His to Protect

by Alice Cain

  "Tyler," Logan said in a pleading tone, "it's not you." He blinked rapidly, trying to clear the tears, but it was obvious that he could barely see them through the blur of salt water. "I mean, thank you for volunteering. I'm very grateful. I just wish I knew what I was doing. I lived with William for six years. Why didn't I ask him about any of this?"

  Logan dragged in a deep breath, and it finally occurred to Tyler that even as a vampire Logan still seemed to need oxygen.

  "Adrian knows enough about vampires to help us both get through this," Tyler said as he reached a hand out to his best friend.

  "I'm sorry," Logan said, obviously very frustrated by the conflicting emotions running through him. He squeezed Tyler's fingers lightly. "I've been emotional before, but this feels more like an insane overload."

  "You need to feed," Tyler said, trying to be brave. This was the first time Logan had been fully awake and some of the more horrific scenes from the movies were parading through Tyler's mind.

  "But what if I hurt you?" his friend asked very seriously. Tyler tried to hide his reaction. How many books, movies, and television shows had he known where the vampire lost control and killed accidentally? Hell, he wanted to help, but he'd rather not die in the process.

  "Unlikely," Adrian said, a small smile on his lips as he shook his head. "You will find at least for the first fifty years or so that your strength is no better than when you were a human."

  "Oh." Perversely, Tyler found that kind of disappointing. Surely there were some advantages to being a vampire.

  "But I'll stay and supervise the first few times." Adrian reached over and moved the hair out of Tyler's eyes. "Until Logan learns how to bite into a major vein without doing damage, it's probably best that I'm here to help if something goes wrong. Fortunately, despite the initial pain," he said smiling, "it's also quite a pleasurable experience for the donor."

  "Pleasurable," Logan said as if he wasn't quite certain what the word meant. But then he gasped in a shuddering breath and turned worried eyes in Tyler's direction. "Tyler, we can find another way. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

  Tyler smiled. Right now, Logan sounded like the best friend Tyler knew. "That's okay," Tyler said, holding up his fingers to show Logan the multitude of tiny little cuts. "They look worse than they are."

  Adrian grinned and shook his head. Apparently Tyler had misunderstood what he meant.

  "Maybe it's time you told him the truth, Logan."

  Tyler swallowed hard. "The truth about what?" he asked worriedly.

  "Oh hell," Logan said sounding like a sulky child. "William and I were never more than friends, but well after feeding him I um…jacked off a lot, especially in the early days." As soon as the words left his mouth he blushed in embarrassment. Apparently his forthright words weren't quite the explanation he'd had in mind. "Oh, fuck, don't look at me like that."

  Tyler wasn't aware of looking at Logan any differently than he had a moment ago, but that didn't negate the fact that Logan seemed as if he was going to fly off into a full-on temper tantrum—behavior completely out of character for the calm teacher Tyler had always known—until Adrian laughed softly.

  "Behave, little vampire, or I'll put you over my knee."

  Surprisingly, Logan laughed at Adrian's stern threat. "Considering all the crazy hormone-type changes I'm going through that might actually be fun."

  Adrian grinned. "Be careful what you wish for, Logan. My brother Gavin is due here soon. He might actually oblige."

  Tyler was still trying to stop his jaw from falling open when Adrian thankfully changed the subject.

  "It would probably be best to avoid major arteries for the moment. At least until Logan's ability to heal wounds is working correctly, so maybe a thick muscle or somewhere fleshy. It'll take longer, but it will help avoid doing damage to major veins or tendons."

  "You want me to bite him on the ass?" Logan asked with another childish giggle.

  Tyler could feel his face reddening just at the thought.

  Logan wore a wicked grin and was clearly tapping into the new vampire part of his psyche. He would never have suggested something so outrageous a week ago.

  "What do you say, Tyler? You always said I was a pain in the ass. Want me to prove it?"

  "I…I…um." Tyler turned to Adrian, pleading with his eyes for help.

  "Stop teasing, little vampire," Adrian said reaching over to lift Tyler's hand into his own. "Outer upper arm should do nicely."

