Trusting His Vampire Lord

by Violet Joicey-Cowen

  Raff waved Annette off. Her personality hadn’t done a complete one-eighty since they got back from France as Raff had already been seeing hints of the person she could be before he’d been kidnapped, but he was astounded at the difference in her. She’d taken good care of the coven in their absence—even Claudie was opening up to her. Ves’s talk with her about Mathieu and what the man had done to the person who should have been her mate knocked her flat for a few days, but she picked herself up quickly enough, considering. Annette thought it as hilarious as Raff that Ves, being a vampire lord, was now literally Lord of The Manor. He could see them becoming good friends, though he doubted they would ever stop needling each other—it was far too much fun.

  “You know what you’ll be hearing when he gets back?”

  “Ugh. No. Don’t.”

  “Sex sounds.”

  “Gross.”

  “Lots and lots of sex sounds.” Raff grinned as Annette stuck her fingers in her ears and did the lalalalala that little kids did. “You’re a vampire. That’s so not gonna help you block us out when he gets home.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

  Ves had been gone for nearly two weeks. Almost a month had passed since they’d got back from France, and enough of The Manor had been completed for everyone to at least have somewhere to sleep. More than three-quarters of the place was still a mess, and it wasn’t anywhere near ready for Dori to be there, but Ves wanted them all together. Dori and Verain had moved into Raff and Andre’s old rooms in Blue Gables until Ves was happy with the air quality at The Manor. Honestly, vampire pregnancies, though hard to get started, were pretty much bombproof once they got going. Claudie worried though, and Raff thought Ves was sweet to humour her. Gods, he couldn’t wait to see his mate.

  Eddie and Thomas were bringing everyone over from France in a few days. The contents of the chateau would follow a few weeks later after spending a little time in storage to enable them to finish up some more of The Manor. Everything from the old coven house would be delivered at the same time, and it was going to be complete chaos for a while until they got everything and everyone settled in. It was already chaos really, with all the people from the old coven house arriving and pretty much camping out until the rest of their things got there, but Raff was loving it. As had been done with the lodge, the refurbishment was being done in two stages—being made good enough to be habitable, and once that was all done, they would take their time over getting the place how they wanted it. The original plan of getting more done before everyone moved in had been adjusted. Ves didn’t want any of his original coven members to feel pushed aside in favour of the larger numbers coming from France. That wouldn’t get them all off to a good start. Everyone who had come from both old coven houses seemed to be getting along okay so far, so Ves had thought it best to just get it over with and deal with problems as they occurred. Rooms that could be used for dormitory-style bedrooms had been quickly renovated. Ves had initially said they could choose where they wanted to sleep, but Raff had pointed out it would only end up like a high school dance, with the original Desmarais coven on one side and those coming from France on the other, so they had all been randomly assigned bed groupings by family. Hopefully by the time people started moving into actual bedrooms, they would all have gotten to know each other.

  The low hum of a car in the distance, turning down the drive, caught Raff’s attention. Annette grinned and waved him off. “Your paintbrush is drying to unusable anyway.”

  Raff didn’t spare a glance at the paint tray on his way past as he left the room at a run. He was downstairs and out the front door before Ves’s car pulled to a halt and he opened the car door. The moment Ves was upright, Raff leapt at the man. He saw a grin flash across Ves’s face as Ves spread his arms. Ves caught him under the arse a split second before Raff slammed his mouth down on his mate’s. They spoke between kisses.

  “Fuck, I’ve missed you.”

  “Missed you, too.”

  Raff kissed all over Ves’s face. Ves stumbled, then righted himself, and carried Raff toward the house. Raff wrapped his legs more securely around Ves’s hips, enjoying the heat of his mate.

  Ves got them upstairs and into the room that they’d picked out during the first stage of the refurbishment. It stank of paint, but Annette had vanished. Raff was pulling Ves’s top off before Ves managed to kick the door closed.

