Thanks to RainGoddess2040, B. Logan, WaffleNinja and TarotChild Conan for the great reviews! I loved hearing your thoughts on the story as well as the characters in general! Also, a big thanks to everyone who's put the story on alert!

Enjoy!

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Aidan felt a shift in the room and hid a grin behind his festively decorated glass of eggnog. The partygoers were getting antsy, constantly checking watches, pulling out cell phones, and glancing at the large wall clock for the time. The same thing happened every year at the annual Suffolk County Hospital Christmas Party as it got closer to nine o'clock.

The party always started at 7PM sharp. The first two hours were for polite conversation, congratulatory reflections on the past year, and the ever-present schmoozing and kiss-assery. But at nine o'clock, the real party started. That's when the Board of Directors and the Chief of Medicine made their gracious exits, feigning regret when turning down their underlings' half-hearted invitations to stay. They were the most powerful men and women at the hospital; they weren't stupid. They knew exactly what was going to happen at their departure, something they turned a blind eye to every year. They even subtly encouraged it in their own way, considering they never stayed longer than two hours, but nonetheless rented the place until 2AM.

Their kind of work was hard and it certainly took its toll. Though one night a year wasn't enough to erase the horrible shit they dealt with on a daily basis, the men and women at Suffolk County Hospital had built defensive walls against it all in order to create some semblance of a normal life for themselves; the annual Christmas Party had somehow become a cornerstone of those walls. These people were esteemed doctors, professional nurses, respectful orderlies and strict administrators – and for one night, they gave up those façades and acted with all the reckless abandon of horny sixteen year-olds whose parents went on vacation and forgot to lock the liquor cabinet.

By the time Aidan had come on board, the parties were already pretty wild. But the first year he was there, the now legendary Doctor Mauer had climbed up on the makeshift stage, grabbed the microphone and shouted, "This party is now under Vegas Rule, bitches!" He then proceeded to pound three shots in a row, stick his tongue down the throat of one surprisingly voracious accountant and then grind with said accountant to the beat of 'Yeah!' by Usher. Aidan was sure that, at any other company holiday party, the incident would have haunted Dr. Mauer for the rest of his career. But since everyone else at that party had taken up his philosophy of Vegas Rule like it was a god-damn war cry, the others made fools of themselves to the point where bringing up his indiscretion would result in the mutual annihilation of them all. So, they'd returned to work after the holiday without a single word or knowing look given to any of their coworkers, just the occasional, repressed grin at the secret they all shared.

And then they did it again the following year.

"Is this spiked with Crack or something?"

Aidan jumped in surprise as Josh suddenly appeared at this side, sniffing his own glass of eggnog.

"What?" Aidan asked, finding himself (not for the first time) baffled by Josh's random train of thought.

Josh pointed out into the crowd. "Look at 'em, they're all…jittery and anxious."

Aidan glanced at the clock on the wall, seeing it was 8:57PM. "Just give it five minutes."

"What happens in five minutes?"

Aidan grinned. This was Josh's first year with the hospital.

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Doctor Mauer was pressed up against the glass window/wall of the third story banquet hall at precisely 9:03PM. He saw the various board members and the Chief get into their cars and, one by one, drive away. As the last car's tail lights disappeared down the road, he smirked. Jumping up on the stage, he grabbed the microphone as was his yearly tradition and nodded to the DJ.

"Ladies and Gentlemen." Doctor Mauer called out. The room instantly went quiet, though a buzzing energy of anticipation rippled through the crowd. As soon as he had their attention, he let a wicked grin spread over his face. Dipping the Mic like he would a lady in a tango, he screamed into it, "Welcome to Vegaaaaas!"

A massive cheer went up through the room and the DJ switched from easy listening to a thumping Club hit.

