26. Look

"This feels like a hormone graveyard... I bet none of these guys has had a good lay in years that doesn't include Mr. Lefty or Righty." Drake whispered against Warden's ear after they took their seats.

"You do realize most of them can hear you, right?" He hissed back, though the question already had an obvious answer.

"Duh." Drake replied, drawing a sigh from Warden as he turned his attention to the judge, who had just taken his own seat.

The proceedings went on just the way he thought they might. He gave his best testimony about how Cerat wasn't some bloodthirsty monster out to kill people, but the jury seemed less than impressed by the few examples he'd chosen to use.

His father, who was sitting on the panel of jurors, seemed the most sympathetic, which wasn't much, and sympathy didn't win cases.

When it was finally Drake's turn to go on the stand, Warden was about ready to throw up the meager lunch he'd eaten. He had no idea what the guy had up his sleeve, but his earlier comment hadn't settled Warden's nerves, in the least.

Drake sauntered up to the stand and dropped down into the seat, seemingly without a care in the world.

The prosecutor walked up to him with the same list of questions he'd hammered him and Cerat with already. It was hard to lie when surrounded by angels, and a few archangels, so they'd had to tell the truth, which had definitely hurt them. Even though letting Cerat eat spinach, and leaving his shock collar broken, as well as not letting his teeth be filed, didn't hurt anyone at all, it still counted against them.

"Hello, Drake. I'd like to ask you some questions, if I may?" The man said, knowing damn well that he could. Of course, Drake could decide not to answer them, or reply to them like his normal smart ass self, but not being honest would probably just make things even worse.

When Drake raised an eyebrow, the man frowned.

"You know what, I believe this trial should come to an end, don't you?" Drake said, drawing a few confused murmurs from the large group that had gathered to observe the proceedings.

The prosecutor, who happened to be one of the archangels present, seemed almost relieved. Not likely because the trial was ending, but more so because he didn't have to deal with Drake's attitude. It evidently preceded him.

"I agree... we have more than enough evidence to show that the agreed-upon rules were not followed in many instances." He said quietly, as if his words might get a rebuttal from Drake.

When Drake slowly nodded, but didn't move his gaze from the prosecutor, the man turned toward the judge.

"Hold on." Drake said suddenly, snapping his fingers as if he had just remembered something.

Leaning forward, he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled. "Hey granny! Get your ass in here!"

Granny?

Brow furrowed, Warden slowly turned in his seat, with the rest of the people watching the trial. His jaw dropped open when the owner of the pet shop walked in, her arms crossed over her chest and several pieces of paper in her hand.

"You said that you would call for me in a respectable manner, Drake." She said, clearly unhappy with being called granny.

Drake just waved her off as he stood up and hopped down from the stand to walk over. When Flora was close enough, he bowed dramatically toward the judge.

"Madam granny-ma."

Flora sighed and stopped, moving the sheets of paper in front of her. "This is the contract for that vampire, Cerat. The paper states that he must complete a minimum of one hundred and eighty days at the store. There are no exceptions stated and he has signed it." She said as she held up the paper.

The judge gestured for her to bring him the documents and she stepped forward, handing them up to him with a determined stare.

"Do you understand that the normal probationary period for workers in ninety days, and that they may quit at any time, no matter what is stated in a contract?" He said, setting the papers in front of him after he'd skimmed them over.

Flora nodded. "Of course I do, but has he decided to quit? I know that your laws extend toward supernatural creatures, but because vampires have generally not been allowed into this city, they are not included, correct?"

The judge pursed his lips in frustration and shook his head. "That does not excuse him for breaking the law."

When a smirk found its way onto Flora and Drake's faces at the same time, Warden knew that they had planned this out far more than him just calling her to bring the papers.

"Of course it doesn't... but it does keep you from killing my employee before he fulfills the agreement he signed." She stated, making the judge glare.

"Why would it? I can just void the contract, ma'am." He said.

Flora walked closer and nodded toward the papers.

"No you can't, you are the one that approved it last night. Your signature is even at the bottom of the last page, and it even states that the contract is legally binding unless the employee has committed an egregious crime, which would basically be considered as murder, rape, etcetera."

Well... damn.

The judge quickly flipped back through the contract, paying much closer attention to it as he read. His face began to change colors as he got toward the end, then finally, likely, saw his signature at the bottom.

"How dare you trick me in such a way!" He roared at them as he slammed the papers down on the desk before him.

Flora managed to keep her composure, and Drake just shrugged.

"I did no such thing. I brought you the contract for one of my employees that wanted something a little more solid, since he was new to the city. He signed it, which you saw last night if you were paying attention, so all we needed was for someone involved with the department of labor to sign it."

