Desperate (MxM)

Chapter 7

"Did this ever happen with-"

"Don't ever fucking mention his name," Basil growled menacingly at Joanne.

Joanne swallowed dryly in fear but kept her composure. 

"I was just going to ask if this ever happened with your first beloved," Joanne tried to speak steadily but her voice wavered.

"Shit, sorry Joanne," Basil sighed. "No, this never happened with him. I was with him for decades but this never happened."

"Did your blood smell like his?" Joanne asked.

"No, not even that," Basil dropped his head onto his hands. "I don't know what's happening. I could smell him everywhere and it's strong. Even now, I want to go back to him and I'm just fighting the urge."

"Edford's looking through the ancient books right now. We need to find out what's happened before you lose control," Joanne sighed this time.

"I don't want to hurt him," Basil muttered under his breath.

"I know, Basil, but until we know what's happening we can't really do anything. Let's see how he'll react this time when he wakes up and then we'll figure out what we can do since it seems like you two can't also be away from each other," Joanne said. 

"Yeah, about that. His bite wounds really did heal."

"What? We're in deeper shit than we thought then," Joanne gasped when an idea popped up in her head. "We should check on Ash's family. His background or lineage or whatever the fuck we could find about him."

"What for?" voiced Ash, suddenly appearing in the living room. "Basil," Ash said in relief and went straight to Basil's arms. 

Basil wrapped his arms around Ash as he melted against him. He was relieved that Ash wasn't running away like the first time but instead was seeking him out. 

"You smell really good," Ash muttered against his chest. "Like a bunch of berries," Ash said before taking a deep inhale. 

Basil and Joanne exchanged confused looks. Basil had never worn fruit-scented perfumes and the smell of berries is something that he could compare to Ash's scent. 

"You okay Ash?" Joanne asked. 

"Yeah, why?" Ash replied after reluctantly pulling away from Basil. 

"Nothing. I'll leave you two alone," Joanne said, leaving a warning look toward Basil before leaving.

"You feeling okay, Ash," Basil asked as he caressed his cheek. 

A faint blush appeared on Ash's cheeks and his scent hit Basil tenfold. He had to clench his fist tightly to keep himself grounded. 

"Y-yeah," Ash stuttered before burying his face against Basil's chest once again. 

"Ash we need to talk," Basil said as he gently pushed Ash off of his chest. 

Ash looked at him, trying to observe his face. Ash felt like he did something wrong to elicit this kind of reaction from Basil. Was he not good enough? Will Basil replace him? Will he terminate the contract all of a sudden? Basil saw the fear in Ash's eyes.

"I'm not going to fire you if that's what you're thinking," he reassured. 

"Are you sure?" Ash asked with a hint of doubt in his voice. 

"Yes, I'm sure."

Ash relaxed a little but Basil could see that he was still tense.

"Do you remember what happened?" Basil asked.