  "Spoil sport," Logan grouched as he wriggled across the bed and moved to stand in front of Tyler with a wide grin on his face. Amazingly, just as Tyler was beginning to wonder if his best friend was lost completely, Logan's usual, helpful personality shone through again. "I know this is weird, Tyler, and I truly am grateful that you're willing to do this, but maybe what you need is a distraction."

  Logan raised his eyebrows as he turned his attention to Adrian, apparently challenging him to do something to help Tyler out. Tyler stifled the moan that threatened to telegraph how much he liked that idea. He barely knew the man, but when Adrian stepped up behind him, apparently willing to follow through on Logan's suggestion, Tyler felt all of his fantasies flare to life.

  True, an attraction to Adrian had been growing over the past four days, but that sure as hell didn't mean Tyler needed to act on it. He'd tried to convince himself that it was just an illusion, that the man's personality wasn't as close to his idea of a perfect partner as it seemed, but it didn't stop his imagination running wild. Adrian was bossy and dominating and clearly comfortable touching Tyler reassuringly, perhaps even affectionately, but that didn't really mean anything when it came to sexuality.

  Unnerved by his own thoughts, Tyler tried to step away, but his awkward escape from the confined space between the wall and the bed had him accidentally brushing his hand against Adrian's rock-solid erection. Shit. It took nearly all of his strength to pull away from that interesting revelation.

  "I'm sorry," Tyler mumbled quickly, hoping like hell that Logan didn't understand what he was apologizing to Adrian for.

  "Don't be," Adrian said with a grin, "but maybe we should get Logan fed before my brother gets here."

  Tyler nodded quickly, not really certain he wanted to do anything that might increase the arousal he was feeling. Adrian must have read his distress because he grinned and touched his face softly.

  "It's just a kiss." Adrian searched his eyes, his grin widening at whatever he saw. "Nothing else will happen. Not even if you beg me."

  Chapter Five

  Adrian knew this was a bad idea, monumentally stupid even. The rapture that came with feeding a vampire could very easily morph into something more than either of them was ready for, but he couldn't resist the chance to hold Tyler in his arms again.

  Adrian was in control. His mind. Not his libido.

  As long as he remembered that, everything would be fine.

  Oh fuck…as long as he remembered…

  The first touch of Tyler's warm lips against his scattered his thoughts like leaves in a hurricane. Tyler moaned softly, opening his mouth, inviting Adrian to explore more deeply. Adrian couldn't resist. He slid his tongue into Tyler's warmth, caressing him all over as he pulled him closer, his cock hardening further with every soft sigh and gentle caress.

  He was almost shocked when Tyler reacted to the pain, and was secretly pleased that Tyler's initial desire had been genuine, not rapture induced. Adrian held him close, caressing his spine as the pain of the vampire bite slowly morphed into something far more pleasurable.

  Tyler pressed closer, moaning as he took over the kiss, thrusting his tongue into Adrian's mouth over and over, his arousal obvious, his scent filling Adrian's mind as the man practically climbed up his body.

  Adrian held him tighter, a small kernel of sanity keeping his promise to go no further. The rest of him railed at the restriction. Visions of taking the man hard and fast, slaking his lust as Tyler's ass squeezed around him again and again and again
filled his mind.

  Adrian pulled away, his imaginings almost too real to control his need to claim this delicious man.

  Tyler's eyes were wide as he watched him, both of them panting hard as Logan carefully extracted his teeth from Tyler's arm.

  "Shit," the fledgling vampire exclaimed as blood continued to run from the puncture wounds. "It's not stopping. Why isn't it stopping?"

  Fortunately Logan's panic managed to dissolve the lust clouding Adrian's thoughts.

  "It's okay," Adrian said in as reassuring a tone as he could muster. "This is normal. It takes a while for your saliva to develop the healing properties typical to vampires." Logan didn't look happy about that tidbit of information. "Grab the first aid kit." Adrian pointed to the small tin that he'd placed by the bed days earlier.

  Logan rushed to grab the box, his hysterical reaction obviously snapping Tyler from the rapture he'd been feeling.

  "Hey, it's okay," Tyler said, reiterating Adrian's reassurance as he grabbed a wad of sterile gauze from the tin and used it to stem the flow of blood. "Logan, I'm fine. It's barely a scratch."

