Rise to Fall

by Lynn Hagen

  But his mate wasn’t having that. Dorian pressed Rick’s hips down, keeping them in place as he ran his tongue around the head, pulling the pre-cum out like honey, and then dove right back down onto Rick’s cock.

  “Fuck, gatito…fuck!” Rick shouted and then gritted his teeth, staving off his orgasm. He wasn’t about to let this moment end so soon, but if Dorian kept up at his current pace, he was a goner.

  His damn legs were wobbling as Dorian rode Rick’s cock with his lips, sliding them up and down his shaft, faster and faster. His head was bobbing, the suction tight, and Rick felt like his damn brain was melting into the side of his head.

  “Dorian…please…god!” Rick threw his head back and ground his back molars, curling his fingers into the bed. He wasn’t going to be able to hold off. Not when Dorian was sucking him so goddamn good.

  Fuck!

  Rick began to rock his head back and forth as jolts of pure pleasure pulsed through his body. The man was out to kill him. Dorian had to be because Rick’s heart was beating so fast he feared it would burst from his chest.

  And then Dorian slid a finger into Rick’s ass.

  His eyes crossed.

  “Goddamn…motherfucker!” Rick howled as his body unraveled right there. His hips shot up and his seed was being ripped from his very balls. Stars began to form behind his eyelids. It took concentrated effort to breathe.

  When Dorian reared back, Rick cracked his heavy eyelids open to see his mate naked. How in the—it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was—Dorian pounced. He was on top of Rick and taking his lips like a beast. He wasn’t sure what had gotten into the man, but hell if Rick wasn’t enjoying every damn second.

  “Mine,” Dorian growled at him with a tight command in his tone.

  “Yours,” Rick said as his chest contracted rapidly. “All yours.”

  Dorian nipped Rick on his chin and then attached his lips to one of Rick’s nipples. His body was still riding the high of his climax, which made his nipples ultrasensitive. Rick hissed, running his hands through Dorian’s hair, pulling at the strands.

  Dorian batted his hands away. “Keep them either at your sides, or above your head.”

  The only damn thing he could manage to do was nod as he released Dorian’s hair, placing his hands at his sides, and curling the fingers back into the blanket. There was no way he was chancing his mate pulling away. He was going to do whatever the hell his mate wanted just as long as Dorian didn’t stop. “I don’t have gentleness in me right now. I want you too badly. I’m demanding, possessive, and so damn hungry for you.”

  Rick lay there stunned that Dorian had remembered what Rick said the first time they had sex together. It had been over a year ago, but his mate repeated the words verbatim. “Show me.” Rick repeated Dorian’s response from so long ago.

  Dorian pressed one hand into Rick’s chest as he used the other to grab the lube. He wet his fingers and then slid them into his ass, the whole time never breaking eye contact. Rick was going out of his mind. He wanted to watch Dorian stretch himself, but his mate wasn’t letting him up.

  Rick let out a low growl.

  Dorian narrowed his eyes.

  “Let me see.”

  “Lie still or I’m getting off of you.”

  Fuck this. Rick rolled with Dorian, intending on watching his mate’s fingers slide in and out of his ass, but instead, they ended up wrestling on the bed.

  Which was an even bigger turn-on.

  He pinned Dorian, but amazingly, Dorian got free. Rick must be losing his touch. He leapt, taking his mate down, but Dorian grabbed Rick’s upper arms and tossed him aside.

  Shit.

  “I warned you,” Dorian said as he tussled with Rick. Of course, Rick wasn’t using all of his strength. He didn’t want to hurt his mate.

  Until Dorian slugged him.

  Rick knelt there stunned and then lifted his lip in a fierce growl, taking Dorian down and mounting him. “Concede!”

  “Not on your life.” Dorian struggled to get free, but Rick’s cock was buried deep in his mate’s ass. There really wasn’t anywhere for his mate to go.

  “Damn it, submit!”

  Dorian bucked back and then turned, dislodging Rick. His mate was on Rick in seconds, pinning him to the floor before impaling Rick’s cock. “You submit!”

  Okay, what in the hell is going on here? “Gatito, are you okay?”

  Dorian shook his head, tears filling his eyes as he rode Rick’s body slow and easy, the fight gone just that fast. Rick was confused as hell.