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Aidan had lost Josh in the crowd and for the first couple of hours, it hadn't mattered. Josh had been pulled from his side by an attractive, little pixie of a woman, a bemused grin on his face as she'd dragged him away. Aidan himself was never wanting for female attention at these shindigs. With their inhibitions lowered and their blood alcohol content raised, they were bold and bordering on aggressive as they hungrily devoured him with their eyes. At the moment, he was sandwiched between Jessica, an orthopedic surgeon, and Raquel from payroll, rocking and grinding between them as they rubbed themselves all over his body in time with the thumping bass line.

He was thankful for the darkened room. The heightened pheromones and potently sexual moves of both women were bringing out his more lustful instincts, as evidenced by not only the slight bulge in his pants, but his solidly black eyes and extended fangs. Raquel was wrapped around him from behind and Jessica had her back to his chest, so neither woman was able to see his transformation, but the uninhibited mood of the room had him acting recklessly. He nuzzled his face into Jessica's neck, smelling the powerful aphrodisiac of her blood and sweat. He scrapped his teeth against her skin, so unbelievably tempted to sink his fangs into that jumping vein right there on the dance floor.

But his head snapped up as a sharp, familiar scent suddenly burned through his nostrils, overwhelming even Jessica's heady aroma. He'd once found it repulsive, but over time had come to realize it was an acquired smell, like coffee or wine was an acquired taste: something harsh and unpleasant at first blush, but highly addictive once a person developed a taste for it. He would know that smell anywhere.

Josh's blood.

Without a word to either woman, he slipped out of their grasps and walked briskly toward the scent, ignoring their pouting calls to come back. His vampiric eyes and fangs receded as his lust was replaced by something more powerful. It wasn't quite fear that gripped his heart, just an urgent, irrepressible drive to find Josh now. It wasn't as though he thought Josh was in serious danger here at this glorified kegger. But if he was in pain, no matter how minor, every cell in Aidan's body was demanding that he be there, as much for his own peace of mind as Josh's comfort.

Scanning the area the scent was coming from, he finally spotted Josh laughing with a group of people near the doors. Raking his eyes over Josh's form, Aidan found rivulets of blood dripping steadily from a cut in his palm, running down his fingers and finally splashing onto the floor, all seemingly unnoticed by the clueless Werewolf. Aidan's eyes narrowed and he stalked over to Josh. Grabbing his wrist with one hand and a pile of napkins from the buffet table with the other, he pulled Josh away towards an empty spot.

"Aidan, what the hell, man?" Josh cried, obviously a bit tipsy as he stumbled after him.

"You idiot!" Aidan snapped. "I leave you alone for two hours and you somehow manage to get hurt. At a party! In a room full of doctors, no less! How is that even possible?"

"Jesus, calm down! I'm fine!" Josh said, running into Aidan's back when the Vampire suddenly stopped. Aidan spun around to face him and lifted Josh's injured hand so it was six inches in front of the Werewolf's face. Josh was shocked and then confused as he looked at the blood coating his hand. Aidan, meanwhile, was transfixed as he held both of their hands up between them. His own hand was now stained with faint smears of Josh's blood. The scent of it on his skin was…

Aidan gave an inaudible moan and his vision drifted out of focus for a moment.

"Oh." Josh said, staring at his hand. "How'd that happen?"

"You tell me, genius." Aidan said, his voice huskier than he'd like. "It's your hand."

"Dunno." Josh shrugged, eyes still on his hand even after Aidan pressed a napkin firmly into the cut. "I helped Michelle pick up her glass, after she dropped it and it broke. Maybe then?"

Aidan rolled his eyes. "Ya think? Why didn't you just sweep –"

"Hey, everyone! Josh and Aidan are under the mistletoe!"

Aidan and Josh whipped their heads around toward the woman who'd made the gleeful announcement. Luckily, 'everyone' was limited because of the loud music, but a dozen people grinned at the words and descended on the unfortunate pair. In unison, both men glanced above them and saw an innocent sprig of mistletoe hanging above their heads.

"Oh, fuck me." Josh groaned.

