Thorne Ch. 01

Thorne stood at the bar watching the dance floor while Billings, Allen's replacement stood at his side like a puppy waiting for his next command.

"Go get a case of Merlot." Thorne said wanting to be rid of the vampire.

He watched Billings rush off and shook his head. He had to find another replacement and soon. Allen had been a pain in the ass, but he did have a brain. Thorne looked to his right where his private table sat unoccupied and smiled.

He had enjoyed fucking with the Sinclaires. The smile faded when he remembered the price he paid for that fucking. As much as he had enjoyed yanking their chain, he wished to God that he had never laid eyes on Barbara Yancy Simpson. Every time he thought about her, anger rose and he went into denial about whom and what she was. If he never saw her or a Sinclaire again; it would be too soon.

As he continued his perusal of the packed club, a question popped into his head about that night. One of the sisters, the one that he actually liked had made a statement.

"Hans is for you!"

He thought it an odd thing to say; but had disregarded it. Now he wondered what she was talking about. His mind went back to that night recalling who was there. Ethan, two of his brothers, two women who were the mates to two of the brothers and the sisters of the one who went home with him and a single male who had to be Hans.

"Damn it!" He cursed as he slammed his fist down on the bar hard enough to make the glasses rattle. The stupid bitch had a mate! What he didn't understand was why he hadn't claimed her. "What in the fuck was she doing here?" he asked the air.

The statement about Hans being for her went through his mind; and then he understood. Her original mate hadn't claimed her because he didn't want her. He knew what she was, but when the chips were down; he was going to accept her. But she had denied him one too many times and in front of witnesses.

"Fuck!" Thorne said under his breath. If he hadn't been so caught up in fucking the Sinclaires over, he would have caught what the one woman meant. If he had understood; he would have sent the bitch on her way. The final straw had been taking her home and fucking her with Allen. He was now stuck with her. He stormed into his office and slammed the door so hard that it almost flew off its hinges. "Mother fucking fate bastards!" he yelled as he picked up a chair and sent it flying across the room. His green eyes blazed with anger as the full ramifications of that night sunk in. "I refuse to accept this!"

"Then die. The choice is yours." A soft voice whispered in his head and then was gone.

"Damn straight it's my choice!" Thorne said as he reached for the phone. "Billings get your ass up here!"

A few seconds later, the timid vampire was standing in the office.

"Yes sir?" he asked looking down at the floor.

Thorne looked at him for several seconds before issuing an order.

"Get Michelle up here."

He was going to have Billings close up, but thought better of it. Although she was female, Michelle was the much better choice. She was also a female that he used on occasion when there was no one else available. He had no doubt that she would assume that he wanted her in the office for that reason and he wasn't going to disappoint her. As far as he was concerned, he was killing two birds with one stone. He would get relief and it was a step toward breaking the bond with a woman that he didn't want.

"Did you need something boss?" Michelle asked. Her top and bra were already gone and her nipples were already hardened in anticipation of being fucked.

Faster than she could blink, Thorne had her completely naked and bent over the desk with her ass in the air. Michelle wiggled her ass in invitation and moaned when Thorne gave her a firm slap on her left butt cheek.

Thorne willed his slacks away and then frowned when he didn't feel the familiar stirring in his cock and balls when he was going to fuck. He looked down at his cock to see it soft and flaccid. Even when he wasn't going to have sex he was always semi hard; but now there was nothing.

"What in the hell..."

"Thorne?" Michelle called and wiggled her ass again at him.

Instead of answering her, he redressed.

"Close up the club. I'm going out of town for a few days. You're in charge. Call me with any issues."

"Ummm ok..." Michelle replied as she turned around and looked at him. She confused at what didn't happen. "Is everything..."

"Mind your own damned business and keep your mouth shut!" Thorne snapped cutting her off.

He was gone before she could reply. She got off the desk and slowly got dressed determined to do the best that she could for him. Even though she knew that Thorne had his own agenda and that she wasn't on it except as an occasional fuck, she hoped that one day; he would see her as something more.

When she was dressed, Michelle checked her clothes and looked at the mirror. It wouldn't do for the rest of the staff to know that Thorne had hurt her once again.