He shoved himself up and leaned nearly too far over the surface in front of him.

"I will not stand for this! You came to me when I was clearly busy and insisted that I look over some silly, illogical contract that should have obviously been denied!" He yelled before Drake stepped up onto the bench and leaned close to him, baring his teeth, though it might have looked like a simple smile to a normal person.

"Doesn't it fuckin' suck that you can't read, then? Because you signed it, grandpa. That leech is ours until that contract is up, and then you all can just leave him the hell alone, cause there was also a clause in the back that stated that if he behaved himself, and didn't maim or kill anyone during this time period, that he would be freed from any previous accusations against him."

I didn't think he knew about half of what he's talking about... I thought all he had in his brain was sex and food. Warden thought, honestly shocked by his friend.

"There are still ways to override this." The judge snarled, only to get one back from Drake.

"You think his life is something so goddamn worthless that you should kill him now instead of giving him a chance for a few more months? What has he done to you, or anyone else, that warrants him dying!" Drake roared, making the angel shrink back slightly.

"Laws are laws, wolf!" The man tried to yell back, but his words decreased in volume as Drake took a step closer.

"Your laws are flawed. You are trying to kill someone who did nothing to anyone in this city! How about you idiotic arch-chickens go back and take a little look at those laws, because clearly, they're what's wrong. Cerat doesn't deserve to die, and he's proven it."

The judge looked toward the jury, but when Drake shifted his glare to them, they all looked away except for Warden's father.

"You know what, how about we settle this." The judge said as he sat down and picked up the contract.

His knuckles were still white as he read through it again, then set it back down on the desk before him.

"If your little leech can survive, on his own after today, without harming anyone during the remaining period of time that this contract requires, he may be granted citizenship and his past issues will be dismissed."

Bastard, he knows that Cerat needs us for blood or he'll kill himself or attack someone.

Warden was just opening his mouth to respond when Flora stepped forward.

"That is fine, right Cerat?" She asked, looking over to where he sat next to a lawyer Warden had gotten him.

When he nodded, Warden felt his heart speed up in his chest.

They must have something planned. They have to.

When the judge nodded and slammed his gavel down to signal the end of the case, Warden jumped up and hurried out of the room to wait for Drake, Cerat and Flora outside.

The three appeared after the majority of the courtroom had cleared out of the building, and their happy expressions baffled him. Running over, he stopped before them, only to be side-hugged tightly against Drake.

"Is your butt ready for me? Cause we're going to be very busy tonight. I might even skip dinner... or eat it off of you." Drake purred as he bit his ear, pulling enough to hurt, and earn a swat to get him to release it.

"Down, boy. I'm trying to be serious. Why did you guys agree to that stipulation?" He asked.

Flora smiled as she began explaining. "Well, there is a company online that delivers blood to vampires. They weren't sure about bringing it to this city, since vampires aren't allowed, but after calling them and explaining things, they gladly agreed."

Warden frowned.

"How much does that cost?"

When Flora told him the numbers, he shook his head. "There's no way that he can afford that, and we aren't allowed to help him. If we get caught, he really will die... permanently."

"Well, that's why I think that I should give him a decent raise." She said, narrowing her eyes on him.

Warden couldn't figure out what she was getting at. Even a raise wouldn't help him. He had no doubt that Flora would just give him the apartment they currently lived in and he and Drake would return to his penthouse so he wouldn't have to pay for housing, but the blood was still bound to be extremely expensive.

"Oh, for god's sake, chicken, use that head of yours. The one on your shoulders." Drake grumbled as he reached up and poked Warden's forehead.

"Pay Flora a damn good bit of money for a special pet mouse or something, then she can give Cerat a high enough raise to be able to afford the blood."

Oh.

"I knew that." He mumbled as he turned to head back toward the car they'd come in.

The ride back to the apartment was awkwardly silent. Flora had left on her own, since she'd brought her own car. He expected Drake to talk about their upcoming sex session nonstop, but the guy was shockingly silent, along with Cerat.

When they finally got up to the apartment, Cerat disappeared to go pack up his meager things. Drake, surprisingly, went to help, leaving Warden to prepare a quick meal by himself.

By the time he was done making eight peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and had brought them out on a plate to set on the dinner table, there were two big boxes sitting by the door.

"I smell food." Drake said, appearing from around the corner to swipe one of the sandwiches.

"I didn't cook anything." Warden said as he watched the first sandwich disappear in moments, followed by a second and third.

When Drake had downed six, he licked his lips and walked over, kissing Warden hard before leaning back. "This nose knows when there is food, War."

Of course, he knew that.