Josh's body was slick and hot. The smell of him, the smell of them, the smell of sex and need and blood permeated throughout the room. Josh's rough, slightly tanned skin felt amazing pressed into the pale smoothness of his own. The scratch of his stubble, the heavy warmth of his panting breaths, the needy clawing of his hands at Aidan's back, it made a rush of lust pool in Aidan's gut. He needed this so bad. He needed to be inside Josh, to be surrounded by him, to have his field of vision and his entire fucking world be nothing but him.

"Oh, fuck me." Josh growled, nipping roughly at the Vampire's earlobe. "Please, Aidan."

Aidan shook his head, blinking rapidly against the image. Where the hell had that come from? It was disturbing…and painfully arousing. He scrubbed his face with his hands to try and snap himself out of it, but instantly regretted it. He nearly whimpered, having forgotten that Josh's drying blood was all over his hands and the smell was now directly under his nose. Bits of dried blood flaked off and were sucked inside his nostrils by a powerful inhalation.

God help him, he did whimper then.

Luckily, no one was paying much attention to him. Aidan finally tuned into the conversation around him and found Josh trying to negotiate his way out from under the mistletoe.

"…because I'm Jewish, you see, so the whole mistletoe tradition doesn't really apply here." Josh explained, sounding a bit desperate to get his point across. "Plus we work together –"

"Vegas Rule." Someone from the crowd shouted, by way of shooting down that excuse.

"– not to mention the fact that we're both guys."

Someone else from the crowd, one of Josh's fellow orderlies named Nick, piped up. "Can it, Lisa! No one wants to see two guys macking on each other!"

"Anything they do, we'll do too!" Jessica shouted, pulling Raquel with her until they were both standing under the mistletoe with Josh and Aidan. From their completely intermingled scents, Aidan figured they hadn't missed him too much and had just carried on without him. The declaration drew quite a crowd, seeing two handsome men and two beautiful women about to make out; there was a little something for everyone!

Nick had an instantaneous change of heart and grinned at Josh. "Pucker up, Radcliff. And you better make it good, so that the girls make it good."

"This isn't a game of HORSE!" Aidan yelled indignantly.

But the crowd had already started in on them. Men were pleading with them to do it, so they'd get to see real live babes making out. Women were shouting encouragements, their arousal heightening in anticipation of seeing the gorgeous men together. There were random shouts of, "Come on!" and "Kiss him!" and "Just do it!" The noise of the crowd was drawing in others and the sounds grew and grew until Josh buckled under the pressure.

Grabbing Aidan's head and pulling him down, Josh smashed his lips against Aidan's.

The crowd screamed in approval, as first the men and then the women started to make out under the mistletoe.

Like their first kiss, one Josh didn't even remember, Aidan's eyes snapped open in shock while Josh's were screwed shut. It took only a second for Aidan to sink into the kiss, changing it from a forced mesh of mouths to a steady friction of moving, moldable lips. Josh seemed to relax as Aidan took control and without planning or thought, their entire bodies moved into the kiss. Aidan wrapped an arm around Josh's waist. Josh gripped Aidan's bicep. Aidan slipped a hand to the back of Josh's head, carding his fingers through Josh's hair. Josh slung an arm around Aidan's neck, pressing into him until their bodies were inextricably intertwined.

The kiss itself revved up a little more every second: progressing from a brutal, formless clash to a curious exploration and finally becoming a frantic, desperate joining. Maybe it was the crowd and this was nothing more than them being persuaded by mob mentality. Or maybe Josh was drunker than he thought and submitting to the first body he came across, not necessarily caring that it was Aidan. Whatever it was, Aidan wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth and he wasn't going to pretend that he was just doing this for the crowd. No, Aidan was doing this because he fucking wanted it. He was enjoying this; may as well start showing it.

Backing Josh up to the wall, Aidan slammed the smaller body against it violently and swallowed the Werewolf's aroused moan as his mouth attacked his friend's. The crowd was going berserk, but all Aidan heard was a distant roar in his ears, almost entirely drowned out by Josh's beating heart, husky groans and the slick sounds of their lips. Grabbing the collar of Josh's button-down shirt, Aidan ripped the two lapels apart, causing the shirt to split down the middle and scattering buttons across the floor. He ran his hands up the white wife-beater underneath, moving from Josh's chest to his shoulders, then dragging his hands down the lean muscles of Josh's arms, stripping the destroyed shirt away as he went.