*******

Thorne drove as fast as the car would go. In all of the centuries that he had been alive; he had never failed to perform. He wasn't concerned about Michelle opening her mouth for two reasons. One, he would know that it was her and two; he was knew that she was infatuated with him. He felt no guilt about using her. She knew that he didn't love her and if she came running every time he whistled, then that was her issue; not his. She was no different than any of the other women that he took to bed except she wasn't rich and she wasn't a gold digger.

Tires squealed as he pulled into his garage. He shut off the motor of the black Jag and vanished to his room. He gathered up the parcels of paint supplies that he bought for him and Noel and vanished back to the garage. Instead of the jag, he chose the silver BMW. After loading the car, he debated about calling Noel to let him know that he was coming early. He changed his mind when he remembered that Noel loved surprises and his showing up two days early would be a big one.

Thorne smiled a rare sincere smile when he thought about Noel's reaction when he appeared in his large art studio. Without a doubt Noel would jump up, shout, drop the paint brush and sprint into his arms. The reaction was always the same no matter how long it had been since they had last seen each other. Thinking about Noel lightened his mood enough that Barb Yancy was nothing more than an irritation and his failure to perform almost; but not quite forgotten.

Minutes later, he was pulling out of his garage and on his way to see Noel.

******

Barb chewed on the tums that she found in the bathroom. She wondered what she could have eaten that had her stomach so upset. As she chewed the chalky tablet she thought about the twin's wedding and how content Kevyn and Louise looked sitting next to their men. The words "not fair" ricocheted in her brain making her squeeze the roll of tums so hard that it hurt.

She just couldn't understand how Louise who had been in California for less than a month had gotten her little paws on Nathan Sinclaire.

"It had to have been Kevyn." She muttered as she walked out of the bathroom. "How else could it have happened?" She also didn't believe Kevyn when she said that she didn't know how it happened. "How did you do it?" Barb muttered as she ran all of the possible scenarios through her head. The most obvious one was the pregnancy one. She immediately discarded it. Neither Kevyn nor Louise would use a child as a trap for a man and Louise had been a virgin when she left Pittsburgh.

The more she thought about it, the more she could see how Nathan had fallen for Louise. He was the type of man who would want to protect someone like her and she would let him think that she needed it even if she didn't. Patrick, she didn't get. She didn't understand his attraction to Kevyn who was a self-proclaimed tomboy. In the end, it was a moot point. They had their men and the only thing that she wanted to know was how they did it.

Her mind wandered to Joseph who had shared a table with her at the twin's wedding reception. Initially she had wondered if he was gay because he had barely looked at her. After the dance, she was positive that he wasn't. There was no doubt that he was a Sinclaire with his blonde hair, blue eyes, aquiline nose and full lips. He also had the height and build of the Sinclaire men. What she wondered about was why he had a different last name.

Barb frowned when she remembered what the Sinclaires looked like.

"They were almost like clones." She mused. When she thought about their youthful appearance, the thought escaped her. The harder she tried to capture the thought; the more it slipped away from her.

As she got ready for bed, she thought about Thorne Blackwell.

"Bastard." She hissed as she shuddered and then tingled all over.

She made a mental note to go to the store to buy vitamin C and Zinc to help ward off the cold that was coming. She lay on the couch, turned on the television and fell asleep.

******

The greeting that Thorne received from Noel was as enthusiastic as he thought it would be. In his excitement, Noel knocked over the canvas that he had been working on sending it crashing to the floor.

"Thorne!" he exclaimed in his soft tenor. "You came early!"

He flew into Thorne's arms and kissed his cheek. Thorne hugged Noel who was just as big as he was and returned the kiss.

"I couldn't wait to see you." Thorne replied. "Where's mother?" he asked looking around the large room.

"In her room... I didn't go out alone... I promise." Noel replied.

"I know you didn't." Thorne said softly and patted Noel on the back.

