather demanding?"

Harry smiled enigmatically. "I have my ways." Harry felt the need to reassure Severus that Draco was not a complication. "Besides, we don't mean anything to each other. Not in that way."

"Yes, so both of you have said," Severus mumbled dismissively.

"You mean something to me, though," he whispered, hoping Severus heard him.

Harry said it so softly, Severus wasn't sure he'd heard it. So, Severus pretended he didn't hear it. Maybe the brat would take the hint and leave. Christ, he was dying. A vampire's sensuality was intimately intertwined with his bloodlust. At the moment, all he could think about was Harry coming on his command, and all he could hear was Harry's blood coursing through his veins. He would not disgrace himself by telling Harry what the problem was�that would only serve to give the impression that he had no self-control.

"Are you upset with me?" Harry blurted, shaking Severus from his musings.

Severus sighed. "No. I am upset that this assignment seems to be making all three of us do things we wouldn't or shouldn't," he said pointedly.

A few moments of silence passed while Harry studied Severus carefully. He was still sitting in the chair, hunched over slightly, his head in his hands. Harry decided to take a chance. A real chance. What was living but taking chances? Right? He stood and walked over to Severus's chair, staring down at him.

Severus dropped his arms and looked up with a questioning expression. "I think it's time for you to go, Potter. I'm tired and you've had a rough night."

Harry inhaled deeply. "No," he said. Before Severus could say another word, Harry straddled his lap and leaned in with a sound kiss.

Startled, Severus made a muffled cry, which Harry quickly swallowed as his kisses turned far more aggressive and his hands pushed Severus back into the chair.

Once he got his wits about him, Severus pushed Harry away and abruptly stood, causing Harry to topple backward and land on his ass. Severus ran the back of his shaking hand across his mouth. He'd almost . . . oh fuck, he'd almost taken him. Right then. He was no better than that disgusting excuse for a vampire in the alley that had nearly killed Harry a few weeks ago. He'd already lost control once tonight. It wasn't going to happen again. This ended now.

"What the fuck was that for?" Harry asked as he rubbed his tailbone.

"I can't believe you have to gall to ask me that!" Severus roared. "Whatever gave you the impression that I would allow you to do that!?"

Harry's jaw set and his eyes hardened to chiseled bits of green glass. He growled. "How about tonight? Or, last week when you fucking threw me against the wall and had your way with me? Or, the night before that when you teased me with that seduction shit on the couch? Or, how about the way you've been looking at me all fucking week, hell for years?!" Just to hammer his point, Harry sent a quick replay of all of Severus's advances and what had happened at the club that night.

Severus stiffened at the embarrassing onslaught of images, sounds and emotion. Still reeling from being caught unawares by Harry's aggressive kisses, and trying desperately to push away both his arousal and the bloodlust, it was little surprise that his first reaction was to metaphorically hit back. Hard. Severus sneered at Harry. "Last week was a mistake. I was drunk and you were trolling. And tonight? Tonight was business. Remember? You begged me for it. It was for the assignment, you said. You couldn't get through it otherwise, you said. I am currently off the clock, Potter. If you are so hard up, go find Draco. Like everyone else, he does so enjoy bedding the Boy-Who-Lived."

Severus said it to hurt. So, Harry's horrified expression shouldn't have come as a surprise. It did, though, and Severus had to turn away from the pain of it.

"You don't mean that," Harry said. He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't.

Severus said nothing.

In those few moments everything, everything Harry thought was right had suddenly gone horribly, horribly wrong. Harry could feel tears prickle at the corner of his eyes. He swiped at his nose violently. "What was last week then, huh? What the fuck was that? What? You get to call all of the shots? You get to decide where and when and how far we'll go? What the FUCK is THAT?"

"I already told you, Potter, last week was a mistake. One that I will not repeat in the future. Kindly remove yourself from my flat or I will do it for you."

"But you have feelings for me. I know it!" Harry yelled.

Severus turned away and said nothing, nearly panting from the pain of his arousal and the call of Harry's blood.

"I KNOW IT!" Harry screamed.

Severus mustered his last bit of remaining self-control, turned and faced Harry, and told the biggest lie of his life. "I do not. I merely gave into your adolescent demands. That in itself should tell you why I would never want this. Nor should you, given what happened only a few weeks ago."

"I don't believe you. I don't," Harry said.

"You should. Get out," Severus said quickly turning his back to Harry, again willing him to leave before he lost control. He was near frantic. Harry had to leave or he wouldn't be responsible for what happened.

"But you said we were okay. You said it. You meant it."

"I was attempting to be a gentleman. Even when you embarrassed me all week with those clumsy kisses and achingly bad double entendre I was still a gentleman, wasn't I? I was never harsh. I was never cruel. It should have been obvious, though, that I was merely tolerating your advances. But as it appears that you are so thoroughly unaccustomed to gentlemanly behavior that you don't know a brush-off when you hear one, let me speak plainly. I do not care for you in the way you think you care for me. Go be a silly boy somewhere else. Play with your pretty little playthings and leave me the hell out of it."

Harry felt as though he'd been struck. The horrifying silence stretched between them.

"Fuck you," Harry finally said in a hoarse whisper. For one moment he actually thought he was worth something. One moment. But, like everything else in his life, it was a farce. An act. Completely artificial.

When Severus said nothing and remained turned away, Harry scrambled to his feet and ran from the flat without looking back.



Artificial Life - Chapter 8

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