"Hey Warden?" Came Cerat's voice from somewhere in the bedroom.

"Yeah?" He replied as he headed inside, only to hear the door shut behind him, then lock.

How did I not see this trap coming.

Granted, he'd said that he would give himself to Drake for a night, but there was no Cerat clause in there, yet the guy was sitting on the bed with just a pair of loose boxers on.

Drake's arms suddenly settled over his shoulders and pulled him back against his chest... that was also lacking clothing that he knew he'd had on seconds ago.

"Hello, War." Drake growled as he started biting the same ear he'd nipped earlier.

Pretty soon he was having trouble catching his breath. If it was just Drake, he might have been okay, but Cerat had, at some point, slipped off the bed and gotten his pants and boxers down to his ankles. His mouth might have been cold on his length at first, but the contrast between Cerat's and Drake's temperatures somehow evened out.

Thank god he's not using his teeth, or fangs.

When he felt something poking at his backside, Warden fidgeted, but bit his tongue on saying anything as Drake slipped a finger inside.

"I'm getting some first... but since our little leech is going to be away for a while, perhaps I'll share. Maybe." Drake rasped as he added another finger, then quickly removed them to start pushing himself inside.

Thanks for that five seconds of prep, mutt.

Warden ground his teeth and leaned his head back against Drake's shoulder as he was taken. It wasn't long before they were both shaking with release, but he knew that Drake was far from done.

He found himself tossed on the bed a moment later. Another second and Drake was crawling overtop him, with Cerat right beside him.

"Cerat, I can do it for you later..." He said hesitantly, hoping that the guy was a complete bottom.

Drake snickered and leaned to the side, pressing a light peck on Cerat's cheek before smirking back down at Warden.

"He wants to top you, little chicken. Surely you'll let the poor guy enjoy himself before he's forced away from the chicken that he loves?" He said in a fake mushy voice.

Warden looked up at them both with an uneasy feeling in his chest.

"If he does it, too... not all night." He said, hoping that he'd get some sort of break in their deal.

Drake tilted his head and licked his lips slowly, contemplating the idea. When he finally seemed to decide, he looked back at Cerat.

That puppy dog look on Cerat's face. No way will Drake fall for that.

"Alright, leech. You can have a few goes, too. That will give me a chance to rest."

The hell? Do I get to rest? Warden thought as Drake turned back to him.

To his surprise, he slowly lowered himself until they were chest to chest, then leaned down to kiss him softly before pulling away, giving him just enough room to speak. "Two hours. You belong to us until eleven." He breathed against Warden's lips before claiming them again.

He could feel Cerat sneak in beneath Drake after a few minutes of kissing, making him lean back so that Cerat could get at his neck to drink. Warden thought that Drake would get annoyed, but he just chuckled and got himself lined up before pushing himself back inside his body.

"A little warning would be great." He hissed as Drake started speeding up quickly.

"I thought we already went over that, my bad. Gonna fuck you until I'm dead tired, then Cerat will take a turn. I'll finish up the deal until eleven, then take care of you until you're feeling better."

You'll... take care of me?

That was hard to believe, but as Drake continued to drive into him, he could see something in his eyes. The guy was an absolute horny bastard, but there was something in his eyes right then that told Warden that he wasn't lying. That he wouldn't sneak out like he did to all of his one-night stands in the past when they probably could have used some attention the next morning.

"You'll actually help me tomorrow?" He asked, needing to hear it again.

Drake ignored him for a moment to let himself release with a loud groan, then sighed as he returned his attention to Warden.

"Yes, Warden. I will be your stupid slave tomorrow, minus any sexual favors, unless you want me in you again." He growled before backing out of him and sitting down on the blanket next to him.

"Have at, leech. I feel like watching." He said as he nudged Cerat.

The guy didn't hesitate much, but it was clear that he was less confident than Drake. When Cerat got his boxers off and started climbing over Warden, Drake leaned down and covered Warden's mouth with his own.

The moment Warden felt Cerat slip inside of him, Drake reached down between his legs and grabbed him. The contrast of cold and hot inside and out of him had Warden shivering as his body was jerked with each thrust as Cerat gained more confidence.

He found himself wrapping Cerat in a tight hug as they made love, though his mouth was completely taken by Drake's aggressive one. He'd definitely be sore in more than one place come morning, but he was surprisingly enjoying both of them. They were so different, but at the same time, they didn't clash.

This is such a ridiculous story. A mutt, a chicken, and a leech falling in love...

Perhaps, if he edited it correctly and was extremely careful with the characters, especially the werewolf, it might just be able to work, somehow.

Hah. What a ridiculous thought... maybe.