  Logan turned his gaze to Adrian silently pleading for him to confirm his friend's words. Adrian nodded, smiled encouragingly, and then moved to help Tyler. The bleeding had already stopped, but it looked like the surrounding flesh would likely bruise pretty badly. He'd seen worse fledgling bites, but this one was a little more ragged than he'd expected. It certainly would have been easier if Logan's sire had been around to teach him.

  The reminder that William would never have left a fledgling vampire on his own if he'd been given any other choice, seeped the last of the lust from Adrian's blood. He had a job to do. Protecting Logan and vampires like him was a sacred duty of the Alateeka family. It had been their calling for many, many years and he had no intentions of failing now.

  "So this is where you're hiding the newest vampire in town," Gavin said as he stepped into the bedroom uninvited and unannounced. Adrian didn't even need to look at Tyler to know that he bristled in anger. Clearly he planned to defend his friend from everyone who might do him harm.

  "And you are?" Tyler demanded, turning to face the intruder, hands on his hips, jaw held aggressively. Gavin gave him a smart-ass grin, ignoring the man's reaction in favor of teasing his brother. He sniffed the air, very clearly telling Adrian without words that he could still smell his and Tyler's arousal.

  "Did I miss all the fun?"

  Tyler blushed, perhaps remembering that amazing kiss, but it was Logan's reaction they should have been prepared for.

  The new vampire ran at Gavin, his attack clumsy and easily read, but his emotions clearly out of control.

  "Fun? You call this fun?" he screamed as he landed punch after punch against Gavin's solid body. "You think William thinks this is fun?" Gavin let Logan hit him, obviously unhurt by his awkward attack. "I'm a fucking vampire, and I don't know what I'm doing, and I nearly just killed my best friend."

  "What?" Tyler exclaimed, sounding shocked. "No you didn't."

  But the words didn't seem to register as Logan continued to pound his frustration into a man more than capable of taking it. Gavin smiled sadly as Logan's attack slowed, and then he carefully wrapped his arms around the newly made vampire, pulling him into his embrace as Logan started to cry.

  "Feel better?" Gavin asked in the same tone of voice Adrian had often heard him use for upset subs at Santutegia.

  "Fuck you," Logan said sulkily as he rested his head tiredly against Gavin's chest.

  "Didn't my brother mention the hormone changes?" Gavin asked, turning annoyed eyes in Adrian's direction.

  "I did," Adrian said, trying to hide his own irritation at his brother's tactics, "but I wasn't cruel enough to push him into a tantrum."

  "He needed it," Gavin said as he lifted Logan into his arms and carried him back to the bed.

  "Don't talk about me like I'm not here," Logan said angrily, squirming away from Gavin as soon as he put him down.

  "We're right here," Gavin said with a nod in Logan's direction. "Why don't you go help Tyler get cleaned up? Maybe you could help with those wounds." The happy grin on his face said exactly how Adrian should help Tyler. Adrian glared at his brother and tried to hide just how appealing that idea really was to him.

  Tyler didn't look very happy about leaving a man he didn't remember in charge of his obviously vulnerable friend, but Tyler's willingness to protect Logan from unknown dangers just made the man more appealing.

  "I'm sorry," Adrian said as he reached for Tyler's hand. "This is my brother, Gavin. You met him the night William was murdered." Tyler shook his head, but didn't say anything. "My brother is bossy and rude and on occasions a serious pain in the ass, but he knows even more about vampire fledglings than I do. Logan is in good hands."

  Tyler didn't look convinced, but eventually nodded when Logan moved closer to the man now sitting on the edge of the bed. Logan reached for Gavin's hand before settling down beside him and going back to sleep. Adrian sensed Tyler's confusion at his friend's strange behavior, but he didn't protest when Adrian put an arm around him and guided him into the main bathroom.

  "Is he still… Logan?" Tyler asked very quietly as Adrian closed the bathroom door and then turned his attention back to Tyler's wounds.

  "In most ways," Adrian said with a quick nod. "It'll take time, but he'll adjust to life as a vampire soon enough."