  “Come on. Want skin. Need you.” Raff’s cock was rock hard in his jeans and begging for attention. More than that, though, he needed Ves inside him. He’d needed Ves inside him days ago.

  “Christ, Raff.” Ves dropped him onto the bed.

  Clothes flew in all directions in the race to get naked. Stripping didn’t take either of them more than a couple of seconds, and Raff moaned at the feel of Ves’s hard body settling over his. Fuck, there was nothing like skin against skin when he’d been craving it for weeks. Ves sucked at a patch on Raff’s collarbone.

  “What do you want?”

  “Huh? I want you to get on with it. You’ve been gone for far too long.”

  “But would you ever want to take the lead?”

  “Did I strike you as the shy, retiring type when I jumped you outside?” Raff wasn’t sure what Ves was getting at.

  “No, I meant—” Ves took a moment to rest his forehead against Raff’s neck and made a noise of pure frustration. He flexed his hips and drew a needy whine from Raff as their cocks rubbed together. Then he lifted his head again to look Raff in the face. “Would you ever want to top?”

  “No!” Raff bit his lip. “Um…well, maybe. Yes. But not now. Gods, Ves, I just need you inside me right now.”

  Ves didn’t waste any more time. He worked magic on Raff’s body with fingers and tongue, and he prepared him faster than Raff thought possible. He stroked the furled skin of Raff’s entrance and then stretched him, moving to two, then three fingers quickly. Raff was still ready to beg, or kill him, by the time Ves pushed into his body. The slick, too-slow glide of Ves’s cock into Raff’s channel was almost torturous. Ves’s eyes were on his, and his arms trembled with the tension running through his body as he fought to restrain himself.

  Fuck that. Raff gripped Ves’s hips with his legs and flipped them. Ves looked startled, but he grabbed at Raff’s waist, and his eyes rolled back when Raff started lifting up and down with a roll to his hips and fucking himself on Ves’s cock. Ves got harder inside him, and Raff knew he was as close to the edge as Raff. They’d been apart too long.

  His gaze was drawn to Ves’s neck, all stretched out, cords tight.

  “Fuck. Ves. Can I?”

  Ves looked strung out and hazy. “Whaa? Yes. Anything.”

  Raff needed him to know what he was saying yes to. Ves was lord of the coven, and not all coven leaders would want a visible mating bite. He leaned in and licked at Ves’s neck. He scraped the points of his fangs against Ves’s skin, and Ves shuddered. “Can I?”

  Ves slid a hand all the way up Raff’s back and buried it in Raff’s hair, holding him more firmly against Ves’s neck. He shouldn’t have doubted Ves would want his mark.

  Leaning down like that pinned Raff’s cock between their bodies, and the extra sensation of rubbing against the hardness of their abdomens with his precum slicking the way was almost enough to push him over the edge.

  Ves’s cry as the taste of his blood hit Raff’s tongue and the feel of him pulsing his orgasm inside Raff was the last thing he needed. Raff stilled, helpless to move as ecstasy boiled up his spine and exploded through him. Ves held Raff’s hips and drove into him through the remains of both their orgasms, milking his prostate and prolonging the sensations.

  He came back to himself a moment later and found himself licking at Ves’s mating bite, having already withdrawn his fangs. Ves’s hand was on his shoulder, thumb stroking at the bite scar he’d left on Raff a few weeks before and his cock was softening inside him.

  “If that’s the welcome I get after being away, I might have to do it again.”

&
nbsp; “Bite your tongue,” Raff said with a groan as he rolled off Ves. He splayed out on the bed next to him. “Besides, I’m not done with you yet. I told Annette she’d be hearing lots and lots of sex noises, and we weren’t nearly noisy enough this time around.”

  Ves smacked out with a hand and got Raff on his cum-covered stomach. “Can we please not talk about my sister immediately after having sex?”

  Raff grinned and rolled over to slot himself against his mate’s side. His cock had barely begun to soften and was hardening again. He wanted to talk to his mate for a minute, but he ground ever so gently against Ves’s hip, enjoying the pressure against his balls. “Sorry. How did it all go anyway?”

