Disclaimer: I do not own Dracula and its characters.
Summary: Additional scene to Servant to Two Masters. After Harker realizes he's been used, he wants to leave Carfax Manor immedaitely, but Alexander doesn't let him go that easily. Jonathan finds himself in an emotionally challenging situation that could change his life forever.
A/N: Many thanks to pie-liner-eats-tardis from tumblr for beta-ing!
"I didn't destroy the man. You did."
Alexander's words echoed in Jonathan's head like a scream in a vast, empty chamber. They left his mind blank and his knuckles itching. He didn't bother trying to come up with a clever retort; there was nothing left to say. The feeling of disappointment washed over him and he had to make a terrible effort not to give in to the weakness he felt in his knees. He'd been cornered; he'd been deceived, led by the nose. After the words finally stopped ringing in his ear, he longed to ask one question only: why?
He wasn't curious about the practical reason behind making him ruin someone's reputation – that they'd already discussed.
What he wanted to know was why Alexander did this to him.
It hadn't been too long since this strange American walked into his life, bringing with him a promise of friendship and, as Jonathan hoped, maybe more. Harker had realized pretty early that Alexander played by his own rules in any kind of games, especially the games of society. The man was inside every important circle, but at the same time he laughed behind the back of all his fellow gamers. It didn't take long for Jonathan to start to admire him and, despite how he tried to repress them, he soon started to develop feelings for him.
Quite a few times he'd battled against this unspeakable sin, this desire that drew him towards men. God knows he'd tried to lock it away. But this time it possessed him so strongly, no prayers could banish Alexander from his mind.
Of course, Grayson didn't know. Jonathan had been waiting for a sign, for anything that would have meant he could take a step forward. He snuggled himself into the warm nest of friendship and for the time being that had been enough. He waited.
And this was what he got.
"You were the one who sought out the bookkeeper."
"You were the one who sent the forged documents to the newspapers."
He could have guessed it was just another one of Alexander's games. Jonathan was merely a card in his hands. The King of Hearts. He wanted to laugh at the irony, but his features were still frozen in the aftershock of the conversation they'd been leading.
Alexander put down his glass on the table and stood up. He could have simply dismissed him, but, looking into those wicked eyes, Jonathan could tell this wasn't a move that marked the end of his sufferings.
"Now, shall we return to business at hand?" Grayson proposed. He looked as vivid as ever, a total opposite to the dumbfounded man standing just across the room. He went on:
"I'm planning a demonstration of my resonator. I need you to send out invitations to the press. Will that be a problem?"
"No" Jonathan said quietly after a moment. He kept the eye-contact with Alexander to show him he still had his dignity, even though he felt empty inside.
"There's a good lad" The wink that accompanied Grayson's words made Jonathan feel disgusted with himself. He wished to hate the man in front of him, but he didn't. He couldn't. He cursed himself instead for being a fool, for falling for him, for letting his emotions blind him.
He turned his back to Alexander, determined to leave the study, but he had to come to a halt when he heard his name.
"Harker, I'm not done with you" Grayson's voice was hard as marble. "Come back here a second!"
Jonathan had never wished for nothing more than to be out of Carfax Manor at that moment, but he obediently returned to the room. Alexander must have had forgotten to mention another errand he wanted to send him on and they could have finished this business earlier if he yielded to his word.
The American came to him and stopped in front of him, leaving only a small space between them.
"What do you want, Alexander?" Harker asked annoyed, after the man had been silently scrutinizing his face for nearly a minute.
Grayson's expression was indecipherable when he finally talked:
"Smile for me, Harker!"
"Excuse me?" Jonathan furrowed his brows in confusion.
"I said smile for me. I want to see your best smile." Alexander repeated and waited for him to fulfill his command.
"And why would I do that?" The annoyance and the traces of anger were almost palpable in Jonathan's voice. He knew Alexander was mocking him, it was all too obvious. His so called friend didn't want to miss the opportunity of kicking him once more on the ground. Jonathan's fingers slowly curled into fists.
The deep, raspy voice hit him as if someone poured a bucket of cold water on his head:
"Because I want to see how you're going to smile at the representatives of the press in the future. I want to see how your face will reflect your respect and brotherly love for me. I want to be sure that they'll see the right kind of smile on your face. You see, they need to believe you like working for me, the façade is extremely important." Suddenly he gripped both of Jonathan's arms and squeezed them a bit. "Now, let me see that smile, Harker!"
Jonathan immediately tried to free himself, but he was held firmly in place.
"Let me be, Alexander!" he hissed. "You have no right to treat me like I was a puppet, like I didn't have feelings. You played me, all right. I'll do what I have to do for you, because I'm in your hands. You win. Now let me go!"
"Not until I've seen that smile" Grayson stated.