He wondered what their mother had been thinking. She was supposed to keep Noel within her sight during the waking hours. If she needed a night or several nights away; they had someone on retainer who would stay with him for as long as she needed to be away. Noel was too impulsive to be left alone and had actually gotten out a few times. They were fortunate that he hadn't hurt anyone or that he hadn't been spotted by hunters. Whenever he was asked about what he was doing, he always said that he wanted fresh air. Deep down Thorne didn't think that Noel would hurt anyone unless he was threatened; but why take chances?

"Noel, how long has mother been in her room?" Thorne asked.

"I don't know." Noel replied. "I've been painting."

"I'll tell you what." Thorne said. "Start opening up the packages... and no cheating. I'm going to check on mother."

Noel looked at the packages with glittering green eyes.

"I promise to open them up one at a time." He said. "And I'll do it the human way."

Thorne took out his cell phone and made a call.

"Felix this is Thorne Blackwell. I need you to sit with Noel for a while... I'll wait."

"Are you leaving already?" Noel asked his voice filled with apprehension.

"No I'm not leaving. I Just need to talk to mother for a few minutes. I'll be back shortly." Thorne assured him.

Twenty minutes later, Noel was talking with Felix. Of all of the vampires that had helped in Noel's care; Thorne liked him the best. Felix was also the only one that Thorne never raised his voice at and treated with any degree of respect.

"I'll be back shortly." He told Felix.

Thorne left the studio and walked to the other side of the house. His footsteps slowed as he approached his mother's rooms. Anger flared when he heard her soft moans of pleasure. He couldn't believe that she would leave Noel alone so that she could fuck someone. All she had to do was call Felix as he had done and he would have arrived in minutes.

He stomped to the door and banged on it making it clear that he was angry. He heard a soft "oh fuck" and then the sound of someone leaving through the passage behind a large mirror. A few minutes later, Samantha Blackwell opened the door.

"Thorne, I didn't know that you were coming." She said as she stepped back to let him in.

"I can see that!" he snapped angrily. "What in the hell are you thinking?"

"I'm entitled to have visitors." She replied ignoring Thorne's tone.

"Yes you are." He conceded, "But you also have a responsibility to Noel! All you had to do was pick up the damned phone and call Felix; then you could have fucked to your heart's content!"

"Who's with him while you're down here yelling at me?" she asked.

"Felix!" Thorne said. "He was here within twenty minutes of my call."

Samantha then did the one thing that Thorne hated. The one thing that made his father go from being a strong, decisive man to a weak kneed idiot- she placed her hand on Thorne's arm, looked up at him with green, tear filled eyes and pouted.

"I'm not father so stop it!" he said as he pulled away from her. "Your crocodile tears don't work on me."

Samantha tensed and then smiled.

"No and they never did, but you're right; I should have called Felix" she conceded.

"How many times have you left him alone?" Thorne asked.

"Just this once." Samantha said lying. She knew that Noel lost all track of time when he painted and wouldn't remember. "And he isn't as helpless as you make him out to be." She added.

"You're lying." Thorne said. "I know he's gotten out before and don't deny it. I get a call every time it happens. And how strong he is isn't the point. My question is why are you leaving him alone? You have someone that you can call any time you want to have guests. Hell, you can be gone for months if you wanted to. So tell me why you're leaving him alone."

Samantha looked away. Of all of her son's; Thorne frightened her the most. It wasn't that she thought that he would hurt her; she knew that he wouldn't. It was the way that he looked at her. It was as if he could read her every thought and emotion.

His eyes widened as he looked at her.

"You wanted him to get out." He said in shocked whisper. "You hate him... why? What did he do to you?"

He couldn't believe that he hadn't seen it before. His mother hated Noel.

"I don't hate him." Samantha said softly.

"But you sure as hell don't love him!" Thorne exclaimed. "If you didn't want him here, why didn't you just say so?"

"If I had," Samantha replied "What would you have said?"

She sat on the stool by the vanity and looked at him.

"Do you really think that I don't know what you think of me?" she asked heatedly.

It was Thorne's turn to be quiet. This conversation was long overdue.

"Am I right?" he asked after several long seconds.

"I loved all of you." Samantha said softly.

"Did you really?" Thorne asked. "All I remember is the steady stream of nannies and caretakers, who took us to school, bathed and fed us and read to us at night. While they took care of us; you were entertaining your friends and having parties."