  “I’m tired of feeling like a coward,” he whispered, burying his face in Rick’s neck.

  Rick pulled at Dorian’s head until his mate looked up, and then Rick cupped his face. “But you’re not, Dorian. I told you, already. You are the strongest man I know. I couldn’t have asked for a stronger mate. It isn’t the fighting that makes you strong, but your weaknesses.”

  “But that doesn’t make any sense.”

  Rick rolled, placing Dorian underneath him, caressing Dorian’s bottom lip with his thumb. “Your weaknesses show just how much you care. It shows you don’t have a hard heart and no regard for lives. You try your best to save as many people as you can. In truth, I admire you.” Bracing his hands on either side of Dorian’s head, Rick began to move slowly inside his mate. The gentle moves caused a surge of heat to rise within him. “It’s the little things you say and do, gatito. I love the fire in you. I love the gentleness in you as well.”

  Rick leaned down, feeling Dorian’s warm breath on his lips. “Temo que la profundidad de mi amor por ti. Sólo tú tienes el poder destruime,” Rick whispered against Dorian’s lips before dipping his head and nipping his mate’s lower lip. “I fear the depth of my love for you. You alone hold the power to destroy me.”

  Hooking an arm under one of Dorian’s legs, Rick lifted it higher, driving his cock deeper, drowning in the intoxication of Dorian’s body wrapped around him. His mate was warm and vibrant, the feel of Dorian soaked through Rick’s skin and into his blood.

  Dorian threw his head back and groaned, his eyes fluttering closed. Rick gave a small growl when Dorian pressed the heel of his free foot into Rick’s buttocks to impale himself deeper onto Rick’s cock.

  “That’s right, mi amor, take what you need from me.”

  Dorian lifted his ass higher, giving Rick room to plunge deeper. He thrust harder, letting the scent of his mate’s arousal fill his lungs. It was the sweetest scent in the world to Rick. His thrusts picked up as he pistoned in and out of Dorian’s ass.

  They began to move together in a rhythm so familiar and yet so new each time they made love. His mate was so tight that it felt like a velvety fist surrounded his cock. Burying his head in Dorian’s damp hair, Rick moved a little faster, his thrusts becoming a little more desperate. “I love you, gatito.”

  Dorian turned his head, gazing up at Rick with his gorgeous Peruvian-brown eyes. “I love you, too, Rick.” Muted moans and erotic rocking told Rick his touch was welcome, that Dorian hadn’t pulled emotionally away from him. Rick knew he was being selfish. The right thing to do would be to send Dorian to Edward and let his mate recuperate, but he couldn’t let the man go, ever.

  Dorian was his mate. His to take care of. His to hold and love. His to cherish. He couldn’t let the man go. He just couldn’t.

  It was the stark truth and Rick knew it.

  When Dorian arched his back, his lips parting, he knew the man was driving him insane with pleasure as it washed over Rick’s body. He gritted his teeth to fight for control. Tonight wasn’t about being rough or rushed. Rick was making love to his mate, slow and sensually.

  The muscles around Dorian’s hole flexed and Rick damn near lost his mind. When he glanced down at his mate, Dorian gave him a devilish smile. “You’re thinking too hard.”

  Rick leaned down and kissed each cheek. “I’m thinking about you.”

  “Stop thinking about me and fuck me.”

  That was
in invitation to surrender…to sin. Rick gladly accepted it as he reared back and grabbed the other leg, pushing them forward as he glanced down at his cock pushing and pulling from his mate’s ass. “Fuck, you are so damn beautiful.”

  His mate’s balls were drawn tight to his body as Dorian began to twist and struggle underneath him. Rick knew his mate was close. He could not only tell by the way his mate moved, but by the glossy look in Dorian’s eyes.

  They were filled with raw pleasure.

  Rick thrust inside the tight depths of Dorian’s body, groaning on every stroke at the tight heat clasping him. His fingers curled around Dorian’s ankles, holding them tight as his began to push harder.

  “Yes!” Dorian hissed.

  Rick could feel the white-hot fingers of fire moving down his spine now. His thrusts became feral and erratic as he fought for release. Rick wanted to fly the same time Dorian did. “Stroke your cock, baby.”