He couldn't take it anymore, he just couldn't. Jonathan attempted to fight off Alexander's hands, but it was a pointless struggle. In the end he grew so angry that he summoned all the strength he had and pushed Alexander away from him. Grayson fell against his desk and let out a deep groan. Jonathan wanted to take his chance to leave, but he was too slow. This wasn't the day of easy escapes. He was almost at the door when his shoulders were gripped from behind and to his surprise in a moment he was none too gently shoved face against the wall. The impact was so harsh that after he came to his senses he realized that his nose was bleeding and he must have bitten his tongue, because he felt the coppery taste of blood in his mouth as well. He was held tightly against the wall, he felt Alexander's body leaning against his own from behind and a hand pushed his cheek to the cold stone, so he couldn't turn his head.
"Who would have thought you can be this violent, Harker!" Alexander breathed in his ear. "I like it!" He nuzzled against the skin just under Jonathan's ear as he spoke.
Jonathan realized Grayson must have had to stand on tiptoes to be able to come that close to his face, since the man was much shorter than himself. He played with the thought of knocking Grayson back, but he decided against it. He was curious now, he wanted to know what was about to happen.
Alexander traced a line with his finger from his sideburn down his cheek and along his jawline. He touched his lips with his fingertip, and when he pulled his hand back, Jonathan saw blood on his finger. The hand now held his jaw up and Alexander buried his face in Harker's neck. Jonathan's mind was clouded – all he knew was that he couldn't keep himself from trembling as a result of feeling the man being that close to him. Finally, Grayson pulled his head back and Jonathan could swear he was smiling.
"You enjoy this, don't you, Harker?" Grayson asked, but Jonathan stayed silent. He did not know why Alexander was teasing him, but he couldn't say he didn't like it, either. He couldn't lie.
Alexander seemed to take his silence as a yes, because his next move left Jonathan dumbfounded. He pushed him harder to the wall, with his body now fully covering Harker's. Jonathan could not ignore the feeling of Alexander's erection against his backside and when the man started to rub himself against him, Jonathan failed to hold back a sound of pleasure.
As if this was a sign Alexander had been waiting for, he stepped back from him and let the tall man face him.
"I… I'm…" Jonathan started, but he didn't know what to say.
"You don't have to explain yourself" Alexander assured him. "You've been running from this, haven't you? From men…" And then he added "Mina…"
"I love Mina!" It was Jonathan's turn to interrupt him.
"Of course you do, Harker. Like one loves a sister. What do you feel when you kiss her? Do you hate yourself then?"
"Stop it!" Jonathan demanded. "I'm going to marry her."
Alexander chuckled at this. "Certainly, you are. You'll need to keep the façade."
There was no point in taking offense at Grayson's statement, because he knew the man was right. He simply said quietly: "I do."
Alexander took a step toward him, and he was again dangerously close to him. "I can help you, you know" he suggested. "You could get what you want for once. I can give it to you."
Jonathan's heart was racing in his chest. Alexander's lips were only inches from his.
"You're a darling boy" the short man whispered – a sentence that, uttered with his American accent, sounded vulgar and full of profanities.
"Can I trust you, Alxander?" Harker breathed against the other man's mouth. He wished to resolve the chaos in his head, but he didn't succeed. He vaguely remembered that only ten minutes ago Grayson confessed him he'd used him; memories of anger and disappointment swam around his head, but all those bitter feelings were eventually swallowed in fog.
"Why don't you decide after this?" asked Alexander before suddenly capturing his mouth in a kiss.
Jonathan felt a bit awkward first, but he responded to the lips that paid a visit to his owns. He felt Alexander's fingers running through his hair and it felt oh, so good – it felt right. He clasped his hands on Grayson's shoulder; he was yet too shy to go on exploring the other man's body, or to even touch his raven black hair that he had wished to feel under his palm ever since he'd first seen Grayson on his grand debut ball.
He lost count of how many times he'd imagined them getting intimate with each other, how many hours he'd wasted when he was supposed to do paperwork for him, but he'd stolen glances at him instead. Now what he'd always yearned for came true, although the circumstances weren't exactly the same that he'd imagined.
Alexander's lips tasted like blood, but he quickly reminded himself of his bitten tongue and bleeding nose. Soon he melted against Grayson's lips, although when the American tried to deepen the kiss, he pulled back.
Alexander's mouth and chin were bloody, even his moustache was painted red by his blood.
"I… I should go" Jonathan stammered. He tried to clean the blood off his face with the back of his hand. He felt strangely uncomfortable seeing the mess he'd… they'd made.
"Go," Alexander agreed "but make sure you come back in the evening!"
Jonathan nodded and headed for the door, but he was called after once more:
"Jonathan!"
He turned. "Yes?"
Alexander's eyes were gleaming, Jonathan could almost see in them the promise they held.
"I know how to teach a man to smile" Alexander had said before he returned to the table to retrieve his glass of whiskey.
Jonathan could not see the smug expression distorting his features when he lifted the glass to his mouth, because he was long gone by then.