From behind him, he heard clothes dropping to the ground and assumed the girls were keeping their promise.

Josh, in a rare show of boldness, decided to return the favor. He fisted the back of Aidan's shirt in his hands and tugged it roughly. Aidan lowered his head as the shirt came up over his ears, allowing Josh to pull it off of him. Unlike Josh, he was left naked from the waist up, a fact his was extremely aware of when Josh's hands trailed over his chest and abs as the Werewolf immediately resumed their kiss.

The crowd was nothing short of hysterical now. His chest tended to do that to people. The two men continued to devour each other's mouths and Aidan felt his hips surge forward, apart from his conscious control, and grind into Josh's.

But even with the hands-on groping, the roaring of the crowd started to dissipate and he heard footsteps rapidly running toward the other side of the room. And then one shout tore their rapt audience away, in favor of a new show.

"CAT FIGHT!" Someone screamed. The crowd went wild. Aidan and Josh ripped apart, gasps torn from their swollen lips as they looked dazedly to where their audience had been. They looked over at Jessica and Raquel, both stripped to their bras and Raquel's skirt bunched around her waist. The girls looked just as dazed and then glanced over at them. Raquel buried her face into Jessica's shoulder as she giggled. Jessica started to laugh, which started Josh laughing and then all four of them were doubled over, cackling for no apparent reason other than their current situation – making out and stripping with their best friends, all because of fucking mistletoe – was completely absurd.

Aidan was glad it had gone down this way, with them all making light of it. Josh had a tendency to flip out over the little things, if sexually assaulting one's best friend in front of one's co-workers could be considered little. But when Aidan glanced over at Josh, he didn't see him freaking out. Instead, he looked contemplative, which Aidan knew was infinitely worse. Oh, the panic was still there, but momentarily set aside in favor of a heavier, more pervasive unease. Josh wasn't generally a thinker. Not to say that he wasn't intelligent, but he could be extremely impulsive and Josh giving deep, considering thought to anything meant he was disturbed beyond his usual level of social confusion.

Aidan didn't realize he was staring until Josh's eyes locked with his. Josh glanced away quickly. He didn't meet Aidan's gaze again. Instead, he swallowed convulsively, picked up his shirt and slid it over his shoulders. Being completely devoid of buttons, it hung casually off his frame. Giving Aidan a hearty, manly slap on the shoulder blade, a gesture that was an obvious overcompensation and completely un-Josh, the Werewolf followed the rest of the crowd.

Throwing over his shoulder, "I'll see you later, dude."

Great. One of the hottest make-out sessions of his life and he got called dude after it. Fucking perfect.

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With charm he didn't usually possess, charm rooted in the determination of a man with something to prove, Josh went home with a tan, buxom blonde from the legal department.

If the woman Aidan spent the night with happened to have too-big, honey brown eyes, well…that had nothing to do with anything he was willing to admit to.

Neither did the fact that he still had Josh's bloodied napkins in his pocket.

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And so, the game of Mistletoe Horse was created and enthusiastically revived every year at the Suffolk County Hospital Christmas Party. By the time it was played the next year, Josh and Aidan were both long since passed the awkwardness that had ensued. Only a week after the incident, they'd found their house and added Sally to their dysfunctional little family, which proved to be just the distraction they'd needed. However, they both made themselves scarce when someone called for the game, which worked in their favor as two other same-sex pairs were roped into it. Instead, they were part of the rambunctious crowd, egging on the contestants.

The glances Aidan kept sneaking at Josh went unnoticed.

But then, so did Josh's glances at Aidan.

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Sooo...what'd you all think? Please read and review!

Yay, Aidan's finally kinda getting it! The romance is revving up a bit and it'll only keep growing! Also, how do people feel about a rating change? Is 'T' doing it for ya, or are you wanting a nice, solid 'M'? Let me know and stay tuned…

~Fate Harbor