  Dorian’s hand moved down his stomach and then his fingers curled around his bouncing cock, stroking it at a rapid rate. The pre-cum was leaking faster, dripping down the sides of Dorian’s fingers.

  The sight and scent drove Rick close to the edge, dangling him over the abyss, and then Rick fell, flying free as his entire body shattered. Dorian’s body arched, his eyes widened, and he stared at Rick in a dazed, wild hunger for a second before his cock began to spurt white ribbons of seed.

  His mate’s climax milked Rick’s cock in a vise grip, tearing his own release from his body, making Rick howl out at the intensity. The orgasm destroyed his sense of balance and Rick tumbled forward, but caught himself before he crushed Dorian beneath him.

  Rick smiled and kissed his mate gently on the lips.

  And then the door crashed open and Rick saw twelve vampires staring at him with death in their incandescent eyes.

  Chapter Ten

  Omar heard the shouts, and then he heard an anguished cry. He knew what an anguished cry sounded like because he had heard the sound for nearly a year as changelings were tortured.

  As he was tortured.

  He walked from the living room of the unfamiliar home and glanced up the stairs. He could smell death and decay floating down to him. It was a noxious odor that singed his airway and made the breath slam out of his lungs. Omar had never smelled anything like it before. He wasn’t sure what the odor was, but he knew it couldn’t be anything good.

  And then the overwhelming scent of blood hit him hard, almost like a punch to the gut. His eyes began to shift and his mouth began to water. Omar wanted. Oh, how he wanted. The scent was calling his beast forward, making him want to hunt that which bled.

  His head snapped to the right when the front door burst open and Salvador raced through, heading up the stairs so fast that Omar wondered if he had imagined the whole thing.

  Uncertain, Omar ascended the stairs. The scents and sounds grew louder as he approached Rick and Dorian’s bedroom. Something bad was happening in there. The deadly vibes could be felt crawling along his skin.

  Death. Decay.

  As Omar entered the room, his heart nearly stopped. The scene in front of him was something made of nightmares.

  Salvador was standing in front of a dozen strangers, shouting in Portuguese and then in English. His tone was savage and his face was contorted in rage. “Retornar para a escuridão. Return to the darkness!”

  Another howl rent the air, and Omar knew the devastated sound belonged to his alpha. Moving forward, Omar saw why Rick was howling and fighting like a man drowning in a pool of insanity.

  The need to hunt diminished when Omar saw Dorian was pinned to the wall by a sword that had gone through his stomach. The human was sputtering, blood dripping from the sides of his mouth.

  “No,” Omar whispered.

  Thunderous footsteps could be heard, and then Nate, Sasha, Selene, Benito, and Miguel appeared. Four of them burst into their werewolf forms. Sasha shifted into his leopard form. All five entered the room and joined in the fight. Teeth, claws, and growls flew through the room, a battle ensuing.

  Omar was terrified. The Mãos da Morte were not listening to Salvador. The vampire repeated the command with severity, but none stopped. He was only guessing that they were the boogeymen of the preternatural world because there were twelve of them and the changelings couldn’t seem to gain the upper hand no matter what maneuvers they used. The Mãos da Morte were fast, lightning-fast. They moved so quickly that Omar couldn’t keep up with them.

  Freedman appeared at Omar’s side, gun in hand as he raced into the room to join the fight.

  It was total chaos.

  Omar pulled at Salvador’s arm. “You have to save Dorian!”

  Salvador threw his arms back and opened his mouth, a strange, ear-piercing sound echoing through the room. The man’s fangs lengthened, and the talons on the end of his fingers thickened. Salvador’s face mottled as he flew further into the room.

  Flew, not walked. Not raced. But flew.

  Guns were being fired. Claws and teeth were being used. Howls, yowls, and hissing filled the air until Omar thought he was going to go deaf from the sounds.

  And the light began to gradually fade from Dorian’s brown eyes. Omar wasn’t a fighter. He admitted this. But that fact didn’t stop him from racing between the fighting creatures as he hurried toward Dorian.

  Omar knew better than to remove the sword from Dorian. It was probably the only thing keeping the man alive as he dangled from the impalement.

  “Don’t you dare die,” Omar said fiercely as he stood in front of the human. “Rick will save you.”