  “Fine. Dori and Verain should be comfortable enough over at Blue Gables until we get this place finished. Claudie was really happy to see them. And Verain is beyond delighted not to have to be in charge anymore now that Eddie and I and the entire crazy huge coven are all going to be in one place at last.”

  “He only has to worry about keeping his wife from hunting down any threat to her mating.”

  “Yeah. Shit, it’s probably a good thing they’re over at Blue Gables with everyone else living there being male and Verain never having been into guys.”

  “And the old house is all locked up?”

  “Yes. Kinda weird. Never been so sad and happy at the same time to leave somewhere.”

  “How come?”

  “It’s silly.”

  “I don’t care. Tell me. If you want to, that is.”

  “It’s where I met you. Yeah, it’s also where I spent three years without you, but it’s where we met.”

  Raff couldn’t help smiling at Ves’s soft expression. He tucked a lock of Ves’s blue-tipped hair behind his ear. “That’s not silly. Besides, you don’t have to sell it. Some covens are happy to rent a place for their time there. And you’re not exactly hurting for cash. This is about the most well-off coven I’ve ever seen.”

  “Good job, isn’t it? With all our new people.”

  “I can’t believe Eddie found even more coven members over there,” Raff said.

  Ves frowned. “Mathieu must have had people stashed all over the place.”

  “Well, he was working with Michaelson. But he’s been gone for years, right? I mean, Jake doesn’t think he’s actually dead, but Daniel can’t find any reliable trace of him, and the guy lost his money and everything when he ran.”

  “He can’t touch you again.” Ves rolled onto his side, as well, and pulled Raff closer, stroking a hand up and down his back.

  “Which one?”

  “Either. Both. Mathieu’s dead, and there are far too many people here now for Michaelson to get his hands on you again, wherever he is. You were on the run when he got you before, just you and a handful of friends. Now you’re living in a coven of almost two hundred, and there’s a large pack of shifters and two very savvy computer wizards among them.”

  “Oh gods, don’t let Daniel or Keiron hear you calling them computer wizards. Daniel’ll get matching T-shirts printed.” The pressure against his cock and balls was getting more torturous than pleasant. He wanted his mate inside him again. Raff ran a finger around the edge of the nearly healed bite he’d given Ves. Ves shivered.

  “Hmmm, that’s ni—” Ves began, and then broke off when both of them jerked at a loud knock.

  “Raff? Sorry to interrupt, there’s a problem downstairs and you’re needed,” Annette called through the closed door. “And welcome back, Ves.”

  Raff let his head fall back to the bed for a moment and groaned.

  “Come on, love. I should probably check in with some people here anyway to see how they’re settling in.”

  “But I only just got you back,” Raff whined half-heartedly. “I wasn’t planning on letting you out of bed for at least two days.”

  “Like we’d ever get that much time alone. Too many people relying on us.” Ves gave him a quick kiss and rolled off the bed. He held a hand out to Raff and wiggled his fingers.

  A sad cast to his eyes touched something inside Raff. Raff couldn’t have that. Ves had waited long enough to be together. Raff didn’t want him thinking he didn’t completely own Raff’s heart or that it mattered how many demands were put on them or their time. Raff had been born to lead a coven and had known from when he was young exactly how much it took. He might not be lord here, but his mate was, and with the sheer number of people depending on them, it would take all their energy. Leading their people would take a lot, but they could do it together.

  Raff sighed and took the proffered hand. He let Ves pull him to his feet and rather than let him go, yanked him closer. He grabbed Ves around both sides of his face and kissed him deeply. “I love you. And I love the life we’re going to have. Every crazy moment of it. Never think I regret being mated to you. Not for a second.”

  “I love you, too.” Ves rested their foreheads together and breathed him in. “Now let’s go see what our people need.”

  THE END

  HTTPS://VIOLETJOICEYCOWEN.WORDPRESS.COM/ABOUT-VIOLET-JOICEY-COWEN/

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com