"You never wanted for anything." She replied.

"Are you certain of that?" Thorne asked his voice intense.

"You had the best of everything." Samantha replied. "You had a life that most would give anything to have. What more was there?"

"There was you." Thorne said quietly. "The things that you just mentioned are material things. Those things don't replace a bedtime story or a kiss on the cheek. We wanted and needed our mother but we didn't matter as long as you got what you wanted. I think I understand why you wanted Noel to run away. He was what the human call a surprise baby. You hoped that there would be no other children, but the fates bit you in the ass. You wanted to be free of us and Noel prevented that."

Samantha blushed telling Thorne that he was right.

"And father, you never loved him did you? You were mates but you never loved him as he loved you. The only thing that you were truly concerned about was his money. Let me ask you something; were you sorry when he died his true death?"

"Thorne..."

"Don't answer that." Thorne said. "You won't have to concern yourself with Noel anymore; I'm taking him home with me. But I have one more question and I expect an honest answer. What did father do to him?"

Samantha looked away and then looked back at him.

"Your father was a bastard and you remind me of him in so many ways." She said. "I see how you treat people as if they were toys to be used and abused at your discretion. But when you love, you love deeply. I see that love when you come to visit with Noel; but I digress. Your father was of the opinion that the arts were for the weak minded and those of questionable sexual orientation. I don't know where that belief came from; but it was what he believed. But you know this. Because Noel loved the arts, your father tried to push his beliefs onto him. To further complicate things; Noel never mentioned a female which further convinced your father that he was homosexual."

"What did father do to him?" Thorne asked not sure if he wanted to know.

"One night your brothers were going into town to feed. They asked Noel if he wanted to go, but he declined saying that he had already fed. Apparently, he had struck up an arrangement of sorts with the son of a local farmer who had fallen on hard times. Your father was furious..."

"What sort of arrangement?" Thorne asked.

"If it was time for planting, Noel gave him money for seed. If it was winter, Noel gave him food. What he gave depended on what the need was. In exchange; he fed from the young man. Afterwards Noel would erase his memory of everything except for the food or whatever it was that he gave them. It did two things, Noel fed and it put us in a positive light with the community. Somehow your father found out about the arrangement. To this day; I don't know how he found out.

He confronted Noel about the supposedly sexual relationship that he was having with the farmer's son. Of course Noel denied that there was anything sexual between them; but your father had already made up his mind. He told Noel that he would no longer tolerate his frivolous behavior and locked him out of his studio."

"And you allowed this?" Thorne asked.

"What would you have me do?" Samantha asked. "I did my best to change his mind but he wouldn't be swayed. I even tried to compromise with him by saying that Noel would learn a trade and that he would only paint a few hours a day. But he refused; he wanted Noel to give up painting completely.

Noel stood up to your father, or he tried to; but... your father only got angrier. He...he dragged Noel up to the studio and broke both of his hands including the fingers and locked him in. it was horrible! We could hear Noel screaming from every room in the house."

Thorne watched the tears run down his mother's face. She may not have loved Noel; but she hadn't wanted him hurt. It was a contradiction to what she had been doing by leaving him alone to get out; but it no longer mattered.

"Even after the door was unlocked Noel refused to come out. The only one that he would allow to see him was the farmer's son. He felt safer with him than he did his own family; even those of us who hadn't hurt him. After the boy saw him the first time, he told us that Noel's hands hadn't healed right. The fingers were so askew that Noel couldn't pick up a paintbrush.

One night, Noel came down to dinner. He looked terrible. He hadn't bathed or changed his clothes since the night your father broke his hands. Noel stood in front of your father, looked into his eyes and broke every last finger over again. When he was through, he went back to his studio. When his fingers healed; your father would break them again. Noel would come to dinner and ... this went on for months. Finally, your father gave up.

"Sweet Jesus." Thorne murmured. "Tell me the rest of it."

Samantha shrugged but continued.

"After the last time they did their cycle, your father made Noel's life a living hell. He started by forbidding Noel to see the farmer's son. He told Noel if he did and he found out about it, he would kill not only the young man; but his entire family.