  Omar’s head snapped over his shoulder as he watched Rick tear a path through the Mãos da Morte. Omar knew they were undefeatable, but Rick wasn’t listening to the legend. He was ripping through them. The man’s eyes had gone feral, unfocused, and he was one dangerous-ass man right now.

  Omar turned back around.

  Dorian was losing too much blood, and for some strange reason, Omar didn’t have an urge to attack him. The man was dying, the life fading further from his eyes.

  “Save him!” Omar shouted to no one in particular. “Goddamn it, save him!” The tears welled up in his eyes. Rick was Omar’s alpha. Omar loved his alpha. He knew that if Dorian died, Rick’s humanity would go with the human.

  Salvador began chanting in Portuguese, but Omar wasn’t paying attention to the words. There was a battle to the death occurring behind him, and all he could think about was saving Dorian.

  “Gatito!” Rick shouted, his voice raspy and raw, filled with so much pain that the emotions were like living entities. Pain. Despair. Hopelessness. Rage. “Gatito!”

  Omar began to cry, fearing, but knowing in his heart, that Dorian wasn’t going to make it. There was no way he could come back from this. He had lost too much blood, the wound too severe.

  Rick howled, the sound was so fucking heart wrenching that Omar could feel the despair fill him up to painful completeness.

  Omar cupped Dorian’s face, shaking him gently. “Dorian, stay with me. Don’t leave Rick alone. You have to fight to stay alive.”

  Dorian didn’t respond. He didn’t say a word as his eyes slowly began to close.

  “Wake the fuck up!” he shouted as he shook Dorian harder, Omar’s tears falling faster.

  It took a second to realize that the room had fallen silent. His ears were still ringing from the sounds of gunshots and animalistic echoes. Omar stepped back. Rick was at his side, his trembling fingers cupping Dorian’s face. “No, gatito, no. Please, no.”

  “Is he still breathing?” Salvador asked as he spun to face the mated pair, but glanced Omar’s way.

  He nodded.

  A determined glint filled the vampire’s dark eyes. “Then move aside.”

  Rick spun around, his eyes narrowing as a warning growl vibrated his chest. “Stay away.” An artic chill clung to his words.

  Salvador didn’t back down. He didn’t even look intimidated as he matched Rick’s tight glare. “D
o you want to save him?”

  “How?” Nate asked. “How can you save—” He waved a hand at Dorian’s injury.

  “Convert him,” Salvador replied.

  “Hell no!” Rick shouted, his voice cold and lashing. “You are not turning him into a fucking vampire! Over my dead body! No, no way.”

  “Then watch the life leave your mate,” Salvador said as he took a step back. “That is your choice, not mine.”

  Omar watched the struggle in Rick’s eyes. The man did not want his mate to be a vampire. His breath burned in his throat as he tried his best to hold back his tears. Never before had Omar seen Rick so torn, so damn dangerous that he feared being in the same room with the man. Not even when Silvia had driven Omar to Rick for punishment had Omar feared him this much. Rick looked like he was on a deadly slope and going downhill fast.

  But Salvador didn’t seem to be fazed by Rick’s animalistic rage. “I can save him, and he can be changeling.”

  Some of the rage in Rick’s face slipped, replaced by hopelessness. Rick must have thought the same thing as Omar. Dorian couldn’t be saved. “How? How can you do that?”

  “I am nearly thirteen hundred years old. There is not much I cannot do.”

  “Do it.” The order in Rick’s tone was clear. “Save him and change him into a werewolf.”

  “But he doesn’t want to be—” Omar backed away when Rick narrowed his light-grey eyes at him.

  “Look at my mate like that again and I will walk out of here and leave this mess in your hands,” Salvador warned as a low rumble vibrated his throat.

  Rick shook his head. “I don’t care if Dorian wanted to stay human. Under normal circumstances, I would abide by his wish. But he is dying, and I will do whatever I have to in order to save him.”

  Salvador moved quickly, biting into Dorian’s neck. Omar watched as the vampire pulled Rick close, and then Rick bit into Dorian’s shoulder on the opposite side.

  Omar knew Rick was performing the conversion.

  “Won’t Dorian make Rick addicted to fang bites?” Omar asked, but Salvador didn’t answer. He was still at Dorian’s neck. He remembered the man saying his bites weren’t addictive because he was born a vampire, but he knew Edward was bitten by a born vampire and he refused to feed from Isabelle.