  Adrian moved the gauze away from Tyler's wound and inspected the angry bruises already blossoming around the puncture marks. They looked damn painful and guilt assailed him once more. He'd watched Tyler trying to type on his laptop yesterday, but all of the tiny cuts on his fingers had obviously made it quite painful. Guilt had slammed Adrian then. Knowing he could help Tyler and was doing nothing about it went against every ideal he owned. The problem was that it meant revealing a side of himself that he usually preferred to keep hidden.

  "How soon?" Tyler asked skeptically.

  "The change into a vampire takes several weeks. A lot of fledglings act like difficult teenagers at the beginning. The forgetfulness is concerning, but certainly not unheard of. His mind and body are going through massive changes, but most vampires quickly regain the personality and maturity they possessed before being turned."

  "So he'll still be the quiet and helpful friend I've always known?"

  "Probably," Adrian said, "with a few minor changes. It's impossible to go through something so life altering without being a little bit different afterward."

  "I suppose you're right," Tyler said with a sad smile. Adrian doubted Tyler would get through this experience unscathed, either. "How long will it take before Logan can stay awake through the night?"

  "Several more weeks, but he should sleep a little less each night." Adrian pressed gently against the swollen edges of bite wound. "Does this hurt?"

  "Not really." Tyler was obviously lying. He wasn't able to hide the wince as Adrian lifted his arm and inspected the raised bruises on his pale flesh. Logan's saliva had only partially healed the broken skin, but it clearly wasn't as strong as it would be. Soon, the new vampire would be able to bite a human without leaving any marks whatsoever, but for now the bruises on Tyler's flesh looked quite painful.

  Guilt washed through Adrian again. He could help heal them right now. He wasn't embarrassed to be who he was, but it wasn't something he usually shared with strangers. Although, if he was truly honest with himself he'd admit that he was already beginning to think of Tyler as his, so they weren't exactly strangers. Maybe it was time to tell Tyler while the man still had a chance to walk away.

  "Give me your hand," Adrian said, accidently slipping into his Dom personality. Tyler seemed to recognize his tone, his eyes darkening with arousal as he shivered noticeably. Showing absolute trust in him, Tyler lifted his arm and placed his wrist in Adrian's hand. Not his fingers, not his forearm…his wrist. The way a good sub would do.

  Adrian groaned as images of buckling his leather cuffs onto Tyler's slender wr
ists weaved a path through his brain. What would happen afterward had his cock growing really, really hard.

  Apparently he hadn't been imagining Tyler's submissive personality. Add that to his fiercely protective nature and willingness to help his friend no matter what the personal cost and it was a heady combination.

  Adrian shook his head, trying to dispel the appealing images of Tyler as his submissive. If he was going to take a human sub then the least he could do was warn Tyler of what he would be getting himself into. Adrian's species history was full of stories of alpha male behavior when it came to claiming a life-mate. Judging by the already-possessive feelings he was having for this human, his apple hadn't fallen far from the species tree.

  He lifted Tyler's damaged fingers to his mouth and laved the flat of his tongue over the tiny, half healed cuts. Tyler groaned, his eyelids lowering in arousal and his legs moving restlessly as Adrian bathed his fingertips with saliva.

  "This will help," he said quietly. "It's not quite as good as Logan's saliva will be at full strength, but for the moment it is stronger than his."

  "You're a vampire?" Tyler asked, his expression one of wonderment rather than fear.

  "No, sweetheart, I'm something else."

  Tyler studied his face closely. "Can you tell me?"

  "I can," Adrian said, searching the young man's face to be certain he wasn't afraid, "but are you sure you want to know?"

  "Of course," Tyler said without a hint of fear. "Over the past few days you've proven yourself to be an honorable, protective man. What…um…species you are doesn't really matter."

  "Not even when I turn into a wolf?" Adrian asked with a half-forced smile as he pulled Tyler into a loose embrace.

  "You can really do that?" Tyler asked in a serious tone.

  Adrian nodded. He didn't even realize he was holding his breath until Tyler smiled and then hugged him closer.

  "At the risk of sounding like one of the star-struck teenagers I teach…that is so cool."

  Adrian laughed with him, holding Tyler closer as he marveled at this human's ability to accept things that would have most people screaming in terror. Perhaps if he hadn't known and cared for Logan, Tyler would have been harder to convince, but he'd seen enough over the past few days to realize that there was more to life than what most humans knew.